Natural Features in Royalston, Massachusetts
compiled by Ann Mensch, with the kind assistance of Tia Mousseau.

     People often begin researching because they seek the answer to a specific question.  As there are a vast number of researchers, there are an equally vast number of questions for which answers may be sought.  One person may find an antique table, and so research to learn more about it’s maker; another may wish to learn about a company for which an ancestor worked; and still others may want to learn more about the people and places referred to in ancestors’ correspondence or noted in pictures and postcards. 

     I recently received an e-mail inquiry from Tia Mousseau, who works as a Park Ranger, at Tully Lake, in Royalston.  Tia was interested in learning more about several natural sites in Royalston, since Tia conducts hikes throughout the summer to many of the local, natural features.   In response, I combed through several Royalston resources to discover further information about these sites, and Tia graciously assisted with the identification of the present-day names.  The resources which I consulted are listed below, and the information gleaned about the various natural features follows.  I have chosen to quote extensively from the historical materials, rather than simply paraphrasing the information, since I believe the wording of dated materials, may also be of interest as they stand; for
the historically dated vocabulary and structure, and for their respective descriptions of the sites during various eras.

Resources consulted as references for further information about features include the following:

   Map of Worcester County, Massachusetts, by Henry F. Walling, Sup. of the State Map, Boston : Wm. E. Baker & Co. Publishers, 1857.  (hereafter referred to as 1857 Map)

   Vital Records of Royalston, Massachusetts, To the End of the Year 1849, Worcester : Franklin P. Rice, 1906.  (hereafter referred to as Vital Records)

   The History of the Town of Royalston, Massachusetts, 1762-1917, by Lilley B.
Caswell, Royalston : The Town of Royalston, 1917.  (hereafter referred to as Caswell)

   Reflections on Royalston, Worcester County, Massachusetts, U.S.A., by Hubert Carlton Bartlett, Fitchburg : The Reflector, 1927.  (This book includes a map of the town of Royalston, and is hereafter referred to as Bartlett)

Nature's Embellishments in Royalston

     Royalston, as with many New England towns, has a goodly number of natural land and water features which are matters of considerable interest.  Bartlett begins his discussion of Royalston's natural features with a description of geographical feature at the heart of Royalston:

     "Nature gave the town a 'back-bone' in the form of a ridge of ledgy hills, extending through the middle of the town from its northern limits well down toward its southern extreme, adjoining Athol; her a drop lets Lawrence Brook through from the east to the west side of the ridge, which is continued in Athol as Chestnut Hill.  Royalston Common stands on this ridge."

     There are points on this ridge at the north part of the town from which a large section of the west part of the town can be seen, and many places seem "almost within a stone's throw".   However, the only way to reach those places, which seemed to be so near, from that north part of the town, was to go to back to the Common, then by the west road down "Jacobs Hill", making the distance to the nearest places about 3 or 4 miles, and others 5 to 8 miles.  This is the reason that Bartlett surmised the Jacobs Hill Road must have been one of the earliest laid out - "...for without it communication between the west part and the Center and other parts of the town must have been extremely difficult..."

     The topographical features of Royalston, with the ridges and waterways formed, have played key parts in the history of this beautiful New England town.  The recognition and admiration of the interplay between the natural features and the daily lives of its residents seems to have been truly appreciated by Royalston's citizens through the years.  In contrast to many towns which many name features for famous people of other times and places, Royalston's natural features are, for the most part, named in honor of her own people.  Even when a well known and respected 'outsider' came to survey the area for his book, and, while in Royalston, christened one of the town's waterfalls with a name which he thought particularly appropriate, local Royalston citizens appear to have, in large measure, disregarded his chosen name in favor of honoring local residents and the town itself.

     Below, you will find descriptions of several of Royalston's natural features and some history of their names.  You may read each by continuing to scroll down this page, or may jump to specific features by clicking on the following links:
+ See ca. 1927 Map of Royalston, Massachusetts +
+ Jacobs Hill + Lawrence Brook + Tully Pond +
+ Waterfalls + Spirit Falls + Forbes Falls (Royalston Falls) + Doane Falls +

Jacobs Hill

     JACOBS HILL is located just northwest from Royalston Center common. 

