April 12, 1869, Mr. Crocker made a report on the
soldiers' monument, which was accepted and placed
on file. It was then voted that a sum not exceeding
forty thousand dollars be appropriated for a monu-
ment, ten thousand dollars of which was to be raised
by taxation the current year. At an adjourned
meeting. May 3, 1869, this vote was rescinded in order
to investigate the feasibility of erecting a memorial
hall instead of a monument. A committee of nine,
consisting of Frederick F. Woodward, Alvin A.
Simonds, David H. Merriam, Gardner S. Burbank,
Jabez Fisher, George Robbins, Edwin P. Monroe,
Hale W. Page and Edwin Upton, was appointed
"to prepare and present plans and specifications,
together with the estimated cost of a Memorial hall
and report at a future meeting." The original com-
mittee was not, by this action of the town, discharged
or relieved of its trust, but, the appropriation having
been withdrawn, it was decided best for the Monu-
ment Committee not to proceed further until the
Memorial Hall Committee had rendered a report.
The investigations of this committee did not appear
to be favorable to the Memorial Hall project. A
verbal report was made on the matter, April 11, 1870,
by David H. Merriam, which report was accepted
and the committee discharged.
========================================
The mill erected about 1836 by Captain Levi Pratt
on River Street was, for a time, used by him for the
manufacture of powder kegs, but for many years the
site has been occupied as a flour and grain-mill.
Several parties have carried on this industry there in
years past, among them Franklin Mclntire and Ira
Carleton and the Fitchburg Flour Company. In
1881 Charles P. Washburn purchased the property;
and in 1883 Frederick F. Woodward bought one-half
interest, since which time the mill has been success-
fully operated by the firm of Washburn & Wood-
ward.
In 1884 a store-house, one hundred by thirty feet,
was built to accommodate their increasing business.
The firm possesses every facility for carrying on their
large wholesale and retail trade in flour, grain, meal,
etc. A branch track connects their mill with the
main line of the Fitchburg Railroad close by.
===============
The Safety Fund National Bank. — This bank was
organized April 17,1874. Its capital is $200,000 and
surplus $34,500. Business was begun July 1, 1874,
in the second story of Bekling & Dickinsons
Block, and in March, 1875, was removed to its pres-
ent location in Crocker Block. This substantial and
handsome block was erected by Hon. Alvah Crocker,
under an agreement for a twenty years' lease of the
banking rooms to the Safety Fund National Bank.
The first president was Henry Allison, and the first
cashier Frederick F. Woodward. In 1883 Mr. Wood-
ward went into the grain business, and resigned his
position as cashier.
