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HISTORY

OF THE

TOWN OF FRANKLIN,
MASS.;
FROM ITS SETTLEMENT TO THE COMPLETION OF
ITS FIRST CENTURY,
2d March, 1878;

Genealogical Notices of its Earliest Families, Sketches
OF ITS Professional Men, and a Report of
THE Centennial Celebration.

By MORTIMER BLAKE, I"
Mbuber of Old Colony Histoeical Society ; Honobabt Member of New England
Historic-Genealogical Society.

FRANKLIN", MASS,
PUBLISHED BY IJIE COMMITTEE OF THE TOWN,
1879.

COPTBIGHT SBCITEED BY THE ACTHOR.

J. A. & S. A. BKtD, Printers, Providence, K. I.

INTRODUCTION.

At the annual town meeting held in March, A. D. 1876, a re
port was presented by a committee previously chosen by the town,
consisting of Messrs. Waldo Daniels, Stephen W. Richardson,
William M. Thayer, William Rockwood, and Adin D. Sargent, to
•whom was referred the subject of the celebration of the one hun-
di'cdth anniversary of the incorporation of the town.
Among the recommendations embodied in this report was the
following : —
"That a history of the town be prepared and published, in
¦which the important events of its early settlement and the suc
ceeding municipal transactions shall be recorded — including also,
so far as practicable, its interest in and the part sustained by its
citizens in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the late
Rebellion ; also its ecclesiastical and educational work, the growth
and development of our manufacturing interests, and of all that
pertains to its prosperity as a township."
The report was accepted and the committee were authorized by
the town to carry out the plan presented.
The committee were unanimous in their choice of historian —
Ttev. Mortimer Blake, D. D., of Taunton, Mass. His marked
ability and well-known antiquarian researches, especially con
nected with the early history of Franklin, abundantly qualified
3iim for this important work.
Dr. Blake with some reluctance entered upon the task, which
lie would not have undertaken for any town but his own.
At the annual town meeting, in March, 1878, the committee
'was enlarged bj' the addition of five members — Messrs. A. St.
John Chambre, Henry M. Greene, James P. Ray; Paul B. Clark,

4 PREFACE.
and Edward A. Rand, to assist in the accumulating duties and
preparations arising from the approach of the centennial celebra
tion. To the united committee Dr. Blake presented his valuable
manuscript, which, after examination and discussion, was unani
mously accepted and ordered to be printed.
In» presenting this volume to the citizens of Franklin and the
public generally, the committee feel that the reputation of the
author as a historian and scholar is suflflcient pledge of its value.
They are confident that it will be found to be a rare history,
abounding in facts, incidents, narratives, biography, genealogy,
and whatever belongs to a superior town history — all enriched by
the author's terse style and originalitj'' of thought.
Waldo Daniels, A. St. John Chambbb,
S. W. ElCHAEDSON, H. M. GrEEENE,
William M. Thayee, James P. Eay,
William Kockwood, Paul B. Clakk,
Adin D. Saegent, Edwakd A. Kand,
Centennial Committee.
Franklin, December, 1878.

HISTORICAL ADDRESS.

Me. Peesident, the Honored Chief Magistrate of this Common
wealth AND His Associates in Office, Kinsfolk and Friends —
Ladies and Gentlemen : A hundred' years are crowding
to tell their tales to-day. It will not, therefore, permit much
time for introductory salutations. We will just congratulate
one another that we are allowed to be here, at the centennial
epoch of this grand old town, give a welcome hand to the sons
and daughters who have come back (some from long distances)
to this home of their childhood, and then we will stand aside
to let the century talk of the men and their deeds who have
given us a town history worth commemorating.
I must preface, however, that it was with great timidity I
consented to be the spokesman of this hour. Living so far
and so long from the sources of information, and crowded with
the never-finished work of my vocation, it has only been by
short visits and broken explorations that I have searched
records to collate the story of this town's past. If the results
seem meagre, please charge it — not to want of interest in the
seeking, but to lack of time and material. And, had it not
been for the zealous co-operation of your committee in charge
of this celebration, and of other interested citizens, and the
cordial responses of the town clerks into whose records the
sources of our town history run back, and of Wrentham in
particular, the present address would be still more meagre.
To all who have aided in this service, let me here present my
cordial acknowledgments. So much only will my short hour
permit me to say for introduction.

b HISTOEY OP PRANKLIN.
The life and roundness of our story have decayed in the
lapse of time, leaving but a skeleton of dismembered facts.
I am appointed to wire together these scattered bones and
reclothe the framework of our past with the motor forces and
flush of a recovered life. If I can so much as make the cen
tury stand before you, I shall feel amply rewarded, even if the
countenance be lack-lustre and homely.
The century we commemorate to-day by no means carries
us back to the beginning of the town. To reach the forces
which have shaped its character and history, we must go still
further back by more than another hundred years. Seventeen
hundred and seventj;-eight was only when this town became
of age and took her place among her sister towns. Her child
hood dates really from 1660, when her mother, Wrentham,
first came to live in WoUomonopoag. But her birthday was
close upon the beginnings of the Massachusetts colony. To
compass, therefore, the full history of this town, we should
confer with the original Puritan immigrants of 1630 around
the Bay. But such a quest would cover two hundred and fifty
years, a period that cannot he compressed within this hour's
review. I must, therefore, content myself with the humbler
aim of selecting what may seem to be the hinge-facts on which
the course and character of our town history have turned.
These facts mainly cluster about three points : First, The
rights of the settlers to the soil ; Second, The character and
aims of the settlers ; and Third, The subsequent development
of their history.
It may be of no present consequence to learn by what title
these goodly farms are held ; but it is a satisfaction to know
that our ancestors were not lawless trespassers upon their
original Indian occupants. And the evidence lies abundant in
the colonial charter, the laws of its courts and the purchase
deeds of the settlers. By their Patent, the lands belonged to
the settlers as a company and not as individuals. But they
had the right of distribution among themselves, and they turned
to this task with becoming gravity. As a preliminary caution,
their court had voted (March 4, 1630) that " no man shall

HISTOEICAL ADDRESS. 7
buy land of Indians without leave had of the court ; " and, as
an immediate necessity, it votes that " all swamps of above
one hundred acres be/ree to any freeman to fetch wood."
But, interesting as it might be, we must not spend time
in waiting upon this court and reporting its cautious and wise
conclusions. A few only, which touch our present inquiry,
will be quoted. To prevent the scattering and weakening of
the settlers, no house shall be built above half a mile from
the meeting-house without leave of the court. A special com
mittee shall set out and bound all towns and settle all bound
ary difficulties, and towns may divide up their own lands. As
we listen to the debates and orders of this Court of Assist
ants, we gather these conclusions of their policy : None but
freemen acceptable to the court shall have any lands ; such
shall have lands only as companies and in masses of territory;
for signal service to the colony, however, single persons are
paid in special grants of land ; all grants to companies or to
individuals are to be set and laid out by and with the approval
of the court. The occupants of their soil are thus to be as
sured friends of the colony ; and for a man to become a free
man and proprietor of a farm, is an endorsement of his
goodness by the Puritan standard.
The court, further, is particular to transfer only its own
title to the soil. If the lands granted be subject to any Indian
claims, these must be extinguished by the towns themselves.
Thus, Concord is directed, in 1637, to purchase the ground
within their limits of the Indians, and an agent is chosen in
1638 to agree with the Indians for land in Watertown, Cam
bridge, and Boston. But in 1639 John Bayley is fined five
pounds for buying land of Indians without leave. We care
fully note these sample acts, as vindicating the honesty of the
Puritans towards the Indians. They are in accord with the
general letter from the governor and council of the New Eng
land Company, dated Gravesend, April 17, 1629. " If any of
the salvages Ptend right of inheritance to all or any Pt of the
lands graunted in or patent, wee pray yo'r endeav'r to p'rchase
their tytle, that wee may avagde the least scruple of intrusion."

8 HISTORY OF FRANKLIN.
Still lingering about this venerable court of the governor
and his assistants, our ears catch the words of an order in
which we immediately feel an interest. The session is at New-
towne, Sept. 2, 1635, and the order is, " that there shall be a
plantation settled about two miles above the falls of Charles
river, on the northeast side thereof, to have ground lying to it
on both sides the river, both upland and meadow, to be laid
out hereafter as the court shall direct." This must have
something to do with Franklin, for it is on one side of Charles
river. We drop into the session of next year, Sept. 8, 1636,
to read on its record : " Ordered that the plantation to be set
tled above the falls of Charles river shall have three years'
immunity from public charges as Concord had, to be accounted
from the 1st of May next (i. e. 1637) ; and the name of said
plantation is to be Deddham, to enjoy all that land on the
southerly and easterly side of Charles river not formerly
granted to any town or particular persons, and also to have
five miles square on the other side of the river." The courts
of those days followed rather than led public opinion, and we
find, back of this large grant of territory — including now
thirteen towns and parts of four others — the impulse of
twenty-two solid men, ancestors, some of them, of persons
here present.*
Our genealogical line is Franklin, Wrentham, Dedham, and
this line would be the full path of our history, starting from
Newtowne Sept. 2, 1635. We need not go back even so far
as Dedham, for others have already told its story. We will,
however, on our way to Wrentham, look in upon Dedham long
enough to form some idea of our ancestral beginnings. Rev.
John Allen, the first minister, or Michael Metcalf, the head
selectman, can tell us their story. They described their char
acter in the name they have given to their town, " Content
ment," and in this peaceable prelude to their covenant, " We,
whose names are hereunto subscribed, in the fear and rever-

* These towns, follo-wliig the compass, are Dedham, Needham, Natick in
part, Dover, Sherborne in part, Medfield, Medway, Bellingham mostly, Frank
lin, Wrentham, Norfolk, Walpole, Foxboro in part, Norwood.

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 9
ence of our Almighty God, mutually and severally promise
amongst ourselves and each other, to profess and practice one
faith according to that most perfect rule the foundation where
of is everlasting love." Happily named, Contentment.
Some of the settlers, however, especially John Dwight and
his son Timothy, John Page, and John Rogers, are not con
tented. They remember the old home town in England whence
they came, and especially their minister, Rev. John Rogers,
grandson of the proto-martyr, John ; and for love of him and
of it they change the name of Contentment to Dedham.
It is but a few minutes' walk along the short street east of
the present court-house. The ninety log-houses are nearly alike,
thatched with long grass from the meadows, each with a lad
der from the ground to the chimney, and standing near the
front edge of its twelve acres ; which are dotted with stumps
and bounded with uneven pole fences. In the rear of these
lots are the fields or pastures, called " herd walks " or '^ cow-
commons," simply cleared of timber and burnt over each
spring under the oversight of the wood-reeves. Bounding
the pastures outside is the virgin forest, filled with wolves
more than dogs and hunters can keep under ; although there
is a bounty upon their scalps, and there are regulation muskets
from three feet nine inches to four feet three inches barrel
length, and such noted marksmen as Sargent Ellis and Dea. ^
Ephraim Wilson behind them.
In one of these houses Michael Metcalf is keeping school
for the year for X20 — two-thirds part in' wheat at the town or
country rate, and the other part in corn at the said rate, to be
kept, the record says, " at the school-house, except the wether
be extreme to hinder, and then he is to attend at his own
dwelling-house. The town to have the harth laid in the
school-house forthwith, and windows made fitt, and wood for
the fire to be laid in. In the heat of the weather, if the said
Michael desire to make use of the meeting-house, he may do
so, provided the house be kept clean and the windows be made
good if broken (as if the young D wights and Fishers and

10 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
Metcalf s of that day ever threw stones !), the school to begin
the 19th of the present month (1656) and the pay quarterly."
In another house Michael Powall has, since 1646, kept a
licensed ordinary, where we may find a dinner or a bed. Near
by him, if exhausted with our toiling through the woods from
Boston, we may find something stronger — as the selectmen
petitioned in 1658 that, " in regard of their remoteness from
Boston, Left. Joshua Fisher (one of their chief men) liave
liberty to sell strong waters, to supply the necessity of such
as shall stand in need thereof in that town." Here are the
elements of a promising civilization ! Besides, there is Capt.
Eleazur Lusher " impowered to marry ; " Mr. Edward Allen,
John Kingsbury, and John Luson to " order small business
under 20 shillings ; " John Haward constable, a barrel of gun
powder, a train band and a small cannon, or drake, presented
by the colony to this now called " out towne."
But it is drawing towards 1660, and stories are afloat of a
mine of some kind of metal near certain ponds, about thirteen
miles to the westward of Dedham, which must be somewhere
in this region.
The people, alert for any increase of their hard-earned and
small incomes, talk it over when they come together " in a
lecture day," and the selectmen send out (22° 4m., 1660) four
men " to view the lands both upland and meadow near about
the ponds by George Indian's wigwam, and make report of
what they find to the selectmen in the first opportunity they
can take." Six months after, their report gives so much en
couragement that two other men are sent to compound with
the Indians for their, rights to the soil.
But great enterprises like the settlement of new towns in the
wilderness must move slowly and cautiously. For it is no
trifling afternoon project to vacate a home, though it be just
built of logs and thatch in a stump-covered lot, and to forsake
companions who have worked in the fields and sat in the rude
meeting-house, together, and to start everything anew in the
forests twenty miles of unbroken paths away. We cannot

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 11
appreciate their obstacles or their hesitancies. But we do
admire their cautious deliberations and prudent conclusions.
Although the good people of Dedham had talked together
of the meadows towards the west, where they had cut hay in
1649, and of the great ponds towards the Narragansett country,
and now especially of the mines near them, and of the report
of the men sent to explore the western wilderness more thor
oughly, still when the motion was made (27th March, 1661)
to begin a plantation and give 600 acres for its encouragement,
some objected. But the movement had begun already. Ten
men, at least, had gone to break ground in WoUomonopoag,
as this region was called. As soon as they heard of this
encouragement of the 600 acres, they claimed it as pioneers
of the projected settlement. You will recognize their names,
if not the persons: Anthony Fisher, Sargent Ellis, Robert
Ware, James Thorp, Isaac Bullard, Samuel Fisher, Samuel
Parker, John Farrington, Ralph Freeman, and Sargent Stevens.
Some of their descendants are probably here to-day.
But Dedham could not be in such haste. It had chosen a
committee to attend to three things in due order : First, " to
determine when men present themselves for entertainment
there, who are meet to be accepted ; " Second, to " proportion
to each man, thus accepted, his part in the 600 acres ; " Third,
to " order the settling of the plantation in reference to situa
tion, highways, convenient place for a meeting-house, a lot or
lots for church officers, with such other things necessary as
may hereafter be proposed." Yet this committee made com
mendable haste, for before the year 1661 closed they reported,
and the town of Dedham adopted their boundaries and plan
of a settlement. But now the cautiousness has shifted to the
side of the colonists. They have some grave problems to lay
before their townsmen before they depart into this wilderness
of WoUomonopoag. The selectmen of Dedham, therefore, call
a meeting of the proprietors of the town, 12th January, 1662,
to hear these propositions. The prospective colonists say,
through their committee, Anthony Fisher, Robert Ware,
Richard EUis, and Isaac BuUard, that they have, secured but

12 HISTORY OF FRANKLIN.
ten men, and they cannot go with so small a company —
" they are not desirous to leave the world altogether," as they
put it, but wiU go if they can " proceed in a safe way." For
their justification, be it said, it was not Indians, nor solitude,
nor hard work in a wilderness which they were afraid of, but
a jeopardy of their legal rights and privileges of citizenship.
They were not willing to enter into the wolf's den without
good assurance that responsible hands were hold of the other
end of the rope and would keep hold of it.
The town of Dedham, they knew, had at a general town
meeting already approved the setting up of a plantation at
WoUomonopoag, and had sent two men to inquire of the Indi
ans about their title. But what will the proprietors of Ded
ham do about it ? for these were two different parties. Will
they make the way safe by paying the Indians and giving the
lands to the venturing settlers ? The proprietors, and not the
town, you remember, owned the lands not already granted to
individual settlers or set apart for public use, and they, and
not the town, must sell and give the title of their 600 acres
to their hesitating colonists. I have not time now to report
tlie discussion of this grave problem in that proprietors' meet
ing of 1662. But the conclusion, at a second meeting in the
next month, 2d March, 1663, was that the proprietors could
not advise the settlement in the present circumstances, but
would satisfy for the necessary expense of those who had
broken ground at WoUomonopoag. So the project seems to
be exploded. But Timothy Dwight and Richard Ellis, the two
agents chosen two years before, in 1660, to confer with the
Indians, have, meanwhile, been busy in dealing with the wily
Wompanoags, and now, in 1662, bring to the proprietors a re
port which gives a new aspect to the problem.
Phihp has this year succeeded, through the death of his
father Masassoit and elder brother Alexander, to the headship
of the tribe of the Wampanoags, and, perhaps to collect the
means for his projected war upon the settlements, is ready to
conclude the long negotiations for his lands. By the aid of
Capt. Thomas Willett,one of the Plymouth commissioners, long

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 13
skilled in Indian tactics — afterwards the first mayor of New
York city, and whose grave lies on the banks of Bullock's Cove
in Seekonk — the Dedham agents have purchased and secured
a deed of WoUomonopoag, five miles square (six says Worthing-
ton) for £24 10s., which sum Captain Willett has advanced for
the town out of his own pocket. This money must be repaid to
the generous captain and the newly-bought land must supply
the means of payment.
The proprietors, therefore, at this same meeting of March,
1663, vote a general dividend among themselves, both of the
600 acres set apart for a settlement and of its price of £160,
one-quarter to be paid annually. This land and its cost is
to be divided according to each one's cow-common rights.
There are thirty-four shares of the 600 acres and of the £160.
These cow-common rights, so often mentioned, may require
an explanation. The territory belonged to the proprietors as
a company, in which each held shares in proportion to his
property valuation. The ratio was one common right per each
£8 of estate. The number of acres set apart for pasturage
was in proportion to the number and needs of the cattle
owned by the proprietors, five sheep being reckoned equal
to one cow, and each owned such a share of this land, or so
many cow-common rights, as one-eighth of his property valua
tion might express in units. The whole grant or township
was held by the proprietors in a similar manner, and when
five-acre, eight-acre divisions, etc., were subsequently granted
by the proprietors, each drew five, ten, or fifteen acres of the
common land, as the number of his common rights might be.
For many years the business of proprietors and of inhabitants
were transacted in common, but a colonial law in 1720 organ
ized the proprietary as a separate body from the town, and
their acts disappear from the municipal records and mostly
from our present knowledge.
Those who have already made improvements at WoUomono
poag are aUowed first to choose their lots. I count nine men,
and these were presumably the first comers to WoUomonopoag
to settle. You may recognize among them your grandfather's

14 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
grandfather : Anthony Fisher, Jr., Sargt. Richard EUis, Robert
Ware, James Thorp, Isaac Bullard, Sam'l Fisher, Sam'l Parker,
Josh. Kent, and Job Farrington. Good Franklin names, most
of them. To them are to be added Sam'l Sheers (the first
actual settler apparently), Ralph Freeman, and perhaps Daniel
Makiah. Where these men located their lots it is not possible
now accurately to determine. But the record says the first lot
was " to be where the Indians have broken up land not far from
the place intended to build a mill at," which was where the
Eagle Factory now stands.* Perhaps the remaining thirty-
three lots went southwards to the meeting-house, and thence
westward along the two present main streets of Wrentham.
It is now 1662, and the owners of the thirty-four lots enter
one after another, either iii person or by proxy, upon the occu
pation of their territory. In tlie next year, 1663, they lay out
their first highway, with the sanction of the selectmen of Ded
ham, " at the east end of their lots." Was it the road from
the present meeting-house of Wrentham towards Franklin ?
The five succeeding years are laboriously spent in taming
the native forests for fields of corn and rye, building their log-
houses, fencing in their pastures and watching the wolves. We
hear nothing from them but the echo of their axes against the
big trees until 1668, when the irrepressible Indian reappears.
It is a woman this time. What is her grievance we do not
know ; but her absence is more desirable than her presence,
and she herself thinks so, for at a town meeting in Dedham,
where their affairs are still conducted, 4th February, 1668, Sarah
herself is present with her son John and her brother George, and
requests that her little farm of ten acres among the white men
may be exchanged for a tract elsewhere. The proposal is ac
cepted, and they give her ten acres of upland in exchange,
with liberty to take fencing stuff, " near a pond about two
mUes westward from the situation of the township at WoUo-

* Such is the current interpretation; but Hon. Ezra Wilkinson, in his explo
rations of ancient deeds, has concluded that this first lot was on South street,
and that this was the first street laid out in the present Wreatbam.

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 16
monopouge." From some previous allusions to George Indian,
we suppose the ten acreS quitted by Sarah were near the Eagle
mill, and as there is no other pond "two miles westward"
than the present Uncas pond in Franklin — on whose banks
the almshouse farm now is — who knows but the Indian Sarah
and her son John and brother George were the first occupants
of our poor farm, and prophets of the Indians' coming fate !
But they are hardly removed to their new quarters when the
irrepressible Philip reappears. At least, a messenger hurriedly
comes to Dedham to say that Philip is at WoUomonopoag with
more lands which he is anxious to sell. It is doubtful to the
Dedhamites what claim further he has ; but, as he is a neigh
bor not politic to provoke in these ticklish times, Timothy
Dwight and four others are hurried off to buy up whatever
lands he may have to offer, " provided he can show that he has
any." Suspicious that the six miles square he had sold did
not cover the space between Dedham and the western line of
WoUomonopoag, as he well might be, he claims a new-moon-
shaped lot on its eastern side, including part of the present
Walpole and up to the lands of Chickatabut, sachem of the
Neponsets of Sharon, etc. This tract is also purchased, as near
as we can ascertain, for £17 8d., and is accepted by the town
of Dedham, 15th November, 1669. Before Dedham has done
with these dusky peddlers of real estate it pays out at least
£66 18s. for seven different purchg,ses within its boundaries,
and has seven different Indian deeds, which are committed to
Dea. Aldis to be kept for the town in a box. But it came to
pass in process of time that the deacon's children wanted the
box for other uses, and the deeds, like so many other now in
valuable documents, went where other like precious papers
have gone, and are going yet, for want of some vigilant interest
and care. But our fathers honestly paid the price asked by
the Indian claimants for their lands, and with somewhat better
than the traditional peck of beans, at which nearly all towns
are reported to have been bought ; so that they cannot be
justly charged with wronging the natives of their soil. These

16 HISTORY OP PEANKLIN.
farms are held by equitable purchase of the only occupants
who could justify any claim.
With the lands in their possession by grant of the General
Court and by purchase from both the natives and the proprie
tors of Dedham, nothing hinders our transferring ourselves to
the young settlement, not yet named, at WoUomonopoag.
Even while signs have been thickening along the southern
horizon, and among the Wampanoags especially, portending a
disturbance to these pioneers, they have been pushing on their
young enterprise. They adopt rules for the due management
of their plantation, among which are — that each proprietor shall
pay one shilling and sixpence per common right for the main
tenance of a minister ; that the choice of a minister shall be
long to the inhabitants with the concurrence of the Dedham
proprietors who can be easily consulted, and especially of the
Dedham minister. Rev. John AUin, the ruling Elder, John
Hunting, Eleazer Lusher, the head man in civil affairs ; and
that a tax of two shillings per common right be paid towards
a convenient meeting-house, of wliich John Thurston, Robert
Ware, and Sargent Fuller are to be the building committee.
The ministerial candidate seems to have been already selected,
for within twenty-five days, 27th December, 1669, Mr. Samuel
Man is invited and the choice approved by the Dedham ad
visers. But the hindrances to his acceptance are many, and
time slips along for three years and more, so filled with other
most urgent business, not the least of which is watching the
Wampanoags, before the full arrangements are completed. Mr.
Man's answer, in the 11th month of 1672, that he accepts
their propositions " in case they be performed within the space
of a year and a half," hints at some dilatoriness possible on
the part of the settlers. But they are hurrying as fast, no
doubt, as those rugged times wUl permit. Anxious, may be,
to secure this young Harvard graduate, within a year after Ins
call, a petition for incorporation as a town is presented to the
General Court, and is, with astonishing promptness, granted
on the same day, 16th October, 1673 ; and that too, when, on

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 17
Rev. Mr. Bean's testimony, there are only sixteen families in
the settlement.*
But while these few families are getting themselves into
coinforta1)le order, building a grist-mill, securing a blacksmith,
etc., the conspiracy of Philip is also ripening, and within thre^e
years his bands of warriors dash upon the frontier towns all
along the line from Swansey to Hadley. At first their ravages
are at the south and along the Connecticut valley. But the
smoke of their presence draws nearer and nearer. Hardly
have the flames died down in Lancaster before the sky over
Medfield is thick with smoke. Wrentham lies next in their
path, and only ten days, from the 10th to the 21st of February,
1675, 0. S., between the btirning of Lancaster and Medfield !
In a week the Indians will be here. Speedily are the goods
packed and sent with the wives and children back to Dedham,
and by 30th March the deserted houses are left to their fate.
A band of the Narragansetts, returning from Medfield, set fire
to the empty dwellings and burn, tradition says, all but two.
It was a vengeful act, perhaps in response to an unexpected
encounter which they had met with at Indian Rock, less than
five hundred rods from this spot.
The traditions of this encounter vary, but the essential' facts
are that a man named Rocket, in search of a horse lost in the
woods, found instead a trail of forty-two Indians, which he
cautiously followed until night, when he saw them fairly laid
down to sleep. He hastened back to the settlement, mustered
a dozen resolute men under Capt. Robert (?) Ware, and before
daylight the little band was posted within eyesight of the
sleeping savages and ready to salute them as soon as they
awaked. It was a sharp and anxious watch, for the Indians
were more than two to one of the Wrenthamites. Between
daylight and sunrise the Indians arose almost together, when,
at a preconcerted signal, each waiting musket sent its bullet
to its mark. The suddenness of the attack so confused the

*But the records of the General Court show the incorporation to have been
consummated upon the 171h. See records, Vol. iv., pt. "•, V- 569.
2

18 HISTORY OF PEANKLIN.
Indians who escaped the first shot that they rushed and leaped
down a steep precipice of the rock ; where they, maimed and
lamed by the fall, became speedily victims to the quick and
steady aim of the whites. One or two only escaped 1!b tell the
fate of their comrades. Rocket is said to have received an
annual pension from the General Court for his prompt and
skillful action.
In 1823, the Fourth of July was celebrated on Indian Rock,
by an oration from Dr. John G. Metcalf, a dinner, etc., when
earnest talk was had of some commemorative monument on
the spot, But a visit there a few days ago showed me only the
names of the originators of that celebration deeply engraven
in the rock and distinctly legible after over fifty years of frosts
and storms : " W. Levering, D. C. Fisher, H. N. Gridley, J. G.
Metcalf, W. B. Wright." These are flanked here and there
by half a score of initials of later dates. But Indian Rock still
lifts itself its own monument, solitary as ever, above the trees,
and gives the visitor one of the finest views, from the Milton
Hills to Wachusett, which this town affords. Pity that the
path which once led to it were not again made passable, for
few jaunts would be more pleasurable and so near the village.
Biit we must hasten after the departed colonists. Many are
the meetings and discussions held upon the question of return,
pivoting mostly upon the number willing to go back with them,
and especially upon the company of their young minister, Mr.
Man, not yet settled over them. Meanwhile they keep up
their organization and choose their officers annually whUe
these questions are settUng. The spirit in which they dis
cussed the position of their affairs finds illustration in their
answer to the vote of the proprietors that they rebuild again^
It is dated 8th January, 1677 : —
We whose names are beneath subscribed having formerly
had our recidance in WoUomonopouge but by thos sad and
soUame dispensations of God's providences were Removed,
yet desire a Work for the Honnour of God and the Good and
comfort of ourselves and ours might be again Ingaged and
Promotted att that place : Therefore our purpose is to returne

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 19
thither God willing — But knowing our owne Inability for so
Great and Waytie a worke, both in Respecte of our Insuffi
ciency for the carrying on of new plantation worke, and the
dangers that may yett be reanewed upon us by the heathen
breaking out on us ; thinke it not safe for us to returne alone
except other of the proprietors joyne to Go up along with us
or Send Inhabitants to ingage in that worke with us.
Subscribed by
Elezeare Metcalf, William Macknah, Samuel Man,
Daniels Hawes, Elizear Gay, Cornelius Fisher,
Daniels Wight, John Payne, Joseph Kingsbury,
Robert Ware, Benjamin Eockett, John Ware,
John Aldis, Nath Ware, Michell Willson, -
Samuel Fisher, James Mossman, Samuelle Sheers.
As a result of this vote we find them returned to Wrent
ham and so far re-established as to hold a general meeting
in their rebuilt meeting-house in 1685, at which date a lot of
from twenty to twenty-five acres is granted for a school, and
leave is given to several persons to put in a gallery into the
ineeting-house. We infer that the children have grown somewhat large
and saucy, too, from living in Dedham, for two men had al
ready, in 1684, been chosen to keep the boys from playing on
the Sabbath " in time of exercise." They send also a peti
tion to the General Court for permission to choose their own
selectmen, like other towns, and to manage their own affairs
without consulting the court's committee — the latter, they
say, being now difficult to get at, and besides, in their plain
language, crazy and infirm in body. This petition is granted,
.and also a committee is ordered to lay a road between Wrent
ham and Medfield. This road is that now crossing Charles
river at Rockville in East Medway, and along which road the
Medfield people spread themselves into Franklin and became
the earliest settlers of its territory.
But there is not time now to tell the several steps by which
the little child in this wilderness of WoUomonopoag gradu
ally learned to walk. How John Woodcock had a bit of land
given him close to the yet unplastered and unshingled meet
ing-house to put up a small refreshment-house for Sabbath

20 HISTORY OF PEANKLIN.
day; how two watchmen, according to the colonial law,.
walk every night each half a mile east and west from the
meeting-liouse to challenge stragglers and bring them before
the magistrate next morning for explanation ; of the watch-
house to be buUt in 1695, or of the school-house, " so big as
y' y* may be a room of sixteen feet square beside convenient
room, for a chimney, where the selectmen will keep school in
turn per week, to teach children and youtli to read English
and wright and cypher gratis, and begin, God wiUing, next
Monday ; " how town meetings are called to be held at 6
o'clock in the morning, and that, too, in March ; arid how
Dorchester people, i. e. Foxboro, are by vote allowed to at
tend meeting, if they will " pay like the rest."
But the ministerial history claims a paragraph, for the
Christian life of our ancestry was an element in it for more
than fifty years.
Although WoUomonopoag was incorporated 17th October^
1673, as the town of Wrentham, so named from the old town
in England whence some of the families came, and although
Samuel Man had been called the year before, yet for the
troublous times and divers hindrances, a church had not been
gathered nor Mr. Man settled until April 13, 1692, when ten
members, including the minister, were covenanted together.*
Mr. Man was son of William and Mary (larsard) Man,.
of Cambridge, born 6th July, 1647 ; H. U. 1665, married
Esther Ware, of Dedham, May 17, 1693, by whom he had
seven sons and four daughters, and died May 22, 1719, in the
forty-nintli year of his ministry.
Within seven months Rev. Henry Messenger was settled,
Dec. 5, 1719. Two years after, in 1721, a new and larger
house replaced the first sanctuary, to which the fathers of
this town resorted until their separation in 1737 into a dis
tinct precinct for religious purposes."

* They were Samuel Man (master elect), John Ware, John Guild, Benjamin
Kockwood, Thomas Thurston, John Fairbank, John Fales, Eleazer Metcalf,
Ephraim Pond, Samuel Fisher (first deacon).

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 21
Mr. Messenger was born in Boston, 28th February, 1695,
graduated at Harvard College 1719, and married 5th Janu
ary, 1720, Esther, daughter of Israel and Bridget Cheever,
of Cambridge. He had seven sons and five daughters, four
of whom became the wives of ministers. He was the second
son of Thomas and Elizabeth Messenger, and grandson of
Henry and Sarah Messenger from England, in 1640. He
¦died 30th March, 1750, ih the thirty-second year of his min
istry. The town meanwhile has increased so steadily that in 1718
it is divided into four districts, and a school is kept three
months in each, under a committee of three for each part —
north, east, south and west, and in ten years thereafter the
old school-house with its chimney is voted to be sold at auc
tion. In 1719 thirteen Wrentham families are set off by the
General Court to Bellingham, which begets a protest an(^
lawsuit over the town line. It begets, also, another move
ment of greater interest to us. For the overflow from
Boggestow, or Medfield, across the Charles river has been
moving on until nineteen families — " who live remote from
the Public Worship and caniiot attend on the same without
difficulties and hardships," petition that a separate account
may be kept of what every person pays towards the new
meeting-house in Wrentham proper, so that it may be repaid
to them whenever they shall be set off into a precinct or
parish, for building a meeting-house for themselves. With
this petition granted, March 13, 1720, 0. S., as an anchor to
the windward, shrewdly dropped when a new minister and
untested is being settled, the western side of the town quietly
wait and watch for five years longer. But, that this anchor
may not drag for want of holding ground, they secure a grant
of sixty acres to be laid out of the common lands in two par
cels, " in the most convenient place for these people." Some
of the less patient spirits — John Pond and twelve others —
getting uneasy, petition in 1725 to be set off to Medway.
Wrentham shakes itS head. Whereupon Capt. Robert Pond
and twenty others ask that a new precinct next to Belling-

22 HISTORY OF PRANKLIN.
ham and Charles river, six and a half miles by four and a
half, may be erected. This, too, is refused ; but there is evi
dently some propriety in the request, for the town, at its next
meeting, Sept. 21, 1725, choose a " committee to give in rea
sons why the petition of the west part to be set off should not
be granted." In 1728, John Pond, Jr., and thirteen others
reurge his father's request to go to Medway. It will not be
aUowed yet, and there is quiet waiting again for six years
more. ' In 1734, the westerly side moves in another direction.
It asks, modestly, if a town's committee^may not come and
" state the place for the building of the meeting-house where
the petitioners have agreed for the building of said meeting
house, being about seventy-three rods southwest from the
house of Michal Willson ? " Nay ! Then they ask. Will the
town build a meeting-house there, and finish it at the town's
cost? Nay! much louder. WeU, then, will the town pro
vide the west side with preaching four months in the winter
season this present year ? Thinking of the long rides " of
seven, eight, and nine miles," from River End and the City
Mills in the New England snows for their western brethren,
the town does give a reluctant yes, and " the selectmen agree
with Mr. Jacob Bacon to preach four months in the westerly
part of the town, to begin the second Sabbath in December,
and also to keep school three months from the 1st of January.
for £42" — £34 for the preaching, and £8 for the school.*
A similar arrangement for the next winter's preaching of
1735-6 is made with Mr. Hezekiah Man.f

* Mr. Bacon was the son of Thomas, grandson of John, and great-grandson
of Michal of Dedham, 1640, who came from Irel and wi ch a wife' and four chil
dren, and died 1648. Jacob was born in Wrentham 9th September, 1706, gradu
ated at Cambridge, 1731, and settled first minister in Keene, N. H., 18th Octo-
her, 1738; dismissed in April, 1747, when the settlement was broken up by the
Indians, and again settled over the third church, Plymouth, Mass., in 1749, and
dismissed in 1776. He preached a year and a half in Carver, and then removed
to Rowley, where he died, June, 1787, in his eighty-first year.
t Mr. Man was bom 27th October, 1707, son of William, grandson of Kev.
Samuel Man, the first minister of Wrentham. He graduated at Cambridge,
1731, in the same class with Mr. Bacon, and died before ordination, in 1739.

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 23
Still this compromise of a third part of a minister does not
satisfy the west side. Perhaps a politic move may quiet it
and, 11th March, 1735, the town vigorously sets off to Med
way the still persistent John Pond, Jr., and his uneasy neigh
bors, Thomas Bacon, Jr., Samuel Pond, Richard Puffer,
Joseph Ellis, Peter Adams, Samuel Fisher, and James Ellis, Jr.
But the remnant, resolute as ever, next year, in May, 1736,
renew their petition for a separation ; to be again refused.
The town, in August, declined even to give reasons to the
General Court for their negative. Nor will they, in September,
remit the west side from their ministerial taxes. But in
December they are willing to argue the question by a com
mittee before the General Court, to which the west side have
already applied in June, 1736, for a parish, or precinct charter,
through Capt. Robert Pond, Eleazer Metcalf, and forty-six
others. Sucli a growing list of names brings matters to a crisis.
The General Court sends out a committee to view the premises,
who approve of the separation in general, but refer the way
and manner thereof to the agreement pf the two sections in
terested. The town is to answer the petition at the next
court session, and, therefore, a general meeting is called for
Aug. 29, 1737, at which, after sundry complimentary where
ases, a consent is voted ; with the condition, however, that
they move the dividing line " half a mile and forty rods " (so
exact were they) further westwards. In due course of legis
lative action, the end is reached by the signature of Governor
Belcher, Dec. 23, 1737, and the second precinct of Wrentham
assumes legal existence.
Like a cutting from the parent bulb, this dependency grows,
in forty years, into the town of Franklin.
The process by which the town thus severed its northern
half into a precinct may not be uninteresting. The record

Whereas, Capt. Robert Pond, Eleazer Metcalf and forty-
six others inhabitants of the western part of Wrentham pre
ferred a petition to the great and General Court in June A. D.
1736 setting forth that they have preferred a petition (as

24 HISTORY OP PEANKLIN.
above) praying that they may either be set off a separate
township by the bounds following (the present town bounda
ries nearly); and whereas the Honorable Committee appointed
by the General Court in last December, were ordered to re
pair to the westerly part of Wrentham and view the situation
of the same and consider the circumstances of the petitioners
and hear the parties concerned, did not report in favor of the.
prayer of the petitioners but were of oppinion that they should
be relieved from under their hardships and difficulties they
complain of in another way and manner than they prayed for
in their petition Unless the inhabitants of the town of Wrent
ham should agree upon a method among themselves for the
relief of their Westerly inhabitants and report the same to
the General Court at such time as said Court should appoint
therefor ; and whereas, the inhabitants of this town are this
day assembled in a public town meeting appointed by the
selectmen agreeable to the order of the General Court to know
the mind of the town by a vote, what method they will agree
upon to accommodate the Westerly inhabitants who preferred
a petition to the said Court in June, 1736, setting forth the
great difficulties, etc., the consideration whereof being recom
mended to this town by the said Court ; — And although it
doth not appear to this town by any petition to the Court or
town from the said petitioners that they desire any relief from
their difficulties and hardships in any other way or manner
than their being set off a separate township, which the town
has denied them and given in their reasons to the General
Court, yet notwithstanding the inhabitants being desirous it
may appear that they are willing to come into some method
agreeable to reason and justice, and as far as they are able
under their present poor circumstances to accommodate the
said petitioners and relieve them under the hardships and dif
ficulties they complain of in their petition, although no proper
steps be taken by the said petitioners on application made to
the town therefor ; and whereas the Court ordered the Com
mittee's report to the first Tuesday of next faU sessions that
so the town of Wrentham may have opportunity to accommo
date the matter among themselves : —
Wherefore voted that it is the mind of the town that all
the said petitioners witii their estates, that are. of that mind
and all such other inhabitants of this town with their estates
as shaU join witii them living and lying within the bounds and
limits following, viz. : four miles upon the Charles river from
the North end of the line between Wrentham and BeUingham,

HISTOEICAL ADDRESS.

25

and at the end of the said four miles to run a straight line to
the middle of the length of the line between Wrentham and
Attleboro for their East bounds, and half the length of the
line between Wrentham and Attleboro to be their South bounds ;
the line between Wrentham and Bellingham to be ,their West
bounds^ ; and Charles river to be their North bounds ; be a
separafe Parish by themselves, and that they have leave to call
and settle a minister among themselves and be discharged
from paying any ministerial charges to the support of the
ministry in the other part of the town so long as they main
tain preaching among themselves.
Secondly, Or that all the petitioners within the bounds
petitioned for by the said petitioners be a separate parish, etc.,
provided their Easterly bounds mentioned in their petition be
set half a mile and 40 rods further westward nearer the line
between Wrentham and Bellingham.

The petitioners thus set off were —

Eleazer Fisher,
Simon Slocum,
James New,
Uriah Wilson,
Edward Hall,
Nathl. Fisher,
Saml. Partridge,
Daniel Maccane,
Baruch Pond,
Nathl. Fairbanks,
Jonathan Wright,
Benjamin Rockwood,
John Richardson,
Job Partridge,
Thomas Rockwood,
Robert Blake,

Jr.,

John Fisher,
David Lawrence,
Eleazer Ware,
Eleazer Metcalf, Jr.,
Ebenezer Lawrence,
Michael Metcalf,
Ebenezer Hunting,
Daniel Haws,
Edward Gay,
Ichabod Pond,
Nathl. Haws,
David Jones,
Leneard Fisher,
Ebenr. Clark,
David Lawrence,
David Darling.

Jr.,

John Adams,
David Pond,
John Failes,
Saml. Morse,
Daniel Thurston,
Michael Wilson,
Ezra Pond,
Saml. Metcalf,
Ebenr. Sheckel worth,
Ebenr. Partridge,
Thomas Man, Sen.,
John Smitli,
Robert Pond,
Eleazer Metcalf,
Josiah Haws,
Joseph Whitng,
Total, 48.
The first warrant to organize the new precinct is issued by
Jonathan Ware, Justice of the Peace, and is addressed to
Robert Pond, Daniel Haws, David Jones, Daniel Tliurston,
and John Adams, five of the freeholders. They are called
to meet " at the house the inhabitants usually meet in for
public worship " on the 16th of January, 1737-8, at 12
o'clock. When they came together they found everything to
be done anew. No church, no minister, no meeting-house !
They chose the necessary officers and adjourned four days for
meditation. At the next meeting they go resolutely at their
work. They vote £80 for preaching, and a committee to

26 HISTORY OF FRANKLIN.
secure it; another committee to provide materials for a
meeting-house in place of the smaU building heretofore pro
vided and used, to be forty feet long, thirty-one feet wide and
twenty feet posts, towards which each may contribute his
proportion ; and especially sent a request to Wrentham for
that money previously paid towards its meeting-house, and
which they had sagaciously, by a vote ten years before, se
cured to be repaid to them whenever they should need it for
a like use. It amounted to £130 lis. The request was at
first refused, but four months after granted.
Meanwhile the steps for a church existence are going on.
Some twenty brethren having secured letters from the mother
church, the 16th of February, 1738, is kept " as a day of
solemn fasting and prayer — to implore the blessing of God
and His direction in the settling of a church and in order to
the calling and- settUng of a gospel minister in said place."
And there, in a large assembly the covenant is read and ac
cepted, and Rev. Mr. Baxter of Medfield, moderator, pro
nounces them a duly organized church of our Lord Jesus
Christ." * Two other ministers are present, doubtless Mr.
Messenger of Wrentham ; and Mr. Bucknam of Medway, as
being both fraternally interested in the new church. These
three ministers being questioned then and there by a com
mittee of the church, cordially commend Mr. Elias Haven,
who has for a considerable time preached in the precinct,
" as in some good measure qualified for the gospel ministry."
The parish proceed immediately (March 23d) to choose Mr.
Haven as their minister; which they do unanimously,, " sixty-
one yeas and not one scattering vote," with a salary of six
score pounds annually by the 1st of March, old tenor, and
" to rise and fall as the credit of money rises and falls from
what it is this day," also with a glebe of sixty acres and
£60 with it, or, if he prefer, £200 instead, for a settlement.
The church at the same time agrees and formally extends a
call on the 25tli of August following.
* For a copy of this covenant, see the Manual of the First Congregational
Church of Franklin.

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 27
On Nov. 8, 1738, a council gathers for the installation.
The churches invited are in Hopkinton, Wrentham, Medfield,
Leicester, Uxbridge, and the old and new north churches in
Boston. The audience assembles near the public meeting
house — not yet finished — and before the sun sets Rev.
Elias Haven has become the first pastor of this new church.
After nearly sixteen years of labor, often interrupted for
months by sickness, he finally closed his painful and long
wrestle with consumption Aug. 10, 1754, at forty years of
age, and now rests in the old cemetery, where a still remem
bering town, by vote Nov. 2, 1795, forty years after his death,
ordered gravestones to be set up, " the bigness of the stones
with the inscription thereon to be left discretionary with a
special committee." * The stones still stand, large and thick
slate, and may be legible for another century. This long
interval of forty years since Mr. Haven's death does not im
ply that his grave had been all the while left without a monu
ment. But the burial-lot had received several fits of atten
tion, clearings, fencings, etc., and a late revision of it may
have suggested that their first pastor had not been honored
with sufficient distinction.
Next to the pastor in a town is the meeting-house where
his motive power is applied to the community. We must not,
in our hasty ramble through the century, pass by the first
meeting-house of Franklin. The building of its meeting
house is always a great event in a town, and an occasion of
original projects, of vigorous debates and shrewd financier
ing. The- first topic of discussion is a site. In 1734, the
precinct had so far proceeded as to ask Wrentham to come
over and look at the place they have pitched upon among
themselves for a meeting-house " about seventy-three rods
southwest from the house of Michael Willson." He lived
where the old house once occupied by William Phipps stands.
They had a committee in 1737 to secure materials, and Mr.
Thomas Man liad offered to give an acre of land to set the
house on. They are now getting in a hurry, for the preacher
* See Ecclesiastical History, Addenda.

28 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
has been selected, and how can he preach without an audience-
room !
It is the 7th of April, 1738. Five men are sent into a cor
ner " to Debate and Consider and Perfix upon a place for
Bouilding a Meeting House on and Bring it to the Precinct
in one hour." Meanwhile, the rest spend that hour in vot
ing and unvoting, until they reach an apparent finality, to set
the house " at the most convenientest place on that acre of
Land That was laid out By Thomas Man for the use of the
West Inhabitants in said Precinct." But who shall decide
where this " most convenientest place " is ? Mr. Plimpton,
" survair " of Medfield, is selected to bring his iinplements tp
bear on the solution ; who reports for the west corner of Man's
lot, " as near as they conveniently can." Bat next year,
May 9, 1739, a new question arises, whether this be in the .
exact center of the precinct, and a new surveyor is called to
this problem. He and his two chainmen are put under oath
to honestly survey the ground where the meeting-house must
shortly lie.
May 23 he reports in writing as foUows : —
To the Inhabitants of Wrentham Westerly Precinct,
Gent' : These may Inform you that I the Subscriber Have
Been and Measured to find the Center of s* Precinct, Mess'.
Decon Barber and Benj. Rockwood being chainmen, and ac
cording to what we find by Measuring on the Ground from
the Northerly End to tiie Southerly End, and from the West
erly Side to the Easterly Side of the Same I find the Center
of s Measuring to be South westerly from the Present Meet
ing house a little Beter then an Hundred Rods, where we
Pitched a Stake and Made an heap of Stones.
Eleazer Fisher, Surveyor.
He was of Dedham, the chainmen were of Medway.
This central pivot of the whole parish having been scien
tifically determined, which is said to have been in the middle
of Darius Morse's mud-pond, at a cost of £11 2s., they order
the committee to " hire workmen instantly, and raise, cover,
inclose, and glaze the meeting-house, lay the lower floor and
cover with boards and shingles," and vote £200 towards the

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 29
cost. This summer of 1739 sees the barn-like building arise,
and in September another committee are putting in the seats
according to the timber provided, and " one lock and key,
and bolts and latches for the doors and cants " for the gallery
stairs, and also foundation for the pulpit and tlie pulpit stairs,
and rails round the galleries and make five " pillows," — a
small number for a modern audience. The bills, presented 3d
March, 1740, show that the committees had been reasonably
expeditious. The final cost was £338 13s. 6d., as reported
in October, 1741. The boys, too, were promptly at worlv, for
in July, 1740, Captain Fairbanks is directed to get the win
dows mended and to prosecute the depredators.
Pari passu with the meeting-house arose the horse houses,
whose long strings of successors afterwards made the Frank
lin Common so famous. They were all planted and grew on
Thomas Man's acre. Among them were Ricliard Puffer's
" small diner house," and Isaac Heton and Dr. Jones had a
" small noon house."
With the sanctuary finished — with a pew on each side of
the pulpit, a deacon's seat in front and long benches filling
the rest of the house — next comes the ticklish question of
seating the audience. Gravely a special committee count
the years and measure the tax-bills of the fathers, and so as
sign their places " according to age and estate," as they
were instructed. Some wish to build pews at their own ex
pense, but tlie precinct resolutely refuses assent. The place
and not the kind of seat is sufficient graduation ; for the
straight bench is the throne of democracy.
Of this oldest real meeting-house no sketch, or picture, or
ideal survives, save that I remember to have seen some of its
windows in an old house. The sashes were two feet square,
with five-inch panes of glass set diagonally in lead, as the fash
ion then was. The meeting-house stood on tlie slight hill
north of the present Catholic church, in a surrounding girth
of pitch pines. It was guarded by platoons of horse-sheds
and small dinner-houses, where the forefathers of the hamlet

30 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN. •
shared their lunch and the mothers nursed their infants in
the hour's intermission of the Sabbath noons.
This house was subjected to occasional modifications as
the congregation increased and the taste changed. The ob
jection to pews yielded gradually. In 1755, Capt. John
Goldsbury is aUowed " to build a small pew joining to the
pew left of the pulpit, at his own charge," and it is liked so
well that in March following they vote to alter the meeting
house generally, building seats along the front of the galle
ries, convenient for men to sit on, and also hind seats in the
galleries. The seats under the galleries are converted into
pew-lots, and " such men as it may fall to by lot in order of
age and estate may build there if they will, provided if they
leave town the pew shall revert to the precinct." The meet
ing-house, however, is gradually aging in spite of repairs and
frequent mendings of broken windows. But Michael Willson,
the first sexton, keeps it as tidily as he can until Uriah Will-
son (his son) takes the broom, with occasional respite from
Joshua Daniels, Jonathan Archer, and Elisha Partridge, un
til the ancient sanctuary is left to sleep undisturbed in its
dust on its little hill. For the precinct, getting ready now
to emerge into a township, begins to plan about the freedom-
suit of a new meeting-house to wear on assuming its coming
dignity of a town.
But before we quite leave the old sanctuary, we must step
within long enough to listen to what was called the old way
of singing. We take up one of the few books — an " Old
Bay Psalm book," whith has been used since 1640 in all the
churches in the colony. The eight tunes at the end are from
Ravenscroft's collection of 1618. The chorister starts the
tune with his pitch pipe. The congregation follow, each in
his own fashion and at his own pace, according to the old
style iu which his grandmother sang the tune in Wrentham
or Dedham half a century ago. AU sing the same part with
an energy begotten of facing northeasters and felling forest ¦
trees alid driving strings of oxen among their stumps. No
two persons sing alike, and the singing consequently sounds,

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 31
as Rev. Thomas Walter said, " like five hundred different
tunes roared out at the same time."* In one sense it is like
the voice of many waters, and this is called the old way of
singing. It had already become a grievance to the ministers who
wished to. make melody in their hearts unto the Lord, and
strenuous efforts had been begun to bring the people back to
some harmony of voice, as well as of sentiment. Hence we
appreciate this emphatic vote of the precinct June 26, 1738,
immediately after the gathering of the young church, viz. : —
" To sing no other tunes than are Pricked Down in our for
mer Psalm Books which were Printed between Thirty and
forty years A.goe, and To Sing Them as They are Prickt
down in them as Near as they can." This was a Precinct
blow at the old way of singing. The older people remon
strated; but the Precinct refused, in September, "to ease
those that were inclined to sing the old way." The church,
March 8, 1738-9, voted not to sing in the old way, but by
rule, i. e.,. according to note ; and they chose Joseph Whiting
to set the tune in the church. This action of the church, so
curiously put in the negative form, has a key to its signifi
cance in a solemn query raised, the record says, " toward the
close" of the meeting. As it proved the seed of a large and
slow harvest it claims mention. The query is, "to see what
notice the church will take of one of the brethren's striking
into a pitch of the "tune unusually raised February 18th."
After considerable consultation, the record says, and there
well might be, for it was like the spot of Paul's shipwreck,
the place where two seas met, it was voted : —
Whereas, our brother David Pond, as several of our
bretliren, viz. : David Jones, Ebenezer Hunting, Benjamin
Rockwood, Jr., Aaron Haws, and Michael Metcalf apprehend,
struck into a pitch of the tune on February 18th, in the pub
lic worship in the forenoon, raised above what was set ; after
most of the congregation, as is thought, kept the pitch for
three lines, and after our pastor had desired them that had
* Hood's History of Music in N. E., p. 84.

»
32 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
raised it to fall to the pitch that was set to be suitable,
decent, or to that purpose; the question was put, whether
the church apprehends tiiis our brother David Pond's so do
ing to be disorderly ; and it passed in the affirmative, and
David Pond is suspended untU satisfaction is given.
But David Pond was frozen over by this cooling of his
high musical ardor, nor would he be thawed into any melting
confession. Though the church sent the tender of a refer
ence, he would not meet them. They invite him to a special
prayer meeting, but he will not bend. They vote a solemn
admonition. He proposes a council ; that declined he calls
an ex-parte council, which is not acknowledged. Then he
goes into the second church in Medway, which asks questions
about his case and gets a distinct letter in reply, which is
followed by a second and more emphatic about harboring
malcontents, and a third, too, with replies from Medway —
all unsatisfactory. At last, in Septembci-, 1751, over thir
teen years after that high pitching of the tune, the warmth
of a continuous interest melts the icy barriers, and this Pond
flows forth in a confession (12th January, 1751-2) and the
Medway church joins in sundry acknowledgments (14th
February, 1752), and thus the discord is brought down to
concert pitch again and the hymn flows on.
But those longings for singing the old way were not con
fined to one sturdy pro-advocate. The battlefield was staked
out at once (May 18, 1739) by a vote of the church, " that
the man that tunes the Psalm in the congregation be limited
till further direction to some particular tunes, and the tunes
limited are Canterbury, London, Windsor, St. David's, Cam
bridge, Short lOOtii and 148th Psalm tunes, and Benjamin
Rockwood, Jr., to tune the Psalm." A movement, 30th of
January, 17-15, to enlarge this musical area was promptly re
pelled. They will have only a moderate new way, even
though when Benjamin Rockwood cannot sing for the fail
ure of his voice, and they choose Jabez Fisher in his place,
he declines because the catalogue of tunes is too short for
him to enter among tiiem. But this refusal begets thought ;

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 33
and four years' practice has so worn out the eight permitted
notes that (April 5,1749) the church takes off the limitation.
They also dismiss Joseph Whiting as chorister and put his
pitch-pipe into the mouth of Barnabas Metcalf. With an un
limited range for tunes, the hymn now goes along like a flow
ing brook, and — " Chatters over stony ways
In little sharps and trebles"
— for aught I know until this day.
Meanwhile botli church and precinct have another anxious
care on hand. Their pastor's health has been failing, and
with tender helpfulness they have eased' his waning strength
of pulpit labors by generous contributions, until his decease
in 1744.* Now comes that most trying experience of hearing
candidates to select a successor. For the modern expedient
of a make-believe, acting pastor has not occurred to them,
and they sit patiently down to hear and scrutinize whomever
the precinct may bring before them. In succession come
Aaron Putnam, Jason Haven, Stephen Holmes, Thomas
Brooks, Mr. Norton, Joseph Manning whom they ask to stay,
but he declines ; Messrs. Parsons, Goodhue, Phillips Payson,
who declines their call ; Jesse Root, Nathan Holt, who will
not tarry though invited ; John Eals, Mr. Gregory, and Caleb
Barnam. He, the fourteenth, is besought by 102 votes to
bring their uncertainty to an end, and £133 settlement and
£70 salary are laid before him as a temptation. After some
months of deliberation he accepts, and, June 4, 1760, the
second minister of this precinct is settled by tbe elders and
messengers of the churches in Dan bury, Ct., the two in
Medway, in Attleboro, Wrentham, Walpole, two in Mendon
and Upton.
The exercises were : Introductory prayer by Rev. A. Frost,
df Second Church, Mendon (now Milford) ; sermon, by Rev.
Phillips Payson, of Walpole ; installing prayer by Rev. Nathan
Bucknam, of First Church, Medway ;. charge by Rev. Josepli
*'For further notice of Kev. Mr, Haven see Ecclesiastical History.
3

34 •- HISTORY OP FRANKLIN.
Dorr, of Mendon ; right hand of fellowship by Rev. Joseph
Bean, of Wrentham.
The church had voted " to conduct themselves agreeable
to the sentiments and advice of the Convention of Ministers
of this Province in a paper printed June, 1759, for the
Reformation of Disorders on the Days of Ordination of Min
isters." Mr. Barnam's pastorate lasted less than eight years. He
was dismissed March 6, 1768, and was resettled in Taunton,
whence he went as chaplain into the Continental army and
died of the camp disease at Pittsfield, Aug. 23, 1776. But
his brief pastorate in Franklin was full of incidents, debates
and differences — not the least among them being the war of
the hymn books.
Tliis may have arisen with the subsidence of the pastoral
problem. But come it did even before the ordination, iu the
guise of two church votes April 15, 1760, first to sing Dr.
Watts' version of the psalms, and second, " the pastor may not
refuse to lead the church to vote as above mentioned." There
is to be no, Connecticut Consociationism in this church ; and to
settle it they vote, " when any member wants to bring up a
business which the pastor thinks improper, if he cannot satisfy
the person, he shall bring it to the church, and they shall
decide whether to appoint a hearing." Such a vote indicates
that the sides are forming for a fight over the new hymn
book. As nearly as we can read the banners in the smoke of
the conflict, tliere are three parties in the field — Old Bay
psalm book, Tate and Brady's version, and Dr. Watt's ver
sion. Between them the conflict wavers with varying sign.
Dec. 10, 1761, the church vote to " sing Tate and Brady's ver
sion, together with the hymns bound iu the same volume, till
1st of March 'next." (This was the new edition of 1741).
April 28, this time is prolonged indefinitely. But on the 21st
of June comes this volley from the parish : —
Voted, that the parish make use of that version of the
psalms in their public worship on the Lord's day and at other

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 35
times as occasion shall require (no surreptitious uses), which
was made use of in this place, before the Rev. Mr. Barnam
had his invitation to settle with this people ; commonly called
the old version of the psalms composed for the use and ben
efit of the congregations of New England.
The clerk is instructed to wait upon Mr. Barnam with this
vote, desiring that he will adhere to and conform with it.
Nine days after, June 30, the church replies by a vote to give
the parish the choice of Watts, Tate and Brady, or a council.
September 6, the parish refuses either. Nov. 28, 1763, about a
year after this refusal, the church sends, as a flag of truce,
the acceptance of a council to sit on this edge of dispute, com
posed of the Medway first, Wrentham and Mendon second
churches, if the parish will pay the expenses ; which the par
ish accepts December 26, with this sharp definition of the
points in arbitration — whether to sing Dr. Watts' version of
the psalms, or Tate and Brady's version, together with the
hymns bound with them. The Old Bay psalm book appears to
have withdrawn, disabled, from the field. April 17, 1764,
the council meets, in which the two churches in Medway, in
Walpole, Sutton, Wrentham and Milford are represented by
six pastors and ten delegates ; which council after sharp re
proofs to each side, advises them to sing the version of Dr.
Watts in part, together with our New England version in
part. Thus the hymn books are relegated to the arena to en
dure the working of the law of " the survival of the fittest."
The church muses upon this result from April until No
vember, and then asks the council to come together again and
explain their meaning. They re-meet in June, expound, and
the church accepts the exposition on the 4th of July, 1765;
by a vote of forty-eight to fifteen, just eleven years before
the Declaration of our National Independence. Some of the
parish, still in the fog, try to revive the issue in their meet
ing of January next, but the parish will not open it ; and, so
far as appears, it has remained practically shut unto the pres
ent day. Dr. Watts having had the field for nearly ninety

36 HISTORY OP. PRANKLIN.
years, until the Puritan hymn book, born in Mendon Asso
ciation, crowded him onto the shelf of antiques.
We are now, in our hasty trip down the past, coming into
the outer edge of the storm-cloud of the Revolution. Rest
lessness is everywhere — in church and in state, in town and
in country. This western precinct is full of uneasiness and
debate, to which we cannot stop to listen. But the people
are not disposed to neglect home interests, although the
French and Indian wars, the depopulation of Acadia and the
encroachments of the British crown appeal so earnestly to
their attention. They have not forgotten the hymn which
they learned at their mother's knee —
"Whatever brawls disturb the street
Thei-e should be peace at home;
Where sisters dwell and brothers meet
Quarrels should never come,"
and therefore they set themselves to composing their disturb
ances from the hymn book war, the complaints against the
ministry and other ecclesiastical differences which have been
developed thereby. It is a troublous time, but there are he
roic men to control it, and they set themselves down to the
difficult problem.
First of all, the empty pulpit must be filled with a pastor.
The committee present one preacher after another, some of
whom fail to meet with favor, and some are called, but -^
such is the discouraging aspect of things — decline the invi
tation. Of those so called are, Mr. Elijah Fitch, but he went
to Hopkinton ; Mr. Nathan Perkins, but he chose West Hart
ford, Ct. Disheartened by these failures, they ponder if the
meeting-house — now, in 1770, over thirty years old and too
small for the large congregation, as well . as antique in fash
ion — may not be a hindrance to their success, by indicating
aspiritual negligence. The result is that in 1772, February 3,
they detail five men " to consult upon the Conveniences and
111 Conveniences of Enlarging and Repairing their meeting
house, and to Draw a plan thereof and report."

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 87
The result is that at the meeting of the parish on March 9,
ihey vote " to Build a new meeting-house so Soon as it may
be effected with Common Prudence and tlie circumstances of
the people,," and send out five men to search for that mova
ble north pole of the congregation — " the Senter of the pre
cinct." These five failing to find it, in April fifteen men,
more sharp-eyed, perhaps, are delegated to help them.
Twenty such men as Franklin can furnish (so quick at this
¦time to detect theological differences and measure metres)
will hardly miss the precise point, though the search may take
all summer. September 7, they report the most commodious
place to be "about eighty rods southerly from . where the
meeting-house now stands, between the two roads leading
from the meeting-house to Mr. Pond's and the burying-
ground." This report is accepted, and a committee is chosen
to see on what terms the land can b'e bought and convenient
roads obtained to the new site.
While this question of a new meeting-house is thus favor
ably progressing, a small young man with a thin voice has
been bashfully essaying to fill the pulpit in the old house on
the hill. He came from Yale College in 1767, and has, since
his approbation as a minister in October, 1769, been preach
ing in New York State and in New Hampshire. He has de
clined a call to settle in Campton, N. H., and may be else
where, because he feels himself " a speckled bird " for his
positive opinions. But somehow the committee of supply
have heard of him and ask him to occupy their vacant pul
pit. He, too, has heard of thd second precinct in Wrentham',
and that it contains two very vigorous and bellicose parties.
He cannot hope, as he afterwards said, that " nobody but little
Nat Emmons " can unite them.
But the night before he reaches town, he dreams that while
riding along he sees a quail start out from the bushes on the
right side, and anon another quail venture from the left side
of the way. Thinking, What if I can catch both of them, he
creeps softly towards them^ith his three-cornered. hat in his

38 HISTORY OP FRANKLIN.
hand and claps it successfully over both.* Encouraged
by this omen, for he always preferred to see the new moon
over his right shoulder, he comes one Saturday night to
this bellicose parish, and on Sunday morning into its little
meeting-house among the pines, wondering where a con
gregation is to come from when hardly a house is in sight.
But when they gather on foot and horse-back and by carriage-
loads and fill it to overflowing, to listen so sharply and
shrewdly to his clear-cut and logical sentences, his two quails
have changed to more inspiriting and difficult game. How
ever, the little self-diffident young man so well succeeds that
on Nov. 30, 1772, the church invite him, by a vote of thirty-
two out of thirty-four present, to become their pastor ; and the
precinct,fourteendaysafter, give a hearty amen to the choice^
April 21, 1773, Nathanael Emmons is settled as third pas
tor of this people. The service was, like that of both his
predecessors, held outside the meeting-house, in a valley west
of the present Catholic church ; so that he was literally, as he
said, " ordained not over but under the people."
With the settlement of Dr. Emmons, whose ministry ex
tended down to the memory of so many of us, and of whose
character and influence as a master in theology so much has
been written, and so ably, I may, though reluctantly, omit
from this address any farther account of our ecclesiastical
history, referring you to the book to be published for its sub
sequent phases. I have presented so much of it because for
the first century of,, the country church, precinct^ and toWn
were practically identical, and their history one.
The ministerial question being settled with brightening
prospects of perni9,nency, which is really the central interest
of a New England town, we may take a hasty glance at its
civil progress.
The spirit of self-dependence which secured the separate
parochial organization in 1738, found itself as much incom
moded in going to Wrentham for town business as it had

* See Professor Park's Memoir of Emmons. Works. Vol. I.

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 39
been for religious worship. As early as 1740, a motion was
made in this precinct to petition Wrentham to become a town
by themselves, but there was not outside sympathy enough to
carry it. The next year there was a movement to make a
new town out of slices from Wrentliam and Medway. This
also failed. The next spring, in 1742, it was proposed to
build a town from the corners of Wrentham, Medway, BeUing
ham, and HoUiston. This met a like fate. A movement for
a new precinct at the northwest, in 1747, was stopped, as well
as another, in 1748, at the north end. These abortive mo
tions for a narrower area were too many to mention. But
March 4, 1754, a more serious step was adopted by the pre
cinct, to petition both Wrentham and the General Court to
be set off into a separate district, and a committee was chosen
to engineer the project. But Wrentham simply refused the
petition, without condescending to describe its purport on its
records. Thus baffled in every movement for a district town
ship, and full of other matters difficult of adjustment and
expensive, aroused also by the Stamp Act and other Lord
North's vagaries, the people concluded to bide their time and
go to Wrentham to vote or stay at home. So the town ques
tion had rest until the exigencies of the War of Independence
called for still more frequent and energetic gatherings.
Then it came up in earnest. In the war meetings necessary —
seven in that current year of 1777 — it was a burden to travel
from five to eight miles to Wrentham, and the population Jiad
become large enough to justify the civil separation of the two
religious precincts. Therefore, Dec. 29, ,1777, a petition is
addressed to Wrentham for " liberty to be set off into a dis
trict township, according to grant of court that they were at
first incorporated into a precinct, with a part of said town's
money and stocks." Dea. Jabez Fisher, Esq., Jonathan Met
calf, Samuel Sethbridge, Asa Whiting, Dr. John Metcalf, Jos.
Hawes, and Capt. John Boyd, chief men of the precinct, are
put in charge of the matter. Wrentham responds, January
26, by adopting certain terms, and sends a committee of nine

40 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
to give attention to the arguments of the Westerners. The
result reported by the joint committee, February 21, is a
unanimous conclusion that " said inhabitants be Set off as a
Separate township by themselves," and the process is begun.
In the further arrangements it is suggestive of the thrift
of the whole town that there are but five paupers, two only
of whom fall to the new town. It is agreed that the fire
arms, important assets now in 1777, be divided by the rela
tive pool and estate, and the powder, ball, flints, and other
stores of that kind, according to the number of training-band
and alarum list. The men raised for the Continental army
are to be proportionally paid for and accredited to the town's
quota. The salt allowed by the General Court is divided,
and all other properties adjusted. After lengthy discussion
and some scruples, whose phraseology suggests the sharp
watch of Jabez Fisher, the precinct accepts the terms of the
town and elects a committee to present their petition to the
General Court. Among the acts of 1778 appears the charter
of incorporation, dated in the House of Representatives, Feh-
Tuary 27, and in the council March 2.
The petition which sets forth the arguments of our fathers
for a separate civil existence, and the act by which such^an
existence was established, are of interest enough to be here
inserted. To the Honorable Council Se House of Representatives of the
^tate of Massachusetts Bay in General Court Assemb'led v
The petition of the subscribers in behalf of the inhabitants
of the West Precinct in Wrentham Humbly sheweth : —
That the Township of Wrentham is . Considerably Large
and the inhabitants with their Lands & improvements are
situated very much in two Divissions and but thinly settled
'Between the two Precincts, the Lands admitting of but few
settlements. That the Publick Business of the Town Neces
sary to be Transacted is very Considerable and has Long been
Complained of as a Burden by those who are obliged to take a
part, by means of Travil & Fatigue together with the Disap
pointments that often take place. That your Petitioners appre-
Ihend themselves sufficient in Number and Ability for a Town,

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 41
and that in many Respects y" advantages to them would be
much greater than to remain in their present situation. That
they have lately obtained a vote of the Town Expressing their
willingness that your petitioners should be incorporated into a
Town by the following Bound, viz Begining at Charles river
where Medfield line comes to said river thence running south
seventeen Degrees and an half west untill it comes to one
rod east of the Dwelling House of M'' William Man thence a
strait line to the easterly Corner of M'' Asa Whitings Barn,
thence a strait line to sixty rod. Due south of the old Cellar
where the Dwelling House of Eben'' Healey formally stood
a Due west Course by the Needle to Bellingham line said Bel
lingham line to be y° West Bounds and Charles river to be the
Northerly Bounds your pet" Therefore Humbly pray That
your Honors wou'd be pleased to incorporate them into a Town
by y* above Discribed Bound, With the same powers & Privi
leges that are allowed to other Towns within this state.
And your pet™ as in Duty Bound shall pray ^
Sam"''' Lethbridg, I ^^
.TnaTTPii TTiwus > C/Om

Joseph Hawes
Joseph Whiting Jr j
In the year of our LORD 1778.

State of Massachusetts Bay
An Act incorporating the Westerly Part of the Town qf
Wrentham in the County of Suffolk into a Town by the
name o/ Franklin.
Whereas the Inhabitants of the Westerly part of the Town
of Wrentham in the County of Suffolk have Represented to
this Court the Difficulties they Labour under in their present
situation and pprehending themselves of sufficient Numbers
& Ability request that they may be incorporated into a sepe-
rate Town.
Be it Therefore Enacted By the Council & House of Repre'^
sentativea in General Court Assembled & by the Authority of
the same That the Westerly part of said Town of Wrentham
seperated by a line as follows, viz Begining at Charles river
where Medfield line comes to said river, thence running south
seventeen degrees and an half west untill it comes to one rod
East of y= Dwelling House of William Man tiience a strait line
to the eastwardly corner of Asa Whiting' barn, thence a strait
line to sixty rods due south of the old celler where the Dwell
ing House of Ebenezer Healy formerly stood thence a Due

42 HISTOEY OP FRANKLIN.
West Course by the Needle to Bellingham line, said Belling
ham line to be the West Bounds and Charles river the North
erly Bounds, Be and hereby is incorporated into Distinct and
seperate Town by the name of Franklin and invested with all
the powers Privileges and immunities that Towns in this state
do or may enjoy.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid.
That the inhabitants of said Town of Franklin shall pay
their proportion of all state county and Town Charges already
granted to be raised in the Town of Wrentham and also their
proportion of the pay of the Representative for the present
Year and the said Towns of Wrentham and Town of Franklin
shall severally be held punctually to stand by & perform to
each other the Terms & proposals Contained and Expressed
in a vote of the Town of Wrentham passed at Publick Town
Meeting the sixteenth Day of February 1778 according to y*
plain and obvious meaning thereof, and
Be it also Enacted by y" Authority aforesaid. That Jabez
Fisher, Esq'' Be & he hereby is authorized & required to issue
his warrant to one of the principal inhabitants of said Town
of Franklin, authorizing & requiring him to Notifie and warn
the Freeholders & other inhabitants of said Town to meet
together at such time and place as shall be expressed in said
warrant. To choose such officers as Towns are authorized
by Law to Choose and Transact other such Lawfull mattera
as shall be expressed in said warrant.
And be it further enacted That the inhabitants living
within y° Bounds aforesaid who in the Late Tax in the
Town of wrentham were rated one half part so much for
their Estates and Faculties as for one single Poll shall be
taken and Holden to be Qualified and be allowed to Vote in
their first Meeting for the Choice of officers and such other
meetings as may be CaUed in said Town of Franklin untill
a valuation of Estates shall be made by Assessors there.
In the House of Representatives, Feby. 27, 1778.
This Bill having been read
three several times passed to be
engrossed. Sent up for Concurrence,
J. Warren Syke.
In Council, March 2d, 1778.
This Bill having had two several
Readings, passed a Concurrence, to be engrossed.
Jno. Avery, Dpy. Secy.

historical address. 43.
In the original draft of the charter, as preserved in the
State archives, the name of this town is written throughout
Exeter. In some of the readings during, its passage, that
name was erased, and overwritten Franklin. In all the votes
of this precinct and of Wrentham, T find no name suggested
for the new town. They probably left its christening to the'
honored General Court. But why the name of Exeter was
first inserted in the act, and why afterwards changed to
Franklin, is a conundrum for the curious. I venture to sug
gest, however, that if the committee in charge of the petition
were asked for a name of the new township, or if they were-
dissatisfied with the proposed Exeter, there was none of
them more likely to suggest a change than its chairman,.
Jabez Fisher — an ardent patriot of liberty, and a prominent
man in state councils ; and the reasons for preferring th&
name of Franklin to that of Exeter are not less apparent.
It will be remembered that Benjamin Franklin, with two
others, had been sent to France immediately upon the
Declaration of Independence in 1776 to negotiate a treaty of
recognition and alliance. But the French government cau
tiously dallied with him until the close of 1777. But the
news of the capture of Burgoyne removed their hesitancies,
and on the 6th of January Louis XVI entered into a treaty
of amity and commerce with the colonies. The news came
rapidly to this country, and it was a graceful tribute to the
successful diplomatist, Franklin, that the town, just at that
date applying for incorporation, should bear his name.
Thougli we may be among the smallest of the twenfy-nine
Franklins in our tribes of Columbia, besides the nineteen
Pranklinvilles, Franklintons, etc., yet we are the first-born
heir of this large family, and oldest to the honors of the
distinguished name. We may well commemorate our birth
day with centennial rejoicings.
The ambassador to St. Cloud, as soon as his weighty
duties permitted, showed that he himself understood and ap
preciated tbe compliment. For he requested Dr. Price, of

44 history OF PRANKLIN.
London, to make choice of proper books for a library for
Franklin, as his acknowledgment to his namesake in Massa
chusetts.* That library contained, according to the earliest
catalogue extant, 116 volumes, many of them folios, and of
which the most secular and frivolous was the life of Baron
Trenk. It has become the basis of a public library of 3,000
volumes. And Dr. Franklin had no occasion to be ashamed of either
the inteUigence or the patriotism of his namesake town ; for
its prompt and unanimous participation in all the trying times
of the War of Independence fully assured him of both. The
responses of this town were prompt and hearty to every move
ment in defense of the liberties of the colonies — even from
the time of the salary debate with Governor Burnet in 1728 unto
the acknowledgment of their independence in 1783. Whether
the calls were for troops or for money, for opinions upon poli
cies or protests against royal aggressions, the town always
answered, and in no lukewarm words or ambiguous actionsJ
Indeed, some of the papers reported by special committees and
adopted by this town are worthy of careful study in this day
of wordy ambiguities, as models of patriotic and broad political
sense not surpassed even by the wise colonial proclamations.
A!nd this is not surprising when the wisest and best men of
the town were chosen as the Committee of Correspondence,
Representatives to the General Court, and delegates to District
Conventions. It is now well known that Boston, as the metropolis of New
England, and especially resti-ve under its so close contact with
the officers of the British crown, vigilantly watched their
every movement, and informed the committees of correspond
ence of each town in its vicinity. The towns replied vigo
rously to these Boston letters^ Thus the pulsations of liberty
beat isochronously in all patriotic hearts, and a unified pur
pose gathered into strength in every arm. That sympathy of
intelligence and feeling was the spirit of ultimate victory ; for
* See Addenda for more extended notice ot the Franklin Library.