     Caswell reports that this hill was named for Wightman JACOBS.  Wightman JACOBS, son of Nathaniel, became a leader among the Baptists when a young man, and was selected as their pastor being formally ordained and installed in service in 1750, the first minister raised up in Thompson.  He remained pastor of that church nearly twenty years.  He then relocated to Royalston, in 1769, and was settled as the first pastor of the West Royalston Baptist Church.  He served the church as pastor for 16 years.  A part of this time  his home was in the northerly part of Athol, on Chestnut Hill, and another place that was his abode for some time, was half way up "Jacobs' Hill".  Wightman JACOBS died, at the home of his son, Joseph, in Royalston, on 28 March 1801, as a result of a fall.

Lawrence Brook 

     In “Reflections on Royalston, Worcester County, Massachusetts, U.S.A.”, Bartlett reports the following of Lawrence Brook:
     "Lawrence Brook runs through the valley east of the ridge, breaks through the ridge at a low point in the Doane Falls section, and goes on to join Tully Brook, which joins Millers River in Athol.  Lawrence Brook was probably named in honor of William Lawrence, who had a hand in the land deal with the Proprietors."

Tully Pond 

     In “Reflections on Royalston, Worcester County, Massachusetts, U.S.A.”, Bartlett includes a map of the Town of Royalston, which shows two ponds situated just west of the Royalston Common.  The nearest to the common is identified as “Little Pond”, and the larger of the two, and furthest west, is shown to be called “Long Pond”.  Caswell writes that Long Pond became known by the name of “Tully Pond”, and relates 3 possible explanations for the pond’s acquiring the newer name of “Tully Pond” as follows:

     “...known in the proprietors records only as Long Pond; its first appearance with the present name of Tully is found recorded on the town book in 1770, five years later after the town was incorporated.  The source from which this name is derived seems to have been a subject of much inquiry by antiquarians and writers.  Rev. Samuel Clark in his centennial address delivered at Athol in 1850, gives a tradition that was commonly accepted for a long time, that the name was derived from an Indian’s dog named Tully which in following a deer drove the animal over the meadows into these waters, and while attempting to seize his prey, was struck a stunning blow by the fore foot of the deer and held under the water until poor Tully was drowned.”
     “The late James M. Crafts, a historical writer living in Orange at one time, cites
the names of persons living in Boston during the latter part of the 17th century by the name of Tully, and also says that, ‘It is more than probable that some one engaged in some capacity with the surveyors, when this section was laid out, for some reason now unknown, gave the mountain the name of Tully, and so that attaches to the brook.” 
“The author of this history while writing a historical sketch of the early Methodists of Athol and Orange a few years ago [ca. 1912], found the name of Jemima Tully
recorded on the first class paper of the Methodist church dated Aug. 5, 1795, which shows that a family of that name must at one time have been residents of that section...”
 

Waterfalls

     Caswell reports there are at least 3 waterfalls connected with deep gorges in
Royalston, that are well worth the attention of those who are fond of wild natural scenery.  He does not attribute a name to the first; the second was known as Forbes Falls; and the third as Doane Falls.  The following  relates some of the information that has been gleaned about these 3 waterfalls, from the resources consulted.

SPIRIT FALLS (This falls appears to have had no name in the early resources; presently known as Spirit Falls): 

     Known presently by the name of Spirit Falls, this name apparently did not come into use until after ca. 1927, since it is described, but remains unnamed, in early Royalston resources.  This waterfall, per Caswell’s description, appears to be located about 1 mile west of the Royalston Common at Royalston Center, emptying into Long Pond, also known as Tully Pond.  Caswell describes it thus:  “...About a mile west of the meeting house and center of the town, is a deep valley running north and south, nearly across the town.  Near the meeting house is a pond [Little Pond] which empties itself into this valley by plunging rapidly down a steep declivity which must be eight hundred or a thousand feet high.  It then empties into another large pond [Long Pond / aka Tully Pond], or rather a
remarkable expansion of a small tributary of Millers River.  At one part of the descent of the brook above named, it falls at least two hundred feet by several leaps within a distance of a few rods [800 or 1,000 feet], forming several very beautiful cascades.  Here the original forests have not been disturbed.  The trees over-hang the murmuring waters, half concealing the stream, while broken trunks are plunged across it in all positions.”

