Full text of "History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men"

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UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
LIBRARY

N8H9

HISTOEY

^^ORFOLK COUNTY,

MASSACHUSETTS,

WITH

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

OF MANY OF ITS

Pioneers and Prominent Men.

COMPILED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF

D. HAMILTON HUKID

IILiI_.TJSTI^j^TEID.

PHILADELPHIA:
J. W. LEWIS & CO.

18 84.

PRESS OF

J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,

PHILADELPHIA.

PUBLISHERS' PREFACE.

Nearly two years ago the attention of the publishers, who have long made a speciality
of this class of M'ork, was called to the fact that a history of Norfolk County was needed.
After mature deliberation the w'ork was planned and its compilation commenced. The best
literary talent in this section of the commonwealth for this especial work was engaged,
whose names appear at the head of their respective articles, besides many other local writers
on special topics. These gentlemen approached the work in a spirit of impartiality and
thoroughness, and we believe it has been their honest endeavor to trace the history of the
development of the territory embodied herein from that period when it was in the undis-
puted possession of the red man to the present, and to place before the reader an authentic
narrative of its rise and progress. The work has been compiled from authenticated and
original sources, and no effort spared to produce a history which should prove in every

respect worthy of the county represented.

The Publishers.

Philadelphia, May, 1884.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION

PAGE
. 1

CHAPTER I.

The Bench and Bar

CHAPTER II.

The Norfolk District Medical Society

CHAPTER III.
Dedham.
The Settlement — The Town Covenant — Names of the
Signers — Organization of Town Government — Character
of Settlers — Formation of the Church — The Rev. John
Allin — Division of Lands — Burial-Ground — Training-
Ground — Description of the Village in 1664 . . .31

CHAPTER IV.
Dedham — (Continued).
Mother Brook, or East Brook — Dedham Island — Long
Ditch — Indian Village at Natick — Pacomtuck, or Deer-
field — Boggastow, or Medfield — Wollonomopoag, or
Wrentham — Decease of leading Men among the First
Settlers 41

CHAPTER V.
Dedham — (Conlinued).
Indian Deeds — Philip's War — Rev. William Adams — New
Meeting-House — Timothy Dwight — AVilliam Avery —
Daniel Fisher, the second — His Part in Resisting Sir
Edmund Andros ........ 44

CHAPTER VL
Dedham — ( Continued).
Province Charter — Changes and Contentions — Incorpora-
tion of Needhani — Rev. Joseph Belcher — The Second
Parish and Church — Rev. Thomas Balch — The Third
Parish and Church — Rev. Josiah Dwight — Rev. Andrew
Tyler — Incorporation of Walpole — Services of Church
of England begun — Rev. William Clark — Samuel Col-
burn — Devise of Estate to Episcopal Church — Rev. Sam-
uel Dexter — The Fourth Parish and Church — Rev. Ben-
jamin Caryl — Services of Dedham Men in French Wars
— New Meeting-House — Dr. Nathaniel Ames — The Pil-
lar of Liberty — Events Prior to the American Revolu-
tion 47

CHAPTER VI L

Dedham — ( Continued).
Dedham Village in 1775 — Leading Men — Lexington Alarm
— Minute-Men and Militia Companies March — -Siege of
Boston — Town Votes upon Question of Independence —
Bounties for Soldiers — Parishes Raise Money by Taxa-
tion — Articles of Confederation Approved — Delegates to
State Convention for forming Constitution — Expenses of

Revolutionary War — Pecuniary Distress — Amendments

to State Constitution Proposed — Col. Daniel Whiting . 53

CHAPTER VIIL

Dedham — ( Continued).
Second Parish — Rev. Jabez Chickering — Third Parish —
Rev. Thomas Thacher — Fourth Parish Incorporated as a
District under the name of Dover — Shay's Rebellion —
Incorporation of Norfolk County — Episcopal Church —
Rev. William Montague — Old Church Removed and Re-
built — Fisher Ames ; Sketch of His Life — Edward Dowse
— Rev. Jason Haven — Church Covenant of 1793 — Di-
vision in the Third Parish — New Meeting-House — About
Sixty Members Withdraw to the Baptist Society in Med-
field— Second Parish and Church — Rev. William Coggs-
well 57

CHAPTER IX.

Dedham— ( Continued'^.
Dedham in the Beginning of the Present Century— Manu-
facturing Corporations — Mill Privileges on Mother
Brook— War of 1812— Legacy for Schools in Will of
Samuel Dexter — The First Church — Resignation of Rev.
Joshua Bates — Parish elect Rev. Alvan Lamson — Ma-
jority of Church Refuse to Concur — Ecclesiastical Coun-
cil — Protest by a Majority of the Church — Ordination of
Mr. Lamson — Suit at Law to Recover Church Property
— Decision of Supreme Court — New Meeting-House So-
cietj' Formed — Rev. Ebenezer Burgess — Improvements
in Old Meeting-House — Third Parish — Rev. John White
— Second Parish, Rev. Harrison G. Park, Rev. Calvin
Durfee and his Successors — Description of Dedham Vil-
lage in 1818 — Dedham Bank — New Jail and Court-
House — Town-House — Norfolk Mutual Fire Insurance
Company— Dedham Mutual Fire Insurance Company —
Dedham Institution for Savings — Gen. Lafayette's Visit
— Gen. Jackson's Visit ....... 63

CHAPTER X.

Dedham — ( Continued),
Universalist Society, South Dedham — Episcopal Church —
Rev. Isaac Boyle — Rev. Samuel B. Babcock — New
Church — Dedham Branch Railroad — Manufactures —
Population in 1835 — Newspapers — Centennial Celebra-
tion, 1836 — Dr. Lamson's Historical Discourses, 1838 —
Dr. Burgess' Discourse in " Dedham Pulpit" — Rev.
John AVhite's Historical Discourse, 1836 — Rev. Mr. Dur-
fee's Historical Discourse, 1836 — Destructive Fires —
Improvements in Schools and School-Houses — Norfolk
County Railroad — First Baptist Church, West Dedham
— Baptist Church, East Dedham — Baptist Church, South
Dedham— Methodist Episcopal Church, East Dedham —
First Parish — Resignation of Dr. Lamson, and of Dr.
Burgess — Third Parish — Successors of Rev. John White

CONTENTS.

— Successors of Dr. Lamson in First Parish — Improve-
ments in Meeting-House — Successors to Rev. Dr. Bur-
gess — Burning of St. Paul's Church — New Stone Church
— Chapel — Roman Catholic Church — St. Mary's School
and Asylum — Annexations to West Roxbury and Wal-
pole — Dedham (ias-Light Company — Dedham Histori-
cal Society ......... 71

CHAPTER XI.

Deiuiam — ( Continued).
The Civil War, 1861-05 — Companies of Dedham Men —
Their Services in the War — Commodore G. J. Van Brunt
— Expenses of the War for Bounties and Aid to Soldiers'
Families — Memorial Hall — Names of those who Fell
Inscribed on the Tablets ...... 79

CHAPTER XII.

Dedham — (Continued).
Readville annexed to Hyde Park — Dedham Public Library
— Incorporation of Norwood — Death of Rev. Dr. Bab-
cock — Steam Fire-Engine — Dedham Water Company —
Temporary Asylum for Discharged Female Prisoners —
Oakdale — Church of the Good Shepherd — Islington-
Congregational Church — New Colburn School-House —
Brookdale Cemetery — Town Seal — Conclusion . . 88

CHAPTER XIII.
Braixtkkk ......... Ill

CHAPTER X I ^'.
Braintuee — (Continued) ....... 122

CHAPTER XV.
Bellingham 143

CHAPTER XVI.
Franklin.
Early History as a Precinct — First Cession of Dedham —
Purchase of Wrcntham — The New Precinct — Church
Organized — First Minister — Meeting-Housc — Church
Music — Discords — Precinct Ministers — Revs. Haven,
Barnum, Emmons — Civil History — Move for a Town —
Town History — Incorporation — Why named Franklin —
Town Library — Topography — Maps — Indian Traditions
— Revolutionary War^Sentiments in Town-Meeting —
Soldiers' Second Meeting-House — Its Site, Cost, Bell —
Moved and Modernized — Interior Glimpse of Home Life
— Military Affairs — Trainings and Musters — The Poor
— Burial Grounds— Post-Offices — Temperance— Early
Industries 160

CHAPTER XVII.
Fkanklin — ( Continued).
Later Town Hi.-'tory — Ecclesiastical — Ministers of the First
Church — Other Churches and Meeting-Houses — South
Franklin Congresational — Grace Universajist — Baptist
— Catholic — Methodist — Town Library — Public Schools
— High School — Franklin Academy — Dean Academy —
College Graduates — Statistics of Material Growth — Town
Industries — Straw Goods — Fellings, etc. — Newspapers —
Railroads — Banks — Fire Protection — The Rebellion —
List of Soldiers — Precinct and Town Officers — Centen-
nial Celebration .174

CHAPTER XVIIL
RANnoLPii . . . . . . . . . .188

PAOE

CHAPTER XIX.

COHASSET.

Pioneer History — Reference to Hingham — Heirs of the
Sachem Chickatabut — Deed from the Indians, July 4,
1665 — The Pioneers: Beal, Cushing, .Tames, Lincoln,
Tower, Sutton, Bates, Kent, Nichols, Orcutt, Pratt, Stod-
dard — The First Settlement — Its Location — Derivation
of name of Town — Incorporation of Parish — Little
Hingham — The Church — Petition for Incorporation of
Town — Opposed by Hingham — Town Incorporated April
26, 1770 — Early Votes concerning Schools — Votes con-
cerning the Revolution — Cohasset's Representative at
the Boston Tea-Party — Maj. James Stoddard — AVar of
1812— Shipwrecks, etc 216

CHAPTER XX.