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 45
the resisting Bostonians knew whom they had behind theni,
hid away in the little hamlets and on the scattered farms to
the north, west and south of the Bay. When, therefore, they-
sounded the alarm on the attempted seizure of the stores at
Concord, in a few hours twenty thousand armed men from the
country towns hurried to Boston and barricaded it from Dor
chester to Chelsea, as if they would force Governor Gage and his
soldiers into the sea. In all these movements, Franklin was
never a whit behind. It had more than one man in it like
Jabez Fisher, whose fervor kindled and whose wisdom di
rected its action perpetually. But Fisher's hand is especially
traceable in th^ reports and resolves of the town during thie
revolutionary period.
The Stamp Act of 1765 called forth a very earnest protest
from the town. But the letter from Boston in 1772, on the
Governor's assumption that the colonial charter should be in
terpreted or revoked even, at the pleasure of the King, and on
the order of Parliament that the salaries of the Governor,
Judges, &c., should be taken directly from the American rev
enues, instead of paid by grant of the General Court as afore
time, awakened a deep and wide alarm, and drew out vigorous
responses from- all the towns. Boston denounced the assump
tion as an infraction of its charter, and the parliamentary
order as a direct and long step towards despotism. The let
ter to the towns — after a recital of the facts — closes thus :
" Let us consider, brethren, we are struggling for our best
rights and inheritance, which being infringed renders all
blessings precarious in their enjoyment, and consequently tri
fling in their value. Let us disappoint the men who are raising
themselves on the ruin of this country. Let us convince every
invader of our freedoni that we wUl be as free as the Consti
tution our Fathers recognized will justify." Of this appeal,
and the historical statements accompanying, over six hundred
copies were printed and sent to the towns. The copy sent to
Franklin drew out a long and vigorous statement of our fathers'
theory of their rights.

46 HISTORY OP PEANKLIN.
, Their paper deserves a place in this history of their times,
as showing their clear appreciation of the situation. It was
adopted in a public town meeting, 11th January, 1773 : —
1. Resolved that the British Constitution is grounded on
the eternal law of Nature, a Constitution whose foundation
and center is liberty, which sends liberty to any subject that
is or may happen to be within any part of its ample circum
ference. 2. That every part of the British dominions hath a right
freely to enjoy all the benefits and privileges of this happy
Constitution, and that no power of Legislation or Governors
on Earth can justly abridge or deprive any part of the British
dominions from their liberties, without doing violence to his
happy Constitution and its true principles.
3. That every part of the British dominions in which acts
of the British Parliament are exercised contrary to the true
principles of tlie Constitution have always and ought to have
a right to petition and remonstrate, or join in petitioning and
remonstrating to the King, Lords and Commons of Great
Britain, that all such acts of Parliament may speedily be re
moved, abrogated and repealed.
4. That the Province of Massachusetts Bay have a right,
not only by nature and the laws of England, but by social
compact, to enjoy all the rights, liberties and immtmities of
natural and freeborn subjects of Great Britain to all intents
and purposes whatever ; and that acts of the British Parlia
ment imposing rates and duties of the inhabitants of this
Province, while they are unrepresented in the Parliament of
Oreat Britain, are violations of those rights and ought to be
contended for with firmness.
Resolved, That it is the opinion of this town that the act of
the British Parliament in assuming the power of Legislation
fortlte Colonies in all cases whatsoever, and in consequence of
that act have carried into execution that assumed power in
laying duties on divers articles in the Colonies for the ex
press purpose of raising a revenue without their consent,
either by themselves or their Representatives, whereby the.
right which any man has to his own property is wholly taken
away and destroyed ; and what is more alarming stUl is, to
see the amazing inroads which have been made and stUl are
making in our charter rights and privileges by placing a
Board of Commissioners amongst us under so large a com-

HISTOEICAL ADDRESS. 47
mission with a train of attendants to sap the foundation of
our industry — our Coasts surrounded with fleets — standing
armies placed in free cities in time of peace without the con-
Sent of the inhabitants, whereby the streets of the Metropolis
of this Province have been stained with the blood of its inno
cent inhabitants ; the Governor of this Province made inde
pendent of the grants of the General Assembly ; large sala
ries affixed to the Lieutenant-Governor, the Judges of the
Admiralty, etc. ; the amazing stretch of the power of the
courts of Vice, admitting in a great measure depriving the
people in the Cols, of their right to trial by Jury and such
like innovations, which are intolerable grievances, tending
wholly to deprive us of our Charter rights and privileges, pull
down the Constitution and reduce us to a state of abject
slavery. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this town that the pre
vailing report, which they have reason to apprehend is well-
grounded, that further inroads are contemplating on their
rights and liberties by affixing stipends to the offices of the
Judges of the Superior Courts of Judicature, etc., whereby
they are to be made wholly independent of the grants of the
General Assembly for their support, is such a large stride
towards despotism as fills us with fresh and more alarming
fears of further invasions of our rights and privileges being
trampled upon, viz : By making the Judges thus dependent
upon the Crown for their place and support will have a ten
dency to bribe the present respectable gentlemen to become
tools to a despotic administration, and if that should fail, it
will be easy to supply their seats wjth those calculated for
such a purpose. 2d, Thus calculated, nothing will be want
ing but an absolute Government which maybe over the Prov
ince qualified with new acts of Parliament adapted to their
purpose which would exclude every individual in this Prov
ince from asserting and supporting his rights, and turn the
sacred stream of justice into but little short of an unwar
ranted inquisition.
Resolved, That this town ever acknowledge the care and
vigilance which the town of Boston have discovered in stating
the rights of the Colonies in so just a manner, and in point
ing out the many infringements and violations of those rights
this Province labors under, at the same time assuring them
that as this town hopes never to be wanting in their duty and
loyalty to their King, so they are ever ready to do everything

48 HISTOEY OP PRANKLIN.
in their power in a constitutional way to assist in carrying
into execution such measures as may be adapted to remove
those difficulties we feel, and to prevent those we have reason
to fear. In the name of the Committee,
David Man.
The committee were David Man, Capt. John Smith, Jabe^
Fisher, Lemuel KoUock, Thomas Man.
This was the key-note of every resolve passed by the town
in its thirty-one town meetings held in the five years between
January, 1773— the beginning of Governor Hutchinson's as
sumptions — and February 16,1778 — the last meeting held
before the separation of Franklin from Wrentham. This
trumpet certainly gave no uncertain sound of the coming
conflict with royal dictation.
The town, also, had a way in those days of instructing
their representatives to the General Court how to act on
measures which touched their vital interests. These papers
expressed the sentiments of the citizens, and became, there
fore, valuable indices of the popular convictions. Amongst
the most expressive of these papers, and certainly very sug
gestive of the ripeness for independence of this part of the
colony, are the instructions adopted in the town meeting of
June 5, 1776. They have a ring of liberty whose echoes
ought to thrill in the ears of the supple and molluscous
men of these hesitating times. They are addressed " to Mr.
Benjamin Guild, Mr. Joseph Hawes, and Doct. Ebenezer Dag
gett, chosen to represent the town of Wrentham in the
General Assembly, the ensuing year: —
Gentlemen, We, your constituents, in full town meeting,
June 5, 1776, give you the following instructions : —
Whereas, Tyranny and oppression, a little more than one
century and a half ago, obliged our forefathers to quit their
peaceful habitations, and seek an asylum in this distant land,
amidst an howling wilderness, surrounded with savage ene
mies, destitute almost of every convenience of life was their
unhappy situation ; but such was their zeal for the common
rights of mankind, that they (under the smile of Divine

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 49
Providence), surmounted every difficulty, and in a little
time were in the exercise of civil government under a char
ter of the crown of Great Britain : — but after some years
had passed, and the colonies had become of some importance,
new troubles began to arise. The same spirit which caused
them to leave their native land still pursued them, joined by
designing men among themselves — letters began to be wrote
against the government, and the first charter soon after
destroyed ; in this situation some years passed before another
charter could be obtained, and although many of the gifts
and priviliges of the first charter were abridged by the last,
yet in that situation the government has been tolerably quiet
until about the year 1763 ; since which the same spirit of op
pression has risen up ; letters by divers ill-minded persons
have been wrote against the Government, (in consequence
of which divers acts of the British Parliament made, muti
lating and destroying the charter, and wholly subservive of
the constitution) ; fleets and armies have been sent to enforce
them, and at length a civil war has commenced, and the
sword is drawn in our land, and the whole united colonies
involved in one common cause ; the repeated and humble
petitions of the good people of these colonies have been wan
tonly rejected with disda,in ; the Prince we once adored has
now commissioned the instruments of his hostile oppression
to lay waste our dwellings with fire and sword, to rob us of
our property, and wantonly to stain the land with the blood
of its innocent inhabitants; he has entered into treaties with
the most cruel nations to hire an army of foreign mercenaries
to subjugate the colonies to his cruel and arbitrary purposes.
In short, all hope of an accommodation is entirely at an end,
a reconciliation as dangerous as it is absurd ; a recollection of
past injuries will naturally keep alive and kindle the flames of
jealousy. We, your constituents, therefore think that to be
subject or dependent on tliQ crown of Great Britain would
not only be impracticable, but unsafe to the state ; the in
habitants of this town, therefore, in full town meeting. Unani
mously instruct and direct you (i. e. the representatives) to
give your vote that, if the Honorable American Congress (in
w^hom we place the highest confidence under God,) should
think it necessary for the safety of the United Colonies to
declare them independent of Great Britain, that we your
constituents with our lives and fortunes will most cheerfully
support them in the measure.

50 HISXOEY OF PEANKLIN.
The record of this ¦ arousing utterance, less than a month
before the famous 4th of July, 1776, very modestly says :
" The above report, after being several times distinctly read
and considered by the town, was unanimously voted in the
affirmative without even one dissentient."
B.ut these votes, unlike the resolves of many later conven
tions, meant all they avowed of work, self-denial, blood — for
the records of the town show that cai'efuUy deliberated and
resolutely formed determinations lay behind them. The men
of that time had put their hands to the plow with no intention
of looking back until their furrows had uprooted every trans
plant of a foreign monarchy in this land of freedom. Accord
ingly, on the first open aggression of the coming collision, when
(governor Gage* encamped his troops on Boston Common,
the town voted, Sept. 15, 1774, to buy two pieces of cannon,
" of the size & Bigness most proper & beneficial for the
. town ;" and at an adjournment, two weeks later, it appointed
Mr. Joseph Spur and Capt. Perez Cushing chief gunners, and
ordered each to see that his piece was " fit for action as soon as
may be." Affairs were rapidly coming to some crisis. Governor
Gage had suspended the meeting of the General Court, which
he had called at Salem for October 5. But ninety members met,
and with John Hancock as President, adjourned to Cambridge.
Here they formed a plan for the defense of the Colony, and
directed a general enlistment of 12,000 men to be ready at a
minute's notice for action. Hence the two cannon for self-
protection, the minute-men enlisted by town vote, the commis
sion of Jabez Fisher as delegate to a Provincial Congress at
Concord on the second Tuesday of October, and the " increase
of the town stock to such a degree with powder, Ball & shot
as the gunners & Captains of each parish shall think pro
per." The town also adopted the advice of the Provincial
Congress, and at a special meeting November 22, ordered the
constables not to pay any town moneys to Harrison Gray, the
roy.alist treasurer, but to Henry Gardner of Stow, for the use
of the' Province, " and the town will stand in the way of any
harm to them."

HISTOEICAL ADDEESS. 51
At the meeting of Jan. 4, 1775, a Committee of Inspection
of fifteen were ordered to see to the execution of the advice of
the Continental and Provincial Congresses, and another of
seven to secure two companies of minute-men to the number
of one-fourth of the training band lists. These committees
were : 1st, Elisha Ware, Jeremiah Day, John Whiting, DoCt.
Ebenezer Daggett, Lieut. Joseph Everett, Lieut. Samuel Fisher,
Lieut. Joseph Fairbanks, John Hall, Esq.,, Samuel Cowell,
Joseph Whiting, Jr., Doct. John Metcalf, Samuel Lethbridge,
Joseph Woodward, Capt. Perez Cushing, and Dea. Jabez
Fisher ; 2d., Benjamin Hawes, Dea. Jabez Fisher, Joseph Wood
ward, Dea. Thomas Man, Asa Whiting, Lieut. Samuel Fisher,
and Lemuel KoUock.
Under such men things move vigorously. The minute-men
are equipped each " with a good fire-arm, bayonet, pouch,
knapsack, and thirty rounds of cartridge by the twentieth day
of February" — for they know not how soon Gage's mercena
ries may be after their two cannon, and the two captains are
directed to " train and exercise the men in military exercise
one half day in every fortnight to the 1st of April next, and
from and after that timf to tlie 1st of May next two half
days in every week, four hours in every half day."* For this
service the captains will receive 16d. per half day, each sub
altern officer 14d., four sergeants per each company 12d., four
corporals, one drummer and one fifer, each lOd., and each
private 9d.
But Concord and Lexington and Bunker Hill are demand
ing more than minute-men, trainings, and letters of commit
tees of correspondence. Though our half of the committee
of eleven be such men as Hezekiah Fisher, Joseph Hawes,
Capt. Asa Fairbanks, Capt. Perez Cushing, and Joseph Whit
ing, yet the country, wants men in the field. The town, there
fore, springs promptly to the call for fifteen battalions offered
by Massachusetts ; and when volunteers lag, it orders, 8th
July, 1776, the two companies to draft " whom they think
* For lists of Franklin's minute-men see military chapter in Addenda.

52 HISTOEY OF PEANKLIN.
most Equal and Just to do a turn or half turn, reference be
ing had to what they formerly had done," who shall go, find
a substitute, or pay £8 per turn to the officers to procure one.
In the spring of 1777, as the conflict deepens into a war,
40s. per month, after the first year, are offered to three
years' men; or, if they prefer, £20 at once, in addition to
the Continental and State bounties.
But the patriots had eyes to look sharply after home
enemies as well as foreign ; and at the suggestion of the State
Assembly they choose. May 26, 1777, Mr. Joseph Hawes to
look after and report all tories to the proper court. The sol
diers' families are not forgotten, and a committee is chosen,
September 3, to see that they are " supplied with the neces
saries of life at a stipulated price, at the town's cost."
The last vote of the whole town, previous to the incorpora
tion of Franklin, touching'the war, was on Feb. 16, 1778, and
is the acceptance of a committee's report that the full quota of
the town, "being the full seventh part of the male inhabitants
of this town," has been secured by the enlistment of five men
at £60 for each man.
With this clean record for liberty, the town of Franklin
starts on its independent career.
Our records as a new town open with a copy of the act of
incorporation and the order for a meeting to organize, issued
by Jabez Fisher, justice of the peace, and addi-essed to Sam
uel Lethbridge " one of the principal inhabitants." That first
meeting is held on Monday, March 23, 1778, at 9 o'clock, a. m .,
and chooses its town officers and its committee of correspond
ence — Capt. John Boyd, Dea. Daniel Thurston, Lieut. Eben
ezer Dean, Capt. Thomas Bacon, Joseph Gmld, the leading
patriots of the town — and then adjourns one month to look
into and make up their minds upon the new State constitution.
In no whit in any subsequent meetings was the town derelict
to any call for aid from the State or the struggling nation.
Of the burdens of that time we have little conception. We
have been restive under the expenses of the late rebellion

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. '53
and the depreciation of our currency, and some resist resump
tion when it involves a fall of only one-quarter of one per cent.
But in July, 1781, the ratio of paper to silver was as one to
forty ; and in September, as one to one hundred and fifty. In
February, 1782, the town paid £400 for ten shirts to Dea. Joseph
Whiting ; who, of course, would not overcharge. In this same
year of '82, the town expenses amounted to £100,765 Is. 6d.,
in which the collector had unwittingly taken £51 counterfeit —
relatively to the value of the rest, a very small offense ! No
wonder the town voted, March, 1784, that " the old Continental
money and the new emission money in the town treasury shall
go into a ministerial fund forever." It was a grim joke upon
a paper currency, and explains, perhaps, why you cannot now
find that fund.
But the fathers endured this bitter depreciation as the home
part of the price of liberty. They also readily adopted the
scale of prices recommended by the Concord Convention of
1779 — to keep downi exorbitant charges — and chose a com
mittee to see to it, and they voted to publish in the Boston
papers the names of all non-conformists to the prices. They
voted also, tliat " the town will have no commercial dealings
with such." It furnishes its quota of beef for the army —
33,908 lbs. in eighteen months — and supplies the men sent
to suppress the Shays Rebellion of 1786.
There is a flash of fire in some of their resolutions of that
day whose heat still lingers in their words — as when, in 1779,
while the money credit of the government was rapidly falling,
this town recommended by vote to all who had money to loan
to lend it to the Continental and State treasuries, and " avoid
lending to monopolizers, Jobbers, Harpies, Forestallers, sharp
ers and Tories, with as much caution as they avoid a pesti
lence." ' We look on such a record of our town with high sat
isfaction. The record of its individual citizens is no less commendable,
as wUl appear in the military history. But we. must leave the
camp to look again at the affairs at home.

54- HISTORY OF FRANKLIN.
It is no dubious proof of the pluck of our fathers that, ere
the smoke of the Revolutionary War had hardly rolled away,
they set about bmlding a new meeting-house. The old house
had stood over forty years, has become ragged with use, and
strait for the^ increasing population. But what is the wisest
to do, is a question decided first this way and then that.
One point, however, must be settled — whether the center of
the town may not have shifted with the independence of the
country and the growth of its inhabitants. Two surveyors
and three chainmen are, therefore, (in January, 1784,) set
upon this old problem ; who find, after many days and at a cost
of £26 3s. 4d. (of which £1 12s. lid. are for "Lickquer"),
this perplexing center of Franklin to be " N. W. 71°, forty-
seven rods from the center of the west door of the meeting
house where it now stands ;" which lands it not far from the
same Morse's mud pond as fifty years before. A committee is,
therefore, sent out to perambulate that region and report what
they shall find in its vicinity. They negotiate successfully -with
Nathaniel and John Adams for the present Common and its
approaches. Another committee of thirteen present plans for
a new meeting-house, all of which is accepted in December,
1787, and the meeting-house which arose out of so many votes
and counter votes was completed by July, 1788, at a final cost
of £1,054 9s. 2d. Iqr. Tliat house served its purpose for over
fifty years, until, in 1840, it suffered a removal and a trans
formation. The last service held in it was on Monday, Sept.
28, 1840 ; it being the funeral of the pastor. Dr. Emmons, who
was ordained inthis town sixty-seven years before. The next
day after the carpenters began their work of alterations. That
transformation was before the day of photographs, so that no
picture remains of our old meeting-house, save the fading re
membrance which lingers in the memory of a few of us boys
and girls of 1840. I have attempted to reproduce its picture
as I recollect it, which the reader will find further on.
The house was sixty feet by forty-two, with a porch at each .
end fourteen feet square. It had fifty-nine pews on the floor

HISTORICAL ADDEESS. 55
and twenty-one in the gallery, besides the singers' and boys'
seats. The present Catholic church is the old house frame
unaltered in size.
But what picture can produce its interior on some pleasant
Sunday morning iu June ! Its high box pulpit ar^d impend
ing sounding board, hung by a single iron rod, an inch square ;
the two pegs on each side of the pulpit window, on one of
which sometimes hangs the blue-black cloak, and on the other
always the three-cornered clerical hat ; by no means omitting
the short, lithe preacher in the pulpit, with clear sharp eye,
bald shining head, and small penetrating voice, and manu
script gesture. The square pews, too, seated on four sides,
with a drop seat across the narrow door, and the straight
cushioned chair in 'the center for the grandmother, filled,
every one, with sedate faces, over which white hairs unusu
ally predominate ; and the long seats hemming the galleries,
piled with hats against the two aisles, which a puff of wind
from the porch entries sometimes send,s down scattering upon
the heads below. The singers' seats, filling the front gallery
opposite the pulpit, in which nothing bigger than a pitch-pipe
for years dared to utter a note ; and the boys' seats in the
southwest elbow of the gallery, each boy with one eye on the
tithing-man in the opposite corner, while the other eye wan
ders or sleeps, and both ears enviously open to the neighing
of the horses in the sheds and the twitter of the birds in the
Lombardy poplars near by !
But the spirit of modern reform in 1 840 demolished every
vestige of that picture and carried off even the frame of the
building to a new foundation. As a result of that demolition,
the top of the old sounding-board lighted upon a well-house
in Ashland, the breastwork of the old pulpit landed in the
lecture-room of the Chicago Theological Seminary, and if you
would once again listen to the sound of the same old bell
which caUed your grandfathers and grandmothers to meetings
on Sunday and lecture-days, and tolled their departure to the
grave, you can hear it stiU — or could — ringing out as clearly

56 HISTORY OP FRANKLIN.
as ever in the Congregational steeple in Paxton, and reputed
as the most musical bell in Worcester county.
But before we leave the old meeting-house, we must give
one word to the Common in front of it. It was, when bought
of the Adamses, covered with pitch-pines. While the meet
ing-house was being built, in 1788, Samuel Lethbridge offered
to clear it up and subdue it within five years, for one penny a
poll of the parish and time to raise four crops upon it and
dispose of the stones as he pleased. A different bargain, how
ever, was made with him for this Avork, for in 1793 he re
ceived £5 14s. 3Jd. for subduing the Common. But the
conquest was so far incomplete that in 1797 another bill of
$92.15 was paid for blasting powder, plowing, hay seed, victuals,
and drink, from which deduct 131.24 credit for twenty bush
els of buckwheat, hay, and stones, and you have $60.91 ex
pended in completing the victory over Nature.
The platoons of Lombardy poplars which stood guard so.
erect and slim on three sides of the Common, and which fur
nished us boys with whistles on election days, were planted by
vote of the town 6th April, 1801, by William Adams " at his
discretion." *
No town has a larger or finer plat of public territory for
adornment, and in no town would a public park — tastefully
set with walks, trees, and shrubbery, as this might be — add
more to the beauty of its location. The local society for its
improvement deserves, as I presume it will have, the cordial
and visible co-operation of the whole town. Our Common
should become a museum of every species of tree indigenous
to the hills and valleys of this township, — where the young
can study the characteristics of the forest while they talk of
the century to come, and of the homes A\hich they hope to
build ill the hereafter.
But my hour is over, and a score of perhaps more interest
ing topics must be relegated to the printed history in process
of immediate preparation.

* See its further history in the Addenda.

HISTOEICAL ADDEESS. 57
The uprise of other churches and religious societies in thi&
once single precinct — of which there now are at least six in
vigorous operation ; the industrial enterprises — from the
saw-mill on Mine brook, laid out in 1698, now the site of one
of the Rays' numerous felting mills ; the humble straw begin
nings of Major Thayer, in 1800, to the present varied and ex
tensive manufactories of the town ; the names and deeds of
the veterans of the Revolution, and of the no less prompt
volunteers to suppress the rebellion of 1861 ; the schools,
and especially the honorable list of college graduates, the pro
fessional men and eminent citizens, native or resident — not
forgetting the distinguished women, not a few — who have
marked their day here or elsewhere ; of whom, as of Prof.
Alexander M. Fisher of Yale, Judge Theron Metcalf, and
Hon. Horace Mann, this town may well be proud, a,:- her
own native born — not forgetting the old Academy of
1835-40, whose memory shines yet as a bright morning in at
least one soul ; these and other kindred themes must wait
their opportunity. And not less the hundred and one other
apparently little things which, nevertheless, give foliage and
fragrance to history, as amongst the really developing forces
of society.
I have simply culled a few of the taller stalks from the
harvest-field of a hundred years, to make a boquet for your
centennial table to-day. It is a specimen only out of the
years from which others might have gathered a much richer
handful. But to me the cuUing has been among famiUar
acres, and the work has been a labor of love. As such, I beg
to lay it before you to-day, with the hope that you wiU excuse
the omission of your favorite flowers, and accept it as my
offering to the old town which has always rendered me far
more honor than I feel myself to be worthy of.
May the patriotism, the steadfast integrity, the inteUigence,
and the harmony which beautify the history of the past cen
tury of this town, shine on clearer and purer into tiie coming
centuries, as far and as long as the name of Feanklin, Mass.>
can be read !

ADDENDA.

ADDENDA.

The many matters of topography, civil, ecclesiastical, educa
tional. Industrial, and military history, which could not properly
have mention in the public address — valuable documents, statis
tics, etc., are here contained in some order of arrangement under
theu- appropriate heads. I. topogeaphy.
The town of Franklin, whose general history is given in the
preceding address, lies in the southwestern part of Norfolk county,
Mass., and is southwesterlj- from Boston twentj^-seven find one-
quarter miles by the New York and New England Railroad. It
contained -within its original limits, as measured by the survey of
1832, 17,602^ acres, or 27.6 square miles. In 1870 the north
eastern portion of the town was set off to the new town of Nor
folk, formerly North Wrentham. This area included about 1,653
acres, leaving some 16,949 acres as the present extent of Frank
lin. It has the rolling, hiUy surface which belongs to the Syenitic
formation of eastern Massachusetts, and affords manj^ beautiful
•\'iews. From some of its elevated highwaj's the Blue hills of
Milton are visible, and from others can be seen Mount Wachuset
in Princeton. It is one of the highest towns in the county, its
central depot being on the summit of the New York and New
England Railroad, and is one of the most healthful towns in the-
Commonwealth. It has several ponds — Beaver, Uncas, Popolatic,
and Kingsbury's being the largest — whose overflow ultimately
Teaches the Charles river and Massachusetts bay, through Mine
brook, and Stop, or Mill, river.
The elevation of the town, the general beauty of its scenery,
and its railroad facilities — to say nothing of its social advantages

62 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
— are rapidly attracting attention to it as a summer resort or a
country home. The many other facts which constitute and de
termine its desirableness as a place of residence or of business,
¦will find a place under their appropriate heads in this supplemen
tary histor}'. II. civil. HISTORY.
The main facts of our interior life are contained in the histori
cal address. Upon the subsidence of the war for liberty, society
rapidly assumed its normal state and began its normal develop
ment. Little has occurred in the history proper of the town de
manding especial mention. The regular town meetings were held,
at which the necessary officers were chosen, of whom a hst is
given at the end, and the necessary expenses of the town were
provided for.
Being mostly a farming community, the population increased
very slowly. At the date of incorporation it was less than 1,100.
Its census, at the several dates computed, has been — in 1790,
1,101 ; in 1800, 1,255 ; in 1810, 1,398 ; in 1820, 1,630 ; in 1830,
1,662 ; in 1840, 1,717 ; in 1850, 1,818 ; in 1855, 2,044 ; in 1860,
2,172 ; in 1865, 2,510 ; in 1870, 2,512 ; and in 1875, 2,983.
As the boundaries of the parish were territorially coincident
¦ivith those of the town, the interests of the two were substantially
one, and both interests were often acted upon in the same meet
ing. Hence the records do not discriminate between doings
strictly civil and properly ecclesiastical. But by. a statute of 1803,
it was declared that such transaction of parochial business in open
town meeting vitiated the proceedings, and a committee was
chosen at the March meeting of 1804 to petition the General
Court to ratify all past acts of town and parish, and to incorpor
ate the latter as " the First Congregational parish in the town of
Franklin." Up to this date, therefore, are selected such acts
from either precinct or town records as have interest for preserva
tion and have not been already quoted in the general history.
The first waiTant for organizing the precinct was issued by
Jonathan Ware, justice of the peace, to Robert Pond, Daniel
Hawes, David Jones, Daniel Thurston, and John Adams, " to meet
at the house the inhabitants of sd precinct usually meet in for pub-
he worship," Monday, 16th of January, at 10 o'clock, 1738. Meas-

ADDENDA. ' 63
ures were immediately taken for selecting a site and erecting a
meeting-house, and for procuring a minister. The church, being
present, acted jointly with the precinct in these ecclesiastical mat
ters. The salary proposed was six score pounds, old tenor, to rise
and fall with the value of money, and a settlement of £200 ; or,
if preferred, £60 and the two parcels of land, containing sixty
acres, granted by Wrentham at a proprietors' meeting 18th
April, 1721, "whenever they be legally set off." Another £100
was, in July, added to buj^ woodland for the ministerial fires.
The deed of an acre of land from Thomas Man for a meeting
house lot was accepted 11th September, 1739, and put for safe
keeping into the care of Simon Slocum.
On account of the high price of provisions, the precinct voted,
22d December, 1742, a contribution, to be taken on the last Sab
bath of each month for four months, for the relief of the minister.
In 1762, when rehgious differences began to make votes im
portant, the right of franchise was by vote limited ' ' to such as
have a freehold in house and land lying within the precinct.'
The same differences occasioned frequent and sometimes long
meetings ; and it was ordered, 14th March, 1763, to put upon
" the acre " a white pine stick for a trough and painted, proba
bly for the use of horses who had no interest in awaiting the long-
discussions of parish affairs. It was somewhat of a trough, cost
ing 44s. How it was filled with water no record reveals. Per
haps the sexton, who had 15s. for sweeping the meeting-house and
" taking care of the chosen" (things), needed no instructions.
For many years discussions and perambulations of town boun
daries and laying out roads constituted the chief business of the
town meetings. But the location of roads by marked trees, cor
ners of farms, etc., renders their present description useless.
Guide-posts are not mentioned until 1795, March 23, when the
selectmen are directed to erect them according to law. The
records show that all minor matters of town thrift were properly
looked after. HI. BURYING-GROUNDS.
Two had been provided at the beginning of the settlement hy
grants of land from the proprietors ; one for the convenience of the
settlers around Stop river, and another for those who migrated from

¦64 HISTORY OP FEANKLIN.
Wrentham. These yards appear to have lain open and uncared
for until 1768, when the precinct appointed a committee for each
burial place, to clear up and fence them with good stone walls.
In 1793, committees are appointed to again clear them, repair the
fences, appoint sextons, and fix the fees for interment. In 1808,
the south (central) burying-ground was enlarged by an addition
•of ninety-eight rods, bought of Simeon Partridge and an enclosing
two-rail fence with sawed posts was ordered. These same ceme
teries, with subsequent enlargements, are now in use, and the chil
dren are laid where " The forefathers of the hamlet slept."
A hearse was purchased hy the town in May, 1803, and rules
were adopted regulating its use. This black and somber vehicle
was used until the purchase of a new one by the town in April,
1837, which latter was supplanted by another in 1853. The taste
and requirements of the community led, in 1860, to the formation
of the Franklin Cemetery Association, which purchased and laid
out several acres on the west side and adjoining the Central bury-
:ing-ground. The town added six acres to its own yard, and the
two cemeteries are now practically one. In 1867, Saul B. Scott
gave land for an enlargement of the City Mills Cemetery. In
1864, J. L. Fitzpatrick and eleven others organized and secured a
burial-ground called the Catholic Cemetery, of which the town ap
proved by vote, November 8.
It seems a proper place here to give a few facts about the
EMMONS MONUMENT.
While W. M. Thayer was a member of Brown University, Dr.
Wayland, the President, suggested to him in a private conversa
tion, that Dr. Emmons deserved a more public monument than
the village cemetery could afford, and that his many friends out of
town were anxious to express in some permanent form their ap
preciation of his valuable labors for truth. The idea received a
cordial response from the people of Frankhn, and steps taken to
realize it in stone.
A meeting was called and the Emmons Monument Association
¦was ultimately organized, 5th March,. 1844. The constitution,
adopted 23d March, defined its sole object to be to erect a suita-

ADDENDA. 65
5)le monument to the memory of Nathanael Emmons, D. D., and
that it shall be " erected on or near the spot where the old meet
ing-house stood — that spot, hallowed by his faithful labors of
more than half a century, and that house where his voice was
heard at its dedication, and in which the last services performed
^were his funeral solemnities." This article is made unalterable,
except by unanimous vote of the Association. To this constitu
tion twenty-seven names of citizens were attached- In accord-
a,nce with its provisions, a committee of three was chosen to select
the precise site for a monument, and other committees necessary
to secure funds, etc. The first committee. Rev. Drs. Wayland
of Providence, Codman of Dorchester, and Burgess of Ded-
9iam, after vie^wing the available locations, reported that the
' ' monument be erected on the public ground in front of the church,
if this can be permanentiy secured for the pubhc, and the ground
be properly graded, ornamented and enclosed. The reasons for
this preference over the burying-ground are, that there is no room
for such a monument in the latter place, and that, inasmuch as
this is not strictly a personal memorial, but rather a public testi
monial of the esteem in which his life-work and labors were held
toy his townsmen and friends, the most central situation and the
most frequented, seems to us the most appropriate place."
The report was adopted and subscriptions immediately opened.
Responses came from even distant towns, whose names there is
mot room to give; and June 17, 1846, a granite monument was
erected with pubhc services, near the center of the Common,
across which the venerated pastor had traveled to and fro for over
half a century. A large company gathered in the church, where
an address was given by Rev. M. Blake, and then adjourned to
the Common in front, where the dedicatory address was made by
Rev. T. D. Southworth, then pastor of the church.
This monument remained a central and often -risited object, un
til a new and inexplicable impulse moved it into the new part of
the cemetery and out of pubhc sight ; contrary to the unalterable
pro-vision of the society which located and erected it.
IV. THE COMMON
was purchased of Nathaniel and John Adams in 1787. Unlike
moat towns, the proprietors of this town seem to have donated no
.s

66 HISTOEY OP FRANKLIN.
tract of land for a Common or training field. When the first
meeting-house became antiquated and contracted, the question of
a new sanctuary raised also that of a larger and better site than
" the acre " given by Thomas Man. As soon, therefore, as a new
house was decided upon, a committee was chosen 3d December,
1787, to negotiate with John Adams for the purchase of " the 34-
rod spot." On the 17th foUowing they reported : —
We have agreed with Mr. John Adams for the wedge of land
lying between the way from the meeting-house leading to the Rev.
Nathanael Emmons and the way from the said meeting-house to
Ens. John Adams, being nine acres, at £1 10s. per acre : also, 38
rod of land west of said way at the same rate ; also 1^ acres in
the hollow south Of the old meeting-house at £3. And of Nathan
iel Adams 140 rods of land east of the way from said meeting
house leading to Mr. Emmons, at the rate of £1 10s. per acre.
Also a road three rods wide through his improved land, beginning
at the road from John Adams, Jr., to go a straight course between
his house and well to the land above mentioned. For which he is
to receive as a satisfaction £8 in money and the acre of land
whereon the meeting-house now stands, with the road that is now
wanted, in by his house, to said acre.
The bargain was sanctioned, and in December, 1789, the town
voted to buy the piece of land north of the new meeting-house,
once bought of Nathaniel Adams by John Richardson, to make
the Common more convenient, at 6d. per rod, containing 591- rods.
This addition was balanced by the sale to Nathaniel Adams of a
small piece of shrub land lying on a side-hill south of the old
meeting-house. In October, 1790, the plan of the Common thus
constructed was accepted, and certain old roads now useless were
discontinued. A new road was opened from Abijah Thurston's
through the land of John Adams to the new meeting-house, and
Adams was directed to " clear up the part of his land west of the
road leading from his house to the meeting-house for the safety of
said house."
In subsequent j^ears the ownership of the Common was a mat
ter of frequent discussion between town and parish. But so far
as appears, all after improvements upon it were made by private
subscriptions ; and the fact of a movement to have the town pur
chase the Common of the parish, indicates decidedly to what con
clusion the town arrived. But the movement failed of a vote.

IVhlTsi Bricfe

Ar r I.

'^'3 O /(OU Gl^

WTrenthaTTid'''^ Franklin.
 ¦*¦ o ¦* 
R.eproc/ucec/ on ,3 uniform .fca/e of jzo r acts per /ncf)
/y-orn -^he o/c/ynci/i.i o/'PVre/if/iam^/'jasfa/icI frsnA/in
('J^S) . /{^aeic/.r j-/?oyy/! 6y c/otfec/ //nes h^i^e deett

eicfc/ea -f^o -f/ie ms/i .

? fA ¦ bv»J^. .3*^

ADDENDA. 67
when a committee of the town recommended its purchase for
$3,000. The improvement of the Common, by planting shade
trees, laying out walks, etc., is in the hands of a voluntary associ
ation at the present time. v. MAPS OF THE TOWN.
The earliest known map of the territory of Frankhn is in the
town office of Wrentham. It is entitled, " A Plan of the Town of
Wrentham. Shewing the Figure and Bounds thereof. Particu
larly of the Westerly Bound and Marks the Scituation of the
Ponds, first House Letts shewn by Jus'. Ware, Eben'' Fisher and
others. — — — — May 1735 pr Sam' Brooks
Surv^" This map contains inside its boundaries onlj'the two ponds, two
or three short streets and the location and names of the first set
tlers. The outline of the West Precinct is dotted within it, evi
dently at a later date, and is almost exactly coincident with the
present boundaries of Frankhn.
An exact but reduced fac-simile of this ancient map and its
contents is given in the accompanying drawing. The original is
on a scale of forty chains to the inch.
A map of more interest to us is in the archives of the State
House at Boston. It is from surveys made by Amos Hawes and
Moses Fisher in September, October, and November, 1794, and
is dated 27th May, 1795. The subscript says "There is about
17,602 acres in said town and that there are four Ponds which
contain 20 acres and a half as laid down on the Plan. The roads
in said Franklin are 58f miles in length and two rods in Breadth
and contain 221 acres and one-quarter. Charles River on the
North is about 5 rods in width and Mine Brook about one rod.
The Centre of said Town is Thirty Miles from Boston the Capital
of the State and Nineteen Miles from Dedham the Shire Town of
the County." A reduced fac-simUe of this map is inserted -within
the map of Wrentham and enclosed within the dotted fines.
In 1795, November 2, the selectmen were directed to " procure
a plan of the town drawed on Parchment 100 rods to an inch, dehn-
eating the roads, Ponds, Streams, Houses, and Mills, specif3dng
the distance of every house from the meeting-house in sd town,
the distance of the Town from the Shiretown of the County, the

68 HISTORY OF FRANKLIN.
distance from the Capital of the state, the quantitj' of land in sd
town, the surface of water contained in the ponds, and the quan
tity of land contained in the roads. Said plan to be the property
of the town, to be lodged in the town clerk's office." No such
map is now discoverable in the town office or elsewhere, uidess
that in the State House be the one intended.
In 1830, the State Legislature passed an act requiring the towns
to make a survej' of their territor}-. This town responded with a
map, surveyed by John G. Hales, and hthographed, of which the
town bought 200 copies at cost, to be resold at forty-two cents
apiece. These went off slowly, and in 1837 the town voted to
sell the balance at auction. Copies of this map of 1832 are stiU
somewhat plenty. No survey of the town has since been made
at the town's expense. The maps in the atlas of Norfolk county,
of 1876, were issued by subscription of individuals, the town vot
ing, 4th March, 1874, to buy a copy of the atlas at half price for
the several pubhc schools. Whether the schools now have a copy,
the school committee can probablj' tell.
VI. VOTES ON CIVIL MATTERS.
The action of the town as a corporation is rather indicated by
its general drift than by its specific votes. But its pohtical sym
pathies are shown iu its instructions at different times to its repre
sentatives — many of which are decisive enough — and in its
majorities for State and National officers. Some votes on particu
lar questions have, therefore, a value in the town's history.
In 1778, a new State constitution was submitted to the people.
A special committee, of which the minister was chahman, was
chosen to examine it, whose report and subsequent discussion led
to a non-approval of the instrument. The Concord Convention of
17th July, 1779, was highly approved of " as calculated to answer
the great purpose of appreciating our paper currency," and the
prices of commodities as then recommended were adopted. The
vote for the State constitution of 1780 was 105. The re-\dsed
constitution of 1820 experienced a curious reception, decidedly
indicative of the independent thinking and acting of the voters.
The fourteen articles passed as follows : —

ADDENDA.

69

Article 1  20 yeas, 126 nays.
Article 2  0 yeas, 146 nays.
Article 3  136 yeas, 7 nays.
Article 4  126 yeas, 21 nays.
Article 5  71 yeas, 67 nays.
Article 6  '  2 yeas, 138 nays.
Article 7  128 yeas, 6 nays.

Article 8  133 yeas, 16 nays.
Article 9.  ill yeas, 6 nays.
Article 10  1 yea, 120 nays.
Article 11  100 yeas, 6 nays.
Article 12  1 yea, 97 nays.
Article 13  104 yeas, 0 nays.
Article 14  8 yeas, 101 nays.

The amendments of 1833, 1836, and 1840 were passed almost
without opposition. Subsequent votes of the town on later
amendments indicate the same independent and intelligent judg
ment. The revised constitution of 1853 was rejected on three of
its eight general divisions. VII. THE PUBLIC POOR.
At the incorporation of the town there were only five paupers
in the whole area of Wrentham, two of whom fell to Franklin,
and the thrift of the people was such that fon many years no
mention is made in the records of any need of public provision
for the poor. In 1799, regulations were adopted bj' the town for
their care. As the custom then was, they were put out to the
lowest bidder ; but the successful bidder must be approved bj"-
the selectmen and held strictlj' to furnish all comforts except
clothes and medicine, which were supplied by the town, and to
remove the poor elsewhere at his own expense, on any complaint
approved by the selectmen. At this date there were only five to
be so disposed of.
In 1835, the dwelling-house and farm were purchased of Mr.
Alpheus Adams, for au almshouse, at a cost of $3,000. It contains
125 acres, a two-storj- dwelling-house, 40x32 feet, a barn 50x26
feet, and other smaller buildings. Since 1835, the number of its
inmates has not at any time exceeded twelve.
¦ In 1868 the alm.shouse was burned, and the following April the
town voted to build another twenty rods farther east. This new
building is now in use. VIII. PUBLIC LIBRARY.
What is now regarded as a town necessitj^ had hardly an exist
ence outside of colleges a hundred years, ago. Franklin was
blessed with the donation of a library before it was ten years old,
which became the foundation for its present respectable collection
of books.

70 HISTORY OP FEANKLIN.
The tradition is current that Dr. Frankhn gave a library in
stead of a bell as had been suggested to him, because he believed
such a people must prefer sense to sound. But a diligent search
has found no verification of this very probable, characteristic and
appropriate remark. But there is a letter of value, the original
of which is in the collections of the Maine Historical Society at
Brunswick, and a copy of which the secretary', Prof. A. S. Pack
ard, has kindly furnished : — Passt, April 13, 1785.
Dear Codssn : I received your letter of Decern'' 16 relating to
Jonas Hartwell. I had before written to our Minister at Madrid,
Mr. Carmichael, requesting him to appl}' for the Release of that
Man. Inclosed I send His answer, with Copies of other Papers
relating to the Affair. The Simpleton will be discharged, perhaps
after being a little whipt for his FoUj', & that may not be amiss.
We have here another New England man, Thayer, formerly a can
didate for tlie Ministry, who converted himself lately at Rome,
& is now preparing to return home, for the purpose of convert
ing his Countrymen. Our ancestors from Catholics became first.
Church of England men, & then, refined into Presbyterians.
To change now from Presbjterianism to Poperj^, seems to me re
fining backwards, from white sugar to brown.
I have written to Dr. Price of London, requesting him to make
a choice of proper Books to commence a Library for the use of
the Inhabitants of Franklin. They will be sent directly from
thence. * » # Your affectionate uncle, B. Franklin.
.Iona. Williams, Esq.
This Dr. Price was Rev. Richard Price, a close friend of Dr.
Franklin's, who published several strong pamphlets in advocacy of
the American cause of libertj^, and whom our Congress invited to
become a citizen and aid in the financial affairs of the government,
an invitation which he politelj' declined.
It is interesting to studj^ his idea of a proper library for a j'ouno'
Massachusetts tow^n ; and a copy of the original catalogue (printed
1786) is given as a guide thereto : —
Clark's -Works, 4 vols., folio. Moutesquien's Spirit of Laws, 2 vols.
Hoadley's Works, 3 vols., folio. Blackstone's Commentaries, 4 vols.
Barrows' Works, 2 vols., folio. Watson's Tracts, 6 vols.
Ridgeley's Works, 2 vols., folio. Newton on the Prophesies, 3 vols.
Locke's Works, 4 vols., octavo. Law on Religion, 1 vol.
Sydney's Works, 1 vol., octavo. Priestley's Institutes, 2 vols.

ADDENDA.

71

Priestley's Corruptions, 2 vols.
Price and Priestley, 1 vol.
Lyndsey's Apology and Sequel, 2 vols.
Ahernethy's Sermons, 2 vols.
Duchal's Sermons, 3 vols.
Price's Morals, 1 vol.
Price on Providence, iVol.
Price on Liberty, 1 vol.
Price on the Christian Scheme, 1 vol.
Price's Sermons, 1 vol.
Needham's Free State, 1 vol.
West and Littleton on the Resurrec
tion, 1 vol.
Stennet's Sermons, 2 vols.
Addison's Evidences, 1 vol.
Gordon's Tacitus, 5 vols.
Backus' History, 1 vol.
Lardner on the Logus, 1 vol., 8vo.
Watts' Orthodoxy and Charity, 1 vol.
Brainerd's Life, 1 vol.
Bellamy's True Religion, 1 vol.
Doddridge's Life, 1 vol.
Bellamy's Permission of Sin, 1 vol.
Fordyce's Sermons, 1 vol.
Hemminway against Hopkins, 1 vol.
Hopkins on Holness, 1 vol .
'Iiite of Cromwell, 1 vol.
.Fulfilling the Scriptures, 1 vol.

Watts on the Passions, 1 vol.
Watts' Logic, 1 vol.
Edwards on Religion, 1 vol.
Dickinson on the Five Points, 1 vol.
Christian History, 2 vols.
Prideaux's Connections, 4 vols.
Cooper on Predestination, 1 vol.
Cambridge Platform, 1 vol.
Stoddard's Safety of Appearing, 1 vol.
Burkett on Personal Reformation, 1 v.
Barnard's Sermons, 1 vol.
Shepard's Sound Believer, 1 vol.
History of the Rebellion, 1 vol.
Janeway's Life, 1 vol.
Hopkin's System, 2 vols.
American Preacher, 4 vols.
Emmons' Sermons, 1 vol.
Thomas' Laws of Massachusetts, 1 vol.
American Constitutions, 1 vol.
Youn.g's Night Thoughts, 1 vol.
Pilgrim's Progress, 1 vol.
Ames' Oration, 1 vol.
Spectators, 8 vols.
Life of Baron Trenk, 1 vol.
Cheap Repository, 2 vols.
Moral Repository, 1 vol.
Fitch's Poem, 1 vol.
Erskine's Sermons, 1 vol.

A few of the smaller ones must have been added from this side
the water. A private library of 125 volumes for the use of the
shareholders was added to the Franklin gift soon afterwards.
These books were equally substantial. Still, in the dearth of
reading of that time, even a folio of sermons was not unattractive,
as the present writer can testify.
The town had some difficulty in deciding by whom the Library
•might be used. At first it was limited to members of the parish.
In November, 1788, the books were opened to the whole town.
In June, 1789, Mr. Emmons is directed by the town to lend out
the books " according to the directions in the letter accompany
ing said library." But that letter has disappeared. In 1790
they are opened " to the inhabitants of the town at large until the
town shall order otherwise." And so the matter has remained
unto the present day. The Congregational pastor has been the
custodian, and sometimes for years uncalled upon to deliver a
book out of the antiquated collection. A committee was .chosen

72 history op FRANKLIN.
in March, 1840, to look after the neglected donation, which they
found stowed away in its venerable book-case in a barn. The
ultimate result of this and another investigation in 1856, was the-
forming of a Library Association, to which the town by vote com
mitted the care of the old Franklin and Social libraries. These
are now together, and form a nucleus for annual additions, towards
which the town appropriates "the dog money" and $400 per
annum. From Libraries we pass naturally to
rX. PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Before this precinct was incorporated, in the winter of 1734-5^
the first preacher sent amongst its few people was directed also tO'
teach school for four months ; and this arrangement was continued
by the town of Wrentham, emploj'ing different persons, until the
precinct assumed the management of its own affairs.
As early as June, 1685, Wrentham set apart a lot of twenty to-
twentj'-five acres for the support of schools. In March, 1695, a
school-house was voted, sixteen feet square besides the chimney,
and in the failure of a teacher, the selectmen kept the school one
week each in turn. Among the earliest school teachers were
Theodore Man and John Fales. In 1718 four separate schools are
Ordered, one at each cardinal point of the town. In 1728 the old
Wrentham school-house of 1695 is sold at auction. Feb. 11,
1754, the school lands, which by successive grants had amounted
to nearly fifty acres, were, by leave of the court, sold at auction, _
the twenty-five acres at Stop river being started at £90. In 1760,
the lands between the two ponds (Blake's pond and the Mill pond,
now Whiting's) , which the Wrentham proprietors had donated to.
the town 30th January, 1744, on condition that they should be
used for schools, were sold by order of the town for £158 15s. 8d.,
of which the west precinct were to have their share ' ' as soon as set
off into a town for the same use."
What became of the Franklin share of this monej^ is not clear-
from the records. But in 1792, a claim to certain moneys in the
Wrentham treasury was referred to an outside committee — Daniel
Perry, John Stone, and Ehsha May — who adjudged £33 4s. to
the town, a good part of which was absorbed in the costs of get'
ting it.

ADDENDA. 7S
The first grant of money by the town for schools was £200, in
May 20, 1778, under the following directions : —
Voted that the money granted, to be appropriated for the sup
port of Schools in this town the year ensuing, be and hereby is
Ordered to be expended in the following manner, viz : the several
School Destricts in this town to have the same Bounds and Lim-
mits as was usual Before this town was Incorporated, unless in the
opinion of the Selectmen some alteration are necessary, which is
left to their discretion to make if they think proper ; and that
some time Before the Last day of June Next the Inhabitants of
Each perticular Destrict shall give to the Selectmen the Number of
Children Between the Age of four years and sixteen that live in
each perticular destrict, and the Selectmen are hereby directed to
Divide the School money by the Polls taking the whole number of
Children in the town as above Delscribed and ascertain to Each
Destrict what Sum they have a Right to Expend, and the Inhabi
tants of Each Destrict shall have Liberty to hire School Masters;
or Mistress, or both, they being such as shall be approved by the
Selectmen to keep school in their Perticular District until their
shair of the money is Expended. Provided the same be Accom
plished Before the Last Day of June 1779. — and in case any Dis
trict shall Neglect to Expend their part of the money by the time
Perflxt without a sufficient Excuse to the Satisfaction of the
Selectmen, the Remainder not Expended as aforesaid shall Re
main in the Treasury for the use of such a school as the town
shall afterward order.
One year later. May 19, 1779, the sum of £400 was granted
for support of schools, with a similar vote as to mode of expend
ing the same. In 1780 the gi-ant was £800. These sums were in
a cuiTcncy known as the " old emission," and of depreciated value.
In 1781 the grant was £200, of new emission ; but in 1782 the
grant was reduced to £80.
The grants from year to year were about the same in amount
until A. D. 1796, when the sum of $320 was granted, which amount
was gradually increased until A. D- 1802, when $500 was granted.
In 1814 $600 was granted, and in 1823 it was raised to $700. The
grant for schools in 1839 was $1,000; in 1855, $1,600, and in
1862 the sum of $1,750 was granted and apportioned to the sev
eral schools, in accordance with the recommendation of a special
committee. In 1865 $2,500 was granted, and in 1868 $4,000 was.
the sum granted, and the town voted to establish a High School.

74 HISTORY OF FRANKLIN.
In 1873 the grant was raised to $6,000, which amount has been
continued to the present time.*
These grants have had various methods of subdivision. From
1778 until 1812 it was divided according to the number of children
betweenfour and sixteen, excepting in 1792, 1795 to 1797, when
the division was hj famihes. In 1813, and mainly until the aboli
tion of the district system, the distribution has been one-half by
the number of families, and one-half by the number of children.
In 1789 it was voted that any district neglecting to make return
-of the number of school children at a fixed time should forfeit its
portion of the appropriation.
The employment of teachers had been for manj' years entrusted
to the selectmen. Afterwards, the teaShers must be approved by
the selectmen, but chosen by the districts. Next, the town
appointed prudential committees to secure teachers. In 1827 the
several districts were authorized to choose their own committees,
and this became an annual vote, so far as appears, while the dis
tricts continued.
At first the clergyman annually visited and catechised the
schools, and it was a great daj' when the catechising came. It
usually came in May. Notice was given on the Sabbath of the
intended place and hour, and promptly gathered the freshly-washed
and brushed scholars with their new summer apparel. The mo
ment the well-known chaise appeared the noise of fiftj^ children
ceased, and each glided into a seat in silent, waiting expectation
for the incoming of the minister. Everj' scholar arose as he en
tered the room, and stood until he reached the desk. After a verj^
short prayer they sat, and he began here or there as his eye
chanced to fall, until every child had told his own and his parents'
names, and had answered or failed to answer some question from
tbe assembly's catechism. Some of the abashed ones' misquota
tions caused even the grave man in black to smile.
It has been told, for example, that a lad, very bashful by na
ture and unusually tall for his years, had timidlj' doubled himself
upon a low seat. When called up in his turn he slowl}' rose and
waited, blushing and abashed at his short name and awkward
height. Quickly, as the Rev. Doctors' manner was, came the
* See Report of School Committee for 1877.

ADDENDA.: i ;• 76
¦question, " Can you say the Lord's prayer?" "The — Lord's —
Prayer," slowly stammered the confused youth, and gradually slid
himself together again, like a telescope, back to his seat. It was
a difficult moment for solemnity.
These annual catechisings continued far into the present cen
tury and nearly unto the end of the reverend pastor's ministry,
and until a sharper definition of the public school and the school
committee came into full official position. The first committee
was chosen bj'the town in March, 1802. A list of the incumbents
up to the present time is appended, with other town officers. The
first report preserved in the- town records dates March, 1810.
Subsequently thej' are frequently copied by vote of the town.
They generally and sometimes vigorously discuss the importance
and requirements of popular education, and are not seldom ac
cepted with a vote of thanks from the town. ¦ '
The estabhshment of school boundaries and the location of
school-houses has been determined by the wants of the children.
At first, a central school had to supply all. Before the separation
from Wrentham others had been established. In 1791 liberty
was given to the overfiow of any district to attend any school in
town where the teacher could conveniently receive them. In Jan
uary, 1795, a committee was instructed to report upon the needed
number of school-houses, and where they should be located. In
January, 1795, a committee was instructed to report upon the
needed number of school-houses and where they should be located.
In November following their report is received, recommending six
•districts and as many school-houses — namely, at River End, at
Long Walk division, at Maj. Moses Knapp's division, " where it
now is," at Capt. Asa Fairbanks', "not more than twenty rods
from Mine Brook," at Dea. James Metcalf s division, and at the
meeting-house " on the East side Of the way from the meeting
house to Mr. Emmons', near the corner of Hezekiah Fisher's
land." But in 1800 these divisions suffered a rearrangement
more in accordance with their after boundaries, and their names
were changed to geographical designations. In 1822 the River
End district was divided, and other divisions occun-ed until the
number of schools was increased to ten — the present number of
mixed schools. The central school, however, is graded into four
departments and six schools, with a total attendance the current

T6 HISTORY OF PRANKLIN.
year of 314. The number of attending school children in town i»
572. The materials are not discoverable for any particular notice of
the " red school-houses," which once illuminated the cross-roads
of the town. Their places have been filled by far more conven
ient and sightly buildings, erected bj' the town after the abolition
of the district system. But of the present buildings there is no
need of mention.
The public schools, insufficient in length for the demands of the
people, were often prolonged by private subscriptions ; and many
scholars annually resorted to Day's Academj^, in Wrentham, for
higher instruction, especially in the classics for a college course.
•A graduate^, occasionally' taught an extra term in the autumn.
Requests from several persons encouraged the present writer to
attempt a private school of a higher grade at his own charges, in
the fall of 1835, after his graduation ftom Amherst College. The
central district kindly offered the use of its school-house. The
tuition was placed at twenty-five and thirty- three cents per week,
and a High School was opened with fifty-six scholars, of whom
fourteen came from other towns. With such encouragement the
school continued for several years, and with a constantly increas
ing patronage, until its term rolls counted sometimes nearly a hun
dred names. Within the first year of its existence a large two-
story building was erected by a stock companj', with accommoda
tions for a hundred pupils, recitation-rooms, a large hall for pub
lic examinations, apparatus, etc.
During the three years of the first principal's connection, this
school counted on its roll the names of many scholars since well
known and not a few renowned as educators and heads of import
ant institutions of instruction, as well as lawyers, phy.sicians and
ministers. A review of its first three catalogues is now to the
writer a frequent and pleasant exercise, and the occasional meet
ing of old scholars a delightful re-vaval of some of the brightest
days of his life.
The subsequent career of the old Franklin High School, under
Bigelow, Baker and others is not particularly known to the writer.
Upon its subsidence, the building was occupied as a store, and is
now fitted for dwelUngs. But though its cupola and bell are gone,
and its front pillars and recess have disappeared, a halo of kindly

ADDENDA. 7/
memories will hnger about it still, at the western foot of the Com
mon, as long as the young eyes'of 1835-40 can look upon its site.
A HIGH SCHOOL
was established by the town in April, 1868, and was opened to
pupils on May 20, with twenty-two scholars, and Miss Mary A.
Bryant as principal. Since the close of her service the line of
principals has been Annie E. Patten, Thomas Curley, and Lucien
I. Blake, the present occupant of the position.
The educational facilities of Franklin have been especially en
larged by the founding of DEAN ACADEMY.
We condense from its annual catalogues. ' ' At the annual session
¦of the Massachusetts Universalist Convention, held in Worcester,
Oct. 18-20, 1864, the subject of a State denominational school,
which should be of the highest grade below that of colleges, was
brought to the attention of the council by Rev. A. A. Miner, D. D. ,
President of Tuft's College. The council immediately appointed
a committee ¦with full discretionary powers, with Rev. A. St. John
Chambrfi, of Stoughton, as chairman.
This committee soon held a spirited public meeting in Boston.
The parish in Stoughton offered $25,000 and an eligible site.
Oliver Dean, M. D., of Franklin, proposed to give a tract of
eight or nine acres which he had bought of the former estate of
Rev. N. Emmons, D. D., $10,000 towards a building, and $50,000
as a permanent fund. Dr. Dean's proposal was accepted, a
charter obtained, trustees chosen, and a call for funds for building
issued. The generous responses encouraged the trustees to secure
plans for a seminary adequate to the apparent demands, and
ground was broken in August, 1866. May 16, 1867, the corner
stone was laid with appropriate public ceremonies. The continual
rise of prices of labor and material compelled to increased sub
scriptions, Dr. Dean's donations to the building arising to about
$75,000. The edifice was finished and dedicated to its uses May
28, 1868, with a dedicatory address by Rev. E. C. Bolles of Port
land, Me. The total cost of the building, exclusive of furniture
and gas apparatus, was about $154,000. It was 220 feet front,
the main center fifty feet by sixty deep, and two wings, each fifty-

78 HISTORY OF FRANKLIN.
eight feet by forty-four in depth, with still other wings projecting
into the rear, and three stories high. The style was French Lom-
bardic and altogether was a very appropriate and beautiful edifice.
While the academy was being erected a school was begun,
Oct. 1, 1866, in the vestry of the Universahst church, with forty-
four pupils, under Mr. T. G. Senter as principal. The school was
removed to the new edifice at the opening of the summer term
of 1868.
But during the night of July 31, 1872, this magnificent building
with nearlj' all its contents was destroyed by fire. The friends of
the school, however, speedily rallied from this sudden and stun^
ning blow and began as soon as possible to rebuild upon the for
mer foundations. The school meanwhile was continued with en
couraging prospects in the Franklin House, which had been
purchased by the trustees and citizens of the town for this purpose
It was with great labor and many anxieties that the trustees
pushed forward the work in their care. Desirous of furnishing
the best facilities for education, they incorporated every improve
ment into their new building, and with so much success that they
were able to present it for public dedication on June 24, 1874, and
for class graduation exercises — less than two years from the
destruction of its predecessor. The school removed to it the next
term — September, 1874.
The present building occupies substantially the same dimension*
and differs externally very little from the previous one, except in
architectural style, being Gothic. The internal arrangements are
not surpassed by any other educational institution in the State ^
while its exterior brick walls, banded and corniced with sandstone,
and rising to a fifth story in the center, with a lofty tower sixty
feet high, add a feature to the beautiful scenery which attracts
and holds the eye of every visitor- with admiration of its chaste
yet impressive proportions. A view is given on the opposite page.
Dean Academy continued open to both sexes until 1877, when a
demand for a young ladies' school in the Universalist church de
cided the trustees to open the institution for young ladies only.
Under this new. departure it began the faU term of the present
year, 1877-8, with about fifty pupils. There is not yet sufficient
time to test the present policy. But the trustees say "the
promise is that the school wiU be eminently successful in the

ADDENDA. 79>
work it has undertaken. It will continue to be first class in every
respect, and to furnish a thorough education."
Next to the school, as one of the educational agencies of a
town, may come a brief notice of
X. THE POST-OFFICE.
This is furnished chiefiy bj' Capt. H. C. Fisher, now of Haver
hill. There was no properlj' appointed post-office until about 1819-
The few newspapers and occasional letters for the first century
of the settlement came bj' chance neighborly hands from Wrent
ham, where they were left by the carriers between Providence and
Boston. As late as 1812 they were brought from South Wrentham
on Saturdaj^s and left at Capt. Nathaniel Adams' store (after
Da'vis Thaj'er's) . Hermon C. Fisher, then about 15, was employed
as carrier hj several families. As there were but three mails per
week between Boston and Providence, the weekly amount for
Franklin was not a heavy horse-back load. But the interest in
the events of the war of 1812 paid for the long weekly journey
through Wrentham Center and Guinea, to the old tavern on the
Boston and Providence road. About 1815, David Fisher, keeper
of the onlj' tavern then in Wrentham, was appointed postmaster,
and the Frankhn mail was brought from there ; but North Frank
hn letters came from Captain Felt's office, recently opened in
Medway Village. About 1819, Eli Richardson built the stone
store at City Mills in Franklin and secured a; post-office there.
As there was some business rivalry between the Center and the
City, of which Davis Thayer and Eli Richardson were the expo
nents respectively, the Center was not pleased that a march had
been stolen upon them. True, Mr. Richardson engaged to bring
all letters and papers which belonged to the Center to meeting
in his sulky box every Sunday, and H. C. Fisher took the package
from the carriage to Major Thayer's store for distribution ; but
the letters sometimes miscarried, the inventory charges did not
agree, and after two uneasy years the Center moved in earnest
for a post-oflSce of its own. The result of a somewhat bitter
conflict was the securing of an office, with Davis Thayer as post
master, and David Metcalf as mail-carrier twice a week from the
city to the Center. He came regularly with his pouch, but as Mr.

80 HISTORY OF PRANKLIN.
Richardson still kept the keys, nothing came of it. After a deal
of negotiating with the Department, quiet and order finally ob
tained, and in 1822 the office became regularly estabUshed as
" Franklin, D. Thayer, P. M." From that date the succession of
postmasters has been Spencer Pratt, Theron C. Hills, David P,
Baker, Cyrus B. Snow, Charles W. Stewaft, D. P. Baker again,
A. A. Russeque assistant, Smith Fisher, J. A. Woodward occu
pant since 1871. The office has been as movable as the incum
bent, being held in any most convenient store at the Center.
The income at first did not exceed $50 per quarter, of which the
postmaster received about thirty per cent., but its business in
creased rapidly as soon as differences were composed. In 1864
a salary was affixed of $480 per annum, in 1866 at $540, and in
1868 at $700. In 1869 the office became a money-order office,
and in 1870 the salary raised to $900, and in 1872 to $1,000.
XI. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
The early ecclesiastical history of Franklin has been mainly
embodied in the preceding address. .A still fuller sketch of it is
contained in the Centennial Sermon of Rev. Elam Smalley, in
1838, which leaves very little to be added except some notice of
the regularly settled pastors of the
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
Rev. EtiAS Haven, the first minister, was a native of Framing-
ham. He descended from Richard Haven of the West of Eng
land, who settled in Lynn in 1645, and had twelve children.
Moses, his youngest son, born in Lynn 20th Msty, 1667, mar
ried Mary Ballard, and had eight children, He moved to Framing-
ham before 1704, and was deacon in 1717.
Joseph, his oldest son, born 8th February, 1689, married
Martha Haven, and had eleven children. He moved to Hopkinton
in 1724 ; was one of the founders of the church there and its
deacon. He filled the highest offices in town.
Ehas, the third son and child of Joseph, was born in Framing-
ham, 16th April, 1714 ; graduated at Harvard 1733, and dismissed
from the church in Hopkinton, 29th October, 1738, to become the
pastor of the church in Franklin. He married Mary Messenger^
oldest daughter of Rev. Henry Messenger of Wrentham (born

ADDENDA. 81 '
•28th August, 1722) and had seven children. Rev. Mr. Messen
ger's family was a peculiarly ministerial household. His daughter
Esther married Rev. Amariah Frost, first minister of Milford;
Sarah married first Dr. Cornelius Kollock of Wrentham, and sec
ond Rev. Benjamin Caryl, first minister of Dover ; while Elizabeth
was the wife of Rev. Joseph Bean, her father's successor, and his
son James was the first minister in Ashford, Ct.
Four only of Rev. Mr. Haven's seven children reached ma-
tmitj". These were : —
2. Thomas, born 28th August, 1744, for whose historj"^ see
hiographical sketches.
3. Elias, born 11th November, 1745, married Elizabeth Bright
¦of Dedham, and probablj' removed there.
6. William, born 20th June, 1751, of whom nothing more is
known. 7. Mary, born May, 1753, and lived in Ijfedham.
Rev. Mr. Haven's ministry, continued through much weakness
of body and frequent suspensions, was very successful in results.
One hundred and seventy-one members were added to the church
¦during his sixteen years, most of them during the great revival
•of 1741. But consumption early marked him for a victim, and
the last five years of his life were broken by long intervals of in-
abihty to preach. The records of the church and the parish show
the devotion of the people by their frequent sympathetic votes
and cheerful continuance of his salar3', while they supplied the
pulpit at their own expense, and a grant of £26 to his family
after his death. The town erected a stone over his grave in the
central yard, on which they say : —
Who are desirous of giving
And of perpetuating
Their public Testimony
To his faithful ministry and pious Life
By which tho' dead he yet speaketh
To his once beloved and grateful Flock.
Rev. Caleb Barnam, or Barnum, the second pastor, was of
Danbury, Ct. His immigrant ancestor, Thomas Barnum, was first
•of Fairfield, then in Norwalk, and afterwards one of eight original
settlers of Danbury ; where Caleb was born 30th June, 1737, the
son of Thomas and Deborah. He graduated at Princeton, N. J.,
1757, and A. M. in 1768 at both Princeton and Harvard.

