Fitchburg, Massachusetts

“ Nearly a century ago the little town, now the prosperous city, of Fitchburg, Mass., was the scene of a fierce contest that lasted a decade. Never in the history of the town was there contention so bitter or opposition so determined as that shown in the ninety-nine town meetings held during the years 1786-96. The cause of this tempest in a teapot was the location of a new meeting-house. ”

“ At the feet of the observer lies the city, forming almost a semi-circle. Wooded hills arise on all sides. Wachusett, twelve miles distant, rears its imposing pile in the south, while Big Watatic overtops its brethren in the northwest. Almost opposite Rollstone is Pearl Hill, which is also well worth a visit.
The "Brick" Mill.
There are many pleasant drives around Fitchburg, which are thoroughly appreciated by the citizens. But we must not dwell longer upon Fitchburg or its environs. Let those who are strangers to our city come and see for themselves. They will be welcome. ”

“ Baffled, but not dismayed, the petitioners came to the town meeting held in May, 1785, with a proposition to annex to Fitchburg "about a mile or more in width of land, with the inhabitants thereon, of the northerly part of the town of Westminster," and these additional people were "to join the inhabitants of said Fitchburg to build a meeting-house on Ezra Upton's land." This scheme was very artful, but the wise men of the east saw that such a move would throw the balance of power into the hands of the west, and therefore voted it down. ”

“ Fitchburg hospitality is well known, and Masonic or other organizations are always sure of royal entertainment and a grand good time when they visit their Fitchburg brethren.
Art, literature and music have always been cultivated here. Though there is no organized art club in town, there are not a few artists here of merit whose skill with crayon and brush is fully appreciated.
Laurel Hill. Residence Of Charles Mason, Rollstone Street. ”

“ We of the present day, proud of our heritage, are striving to improve it by all means within our power.
Fitchburg owes her growth and prosperity pre-eminently to those energetic and plucky men who founded and fostered the great industries which now constitute her life and soul. Alvah Crocker, Salmon W. Putnam, Eugene T. Miles, and Walter Heywood, have left behind them great and lasting proofs of their toil and perseverance. Of Rodney Wallace, who is now in the midst of a useful and benevolent life among us, another will speak more fully and fittingly in other pages of this magazine ”

“ The time had now come when the talk at the tavern, the town meeting, the Church, and at the daily meeting of neighbor with neighbor, was of the rights of the colonies, and of the tyranny of the English Government. The fires of Liberty were already kindled from the North to the South and from the seaports to the frontier. Fitchburg was not behind in preparation for the coming storm. In the store building of Ephraim Kimball, which was near the corner of Main and Laurel Streets, was the armory of the minute men, about forty of whom were enrolled and regularly drilled ”

“ Member of firm Iver Johnson's Arms & Cycle Works of Fitchburg; first vice-president Fitchburg Bank and Trust Co.; Iver Johnson Sporting Goods Co. of Boston, Worcester and Fitchburg; trustee Fitchburg Savings Bank, and on Board of Investment; director Fitchburg Co-operative Bank, and on finance committee; director Merchants' National Bank of Worcester, Fitchburg Mutual Fire Insurance Co.; director Boston Casualty Co. Was alderman of Fitchburg, 1901-03; president of Board, 1902-03; state senator of Third Worcester Senatorial District, 1907-08; councilor Seventh District, 1909-10. Republican ”

“ Between 1830 and 1834 the ambition of the town was stimulated by the building of a new road from Fitchburg to Shirley. It was claimed that a shorter and more nearly level route to Boston from Fitchburg and the country above was thus secured. For a time the travel was considerable, but the teamsters preferred the old roads, the old taverns, and the old acquaintances. The construction of the Fitchburg railroad in 1844 ended the business from the country to Boston over the old highways. ”

“ The census gives no account of the infidels and the isms—of them there are none in North Carolina, and Massachusetts may boast that she rivals Germany, France and Western New York in their production.
Really, it is suicidal folly in New England to talk of disunion and setting up for herself. She does not possess the elements of separate nationality. She is intelligent and wealthy; but her wealth is cosmopolitan—her poverty indigenous. Her commerce, her manufactures, and moneyed capital, constitute her wealth. ”

