The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1901-11-24
An Old Settler in the Village Re-
calls the Early Days When
There Were Few Residents and
Little Business
THE WIRE MILL OPERATED
BY AN OVERSIGHT WHEEL
Mail and Papers Dropped Off the
Stage in Its Trip From the City
to MiIIbury First Swedish
Families Came in 1875 to
Work Charcoal Furnaces

like a dream to him the way the vii
lage has increased in size and popula-
ton, At that time there were only
about Is houses in the village and the
only schoolhouse that could be boast
ed of was a two-story brick building,
in the second floor of which the meet
ings of the people of the village were
held. No churches were built until the
| Quinsigamond Methodist Church was
erected on the land that was bought
| from v. P. Townsend. who now occu-
pies a house on the lot next to the
church on Stebbins Street
| The only means of communication
with the city of Worcester at that time
was by the old stage coach that used
| to run between Worcester and Mill
bury and all mail and papers for the
people of the village were brought
down in the coach. The first dstribu-
ton of mail and papers in the village
Twas done by v. p. Townsend, who used
to sort the mail in the office where the
weighing for the American Steel &
| Wire Company is now done, at the
main gate of the company. After
time one of the tenements belonging
| to the Washburn G. Moen Company
was rented and fixed up as a post
office for the convenience of the people
and where they could get their mail
without any trouble.
The first and only postmaster that
ever was in the village was W p.
Townsend, who held the position until
the sub-station was established in
charge of Werner Anderson and the
carrier system was brought into use
when he thought he was getting too
old to handle the increased business
of the office. Mr.. Townsend retired.
In the early days Mr. Townsend says
that there were only four houses on
the right hand side of Millbury Street
below the railroad, and these were the
homes of Mr.. Haley, a railroad con-
tractor, who owned the property now
owned by R. F. Taylor; the old Henry
house on what is now Whipple Street;
the cottage at the corner of Stebbins
and Millbury Streets and the Goss
home on Upland Street. On the left
hand the houses were those owned by
the Washburn & Moen Company and
occupied by the men who worked in
the mill and their families, the house
now occupied by Moses Rusbatch and
the Tatman homestead on Greenwood
Street. which was then known as the
old road to Millbury
On what is now Millbury Street be-
low the junction of Millbury and
. Greenwood Streets, there were two
7 houses occupied by Josiah Perry.
! father of DR.. Perry of this city, and
Dexter Perry father of Frank D..
Perry, who occupies the same house,
but who has remodeled it into a mod
ern home. The Washburn q Moen
Company works then were about the
size of the central works of the Amer
lean Steel & Wire Company at South
Worcester, and the power for the
running of the machinery was fur
nished by an over-shOt wheel and was
regulated by a gate, according to the
amount of water required.
After a time, when the plant of the
firm was increased a small stationary
engine was put in as an auxiliary to
the water wheel, and as the plant
grew the water wheel was done away
with and steam was used exclusively
as a motive power. The men who
worked in the wire mill at that time
and who have seen the plant of the
company grow, say that the change
from the water power to the steam
was welcomed by all. as no one knew
when the wheel was liable to break
down and shut down the works for
days
The first business started outside of
the wire mill was tripe shop and was
| run by r. c. Taylor of this city on
heirs on Millbury Street below the
second crossing of the New York, New
| Haven & Hartford Railroad in the viii
lage. After Mr.. Taylor purchased the
property of Mr.. Haley he removed the
| tripe shop to the shore of the Black
stone River on the right of his prop
! erty. After a time complaints were
made to the Board of Health that the
| tripe shop was a nuisance and Mr..
| Taylor was ordered to remove ii or
| pull it down. Mr.. Taylor chose to re-
move it, and Mr. Townsend described
the moving of the shop to the land on
which the shop of the L. B. Darling
| Fertilizer Company is now situated.
The shop was moved on the rollers
/ over what is now called Snider Hill
and down through the land where Mr.
! Whipple, an insurance agent, had a
( farm. Mr.. Taylor carried on the tripe
| business until he sold out to John ].
Jefferds, who carried on the business
! till the shop was bought out by the |
fertilizer company.
| Mr.. Townsend describes the excite !
ment in the village the years before |
and during the Civil War, and told Of |
| the mass meetings which were held in !
the old City Hall and were always at
| tended by the citizens of the village |
When the slavery question was being |
| discussed in 1857 there was great eX-
element in the village over the out |
come Of all the talk and when such |
men as William Lloyd Garrison and |
Wendell Phillips came to Worcester TO +,
speak all the men of the. village were
sure to be at the City Hall.
In 1851 when it was assured that |
there was to be war and the news of |
the firing on Fort Sumter was received. /
| the men would gather in the home, and |
| if one of them had received a paper |
| from outside the city that containedl
news of the war his home was sure
\ to be crowded with people eager to |
hear what was going on outside of the |
city.
When the first troops were sent to |
the front from this city all business in |
the village was suspended so that the |
men who stayed behind could be at |
| the station to give them a good send |
off. When the Sunday that the news |
1 Of Lees surrender was received, all /
the people decorated their homes in /
honor of the glad event, as they knew |
that the war was as good as over, and |
the next day business was suspended /
and the people celebrated the victory /
| by firing 100 guns.
! When news of the assassination of |
President Lincoln was received. all !
decorations were removed and replaced /
with emblems Of mourning.
The first Swedish people to come to /
make their homes in the village wesA
party Of charcoal burners. who We're
sent after TO Sweden to take charge /
OF the charcoal furnaces that the /
Washhurn & Moen Company had put |
in and they arrived here in the winter |
~ 1875 They were Alfred Dahlin. !
Carl Enberg and Mr.. Berg. and