82 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
Mr. Barnum began his ministry in this town in troublous times,,
induced, maybe, by the six years' vacancy in the pastorate, and
continued perhaps by the hymn-book war and known decisiveness
of Franklin people. The minister, it must be admitted, was also
prompt and positive in his opinions, and not therefore skiUfully
successful iu adjusting the differences of others. Yet he canied
with him the confidence and sujpport of a large majority of the
church, and it was with great reluctance and very slowly that they
consented to his resignation. The records of the time seem to
show that the differences were more between the precinct and the
church than with the minister. He, as a central figure between
them, received the attacks of both parties, and as usually results,
he was demohshed in their encounters. A communication from
the precinct to the church, adopted 12th March, 1764, illustrates
the above statement : —
We have had Yours of ye Twelve of February under considera
tion and have Left it to be more fully answered by Capt. .In. Golds-
bury, and others, a Committee Chosen at a Pro. meeting on ye 6
of Februaiy annodomuni 1764. But Can by no means Concur
with you in singing either Doct. Watts vertion of the Psahns, or
Tate & Brady's with the Hj'mns. But do still adhear to our vote
of ye 21 of June, 1762, and Desire ye Church would Concur with
us in Singing the Old Version of j'e Psalms in ye Congregation ;
Leaving the church to thear Own Choree to Sing What Version of
Psalms they Please when they assemble by themselves for Divine
Worship, but if the Church shall not think Proper to Concur with
ye Precinct in Singing the Old Version of the Psalms, That you
would proceed to Send out j*e Letters missive to the churches
Chosen to Set in Ecclesiastical Council to hear and ad'vuse us un
der our Difficulties and that the Precinct Clerk wate upon ye Rev.
Mr. Barnam with a Coppy of this Vote and with a Coppy of the
Votes of the Precinct Past at precinct meeting on the 6 of Febru
ary 1764, Desiring they may be Laid before the Church as Soon
as may be with Conveniency.
The council alluded to was convened 17th April, 1764, and its
result accepted 7th May, and expense of council, £6. lis. 2 d.,
paid by the precinct. That result saj-s : —
We look upon that which the chm-ch acted in voting another
version of the Psalms different from what the Christian assembly
in this Parish from their original foundation had been in the pub
lic use of without their consulting the Congi-egation was unadvis
edly done. Forasmuch as the whole of the rehgious society are

ADDENDA. 83
evidently interested therein. Notwithstanding we think the Pre
cinct were verj- assuming in Pretending to settle sd controverted
point bj- a Parish vote and demanding or requesting the church's
concurrence, forasmuch as consistent with our congregational con
stitution it has alwaj'S been considered as the church's right to go
before in matters of divine worship, and in regard to many con
curring circumstances attending the church's vote of introducing
Dr. Watts' version we are of opinion that it is advisable that the
congregation rather acquiesce in said vote and sing the version of
Dr. Watts in part together with our New England version in part ;
which version said congregation have Latelj' assaid to Revive, and
that, considering the uncomfortable and unhappy state which must
attend the people in maintaining controversies of this kind, we
ad^^se the Rev. Pastor and church to condescend thereto for the
Present, that ye may all have an opportunity, hoping withal in
in due time j'ou'll improve it that ye may all unite in one version.
The hymnal discord was accompanied by other troubles to the
pastor. Some withdrew on suspicion of his unsoundness " on the
doctrine of universal redemption and assurance of faith," and
several left to attend Separatist meetings ; but the majoritj' of the
church vindicated the pastor and rebuked the dissentients. Still,
Mr. Barnum persisted in pressing his dismissal, until it was
reluctantly granted. In his ministry of eight years, forty were
added to the church by profession and eight bj' letter.
Mr. Barnum was installed over the first church in Taunton, 2d
February, 1769. When the news of the fight at Lexington reached
Taunton, he enthusiastically addressed his people upon the duties
of the crisis, and himself entered the army of the patriots, 3d
May, 1775, and was chaplain of the Twenty-fourth Regiment,
Col. John Greaton, then near Boston, 10th February, 1776. He
followed his regiment to New York and to Montreal. On his
return he was taken sick at Ticonderoga and was discharged 24th
July. But death arrested him at Pittsfield on the 23d of August,
at the age of 89.
Mr. Barnum was a fully proportioned man of over six feet in
height and of vigorous muscle, which, if tradition be rehable, he
did not dechne to use when occasion demanded ; as when he once
took down a blatant wrestler who had made himself obnoxious.
A portrait preserved of him presents a very majestic and author
itative presence in his ample wig.
Mr. Barnum married 13th June, 1761, PriscUla, daughter of

84 _ HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
Rev. Caleb Rice, of Sturbridge, and sister to Col. Nathan Rice, of
Ilingham, aid-de-camp to General Lincoln, in the Southern cam
paign. They had eight children : —
1. Caleb, born 11th April, 1762, and married Nancy Paine, of
Thetford, Vt.
2. Priscilla, born 1st April, 1764, and mamed Capt. David
Vickory, of Taunton.
3. Deborah, born 27th October, 1766, and married Thomas S.
Bailies, of Dighton.
4. George, born 23d Maj-, 1768, and married Sallj- Cutler, of
Warren. 5. Marj^, died j'oung.
6. Thomas, born 30th October, 1772 and married Salh- Abra
ham, of New York. .
7. Anna, born 30th December, 1773, and married Rufus ChUd,
of Woodstock, Ct.
8. Polly, born 11th October, 1775, and married Rev. Peter
Nourse, of Ellsworth, Me.
Of the third minister. Rev. Nathanael Emmons, D. D., a
portrait is given as he was at about 60 years of age. The ex
haustive memoir by Prof. E. A. Park, D. D., has left nothing
for addition or correction. It is no dubious commendation of his
character and ministry that his name is still a brightness in the
memory of all the elder citizens of Franklin, and even mellowed
into a sunnier radiance by the lapse of years. So strong was the
regard to him personaUy that his namesakes are found iu man}' a
family and in many a town and State, while anecdotes of him and
his pithy apothegms ar^ still current — bright as new coin, and
more valuable. We find him a member, and often the chairman,
of important committees chosen by the town on matters of moral
interest. Yet he was never a dictator, but carried the public
mind by his clear and con-vincing logic. He sharpened the intel
lects of his people and made them alert, discriminating and clear
headed thinkers, ha'ving settled opinions of their own. He
ruled, therefore, only bj'^ always moving in the line of their own
intelligent con'victions. They knew him to be simply following
truth and they had to follow his guidance, because he justified
every step of his way.
In one aspect, at least, Dr. Emmons has been and is sometimes

cJ^7*Af C

ADDENDA. 85
still misrepresented. He was not curt, dogmatic, andre pellant.
He was not unsocial and austere to his people, nor a bugbear to
the young. But he invited and received us cordially into his
study, drew us out of our bashfulness, and always dismissed us
with new thoughts and higher impulses. He was affable, genial,
and enjoyed a joke as keenly as any of us. The young people of
his day still remember' his indescribable chuckle with which he
followed his salhes of wit. He loved to test us with Socratic
questions, and highly enjoyed our escapes from entanglements ;
and herein lay his power over our generation. He won our con
fidential regard and never wrenched it afterwards bj' the tension
of any inconsistent demands. The writer hopes to be pardoned
for adding so much in vindication of the aged pastor who stimu
lated him as weU as so many others in the pursuit of education
and whom some who never knew him have painted as distant,
morose, and forbidding in manners. It is a slander on the man.
Dr. Emmons' active ministry continued about fifty-four years
—from 21st April, 1773, to 28th May, 1827. He died 23d Sep
tember, 1840, at nearly 96. He often said that he should never
have ventm-ed to settle over the Franklin church — so vigor
ously divided in feeling — if Mr. Niles had not just before him
preached to that people his two sermons with such effect during
his supply of the Franklin pulpit. One sermon was from the text,
' ' I ask for what intent ye have sent for me ? " wherein he de
scribed the objects for which some people wanted a minister, and
the proper business of the ministry. The other sermon was on
the text, " I hear that there are divisions among you," in which
their discords and their consequences were plainly and faithfully
set forth.
Twice during his ministry, in 1781 and again in 1784, Dr. Em
mons, discouraged with his apparently fruitless labors, asked a
dismission, which his people unanimously declined to grant. An
extensive and powerful revival followed before the latter year
closed, from which about seventy were added to the church. It
was the end of his discouragements. During his active life 308
were gathered into the church. His letter of resignation, after his
fainting in the pulpit, is worthy, for its loving simplicity, of a
place in this history : —

86 HISTORY OP FRANKLIN. Feanklin, May 28, 1827.
To the Members of the Church and to the Members of tlie Religious
Society in this Place. .
Brethren & Friends : I have sustained the Pastoral Relation
to you for inore than fifty years, which is a long ministerial life.
The decays of nature and increasing infirmities of old age and my
present feeble state of health convince me that it is my duty to
retire from the field of labor which I am no longer able to occupy
to my own satisfaction, nor to your benefit. I therefore take the
liberty to inform you that I can no longer supply your pulpit and
perform any ministerial labor among you ; and at the same time
that I renounce all claims upon j'ou for any future ministerial sup
port, relying intirely on j'our ¦wisdom and goodness to grant or
not to grant any gratuity to your aged servant during the residue
of his life. Nathanael Emmons.
The parish responded with a grant of $500 per annum.
Dr. Emmons was descended from Samuel Emmons of Cambridge,
and was the son of Dea. Samuel, Jr., and Ruth (Cone) Emmons
of East Haddam, Ct. He was born 1st May, 1745, and gradu
ated at Yale College 1767.
He married, first. Deliverance French of Braintree, 6th April,
1775. She died 22d June, 1778, and her two children in Septem
ber. Second, Martha Williams, of Hadlej-, 4th November, 1779,
by whom he had six children.
1. Martha, wife of Willard Gay, Esq., of Dedham.
2. Deliverance.
3. Sarah.
4. Mary, wife of Rev. Jacob Ide, D. D., of Medway, who is
still living with her husband in a serene old age, and the mother
of two sons in the ministry — Revs. Jacob, Jr. , and Alexis W. Ide.
5. Williams, B.U., 1805. Lawj'erin Augusta, Me., Senator and
Judge of Probate.
6. Erastus. Major, aid-de-camp to General Crane ; died young.
Mrs. Emmons died 2d August, 1829, and hb married, third, Mrs.
Abigail M. Mills of Sutton, 18th September, 1831, who lived to
be over 90.
A view of the home of Dr. Emmons in Frankhn is inserted
here, as perhaps the most suitable. It stood on the north corner
of Main and Emmons streets. The old button- wood tree near
his study windows is still fiourishing, as well as two apple trees
on its western side ; but the house itself was removed some years

Residence op Dr. Emmons.
The two windows at the left hand, on the first story, belonged to his study. " I have saved
months of time," he said, " by having my study on tlie lower floor."

addenda. 87
ago, and now does dutj' as a tenement-house, as historic buildings
are wont to do in our huriying age.
Rev. Elam Smalley, D. D., was settled as the successor — not
colleague — ¦ of Dr. Emmons, 17th June, 1829. After a nine years'
pastorate, he was dismissed 5th 3\\ly, 1838, to take charge of the
Union church, Worcester, where he was installed September 19.
He remained here until 1853, when he was dismissed to go to the
Fourth Presbj'terian church in Troy, N. Y. He was compelled
by ill health to relinquish this charge not long after. But a voy
age to Europe failed to restore him, and he died very soon after
his return, in New York city, 30th July, 1858, at the early age of
58. Dr. Smalley was a native of Dartmouth. He succeeded by his
own exertions in fitting for college, and graduated at Brown Univer
sity 1827, and Doctor of Divinity 1849. He studied theology with
Rev. Otis Thompson, of Rehoboth, supporting himself as he had
done in college by teaching singing-schools, in which he was sin
gularly adept. Dr. Smalley married Louisa J., daughter of Gen.
Abiel and Ehzabeth Washburn, of Middleboro, and left two chil-
'dren, Louisa Jane, for several years teacher of music in the
Wheaton Female Seminary, Norton, now resident in Boston, and
George W. (See notices of graduates.) Mrs. Smalley died at
Middleboro 7th June, 1874, and was buried by the side of her
husband in Troy, N. Y.
Dr. Smalley's ministry in this town, though following the long
and thorough fidelity and renown of Dr. Emmons, was still most
pleasant and prosperous. It was confessedly his happiest pasto
rate, and the suitivors of his people lament to this day that he did
not see it his duty to remain in the country parish where all were
so ready to do him honor. His memory is still cherished with
tender affection in the famihes that knew of his suave and gra
cious manners without as well as within the pulpit.
Rev. Tertius Dunning Southworth was installed the fifth
pastor of. the church, 23d January, 1839, and was dismissed 25th
April, 1850, after a ministry of eleven years.
Mr. Southworth was son of Rev. James and Mary (Dennison)
Southworth, pastor of the Congregational church, Bridgewater,
N. Y., and descendant of Constant Southworth, of Plymouth,
•whose mother, Ahce, was wife of the Sir Richard Southworth,

88 HISTORY OF FRANKLIN.
knighted by James I, and afterwards wife of Gov. Wilham Brad
ford. He was born in Rome, N. Y., 25th July, 1801, graduated
at Hamilton 1827 ; was one year at Auburn Theological Seminary,.
and graduated at Andover 1829 ; ordained at Utica, N. Y., 7th
October, 1832. Installed at Claremont, N. H., 18th June, 1834,
and left in summer of 1838 to come to Frankhn. After leaving.
Franklin he spent six months in Lyndon, Vt., then in Whiteluck,
Washington county, N. Y. He preached statedly there and at
Pownal and Bennington, Vt., for nearly five years, having a
school at the same time in his house. Thence he went to Pleasant
Prairie, Wis., for ten years, part of the time under commission of
the American Home Mission Society, until a rheumatic fever dis
abled him from further service. In 1869 he returned to his early
home in Bridgewater, N. Y., where he died 2d August, 1874, and
was buried in the silken surplice given him by the ladies of Frank
lin some thirty years before.
Mr. Southworth married Martha, only daughter of Luther and
Martha (Niles) Warren, of Weathersfield, Vt. She was born in
Haverhill, N. H., and gi-aduated at the Hartford Female Seminary
in 1837. She now resides in Springfield, Vt. They had no chil
dren. Rev. Samuel Hunt succeeded Rev. Mr. Southworth as pastor,
being installed 4th December, 1850, where he remained until his-
dismission 6th July, 1864.
Mr. Hunt was a native of West Attleboro, the son of Deacon: "
Richard and Ann (Humphrey) Hunt, born 18th March, 1810.
He graduated at Amherst College 1832, and afterwards taught the
academy in Southampton, Mass., also in Southampton, L. I.
From 1836 to 1838 he studied theology in Princeton, N. J., and,.
after supplying the pulpit a year in Mansfield, he was ordained in
Natick, 17th July, 1839. In May, 18'50, was dismissed, and on
December 4 following was settled in Frankhn. After fourteen
years of good service he was dismissed in 1864. He next entered
the service of the American Missionary Association, in establish
ing schools among Freedmen. He became associated in 1868
with Hon. Henry Wilson, afterwards Vice-President, and his for
mer parishioner. He was his private secretary, and aided him in
preparing his work, "The Rise and FaU of the Slave Power in
America," and edited the last volume after Mr. Wilson's decease.

addenda. Sd
Mr. Hunt married fii'st Mary, daughter 'of Maj. Joseph Foster,
of Southampton, L. I. ; afterwards Abigail B., daughter of Wilhs
Fisher, of Franklin ; and third Mrs. Homer, widow of Samuel
"Homer, Esq., of Boston. He has living a son and two daughters,
of his first wife.
Since this page was written Mr. Hunt has died in Boston, 23d
July, 1878.
Rev. George A. Pelton was called by the church, 18th May,
1865, and was installed 9th August, as appears by the records of
the church, for one year. But he continued more than a year,
until he withdrew for a Western field. The years 1867-9 he spent
in Bethel, Ct. Thence he went, in 1869, to Candor, N. Y. ; after
four 3'ears he removed to Groton, N. Y., where he remained until
1877, when he went to Morris-ville, Madison county, N. Y., where
he still remains as acting pastor to the Congregational church in
that ¦village.
Rev. Luther Keene was the eighth regularly installed pastor
of the old church. He was a native of Milo, Me., born 30th
January, 1830, and son of Luther and Lydia (Hopkins) Keene.
He graduated at Amherst College, 1859, and at Bangor 1862. In
October foUo'wing he was settled as pastor of the Union Congre
gational church, in North Brookfield. At the close of a five years'
pastorate he was installed here, 9th October, 1867. His success
ful and very promising ministry was brought to an unexpected
close 17th April, 1874, by his sudden and -widely lamented death.
But his brief labors were marked by several permanent results ;
not the least being a nearly doubled membership in the church,.
the present commodious parsonage, and the beautiful meeting
house 'in which the centennial services were held, and which so
many visitors admired for its chaste proportions. Mr. Keene left
no children. His widow still hves in Bangor, Me., to lament her
irreparable loss.
Since Mr. Keene's decease the church has had no pastor. Its
pulpit has been supplied by yearly engagements or stated supplies,
who can leave only transient impressions on the community and
liable to be obscured, if not obhterated, by the next incumbent —
a policy which this ancient and influential church can well afford
to exchange for the ' ' more excellent way " under which their
fathers grew strong in numbers and in stability.

90 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
THE OLD MEETING-HOUSE
is the center of countless associations,- binding every New England
child to his home and his youth. In the early days, when theite
was but one sanctuary in a town, it was the common center for a
thousand tender hearts. In it and around it boy friendships were
formed, and even deeper alliances were begun. Our towns have
lost one unifying power through the multiphcation of sanctuaries,
by breaking up that central house which once rallied weekly all
the sons and daughters as to a common home. Homely and un
comfortable to our ideas it might be, but it treasured the loves and
hopes, the griefs and the consolations of all the families of the
town. Of the first meeting-house perhaps enough was said in the ad
dress. Of the second edifice we add a few further particulars.
The question of a new and larger building was raised as early
as 1770 ; but such differing opinions obtained and the exigencies
of the Revolutionary War were so pressing that nothing effective
was done for seventeen years. The frequent refusals of the town
to repair the old house indicate the foregone conclusion that a
new one is to be built.
In 1784, April 26, £200 is voted to procure materials towards
the new meeting-house. But in 1785, October 3d, it is voted that
' ' the constable pay back the money collected for the meeting
house and return the tax-bill into the town clerk's office, and that
the town clerk pull off the seal of the warrants and write on the
back that they are null and void," and that a committee "view
the meeting-house and report what is best to be done to repair it."
These repairs, chiefiy patching the shingles, supplying glass to the
upper windows and boarding the lower, amounted to £6 2s. lOd.
But in 1787, December 3, the new meeting-house party gain
the ascendency and proceeds forthwith to work. Samuel Leth
bridge, Asa Whiting, Ens. Joseph Whiting are sent to bargain
¦with Ens. John Adams for the " 34-rod spot." They report the
purchase of the nine acres of land constituting the present Com
mon. Another committee of thirteen report that "the house be
et long ¦with a porch at each end 14 feet square, and the said
house be 40 feet wide, with 50 pews on the lower fioor and 10 in
the gallery ; the windows to contain 24 squares each, the glass to

ADDENDA. 91
he 8 by 10 inches." A tax of £300 is Icsded and " the parish " is
divided into eight classes with one collector for each class. These
eight collectors are to choose a chairman, assign the procuring
of materials by a special committee to each class, and affix a
price on materials furnished, except shingles ; all materials to be
delivered on the spot bj^ the 15th of April next, 1788.
December 31st, it is voted to sell the pews at public vendue to
the highest bidder as per plan,* and to bid for choices, each pew
so sold to be the purchaser's property, his heirs and assigns for
ever. Each purchaser is to paj- one-eighth in money on or before
April 1 next, and ma}' also furnish three-eighths in material as
wanted, giving his note, payable September 1 next, for the bal
ance, with interest after and until paid. It is voted also that the
house be clapboarded with the best sawed clapboards, shingled
with white-pine shingles, and enclosed with oak and pitch-pine
boards ; fioors to be of best pitch-pine ; shingle-nails of cold iron
or wrought ; and Samuel Lethbridge, Peter Whiting, and Dea.
James Metcalf are chosen superintending committee. They are
instructed " to superintend and take effectual care that a New
Meeting-house be built in this town in a manner and form agreea
ble to the rates passed from time to time for that purpose ; and it
shall be the business of the Committee to order and direct where
the timber and stuff shaU be laid, prepair and order the Spot for
Fraiming, procure Workmen and Labourers to do the work, take
care that good stones be brought and laid for the foundation,
make Provision for boarding and Lodging the Workmen, fix upon
the time when to begin to frame, and the Day when to Raise the
building and make all Necessary provision therefor, and to pro-
•cure all suph Material of every Kind as may be necessary to finish
the house. Excepting such as other Com'tees are Directed to pro
cure. And the Selectmen are directed ¦ at the Request of sd
Com'tee to give Orders upon the Treasurer in favour of sd Com'tee
for such sums of Mone}' as may be Necessary for their Expendi
ture in Compleating ye work as above directed, and sd Com'tee
shall keep an Exact account of their time and Expenditures of the
Money Reed and Expended and for what purpose in a Book for
that sole purpose, and May if they think Necessary appoint a
Clerk to Assist them who shall have a Reasonable allowance for
his Sen-ices, and sd Com'tee are Directed tb take Receipts for all

92

HISTORY OP FRANKLIN.

Moneys paid out where the sum is more then 15 shill, and shall!
lay there Book Before the Town for inspection at any time when
properly called for."
At the next meeting, Jan. 7, 1788, the number of pews was
increased to fifty-five, and the pew next to the pulpit stairs was set
apart to the minister's family. The rest of the pews were sold
agreeably to a previous vote. The highest price paid was £17
16s. 8d., by Asa Fairbanks, Jr., and James Metcalf The total
sales amounted to £492 6s. 4d.

THE 0LI> MEETING-HOUSE.
(From memory.)
July 4, 1788, a vote of thanks was given to Hezekiah Fisher
" for his present of the glass to the meeting-house."
December 18, voted to finish the meeting-house next summer,
and with banisters to the pews.
June 8, 1789, allowed the building committee to use any part
of the old meeting-house in finishing the new.
October V2, a committee is chosen to sell the old house, or if not
disposed of within twenty days to pull it down — the latter fate

ADDENDA. 93
probably befalling it, and also a committee ' ' to order where noon
houses and stables shall be built, and to mark out the bounds of
the Common."
A view of this old meeting-house is inserted on the opposite
page. It is drawn from the still vivid picture on our memorj',
and will revive pleasant thoughts in the minds of our old inhabi
tants of their young daj-s.
The cost of the meeting-house, as rendered by the committee
to the town 7th March, 1791, is as follows : —
Lumber at Boston  £57 19s. 3d.
Carting from Boston  16 19s. 3d. 2
Knm, Sugar, Molasses & Lemons at Boston  12 6s. 3d.
Lickquers purchased at home  3 3s. 4d.
Cost of raising the house  26 8s. 9d.
Nails and other Iron ware at Boston  15 7s. 5d.
" " " " " " home  25 15s. 2d.
Painting, Tarring & Glazing   73. 6s. 5d.
Boards, Claphoards & Shingles at home  33 5s. Od.
Plastering & 'Whitewashing  18 4s. 3d. 2
Underpinning the house  26 12s. 5d.
Boarduig the 'Workmen  81 14s. 8d.
Carpenter's "Work  233 Os. Sd.
Doorstones & Paving round the house  25 Is. 3d.
"Window 'Weights  .^ . . r.^,. 5 18s. 4d.
Cost of the Curtain (behind the pulpit)  ' & ,7s. 3d.
Expenses of the Committee  69 3s. 7d.
£726 3s. 4d.
DONATIONS.
Hezekiah Fisher to purchase thfe Glass  £29 4s. 4d. 3
Nathaniel Thayer  2 10s. 7d. 3
Jonathan 'Wales  1 16s. Od.
Josiah Hawes  14 3s. Od.
Nathan Man  1 3s. 6d. 1
£35 83. 8d. 3
Total of class tax  £293 17s. Id. 1
Received from Sale of Pews  622 lis. Od.
Interest on Securities for Pews  13 17s. 6d.
From the Old House  13 12s. 6d.
£943 18s. Id. 1
Total cost of meeting-house  £1,054 9s. 2d. 1
Or at the then value  13,514 86
The town seems to have been as much obscured as we have been
bj' these footings, for they demurred at the charges of the com-

94 HISTORY OP FRANKLIN.
mittee, and appointed auditors to examine the accounts. In 1794,,
March 10, they reported as charged to the cost of the house £748
14s. 7d. 3, of which the building committee had received only £730'
9s. 2d. 3, while he balance had been charged twice to them.
The town voted that this overcharge of £18 5s. 5d. be paid to the
building committee with interest for four years, and receipts in
full were exchanged. As the cost of the house is given in tha
records as £1,054 9s. 2d. 1, we suppose the cost of preparing the
land, etc., must be included in this amount.
In 1806 the porch at the east end of the meeting-house was ex
alted into a belfiy, to contain a clock and bell which had been
presented to the parish. This addition cost $1,462.44. The bell
and clock cost $745.
Further than this simple item of cost we have been unable to
go. The volume of parish records of the proper date has evaded
our search and that of the committee. In some change of clerks-
it failed of a passage to the office of the new incumbent, and the
names of the donor or donors of the clock and bell must remain
undiscovered. Though both clock and bell hve to tell the hours
upon the new church, thej"" do not tick a liint of their history.
The house remained thus furnished and unaltered until 1840.
But it passed through an experience with the painters in 1830,
which deserves a sentence. While the workmen were painting
the belfrj' the bell became quite seriously bespattered. It oc
curred to some bright genius to complete the accident by covering
the bell all over with paint. Of course the sound was fatally
smothered. There was supposed to be no remedy but to trans-
IDOrt it to the foundry in exchange for a new one. Advantage was
taken to procure a heavier beU. The bill of Mr. Holbrook, of
East Medway, shows the following facts : —
Bell of 1,041 lbs. at 30 cts. and yoke at $6.00  $318 30
Cr. by old bell of 890 lbs. at 20 cts  178 00

$140 30
Dated 28tli Jan., 1831.
A subscription of $152.13 overcovered this balance.
That new beU still swings in the steeple of the present Congre
gational church. The oldbeU, after a shght sweltering, to remove
its useless jacket of paint, came forth as good as new, and now

ADDENDA. ' 95
tells* its old tales of gladness and sympathy to the people of
Paxton. The tastes of the people having outgrown the old square pews,
and desires having arisen for a good front look at the new pastor,
Southworth, a movement was begun in 1840 to transform the inte
rior into modern slips, all facing the pulpit. But as one change
frequently involves another, it was decided to move the building
itself to a site ' ' about eighty feet " further north (where it now
stands) and to change its front to the south, so that none could
easil}' tell whether they had been revolved or no. The work was
begun the day following the funeral of the pastor who first occu
pied the house after its dedication in 1788. On the Sabbath fol
lowing, 4th October, 1840, the congregation occupied the hall of
the academj-, and continued to do so until the completion of the
alterations in their sanctuarj' in January, 1842.
The total expenses of this transformation, as near as can be
ascertained, was $2,683.05, towards which the church fund con
tributed $231.36, and individual subscriptions furnished the bal
ance, $1,722 being given by the central school district. In 1856
the interior walls w.ere frescoed.
Upon the completion of the present meeting-house of the
Congregational Society, their former house was sold to the Cathohc
church. The last sermon in it was preached by Rev. L. Keene,
the pastor, 31st December, 1871, from ii Cor., 4 : 18 and 5:1. In
that sermon it was stated, among many other interesting remi
niscences, that $13,362.63 had been expended on the house, and
that in its eighty-four years of occupancy there had been 8,736
Sabbath sermons, 584 admissions to the church, and about 900
infant baptisms under the officiating of thirteen ministers — besides
the uncounted other services, joyous and sad, scenes of anxious
prayer and of rejoicing in re'vivals ¦wide and deep, which conse
crate the house of worship and enshrine it amongst our hohest
and tenderest recollections. THE NEW CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
The rapid increase of the town in population and resources dur
ing and after the war rendered the old house, even with its modi
fications, behind the apparent demands of the times. The project,
of a new house was so seriously agitated and so strongly advo-

S6 HISTORY OF PRANKLIN.
¦cated by the new pastor, Rev. L. Keene, that successful measures
were adopted to carry this purpose into effect. A site was pur
chased bordering the southeast corner of the Common, and work
was begun and pushed to an early completion. The building
committee were Messrs. Davis Thayer, Jr., Henry M. Greene,
Albert E. Daniels, O. A. Stanley, Dr. George King, E. H. Sher
man, and Frank W. Ray — John Stephens architect, and Hanson
& Hunniwell of Somerville builders.
. The dimensions of the main building are 100 by 60 feet, audi
ence-room 60 by 80 feet and 29 feet high, chapel attached to the
rear, 45 by 55 feet, two wings 25 by 14 feet, height of steeple
164 feet ; whole cost of the house furnished, $36,000. It has 650
sittings in the main audience-room, and 1-00 in the gaUery. The
¦chapel wiU seat 500, and the dining-hall 400. The edifice was dedi
cated 4th January, 1872, Rev. Mr. Keene, the pastor, preaching
from John, 12 : 5. The sermon was afterwards printed in his me
morial volume.
With the increase of the business of the town came in a rapid
increase of its population. Not only was the original sanctuary
too small for the growing members, but a diversity of faith and of
modes of worship naturally followed with the incomers. Hence
came a movement for other houses of worship.
Brief histories of these churches have been kindly furnished b}-
their several present pastors, which are here inserted as given to
me, in the order of their dates.
SOUTH FRANKLIN CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
The scattered families of this section have always found it
laborious to attend meeting from two to four miles at the Center.
But theif fewness forbade a hopeful undertaking of separate wor
ship. But the funeral of a young woman in 1855 called in the at
tendance of Rev. Joseph N. Thayer, of Mendon, of whose congre
gation she was. The interest on that occasion prompted him to
appoint 'a meeting soon after in the school-house. The presence
of many seldom seen in any house of worship suggested a contin-
uaince of appointments through the summer on alternate weeks.
A Sunday-school was formed, and a library procured from friends.
The interest so increased as to suggest the formation of a church.
A council was caUed 30th August, 1855, at 'the house of Wil-

Congregational Church, Main Street.

ADDENDA. 97
lard C. Whiting. The churches iu Medway, North Wrentham,
and Blackstone were represented. Rev. John Dwight of North
Wrentham was chosen moderator, and Re\'. Mr. Tappan of
Blackstone scribe, and the council adjourned for two weeks for
further dehberation. September 1:!, the additional churches in
Mendon, West Medwaj-, and Franklin, not previously present,
appeared, and a church was organized of eighteen members. Oc
tober 5, Artemas Barden and Willard C, Whiting were elected
deacons. In March following, subscriptions were started towards
building a meeting-house, and $1,500 were secured. Two lots of
land were given, one by Dea. W. C. Whiting, another by B. Fos
ter. The latter site was selected by a majority of one vote, and
the first stake -driven June 7. September 5, the corner-stone was
laid by services from Revs. S. Hnnfcand J. Merrill, and an original
hymn by Mrs. Luther Deau. The first blow ou the house was
struck by carpenter Charles T. Shaw, and the house was dedicated
25th July, 1857, Rev. Mr. Hunt preaching the sermon. Deacon
Barden died 27th November, 1856 ; James P. Pond was elected
1st July, 1858. On his removal to Medway, Paul B. Clark was
chosen in his place, 1st January, 1869.
This church is still compelled to receive aid from the Home
Missionary Society and has had no settled pastor, but has been
supphed by acting pastors, as follows : Joseph N. Thayer, Wil
liam M. Thayer, J. K. Dewing, Sumner Clark, Dr. Ebenezer Bur
gess, R. Carver, J. N. Walker, J. Merrill.
GRACE CHURCH (universalist) PARISH.
In September, 1856, a petition was presented to S. B. Scott, a
justice in Franklin, to call-a meeting in the Town Hall, for the
purpose of organizing a Universalist parish. The petition was
signed by Alfred Knapp, Goldsbury Pond, Jr., M. D. Lincoln,
F. B. Ray, Benjamin Frost, Arnold J. Newell, James P. Ray, and
Alfred Clark. A formal organization was effected under this call
on October 4th. The parish was organized upon the following
PBOFE.S.SION OF FAITH.
1. We believe there is one God whose nature is love, and the
Bible, harmonizing with nature and reason, contains a revelation
7

98

HISTORY OF PRANKLIN.

of His character, manifested in our Lord Jesus Christ, who will
finally restore all mankind to Holiness and Happiness.
2. We believe that virtue and happiness, vice and misery, are
inseparably connected as cause and effect, and that consequently
in order to be happy men must do justlj', love mercj', and walk
humbly with God.
To this profession a long list of names were appended, embrac
ing some of the leading citizens of the town. Under the inspira-

GKACE CHURCH, MAIN STREET.
tion of a generous offer from the late Ohver Dean, M. D. — from the
first an earnest co-worker with the parish of which he was a mem
ber until his death — it was determined to build a church in 1857.
Previous to this time the congregation had worshipped in the
Town Hall. This church was erected on the ground immediately
in front of the magnificent edifice now owned by the parish on
Main street. It was consecrated 5th May, 1858. The cost, in
dependent of the land, was something over $7,000. This house

ADDENDA. 99
was occupied bj- the parish until June, 1874, when it was sold to
the Baptists, who removed it to School street, and now occupy it.
In 1878 the parish began the erection of its present edifice, called
" Grace Church," certainly one of the most beautiful and perfectlj'
appointed houses of worship to be found in any town iu New Eng
land. Its cost was about $28,000. A view is given onthe pre
ceding page.
There was no settled pastor until 1858. Then the Rev. A. N.
4.DAMS was caUed. He was installed, on the day the first church
was consecrated. His resignation took effect in 1860. Early in
1861, the Rev. N. R. Wright became pastor, and resigned 1862.
He was succeeded by the Rev. S. W. Squire, whose pastorate ex
tended from the fall of 1862 to the faU of 1866. Mr. Squire was
followed in a few months b^^ Rev. H. D. L. Webster, when, in the
fall of 1867, the Rev. Richard Eddy became pastor, resigning in
1869. The parish, after being without a pastor for nearly three
j-ears, succeeded in obtaining the ser'vices of the present incum
bent. Rev. A. St. John Chambre, Doctor of Divinity in 1878, who
was installed 1st Julj', 1872. Under his administration the par
ish has grown strong, and ranks second to none in the town.
A "church," that is, a bodj- of communicants, was organized
immediately upon the accession of the Rev. Mr. Adams to the
pastorate, in 1858. This church is now vigorous, having a large
number of communicants, to whom the sacraments are duly ad
ministered. There is also a Sunday-school, and all other auxiliary
associations which assist in making a living parish, and in advanc
ing the cause and glory of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Between this parish and all other parishes in this village there
are the most friendly Christian harmonies and interchange of fra
ternal courtesies. the first baptist church
in Franklin was organized in 1868, with thirteen members, and
was recognized the same year by a council from churches within
the bounds of the Boston North and South Baptist Association.
Rev. J. W. Holman, M. D., was the first pastor. The church
at this time held their rehgious services in the Town Hall. Dr.
Holman was a man of kindly social bearing, an acceptable and
interesting preacher, and soon gathered a good congregation of

100

HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.

hearers. His pastorate was brief. Rev. Daniel Rounds succeeded
him. During his pastorate, a neat chapel was built on East street.
Here the little church for a season gave every evidence of pros
perity in enlarged membership, in both the congregation and Sun
day-school. But unfortunate differences and consequent ahena-
tion cuhninatediu the resignation of Mr. Rounds, who had labored
hard and faithfully for the establishment and growth of the church.

BAPTIST CHURCH.
Rev. George W. Ryan was called to the pastorate of the churclx
in May, 1873. The year following, the church edifice in which they
now worship was purchased of the First Universalist Society in
Frankhn. The building was moved to School street and altera
tions and improvements made.

CATHOLIC CHURCH.
Previous to the 3'earl848, there were no Roman Catholics in the
town of Franklin. In the j'ear following, however, two families
took up their residence here, and shortl}' after a number of em
ployees of the NorfoUj Railroad Company became permanent res
idents in the town.
The first Mass celebrated iu the town was by Rev. C. O'Riley,

ADDENDA.

101

in a house on Lincoln street, now the residence of J. L. Fitzpat
rick, and was attended by onlj- five worshipers. In 1851 the
Cathohes became more numerous and were gratuitous!}' ahowed
the use of the Town Hall for Divine services, which were con
ducted monthly bj' Rev. M. X. Carroll of Foxboro, until 1862,
when he was succeeded by Rev. M. M'Cabe of Woonsocket, R. I.,

'Ta'ill

CATHOLIC CHURCH.

who also gave monthlj' attendance for about a year. From that
time until 1872, Rev. P. Gillic of Attleboro gave occasional at
tendance. In 1871 the building known as the Old Congregational church
was purchased by a few zealous Catholics of the town and deeded

102 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
by Davis Thayer, Jr., to J. L. Fitzpatrick, and by the latter trans
ferred to Right Rev. J. J. Wilhams, now Archbishop of Boston.
From 1872 until the faU of 1876 the Rev. Francis Gouesse of
Walpole had charge of the parish, but the Cathohes becoming so
numerous, and all church indebtedness being removed, it was
deemed expedient to apply for a resident pastor, who was supplied
in the person of Rev. J. Griffin, who came in February, 1877.
Under Father Griffin's care many improvements are being made.
A parsonage is in course of erection, and at no distant day the
church will have to be enlarged, as it is at present many times
filled to excess. METHODIST CHURCH.
The Methodist church in Franklin owes its existence largely to
the self-sacriiice and perseverance of Rev. E. P. King. Though
not the first Methodist minister -who preached in the town, yet he
was the first to organize and give' permanency to the work.
In the year 1853 a Methodist meeting was first started in the
Town Hall by Rev. John M. Merrill. He came with the intention
of building up a church, if possible, and his efforts were attended
with considerable success. During the two years that he remained
he gathered quite a large congregation. But the work took no
very deep root. Only a very few of the congregation were really
Methodists, and of course were not specially interested in the
founding of a Methodist church. Indeed, there seems to have
been no attempt at organization.
In 1855 Rev. Pliny Wood took charge of the work. He re
mained one year, and kept the work up pretty well during his pas
torate, though he found some difficulty in harmonizing the different
elements of his congregation. Iu 1856 Rev. M. P. Webster came
into the field, and while he seems to have labored earnestly the
difflcultiesof the work so multiplied that he was utterly unable to
meet them. Under his supervision the enterprise ran rapidly down,
so that the Conference judged it expedient, in 1857, to give up
the work.
But in the spring of 1871 Dr. William R. Clark, then Presid
ing Elder of the Boston District New England Conference, and
Rev. William Merrill of West Medway again started a Methodist
meeting in the Town Hall. In November of the same year Dr.

ADDENDA.

103

Clark sent Rev. Jons R. Cr.siiiNc;, a theological student in Boston
to take charge. He organized a Sunday-school and gathered a
good congregation during the few months that he remained. In
April, 1872, the New England Conference sent Rev. E. P. King to
the town. He aimed from the first to establish a church as soon
as possible. On the 9th of September, 1S72, he organized a

I

J-

IJE^'V

METIIODr.ST CHURCH.

church of thirteen members (three men and ten women) and pro
ceeded at once to solicit funds for building a house of worship, of
which he laid the corner-stone 3d October, 1872. He pushed the
work so rapidly forward that he held services in the chapel of the
new building on the second Sunday of March, 1873, and offered
the house for dedication 25th June. A noted revival began in
March preceding and continued throughout the j'ear. Over two

104 HISTORY OF FRANKLIN.
hundred professed conversion, of whom the church swelled its
membership to sixty-six and gained a strong hold in the town.
In April, 1874, after two years of successful work, Mr. King
was taken to another field, and Rev. J. N. Short became pastor
of the church, which position he held for three years. During
that time the church steadily increased in membership and influ
ence, though considerably crippled by the financial embarrass
ments of the country. In April, 1877, Rev. George W. Hudson
became pastor of the church. ' He reports a membership of 87,
a Sunday-school of 12 officers and teachers, and 120 scholars, and
church property of $10,000.
A few persons in town who are of the " New Jerusalem Church "
— Swedenborgian — have held meetings for religious worship con
stantly during the last seventeen years at the house of J. A.
Woodward. Thej' are, most of them, members of the Boston
Society, and are not yet organized here into a distinct church.
XII. minlsterial fund.
It was the policy of the fathers at the first settlement of the
country to provide for the permanency of the ministry. Thej' set
apart land for its support and added special donations from time
to time — sometimes bj' municipal vote, sometimes by private leg
acy. The history of the ministerial fund of Franklin is not fully
traceable, but the few scattered facts following have interest, as
showing the estimate Jn which the moral culture of this communitj'
was held by the fathers.
In March, 1784, it was voted that "the old Continental money
and the new Emission money in the town treasury be appropriated
for to raise a fund for the support of a minister in this town for
ever." Jlay 10 it was voted " to begin to lay a foundation for raising
a fund of money the interest whereof to be appropriated for the
support of a Protestant Congregational minister in this town for-
e\er." They also chose a committee of five to receive donations
in behalf of the town.
The moneys hinted at in the town treasury seem to have come
from several sources. In the partition of Wrentham the old
town funds were agreed to be divided between the two parishes
according to the latest tax-list. These funds had arisen partly

ADDENDA. 105
from the sale of lands given to the corporation b}' the proprietors,
partly, ma3'be, from the interest of certain notes held from the
Province from the earlier times, and, possibly, in part from the
balance of pay to the Representatives of the General Court ; for,
with wise economy, the precinct had fixed the per diem pay of its
representative from time to time, and had ordered him to pay
into tiie precinct treasury vt'hatever he received from the Colonj-.
His pay ¦was at first 6s. per day, afterwards 4s. 6d. What he
received from the General Court is not stated.
J3ut the fund so increased hy thrifty husbandry that the treas
urer was soon able to present quite an exhibit. The earliest state
ment found is dated 2d March, 1792, and is as follows :^—
Bills of new Emission money, $1,091, which is  £327 6s.
Note for *400 in new Emission bills  120
One state note consolidated  10 15s. 4d.
7 years' interest due 1 April next on sd note  4 10s. 5d.
1 Loan office note, 6 pr ct. stock, $227.38  68 3s. 8d.
(6 months' interest on sd note pd.)
1 Loan office note for $113.64, interest deferred  34 2s.
1 state note for £54 2s. 6d., dated 1 Jan., 1791, third part pd
in cash, together with the interest, 1 Jan, 1792 ; i-e-
mains due on sd note, the sum of  36 Is. 8d.
Cash on hand, in the treasury  24 lis. 6d.
The total is not given in the report and for good reason ; for
¦these State notes and Emission bills gave the town no small
trouble, and their fluctuating value prevented any reliable estimate
of the amount of the ministerial fund. In 1796 the toM'U pre
sented a petition to the General Court that it " pay the bills of
New Emission & the Treasurer's note as promised by Act of 24
April, 1780, & to be redeemed in silver by 31 Nov. 1786." But
they had leave to withdraw, not the monej', but themselves, and
nothing more is recorded of the matter until 1800. June 25 of
this year the treasurer reports the fall account of the fund to date
to be $760.58, besides some interest, also the Emission bills for
$1,091, note in new Emission $400 — discount and deficit of
$89.92. A -vigorous instruction was given to the Representative, which
was ordered to be printed in "Young & Mime's State paper,"
whatever that was. A report on this new Emission matter was
also presented, which sa^s : —

106 HISTORY OP FRANKLIN.
TheGeneralCourtin May, 1781, leviedatax of £374,795 8s. 2d.
on the towns. Frankhn got an abatement of £205 6s. 5d., equal
to $684,40. Hard money was so needed that the State ordered
Bills to be emitted at 1^ paper for one of silver, which bill was
passed a month after the Bihs, stopping passing, and therefore
were only security for payment. But Government made no pro
vision for payment until 1794, and then at one-quarter the nomi
nal value, while other securities were funded at full value.* The
town received about 1284 paper dollars for 684 of silver, and if
their bills were funded according to the funding law of 1794, it
would have a note of $321 and interest, and lose $363 and inter
est for 18 years.
In May, 1803, the townsold the Emission bills, State note, etc.,
to .John Whiting for an unmentioned amount, when the fund was
reported to be $1,826.63. In May, 1804, it was $1,427.15^. In
March, 1806, it was voted to sell all the 6 per cent, stock in the
Loan office, Boston.
Upon the separation of parochial business from the town affairs in
1804, the ministerial fund disappears from the records and hides
itself almost entirely from sight. Our next glimpse of it is in a
deed of " twenty-six acres of land by measurement" lying in Leices
ter, Addison county, Vt., dated 15th June, 1813, and valued at
$916. The deed is from John Whiting of Franklin to the First
Congregational Society of Franklin, and is quitclaimed to the
parish 11th April, 1814, by Joseph Capron of Leicester, Vt.
This land proved somewhat of an "elephant to the parish. A fre
quent correspondence was carried on between Harvy Deming of
Salisbury and H. C. Fisher of the parish committee. The former
seems to have been agent for the sale of the land, and finally takes
it himself, but the net proceeds to the parish are not distinctly
given — they seem to have been about $450.
The records of the church throw some additional light upon this
fund, for the church had been a contributor to the same end.f
In 1790, November 25, the church committee is authorized to re-
* The town records refer to Rev. Dr. Hemminway's election sermon of 1784,
for its facts and arguments.
t As early as 1761 the first church in 'Vfrentham had given to the second
church several acres of the old Dedham lands, viz.: twenty-six acres on Blake's
plain ; thirty-three acres south of Tare Briel Hill ; forty acres east of Millbrook ;
and eighteen and one-half acres east of Diamond Hill. These lands were some
of them exchanged for other lots and finally sold.

ADDENDA. 107
loan its money to the United States Loan office and deliver the
securities to the church treasurer. In 1808, September 21, the
church votes to seU these securities to private parties. In 1832 a
committee of the church report the fund to consist of nine notes,
amounting to $617, on interest, and cash on hand $204.40. Total,
$820.81. Out of this fund small sums were from time to time
appropriated to cases of special need ; for example, $100 was
voted, 19th May, 1831, to Rev. Mr. Smalley "to make up the sum
proposed to be raised bj' his friends for his benefit." This was to
aid him in' building his house. The whole fund was finally dis
posed of bj- a vote of the church 7tli September, 1840, " to fur
nish the First Congregational parish with the funds of the church,
amounting to $700 and upwards, to be expended iu repairing their
meeting-house — to be rented for their current expenses, provided
the parish pay the interest to Dr. Emmons during his life, and a
joint voice in the settlement and dismission of ministers and the
use of the meeting-house as heretofore." So ended all ministerial
funds in Franklin, in securing the use of the meeting-house and a
joint voice in ministerial questions.
One idea of the moral history of Franklin will be best rounded.
out by sundry votes and resolves of the church, and the town
passed at divers times upon the
XIII. public MORALS.
As the main intent of the original settlement was the gathering
of a Christian community, the settlers sedulousty watched all so
cial tendencies, and felt it not foreign to their duty to express
themselves positively upon the practices of society. So long as.
church membership was essential to citizenship they could have
control, and church discipline could be vigorously administered.
Absentees from public worship were called up for self-justification,
and all wanderers had to rise and explain. Even the j'oung Puri
tans were sharply looked after. In 1744, September 12, the
precinct chose a man " to take care of ye children to prevent their
playing in meeting " — an office which lasted within our recollec
tion, and was not a sinecure on summer days.
But the Revolutionary War greatly aggravated the growing lax
ity of manners, insomuch that a " Society for the Reformation of
Morals" was formed in November, 1790, which had its annual

108 HISTORY OF FRANKLIN.
«ermon. Several of these were printed for general circulation,*
and not without result.
The town took note of the general tendency of things, as the
following votes witness : —
May, 1791, on complaint that divers persons have from time to
time behaved in a very unbecoming manner by standing in the
porches of the meeting-house of this town on the Lord's day and
otherways conducting in a manner not only inconsistent with the
purpose for which they professedly assemble, but highly unbecom
ing a person of good breeding or the character of a gentleman ;
voted that such conduct ought to be highlj- reprobated and dis
countenanced by eveiy sober man, and that they will hold them
as scandalous and infamous persons, and the tithing-men are to
take their names and publicly expose them next town meeting,
and post up this vote and the names of all future ofi'enders.f
The public exposure did not wholly- eradicate the e'vil, for in
1794, April 7, it was voted that " all heads of families be re
quested to use their infiuence and authoritj^ to all under their care
to pass the porches on the Sabbath with decency and propriety,
without standing in said porches and thereby prevent persons
from taking their seats in the meeting-house."
One provocative to that evil practice doubtless was the fact that
no shade or shelter, save the horse-sheds, existed around the old
meeting-house to cover the early comers to church, and the social
instinct drew strongly upon those who seldom saw any one during
the week to secure the current gossip of the town. The prelimi
nary waiting, therefore, for- " the little man in black " to drive up
to the front door was spent in retailing the news of the week, and
" the porches" were the most comfortable rendezvous. But this
is a solution and not an apologj'.
This outer disrespect was not excluded always, even when the
congregation had assembled into its family boxes. The minister
did not always control their attention. Indeed, he felt that they
needed a sharper admonition than a paper resolve, and he resorted
to a rousing experiment. On the Sunday of July 18, 1790, while

*See Emmon's 'Works (last ed.) vol. v, p. 23 and on.
t The town had erected two posts in front of the meeting-house as a perma
nent place for all such notices, warrants for town meetings, etc.— exchanged
afterwards for two Lombardy poplars, unto one of which Dr. Emmons always
liitched his horse on Sundays.

ADDENDA. 10&
the audience were especially inattentive and sleepy, Dr. Emmons
closed his manuscript, took down his three-cornered hat, and witii
out further premonitions descended the pulpit, passed down the
broad aisle and out of the house to his home. August 3, at a
church meeting, he explained his conduct ; whereupon the church
voted : " 1. It is reasonable the pastor should insist upon having
the proper attention of the people in time of public worship. 2.
It is reasonable the church should desire and endeavor that proper
attention be given in the time of public worship and discounte
nance all inattention." Some j-ears later, 29th December, 1816,
he complained directly in a letter to the church of what he calls
" a designed inattention," upon which that body repeats its vote
of 1790. The year following, 5th May, 1817, the town adopted the
following petition to the State Legislature : —
The petition of the town of Franklin sheweth that we your peti
tioners, seriously impressed with a sense of the indispensible obli
gation of the people in this state to remember and sanctifj' the
christian Sabbath, are fully convinced that some effectual means
ought to be adopted and pursued to restrain them from the external
and gross profanation of that holy day. We concur in the opin
ions of the respectable Association of ministers in the county of
Hampshire, that the present laws respecting the Sabbath need to
be re'vised and amended. We, therefore, unite with our fellow
citizens who ¦view the subject in this light, in respectfully and
eamestiy requesting the Honorable Legislature to pass such acts
as they shaU deem necessary to promote the due observance of the-
Lord's Day throughout the Commonwealth.
On the gravest e^vil of society, the prevalence of intemperance,
the chm-ch took early and decided action. Dr. Emmons was al
ways strictly abstemious and among the first advocates of total
abstinence. While the bottle of new rum was regarded as a
necessary utensil of the hay-field, excessive drinking was confined
to a few notorious persons. Even these were gloriously drunk
only on occasions like the annual muster, election day, and the
town meeting. The earliest temperance lecture we recollect was
by a Mr. Frost, who filled the old meeting-house with an enthusias
tic audience and rallied a long file of names to the pledge. But
there were earlier movements. Hon. M. M. Fisher says in one of
his "Reminiscences," "the Temperance pledge was signed as
early as 1825, after a lecture given in the Popolatic school-house

110 HISTORY OF PRANKLIN.
by a sou of Dr. Beecher, who was visiting with his sister Catharine
at Mr. Caleb Fisher's. Mr. Fisher and Mr. Ehsha BuUard with
¦others signed it, and afterwards declined to furnish liquor in haj'
time." The selectmen in those days ' ' posted " the names of inveterate
drunkards to whom all dealers were forbidden to sell. The list was
sometimes fearfully long. But the zeal of Drs. Miller and Hunting
and others secured rapidly a wide change of opinion and practice,
so that Franklin became early, and continues to be, a thorough
temperance town. XIV. TOWN INDUSTRIES.
The means and energies of the first settlers of this territorj' were
deyoted to the clearing of their wilderness farms. They had
neither time nor need in their simple living to turn themselves to
manufactures. Corn-mills and saw-mills were their only necessity.
These they had to build as soon as possible. The meeting-house
first, and then the corn-mill. Body and soul could then be fed for
¦other work.
The first move in Wrentham was to grant twelve acres of land
at the ponds for a corn water-miU, which was offered to Robert
Grossman, and finally, in 1685, assumed by John Whiting, who
built a mih on the site of the present Eagle factory. This mill
remained in the line of his descendants for over a centurj'.
But as the population spread into the present Franklin and be
gan to crystaUize about a new center, they sought for mill con
veniences nearer their homes. We have not the data for giving the
•order of progress, but the earliest move towards a miU which we
have discovered was in 1713 on Mine brook.
In the "great divident" of 28th March, 1698, " Lott 50 in
Michael WiUson Sen.'s part, five acres are granted to Daniel
Haws jun. on the mine brook below Thomas Thurston & above
the faUs near Eleazer Metcalf: bounded by land laid out to the
Wid. .Pond in part northward, and common on aU other parts : the
Brook running through it." Young Daniel Hawes and his neigh
bor Metcalf associate with others to utihze these falls in Mine
brook for miU purposes, and they sign the following contract : —

ADDENDA. Ill
Wrentham, February the 7, 1713.
We hose names are hereunto subscribed doe agree to build a
sawmill at the place called the Minebrook : Daniel Haws none
quarter, John Maccane none quarter, Eleazer Metcalf & Samuel
Metcalf none quarter, Robert Pond Sen. non quarter.
We doe covenant & agree as foUowes : —
1 . We doe promis that we wil each of us carry on & do our equal
proporchon throught in procuring of irones & hueing framing of a
dam & miU & all other labor throught so faire as the major part
shall se meat to doe till the mill be finished throught and made fit
for to goe then to com to a reckoning.
2. We do a gre that aU of us shall have liberty for to work out
his proporsion of work & in case aney none of us neglect to carry
¦on his part of said mill the rest of the owners to carry on said
work till it be done & fit to saw & he that neglects to carry on his
part of said mill shall pay half a crown a day to the rest of the
•owners that did said work.
3. We du agre that said land shall ly for a mill pond soe long as
the major part shall se fit. We du all so agre that no non shall
sell his part of said miU till he has first mad a tender to the rest
•of the owners. We du al so agre that no non shal sel his part in
the land til he hes tenderd it to the rest of the owners.
Signed sealed & dehvered Robart Pond
in the presence of Daniel Haws
Ezra Pond John Maccane
Jonathan Wright Eleaser Metcalf
^ iiis Samuel Metcalf
Robert -|- Pond
mark.
On the back is the still further agreement : —
to lay out each man's loot as they are drawn — the first loot is
to be gin four foot from the upper sil of the streak sil and soe up
unto the ind of the sleapers, and to de'vid it equaUin to fower loots
& from the sleapers towards the road so as not to interrupt the
Toad.
Robart Pond Daniel Haws
John Maccane Eleazer Metcalf
Samuel Metcalf Daniel Thurston
March the 7.
1717
The saw-miU so built stood where Joseph Whiting afterwards
had a mill, and where one of the numerous felting mills of the
Ray brothers now stands.
In the laying out of a surveyor's district 29th May, 1736, there
are other mills in town mentioned — " the Iron works " (which we

112 HISTORY OP FRANKLIN.
locate on Mine brook near the foot of Forge HiU), "Benjamin
Morse's saw-mill," and ' ' Adams' corn-mill " (which last was at
City MiUs) . But these were hardly manufactories. Only the arts
necessary to farming got any footing in the town until the begin
ning of the present century, when a new industry was inti-oduced
which has had an important influence upon the character and
prosperity of the town.
The braiding and making of straw into bonnets came from
Providence, R. I. Capt. John Whipple had a store in that city,
in which his wife, Naomi, had also a small millinery shop. Her
bonnets came through New York from Europe. Mrs. Whipple
and her assistant, Hannah Metcalf, unraveled a scrap of the braid
one day and learned the secret of its fabric. Procuring some straw
they successfully imitated the braid, and soon after made and sent
a box of her own bonnets to her New York importer. The trade
grew rapidly, so profitable was it, and other Providence ladies
learned the process. In the summer of ,1799 several Providence
girls came to a boarding-school in Massachusetts, wearing their
home-made bonnets, which created no httle excitement. One of
them, Sally Richmond, came to Wrentham academy. She knew
the art and taught it to the ladies where she boarded. Thus was
straw-braiding introduced to this State through Wrentham, and
naturally spread next into this town.
The first bonnets were made of oat straw fiattened, and con
tained from sixteen to eighteen yards of wide Dunstable. So
mightily did the novelty take that no girl was considered of the
ton without one. The fashion gave a vigorous impulse to the trade
and the sale of straw bonnets spread through the land.
The Wrentham ladies in 1804 bought an organ for then church
by contribution of straw bonnets, which were sold by their agent
in Maine and with no small profit to himself.*
One result of the sudden uprise of this new industiy was a
great addition to the business of small trading stores. They sold
their goods in exchange for straw-braid. The stock so accumu
lated they soon began to convert into bonnets, and this led to
special manufactories for straw goods. Fisher «& Day, of Wrent-
* This organ was moved from its " proper and conspicuous place" in 1823,
into one of the back pews, and Dr. James Mann wrote a eulogy upon the whola
" atchievement," which was printed in the Norfolk Repository , 1804.

^777?

T' n. ' , ~ .

I" , yta-
2VH^ rJI'^W
\:
¦ • ***» -
•»P* * ¦" £'
.'¦'^,
I I
II ' il'lil
% '//(
ADDENDA. 113
ham, first entered into this business in 1804. In 1810 Asa and
Davis Thayer opened a store in Franklin at the City Mills, selling
their straw braid received for goods to Fisher, Day & Co. About
1812 they bought the Adams store near the Center, and re-estab
lished themselves much more largely, manufacturing their own
bonnets in shapes and styles of their own. This was the second
straw-goods firm in the countj'. They at^rst made from 6,000 to
8,000 bonnets per annum. In 1816 the Wrentham flrn> failed,
by the selling out of one of the partners, it is said, and A. & D.
Thajer were left sole occupants of the new industry. Asa Thayer
died in 1816, and Davis conducted the business alone until 1820,
when Hermon C. Fisher became a partner. He finally started a
separate concern, and others also entered into the business. But
the Thayer house still continues in the same name and ¦with greatly
enlarged facihties and success. Franklin is now one of the chief
towns where this industry flourishes. In 1869 it had no less than
seven manufactories of straw goods, producing 1,500,000 hats
and bonnets at a value of more than $1,000,000. This amount
has been greatly increased by the use of improved machinerj'^, al
though fewer persons are employed at their homes and fewer firms
conduct- the business.
A ¦view is given opposite of Major Thayer's house and place of
business. His store was on the left and the entrance where the
settee is standing. The piazza is a modern addition. The first
central post-oflSce was in this store.
Another industry in the town of growing importance is the man
ufacture of felt goods. The first shoddy-picker, and probably the
first in the country, was started in 1849 at Unionville by Messrs.
J. G. & J. P. Ray.
Col. Joseph Ray came with his family to Frankhn in 1839 and
engaged at first in making cotton goods. His three sons soon
took up different hues of woolen goods, enlarging their mills and
increasing their number at different localities, until their various
factories of cotton, cassimere, felts, &c., produce about a million
yards per year of satinets alone. The total of their products we
do not know. Other firms have also lately entered upon similar
industries within the town, but of these we have not any data, his
toric or otherwise. These have brought their accompaniments of

114 history of PRANKLIN.
machine shops, planing-mills, and artisans, making the region of
the depots lively centers of activity.
The engraving opposite gives a ¦dew of the office of Messrs. Raj'
in the second story left, the National Bank in the right, and the
present post-office and st6res on the first floor. The building stands
on the corner of Main and Depot streets, and is of pressed brick.
The ^oe business has never put more than a single foot in the
town. In 1850, N. C. Newell bought, moved and converted the
old Emmon's barn into a boot shop. J. M. Freeman followed him
soon after in the same shop, but his increasing business has led
him twice to rebuUd larger accommodations. Other manufactories
of less extent have been started at different dates, which cannot
here have special mention. Franklin is a very busy town, where
loafing finds a difflcultj'^ in resisting opportunities for work.
But as an e^vidence that Frankhn is not wholly material in its
tastes, it should be recorded that it has at this date two weeklj'
newspapers well conducted, besides a job-printing office, not to
mention at least one boy's hand-press doing a livety Uttle busi
ness. The Frankhn Register was first issued in October, 1872, by
James M. Stewart, editor and proprietor, and is still in a fiourish
ing condition under his assiduous management. Another weekly
sheet has lately appeared, called the Fi-anklin Sentinel, by R. E.
Capron, indicating a conviction of the town's growing intellectual
appetite for more.
The business of the town sustains a national and a sa-dngs
bank, both successfully managed. Stores, shops, etc., requisite
to a thri-ving town, abound. A ¦view of one of the later blocks
(Fletcher's) on Main street, nearly opposite the post-offlce, is
given between pages 116 and 117.
The following statistics from the State census of 1875 wiU show
at a glance the extent of the town's industries at that date :
Manufacturing estabhshments where goods are made, 21 ; value
of produced goods, $1,232,947 ; occupations where work is done,
26 ; value of products, $37,968 ; steam engines, 12 ; water-wheels,
9 ; horsepower, 1,175 ; capital invested in manufactm-es, $325,625 ;
yearly wages, $208,840 ; total industrial products, $1,299,915.
The foUo-wing table, compiled from the earUest to the latest
rehable date, by S. W. Richardson, Esq., collector of United

Ray's Block, Main Street.

ADDENDA.

115

States Internal Revenue, will exhibit the material progress of the
town during the past century : —

industrial table.

Year..

Polls.

Valuation.

Houses.

Barns.

Horses.

Oxen.

Cows.

Sheep.

1786. .

..253 £2,401 18s. Od.

127

119

132

198

570

856

1790..

..274

2,803 14s. 6d.

143

131

139

270

788

. . .

1800..

, . .296

$13,294 40

169

157

180

275

729

1810..

..288

17,318 95

180

178

163

265

733

1820. .

..323

15,524 75

210

180

143

274

599

1830..

..286

343^124 00

234

208

149

274

563

301

1840..

..372

417,078 00

262

227

183

191

448

129

1850..

..384

648,456 00

304

240

185

192

493

12

I860..

..545

811,636 00

379

269

245

142

508

5

1865..

..543

1,116,660 00

402

269
573
16
1875..
..717
1,433,635 00
464
. . .
331
466
4
1878..
..890
1,551,645 00
563
. . .
365
522
XV. lists of public officers.
(From the incorporation of the precinct to tbe present time. )
1. PRECINCT CLERKS.
Daniel Thurston (first clerk), 1738. Michael Metcalf, 1757.
Ezra Pond, 1739, '42. Hezekiah Fisher, 1758, '69, '73.
Simon Slocomb, 1740, '41, '43, Timothy Pond, 1759, '62.
'48, '52. Jonathan Whiting, 1763, '68.
John Fisher, 1744, '47. Ebenezer Metcalf, 1774r-'77.
Jabez Fisher, 1753, '56. a. TOWN CLERKS.
Asa Pond, 1728, '80, '82, '85. Capt. David Baker, 1824r-'36.
Hezekiah Fisher, 1781. Wilkes Gay, Jr., 1837-'39.
ISTathan Daniels, Jr., 1786, '91, 1804. Davis Thayer, Jr., 1840-'45.
Amos Hawes, 1792, 1803. Theron C. Hills, 1846-'62.
Asa Harding, 1805, '15. • Alpheus A. Eussegue, 1863-'75.
liBwis Harding, 1816, '23. George W. Wiggin, 1876-'78.
3. PRECINCT TREASUBEBS.
Eleazer Metcalf, 1738. Kobert Blake, 1743-'52, '58, '68.
Nathaniel Fairbank, 1739. Baruch Pond, 1754-'57, '61-'64.
David Jones, 1740, '41. Daniel Thurston, 1759, '60, '65-'67,
Thomas Bacon, 1742, '53. '69-'71.
i. TOWN TBEA8UEEK8.
Asa Whiting, 1778-'87, '92, '93. Lt. Phineas Ware, 1800-1804.
Seth Lawrence, 1788-'91. Timothy Metcalf, 1805-'16.
Joseph Whiting, Jr., 1794-'96. Simeon Partridge, 1817-19.
Hanan Metcalf, 1797-'99. Col. Caleb Thurston, 1820-'32.
116

HISTORY OF PRANKLIN.

Joel Daniels, 1833-'55, '42-'53.
Wilkes Gay, Jr., 1836-'39.
George W. Morse, 1840, '41.
Theron C. Hills, 1854-'60. B. SELB(
Samuel Lethbridge, 1778.
Dea. Jonathan Metcalf, 1778, '79.
Asa Whiting, 1778,79.
Hezekiah Fisher, 1778.
Ens. Joseph Hawes, 1778, '79.
Ebenezer Lawrence, 1779, '80.
Joseph Whiting, Jr., 1779.
Capt. Asa Fairbanks, 1780.
Samuel Morse, Jr., 1780, '81, '83.
William Gilmore, l780-'82.
James Metcalf. 1781.
John Kichardson, 1781, '82, '87, '94
-'98.
Asa Pond, 1782-'85.
Benjamin Pond, 1782.
Peter Adams, 1782.
Joseph Hills, nS3-'86.
John Boyd, 1783-'85, '93.
Nathan Daniels, 1783. ^
Ebenezer Dean, 1786-'88.
Nathan Daniels, Jr., 1786-'88, 1802
-'04.
Moses Knapp, 1788, '99, 1800, '01.
Seth Bacon, 1789-'91.
Capt. Eli Richardson, 1789, '91, '92,
'99, 1800, '01.
Peter ¦Wliiting, 1789-'91, 94-'98.
Elisha Harding, 1790.
Jonathan Wales, 1792, '93.
Isaac Heaton, Jr., 1792, '93.
Pelatiah Fisher, 1794-'98.
William Adams, 1799-1800, '02.
Amos Hawes, 1802, '03.
Capt. Stephen Kingsbury, 1803, '04.
Timothy Rockwood, 1804, '05.
Dea. Joseph Bacon, 1805-08.
Jabez Fisher, Jr., 1805.
James Metcalf, 1806-'08.
Capt. Eobt. Gilmore, 1806-'09.
Lieut. Phineas Ware, 1809, '10.
Lewis Fisher, 1809-' 18, '20-'24, '28.
William Makepeace, 1810-'13.

Adams Daniels, 1861, '62.
Alpheus A. Russegue, 1863-'74..
James M. Freeman, 1875-78.

Daniel Sayles, 1811, '12. •
William Boyd, 1813, '14, '17.
Nathan Woodward, 1814-'16.
James Adams, 1815, '16.
Capt. Asa Harding, 1817-22.
Capt. David Hartshorn, 1818, '19>
Capt. Dyar Clark, 1818-'23.
Ensign Seth Dean, 1823-'28.
Lieut. Willis Fisher, 1824-'27, '43-
Col. Caleb Thurston, 1825-'.34.
Wm. Makepeace, Jr., 1829-'32.
Dr. Spencer Pratt, 1829-' 31.
Capt. Alfred Knapp, 1832-'35..
Col. Nathan Cleveland, 1833-'37.
Joel Daniels, .Jr., 1835-'38.
Elisha Richardson, 1836-'.38.
Wane Adams, 1838-'40.
Capt. Hartford Leonard, 1839-'4t,
. William Metcalf, 1839, '40, '42, '43.
Albert E. Daniels, 1841, '42.
Rila Scott. 1841.
Martin Green, 1842, '43, '45.
Daniel Thurston, 1844.
Dea. Levi F. Morse, 1844-'46.
Capt. Erastus Rockwood, 1844^-' 49.
Dea. Peter Adaips, 1846-'49, '75,
'76.
Col. Saul B. Scott, 1847.
George W. Nasou, 1848-'54, '57, '59-
Joel P. Adams, 1850, '51.
Elisha Hubbard, 1850, '51.
Dea. Joseph T. Bacon, 1852, '53.
Robert Gilmore, 1852, '53.
Ehas Cook, 1854^' 56.
Stephen W. Richardson, ]854-'56^
'75.
Joseph Morse, 1855, '56.
Francis B. Ray, 1857, '58, '77.
Seth Partridge, 1857.
Maxcy Cook, 1858, '59.
Lowell B. Cleveland, 1859, '60-
Otis Wales, Jr., 1860-'63.

Fletcher's Block, Main Street.

ADDENDA. 117
James P. Ray, 1860-'63. William Rockwood, 1867-'69.
James M. Freeman, 1861, '64, '66 Aaron H. Moses, 1870-'72.
-'74. John H. Fisher, 1873.
Joseph G. Ray, 1864, '65. Jason Tower, 1873.
Horatio Kingsbury, 1864. Henry R. Jencks, 1874-'77.
-Joseph H. Wardsworth, 1865, '66, Joseph W. Clark, 1874, '75.
'68-'72. Erastus L. Metcalf, 1875.
Gardner Adams, 1865. Edmund Hartshorn, 1875, '77.
Lewis W. Hills, 1866, '67. Alfred G. Metcalf, 1875.
6. SCHOOL COMMITTEE.*
Dr. Nathaniel Miller, 1802, '09, '11 Erastus Emmons, 1815, '16.
-'13, '34. -WTiiting Metcalf, 1816.
Pelatiah Fisher, 1802. Alfred Ware, 2d, 1816.
¦Capt. Amos Hawes, 1802, '03. Luther Gowen, 1817, '18, '20.
Dea. Jonathan Metcalf, 1802, '08, Philip W. Miller, 1817, '18.
'13, '15, '20-'22. . James Fisher, 1819.
Oliver Smith, 1802-'05.' Elisha Harding, 1819.
Thomas Mann, 1803. David Baker, 1819.
Elihu Pond, 1803, '05, '08, '09, '17, Alexander C. White, 1820, '21.
'18. Joseph Hills, 1820, '21.
Asa Harding, 1803, '04, '08, '16. Preston Fisher, 1821.
John W. Richardson, 1804, '08, '17, Herman BaSsett, 1821.
'18, '20-'22, '28. Capt. Dyar Clark, 1821.
Robert Gilmore, 1804, '05, '20, '21. Dr. Amory Hunting. 1822, '24-'26,
Eli Richardson, Jr., 1804, '09-'ll. '29, '34, ',38.
WiUiam Boyd, 1805, '19, '20. Willard Fisher, 1824-'26, '28, '34,
Asa Gowen, 1805, '12, '16. '40-' 44, '48, '49.
Willis Fisher, 1808, '15, '17, '20, Fisher Daniels, 1824, '25, '28, '29.
'21, '35. George C. "Vyilde, 1826.
James Wales, 1809. William Makepeace, Jr., 1826, '30.
Dea. Joseph Bacon, 1809, '11. Lieut. Hiram Knapp, 1827.
Isaac Morrill, 1810. Ira Blake, 1828, '30, '32, '34.
Ichabod Dean, 1810, '27. Elias Metcalf, 1828, '2b, '31, '33.
Lewis Fisher, 1810, '11. Alpheus Adams, 1829.
Isaac Walker, 1810. Rev. Elam Smalley, 1831, '34, '38.
Rev. Nathanael Emmons, 1811, '12. Abijah W. Metcalf, 1831.
Dea. James Adams, 1812-'14, '26. Abel Pond, 1831.
<;aleb Fisher, 1812, '13. Paul B. Clark, 1831, '33, '42-' 44, ' 48
Dr. Spencer Pratt, 1813-']5, '17 -'50.
-'20, '24, '27, '30, '36. Capt. A. E. Daniels, 1832, '35.
Col. Lewis Harding, 1814. Ward Adams, 18.32, '35.
Capt. Nath'l Adams, 1814. Joel Daniels, Jr., 1833.
Simeon Partridge, 1814. Dea. Levi F. Morse, 1833, '34.
William Makepeace, 1815. Capt. Philo Fisher, 1833.
* Prior to 1802 the schools were in charge of the selectmen and clergymen of tho
own.

118

HISTORY OP FRANKLIN.

Jarvis H. Hills, 1833.
Smith Fisher, 1835, '39, '40.
Hermon Fisher, 1835.
Asa G. Norcross, 1835.
Wilkes Gay, Jr., 1835.
Mortimer Blake, 1836-'38. '
Stephen W. Richardson, 1836, '51,
'52.
Erastus Rockwood, 1836.
Elisha Hubbard, 1836.
John H. Fisher, 1837.
Ebenezer A. Warfield, 1837.
Horatio Kingsbury, 1837.
Rev. Tertius D. Southworth, 1839
-'49, '52.
Dr. Shadrach Atwood, 1839.
William Phipps, Jr., 1839.
James O. Brown, 1839, '40.
George W^ Morse, 1840, '41.
Rev. Asa Hixon, 1845, '46, '55, '56.
Hartford P. Leonard, 1845, '46.
William E. Peck, 1847.
Dr. Jona. Mann, 1847.

J. Geo. Hubbard, 1850.
Waldo Daniels, 1850, '54r-'.56, '5*
-'60, '66-'69, '77.
Rev. Samuel Hunt, 1851, '53, '57,
'63.
James C. Whiting, 1851, '52.
Dr. L. L. Scammell, 1853.
Rev. John M. Merrill, 18.54.
Thomas M. Bacon, 1855.
Rev. Joseph Thayer, 1856.
Dr. Wm. B. Nolen, 1857, '58, '74
-'76.
Wm. P. Shepard, 1857.
Sewall Fisher, 1858, '59, '65.
Geo. A. Woodward, 1859-'61.
Marcellus A. Woodward, 1860-'62.
Dr. Geo. King, 1861-'63, '67-'73.
Adin D. Sargeant, 1862-'64, '70.
Rev. J. K. Deering, 1863.
Rev. S. W. Squire, 1864-'77.
Joseph Woodward, 1865.
Geo. W. Wiggin, 1873-'75.
William F. Ray, 1876, '77-

T. BEPEESBNTATIVBS TO THE GENEEAL COUET.

Ensign Joseph Hawes, 1778, '81.
Dr. Joseph Metcalf, 1779, '80.
Peter Adams, 1782, '83.
Samuel Lethbridge, 1784, '85.
Hon. Jabez Fisher, 1786, '98, '99.
Capt. Thomas Bacon, 1787, '88.
Lt. Hezekiah Fisher, 1789-'97.
Col. John Boyd, 1800-'04.
Pelatiah Fisher, 1805, '06.
Capt. Joseph Bacon, 1807-'14.
Lieut. Phineas Ware, 1811-'17.
Le^wris Fisher, 1815, '16, '^§-'21,
'23, '26.
Dr. Nath'l Miller, 1827, '33.
Col. Caleb Thurston, 1829, '30.
Willis Fisher, 1831.
Major Davis Thayer, 1832, '34, '40.
Ensign Seth Dean, 1834.
Joel Daniels, 1837.
Col. Nathan Cleveland, 1838, '39.
Ward Adams, 1840.

Albert Daniels, 1841.
Col. Saul B. Scott, 1843, '44.
Dr. Shadrack Atwood, 1847.
Col. Paul Clark, 1848.
Geo. W. Nason, 1850.
William Metcalf, 1851. ^^
Capt. Hartford Leonard, 1852-
Seneca Hills, 1855.
Mason F. Southworth, 1856.
Theron C. Hills, 1857.
Stephen W. Richardson, 1858.
James M. Freeman, 1860.
James P. Ray, 1861, '77.
Rev. Wm. M. Thayer, 1863.
Frances B. Ray, 1865.
Alpheus A. Russegue, 1867.
Henry E. Pond, 1868.
Rev. Richard Eddy, 1870.
Joseph A. Woodward, 1871.
John H. Fisher, 1873, '74.
Da-vis Thayer, 1876.

ADDENDA. 119
XVI. MILITARY.
The chapter of our military history maj- be brief, as the mate
rials for its most important portion have aheady been quoted in
the historical address. Of the participation of our fathers in the
earhest struggles of the Colony with the Indians no account has
been found. Some of them were engaged in the war against
King Philip, and doubtless in the subsequent French and Indian
wars and expeditions against the Canadas. But the individual
participants have been mostlj- hidden by the obscurities of nearly
two centuries.
In a list of Captain Moselej-'s company of Dedham, dated " 9 X
bar 1675" (Dec. 9), are found the names of Samuel Colborne,
John Daj- and Robert Weare, of whom the last certainly was the
ancestor of a Franklin famih'. In a list of prisoners exchanged
¦and brought to Boston in the schooner " Brittania,'' 6th October,
1748, Moses Washburn, of Wrentham, is included as "taken
prisoner at Bruns^wick and carried to Canada." These instances,
however, have little interest beyond showing that, however crowded
our ancestors were ¦with the founding of their own precinct, they
were not imaware or neglectful of the needs of their Pro^vince
against its papal enemies on the north. Still, as it was so much
a contest of ambitious rival crowns, they gave to their wars none
of the enthusiastic response with which thej' met the first move
ments towards their own independence. Of this enthusiasm the
votes and resolves of the town, both before and after its incorpo
ration, aheady quoted, give hearty evidence. The reader is re
ferred to that portion of this volume for samples of the patriotism
of those days.
When it became evident that a eolhsion with the mother country
was imminent, Wrentham, like other towns, dihgently driUed its
mihtia and organized its two corps of minute-men, who were to
hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment's warning
wherever called. The movement of the British troops to seize
some mihtary stores of the Province at Concord, in April, 1775,
gave the first opportunity to try the alacrity of these minute-men.
In the archives of the State are preserved the rolls of the men
who responded to this first alarm of April 19, as well as those who
. enhsted afterwards in the Colonial service during the War of the

120

HISTORY OF PRANKLIN.