     Bartlett writes further of the pond called “Little Pond” as follows:  “This Little Pond, ‘near the meeting-house’, on the Common, excites the curiosity of to its source of supply, as no brooks empty into it and the water-shed draining into it is limited in territory.  It seems probable that some natural breaking-up of the crust left this cavity, and that it is filled mainly by water seeping through the fissures in the ledges of the higher ridge at the north.  It seems reasonable to suppose that the water secured through the artesian wells driven around the Common in recent years [ca. before 1927], may come from substantially the same sources as that which fills Little Pond; that pond may be something like a natural artesian well.”

     Bartlett reports that Prof. Edward Hitchcock, of Amherst College, had visited
Royalston, in 1838, while gathering material for his work on “The Geology of
Massachusetts”, published in 1841.  On May 27, 1838, Prof. Hitchcock “delivered three good discourses” in Royalston.  At the time when he described this waterfall, the flow of water from Little Pond, went on in the natural way.  It is historically interesting to note, however, that Bartlett states:  “But a little later, when Joseph Sawyer diverted the flow to a canal to carry it to his furniture shop for power purposes..., he closed the natural outlet, in order to retain the water at as high a point as possible, which spoiled much of the beauty seen by Prof. Hitchcock.  A writer in the Memorial, in 1865, after mentioning the fact that the water-powers of the furniture shop and the carriage manufactory were out of use, said:  ‘We see no reason why the natural outlet of Little Pond should not be reopened, and its waters, no longer in bondage to man, allowed to run singing along in their primeval and romantic channel, down to Long Pond and the classic Tully.  And we should like to see the now useless, unseemly and unhealthy canal filled up.’”  Whether Joseph Sawyer ‘and his heirs and assigns forever’ had any perpetual right of way for that canal may not be told; but it is probable that it was gradually filled up by the owners of the land through which it passed; and Bartlett had not learned that anything was ever done about opening the natural outlet that had been closed, but the barrier may have broken away from weakness of age and the action of the water. 

     Bartlett writes further of the recreational use of Little Pond in yesteryear:  “Along in some of the years between 1850 and 1860 a row-boat of fair proportions was in commission on Little Pond.  It might have been built and launched at an earlier time, by the fellows at the furniture shop; but in the years mentioned it was captained and manned by boys from the FRYE, WHEELER, PIERCE, and BULLOCK families, and probably others, who gallantly took high-school girls and others on limited trips.  The boat was of a flat-bottom, raft-like construction, which would not easily upset; and so long as it did not
leak in water faster than it could be bailed out it was passably safe; but the pond had a muddy and rooty bottom, and with a load spilled into it probably not all would have escaped drowning.”
     See a wonderful, recent photograph of Spirit Falls, Royalston, MA, online at <http://www.the-woodsman.com/fls.htm>, by nature photographer Dick Cooper. 

FORBES FALLS (also called The Royal Cascade; presently called Royalston Falls): 

     After visiting this waterfall, in 1838, Prof. Edward Hitchcock christened this falls
“The Royal Cascade”.  He wrote:  “In the extreme north-west part of the town, on the farm of Calvin Forbes, a gorge and cascade exist of still greater interest; one of the finest, indeed, in the state.  The stream is not more than 10 feet wide at the spot, but it descends 45 feet at a single leap into a large basin, which from its top has been excavated by the erosion of the rocks; now retreating and now projecting: crowned at the summit with trees.  Many of these lean over the gulf or have fallen across it; so that upon the whole, the scene is one of great wildness and interest.  It certainly deserves a name; and until a better one shall be proposed, I would suggest that of ‘The Royal Cascade’; partly in reference to the name of the town in which it is situated, and partly in reference to its royal character.”

