The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-05-22

money as some other places less favored by position
and the quality Of the soil. They live to consider
able extent within themselves, and manage to in
crease their substance from year to year. There is
an air of comfort about the town that have rarely
seen equalled The fertile meadows have, even at
this season, a lawnke appearance, and the orchards
are neat and trim as an oldfashioned garden owned
by an oldfashioned gentleman. | do not recollect
seeing more than one shabby dwelling in the place,
and on inquiry learned that that was the abode Of
solitary gentleman, bachelor and stiff" whig-
who has contracted an aversion TO women, and
whose buttonless and woebegone appearance showg
that women are Of some use in creation.
The houses in the centre of the town are mostly
large, and many of them are very elegant, and are
finely situated, trees being especially abundant,
which speaks much for the culture OF the people
There not few wealthy people here retired rner
chants, and so forth, who " farm it, by way of
amusement, and whose establishments are model AZ
fairs in their wayand very pleasant way it is too
The business and professional men Of the place have
fine estates Mr. Boutwell's mansion, lately erected,
is large, commodious and tasteful.
Just before the traveller reaches the town, by the
old road, he comes to what is called " The Commu--
nifty Eleven years ago, when the " Miller delu-
sion was so common and cheerful belief was en-
tertaned that g immortal smash was about to en-
sue the destructive theory found many supporters
men headed them. You must have noted that when
religious delusiOn RACES it is the wise who are most
affected by it. The fools have too much practical
sense to be 50 dedsd AS time rolled ava.
common with prophets-that he was a bad hand at
arithmetic. The world was not destroyed, greatly
to the yeSn Of many people the GroG
wouldn't go out, determined to go out Of the world.
They gradually formed sort Of settlement Of their
own, and their houses and barns, very neat and
fortabe-looking, can be seen scattered good
land. They have their own modes of belief and
forms of worship. The forenoon of the Sabbath they
pass in ordinary labor but the afternoon is set apart
right, sober. and decorously behaved people. Here
they are called I" The Community name which
does notconyey any very accurate idea Of their opn
ions or acts. for there is nothing communistic
and that of property in their full force. Unlike the
Shakers, or Quakers, they have pecullarities OF
dress or address. To politics or public matters ge
morally they pay little or no attention They havea
sort of patriarch in Mr.. Hail. formerly respectable
Boston merchant, and now equally respectable as =
farmer and country gentleman. Occasionally they
are joined by some person from abroad who is OF
their way of thinking but they do not aspire to pro-
selyting My private opinion is that they are a
community for minding their own business, and
therefore to be respected.
The only manufacturing business carried on in
GToton on an extensive scale is the production
of paper. Mr. Holingsworth, Of Cambridge, ID erect
ing very extensive works for the manufacture of pa
per on the site of mill not long since destroyed by
fire. They will soon be completed, and will be as
perfect as human ingenuity and liberal expenditure
can make them. Although as little wood posi-.
BILE is made Of in their construction, it is intend
ed that no fire shall ever be allowed in more than
kind of book paper will here be made in large guam
titles, for various markets. Mr. Hollingsw0rth has
other mills where c0arser kinds Of paper are made
He supplies government with post office paper,
xhip bn nda IN H.-rpnf pNorf nf fhn
There are two or three tanneries on small scale
each and some shoes not many, are manufac
tured. The business of the place is mainly con-
fined to supplying the wants of thriving population
the poorest OF whom live comfortably. Some soap
stone ia 'got out" and more might be procured but
that the gentleman who owns the quarry "a Of the
slow order OF mortals belonging to generation thu
does not like the dea Of exhausting the rocks Of the
Commonwealth with too much haste and precpita-
ton. Iron ore is to be had, but not of a superior
quality, and latterly it has been used only for cast
ings. Granite is abundant in the northern part Of
the town.
Groton is one Of the old towns OF Massachusetts.
OF the 32l towns in the territory Of Massachusetts,,
including the old colony, 277 were founded after
Groton, which dates back to the year 1866, or 1873
years ago. The chief Of those engaged in getting
up the settlement was Dean Winthrop, d ron Of Gov
ernor Winthrop, from whose native place, Groton,
in Suffolk, land, the new town was named The
original photography Of the name is Groaten, which
may help to the proper pronunciation OF the werd.
OF the fifty towns in Middlesex county, Groton ranks
tenth in point OF age. being younger than Charles
town, Watertown, Medford, Cambridge, Concord,
Sudbury, Woburn, Reading, and Maiden. Town
re .ords exist to back as 1862. II would seem
that the place was early prosperous. 1t had its full
share oil the Indian wars of those times, how
ever, to keep the good Christians from becoming too
strong in the belief that they were saints earth.
king Philips war; was the great event OF our
early colonial history. Philip was sort Of Wal
lace, who aimed at the determination OF the white
race, but whose means bore no proportion to his
genius. 1t is difficult to say which party behaved
most savagely during the war-the savages or the
Christians On the whole, am inclined TO assign
their eminent piety and high professions to
something like divine excellence. In March.
1913, Groton was assaulted BY the Indians, and
suffered the loss OF forty dwelling houses and
broken mp by this event many Of the Inhabitants
moving to Concord. The place, however, recovered
on the return OF peace. Ia 1894 another Indian at
tack caused the deaths of some twenty persons. Il
was not until about the middle of The last century
that Groton was fairly freed from Indian troubles.
The event known in our colonial history as Lovells
Fight" and in which several Groton men took part
shows the nature of the wars Of those times Our
pious ancestors had put the price Of one hundred
pounds on every Indians scalp, so that to hunt the
savages was good mode OF business any other,
quite as humane AID certainly not less profitable
A band Of volunteers, mostly from Middesex towns.
was got up, under command of John Lowell Of Duns-
table, for the purpose of hunting Indians scalps
These men were deliberate assassins, for it must be
Iecollcctcu lhas theiI opect was hol eeHuciehcs,
like that Of most whites in their contests with the
red but the acquisition Of scalps for the sake Of
the bounty thereon. Lovells first and second ex-
petitions into the wilderness were eminenty success
full. On the second he and his band killed seven
sleeping Indians and three others who were reused
by the attack the last being torn to pieces by dogs
caught by those animals and killed by thsir Chris
tan masters. For this pious exploit LoveH's men
received almost 81 600 from the government Of
massachusetts, Bay. On the third expedition
the tables were turned FOR, while seeking to circum
vent the Indians, the whites were themselves drawn
into ambuscade and after one Of the hardest and
most interesting Indian fights record were almost
all destroyed. No single event in our Indian con-
tests had higher place than "Lovcll's Fight" IL
has been fayorite subject with romance writers.
One Of the most interesting pieces in Mr. Haw-
thorne's Moses from an Old Manse' Roger Null
wins Burial'-is founded omit. Of Loycll's band
seven were from Groton, six Of whom fell.
Groon was very patriotic town during the Isevo-
luton. Her citizens turned out in full on receiving