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3. Gen'l Court's Come &c. arrived at Worcester at one Clock-we had prepared for them a very handsome dinner at Johnson's Tavern 1-Marianne returned to Brookfield.

4. The Comee &c. sat off from the Court house, on a course East 1 degree north to Bladder pond 2-thence about due E. & W. to the Long pond, on a resurvey for a road to Roxbury. We parted with the Come &c. &c. at the Long Pond.

7. Marianne married to Dr. Simmons.3

8. Began business in the house built for a Bank.*

port, being a fellow student of his classmate Rufus King. He was admitted to the bar in 1780, and for a short time practiced with William Stearns in Worcester, and in 1805 formed a partnership with William E. Green. From 1802 to 1811 he represented Worcester in the General Court, and was County Attorney from 1807 to 1811, when he was made an associate Justice of the Circuit Court of Common Pleas for the Western Circuit, an office which he held until his death. While in college he fought with the college company on the nineteenth of April, 1775, and later, during Shays's Rebellion he joined General Lincoln's army as a volunteer, and during this campaign the exposure and hardships he was compelled to endure so impaired his health that he never fully recovered.

[Born, Harwich, Mass., 5 September, 1756.

Died, Worcester, 28 June, 1818.]

1 The Exchange Hotel was at this time kept by Samuel Johnson. 2 Bell Pond.

3 Marianne, or Mary Ann Thomas was the eldest child of Mr. Thomas by his first wife, Mary Dill. She had been twice before married, first to James Hutchins, and then to

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Mather.

4 Before this building was completed, the business of the Worcester Bank was undoubtedly transacted in the counting house of Daniel Waldo, Jr.

"At a meeting of a Number of Gentlemen at Barker's tavern (Exchange Hotel) in Worcester, 18 December, 1803

"Isaiah Thomas, Esq. being chosen Moderator.

"Voted, That it is the sense of the Gentlemen present that it would be advantageous to the County of Worcester to have a Bank established at Worcester." Benjamin Heywood, Francis Blake, Isaiah Thomas, Dr. William Paine and Daniel Waldo, Jr., were appointed a Committee to superintend the subscriptions, prepare a petition to the General Court, etc.; and on 21 December, it was announced in the Massachusetts Spy and the National Egis under the heading "A Country Bank" that 'an association of gentlemen belonging to the town of Worcester, having contemplated the advantages which would accrue to the agricultural, commercial and mechanical interests of the county from the establishment of a bank

10. Went to Boston, with Eliza, Hannah Frazier and Levi.

20. Eliza returned to Worcester accompanied by Miss R. Armstrong.

in the town of Worcester," had appointed a committee to invite subscriptions from the citizens of the county, and that books would be opened at Mr. Barker's tavern in Worcester on the first Tuesday in January. The response to this call was so liberal that one hundred and eighty-three subscribers applied for a total of two thousand, six hundred and twelve shares. These were reduced to fifteen hundred and the capital stock was fixed at $150,000.00 instead of $100,000.00 as was at first contemplated.

On 3 January, 1804, Daniel Waldo, Jr., Isaiah Thomas and Francis Blake were appointed to present a petition to the General Court for an act of incorporation, and on 7 March, the charter was granted:-"An Act to incorporate Daniel Waldo and others by the name and stile of the President, Directors & Company of the WORCESTER BANK." The other corporators were Daniel Waldo, Sr., Stephen Salisbury, Nathan Patch, William Henshaw, Nathaniel Paine and Elijah Burbank. At the first meeting of the stockholders, 10 April, Daniel Waldo, Benjamin Heywood, Samuel Flagg, Isaiah Thomas, Daniel Waldo, Jr., Theophilus Wheeler and Samuel Chandler were elected directors. Daniel Waldo was the first president, but was succeeded by his son in the following October. The first cashier was Levi Thaxter. At the same meeting Dr. William Paine, Samuel Brazer, Ephraim Mower, Dr. Oliver Fiske and John Farrar were appointed a committee "to enquire where a spot can be had for a Banking house, and exhibit a plan for a suitable Building, with an estimate for the expence, and report the same at the adjournment." Acting upon the recommendation of this committee, on 20 April, it was "Voted 1st. That the Lot of Land belonging to Capt. Dan. Heywood opposite to land owned by Nathaniel Paine, Esq. situate on the maine street in Worcester, stated to contain one hundred and twenty-six rods, a plan of which was presented by the Committee, be purchased by the President & Directors for the Corporation at the price and upon the terms proposed by said Heywood to the Committee. "Voted 24. That the Directors be hereby authorized and directed to build a house of Brick, that will accommodate a Family & answer for banking purposes; to be of such a form and size as they may judge to be most for the Interest of the Stockholders, conforming however to the outline of the plan exhibited by the Committee so far as may consist with convenience; the same to be erected in the Lot of Land to be purchased of Capt. Daniel Heywood."