Revolution. I am indebted to Mr. A. D. Sargent of the Centennial
Committee for copies of these rolls, as also of the volunteers in
the late rebellion. The earlier ones contain simply the names
and rank of the members. But the intelligent reader will be able
to distinguish the Frankhn men upon the lists. They are, there
fore, inserted without comment : —
A true return of the travel and return and time of ser^vice of
the Minute company under the command of Capt. John Boyd of
Wrentham, in Con'l Gaston's regt. assembled and marched the
Nineteenth of April last in the alarm : —

CAPT. JOHN BOYD'S COMPANY.

John Boyd,
Ebenezer Dean,
John Gould,
Jonathan Holbrook,
John Ellis,
Reuben Partridge,
Eli Richardson,
John Pond,
Samuel Jones,
Phineas Ware,
Ralph Man,
Eli Pond,
John Plimpton,
Timothy Adams,
Nathaniel Adams,
Joel Adams,
AVilliam Adams,
]\[oses Adams,
William Boyd,
Francis Clark,
Elijah Clark,
Jeremiah Daniels,
Comfort Dickerman,
Obed Fisher,
Joel Fairbanks,
Peter Frost,
Thomas Gay,
.Jonathan Graves,
•lames Hills,
Ziba Hills,

Captain. Left. Ens.
Sargt.

Corp'l.

Drum. Fiff.
Private.

Moses Hawes,
Abijah Hawes,
Ebenezer Hartshorn,
John Hill,
Stephen Harding,
Joel Hawes,
Paul Holbrook,
Asa Hawes,
Stephen Kingsbury,
Timothy Lane,
Joseph Metcalf,
Titus Metcalf,
Haman Metcalf,
Samuel Metcalf,
Samuel Mars,
Theodore Man,
Luther Metcalf,
Samuel Partridge,
Daniel Pond,
Benjamin Pond,
Penuel Pond,
Abial Pratt,
David Pike,
Benjamin Parnal,
Olivier Richardson,
Moses Rockwood,
Amos Rockwood,
Nathan Thayer,
Beth'l Foster,

Private.

£37 15s. 6d.
John Boyd, Capt.

ADDENDA. 121
Middlesex Ss., Decem'r 22, 1775.
The above named John Boyd made solemn oath that the above
roll by him subscribed is just and true in all respects.
Before Moses GiU, Jus. Peace for the pro'vdnce.
Examined and compared with the original.
by Samuel Moody, 1
Edward Rawson, >¦ Committee.
Michael Farley, )
In Council Feb'y 9, 1776 Read & allowed & ordered that a war
rant be drawn on the Treas'r for £37 15s. 6d. in full of the within
roll. Perez Morton, Dep. Treas.
A Muster Roh of the First Military Company of the Town of
Wrentham who marchd the thirtieth day of April, 1775 upon an
Alarm, under the command of Thomas Bacon Capt., and left the
Place of Rendezvous the first day of Maj' following : — ,

CAPT. THOMAS BACON'S COMPANY'.

Thomas Bacon,

Capt.

Nathan Daniels, Jr.,

Seth Bacon,

Lieut.

Robert Blake,

Asa Pond.

Sergiant.

Zephaniah Lame,

Solomon Blake,

Corpl.

Daniel Thurston,

Benjamin Clark,

Private.

Elisha Rockwood,

Benjn. Rockwood,

<(

Elisha Richardson,

Joseph Ellis,

<(

Billa Metcalf,

Eleazer Fisher,

it

Seth Wright,

Private.

Suffolk, Ss., Deer. 18, 1775.
Then the above named Thomas Bacon personally appeared and
made oath to the truth of the above roll.
before me, Stephn Metcalf
£7 9s. 8d. Justice Peace.
Thomas Bacon
Deer, ye 15 : 1775. ,
It is evident by the names that the above was the contribution
of the west precinct to the battle of Bunker Hill and the invest
ment of Boston. Wrentham contained at that date two military
companies, rolls of which are preserved. We have copied here
only the north company, although some living in this precinct may
have been included in the south company under the command of
Capt. Samuel Cowell.
As the collision with the mother country developed its alarming
proportions and the Provincial Congress called upon the people for

122

HISTORY OF FRANKLIN.

troops to defend their liberties, Wrentham promptly responded
with its quota for the coming war. Many of the men, whose
names have been aheady given, enhsted in the Colonial service.
We can select the residents of this part of the town only by sim
ilarity of name. We have the muster rolls of five companies
' ' who marched from Wrentham on the nineteenth Day of April
in the Colony Service," 1775. They were respectively under
the command of Capts. Asa Fan-banks, Benjamin Hawes, Samuel
Kollock, Elijah Pond, and Oliver Pond. They were of the militia
who constituted General Washington's first command in the siege
of Boston, and out of them were mainly recruited our quota of
the Continentals who foUowed him in his campaigns. Captains
Fairbanks' and E. Pond's companies are mostly of Franklin names,
as follows : — CAPT. ASA FAIBBANKS' C0MPA2<^Y.

Asa Fairbanks,

Capt.

Asa Metcalf,

Private.

Joseph Woodward,

Lieut.

Matthias Haws,

tc

Joseph Haws,

11

John Fairbank,

"

James Gillmore,

Sergt.

Joseph Sti-eeter,

ii

Joseph Hills,

ii

John Adams,

"

David Wood,

Corp.

Nathan Wight,

"¦

Peter Adams,

Private.

Philemon Metcalf,

'-

John Clark,

Asa Whiting,

"

Jesse Ware,

Abijah Allen,

Peltiah Fisher,

Jonathan Hawes,
"¦
Isaac Heaton,
John Pearce,
"
Peter Fisher,
Mill Man,
'•
Elisha Harding,
Ebenezer Dean,
i.
Levi Chaffee,
Matthew Smith,
"
William Sayles,
Asahel Perry,
"
James Smith,
John Clark, Jr.,
ii
Joseph Harding,
Joseph Hills,
William Gilmore,
Aaron Fisher,
"
Ichabod Dean,
Joseph Guild,
ii
CAPT.
ELIJAH pond's COMPANY.
Elijah Pond,
Capt.
Amos Bacon,
Drum.
Asa Pond,
Lt.
Nathan Daniels,
Clerk.
.Jona. Bowditch,
2dLt.
Elisha Rockwood,
Private.
Robert Blake,
1 Serg.
Abijah Thurston,
i{
Timo. Pond,
.1
Robert Pond,
'i
Duke Williams,
Corp.
Zepha. Lane,
ii
Sam Pond,
"
Eleaz. Partridge,
ii
ADDENDA. 123
Joseph Ellis, Private. Elisha Partridge, Private.
Benj. Pond, " Simeon Daniels,
Timo. Rockwood, " John Allen,
Elias Ware, " Jas. Fisher,
Elisha Bullard, " John Metcalf,
Daniel Thurston, " Elisha Pond,
Nathan. Thayer, " John Richardson,
Peter Darling " Elisha RicLardson,
Simeon Fisher, "
In a pay-roll of Capt. Samuel Cowell's Company of Col. Benja
min Hawes' Regiment in the secret expedition Sept. 25, 1777, to
October 30, we identify the names of Michael Metcalf, Timothy
Metcalf and Benjamin Rockwood.
In a return of Capt. Asa FaLrbank's Company, enhsted for the
Continental army, and dated 16th February, 1778, as Wrentham's
quota at the time of the di'dsion of the town, there are only five
persons from Wrentham, and none of them Franklin names. The
rest belonged -elsewhere. Another company, Capt. S. Fisher's,
contains none from FrabkUn, unless it be John Kingsbury. These
two muster-rolls count forty-seven privates.
In a " Return of ah the men in the first Military foot Company
in Wrentham, called the North Company in the West precinct in
the town that have enlisted into the Continental army, ot that
have been Hired bj* said Company," under Capt. Johb Metcalf, of
the nineteen men are eleven from Wrentham, viz. : Saniuel Met
calf, John Metcalf, Wilhani Lane, Asa Hawes, William Greene,
Thomas Moloy, Jonathan Norris, Isaac Silver, Hugh Denniston,
John Barnes, Wilham Pedley. This is dated Feb. 16, 1778. Only
three Franklin names.
The town has iiot preserved, to Our knowledge, any of these
muster-rolis or any other data to inake up a list of its soldiers in
the Revolutionary War. In the changes of town clerks, no care
seems to have been taken to transfer the documents of town af
fairs. ' It is a sample of the general negligence of the present to
regard the inquiries of coming generations. We have devoted
much research, and in all available directions, to trace Frankhn's
share in the Revolution, and we are satisfied that tbe rolls given
do not include all who should be on them. Ehhu Pond was im
prisoned and nearly starved by the British in the old sugar-house
at New York, and from which he escaped by night, as we have

124 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
heard him tell his story, but he is not on any roll. Phihp
Blake was blacksmith and commissary to a portion of the Ameri
can army on Dorchester Heights, and was afterwards iu Sullivan's
retreat on Rhode Island, but he is not on any roll. Penuel
Pond is among the minute-men, but there is no record of his after-
enlistment, or that he, as his grave-stone in the City Mills ceme
tery says, " died 16 Dec. 17 — in York harbor on board a guard-
ship, supposed to be poisoned by ye British doctors." There were
at least seventeen Ponds from Franklin in the American army, and
how many of other names cannot now probably be determined.
Of the interesting incidents and deeds of patriotism of that
period this chapter must be equally deficient. They were many,
as a few current traditions which we have been told might testify.
Franklin was not only intolerant of royalists and their sympa
thizers, but showed some special favors to British subjects who
succeeded in escaping from the British armies. Tradition has it
that more than one deserter found a safe hiding place in the scat
tered houses of this precinct. John Adams, ancestor of the Adams
family in this town, was not the only victim of an English press-
gang who found refuge here and a home. John Newton was perr
haps a more Striking case. He was a native of England, born
about 1755. He had regularly learned the trade of ship carpenter,
and had also served his full time as a soldier in the British army.
But he was impressed on board a man-of-war at the beginning of
the Revolution and brought to America. Feeling that he had a
right to his freedom, he succeeded in communicating a plan of es
cape to some of the Yankees in or near Boston, who promised him
assistance. On a stormy and dark night, while his ship was block
ading the harbor, he slid overboard undetected, and, guided by a
beacon light which had been burning two or three evenings, he
swam ashore, a distance of three miles. When he landed he could
neither walk nor stand, but his waiting friends carried him to a
shelter tiU he was recruited sufficiently to flee into the country.
On his way to Dedham he was met and questioned who he was.
He answered promptly, " John— going," and so he was, as rap
idly as possible, until finally he reached Frankhn. The name which
served him once so well he retained, and was known among our
fathers as John Going, now modernized into Gowen. He mar
ried, according to the town records, 14th June, 1786, Mary Cook

ADDENDA. 125
of Belhngham, and had four sons — Benjamin, Asa, John and
Luther. Luther remained in town on the paternal farm, married
a neighbor's daughter, Elvira Metcalf, and had also four sons —
Warren, George, Charles and Horace, of whom the third is stiU a
resident of Frankhn, and the son of another keeps the Franklin
House. The others have gone.
This town also once counted among its citizens a person who
excited quite a commotion in his day. It was immediately after
and consequent upon the Revolution, and hence finds a place here.
Genet and his successor Fauchet, French Ministers to the strug
gling United States, thought to forward our independence by
exciting the Canadians to revolt, and, through Adet, it was.pre-
elaimed to them that the French would aid them. Some over-en
thusiastic Americans rallied to Adet's private call. Among them
was David Lane. He was a native of Attleboro, but traded au
tumns in North Carolina, where he somehow obtained the prefix
of Mc, and was known as McLane. By this name he married in
Frankhn, 26th October, 1786, Rebecca Gilmore, and had one
daughter, Rebecca G. McLane, who, in due time, 26th March,
1818, married Robert Gilmore. On the early death of his wife,
he married as second wife a Miss Davis, of Charlton, and had
another daughter, Cynthia, lately residing in Worcester.
As a sample of his adventurous spirit, he, with Paul Draper,
built the " old coff'ee house" on the north side of Markfet square,
iu Pro'vddence — the first house where the floor joists were laid on
instead of morticed into the plates. It was a' famous resort of
merchants in its day, which the older men will remember. The
State granted McLane a lottery to help him pay for it, but he be
came involved and desperate. In this mood he fell in with Adet,
accepted a commission as General in his revolutionary project, and
started for Canada in 1796. His directions were to go privately
to Quebec, raise a company of raftsmen, who, when mustered and
all ready with their eight-feet iron-heade drafting pikes, were to
make a dash and seize the garrison of Quebec, when the city would
be at their mercy. McLane gathered his men unconscious of his
purpose, but on his way the next year, \{a, St. John, to lead the
project, he told his plans to a Frenchman, Charles Trichette, whom
he had hired to assist, and to John Black, a Canadian ship-builder.
But Black had just been elected to the Provincial Parliament, and

126 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
for his own pohtical advancement he handed over McLane to the
authorities as a traitor and spy. The government determined to
make him a warning to the French habitants. He was, therefore,
solemnly tried, condemned, and pubhcly executed on the glacis
outside the wall of Quebec, near St. John's gate, 21st July, 1797.
The body was then taken down from the gallows, the head was
severed and held up by the hair to the crowd, the entrails were
taken out and burned, and the limbs severed, but not separated,
and his remains were buried at a cross road, after the Enghsh pen
alty for treason. Grants of land were made to the informants and
witnesses. But Black lost his reputation for his agency in the in
famous affair, and ultimately he became a loathsome beggar in the
streets of Quebec. It was the last and probably the sohtary in
stance of hanging, drawing and quartering in America, and that
upon an American citizen and a Franklin man, who, it was said at
the time, " might with more propriety have been treated as an un
happy lunatic than a criminal — a stranger, friendless and alone,
he was altogether powerless."
His j'oungest daughter subsequently, by courageous persistence,
secured the mutilated remains, and they were brought to Frankhn
and decently interred, Dr. Emmons preaching a funeral sermon
upon the occasion. They lie unmarked by a stone in our Central
eemetery. The muster-rolls for the war of 1812 are at present in Washing
ton awaiting the determination of claims under the recent pension
law, and are therefore inaccessible to the pubhc, except at the
time and cost of a journey thither. But it is beheved that few of
our citizens engaged in that second conflict, excepting such as
were ordered out a few days for coast defense. But the war of
THE REBELLION
met with a quick, wide and earnest response. As soon as the
town meeting could be summoned, 2d May, 1861, the selectmen
were authorized to draw $3,000 for war purposes, and to add to
the United States pay to enhsted and accepted men $10 per month
to single men, and $15 per month to married men, who enhsted
within thirty days. The spontaneous feehng is indicated in this
vote then passed nem. con. : —

ADDENDA. 127
Resolved, That it is the duty of all good citizens to discounte
nance and frown upon everj' individual among us, if anj' there be,
who shall express sentiments disloyal to the Government of the
United States, or ofl'er aid or sympathy to the plotters of treason
and rebeUion.
It was no ephemeral impulse, for when the grand conspiracy
began to develop its formidable proportions and bitterness of pur
pose, the town again thus decidedly expressed itself, 19th July,
1862: —
The selectmen, clergj-, and all good citizens are earnestlj' sohc-
ited to encourage and stimulate bj'^ public meetings and otherwise
the prompt enlistment of the required number of volunteers from
this town, that our fellow citizens aheady in the service may be
<-heered and sustained by accessions of numbers and strength, the
xebelhon crushed, and peace and prosperity soon smile upon our
¦common country.
As a result thirty-six men were raised on a quota of twenty-
three, the overplus being credited to Dedham by some agreement.
On the call of August, 1862, for 300,000 men, the selectmen re
ported forty-three men raised on a quota of thirty-four. Subse
quent action shows an equaUy ready response bj"^ the town to each
¦eaU of the Government for troops.
Not only the town officially, but individual citizens were gener-
•ous in their subscriptions towards paying bounties and aiding the
famihes of volunteers. It may not be in-ndious to other equally
marked instances to give one sample. In the levy of July, 1862,
Adams Daniels offered $10 each to the first ten volunteers ; James
P. Ray oflered the same sum to the second ten which Frank B.
Ray duplicated ; Henry M. Greene offered $10 to each of the last
seven of the quota of twenty-seven, to which Albert E. Daniels
:added $5 each ; Davis Thayer then offered $5 to each of the twenty-
seven, and Oliver Dean duplicated Mr. Thayer's offer. A similar
subscription was made in 1864, in which a much larger number of
¦citizens participated and a greatly increased sum was the result.
But these facts are spread upon the town records for the use of the
next centennial historian, and need not be quoted to the partici
pators now living.
An incident in connection with the first detachment of volun
teers — that over-quota of thirty-six — may find a place here.
Lewis R. Whitaker, who had fought for liberty in Kansas, had

128 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
been specially instrumental iu raising this body of men, and had
been commissioned their Second Lieutenant. It was caUed Com
pany C, Forty-fifth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers. Just
before their departure the citizens met them in the Town HaU,
10th September, 1862, for a fareweU. The volunteers had mean
while procured a fine sword for their officer. This sword- was
presented by George W. Woodward with a telhng speech to the
surprised Lieutenant. The Captain of the company, Minot of
Boston, followed, and others. A Bible had already been given
to each man, and near the close of the meeting a temperance
pledge was produced to the men. Captain Minot signed it, fol
lowed by Lieutenant Whitaker. He then caUed upon ' ' the boys "
to imitate his example, which they did with two or three excep
tions, rushing en masse upon the platform in their enthusiasm.*
When it was announced that only twenty-three were called for,
one of the thirteen declared they would aU go if they went afoot
and alone. These were not- hirelings, but Frankhn's own sons,
and held the spirit of their fathers of 1776.
As nearly as can at present be ascertained, 218 men were
furnished by the town during the war, but many of these were
non-residents. The rolls furnished by Mr. Sargent of the Cen
tennial Committee from the State House have been dihgently
compared with the hst in the town clerk's oflice, and by sev
eral persons acquainted with the men, to determine who were
properly citizens of this town. The following hst is presented
as the result. It is not claimed to be perfectly accurate, but it is
the nearest to accuracy which the writer can obtain. The town
might well appropriate a small sum to make the list and his
tory of its own soldiers in the rebelhon perfectly complete and
full. The next century will heartily approve of the expenditure,
and future pension agents will lose three times the cost to the ben
efit of future claimants : —
* Lieutenant Whitaker, now resident in Franklin, beats the commission of the
flrst police officer in the town, issued by the selectmen May 18, 1877. A good
testimonial both to him and to the morals of the town that it needs but one
policeman, after a century's growth, to gather in its " wild oats."

ADDEt^bA. 129
REBELLION RECORD.

Charles R. Adams, son of Peter. Enlisted June, 1862, Company A,
Thirty-third Regiment. Was transferred to Forty-first Regiment. Went
to New Orleans and was changed to Third Cavalry. Returned in August,
1864. Was under Shei-idan, and killed in the battle of Berryville, near
Winchester, 19th September, 1864.
Henry P. Adams, son of Oren W. Enlisted January, 1861, in Third
Infantry. Was taken prisoner November, 1864, and in Andersonville
sixteen months.
William M. E. Adams, son of Erastus. Enlisted July, 1861, in Com
pany I, Eighteenth Regiment. Was discharged at end of service — Sep
tember, 1864.
Al^vin B. Adams, son of Oren W. Enlisted July, 1861, in Company
G, Sixteenth Regiment.
William W. Adams, son of Oren W. Enlisted September, 1862, in
Company C, Forty-flfth llegiment. Was discharged at end of service.
Andrew J. Alexander, son of William. Enlisted September, 1862,
in Company C, Forty-fifth Regiment. Was honorably discharged.
Lowell W. Adams, son of Oren W. Enlisted September, 1862, in
Company G, Forty-fifth Regiment. Re-enlisted March, 1864, in Company
I, Eighteenth Regiment. Was honorably discharged.
William G. Adams, son of Gardner. Enlisted August, 1862, in Com
pany K, Forty-fourth Regiment. Was in the battle of Little Creek,
N. C. Was wounded at Newborn. Was honorably discharged at end of
service. Caleb W. Ballou, son of Caleb. Enlisted August, 1862, in Company
H, Fortieth Regiment. Was discharged for disability February, 1864.
William H. Baldwin, son of Henry. Enlisted July, 1862, in Com
pany A, Thirty-fifth Regiment. Was taken prisoner. Died in Ander
sonville 23d October, 1864.
Seth Blake, son of Seth. Enlisted August, 1861, in Company I,
Eighteenth Regiment. Re-enlisted in 1864. Was captured in second
battle of Bull Run. Was prisoner in Andersonville four months. Was
honorably discharged.
Ajmn Ballou, son of Albert. Enlisted in Tenth Maine Regiment.
Owen E. Ballou, son of Barton. Enlisted September, 1862, in Com
pany C, Fourth Regiment. Was honorably discharged.
Chaeles H. Bbmis, son of Henry. Enlisted September, 1862, in Com
pany C, Forty-fifth Regiment. Was honorably discharged.
William A. Ballou, son of Albert. Enlisted September, 1862, in'
Company C, Forty-flfth Regiment. Was honorably discharged.
Thomas Cofpield, son of John. Enlisted July, 1862, in Company I,
Eighteenth Regiment. Re-enlisted for three years. Was honorably dis
charged.

l3p HISTORY 0^ PRANKLIN.
Barton F. Cook, son of Milton. Enlisted September, 1861, in Com
pany H, Third Battalion, Rhode Island Artillery. Re-enlisted. Was
honorably discharged.
Joseph W. Cook, son of Winslow. Enlisted in Rhode Island Cavalry.
Was honorably discharged.
Daniel C. Corbin, son of Otis, Jr. Enlisted July,. 1861. Was in bat
tle at Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburg. Was wounded. Was
discharged, January, 1863.
Anthony Connbb, sou of Isaac. Enlisted May, 1861, in Company I,
Eighteenth Regiment. Re-enlisted. Was transferred to the Thirty- sec
ond Regiment. Was honorably discharged.
George Claek, son of John. Enlisted May, 1861, in Company I,
Eighteenth Regiment. Ro-enlisted. Was taken prisoner. Died in An
dersonville. Nathan Clakk, son of Alfred. Enlisted July, 1861, in Company I,
Eighteenth Regiment. Re-enlisted. Was wounded in the battle of the
Wilderness. Was discharged. Died at home in consequence of wounds.
James Clakk, son of John. Enlisted July, 1861, in Company B,
Eighteenth Regiment.
Barton A. Colvin, son of Jasper. Enlisted September, 1862, in Com
pany C, Forty-fifth Regiment. Was honorably discharged.
Charles A. Cole, son of  . Enlisted September, 1862, in Com
pany C, Forty-flfth Regiment. Was honorably discharged.
Geokge W. j. Colb, son of  . Enlisted September, 1862, in Com
pany C, Forty-flfth Regiment. Was honorably discharged.
Cornelius Dhgan, son of  . Enlisted July, 1862, in Company
K, Thii'ty-thii'd Regiment. Was transferred to Third Cavalry. Was at
the capture of Port Hudson. Was honorably discharged.
Joseph Day, sou of Hermon. Enlisted July, 1862, in Company A,
Thirty-fifth Regiment. Was transferred to veterans. Was sick and
discharged. Edward H. Freeman, son of James M. Enlisted September, 1862,
in Company C, Forty-flfth Regiment. Was honorably discharged.
George M. Farrington, son of Nathan. Enlisted July, 1862, in
Company A, Thirty-fifth Regiment. Was promoted to First Sergeant.
Was in the battles of South Mountain, Antietam, Sulphur Springs,
Fredericksburg, Vicksbuig, and Jackson, Miss. Was wounded and dis
charged. Alfred J. Pitspatrick, son of John L. Enlisted July, 1861, in Com
pany H, Eighteenth Regiment. Was honorably discharged.
John If. Fisheb, son of Weston. Enlisted August, 1862, in Company C,
Thirty-eighth Regiment, Was killed at Berryville 19th September, 1864.
Waltbb M. FisHKH, son of Walter H. Enlisted September, 1862, in
Company C, Forty-fifth Regiment. Was honorably discharged.
Marcus Gilmoek, son of Marcus. Enlisted July, 1862, in Company
A, Thirty-fifth Regiment. Was in the battles of South Mountain and
Antietam. Was honorably discharged. ,

ADDENDA. ISl
William S. Gilmore, son of Philander. Enlisted in Company F,
Tenth Regiment. Was honorably dischai'ged.
Nathaniel S. Grow, son of Nathaniel. Enlisted September, 1862,
in Company C, Forty-fifth Regiment. Was honorably discharged.
Samuel E. Gat, son of Willard. Enlisted September, 186] , in Com
pany K, Thirty-first Regiment. Was discharged at Kennea, La., Octo
ber, 1862, for disability.
Flint A. Holbbook, son of Ellis. Enlisted September, 1862, in Com
pany C, Forty-flfth Regiment. Was honorably dischai'ged.
Joseph W. Holbbook, son of Eliphalet. Enlisted September, 1862,
in Company C, Forty-flfth Regiment. Was honorably discharged.
Samuel C. Hunt, sou of Rev. Samuel. Enlisted September, 1862, in
Company C, Forty-flfth Regiment. Was Hospital Steward in Foster
General Hospital, Newborn, N. C. Was honorably discharged.
Feank F. Hodges, son of Willard. Enlisted September, 1862, in Com
pany C, Forty-flfth Regiment. Was honorably discharged.
NoBMAN Hastings, son of Nathaniel. Enlisted September, 1862, in
Company C, Forty-flfth Regiment. Died on return 27th June, 1863, as
the ship was entering Boston harbor.
Albebt L. Joedan, son of Alfred. Enlisted July, 1862, in Company I,
Eighteenth Regiment. Was wounded at Gettysburg, the bullet passing
through his wallet and his wife' s picture ; also at Antietam, Bobster Mills
(?), Blackburn's Ford, and Chancellors'ville. Was honorably discharged.
Henet a. Joedan, son of Alfred. Enlisted October, 1861, in Company
H, First Cavalry. Re-enlisted in Third Cavalry. Was honorably discharged.
Samuel H. Joedan, son of Alfred. Enlisted September, 1862, in
Company C, Forty-fifth Regiment. Re-enlisted in Company I, Eigh
teenth Regiment. He lost his left arm at Cold Harbor, June, 1864. Was
discharged disabled.
Ed-win A. Jordan, son of Alfred. Enlisted October, 1861, in Com
pany H, First Cavalry. Was honorably discharged.
Geoege King, M. D., son of George. Enlisted August, 1863. Sur-
ceon in Sixteenth Regiment. Was discharged April, 1864. Re-enlisted
as Surgeon of. Twenty-ninth Regiment. Was honorably discharged.
H. D. Kingsbubt, son of Nathaniel D. Enlisted for three years in
Company K, First Cavalry. Was honorably discharged.
Emery T. Kingsbubt, son of Fisher A. Enlisted September, 1862, in
Company C, Forty-fifth Regiment. Was honorably discharged.
Gboege a. Kingsbubt, son of Horatio. Enlisted for nine months
in Company B, Forty-second Regiment. Was taken prisoner at Brashier
City, La. Was paroled and discharged.
Hbebeet L. Lincoln, son of Manley. Enlisted July, 1862, in Com
pany A, Thirty-fifth Regiment. Was wounded at South Mountain.
Died in Baltimore 9th October, 1862. Body interred in FrankUn.
Granville Morse, son of Le^vi F. Enlisted for three years, May,
1861, in Company I, Eighteenth Regiment. Re-enlisted in Thirty-second
Regiment. Was honorably discharged.

132 HISTORY Of PRANKLIN.
Lewis L. Millet, son of John W. Enlisted for three years in Com
pany E, Twelfth Regiment. Was wounded at Bull Run 30th August,
1862. Died in Georgetown, D. C, 2d October. Buried in Franklin.
Eugene H. Marsh, son of Lewis H. Enlisted June, 1861, for three
years, in Second Rhode Island Cavalry. Was honorably discharged.
Jeremiah Muepht, son of Thomas. Enlisted September, 1862, in
Company C, Forty-fifth Regiment, for nine months. Re-enlisted in Com
pany K, Fifty-sixth Regiment. Was honorably discharged.
Charles M. Nason, son of George W. Enlisted July, 1862, in Com
pany A, Thirty-fifth Regiment, for three years. Was honorably dis
charged. William E. Nason, son of George W. Enlisted July, 1861, in Com
pany A, Eighteenth Regiment. Detailed to the Quartermaster's Depart
ment. Was honorably discharged.
George W. Nason, Jr., son of George W. Volunteered 19th April,
1861, in Company I, Fifth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, for three
months. Was discharged 31st July. Re-enlisted 14tli August, 1861, in
Company H, Twenty-third Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, for
three years. On January 4, 1862, was appointed Commissary and Store
keeper in the fleet with Burnside's expedition at Annapolis, Md. March
20th was transferred to Provost Marshal's Department at Newborn,
N. C. May 2, 1864, was appointed Colonel of Fire Department Regiment.
Was honorably discharged 23d June, 1865, at end of service. [The Fire
Department Regiment consisted of 800 white men, and was organized by
the Commanding General both as infantry soldiers and to protect the
Government stores at Newborn from rebel Incendiaries. Colonel Nason
was first elected Chief Engineer by ballot of the regiment, and then ap
pointed Colonel by the General in command.]
Albert D. Nason, son of George W. Enlisted September, 1862, in
Company C, Forty-fifth Regiment, for nine mouths. Was honorably
discharged. Albert J. Newell, son of Arnold J. Enlisted for three years in Com
pany I, Twenty-third Regiment.
Olnbt p. Newell, son of Hiram. Enlisted September, 1861, for
three years in Company B, First Cavalry. Was honorably discharged.
Duane Newell, son of Nelson C. Enlisted September, 1862, for nine
months in Company C, Forty-fifth Regiment. Re-enlisted in Twelfth
Heavy Artillery. Was discharged for disability.
Gboege L. Partridge, son of Seth. Enlisted September, 1862, for
nine months in Company B, Forty-second Regiment. Was honorably
discharged. Whipple Peck, son of Whipple. Enlisted for three years in First
Rhode Island Regiment. Was discharged for disability in 1864, on ac
count of wounds.
Horace W. Pillsbury, son of Stephen. Enlisted May, 1861, for three
years in Company I, Eighteenth Regiment. Was wounded at second bat
tle of Bull Run, August, 1862. Was discharged disabled September, 1863.

ADDENDA. 133
Alfred J. Pieece, son of Israel. Enlisted February, 1862, for three
years in Third Rhode Island Artillery. Was honorably discharged.
ISEAEL F. Pierce, son of Israel. Enlisted in Rhode Island Cavalry.
Was honorably discharged.
Heney M. Pickering, son of Samuel. Enlisted September, 1862, for
nine months in Company C, Forty-flfth Regiment. Was honorably dis
charged. James M. Rtan, son of James. Enlisted September, 1862, for nine
months in Company C, Forty-fifth Regbnent. Re-enhsted in Twelfth
Heavy Artillery. Was honorably discharged.
William Sullivan, son of  . Enlisted July, 1862, for three
years in Company K, Thirty-third Regiment.
Chables H. Scott, son of  . Enlisted July, 1862, for three years
in Company A, Thirty-fifth Regiment.
Smith O. Satles, son of Oren W. Enlisted in  Rhode Island
Cavalry. Thomas W. Satles, son of Oren W. Enlisted in  Rhode Island
Cavalry. Michael O. Sullivan, son of Jeremiah. Enlisted September, 1862,
for nine months in Company C, Forty-fifth Regiment. Was honorably
discharged. George W. Thompson, son of Thaddeus. Enlisted May, 1861, for
three years in Company J, Eighteenth Regiment. Re-enlisted, and was
in the whole campaign of McClellan's. Was at the second battle of Bull
Run, Antietam, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. Was transferred to
Thirty-second Regiment. Was honorably discharged.
Ransom Tift, son of James. Enlisted May, 1861, for three years in
Company I, Eighteenth Regiment. Was at the battle of Antietam, &c.
Was honorably discharged.
William H. Thomas, son of Sandrus. Enlisted July, 1861, for three
years in Company I, Eighteenth Regiment. Re-enlisted for nine months
in the Forty-second Regiment, and re-enlisted as a veteran in the Heavy
Artillery. Abieam W. Wales, son of Amos A. Enlisted July, 1861, for three
years in Company I, Eighteenth Regiment. Was in the battles at South
Mountain and Antietam. Was honorably discharged.
Shepabd G. Wiggin, son of Joseph. Enlisted August. 1862, for three
years in Company A, Thirty-fifth Regiment. Died in Falmouth, Va.,
16th January, 1863.
Silas H. Wilson, son of Enoch. Enlisted July, 1802, for three years
in Company A, Thirty-flfth Regiment. Was wounded in the battle at
South Mountain, taken prisoner, and conflned in Richmond. Was paroled
and discharged for disability.
Otis Winn, son of Peter. Enlisted August, 1862, for three years in
Company A, Thirty-flfth Regiment. Was in the battles at South Moun
tain and Antietam. Died in Alexandria, Va., 6th March, 1863, and was
buried in Franklin.

134 HISTORY OP FRANKLIN.
Henet j. Waed, son of Reuben. Enlisted for nine months in Com
pany C, Forty-fifth Regiment. Was honorably discharged.
Owen W. Wales, son of Otis, Jr. Enlisted September, 1862, for nine
months in Company C, Forty-flfth Regiment. Was discharged.
Lewis F. Williams, son of William. Enlisted September, 1862, for
nine months. Re-enlisted as a veteran in the Twelfth Heavy Artillery.
John B. Whiting, son of Sydney. Enlisted September, 1862, for nine
months, in Company 0, Forty-fifth Regiment. Was honorably dis
charged. Lewis R. Whitaker, son of Richard. Enlisted for nine months,
September, 1362, in Company C, Forty-fifth Regiment. Was appointed
Second Lieutenant 3d September. Re-enlisted and appointed Second
Lieutenant in the Twelfth Heavy Artillery. Was honorably discharged.
George F. Woodwaed, son of Austin. Enlisted September, 1862, for
nine months, in Company C, Forty-fifth Regiment. Was honorably dis
charged. Daniel W. Whiting, son of Willard C. Enlisted for three years, in
Company K, Twenty-third Regiment. Was promoted to Sergeant. Re-
enlisted for three years. Was honorably discharged.
Lewis E. Wales, son of Otis, Jr. Enlisted for nine months in Com
pany B, Forty-second Regiment. Died of fever in New Orleans, 19th
June, 1863. Was buried in Franklin.
John D. Wales, son of Otis, Jr. Enlisted t(fr nine months, in Com
pany B, Forty-second Regiment. Was honorably discharged.
Geoege H. Scott, son of George W. Enlisted December, 1863, for
three years in Company I, Eighteenth Regiment.
Alonzo F. Eddt, son of Asahel. Enlisted December, 1863, for three
years, in Company I, Eighteenth Regiment. Was transferred to Com
pany D, Thirty-ninth Regiment. Was honorably discharged.
Geoege L. Rixfoed, son of  . Enlisted December, 1863, for
three years in Fourth Cavalry. Was honorably discharged.
James F. Snow, son of John W. Enlisted December, 1863, for three
years, in Company C, Fifty-sixth Regiment.
George R. Russell, son of Thomas. Enlisted September, 1863, for
three years in Twelfth Heavy Artillery.
William G. White, son of Adam H. Enlisted April, 1864, for three
years, in^^ — Battery.
Dana Pollen, son of James. Enlisted February, 1865. Was honor
ably discharged.
It is believed, though not so stated in the town clerk's records,
that all the survivors above were honorably discharged at the end
of their service, as only one of the ninety-six is recorded as a
deserter. His natae is undesignated.
The preceding list of names is beheved to represent only na
tives or residents of the town at the time of their enUstment in

ADDENDA. 135
our quota. But it is known not to include all the sons of Frank
lin who enhsted in other towns and States. Such a list it were
perhaps impossible to collect. But it has been ascertained that
Edward Dean, son of Luther, entered the army from Kansas, and
rose to the rank of Adjutant-General in the service. Charles II.
Thayer, son of Nathaniel (see biographical sketches), enlisted
whUe in Providence into A. E. Burnside's First Rhode Island Reg
iment for three months, and was in the flrst Bull Run battle. Re-
enlisted in First Rhode Island Cavalr}', and was put in charge of
the training camp, at Cranston, R. I., for which he was promoted
to Second Lieutenant. Served in Army of the Potomac and
Shenandoah Valley. Was promoted to First Lieutenant in 18G2,
and Captain in 1863. Was wounded and talien prisoner at Kel-
ley's Ford ; carried to Libby Prison ; exchanged and houorably
discharged 31st December, 1864. Captain Thayer was three and
one-half years in the ser'vice and in thirty-one engagements.
And these are samples only of that time. Could the history of
those great armies be fully known, no doubt many another Frank
hn boy who had migi-ated to some other State could parallel such
examples from his own career. At any rate we feel satisfied that
our town wiU have no occasion to be ashamed of the rebellion
record of her sons in the days of the nation's need, and it has a
right, not to say a duty, to erect some memorial monument or
haU in honor of its children's patriotism. What better than a
fire-proof building for its library, town documents and memorials
of the past century, and tablets of its fallen soldiers !
THE citizen soldiery
of the town deserves a paragraph, not so much for any important
public service it ever rendered, as for the enthusiasm it always
excited among the boys of half a century ago. The contour of
the town was such that two military companies could far more
conveniently muster than one. These were called the North and
South companies, and a degree of rivalr}' obtained between them,
sometimes for a superiority of appearance and drill, and sometimes,
as the pubhc sentiment inchned, for superiority of neglect. The
May trainings were the times for public comparison — when both
companies manoeu^vred at opposite ends of the Common, and
marched around Davis Thayer's store and Dr. Emmon's house,

136 HISTORY OF PEANKLIN.
and the voices of the captains could be heard through the whole
distance. But the spirit which animated the troops in those days
evaporated before the next morning.
Training day was usually enlivened by a troop of cavalry, en
rolled mostly within the town, which pranced and curveted among
the sweet fern at the south end of the Common. But the FrankUn
Artillery struck the deepest awe into boyish hearts. It included
many members from Wrentham, but its gun-house, cannons, tumbril
and horse furniture were on Franklin Common, and here it paraded
according to law. The dark blue and slightly- trimmed uniforms,
the Bonaparte chapeaus, with their long black, red-tipped plumes,
the flashing long swords, the slow march to the dirge-like "Roslyn
Castle" as the lumbering brass four-pounders were drawn over
the tufts of grass and bushes by drag-ropes angling outwards
hke wild geese lines reversed, impressed us ¦with some idea of the
solemnity of war, and fascinated all into always following the
artillery. But the height of excitement was reached when the
Frankhn Cadets appeared. They had been drUling for weeks be
hind the powder-house hill under a Captain Partridge, from some
military school, and believed themselves to be the elite of the mihtia.
At length they emerged on the muster-field, with white pantaloons,
blue coats abundantly buttoned and silver laced, black, shining
leather caps, and long, white, perpendicular plumes, just tipped ¦with
black, and new, glinting muskets. Under the command of Nathan
Cleveland, their first captain, afterwards colonel, they manceu^vred
and marched and involved themselves with such admirable precision
as to attract continued reinforcements so long as any miUtary fervor
beat in the public bosom. Their line of captains included many of
the now prominent citizens of the town. The Franklin Cadets, the
Wrentham Guards, and the Bellingham Rifles, were the flower of
the once Norfolk County Regiment.
Probably some part of Franklin's interest in military matters
must be attributed to the singular adaptation of its broad Common
to military display, which led to its frequent selection for regimental
musters. Perhaps this chapter cannot close better than bj' a de
scription of an old-time muster, from a frequent participant years
ago. It may give the youth of to-day some taste of the great event
of boy-life fifty years ago.
The muster was what tbe cattle show now is — the autumnal

ADDENDA. 137
festival, except that lines of uniformed men took the place of
cattle and piles of vegetables. It occurred soon after the weight
of the farm work was done and the workmen were ripe for a
holiday. The day before muster, a detailed squad of men marked out,
bj' a long rope and with the heads of old axes, a straight and shal
low furrow as a toe-line for the regiment, which thej- generallj- ad
hered to until afternoon. A boundary was also roped along the
eastern side next the road, which marked the limit for spectators.
On this side were groups of men building rough booths for the
sale of eatables and drinkables, gewgaws, etc., to the crowd of
the coming day. It was late at night sometimes before all was
readj-. With the earliest daylight came noisily-driven teams into town,
bringing soldiers and civihans, lads and lasses, from far and near.
Tents and marquees were hastilj' pitched around the meeting
house and on the west side of the Common. Luncheon boxes
and extra garments were stowed in them, guards set, and at 6
o'clock the long roll from a score or less of kettle-drums called
the companies together to the turmoil of the day. Drill,' evolu
tions and marchings displayed the skill of the captains, and as
tonished the fast-gathering crowds until 9 o'clock, when, at the
vociferous shouting of the adjutant, the musical squads headed
their companies up to the toe-line already described. The musi
cians then gathered at the head of the regiment near the gun-
house to receive the colonel and his staff whenever they should
emerge from the tavern near at hand. On their appearance and
reception the wiugs wheeled into an enclosing square, with the
oflScers in the center, and the chaplain, on horseback, prayed for
the country and the protection of life and limb. On straightening
out again there came the march of the single fife and drum down
and back the length of the hne, the official inspection, the regi
mental manoeuverings and dodging the hne of guards by the spec
tators. At 1 o'clock came dinner in tent, booth, on the grass,
anywhere, hilariouslj- moistened — possibly with venerable cider
at least, until at 3 o'clock a big gun and a solemn cavalcade of
colonel and staff with chaplain and surgeon called the scattered
bands into line for the grand finale — the sham fight. This used
to be a great exploit of strategic skill. Sometimes the infantry

138 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
attempted to capture the guns of the artillery ; sometimes, di'vided
into two equal battalions, they furiously bombarded each other ;
sometimes a tribe of pretentious Indians rushed from behind Dr.
Pratt's barn with original and indescribable yeUs upon the cavalry
only to be ignominiously chased back to their invisible wigwams.
Sometimes the whole regiment formed a hollow square with a can
non at each corner in defense of their officers, and banged away at
unseen and unanswering enemies, while the cavalry ran in all
possible directions to repel imaginary sallies. Trumpets blared,
drums rattled, horses reared and snorted, children screamed, ram
rods, forgotten in the hurried loading, hurtled through the poplars,
till a cloud of villainous saltpetre enwrapped in suffocating folds
soldiers, spectators, booths and landscape, and until cartridge-
boxes were emptied and military furore was satiated. The hub
bub subsided about 5 o'clock into an occasional pop from tardy
muskets, and the wounded — by pocket pistols — were picked up
in the booths and along the poplars, and the crowd took up their
winding way — to some very winding — to their supperless homes.
And so ended the autumnal muster, but we boys thought it a
great daj-.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

PROFESSIONAL SONS AND SONS-IN-LAW OF FRANKLIN.

The foUowiug roll of natives and of those who have married
natives of this town and have devoted themselves to some liberal
profession has been made up by a most diligent and wide inquiry,
assisted by Rev. W. M. Thayer, of the Centennial Committee.
It is beheved to be as nearlj^ complete as it can now be made —
deficiencies must be referred to defects of records or failure of
letters. It is an houorable roll of which Franklin may justly be
proud. In the ratio of population few towns can show a longer
hst of coUegiates. It certainly illustrates the impulse which one
energetic inteUect can give to the j'oung minds of a town. Many
of them have directly attributed their first appetite for learning
and their first encouragement to seek it from the words of the
half-century pastor of the one church then in town.
It is admitted that Franklin has exerted a wide influence in the
land through her educated children. May their power for the
true and the good never diminish, but increase in width and depth,
so that it may continue to be said of her coming sons, with increas
ing satisfaction and larger numbers, " this man was born there.''
George A. Adams, Esq., son of Gardner and Eunice R. Adams,
was born in Springfield 3d April, 1850, but returned soon after
to Frankhn, where he attended school and in 1869 graduated at
Dean Academy. He then entered Tuft's College, but in conse
quence of a serious fall was obhged to remit studj- for a year. In
1871 and 1872 he was able to teach school in Goddard Seminary,
Barre, Vt., where he began the study of law. In 1873, May 8th,
he was admitted to the bar at Dedham, and in July opened an
oflSce in Attleboro, where he now is in his profession.

140 history of FRANKLIN.
Mr. Adams married, No'\rember, 1872, Clara I., daughter of
Horace M. Gowen, of Franklin. They have two children.
Rev. James Adams was son of Dea. James and Sarah (Bacon)
Adams, and was born in South Franklin 21st October, 1800.
After the usual public school training he studied Latin a few
months and at 16 entered a printing office in Dedham. About
1819 he went to Portland, Me., where, finding no room in a
Congregational church, he attended and became interested in the
Episcopal service. In 1836 he removed to Burlington, N. J., and
edited the Burlington Gazette until 1839, which paper was largely
instrumental during that time in carrying the State for the Whigs.
Meanwhile, under the direction of Bishop Doane, he studied
for the ministry and was ordained by the Bishop 2oth April, 1839.
He devoted himself henceforth chiefly to the upbuilding of feeble
churches in New Jersey and Connecticut. He preached in Flem-
ington, Alexandria, and Lambertville about ten years. Thence
he went to Cohoes, N. J., until 1851. Then was assistant rector
in Elizabeth. He next removed to New York, where he aided in
establishing the "House of Mercy," and acted as chaplain on
Blackwell's Island until he fell into a severe sickness. On recov
ery Mr. Adams went to Redding, Conn., for two years ; to Bethany
until 1858, thence to Tarifville for two years, and thence to Po-
quetannock, where he died as rector of St. James church 24th
October, 1869. It was said of him — " faithful unto death."
Rev. Mr. Adams married, 28th November, 1827, Miss Caroline
Brooks of Milton, Mass., who died at Lambertville, N. J., 10th
May, 1845. They had five children, only two of whom are now
hving — Ellen Winslow Adams of Hj'de Park, and Juha Frances
Adams of Medway.
Prof. Aldis Samuel Allen, M. D., was born in Frankhn 13th
November, 1803, and was the oldest chUd of Dea. Samuel and
Sarah Wood (Aldis) Allen. Some of his early years were spent
in the family of Dr. Emmons, where he received his first impulse
towards a collegiate education. In the family of Dr. Ide he be
came a Christian, and began the study of Latin with Dr. Ide.
He completed his preparation by two j-ears' study in PhilUps' Acad
emy, and entered Yale College, graduating in 1827. He was
teacher of music, gymnastics and penmanship one year in Dr.
Sereno Dwight's Gymnasium, and then studied medicine with Dr.

iDDENt)A. l4l
Smith of New Haven. After graduation as M. D. he settled in
Bridgeport, Conn. In 1833 he went to Jacksonville, IU., where
he died of a fever, 9th August, 1833. He had the character of a
perfect Christian gentleman, and his death was a triumph of the
Christian religion which he professed.
Prof. Allen married Eliza M. Weeks of Jamaica, L. I. Of his
children we are not informed.
Benjamin Franklin Allen was son of George and Eunice
(Haven) Allen, and born in Frankhn. His mother was a daugh
ter of Asa and Eunice (Aldis) Haven, and was born in Franklin
17th March, 1773. The family resided in several places, and
finally settled in Albany, N. Y., where the father died young,
leaving only the above son. B. Franklin went to live with his
relative, Hon. Asa Aldis, in St. Albans, Vt. He fitted for col
lege in the academy there, and graduated at Brown University,
1817. After graduation he became Principal of Greenwich Acad
emy, but died at the end of his first year. His intended marriage
with Miss Lucia Richmond of Providence was never consummated,
and his promise of usefulness, so suddenly cut off, was a great grief
to his friends.
Judge Asa Aldis,* son of Nathan and Sarah (Metcalf) Aldis,
was born in Franklin, 14th April, 1770. His mother was a daugh
ter of Jonathan Metcalf. She died, leaving only this child, a little
over two years old. His father was a merchant in Franklin, but
was preparing to move to Boston when he died, in May, 1775,
thus leaving Asa an orphan of five years. His father was ac
cused of being a Tory, which his intimacy with a British officer
and his removal to Boston, seemed to justify, but which his friends,
Dr. Emmons in particular, would not admit. He probably
dreaded disturbances and took no side in the coining strife. The
people, however, on his death, demanded the confiscation of his
property, and a mob broke open his store and seized the goods, but
they found no account books, notes, or papers of value to confirm or
dispel their suspicions.

* It was only upon particular request thatthe following has been furnished
from a sketch, prepared for the family alone hy Mrs. Judge Kellogg of Brattle.
boro, Vt., daughter of Judge Aldis. The light it casts upon the oldeu times will
justify its full quotation.

142 fiiSTORY OP PRANKLIN.
Judge Stephen Metcalf, the brother of Asa's mother, took the
guardianship of the lad, and placed him with a sister of his mother,
the wife of Rev. Daniel Pond, in Medway. This family were
warm Repubhcans, and his aunt had made a vow, when the tea
was thrown overboard, that another cup of tea should never be made
in her house. The only Boston paper taken in their neighborhood
came to Mr. Pond's, and on its weeklj' arrival all gathered at his
house in the evening to hear it read. They sat in the large
kitchen — little Asa on the dye-tub on one side of the fire-place,
while his uncle read. The listeners had relatives and friends in the
war, and the news was commented upon and deeply pondered in
this as in all New England homes.
One illustrative incident of the spirit of the lad. A certain
cooper alone disapproved of Washington. For weeks he had said,
• ' Washington should have been here — he should have been there
— he was always doing wrong." No one ever replied. One night,
when they were all gone, the little boy stretched up to his aunt
saying, "Aunt, why don't they put out Washington and put in
cooper White?"
Another anecdote illustrates the spirit of the household. On a
dark, windy, rainy November night, as they were all sitting around
the fire, there was a knock on the outside door. On opening, there
stood a man belated, and it was some ways to a tavern. At
tracted by their light, he had stopped to ask for a night's lodging.
" Certainly, we can keep you," said both Mr. and Mrs. Pond, for
they were hospitable. " Have you a horse ?" "Yes." And out
went Mr. Pond and a boy to take care of the horse. The stranger
was given a seat by the fire. On learning that he had had no sup
per, Mrs. Pond and her daughter prepared the table, and Mrs. Pond
was soon cooking some meat over the fire, when the conversation
took a rehgious turn. In reply to something he said, she answered ,
" But Moses, in describing the plague of Egypt, said. — " " What
of that," says he, "Moses was nothing but a conjuror!" Mrs.
Pond looked around at him and asked, " What did you say about
Moses?" "I said Moses was nothing but a conjuror, and he
was not." Off came the pan from the fire. "I can cook you no
supper ; no man who disbelieves the Bible and caUs Moses, the
servant of the Lord, a conjuror, can stay in my house over night."
Just then Mr. Pond came in from feeding the horse. She repeated

ADDENDA. 148
the conversation, adding, "we cannot keep him." "No," said
Mr. Pond, " I will get your horse." The man begged to stay,
but to no purpose, and he had to go on his journey in the dark.
It was in such a family Asa passed his childhood and laid the
foundation of his character. He afterward said of them he never
knew them to do a thing thej' believed to be wrong.
At the close of the Revolutionary War, and when the Independ
ence of the States had been acknowledged. Judge Metcalf received
a request from a Mr. Amory of Boston, to bring Mr. Nathan
Aldis' son to Boston. He went, and was advised to ascertain
from the General Court, then in session, what disposition was to
be made of Mr. Aldis' property. On the declaration of the law
yer, Mr. Sullivan, that Mr. Aldis died one year and two months
before the Declaration of Independence, and that no evidence ex
isted that he had ever said or done anything against the cause or
measures of the revolutionary party, the court decided unani
mously that there was no law that would warrant the confiscation
of the estate, and that it should be restored to the son. After the
decision Mr. Amory informed Judge Metcalf that he had just re
ceived Mr. Aldis' papers, which were supposed to be lost. Capt.
John Goldsbury,* foreseeing the tumultuous times coming, had
gone, on Mr. Aldis' death, privately to Franklin, and secured the
papers, and, unknown to his relatives, had sent them to England.
These papers had been just sent back.
An anecdote is connected with these papers illustrative of the
times. Judge Metcalf said to Asa, as they examined them, "I
think Dea. Slocum owed j^our father several hundred dollars, but
I find no note. Go and ask the deacon." He did so. "Yes,"
said the deacon, " I owed your father, and you will find the note
among the papers." Still they could not find it. "^Well," re-
pUed the deacon, " if you don't find it, I owed it, and shall pay
you aU the same." About two 3'ears after Asa received a letter
from Capt. Goldsbury in Hahfax, N. S., wishing to see him. He
went at once to his father's old friend, who told him much about
his father, and the difficulties he had in getting the papers in Frank-

* Capt. Goldsbury had been one of the chief men iu Franklin, but fronrsym-
pathy with the British side had gone out of the way of the coming strife for lib
erty to Nova Scotia, where he remained afterwards till his death.

144 flISTOR'Y OB* PRANKLIM.
hn. Inquiring after Dea. Slocum, he took a paper from his
pocket-book, and handing it to young Aldis, said, " Asa, Deacon
Slocum saved my hfe. I wanted to see a young lady friend of
mine near Frankhn. We had not evacuated Boston. Washing
ton was encamped at Cambridge, and I could get to Frankhn only
by crossing through his hues. I forged a pass jvhich took me
through, but they soon discovered Washington's signature to be
false, and sent a detachment after me as a spy. I was no spy, but
I fled for my life. I hid three days in the woods. Dea. Slocum
fed me, and then secreted me in his own house till I got off to Bos
ton. When I saw this note against him among the papers, I took
it out and kept it; It is the only paper I ever withheld. I vowed
that it you got the money I would bring you the note, but if that
cursed government got it, they should never have a penny from
the deacon !"
Mr. and Mrs. Pond and their daughter were now dead, and
during the settlement of .the estate Asa made his home mostly
with his uncle, Ebenezer Aldis, in Mendon. He always acknowl
edged this period — from 15 to 19 — to have been the wild period
of his life, when he went for fun everywhere. His aversion to
ardent spirits saved him. He said Dr. Emmons never gave him
up, but, passed many an hour with him, talking of his parents and
other things interesting to a youth. At 19 he applied to Rev.
Caleb Alexander, of Mendon — afterwards a celebrated teacher in
Fairfield, N. Y. — to fit him for college ; but he hesitated on ac
count of his then reckless and disputatious reputation. But Dr.
Emmons urged him and he took young Aldis into his family, and
when he left Mr. Alexander said he never had a more obedient
pupil." Aldis' gratitude to Dr. Emmons lasted through life.
Asa Aldis was graduated at Brown Universitj^, in 1796, and
studied law with Judge Howell of Providence. After a short resi
dence in Chepachet, R. I., he was married, and in 1802 removed
to St. Albans, Vt., where he entered upon his profession with
characteristic zeal. In the years of the embargo, and during the
War of 1812, he was a zealous supporter of Jefferson's and Madi
son's administrations. This was the unpopular side in northern
Vei-mont, but his violent pohtical opponents were often his warm
personal friends. On one point he was almost alone. He would
never permit one dollar's worth of smuggled goods to be brought

ADDENDA. 145
into his house, and even refused to be retained by his old chents
in any case, if they were smugglers. But while he was the Gov
ernment's supporter and adviser, he refused all office and gave his
advice gratuitously. At the close of the War of 1812, he was
persuaded to accept the office of Chief Justice of Vermont, but
dechned a second election, in spite of the entreaties even of po
htical opponents.
Judge Aldis was a supporter of John Quincy Adams, especiaUy
in his anti-slavery sentiments. Having joined an abolition soci
ety whUe in Pro'vidence, he adhered to its principles in its dark
est day, and was among the leaders of the hberty party in his State.
After 50 years of age he professed religion and was confirmed
in the Episcopal church by Bishop Griswold. He was also an
especial friend of schools. Of his integrity it was said, after his
death, that no one could say that he had wronged one man. He
died 16th October, 1847, aged 77 years. He left at least one son,
Hon. Asa O. Aldis, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court,
and a daughter, the -wife of his successor. Judge L. C. Kellogg, of
Vermont. The view on the following page will be interesting as
a rehc of ante-revolutionary days. The building on the right is
the " old store" aheady mentioned. The Aldis homestead is on
the left. Both are to-day as the photograph reflects them.
J. Francis At'wood, M. D., son of Jonathan Frank and Anna
M. (Pond) Atwood, was born in Frankhn 20th August, 1846. In
1864 he entered PhiUip's Exeter Academy, thence entered Har
vard University, graduating in 1869. He passed immediately into
the medical school and received his degree in 1873. By competi
tive examination he obtained first choice of places in the Boston
City Hospital, and was appointed Opthalmic Lecturer. After a
year's ser^vdce Dr. Atwood went to Europe for further study, in
London and Paris and in the University of Vienna. He returned
in 1874 and opened an office in St. Paul, Minn., where he is now
surgeon in the Minnesota Eye and Ear Infirmary.
Dr. Atwood married, 20th September, 1876, Emma, daughter
of Samuel Colhoun, Esq. , of St. Paul.
Henrt Metcalf Bacon was born in the north part of Franklin, •
24th January, 1854. He is the son of George W. and Juha-
Adams (Brooks) Bacon. He fitted for college one year at Chase ,
& Scott's Academy, Philadelphia, and one year at the Chelsea
10

146

HISTORY OP FRANKLIN.

High School. He graduated at Amherst College, 1876. Since
graduation he has been engaged in school teaching, and is at this
date in Armstrong, Kansas, at the head of a school.
Rev. Abijah Richardson Baker, D. D., was bom iu Frankhn,
30th August, 1805, and was the son of Captain Da^vid and Jemima
(Richardson) Baker. Becoming a Christian quite early, he fitted
for coUoge iu Medway and at Bradford, and entered Amherst Col
lege, whence he was graduated 1830. He opened a school in Med-

THE ALDIS HOMESTEAD AND STORE.

waj' ¦vdllage, which gained quite a distinction, but left it after two
years for Andover Seminary. After graduation here in 1835, he
preached in Ware, West Hartford, Conn., and at Albany, N. Y.,
and finaUy was settled in Medford, 25th April, 1838. In his min
istry' of ten years he received 200 persons into the church. After
his dismission, in 1849, he devoted himself chiefly to building up
new or feeble churches, as in Lynn and South Boston.
Dr. Baker, soon after lesLving Medford, engaged in Sunday-

ADDENDA. 14T
school work. He published a series of question books on the
Assembly's Catechism, or "The Catechism tested by the Bible."
This has been translated into six languages, and was used in the
Sandwich Islands by order of the government, and in, the mission
schools of Mt. Lebanon. Half a million copies have been sold.
He also prepared a " Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount,"
in fom- octavo volumes, besides writing many magazine articles.
He received the degi-ee of D. D. in 1870, from Austin College.
Dr. Baker married, 1st October, 1835, Harriet Newell, daughter
of Rev. Leonard Woods, D. D., of Andover, and had six sons,
two of whom are in the ministry, two in process of preparation,
and one a physician. The eldest died in infancy. Dr. Baker
himself died, 30th April, 1876, in his 71st year, lea^vdng a -vnde cir
cle of friends to lament his decease.
David Erastus Baker is the son of Erastus Emmons and Abby
M. (Bacon) Baker, and was born in Frankhn 30th March, 1857.
After a pubhc school education he entered the Massachusetts
Agricultural CoUege at Amherst, and graduated in the full course
of study, 1878. He is at present teaching a public school in his
native town.
Rev. Mortimer Blake, D. D., son of Ira and Laura (Mowry)
Blake, of Frankhn, was born in Pittston, Me., 10th June, 1813,
but removed with his parents to Franklin in his fifth year. He at
tended Day's Academy, Wrentham, and the Classical Institute at
Medway. village, also studied privately with Rev. E. Smalley of
Frankhn; graduated at Amherst CoUege, 1835, whence also he
received the degree of D. D. in 1868. After graduation he
opened an academy in Franklin, which he taught three years,
until called to the Principalship of Hopkins Academy in Hadley.
He resigned this position after one year, to enter the ministry, for
which he had pre-dously prepared ¦with Rev. Dr. Smalley, and been
approbated by the Mendon Association. He was ordained over
the church in Mansfield, 4th December, 1839 ; dismissed in No
vember, 1855, to take the pastorate of the Winslow church, Taun
ton, 4th December following. He still remains among his own
people. Dr. Blake married Harriet Louisa Daniels, daughter of Joseph
and Susan (Fisher) Daniels of Frankhn, and has four children, two
sons and two daughters. Percy M., for four years Ci^vdl Engineer

148 history op PEANKLIN.
in United States Army, is now pursuing sanitary engineering ;
Lucien I. graduated at Amherst CoUege, 1877, since has been
Principal of the Franklin High School ; one daughter married
Bradford F. Morse of Taunton.
The portrait of Dr. Blake was procured and is prefixed as a
frontispiece, by vote of the Centennial Committee.
Rev. Nathaniel Chapman, a son-in-law of Franklin, is a na
tive of Mt. Vernon, Me. He did not graduate at eoUege, as we
can learn, but took a private course of study and was ordained as
pastor of the Congregational church in Bj-istol, Me., 15th Sep
tember, 1824. He was dismissed 7th February, 1833, and in
stalled at Camden, Me., 14th May, 1835. Since then we have
gained no further information.
Mr. Chapman married, June, 1823, Sally, daughter of Robert
and Olive (Richardson) Pond, of Frankhn, and has had four
chUdren. Dr. Gilbert Clark, son of Nathan and Nancy (Payson) Clark,
was born in South Franklin, 30th December, 1823. He was edu
cated for his profession in the Eclectic Medical College, of Phila
delphia. After receiving his degree, he settled in Warren, R. I.,
where he died 24th March, 1874.
Dr. Clark mamed Miss Eliza Whiting, but left no chUdren.
Rev. James Royal Cushing, a son-in-law of this town, was
born in Sahsbury, N. H., 23d November, 1800. His youth was
spent in Thetford, Vt., under the ministry of Rev. Dr. Burton.
He studied his theological course in Bangor Seminary, and was
first settled in Boxboro, Mass., afterwards installed, 10th June,
1835, as pastor of the Congregational church in East Haverhill,
where he remained until 1844. He next served as citj^ missionary
in Boston until his settlement in Wells, Me., where he labored
successfuUj' for ten years. In 1854 he became acting pastor of a
new church in East Taunton, where he remained seven years, dur
ing which time he secured the means to build their present neat
and commodious meeting-house. In 1861 he removed to North
Rochester for seven years and thence to the Cape, where he sup
phed successively the churches in Cotuit, Marston's MiUs and
Waquoit, until his age and ill-health compelled him to retire to
his original home in Haverhill, where he now resides.
Mr. Cushing married for his second wife, 14th November, 1843,

addenda. 149
Unity Myra Daniels, daughter of Joseph and Susan (Fisher)
Daniels, a native of Franklin, who still lives.
Rev. Henry Metcalf Daniels was born in Frankhn 16th May,
1824, and is the son of Henry and Mary (Metcalf) Daniels. At
tended school at Frankhn Academy and engaged some time in
teaching, farming, etc. Entered Chicago Theological Seminary
in 1858, graduating in 1861. He was very soon after, June 25th,
installed pastor of the Congregational church, Winnebago, III.,
where he remained until 1875. With patriotic impulse he accepted
a commission from the A. H. M. S., and went to Dallas, Texas,
where he is now, representing the polity of the Pilgrims with hope
ful success.
Mr. Daniels married, 17th March, 1844, Susan Nye, daughter
of Caleb T. and Susan (Cleaveland) Nye, of Franklin. She
died 27th October, 1873, leaving one daughter, now Mrs. George
E. Mariner, of Sparta, Wis. Mr. Daniel's present wife was Mrs.
Fanny B. Nye, formerly of Freeport, Me.
Rev. William Haven Daniels, youngest son of Henry and
Mary (Metcalf) Daniels, was born in Frankhn, 18th May, 1836,
and was educated in Wilbraham (Mass.) Academy and the Wes-
leyan University at Middletown, Conn. After the usual four
3'ears' course in theologj' in the Rock River Conference he was
admitted, in 1872, as preacher in the Methodist Episcopal chUrch,
Mr. Daniels has performed pastoral ser-vice in JencksvUle, Mass.,
St. Johns, N. B., Normal, Chicago, and River Forest, IU. He was
also for a time Professor of Belles Lettres in the Illinois Wesleyan
University at Bloomington, III., General Agent of the Chicago
Theological Seminary, Librarian of the Northwestern University,
at Evanston, IU.
Mr. Daniels has lately turned himself chiefly to literar3' work,
and has issued some volumes, such as " D. L. Moody and His
Work," " The Temperance Reform and its Great Reformers," the
former of which has ¦widely circulated and been translated into
French and Welsh. He married a daughter of Dea. Samuel P.
Merrick of Chicopee, in 1861, September 11th, and has one chUd,
a daughter. He resides at present at River Forest, near Chicago.
Willis George Daniels was born in Frankhn, 22d October,
1806, and was the son of Joseph and Susan (Fisher) Daniels.
Becoming early converted to the gospel, he turned himself to a

150 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
preparation for the ministry. He fitted for coUege at Day's
Academy, in Wrentham, and entered Amherst College in 1828, but
ill-health compelled him to leave in his Sophomore year, and he
died of consumption at his home, 15th January, 1830, to the great
disappointment of his family and friends.
Oliver Dean, M. D., was born in Frankhn, 18th February,
1783, and was the son of Seth and Edna (Pond) Dean. After
learning English branches in the town schools he studied Latin in
the Framingham Academy, and Greek ¦with Rev. Dr. Crane of
Northbridge. He then began the study of medicine -with Dr.
James Mann, of Wrentham, but completed it with Dr. W. IngaUs
of Boston, and received his degree of M. D. from the Massachu
setts Medical Society, in 1809. He practiced in Boston until
1812, when he removed to Medway, but his health broke down
under his labors here, and in 1817 he left his profession to assume
the superintendency of the Medway Cotton Mills, which had been
built in 1804, burnt in October, 1807, and re-built in 1809, by
Dr. Abijah Richardson, Luther Metcalf, William Felt, and others.
Dr. Dean held this office for nine j'ears. In 1826 he was chosen
Superintendent of the then young Amoskeag, N. H. , Manufactur
ing Company, and continued there for eight years. Ha'ving ac
cumulated a fortune by skillful management, he retired to a farm
in Framingham from 1834 to 1844. From the latter date uutU
1851 he resided in Boston. He next purchased a portion of the
farm of the deceased Dr. Emmons and made Frankhn his home
until his death.
Dr. Dean devoted his last years chiefiy to plans for the educa
tion of 3'outh,, which resulted in the founding of the academy ap
propriately bearing his name, and which his large wealth enabled
him amply to endow.
Dr. Dean first married Carohne Francoeur of Wrentham, resi
dent in Boston. She died 27th October, 1866, and he married, in
1868, Mrs. Louisa C. Hames of Wrentham, who still lives. He
left no chUdren.
Hon. Alexander DeWitt, whom Franklin has a double reason
for claiming as a son-in-law, as his vrife belonged to this town,
was bom in New Braintree, 2d AprU, 1798, one of a family of
nine children. His parents were too poor to give him any oppor
tunities of education, and he was compelled to do such small work

DiflLGK, f hot'

{?Uci^ (3j^ ,

ADDENDA. 151
among his neighbors as he could find. At 15 he went to Dudley
as apprentice in a small wool and cotton factory, where he staid
five years. In 1818 he came to Franklin and was employed in
Dr. N. Miller's thread factory at River End. In. 1819 he leased
a larger miU in Foxboro. Here he peddled his own thread in a
wagon from place to place, carrying his food with him. Conquer
ing his natural pride against such a seemingly begging expedition,
when he found that he must urge his own wares to effect any sales,
he pushed himself more boldly and soon secured a circle of trade
for aU the goods he could manufacture.
In 1820, June 5th, he married Mary, daughter of William
Makepeace of Frankhn, and in conjunction with his father-in-law,
who buUt a mUl, carried on the thread business in Union-viUe in
this town. .In 1825 he removed to Oxford, where, 'with three of
his brothers, he built the then largest thread-mill in the United
States. Prosperity attended these ventures, and Mr. DeWitt,
now Colonel, rose not only in wealth but in popular regard. He
became Representative of the town in 1830, State Senator in
1842 and 1844, and a member of the House of National Repre
sentatives in the Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth Congresses . In his
later hfe he has been blind. Colonel DeWitt has just died at his
home in Oxford, 13th January, 1879, leaving a widow but no
children. Rev. Nathaji Tyrrell Dyer, the latest of Franklin's sons-in-
law, is a native of South Braintree, being born there 1st January,
1852, and the son of Jacob Storr and Ann Maria Thayer (Hol
brook) Dyer. After passing through the town High School and
Lawrence Academy at Groton, he entered Dartmouth College,
gi-aduating thence in 1873. Next he passed through Andover
Theological Seminary and was graduated in 1876. He was in
stalled over the First church, Middleboro, 31st July, 1878.
Mr. Dyer married, 4th June, 1878, Miss Harriet Mann, born in
Frankhn and daughter of Wilham and Sarah Bacon (Metcalf)
Mann, stiU residing in Franklin.
Hon. Williams Emmons was the son of Rev. Nathanael and
Martha (Wilhams) Emmons, and was born in Franklin 2d May,
1784 ; was graduated from Brown University 1805, in the class
-with Theron Metcalf, and was subsequently tutor for three years.
In 1809 he opened a law office in Augusta, Me. , where he continued

162 HISTORY OP PEANKLIN.
with distinguished success until 1836. He was a member of the
State Legislature in 1833 and 1834, and Senator for Kennebec
county in 1834 and 1835 ; was appointed Judge of Probate in 1841,
which office he Jilled untU 1848, when he removed to Hallo well to
spend the remainder of his hfe in privacy. He died there 8th
October, 1855.
Judge Emmons married, 24th May, 1813, Eunice, daughter of
Judge Samuel S. Wilde of Boston. Judge WUde was son of
Daniel Wilde, and his ¦wife was daughter of Dea. Jezaniah Sumner,
both of Taunton and both noted musicians, the latter being the
author of the ' ' Ode on Science." Mrs. Emmons died 1881 , leaving
two daughters, one of whom married Rev. Benjamin Tappan, Jr. ,
of Augusta. Judge Emmon's second wife was Lucy, daughter of
Dr. Benjamin Vaughn of Hallowell.
Elisha Fairbanks, Esq., was born in Franklin, 6th June, 1771,
in the house, afterwards, of Hon. Willis Fisher, and was son of
Capt. Asa and Sarah Fairbanks. He graduated at Brown Uni
versity 1791, and began practice of law in Gloucester, R. I.
He soon after removed to Hopkinton, and thence to Keene, N. H.
Here he became deranged and put an end to his own hfe about
1820. He was never married.
Theodore Parker Farr, son of Parker Russell and Abby Eliza
(Alexander) Farr, was born in Franklin, 19th December, 1855.
He prepared for college at the Dean Academy and graduated, the
valedictorian of his class, from Tuft's CoUege, 1878. He is now
teaching school in Sheldonville, Wrentham.
Prof. Alexander Metcalf Fisher, son of Caleb and Sally
(Cushing) Fisher, was born in Franklin 22d July, 1794. He was
of small and very^ slender physique, yet of such mental quickness
that he graduated from Yale College in 1818 at 19, and at the
bead of his class. One of his classmates says of his junior year,
' ' It astonished us all to see with what ease he traveled through
conic sections, spherical geometry and trigonometry ; how com
pletely he supplied defective demonstrations in the text-book, and
occasionally detected fallacies in the author and demonstrated the
incorrectness of his conclusions. It seemed almost subhme to see
one of an age but a single remove from childhood, of a figure so
disproportioned to the magnitude of his subject, and of a mould so
fraU and delicate, march with such ease and steadiness over these

ADDENDA. 163
heights which stoodin this part of our path." — (American J&v/mal
of Science, V. 367.) After his graduation he spent a year with Dr.
Emmons, going through the usual course of theological topics.
Dr. E. said of him, " He is the ablest man in theological argu
ment I ever met." Another called him "head and shoulders
above all others." He next went to Andover, but ill-health com
pelled him to relinquish books and retire to his father's farm. He
was, however, appointed Tutor in Yale CoUege in 1815, and, not-
¦withstanding the fears of his friends, entered upon his duties at
the fall term. His favorite studies apparently in^vigorated his
health, and in two years he was chosen adjunct Professor of Math
ematics and Natural Philosophy. On the death of President
Dwight and the promotion of Prof. Da3' to the Presidency, Fisher
was elected to his place in the chair of this professorship. His
devotion and success as a teacher and lecturer were striking..
Nothing escaped his attention. Some philosophical papers of his
at this time attracted public notice. Especiall3' an article on ' ' Mus
ical Temperament," m Sillirtian's Journal, vol. 1, art. 1, was re
garded in America and Europe as a most profound and exhaustive
discussion of that difficult topic. This article was written within
two weeks, as a rehef from severe nervous disturbance. ' ' He was
•a wonderfully rapid, exact and methodical writer, and marked by
originahty of thought, delicacy of taste, and determination of pur
pose." As a sample, suffering once bitterly under a toothache,
he wrote out the pros and cons, balanced them, and went to a den
tist. The removal of the tooth being a less objection than he had
computed, he had a second offender extracted as aa equipoise in
the argument^
But the high hopes of his career were suddenly destroyed by his
ship^wreck on the coast of Ireland. Desirous of learning the modes
of instruction* in Europe, he, ¦with sixty others, sailed from New
York in the packet Albion, 1st April, 1822. When near Kinsale,
April 22, a ga|^ struck the ship, canied her masts, and dashed
her upon the rocks. Only one passenger escaped. Prof. Fisher
was last seen in the cabin examining the barometer.
Prof. Fisher was Engaged to be married to Catharine, daughter
Of Rev. L. Beecher, D. D., but the waves forbade forever the con^
summation.