CoHASSET — ( Continued).
Banks— Civil History— Military 224-

CHAPTER XXL

CoHASSET — ( Continued).
Ecclesiastical and Educational — Pioneer History — First
Reference to Cohasset in Hingham Records — Various
Votes concerning the Town — Divisions of the Meadow
Lands with the Proprietors at Conihasset — The First
Meeting-House — Subsequent History — Methodist Soci-
ety in North Cohasset — Second Congregational Church —
The Beechwood Churcli — St. Anthony's Church — Educa-
tional Interests ........ 231

CHAPTER XXII.
Dover . 238

CHAPTER XXIII.

QUINCV.

The Massachusetts Fields 257

CHAPTER XXIV.

QuiNCY — (Continued).
Merrymont 260

CHAPTER XXV.

QuiNCY — ( Continued).
Mount WoUaston 268

CHAPTER XXVI.

QuiNCY — (Continued).

Old Braintree 276

CHAPTER XXVII.

l^riNCY — (Continued).
The North Precinct Church 278

CHAPTER XXVIII.

QuiNCY — ( Continued).
Life in the Colonial Town 295

CHAPTER XXIX.

(iuiNCY — ( Continued).

The North Precinct Annals 323

CHAPTER XXX.

QniNCY — ( Continued).
Modern Quincy ......... 355

CONTENTS.

PAGE

CHAPTER XXXI.

Stodghton.
Stoughton — Named in Honor of Governor William Stough-
ton — Territorj' allotted to Dorchester in 1637 — Known
as the " New Grant" — Dorchester South Precinct — A
Part set off to Wrentham in 1724 — Incorporation of
Stoughton — Original Territor}' — Second Precinct set off
in 1740 — Incorporation of Third Precinct in 1743 — The
First Town-Meeting — Incorporation of Stoughtonham —
The Revolution— Votes of the Town in 1723, 1724, 1725,
1726 — Committee of Correspondence — Revolutionary
Bounties, etc 389

CHAPTER XXXII.

Stoughton — {Continued).
Ecclesiastical History. — Universalist Church — Congrega-
tional Church — Methodist Episcopal Church — Roman
Catholic Church — Methodist Episcopal Church, North
Stoughton — Baptist Church, East Stoughton . . . 394

CHAPTER XXXIII.
Stoughton — ( Continued).
The Press — The Stoughton Sentinel — Masonic — Rising Star
Lodge, F. and A. M. — Mount Zion Royal Arch Chapter
—Stoughton Lodge, No. 72, I. 0. 0. F.— The Boot and
Shoe Interest — Civil Historj' — Representatives and Town
Clerks from 1731 to 1SS4— Military Record— Number of
Men Furnished — Amount of Money Expended for War
Purposes 403

CHAPTER XXXIV.

HOLBROOK ..... 427

CHAPTER XXXV.
Medfield 439

CHAPTER XXXVI.
Sharon 454

CHAPTER XXXVII.
Wellesley ......... 477

CHAPTER XXXVIIL

WelleSLEV — ( Continued).
Wellesley College 482

CHAPTER XXXIX.
Norwood 495

CHAPTER XL.

Needhaji.
Indian Occupation — Original Purchase in 1680 — Consider-
ation — First Settlements — Petition for Preaching in 1709
— Petition for Act of Incorporation — Opposed by Dedham
— Lands for Support of Ministry — Incorporation of Town
— Named after Needham in England — The First Town-
Meeting — Selectmen Elected — Burying-Ground — The
First Minister — First Meeting-House — Westerly Pre-
cinct Set Off— The First Church Bell— Early Educa-
tional Interests — Social Library . . . . .517

CHAPTER XLL

Needham — ( Continued).
AVar of the Revolution — The Battle of Lexington — Need-
ham'a Prompt Response- — Her Citizens perform Efficient

Service — They harass the British Retreat from Lexing-
ton and Concord — Ephraim Bullard alarms the Minute-
Men — List of Names composing Needham Companies —
Capt. Aaron Smith's Company of Militia — Capt. Caleb
Kingsbury's Company of Minute-Men — Capt. Robert
Smith's Company — Sketches of the Killed — Incidents —
Votes of the Town during the Revolutionary Period

518

CHAPTER XLIL

Needham — ( Continued).
Eiclesiastical History . — Congregational Church — Unitarian
Church — Baptist Church— Methodist Episcopal Church,
Highlandville — Second Adventists ..... 526

CHAPTER XLIIL

Needham — ( Continued).
The Press — Civil History — Military Record. — The Need-
ham Chronicle — Changes in Boundary-Line — Valuation
— Population — Documentary — Representatives — Select-
men — Town Clerks — Treasurers — Military Record . 532

CHAPTER XLI\'

Medway

540a

CHAPTER XLV.

Weymouth.
Geography — Geology — General History — Weston's Colony
— Gorges' Settlement — HuH's Company — Ecclesiastical
Troubles — Pequod War — Emigration — Town Govern-
ment 660

CHAPTER XL VI.

Wey'MOUTH — ( Continued).

King Philip's War— Company of Horse — Town Affairs —
Sir Edmund Andros — Military Company — Canadian
Expedition — Local Matters — Town Boundaries — New
Precinct — Dr. White — Town Regulations — Parsonage
Property — Pigwacket Indians — Town Commons — Throat
Distemper — French and Indian Wars — French Neutrals
— Dr. Tufts — Highways — South Precinct . . . 567

CHAPTER X L V 1 1.

Weymouth — ( Continued).
Revolutionary War — Arbitrary Measures of the Crown —
Agents Chosen to Meet in Boston — Committees of Cor-
respondence — No more Tea — Energetic Action — Rgfiord.
of Votes on the Resolutions of Congress — Refusal to Pay
Taxes to the Royal Treasurer — Town Committee of Cor-
respondence—Minute-Men — Preparations for War —
Raising Troops — Declaration of Independence — Bounties
— State Convention — State Constitution— Procuring Men
and Provisions — Soldiers to Hull ..... 572

CHAPTER X L V 1 1 1.

Weymouth — ( Continued).
Recovering from the Effects of the War — Work-House —
Local Matters — Smallpox — Norfolk County — Attempt to
divide the Town — Business Enterprises — Post-Office —
War with England — Alarm at Cohasset — Town Lines —
Manufacturing Companies Discouraged — Surplus Rev-
enue — Anti-Slavery Resolutions — Town Records — Town
Hall— AYar of the Rebellion— Opening Scenes— Twelfth
Regiment — Raising Troops — Military Records — Boun-
ties — Thirty-fifth Regiment — Town Bonds and Seal —

CONTENTS.

Forty-second Regiment — Contribution? — Difficulties —
Fourth Heav3' Artillery — FinnI Attempt to divide the
Town — Soldiers' Monument — Two Hundred and Fiftieth
Anniversary — Water Question — Fire Department —
Growth of the Town 578

CHAPTER XLIX.

Wevmouth — [Coiiiiniied).
EcclesinHtical Hislori/. — Congregational Churches — The
First Church 584

CHAPTER L.

AVeymouth — (Continued).
Congregational Churches (Continued) : Second Church,
Union Church of AVeymouth and Braintree, Union
Church of South AVeymouth, Church at East AVeymouth,
Pilgrim Church— Methodist Episcopal: Church at East
Weymouth, Church at Lovell's Corner — Universalist :
First Church, Second Church, Third Church — Baptist:
First Church — Roman Catholic: Parish of St. Francis
Xavier, Parish of the Immaculate Conception, Parish of
the Sacred Heart, Parish of St. Jerome — Protestant
Episcopal : Trinity Parish 589

CHAPTER LI.

Weymouth — ( Continued).
Educational Institutions — Public Schools — Weymouth and
Braintree Academy — Newspapers — Weymouth Histori-
cal Society — Social Libraries — Mutual Library Associa-
tions — Tufts' Library 594

CHAPTER LI I.
Weymouth — ( Continued).
Military Organizations : Early Companies, Company for
the Castle, Weymouth Light-Horse, AVeymouth Artil-
lery, AVeymouth Light Infantry, Franklin Guards-
Grand Army of the Republic: Lincoln Post, No. 40,
Reynolds Post, No. 58 — Societies and Associations:
Masonic Orphans' Hope Lodge, Delta Lodge, South
Shore Commandery, Pentalpa Royal Arch Chapter —
Odd-Fellows : Crescent Lodge, AVildey Lodge, AVompa-
tuck Encampment — Knights of Pythias : Delphi Lodge
— Knights of Honor: Pilgrim Lodge — AA'^eymouth Agri-
cultural and Industrial Society — Other Organizations . 598

CHAPTER LIIL

AVeymouth — ( Continued).
Business Enterprises— Mills : The Waltham- Richards-
Bates' Mills, Tide Mill, Tirrell's Mill, Reed's Mill, Loud's
Mill, Vinson's Mill, Dyer's Mill— Turnpikes : AVeymouth
and Braintree, New Bedford, Hingham and Quincy
Bridge — Railroads : Old Colony, South Shore — Expresses
— Telegraph — Telephone — Financial Corporations —
Banks : Weymouth National, National of South Wey-
mouth — Savings Banks : AVeymouth, South AVeymouth,
East AVeymouth — AVeymouth and Braintree Fire Insur-
ance Company — Manufactures : Boots and Shoes — Wey-
mouth Iron Company — Fish Company — AVeymouth
Commercial Company — Ice Companies — Bradley Fer-
tilizer Company — Ship Building — Bay State Hammock
Company — Howe k French — Fire-AVorks — Mitten-Fac-
tory — Miscellaneous 600

CHAPTER LV.

AVrentham

622

CHAPTER LA^I.

FOXBOROUGH.

Incorporation of Town — Early History — The First Settler
— Jacob Shepard — -List of Early Settlers — Early Votes —
The Pioneer Schools— The First Town Clerk— Church
History — Early Votes — Manufactures, etc. . . . 673

CHAPTER LVII.

