The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-08-06
WIT and HUMOR.
Town Characters, Ec-
centres and Men
Of Mark.
g & BRAzER' BRASH REMARKS.
Alexander Vollier, the First
80. sae Caterer In Wor-
aal'oss cester.
-
! BRAzER' BRASH REMARKS.
1Il4g s.
si'R aiT
(By Franklin P. Rice.)


e.5itefs with distinctive. traits, which mark
1 < them in the community as moving
-oi rims different, lines and exhibiting differ
efita phases. of personality from those
4 of the average member of society in a
-degreei to continually attract notice and
70 create comment
Some are noted for originality or odd
Lily IN speech, others for eccentricity in
action. while not few by their men
!, tai deficiencies or physical peculiarities
are rendered objects of ridicule or
.contumely among the heartless and I'M
thinking.
There is still another class whose rep
resentatiyes, by their forceful abilities
and practical talents, assume leader
ship in, the affairs Of those around
them, and whose ambition never ex-
,ceeds the limits of the immediate cir
Gle in which they live
worcester in the past has had among
its residents examples of all the above
types as singular and pronounced
probably as could be found anywhere
in New England, region by no means
barren Of such specimens; and the rec
ord of the peeuliarities of some of them
was so powerfully impressed on the
minds OF those who knew them in their
lifetime that it survived through a long
period.
The. great changes of the last quarter
of a century in personnel, manners and
tastes have, however, operated to OBJ
literate the memories Of former events
and individuals, and matters which are
not of record have to a great extent
lapsed intos0bliVion. l}
The town for many years enjoyed
quite a reputation as che abiding place
of severaI noted w9gs, wits and prac-
teal jokers, and enough has been pre-
served in relation to their quips tricks,
pranks and oddities to show their quail
ity, and to make us regret that so much
has been lost.
In listening to the "reminiscences of
some of the old residents who have now
passed off the earthly stage, we have
wondered if the indulgence in these not
always harmless manifestations of
which relation was given constituted
the principal business of those addicted
to them.
The most celebrated wit in Worcester
hundred years ago, whose fame has
descended to posteFity, was undues-
tionably Samuel Frazer, and he in
reality deserved the name.
More oraless Of his sharp sayings and
quaint remarks are in print and the
reader is referred to other sources for.
verifcation.
Mr.. Brazer was for many years the
town baker, and he also for a few
years kept a general store, in front of
which he was ungallant enough to
swing sign bearing "a female figure.
which he designated The old maid
Brazer had little respect for persons,
as he had little fear of them This was
evinced in his retort to the Rev. DR..
Bancroft when the latter informed him
that on journey he had had the mis-
fortune to lose his saddle-bags con
tanning his linen and some sermons,
both essential to the proper discharge
of his Sunday duties in a strange
place
IF your shirts needed mending as
much as your sermons, it was a small
loss" said Brazer.
On one occasion in his later life, he
appeared in a great hurry at the office
Of a prominent lawyer in the town;
saying:
Take my acknowledgment to this
deed and will serve you a better trick
than the devil ever did,
What do you mean by that?n asked
the limb of the law as he affixed his
signature to the document VI
"I'll go away and leave ye,'t replied
the wag, as he ran off with his paper.
Brazer, with all his fun, had full
measure Of sorrow and misfortune in
family afliction@ and the loss of prop
erty, which he bore with manliness
and resignation. He was in reality a
man Of strong points of character and
uncommon business capacity.
His SON of the same. name was ia
nous in his day as a political orator,
raconteur and satirist, and possessed
his fathers wit, which he exhibited i'll
a more delicate and scholarly vein. He
was one Of the editors of the National
Aegis, and later Of the Baltimore Pa
triot.
he was probably included in the lot
Of sfBrazers ware" which his father
offered to trade an unsuspecting coun-
tryman who had brought him load
of wood.
A well-known character in the town
in 1900 was Clark Chandler, the tory
town-elerk,- who in revolutionary times
was forced by the patriots to obhterate
an obnoxious record by dipping his fin
ger in ink and smearing the page. AT
ter an exile for a time he returned to
Worcester and engaged in trade
''His person W Is small. He wore red
small clothes, was odd and singular,
and often provoked The Jeers of those
with Whom he mingled; put, apt at re-
ply, paid the jokers in their own coin.
He vas never married, and died in
1904. '',5
His, remains were inferred in the Me-
.chanie street ground, and the writer
was present when they were exhumed
in 1873 and decipheIed the inscription
: on his, coffin plate. lgrsl
,a,s Wa now come to q parsonage of more
4 than local note, who made the town
fathers considerable trouble for 20
or 80 years. II Peter Willard was one OF
quite number Of negro slaves who
were given their freedom III return for
theia' services as soldiers In the revolu-
tiorary war; the most famous OF whom,
in these parts at least was Peter Sa-
lem who killed Mai. Pitcairn at Bun
ker's Hill.
b. Salem resided mostly in Framingham
but Cor several years lived in Leicester.
Just how Willard happened to be Nv
Ing in Worcester and was toWI
aehargevhere for some time, cannot now
be certainly determined.
nalThe last few years of his LIE ne re-
ceived a pension for his revolutionary
"a services, and died in Millbury in lol9
and was buried there. He was great
ly addicted TO the use OF intoxicanls
and commonly yielded to cider IN larst
quantity. 4eg
He used to perambulate the town II
an uproarious condition, and occas'
toned several disturbances He had
military step, and used to train imagin'
airy companies before the doors OF Ger,
tain well known residents. who woule
give him cider or "a little money 10 se'
rid Of him.
He would catch pennies In his mouti
II thrown al him, and INDUCED In mum
berless antics. He was far from choice
IN hisIanguage and often had 70 p
suppressed In 1906 The Spy printed
tho t&efious question. Would y q
to the honor or dishonor Of the select
men of Worcester to take care OF tetel