154 HISTORY OP FEANKLIN.
A white marble slab stands in the Franklin Cemetery to mark
the fact of his death, with this inscription : —
s. M.
ALEXANDRI METCALF FISHER
COLLEOII YALENSIS,
Prinio Alumni, deinde Tutoris,
Postia Matheseos et Phllosophiae Naturalis
Professor ;
Qui
lugenio capaci et acerrimo judicio
Pra3ditus,
in studia doctrinEe adeo incubuit
Ut ciim adhus intra juventutls aunos
Ejus versaretur aetas,
Propd summunl literarum f astigium
Altlgisset.
His insuper laudibus
Caeteras, quae vlrum bonum commendat,
Virtutes,
Comitateni,
Benevolentiam.
Moi'um Probitatem,
Fidem in offlciis f ungendis maximam,
Et summum Dei reverentiam
Addiderat
Et, oiiv amore literarum
Et studio aUas regiones misendi ductus,
In Europam navigaret.
Ad eras Hiberniae.
Eheu ! trlsti naufragio
Periit ;
Die XXII Aprilis, anno Sacro M.DCCC.XXII.
^fatis XXVII.
On the obverse side : —
Thy grave, O Fisher, is the rolling flood ;
Thy urn, the rock eternal reared by God !
Yet near thy home, raised by affection's hand
To speak thy name, this simple stone shall stand.
How dark the scene, tUl Faith directs on high
Beyond these orbs that charmed thy youthful eye ;
There now thy noble mind expanding glows
In floods of Ught, nor pain nor darkness knows ;
Youth, Genius, Knowledge, Virtue, pass away
From Earth's dim shores, to Heaven's eternal day.
Rev. Charles Richmond Fisher was the youngest son of
Daniel C. and Betsey (Wood) Fisher, and was born in Frankhn
Sept. 17, 1819. Young Fisher left home at 13 to learn the book
trade, as clerk in Wilham MarshaU's store, Pro'vidence. Here,
attending Grace church with the family in which he resided, he

ADDENDA. 155
became personaUj' interested in religion, and was admitted by
Bishop Griswold to that church, then under the rectorship of Rev.
John A. Clark, now Bishop of Rhode Island. His new views
turned his thoughts to the ministrj^, and, assisted by friends, he
commenced study at the Frankhn Academy. In 1838 he entered
Trinity CoUege, Hartford, Conn., graduating in 1842 in the same
class ¦with Rev. Drs. Gallandet, Geer, and Olmstead.
WhUe studying theology, after graduation, under Bishop Burgess,
then rector of Christ church, he also spent much time as lay-
reader in feeble and vacant parishes in the vicinity. He was or
dained as Deacon bj- Bishop Brownell in 1845, and immediately
began to officiate in St. Marks, New Britain, Conn. Afterwards
he went to CabotviUe, Mass., next to Hebron and Manchester,
Conn. In 1847, June 9th, he was ordained as Priest. In 1850,
December 2d, he was appointed by the Bishop as missionary to
gather a church in the citj' of Hartford, Conn. He at first held
meetings in a smaU and inconvenient hall ; afterwards, as the con
gregation increased, in an old chapel. His labors were so pros
pered that a new building was erected and dedicated in June, 1855,
called St. Pauls church. Around this church as his center, Mr.
Fisher labored whUe he lived. He was the friend of the poor and
the almoner of the gifts of the rich.
The newspaper of the day, the Hartford Globe, said of him :
"The death of ' father' Fisher has spread a general gloom over
our community. It is seldom that the demise of a man, however
prominent or however highly esteemed, is so universaUy felt. He
is missed everywhere, in and out of church, in the home and in
the street, at prayers and in society, by the rich and' — oh, how
sincerely is he missed and honored by the poor !"
Mr. Fisher died 24th November, 1876, aged 57. He was stout
and inchned to corpulency. Too stout for walking, he was obliged
mostly to ride, indicating the end which came to him at last.
While rising from his bed on the morning of his last day he said,
" how well I have slept, how well I feel !" and suddenly fell back
on the pillow dead.
During his ministry Mr. Fisher married 1,717 couples — one on
the afternoon and another in the evening before his death. His
funeral obsequies were attended by a crowd of people, and the ser
mon by Bishop Williams was printed.

156 HISTORY OP FEANKLIN.
Mr. Fisher married, 26th May, 1846, Miss Susan B. Griswold
of Hartford, who with her three children — two sons and a daugh
ter — live to mourn his death.
Hon. George Fisher, son of Joseph and Susan (Fisher) Fisher,
was born 17th March, 1788, on the Maxcy Fisher homestead, for
merly called " Buck's HiU." He changed his early farm hfe for
a mason's, and worked in Boston, where he saved his earnings un
til he could devote himself to study. He fitted for college with
Rev. WiUiam WiUiams at West Wrentham, and by assistance
from his brothers was enabled to graduate at Brown University in
1813. After a tour to the South for health, he entered the law
office of Judge Gilbert of Hebron, Conn. , completing his course with
Messrs. Forman & Sabin, at Onondaga, N. Y. He afterwards
settled in Oswego. In 1828 was elected to Congress, but was
supplanted in his seat by Hon. Silas Wright, Jr. He then left
the law and engaged in the fiouring business. Becoming wealthy,
he spent several years in Europe for the education of his children.
On his return he became President of the N. W. Insurance Com
pany, residing most of the time in New York city, where he died
26th March, 1861.
Mr. Fisher married Ehzabeth, daughter of Rev. Dan. Hunting
ton of Hadley, whom he first met in a stage ride from Northampton
to Troy, N. Y. , whither she was going as a teacher in Miss Willard's
school. They had six children. The four sons graduated at Cam
bridge, of whom two follow insurance in Chicago ; another is a
lawyer in Brooklyn, and the other a teacher in New York City.
Rev. George Fisher, sou of WiUard and Betsey R. Fisher,
was born in Frankhn 25th November, 1839. He began a collegi
ate course at Amherst College, but removed to Brown University,
and finally had to relinquish colleges altogether on account of fee
ble health. The love of a literary career, however, abode in him.
Having joined the Episcopol church in Waterford, N. Y., in 1866,
he was ordained deacon in New York January, 1868, and ad
mitted to the priesthood 12th June, 1870, by Bishop W. C. Doane,
of Albany. In 1871, March 19, he became rector of the church
of St. John the Evangehst, at Stockport, Columbia county, N. Y.,
where he stiU officiates.
Mr. Ksher married, 25th December, 1865, Miss EUen E. H.
Wright of Providence, R. I.

^^^^^'^^-^'^Z-^.^

ADDENDA. 157
Hon. Jabez Fisher was born on "Buck's Hill," now King
street, where Alfred Metcalf lives, 19th November, 1717, and
was the j'oungest child of Ebenezer, Sr., and Abigail (Ellis)
Fisher. Although without a liberal education, his strong common
sense, clear intuition and inflexible integrity gained and kept the
confidence of all men through the trying scenes of his long life,
as the offices of trust to which he was elected clearly show.
He was a representative to the General Court of the Provincial
government for many 3'ears, a member of the house of delegates
at Salem, in 1775, where he was chosen one of the council of
twenty-eight which acted as the executive during the opening Rev
olution, and of which were John and Samuel Adams, Robert
Treat Paine, and John Hancock. He was considered the special
watchman of the country part of Suffolk county, then including
Franklin, and brought its forces into action. He was delegate to
the Constitutional Convention of 1788. He declined to be on the
famous Committee of Safety, on account of his distance from
Boston, but when the Provincial Congress was summoned to
Watertown in midwinter, he walked aU the way frouj Frankhn on
his snow-shoes through the woods. He was also on the Gover
nor's CouncU from 1766 to 1772 and from 1776 to 1779, and in
the Senate from 1780 to 1784, and again a Representative inl786,
1798 and 1799. Being now 82 years old he withdrew from public
affairs. But he continued to act as justice of the peace, to which
he was flrst commissioned 8th November, 1775, until 1800 ; and
officiated as deacon of the church from Februar3', 1755, until he
was unable to attend. He died 15th October, 1806, in his 89th
year. A funeral sermon by Dr. Emmons (Works, vol. v., 496)
ably sets forth his character and worth.
Deacon Fisher married, 5th March, 1740, Mary, daughter of
John Adams, and had nine children.
Lewis Whiting Fisher, Esq. , was born in Franklin 29th De
cember, 1792, and was the son of Hon. Lewis and Abigail Fisher.
He graduated at Brown University, 1816, and studied law with
Hon. J. J. Fiske, of Wrentham. He afterwards opened an office
in Wrentham, where he lived until his death in 1827, April 20.
Esquire Fisher married Nancy, daughter of Luther and Betsey
Fisher, 4th January, 1820. She is still living in Wrentham. They
had four children, Lewis Emmons and Henry Jones, now deceased ;

158 HISTORY OP PEANKLIN.
Elizabeth E. and George Park, who graduated B. U. 1847, and is
now Professor of Ecclesiastical History in Yale CoUege, and widely
known as author of " History of the Reformation," "Beginnings
of Christianity," and other works.
Hon. Milton Metcalf Fisher was the eldest son of Wilhs and
Carohne (Fairbanks) Fisher, and great grandson of Hon. Jabez
Fisher. He was born in the south part of Franklin 30th Jan
uary, 1811. With a good common school education he began at 16
teaching district schools in Wrentham, Frankhn, Medway, West-
boro, Canton and Randolph. He prepared for college partly at
Day's Academy, Wrentham, under Isaac Perkins, and at the Med
way Classical Institute, A. R. Baker, Principal ; entered Amherst
College in 1832, but too close devotion to study, in a class con
taining Governor Bullock, Judge KeUogg of Vermont, and Hon. E.
H. Kellogg of Pittsfield, compelled him to leave college and betake
himself to journeying for recuperation, in which he was ultimately
successful in a complete restoration. He then entered business in
Westboro, where he fiUed several offices, but removed to Medway
village in 1840, and there stiU resides. In Medway Mr. Fisher
has held nearly every municipal office — he has been Justice of
the Peace and Notary Public for Norfolk county. State Senator in
1859 and 1860, County Commissioner from 1863 to 1872, and dea
con of the village church since 1840. He has been a trader, a
straw-goods manufacturer, and is now insurance agent for several
companies. He received the degree of A. M. in 1865 from Am
herst CoUege, and while the old chapel stands his name ¦will be
read on the inside clock-face that marks the tardy ones at prayers.
Mr. Fisher married, August 22, 1836, Eleanor B., eldest daugh
ter of Hon. Luther Metcalf of Medway, by whom he has had nine
children, four of whom are now h^ving. One son is associated ¦with
him in business, the other is a prominent physician in Boston. Of
the two daughters one is married in Amherst, the other is a
teacher. Prof. Austin Barclay Fletcher is a native of Mendon, where
he was born 13th March, 1852, but removed to Franklin in 1860.
After leaving the public schools in town, he spent three years in
Dean Academy. The year 1869 was spent in Bryant & Stratton's
Commercial School, Boston. The next year he was at Wilbraham
Academy. He then entered Tuft's CoUege in 1872, graduating in

^.^^ <^5^<^:^

ADDENDA. 159
1876. The two j'ears following were passed in Boston University,
in the schools of law and of oratorj'. Since the spring of the cur
rent 3'ear he has been instructing in oratory, both in the theologi
cal department of the Boston University and also at Brown Uni-
Tersit3', Pro'vidence. His intended profession is the law.
Mr. Fletcher is the son of Asa A. and Harriett E. (Durfee)
Fletcher. James Robert Gilmore ("Edmund Kirke") was born in the
south part of Franklin, called " under the hill," and was the son of
Turner Gilmore, and gi-andson of WiUiam. In 1845 he entered
the employ of Blanchard, Converse & Co., of Boston, and became
their salesman in New York State for many years. At the same
time he supported his mother iu Boston, who had become insane.
In 1856 he began business in New York city. This compelled
him to often ¦visit the South, and espeeiall3' North Carolina, where
he became so conversant with the people. He at tMs time origi
nated a village in New Jersey, and built a house there in which he
lived. But further particulars of his life are now inaccessible.
Mr. GUmore's special fame rests upon his authorship. Being a
rapid penman and a ¦vivacious composer, his travels giving him a
wide acquaintance ¦with men and abundant incidents, he began the
Continental Magazine in 1865, editing and publishing it himself.
In this magazine his book ' ' Among the Pines " first appeared as a
serial, ¦with the nom de plume of " Edmund Kirke." It attracted
wide interest. He also wrote ' ' M3' Southern Friends " and
" Down in Tennessee,'' in which he describes a ¦visit to Jefferson
Da-sis in Richmond. He was also a party in the famous Greeley
'Conference -with the rebels to effect a peace. His magazine arti
cles have been numerous, and their fund of humor exhaustless. Of
Ms f amUy and present residence the writer knoweth not.
Elisha Harding, M. D., the son of Captain Asa and Comfort
Harding, was born in Franklin 29th January, 1796. After fitting
for coUege he graduated M. D. at Brown University, 1819. Im
mediately after his graduation he visited and finally settled in
Maine. Dr. Harding married, 7th September, 1819, AmeUa, daugh
ter of Moses Hawes, and removed to Union, Me., where he be
came prominent as physician, and was in various civic offices until
1842, when he removed to Thomaston, where he died in 1850,

160 HISTORY OP PEANKLIN.
May 6th. He left one son, Nathaniel MiUer Harding, of Rock
land, Me., stiU resident in that city.
Rev. Walter Harris, D. D., a son-in-law of this town, .was
born in Lebanon, Conn., 8th June, 1761, and was son of Nathan
iel and Grace Harris. He graduated at Dartmouth College, 1787,
and studied theology with Rev. Dr. Emmons, and was settled in
Dumbarton, N. H., 26th August, 1789, where he died after forty
years' successful ser^vice, 25th December, 1843. He married
Jemima, daughter of Nathaniel Fisher of Franklin, and sister of
Hon. Lewis Fisher, by whom he had seven children.
Dr. Harris was a remarkable man. Left an orphan at 16, he
joined the Revolutionary army as fifer and served his three years.
He next bought wild land near Dartmouth College and made himself
a farm. Being converted bj' a sermon in town, he resolutely turned
to the ministr3', and by dint of evening study graduated with
honors. Reading a sermon of Dr. Esumons', he determined to
study theology with that man. He found him in Franklin, learned
his theology, found a wife also in the congregation, and became
one of the mighty men of the gospel in New Hampshire.
Rev. Thomas Haven was the oldest living child of Rev. Elias
Haven, the first minister of Franklin. He was born 28th August,
1744, and was graduated at Cambridge, 1765. He was instaUed
7th November, 1770, the first pastor of the Third, or South, church
in Reading. But like his father he fell an early victim to con
sumption, dying in office, 7th May, 1782, in the 39th j'ear of
his age. His grave-stone says his death was " a most sorrow
ful event to the people of his charge," and adds — " a genius un
fettered by bigotry, improved by study, ennobled by rehgion and
by au evangelical temper, and enlarged by the Host diffusive
benevolence, has taken its fiight to its native country."
Mr. Haven married Anna Bigelow, who died 10th June, 1776,
aged 21.,
Rev. Alfred Hawes, a native of HoUiston, married Clarissa
Prentiss, daughter of Phineas and Abigail Partridge, of Franklin,
and became a member of its hst of sons. He fitted for coUege at
the Frankhn Academy and graduated at Brown University, 1841,
and at Andover. He went West as a home missionary, and was soon
settled in Marion, Ind., where he died in August, 1854. His wife
soon followed him. Rev. H. W. Beecher, then in the same State,

ADDENDA. 161
said of him: "If we had a hundred men like Hawes, Indiana
would soon blossom as the rose." He left four children, of whom
is George W. Hawes, Professor of Mineralogy in the Yale Scientific
School. Peter Ha'wes, Esq., son of Joseph and Hannah (Fisher)
Hawes, was born in Franklin 6th June, 1766. He graduated at
Brown University 1790, and afterwards became an eminent lawj'er
in New York city. He was a devoted Christian and an elder in
the brick chm-ch. Rev. Dr. Spring's.
Esquire Hawes died in early life, lea^ving two daughters, Susan
and MatUda, both unmarried, and a son of whom we know not
even his name.
Rev. Isaac Erwin Heaton was born in Franklin 6th October,
1808, and was the oldest sou of Nathan and Sarah (Boon) Heaton.
He is descended from Nathaniel and Mary Heaton, original settlers
in Wrentham. His great grandfather Isaac took a farm within
the southern limits of Frankhn which his grandfather Isaac and
his father Nathan occupied. The first printing press in this re
gion was set up bj' his ancestral family, which issued many of the
flrst editions of Dr. Emmons' sei-mons and other pamphlets. No
relic of that old press is now known to exist.
Mr. Heaton fitted for college at Day's Academy and graduated
B. U. 1832 ; studied theology with Rev. Dr. Ide, and was ordained
as evangelist by the Mendon Association at North Wrentham 25th
April, 1857. He went West as a home missionarj* to Wisconsin,
where he was for a time the only Congregational minister in the
State. He preached among the lead miners. He pioneered sev
eral churches into self-support. In 1856 he went to Fremont,
Neb., where he stUl is. The church of seven members which
he organized there now numbers fort j'-five- with a good house of
worship and a parsonage free of debt.
Mr. Heaton married Miranda N., daughter of Samuel Metcalf
of FrankUn, and has two daughters married.
Rev. Asa Hixon, who married Charlotte Baker, daughter of Capt.
David Baker, was bora in Medway 6th March, 1800, and was son
of Asa and PoUy (Turner) Hixon. He graduated at Brown Uni
versity 1825, and at Auburn Theological Seminary ; was ordained
at Oakham 7th October, 1829, but was compelled to resign in 1832.
After a long sickness he was able to remove to Franklin in 1845,
11

162 HISTORY OP FRANKLIN.
where he lived in comparative comfort for twelve j-ears. In 1857
he returned to his first home in Medway, where he died 16th No
vember, 1862, widely lamented as a clear thinker and conscien
tious Christian. He had but one child, David B. Hixon.
Rev. William Hooper, a native of Berwick, Me., born 1794,
a missionary to the Choctaw Indians from 1820 to 1828, flrst at
Ma3'hew, and then at Elliott stations, where he died 8th Septem
ber, 1828. He became connected with Franklin by his second
¦wife, Eliza Fairbanks, whom he mamed 28th March, 1828. Miss
Fairbanks was daughter of Levi Fairbanks, born 25th February,
1798. Her father dying a few months after her birth she was
taken into the famil3' of Abijah Allen. After a common educa
tion in the King street school she went to Bradford Academ3'.
Catching the missionar3- spirit at this seminar3% she offered her
self to the American Board as a teacher, in which vocation she
had had some experience in Rhode Island. She started in Sep
tember, 1827, with ten others, for the Choctaw Mission in Missis
sippi, where she first met and afterwards married Mr. Hooper
the March following. On the removal of the Choctaws be3-ond
the Mississippi, in 1831, Mrs. Hooper was released and returned
to Frankhn. She became afterwards the wife of Asa Partridge
until his death, surviving him for some 3'ears. There were no
children to either marriage.
Rev. Sanford Jabez Horton, D. D., was born in Franklin 24th
September, 1817. His father, Jabez Horton, was son of Comfort
Horton of Rehoboth. His mother, Martha MUler, was daughter
of PhUip Miller also of Rehoboth, and sister of Dr. Nathaniel
MiUer of Frankhn.
He prepared for coUege partly in Frankhn Academy, and com
pleted in the Worcester High School, graduated at Trinity College,
Hartford, Conn., in 1843, and studied theology at Alexandria,
Va. He was ordained as deacon in the Protestant Episcopal
church at Providence, R. I., August, 1845, and as priest in the
same place in 1846. He became rector of the St. Andrews church,
Providence, iu the same year. From 1848 to 1852 was rector of
Grace church. New Bedford, and for the ten years succeeding was
rector of St. Paul's church in Windham, Conn. While in this
position he was elected principal of the Episcopal Academy iu
Cheshire, New Haven county. Conn., which office he has held

{fZ^^^,

ADDENDA. 163
since 1862. This is an old institution, founded in 1794, and has a
wide patronage from the denomination who have it in charge.
Dr. Horton received the degree of D. D. from Trinity CoUege
in 1869. He married, 14th September, 1846, Annie E. Allen,
daughter of Paschal Allen of Warren, R. I. She died 13th Sep
tember, 1850, lea-nngtwo children, Paschal and Nelson Leprelitte.
He married as second wife, 20th April, 1852, Sarah S. Wickham,
daughter of James S. Wickham, of Hartford, Conn., by whom he
had two chUdren — WiUiam Wickham, lately M. D. at New York
University Medical College, and Mary Ehzabeth, deceased. The
son inherits the MiUer talent for surgery.
Rev. Samuel Hunt was a son-in-law of Frankhn, but for a fuU
account see Ecclesiastical History, pastors of the Congregational
church. Rev. Jacob Ide, D. D., who married Mary, daughter of Rev.
Dr. Emmons, was born in Attleboro in 1786, and was the son of
Jacob and descendant of Nicholas Ide of Rehoboth, 1645. He
was valedictorian of the class of 1809, Brown University, and
also at Andover, 1812. Was ordained at West Medway 2d No
vember, 1814, where he was active pastor for over fifty years, and
stiU lives in his ninety-third 3'ear. He married, 13th April, 1815,
Mary, daughter of Rev. Dr. Emmons, and his wife is stiU with
him in unusual vigor for her years. Of his five children onl3' two
survive — Rev. Jacob, Jr., graduated at Amherst College 1848,
and now for twenty-two years pastor in Mansfield, and Rev. Alexis
W., late pastor in Stafford Springs, Conn.
His daughter Mary married Rev. Charles T. Torrey, and their
daughter Mary married Rev. Albert Briant, now of West Somer
ville. Rev. Thomas Kidder was the son of Aaron and Ehzabeth
(Emerson) Kidder, and was born in New Ipswich, N. H., 15th
April, 1801. While young his parents removed to Waterford,
Vt. , where his talents and piety enlisted aid to his entering upon
a liberal education. He studied the classics at Bangor, Me.,
spent a year in Princeton, and completed the course at Andover,
graduating in 1834. He staid two years longer as resident gradu
ate. He was settled as pastor at Windsor, Vt., 10th Januar3',
1838 dismissed in April, 1842, and became chaplain of the State's
prison for six years. He afterwards preached a year at a time in

161 history op PEANKLIN.
different towns about St. Johnsbury. In 1863 he enhsted as pri
vate in the Ninth Regiment at Newbern, N. C, but was detailed
as nurse in the Eighteenth Corps in Virginia. He was seized by
sickness in 1864 and died November 29th of that year, at Base
Hospital, Point of Rocks, Va.
Mr. Kidder married, 21st October, 1837, Nancy, daughter of
Caleb Fisher of Franklin, and sister of Prof. A. M. Fisher of
Yale College. They had two children — Catharine Beecher and
Helen Everett, wife of David A. Alden of Maiden. The mother
still lives in St. Johnsbury, Vt.
Rev. Samuel Kingsbury was the son of James and Mary (Up
ton) Kingsbury, and a relative of Rev. Cyxus Kingsbury, D. D.,
missionary to the Choctaws, through his grandfather, Daniel.
He was born in Franklin, 18th Ma3', 1798, and lived in a small
old house near Cress brook place, now in Norfolk. A feeble and
odd child, he y^et had a strong thirst for study, and, by the aid
and encouragement of Dr. Emmons and others, he succeeded in
graduating from Brown University in 1822. He preached accept
ably for a time inTamworth, N. H., and was settled 14th January,
1829, over a new church in Andover, N. H. After a year, he was
installed in Warwick, N. H., 6th November, 1833, and dismissed
30th June, 1835. His later historj'is not known.
Mr. Kingsbury married, 16th December, 1829, Mary, daughter of
Josiah Badcock of Andover, N. H. , and had seven children. His
oldest li-ving son. Rev. William Henry, we find settled in Corinth,
Vt., 5th January, 1859, and was in Charlton, N. Y., in 1871.
Dr. Samuel Allen Kingsbury was the youngest son of Stephen
and Abigail (Allen) Kingsbur3', and was born in Franklin 9th
November, 1793. He was graduated at Brown University, 1816,
and studied medicine. But he had hardly opened an office for his
profession in Foxboro, when he died in that town, 8th October,
1821 , aged 27 years 11 months. He was regarded as a very prom
ising candidate in his vocation.
Rev. Hartford Partridge Leonard, son of Captain Hartford
and Ehzabeth (Shaw) Leonard, was born in Foxboro 3d May,
1822, but removed with his parents to Franklin 1st April, 1829,
and has since been claimed as a son of the latter town. He fitted
for college in the old Frankhn Academy, and entered Amherst
College in 1840, but a sudden sickness in his sophomore year

ADDENDA. 165
compelled him to abandon study and betake himself to some open
air vocation. For some years he conducted business in Boston,
where he did good service also in the establishing of the Edwards
Congregational church. The great question of freedom in Kansas,
then so fiercel3' threatened, aroused his S3'mpath3', and he joined
the first companj' of immigrants with Governor Robinson. He
went through the John Brown war as a private, carrying a Sharp's
rifle presented to libert3' bj' a daughter of Rev. Dr. Dutton of New
Haven, Conn. The spiritual needs of the settlers turned his
thoughts again to the missionarj' work, and his wife dying he re
turned East to fit himself for the ministr\'. He spent some two
3'ears in stud3ing theology with Rev. M. Blake in Taunton, and
was ordained in Edgartown, M. V., 23d June, 1833. Having re
married he returned to Kansas, but the health of his wife com
pelled him to leave the West entirel3'. Since his return he has
preached in Bridgewater and Westport, and is now stated supply
of the church iu East Taunton.
Mr. Leonard married, first, Emily Whitaker of Frankhn, who
died in Kansas soon after ; second, Miss Lucj' A. Chapman of
Tewksbur3'. He has four children, the oldest of whom, Willie
H., is preparing for admission to Amherst College the coming year.
Dr. Ferdinand Lethbridge was a native 'of Franklin, born 26th
May, 1778, and eldest child of Samuel and Sarah Lethbridge. He
studied medicine ¦with Dr. Nathaniel Miller, and settled in South
Brimfield, now Wales, where he died, 25th March, 1811, aged 33
years. He was buried in Franklin.
Hon. Horace Mann, L. L. D.,* was the son of Thomas and
Mary (Stanle3') Mann, and was born in Franklin 4th Ma3r, 1796.
His father was a small farmer, and lived on what was called ' ' The
Plain." He died when Horace was but 13, leaving him little
more than a ¦virtuous example and a thirst for knowledge, a brother
Stanley, and a sister, Lj'dia B., of symiDathetic tastes, who still
lives in Providence, R. I., the field of her life labors.
Horace inherited a tendenc3' to consumption, with which he had
to battle during his life, and which probabl3' gave him his nervous
sensitiveness. His 3'Outh was spent as was that of others at that
* This sketch is mainly condensed from " The American Portrait Gallery,"
vol. iii, 179.

166 history op franklin.
time at farm work in its season, and in the district school in win
ter. The bitterness with which he speaks of those years, espec
iaUy of his rehgious surroundings, he probably did not taste untU
after years had given him a condition more agreeable to his aspi
rations. His picture of Dr. Emmons especiaUy must have been
painted in after years, and from a different position. He remained
at home with his mother until 20. During this time an itinerant
schoolmaster, Samuel ( ?) Barrett, opened a school in town. Barrett
was an eccentric genius, fuU to overfiowing with the classics,
which he could quote by the page, but ignorant utterly of the
mathematics. He would keep school for six months upon a most
abstemious diet, and then travel in a drunken frenzy for the rest
of the year.* A singular grammar pubhshed by him in 1813 is his
only surviving monument. Young Mann attended this school,
and in it flrst saw a Latin grammar. With the reluctant consent
of his guardian, he began the study of Latin and Greek, and by
assiduous industry at the end of six months entered as sophomore
in Brown University September, 1816. But such a devotion con
tinued in college overthrew his health and compelled him to leave
his class for a time. He was obhged, also, to gain the means of
continuing in college by school-keeping in the winter. Yet, with
all these drawbacks, he graduated in 1819 as the valedictorian of
his class of twenty. After graduation he entered the law office of
Hon. J. J. Fiske of Wrentham, but was soon after appointed tutor
in his Alma Mater. He held this office two years, and then en
tered the Law School in Litchfield, Conn. After a year he com
pleted his legal course with Hon. James Richardson of Dedham,
and was admitted to the bar December, 1823.
Mann's early devotion to stiidj' was continued in his legal prac
tice, so that it is said during his fourteen 3'ears of office life, or
until he left his profession in 1837, he gained at least four- fifths of
aU cases committed to him. But this success was doubtless be
cause he had one inflexible rule — never to undertake a case which
he did not believe to be right. In 1827 Mr. Mann was chosen as

* So says "The American Portrait Gallery." But John Barrett wrote the
English grammar, of which we have a copy. He was of Hopkinton, the grand
son of the first minister, Kev. Samuel, born 1759, and died 4th April, 1821. He
was eccentric and wayward, but hardly to the degree described above.

.:==''C-tr't_jQ!^-<-x.^ w-^^^^.^L...<.<.,.<>^>

ADDENDA. 167
Representative of Dedham to the Legislature by the Whig party.
He soon became a conspicuous member of that body, and was an
nually returned by increasing majorities of his townsmen while he
resided in Dedham. His flrst speech was iu opposition to close
religious corporations, and his second in favor of raUroads, sup
posed to be the first speech printed in any legislature on that now
dominant interest. He earnestly advocated the suppression of in
temperance and lotteries, and the elevation of the pubhc schools.
He introduced, sustained and carried through the biU for estabUsh
ing a State Lunatic Hospital, and was chairman of its first board
of trustees. He was one of a committee for codif3ing the laws of
the State.
In 1833 Mr. Mann removed to Boston and formed a law part
nership with Hon. Edward G. Loring. At the next election he
was chosen State Senator for Suffolk county, which office he
fiUed for four successive years. He was president of that body
in 1836 and 1837. He was also chosen with his townsman Judge
Theron Metcalf, to edit the Revised Statutes, for which he wrote
the marginal notes and references and judicial decisions.
But Mr. Mann's great work was in the department of the public
schools. These had held a prominent place in his studies and
speeches, and when the Board of Education was created he was
elected, 29th June, 1837, its first secretary, an office he held
for eleven 3'ears. Of his work in this field and its results there is
no need to speak. The children of our common schools have built
a monument to his labors in bronze, in front of the Capitol of the
Commonwealth. Of these labors he says in his "Supplementary
Report" of 1848, " from the time when I accepted the secretary
ship in June, 1837, until May, 1848, when I tendered my resigna
tion, I labored in this cause on an average of not less than fifteen
hours a day. From the beginning to the end of this period I
never took a single day for relaxation, and months and months
together passed without my withdrawing a single evening from
working hours to call upon a friend."
In 1848 he was elected to Congress to fill the place of John
Quincy Adams, and was twice re-elected to the House. In 1852
he was nominated for the Governorship of the State by the Free
Soil party, and ou the same day was chosen President of Antioch
College at Yellow Springs, Ohio. He failed of election as Gover-

168 history op FEANKLIN.
nor, but accepted the Presidency and continued in it until his death,
2nd August, 1859, aged 63 3-ears.
Mr. Mann, in 1830, married Charlotte Messer, 3''oungest daugh
ter of President Messer of Brown University. She lived but a short
time, dying 1st August, 1832. It was not until ten 3-ears, in 1843,
that he married again — Miss Mary Peabodj- of Boston. In 1849
he received the degree of LL. D. from Harvard Universit3'. Two
sons now represent the family, both graduates and teachers — one
at Cambridge, the other in the West.
Edward McFarland, Esq., was born in Frankhn 7th August,
1856, son of Hugh and Celia (Doherty) McFarland. He pre
pared for college at Dean Academy, and graduated at Holy Cross
College, Worcester, 1873. He studied law with Esquire Colburn,
of Dedham, two years, and one year at Boston University, grad
uating in 1876, being one of the Hve out of twent3'-nine candi
dates admitted b3' a new and critical examination to the bar. He
is now residing in Franklin.
Albert Metcalf, son of Dea. Jonathan and Mary Metcalf,
was born in the north part of Franklin 20th September, 1808.
He fitted for college, parth' at Medway Village Academ3' and
partly with Rev. E. Smalley, of Franklin. He entered Amherst
College in 1832, but was compelled to leave after one term, on
account of his e3res. Ou a journej' West for his health, he stopped
at a village in New York called Painted Post, where his travehng
bag, marked " Franklin," attracted the notice of a Mr. French in
search of a school-teacher. This led to inquiry and ultimatel3' to
the engagement of Mr. Metcalf to open a private school there.
From Painted Post he went to Auburn, N. Y., where such success
attended his school that he sent East for an assistant. Miss Car
oline C. Plimpton, of Medway, was secured, and to her he was
not long after married. But his health still further failed. He
was compelled to relinquish his place in school and he hved less
than a year after his marriage. He died of consumption at home
11th August, 1837. His widow afterwards became the weU-known
and successful principal of the Wheaton Female Seminar3-, Nor
ton, for more than a quarter of a century, and still is active in
educational work.
Alfred Metcalf, Esq., brother of Ehab, and son of Dea.
James and Abigail (Harding) Metcalf was born in Franklin 6th

addenda. 169
June, 1781. He was graduated in 1802 at Brown University, in
the class with Melatiah Everett, Dr. S. Bugbee of Wrentham, and
Samuel M. Pond of Franklin, and entered the legal profession. He
removed to Kentuckj' and began practice, where he was appointed
Judge. But his health compeUed him to seek a warmer climate,
and he removed further South to Natchez, Miss., in the spring
of 1819, where he was seized b3' an epidemic fever in the follow
ing summer and died at the seat of WiUiam M. Greene, Esq.,
near that city, 30th October, 1819. The Mississippi State Gazette
of 6th May, 1820, printed at Natchez, says of Mr. Metcalf: —
He was one with whom few could be compared, for he was em
phatically the favorite of Nature. His acquirements and his vir
tues commanded the respect of the world and the warmest affec
tions of his friends. Although . alwa3's modest and retiring he
possessed the unconscious art of throwing a charm into his manner
and conversation which not only entranced the gay, but gladdened
even the hearts of the sad. He sunk in the meridian of life and
left a vacuum in societ3' which others ma3' fill, but which we have
3'et found none to suppl3'.
Dr. Ebenezer Metcalf was the eighth child of Michael and
Abial (Colburn) Metcalf, and was born in Franklin, 1st June, 1727.
His father was an original member of the Franklin church, and
was chosen ruhng elder 8th March, 1738-9 ; he and his associate,
Jonathan Wright, being the only ones elected to that office in the
church. Dr. Metcalf is believed to have been the flrst physician
in the West precinct, where he practiced for as man3- as flftj- 3'ears
with great acceptance. He died 30th March, 1801, in his 74th
year. Dr. Metcalf married, 27th November, 1755, Hannah Morse, and
had onl3' one son Paul, mentioned further on in these sketches.
Eliab Metcalf was boru in Franklin, 5th Februar3', 1785, and
was the third son of Deacon James and Abigail (Harding) Met
calf of River End. He was intended to be his father's successor
on the farm, and he spent his time thereon, except in the short
terms of the district school, until he was 18, when a severe cold
disabled him and laid the foundation for the disease which pursued
him through hfe. In 1807 he fell in with a native of Guadaloupe
name Lauriel who was being educated in this country, and ac
cepted an iu'vitation to spend the winter with him in his home.
On his return from Guadaloupe iu the spring, Metcalf renewed

170 history op PEANKLIN.
his cold and was conflned in New York several weeks under the
care of Dr. Dwight Post. This attack released him permanently
from the labors of the field, and having a decided taste for draw
ing he inchned to become a painter. But his friends discouraging
him, he betook himself to trading in the West Indies. Unsuccess
ful in business, he turned himself again to his favorite pursuit, and
with his father's reluctant consent to what he thought a trifling
occupation, began the painting of miniature portraits. He was
still in feeble health, but when able he traveled as a miniature
painter for many yesivs in New England, Canada, and Nova Scotia.
At length he went to New York city, opened a studio and studied
drawing in connection with it, under John Rubens Smith, a some
what celebrated teacher. In 1815 he began oil painting under
Messrs. Waldo & Jewett. But his health slowly waned under the
confinement, and iu 1819 he was compelled to leave his young
family and friends, and, furnished with letters of introduction to
prominent gentlemen in New Orleans, betake himself to that
cit3^ Being the onlj' portrait painter there, his business increased
rapidl3' and his health improved. He remained here three 3'ears,
¦with the exception of one -visit to New York, taken aU the way
on horseback through the Western States. In the autumn of
1822 he visited the island of St. Thomas. He remained on this
island and St. Croix four 3-ears, fuU3' employed ou the portraits
of their officials and distinguished citizens. A govemment ship
was sent also to carry him to Porto Rico to paint its Governor's
portrait, where he was treated with great respect and remained six
months constantly occupied. He had now attained the highest
rank as an artist, and his health had become so estabhshed that he
resolved to spend one winter with his beloved family in New York.
But the old cough re-appeared and he had to return, this time to
Havana. He was able here to resume his palette again in its mUd
chmate, and for eight years was occupied with an ever-widening
circle of patrons. He spent each summer with his family in New
England and his winters South in his profession.
In AprU, 1833, Mr. Metcalf was seized with the cholera, then
raging in Cuba, from which he recovered, but he never touched
pencU again. He was able to visit his friends in June, but felt
compeUed to return in the faU, taking with him his second son.
The voyage proved tempestuous and cold, and was too much for

ADDENDA. 171
his weakened condition. He was tenderly cared for on his arrival,
but he gradually sank in debility until Jan. 15, 1834, when he fell
on sleep.
Mr. Metcalf married, September, 1814, Miss Ann Benton,
daughter of Capt. Selah Benton, a Revolutionary officer, and had
four children. It is said of Mr. Metcalf that there are in Cuba
more portraits by him than by any other artist.
Ferdinand Metcalf was son of Dr. John and Eunice Metcalf,
and brother of Dr. William Pitts Metcalf. He was born in Frank
hn 22d November, 1760. He fitted for coUege and entered Brown
University, but died during his junior year, Hth October, 1777, at
the age of 17. He intended to study for the medical profession,
for which his family seemed created.
Dr. John Metcalf, the son of Samuel and Judith (George)
Metcalf, was born in Franklin 3d July, 1734. He studied Latin
under the tuition of Rev. David Thurston of Medway West, in
1755, and medicine with Dr. Joseph Hews of Providence, R. I.
He married Eunice Metcalf in 1759, and practiced his profession
in FrankUn until his wife's death, 1st August, 1805, when he soon
after removed to Vermont, where he died 22d August, 1822, aged
88. Dr. Metcalf had two children, Ferdinand and William Pitt,
both mentioned in these notes.
Dr. John George Metcalf, son of Dr. William P. and Susanna
(Torrey) Metcalf, was born " in the three-stor3' house," City Mills,,
Frankhn, 10th September, 1801. He fitted for college -with Mas
ter John Barrett of Hopkiuton, and at Day's Academy, Wrentham ;
graduated at Brown University, 1820, and studied medicine with
Dr. Usher Parsons of Providence, R. I., and with Dr. N. Miller of
Frankhn. He received the degree of M. D. from Harvard Uni-
versit3' 1826, and settled in Mendon June 22d following, where he
has since remained in a ¦wide and successful practice.
In 1856 Dr. Metcalf gave the annual address before the Massa
chusetts Medical Society, of which he was chosen a Vice-President
in 1860. He was in 1858 and 1859 elected to the State Senate,
and has held many other offices in town and memberships of His
torical Societies especially, not the least of them being the town
treasurer of Mendon, annually chosen since 1859, or nearly twenty
years.

172 history op PRANKLIN.
Dr. Metcalf married, 26th February, 1826, Miss AbigaU Hol
brook. His chUdren were born in Mendon.
Dr. Paul Metcalf, son of Dr. Ebenezer and Hannah (Morse)
Metcalf, was born in Frankhn 7th March, 1766. He became also
a physician in his native town, and promised to be a reputable
practitioner, but was cut off in early life, dying 9th August, 1793,
in his 27th year.
Theron Metcalf * was the son of Hanan and Mar3'' (Allen)
Metcalf of Franklin, and was born 16th October, 1784. Hisfather
lived on a small farm adjoining the Common, and was next neighbor
to Rev. Dr. Emmons. The son, showing strong affinities for books,
began classical studies with the minister, and in 1805 was gradu
ated at Brown Universit3'. He then studied law ¦with a Mr. Bacon
in Canterbury Conn. , £^nd in April following entered the law school
at Litchfield — at that date the only law school in the United States.
He was admitted to the bar of that State in October, 1807 ; but
he spent a year in study with Hon. Seth Hastings of Mendon, and
was admitted at Dedham as Attorne3' of the Circuit Court. In 1 8 1 1
he became counselor of the Supreme Judicial Court for Massa
chusetts. After a year's practice in his home town, where httle law
business ever developed, he removed in 1809 to Dedham, where
he remained for thirty 3rears as an acknowledged master in his
profession. For twelve 3'ears from April, 1817, he was Count3'-
Attorney. In 1831, 1833 and 1834 he represented Dedham iu
the House, and in 1835 in the Senate of our State, and was each
3-ear Chairman of the Judiciai'3- Committee.
In addition to his profession, for man3- 3rears he edited the
Dedham Gazette, and in 1828 he opened a law school and gave law
lectures in Dedham. These lectures resulted in a book, since
highl3' commended, entitled "Principles of the Law of Contracts
as applied by Courts of Law." This was but the beginning of a
series of valuable professional works, court reports, etc., from his
pen , which have been commended b3' high aiithorit3' for their " great
precision, terseness and purit3' of style, with accurac3', clearness,
completeness and condensation of statement."
In 1835 Mr. Metcalf was appointed with Horace Mann, two
*A memoir, prepared for the Massachusetts Historical Society by George S.
Hale, has given a full sketch of his public career. "We add biographical notes.
I

ADDENDA. 173
Frankhn sons, to edit the Revised Statutes of the State. In
December, 1839, he was chosen reporter of the decisions of the
Supreme Court, and removed to Boston. His reports have been
called "the model and the despair of reporters." In 1848, Feb
ruary 25th, he was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme
Court. He held this office untU 31st August, 1865, when he re
signed it, after seventeen years of unblemished fidelity and after
eighty years of life, to spend his last da3'S in the quiet which he
loved. Judge Metcalf was twice elected a FeUow of Brown Universit3',
in 1832 and 1847. He was also its secretary for six years. He
received from it the degree of LL.D. in 1844, and the same de
gree from Harvard University in 1848. He also prepared the tri
ennial catalogues of his Alma Mater for years, and enriched its
library with a collection of occasional sermons, over 8,000 in num
ber, such as no other hbrarj' possesses. He died in Boston 13th
November, 1875, at the age of 91.
Judge Metcalf married Miss Julia Tracy, of Litchfield, Conn.,
and had three children.
His son George Tracy graduated B. U. 1853, and practiced law
in Peoria, 111., until his death. Theodore has been for years a
.. "widely known druggist on Tremont Row, Boston, and is still in
active business. He had one daughter; Julia, living unmarried in
Boston. Dr. William Pitt Metcalf, 3'ounger son of Dr. John Metcalf,
was born in Franklin 30th June, 1775. He pursued the Latin
and Greek languages with Rev. Caleb Alexander of Mendon,
and medicine with Dr. Samuel Willard of Uxbridge. He began
practice in 1800, at first with his father, but afterwards by him--
self, and continued the widely-known and prominent physician of
this town for fort3' 3-ears. In his old age he retired to his son's
house in Mendon, where he spent the chief portion of his time in
reading. The New Testament in the original Greek was his daily
study up to the last day of his life. He died suddenly and with
out warning 4th January, 1861, aged 86.
Dr. Metcalf married, 25th November, 1799, Miss Susanna Tor
rey, and left several children, among them Dr. J. G. Metcalf, al
ready mentioned.
Dr. William Warren Metcalf, a native of Franklin, was bom

174 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
12th April, 1819, and was the son of WUham and Sally (Gaskill)
Metcalf. He gained most of his education at the Franklin Acad
emy, but being of small physical ¦vigor constitutionally, he could
not take a full collegiate course. He studied dentistry with Dr.
Mayo of Boston, and established an office in Franklin in 1847.
He was an unusually ingenious operator, anticipating many im
provements in his profession. About 1862 he removed to Boston,
but his feeble health culminated finally in a diseased brain, of
which he died 18th August, 1870. He was never married.
Dr. Erasmus Darwin Miller is a son of Frankhn, born 7th
April, 1813, at the River End, and the 3'oungest child of Dr.
Nathaniel and Hannah (Bo3'd) Miller. He graduated at Brown
University, 1832, and after a full course of medical study, estab
Ushed himself in practice at the center of his native town. He
was admitted a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society in
1838, and about the same date removed to Dorchester, where he
has since resided, following his profession with success, especiaUy
in the department of surgery, for which the Miller famih' have
apparently a pecuhar prochvity and natural skill.
Dr. Miller married Louisa Clark, and had two children during
his residence in Franklin.
Dr. Lewis Leprelette Miller, oldest son of Dr. Nathaniel Mil- ^
ler, and brother of Dr. E. D. Miller, was born in Franklin, 6th
Januar3', 1798. He graduated at Brown University, 1817. After
gaining his profession he established an office in Providence, where
be gained a wide reputation and practice as a physician, and espe
cially as a surgeon. He was for years President of the Rhode
Island Medical Society. He died in Providence.
His son Nathaniel became a celebrated surgeon, was stud3ing
in Europe during the Crimean war, and connected in some way
with the Russian hospitals, but an earl3' death destro3'ed the hopes
of his coming usefulness.
Dr. Nathaniel Miller, although a native of Rehoboth, the son
of Phihp Miller, became a son-in-law of Frankhn and one of its
prominent citizens, as well as one of the eminent surgeons of East
ern Massachusetts. He studied medicine first as an apprentice to
Dr. Louis Leprelette in Norton.
Dr. Leprelette was a noteworthy man, a French physician who
left his country during the dynasty of the flrst Napoleon, and of

/u/z^^-z^^ /A^t^t^^^ ^'^

"" 'Devonshire Street, Boston..

Dr. Lewis Leprilete Miller.

ADDENDA. 175
whom he would not speak, and foUowed his profession awhile in
Frankhn. He died there, but was buried in Roxbury. He was
reticent of his personal history and few facts only have been pre
served of him.
Dr. Miller received the degree of A. M. from Bowdoin College
1814, and of M. D. in 1817 from both Bruuswich and Cambridge.
He was also Vice-President of the Massachusetts Medical Society
for many years. He erected a large building for a hospital near
his residence to accommodate the many patients who fiocked to
him for treatment. He also built a smaU thread-mill near his
house which was managed by Col. WiUard Boyd, his wife's brother,
and others of that family. Mr. WiUard Lovering began his train
ing in this miU, who afterwards established with his sons the large
and celebrated Whittenton Mills of Taunton.
Dr. MUler married Hannah Boyd of Frankhn 1st January, 1797,
and had three children, sons, two of whom have been already men
tioned, and John Warren, a man of business in Frankhn. Dr.
Miller died 10th June, 1850.
Dr. MiUer had an uncommon steadiness of nerve, which enabled
him to perform the most difficult surgical operations. He was al
ways interested, active and generous in all matters of public ben
efit, and was chosen often to 'act upon important committees. Of
his wife Dr. Emmons said, " she is one of the three best women
in town."
Prof. Calvin Smith Pennell is substantially a son of Franklin,
although he was born a little while before becoming a resident.
His mother belonged to one of its oldest families, and returned to
FrankUn ¦with her four children upon the death of her husband, to
spend the chief part of her hfe on the home acres. Mr. Pennell
was born 24th Januar3', 1816, in CRleraine, being the son of Cal-
¦vin and Rebecca (Mann) Pennell. The mother was a sister of
Hon. Horace Mann.
Calvin S. fitted for coUege in the Frankhn Academy and gradu
ated at WatervUle College, now Colby University, Maine, in 1841.
He had the ministry in -view, but temporarily engaging in teaching,
the disposition to it grew b3' what it fed on, the whole Mann family
having a procli^vity that wa3', and cheered on by noticeable suc
cess, he continued in the calling to which he has shown himself
especiallj' fitted. First he taught at Day's Academy, Wrentham.

176 HISTORY OP PEANKLIN.
He next went to the High School in Cabott^vdlle (now Chicopee) ;
thence to Charlestown, and to the High School in Lawrence. He
filled with acceptance the Professorship of Latin language and
literature in Antioch CoUege, Yellow Springs, O., but afterwards,
in 1856, was called to the High School in St. Louis, Mo. He was
elected in 1862 as one of the professors of Washington University
in that city, and soon after was promoted to the principalship of
the Mary Institute — a girls' school under the University chai-ter.
He is now Bridge Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy
in the University, and Principal of the Mary Institute in St. Louis.
Professor Pennell, while in CabotviUe, married Elizabeth W.
Abbott of Woburn. She died two years afterwards, leaving one
daughter, who died in 1874 in Dusseldorf, Germany, the wife of
James W. Pattison, an artist, residing there. He next married
Elizabeth 0. Emmes of Charlestown, and has one daughter,
Maria Francis, wife of Charles C, son of the late Chancellor
Hoyt of the Washington University, St. Louis.
It may not be out of place here to add, as e^vidence of the teach
ing faculty resident in the Mann family to which Professor Pen
nell belonged, that his father and mother were both adepts in the
profession, and his three sisters devoted themselves to school-teach
ing until called into a smaller circle of pupils by marriage. Mrs.
Rebecca M. (Pennell) Dean, Governor Briggs said, was the best
teacher in the world. She is now a widow and, at this present, is '
traveling with a class of young ladies in Europe for their educa
tion. Mrs. Ehza M. (Pennell) Blake was teacher in the Packer
Institute, Brooklyn, N. Y., at her death in 1857. Mrs. Marcia
(Pennell) Herse3' was also a teacher at her marriage, and is now
first directress of an Industrial School in Brooklyn.
Maria Mann, a daughter of Stanley, brother of Horace Mann,
and a cousin of the Pennells, attained a- high distinction iu the
Western cities as a teacher'. These were all members of the old
Franklin Academ3', and hence their success has been a pleasant
item to record in this seemingly out-of-place corner. The two
sons of Horace Mann are also teachers of repute.
Rev. William Phipps, Jr., was the eldest son of WiUiam and
Fanny (Moulton) Phipps, and a descendant of John Phipps of
Wrentham, 1700. He was born in Franklin 31st October, 1812.
He attended several terms at Day's Academy, Wrentham, and at

Dr. Nathaniel Miller, Senior.

ADDENDA. 177
16 taught school at City MiUs and the Mount districts in his
native town. In 1831 he completed fitting for coUege at the Clas
sical Institute, Medwa3' vihage, and was graduated at Amherst
College 1837. He afterwards taught school one year in Edgar-
town, M. v., and then studied theology with Rev. Dr. Ide of West
Medway ; was approbated by the Mendon Association 20th Au
gust, 1839, and was installed at Paxton 11th November, 1840.
He labored industriously here for nearly thirty years and to unan
imous acceptance, until he resigned and was dismissed 12th Feb-
Tuar3^, 1869. He soon received a call from the church in Plain-
field, Conn., and was installed there 9th June of the same year.
He was successfully working in this new position when death sud-
denl3' opened the door to him unto the perfect life. He died 13th
June, 1876, aged 63 5'ears and 8 months, iu triumph and song.
Mr. Phipps was ¦widely known as a teacher and composer of
music. He was skillful, too, in the making of his own instruments,
and it was well that almost his -last words were uttered in some of
his favorite hymns. The writer must be allowed to record here
this brief and imperfect memento of the steady and cordial friend
ship of his early and hfe-long companion.
Mr.' Phipps married, 5th September, 1837, Marcy C. Partridge,
eldest daughter of Eleazer, Jr. , and Mary (Fisher) Partridge, by
whom he had seven children, five still living. His two sons, George
Gardner and WUham Hamilton, are graduates of Amherst College,
1862, and are both Congregational ministers. Rev. George G. is
pastor of the church at Newton Highlands, and Rev. W. H. of the
church in Prospect, Conn.
Rev. George Gardner Phipps, son of Rev. William and Mary
C. (Partridge) Phipps, was born in Franklin 11th December, 1838.
He fitted for college at Munson Academy, and graduated at Am
herst College 1862, and at Andover Theological Seminary in 1865.
He supplied the church in Ashland for two years, from Septem
ber, 1865, to October, 1867, and was next settled as pastor at
WeUesley, 23d January, 1868. After a ten years' pastorate he
was dismissed 1st April, 1878, to take charge of the church at
lij'ewton Highlands, where he was instaUed 4th April last.
Mr. Phipps maiTied, 12th September, 1865, Kathleen M. Car-
ruth of PhUlipston, daughter of RusseU and Susan Ward Carruth.
Dr. Benjamin Pond was born in Frankhn 4th April, 1789.
12

178 HISTORY OP PEANKLIN.
He was son of Benjamin and Catharine (Cutler) Pond, graduated
from the Medical College, Dartmouth, 1813, as M. D., and prac
ticed in Westboro through life.
He first married Lucy, daughter of Jonas Gale ; second, Eunice
L. Cloyes, and third Lucy M. Brigham, and had three children.
He died 7th June, 1857.
Rev. Daniel Pond, the earliest known graduate from this town,
was son of John and Rachel (Fisher) Pond. He graduated at
Harvard University, 1745, and was ordained in Templeton, then
Narragansett township No. 6, 10th December, 1755 ; dismissed
August, 1759. He removed to Medway, where, for manj- years, he
fitted 3'outh for coUege. He left the West church, being strongly
opposed to the pastor, Rev. D. Sanford, for his Hopkinsianism,
and joined the First church. This induced a long dissension be
tween the churches. He finally sold his farm and disappears from
all record. Tradition says he died at Otter Creek.
He married Lois Metcalf, who. died in Medway, 17th March,
1787. One child only survived, Miranda, who married Abner
Merrifield of Newfane, Vt. It was in Mr. Pond's family that
Judge Aldis had his earl3^ training.
Dr. Elisha Pond was the son of Elisha and Margaret- (Met
calf) Pond, born in Franklin 21st February, 1749. He was prac
ticing physician in town for man3' years. He married Ohve Dean
and died 21st December, 1807, lea^ving two children, Edna, who is
believed to have married Timothj- Hill, and Olive, who married
Abijah Richardson, Jr. His widow married Ebenezer Clark, of
Medfield. Dr. Erasmus Allington Pond is a son of Franklin, being
born in Union^vUle, 6thJuly, 1828, andeldestsonof Goldsbury, Jr.,
and Julia Ann Pond. He was educated partly in the Frankhn
Academy and by private instruction. He studied medicine with
Dr. S. Atwood, of Frankhn, and Dr. Lynch of South Carolina.
He resided at Baltimore a whUe and attended medical lectures in
the Maryland University in that city ; also in the Tremont Medi
cal School, Boston, and at the Medical Department of Harvard
University, where he received the degree of M. D. in 1853.
Dr. Pond soon after established his office in Rutland, Vt. , where
he stUl is widely known and employed in his profession. He, for
the first time in New England, successfully performed tracheot-

ADDENDA. 179
omy in diphtheria. He is also the inventor of the " new sphygmo-
graph " for measuring and tracing arterial pulsation, which proves
of great value to the profession.
Dr. Pond was married 19th August, 1850, to Adela M. Morse,
daughter of George W. and Esther (Pond) Morse, of Frankhn,
and has five chUdren.
Gilbert C. Pond, son of Timothy and Rachel (Adams) Pond,
was born in Frankhn, 4th November, 1812. He studied the lan
guages at the Medway Class. Institute, and entered Wilhams Col
lege, but left to engage as teacher in Lexington, K3-., where he
died unmarried 5th November, 1835, at the early age of 23.
Dr. Metcalf Everett Pond is the youngest child of Golds-
bui-3-, Jr. , and Juha Ann Pond. He was born in Franklin, Union-
¦ville, 26th October, 1845, graduated Dean Academy 1869, stud
ied dentistr3' three years with Prof. I. J. Wetherbee, of Boston,
and graduated D. D. S. from the Boston Dental College in 1874.
He is now practicing in his profession in Auburndale, Mass.
Samuel Metcalf Pond, Esq., the youngest son of Ohver and
Anne (Metcalf) Pond, born in Frankhn 16th November, 1777,
graduated at Brown University 1802 ; studied law and opened an
office in Bucksport, Me. He became well known through the
State for his inteUigence, energy and moral worth, and stood high
at the bar and as Judge of Probate. He was a leading temper
ance man. A notice says of him, " the State, the public, and
the town have sustained a heavy loss."
He married Margaret Danforth, and had seven children. He
died 23d January, 1849.
Rev. Timothy Pond, born in Franklin 15th September, 1729.
Was son of Barach and AbigaU (Slocum) Pond. H. U., 1749.
Studied for the ministry but is not known to have settled. He was
Lieutenant in Capt. Lemuel KoUock's company, which marched at
the Concord alarm, and private under Capt. Samuel Fisher in
Rhode Island, 1776. He lived on his father's homestead, which he
sold to Dr. Emmons, and which is now in part the site of Dean
Academy. He then removed to Wrentham and died there sud
denly 10th November, 1804.
He married Elizabeth Bullard of Dedham, and had six children.
Dr. Jenner Lewis S^weeting Pratt, son of Dr. Spencer and
Jane (Wheeler) Pratt, was born in Frankhn 16th October, 1825.

180 HISTORY OP PEANKLIN.
He prepared for college at Smith-nlle Academy, now Lapham In
stitute, North Scituate, R. I., and also under Rev. P. B. Talbot
of Woonsocket, R. I. He graduated from Columbia College, New
York city, and studied medicine with Dr. Hiram Allen of Woon
socket, and surgery with Dr. Arnold Hazzard Potter of the same
town. He then spent the years 1845 and 1846 in the Bangor Hos
pital. After practicing a while in Woonsocket he was appointed
to and did make a botanical survey of the State of Rhode Island.
He was also for a time assistant surgeon under Dr. Francis L.
Wheaton of Providence, in the Mexican War.
Dr. Pratt ultimately settled, 1851, in Michigan as physician at
Minnesota Mines, Ontonagon river, Lake Superior, where he sur
veyed, laid out, and named the town of Rockland. At the time
of his death he was engaged under appointment of the Smithson
ian Institute, in writing the natural history of his region. He was
a devoted and public temperance advpcate, and a successful busi
ness agent, accumulating quite a property. His death was sudden
and painful, being upset August, 1854, in a birch canoe on the
lake by a sudden gale and drowned with two of his companions,
onl3' one of the four escaping.
Dr. Pratt married in Sault St. Marie, fall of 1852, Minerva B.
Aldrich of Cumberland, R. I. He left no children. His widow
died a few years since in Woonsocket, while on a visit to her
friends. Spencer Atkinson Pratt, Esq., son of Dr. Spencer and Eliza
beth (Wood) Pratt and half-brother of the preceding, was born in
Franklin Center 10th October, 1808 ; fitted for college at Day's
Academ3' and with Rev. Simeon Daggett of Mendon, and gradu
ated in 1830 at Brown University. He studied law two 3'ears
with Hon. Theron Metcalf at Dedham, and spent one 3-ear in the
office of Warren Lovering, Esq., at Medway village. He also
taught the Center schools in Franklin and Milford, and was post
master for a part of 1835. In 1836 he went to Bangor, Me., and
opened a law office. He also engaged in newspaper writing and
acted as superintendent of schools in the cit3'. In May, 1^46, he
was appointed municipal judge, which office he held until 1860.
In 1836 he married Mary R. Gilmore, daughter of Da^vid G.,
Jr., of Newburgh, Me., at that time residing in Franklin.
Rev. John Bowers Preston, who becomes connected with this

RESIDENCES OF

James P Ray.

Joseph G. Ray.

ADDENDA. 181
history by the marriage of a Frankhn daughter, was a native of
Fairfield, N. J., in 1770. Early left an orphan, he stUl made his
wa3- through college, graduating at William and Ann College,
Philadelphia, 1793. Travehng for his health, he came to Frank
lin, where he found his theolog3' with Dr. Emmons, and his wife at
Dea. James Metcalf s. He was settled 8th Februar3', 1798, at
Rupert, Vt., where he suddenly died 21st February, 1813. He
was a remarkably faithful minister and man.
Mr. Preston married, 6th January, 1799, Polly, daughter of
Asa Haven, then resident with Dea. James Metcalf, and niece of
his wife. They had five chUdren, of whom two sons graduated
and entered the ministr3', and two daughters married ministers.
Mrs. Preston afterwards married Dea. James Fisher of Gouver-
neur, N. Y., where she died 23d March, 1848. She was of unusual
talents, carrjing bj' her own energ3-, in spite of poverty, her two
sons through coUege and into the ministry.
Lydia Paine Rat, the first lady collegiate graduate from Frank
lin, is the daughter of Hon. Joseph G. and Emily (Rockwood)
Ray. She was born in Belhngham 22d July, 1854, but came with
her parents to Frankhn in her infancy and has ever since been a
dweller in the town. Miss Ray began a full course of classical
study in Dean Academy, graduating in 1872. Thence she en
tered Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and graduated ¦with
honor in 1878. She is now an active member of the firm of J. T.
& L. P. Ray, Frankhn, manufacturers of felt and woolen goods.
A ¦view of the residences of the Ray brothers is given opposite.
They occupy the site of Dr. Emmons' house on Main street.
William Francis Rat is the only son of Francis B. and Susan
B. (Rockwood) Ray. He was bom jn the Makepeace House at
Union-viUe, Frankhn, 2d March, 1854, graduated from Dean Acad
emy 1870, and from Brown University 1874 ; was the youngest in
a class of forty-five ; A. M. 1877. He is engaged now in the
woolen business in his native town, also chairman of school com
mittee, and has been parish clerk.
Mr. Ray married Hattie, daughter of Charles A. Richardson,
Esq. , of Chelsea, and has one child.
Albert Dean Richardson, born on the ancestral farm in North
Franklin 6th October, 1833, was youngest child of Ehsha and Har
riet (Blake) Richardson. Having attended the FrankUn and Hoi-

182 HISTORY OP PEANKLIN.
hston Academies, he went West in 1850. At first he taught school
near Pittsburg, Pa., but soon became reporter for the Pittsburg
Commercial Journal, and afterwards editor of the Cincinnati Ga
zette. He was in Kansas during its troubles, andreported them for
the Boston Journal. He was, while there, Secretary for a time of
the Atchinson Legislature, and Adjutant-General on the Gover
nor's staff. He became finally connected with the New York Tri
bune, and became its Southern reporter in the beginning of the
rebellion. He succeeded in getting to New Orleans at the begin
ning of the rebellion, and thence could pass at will ¦within the Con-
federac3'. He was in Charleston at the assault and capture of
Fort Sumpter. He attended the opening of the Confederate Con
gress at Montgomery, Ala. , taking notes with a pencU in his coat-
tail pocket, and sending his reports to the Tribune under cover to
an associate in Canada. He finally succeeded in reaching home
through the Mississippi States. After a short -visit to his familj-,
he returned West, but in attempting to pass Vicksburg, then be
sieged in the summer of 1863, the tug on which he was was sunk
by a rebel shot, and he, on landing, was taken prisoner. He was
confined eighteen months in Libby and Salisbury prisons, but
finally escaped December, 1864. He subsequently traveled West
as far as California. Of his experiences in the saddle, the camp,
and the prison, -vi^vid pictures are given in the volumes he after
wards published.
He retained his connection with the Tribune up to his death,
which occurred from a pistol in the hands of Daniel McFarland,
for alleged interference with his domestic affairs. He died 2d De
cember, 1869, at the early age of 36. "The affair caused im
mense excitement at the time." It was regarded generall3- as a
case of chivalry interfering with brutalit3-.
Mr. Richardson married, flrst, M. Louise Pease, a native of Ohio.
She died 4th March, 1864, while he was in prison. He married,
second, Mrs. Abby L. Sage, the divorced wife of Daniel McFar
land, during the last hours of his life.
Rev. Albert M. Richardson, second son of Eli M. and Meli-
ta (Norcross) Richardson, was born in Frankhn, 28th Jul3', 1822.
After a school season in the Frankhn Academy, he completed his
studies at Oberlin College, Ohio, and was approbated to preach in
1846, at Kelloggville, 0. He was installed March, 1847, over the

addenda. 183
Congregational church in Lenox, Ashtabula county, 0., and re
mained three years. He next went, in 1850, to Jamaica, West
Indies, as missionary of the American Missionary Association.
After four years' service there, he was compelled by his health to
return. He preached again in Lenox, 0., four years longer, and
thence went for two years to Austinburg, and afterwards preached
nine years in East Cleveland. In 1870 he removed to Kansas,
and was settled as pastor of the Pilgrim church in Lawrence,
where he still is.
Mr. Richardson married, 30th May, 1845, Miss Ehza W. Allen,
and has three children.
Charles Addison Richardson, son of Elisha and Harriet
(Blake) Richardson and elder brother of Albert D., was born in
Frankhn, 9th October, 1829. He began a preparation for the
ministry, at HoUiston Academ3', but poor health compelled him to
resign the idea, and he turned to teaching. He attended a course
of study at the Westfield and Bridgewater normal schools, and
taught afterwards in Medway, Franklin, Dedham, and other
towns. In 1854 he became clerk in the bookstore of J. P. Jew
ett & Co., and in 1856 entered the Congregationalist, of which he
has since bpen a proprietor and office editor.
Mr. Richardson married Mary J. Phipps, of Ashford, Conn.,
and a graduate of the Normal School at Westfield. They have
had six chUdren, of whom the oldest, Harriet Phipps, is the wife
of W. F. Ray, as already mentioned.
Dr. Erastus Richardson was son of Amasa and Lydia (Haven)
Richardson. He was born in Franklin 3d April, 1794. He went
to Maine in' earl3' hfe and practiced his profession of medicine in
that State vrith success until his death of a fever, August, 1855,
while residing in Eastport.
Dr. Richardson married, first, Mary Johnson, of Robbinston, Me. ;
second, Mary Shumway, of Oxford, Mass., and formerly of Frank
lin. He had six children, of whom George Nelson graduated at
Bowdoin College, 1847, became a Unitarian minister, and died in
Worcester, 11th September, 1870, aged 43.
Prof. Henrt Bullard Richardson, son of Stephen Wilkes and
Eliza R. (BuUard) Richardson, was born in Franklin 21st Ma3%
1844. He fitted for college at Philhps' Academy, Andover, and
graduated at Amherst College, 1869. After graduation he was

184 HISTORY OP FRANKLIN.
appointed instructor in Latin and Greek in the college for five-
years. In 1876 he took charge of the High School in Springfield.
He went to Europe for study in 1873, and again in 1876, where
he made philology a specialty in the Leipzig University. On his-
return last summer he was elected to the professorship of Latin
and German in his Alma Mater, which he entered upon at the
faU tei-m.
Professor Richardson married Mary E. Lincoln, of Amherst,.
and has two children.
Rev. William Tyler Richardson, son of Eli M. and Melita
(Norcross) Richardson, was born in Frankhn 24th December, 1820..
He prepared for college in the Franklin Academ3', under the prin
cipalship of M. Blake, A. Bigelow and J. D. Baker, but was pre
vented by ill-health from completing a collegiate course. After a
few years in business, which recruited his strength, he studied the-
olog3' with his brother. Rev. A. M. Richardson, then in Lenox, O.
He was ordained to the ministry at Saybrook, O. , 5th August, 1859 .
He has since preached in Gaines, Orleans count3^, N. Y., in Kel-
loggs^yille and Thompson, O., and is now in Orwell, O., as pastor
of a Congregational church.
Mr. Richardson has been for six 3'ears in the service of the
American Missionary Association at the South among the Freedmen,
"where," he sa3-s, "scoffs, threats and stones were among the
highest commendations," Three years he acted as " United States
Indian Agent and Special Commissioner " in Wisconsin, which he
describes as ' ', the most desperate struggle of my life — not with
Indians, to save my own scalp, but -with rings and rascals who hved
to wrong and rob the poor Indian."
Mr. Richardson married, 20th April, 1842, Ellen M. Gay of
FrankUn, daughter of Oliver and Maria Burton Gay.
Rev. Ebenezer Weeks Robinson, who married Sarah Bacon,
daughter of Dea. James Adams of Franklin, 21st June, 1838, was
the son of Rev. Ralph and Anne (Weeks) Robinson, both natives
of Connecticut. His father was a graduate of Middlebury College,
and preached for half a century in New York State.
Rev. Ebenezer Weeks was bom 1st May, 1812, in Gran-ville, N.
Y., fitted for college withRev. W. R. Weeks, D. D-, of Newark,N.
J. , and graduated at Hamilton College, N. Y. , and at Auburn Theo
logical Seminary. He preached from 1836 to 1845 in Assonet viU,

addenda. 185
Freetown, a year at Carver, and in 1849 to the Hanover Society in
Lisbon, Conn. From 1855 to 1864 he was pastor in Bethany, Conn.
In March, 1864, he was appointed clerk in the Paymasters' De
partment at Washington, where he devoted his extra hours to Sun
day and night schools. He also performed chaplain duty at Cliff-
burne barracks, until the army was removed. To such labors Mr.
Robinson devoted himself until his death at Washington, 8th
April, 1869.
Mr. Robinson had seven children. His second son, James A.,
entered the army, became clerk of the Ninth Corps, and was at the
siege of Vicksburg, but was taken sick and died on his way home
from the hospital.
Frank Ernest Rockwood, Esq. , son of Abijah and Sarah (Peck)
Rockwood, was born in Franklin 20th December, 1852 ; prepared
for coUege at Dean Academy and graduated B. U. 1874, A. M. 1877.
After a j-ear's stud3' of law in his brother's office, he became teacher
of mathematics and natural philosophy in the South Jersey Insti
tute at Bridgeton, N. J., where he still is a bachelor, with declared
purpose of continuance unless defeated.
Lucius Osborne Rockwood, Esq., son of Abijah and Sarah
(Peck) Rockwood, was born in Franklin 15th January, 1847. Grad
uated at Brown University in 1868, and commenced the practice of
law, 1871, in PrO-ndence. He is now in the firm of Lapham &
Rockwood. Mr. Rockwood married, 12th June, 1872, Miss Eliza G. Ham of
that cit3^, and has one child, Thurston Rockwood.
Dr. Henrt Elmore Russegue was born in Franklin, 11th
August, 1850. He is the son of Alpheus A. and Mary (Walker)
Russegue. After the usual preparatory studies he took a medical
course in Homeopath3' at the Boston University, and graduated as
M. D. in March, 1878. He is now practicing in his profession at
South Framingham. He is at this date unmarried.
George L. Satles, Esq., son of Oren W. and Almira (Ballou)
Sayles, was born in Franklin, 28th September, 1830. He was
educated at Saxton's River Seminary in Rockingham, Vt., and
afterwards spent some time in traveling, -visiting California, Mex
ico, Panama, and both the eastern and western coasts of South
America. On his return he established himself in the profession
of law in Providence, R. I., where he now resides unmarried.