The Directors decided that the building should be of brick, three stories high, with two belts of marble in the front; and Mr. Thomas was appointed to apply to Charles Bulfinch for drafts of the interior and exterior and to obtain of a bricklayer in Boston a calculation of the quantity of bricks and lime which would be wanted; he was also empowered to procure the marble provided that the expense did not exceed one dollar per foot. Before the completion of this building the directors met at the Exchange Hotel [known both as "Barker's Tavern," and

2

22. Mrs. T. came from Worcester to Boston, accompanied by Miss R. Armstrong1 and Mrs. Bancroft, with Levi & Charles.

31. Sat off for Walpole N. H.3 by way of Townsend.

"Rice's Inn, at the sign of the Golden Ball,"] at Heywood's Tavern [the Central Hotel], and at Daniel Waldo's store.

The new building was first used for a meeting of the directors 6 October, 1804. The Massachusetts Spy of 12 February, 1806, contained the advertisement that there was "To be leased and entered upon the first of April next-That Superb Brick Edifice connected with the Bank in Worcester. This elegant building is three stories high and contains two Kitchens, two Parlors, and thirteen Chambers, with a handsome Piazza the whole extent of one wing. A convenient Woodhouse, including a well and other necessary appendages connected with it. It is accommodated with a well finished Barn, sufficiently large both for a Carriage house and for Stabling; also with land sufficient for a spacious Yard and Kitchen Garden. "This seat is calculated either for the Gentleman, who wishes to retire to the country to enjoy his fortune, or for the man of business, whose object is to increase it in a flourishing town, second to none on the continent, of an inland situation, for its enterprize, industry and growth. From the size and central situation of this building, it is also extremely well calculated for a Hotel, or genteel Boardinghouse." This was occupied by Daniel Waldo, Jr., until he built his mansion to the south of the bank, on the site of Mechanics Hall. The north part of the first floor was afterwards used as the Post-office.

The building was occupied by the bank until its destruction by fire 6 March, 1843. 1 Mr. Thomas was married to Miss Armstrong, 10 August, 1819.

2 Lucretia, the daughter of John Chandler the Refugee, and Mary Church Chandler, was married 24 October, 1786, to Rev. Aaron Bancroft.

[Born, Worcester, 9 June, 1765.

Died, Worcester, 27 April, 1839.]

3 In April, 1793, Mr. Thomas formed a partnership with David Carlisle, Jr., a former apprentice in Worcester, and opened a printing office and bookstore in Walpole, N. H., Mr. Thomas furnishing the press, types and a large stock of books, while Carlisle had the general management of the business. In the same month they began the publication of The New Hampshire Journal, which had a good literary standing from the beginning, and which soon had a large circulation in New Hampshire and in the towns of Vermont, opposite Walpole, on the Connecticut River. At the beginning of the second year the title of the paper was changed to The New Hampshire and Vermont Journal, or Farmers Weekly Museum; and in 1795, Joseph Dennie, later the sole editor of the paper and subsequently of the Portfolio, in Philadelphia, began to write a series of letters called "The Lay Preacher," which were republished in nearly all the newspapers of the country. These letters, with contributions from other well known writers of the time, gave the paper such a prominent position that its subscription list was larger than that of any other in the interior of the country. Its circulation extended from Maine to Georgia, and an

June, 1805.