FoxBOROUGH — { Continued).
Military Record. — The Heroes of Three Wars — War of
the Revolution— ISl 2— AVar of the Rebellion— List of
Soldiers, 1861-65— Patriots of 1776— Soldiers of 1812—
Roll of Honor, 1861-65— Veterans of the War— Militia,
1796 683

CHAPTER LVIIL

FoxBOROUGH — ( Continued).
Ecclesiastical History. — Congregational Church^Baptist
Church — Universalist Church — Roman Catholic Chapels
— Civil History — Delegates to Constitutional Convention
— State Senators — Commission of Insolvency — Represen-
tatives — Justices of the Peace — Selectmen— Town Clerks
— Town House — Memorial Hall — The Howe Monument —
Change in Boundaries — Masonic — Historical Items — The
Press — The Centennial Celebration — Population — Sta-
tistical (597

CHAPTER LIX.

AVali'Ole.
Pioneer History — The Dedliam Covenant — Indian Pro-
prietors — Primitive Condition of the Country — Earl}'
Settlements — The Cedar Swamp — Petition for Precinct —
Incorporation of Town — The French and Indian AA^ar —
Capt. Bacon's Company from AValpole — Slavery in AA'al-
pole — Deacon Bobbins' Slave " Jack" — AVar of the Rev-
olution — Resolutions of the Town — List of Revolutionary
Soldiers — War of 1812 — Capt. Samuel Fales' Company
of Light Infantry .......

708

CHAPTER LX.

AVah'OLE — {Continued).
Ecclesiastical History. — First Congregational Society — Or-
thodox Congregational Church — Congregational Church,
East Walpole — Methodist Episcopal Church — Methodist
Episcopal Church, South Walpole .....

'12

CHAPTER LIV

AVeymouth — (Continued) .

605

CHAPTER LXI.
AValpole — (Continued).
The Press— The AValpole Standard— The AValpole Enter-
prise — The Norfolk County Tribune — The AValpole Star
— Manufacturing Interests — Civil History — The Town
Hall — Military History — Number of Men Furnished
— Amount of Money Expended — Roll of Honor — Memo-
rial Tablets 718

CHAPTER LXIL

Milton.

Pioneer History — The First Settlements — Stoughton,

Glover, and Hutchinson — Grant of the Territory to

Dorchester — Release of Indian Title — Cutshamoquin —

Loc:ition of First Settlements- -King Philip's AVar —

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Prouiinent Early Settlers — Biogrnphical Sketches of
Prominent Citizens — Robert Yose, Robert Tucker, Ben-
jamin Wadsworth, Joseph Belcher, Oxenbridge Thatcher,
John Swift, Peter Thatcher, Dr. Miller, Samuel Miller,
Governor Belcher, William Foye, Col. Gooch, Governor
Hutchinson, James Smith, Oxenbridge Thatcher, Jr.,
Samuel Swift, Nathaniel Tucker, Seth Adams, William
Foye, Jr., Joseph Gooch, Benjamin Pratt, Col. Joseph
Vose, Job Sumner, John Miller, Benjamin Wadsworth,
' W. S. Hutchinson, Josiah Badcock, Samuel Ilenshaw,
Edward H. Bobbins, Rufus Badcock, Thomas Thatcher,
Jesse Tucker, J. S. Boies, Nathaniel J. Bobbins, John
M. Forbes, Solomon Vose, Roger Vose, Charles P. Sum-
ner, etc. .......... 730

CHAPTER LXIII.

Mjltox.
War of the Revolution ....... 745

CHAPTER L X I V.
Milton — {Continued).
Ecclesiastical Higfory. — The First Congregational Society —
The First Evangelical Society— The Second Evangelical
Society — Lower Mills Baptist Church .... 749

CHAPTER L X V.
Milton — ( Covtitmed).
The Crehore Estate— The Sumners— The Wadsworths— The
Vose Place— The Robert Tucker Place— The Oldest House
in Milton — The Tucker House — The Billings House —
The Blue Hills— The Foye House— The Hutchinson
House — The Bobbins House — The Governor Belcher
Place — Milton Cemetery — Detailed History — Different
Purchasers — Ancient Inscriptions — Tombs . . . 757

CHAPTER LXVI.

Milton — (Continued).
Civil and Militarj' — Representatives — Town Clerks — Town
Treasurers — War of the Rebellion — List of Soldiers, etc. 770

CHAPTER LXVI I.

Milton — (Continued) ....... 772

CHAPTER LXVIII.
Milton — ( Continued).
Town Hall— The Blue Hill National Bank— The Milton
News — Post-Office 774

CHAPTER LXIX.
Brookline 783

CHAPTER LXX.
Hyde Park 895

CHAPTER LXX I.
Canton.
Indian Name of the Town, Punkapaog— John Eliot — Or-
ganization of Precinct, 1715 — List of Precinct Officers —
Incorporation of Stoughton, 1726 — Roger Sherman — War
of the Revolution — Various Votes — The Suffolk Resolves
— The First Troops from Stoughton — Capt. James Endi-
cott's Company — Other Companies — Committee of Cor-
respondence and Inspection — Documentary History —
Incorporation of Town — Names of Petitioners — First
Town Officers — War of 1812 — Extracts from Town Rec-
ords — The First School-House

919

CHAPTER LXXIL
Canton — ( Continued).
Ecclesiastical History. — First Congregational Church — Or-
ganization — The Covenant of 1717 — The First Pastor,
Rev. Joseph Morse — The First Celebration of the Lord's
Supper — The First Deacons — Extracts from the Early
Records — List of those who joined the Church during Mr.
Morse's Ministry — Death of Mr. Morse — Inventory of his
Estate — Rev. Samuel Dunbar — Rev. Z. Howard — Rev.
William Richey — Rev. Benjamin Huntoon — Succeeding
Pastors— Church Buildings — Evangelical Congregational
Church — Baptist Church — Universalist Church— Roman
Catholic Church ........ 9.31

CHAPTER LXX II L
Canton — (Continued).
The Press, Manu/jfctures, Banks, etc. — The Canton Journal
— Early Manufactures — The First Cotton-Factory —
Present Manufactures — Memorial Hall — Military Record
— Number of Men Furnished — Amount of Money Raised
— ^■arious Votes in Relation to Bounties, etc. — Roll of
Honor — Revere Encampment, Grand Army of the Re-
public — The Neponset National Bank — Canton Institu-
tion for Savings — Representatives from 1876 to Present
Time 944

CHAPTER LXXIV.
Norfolk.
North Parish of Wrentham — Early Settlements — Residents
in 1795 — North Society — First Meeting-House — Incor-
poration of Town — Act of Incorporation — First Town-
Meeting — Officers Elected— List of Selectmen — Town
Clerks — Representatives — Town House — Present Valua-
tion — Industrial Pursuits — Churches — Schools . . 973

APPENDIX
ERRATA

. 978
1001

BIOGRAPHICAL.

Adams, Thomas 375

Alden, Ebenezer 208

Ames, Ellis 972

Ames, AVilliam Ill

Aspinwall, Thomas 889

Aspinwall, William 894

Aspinwall, William 891

Atherton, James 415

Atherton, Samuel 417

Atwood, Shadraeh 186 |

Babcock, S. B 93 !

Bacon, Joseph T 670 j

Bird, Francis W 729 |

Barrows, Thomas 93 j

Baxter, Daniel 388

Beals, E.S 618

Blake, George B 883

Bleakie, Robert 916

Bullard, John 92

Burgess, Ebenezer 95

Candage, R. G. F 887

Capen, Nahum 957

Carpenter, E 703

Chapman, 0. S 962

Churchill, Amos 380

Churchill, ('. C. 109

Clapp, Lucius 424

Clark, Joseph W 102

Cleveland, Ira 101

Colburn, Waldo 12

Cook, Horace li 672

Cook, Nathan A 159

Crocker, L. 142

Curtis, Daniel D 452

Davis Family (The) 881

Deane, Francis W 971

Dizer, M. C 016

Draj)er, James 967

Du Bois, A. E 215

Everett, George 514

Faxon, Henry II 376

Field, William 381

Fisk, Emery 488

Fiske, Isaac 453

Fiske, Josiah J 668

Fiske, J. N 669

Fisher, Jabez 672

Fisher, M. M 557

Flagg, Solomon 489

Fogg, John S 615

Fogg, David S 515

Frederick, Eleazer 382

French, Charles H 960

Gaston, William 21

Gay, J. W 110

PAGE

Gridley, Jeremiah 886

Griggs, Thomas 871

Grover, Edwin 894

Hewins Family (The) 470

Hodges, Alfred 708

Hodges, Benjamin 706

Hodges Family (The) 705

Hodges, Leonard 41 S

Hodges, Sewall 706

Hodges, William A '. 386

Ilolbrook, Amos II 158

Ilolbrook, E. IST 437

Hollingsworth, E. A 132

Holmes, Warren M 473

Howe, Appleton 611

Kimball, Daniel 540

Kingman, Bradford 883

Lamson, Alvan 99

Lincoln, James D 670

Lyon, E. A 539

McDonnell, Patrick 384

Mansfield, William 963

Mann, George H 470

Martin, N. C 782

Monk, Elisha C 422

Morrison Family (The) 133

Morse, Elijah A 905

Morse, Luther 473

Morse, Otis 516

Noyes, Samuel V, 22

Orr, Galen 538

Parsons, Thomas 880

Paul, Ebenezer 108

Peirce, Henry 879

Pierce, Edward L 777

Pierce Family (The) 408

Pierce, Henry L 410

Pierce, Jesse 408

Porter, Robert 425

Ray, James P 184

Ray, Joseph G 185

Richards, Moses 472

Richardson, Stephen W 187

Sanford, M. 11 555

Sargent, James II 560

Shaw, Nathaniel 613

Sheldon, Rhodes 671

Shepard, James S 964

Sherburne, William 671

Sherman, Job 707

Slafter, Carlos 107

Smith, Isaac 7(i2

Smith, Lyman 513

Southgate, George A 109

Southworth, Amasa -121

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

South worth, Asahel 419

South worth, Consider 419

Southworth, Col. Consider 420

Spaulding, Corodon 970

Stetson, Caleb 1.31

Stetson, Everett 727

Stetson, J. A 376

Stone, Ebenezer 727

Stone, Eliphalet 107

Stuart, AVilliam J 917

Taft, Ezra W 106

Talbot, Warren 473

Thayer, David 136

Tinker, Francis 515

Tirrell, James 613

Torrey, James 620

Wales, Martin 414

PAGE

Wales, Xathaniel 412

AVare, Josiah 976

Warner, Samuel 21

Washburn, Andrew 917

Wason, Elbridge 878

Wentworth Family (The) 968

Whitaker, E. K 535

White, Judge George 492

White, N. L... 139

AVhite, Thomas 438

Whiting, Edwin 110

Wild. Charles 874

Wild, Edward A 876

Wolcott, H. F 779

Wood, Henry 490

Worthington, Erastus 25

ILLUSTRATION S.