186 history op PRANKLIN.
Herbert L. Satles and Ltourgus Sayles, as appears b3' the
town records, are alsosonsof Oren W. and Almira (Ballou) Sayles,
and natives of Franklin. They are lawyers in Providence, R. I.
We have failed to secure responses to further inquiries.
Dea. William Slocumb was born in Franklin, 5th February,
1783, and was the son of Wilham and Jerusha (Richardson) Slo
cumb. His family removed to Sutton in 1784, but Wilham not
long after returned to Franklin, where he joined the church at 17,
under Dr. Emmons, whose teachings he often affirmed left a strong
impression upon his character. In 1811 he returned to Sutton,
where, by his earnest enthusiasm, he became chief iu forming
' ' "the Religious Charitable Society for the County of Worcester,"
whose object was to aid .3'oung men in stud3ing for the ministry,
feeble churches and foreign missions, and which preceded the
American Education Society b3' four years.* In 1816, Deacon
Slocumb removed to Marietta, O., greatly prospered here, and still
impeUed b3' the same zeal for an educated ministry, he prominentl3'
aided in the founding of Marietta College, and to which he gave
largel3'^, especially to its libi-ar3'. In acknowledgment of his gen
erous gifts, one of its buildings has been called " Slocumb HaU."
He also started in Marietta the first Sunday-school west of the
AUeghanies, and he wrote and published an arithmetic, for many
3'ears the only one used in the then West. He was also a school
teacher for 3'ears. In 1855, he came to Rochester, N. Y., where
he was for seventeen 3''ears an elder in St. Peters Presbyterian
church. He died 9th May, 1873, aged over 90 — a long and widely
shining light kindled b3'Dr. Emmons in the beginning, and a speci
men of the many laymen so enkindled.
Deacon Slocumb married Selah Cushing of Franklin, but had
no chUdren. He made Christian students his family and heir.
George W. Smalley is a son of Franklin, being born here dur
ing the pastorate of his father, Rev. Elam Smalle3', although his
birth is not recorded. After Dr. Smalley's removal to Worcester,
he began classical studies and graduated, we beheve, at Yale Col
lege. From College he turned to journalism, and became an army
reporter of the New York Tribune during the rebellion. As an
instance of his unusual fitness, it is said that his remarkable cool-
* See Semi-Oentennial Report of American Education Society, page 7.

addenda. 187
ness under fire at the battle of Gettysburg attracted the notice of
the General-in-Chief and he employed him, in the temporary ab
sence of his aids, on a perilous mission, which he executed with
the utmost sang-froid. After the war Mr. Smalley went to Europe
as the Tribune's foreign correspondent, and still remains in that
position. His signature, G. W. S., is regarded as a warrant for
¦clearness of facts and soundness of conclusions, and his articles
form no small part of the value of that widelj'-circulated news
paper. His address is London, but his presence is Europe.
Mr. Smalley married a daughter (adopted) of Wendell PhiUips
and has three children.
Dr. John Waters Tenney", a son-in-law of Franklin through his
wife, was a son of Daniel and Betsey (Waters) Tenne3^ of Sutton,
where he was born 25th December, 1802. He graduated at Brown
Uni-versit3' 1823, and studied medicine first with Dr. David Smith
of Sutton, then with Dr. N. Reno Smith of Baltimore, in which
cit3' he received his diploma of M. D. He afterwards returned to
Sutton, where and in Webster he practiced until his death in the
latter town, April, 1851.
Dr. Tenney married, 27th October, 1829, Eliza Tileston, daugh
ter of Caleb and Sally (Cushing) Fisher. She is still living in
St. Johnsbury, Vt. He left two daughters — Catharine Beecher
and Helen Everett, now wife of David A. Alden — both residing'
in Windsor, Vt.
Dr. Charles H. Thater, a son of Nathaniel and Caroline
(Taft) Thayer, was born in Unionville, Franklin, 24th December,
1840. After studying in the ordinary public and private schools
of the town until 14, he went into a store in Providence, R. I., at
tending during the time Austin's Academ3' and the Commercial
College in that cit3'. In 1858 he returned to Franklin to attend
the Walpole Academy. On his return to Providence, in 1861, he
began the study of dentistry in the office of Dr. W. H. Helm, but
at the outbreak of the rebellion, he, with his two fellow students,
enlisted in the Union army. His experiences in camp and battle
field are briefly mentioned in our military chapter. He served
over three years, was in thirt3'-one engagements, a prisoner in
Libby prison, and rose to the rank of Captain.
After the war Captain Tha3^er was appointed Special Agent of
the United States Treasurj', and located at Memphis to look after

188 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
confiscated rebel pi-opert3-. But becoming sick in his travels, he
resigned and came to Baltimore to complete his studies. He grad
uated from the Baltimore Dental College in the spring of 1856, and
not long after opened an office in Mattoon, III. In September,
1869, he removed to Chicago, where he is now practicing his pro
fession. Dr. Thaj'er married at Chicago, 12th July, 1871, Juliette Marga
ret Reed of Stykersville, Wyoming county, N. Y., and has one
daughter, born 6th August, 1877.
Rev. William Makepeace Thayer is the son of Major Davis
and Betsey (Makepeace) Thayer. He was born 23d February,
1820, fitted for coUege at the Frankhn Academy, and graduated
at Brown University 1843 ; studied theology with Rev. Jacob Ide,
D. D., of Medway, and was approbated by the Mendon Associa
tion 16th October, 1844. He taught school in Attleboro, Frank
lin and South Braintree. He preached nearly two years in Edgar-
town, M. v., where he declined to settle, and was finaUy installed
over the church in Ashland 20th June, 1849. In 1857 he was
compelled by a throat disease to resign his charge and leave the
pulpit altogether for a season. But able still for student work he
was engaged as editor of the Home Monthly and Mother's Assis
tant from 1867 to 1862, when he felt sufficiently recovered to ac
cept the Secretar3'ship of the Massachusetts Temperance Alliance,
and has held it until the present 3'ear, 1878. In this office he -vis
ited and addressed large audiences iu almost every town in the
Commonwealth, and many out of the State.
WhUe in Ashland Mr. Thayer represented the town in 1856 in
the Legislature, also the town of Frankhn in 1863. Mr. Tha3-er
has also pubhshed several volumes, the best known of which are
"Life at the Fireside," " The Bobbin Boy," "The Printer Boy,"
" The Pioneer Boy," " The Poor Boy and Merchant Prince,"
"Youth's History of the Rebelhon," 4 vols. More than 200,000
copies of these have been sold.
Mr. Thayer married Miss Rebecca Richards of Dover, and has
had five children, two of whom are hving. Eugene is married and
lives iu Denver. Addison is at present at home. He resides in
Franklin and is engaged in authorship, having published a new
work since our Centennial.
Rev. Edwin Thompson, a two-fold son-in-law of Frankhn, was

addenda. 189
son of William D. Thompson, a native of Marblehead, and his
•wife Eunice Breed T., of L3'nn. He was born in L3-nn, 23d JUI3',
1809. His parents were Friends, and he was educated in the
Quaker School of his native town, and became afterwards, like all
Lynnites, a shoemaker. He was also for twelve years carrier of
the first Lynn newspaper. In 1837, at the suggestion of Wendell
PhiUips, he became agent for Essex county of the anti-slavery
cause. In 1841 he was settled as pastor of the Universalist So
ciety in South Dedham — now Norwood. But his deep interest
in temperance as well as anti-slavery led him to resign his charge
after three 3'ears and devote himself wholly to these more conge
nial causes. From that time he has become better known through
out the State as a temperance advocate than almost an3- other
man. In 1842 Mr. Thompson married Roxa M., widow of Joseph
Morse, of East Walpole. She died in 1848, and he married Lou
isa Jane, daughter of Maxcy and Persis Fisher, of Franklin, with
whom he lived twentj'-two years, and had one child, a son. After
her death, in 1871, he married her sister, Susan M. Fisher, also of
Franklin and the -widow of Dea. Levi I. Morse, of Frankhn, with
whom he still lives in Norwood.
Rev. Josephus Wheaton, another son-in-law of Franklin, was
born in Rehoboth, 16th March, 1788, and was the son of Capt.
Joseph and Sarah S. Wheaton. He graduated B. U., 1812, was
tutor for two 3'eai-s following, studying theology meanwhile under
Rev. Otis Thompson, of Rehoboth. He was settled in HoUiston,
6th December, 1815, but died of consumption 4th February, 1825,
at the early age of 37.
Mr. Wheaton married Mary Ide, born in Franklin, 1st October,
1790, and onl3' daughter of Daniel and Sarah Ide. Her father
died in her childhood, and her mother afterwards married Peter
Hunt, Esq., of Seekonk, where Mar3' was brought up ^nd met
with Mr. Wheaton. But her wedded life lasted onl3' from Janu-
ar3-, 1816, to 28th July, 1817, when she died of consumption, leav
ing a son of four months. Mr. Wheaton's second wife, Abb3'
Fales, became afterwards the wife of Dea. Benjamin Shepard, of
Wrentham. Abijah Whiting, Esq., youngest son of Jonathan and Eleonai
(Thurston) Whiting, was born in Franklin, April, 1768. He

190 HISTORY OP PEANKLIN.
graduated at Brown University, 1790, and settled in the profession
of law in Salem, N. J., where he was rapidly gaining a distinc
tion when he was arrested in his career b3' death, in October, 1799.
Nathan Whiting, Esq., was born in Franklin, April, 1774,
and was the son of Asa and Elizabeth (Fisher) Whiting. He
also graduated at Brown University in 1796, in the class with
Judge Asa Aldis and Hon. Trisstam Burgess. He studied law
and opened an office in East Greenwich, R. I. Of his further his
tory we have been unable to learn.
Rev. Samuel Whiting was among the earliest graduates of this
town. He was a son of Joseph and Mary Whiting, one of the first
settlers of the precinct. He was born in March, 1750, graduated
at Harvard in 176'9,and A. M. at Yale, 1772. Entering the minis
try he traveled into the wilds of Vermont, and was settled in Rock
ingham 27th October, 1773, when the town contained less than
three hundred inhabitants, on a few clearings along the banks of
the Connecticut, -with salmon and shad fisheries at Bellows Falls.
Here Mr. Whiting established and continued preaching until 1809,
when he resigned in discouragement and was dismissed May 18th,
the church being almost extinct. He hved but few years longer,
djing 16th May, 1819, in his 70th year. He is described as avery
faithful and conscientious preacher and man, but the poverty of a
new and hardly broken territoi-3' was against him.
Rev. Thurston Whiting, son of Jonathan and Eleonai (Thurs
ton) Whiting, and brother of Abijah, already mentioned, was born
in Franklin, June, 1753. He is not known to have graduated at
an3' classical college, but he entered the ministry and was settled
in Newcastle, Me., July, 1876, a church being organized the
same day. He remained here until January, 1782, being foUowed
by the well known Rev. Kiah Bailey, the predecessor of the still
better known Father Sewall. Of Mr. Whiting's further work and
life, our inquiries have failed to bring an3'thing to light.
Hon. iklARSHALL PiNCKNEY WiLDER. Fraukhn may, for a twice-
repeated reason, claim this distinguished gentleman among her
children, and he has manifested the interest of a son in the town's
prosperity. But biographical sketches of him are so many and ac
cessible that we need give only the briefest notice. The fine
engraving opposite speaks for him.
Mr. Wilder was boru 22d September, 1798, in Rindge, N. H.,

FSESmmT OF THE AMEBIC^ FOMOIOSICAL SOCIETf
AND
FKESmKUT or THE mTTTED S'OTZS AOmCUlTUIUI SOaElT.

ADDENDA. 191
and is the eldest son of Samuel Locke and Anna (Sherwin) Wil
der. Young Wilder, having the alternative between a coUege, a
farm, and a mercantile life, chose the farm, and on it acquired
the physical energy which bears his 80 years now so bravely.
From the farm he went into his father's store, and at 21 was
taken into partnership, and was also appointed postmaster. Hav
ing a mihtary taste he organized a Light Infantry Company
in his native town, and at 26 he became Colonel. In 1857 he
commanded the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Compan3' of
Boston. In February, 1825, he removed to Boston and opened a
wholesale West India goods store on Union street, under the firm
of Wilder & Payson, afterwards Wilder & Smith, North Market
street. He is now senior member of Parker, Wilder & Co., Win-
throp square, the oldest commission domestic goods house in Bos
ton. In all the crises of over fift3' years he has never failed to meet
his payments. A most honorable business record, and deservedly
successful. But Mr. WUder's original taste for the farm has clung to him,
and his ample means have enabled him to become a leader in all
branches of agriculture, and a president of various societies for its
encouragement, man3' of which he has originated. In political
hfe he has ascended to the Presidency of the State Sfenate, and to
a Councillorship. He has also been President of the New England
Historical Genealogical Society for the past ten years. And he
has filled all these trusts weU.
Mr. Wilder has had three wives. He married, 31st December,
1820, Trj'phosa, daughter of Stephen Jewett of Rindge. She
died on a visit home, 31st July, 1831, leaving four children. Of
his second and third wives we beg leave to insert from his own
reply to our inquiries : —
The relations which have existed between your town and myself
were brought about by my marriages with the family of Capt.
David Baker, from which I have been blessed with two loving
wives. Abigail Baker was married to MarshaU Pinckney Wilder 29th
August, 1833. She was a lady of intelligence, culture, and piety,
eminently fitted to make a family happy. She became the mother
of six children, three of whom — Abbie Tryphosa, Sarah Jane,
and Samuel Locke are now dead. Three still live — WiUiam Henry,
Jemima Richardson, and Grace Sherwin. Mrs. Wilder died of
consumption at Aiken, S. C, 4th April, 1854.

192 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
Julia Baker, my third wife, was married to me 8th September,
1855, and here I must be permitted to record m3' appreciation of
her estimable character as a ladj- of culture and piet3', admirably
qualified both as a wife and a mother to preside over and grace
our famil3r circle. She has two sons — Edward Baker and Mar
shall Pinckney.
Nor can I close this record without an expression of the grati
tude and veneration I retain for the memory and virtues of the
good and godl3' parents of these daughters, who have contributed
so much to the happiness of my life.
Charles Winslow, who married Harriet Newell Richardson of
Franklin, and daughter of Eli M. and Mehta (Norcross) Richard
son, 27th May, 1839, was a native of Barre. He studied at Hop
kins' Academ3r, Hadley, and two years in the Frankhn Academy.
He entered Amherst College in 1836, but left during the j'ear for
Oberlin. Thence he engaged in school teaching in West Virginia
and other places. He died in 1843, leaving one child. His widow
married Rev. Edward F. Dickinson of Amherst, and now citj'
missionary in Chicago, where she still resides.
It is not but of place here to add to these 105 brief sketches the
names of professional gentlemen not elsewhere mentioned who
have become residents and have added their services to the value
of the town. The settled ministers have been given in the
sketches of the churches. The transient preacher's record is
written in his work. Of lawj'ers, the town has never required a
permanent resident. But its recent rapid growth and -widely
spreading business has encouraged George W. Wiggin, Esq., to
establish his office in town. His quiet affabilitj' and studious de
votion to the interests of our citizens have won for him a birth
right among us.
Most of the early physicians in town have their proper place in
the roll of sons already given. To them should be added : —
Dr. Spencer Pratt, a native of Mansfield, came from Foxboro
to Franklin about 1800, married, 23d November, 1801, Elizabeth
Wood, and settled on the west side of the Common. He was of
impulsive temperament, but quite a scholar and ver3' helpful to
youth of studious tastes. In the latter part of his life he removed
to Woonsocket, R. I., and died there. His two sons are included
in this chapter. He had one daughter who married and lives in
Woonsocket.

ADDENDA. 193
Dr. Amort Hunting came into town about 1820, we think from
Hopkinton, where his wife belonged. He opened an office, first at
the house of Joel Daniels, where he endured a long and dangerous
sickness ; but he afterwards removed to the Center and built and
occupied the house now Dr. King's. Soon after the settlement, of
Kansas he removed to Manhattan, in that territory, where he lately
died. Dr. Jonathan Mann followed Dr. E. D. Miller on his removal
to Dorchester. He was a native of Randolph and a member of
Amherst College for two years. He remained but a few years
and removed to Boston.
Dr. Selim Stanlet of Attleboro foUowed, but his health com
pelled him to give up his profession, and not long after his life.
Dr. L. L. ScHAMMEL next occupied this office, but he also re
moved elsewhere after a brief stay.
Dr. Shadrach Atwood came in 1844. He received the degree
of M. D. at Harvard Universitj' in 1830, and, -with the exception
of one or two absences from town, has continued in practice here
until the present time.
Dr. W. B. Nolan began practice here in 1855 and has still a
wide circle of patrons.
Dr. George King came in 1857, and, excepting the time of his
absence as surgeon in the Union army, has been and is busied
with an extensive practice.
Dr. McGregor is the latest comer into the company of our
physicians, and is already reported as successful in his profession.
Homeopathy has been represented bj- several practitioners, but
their stay has been short. Dr. J. Blake, from Wrentham, has
now an office, and as a phj'sician of several years' experience has
an increasing patronage. • Others and of other schools ma3'' have
practiced in town, but their names have not reached us.
It is but justice to add that the previous list by no means in
cludes all the persons who have added to the respectability of the
town. Such a list would be both long and invidious, and the
author declines the task of selecting amongst the worthy men and
women, when there have been so many whose memories are still
gi-een with the manthng of their fruitful lives. He remembers
well the impression upon his 3'outhful mind, that no town could
furnish so large a number of grave and reverend men and ' ' de-
13

194 HISTORY OP PEANKLIN.
vout women not a few," as gathered in the Franklin Sunday con
gregation, or of men so logical, and spicy in debate as met for
business in its town meetings. The verj' atmosphere was charged
with an intellectual sharpness which quickened every inteUect and
compelled reasons for every conclusion. But all this cannot be
translated in print, much as we would hke to preserve it. Some
genius ma3' reproduce the social life in Franklin of Dr. Emmons'
daj^ — there are characters enough to equip a large volume — but
he must be in a closer S3'mpathy -with its spirit than some who
have attempted it, or his book will be a travesty.
A ¦view of the private hospital of Dr. N. Miller is given on
preceding page. It was quite a celebrated institution in the da3r
before public hospitals had been founded, and had a verj' wide
patronage, It was situated at River End, and was burnt not
many months ago.

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S20 Devonshire St., Boston.

THE CENTENNIAL DAY

CELEBRATION, JUNE 12, 1878.

In the warrant for the annual meeting of the town 5th March,
1873, was this article : —
Art. 26. To see if the town will take any action with regard
to the One Hundredth Anuiversary of its Incorporation, and make
suitable provision for celebrating the occasion b3- the choice of a
committee to take the whole subject into consideration, and report
their doings at a future town meeting, or act or do anything in
relation to the subject.
On this article it was voted : —
That a committee of five be appointed by the town with full
powers to consider the whole subject, to prepare a plan for an ap
propriate celebration of the anniversary referred to in this article,
to secure statistics and do whatever they may deem necessary in
the matter, and report to the town at a future town meeting, and
that the following-named gentlemen shall constitute said commit
tee, viz. : Stephen W. Richardson, Esq., Rev. William M.
Thater, Waldo Daniels, William Rockwood, Joseph A.
Woodward. Mr. Woodward subsequently resigned and Adin D. Sargent
was chosen in his place. The portraits of these gentlemen are
given at the opening of this chapter.
The committee soon after organized by the choice of Waldo
Daniels as Chairman, and Wilham Rockwood Secretary. They
also agreed to recommend a public celebration with a historical
address, a dinner, and other suitable exercises, and requested Rev.
Mortimer Blake, D. D., of Taunton, a son of Franklin, to prepare
the address. This report was presented and accepted by the town.
The committee at another meeting divided the collection of histor-

196 HISTORY OP FEANKLIN.
ical statistics among themselves and proceeded in their arduous
work. At the annual town meeting, March 5, 1877, it was " voted,
that the sum of $500 be granted by the town for the expenses
connected with the centennial celebration and the f)ubhcation of a
history of the town, subject to the order of the committee."
At the annual meeting, March 4, 1878, the following gentlemen
were added to the Centennial Committee as a general Committee
of Arrangements for the celebration, viz. : Rev. A. St. John
Chambre, D. D., Henrt M. Greene, James P. Rat, Paul B.
Clark, and Rev. E. A. Rand. The portraits of this added com
mittee are given at the head of this chapter.
This general committee immediately proceeded to discuss and
fix upon the final arrangements. The3' elected the following ladies
to act with them : Mrs. E. E. Baker, Mrs. W. C. Whiting, Mrs.
A. G. Metcalf, Mrs. A. A. Fletcher, and Mrs. W. H. Fisher,
to whom was specially committed the gathering and whole charge
of a museum of antique articles illustrative of the history of the
town. That the3' were earnest and successful be3'ond expectation
an appended list of their collection will show. Other necessary
sub-committees were appointed ; Capt. Lewis R. Whitaker was
chosen as Marshal, and enthusiasm in the approaching festival
rapidl3' spread through the communit3' as the da3' drew near.
The Centennial Anniversary came literally on March 2nd, but
the usual inclemency of that season and the necessity of an out-of-
door collation demanded a sunnier time . The committee , therefore ,
selected June 12th as most promising the conditions favorable to
a successful celebration. The da3' proved, excepting a suddeu
shower in the afternoon, all that could be desired.
The Franklin Register, whose editor and proprietor, J. M. Stewart,
had given his columns to a heai-t3' sympathy with the occasion,
gave a full and graphic description of the exercises, from which we
extract the following sentences : —
At 6 o'clock on the morning of the 12th of June, 1878, the
jubilant bells and the crashing aud growling voices of the cannon
announced that the ceremonies of the da3- were about to commence.
The earliest riser looked out upon the streets fairlv glorious with
flags and every species of elegant decoration which could be de
vised, or the night hours permitted to be accompUshed. Main
street was almost canopied with the red, white and blue bunting,

ADDENDA. 197
stretching acroSs from tree to tree, or from house-top to house-top.
But far the most glorious of all were the decorations of some of
the houses and blocks. At a ver3' early hour the streets began to
show throngs of people, and the arrivals from the cities and neigh
boring towns rapidl3' swelled the crowds until it was estimated that
10,000, and perhaps more, people were abroad to celebrate the
grand occasion. At 10 o'clock came the Governor of the State
and his staff, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, and the
Execu' ive Council, Hon. M. P. Wilder, Manager Clark and other
officials of the New York and New England Railroad, and other
distinguished guests. procession.
A procession was forthwith organized under Marshal Whitaker
and his Aids, and passed through the principal streets in the fol
lowing order : —
Squadron of cavalry in ancient costume, D. Carson, Captain.
Chief Marshal Whitaker and Aids.
Ancient military flf e and drum corps, G. I. Partridge, Leader.
Woonsocket Cornet Band.
J. C. Eay Engine Company, In new uniforms.
Barouches, ¦with Committee of Arrangements, President, Orator, and Chaplain of
the day. Governor and suite, and invited guests.
Assistant Marshal Peck and Aids.
West Medway Mechanics Baud.
Grand Army, Post No. 70.
Children of the Puhlic Schools, under L. I. Blake, Principal High School.
Ancient Order of Hibernians, Franklin and Milford branches.
TRADES PUOCESSION.
(The leading representatives only are mentioned.)
E. Trowbridge, two teams of musical merchandise, and two business carriages.
P. B. Eay, display of felt goods.
F. W. Smith, carpenters working at benches.
C. L. Fales & Co., groceries.
F. A. B. King, carpenters at work.
J. M. Stewart, compositor setting types for Franklin Register.
C. F. Carter & Son, dry goods.
Farmer, Sherman & Co., cases of straw goods.
C. L. Stewart, printing press at work.
P. Rogers, blacksmiths at work with bellows and anvil.
J. W. Clark, machine running by belts attached to carriage wheel.
M. C. Darling, butcher.
J . M. -Whiting, lumber.
J. O. Chilson, butcheri two teams.
J. McFarland, men making harnesses.
C. B. Craig, boots and shoes.
G. H . Butterworth, clothing.
A. McConkey, tailors at work.
Bier & Harris, clothiers.
E. B. Stewart, wheelwright
G. 0. Fuller, furniture.
Franklin Felting MiUs, full display of feltings.

198 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
E. Waite, large exhibit of felts in contrasted colors.
City Mills, felt goods.
H. R. Jenks, grocer, two teams.
Hosie & Mann, coal, two teams.
M. M. Daniels, milk team.
A. Clark, ice cart.
S. Hubbard, carpenter.
J. P. Eay, ten yokes of oxen from his farm.
J. Hood, men at the forge and shoeing a horse (begun and finished during the ride) .
C. Haggerty, harness shop.
Heaton & Stebbins, men dressing a granite doorstep.
Mrs. W. Bullock, girls at work on millinery.
S. W. Thayer, boots and shoes, and a boot for the biggest foot at the next
Centennial.
J. P. & J. G. Ray, four teams with the various goods of their mills, also milk team.
I. P. Ray, a wagon of old furniture, with an old family, and girl at the spinning-
wheel.
In the procession was represented 1778 hy two gentlemen and
two ladies, mounted ou side-saddles and pilhon, and dressed in
" ye ancient costume."
This long cavalcade passed in review before the Governor and
the town's guests in front of the Congregational church, where the
literary exercises were to be held, and then the latter entered the
Congregational church.
The house was appropriatel3' aud tastefull3' decorated within and
without with flags, mottoes, and flowers, under the superintend
ence of the ladies' committee — Mrs. C. Claflin, Mrs. St. J.
Chambre, Mrs. W. Gilmore, and Miss Hattie Daniels. It is need
less to say that the house was completel3' filled.
ORDER OF exercises.
After an organ voluntary and the singing of ' ' the Pilgrim
Fathers" b3' the choir, under the leadership of Mr. Edwin Trow
bridge, aud reading the Scriptures and prayer b3^ Rev. W. M.
Thayer, chaplain of the day, the following centennial h3'mn by
Rev. Mr. Thayer was sung : —
Great God ! before whose throne of power
We bow in this memorial hour;
From heights unknown Thy gracious hand
Sifts years as golden grains of sand.

The children live — the fathers sleep ;
The fathers sowed — the children reap;
A harvest waves, and sheaves of gold
We garner from these fields of old.

ADDENDA. 199
Not one is here of all the men
Who "bore the heat and burden" then;
New scenes inspire; new people meet;
New faces smile ; new, voices greet.
Though century in Thy life is small,
Great God! Thy goodness crowns it all;
Thy glory in this span appears ;
We praise Thee for a Hundred Years.
The President of the day, Henry M. Greene, Esq., then wel
comed the assembly in the following words : —
Friends and Fellow Citizens : By acceding to the request
of the committee having the proceedings of the day in charge, it
becomes m3' pleasant dut3' to address you with words of welcome.
Before doing so, please allow me to indulge in a few preliminary
remarks. We are assembled at this time to celebrate the one-hundredth
return of the da3- when the Great and General Court of Massachu
setts (recently His Majest3''s Province of the Massachusetts Bay)
endowed the West Precinct of Wrentham with the privileges and
immunities of a town, and was pleased to bestow upon it the hon
ored name of Franklin. It will be remembered that our munici
pal bii-thda3- occurred during the stormy da3^s of the Revolution,
when the struggle for independence hung trembling in the balance.
Through the abiding faith of our patriotic ancestors in the justness
of their cause, and their un3'ielding persistence in its defense, bet
ter councils prevailed in the mother counti'3', and the United States
became one of the famil3'' of nations.
During the first centur v of our corporate life — the century now
closed — what wonderful changes have occurred in our country.
We have passed through another war with Great Britain, and also
that other war which was proclaimed to ' ' exist b3r the act of
Mexico." We have come out unscathed in our national life from
the perils of a gigantic rebellion, that has no parallel to its pro
portions in the history of the world. In population we have in
creased from 3,000,000 to 40,000,000 of people. It is weU, too, to
bear in mind the wonderful and beneficent adv«,nce that has been
made during this period in the interests of civilization and peace ;
the steamboat of Fulton, without which the might3' current of the
Mississippi could never have been stemmed, nor a passage made
between Boston and Liverpool in seven da3-s instead of forty ; the
railroad, while furnishing unlimited aid to commerce, assures the
unity and permanence of the Republic through all time to come
by its omnipresent and irrefragable network of steel and iron ;
the telegraph, annihUating both time and distance, furnishing the
news of 3'esterday in advance to the morning papers from the

200 HISTORY OP PEANKLIN.
uttermost parts of the earth ; the telephone, now in the infancy of
its invention, in .its perfection it may surpass the telegraph ; the
phonograph, registering and preserving the spoken words, with all
their infinite variety of tone and expression, to reproduce them at
will at any time in the future — a hundred or even a thousand 3-ears
hence. But while we recount the wonderful changes which have been so
beneficial to our nation and the world at large, we do not forget
the changes that have occurred within our own particular borders.
There was a time when the Sunda3' worshipers could be comfort-
abl3' seated in one church. Now, within view from the mansion
of its late reverend and Christian minister, Dr. Emmons, five
spires point their wa3' heavenward. The noon-house, with its hole
in the roof for the exit of gas and smoke and its capacious brick
hearth in the center for charcoal, has given way for the more com
fortable stove or furnace in the church. It was not till the early
part of the last centur3' that " the deacon's one-horse shay" made
its appearance. Before that time our grandmothers went to meet
ing and to the store and even made more length3' journeys on
ho]-seback, seated upon pillions behind their husbands. The iron
plow has fought its wa3' to ijublic favor, in spite of the opposition
of the farmers of the last generation. The jenn3' has banished
our grandmother's spinning-wheels to the garret, where the3' are
now preserved as the curious relics of a b3'-gone age. Instead of
consuming two or more da3's in going to Boston or Providence, we
take the railroad to either cit3" in the morning, transact our busi
ness, and get home before sunset.
Fearing that I am wear3-ing 3-our patience and that peradven
ture I may have intruded upon the field, if not upon the allotted
time of the orator of the da3-, I will not detain 3^011 longer from the
intellectual repast which has mainly induced your attendance upon
this centennial of the incorporation of our goodl3' town.
It onl3' remains for me to sa3' that b3' direction of the Committee
of Arrangements (and it is with great pleasure that I obe3^ their
injunction,) I liereb3- tender to 3'ou all — to our honored guest,
His Excellenc3' Governor Rice, to Lieutenant-Governor Knight,
and the other members of our State government, now present —
to 3rou our friends who have come from your distant homes to
spend with us, we trust, a happy day — to our townsmen and neigh
bors aU — a cordial and affectionate welcome to the amenities and
festivities of the present occasion.
The original act of the incorporation of the town was then read
by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Hon. H. B. Pierce, after
which ' ' ye antient choir " in the gallery as of old sang ' ' Majesty "
under the lead of Mr. Frank Ware and accompanied only by-
" stringed instruments."

ADDENDA. 201
The oration by Rev. Mortimer Blake, D. D., occupied an hour
and twenty minutes. It is printed in full elsewhere.
At the close of his address the orator read the XLIVth Psalm
from an original copy of President Dunster's version of the Old
Bay Psalm book, 1650, and Mr. Ware "pitched the tune" of
York- upon the veritable pitch-pipe used by Dea. John Whiting,
the first chosen chorister of the church. The people sang three
verses in unison after the old wa3', and the choir and organ joined
with all the parts in the last stanza —
We, with our ears have heard, O God,
Our fathers have us told.
What works Thou wroughtest in their days,
Ev'n in ye days of old.
How Thy hand drave ye heathen out,
Displan ted them Thou hast;
How Thou ye people did'st afflict,
And out them Thou did'st oast.
For by their sword they did not get mk
The land's possession,
Nor was it tiieir own arm that did
Work their salvation.
But Thy right hand, Thine arm also,
Thy countenance of light;
Because that of Thine own good will
Thou did'st in them delight.
The singing of " America" and the benediction by the chaplain
closed the exercises in the church.
The procession was again formed of those who held tickets to
the dinner, and marched to a large pavilion on Emmons' Park,
or the ancient Common, where plates had been placed for 1,200
guests. It was not long before every seat was occupied, and a
-vigorous dental activit3' prevailed for half an hour.
It is not possible to report all the good things said at the table.
The programme of speeches intended could not be fully carried
out for want of time, even if a sudden shower had not dela3'ed the
exercises. But judges of wide experience declared that the3' had
never heard a richer flow of wit and wisdom. We are again in
debted to the indefatigable Mr. Stewart of the Frankhn Register
for such reports as are here given.

202 HISTOEY OF PRANKLIN.
The President of the day welcomed the company as follows : —
Ladies and Gentlemen : The limited time remaining warns
me that I must be very brief in m3' introductoi-3'- remarks. I will
offer onty one thought regarding the day we celebrate.
Prominent above all others stands the sentiment that this cele
bration is in honor of those men who, under Divine guidance, by
labors and sacrifices, laid deep the foundation of all our blessings.
Let us hope that the record of the centui-3- upon which we have
entered ma3' show as clearl3' to those who shall participate in the
centennial celebrations of the future that we are not unworth3'
descendants of the men we honor to-day.
It is m3' pleasant privilege to again tender to all in behalf of the
town and of the Committee of Arrangements, a sincere and heart
felt welcome to the remaining festivities of the occasion, and to
introduce Waldo Daniels, Esq., as Toast-master, who will read
the first regular toast.
Mr. Daniels then read : —
¦ 1 . The Commoniueatth of Massachusetts.
Mr. Green proceeded ; —
LftuES AND Gentlemen: Franklin is honored to-dav' by the
presence of the Governor of our State, one of a long line of illus
trious men who have so ably filled the Executive office, and of
whom Massachusetts is so justl3- proud. I am highly honored with
this opportunity of presenting to 3'ou His Exeellenc3', Gov. Alex
ander H. Rice.
Upon the subsidence of the applause, Governor Rice arose, and
after complimenting in high terms the cordial reception and the
whole arrangements and exercises of the celebration, proceeded
substantially to sa3' : —
As I looked out into the faces of the congregation in the church
this morning, it was about the most interesting spectacle that I
have seen. I said to m3'self, now this is a characteristic New
England assembl3'. In the cities we gather of all sorts and con
ditions and nationalities, but when I came into your audience this
morning and looked around, I saw that unmistakable t3'pe of gen-
Tiine New England citizenship with which I would be willing with
out an3' guarantee to trust the most sacred things. We see here
something of the value of what was done for us by our fathers a
century or two ago. We cannot look around upon this New
England civihzation and suppose that it is in any sense or degree
an accident, or that it is something that has happened or ma3' be
done over again in a short space of time.
The ci-nlizatiou of New England to-day is a growth, and a growth

ADDENDA. 203
from those principles that were planted when civil societ3- was
¦organized here. Whoever seeks for the secret of what New Eng
land is to-da3- must go back to those days which 3-ou, men aud
women, and we who have the honor and privilege of being with
3^011 to-dav, are celebrating. I saw in 3-our village what is the
natural outcome of this civilization. I saw those pleasant homes
varying in size, but unvarying in the evidences of comfort. I ob
served 3'our well-kept streets, your well-painted houses — all sig
nificant of the ease and comfort which characterizes au intelligent
and virtuous community. I saw, also, 3-our school-houses ; I saw
that noble institution of learning which is an eternal and enduring
monument of the liberalit3- and foresight of one of 3-our citizens.
I saw the spires of your churches, showing that 3-ou are con-
"vinced of the fact that it is not sufficient to train the inteUect alone,
but that the heart also must be trained, so that the two may go to
gether. I congratulate 3'ou on all these pleasing things, \)ut I beg
of 3-011 to hold fast to the principles which the3r all repre sent and
without which they must fall — without which they cannot exist.
I beg to remind 3-011 of what the orator of the da3- said w hen he
gave us that rapid and brief glance over the past, of the changes
that have taken place in- the last hundred years — not onl3^ in in
stitutions, but in the state of the arts, of learning, of scientific dis
covery, and in the phase of the world.
Although in man3- senses these changes are progress, yet let me
lemind 3''ou that the3- render our lives more and more, likely to be
absorbed in the common incidents of our dail3' life, so that we are
withdrawn from the contemplation of nature and of those principles
which are akin to nature, the influence of which is tO' elevate our
manhood, enuoble our natures and make us braver, more aspiring,
and worthy people. We must, therefore, resist the influences of
these new-discovered elements of progress. We must adapt our
education to them, make it more and more thorough, and our re
ligion more and more a thing of practical life.
You will understand me, of course, that in speaking of religion
I am not speaking of theolog'3' — there is a great, a wide difference
between them. Men differ in their theology as widely as the lati
tudes of opinion, but men always and ever3' where agree in the true
spirit of reUgion. Whatever warms the heart, whatever teaches
men and women to love that which is good, that which is pure, that
which is noble, and of good report — to love their neighbors as
themselves and, above all, to love and worship God as the first
dut3' of life — that is the religion which all can adopt, and which,
when adopted, will elevate the society in which it prevails. ,
Therefore, wherever we plant our churches and our school-
houses, we must remember that they are twin sisters who ought
never to be separated ; but the3r are only external s3'mbols of the
two parts of our nature which must be educated, and educated

201 HISTORY OP FEANKLIN.
symmetricaU3', iu order to bring out that t3'pe of noble and illus
trious manhood which it was the aspiration of our fathers and is
the mission of New England to propagate and develop to the end
of time.
With renewed thanks for his cordial reception, His Excellenc3'
closed with the warmest applause.
2. Our Mother Town — W)-entham. Frankhn, her first-born,
forgets not what she owes her parent, and on this anniversar3' of
her birth gratefull3' acknowledges her obligation.
Samuel Warner, Esq., Town Clerk of Wrentham, responded : —
The little west precinct of Wrentharn., which first saw the light
141 years ago when Robert Pond and fort3'-six others jietitioned
the Great and General Court that they be set off as a separate
township ; because the3' had, as the3' said, " conflicted with great
hardships and difficulties with respect to their attendance on the
public worship of God, b3- reason of the extraoi-dinary distance of
their habitations from the meeting-house in Wrentham ;" that
little precinct of some forty families is to-da3' an enterprising,
bus3', thriving communit3' of some three thousand people, whose
first centurj- as a township this 3-ear completes.
In answer to this petition, the Committee of the General Court
suggested a parish. The old town readil3' voted that, with the
boundaries which, with little change, if an3', were adopted foi-t3'-
one years afterward, when the town was incorporated, and which,
I think, remain the same to-da3-. That httle band of worshipers
(twent3'-six church members) to whom Haven, Barnum and Em
mons preached a hundred years ago, and for whom one small
house sufficed, has been succeeded by some five or sis societies
whose elegant houses of worship attest the greater wealth, if not
the greater piet3-, of the present da3-.
This was then the west precinct or parish in Wrentham. Na
thanael Emmons, the famous Dr. Emmons, whom some in this
assembly have seen and heard, and of whom ever3-body is think
ing to-day, was, good Mr. Bean sa3-s, "to the great joy of the
inhabitants," ordained, 21st April, 1773, pastor of this west parish
in Wrentham ; and our old records of Wrentham say that Rev.
Nathanael Emmons, of Wrentham, was married to Deliverance
French, of Braintree, in 1775. The long life of that distinguished -
man so hnked those days with these after times as to give his little
parish perpetual life ; and here it is to-da3^
In 1773 it was estimated that there were more people iu the
west parish than in the whole town of Wrentham when that was
set off. The time had come for a renewal of the former petition.
The unanimous report of a committee of such men as Dea. Thomas
Man, Capt. Lemuel Kollock and Jabez Fisher that " the inhabi
tants of the west precinct in this town be set off as a separate

ADDENDA. 206
township by themselves" was adopted, 16th Febi-uar3', 1778. The
General Court followed b3' an act of incorporation, March 2, and
Franklin began to exist. As the histor3' of our first century was
also your histor3% so we have felt the strength of the famil3' tie
ever since 3'ou went out from under our roof and set up for 3-our-
selves. We have lived peaceably, like good neighbors, having no quar
rels about boundaries, nor even anj- lawsuits about paupers. Let
us hope it ma3' continue to be so in the centuries to come.
I feel, sir, that we have a right to boast to-da^-. We claim
praise for so bringing up this fair child, of w;hom so man3^ fine
things have been said and of whom so many more will be said be
fore the sun goes down. .Yes, sir, the mother town shares in all
these words of praise and compliment. We claim that the fame
of Emmons, of the Fishers, the Manns, the Metcalfs, and others,
is ours as well as 3-ours. The old town gladly bears witness to the
fidehty of the 3-ounger, to those sentiments of patriotism and honor
which refiect so much credit upon both. What 3-011 have done for
religion, for education, for temperance, for the Union, for man3-
, benevolent and industrial enterprises, is surel3' worthy of honorable
mention here. Especially let us commend that tolerant spirit —
so different, perhaps, from that which prevailed a hundred 3-eai-s
ago. I -will add that the old town has given freely of her substance to
her children — Franklin, Foxboro aud Norfolk, and has seen them
all well-to-do in the world, while she herself has some broad acres
left, and is stUl fair to look upon. Except our old mother, Ded
ham, none can show a better familj' record.
3. Our Fathers. We reverence the memorj- of the departed,
and we welcome on this occasion the grey-haired sires of Franklin
with all their early reminiscences. Of them it may be truly said,
" multitude of 3'ears teach ¦wisdom."
Hon. M. M. Fisher of Medwa3-, but a son of Frankhn, i-e-
sponded : —
Mr. President : According to the State census of 1875, there
were then hving in Franklin 127 men between the ages of 60 and
92 years. With few exceptions, these are 3-our resident fathers of
to-day-. Considering that 3-our recent growth has attracted many
3'ounger men, the proportion of oite old man in eleven of 3'Our pop
ulation speaks well for the salubrity of your chmate, and the good
habits of your people. Besides these, there are many non-resident
fathers whose right hands would sooner forget their cunning than
they ever forget this Jerusalem of their birth and of their early joy.
You remember that Daniel Webster, a native of another Frank
hn, once said, and without any disparagement to his native State,

206 HISTORY OP PEANKLIN.
"New Hampshire is a good State to emigrate from." Now, it
must not be inferred, because Horace Mann, a native of our own
Franklin, and now equall3r honored in immortal bronze with ' ' the
great expounder " on the grounds of our State Capital, and because
men of lesser note have emigrated from 3'ou, that this detracts any
thing from the luster of their native town ; for their distinction
achieved in other fields ma3^ ha^-e been the direct result of theij
birth and earh- training among you.
Time would fail me to mention even by name all the fathers,
hving and dead, who have now such distinction, either at home
or abroad, as reflects honor upon the place of their nativity. Some
of this class going abroad, drawn b3' love of kindred and early
associations, have returned to their " native heath," bringing their
sheaves with them. New York, while it attracted and still retains
some of your sons, returned others, who, though fathers in age,
are Greene to-day. At the beginning of the late civil war.
South Carolina reluctantly spared one of her merchant princes to
return to his old home, and you find him here loyal and true, with
brothers upon either side of him, and all now honored as among
the young fathers of your town. New Hampshire, though it did
attract one of 3-OHr sons to become the founder of their great city
of spindles, yet nothing could repress his love for the home of his
y-outh. So he becomes the founder of your noble academy^, one of
your churches, and the chief patron of 3-our public library.
But besides native sons returned to become fathers among 3-011,
ho-ft' man3' sons of others have come to be fathers with them.' Do
I see before me an adopted father prominent in all business enter
prises, who b3- taking a single K-napp within your borders, after
wards became enamored with 3'our whole town ? After the good
Joseph had planted corn on the fertile banks of your little Nile,
did not the whole tribe of brothers, their wives and their little
ones come down to dwell in this Goshen, to live and to die with
3-0U, and ever since have not the Rays of light shone brighter all
around 3'ou? Did not one Caleb, coming Nye to this land of
promise enter in ? Did he not find the grapes of Eschol sweet to
his taste, and did he not Cleve to the land with all his heart?
Frankhn has, indeed, been hospitable to strangers, and strange
mont sent y-ou down a modest Steivart and a Russegue, Middle-
would it be had she not entertained some angels unawares. Ver-
boro an Atiuood and a King, Blackstone a Nolan to heal your"
sick, Belhngham a Freeman to moderate your public meetings,
Stoneham a Squires to manage y-our schools, and Connecticut a
young Father Stewart to Register your good deeds and report your
progress to the outside world. Once, when waiting for more to
come, behold a Waite came and a whole class of new industries
sprang up, as if by magic. Though he must wait patiently to be

ADDENDA. 207
ranked as a father in years, he is known and Felt to be a father in
your largest business industr3-.
Among* your native sons, while some aspired to distinction in
ci^il and professional life, others chose to be simply men of straw.
Of this class a quartette at least have reaped as well as strawed,
and neither the character nor the paper of your Daniels and Greene,
y-our Thayer and Morse need any endorsement from me. Your
master-builder, after long years of service in his chosen vocation,
has recentl3- added musical claims to rank as father, perhaps, to
a large posterit3r.
Though many- of 3^our fathers have " stayed b3' the stuff," no
sin of Achan stains the Bab3-lonish garments, the golden wedge
or the silver shekels which adorn their tents. Among your intel
ligent farmers a Richardson makes your taxes aud writes 3-our
deeds and wills ; a Clark, a Deacon Adams, serving often in af
fairs of church aud state, and many other farmers in 3'ears now
cultivate their ancestral acres.
But what shall I sa3- of those elder fathers, of fourscore 3-ears
and more — a Knapp, a BuUard, a Gilmore, a Daniels, a Pond, a
Holbrook, a Fisher, a Paine, a King and others, the scattering-
remnant of past generations. The events of the da3-, m3' aged
friends, have brought past events before vou iu quick succession.
Where the beautiful village now stands, adorned with churches
aud statel3' dwellings, schools, banjjs, mills, shops, railroad and
telegTaph, 3-ou once saw, and I saw, but a dozen houses and fam
ilies — with the old church, bleak and barren without, and cheer
less and cold within. Together we recall the old noon-houses,
with stone hearth and warm coals ; the hundred horse-sheds flank
ing the meeting-house and Common ; the taU Lombardy- poplars,
with spire-pointed limbs more dead than living. We have heard
on our farms the bleating of sheep, whose washing and shearing
were holiday times for the bo3's. In our houses, though bare of
carpets and pianos, the buzz of the spinning-wheel and the
fl3ing-shuttle foretold the new jackets of homespun to protect us
against the snows of winter. The Bible and catechism, Bunyan
and Baxter, with a volume from the old Franklin library, supplied
the famil3' with solid food for the intellectual man. A little post-
office in the mother-town of Wrentham detained a few letters and
papers, brought weekly for distribution at the store of Asa and
Davis Thayer, chiefly on Sunday noons, before the day of Sunday-
schools. Your ears were greeted with sharp and angry controversies be
tween Federahsts aud Republicans about the embargo and the
gunboat system, the policies of Adams and Jefferson, the treason
and trial of Burr, and the War of 1812.
After alluding to the many home changes and the time when

208 HISTOEY OP FEANKLIN.
the Ponds and Fishers could have out- voted all the rest, Mr. Fisher
continued : —
A prolific emigration has borne man3^ of your sous to the town
I represent (Medway). Deacons Allen and Blake, and Uncle
Elias, all of blessed memory, sleep to-day. But we have living a
Ray, a Fuller, a Daniels — municipal fathers all ; besides Met
calfs aud Bullards, Ponds and Whites, a Clark, a Boyd, a Wood
ward, all fathers, but proud to have been y^our sons in former days.
With a tender reference to his own attachments, the speaker
closed with the sentiment : —
May the young fathers and mothers of Franklin understand
their real mission, and resolve that their 3'oung children, becoming
the future fathers of the town, shall excel in all grace and wisdom
even the best of all the fathers who have gone before them.
4. Our Sons. May they prove themselves worthy descendants
of a sterling ancestry, emulating the thrift and sturdy integrit3' of
the fathers.
George A. Adams, Esq., of Attleboro, after a graceful saluta
tion to his native town, said : —
We haye good reason to entertain deep gratitude and interest
in the welfare of this town, for we have had the advantage of her
schools and educational institutions, and have been surrounded
by her health3' moral influences. Aud to-day the officials and
fathers of the town may congratulate themselves that not a town
in the State of the same size can show less native criminals than
the little town of Franklin.
Mr. President, we can offer no better evidence of the loy
alty of the sons of Franklin than the band of veterans who are
assembled -with us to-da3'. Their heroic deeds and sacrifices are
within the memory of most of those present. I need not recall
that wave of patriotism which swept over our country in 1861.
The sons of Franklin, under the command of Captain Rockwood,
joined with the Wrentham Home Guards, and on this ver3' Com
mon took their first lessons in the tactics of war. Man3' of these
vei-3^ men did noble service on the field of battle in the ranks of
the old Eighteenth Massachusetts. But all of those gallant sol
diers are not here to-da3'. Man3^ lie buried on the fields of Vir
ginia, where the3' nobly gave their lives that we iu prosperity under
a sohd Union might live. May the memory of the fallen be made
especially sacred on this day, and may it never be said in the future
that Franklin is unmindful of their services. May old Franklin
continue in her prosperity. jMay her educational institutions iu-

ADDENDA. 209
¦crease in usefulness. May the busy hum of the factory loom and
the din of industry resound throughout the place until she as a
town shall have obtained a foremost rank in the old Commonwealth.
6. Our Daughters. *
Mrs. H. M. Miller of Providence, formerly Miss Harriet *M.
Partridge, replied in earnest language in behalf of her native town.
We regret we cannot produce her speech.
7. The President of the New England Historic- Genealogical
Society. We welcome his presence not only as the official head of
this association, but as the friend and constant patron of the great
moral and industrial interests of our land, who in his acquisition of
treasures has borne from Franklin two of her fairest daughters.
Verily he should speak on this occasion and give an account of
himself. Hon. Marshal P. Wilder responded : —
Mr. President : Oh ! yes, yes, I -wish I could speak as I ought
in response to the kind sentiments with which you have honored
me. But, sir, I am somewhat in the condition of certain virgins
who appeared on another festive occasion without much oil in their
lamps ; and then, sir, the flame of my lamp is already flickering in
its socket, and will shine but dimly in the presence of so many
luminaries of learning and eloquence whom I see around me. Still
I beg to assure you that I am most happy, happy, happy to be here
and to participate in the ceremonies of this interesting celebration.
I thank you for your recognition of the society over which I have
the honor to preside — a society whose mission is to gather up,
preserve and transmit to future generations all that can be known
of the history, progress and influence of our beloved New England,
in which your good town has played so important a part. When
we reflect upon what our New England has done for our country and
the world, we should remember with undying affection the homes
and sacriflces of our fathers, and the benign examples and influences
that have made us what we are. When we reflect on what the
good old Commonwealth, thank God ! the accomplished statesman
and Christian gentleman — our beloved Governor Rice, who honors
this occasion with his presence — what they have done for the dif
fusion of knowledge, the spread of the gospel, the extension of hu
man freedom, the support of constitutional liberty, and whatever
tends to the advancement and happiness of the human race, I feel
deeply the obhgation which rests upon us, to preserve and trans
mit unimpaired its history to those who are to come after us, and
I commend, with all my heart, occasions hke the present as emi
nently adapted to this purpose. Mr. President, we live in an age
u

210 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
of astonishing acti^yity and enterprise — an age when science, art
and civihzation seem to have been roused from the sleep of centu
ries, and to have commenced a new era in human advancement.
In all this progress your good 'old town of Franklin has furnished
he'r full share of distinguished men and noble women — her Em-
monses, Fishers, Blakes, Thayers, Manns, Millers, Richardsons,
Deans, Metcalfs, Bacons, Bakers, Rays, SmaUeys, Greenes, and
others of fair fame, which she has sent out as ornaments to soci
ety and blessings to our land.
You have also referred to me in connection with the great rural
and industrial interests of our land, the importance of which I
fully realize.
When I consider the vast extent of our country — embracing
almost every variety of soil and cUmate, capable of producing
almost all the various fruits of the habitable globe, its rapidly-in
creasing population, destined, according to the best estimate, to
reach more than a hundred millions of souls, before some who now
hear me shall be carried to their graves, and that all of these are
to be fed from our soil, I am conscious of the importance of the
mission I have assumed. Mr. President, I am very fond of every
thing which pertains to rural life and rural improvement. I can
not remember the time when I did not love the cultivation of the
soil. I am very fond of fruits and flowers — those overflowings of
God's bounty to mankind, and I love to be remembered as one
who in a long life of labor and of love has done something to im
prove and adorn mother earth, something which shall contribute
to the comfort and happiness of those who are to follow us, some
thing that shall live when I have passed away, and pardon me for
saying that I fondly cherish the hope that I may be remembered
in many a beautiful tree, many a luscious fruit, many a lovely
flower when I am sleeping in the dust. Mr. President, there is
another allusion in your sentiment which touches me more ten-
derl3', and to which I am most happy to respond, and I plead
guilty to the soft impeachment of having carried off some of the
choicest treasures of Franklin, and I cannot refrain from thus
publicly acknowledging the deep sense of gratitude I owe her for
the two fair daughters — for to my eyes they seemed the fairest of
the fair — wives who have been the solace aud comfort of my life,
and the pride, joy and blessing of my household. If a virtuous
woman is far above the price of rubies — surely I have been
doubly blest — rich indeed by the inheritance of their loves.
Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for the kind
manner in which you have received my remarks, and I give you as
my sentiment on the occasion — «/ie town of Franklin. May it
prosper in the future as in the past — rising higher and higher in
the scale of human attainments, and, like Frankhn himself, be the
almoner of countless blessings to the world.

ADDENDA. 211
9. Dr. Emmons' Ministi-y.
The response from Rev. Jacob Ide, Jr., of Mansfield, and
grandson of the venerable divine of FrankUn, showed that the
shrewdness and quick wit of the Emmons' stock has not deterio
rated at all in its second remove. Not even the calm and clear-
eyed self-possession of the paternal character could (h) Ide its
flashings, as the following report of his speech will show : —
The great difference between the past and the present is made
strikingl3- apparent by one single fact. Formerly we were sup
posed to gain our ideas of things by examining complete speci
mens ; but now we are furnished with only a small sample. It is
in accordance with this custom, I suppose, that I am placed on
exhibition here as a relic of Dr. Emmons' ministry, and am ex
pected to represent it by contrast.
I had hoped that Edison would have perfected his phonograph
so that it could have been placed upon Dr. Emmons' tombstone
and he could have spoken for himself. I confess, sir, that I am
proud of my grandfather ; but I am afraid, if he were here to-day,
that he would not be willing to reciprocate the compliment. And
yet it is a good thing to have a great man for your grandfather,
for when you are overcome by a sense of your own littleness, you
can comfort y-outself with the hope of becoming great hereafter
through the irresistible force of heredit3^ Dr. Emmons' ministry
extended over more than half a century. Mine has not yet reached
its first quarter. Who knows, sir, what I may be able to achieve
if I am permitted to run the ministerial race as long as he did ?
It is the home-stretch, sir, that tells the story.
Moreover, I am not a little comforted when I think how few
there are who would feel like putting on the cocked hat, or ac
knowledge themselves big enough to fill out that well-remembered
suit of small clothes. If we would reproduce Dr. Emmons we
must find a head like his — a battery of thought sending out
startling shocks for limp theologians ; a heart like his — all afiame
with loya]t3' to truth and right ; a bod3' like his — in subjection to
the higher impulses of his nature, as if it were indeed a temple of
the Holy Ghost.
Dr. Emmons' ministry must certainly be regarded as a success
ful ministry, for he made his people do as he pleased. If that be
not a successful ministry, I do not know what is. I know of a
large number of ministers who would like to succeed in that same
way, and if I thought that putting on a cocked hat and a suit of
small clothes would make my people " wheel into hne " as his did,
I would don them at once. But I feel sad to think how much be
sides the externals would be lacking in m3^ case.
Dr. Emmons' ministry was acknowledged to be an intellectual

212 HISTORY OP FEANKLIN.
ministry. They who went up to that old church on the Sabbath
found a minister in it who did his own thinking. And he did much
to make his hearers close and independent thinkers. He made
them think to some purpose — what they were, where they were,
and where they were going. He subjected them to an immense
pressure on the brain. From that high pulpit he fired the solid
truth down through their heads into their hearts. He did not
arrest attention by
" Words of learned length and thundering sound,"
but by pure thoughts in pure, simple Saxon terms. His Sabbath
sermon was the sensation of the week. Men carried home from
the sanctuary something that was not only worth remembering,
but something that was not easy to forget. He was a penetratiug
preacher. He had sharp points to his arguments. He was an
author that had authority. He addressed -the understanding and
confidently appealed to the reason of his hearers, and Franklin
ma3' well commemorate to-day the educational forces which Dr.
Emmons originated and projected.
Dr. Emmons' ministry was also a discriminating ministry. He
brought into sharp outline the difference between truth and error.
He was never guilty of confounding the finite with the infinite, never
caught in the absurd experiment of pushing tbe latter into the
limits of the former. He was reverently conscious of the distance
between the creature and the Creator, and never so far forgot
himself as to think that he was the Creator and God tbe creature.
His theology was a system, not a speculative jumble. His argu
ments were like express-trains going from premise to conclusion
without stopping at any way-stations. No one who started -with
him on his trains of reasoning ever found himself furnished with a
ticket for one place and left at another.
But i)r. Emmons' ministry was, best of all, fearless, conscien
tious and scriptural. He received the message which came from
heaven as the best that could be obtained and the only one needed.
He never thought it any part of his duty to apologize for the
divine utterances. He never tried to revise the statutes of the
Almighty. A " thus saith the Lord" was to him the end of all
controversy. Whenever he thought it his duty to fire a hot shot
into the camp of error, he sent it right along without stopping to
cool it. He made no allowance for shrinkage in such terms as
eternal and everlasting, but had perfect confidence that the divine
measurements -would hold out under all circumstances. He re
joiced in the fact that God rules the universe and considered it the
noblest attitude of men to bow at once to the declared will of God.
I am thoroughly convinced, sir, that the great secret of his power
was his fidelity to the truth. He received it humbly and obedi-

ADDENDA. 213
ently, and labored with his might to induce others to receive it aud
obey it in the same spirit.
When I see the sliding theological scale of modern ministers —
when I see them slipping from one position to another, uncertain
where they- are — now here, now there, oftenest nowhere — I am
moved to wish them all gathered around the tombstone of Dr.
Emmons, where, through perfected phonograph placed upon it,
they could listen to the well-remembered tones of the old preacher
as he should repeat those familiar words of a greater preacher —
"Make fuU proof of thy ministry. Meditate upon these things.
Give thyself wholly to them. Take heed to thyself and to thy
doctrine — that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and
having done all, to stand !"
10. The Present Ministry of FrankUn.
The lively reply of Rev. E. A. Rand, just sundering his connec
tion with the Congregational church as its acting pastor, has also
to our regret passed into the great company of the unwritten.
11. Horace Mann: a native of Franklin and first Secretary of
the Board of Education of Massachusetts.
Prof. B. Pickman Mann, of Cambridge, youngest son of Hon.
Horace Mann, responded : —
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : The honor in which
the memory of my father is held cannot but be gratifying to me.
If I seek to discover the cause of this honorable remembrance, I find
it in the recognition of the work which my father did, and of the
spirit which animated him in his work. That work had both a phy
sical and a spiritual side to it. The physical work need never to be
done again, but the same spirit will ever find an opportunit3- for its
exercise. I may be pardoned, then, if I endeavor to describe the
spirit in which my father worked.
As a la-wyer, he held to the principle that it is never right to
defend the wrong. Dissenting vehemently from the opinion of
Lord Brougham, that a lawyer must sacrifice himself, his country,
nay even honor and justice itself, if need be, for the defense of his
client, he held that an advocate loses his highest power when he
loses the conscious conviction that he is contending for the truth.
As a public officer he showed a spirit which I cannot better de
scribe than by^ quoting two passages from his private journal ; one
written when appointed Secretary of the Board of Education (June
10th, 1837) : " I now stand in a new relation to the world. Hence
forth, as long as I hold this office, I devote myself to the supremest
welfare of mankind upon earth." The other, written April 18th,
1838, " The Legislature have fixed my salary, as Secretary of

214 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
the board, at $1,500 ; which wiU probably leave about $500 for my
ordinary expenses and services, after defraying the extraordinary
expenses. Well, one thing is certain, if I live and have my heaUh,
I wUl be revenged on them. I wiU do them more than $1 ,500 worth
of good.
As a citizen he held that no form of government is so bad as a
republic, if the members are not educated morally as well as intel
lectually. And as an educator he sought, more t^an has yet been
recognized generally, to promote that moral education which is now
so sadly behindhand in our community.
12. Tlie Public Schools of Franklin.
Rev. S. W. Squires, of the School Committee, gave an enthusi
astic appeal for popular education, which we cannot produce.
13. Dr. Oliver Dean and Higher Education.
Rev. Dr. ChambrS, pastor of Grace church, and President of
the Trustees of the Dean Academ3', was most appropriatel3' called
upon to respond. After a brief acknowledgment of his interest
in the occasion. Dr. Chambr6 proceeded : —
Dr. Dean was born in Franklin in 1783. This was only five
years after the incorporation of the town, whose completed hun
dred years of legal existence we celebrate to-day. His childhood,
and youth, and early manhood, were thus spent amid the toils aud
roughness of a new country and sparse population. To this, in a
large measure, we attribute the ruggedness of character for which
he was so noticeable, his straightforward frankness aud direct
honesty of speech and purpose. Then, his early life was spent
under the ministry of Dr. Emmons — that Nestor of the pulpit of
New England in other da3's. Here again we detect causes which
must have operated powerfull3' in developing the strength of will
aud noble integrity which always characterized Dr. Dean. Al
though never_, at least from a very youthful period, fully sympa
thising with Dr. Emmons theologically, and at length asserting his
doctrinal disagreement by word and action, Dr. Dean cherished
the memory of Dr. Emmons, and spoke in the most affectionate
and respectful terms of his life and labors to the last.
In the providence of God, Dr. Dean was able to practice his pro
fession only eight years. He was compelled to rehnquish it then,
owing to shattered health, so shattered that his friends despaired
of his life. But he lived to the ripe old age of 88. He was not
an idler. Appointed successively to the superintendency of the
Medway cotton factory, aud the Amoskeag Manufacturing Com
pany, he became at last extensively identified with manufacturing
interests, and accumulated a large fortune. This he devoted in

ADDENDA. 215
great part to the promotion of what was nearest to his heart, the
religion of Jesus Christ and the education of youth. He was sub
stantially- the founder and principal support of the Universalist
parish of this town. His gifts to that parish reach nearly $60,000.
To him the parish is almost wholl3' indebted for its present mag
nificent church. The noble and costl3- building which bears his
honored name, " Dean Academy-," is nearl3' altogether the outfiow
of his wise beneficence. To that institution, from first to last, he
devoted between $200,000 and $300,000, that it might be weU es
tablished, and be a perpetuall3' increasing blessing to the youth of
this countr3'. He deepl3r felt that education must be as thorough
and complete as possible, if the integrity and glory of a republic
should be maintained. He recognized that institutions of a higher
grade were indispensable to the highest interests and usefulness of
our public school system. This, unquestionably, is true. The
public schools of this town are stronger and better because Dean
Academ3' is here ; just as, all over this broad land, the public
schools, and aU subordinate schools, are better and stronger be
cause of the infiuence exerted upon them by the colleges and uni-
v^sities. Dr. Dean did not, however, confine himself to the church here,
¦or to Dean Academy. He gave about $100,000 to Tufts College.
He gave generously to the public library of this town, and to that
of Medway. He gave largel3' and wisely in various directions, and
did not neglect the relatives who had claims on his heart and purse.
Not to delay, Mr. President, I think that, perhaps, sufficient
has been said to rank Dr. Dean as a public benefactor, and to en
title his name to go down the history of Franklin side b3' side with
the man you all delight to honor, who was also his friend and con
temporary. Dr. Dean's was a strong, noble, honest and withal a
genial and loving character. Too near, it ma3' be, to be fully
appreciated now, I do not doubt that as the 3-ears pass he will
be more and more recognized and revered as one of the sons of
Franklin, of whom she will be forever proudest.
14. Franklin' s Educated and Professional Men.
Rev. Albert M. Richardson, who had traveled from Lawrence,
Kansas, on purpose to attend the centennial of his native town,
most properly stood forth as the representative of this large class of
our Alumni, and he did his part well. We are able to give his
speech entire : —
Mr. President : I can hardly understand why one of the least
of aU the honored class refen-ed to in this sentiment should have
been selected to respond, unless it is to be accounted for on the
principle that " distance lends enchantment to the view." Having

216 HISTORY OP FEANKLIN.
traveled over fifteen hundred miles, and traversed twelve States,.
that I might be present on this memorable occasion, I suppose the
committee felt that they must take some notice of Western pluck
and perseverance. At any rate I am here, and I am glad to be
here. You have been pleased, sir, to refer to Kansas as "the
garden of the West." Why, sir, it is entirely too large for gar-
.dening purposes. It would take in all New England, and leave a
broad margin for raising garden sauce outside. As a specimen or
Kansas gardening, I have seen a field of wheat containing 2,800
acres. I met a gentleman last week on the cars, from the Solo
mon Valley, who told me he had just -visited a field there which
contained 3,600 acres, all ready for the reapers. That field, at a
low estimate, will 3ield 75,000 bushels. A nice garden that, sir !
I doubt whether Eden itself could boast of a bigger crop. Ac
cording to the report of the commissioner of agriculture, Kansas-
has this year 1,522,787 acres in wheat, which will yield in the
neighborhood of thirty million bushels. Her fields of maize are
counted by the square mile ; her fruit crop last year was valued at,
nearly three million dollars.
So much for our garden. Allow me to add that 60,000 people
have come into Kansas within the last four months, to help us cul
tivate it, and they have taken possession of over one million acres-
of land. They came from the Eastern, Middle and Western
States, and from over the sea. Kansas is no longer "bleeding,
droughty, famine-smitten and locust-eaten." She is the Canaan
of the West — the Land of Promise, whither the tribes go up to-
possess her. Kansas is planted with New England seed corn, and
very prolific has it proved in that virgin soil. It has brought forth
fruit an hundred fold.
The first settlers of that State were from old Massachusetts —
God bless her ! The same principles that brought the Pilgrims to-
Plymouth in the Mayflower, sent their descendants to Kansas in
1853 to estabhsh civil and religious freedom.
The historic city of Lawrence — baptized in flre and blood —
with its 10,000 inhabitants, its churches, schools and State Uni
versity — beautiful for situation — bears the honored name of
Amos A. Lawrence, while its principal street is named Massachu
setts. Kansas, sir, is thoroughly impregnated with New England
principles and ideas, and (I ought to add) she has some ideas of
her own besides. She has had representatives from Franklin, like
nearly every other place of importance, almost from the first. The
Leonards were there at an early day. Also Dr. Amor3' Hunting,
whose family stiU resides there. Luther Dean followed, and others.
whom I have not time to name. Indeed, sir, when I travel in the-
West, I meet the sous and daughters of Franklin pressing west
ward, in obedience to Horace Greeley's memorable injunction..

ADDENDA. 217
And I have met so many abroad that I felt it my duty to come
back, on this Centennial year, and see if there was anybody left
behind. And I assure you, sir, I am surprised to see what a
crowd you can muster, still, of genuine natives ; you have verified
the Scripture statement, " There is that scattereth, and y-et in-
creaseth." The more you send abroad, the faster you seem to-
multiply at home — proving that the remark, attributed to Daniel
Webster, respecting New Hampshire is equally applicable to cen
tury old Franklin, viz. : It is a good place to raise men! It is,
perhaps, hardly in good taste for me to speak in this presence of
the qaodity of this product of my native soil. I will say this much,
however — I doubt whether any town of its size in this Common
wealth can show a better record of intelligent, educated and useful
men (and women, too,) than Franklin. More than a score have
entered the Christian ministry since my recollection, and are prov
ing themselves workmen that need not be ashamed of their work..
Several have been missionaries in our own and in foreign lands.-
The medical and legal professions, too, have been largely and well
represented by her sons. The intellectual pabulum dealt out in
FrankUn pulpit from the days of Dr. Emmons until now has been
of the most sohd and substantial character, and in those early-
times it was largely reinforced, stimulated and given a practical
direction by the efficient training received at the old Academy, of
which my honored friend and teacher — the orator of the day —
Rev. Dr. Blake, was the flrst preceptor. A goodly company of
young men owed their entrance upon, and success in a professional
hfe, to instructions received within those hallowed walls from the
lips of Dr. Blake and his successors.
AUow me, in closing these rambling remarks, to add that Dr.
Frankhn builded better than he knew, when, in reply to the sug
gestion of a friend, that a bell for the church might be an accept
able present, he replied that " If the good people of Franklin were
the sort of folk he took them to be, they were more fond of sense
than sound," and sent them books instead of a bell. That library
was kept, in my boyhood, in my father's house, and to its perusal
I was indebted for a taste for reading and a thirst for knowledge.
But, sir, while books are better than bells, they also make more
noise in the world. Brains are sure to be heard from ; and Frank
lin has a son of whose authorship she may well be proud, but of
whom it does not become me to speak in this presence. His books
for the young are read on both sides of the sea. In short, sir, if
the next century does as well as the past, Frankhn will be "no
mean city." Her educated and professional men and women will
be among the brightest hghts in the flrmament of literature, and
her second centennial -will probably usher in the millennium. So
mote it be.

218 HISTOEY OP PRANKLIN.
15. Our Next Centennial.
Rev. W. M. Thayer replied with the following original
centennial dream.
I dreamed — and yet not all a dream
(For dreams are airy things,
When Eeason folds its restless powers,
And Fancy spreads her wings,)
That for a hundred years I slept,
A nap of wondrous date.
And woke amid the clang of bells
In nineteen seventy-eight.
The same old sun in grandeur bore
The flaming torch on high ;
The same fair earth from flowery shriue
Bore incense to the sky.
Sweet Venus with the pretty maids
Was brilliant as of old ;
The same still night upon her breast
Wore studs of burnished gold.
All else how changed ! Strange mystic sight
That met my wandering view !
Was this illusion's fatal cheat ?
All things so strangely new !
Amazed I stood ! spcU-bound I looked
Aud viewed the picture o'er!
And looked again ! Could this be true ?
And wondered more and more.
Is this the town where I was born ?
And now a city fair!
Three miles in length, and-flfty bells
All ringing in the air.
What Midas-touch hath wrought this change ?
What meains this fairy view ?
Ye gods that love mysterious things,
Come, tell me, is this true ?
Fleet coursers o'er the pavements flew;
The horse-cars came and went;
A mighty crowd surged to and fro
On joyous mission bent;
And flags with groups of sixty stars
Waved from the spires that rose ;
And cannon pealed two hundred guns.
From day-dawn to its close.

