History of Worcester and its people . Moore, 1725-29-30-31. Nathan Perry, 1775 to 1779, 1781 to 1790. Charles G. Prentiss, 1833-37, Gershom Rice Jr., 1736-9, John Rice, 1844-47. James Taylor, 1726-27, Theophilus Wheeler, 1800-1802, James Wilson, 1815-1829. The County Seat, or Shire Town.—The County of Worcester wasestablished by an Act of the General Court passed April i. 1T31. Pre-vious to that time the town of Worcester and seven other towns of thiscounty had been part of Middlesex; five others, part of SutTolk was made the shire town or county seat on account of its loca-ti
History of Worcester and its people . Moore, 1725-29-30-31. Nathan Perry, 1775 to 1779, 1781 to 1790. Charles G. Prentiss, 1833-37, Gershom Rice Jr., 1736-9, John Rice, 1844-47. James Taylor, 1726-27, Theophilus Wheeler, 1800-1802, James Wilson, 1815-1829. The County Seat, or Shire Town.—The County of Worcester wasestablished by an Act of the General Court passed April i. 1T31. Pre-vious to that time the town of Worcester and seven other towns of thiscounty had been part of Middlesex; five others, part of SutTolk was made the shire town or county seat on account of its loca-tion in the county, not on account of its size or importance. At that timeSutton, Lancaster, Mendoii and Brookfield had more population andproperty. Worcester was chosen in preference to Lancaster, the choice ofmany of the ijeojile and representatives. The proposition to make Lan-caster and Worcester halfshires, having the court held alternately ineach town, wijuld have prevailed but for the opposition of Joseph Wil-der of AN ULU VIEW UF MAIN STRFIET LOOKING from a photo in the American Antiquarian Society Collection. AND ITS PEOPLE The selection of this town as the county seat gave it a great that time most of the lawj-ers of the county made their homeshere, and the members of the bar were as a rule from the well-to-do andaristocratic classes; they were college graduates, and generally heldthe important public offices both in town and county. The countyofficers and members of the bar formed a nucleus of the ]>ulite societyof the day, a society that grew in strength and influence until the Rev-olution. The shire town naturally became a trading center, and the mer-chants here prospered. In provincial days the terms of court were thegreat holidays, and from all parts of the county the people came foramusement and trade, whether they had Inisiness with the courts or , fisticuffs and horse-racing were the i)rincipal sports o
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