     Apparently, this falls did not yet have a known name at the time of Prof. Hitchcock’s visit.  By 1870, however, it had become known as “Forbes Falls”, no doubt due to it’s location on Calvin FORBES land.  Royalston’s Vital Records report a Calvin FORBES was born, on 29 December 1783, in Royalston, to a James and Abigail FORBES.  James and Abigail also had several other children born in Royalston during the 1780s and 1790s, including James (born 10 Oct 1788) and John (born 4 Jan 1801).  The Royalston Vital Records also report the marriage intentions of a Calvin FORBES, on 27 April 1807, to Polly BUFFUM, of Richmond, in addition to the births of children to Calvin and Polly as follows:  Nelson (born 17 Oct 1807), Silas (born 8 May 1809), Willard (born 15 May
1811), Sally (born 19 Apr 1813), and Maria (born 17 Dec 1815).  The 1857 Map of Royalston shows a “J. FORBES” and a “Mrs. FORBES” were both located in the vicinity of the falls at that date.   It is probable that the J. Forbes shown on this map may have been one of James and Abigail Forbes’ sons whose names begin with J. (James, Jr. or John).

     Forbes Falls, also known in yesteryear as "The Royal Cascade", is referred to presently by the name of "Royalston Falls"; retaining a portion of one of the original names.

DOANE FALLS (also known as The Republican Cascade): 
     The Doane Falls is situated on the little stream called Lawrence, 2 miles southwest of Royalston Center, and near the road from Royalston to Athol.   It appears to be the only waterfall in Royalston which retains it's early name.  Caswell states that this waterfall is the most accessible to the traveler of any of Royalston’s falls. 

     Bartlett includes a quote from Prof. Hitchcock, concerning this falls as well.  Hitchcock wrote of Doane Falls, ca. 1838, as follows:  “Its width, indeed, must be as much as 25 feet, and its depth considerable.  In a short distance here the water descends, at several successive leaps, as much as 200 feet, between high walls of gneiss and granite.  Toward the upper part of the descent, several mills are erected, but a small part only of the water power is employed.  Below the mills the stream passes into the woods; and toward the lowest part of the descent, we get a single view of two falls of about 25 feet each.  There is more of beauty and less of wildness at this spot than at ‘The Royal Cascade’.  This stream also has been, and still more extensively can be, applied to useful purposes.  Perhaps, therefore, considering the character of our political institutions, and our well known reputation for utilitarian tendencies, this, rather in contrast to ‘The Royal Cascade’, may be denominated ‘The Republican Cascade’.  But if I can induce persons of taste and leisure to visit it, I care but little for the name.”

     This falls came to be called by the name of “Doane Falls” in honor of Amos Doane, who owned the land around the falls, and built a large mill nearby.  Caswell writes the following of the DOANE Family:
     "Joshua Doane, from Cape Cod, settled on the place north of the Dexter place.  He had a family of eleven children, among whom were Amos Doane and a daughter Adaline, who married Joel O. Flagg, of Hubbardston, May 22, 1843."
     "Amos Doane, oldest son of Joshua and Ruth Doane, was born in Royalston april 7, 1803.  He was a well known character in Royalston and surrounding towns and his name is perpetuated in "Doane's Falls".  He owned the land around the falls and built a large mill in close proximity, but which was never utilized to any great extent for manufacturing purposes.  It stood for many years an interesting and unique landmark, and finally was torn down a piece at a time.  He was a man of great height, being more than six feet tall, and was engaged in many law suits.  He was a familiar figure in Athol, where he commenced the erection of a large building which was never completed and which was known for a long time as 'Doane's Castle'.  Many interesting anecdotes are related of him.  He married Luceba Pennyman Sept. 27, 1836 [intentions date per Royalston Vital Records], and they had two children Andrew and Byron.  Andrew died in infancy."

     The 1857 map reports an A. DOANE residence near the location where
the road to Athol is crossed by the Lawrence River.  In addition, the Royalston Vital Records show there were DOANE family members in residence in Royalston from an early  date.  Joshua and Ruth DOANE lost two young sons in Royalston: Hopestill DOANE died, on 7 April 1811, and Zaccheus Rich DOANE died, on 9 March 1819, age the tender age of 4 months.  Mrs. Ruth DOANE died, in Royalston, on 5 Oct 1840, at age 65 years.