114 NATURAL HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF GROTON, MASS. 



Province, which is not far from us. Damage sustain'd by one Man is 

 very considerable, what in the Destruction of his Buildings, Corn, 

 Hay, Fences, &c. he has lost above 500/. 



This description was written, undoubtedly, by the Reverend 

 Joseph Emerson, the minister of the West Parish at that time, 

 as it is substantially the same as the one given in the parish 

 records, according to Mr. Butler's History (pp. 347, 348). 



THE SOAPSTONE QUARRY. , 



This quarry was discovered, in the year 1828, by John 

 Fitch on his farm in Groton, situated a mile north of the 

 village. He worked it in a small way for several subsequent 

 years, sawing the stone by hand at a shop by the roadside, 

 near his house; but afterward he built a steam mill at the 

 quarry, forty or fifty rods away. In the year 1855 the estab- 

 lishment was bought of the Fitch heirs by the Honorable 

 Samuel Adams, of Townsend, and Daniel McCaine, and dur- 

 ing 1857 the quarry was worked by Mr. Adams. 



In May, 1858, Mr. McCaine, with his twin brother, David, 

 and another brother, William, removed from Francestown, 

 New Hampshire, to Groton, and took charge of the business, 

 Mr. Adams having died on April 5 of that year. They en- 

 larged the shop, improved the machinery, and worked the 

 quarry on a grand scale. In the spring of 1859 the building 

 was burned down, and on the same site another and larger one 

 was put up. 



In 1 861 the Adams heirs sold out their interest to the 

 McCaine brothers, who continued the business till September, 

 1864, when the mill was again burned. The next month the 

 property was sold to a stock company, known as the Groton 

 Soapstone Company, which represented a capital of 5 100,000. 

 Just before the formation of this company, a "Statement" 

 regarding the location and value of the property was printed, 

 accompanied by reports from the Superintendent, Daniel 

 McCaine, and the State Assayer, Dr. Charles Tracy Jackson, 