“ Local affairs have always received a proportionate share of Mr. Norcross's attention. On the organization of the city government of Fitchburg, in 1873, he received the honor of first election to the mayoralty of the new city. He was re-elected the following year. In the administration of its affairs his executive ability was marked. Necessary public improvements were effected, and all bear tokens of his excellent judgment and skill. With financial and other public organizations he has been, for many years, prominently identified. ”

“ Fitzhugh’s people lived in New York. It was far-fetched, but yet the gods were good, for they might have lived in San Francisco. Fitzhugh blessed the soldier again. “Wipes, you’re a lot brighter than you look. ”

“ ADELAIDE F. CHASE
ADELAIDE FLORENCE CHASE, editor and publisher of the Club Calendar, is a native of Fitchburg, Mass. She comes of long lines of ancestry dating back to the early settlement of the Bay Colony.
The daughter of Arrington and Sarah (Brown) Gibson, she is of the .seventh generation of the family founded by John Gibson, to whom land was granted in Cambridge (then called Newtowne) , August 4, 1634. The line of descent is: John1; John, Jr.,2 born about 1641; Timothy,3 born about 1679; Reuben,4 born in Sudtbury, 1725; Israel,5 born in Fitchburg, 1765 ”

“ Overlook is the largest and most elevated, being four hundred feet above the railroad tracks. More than eighteen miles of service pipe are now in use, and there are over two hundred fire hydrants at various points. The city is equipped with a fire alarm telegraph, having thirty-one signal boxes, and maintains an efficient and well managed Fire Department. It is thus easy to understand why Fitchburg seldom has a fire that amounts to much. ”

“ Fitchburg has large mercantile and financial interests, but manufacturing is the principal industry. The principal manufactures are paper and wood pulp, cotton and woollen goods, yarn and silk, machinery, saws, horn goods, and bicycles and firearms (the Iver Johnson Arms and Cycle Works being located here) . In 1905 the city’s total factory product was valued at $15,390,507, of which $3,019,118 was the value of the paper and wood pulp product, $2,910,572 was the value of the cotton goods, and $1,202,421 was the value of the foundry and machine shop products. ”

“ For they do live well abroad; they do have amusing things to do. They eat well, drink well, smoke well, are better waited on than we are and have more time. So Fitzhugh was in danger of these things which have hurt the Americanism of more than one American to the death, but he ran the dangerous gauntlet and came out at the other end unscathed—into the open.
He could rattle off French and German like a native; he could imitate an Englishman's intonation to perfection; and yet he came to manhood with his own honest Ohio accent untouched. And where had he learned it? Not in Ohio, surely. ”

“ On the 5th of May, 1874, he was married to his second wife, Henrietta Elliott, of Moncton, New Brunswick.
Fitch, Edson, Manufacturer, Quebec, Grand First Principal of Royal Arch Masonry in the province of Quebec, is a native of Glen’s Falls, New York state, having been born there in 1838. He is a direct descendant of Governor Thomas Fitch, who was governor of the colony of Connecticut, in 1756, under the reign of George II. The family is one of the oldest in the United States. They were originally from Eltham, county of Kent, England, and came to America, landing in Boston, Mass., in 1634. ”

“ We lately compared carefully the census of Massachusetts and North Carolina, and found, in round numbers, that according to population, North Carolina pro [Pg 339] duced annually ten times as much of human food as Massachusetts,—but that Massachusetts balanced the account by producing annually ten times as many paupers and criminals as North Carolina. We also discover that the want of food in the one State and its abundance in the other, tells on the duration of human life. The mortality in Massachusetts is nearly double that in North Carolina. ”

“ President, I shall enter on no encomium upon Massachusetts; she needs none. There she is. Behold her, and judge for yourselves. There is her history; the world knows it by heart. The past, at least, is secure. There is Boston, and Concord, and Lexington, and Bunker Hill; and there they will remain forever. The bones of her sons, fallen in the great struggle for Independence, now lie mingled with the soil of every State, from New England to Georgia; and there they will lie forever. ”

