"The living to the church I call,
And to the grave I summon all."
In 1786, owing to certain disagreements, a division occurred in the
parish, some of its members leaving and forming an organization of their
own, with the Rev. Mr. Bancroft as rector. This society dedicated its
first church January 1, 1722, and this was replaced by a new structure,
of brick, in 1829, which is still in use. Since this first division new
societies have sprung up and new churches have been built, until to-day
there are forty-eight different houses of worship, among which are
eleven Congregational, eight Methodist Episcopal, seven Baptist, seven
Roman Catholic, three Protestant Episcopal, two Universalist, and two
Unitarian churches.
On account of the encircling hills the climate of Worcester is hot in
summer, but somewhat more temperate and less subject to east winds in
winter than that of Boston.
The surrounding country has all the charms that cultivated soil and
undulating hill-and-valley scenery can give. Good roads run in various
directions to the adjacent towns, and strangers often speak of the many
different and delightful drives to be found about Worcester.
Three miles east of the city is the beautiful sheet of water called Lake
Quinsigamond. It is a narrow lake, about five miles long, with thickly
wooded banks, and its surface dotted with picturesque little islands.
Along its shores the Nipmuck Indians are said to have lived and hunted;
and on Wigwam Hill, a wooded eminence overlooking the water, where one
of their encampments is supposed to have been, are still occasionally
found specimens of their rude house utensils.
A large tract of land bordering on the lake has lately been given to the
city by two Worcester gentlemen, and it is expected that in the near
future it will be cleared away and made into a public park. The only
park that the city now possesses, besides the Common, before alluded to,
is a small affair on the west side, at the foot of Elm street, one of
the principal residence streets.
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