ADDENDA. 219

The City Hall on yonder height
Stood grandly in that hour;
Five thousand souls could sit and list
Beneath its lofty tower.
I bent my steps to view it o'er
With gems of art replete,
And found myself bewildered quite
And lost on Alpine street.
In time I reached the City Hall,
Of structures seen the crown;
1 found my great-great-great-grandson
Was mayor of the town ;
His aldermen around him stood
Dressed in official rig;
The mayor was a little man,
The aldermen were big.
Within the spacious hall select,
Arrayed by ladies fair,
A museum of. ancient things
Drew crowds of people there.
A mass of relics, rare and old,
Around, above, below;
They said that all of these were used
A hundred years ago.
The first that caught my startled gaze.
Most curious relic yet !
Just as it is for all the world,
Our dear old town-house set;
And men were making fun of things
That women wore so queer.
I saw the ladies laughing o'er
The hat I use this year.
I could not tell the reason why
They scanned it o'er and o'er,
For queerest of all things to me,
Were what the women wore.
Such hats upon their dainty heads,
Enough to fright a beau!
And yet they said " that hat was worn
A hundred years ago ! "
Just then the city bells rang out ;
Some fifty bells or more ;
The band struck up Centennial march
Amid the cannon's roar;

220 HISTORY OP PEANKLIN.
The setting sun threw back his joy
In every golden beam ;
The grandeur awed my soul ; I woke
And lo! it was a dream.
16. Franklin's earliest manufactures.
The respon'se of Davis Thayer, one of the leading manufac
turers of the town, and representing the'oldest straw house in the
State, will be found substantially in^the account of the industries
of the town already given.
17. The Press.
J. M. Stewart of the Franklin Register replied briefly, as the
time was short : —
Mr. President : You allow me eight minutes in which to teU
what I know about the Press. Ample time, sir ; although I must
resort to one of the methods of my trade and ' ' boil down " my
paragraphs. .....
The editorial field is as extensive as the world we live upon.
Some few editors have attempted to extend its boundaries, so as-
to embrace other worlds, but I have not heard that they have met
¦with much success, except when dealing with facts palpable, or
the positive discoveries of science. As a rule, however, your
hard-headed, trained editor minds his own business, and is not
much given to abstruse disquisitions, which may make men wonder
but are not apt to enlighten anybody. No man is quicker than he
to catch a thing that has a tail to it ; and he is very careful to
avoid those which are all head and no tail, for he believes in bal
ancing things by natural rules ; although — such is the perversity
of readers — he sometimes finds he has taken a bull by the hornSy
and the danger is about evenly balanced between letting go or
holding on.
Sir, if these flgures of rhetoric seem unseemly at this time, and
in this presence, please read my meaning " between the lines."
There you will find the pith of the whole matter — the " sugar in
the gourd," which is valuable in proportion to the difficulty with
which it is gathered. I could, were I so disposed, make a spread
eagle of my theme, and soar away into the empy'rean, and prob
ably- amaze some one here ; I would certainly astonish myself, for
I am not used to that sort of thing. If I am to be natural I must
be blunt — hit hard and quick, and have done with it. Two things
also warn me to mind my own particular business, now, and keep
down from a height that might be perilous ; the flight of my little
time, and the presence above this vast assemblage — which I seem
to realize — of that grand old man, whose name our town bears,
Franklin. While serenely smiling upon these festi-yities, which I

ADDENDA. 221
doubt not he enjoys with all the zest of an ever youthful feeling,
he says to me — Few words are best ; don't prose ; stick to the
point, and stop when you are through 1 There, sir, in aphoristic
brevity he has given y-ou the whole duty of an editor, and, by im
plication, a rule for the editor's particular friends, the correspond
ents. For, sir, Franklin once was an editor — a man of sorrows.
It is the pride of our craft to say this, although he fortunately^ be
came, as is natural to the craft, a philosopher, but in his early
years, and before he took to his bed to die. Happy were it for
the world if all editors might be Franklins ; most happy now,
while such tremendous social and political upheavals are going on
all over the earth. That old gray goose-quill, that never penned
a useless sentence, would make a safe rudder to steer our nation's
vessel through the present troubled waters, where an ounce of
good sense is worth a ton of editorial folly and haphazard ad-yice
and conjecture. Think, sir, of Franklin writing his views upon
the present Congress !
But I forbear, sir, this is dangerous ground. Your glance warns
-me that my time is up. In closing, I give you " The Memory of
Franklin," and let each one who hears me round off for himself
the toast with a sentiment of his own choosing.
The skies, which had once during the services vociferously
showered down their benedictions, were now placidly calm and
clear, and the audience reluctantly lifted the closing hymn by the
poet of the day. Come, ere we part for other scenes,
The wreath of friendship twine ;
We'll pledge each other here to-day
In songs of " Auld Lang Syne."
The fathers ne'er shall be forgot;
Their deeds heroic shine ;
Their virtues like the sun illume
The days of "Auld Lang Syne."
Their children meet and part again
'Mid blessings all divine;
Perhaps to meet no more belOw
To tell of "Auld Lang Syne."
Oh! may we meet when time is o'er
Beneath the Living Vine,
And sing with those we loved on earth
In days of " Auld Lang Syne."
At the close of the singing, and after the benediction, the ser
vices were adjourned for one hundred years and the audience

222 HISTORY OP FEANKLIN.
slowly dwindled in joyous and tearful chattiugs of the past, as
they shook pledged hands over the future and parted for the pres
ent. It was a royal, blessed day, without break or accident to
mar its success. THE MUSEUM.
The museum of antiquities, to which allusion has been made,
was in the capacious chapel in the rear of the Congregational
church. Nearly a thousand people visited it during the day, and
it was opened, at a small entrance fee, for two succeeding days.
The industry and success of the ladies' committee in gathering so
many articles struck every one as remarkable.
A catalogue was carefully made by Mrs. W. C. Whiting, from
which are selected some of the rarer specimens of "ye olden
time " for briefest mention : —
Foremost was the old-time kitchen, arranged by Mrs. A. A.
Fletcher, with andirons, pot-hooks, trammels and settle complete.
Bibles and books of all ages, from an illuminated Roman missal
of 1485, on vellum, a black letter missal bound in wood and vellum,
clasped, and an Elzevir treatise of 1634, by Rev. Dr. Chambr^ ;.
a series of manuscript sermons by the Wrentham and Franklin
pastors, complete from Messenger to Southworth ; a file of alma
nacs to 1800.
Of household utensUs were, Mayflower candlesticks, by Mrs.
E. K. Ray ; an hour-glass, 180 years old ; a wooden castor, by
Mrs. M. Pherson ; a brass milk-pan used by British soldiers in.
Boston, by Adin Fisher ; an old brass clock six feet high, by H.
Bemis ; China sets, platters, etc., of unknown antiquity; the
brass andirons of Dr. Emmons' study, by Mrs. S. Warfield ; tape
loom of Mary Whiting, one of the flrst settlers of Wrentham ;
Nathaniel Thayer's settle, 123 years old, by J. F. Ray ; cradle of
Dea. Joseph Whiting's family, by Mrs. W. C. Whiting ; Rev. C.
Barnum's and Rev. Dr. Emmons' study chairs ; a copper kettle
from Marblehead, 200 years old, by L. Howard ; spinning-wheels,
and a four-wheeled miniature wagon for the twins of 1824, made
by John King.
Of garments,' a century-old travehug-bag, by S. Hubbard;
buckskin breeches, many pairs ; kid shppers, numberless ; Dr. Em
mons' tri-cornered hat, and the first Mrs. Emmons' white satin

ADDENDA. 223
bridal shoes ; infants' caps, slips, etc., including that of the ora
tor of the day ; Dr. Nathaniel Miller's wedding vest — pea-green,
satin embroidered ; Dea. Joseph Whiting's wig and leather-bowed
spectacles of 1750.
Of the miscellanies were the pitch-pipe of Austin Metcalf;
the sword of Capt. Eben. Dean, grandfather of Dr. 0. Dean ;
the gun and accoutrements of James Holbrook, at Saratoga, by
W. Stanley ; the bell of the first Franklin cow, by Dea. W. C.
Whiting ; a silver brooch of Dr. Ebenezer Metcalf, 1745, by Ma
ria Fisher ; a piUion used by Governor Winthrop's family, by Mrs.
Adams Daniels ; the noted bear-trap of David Gilmore " on the
mount ; " a baby's christening-dress of Ruth Clark, and used for
that service by a line of Ruths until to-day ; an ingenious tablet
of Indian relics, an-ows, etc., by W. W. Cowell, of Wrentham.
Many portraits and silhouettes of Franklin's former worthies
hung around the walls, and the rooms of the chapel were filled with
portraits, rarities whose description would fill a large volume.
None knew the town was so rich in relics of the fathers, and all
felt they should be sacredly treasured by the town in a fire-proof
building for the next centennial.
The centennial day was closed by^ a vocal concert from singers
secured from abroad, in aid of the celebration fund. It was
largely attended, and formed an appropriate finale to the mem
orable day.

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES

EARLIEST FAMILIES IN FRANKLIN.

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES.

These genealogical notices are necessarily brief and imperfect —
brief for want of space, and imperfect because they have been,
most of them, gathered from the town records of Wrentham and
Frankhn (to which families sometimes neglected to make re-
tm-ns) . A few, like those of the Adams, Pond and Richardson
families, have been compiled from published genealogies, and may
be considered complete in their Franklin branches. Our research
has been as extensive as possible in the time in tracing the other
families. No doubt a longer time and a wider correspondence would
have given a richer result. But a genealogist knows that years
must be consumed on one full family register. ' ,
We have only aimed by these few notes to excite an interest in
our townsmen to trace their family lines for themselves. We have,
therefore, gone rather backward than forward, that they might find
some sure starting point among the early settlers of the country.
But they are brought down within reach of the present, so that
those disposed can easily attach their own families to their proper
ancestral line. Space would not allow our coming lower down;.
It were utterly out of the compass of this history to give even
the briefest genealogical notice of all the present dwellers in Frank
lin. We have, therefore, confined our notes to the list of peti
tioners for a precinct, as given on page 25. That list includes
all the earliest settlers of the town. If any regret thattheir names
do not find a place, they must. blame their ancestors for notmo-ying
into the precinct in season. It should be added, however, that the
names of a few later settlers are inserted in this hst who have kindly
furnished ancestral portraits or ¦yiews of their homesteads for the
iUustration of the book. To such, and to all others, we are grate
ful for these illustrations, which will form, to some, the chief at
traction of the volume. - -
In the notices foUo^wing, the numbers before named refer back

228 HISTOEY OP FEANKLIN.
to the same number in the family Une. The daughters can be
traced, when married, by their husband's surname.
Lastly, if the dates disagree with the family registers in the
" big ha' bible," please refer the difference to the errors of the
town records. They have aUbeen personally and carefully copied.
Any corrections wiU be gladly accepted, for the correcting of
the author's own copy and possible future use.
THE ADAMS FAMILY.*
1. John Adams, immigrant ancestor, born in 1685 at Credi-
ton, Devonshire, England. Seized in youth by a press-gang and
forced to serve as cabin boy on a man-of-^war. Escaped at Salem
and fied to Medfield. Recaptured, he again escaped and hid in
Wrentham. Afterwards bought and settled on the farm now oc
cupied by Dea. Peter Adams. Was a weaver by trade. He mar
ried 24th September, 1713, Sarah, daughter of John and Hannah
Fairbank. She was born 22d March, 1696, in AVrentham, and
died 13th May, 1754, three days after her husband. Their chil
dren were : 2, John, born 18th June, 1715 ; married Rachel
Adams. Mary, born 15th March, 1716 ; married Jabes Fisher.
Sarah, born 15th February, 1718 ; married Matthew Smith. Han
nah, born 25th March, 1721 ; married Michael Metcalf. 3, Peter,
born 2d February, 1722; married Esther Ward. Abigail, born
14th February, 1725. Ann, born 7th February, 1728. Esther,
boru 8th March, 1732. Elizabeth, born 14th July, 1735 ; married
Henry Wilson, of Rowe. The last four children probably left
town. 2. John, "Ensign," lived at " Nason's Crossing." His farm
included the present Common. He died 30th May, 1793. His
wife Rachel, born 1715 ; died 2d April, 1789. Their children
were: Timothy, born 6th February, 1742; married Jemima
Thayer, of Mendon. Parents and four children all died young,
and one stone in the Franklin cemetery now covers the whole
family. 4, Thaddeus, born 13th June, 1745;. married Rachel
Lawrence. 5, John, born 1748 ; married Naomi Pratt. 6, Na
thaniel, born 17th August, 1751 ; married first Hannah Fisher,
second Zebia CoUock. 7, William, born 1755 ; married Elizabeth
Whiting. Rachel, born 11th March, 1758 ; married Asa Fisher.
» From a Genealogy compiled by Gardner Adams.

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 229
3. Peter lived on the homestead ; died 12th March, 1802. His
wife, Esther, born 17th February, 1732 ; died Uth November,
1809. Their children were: Jemima, born 16th March, 1752;
married Jesse Robbins. Joel, born 21st July, 1753 ; married
Jemima Robbins. Molly, died young. Peter, born 24th Febru
ary, 1758 ; died 27th September, 1778, in the Revolutionary War.
Eunice, born 24th February, 1760 ; married Calvin Metcalf and
went to Winthrop, Me. 8, Ward, born 28th November, 1762 ;
married Olivia Daggett. Junia, died young. Esther, born 15th
July, 1767 ; married Eli Taft, and went to Upton. 9, James,
born 6th May, 1769 ; married first Sarah Bacon, second Lucy
Fairbank. ApoUus, died young. 10, Nehemiah, born 11th Jan
uary, 1773; married Mary Clark; removed to Union, Me. Je
mima and Joel also went to Union, Me.
4. Thaddeus bought and lived on the present town farm ; he
died 28th June, 1827. His wife, Rachel, daughter of Ebenezer
Lawrence ; born 24th February, 1751 ; died 27th September, 1823.
Their children: Lucinda, born 5th October, 1771 ; married Joseph
Gilmore, Abigail, born 12th May, 1773 ; married Abadiah A.
Thayer, and went to West Wrentham. Thaddeus, born 22d June,
1775; married Peggy Or cutt, and went to Brewer, Me. Rachel,
born 25th October, 1777 ; married Seneca Aldrich, and left town.
Timothy, born 19th March, 1781 ; married Betsey Payson, aud
went to Bucksport, Me. 11, Alpheus, born 22d December, 1785 ;
married Achsa Partridge.
5. John^ removed to Walpole^ N. H., where his youngest child
was born ; he died in August, 1836. His first wife, Naomi Pratt,
Medfield; died 1793; he married second Eunice Moulton, and
third Elizabeth Stearns ; he died May, 1851 ; he had sixteen chil
dren ; three only^ remained in town, viz. : Sally, born 25th Janu
ary, 1772 ; married Jonathan Hawes. Eunice (by second wife)
born 7th January, 1795 ; married Fisher Daniels. Lois, born
- 26th June, 1797 ; married Jeremiah Claflin.
6. Nathaniel was in the Revolution, called " Captain," lived
and kept a store on Davis Thayer's Corner. In 1815 removed to
Providence, and died in 1834. His wife, Hannah Fisher, died 9th
AprU, 1790 ; married, second, Zebia CoUock. One child only staid
in town, Hannah, born 8th April, 1781 ; married Bela Cleveland.
7. William lived at " Nason's Crossing," was noted as "Uncle

230 HISTOEY OP PEANKLIN.
BiU." He died 28th March, 1828. His wife died in 1833. Chil
dren were: Betsey, born 20th August, 1783; married Ichabod
Dean. Amos, born 15th November, 1785 ; married flrst Betsey
FoUett, second Mrs. Sally B. Partridge ; removed to Medwa3'.
WilUam, born 11th March, 1789 ; married Mary Fisher, and re
moved to Medway. Whiting, born 22d March, 1793.
8. Ward, died 25th October, 1792 ; wife died 1788 ; had one
child, Ebenezer Ward, born 23d July, 1787; married Mima,
daughter of Joel Adams, and removed to Union, Me.
9. James, deacon and justice of the peace, lived on the home
stead. He died 16th April, 1830 ; first wife died 1806 ; second
wife, Lucy F., born 19th July, 1789 ; died 1st July, 1878. Children
by flrst wife : Chloe Fales, born 1st January, 1797 ; married Jo
seph A. Metcalf and removed to Winthrop, Me. Thomas Bacon,
born 16th January, 1799 ; married Elizabeth Adams, of Read-
field, Me., and removed to Maine. James, Rev., born 21st Octo
ber, 1800. (See biographical sketches.) By second wife, Sarah
Bacon, born 27th June, 1809 ; married Rev. E. W. Robinson.
(See biographical sketches.) 12, Peter, born 3d April, 1811 ;
married Clarissa D. Richardson. Lucy Maria, born 19th March,
1817; mamed James Bigelow, of Boylston.
10. Nehemiah, removed to Union, Me., but previously had
three children in Franklin. He died 14th December, 1854. His
wife, of Medfield, died 14th April, 1821. His only son in town.
Ward, born 23d November, 1798, married Hannah Blake. He
died 27th October, 1865.
11. Alpheus, lived on the home farm till he sold it to the town
for the poor; went to Nashua, N. H., in 1836, but returned in
1846 and died in town, 9th January, 1852. His wife, Achsa,
daughter of Simon and Achsa (Metcalf)- Partridge, born 4th
March, 1787, died 25th January, 1868. Their children were:
Albert, born 22d December, 1807 ; married first Mary C. Daniels,
S3Cond Sophronia Heald, third Susan D. White ; had seven chil
dren. Simeon Partridge, born 16th November, 1809 ; married
Harriet B. Wood. Emerson, born 5th December, 1812 ; mar
ried Abigail Blake and removed to Sherbora. Gardner, born
2d April, 1818 ; married Eunice R. Darhng. Erastus, born 22d
January, 1821 ; married first Mary G. Powell, second Lucetta A.
Harvey. Achsa Metcalf, born 2d November, 1824 ; married

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 231
Merrill E. Carter, and lives in S3-racuse, N. Y. Of this family
onl3' thirteen now reside in town.
12. Peter, deacon, lives on the ancestral farm, and has ehil-
dr^ : James Francis, born 2d January^, 1842 ; married Mary^ A.,
daughter of Lucy M. Bigelow. Abby Maria, born 31st January,
1855. Herbert, born 28th October, 1857. Charles R. was killed
in Sheridan's campaign, near Winchester, Va., and four children
died young.
The descendants of " Ensign" John and Peter Adams counted
in 1874, 924, and of John, the immigrant, 1,814 persons ; number
of marriages, 358. Less than a score now of the Adams family
live in Franklin. THE ALLEN FAMILY.
The flrst of this name in town was Abijah, a native of Natick,
who came from Dover just before the incorporation of the town.
His first child, Samuel, was the flrst birth after that event. He
married AbigaU Maxcy 17th June, 1777. His children were:
Samuel, born 15th March, 1778. ,Mary, born 16th December,
1779. AbigaU and Maxcy, twins; both died young. Marena,
born 12th May, 1787. Abijah, born 27th May, 1789. Cyrug,
born 29th May, 1793. Alfred, born 25th September, 1797 ; died
3d March, 1825. Samuel married Sarah W. Aldis, and had Aldis,
born 13th November, 1803. (See biographical sketches.) He
married, second, Jubetta Metcalf, of Franklin, and removed to
Medway VUI., where he was chosen deacon of the Congregational
chm'ch, and had other children born there. Cyrus married Sarah
Bacon 1th October, 1825, and had: Marena, born 10th Septem
ber, 1826. George, born 6th April, 1828. Cyrus Milton, born
6th June, 1831. Thomas Bacon, born 7th October, 1836.
Another Allen family in the north part of the town is of a differ
ent ancestry. THE BACON FAMILY.
The immigrant, according to Savage, was Michael. He came
from Ireland to Dedham with his wife and four children, Michael,
Daniel, John and Sarah. He died winter of 1647-8. John
married Rebeka, and had John. Rebeka, married John Gay.
Daniel, Samuel. 2, Thomas. Mary, married Nathaniel Kings
bury ; and Susanna, married Jonathan Dewing. He died 17th

232 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
June, 1683. His widow died 27th October, 1694. Of this hne is
Rev. Dr. L. Bacon, of New Haven.
2. Thomas settled in Wrentham, and his family is recorded
there. He married Hannah Fales, and had seven children : 3,
Thomas, born 26th November, 1693. Hannah, born 25th April,
1697 ; married Robert Pond. James, born 28th October, 1700.
Martha, born 8th October, 1703 ; married John Shepard. Jacob,
born 9th September, 1706. (First preacher in the West precinct.)
John, born 22d April, 1710. Sarah, died young.
3. Thomas, Jr., married Deborah  , and had: Kezia,
born 7th June, 1725 ; married Robert Blake. 4, Thomas, Deborah,
Samuel, and Rebecca.
4. Thomas, 3d, Captain. Performed good service in the Revo
lution. He had, by his wife Lydia Pond, ten children. One only
Son, Amofe, of whom we know no more.
The Franklin Une of Bacons is traceable no further back than
Seth. He married Abigail Whiting 3d June, 1762, and had flve
children : Joseph, born 19th June, 1763. Theophilus, died at 17
years. Sarah, born 13th March, 1768. 3, Thomas, born 16th
May, 1771. AbigaU, born 12th June, 1774.
2. Joseph married Ruth Heaton 17th January, 1804. Chosen
deacon of Franklin church 1st January, 1806, and died 6th May,
1843. They had : 4, Joseph Thomas, born 14th February, 1808 ;
married Mary Ann Metcalf; and Delia Emmons, born 28th Feb-
ruar3', 1815 ; married Samuel Metcalf, Jr.
3. Thomas married 26th April, 1796, Ruth Adams, and had
SaU3', born 23d August, 1797, who married Cyrus Allen. On his
sudden death, 15th May, 1799, his widow Ruth married Joseph
Whiting, 3d.
4. Joseph T. was deacon of the Frankhn church, chosen 15th
October, 1835. He was gored by a bull, of which he died in the
past spring. His wife died soon after. They had : Abby Mi
randa ; married Dea. E. E. Baker. Thomas Metcalf, George, and
EUen. THE BAKER FAMILY.*
1. Richard, immigrant in Dorchester, 1639; married Faith,
daughter of Henry Withington, and had at least two sons and six
* From a Genealogy compiled hy Edward Baker, Dorchester,

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GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 233
daughters; he died 25th October, 1689. His son, 2, John, mar
ried Preserved, daughter of Thomas Trott, and had ten children.
He died 26th August, 1690. His son, 3, Abijah, posthumous,
born 25th February, 1691 ; married Hannah Jones, and settled in
Frankhn south of Beaver Pond ; he died 31st December, 1761.
His son, 4, Abijah, born 15th October, 1718 ; married Esther
Smith; he died 27th September, 1780. His son, 5, Abijah, born
11th August, 1749 ; married March, 1775, Esther Parker ; shedieji
12th May, 1795 ; and he married 17th April, 1796, Phebe Boyden ;
she died 19th November, 1821 ; he died 19th AprU, 1824. A
view of the Baker homestead near the center of the town is in
serted ; Dea. E. E. Baker now occupies it. The children of Abi
jah and Esther were : Esther, born 25th September, 1779 ; mar
ried John Warfleld, whose grandson is Rev. F. A. Warfield, pastor
of the Union chm-ch, in Boston. David, born 5th June, 1782.
Anna, born 5th June, 1786 ; died unmarried 2d May, 1864. 6,
Da^yid, captain ; town clerk ; married, flrst, Jemima, daughter of
Ehsha and Abigail (La^wrence) Richardson ; she died 26th July,
1845 ; married, second, Lucy F. Perry of HoUiston, who died 13th
August, 1874 ; he died 11th October, 1861.
Captain Baker was especially well known as a clerk of the town
for many years. In his day it Was the custom to cry all intentions
of marriage on three public occasions, and his clear voice from his
pew in the meeting-house at the beginning of the Sunday after
noon service made many a youth and maiden hang their heads as
it j)ublished aloud their often unsuspected engagements. Many
who endured this e:*posure will recognize the familiar face of
Captain Baker in the portrait following this brief family notice.
On the election of Davis Thayer, Jr., as town clerk, the imme
morial usage was exchanged for the milder form of a posted notice.
But Captain Baker was yet better known as an energetic aud pub-
he-spirited citizen, a faithful father and a decided Christian man.
Captain Baker had six children : Abijah Richardson. (See
biographical sketches.) Charlotte, married Rev. Asa Hixon.
(See biographical sketches.) Abigail, married Hon. M. P. WUder.
(See biographical sketches.) Jemima Jane, married Daniel H.
Forbes of Westboro ; school-teacher in Charlestown, Mass. David
Parker, married Lois Angenette Green of Franklin. Julia, mar
ried Hon. M. P. Wilder. (See biographical sketches.) Erastus

234 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
Emmons, " Deacon ; " married Abby M., daughter of Dea. Joseph
T. Bacon of Frankhn ; his son, David Erastus. (See biographi
cal sketches.) THE BLAKE FAMILY.
The branch of this widely-spread family which settled in Frank
lin descended from Robert, although the posterity- of John appears
in town. Robert is believed to have been an original immigrant,
as a research of many years has not linked him with any other
Blakes in the country. But many facts point to Taunton, England,
as the habitat of his family, and to a connection with Cromwell's
famous sea-king, Admiral Robert, and with Sarah, one of the
earliest settlers of South Carohna. Information is invited by the
author. 1. Robert was born 1675, married 7th January, 1703, Sarah,
daughter of John and Sarah Guild, of Wrentham. He bought the
farm on the east side of Blake's Pond (since miscalled Archer's) and
built his house on the crown of the hill, parts of which entered into
the present dwelling there. When he cleared the forest, he left
the old oak now standing by the wayside, which " was called the
old oak," his grandson Phihp said, " by the old people when he was
a boy." He died 4th October, 1735, aged 60. His widow married,
30th March, 1738, Nathaniel Pen-y. She died 30th July, 1757.
They had ten chUdren.
Bette married Benjamin Hall. Sarah married flrst Thomas
Fisher, second James Newe. 2, Robert, born 22nd December,
1707. 3, Josiah, born 4th March, 1710. Nathan, born 13th
March, 1712. Ezra, born 12th Ma3', 1714. Hepzibah, married
Capt. Benjamin Shepard of Wrentham. Obadiah, born 9th June,
1719. Esther, married David Jones and removed to Abington.
Elijah, born 13th October, 1723. The ages of these ten children
summed up nearly nine hundred years, three of them attaining to
a century.Nathan, Sarah and Obadiah removed to Keene, N. H. Nathan
was the flrst settler there ; spent the first winter alone and built
the first house in Ashuelot, as then called. He was captured by
the Indians, April, 1746, and taken to Canada, where he was made
a chief for his prowess and inventiveness, but was finaU3r exchanged
and returned to Keene. Obadiah had been a ph3'sicianin Wrent
ham, and became the first doctor in Keene on his settlement there.

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Heliotype Printing Co., 220 Devonshire Street, Boston.

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 235
2. Robert, Captain, married Keziah, daughter of Thomas and
Deborah Thurston. He died 22d December, 1800, aged 93. She
died 19th April, 1794. They have only two children recorded:
Keziah, born 29th October, 1743. 4, Robert, born 14th July, 1749.
3. Josiah, Ensign; married Martha, daughter of Joseph and
Martha CoweU. He died 25th February, 1795, aged 85., She
died 8th February, 1772. They had seven children: Abigail,
married David Holbrook. Josiah, born 15th October, 1742 ; mar
ried Margaret Druce. Nathan, born 6th July, 1744; married
Mary Day and removed to Union, Me. 5, Philip, born 6th March,
1746. Martha, married Abijah Wilder. Hephsibah, unmarried,
and a celebrated midwife within a circuit of forty miles from
Wrentham. 4. Robert, married 11th October, 1770, Eunice Bordin. He
lived in Wrentham and died there 8th November, 1776. She
died 11th Januar3-, 1816. They had three children: Chloe, born
1st June, 1773. Calvin, born 17th December, 1774. 6, Rob
ert, born 1st January, 1777.
5. Philip, deacon of Wrentham church, removed to Franklin
about 1790 and bought a farm of John Adams. He married, first,
.Sarah, daughter of Elijah and Sarah (Morse) Allen of Medfield,
who died 24th May, 1795 ; second, Beriah Lawrence, who died 23d
May, 1828 ; third. Widow Olive Whiting, of Wrentham. He died
16th December, 1836 at over 90. He had ten children by his first
wife, of whom only five reached maturity : Patty (or Martha)
married Eh Messenger of Wrentham and removed to Pawtucket,
R. I. Josiah, born 16th April, 1782, removed to Rockville and
became deacon of the East Medway church. Sarah, married
Henry Campbell, of Oxford, and removed there. Hepzibah, mar
ried Asa Fuller and resided in North P^rauklin. Their son, New
ell, lives on their homestead. Asa Metcalf B. is a prominent
citizen of West Medway. 7, Ira, born 19th October, 1790.
6. Robert, married 11th April, 1799, Abigail Blake. He died
•22d December, 1800 ; she died 3d January, 1833. They had nine
¦children: Austin, born 3d March, 1800. Robert, Jr., born 4th
March, 1802. Herman R. (not recorded.) Roxana, born 28th
October, 1805. Joel Nelson, born 12th May, 1807. Stephen
Mann, born 1st January, 1811. Lewis, born 11th Januar3', 1812.

236 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
Abigail, born 9th June, 1816. Charles Fisher, born 24th Febru
ary, 1818. Carohne, born 13th February, 1820.
7. Ira. Went to Pittston, Me., where he married Laura,
daughter of Capt. Augustus and Chloe (Fisk) Mowry, of Putney,
Vt. ; returned to Franklin in 1817, and lived upon the homestead.
He died 20th September, 1848 ; she died 1st October, 1867. They
had seven children: Mortimer. (See graduates.) Sarah, Au
gustus Mowry, lives in New London, Conn. Laura Matilda,
married William Rockwood. Oramel Bradley on the homestead.
Other Blakes, residents in town, have been : Solomon frouL
Wrentham, who settled on the Mt. Hope road and had Solomon,
Jr. This family has entirely left town. Abraham, Jr., also from
Wrentham, represented now by Al-yin Blake, and David Partridge
Blake, who married Polly, daughter of Elihu Pond. Some of his
family live in the northern part of the town. But the name has
mostly disappeared. THE CLARK FAMILY.
The Clarks of Franklin are traced to Jonathan and Experience
of Wrentham, who had eight children, of whom —
1. John, the eldest, born 22d October, 1725; married, 16th
Januar3', 1752, Ruth Baxter, and had eight children. 2, Abijah,
born 4th March, 1755 ; married Melatiah Pond. Susanna, born.
30th July, 1757 ; married Nathaniel Thayer. Ruth, born 14th
June, 1760 ; married Asa Metcalf. Mary, born 22d December,
1762 ; married Le^vi Fisher. Nathan, born 26th November, 1765 ;,
married Subra Metcalf. Sarah, born 7th May, 1768. 3, Paul,
born 26th October, 1770 ; married Phebe  . Rachel, born
12th November, 1772 ; married Nathan Pond.
2. Abijah and Melatiah (Pond) had three children : Abijah,
born 5th April, 1785. Melatiah, born 26th November, 1792, and
died 11th October, 1804. Lois, born '2d January, 1796 ; married
Hiram Knapp, 20tliMay, 1813.
3. Paul, married Phebe  , and had four children : Melinda,
born 2d October, 1798, and died 6th July, 1800. Daniel Pen-
niman, born 3d May, 1801, and died 27th January, 1805. Mary,
born 6th May, 1805 ; married, 13th April, 1826, Adin Fisher.
Paul Baxter, born 14th October, 1807 ; deacon South Franklin
church. (For his portrait see Centennial Committee, plate 2.)

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GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 287
By another line of unrecorded ancestr3' : —
1. Dyar aud Rachel Clark. He died 8th September, 1807.
She died 16th June, 1818. Their children were : Pamela, born
19th February, 1764; married Levi Hawes. Ezekiel, born 13th
April, 1766. Elizabeth, born 28th January, 1769, and died 31st
August, 1795. 2, Dj'er, Jr., born 7th December, 1769. Rachel,
born 10th Febmary, 1772 ; married Luther Cobb, of Belling
ham (?). Ehzabeth, born 11th February, 1774, and died 3l8t
August, 1795. Hannah, baptized 31st June, 1776 ; married Jesse
Nason of Walpole. Franklin, born 8th March, 1778. 3, Nathan,
born 28th January, 1781.
Jesse Nason, born 21st February, 1776 ; removed to Franklin
after his marriage, where he died 24th May, 1845. His wife died
27th December, 1856. They had four children : Laura, born 28th
December, 1800 ; died 4th July, 1855 ; unmarried. Elizabeth
Clark, bom 15th February, 1802 ; married first Preston Wood
ward, second Ira Haywood. George Warren, born 11th January,
1806 ; married first Hannah Pond, second Peacy B. Cook ; he
died 9th November, 1868. And an infant.
George W. had six sons, four of whom were volunteers in the
Union army against the rebelhon, as will be seen in the list of
soldiers. They have furnished a portrait of their father, inserted
opposite. Mr. Nason was a well-known and widely-regarded citizen, an
early member of the Congregational church, and noted for strong
and tender feelings, great generosity to the poor and enthusiasm
in ever3' good work, especially of temperance, which sometimes
carried hitn beyond his cooler after-judgment. He was greatly
instrumental in securing the location of the railroad through
Franklin. He was twice elected member of the State Legislature,
and for thirty years occupied some important municipal oflSce. He
was also deputy sheriff" of the county for many years. His funeral
was attended by fully 2,000 persons, and he was buried with
Masonic honors. The county newspaper of the day said, "no
man in Norfolk county will be missed more than Mr. Nason."
2. Dyer, Jr., married 10th July, 1793, Nancy Day. They had
seven children, of whom two died young : Nancy, born 24th Jan
uary, 1794. Laura, born 19th May, 1799 ; married Joseph Bul
lard, of Medwa3% Adaline, born 9th August, 1801. Mary Hawes,

238 HISTORY OP PEANKLIN.
born 9th February, 1807, and married  Williams, of Grant-
vUle. William Emerson, born 2d September, 1808.
3. Nathan and Nancy (Payson) Clark had eleven children:
Sally, born 3d October, 1802. Nathan, Jr., born 23d July, 1804.
Ezekiel Hall, born 24th October, 1806. Horatio Kingsbury, born
2d August, 1808. Theron Edmund, born 24th December, 1810.
Nancy, born 27th December, 1812 ; married 27th October, 1831,
to Philander Gilmore. Charles Willard, born 25th September,
1815. Dyar Gilbert, died young. Alfred, born 18th July, 1819.
Gilbert, born.30th December, 1822. (See biographical sketches.)
Abigail Hawes, born 3d March, 1825.
B3- still another Wrentham line, but unconnected, came :¦ —
1. Benjamin and Judith (Metcalf) Clark ; married 29th April,.
1741. Had: 2, Samuel, born 23d May, 1743. Benjamin, born
15th June, 1745. Susanna, born 27th August, 1747.
2. Samuel married Esther Jones. He died 17th January, 1822.
They had : Benjamin, born 4th November, 1771. Susanna, born
16th November, 1773 ; married Levi Fisher. Betty, born 6th De
cember, 1775. Paul, born 27th February, 1778. 3, Samuel, Jr.^
born 4th December, 1782. Olive, born 25th January, 1785.
3. Samuel, Jr., and Hannah  had : Erastus, born 27th
November, 1809 ; and Mary, born 19th August, 1814 ; married
Smith Fisher, late postmasteK.
Ebenezer Clark, Whose name appears as petitioner for the pre
cinct in 1738, left no descendant here as we can discover. He
married 15th February, 1721, Anna Fisher, of Wrentham, and
had nine children, of whom Levi, born 19th April, 1734, was the
only surviving son. Of him no further mention is made, neither
of the marriage of the three daughters — Experience, Achsah and
Jerusha. THE DANIELS FAMILY.
The iminigrant ancestor, Joseph, first appears in Medfield
among the subscribers " towards building a new coUedge at Cam
bridge" in 1678.
Joseph, Jr., his son, married Bethiah, and had six children:
Samuel, Joseph, David, Hannah, Ezra and Sarah.
David, born 1699, married Magdalen, and had Seth and other
children. He died .19th November, 1781, at 82. She died 13th
October, 1780.

Fisher Daniels Homestead.

FROM A SKETCH THIRTY YEARS AGO, BV M. BLAKE.

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 289
Seth, born 30th October, 1737, married Unite, daughter of Dea.
Daniel and Ehzabeth Thurston, of Frankhn. He occupied the
farm and house afterwards of his grandson, Fisher Daniels, and a
view of which is given opposite as it was sketched by M. Blake
some thirty years ago. The house has been removed further south
and converted into a tenement-house. He died 16th Novem
ber, 1785, aged nearly 48. She died 16th October, 1821, aged
73. They had four children : Juha, died at 16. Joseph, born
14th October, 1771. Susanna married Job Carpenter, and died
early. Juha second wife of Job Carpenter, and removed to Sutton.
Joseph married Susan, daughter of Joseph and Susa Fisher, 4th
September, 1793. He lived on the homestead, where he also kept
a small store, and raised a family of thirteen children. He died
19th July, 1828. She died 17th February, 1829. Their chUdren
were : Seth, born 14th September, 1794 ; married Huldah Harris ;
remoA'ed to Oxford ; was deacon of the Congregational church,
and died 22d February, 1878. Fisher, born 2d August, 1796;
married first Eunice Adams, second Ann Fames, of Hopkinton,
and died 10th March, 1874. He was a school-teacher in winter
for many years. His portrait is given on the following page. Juha
Maria, born 4th August, 1798 ; married Philo Thurston, and. re
moved to Union, Me. ; died there 20th December, 1869. Unity
Myra, born 17th August, 1800 ; married Rev. J. R. Cushing. (See
biographical sketches.) Albert Early, born 25th September, 1802 ;
married Ohve, daughter of Joseph and Deborah Hills. He has
been an extensive straw bonnet manufacturer, and filled many
pubUc oflBces. He resides in the house formerly built by Rev. E.
Smalley during his pastorate. Caroline Melita, born 24th Octo
ber, 1804 ; married Fisher A. Kingsbury, and died 31st December,
1854. WiUis George, born 22d October, 1806. (See biographical
sketches.) Susan Fisher, born 6th October, 1808 ; married Albert
Cleveland, and died 6th February, 1834. Hiram Abiff", born 30th
October, 1810, and removed to Amoskeag, N. H. Martha Car
penter, born 9th March, 1813 ; married John W. Mason, of Bos
ton, and died 3d JUne, 1845. Darwin Joseph, born 12th January,
1815 ; became Mayor of Manchester", N. H., and died 15th August,
1865^ Harriet Louisa, born 25th May, 1817; married Rev'. M.
Blake, D. D. (See biographical sketches.) Charles Adams, born
30th August, 1820 ; resides in Milford, N. H.

240 HISTOEY OP PEANKLIN.
THE DARLING FAMILY
appears to have made only a temporary lodgment in town. No
Tccord is had of the name in the early Franklin records other than
of David as one of the petitioners, and only Lydia appears in the
church list. Wrentham records are almost equally sUent. We find
the seven chUdren of David and Lydia Darhng (probably the peti
tioner) : Ruhamah, born 7th February, 1726 ; died early. Enoch,
born 29th September, 1727. David, Jr., died young. Timothy,
horn 14th April, 1731. Elijah, born 23d February, 1740. Ru
hamah, born 3d December, 1742. Lydia.
Nathaniel Fisher married a Lydia Darling 10th March, 1766.
THE FAIRBANK FAMILY.
1. Jonathan (from whom Nathaniel, the petitioner, descended)
eame to Dedham before 1664, with his wife, Grace, and six chil
dren from Somerby, west riding of Yorkshire, England. He had,
2, John ; George; Mary married Christopher Smith ; Jonas; Jona
than, and Susan, who married Ralph Day.
2. John, his son, married Sarah — ¦¦  , and had nine children ;
he died 13th November, 1684. She died 26th November, 1683.
Their children were: Joshua, born 26th May, 1643. 3, John,
born 7th February, 1644. Sarah, born 9th December, 1645.
Jonathan died young. Martha and Mary, born 25th December,
1650. Joseph, born 10th May, 1656. Hannah, born 10th Feb
ruary, 1659. Benjamin, born 17th February, 1662.
3. John, married Hannah — ;  ,. and had:, 4, John, born
1675 at Dedham. Joshua, born at Wrentham 18th March, 1682 ;
married Hannah Ware., Abigail, born 1 7th August, 1686. Na
thaniel, born 9th May, 1687. Sarah died young. Deborah, born
1st August, 1692. Hannah, born  ; married John Adams.
The father died 14th September, 1706.
4. John, married Elizabeth  ; Lieutenant. He died 14th
September, 1706. He had: Nathan, born 6th August, 1704. 5,
John, born 28th February, 1706.
5. John, married Jane Ware, 30th July, 1729. She died 17th
June, 1788. They had : 6, Asa, born  , 1730. Freelove,
born 25th May, 1734. Meliscent, born 31st August, 1736. Bil-
hng, baptized 14th June, 1741. Olive, born 28th December,
1745.

-^-^^f^^a^ty =

^^t'-T'-r x.-£

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 241
6. Asa married Sarah Pond of Franklin ; he died 28th Octo
ber, 1809. She died 2d July, 1801. They had: BiUing, born
24th May, 1756 ; married Abigail Fisher. 7, Asa, born 3d June,
1758. Meliscent, born 18th March, 1760 ; married Barzillai Pond,
18th October, 1782. Carohne, died young. Gideon, died at 17.
Ohve, born 1st March, 1767 ; married Joseph Morse of Hopkinton.
Nathan, born 26th May, 1769. Elisha, born 6th June, 1771.
WiUard, born 10th October, 1773 ; married Susanna Lethbridge.
John, born 6th January, 1775. Otis, died young.
7. Asa, Jr., Captain ; was prominent oflScer in the Revolution
ary War; he married Julitta Metcalf 23d November, 1784; he
died 29th August, 1803. They had : Jerusha, born 6th January,
1786; married Simeon Bates of BeUingham. Julitta, born 10th
April, 1788 ; married Rufus Gilmore and went to Newburgh, Me.
Carohne, born 25th September, 1791 ; married Hon. WiUis Fisher.
AbigaU, born 12th November, 1793. Asa, born 24th July, 1795,
and removed to Pro-yidence, R. I. Sarah, born 1st May, 1804 ;
mamed Elias Metcalf, and removed to Medway.
THE FISHER FAMILY
of Franklin came from at least two different importations. Our
data are insufficient to solve all the perplexing interconnections.
But the several lines have been traced back and joined as far as the
records will allow. They -will, it is hoped, prove long enough
for the present generation of Fishers to hang themselves to their
proper ancestry, if they have any such genealogical aspirations. It
was once said that there were more Fishers than Ponds in Frank
hn. Strange if some were not -without a line.
1. Thomas Fisher came from Winston, Cambridge, England, to
Dedham in 1637, with his wife Elizabeth, and three children, viz. :
2, Samuel ; Thomas, who married Rebecca Woodman and settled in
Dedham, and Constance, who died 3-oung. He died 10th August,
1638, while building the Dedham meeting-house. His wife died
31st January, 1652.
2,. Samuel married Melatiah Snow and became the first deacon
of the Wrentham church, where he died 6th January, 1704. They ¦
had : Samuel married Abigail Heath, but left ; no children ; Eliza
beth married John Ellis ; Hannah married G;eorge ; Melatiah
married Eleazer Metcalf — all -born in Dedham.. 3, Ebenezer,
16

242 HISTORY OP PEANKLIN.
born in Wrentham, 20th December, 1670; and Abigail married
Daniel Farrington.
3. Ebenezer married AbigaU EUis, 1695 ; was Captain. He
died 28th December, 1726. Their children were: Samuel, boru
29th December, 1695, married Mary Fisher ; Abigail married Ben
jamin Hawes ; Ebenezer, born 7th October, 1700, married Hannah
Whiting ; Richard, born 7th August, 1702, married Esther Fisher ;
Mehitable died young ; Melatiah married Jonathan Ware ; Eliza
beth married Joshua EUis ; Hepzibah died young ; Jeremiah, born
12th October, 1711 ; 4, Jabez, born 19th November, 1717.
4. Jabez (see biographical sketches) , honorable and deacon
of Franklin church, married Mary Adams. He died 15th October,
1806. She died 10th September, 1801. Their children were;
Jabez, born 11th December, 1741, died unmarried over 90. years.
5 , Pelatiah born 23d March, 1 744. Susannah probably died young.
6 , Peter born 6th April, 1 746 . Ezra probably died young. Nathan

born 14th September 1750, removed to Westboro, where he was
Representative for twent3'-flve years. Susan married Joseph Fisher.
Samuel, born 14th May, 1755, settled in Westboro. 7, Aaron, born
18th March, 1758. Mary married Jason Fisher.
5. Pelatiah married Irene Kingsbury 17th November, 1802.
He died 19th May, 1828. She died 20th September, 1843, aged 77.
His two children died in infancy, and he adopted Irene, daughter of
Jason, who married Asa G. Norcross. He built and occupied
the house in which Dr. Chambr^ resides.
6. Peter married Joanna  . He died 22d March, 1836. She
died 26th September,' 1822. Their chUdren were : James, resided
and died in Lowell, was Depiity Sheriff. 8, Perez, born 14th July,
1782. Lewis, 3l8t , May, 1784. 9, Peter, Jr., 26th May, 1787.
Joanna, unmarried.
7. Aaron married Rachel Fisher 18th October, 1787. He died
17th January, 1830. Their children werq: Aaron, Jr., settled
in Nashua, N. H! ; PhUo mtirried and removed to Douglas.
8. Perez married Mary Perry 10th June, 1807, and had Smith

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES.

243

Perry, born 28th August, 1808 ; and Emeline, married Erastus L.
Metcalf, now an extensive lumberman in town.
9, Peter, Jr., married Mary Hawes, l6thNovember, 1815. She
died 22d May, 1836, and he married Mai-y Thurston. He died 27th
June, 1859, They had children : Eliza Jane married Jonathan Pond
of Medway; Joseph Hawes, now in Milford, N. H. ; James Fer
dinand ; Lewis Leprelette.
Another prohfic branch of the Fishers sprang from Anthony,
who came with his family to Dedham in 1637 from Syleham, Eng
land, about ten mUes from the home of Thomas in Winston. His
brother Joshua followed him to Ded
ham in 1640 with his family. The
descendants of Joshua settled in
Dedham and Medfield. Among
them was Captain Daniel, Jr. , who
seized Sir Edmund Andros while
Governor, and concealed the regi
cide Goffe, and sent him to Hadley
with his daughter Lydia as pilot on
a pillion behind him.
The coat of arms of the Fisher
family of England, and used by
Joshua Fisher, Sr., in this country,
is given. It will be seen to be
identical with that of the Dauphin
of France, who received it from the
last Count of Dauphine.
1. Anthony above had : 2, Anthony, Jr. 3, Cornelius. Na-
-thaniel, Daniel, Lydia married Daniel Morse, aU born in England.
Nathaniel and Lydia went to Medfield, and their posterity, some
of them, came into Frankhn.
2. Anthony, Jr. , married Joanna Fa?in of Dedham, 7th Septem-
iber,l647 ; he died 13th February, 1670. She died 16th October,
1694. They had : Mehitable ; Josiah, born 1st May, 1654 ; Sarah ;
EUezer, bom 18th September, 1669.
3. Cornelius, a carpenter, married Leah Heaton of Dedham,
23d February, 165a. She died 12th January, 1664, and he mar-
lied S«tah Everett, 24th July, 1665. She died 2§th F^bruaty,.

244 HISTOEY OP FEANKLIN.
1675. He removed to Wrentham -with the first settlers, where he
died 2d January, 1699, "being," the town records say, " the first
head of a • family died in the town of a natural death for thirty
years." This qualifying clause must refer to the death of Joseph
Kingsbury, in 1688, " in an awful and dreadful way," and no fur
ther described. His children were : Ehzabeth ; Leah ; Experience ;
4, Cornelius, Jr., born 8th February, 1660 ; Ann ; 5, Eliezer, born
5th July, 1663. By his second wife, Dorothy ; Sarah ; Jonathan,
the third death on the Wrentham records.
4. Cornelius, Jr., married Ann or Hannah Whiting, of Sher-
born. She died 6th March, 1701, and he married Mercy Colburn
of Dedham. She died, 20th September, 1726, and he married
Mary Ware. He died 6th January, 1743, in his 84th year.
His children were : Jonathan,- died young ; 6, Cornelius, born 29th
September, 1692; Isaac, born 19th May, 1694; Ann, married
Ebenezer Clark ; 7, Joseph, born 11th May, 1698 ; 8, Benjamin,
born 6tli March, 1701; Mercy, inarried Samuel Fisher; Esther,
born 27th October, 1710.
5. Eliezer married Hannah Leonard 21st March, 1688. He
had: 9, Eliezer, Jr., and others born probably elsewhere and in
Wrentham. Lenard, born 8th June, 1704 ; John, born 1st April,
1706. 6. Cornelius married Hannah Partridge 2d Febraary, 1725.
He owned land in Franklin at "Pabalutick" (Popolatic) near
where he resided. He had seven daughters, no sons, and his
name ended.
7. Joseph married Mary Sweetzer and had : 10, Joseph, born
31st August, 1724. The only chUd recorded.
8.. Benjamin, married Anna CoweU, and had Martha; Benja
min, born 15th April, 1729; Daniel, born 14th January, 1731;
Asa, born 17th September, 1732; Anna; Joshua, born 24th Feb
ruary 1737; Amos, born 19th August, 1739; 18, Joseph, born
6th October, 1741. (See No. 18 below).
9. Eliezer, Jr., married Rachel  , and had: Daniel, born
6th February, 1722 ; Hannah, married Joseph:Hawes ; 11, Heze
kiah, born 16th May, 1726 ; .25, Eleazer, bom 30th January, 173.0 ;
Simeon,' born 21st November, 1731; Rachel, married Timothy
Fisher; Abijah, born 12th November, 1736..
10. Joseph majried Margaret — :^ — , and had ; Josejih, licirn

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 245
31st August, 1753; Hannah; John, born 6th AprU, 1758; 12,
Jason, born 28th June, 1760, mamed Mary Fisher.
11. Hezekiah married Abigail Daniels 4th September, 1751;
resided in North Franklin. He died 27th June, 1809. She died
11th Januai-y, 1788, and he married, second, Dinah  . She
died 23d March, 1812. His children were: Eunice; 13, Asa,
bom 8th March, 1757; 14, Levi, born 8th  , 1758; Moses,
bom 13th October, 1763; 15, Caleb, born 11th October, 1768.
12. Jason married Mary Fisher 27th November, 1783. She
died 14th June, 1804, and he married second Olive Smith, 10th
October, 1805. He died 29th September, 1822. His children :
John, born 6th September, 1784; 16, Jason, born 30th March,
1787 ; Mary; Jemima, married Alfred Ware ; Nathaniel, born 28th
October, 1795; Charles Martel, bora 24th July, 1799, and removed
to Chelmsford; Irene, married Asa G. Norcross.
13. Asa married Rachel Adams. She died 4th March, 1830,
and he married second Prudence Keith. He died 23d November,
1843. His chUdren were : Lewis, born 10th December, 1784,
married Rebecca Berry ; James and George W. died young ;
Patty, married Archibald De Witt ; Nathan Austin, born 23d No
vember, 1796, and removed to Westboro.
14. Levi married Mary Clark 9th June, 1785. She died 31st
March, 1788, and he married second Susanna Clark, 13th April,
1809. She died 27th May, 1858. His children were : Mary,
married WUliam Adams, Jr.; Ruth, married Elisha Richardson;
Sally, not married; Abigail, died young; Rena, married Elisha
Bullard; Abigail, married Timothy Leland Pond; David, died
young. By second wife : Levi Clark, born 7th January, 1810 ;
Da-yid, born 20th January, 1812 ; Susanna, and Melinda.
15. Caleb married Sally Cushing 20th November, 1793. She
died 11th August, 1835. He married, second, Achsah Metcalf.
He died 6th August, 1862, in his 94th year. His children : Alex
ander Metcalf. (See biographical sketches.) 17, Willard, born
17th March, 1796. Ehza Tilestone ; married Dr. John W. Ten
ney. (See biogi-aphical sketches.) Nancy, married Rev. Thomas
Kidder. (See biographical sketches.)
16. Jason, Jr., married Mary Rich. He died 10th July, 1863.
Their children were : George Nelson, born 4th May, 1813, resides

246 HISTOEY OP PEANKLIN.
in Charlestown ; Mary AdaUne and John Warren, died young ;
EUen Maria, died unmarried 29th March, 1872. ,
17. Willard married Betsey R. Wheeler. He died 14th Janu
ary, 1866. His children : Alexander Metcalf, died in infancy ;
Sewall, born 9th November, 1834. Sarah, born 17th September,
1836. Betsey, died young. George. (See biographical sketches.)
Abby, born 28th October, 1843.
Going back on these lines — on that of Anthony to (8) Ben
jamin, aud on that of Thomas to (8) Jabez — you find Joseph of
the one line married Susa of the other. Of this union came as
follows : —
18. Joseph, married Susa Fisher, 1st January, 1773. He died
26th January, 1819. She died in 1842. Children: Susan, mar
ried Joseph Daniels. Nancy, married Nathan Gilmore ; Eliab,
born 24th February, 1779, removed, and has two sons in New
York. 19, Willis, born 20th July, 1783. 20, Maxcy, born 12th
August, 1785. George. (See biographical sketches.) Joseph,
died young. Hermon, bom 25th June, 1792, removed to Bangor.
Clara, died unmarried 14th May, 1833.
19. Willis married Caroline Fairbank 8th February, 1810.
He died 1st January, 1866, aged over 82. She died 26th July
1858. Esquire Fisher, whose portrait is given opposite, was a man of
more than ordinary ability. He lived in the south part of the
town, but was a regular attendant at church with his whole large
family^ He supervised a large farm, but found time to perform
an extensive business as justice of the peace for years. He was
frieqiiently elected to town offices, although living away from the
Center, was chosen Representative, etc. He had clear and posi
tive convictions and a wide interest in all that pertained to the
welfare of the town. His children were : Milton Metcalf. (See
biographical sketches.) George Perkins, born 15th April, 1813.
Abigail Bacon married first Charles Slocum, second Rev. Sam
uel Hunt. (See ecclesiastical notices.) Charles WiUis, 11th No
vember, 1820. Caroline Fairbanks and Ellen Maria died unmar
ried ; Julia Francis married Rufus Chapin, and resides in Chicago.
20. Maxcy married Persis Metcalf, 31st December, 1811. She
died 24th March, 1835 ; married, second, Abigail  . He died
30th August, 1865, aged 80. Their children were : Sarah Hawk-

c</

f e^^^^^/Cift^

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 247
ins, died at 23 years ; Louisa Jane married Rev. Edwin Thompson
(see biographical sketches) ; Joseph Haven, born 23d June, 1817 ;,
Susan, married Rev. E. Thompson ; Paul Metcalf, died young ;
Maria Richardson, Martha Emmons, Nancy, Elial, Clara, and
Lucius W., died young ; Hermon Maxcy, born 24th August, 1821,
and lives on the homestead.
Another branch hne of the Franklin Fishers depends from (1)
Thomas, (3) Ebenezer and his son.
21. Captain Ebenezer, Jr., married Hannah Whiting, 15th May,
1729, and had the following children : Ebenezer, born 28th July,
1730 ; 22, Timothy, born 8th December, 1732 ; David, born 1st Sep
tember, 1735; James, born 25th February, 1737 ; Ehjah, born
25th August, 1739; Hannah, Elizabeth and Susanna.
22. Timothy married Keturah Pond 2d October, 1755. He died
3d May, 1814. He had the following children : George, born 7th
March, 1756; Royal, born 16th November, 1757; Ohver,. born
7th May, 1759 ; Cyrus, born 25th December, 1760 ; Lewis, born
9th January, 1763 ; Hannah ; 23, Timothy, Jr., born 2d August,
1767 ; and KetUrah.
23. Timothy, Jr., married Hannah  . She died 9th Oc
tober, 1790, and he married, second, Dorcas Cleveland of Medfield,
28th May, 1795. She died 6th July, 1860. His chUdren : Abi
jah, born 2d November, 1788 ; Whiting, born 3d October, 1790,
and removed to Sutton. By second wife he had : Harmon Cleve
land, born 13th April, 1797. He was an active straw manufac
turer for years and frequent public officer. He now resides in
Haverhill. Had one child. Hannah married Ichabod Dean ;
24, Adin, born 6th April, 1800 ; Adaline, and Charlotte.
24. Adin married Mary Clark 13th April, 1826. He has had
several children and is still li-ying in town.
Another branch Of Fishers sprang from (1) Anthony, and (9)
Eleazer through his son.
25. Eleazer. He married Mary Daws 7th December, 1756,
and had: Ohve; 26, Eleazer, Jr., born 18th July, 1759; Fred
eric, born 1st June, 1763. She died Uth October, 1806. He
died 19th May, 1804.
26. Eleazer, Jr., married Susanna  . He died 3d June,
1818. His children were : Harriet, born 2d March, 1790; Sam-

248 HISTOEY OP FEANKLIN.
uel Biram, removed to New Hampshire ; Frederic, born 28th De
cember, 1794; Melia, born 27th November, 1798.
StiU another hne is traceable to Nathaniel, of Wrentham, who
might have been of Nathaniel, the son of (1) Anthony, who went
to Medfield.
27. Nathaniel was an original immigrant into Wrentham with
his wife Hannah. They had four children in Wrentham : Joseph,
born 30th March, 1729 ; 28, Nathaniel, born 13th December, 1730 ;
Hannah, born 29th December, 1733, married Daniel Hawes ;*
Elizabeth, born 14th October, 1734, married Asa Whiting.
28. Nathaniel, Jr., married Jemima Richardson 22d October,
1757. Their children were: Jemima, died young; Jacob and
Jerusha, born 20th March, 1760; Amasa, born 19th September,
1762 ; Darius, born 26th July, 1765 ; 29, Lewis,' bom 6th Decem
ber, 1767; Jemima, married Rev. W. Harris, D. D. (see bio
graphical sketches) .
29 . Lewis married Abigail  . He filled many town offices ;
was Representative for several years, State Senator, Justice of the
Peace, etc. His wife died 25th February, 1809, aged about 40;
and he married second Lula Chandler Bacon, of Sutton, 16th Jan
uary, 1812. Their children were: Nathaniel, Jr., died young;
Lewis Whiting (see biographical sketches); Harvey and Harlous,
born 1st September, 1795; Harvey died young; Abigail Whiting
died 3'oung; Nathaniel Emmons, born 29th September, 1800;
Maria Ann; Caroline; John Hancock, born 23d January, 1807, is
in California; Walter Harris, born 28th January, 1809, and re
sides in Norfolk. By second wife he had Abigail Ursula, married
Adams Daniels, of Medway.
Other famihes of this name we have been unable to trace by the
town records. Thus, of the family of Daniel C. Fisher we find
no record of his marriage to either of his three wives. We learn
their number only b3' the record of the deaths of Lurana, 15th
May, 1807, and of Sarah, 20th January, 1810. He died 17th
November, 1835. His children were : Betseys died at 23 years ;
Julius, born 20th January, 1796 ; Daniel Cowell, born 30th August,
1800 ; Lucy Baker, born 1st May, 1803 ; David Baker, born 23d

* Such persons were married at the proper age, hut we are not sure of the
identity.

* GENEALOGICAL NOTICES.

249

May, 1809 ; Lurana died at 16 ; Charles Richmond. (See bio
graphical sketches) . THE FrrZPATRICK FAMILY.
John L. Fitzpatrick came into town about 1845. He bought
the house of John Broady, first built and occupied by Alfred Ware,
which he has ornamented and made a very tasteful residence. A
view of it is here inserted.

RESIDENCE OF JOHN L. FITZPATRICK.
Mr. Fitzpatrick was the flrst mover towards the gathering of a
Cathohc congregation, and has been an influential member of it,
as well as a justly respected citizen of the town.
THE GAT FAMILY.
This famUy early disappeared from town. Edward, one of the
petitioners for the Precinct charter, owned the farm afterwards

250

HISTORY OP FRANKLIN.

occupied b3' Aaron Fisher, and built the house still standing, being
the flrst plank-house in town. He was descended from Edward
and Rebecca (Fisher), of Wrentham, whose line is traceable
through Samuel of Dedham (bom 1639,) to John of Watertown.
Edward married Rachel Puffer 14th June, 1722. One of the
original members of the Frankhn ehurch. He died 23d December,,

;». . '

1^^

RESIDENCE OF HENRY M. GREENE.
1730, in his 64th 3'ear. She died 17th May, 1754. They had:
Rebekah, born 25th June, 1723, married Ezekiel HaU. Edward,
Jr., born 8th May, 1726. Rachel, 'died 3'oung.
Edward, Jr., married first Margary  , second Mary  .
He had nine chUdren : Thomas, bom 7th October, 1753 ; Rachel,
bom 24th August, 1755; Margary, bom 11th December, 1757;

GENEALOGICAL NOTICE* 251
Zipporah, born 7th May, 1760; Timothy, boErj;.17th June, 1762;.
Joseph, born 2d October, 1764 ; Susey, born 11th Febraary, 1768.
By second wife he had:, Elizabeth, born 17th November, 1772;.
Dorcas, born 21st April, 1775.
Of these children Thomas married Mary Bacon 12th January,.
1786, and Timothy married Submit Blackman 1st December,,
1785. Timothy had t . Jasriird, bom 28th May, .1790 ; WiUard, born
18th February, 1792 ; Mary, bom 27th April, 1796 ; Timothy,
Jr., born 2d November, 1797.
THE GREENE FAMILY.
Martin Greene, the flrst of the name in town, purchabe.d the
business and estate of Jason Morse, about a mile from thie City
Mills, not far from the beginning of 1800. He had two children,
Henry M., and Angennette, present wife of David P. Baker.
Henry M. Greene has been an extensive . straw-bonnet manu
facturer. He has fllled important ci-yil offices in town. His por
trait is in the group of the Centennial Committee. A view of his
residence on Main street is given on the opposite page.
THE HALL FAMILY.
Edward HaU, one of the early settlers of West precinct,^' sud
denly disappeared with his whole famUy, leaving only their nahies
upon the records. He married Hannah Fisher, 7th February,
1722, and had : Edward, bom 18th July, 1727 ; James, born 2fd
April, 1729; Hezekiah, bom 9th August, 1730; Hannah, bop
30th June, 1732; Mary, bom 20th February, 1735; Seth^'boin
26th August, 1736. Where they went is not known.
THE'HAWES FAMILY
is traceable back to the flrst settlement of Dedham.
1. Edward, of Dedham, married 15th April, 1648, Eliony Lum
ber, and had nine children. He died 28th June, 1686.' His chil
dren were : Lydia ; married a Gay. Mary. 2, Daniel, born 10th
Febraary, 1652 ; married Abial Gay. Hannah, married John
Mason. John and Nathaniel died young. AbigaU, married John
Fales. Joseph. Deborah, married in Wrentham, first to Eph
raim Pond ; second, married a Bacon.

252

HISTORY OP PEANKLIN.

2. Daniel, of Wrentham, and Abial Gay were married 11th
February, 1677. He died 16th March, 1739, aged 86. They
had : Mary, married Eleazer Ware. AbigaU, married Theodore
Man. 3, Daniel, bom 30th March, 1684 ; married Beria Man.
Josiah. Hezekiah, married Esther Ware. Ruth, married
Nathaniel Wright. Benjamin, married AbigaU Fisher.

1 **>

THE HAWES HOMESTEAD.

3. Daniel, Jr., of Franklin and Beria (Man) had eleven chil
dren : Daniel. Samuel. Pelatiah, married Judith Peck. Thomas.
Aaron. Ichabod. Timothy, married Mary Ware. Beriah, and
4, Josiah, born 30th March, 1724. Mary, married Ebenezer
Lawrence ; and 5, Joseph, bom 21st March, 1728.
A view of the Hawes homestead is here inserted. It is proba
bly the oldest house in Franklin, built at least 175 years ago. Its

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES.

253

interior shows its great antiquity, and that it was erected to be a
defense against Indian attacks.
4. Josiah married Meiia Lyon, and had : Abijah and Mat
thias, who both went to Union, Me.; Mary; Jemima, married a
Wight, of Bellingham; Beria; Levi, born 2 2d May, 1765.
5. Ensign Joseph married Hannah Fisher, 15th January, 1752.

MAJOR MOSES KNAPP'S HOMESTEAD.
He died 18th Febraary, 1818. They had: 7, Moses, born 8th
November, 1752 ; Susa ; Joseph, married Hannah Whiting ; Abi
gail ; Amos, Captain, married Melatiah Everett, of Wrentham ;
Peter (see biographie^l. sketches).
6. Levi, deacon of Franklin church from 1827 to his death, 9th
May, 1839. He married Pamela Clark, 1st January, 1793, and
had: MaTy..;. Abigail, .married Capt. JpglHiTls, of Main^ ;

¦254 HISTOEY OP PEANKLIN.
Josiah, born 14th December, 1804, married 30th November, 1826,.
Esther Taft, and went to HoUiston.
7. Moses married Polly  . He spent Ms early life in
Union, Me. They had : Ameha, married 7th September, 1819,
Dr. Elisha Harding (see biographical sketches); Eleanor, married
Maj. Alfred Knapp ; Mary, married Peter Fisher; and a daughter
-who married an Allen, father of Sabin and Amos H. Allen,- and
•Clarinda. On the preceding page is a view of the homestead of Maj.
Moses Knapp, the father of Alfred, Hiram and Melville Knapp,
and to which Alfred took the daughter of Moses Hawes. It is not
far from Unionville, towards Belhngham, and a fine sample of the
former homes of old Franklin.
' Nathaniel Hawes, among the earliest members of the church
and precinct, apparently came of another hne. He married Su
sanna, and had seven children. The sur-yivors were : Keziah,
iDom 29th August, 1735; Jonathan, born 28th December, 1742;
Edward, bOrn 9th March, 1744; Esther., bom 11th May, 1747.
2. Jonathan married Mary Partridge, :and had : Susanna,
Melatiah, Jason, MoUy, Nathan ; 3, Jonathan, born 2d April,
1773; Nathaniel.
3. Jonathan, Jr., married Sarah Adams, and had: Nathan,
married SyMa Winne; Susanna, married Hiram Clark, of Union,
Conn.; Fanny, Sally, and Nathaniel marrjed Ehza A. Weather-
lead. ^ V
THE HILLS FAMliy.
1. Jabez was the flrst settler in Franklin about 1730, on the
W^arren Hills place. Whence he came is not known to the writer.
He married in Wrentham 31st January, 1727, Martha Metcalf,
and had : 2, Joseph, bom 20th April, 1730 ; Benjamin, born 16th
March, 1732; Ebenezer, born 7th January, 1735; David, born
24th January, 1736. He died 18th January, 1742.
2. Captain Joseph, married, flrst, Mary Ware, 14th February,
1763 ; second, Betty Pond. They had : 3, Jason, born 23d No
vember, 1765 ; 4, Joseph, born 28th October, 1769 ; Mary mar
ried Wijliam Gilmore. He died 5th January, 1797.
3. Jason married Molly Grover of North Bridgewat^ and
had: Kancy; 5, Lewis, bom 5th September, 1794; 6, Sen^a,
born 26th April, 1796; Betsey Pond; Warren, born 19th Mar^i

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 255
1800; 7, Harvey, born 13th May, 1802; 8, Ehas Ware, bom 21st
.April, 1804 ; Polly and CaroUne. He died 15th July, 1827.
4. Joseph married Deborah Blake, sister of Solomon. They
iad : 9, Lysander Blake, bom 26th August, 1796; 10, Jarvis
Harlow, born 16th December, 1798; Mary, married Samuel Fales;
OUve Gilmore, married Capt. A. E. Daniels ; 11, Theron Clement,
born 11th April, 1808, married Deborah Snow.
5. Lewis, married Ann Lawrence, and had : Joseph G., and
Louisa, who married Albert H. Ham, of Portsmouth, N. H.
6. Seneca married, first, Maria Richardson of East Medway,
and had three chUdren, of whom Abigail C. married E. L. Hol
brook, the weU-known organ builder. He married second Sarah M.
Pratt of South Easton, and had three children, two of whom now
reside with their mother in Taunton.
7. Harvey married, first, Abigail Henderson of Medway, and
h&d three children ; second Mary E. Ham of Portsmouth, N. H.
8. Elias W. , removed to Portland Me. , and married Lois Smith ;
ias three children.
9. Lysander B., married Elizabeth Lumbert, and had : Melissa
.Blake, married Augustus M. Blake ; Deborah. Elizabeth, married
HartweU Morse ; Sanford, married Mary C. Metcalf; Mary Fales
married first Reuben Crossley, second Wilham Banke.
10. Jarvis H. married Phila Brown, and had no children.
11. Theron C. married Hannah D. Snow, and had no chUdren.
THE JONES FAMILY.
David Jones, petitioner for a precinct and its third treasurer,
was descended from David, of Dorchester, who married, 1659, Sa-
lah Tophff, and died 27th September, 1694, aged 66. His son
David married, 1685, Ann Bullard. David, Jr., his son, appears
flrst in Wrentham with his wife Sarah in 1711, where his six chil
dren are recorded ; -yiz. : Ann, married Jonathan Nelson. Sarah.
David, 3d. Praisiver. 2, Seth. Mary. He, Seth and Mary were
members of the church.
David, 3d, married Esther Blake, and had Chloe, Ehas, and
David. 2, Seth by his wife Esther had Esther and Betty. The
whole family removed to Abington not long after the incorporation
of the precinct.

256 HISTOEY OP PEANKLIN.
THE KINGSBURY FAMILY.
1. Joseph, Dedham, 1637 ; married MeUiscent  and died
1676. They had Sarah ; manied Robert Crossman, of Taunton.
Mary ; married Dea. Thomas Cooper, of Rehoboth. Elizabeth ;
married Nathaniel Brewer, of Roxbury. 2, Joseph, Jr., who
went to Wrentham. John ; married Elizabeth Fuller (afterwards
wife of Michael Metcalf.) Eleazer, married Esther Judson. 3,
Nathaniel. 2. Joseph, Jr. ; married Mary Donier and had, born in Ded
ham: John. Ehzabeth; married William Briggs, of Taunton.
Eleazer, born 12th May, 1673 ; tailor in Wrentham, who turned
preacher, went to Cape May and changed his name to Berry.
Hannah. Mary and Mercy (twins) . Marah.
3. Nathaniel; married Mary  , and had Nathaniel, Jr.,
born 14th September, 1674 ; married Abigail Baker. She died at
90. James. Timothy. John. 4, Daniel, born 11th November,
1688. MeUiscent.
4. Daniel ; married Elizabeth Stephens, of Dedham. He died
27th AprU, 1754. Their children were : 5, Daniel, born 12th March,
1715. 6, Stephen, 1716. Elizabeth; married Joshua Partridge.
Mary ; married Joseph Harding.
5. Daniel, Jr., first deacon of Franklin church, married, first, Be
riah, daughter of Theodore Mann ; she died 27th April, 1754 ;
married, second, Abigail,widowof PeterAdams, 9th October, 1755.
Their children were: Nathaniel, born 18th Febraary, 1739.
Lydia, born 19th November, 1740 ; married Amos Holbrook. Dan
iel, born 1741 ; went to Keene, N. H. Samuel. John. 7, Tim
othy, born 6th August, 1746. James, born 3d January, 1748;
married Mary Upton, and was father of Rev. Samuel. (See bio
graphical sketches.) John. Theodore. By his second wife, Peter
and Benjamin, twins.
6. Stephen, married Silence, daughter of Samuel Partridge. He
died23d April, 1754. Their children were : Moses and Aaron, born
1743. Moses died 1771, leaving three chUdren, namely : Cyrus,
who married Phihsta Partridge ; went to Alstead, N. H., and was
father of Rev. Cyrus Kingsbury, D. D. B. U. 1812, and mis
sionary to tlie Choctaws. Moses, Matilda ; Lois married a Met
calf. Benjamin, Abigail ; Olive married Noah Haven. 8, Stephen
posthumous, bom 3d August, 1754. '

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 257
7. Timothy, married Judah Adams 5th January, 1769. He
died 21st December, 1824. Their children were : Judith, Mili-
cent, Beriah; Ebenezer Adams, bom 2d January, 1781. Eben
ezer A. was father of Fisher A., La-wton, Nathaniel Davis, Clar
issa, Polly, and Abner D. All have left town.
8. Stephen, married Abigail AUen 3d June, 1777. He died
23d September, 1809. She died 31st January, 1820. Their chil
dren were : Matilda, bom 15th June, 1778 ; married John Wilkes
Richardson. Horatio, died at 18. 9, Stephen, bornlOth Septem
ber, 1782. AbigaU, born 11th August, 1787. Samuel Allen. (See
biographical notices).
9. Stephen, married Olive Haven 10th April, 1811. Their chil
dren were : Horatio, born 29th February, 1812 ; married Adelia
Robbins, daughter of James and Rena Gilmore. John Haven,
born 13th September, 1819 ; married Harriet S. Merrifield.
THE LAWRENCE FAMILY.
There were two petitioners of this name, David, Jr., and Eben
ezer, both of them originating in Wrentham.
1. David, Sen., and Bethyah had David, Jr., born 3d Septem
ber, 1712. Bethyah, born 31st August, 1713 ; married Andrew
Blake 22d February, 1749. Phebe, born 25th March, 1715.
2. David, Jr., married Elizabeth. They had ten children:
Joseph, born 22d August, 1845. Isaiah, born 3d September, 1747.
Ehakim) baptized in Frankhn, 1750) . Eunice ; perhaps married
Titus Metcalf, 8th May, 1793. Amos, born 15th January, 1755.
Joseph, born 26th March, 1757 ; married Anna Hills 22d Janu
ary, 1784. Elizabeth, born 14th March, 1758. Joshua, born 11th
September, 1759. David (baptized in Franklin, 1766) ; married
Lois Reid. Cephas (baptized in Franklin, 1762) ; married Esther
Whiting 26th November, 1789; This family is not further trace
able. By another apparently different line comes Ebenezer. He was
a son of John. Ebenezer and Mary have seven children recorded :
Sarah, born 30th May, 1709 ; married Isaac Wheeler 8th May,
1734. Mary, bom 25th May, 1711. John, born 27th June, 1713.
Mercy, born 25th February, 1714. Margaret, born 5th July,
1716. Hannah, born 30th May, 1719, Ebenezer, Jr., born 11th
May, 1721. IT

258 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
Ebenezer, Jr., married Mary Haws, 11th Februar3', 1746. She
died 9th February, 1778, and he married, second. Widow Mary
Harding. He had : Joshua, bom 20th December, 1746. Moses,
bom 28th May, 1748. Abigail, born 14th June, 1749 ; married
Ehsha Richardson. Rachel, born 13th February, 1751 ; married
Thaddeus Adams. Beria and Meria, born 11th January, 1753 ;
Beria married Dea. Phihp Blake 10th February, 1796. Meria
married David Hartshorn 4th September, 1788. Ebenezer and
Rebecca, born 8th April, 1755. Seth fbaptizedin Franklin, 1757) .
The father died 4th October, 1796.
THE MAKEPEACE FAMILY
made but a brief tarrying in town. It flrst appears in the mar
riage, 16th April, 1794, of William Makepeace and Mar3' Whiting.
He settled in Union-yille, where he built a thread-miU -with Col. A.
DeWitt. A portrait of Mr. Makepeace is given in connection
¦with this sketch. His homestead ¦wiU be found ¦with the Rock
wood family. The chUdren of William and Mary Makepeace
were: William, Jr., born 2d March, 1795, removed to Boston.
Polly, bom 18th May, 1798 ; married Archibald DeWitt. George
Le Mont, bom 17th October, 1801 ; removed to Rutland(?).
THE MANN FAMILY.
The Frankhn branch was descended from Rev. Samuel Mann, the
flrst minister of Wrentham, through his sixth child, Thomas. For
some notice of the family see Address, page 20.
Thomas was bom 24th October, 1682, married Hannah Aldis
and had seven chUdren. He was among the flrst settlers in Frank
hn, on what was called " Mann's Plain." A -new of the Mann
homestead has been furnished by Mrs. Rebecca M. (Pennell)
Dean, sketched from her early recoUections and is given oppo
site, as the birthplace of Horace Mann.
The children of Thomas and Hannah Mann were : Hannah,
married Eleazer Ware ; Esther, married Robert Ware ; Rachel ;
3, Nathan, born 15th October, 1716; Ruth, married Benjamin
Rockwood; Hepzibah, married Pelatiah Metcalf; Mary, married
Jabez Ware.
3. Nathan married Esther, and had: Esther, Lois, Abial,

3 HI11r
>oM
O ¦tl
o

o>an
z z

Wm. Makepeace, Esq.