“ The last public function of Senator Fitzpatrick was that of the presidency of the constitutional convention of Alabama in 1865. While always preserving a cheerful demeanor, there is little doubt that the results of the war, in the complete wreckage of the industrial system of the South greatly preyed on his spirit. He died when he was about seventy years old.
Few public men in Alabama have left a purer record than Governor Fitzpatrick. His dominant characteristic was his integrity. He would never yield to compromise of principle, holding that principle is indivisible. ”

“ At Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Port Hudson, and Fort Wagner, at Chickamauga, Knoxville, and Chattanooga,—under Hooker, and Meade, and Banks, and Gillmore, and Rosecrans, Burnside, and Grant; in every scene of danger and of duty, along the Atlantic and the Gulf, on the Tennessee, the Cumberland, the Mississippi and the Rio Grande,—under Dupont and Dahlgren, and Foote, and Farragut and Porter,—the sons of Massachusetts have borne their part, and paid the debt of patriotism and valor. ”

“ After some general conversation, Flora said: "You know Mrs. Fitzgerald is our neighbor in Boston. I have some curiosity to know what were your experiences in her family."
"Mrs. Fitzgerald was always very polite to me," replied Mrs. Bright; "and personally I had no occasion to find fault with Mr. Fitzgerald, though I think the Yankee schoolma'am was rather a bore to him. The South is a beautiful part of the country. I used to think the sea-island, where they spent most of the summer, was as beautiful as Paradise before the fall ”

“ Fitzhugh went to Washington with her cousin Mrs. Florida White and became one of the well-known belles of the Capital city. It was during this visit that she met with Honorable E. M. Huntington, then commissioner of the General Land Office in Washington, and they were married soon afterward. Mr. Huntington was an especial friend of President Tyler, who appointed him to the position of Judge of the United States Court in Indiana, and they removed to that state, making their home in Terre Haute, and Mrs. Huntington became the center and leader of social life in that part of the state. ”

“ I hope you will overcome your chills, and by next winter you must patch up your house, and get a sweet wife. You will be more comfortable, and not so lonesome. Let her bring a cow and a churn. That will be all you will want.... Give my love to Fitzhugh. I wish he were regularly established. He cannot afford to be idle. He will be miserable.”
My brother Fitzhugh, here referred to, was negotiating to rent his farm, the White House, to some so-called English capitalists, and had not as yet established himself. ”

“ The Acts themselves were set at nought; nobody could be found to act as Sheriff or as a nominated councillor, while General Gage, who had been sent out armed with full civil and military powers to replace Hutchinson, having inaugurated his rule by seizing the powder of the province, saw the people rise in resistance, and by September 1774 the King's rule, except inside Boston, had ceased to exist in Massachusetts, and Boston itself became subject to a species of blockade. On the 4th of September the Congress met, and resolved to petition the King. ”

“ The people of the district of Maine, which had formed part of Massachusetts for nearly a century, were anxious to set up an independent government for themselves; and they feared that if they were to enter into the new and closer Federal Union as part of that state, they might hereafter find it impossible to detach themselves. For this reason half of the Maine delegates were opposed to the Constitution. In none of the thirteen states, moreover, was there a more intense devotion to state rights than in Massachusetts. Nowhere had local self-government reached a higher degree of efficiency ”

“ Yet, brick houses certainly were not the rule. In remote Stafford County, shortly before the port town was built, the houses of even well-placed individuals were sometimes extremely primitive. William Fitzhugh wrote in 1687 to his lawyer and merchant friend Nicholas Hayward in London, “Your brother Joseph’s building that Shell, of a house without Chimney or partition, & not one tittle of workmanship about it more than a Tobacco house work, carry’d him into those Arrears with your self & his other Employees, as you found by his Accots. ”

“ Surely, Senators who are wont to accuse Massachusetts of being drunk with fanaticism, should not forget that the noblest men the South has given to the service of the Republic, in peace and in war, were her teachers. H. Wilson.
CCXCIII. DEFENCE OF MASSACHUSETTS. Massachusetts, in her heart of hearts, loves liberty—loathes slavery. I glory in her sentiments; for the heart of our common humanity is throbbing in sympathy with her opinions. But she is not unmindful of her constitutional duties, of her obligations to the Union and to her sister States. ”