Caleb Mirick

A barn, a meetinghouse and a growing district

Before Princeton, Massachusetts, had a stone pound for stray livestock, it used Caleb Mirick’s barn. He served as poundkeeper in 1761–62, providing both the enclosure and the person responsible for it. His property was becoming part of the working infrastructure of a new community.

Caleb was born in Weston, Massachusetts, on September 30, 1728, the son of James Mirick and Mary Woolson. On October 17, 1754, he married Eunice Jones; the Weston marriage entry identifies both as residents of the town. Their family became established in the Rutland–Princeton area of central Massachusetts. In 1759, Rutland’s eastern district and adjoining farms became the separate Prince Town District, allowing residents to establish a congregation and meetinghouse closer to home.

John and Caleb Mirick offered a five-acre hilltop site for the first meetinghouse. After prolonged discussion over its location, construction began late in 1761; the frame was raised in June 1762. The building served both religious and town business. Caleb’s contribution was land on which that shared institution could stand.

The household also experienced losses alongside these years of civic activity. The Mirick genealogy records the death of Joseph, their first listed child, the day after his birth in December 1755. Their daughter Eunice grew up to marry Ephraim Russell. His wife Eunice died on November 3, 1794, according to Princeton’s vital records; the Jones genealogy instead gives 1793. Caleb died on December 30, 1803. Both deaths appear in Princeton’s published vital records.

The family surname also appears as Myrick and Merrick.