|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 24
To manage such a paper requires a co�rdination of forces and an
intellectual breadth of view deserving to be ranked with the work and
attributes of a successful general. Not to wait for the slow processes
of legislation, to be up and ahead of the government itself, to be alert
and untiring--this is the newspaper ideal. How near the Herald has come
to this, its enduring popularity, its great profits, and its wide fame
and influence, best show.
* * * * *
WACHUSETT MOUNTAIN AND PRINCETON.
By Atherton P. Mason.
Almost the first land seen by a person on board a vessel approaching the
Massachusetts coast is the summit of Wachusett Mountain; and any one
standing upon its rocky top beholds more of Massachusetts than can be
seen from any other mountain in the State. For these two reasons, if for
no others, a short historical and sceno-graphical description of this
lonely and majestic eminence, and of the beautiful township in which it
lies, would seem to be interesting.
Wachusett, or "Great Watchusett Hill," as it was originally called, lies
in the northern part of the township of Princeton, and is about fifty
miles due west from Boston. The Nashaways, or Nashuas, originally held
this tract and all the land west of the river that still bears their
name, and they gave to this mountain and the region around its base the
name of "Watchusett." Rising by a gradual ascent from its base, it has
the appearance of a vast dome. The Reverend Peter Whitney[2] speaking of
its dimensions, says: "The circumference of this monstrous mass is about
three miles, and its height is 3,012 feet above the level of the sea, as
was found by the Hon. John Winthrop, Esq., LL.D., in the year 1777: and
this must be 1,800 or 1,900 feet above the level of the adjacent
country." More recent measurements have not materially changed these
figures, so they may be regarded as substantially correct.
The first mention, and probably the first sight, of this mountain, or of
any portion of the region now comprised in Worcester County, is recorded
in Governor Winthrop's journal, in which, under the date of January 27,
1632, is written: "The Governour and some company with him, went up by
Charles River about eight miles above Watertown." The party after
climbing an eminence in the vicinity of their halting-place saw "a very
high hill, due west about forty miles off, and to the N.W. the high
hills by Merrimack, above sixty miles off," The "very high hill" seen by
them for the first time was unquestionably Wachusett.
"On the 20th of October, 1759, the General Court of Massachusetts,
passed an act for incorporating the east wing, so called, of Rutland,
together with sundry farms and some publick lands contiguous thereto,"
as a district under the name of Prince Town, "to perpetuate the name and
memory of the late Rev. Thomas Prince, colleague pastor of the Old South
church in Boston, and a large proprietor of this tract of land." The
district thus incorporated contained about nineteen thousand acres; but
on April 24, 1771, its inhabitants petitioned the General Court, that
it, "with all the lands adjoining said District, not included in any
other town or District," be incorporated into a town by the name of
Princeton; and by the granting of this petition, the area of the town
was increased to twenty-two thousand acres.
The principal citizen of Princeton at this period was the Honorable
Moses Gill, who married the daughter of the Reverend Thomas Prince. He
was a man of considerable note in the county also, holding office as one
of the judges of the court of common pleas for the county of Worcester,
and being "for several years Counsellor of this Commonwealth." His
country-seat, located at Princeton, was a very extensive estate,
comprising nearly three thousand acres. Mr. Whitney appears to have been
personally familiar with this place, and his description of it is so
graphic and enthusiastic, that it may be interesting to quote a portion
of it.
"His noble and elegant seat is about one mile and a quarter from the
meeting-house, to the south. The mansion-house is large, being fifty by
fifty feet, with four stacks of chimneys. The farmhouse is forty feet by
thirty-six. In a line with this stands the coach and chaise house, fifty
feet by thirty-six. This is joined to the barn by a shed seventy feet in
length--the barn is two hundred feet by thirty-two. Very elegant fences
are erected around the mansion-house, the outhouses, and the garden.
When we view this seat, these buildings, and this farm of so many
hundred acres under a high degree of profitable cultivation, and are
told that in the year 1776 it was a perfect wilderness, we are struck
with wonder, admiration, and astonishment. Upon the whole, the seat of
Judge Gill, all the agreeable circumstances respecting it being
attentively considered, is not paralleled by any in the New England
States: perhaps not by any this side the Delaware."
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|