PAGE

Adams, John facing 320

Adams, John Quincy " 354

Adams, Thomas .,. " 375

Alden, Ebenezer " 268

Ames, William " HI

Atherton, James '' 415

Atherton, Samuel " 417

Atwood, Shadrach " 1^6

Babcoek, S. B " 93

Bacon, Joseph T " 670

Baxter, Daniel " 388

Barrows, Thomas between 92, 93

Beals, E. S facing 618

Bird, Francis W '" 729

Blake, George B " 883

Bleakie, Robert " 916

•' Boylston Place," Residence of Henry Lee " 860

Burgess, Ebenezer " 95

Bullard, John " 92

Candage, R. G. F " " 887

Canton Memorial Hall " 951

Capen, Xahum " 957

Carpenter, J. E " 703

Chapman, 0. S " 962

Churchill, Amos " 380

Churchill, C. C between 108, 109

Clapp, Lucius facing 424

Clark, Joseph W " 102

Cleveland, Ira " 101

Colburn, Waldo... •' 12

Cook, Horace L " 672

Cook, Nathan A " 159

Crocker, L. " 142

Curtis, Daniel D '" 452

Davis, Robert S " 882

Deane, Francis W " 971

Dizer, M. C " 616

PAGE

Draper, James facing 967

Du Bois, A. E " 215

Everett, George " 514

Faxon, Henrj' H " 377

Field, William " 381

Fisher. M. M •' 557

Fisk, Emery •' 488

Fiske, Isaac " 463

Fiske, J. N '• 669

Flagg, Solomon '• 489

Fogg, David S •' 515

Fogg, John S •' 615

Frederick, Eleazer " 382

French. Charles H " 960

Gaston, AVilliam " 21

Gay,J.AV between 110, 111

Griggs, Thomas facing S71

Hewins, AVhiting " 471

Hodges, Alfred *. " 708

Hodges, Benjamin " 706

Hodges, Leonard " 418

Hodges, Sewall " 705

Hodges, William A " 386

Holbrook, Amos H " 158

Holbrook. E. X " 437

Hollingsworth. E. A " 132

Holmes, AVarren M " 473

Hunnewell, H. H., Residence and A'iews of Grounds.. 478-480

Howe, Appleton facing 612

Lamson, Alvan " 99

Lawrence, A. A., Residence of " 859

Lincoln. James D between 670, 671

Lyon. E. A facing 539

Mann, George H " 470

Mansfield, William " 963

McDonnell, Patrick " 384

Monk, Elisha C " 422

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

Morrison, A facing 134

Morrison, A. S " 135

Morrison, B.L " 136

Morse, Elijah A " 965

Morse, Otis " 516

Noycs, Samuel B " 22

Orr, Galen " 538

Parsons, Thomas " 881

Paul, Ebenezer " 109

Peirce, Henry " 880

Pierce, Edward L " 777

Pierce, Henry L " 410

Pierce, Jesse " 408

Porter, Robert " 425

Kay, James P " 184

Ray, Joseph G " 185

Richards, Moses " 472

Richardson, Stephen W " 187

Sanford, M. H " 655

Sargent, James II " 560

Shaw, Nathaniel " 613

Sheldon, Rhodes " 671

Shepard, James S " 964

Sherburne, AVilliam , between 670, 071

Sherman, Job facing 707

Slafter, Carlos " 107

Smith, Isaac " 702

Smith, Lyman " 513

Southworth, Amasa " 421

Southworth, Consider " 419

Southgate, George A " 109

Spaulding, Corodon " 970

Stetson, Caleb " 131

Stetson, Everett " 727

Stetson, J. A " 376

PAGE

Stone, Ebenczer facing 728

Stone, Eliphalet " 108

Stuart, William J " 917

Taft, Ezra W " 106

Talbot, Warren between 472, 473

Thayer, David facing 137

Tinker, Francis between 514, 515

Tirrell, James " 612,613

Tirrell, Minot " 612, 613

Torrey, James facing 620

Wales, Martin " 414

Wales, Nathaniel " 412

Ware, Josiah " 976

Warner, Samuel " 20

Washburn, Andrew " 918

Wason, Elbridge, " 878

Wellesley College 482

Wellesley College, East Lodge 483

Wellesley College, Library 485

Wellesley College of Music 487

Wellesley College, Stone Hall 486

Wellesley Town Hall and Library facing 477

Wentworth, Edwin " 969

Wentworth, Nathaniel " 968

Whitaker, E. K " 536

White, Judge George " 492

White, N. L " 139

White, Thomas " 438

Whiting, Edwin between 110, 111

Wild, Charles facing 874

Wild, Edward A " 876

Wood, Henry " 490

Wolcott, H. F " 779

Worthing ton, Erastus " 25

CO.

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INTRODUCTION.

BY NAHUM CAPEN, LL.D.

That divisions and subdivisions of extended terri- I
tory, of increasing population and the multiplying '
wants of society are necessary for safe and economic
efficiency, are truths almost too obvious to require
elucidation. In these are to be found the outlines of
republican strength necessary to a permanent union.
Their importance was fully exemplified in the reign
of Alfred the Great of England.^ The Puritans and
the Pilgrims had no choice but to adopt such a system '
that they might hold their possessions as they ac-
quired them by purchase or otherwise, and preserve I
their authority .as they had means to establish it with
an increasing population. No individual nor family
was recognized as a part of their community without
a registered permit. The terms first adopted were
modified from time to time, according to their grow-
ing importance. Under the monarchy of Great
Britain the American continent was divided into
provinces, or colonies, and these were subdivided into
towns and counties.

Before Massachusetts was nominally divided into
counties, in 1643, it appears to have had such divis-
ions, designated by the term regiments. Under the
date of Oct. 7, 1641, in General Court records is the
following passage : " The proposition of choosing dep-
uties for a yeare, and transacting and preparing all 1

1 " After Alfred had subdued and had settled or expelled the
Danes, he found the kingdom in the most wretched condition ;
desolated by the ravages of those barbarians and thrown into
disorders which were calculated to perpetuate its miserj'.

" These were the evils for which it was necessary that the
vigilance and activity of Alfred should provide a remedy.

"That he might render the execution of justice strict and
regular, he divided all England into counties; these counties he
subdivided into hundreds, and the hundreds into tithings.
Every householder was answerable for the behaviour of his
family and slaves, and even of his guests if they lived above
three days in his house. Ten neighboring householders were
formed into one corporation, who, under the name of a tithing,
decennary, or fribourg, were answerable for each other's con-
duct, and over whom one person, called a tithing-man, head-
bourg, or borsholder, was appointed to preside. Every man
was punished as an outlaw who did not register himself in some
tithing. And no man could change his habitation without a
warrant or certificate from the borsholder of the tithing to
which he formerly belonged." — Hume, vol. i. pp. 70, 71.
1

things for the General Court amongst the three Regi-
ments, is to be carried by the deputies to the freemen
of every towne, and their answer returned to the
next session of this Court." Winfhrop's Journal of
May 16, 1639, says, " two Regiments in the Bay
mustered at Boston." Evidently the phrase " in the
bay" " then excluded soldiers who belonged to what
was afterwards called Essex County. Hence regi-
ment at these dates denoted an equal number of gen-
eral and territorial divisions in the colony." -

The following statistics of Norfolk County repre-
sent the towns as they stood from 1793 to 1868,
when Hyde Park was taken from Dorchester, Ded-
ham, and Milton, and incorporated April 22, 1868.
Norfolk was taken from Wrentham, Franklin, Med-
way, and Walpole, and incorporated Feb. 23, 1870.
Norwood was taken from Dedham and Walpole, and
incorporated Feb. 23, 1872. Holbrook was taken
from Randolph, and incorporated Feb. 29, 1872.
Wellesley was taken from Needham, and incorporated
April 6, 1881.

Norfolk County was taken from Sufi"olk County,
March 26, 1793. It was bounded northeast by Bos-
ton harbor, north by Suffolk County, west by south-
east part of Worcester County, south by the northeast
part of Rhode Island, and southeast and east by the
counties of Bristol and Plymouth.^

Number of square miles, 445.

Population: 1790, 23,878; 1800, 27,216; 1810,
31,245 ; 1820, 36,471 ; 1830, 41,901 ; 1840,^3,110 ;
1850, 78,892 ; 1860, 109,950 ; 1870, 51,286 ; 1880,
70,922.*

County town, Dedham. Number of towns, 27,
less Dorchester and Roxbury, annexed to Boston,
viz. : Bellingham, Braintree, Brookline, Canton, Co-
hasset, Dedham, Dorchester, Dover, Foxborough,
Franklin, Holbrook, Hyde Park, Medfield, Medway,
Milton, Needham, Norfolk, Norwood, Quincy, Ran-
dolph, Roxhiuy, Sharon, Stoughton, Walpole, Wel-^
lesley, Weymouth, Wrentham.

2 Mass. State Records, vol. i. p. 26. Edited by Nahum Capen.
s Mass. State Record, 1847, vol. i. p. 26.

* These figures will be varied by the annexation of Rox-
bury, West Roxbury, and Dorchester to Boston.

