The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-07-05
xrcHEs OF NEW ENGLAND.
TAO Herald CsmAAss1o eEss Report.
F.. 0uBURa, (Wor ester Co.. Mass,
IuuA al Iahl

kttoAME-OT1gsn 81 the Pl0ce-yohn FHch-hts
Rss~ss-Rsvo'wtio~ary Times The Amount o.
Money Fxrwished by the Ioscn for the Support 81
tie Way-1hs Siop Growth Of the Toscn Until
ls4e-ks Rapid Increase During the Last Tsoelve
Years-Ta'Se and Descriptions Of Property
The Boston and Fitcibug Rsiiroad-Mr. Crocke'
HIS Success IN the Construction and Mana &c
mewt of the Road The Decline Of the Corpora
tons Profts-Df,sm1sage cement GIFTS AfaWs-
Railroads abore Fuchbu, Losses Of MANI VINO
have been Concerned az Ihem-Ihe Spectators
Spsc,.lated or-Agrscal1urtl Productions, &c.
The town Of Fiteiburg Is some fifty miles from
Boston by the celebrated railroad of the same name
Of which so much has been said OF late years, and
the first success Of which has been the cause OF the
construction Of many other roads that have proved
to be, in the way Of engulfng fortunes, veritablc
Serb0nian boys, though highly useful to that class
Of people known the travelling public. This road
must be the way to dusty death" spoken Of by the
late William Shakespeare poet and player, and
p0aoher; for there Is hardly mile Of it that IS not
cursed with clouds Of minute sand 80 that You can
ride through sort OF Sahara, and that without the
fear Of falling into the hands Of anybody but the di
rectors, who, however, quite bad enough for an
ordinary man 8 taste. No attempt has been made to
introduce into the road any Of those useful inventions
which, others, have been found so excellent
in abating the dry, and choking and vision destroy
ing nuisance that forms greet drawback to the
secites Of railway travelling; the excuse for which
presume, is to be found in the fact that company
whose dividends have fallen in half a dozen years,
from ten per cent to six per cent cannot indulge the
travellers by tin luxuries To all who can reach the
place by other routes would recommend "total
ol>ak;v
for though the train officers are excellent, the dis
comforts from dust are but one remove from the alb
solutely intolerable
The State of Massachusetts, contains not few
names Of counties, cities, towns streets &c. taken
nom the revolutionary dynastes and whig states
men Of England, indicating what was the dominant
political sentiment in the old times. Among these
Is Lunenburg, town in Worcester county, which
was incorporated III l72s. 1t was named from a
ducal title belonging to the then regning sovereign
Of Great Britain, George H. the second Of the Hano
verian line With characteristic ingenuity the name
was enormously spet in the first instance, and there
has since been no corre ton Of it. It should have
been Llneburg, the second n being clearsnperHu-
ity But them Yankees are not remarkable for their
respect for the photography Of proper names, in.
geniously continuing to make the good bad, and the
bad worse. The township of which Lunenburg
formed portion was set of in l7l9, and contained
that town, and what is now Fitchburg and part Of
the present town Of Ashby, in Mddlesex county
The place was then known by the notover elegant
name OF Turkey Hills; but what was wanting in ele-
gance was made up in pstinence, for turkeys were
very abundant on the hills. But one man was then
resident in the place with his family. Settlers
gradually came in, and the year 1928 saw the town
receive . corporate existence. In 1871, when Wor-
cester county was created, LGnenburg formed part
OF It. The settlement q border one, and the
people had good deal Of trouble with the Indians
whose depraved taste for scalps and rum made them
intolerable nusances to Christians, who contented
themselves with simple rum. Stories are told of the
depredations and attacks of the Indians, which are
very interesting bu. which cannot stop to relate.
The town of Fitchburg was set off from Nuremberg
end incorporated early in 1854. The whole number
Of inhabitants was about $50, rather small figure
on which to commence town-keepng. It is a curious
fact and illustrates the uncertainty Of history that it
d not known from whom the place was named. Some
say that il was called after Colonel Timothy Fitch
Boston merchant, and who was large landholder in
the new town. but Others declare that its godfather
was John Fitch noted character of those tines and
who, were he now living, would be justly entitled
to the appellation Of regular brick" If "respec
liability" were alone TO be considered should stand
up for the claims of Timothy but other matters lead
me to cast the weight Of my authority into the scale
Of John. He was an Indian fighter, and was seized
By the savages and carried to Montreal with his
family. He returned, became wealthy, then fell
back 70 poverty and at the patriarchal age of los
years. died in that pariarchal institution, the aims
house at Ashby. There was enough of mutablity in
his life to have made him hero Of romance. He
had served the place in the irresponsible office Of
"hog reeve" and was employed to burn the woods,
but does not appear that he ever employed to set
Nashua river on fire. Mrs. Fitch, his wife, once
dertook to make candles by the rather novel process
of placing lot of tallow and quantity Of wickng
In kettle, which she hung q fire, stirring up
"the ingredients" and wondering that the candles
didn't ccme."
The inhabitants of Fitchburg were very pious.
They had a committee to ferret out every one who
did not ego to meeting" and fined each delinquent
A Mr. Baldwin having been thus punished, at that
part Of the town which is called Old City he cursed
the place and named it Sodom and it is said that the
curse and the name long continued
In the Revolution, Fitchburg was very forward on
ne night Hde. MOI tory was aho Heu W open Ills
Mouth. and people who were cold in the cause Of
liberty were given to understand that they would be
vamed up with tar and feathers which mode Of ar
rrmentaton was found 10 be very eicacious, and to
i'd to the power Of the wings. "Such persons, says
the historian chad to walk very circumspcctly, to
shelter themselves from ebulitions OF popular feel
ing. They were even compelled to mount the head
Of barrel and in that conspicuous, though hnmbng
condition, promise to the assembled majesty Of the
town . greater love for the American cause, and
more strict obedience to the will of the people"
There was even sort of regular inquistor appoint
ed. whose duty it was to procure and lay before
snecia court sthe evidence that may be had Of the
nmica disposition towards this or any Of the United
States of any inbabtant of this town who shall be
charged by the freehoders and other inhabitants Of
said town. The defence Of this stringent mode OF
action Ia 10 be found ia the necessity Of the for
the tories were more numerous than " generally sup
posed to have been the fact, and the lukewarm, who
were ready TO go with the hangman, whether his