Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-07-15
Quaint New England Villages
Are Numerous,
REBElLED AGAINST BRITISH
Residents of Palmer, Settled BY
Irish, First in War.
GREAT STRAW HAT CENTER
Little Village of Monson Produces
Majority Worn by Mankind in
This Country.

This Country.
BY WILLIAM F. CURTIS
Special Correspondence OF The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.
RUTLAND. Mass, July ), 1911.
We came here from Springfield by auto
mobile, f1fty-three miles over a perfect
road of oiled macadam-a "stone road,
the natives call it-and saw many inter-
esting things on the way. The first town
Of Importance is the little manufacturing
center of Palmer. settled in 1927 by Irish
men, who brought with them their heredi-
tary hostility to the British crown and
caused the colonial authorities much
anxiety and apprehension continuously
until the revolution. In 1T6S the people of
Palmer, as they claim, were the first to
boycott British merchandise; in 1714 all
the able bodied men of the town organ
lied with powder, lead and f1ints' to re-
s.st the authority of Great Britain. and in
April. 1875 Capt. Spear marched to Lex
ington with "a company Of forty-four
minutemen. for whose military services
the taxpayers voted twenty shilings a
month an expense to be borne by the
town at common cost. In May. 1715.
Palmer voted to change the phraseology
used in public proclamations and legal
documents, which up to that time began
with the words In the name of his
majesty" etc. Thereafter they read I'm
the name of the people of this colony
June Il. 1776, the freemen of Palmer
met at the meeting house and declared
their independence of Great Britain,
which the said Inhabitants will engage
with their. lives and fortunes to support
them" This was seventeen days before
Congress acted at Philadelphia. for, like
the people Of Deerfield and other villas es
the freemen Of Palmer were very impa-
tient under what they considered their
grievances against the king.
I'VE, therefore. the inhabitants of this
town. the declaration reads, do believe
the United Colonies to be independent
from Great Britain and declare them
selves entirely separate state as we can
see no alternative but inevitable ruin or
independence
Quaint Town of Monson.
Palmer produces an enormous amount
Of textiles and other things, and is sur
rounded by rich agricultural country
A few miles south is the quaint little
town of Monson, with one Of the Oldest
academies in New England, In which
many famous men have been educated
Monson furnishes a large proportion Of
the straw hats worn by mankind. There
is a string Of factories that cover acres
of ground and long trains of cars filled
with big packing boxes roll out every
day for New York and Boston with hats
or every kind and description. The
straw 81 comes chiefy from Vermont. where
1T is cut and packed with great care
Hats. like everything else, are made by
machinery, and it is astonishing how rap
idly and easily the -braids are sewed to-
gether The machines can do everything
but talk.
Monsoon is one of the richest towns in
the country. In population of 1,50O or
1000 are several miflionaires, including
one of the richest women in New Eng
land. who lives alone with a companion
in an imposing mansion and seldom
leaves the place
Several years ago the village furnished
national sensation in the shape of a
lawsuit over the estate of an aged citi-
zen who made millions in the manufac-
ture Of straw hats and left q will in
which he bequeathed his entire property
to his son provided the latter survived
him., otherwise 1t was to be divided
among the American board Of foreign
missions. the American Bible Society," the
Congregational Church and several other
religious and benevolent institutions with
generous gifts TO neighbors, friends and
distant relatives. The old man was nine
ty-four years old, and the legatee. who
was also millionaire, was seventy-one.
Beth lay i'll Of the same disease in ad-
joining houses and both died somewhere
about midnight of the same day.
Both had the same physician, who
went back and forth from one bedside to
the other the entire evening. as he had
done for several days before. but neither
he nor the nurses nor the servants of
the family paid any attention to the
tick Of the clock. When the doctor
closed the lifeless eyes of the older man
and started for the house of the son he
was met at the door by the news that
the latter also had just gone to his re-
ward, leaving the millions of both to be
fought over in the courts. The benevo-
lent institutions and the miscellaneous
heirs contested the will of the older man
on the ground that his son did not sur
vive him, but although no one could
testify directly on that point, the courts
sustained the will. and all the money
went to a spinster, who holds it yet.
Towns Have Save Names.
One would think that the early settlers
Of Massachusetts, were lacking in imag-
ination or ingenuity. judging by the
paucity of names. So many Of the towns
have the same. There Is North Hampton
South Hampton. East Hampton, West
Hampton and Hampton: there is Whate-
~, Whately Station. East Whately, North
Whateiy, South Whately and West
Whately. There are five Hadleys, as
many Warrens and as many BrookfieIds.
and almost every other name is repeated
four or five times In a confusing way
And the same thing is noticed in the
cemeteries which are all kept with the
most scrupulous care. The families were
large but few, judging from the names
on the tombstones. The epitaphs are
dated back into the middle Of the eight
zenith century, and some of them are
very quaint. A great deal of hunlor as
well as eloQuence and piety is displayed
and more candor than Is usual, in these
days
In q roadside cemetery may be found
an Irish bull that is worthy of Limerick.
The inscription on an ancient tombstone
reads:
Here lies the body of Jonathan Brown, --<
Who was lost at sea and never found.
Nearby is another stone which sets a
CHASTITY example Of accuracy In describ-
Ing the contents Of the tomb of three
young women who lost their lives when
their home burned down. It reads:
Under this stone are the charred re-
mains Of Sarah Wilson. who was burned
to death on the night of October 10
1882, with all of the body Of her sister
Hannah excepting one arm, and about
two-thirdS of Mary"
And touching memorial appears in