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Bellingham was set off from Dedham and incorpo-
rated as a town in 1719. It lies eighteen miles
southwest from Dedham, seventeen north by west
from Providence, R. I., and twenty-eight southwest
from Boston.

Braintree formerly included Quincy and Randolph,
and was at first called Mount Wollaston, the first
settlement of which was in 1625. Braintree was
incorporated in 16-10. It lies ten miles south by
east from Boston, and twelve east by south from
Dorchester.

Brookline, before its incorporation in 1705, be-
longed to Boston. It is four miles southwest from
Boston, and five miles north-northeast from Ded-
ham.

Canton was originally the south precinct of Dor-
chester, the first parish of Stoughton, called Dorches-
ter Village. It was incorporated in 1797. It is
fourteen miles south by west from Boston, and six
miles southeast from Dedham.

Cohasset was originally a part of Hingham. It
was incorporated in 1770.

The settlement of Dedham commenced in 1635.
Dedham is the shire-town of the county, and lies ten
miles southwest from Boston, thirty-five east from
Worcester, thirty-five northwest from Plymouth,
twenty-six north by west from Taunton, and thirty
north-northeast from Providence.^

Dorche.ster was incorporated in 1630, annexed to
Boston at different periods, and now makes a part of
Suffolk County.

Dover was originally a part of Dedham. It was
incorporated as a precinct in 1748, and as a town in
178-1. It is five miles west from Dedham, and four-
teen southwest from Boston.

Foxborough was settled previous to 1700, and
was formerly a part of Wrentham, Walpole, and
Stoughton.

Franklin was set off from Wrentham in 1737 as
a distinct parish, and incorporated as a town, and
named in honor of Dr. Franklin, in 1778."

1 See History of Dedham, by Erastus Worthington, Esq.

2 "The name was selected in honor of Benjamin Franklin,
LL.D. AVhile Dr. Franklin was in France, a friend of his in
Boston wrote to him that a town in the vicinity of Boston had
chosen his name, by which to be known in the world, and he
presumed, as it had no bell with which to summon the people
to meeting on the S.'ibbath, a present of such an instrument
from him would bo very acceptable, especially as they were
about erecting a new meeting-house. The doctor wrote, in re-
ply, that he presumed the people in Franklin were more fond
of sense than of sound ; and accordingly presented them with
a handsome donation of books for the use of the jtarish." —
Smalley'a Centennial Sermon.

Centre Village, twenty-seven miles southwest from
Boston, and seventeen southwest from Dedham.

Medfield was originally a part of Dedham. It
was incorporated in 1650. It lies eight miles south-
west from Dedham, and seventeen southwest from
Boston.

Medway was originally a part of Medfield. It
was incorporated in 1713. It lies twenty-four miles
southwest from Boston, and fourteen southwest from
Dedham.

The Indian name of Milton was said to have been
Uncataquisset. The town of Dorchester in 1662
voted that Unquety should be a township, and it was
incorporated in 1662. It lies seven miles from
Boston, and six east from Dedham.

Needham was originally a part of Dedham. It
was incorporated in 1711. It lies five miles north-
west from Dedham, and by Worcester Railroad
thirteen miles southwest from Boston.

Quincy was originally the first parish in Braintree.
It was first settled in 1625. It lies eight miles south
by east from Boston, and ten east from Dedham.

Randolph was originally a part of Braintree. It
was incorporated in 1793. It was named in honor
of Peyton Randolph, of A'^irginia, the first president
of the American Congress. It lies fourteen miles
south from Boston, and twelve southeast from Dedham. •

Roxbury was incorporated in 1630. Roxbury and
West Roxbury now make a part of Boston and Suf-
folk County.

Sharon was originally the second parish of Stough-
ton. It was incorporated in 1765. It was first
named Stoughtonham, but it was soon changed to
Sharon. It is seventeen miles by railroad southwest
from Boston, and nine south from Dedham.

Stoughton was originally a part of Dorchester,
and embraced within its limits the towns of Canton,
Sharon, and Foxborough. It was incorporated in
1726. It lies eighteen miles south from Boston, and
ten southeast from Dedham.

Walpole was originally a part of Dedham. It was
incorporated in 1724. South Village is three miles
from the East Village, and the East is nine miles
south by west from Dedham, and nineteen southwest
from Boston.

Weymouth, the Wcssagussett of the Indians, is
the oldest settlement in Massachusetts except
Plymouth. It lies eleven miles south by east from
Boston, and fourteen southeast from Dedham.

Wrentham was originally a part of Dedham. It
was .set off in 1661, and incorporated as a town in
1673. It lies twenty-seven miles south-southwest from
Boston, and seventeen south-southwest from Dedham.

INTRODUCTION.

It is a beneficent provision of Providence that
society is divided and subdivided into circles, whether
of a political, industrial, moral, domestic, social, or
religious nature.^ Each circle has its centre, from
which emanate its own peculiar influences, and which
are reflected back from its circumference. This is
true of the county, although the political organiza-
tion of a county affords but few opportunities to its
inhabitants to distinguish themselves either officially
or as citizens. Still, it is alive to its own interests,
extent, and character. And yet, if we turn to his-
tory, we find numerous examples of remarkable
events within the smaller circles leading to great re-
sults in the larger. This truth was fully exempli-
fied in the action of committees, town-meetings, and
county conventions in the earlier days of the Ameri-
can Revolution. Such action was natural, easy, con-
venient, and practicable, party-men acting together
in the same neighborhood, town, or county. Some
of the most important measures of the Revolution
originated in the committee, the town-meeting, or in
the county convention.^ Several of the counties of
Massachusetts held conventions, and some of the
most spirited and patriotic resolutions were passed.
The Provincial Congress was recommended by these
county conventions and the Continental Congress
boldly sustained.

At this critical and alarming period no county
distinguished itself for intelligence and patriotism
more than the inhabitants of Norfolk County.

" At a meeting of the Delegates of every Town and District
of the County of Suffolk [which embraced the towns now Nor-
folk County], on Tuesday/, the 6th of September, 1774, at the
house of Mr. Richard Woodward, of Dedham ; and by ad-
journment at the house of Mr. Vose, of Milton, on Friday,
the 9th of September.

"Joseph Palmer, Esquire, being chosen Moderator, and AVil-
liam Thompson, Esq., Clerk.

"A Committee was chosen to bring in a Report to the Con-

1 The Puritans did not allow the people to plead distance as
an excuse for non-attendance at church. The following item
is taken from the town records of Ipswich, Mass. : " 1G61. As
an inhabitant of Ipswich, living at a distance, absented him-
self with his wife from public worship, the General Court em-
power the ' Seven men' (the town authorities) to sell his farm,
so that they may live nearer the sanctuary, and be able more
conveniently to attend on its religious services."

2 In his letter to the Abbe De Mably, John Adams says, —

" The consequences of these institutions have been, that the
inhabitants having acquired from their infancy the habit of
discussing, of deliberating, and of judging of public affairs,
it was in these assemblies of towns or districts that the senti-
ments of the people were formed in the first place, and there
resolutions were taken from the beginning to the end of the
disputes and the war with Great Britain."— /oA/i Adams, vol.
V. p. 495.

vention; and the following being several times read, and put,
paragraph by paragraph, was unanimously voted." ^

The committee reported nineteen resolutions, re-
citing the grievances of the colonies and recommend-
ing uncompromising action, and boldly appealed to
the people to defend their constitutional rights.*

"At a Meeting of Delegates from several Towns and Dis-
tricts in the county of Suffolk, held at Milton, on Friday, the
9th of September, 1774.

■' Voted, that Dr. Joseph Warren and Dr. Benjamin Church,
of Boston ; Deacon Joseph Palmer, Germantown : Captain Lem-
uel Robinson, Dorchester: Colonel Ebenezer Thayer, Braintree ;
Captain William Heath, Roxbury ; William Holden, Esq.,
Dorchester ; Colonel AVilliam Taylor, Milton ; Captain John
Homans, Dorchester ; Isaac Gardner, Esq., Brookline : Mr.
Richard Woodward, Dedham ; Captain Benjamin White, Brook-
line ; Doctor Samuel Gardner, Milton ; Nathaniel Sumner,
Esq., Dedham ; and Captain Thomas Aspinwall, Brookline, be
a Committee to wait upon his Excellency, the Governor, to
inform him that the people of this county are alarmed at the
fortifications making on Boston Neck, and to remonstrate
against the same; and the repeated insults oflFered by the sol-
diery to persons passing and repassing into that town, and to
confer with him upon these subjects.

"Attest, William Thompson, Clerk."

The committee prepared a communication to Gov-
ernor Gage, and he replied to it, but his reply was
deemed unsatisfactory, and it was voted to insert the
correspondence in the public papers.^

In August, 1774, the grand jurors of this county
and the petit jurors unanimously refused to be sworn
because of the late tyrannical acts of the British
Parliament, and publicly gave their reasons. Of the
twenty-two in number, six were from Boston, and
sixteen were from the towns, now Norfolk County,
viz. :

Ebenezer Hancock, Boston ; Samuel Hobart, Hing-
ham ; Peter Boyer, Boston ; Joseph Pool, Weymouth ;
Joseph Hall, Boston ; William Bullard, Dedham
Thomas Craft, Jr., Boston ; Jonathan Day, Needham
James Ivers, Boston ; Abijah Upham, Stoughton ;
Paul Revere, Boston ; Moses Richardson, Medway ;
Robert Williams, Roxbury; Henry Plympton, Med-
field ; William Thompson, Brookline ; Lemuel Hal-
lock, Wrentham : Abraham Wheeler, Dorchester ;
Joseph Willet, Walpole ; Joseph Jones, Milton ;
Thomas Pratt, Chelsea ; Nathaniel Belcher, Brain -
tree ; Nicholas Book, Bellingham.

The names of the petit jurors are given, but not
the towns from which they came.®

The county is an important part of the common-

^ American Archives, vol. i. p. 776.