1. Arrived at Walpole.

3. Went to the Falls.

4. Left Walpole for Worcester.

5. Arrived at Worcester at 10 °Clock in the forenoon. Mr. Penniman & family arrived there same day and dined with me. Arrived at Boston from Worcester.

11. Went to Worcester with Miss Hannah Weld and Miss Phillips.

13. Mr. Andrews went to Philadelphia.

17.

24.

Returned to Boston with Miss H. Weld.

Went to Concord to celebrate feast of St. John. 4 Lodges met. Isa. came from Worcester.

27. Mrs. Thomas went to Worcester with Miss Lydia, Bass in the Coachee.2

extra bag was required for the subscribers in New York, Philadelphia, Charleston and the intervening cities.

In the spring of 1796 Mr. Thomas retired from the firm, and Carlisle became nominally the sole proprietor of the paper. In April, 1797, the title was again changed to The Farmers Weekly Museum: New Hampshire and Vermont Journal; but in less than a year Carlisle's financial embarrassments compelled him to flee to Canada, and the paper again fell into the hands of Mr. Thomas, the business being conducted by Alexander Thomas. In October, 1801, it was temporarily disposed of to David Newhall, under whose management its size was reduced. Two years later Thomas & Thomas again resumed its publication, and in 1804 it was again enlarged and its second title dropped; but with the loss of its correspondents the spirit of the paper was gone and it had nothing to distinguish it from many others in New England. In March, 1807, its publication was suspended, but was again revived in October, 1808, by Thomas & Thomas and Cheever Felch, and in the following July, the latter became the sole publisher and editor.See entry and note 14 September, 1809.

1 Obadiah Penniman was a partner in the firm of Thomas, Andrews & Penniman, which Thomas & Andrews had established in Albany, in 1796.

2 Weld, in his "Travels," 1795-7, says:

"The coachee is a carriage peculiar, I believe, to America; the body of it is rather longer than that of a coach, but of the same shape. In the front it is left quite open down to the bottom, and the driver sits on a bench under the roof of

29. Eliza came from Worcester with Miss Seaver in the Phaeton. Mr. Andrews returned from Philadelphia.

July, 1805.

4. Independence - highly celebrated excellent Fire works in the Evening.

5. Wm. Caldwell, Esq―died.1

13. Levi went to Worcester on horseback.

15. Levi returned from Worcester with the Coachee. 24.

Went to Worcester with Eliza-H. Frazier & Miss

2

P. Sever; Shut up the House in Boston.

29. Went on the Long Pond.

August, 1805.

5. Sent the Coachee to Boston, to carry down Mrs. Thomas, jun'. and two children and Miss Lydia Bass.

the carriage. There are two seats in it for the passengers, who sit with their faces towards the horses. The roof is supported by small props, which are placed at the corners. On each side of the doors, above the pannels, it is quite open, and to guard against bad weather there are curtains, which are made to let down from the roof, and fasten to buttons placed for the purpose on the outside. There is also a leathern curtain to hang occasionally between the driver and passengers." Mr. Thomas generally made his journeys in New England in his own carriage, and often with coach and four. He is said to have been the first person in Worcester to have a colored coachman in livery.

1 William Caldwell, Sheriff of Worcester County, was graduated from Harvard College in 1773, at the age of twenty. He was one of the nine members of the Bar of Worcester County who were admitted during the Revolution, among the others being Levi Lincoln, Dwight Foster, William Sever and Nathaniel Paine. After his admission in 1781, he opened an office in Rutland, where he practiced until his appointment as Sheriff, in 1793, after which he removed to Worcester. He owned and occupied the Gardiner Chandler house, with a large farm connected with it.

[Born, Rutland, Mass., 1753.]

2 Penelope Winslow, the daughter of William and Mary Chandler Sever, was married, 6 September, 1807, to Levi Lincoln, Jr.

[Born, Worcester, 21 July, 1786.

Died, Worcester, 2 April, 1872.]

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