Jonas Kendall, Jr. was the proprietor of the Kendall Tavern which
was
built in 1785. In 1796 Jonas Kendall started a paper mill with
his partner William Nichols below the Wilson Mills. He was elected as a
representative to the General Court from 1800-1806, succeeding Dr.
Thomas Gowing. Subsequent to 1800 he also served on School Committee
in1803, served as State Senator,
Special Justice, and Justice of the Peace. Jonas Kendall died at
age eighty-seven on October
22, 1844.
Sarah
(Gowing) Kendall
was the wife of Jonas Kendall, sold gingerbread, which she baked. Her nickname throughout life was Sally.
Sarah Kendall died on July 11, 1829 at age sixty-five. She is pictured
above with her daughter ...
Asa
Johnson
was the youngest of six children. He was born in Bolton in 1757.
Johnson
graduated from Harvard College in 1787 with classmate John Quincy Adams
and was the first lawyer to establish
a practice in Leominster. He was fond of the opposite sex and good
living and was a lifelong bachelor although he had a daughter, who he
forbade from calling him father. Johnson was an athiest whose
eccentricities included gambling, singing, dining on cooked cats, owls,
hawks and reptiles, and domesticating toads and snakes. He spelled his
name Jonson thinking the Ah@
was unimportant and always had an office cat named after a statesman.
Johnson died on August 13, 1820 of Scrofulous Disease.
Jonas
Johnson
was the brother of Asa Johnson. He was married to Jonas Kendall Jr.=s
sister, Prudence, on February 3, 1791. Jonas Johnson died on July 8,
1823 of consumption.
Abijah Bigelow
was born in Westminster in 1775. He graduated from Dartmouth College in
1795 and came to Leominster in 1797, where he practiced law with great
distinction. As an attorney he always sought to make peace rather than
encourage litigation costly to his clients. Bigelow was a state
legislator in 1807 and in 1808 and was a representative in Congress from
1810-1815. He moved from Leominster to Worcester in 1817 to serve as
clerk of courts.
Joel
Crosby was
the proprietor of the Lamb Tavern in Boston after the Revolutionary War.
He came to Leominster in 1790 after being told of the town by patrons of
his tavern who were mostly Leominster representatives to the General Court. Upon
arriving in Leominster, Crosby bought Timothy Kendall=s home at Lindell and Merriam Avenues. He moved the
home to what is now 164 Lindell Avenue. Here, he built a large estate in
the place of Timothy Kendall=s
house. Although only 5'2" or 5'4" tall, Crosby served as
General Washington=s guard at one time. He died on October 20, 1833 at
age sixty-nine. 
Metaphor
Chase was
a shopkeeper who maintained a shop just north of the second meeting
house in Leominster. He frequently ran advertisements for his
goods in the Telescope in
1800. Chase married Mary Leggate on May 17, 1781. He died on April 14,
1806 at age forty-five of inflamed bowels.
James
Callender
is a fictitious character who is traveling from Albany, New York to
Boston, Massachusetts for the purpose of promoting the Republican
presidential candidacy of Thomas Jefferson.
Elizabeth
Callender
is a fictitious character. She is the wife of New York traveller, James
Callender.
Now
see them in action - the Video!