* These resolutions are too long to be copied. They may be
found in American Archives, vol. i. p. 776.
5 See American Archives, vol. i. pp. 779-782.
« See ibid., pp. 747-49.

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

wealth, and the ambition of its officials is to make
reports of the people not only ftivorable to themselves,
but creditable by comparison with other counties. It
has a natural ambition and a commendable pride in
its courts and institutions to see that justice is promptly
administered, the criminal secured, the wicked re-
formed, the weak defended against the strong, the
widow wisely advised, the orphan protected. Its
authority adjusts the highways from town to town,
builds the bridges, and decides upon the convenience
and interests of the people who have occasion to
travel within its boundaries. The farmers and the
learned professions associate within county limits to
perfect themselves, each class in its own way, by
making common stock of individual experience, and
by discussing doubtful questions. The fruits of such
associations in due time are extended to the com-
monwealth and to the nation, either by the press or
conventions.

Norfolk County can boast of one organization,
such as cannot be found in New England, viz., " The
Stougliton Musical Society.'^ It was organized by
leading men of Norfolk County, Nov. 7, 1786, and it
is said to be, of the kind, the oldest in the United
States.

It adopted a constitution of nine articles, denomi-
nated " Regulations."

The following extracts " indicate the moral and
artistic character of the association :"

"Every member shall behave with Decency, Politeness, and
Dignity; and whosoever behaves disorderly shall be punished
according to the nature of his oflFence, as the society shall
order.

"There shill be a Committee chosen, who shall examine all
persons who shall wish to join the Society, and no one shall be
admitted without their approbation."

To these regulations the following names were
subscribed :

Elijah Dunbar, Esq., Enoch Leonard, Capt. Samuel
Talbot, Samuel Capen (2d), Nathan Crane, Thomas
Crane, Elijah Crane, James Capen, Joseph Smith (4th),
Uriah Leonard, Samuel Dunbar, Jonathan Capen,
Andrew Capen, Isaac Horton, Thomas Capen, Sam-
uel Tolman (deacon), Joseph Richards, Jr., George
Wadsworth, David Wadsworth, John D. Dunbar,
Peter Crane, Lemuel Fisher, Jonathan Billings, Jesse
Billings, Atherton Wales.

At a meeting, Nov. 22, 1786, the following were
chosen officers of the society :

Elijah Dunbar, Esq., president ; Lieut. Samuel
Capen, register (or secretary) ; Capt. Samuel Talbot,
vice-president; Joseph Smith (4th), first treasurer;
Andrew Capen, second treasurer.

Committee of Examination : Elijah Dunbar, Esq.,
Capt. Samuel Talbot, Lieut. Samuel Capen, Capt.
Joseph Richards, Jr., Andrew Capen, Jonathan
Capen, Enoch Leonard.

At this meeting it was voted to purchase the
" Worcester Collection," a book which had been
recently published by Isaiah Thomas, — the first type
music published in America. The society issued its
first publication in 1829, "The Stoughton Collec-
tion," from the press of Marsh & Capen, Boston,
which passed through several editions, and was the
text-book for practice by the society for many years."-
The second publication of the society was " The
Centennial Collection," published by Oliver Ditson
in 1878.

Esquire Dunbar, as he was universally called by
way of honorable distinction, remained president of
the society until 1808, and was succeeded by Capt.
Talbot, who held the office until 1818.

In 1787 a new constitution was adopted. In the
preamble the value of the cultivation of vocal music
by man, " who is of that elevated rank of beings
capable of sounding forth the praise of God," was
asserted, declaring it a recognized duty " to study to
promote that harmony which is pleasing to our Maker,
and so delightful to ourselves."

In 1801 another constitution was adopted, in
which the members pledged themselves anew to the
duty of the study and practice of vocal music as a
" Divine institution, promotive of friendship and
sociability."

The constitution was again revised in 1872. Since
1825 the annual meeting has been held the 25th
December, Christmas afternoon and evening; dinner
at five o'clock, and a grand concert in the evening
with a selected programme from ancient and modern
authors.

The society now numbers about five hundred mem-
bers, resident chiefly in Stoughton, Canton, Sharon,
Randolph, Braintree, Weymouth, Milton, Abington,
Brockton, Easton, and Quincy. The attendance of
members at these annual meetings is often above
three hundred, "joyously uniting their voices," to
quote the language of President Battles, " in the
swelling strains of the precise tunes, words, and
notes which were sung by their predecessors nearly
a hundred years ago."

The present government of the society (1884) is
as follows :

Winslow Battles (Randolph), president; T. H.

1 Its preface and introduction were prepared by Nahum
Capen.

THE BENCH AND BAR.

Bearing, M.D. (Braintree), Hon. David W. Tucker
(Milton), Elijah G. Capen (Stoughton), George N.
Spear (Holbrook), Charles F. Porter (Brockton),
vice-presidents ; Daniel H. Huxford (Randolph),
secretary ; Alfred W. Witcomb (Randolph), treas-
urer; Prof". Hiram Wilde (Boston), conductor;
George N. Spear (Holbrook), vice-conductor;
Lucius H. Packard (Stoughton), George R. Whitney
(Brockton), George N. Spear (Holbrook), executive
committee ; Herman L. West (Holbrook), pianist.

Not to notice such a society in this introduction
would be an unpardonable omission. Some of its
leading members, from its organization to the present
time, are numbered as among the most distinguished
citizens of Norfolk County.

As natives or residents of this county may be men-
tioned the illustrious names of John Hancock, John
Adams, John Quincy Adams, Charles Francis Adams,
Gen. Joseph Warren, James Bowdoin, William Eus-
tis, Edmund Quincy, Josiah Quincy, Capt. Roger
Clapp, John Capen (the first in the colony to contri-
bute money to public schools), Roger Sherman,^ Rev.
Dr. Emmons, Fisher Ames, Horace Mann, Erastus
Worthington, Marshall P. Wilder, Dr. Jonathan
Wales, Rev. T. M. Harris, Samuel D. Bradford, Ed-
ward Everett, A. H. Everett, John Everett, Edward
H. Bobbins. Daniel Fisher, John Wells, etc. We
write the names as they occur to us and without order
as to date, but to include all would too much extend
the list for this place.

To all the sources of gratification which are to be
found in society, it may be added that the people
of a county, whether by birth, residence, or associ-
ation, become attached to one another, and have a
common pride in all that is done within its limits,

1 Roger Sherman lived in Canton before he removed to Con-
necticut.

and in the honorable success of its citizens, however
and wherever engaged. This is natural. Beginning
with the family, what mother could find children
superior to her own, a medical adviser more skillful
than her physician, or a religious teacher more attrac-
tive and eloquent than the minister of her own parish ?

Enter what circle we please, all is centred in what
we have, in what we think, and in what we do, and
in the place where we live.

This is as it should be. It is in the constitution
of things. If we do not care for our own, or our
surroundings, who could be found to care for us ?
But, in boasting of what is personal, selfish, or local,
let us not narrow the habits of the mind. Let us
not forget that we are capable of expanding our sense
of duty, our aifections and generous considerations,
from the smaller to the larger circles, from the town
to the county, from the county to the commonwealth,
and from the commonwealth to the great republic,
the American Union." To this broad and commend-
able pride is to be attributed the production of the
following pages, giving to the world a just estimate
of the character and distinction of some of the men
who have lived to honor Norfolk County.

2 In speaking of the American Continent, in 1776, in his
article published nnder the title of " Common Sense," Paine

SBA'S, —

" 'Tis not the affair of a city, a county, a province, or a king-
dom, but of a continent, — of at least one-eighth part of the
habitable globe."

" In this extensive quarter of the globe we forget the narrow
limits of three hundred and sixty miles (the extent of Eng-
land) and carry our friendship on a larger scale ; we claim
brotherhood with every European Christian, and triumph in
the generosity of the sentiment.

" It is pleasant to observe by what regular gradations we sur-
mount local prejudices as we enlarge our acquaintance with
the world." — Common Sense, pp. 33, 35.

CHAPTER L

THE BENCH AND BAR.

BT ERASTUS WORTHINGTOX.

The county of Norfolk was incorporated by an
act of the General Court which passed March 26,
1793. and took efi'ect June 20, 1793. All the terri-
tory of the county of Sufi"olk, not comprehended
within the towns of Boston and Chelsea, was then
erected into an entire and distinct county, with Ded-
ham as its shire-town. The towns of Hinjiham and

Hull were excepted by another act passed at the
same session, and a few years after, those towns were
annexed to Plymouth County. The territory of the
new county extended from the line between Boston
and Roxbury, southwesterly to the Rhode Island line,
and from Middlesex on the north, to the Old Colony
line, excepting Hingham on the south. It was com-
posed chiefly of towns with farming communities,
having but few compact villages, except in the lower
parts of Dorchester and Roxbury, which were imme-
diately contiguous to the large town of Boston. The
formation of a new county had been the subject of
petitions to the General Court from the towns for

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

several years, based upon the obvious grounds of con-
venience to the people in transacting the public busi-
ness. Dedham was selected as the shire-town on
account of its central position, and perhaps because it
was the parent town, which once included all the
northerly and westerly towns of the county. Med-
field had been proposed, with the idea of uniting sev-
eral towns of Middlesex. At this time Dedham had
ii population of about two thousand people, mostly
farmers, with a small central village.

As there was no court-house, the records of the
Supreme Judicial Court from 1794 to 1706 contin-
ued to be kept in Boston, and the records for 1797
and 1798 are imperfect. The first term of the Court
of Common Pleas, then a county court, was held in
the meeting-house in Dedham, Sept. 24, 1793, and
the first case was committed to a jury at the April
term, 1794. At the same term the number of actions
entered was one hundred and sixty-six. The first
term of the Supreme Judicial Court was held in
August, 1794. A court-house and jail were ordered
to be built in 1794, but they were not finished until
1795. Both structures were of wood and have long
since disappeared.

