| Page 66. WESTFORD. Area 20,812 Acres. Population 910. Westford was set off from Worcester in 1808. The surface is hilly, the summits in many places rising to the height of 250 to 400 feet above the valleys. It is well watered by the numerous branches of the Elk and Cherry Valley Creeks. The first settlers came here from Vermont about 1790. They were Thomas Sawyer, Oliver Salisbury, Ephraim Smith, Alpheus Earl, Artemus, Moses and David Howe, and Benjamin Chase, who raised seven sons here. Robert Roseboom came from New Jersey and located in the northeastern part near Maple Valley. He was a prominent man and first supervisor of the town, officiating in that capacity until 1814. Samuel and Jonas Babcock, soldiers of the Revolution, came from Berkshire, Mass., in 1795 and their father Josiah joined them in 1799. The five Sperry brothers gave name to Sperry Hollow. The Hubbard brothers formed the "Hubbard Settlement" and the Bentley family gave name to "Bentley Hollow." Judge Andrew S. Draper, former State Superintendent of Schools and now president of the University of Illinois, and his cousin, Judge Alden Chester of the Supreme Court, were natives of this township. Other pioneers were Oliver Bidlake, Joshua and Dexter Draper, David Adams, Eli Tyler, Martin, John and Flavel Wright, Calvin Holmes, James Badeau, Charles Mason, Charles Webster, Eleazer Peasley, Samuel Waterman, Andrew Bice, and Artemas and Jonah Howe, captains of the Revolution. Westford is a fertile agricultural township largely devoted to dairying. VILLAGES: Westford (population 167) and Westville (population 72). Maple Valley is a rural postoffice. SCHOOLS: Number of districts 11; teachers 10; children of school age 131. CHURCHES: At Westford, Methodist, Baptist, Congregational and Episcopal; at Westville, Baptist and Methodist; at Maple Valley, Christian. Transcribed by Karen Flanders Eddy. KARENE1@webtv.net |