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 259
Mary; 4, Elias, born 27th July, 1754; 5, Thomas, born 21st
December, 1755 ; and 6, Nathan, birth not recorded.
4. Elias married Mary Ware, 6th May, 1779, and had : Eldod,
Seneca, Esther, PoUy ; RosaUnda, married John Alley from New
Bedford ; Betsey, married in Maine ; and Watts, not married.
5. Thomas married Rebecca Stanley, and had : Rebecca, mar
ried Calvin Pennel, of Colraine (see Calvin S. in biographical
sketches); Thomas Stanley, bom 3d December, 1788; Stephen,
born 23d October, 1792; Horace (see biographical sketches);
Lydia Bishop, born 30th July, 1798.
6. Nathan married Eunice Guild, and had : Eunice, born 24th
December, 1778; Jemima, bom 21st April, 1780; Chloe, born
31st August, 1782; Synthe, married Nathan Place, of Cumber
land, and died early; Nathan, Jr., born 2d February, 1788.
7. Nathan, Jr., married Margaret, and had: Emeline Copps,
Cynthia Place, and Harriet Emily.
None of this branch now remains in town.
THE METCALF FAMILY.
This numerous family has been traced by Dr. J. G. Metcalf of
Mendon, ^ Rev. Leonard Metcalf, rector of Tatterford, Eng
land, born 1545, through his son Michael, who fled from the per
secutions of Bishop Wren, and settled in Dedham with his wife
and nine chUdren in 1637. Michael, his oldest son, had flve chil
dren, of whom four, at least, settled in Wrentham, viz. : Mary,
married John Ware; Sarah, married Robert Ware; Jonathan, and
1, Eleazer.
1. Eleazer, born 20th March, 1653, was an original member
and the second deacon of the Wrentham church. He married
Melatiah Fisher 9th April, 1684, and died 17th August, 1742.
He had eight chUdren : 2, Eleazer, Jr., born 30th May, 1685 ; 3,
Michael, born 25th January, 1687; 4, Samuel, born 15th June,
1689; 5, Ebenezer, born 8th January, 1691; 6, Jonathan, born
9th April, 1693 ; Melatiah, married James Cheever ; 7, Timothy,
born 2d July, 1697; Martha, married Jabish HiUs.
3. Michael married Abial Colburn 23d December, 1712, and
had twelve children. He was an original member and a ruling
elder in the Frankhn church. He had : 8, Pelatiah, bom 28th
March, 1714; 9, Michael, born 24th January, 1719; 10, Barna-

260 HISTORY OP PEANKLIN.
has, born 20th Juty, 1720; Melatiah, married Joseph Ellis; 11,
Joseph, born 20th February, 1723, a doctor; 12, John, born 25th
September, 1725; 13, Ebenezer, also a doctor, born 1st June,
1727; 14, James, born 1st August, 1729; Mary, married John
Smith ; Abiel, married Michael Ware ; Esther, married Asa Fisher.
4. Samuel, married Judith George, 20th. May, 1725, and had
three sons and four daughters. Of these were : 15, George, born
2d June, 1730 ; 16, John, bom 3d July, 1734.
6. Jonathan, married Hannah Clark, was deacon of Medway
church. He had one son, 17, Jonathan, and flve daughters : Han
nah, Lois, AbigaU, Jerusha, and Sarah.
9. Michael married Hannah Adams 16th December, 1741.
They had ten chUdren, of whom the following survived : 18, Eli,
born 14th October, 1742; 19, Philemon, born 14th April, 1752;
20, Titus, born 23d AprU, 1754; 21, Hanan, born 6th October,
1756; Molly, married John Merrifield; Achsa, married Simeon
Partridge ; Patty, married Nathan Metcalf.
10. Barnabas married Rebeka Healy, 5th March, 1745, and
had seven children, of whom two are known to have had famihes
in Franklin: 22, Asa, bom 16th May, 1754; 23, Nathan, bom
26th February, 1765.
11. Joseph married Hannah  . They had sis chUdren,
baptized in FrankUn, viz.: Martha, Mehitable, Luther, Susanna,
Cal-yin, and Joseph. Of them no more is known.
13. Ebenezer married Hannah Morse 27th November, 1755.
He was the first physician in West Precinct (see biographical
sketches). They had: Elijah, baptized 14th November, 1756;
Polly, born 26th August, 1758; 24, Paul, born 7th March, 1766,
(see biographical sketches) .
14. James married Abial Haven. He was Colonel, and had
seven children : 25, Billy, afterwards changed to WUham Haven,
born 23d December, 1754; Jerusha, married Nathan Wight ; 26,
James, bom 11th August, 1755 (so recorded); Juletta, married
Capt. Asa Fairbanks ; Ehab, born 11th January, 1767; Abijah,
born 19th October, 1770, and Polly.
15. George married Joanna, daughter of Ezra Pond, 6th June,
1751, and had ten children. The sons were: 27, Samuel, born
21st May, 1753 ; 28, Timothy, bom 27th November, 1754; 29,
George, born 27th July, 1759.

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GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 261
16. John, doctor, married Eunice Metcalf (see biogTaphical
sketches). They had: 30, Ferdinand, born 22d November,
1760 (see biographical sketches); 31, WiUiam Pitt, bom 30th
June, 1774 (see biographical sketches).
17. Jonathan, Jr., married Bathsheba — .  , and lived in
North Franklin. He had seven children. Among them : 32,
Jonathan, deacon of West Medway church, born 20th April,
1763. 20. Titus married, first, Peggy Fisher, 13th November, 1783 ;
second, Eunice Lawrence, 8th May, 1793. He was blind. He
had : Peggy, born 12th September, 1791 ; Paul, born 28th Feb
ruary, 1796.
21. Hanan married, first, Mary AUen, 21st October, 1779;
second, Prudence Keith. He lived at the south end of the Com
mon. His children were: Judson, died young; Theron (see
biographical sketches); Achsah, married Caleb Fisher.
22. Asa married, first, Ruth Clark, 6th November, 1782 ; sec
ond Meha Ware, 12th March, 1788. They had : Mary ; Asa, Jr.,
bom 4th April, 1786 ; Eli-yira married Luther Gowen ; Melia
married Samuel Byram Fisher, and removed to Alstead, N. H. ;
Artemas, died young.
23. Nathan married Patty Metcalf, 18th September, 1788.
She died 27th June, 1809, and he married Abigail Richardson
28th June, 1810. He died 13th June, 1843. His children were :
Harvey, bom 13th June, 1789; Senk, married Rufus Miller;
Junia, born 20th July, 1794 ; Olive, married Seth Wardworth ;
Nathan, born 26th March, 1799 ; 33, Michael, born 12th August,
1802 ; Patty ; Roxana, died young ; Abigail R., died young ; Abi
gail Larinda ; 34, Richardson, born 3d June, 1818 ; Juliana.
24. Dr. Paul (see biographical sketches) married Persis Rich
ardson 2d February, 1791. Had only:. Persis, born 20th June,
1792, married Maxcy Fisher 8th December, 1811.
i^ 25. BiUy, or Wilham Haven, married Patty Richardson 14th
Jan., 1776, and had : 35, Willard, born 3d February, 1777 ; PoUy,
died young ; Margaret, died young ; Patty, married John Crooks ;
Ebenezer, died young ; 36, WiUiam, born 8th March, 1790 ; Abi
gail ; Mary, married Henry Daniels ; Ehzabeth.
26. Deacon James married AbigaU Harding 1st April, 1778.
The first marriage after incorporation of town. She died 3d

262 HISTOEY OP PRANKLIN.
February, 1815, and he married widow Olive Gilmore. He died
18th July, 1843. Their children were : 37, Whiting, bom 31st
January, 1779; Alfred (see biographical sketches); Eliab (see
biographical sketches); Julitta, married Capt. Skmuel Allen of
Medway ; Electa, unmarried.
31. WiUiam Pitt, "Dr.," married Susanna Torrey, 25th No
vember, 1800, and had: John George, "Dr." (see biographical
sketches); Mary Elizabeth, married Hiram Stone ; WiUiam Torry,
born 6th February, 1806 ; Ebenezer Torry, bom 30th October,
1812. 32. Jonathan, deacon of the West Medway Congregational
church, married Mary  and had eight children, among them
Ehel, born 14th July, 1803 ; Albert, born 20th September, 1808,
(see biographical sketches) .
33. Michael, Jr., married first SaUy Clark, second Meha Breck,
and had four children.
34. Richardson, married first Mary A. Baker, second Harriet
Metcalf. He lives on the old homestead. A view of it is given as
it is to-day opposite the previous page.
35. WiUard married Lucy Allen 25th January, 1802, and had
flve children. One only survived, Charles, born 22d November,
1810, who married Eliza Cook.
36. William married Sally Gaskill 15th January, 1817, and had
two sons : William Warren (see biographical sketches) and Alfred
Gibbs. 37. Whiting, deacon of Medway -village church, married Betsey
Dean, October, 1804, and had eight children, of whom these sur
vived : Abijah Whiting, born 7th December, 1805 ; Gilbert Dean,
born 17th AprU, 1807; Alfred Harding, born 27th AprU, 1817;
Erasmus B., born 8th August, 1819 ; Charles Edwards, born 3d
February, 1822. Betsey Whiting married George F. Kingman,
and resides in New Bedford. THE MILLER FAMILY
has been substantiall3' given under the biographical sketches, but
a -yiew of the home of this family finds its appropriate place here
among other households. The Miller Hospital will be found among
the notices of Franklin physicians. The Miller famUy came from
Rehoboth. Two sons of Philip, viz. ; Phihp, Jr., and Nathaniel

d> X r'

rrK
a)

Os p]en >O

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 263
(see biographical sketches) . Philip, married Lephe  , and
had several chUdren. He was a man of some peculiarities, and
one of the first and most ardent advocates of temperance. Both
families are without representatives in town.
THE MORSE FAMILY.
Samuel, the petitioner of 1738, was descended through Dea.
John, of Watertown, from Samuel, immigrant, of Dedham, 1637,
and of whom the " Morse Genealogy," gives a fuU account.
Samuel above was son of Samuel and Sarah Hill, of Wrentham,
born 7th June, 1702, and died 25th April, 1782. They had : Sam
uel, Jr. Benoni. Sarah ; married Robert Worsely. Hannah ;
married Dr. Ebenezer Metcalf. (See biographical sketches.)
By second wife, Sarah Wheeler, he had Dinah ; married Abijah
Newton. Hannah. Submit ; married Abraham Amsden.
Samuel, Jr., born 4th May, 1733 ; married Sarah Day. He
died 3d June, 1798. She died 23d January, 1800. They had
eleven chUdren, of whom Samuel died in the army at Fort George,
26th July, 1776. The others were : Jason ; Peggy ; married Syl
vester Partridge, of Frankhn. Le-yi ; married Keturah Fisher.
Hannah ; married Solomon Blake.
Jason, born 19th October, 1762 ; married, first, Olive Blake.
She died 19th November, 1790 ; married, second, Esther  ,
died 21st December, 1804 ; married, third, Miriam Smith, of Nor
ton. He had nine chUdren : Ohve ; married Sydney Whiting. Ja
son, removed to Grafton. Harvey ; removed to Enfield. Lucy ;
married Piam Bullard. Joseph. George W. ; removed to Rutland,
Vt. Amos H. ; removed to Syracuse, N. Y. Carohne ; married
Calvin Smith, and removed to Dorchester.
Darius, who hved in the rear of the old meeting-house, de
scended from the same Samuel, but through the line of Joseph
and Hannah (Philhps), of Dorchester, via Jeremiah and Eliza
beth, of Medfield, Benjamin and Sarah (Blake) of Wrentham,
and Moses and Lydia (Daniels) of Wrentham. Darius, born
29th May, 1769 ; married "Pede" or Experience Adams. They
had nine chUdren : Moses, married Lydia Thompson and removed
to Middlefield, 0. Rhoda, married Jedediah Phipps, and had four
chUdren. The others died unmanied, or without issue, in rapid
succession from consumption.

264 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
NEWE FAMILY.
James, the petitioner, made apparently but a short stay in town,
as I find few records of him or his family- either in Wrentham or
Franklin. He was already married on arrival, and has only one
birth entered. He is said to have been a grave-stone cutter, as
was also his son John. Probably the longe-yity of the inhabitants
compelled his withdrawal. His second wife lived over a century.
Many anecdotes still survive her. She originated the saying of
" trusting in Providence till her saddle-girth broke."
James was son of John and Mary, born in Wrentham 8th July,
1722, and married, first, Mary or Mercy, and afterwards Mrs. Sarah
(Blake) Fisher of Keene, N. H. He had : Mercy, Mary ; James,
born 3d September, 1751, and John, born 26th May, 1755. They
probably returned to Wrentham. PARTRIDGE FAMILY
came probably from Medfield, as two famihes of this name were
among the earl3' settlers of Medfield — William and John, and
none of the names appears in Wrentham earlier than 1711. Three
families were in Franklin in 1738 — Ebenezer, Job, and Samuel.
The children of these so far as recorded at Wrentham were : Of
Job and Abigail, Benoni, born 24th March, 1727. His wife died
1st April following, and he married Ann Cook 28th February,
1729. Had Job e, died at 12 3-ears. Anna flrst and second;
Rhoda died at 7 years. Seth born 20th March, 1737. Levi, 22d
September, 1739. Of this family no more is known. Their stones
are the oldest legible in the Central cemetery.
Of Ebenezer and Elizabeth, Elizabeth died in her 8th year.
Hannah married probably David Wood 8th Ma3-, 1771 ; and Abi
gail married John Allen 11th July, 1771, and this family also
ends. Samuel and Mary. He died 25th December, 1774. She died
29th July, 1775. They had: Samuel; Amos, bom 25th July,
1742, " Lieutenant," and married Melitiah ; Reuben, bom 14th
April, 1744, and married Mary HiU, 7th April, 1768. Mary mar
ried Jonathan Hawes 5th March, 1764. Rhoda; David, bom
22d July, 1750 ; died November, 1781. Elizabeth, bom 8th Oc
tober, 1752. '

GENEALOGICAL NOtlCBS. 265
Samuel, Jr., born 31st March, 1741, married Keziah Hawes 2d
February, 1764, but no children have been found. He died 28th
January, 1776.
The Partridges appearing later cannot be traced to any of these
parental nests. They may have aUghted from Medway.
Eleazer and Lois Rockwood had : Mehitable, born 29th May,
1779 ; Kezia, born 10th September, 1780 ; Eleazer, Jr., and Itha-
mar, born 27th May, 1782 (latter died 7th AprU, 1807) ; Nathan.
born 1st August, 1786 ; Asa, married Polly Richardson ; no chil
dren. Phineas, Jr., married, flrst, AbigaU, and had: Allen, born 18th
January, 1804 ; AbigaU Harding, married, G. WeUington Hunt of
Medway ; Elmha ; Dianthe ; Clarissa Prentiss married Rev. A.
Hawes (see biographical sketches). He married, second, Polly
Wheeler and had : Asa, born 7th August, 1820 ; John Wheeler,
born 5th January, 1822 ; Charles, born 2d February, 1831.
Nathan married SaUy Bassett 12th January, 1815, and had
JuUtta Richardson ; Mary Bassett ; George Ithamar ; Harriet
Maria, married  MiUer of Pro-yidence, R. I. ; Charlotte.
Eleazer, Jr. , married, flrst, Mary  . She died 16th Decem
ber, 1812, and he married Hannah Keith. He had : Mary Clark,
married Rev. W. Phipps (see biographical sketches) ; Lois Rock
wood ; Sylvia Pond, married Joseph Lovell of Medway. By second
¦wife he had Juha Ann, Eliza Jane, and Harriet Keith.
Elisha of Medfield, who resided in Franklin during his life and
married Dorcas Pond, had six children, five of whom migrated to
Maine. Simeon, the oldest, bom 19th May, 1758, remained and
married Achsa, daughter of Michael Metcalf. He died 7th Jan
uary, 1825. She died 15th December, 1819. They had: Achsa,
married Alpheus Adams ; Rena, married James Gilmore ; Miriam,
married Simeon Powers of Croyden ; Hannah, married David W.
Daniels. THE POND FAMILY.*
1 . Danielj immigrant ancestor of all the Ponds in Franklin, ap
pears first in Dedham, 1652 ; bought lands in Wrentham, 1663, on
which some of his sons settled. He married, first, Abigail, daugh-
* From a Genealogy compiled hy E. D. Harris, Saratoga, N. Y. For con
venient reference the same figures are used as in the " Genealogy."

266 HISTOEY OP PRANKLIN.
ter of Edward Shepard, of Qambridge ; second, Ann Edwards.
She died 6th June, 1732, aged about 92. He died in Dedham,
4th February, 1698. He had thirteen children, of whom three
sons lived in Wrentham : 4, John ; 5, Ephraim, baptized 6th
July, 1656 ; 9,' Robert, born 5th August, 1667.
4. John settled in North Franklin, afterwards set off to Med
way ; was thrice married, and was living in 1734 ; had nine chil
dren ; two only appear to have hved in Franklin. 15, John, born
about 1688 ; 17, David, born 2d April, 1690.
5. Ephraim, a carpenter, married Deborah, daughter of Edward
and Eleony (Lumber) Hawes. He died 22d December, 1704, and
she married a Bacon. Had nine children : 26, Daniel, born 22d
September, 1689, died unmarried; 27, Deborah, born 13th Sep
tember, 1693, and married Daniel Thurston; 28, Samuel, born
29th December, 1695; 29, Eleony, born 15th August, 1704, and
married John Shepard, of Foxboro, who lived a hundred years
and in four towns -without moving.
9. Robert, Captain, and carpenter, hved near Mine Brook. He
married, first, Joanna Lawrence; second, Abigail Fisher; third,
widow Sarah Shuttleworth. He had nine children: 35, Anne,
born 2d October, 1689, married John Partridge, of Medfield; 40,
Ezra; 41, Ichabod, born 31st May, 1699 ; 42, Barach, born 1702 ;
43, Eunice, married John Goldsbury.
15. John had lands at " long walk" in Franklin. He married
Rachel Fisher. He died 12th March, 1759. She died 15th Feb
ruary, 1770. Had six children: 56, John, born 29th February,
1723 ; 57, Daniel, bom 13th May, 1724; 58, Benjamin, born 15th
June, 1726.
17. David hved also at "long walk," and was of uncommon
height and strength, hence, perhaps, he pitched the tune so high
(see page 31). He was founder of the West Medway church. He
married Sarah Richardson, and died 24th March, 1775. Had seven
children: 60, David, went to Keene, N. H.; 61, Stephen, re
moved to Attleboro; 63, Ebenezer, born 4th July, 1728.
26. Daniel, had land at "long walk;" no record of his mar
riage. 28. Samuel, lived at Mine Brook ; married Mary Thurston.
He died 6th April, 1746. She afterwards married Dea. John Bar
ber, Medway. Had nine chUdren, but three only hved in Frank-

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 267
lin: 87, Samuel, born 22d June, 1729. 89, Bathsheba, bom 9th
August, 1734 ; married Jonathan Metcalf, Jr. 90, Timothy,
born 13th August, 1737.
40. Ezra, town clerk of Wrentham, hved at first on the home
stead ; married first Abigail Farrington, second Margaret, -widow
of Eleazer Metcalf. He died after 1782. Had eleven children,
aU by first wife. 101, Robert, born 2d February, 1720. 102,
Ezra, bom 26th March, 1721. 103, AbigaU, born 29th Septem
ber, 1723 ; married first a Peter Adams, second Dea. Daniel
Kingsbury. 104, Oliver, born 22d March, 1725. 105, Reuben,
born 16th January, 1727. 106, James, drowned in Charles river,
1789. 107, Joanna, bom 2d August, 1730 ; married George Met
calf. 108, Hezekiah, born 17th March, 1733. Ill, Ehjah, born
3d February, 1739.
41. Ichabod, hved near Mine Brook. He married first Milcah
Farrington, second Deborah Thurston, third Mehitable, widow of
John Aldis. He died 2d May, 1783. Had twelve children : 113,
Elisha, born 25th March, 1725. 115, Nathan, went to Walpole.
117, Benjamin, born 21st March, 1732. 120, Lois, married Henry
Daniel. 121, Jonathan, went to Keene, N. H. 122, Eh, born
16th February, 1743.
42. Baruch, a " chief man" in Frankhn ; married Abigail Slo
cum. He died 8th March, 1765. She died 30th August, 1778.
Had nine chUdren. 124, Timothy, born 15th September, 1729.
(See graduates.) 125, Lydia, bom. 14th April, 1731 ; married
Thomas Bacon, 3d. 127, Jerasha, born 20th October, 1735 ;
married David Fisher. 129, Betty, born 8th January, 1740 ; mar
ried Capt. Joseph HiUs. 132, Asa, born 1747.
56. Johif, lived in North Frankhn ; was a founder of the West
Medway church, and a ruling elder. He married Dinah Metcalf
and died 10th April, 1777. His -widow married Lieut. Hezekiah
Fisher. He had flve chUdren : 154, Malchiah, bom 30th Septem
ber, 1746. 157, John, born 20th August, 1752 ; not married ;
was a Revolutionary soldier.
57. Daniel. (See hst of college graduates.)
58. Benjamin, married Mary Park, of Hopkinton. He died
22d February, 1787. Had eight children : was in the Revolu
tionary war. 165, Benjamin, born 1st October, 1757. 166, Bar-

268 HISTOEY OP PRANKLIN.
zillai, born 27th July, 1759. 167, Elihu, bom 16th May, 1763.
168, Rachel, married Amos Ware and died in 1818.
63. Ebenezer, married Freelove  , and had ten chUdren.
Removed to Oswego, N. Y., and died there March, 1821. Was
a Revolutionary soldier.
178. Penuel, born 23d November, 1757; not married. Was
in the war. 180, Jane, married Eleazer Perry, and died 27th
April, 1856.
72. Joseph, married Mary Newland, and died 21st November,
1773. She married Joseph Day. Had four children : 188, Oliver
Newland, bom 18th March, 1769. 189, Darius, removed to
Alstead, N. H., and then West. 190, Joseph. Not known further.
87. Samuel, a founder of the West Medway church, married
Hannah Johnson, of Uxbridge, and died 24th April, 1806. Had
nine children: 197, Samuel, born 15th November, 1753; not
married. (See Revolutionary soldiers) . 199, WUUam, born 23d
March, 1758. 200, Paul, bom 11th May, 1760. (See Revolu
tionary soldiers.) 202, Mary, married Benajah Pond. 203, Ehza
beth, born 6th January, 1767 ; married Lewis (281). 204,
Henry, joined the " N. W. Fur Co.," and died on his way to
Canada. 205, Jemima, born 20th December, 1771 ; married
Oliver (259) .
90. Timothy, married Sarah Cutler, and died 27th October,
1776. She died 23d March, 1816. He was a Revolutionary
soldier. He had flve children : 206, Sarah, married flrst, Ichabod
Hawes, second Jeremy Leland, of Holhston. 208, Timothy,
born 14th January, 1769. 209, Esther, married Oliver N. (188).
210, Cutler, Tdotu 24th August, 1774.
101. Robert; his house is now occupied by Jefferson Daniels,
and is one of the oldest in town. He married flxst Rachel Adams,
second Rebecca. He died 15th September, 1801. Had seven
chUdren: 235, Sarah, married John Elhs. 237, Robert, born
29th December, 1755.
102. Ezra, " Ensign," married, first, Sarah Morse, of 'Wrent
ham, second, Mercy Baker, of Bellingham. In 1771 he removed
to Hubbardston, and died there in 1802. Had eight chUdren, born
in Franklin: 244, Joseph, born 12th May, 1756, and removed
to Hubbardston. (See Revolutionary soldiers.)
104. Ohver; sold his farm to David Daniels, now the Rock-

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 269
wood estate, and re-bought the farm and built the house now
occupied by Goldsbury Pond, at Unionville. He married Anne,
daughter of Samuel Metcalf; died 14th December, 1800. She
died 31st of July, 1817. Had twelve chUdren : 252, Judith, mar
ried Asa Pond (132). 253, Chloe, married Ichabod Dean. 257,
Edna, married Seth Dean. 260, Goldsbury, born 28th September,
1770. 261, Anne, not married. 263, Samuel Metcalf, born 16th
November, 1777. (See graduates.)
108. Hezekiah married Lois  . He died 8th December,
1822. Had eight children : 267, Benajah, born date unknown ;
273, Jeremiah Metcalf, born 12th February, 1781.
111. Elijah, " Captain," left Franklin in 1785 for Grafton, and
died in Torrington, Conn., in 1830. His fine farm in Frankhn
was sold mainly to Elisha Bullard. He married, first, Margaret,
daughter of Eleazer Metcalf; second, Mehitable, daughter of Dr.
Silas Pratt of Wrentham. (See Revolutionary soldiers.) Had
thirteen chUdren, none of whom settled in Franklin.
113. Elisha, carpenter, married flrst Phebe Ware, second Me
hitable Cheever. He died 30th May, 1796. Had ten chUdren :
300, EUsha, boru 21st February, 1749. " Doctor." (See grad
uates.) 306, ApoUos, born 12th June, 1764. (See Revolution^
ary soldiers.) 308, Jemotis, born 23d October, 1772.
117. Benjamin, married Lois Partridge of Medway, and died
27th December, 1809. Had nine children: 315, Amos, born
19th June, 1758, not married. (See Revolutionary soldiers.)
316, Meletiah, married Abijah Clark; 317, Ichabod, born 22d
February, 1762; 318, Ziba, born 27th February, 1764; 319,
Leonard, born 14th February, 1767; 320, Nathan,* born 20th
April, 1769 ; 321, Lois, married Da-yid Lawrence ; 322, Benjamin,
bom 23d October, 1773.
122. Eli (see Revolutionary soldiers), born and died in
Frankhn, but lived also in HoUiston, Medway and Bellingham.
He married Huldah HiU, and died 20th May, 1802. Had twelve
chUdren: 333, Eli, born 17th November, 1769 ; 337, Ehab, born
1st October, 1779, not married; 340, Lucinda, married Eliakim
Morse and went to Oakham ; 342, Asa Aldis, born 19th Febru
ary, 1792.
132. Asa, " Captain" and first town clerk of Franklin, bought
the farm of Perez Cushing on Mine Brook. In 1792 sold to Levi

270 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
Fisher and ultimately removed to Petersham. (See Revolution
ary soldiers.) He married Judith Pond, daughter of Oliver, 104,
and had six children.
154. Malchiah (see Revolutionary soldiers) married Ruth
Fisher, and died 14th March, 1804. Had five children. 391, Otis,
born 26th December, 1771 ; 392, Lewis, born 3d July, 1773 ; 395,
Malchiah, bom 17th October, 1787.
165. Benjamin (see Revolutionary soldiers), married Catherine
Cutler, and had eleven children. He finally moved to Hopkinton
and died there' in 1845. 396, John, born 21st Febraary, 1783,
became a physician in Mendon. 339, Benjamin, born 4th AprU,
1789. (See graduates.) 401, Hiram went to Salem.
166. Barzillai (see Revolutionary soldiers) married Melli-
cent, daughter of Captain Asa and Sarah Fairbanks. In 1804 he
removed to West Medway and died in 1823. (See Revolutionary
soldiers.) Had five chUdren : 407, Sarah, married Bai-uch Pen-
niman, the father of Daniel T.
167. Elihu (see military) married first Polly, daughter of John
Boyd, second Jemima, daughter of Ehsha and Mary (Pond 91)
Cutler, third Marena AUen. He was Justice of the Peace and
esteemed for his piety. He had ten children : PoUy Boyd, married
David P. Blake ; Ehhu, went to Paxton ; Emily, still in Frank
hn ; Edward, died in Illinois ; Joseph Parks, went to Newton ;
James Sullivan is in Salem ; and Elizabeth, in West Brookfield.
188. Oliver Newland married Esther Pond (209) , hved at the
Center, and died 26th January, 1845. She died 28th February,
1847. They had five children : 447, Adela, married Samuel Pay-
son of HoUiston; 448, Nathaniel Ogden, died unmarried; 449,
Increase Sumner, born 21st July, 1801 ; 450, Esther, married
George W. Morse of Rutland, Vt.
199. William married Mary Hide of Medway and died 21st
July, 1843. Had five children, none remained in town.
200. Paul (see Revolutionary soldiers) married Calley Dexter
of Medway, and had a son bom in Franklin. 470, Paul Dexter,
born 20th May, 1784. He w^nt to Sudbury, Vt., and died in
Richmond, O., in 1843.
208. Timothy, Lieutenant, married Rachel Adams of Medway.
He died 17th June, 1829. Had nine children: 477, Justin, born
6th July, 1791 ; 476, Timothy Leland, born 27th September, 1794 ;

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 271
479, Sylvia, not married; 480, Amanda, married Samuel Haskell,
and had six children; 481, Clarissa Ann, not married; 482, Ly
man P., bom 26th October, 1805, went to West Medway; 483,
Abel, born 8th October, 1808, and removed to HoUiston; 484,
Gilbert C. (see graduates) .
210. Cutler, Major, married first Hannah Wood, second Lydia
Temple of HoUiston. He died 3d April, 1857. Had three chil
dren : 486, Clarinda, married Melville Knapp ; 487, John Preston,
went to Randolph, Vt..; 488, Hannah Cutl6r, married George W.
Nason. 237. Robert (see Revolutionary soldiers) married Olive Rich
ardson, and died 19th October, 1839. Had ten children : 549,
Calley, married Amos Bullard, no children; 550, Martin, born
3d October, 1783; 551, Olive, married Samuel Morse of Waldo-
boro, Me.; 552, Lewis, born 29th August, 1790; 557, James
Preston, bom 2d August, 1800.
260. Goldsbury, married Priscilla Fisher of Medway. He died
9th December, 1866. Had three children : 602, Goldsbury, Jr.,
born 27th January, 1798 ; 603, Erasmus, bom 15th October, 1800;
604, Juline, not married.
267. Benajah, " captain" of artillery, married, first, Mary Pond,
202 ; second, SybU Clark. In 1820 went to Crown Point, N. Y.,
and died there in 1857. Had ten children, seven born in Franklin :
625, Willard, bom 11th November, 1791 ; 626, Roxena, married
Jeremiah Clafiin ; 630, Benajah, went to North Hudson, N. Y.
-273. Jeremiah M. married Polly Morse, and died 2d June,
1827. Had flve children : 635, Lyman, went to Valley Falls, R.
I.; 637, Asa, born 4th January, 1815, went to Milford; 638, Eliab
Metcalf, born 8th October, 1819.
308. Jemotis lived on the homestead. He married Sally Gil
more, and in 1832 Miranda Thurston. He died 20th April, 1843,
from a fall. Had seven children : 725, Jemotis, died without issue
in Medway in 1847; 726, Hiram, born 11th August, 1798; 727,
Sumner, bom 24th August, 1800, went to Milford; 728, Gilmore,
born 12th May, 1803, lived in Natick; 729, SaUy, born 1st May,
1807, married Wm. Barnard in Medway ; 730, Elizabeth G., bom
7th February, 1810, married a BeUows, and left town.
320. Nathan married first Rachel Clark, second widow Olive
(Penniman) Marsh. He died 3d September, 1850. Had four

272 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
children : 742, Nathan Clark, bom 18th April, 1798, and removed
to Medwa3'; 743, Rachel, married Charles F. Knapp, of Medway ;
744, Nelson, born 9th Januar3', 1803, and removed to HoUiston;
745, Alfred, born 30th March, 1806, and left town.
322. Benjamin married Lydia, daughter of Timothy EUis.
Died 3d December, 1844. Had six children : 747, Benjamin
Davis, born 21st January, 1805 ; 749, Miranda Ellis, mamed
Lyman P. White ; 750, Charlotte, married Daniel T. Penniman.
333. Eli married, first, Hannah Daniels, of Holhston; second,
Ruth (Wiswell) , widow of Dr. Daniel Bullard, of HoUiston. He
died 16th October, 1846. Had three children, who left town.
342. Asa Aldis removed to Calais, Me., and married. He died
at Ellsworth, Me., 14th October, 1853. His daughter, Huldah A.,
married Hon. Harrison Tweed, of Taunton.
449. Increase S. married Clarinda, daughter of Nathan and
Hannah Allen, and died in BeUingham 20th February, 1840. Had
three children, who died young.
477. Justin married Ruth D. Perry, and died 19th October,
1842. Had ten children, of whom Justin Eli, Lydia, Elhs, Tim
othy and Alvin D. went to Medway ; Alexander De Witt, to Trout
Creek, N. Y. Edwin Cutler alone remains in Franklin.
478. Timothy Leland, " Captain," married Abigail Fisher. He
died 24th May, 1836. Had four children: SUvia, bom 14th
May, 1821 ; George L., who lives in Medway, and Edmund F.,, in
Vineland, N. J.
550. Martin married Amy Elderkin, of Windham, Conn. Had
seven children. One only lived in town : Henry Bowen, married
Ann Maria (Bent). He died 1st May, 1855, lea-ying one child,
Inez Etta.
¦553. Lewis, married Nancy Ware,' of Dedham. No children.
557. James Preston, married Sukie, daughter of Seth and Olive
Whiting, and removed to Waldoboro, Me., but returned to Frank
hn. Had five children.
602. Goldsbury, Jr., married Juha Ann, daughter of Seth
Harding, and has had eleven children : Anna Metcalf, married J.
Francis Atwood, of PhUadelphia. She is now a widow in Frank
lin. Goldsbury Harding ; married and resides out of town. Eras
mus Alhngton. (See graduates.) Edwin James ; Ohver Dean ;
Metcalf Everett. (See biographical notices.)

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 273
603. Erasmus married Ruth M. Snow and died 17th October,
1828. She married Dr. Shadrach Atwood, of Bellingham (H. U.,
1830,) and now lives in town. They have no chUdren.
625. Willard, married SaUy, daughter of Aaron Hills, BeUing
ham. He died 2-2d AprU, 1844, leaving one child, Sarah Maria,
who married John Cushing of Medway. All are dead.
726. Hiram married .Joanna M. Fales, of Attleboro. He died
22d April, 1857. Had six chUdren : Jane Elizabeth, married
Benjamin G. Seekel and went to Providence. Harriet M. mar
ried first James B. Wilson of Medway, second Addison S. Shep
ard of Frankhn. James Hiram married Mary Ann, daughter of
Adin and Mary Fisher. Emory married Sarah J. Wyatt, of
Bristol, R. I. Almira L.
745. Alfred married flrst Almira Lovering, second Louisa
Fisher. He died 25th January, 1848. Had three chUdren ; none
iu town. This once large family has almost disappeared from
Frankhn. THE RAY FAMILY
came into FrankUn in 1839. They immediately began an active
busmess at UnionviUe, as described under the head of Industries.
The three sons are Joseph G., James P. and Frank B. A portrait
of Joseph G. Ray is given on the preceding page. That of James
P. Ray wiU be found among the Centennial Committee. A -yiew
of their two residences, contiguous to each other, is in the notices
of professional men. Frank B. Ray occupies the Makepeace
house, as will be seen in notices of the Rockwood family.
THE RICHARDSON FAMILY.*
The immigrant ancestor of this family, John, settled in the
present Medway. He married Rebecca, daughter of Joseph and
Alice Clark, 1st May, 1679, and had seven children. After his
death, 29th May, 1697, the widow married John HiU of Sherborn.
She died 17th February, 1739. The children were: 2, John;
Elizabeth, died unmarried; Daniel; Joseph; Mehitable; Benja
min; Rebecca, married Eleazer Hill.
2. John, born 25th August, 1679, married probably a daughter
* Compiled from Rev. J. A. "Vinton's Genealogy.
18

274 HISTORY OP PEANKLIN.
of John Breck of Medfield and had twelve children. He died
19th M9,y, 1759. His -wife died at 95. Of his children were :
Sarah, married Da^vid Pond of Franklin; 3, John ; Jonathan, af
terwards of Brookfield ; Esther ; Joseph of Uxbridge ; Samuel of
Wrentham; Solomon of Brookfield; Moses; Asa, the mUler, at
Rockville ; David of Bane. A widely-scattered household at last.
3. John, the ancestor of the Franklin branch, settled in North
Frankhn, his father buying for him fifty-three acres of wild land
now forming part of the farm of S. W. Richardson, Esq. He
married Jemima, daughter of Edward Gay, his neighbor on the
south. ' He was born 22d October, 1701, and died 5th November,
1767. She died 26th December, 1782. They had seven children :
4, Timothy; 5, John; Jerusha, married Nathaniel Fisher of Wrent
ham ; Elizabeth, married Aaron Kingsbury; 6, Ehsha; 7, Eh.
4. Timothy, born 31st July, 1731, married first Mehitable
 , second Betty  . He lived on the Phineas Partridge
farm, and had eight children, of whom were : 8, Amasa ; Sceva ;
Ziba, and Timothy, Jr.
5. John, bom 19th June, 1735, married Abigail Haven, cousin
of the minister; was a carpenter. He died 4th May, 1809. She
died 11th February, 1820. His house forms the eastern or right
hand part of the present residence of S. W. Richardson, Esq.,
a view of which is given on the opposite page. It is beautifully
situated on the road to Medway ¦yUlage, and commands a fine
-yiew of the town towards the south. John and Abigail had four
children : Jerusha, married WiUiam Slocumb, and afterwards went
to Sutton; Olive, married Robert Pond; Lydia Haven, married
Amasa (8); 9, John Wilkes.
6. EUsha, born 5th July, 1743, married Abigail Lawrence.
He and his brother Eli bought the farm of Richard and Jemima
Puffer who had received it in 1691, which has since been the home
stead of the family. He was a cabinet-maker, supplying all the
young couples -with-their first furniture for miles around. He died
15th March, 1798. She died 3d October, 1827. They had seven
children : Polly, married Asa Partridge ; JuUa, married Nathan
Adams ; Abigail, married Nathan Metcalf ; Nancy, married Dan
iel, brother of Nathan Adams ; Jemima, married Captain David
Baker; 10, Ehsha, Jr.
7. Eh, born 5th August, 1745, married Mehitable Farrington,

Residence of Stephen W Richardson.

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 275
of Wrentham. He sold his half of the farm to his brother Elisha,
and bought the present city mills, where he resided. He had four
childi-en : John, died young ; Sally, married John Torry, Jr. ;
11, Eh, Jr. ; Mehitable, married Josiah Ware, of Wrentham.
8. Amasa, son of Timothy, bom 29th December, 1761 ; mar
ried his cousin, Lydia Haven, and lived' near Davis Thayer's.
He died 17th of March, 1838 ; she died AprU following. They
had four children: EUab, married Lydia Bent, of Middleboro,
and went to Maine. 12, Eli Milton ; Erastus (see biographical
sketches) ; Eleanor, married, first, Samuel Miller, of Rehoboth,
second, Cal-yin Turner, of Sharon, and now resides in that town.
9. Capt. John Wilkes, born 30th December, 1774; the first
child with a middle name baptized in Franklin. He married
Matilda Kingsbury. He taught a public school thirty-one con
secutive years, and filled many town offices. He had three chil
dren : Abigail, married Noyes Payson Hawes, and removed to
Maine. John Haven, married Louisa Pike and had Matilda. 13,
Stephen Wilkes.
10. Ehsha, Jr., born 17th August, 1790 ; married, first, Ruth,
daughter of Levi Fisher, second, Harriet, daughter of Timothy
and Juha (Dean) Blake. He died 14th June, 1866. He was
a very .upright and faithful citizen. He had : Ruth, Maria,
Julietta ; Clarissa Day, married Dea. Peter Adams ; Elisha
Fisher, married Ohve D. Ware, and removed to Long Island ;
AbigaU M. ; Nancy Adams, married Francis J. Adams. He had
by second wife : Charles A. and Albert D. (See biographical
sketches.) 11. Eh, Jr., born  , 1781 ; married Chloe Lindley 1st
January, 1809, but had no children. He was the flrst postmaster
in town, buUt the city factory, and was a prominent citizen in
his community.
12. Eh Milton, born 24th December, 1791 ; married Melita
Norcross, and lived on the paternal farm near the Center. She
died 13th September, 1844, and he married Lydia Eaton, of Fram
ingham. He died 3d January, 1875. Their chUdren were : Em
eline Mehta, married Gilbert Partridge, of Medway. Harriet
NeweU, married first Charles Winslow, second Rev. Edward F.
Dickinson, of Chicago, IU. WiUiam Tyler, Albert Milton. (See
biographical sketches. ) Juha ; Holbrook,

276 HISTORY OP FRANKLIN.
13. Stephen Wilkes, bom 30th March, 1813 ; received a thor
ough academic education and taught school for several years ;
was the flrst bookkeeper of the Boston Journal, in 1834. He has
been Representative, United States Internal Revenue Assessor
for ten 3-eai-s, and trial justice since 1871, be,sides filling nearly all
our municipal offices. His portrait is inserted opposite. Esquire
Richardson married, flrst, Eliza A. BuUard, of Medway, and sec
ond, her sister, Marv Bullard, and has had flve children, of whom
survive John Warren, on the paternal estate, and Henry Bullard,
Professor at Amherst college. (See biographical sketches.)
ROCKWOOD FAMILY.*
1. Richard, of Dorchester, 1636, and next of Braintree. Had
Ni(^]iolas, John, and L^-dia, mairied Edward Adams, of Medfield.
2, Nicholas, his son, removed to iledfield and afterwards to Med-
wa3'. He died 2Gth .Jauuar3', 1680. Had eight children. Samuel,
deacon. 2, Benjamin, bom 8th September, 1651, and removed to
Wrentham. Josiah ; Elizabeth, married John Partridge, Jr. ;
Joseph married Hannah Partridge; John, called "Rev.," 3,
Nathaniel, born 23d February, 1665, and removed to Wrentham,
and was deacon there. Isaac.
2. Benjamin, who discovered the Indians at Indian Rock ; mar
ried Judith. He died at Wrentham 5th December, 1747, in his
97th year, but was one of the West precinct members. He had
five children : Mar3', born 2d October, 1G83 ; married Samuel
Fisher of Wrentham aud died 12th AprU, 1763.
3. Nathaniel, brother of Benjamin and deacon of Wrentham
church; married Joanna Ellis. He died 24th September, .1721.
He had seven children : Margaret, bom 4th Seijtember, 1G99 ;
married Ebenezer Metcalf. Nathaniel, born 9th December, 1700 ;
married Margaret Phipps. 4, Benjamin, born 28th March, 1703 ;
married first Mehitable Thompson, second Ruth Man, second
daughter of Rev. Samuel Man. She died 9th November, 1711,
aged 91. Hannah, born 9th October, 1707 ; married Thomas Law
rence. Abigail, born 8th June, 1714 ; married Josiah Blake.
4. Benjamin, lived at Mine Brook Valley (Unionville). He
died October, 1774. She died 11th November, 1811. Had eleven
* Compiled from a genealogy by Rev. A. Morse.

^.fl/rifl^.

Heliotype Printing Co., 220 Devonshire Street, Boston.

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GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 277
children : Keziah, married Francis Daniels. Mehitable, born 25th
October, 1734; married Timothy Richardson. Lois, born 4th
June, 1714 ; married Eleazer Partridge. Samuel, born 19th May,
1746 ; married Sarah Richardson. 5, Timothy, born 14th March,
1748-9, married Sarah Phillips, of Bellingham. Elisha, settled
in North Wrentham, and died 1st December, 1831. Rachel,
born 26th April, 1756 ; married Elisha Bullard. Eunice, born
31st July, 1758 ; married Samuel Blake.
5. Timothy, lived and died on the paternal estate at Union
ville, where he opened a grocery store in 1782, and added a
drug store, the first in the town, vyhioh drew customers far and-
wide. The store has been continued in the family ever since
by his son Asa, and grandson Erastus, and William, the present
proprietor. It has been, too, on or very near the original site,
and still maintains its character for upright dealing. Timothy
died 4th December, 1841, in his 94th year. His wife died 20th
March, 18--i7. He had four children : Sally, died unmarried ;
6, Asa, born 25th March, 1787 ; Nathan, born 9th .lanuarj, 1798,
married Hannah Miller, and lived on King street.
6. Asa, married Julia, daughter of Abijah aud Rachel Thurs
ton, and carried on the paternal store until his death. He had
seven children : Erastus, born 17th August, 1813 ; married
first, Mary Ann, daughter of Joel Daniels, second, Louisa Morse ;
died a few years since. Julia Ann, died at 18. Abijah Thurston,
born 24th March, 1820; married Sarali M. Peck; he died
recently. Susan Bailey, married Francis B. Ray ; they reside
at Unionville, in the house formerly built by William Makejjeace,
a view of which is given opposite. William, born 16th July,
1827, and married Laura Matilda, daughter of Ira and Laura
Blake ; his portrait is given as one of the Centennial Committee ;
they have three children, sons.
THE SHUTTLEWORTH EAIMILY
had but two male representatives — Ebenezer in tjie precinct and
Vincent in the church — and but three females in the latter. Only
three families appear in the Wrentham records. Benjamin and
Sarah (whose second child was " born in Stonintown," and
" Vinsaint " and Sarah), who had : Sarah, born 24th A]u-n, 1722 ;
Vincent, born 16tb December, 1727 ; Marcy, born 14th February,

278 HISTOEY OF PEANKLIN.
1736. Ebenezer and Ruth, of the "West Precinct had : Ebenezer,
Jr., born 16th February, 1753 ; and Ehzabeth, 2d AprU, 1757.
The name thereafter disappears from the parish.
THE SLOCUM FAMILY
had an equally brief stay, removing mostly, it seems, to Medway.
Simon, while he staid, was a prominent member of the precinct
and filled many offices. John was a member of the church.
They were probably brothers, as the similarity of their children's
names indicates a common ancestry. Thus, Simon by his wife
Abigail had : Samuel, Chloe, Eleazer, Metcalf, and Jeremiah.
There is no record except of their baptism. John married Ex
perience Healy and had : Simon, BiUy, George, John, Experience,
aild Chloe. John carried part of his family to Sutton, Simon
to Medway.
BUly or William, born 22d April, 1750, married Jerusha Rich
ardson and had eleven children, four of whom were born in
Franklin, the remainder in Sutton.
William, Jr., born 5th February, 1783, iu Franklin, married
Selah Cushing, and in 1816 migrated to Marietta, O. (See bio
graphical sketches.) THE THAYER FAMILY
came into town early in 1800-, in the person of Nathaniel, who
lived at Unionville, .and did much to build up that then little
manufacturing village called " The Street " in connection with
the Makepeaces and Rockwoods. He had at least five sons of
like proclivities with himself.
Asa and Davis formed a partnership in the straw business at
the Center, as described in the section on industries. Horace,
after a season, opened the Franklin Hotel in the Asa Fisher
house, at the foot of the Common. Fisher engaged in thread
and other business, and accumulated quite a property. Nathan
iel, Jr., also removed to the Center, where some of his family
still reside.
Davis, Major, married Betsey, a sister of William Makepeace.
A view of his house is given in the section on industries, and a
portrait of himself is afiixed opposite. He had eight children,
of whom only four reached maturity : Deborah Burrell, born

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES.

279

17th October, 1813 ; married Wilkes Gay, Jr., and died ; Davis,
Jr., born 24th October, 1815, married Mary M., daughter of
Joseph Whiting. Emery, birth not recorded ; married and resided
in Charleston, S. C, but now resides in Franklin. WiUiam M.,
born 24th February, 1820 (see biographical notices) ; his portrait

-3W.t^.Gr3^'

""residence of DAVIS THAYER, JE.
is given in the group of the Centennial Committee. Betsey Ann,
born 6th June, 1822, married WUliam E. Whiting. The four
members of this famUy live contiguously to the homestead, and
on tho same street. The four residences form a fine addition to
the village. A view of the residence of Davis Thayer, Jr., is
given above.

280 HISTORY OP PRANKLIN.
THE THURSTON FAMILY
is represented among the precinct petitioners by Daniel, a mem
ber of the church, Ist March, 1741. His immigrant ancestor
probably was John, of Dedham, who came from England in the
"Mary Ann," of Yarmouth, in 1687. He was a carpenter, then
aged 36, and brought his wife Margaret and two children, Thomas
and .lohn. He had in Dedham, Joseph, Benjamin, Mary, and
Judith. The children of John, some of them, settled in Medfield,
whence came, 1, Thomas, of Wrentham.
1. Thomas married Mehitable. She died in Wrentham 11th
August, 1692. He died 15th December, 1704. His second wife
was Esther. Their children were : Mehitable, born 1st August,
1686 ; Mary, died young ; Ichabod lived twenty days and died
two days before his mother. By second wife he had : David,
born 20th November, 1693 ; 2, Daniel, born 25th September, 1695 ;
Luke, bom 20th April, 1698 ; Esther, born 21st June, 1700 ; Mary,
born 3d September, 1702.
2. Daniel married, 9th February, 1720, Deborah, daughter of
Ephraim and Deborah (Hawes) Pond. She was an original
member of the West precinct church. He had five children:
Deborah, born 21st September, 1720, died 22d October, 1742 ; 3,
Daniel, born 1st January, 1722 ; Esther, born 28th June, 1723 ;
married Seth Jones (?). David, born 6th May, 1726 ; was tbe
first pastor of the church in West Medway ; Eleoni, born 19th
May, 1728 ; married Jonathan Whiting.
3. Daniel, Jr., married, 13th March, 1743, Ehzabeth Whiting ;
was chosen deacon of the West precinct church 3d July, 1754,
and died 25th June, 1785. She died 16th September, 1806. He
had thirteen children : Deborah, born 7th February, 1745 ; Molly,
born 20th July, 1746 ; married Daniel Kingsbury. Unity, born
7th January, 1748 ; married Seth Daniels. 4, Daniel, Jr., born
11th September, 1749. 5, Abijah, born 5th July, 1751. AbigaU,
born 6th March, 1754. Chloe, born 25th March, 1758 ; " hanged
herself " 20th July, 1793. Elizabeth, born 7th February, 1760 ;
married Aquilla Robbins, of Wrentham. Caleb, born 9th Feb
ruary, 1760 (so in the records). David, born 25th AprU, 1762.
Esther, born 25th May, 1764. Lucretia, born 24th March, 1766 ;
married Nathan Pond and died in Walpole 1st March, 1824 ;

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 281
Joseph, boi-n 26th August, 1769. Of this family, except Daniel
and Abijah, we know nothing further.
14. Daniel, Jr., married Susanna  . He died 7th No
vember, 1802. She died 31st December, 1831. They had six
children recorded : 6, Daniel, born 22d February, 1783 ; Luke,
born 5th February, 1785, and married Olive Clark ; Paul, born
5th February, 1787; Nabum, born 24th January, 1792; PhUo,
born 15th July, 1794, married Julia M., daughter of Joseph Dan
iels, and went with his brother Nahum to Union, Me. ; Johnson,
horn 9th November, 1797.
5. Ahijah married Rachel  . He " feU dead " 10th July,
1812. His widow died 21st November, 1826. They had six
children : Vina, boru 30th May, 1775, married Jesse Gilmore ; '
Deborah, born 3d June, 1777, married Jesse Metcalf; Nancy,
born 28th May, 1779, married Thaddeus Hastings ; 7, Caleb, born
20th June, 1781; 8, David, born 20th September, 1784; Julia,
born 9th November, 1788, married Asa Rockwood.
6. Daniel married Bathsheba Brintuall of Mansfield, and had
twelve children, but none, excepting possibly Gilbert Rodney,
settled in town. He was a boat-builder in South Franklin. The
rest went West.
7. Caleb married Louisa  . He was Colonel, and for
y^ears kept an inn upon the Taunton and Worcester stage route
on the Thurston homestead. He had seven children, all but one
of whom died in childhood. Abigail Thompson, born 24th
April, 1817, married David Ely, and left town.
8. David married Miranda EUis. He died 25th July, 1811,
leaving one child, Nancy, boru 18th March, 1811. His widow
became the second wife of Jemotis Pond. None of the name
remains in town. ^
THE "WARE FAMILY.
Eleazer, whose name appears among the petitioners, lived in
West Franklin. His wife was one of the earliest members of the
church. He was son of Eleazer and Mary, and grandson of John
and Mary, original settlers of Wrentham.
1. John and Mary had .John, born at Dedham 17th June, 1670 ;
Eleazer, born at Wrentham 28th September, 1676 ; and probably
others.

282 aiSTOEY OP PEANKLIN.
2. Eleazer and Mary had : '3, Eleazer, Jr., born 11th November,
1701 ; Jerusha, born 8th January, 1704 ; Daniel, born 2d Novem
ber, 1706 ; Mercy, born 2d March, 1708 ; Hezekiah, born 17th
April, 1711; Jerusha, born 23d June, 1714; Mercy, born 15th
February, 1717; Abial, born 19th August, 1719. ,
3. Eleazer, Jr., married Hannah Man 20th May, 1736. He died
8th July, 1751. They had : Hannah ; Jerusha ; 4, Billy, born
21st March, 1743 ; Ziba, born 13th December, 1744 ; 5, Eli, born
31st March, 1748 ; Abial.
4. Billy married Sarah  , and had : Amasa, born 12tb
October, 1780 ; Lois, baptized 5th May, 1782 ; and Jerusha.
5. Eli married Tamar Wight 27th June, 1771 ; and lived near
Bellingham line. They had : Sarah, Phineas, Margaret, Hepzi
bah, and David.
Jabez, whose birth is not found in the records was, with his
wife Mary, among the earliest «iembers of the West precinct
church. He had ten children ; among them were : Phineas,
baptized 29th AprU, 1750; Amos baptized 30th March, 1760.
Amos m.arried Rachel Pond and removed to Paxton. He was
father of Harriet Ware, who was born in Paxton 12th July, 1799,
and became afterwards a devoted city missionary and the widely-
known first superintendent of the Children's Home in Providence,
R.I. She always claimed Franklin as her home. She died 26th
June, 1847, in her 48th year.
Phineas, " Lieutenant," married Susa Hawes and had : Clarinda,
married Macy Adams and removed to Walpole, N. H. ; Elvira;
Warren died young; Alfred, born 30th September, 1787, married
Ruth  , and died soon after; Philander, born 12th Novem
ber, 1789. He had two wives, but no surviving children. He
lived on the homestead. Of this house Dr. Einmons said it was
the only one he knew large enough for two families. Susan, born
29th December, 1792, and died 5th March, 1833. Lieutenaut
Ware died 17th January, 1826. His wife died 27th September,
1877. This branch of the Wares is extinct in town.
Jesse and Keziah Ware, of another branch, had nine children ;
of them were Amariah, married Eunice Aldis, and had : Frederick
Augustus, bom 29th June, 1798, married Sarah Morse ; Esther,
born 8th December, 1800 ; Nathan, 27th December, 1807 ; Eleazer,
married Sally  , and had : Sabin, born 3d July, 1812 ; San-

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 283
ford, married, but without children, and others. Alfred, birth
unrecorded, married Jemima Fisher, and had : Emeline, died
early, and Alfred Fisher. His house is now owned by J. L. Fitz
patrick. Samuel, Jr., married Olive Daniels, and had : Olive D.,
who married Fisher Richardson ; Samuel Gilbert, born 8th March,
1824. The descendants of the once numerous Ware. family have
almost entirely disappeared from town.
THE WHITING FAMILY.
The constant recurrence of the family name confounds all cer
tain arrangement in the short time allowed to this genealogical
chapter. But some one with more leisure may link the follow
ing circles together : —
Joseph, the precinct member, was evidently the son of Samuel
and Mary, and born 7th December, 1702. He also ' married a
Mary, and had eight children, most of whom died in early life.
Silence, born 14th March, 1731, married Abraham Blake ; Abi
gail, born 2d November, 1737, married Seth Bacon. No sons
seem to have reached maturity, and the family was ended.
In the church is John, the first deacon with Daniel Kingsbury.
He was the son of John and Mary, original settlers of Wrentham.
John, Sen., had three children in Wrentham : Nathaniel, born 2d
February, 1691, married Margaret Man ; Mary, born 14th Octo
ber, 1692 ; 2, John, Jr., " deacon," born 16th June, 1695.
2. Deacon John married Mary Wight, 24th February, 1720.
He died 13th February, 1755. They had six chUdren: Mary
and John died young; Ehzabeth, born 18th November, 1724,
married Daniel Thurston ; Abigail, born 5th October, 1728 ; 3,
Asa, born 8th June, 1731 ; Esther, born 25th February, 1736.
8. Asa married Elizabeth Fisher, 25th June, 1756. He died
22d December, 1794. She died 16th July, 1820. They had
seven children : 4, Asa,' born 4th September, 1757 ; Thaddeus,
baptized in Franklin 24th May, 1761 ; Elizabeth, baptized same
date, married William Adams; Charlotte married John Whiting
of Medway; Hannah married Timothy Fisher, Jr.; 5, Joseph
baptized 1769 ; John ; Nathan.
4. Asa, Jr., married Mary Gihnore 11th April, 1777, and had :
Salla ; Sydney, born 18th March, 1786, married Olive Morse and
had seven children; Rebecca McLane; Hannah.

284 aiSTOEY OP PEANKLIN.
5. Joseph married Polly Page of Walpole, 19th November,
1793. They had : Asa, Jr., born 22d September, 1795, married
Betsey W. Boyd ; PoUy ; 6, Joseph, 2d, born 22d AprU, 1798 ;
Jairus, born 12th March, 1800, married Mary Cheney ; Sally P.,
born 19th March, 1802, married Joseph F. Gilmore; Lucy;
Eliza. 6. Joseph, 2d, married Zeolide  , and had : Mary Maria,
married Davis Thayer, Jr. ; William Eustis, married Betsey A.
Thayer; Zeolide Elizabeth.
Another Franklin, family, and yet probably not another, was
that of Jonathan and Elonai (Thurston) Whiting. They had :
Mary, baptized in Franklin 11th August, 1751 ; Thurston (see
biographical sketches); John, born 5th January, 1755 ; Jonathan,
born 9th April, 1757; Abijah (see biographical sketches). Noth
ing further appears of this line.
Joseph, Jr., was apparently of a different descent. He mar
ried Elizabeth, and had: Cornelius, born 13th Ajsril, 1756; and,
we think, 1, Joseph, 2d, who married Ruth Bacon ; as also, it
may be, 2, Peter, as I meet with no more likely ancestry.
Joseph, Jr., was also deacon, chosen 21st July, 1779, and died 7th
November, 1826. Peter, presumably his son, was chosen deacon
14th September, 1803, and died 9th December, 1805.
1. Joseph, 2d, married Ruth Bacon 14th January, 1801, and
had : Ruth Adams, born 22d January, 1802 ; Daniel Peter, born
4th March, 1807; Joseph Milton, born 25th February, 1813.
2. Dea. Peter married Lydia Blake 14th December, 1769.
No record of his children is found, but there evidently was a
Peter, Jr., who married Anna Sayles 12th October, 1803, and
had : AbigaU, born 23d July, 1804 ; Joseph Blake, born 14th
September, 1807 ; Peter, 3, born 1st June, 1809 ; Lydia Blake,
born 9th March, 1812 ; 3, WUlard Clark, born 7th September,
1815; Deacon of South Franklin church; married, first, Char
lotte MUler ; second, Olivia Whiting, of Wrentham.
3. Willard C. married, first, Charlotte Miller, second Olivia
Whiting- of Wrentham. He is the deacon and substantial
member of the church in South Franklin.
THE -WOODVyARD FAMILY
came into the West precinct in 1756, and built the house on the
farm in South Franklin, which was burned in 1874. The first

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 285
comer was Joseph, of Norton, born July, 1729, and the son of
Israel, of Taunton, born iu 1698, and grandson of Israel, the sou
of Israel and Jane (Godfrey), born 4th October, 1674.
1. Joseph, the first comer, entered the Continental army, but
died suddenly in service, in 1778. His body was buried iu
Franklin cemetery in the year of the town's incorporation,
where his epitaph speaks well for his devotion. He had four
children : Nathan, born February, 1758, married, but left no
children ; he was in the Revolutionary war six months ; he died
29th February, 1836. 2, James, born July, 1761 ; Hannah, not
married; Rachel, married Abel Ellis, of Sutton.
2. James married Lois Ellis 16th December, 1783 ; he died
7th June, 1811. He had ten children : Elvira, born 10th
October, 1786 ; Joseph, born 31st July, 1788 ; Elizabeth, born
20th June, 1790; .3, Austin, born 21st May, 1792; Harvey, bom
17th September, 1794; Almira; Lucretia, now in Rockville,
Medway ; Alfred, living in Norfolk ; Fanny, born 7th November,
1806 ; Preston, born 19th August, 1808.
3. Austin naarried Mary Anne Voax ; he died in 1872, aged
80 years. He had ten children ; of these four are dead and
two onl3' remain in town — Amos P. and Joseph A., the present
efficient postmaster. THE WILSON FAMILY.
Of these brief sojourners we have only these few notes : —
1. Michael married Mary  , and had six children. He
died 81st May, 1731. His wife died 16th May, 1738 : Sara, born
18th February, 1675 ; Mary, born 16th February, 1677 ; 2, Mi
chael, Jr., born 6th February, 1681 ; SUence, died young ; Noah,
born 4th September, 1686 ; Henry, born 9th AprU, 1690.
2. Michael, Jr., married Sarah Bumpas, of Taunton, 13th June,
1 707. He bought and settled on what was the recent Phipps
farm. He had four chUdren : Mary, born 25th July, 1713 ; mar
ried Joshua Daniels. 3, Uriah, born 14th November, 1712.
Beulah, born 15tb May, 1715; married John Peck. 4, Lemuel,
born 12th June, 1717. -
3. Uriah married Mary Guild 23d March, 1737, and had six
chUdren : Sarah, born 9th June, 1739 ; Betty, born 19th March,

286 HISTORY OP PEANKLIN.
1741 ; Joseph, baptized 2l8t April, 1745 ; Deborah, died young ;
David, born 12th April, 1748; Jerusha, born 9th June, 1751.
4. Lemuel married Rebecca, and had five children : Benjamin,
born 17th July, 1746; Phebe and Zebiah, died young; Hermon,
baptized 10th June, 1753 ; Rebecca, baptized 29th September,
1756. She was the latest lingerer in town.
Michael, Jr., and Uriah were sextons of the old First church
from 1738 to 1750.
This family is slightly out of the alphabetical order, but since
its successive heads faithfully held the keys of the meeting-house
for two generations, we trust the misarrangement will be excused,
for who but the sexton should so properly go out last and lock
up these glimpses of the old and long-ago departed congregations ?

THE ENn.

GENERAL INDEX,

INTRODUCTION 
CENTENNIAL ADDRESS 
ADDENDA 
Biographical Sketches...
Centennial Cblebkation.
Familt GtENEALOGIES 

page.
.... 3
... 5
.... 61
....139....195....224

PAGE.
Act of Incorporation  41
Bacon, Kev. Jacob  22
Baptist Church  99
Barnum, Rev. Caleb  33, 83
Bellingham set off  21
Blake, Philip, notice of  124
Biographical Sketches  139
Adams, G. A., Esq  139
Adams, Kev. J  140
Allen, Prof. A. S  140
Allen. B. P  141
Aldis, Judge A  -.  141
Atwood, Dr. J. F  145
Bacon, H  145
Baker, Rev. Dr. A. R  146
Baker, D.E  147
Blake, Rev. Dr. M  147
Chapman, Rev. N  148
Clark, Dr. G  148
Cushing, Rev. J. B  148
Daniels, Rev. H. M  148
Daniels, Rev. W. H  149
Daniels, W.G  149
Dean, Dr. 0  150
De"Witt, Hon. A  150
Dyer, Rev. N. T  151
Emmons, Judge W  151
Fairbanks, E., Esq  152
Farr, T. P  152
Fisher, Prof. A. M  152
Fisher, Rev. C. R  154
Fisher, Hon. G  156
Fisher, Rev. G  156
Fisher, Hon. J  157
Fisher, L. W., Esq  157
Fisher, Hon. M. M  158
Fletcher, A. B  158
Gilmore, J. R  159
Harding. Dr. E  159
Harris, Rev. Dr. -W  160
Haven, Rev. T  160
Hawes, Rev. A  160

page.
Biographical Sketches (cont.).
Hawes, P., Esq  161
Heaton, Rev. I. E  .161
Hixon, Rev. A  161
Hooper, Rev. W  162
Horton, Rev. Dr. S.J  162
Hunt, Eev. S  88, 163
Ide, Rev. Dr. J  163
Kidder, Rev. T  163
Kingsbury, Rev. S  164
Kingsbury, Dr. S. A  164
Leonard, Rev. H. P  164
Sethbridge, Dr. F  165
Mann, Hon. H  165
McFarland, H., Esq  168
Metcalf, A  168
Metcalf, A., Esq  168
Metcalf, Dr. E  169
Metcalf, E  169
Metcalf, Dr. F  171
Metcalf, Dr. J  171
Metcalf, Dr. J. G  171
Metcalf, Dr. P  172
Metcalf, .Tudge T  172
Metcalf, Dr. W. P  173
Metcalf, Dr. W. ¦W  173
Miller, Dr. E. D  174
Miller, Dr. L. L  174
Miller, Dr. N  174
Pennell, Prof. C. S  175
Phipps, Rev, G. G  177
Phipps, Rev. W  176
Pond, Dr. B  177
Pond, Kev. D  178
Pond, Dr. E  178
Pond, Dr. E. A  178
Pond.G.C  179
Pond, Dr. M. E  179
Pond, S. M., Esq  179
Pond,T  179
Pratt, Dr. J. L. S  179
Pratt, S. A., Esq  180

288

HISTOEY OF FEANKLIN.

page.
Biographical Sketches (cont.).
Preston, Rev. J. B  180
Ray, Miss L. P  181
Bay, W. F  181
Richardson, A. D  181
Richardson, Rev. A. M  182
Richardson, C. A  183
Richardson, Dr. E  183
Richardson, Prof. H. B  183
Richardson, Rev. "W. T  184
Robinson, Rev. E. "W  184
Rockwood, F. E., Esq  185
Rockwood, L. P., Esq  185
Russegue, Dr. H  185
Sayles, G. L., Esq  185
Sayles, H. L., Esq  185
Sayles, L., Esq  185
Slocum, W  186
Smalley, G. ^W  I8B
Tenney, Dr. J. W  187
Thayer, Dr. C. H  187
Thayer, Rev. W.U  188
Thompson, Rev. E  189
-Wheaton, Rev. J  189
-Whiting, A., Esq  ;  189
"Whiting, N., Esq  190
-Whiting, Rev. S  190
¦Whiting, Rev. T  190
¦Wilder, Hon. M. P  190
-Winslow, C  192
Burying-grounds  63
Catalogue of Franklin's Donation. 70
Catechisings, Annual  74
Catholic church  95, 100
Centennial Celebration  195
Center of the town surveyed  28, 54
Citizen soldiery  135
Civil history  62
Common, purchase of  65
Congregational church  80
Continental soldiers  123
Continental money  53 .
Council on hymn-books  35, 82
Cow-common rights  73
Daniels, notice of Fisher  239
Dean Academy  77
Dedham, settlement of  8
Ecclesiastical History  80
Emmons, Rev. Dr. N  37, 84
Emmons monument  64
Exeter, first name of Franklin  43
Felting business  113
First settlers of ¦Wrentham  13
Fisher, notice of ¦Willis  246
Franklin Academy  76
Census of  62
Church organized  26
Earliest settlers  ,  25
First mill in   110
First preaching  22
First town-ineeting  52
Incorporation as Precinct  23
Incorporation as Town  41
Industries of  110
Name of  43

page.
Franklin (continued).
Petitioners for Precinct  25
Petitioners for Town  40
Topography of  '61
"Why so named  43
Genealogical Notices  224
Adams Family  228
Allen Family  231
Bacon Family  231
Baker Family  232
Blake Family  234
Clark Family  236
Daniels Family  238
Darling Family  240
Fairbank Family  240
Fisher Family  241
Fitzpatrick Family  249
Gay Family  249
Greene Family  251
Hall Familjr  251
Hawes Family  251
Hills Family  254
Jones Family  255
Kingsbury Family  256
Lawrence Family  257
Makepeace Family  258
Mann Family  258
Metcalf Family  259
Miller Family  262
Morse Family  263
Newe Family  264
Partridge Family  264
Pond Family  265
Ray Family  273
Richardson Family  273
Rockwood Family  276
Shuttleworth Family  277
Slocum Family  278
Thayer Fainily  278
Thurston Family  280
¦Ware Family  281
-Whiting Family  283
"Woodward Family  284
"Wilson Family  285
Gowen, John, notice of  124
Grace church (Universalist)  97
Grant of Territory  8
Haven, Eev. Elias  26, 80
Horse sheds  29
Hunt, Eev. Samuel  88
Hymn-book war  34, 82
Indian deeds  15
Indian Rock encounter  17
Indian Rock celebi-ation  18 _
Industrial statistics  110
Industrial statistics for 1875  114
Instructions to Representatives in
1776  48
Keene, Rev. Luther  89
Lands purchased  6, 13, 15
Lawyers in town  192
Library, donation of  44, 69
Library, public  72
Man, Eev. Hezekiah  22
Man, Rev. Samuel  16, 20

INDEX.

289

,, PAGE.
Maps of the town  67
MoLane's execution  125
Meeting-house, First  26, 27
Meeting-house, Second  37, 54, 90
Meeting-house, inside view  55
Meeting-house, Third  95
Messenger, Rev. Henry  20
Methodist church  102
Military history  119
Ministerial fund  104
Minute-men of 1775  120
Museum of relies  222
Muster day on the Common  136
Nason, notice of Geo. W  237
Newspapers in town  114
Newton, notice of John  124
Old way of singing  30
Pelton, Kev. Geo. A  89
Physicians in town  192
Pond, David's sipging trouble  31
Pond, Elihu, notice of  123
Poor and poor-house  40, 69
Post-office, history of  79
Precinct, first moves for  21, 23
Printing-press, first  161
Public morals  107
Public officers, lists of  115
Rebellion record  129
Rebellion, town action  126
Representatives instructed  48
Representatives, list of  118
Revolutionary soldiers  123
Revolutionary war  50
Sabbath breaking  109
Sarah Indian  14

PAGE.
Saw-mill, first  110
School Committee, list of  117
School, first in "Wrentham  20
School Districts  75
School, High  77
Schools, Public  21, 72
Shoe business  ,  114
Singing, old way of  30
Smalley, Rev. Elam  87
" Society for Reform, of Morals ". .107
South Congregational church  96
Southworth, Rev. T. D  87
Stamx) Act, resolves on  46
Standing in the porches  108
Straw-bonnet manufacture  112
Swedenborgian meeting  104
Temperance reform  109
Tithing-men  107
Title to the soil  6, 13, 15
Topography of Franklin  61
Town industries  110
Valuations from 1786  115
Volunteers against the Rebellion.. .129
Votes on political issues  68
"Ware, notice of Harriet  282
"War of 1812  126
"War of the Rebellion  127
"War of the Revolution  51
"Whittaker, L. R., notice of  127
"WoUomonopoag settled  11
"WoUomonopoag purchased  13
"Wrentham burnt  17
"Wrentham, first school-house  20
"Wrentham incorporated  16
"Wrentham re-settled  17

19

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE.
Portrait of Rev. M. Blake, D.D  .frontispiece.
Maps of Ancient "Wrentham and Franklin  Opposite 67
View of Dean Academy  " 78
Portrait of Rev. N. Emmons, D. D  " 84
View of Dr. Emmons' house  " 86
View of Old Meeting-house  92
View of New Congregational Church  Opposite 96
View of Grace Church (Universalist)  '.  98
View of Baptist Church  100
View of Catholic Church  '.  101
View of Methodist Church  103
View of Major Davis Thayer's Store and House  Opposite 113
View of the Ray Block  :  " 114
View of Fletcher's Block  " 116
View of Aldis' House and Store   146
Portrait of Dr. O. Dean. . . ".  Opposite 150
Portrait of Hon. George Fisher  " 156
Portrait of Hon. M. M. Fisher  " 158
Portrait of Rev.-S. J. Horton, D. D  " 162
Portrait of Hon. Horace Mann  " 166
Portrait of Dr. E. D. Miller  " 174
Portrait of Dr. L. L. Miller  ¦  " 175
Portrait of Dr. N. Miller  ", 176
Residences of Messrs. J. P. & J. R. Ray  " 181
Portrait of Hon. M. P. "Wilder  " 190
View of the Miller Hospital  " 193
' Portraits of Centennial Committee (two plates)  " 195
View of the Baker Homestead  " 233
Portrait of Capt. D. Baker  " 234
Portrait of G. W. Nasou  " 237
View of F. Daniel's Homestead .. .,  " 239
Portrait of Fisher Daniels  '  ,  " 240
Autograph of Hon. J. Fisher  242
Coat of Arms of Fisher Family  243
Portrait of Willis Fisher, Esq  Opposite 246
Residence of J. L Fitzpatrick  249
Residence of H. M. Greene, Esq  250
Vi6w of the Hawes Homestead  252
View of the Alfred Knapp Homestead  253
Birthplace of Hon. Horace Mann  Opposite 258
Portrait of "W. Makepeace, Esq  " 259
View of Nathan Metcalf Homestead  • " 261
View of Dr. Miller Homestead  " 262
Portrait of J. G. Ray  " 272
Residence of S. ^W. Richardson  " 274
Portrait of S. W. Richardson  " 276
View of the Makepeace Homestead  " 277
Portrait of Maj. D. Thayer  " 278
Residence of D. Thayer, Jr  279

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

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