Fisher Ames, in a letter to Thomas Dwight, dated
Sept. 11, 1794, writing of Dedham, says, "Our
city is soon to be adorned with a jail and court-
house, provided a committee of the Sessions can be
persuaded to hasten their snail's gallop. I think
I have mentioned in a former letter, that the Honor-
able Supreme Court was to sit here in August. They
did sit, and in tolerable good humor. Two days and
a piece finished the business. The jurors could not
but feel relief from the former burden of attending
fifteen, sometimes thirty days in Boston." The allu-
sion to the humor of the judges is made more em-
phatic in a letter written several years later, where
he speaks of Judge Ursa Major, R. T. Paine, and
of whom, after an uncomfortable scene in court, Mr.
Ames once said, with reference to his deafness, that
" no man could get on there unless he came with a club
in one hand and a speaking-trumpet in the other."

At the beginning of the separate existence of Nor-
folk County, the number of lawyers practising in the
towns must have been very few. There were not a
dozen lawyers in the town of Boston. Fisher Ames
and Samuel Haven of Dedham, Horatio Townsend
of Medtield, Thomas Williams of Roxbury, Edward
Hutchinson Bobbins of Dorchester Lower Mills,
Asaph Churchill of Milton, were the only attorneys
practising in the courts at this period. Members of
the bar in Suffolk, Middlesex, Worcester, and Bristol
then and for some years afterwards were in the habit

of attending the courts of Norfolk County, and of
course had a considerable share of the practice. The
profession was then regarded with much jealousy
and suspicion, which found expression in the records
of the towns of that period. Among the instructions
given to the representative from Dedham in 1786
occurs the following :

"The Order of Lawvers. — We are not inattentive to the
almost universally prevailing complaints against the practice
of the order of lawyers, and many of us too sensibly feel the
etFects of their unreasonable and extravagant exactions; we
think their practices pernicious and their mode unconstitu-
tional. You will therefore endeavor that such regulations be
introduced into our courts of law that such restraints be laid on
the order of lawyers as that we may have recourse to the
laws and find our security and not our ruin in them. If, upon
a fair discussion and mature deliberation, such a measure
should appear impracticable, you are to endeavor that the order
of lawyers be totally abolished, an alternative preferable to
their continuing in their present mode."'

Among the reasons urged for the division of the
county was the belief that if the court was held in a
country town '' the wheels of law and justice would
move on without the clogs and embarrassments of a
numerous train of lawyers. The scenes of gayety
and amusement which are now prevalent at Boston
we expect would so allure them as that we should be
rid of their perplexing officiousness." With such a
distrust existing in the country towns, the number of
lawyers was no doubt kept conveniently small.

The first meeting of the members of the bar for
the county of Norfolk was held at the oflice of Sam-
uel Haven, in Dedham, Sept. 28, 1797. There were
present at this meeting Fisher Ames, who presided,
Samuel Haven, who acted as secretary, Thomas Wil-
liams, Horatio Townsend, and Asaph Churchill of
the county, and Seth Hastings from Worcester,
Laban Wheaton from Bristol, and Artemas Ward
from Middlesex. The only business done at this
meeting was to establish a schedule of prices for
writs. No other meeting was held until 1802, when
the additional names appear of William P. Whiting,
Henry M. Lisle, Jairus Ware, John S. Williams,
James Richardson, and Gideon L. Thayer of Nor-
folk County, with others from Bristol and Plymouth.
It would seem from the attendance at this meeting,
that the number of lawyers was rapidly increasing.
In 1803, the bar adopted an elaborate code of regu-
lations relating to the practice of law in the courts.
From this time forward, excepting intervals of a few
years, the bar of Norfolk County held its stated
annual meetings down to 1853. These meetings
were held generally for passing upon the qualifications
of candidates for admission as attorneys to the difi'erent
courts and of counsellors to the Supreme Judicial

THE BENCH AND BAR.

Court, the law then requiring separate admissions as
attorneys and counsellors to the respective courts.
The recommendation of the bar was then a pre-
requisite for admission. In a few instances they ad-
ministered discipline upon members who had brought
disgrace upon the body by their intemperance or evil
practices. There were also many resolutions passed
at these meetings to provide against the infringement
of the rights of one of the brethren by another in
encroaching upon his field of practice.

A very curious and suggestive record, illustrative
of their scrupulous care upon this matter, was en-
tered at the meeting held September, 1805, which
shows in a striking manner how this practice of hav-
ing offices in two places was then viewed.

" Voted, unanimously, that the bar discountenance and will
by no means sanction any gentleman of the profession having
more than one office at any time in the same or different towns;
and understanding that Perez Morton, Esq., now has an office
in Boston, and another in Dedham, further voted that the sec-
retary of the bar furnish Mr. Morton with a copy of this vote,
thereby requesting him to immediately relinquish and discon-
tinue, both directly or indirectly, either one or the other of said
offices. The secretary is desired, if the above request to Mr.
Morton is not complied with, to make a communication on the
subject to the Suffolk bar."

There is a tradition in the county, that one of the
justices of the County Court of Common Pleas once
overruled a motion made by a Suffolk lawyer on the
ground that he was an interloper. The records of bar
meetings show, that a careful scrutiny was made not
ouly into the qualifications and time spent in the
study of law of the candidates, but also into the
personal and professional conduct of each member of
the bar in his profession and practice.

At this time there was but one court of general
common law jurisdiction in the commonwealth, which
was the Supreme Judicial Court, established July 3,
1782. There was also a county court called the
Court of Common Pleas, also established July 3,
1782, whose powers and jurisdiction and number of
justices were afterwards changed by several acts of
the General Court. Its original jurisdiction was con-
fined to cases where the ad damnum was over £4.
By statute 1798, chapter 24, the court was made to
consist of a chief justice and three other justices. In
1803 the powers and duties of the Court of General
Sessions and of the Peace were transferred to the Court
of Common Pleas, except as to jails and county build-
ings, accounts of county, county taxes, licenses, and
highways. In 1811 the commonwealth was divided
into six circuits, and Circuit Courts were established,
to consist of a chief justice and two associate justices.
This court was known as the Circuit Court of Com-

mon Pleas, and it continued until 1820, when the
Court of Common Pleas for the commonwealth was
established, and which existed until 1859, when the
Superior Court was created.

There was also another county court called the
Court of Sessions of the Peace, which was established
in 1782. This court consisted of the justices of the
county, and determined all matters relative to the
preservation of the peace and punishment of offences
cognizable by them. In 1803 the powers and duties
of this court were transferred to the County Court
of Common Pleas, except thos^ relating to jails and
county buildings, allowing and settling county ac-
counts, estimating, apportioning, and issuing warrants
for county taxes, granting licenses, and highways. In
1807, this court was made to consist of one chief
justice and four associate justices in this county. By
another act of the same year, the name of this court
was changed to the Court of Sessions, and in 1809
this court was abolished, and its powers and duties
transferred to the Court of Common Pleas. In 1811
the Court of Sessions was restored, and again in
1813 it was abolished, and its powers and duties
transferred to the Circuit Court of Common Pleas.
This last act was repealed in 1818, and the Court of
Sessions again established. After some further legis-
lation in 1819 and 1821, finally in 1827 the Court
of Sessions was abolished, and the Court of County
Commissioners established.

These changes efiected in the courts are remark-
able and perplexing, and can only be understood with
the explanation that they were made as one political
party or another had the control of the Legislature.
In 1807, Dr. Nathaniel Ames, the clerk, records that
after passing sundry accounts, " an eternal adjourn-
ment of the Court of General Sessions of the Peace
is made according to law." But the Court of Sessions
was afterwards twice restored and twice abolished.

The Probate Court has remained unchanged since
1784, except that in 1858 it was consolidated with
the Court of Insolvency.

Fisher Ames died July 4, 1808. Although he
spent the last fifteen years of his life upon his estate
in Dedham, and had a law-office near the court-house,
yet the state of his health was such during much of
the time as to prevent his engaging in constant prac-
tice, but he tried many causes before the jury, and was
retained in some important causes in other counties.
His fame as a statesman, orator, and political writer
completely overshadowed his reputation as a lawyer.
His name does not appear upon the bar records after
1804. He had for his law partner James Richard-
son, one of the first members of the bar, admitted

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

after the formation of the county. He studied law
with Mr. Ames, and was admitted as an attorney of
the Supreme Court in 1808. He always lived in
Dedham, where he practised his profession until the
infirmities of age withdrew him from active life. He
at one period engaged in manufacturing business,
which somewhat interfered with his practice. He
was a man of excellent attainments in law and let-
ters, and on Feb. 25, 1837, he delivered an address
before the members of the Norfolk bar, at their re-
quest, on the " antiquity and importance" of the legal
profession, its " duties, and responsibilities; the evils
to which its members are exposed," and its " conso-
lations and rewards," which was printed. He was
president of the bar for many years, and died in
1858.

Probably no member of the Norfolk bar ever ex-
ercised a stronger influence in elevating its profes-
sional standard and in making it a body deserving of
respect and confidence, than Theron Metcalf. He
came to Dedham in 1809, having had unusual ad-
vantages for the time, in pursuing his preparatory
studies at the law-school in Litchfield, Conn., then
justly celebrated for the eminence of its teachers.
He remained in practice at Dedham until 1839, a
period of thirty years. While nearly all his contem-
poraries in practice at Dedham embarked in manu-
facturing enterprises or adopted other callings, Mr.
Metcalf steadily devoted himself to the study and
practice of his profession, although at this time it
was not very remunerative. At the time of his ap-
pointment as reporter of judicial decisions, in 1839,
the bar association adopted a resolution expressing
their estimation of his learning, integrity, and profes-
sional character ; and while they regretted " his loss
to their fraternity, they had reason to rejoice that he
had been called to exercise his pre-eminent talents
and distinguished learning in a sphere more extended
in usefulness, where the profession might be equally
benefited."

