WEBSTER  , a township of

Worcester county, Massachusetts, U.S.A., on the French river, about 16 m . S.S.W. of Worcester . Pop . (1890) 7031; (1900) 8804, of whom 3562 were foreign-born; (1910 census), 11,509 . Land area (1906), 12.19 sq. m . Webster is served by the New York, New Haven & Hartford, and the Boston & Albany railways, and by interurban electric lines . In the township is Lake Chaubunagungamaug, a beautiful sheet of water about 2 sq. m. in area . The manufacture of textiles and of boots and shoes is the principal industry; the total value of the factory product in 1905 was $5,867,769 . Webster was founded by Samuel Slater (1768—1835), who in 1812 built cotton-mills and in 1815—1816 began the manufacture of woollen cloth . The township, named in honour of Daniel Webster, was erected in 1832 from common lands and from parts of Dudley and Oxford townships, which before the cotton-mills were built here were almost uninhabited . See Holmes Ammidown, Historical Collections (New York, 1874), vol. i. pp . 461-524 .