Among the earlier members of the Norfolk bar
who were contemporaneous with Mr. Richardson and
Mr. Metcalf, may be mentioned Asaph Churchill, of
Milton ; Thomas Boylston Adams, the third son of
President John Adams ; Gideon L. Thayer and
Thomas Greenleaf, of Quincy ; Daniel Adams, of
Medfield ; William Dunbar, of Canton ; Jabez Chick-
ering, Erastus Worthington, and John B. Derby, of
Dedham ; Thomas Williams, John S. Williams,
Samuel J. Gardner, and David A. Simmons, of Rox-
bury ; Samuel P. Loud and Abel Cushing, of Dor-
chester ; Josiali J. Fiske and Meletiah Everett, of
Wrentham ; John King, of Randolph ; and Christo-

pher Webb, of Weymouth. All these had been ad-
mitted as attorneys to one of the courts prior to 1820.
Ashur Ware, afterwards judge of the United States
District Court in Maine, had an office in Milton,
where he lived from 1815 to 1824. At a later pe-
riod, John W. Ames and Jonathan H. Cobb began
practice at Dedham, Aaron Prescott at Randolph,
Warren Lovering at Medway, and Jonathan P.
Bishop at Medfield. In 1827, Horace Mann began
practice at Dedham, and in 1826 John J. Clarke
began practice in Roxbury. In 1834, Ira Cleveland
began practice in Dedham, occupying the office re-
cently vacated by Horace Mann. Ezra W. Sampson
had an office in Braintree for twelve years, until
1836. Ezra Wilkinson came to Dedham about
1835, and occupied the office with Mr. Metcalf, which
was formerly that of Fisher Ames, opposite the court-
house.

The court-house, which forms the south wing of
the present building, was finished and occupied for
the first time in February, 1827, the full bench being
present at the term of the Supreme Court. Chief
Justice Parker made some complimentary remarks
concerning the new building, and the bar gave a din-
ner to the justices of the Supreme Court, reporter,
attorney-general, solicitor-general, and the architect,
Solomon Willard. The new court-house was a Gre-
cian building, with porticoes at both ends, like that on
the south wing at present. It was considered a fine
structure for the time, and there were other court-
houses in the commonwealth, designed by the same
architect, which bore a resemblance to it in its
architecture. The extensive enlargements of the
court-house on the northerly end were completed in
1861.

The county in 1835, had been established upwards
of forty years, during which period it had grown in
wealth and population, and by the introduction of
manufactures had ceased in some degree to be an ex-
clusively agricultural county, as at its beginning.
Some of the original members of the bar had dropped
from the ranks, either into other callings or into re-
tirement, or had removed or died. The trial of cases
in court was about to pass into the hands of another
generation of lawyers. In important causes in the
Supreme Court eminent counsel from other counties,
— among whom were Pliny Merrick of Worcester,
Rufus Choate and Franklin Dexter of Boston — were
sometimes retained, but it was not many years before
a large majority of the cases were tried by Mr. Wil-
kinson on one side, and Mr. Clarke on the other.
For more than twenty years they were the leaders of
the Norfolk bar. Mr. Wilkinson had acquired the

THE BENCH AND BAR.

reputation of being an able, upright, and learned
lawyer, and thoroughly devoted to his profession.
Mr. Clarke also stood deservedly high in his profes-
sion, and was especially successful in the trial of cases
before the jury, and had a large practice. The in-
fluence of both these gentlemen upon the character
of the members of the bar during their professional
career was marked and exemplary. Mr. Wilkinson
retired upon his appointment as a justice of the Su-
preme Court in 1859, and Mr. Clarke a few years later
left practice in Norfolk County, — Roxbury having
been annexed to Boston in January, 1868. Besides
these leaders, there were other good triers of causes
at the bar. Among these were David A. Simmons,
Ellis Ames, Francis Hilliard, and Asaph Chui'chill,
the younger of that name.

The successors to the leadership of the bar, after
the retirement of Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. Clarke,
were William Gaston, of Roxbury, and Waldo Col-
burn, of Dedham. Mr. Gaston was not admitted to
practice in this county, but he studied law with Mr.
Clarke, and practised in this county for many years,
and considered himself a Norfolk lawyer. He was an
eloquent and successful advocate and had an excellent
practice. He had removed to Boston prior to the
annexation of Roxbury. Mr. Colburn always prac-
tised in Dedham until he was appointed an associate
justice of the Superior Court in 1875. He attained
a high position in his profession as a wise counsellor,
an able trier of causes, and a lawyer in whose hands
the interests of his clients were always safe.

In the decade from 1865 to 1875 the course of
legislation and events had tended to diminish the
legal business of the county by transferring it to the
county of Suffolk. A statute passed in 1854, which
allowed actions to be brought in the county where
either party had a place of business, had encouraged
the members of the bar in all the towns near Boston,
to open offices there, and therefore to bring many of
their actions in Suffolk County. There were many
clients who had places of business in Boston, but who
were residents of this county, and gradually the choice
which this statute gave as to the place where actions
might be brought, was made in favor of Suffolk County.
Boston was becoming at this period what it has since
actually become, a place of legal exchange for the sur-
rounding country within a circuit of twenty miles.
In addition to these incidental causes, for several
years the project of annexing the city of Roxbury to
Boston had been agitated, and petitions presented to
the Legislature until, by the act which took effect in
January, 1868, the union of the two cities was effected.
The loss of Roxbury was a serious one in many ways

to the county, and in nowise was the loss more
seriously felt than in the removal of some of its best
practitioners at the bar and the consequent withdrawal
of their business. Mr. Clarke, Mr. Ga.ston, and Mr.
John W. May, all having a good practice in Norfolk
County, in course of time ceased to practise here alto
gether. In 1870 the old town of Dorchester, one of
the best towns in the county, and in 1874 West Rox-
bury were both annexed to Boston and taken from the
county. The inevitable results of the removal of such
a large proportion of the territory, valuation and busi-
ness of the county, were to materially diminish the
business of the courts, and to deprive the bar of many
of its best members.

The last recorded meeting of the bar but one, was
held Oct. 15, 1852, when resolutions were passed
with reference to the decease of Daniel Webster, re-
questing the court to adjourn, and that the bar attend
the funeral in a body, and that John J. Clarke offi-
ciate as marshal, and that the sheriff be requested to
suitably drape the court-room in mourning. The last
meeting was held in February, 1853, and was a busi-
ness meeting relating to the purchase of books for the
library. This is the last recorded meeting of the Nor-
folk bar as an organized fraternity. An attempt was
made to reorganize it some years afterwards, but with-
out success.

In 1815 there was formed a Law Library Associa-
tion, which continued in existence until 1845. An
attempt was made to reorganize it in 1860.

In speaking of the Norfolk bar as it now exists,
reference could be made only to those members resi-
dent within the county and who practise in it. The
number of such gentlemen is not larger than it was
fifty years ago, although the number of attorneys who
reside elsewhere and practise in the county is much
greater. The profession has everywhere changed in its
character during the last half-century. The iVaternal
feeling, the jealous watchfulness that no unworthy
applicant should be admitted to the profession, the
old-time distinctions as to leadership have all passed
away, and nowhere is this change more clearly to be
seen than in Norfolk County. In former times mem-
bers who had offices in Boston and in the town of
their residence, were censured by their brethren at bar
meetings in formal votes. At the present time there
is scarcely a member of the bar who has not two
offices, one in Boston and another in the county. The
old organization with all its traditions has passed into
history, but beyond this it has ceased to have any
influence upon the present time. Of the new era in
the profession, of the character of its members, of its
methods in the conduct of causes, of its emoluments.

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

and of the rapid increase of its members, the time has
not yet come to speak as matters of history.

Justices of the Judicial Courts. — Theron
Metcalf was the son of Hanun and Mary Metcalf,
and was born in Franklin, Oct. 16, 1784. He and
his ancestors for five generations belonged to the
county of Norfolk. At the age of seventeen years
he entered Brown University, where he was gradu-
ated in 1805. After graduating, he studied law
with Mr. Bacon, of Canterbury, Conn., and in April,

1806, he entered the law-school at Litchfield, then a
celebrated institution, and the only law-school in the
United States. Here he remained until October,

1807, when he was admitted to the bar in Connec-
ticut. After studying a year with Hon. Seth Has-
tings, of Mendon, he was admitted as an attorney of
the Circuit Court of Common Pleas in this county
at the September term, 1808, and as counsellor of
the Supreme Judicial Court at the October term,
1811. He practised law for a year in Franklin, and
removed to Dedham in 1809.

In 1817 he became county attorney, and con-
tinued to hold that ofiice for twelve years, until the
oflSce was abolished by the statute establishing the
oflBce of district attorney. He was representative to
the General Court from Dedham in 1831, 1833, and
1834, and a senator from the county in 1835.

In October, 1828, he opened a law-school, and
began a course of lectures upon legal subjects in
Dedham. He had many students, among whom
were the late Hon. John H. Cliiford, of New Bed-
ford, and the Hon. Seth Ames, the son of Fisher
Ames, and afterwards a justice of the Supreme
Judicial Court. The series of papers published in
the American Jurist and afterwards embodied in
his work on the " Principles of the Law of Contracts
as applied by the Courts of Law," were originally
prepared for his students.

In December, 1839, he was appointed reporter of
the decisions of the Supreme Judicial Court, and re-
moved from Dedham to Boston. He hold this ofiice
until Feb. 25, 1848, when he was appointed a justice
of the Supreme Judicial Court. He remained upon
the bench until Aug. 31, 1865, when he resigned
after over seventeen years of service. He died in
Boston, Nov. 13, 1875, at the age of ninety-one
years.

Although Judge Metcalf had removed from the
county, and was in no way identified with it during
the last forty-six years of his life, yet the thirty years
during which he had resided and practised in Dedham
comprehended nearly the whole of his professional
career. During this period he edited a number of

law books, among which were " Yelverton's Reports,"
" Starkie on Evidence," " Russell on Crimes,"
" Maule and Selwyn's Reports," " Digest of Massa-
chusetts Reports," and with Horace Mann supervised
the publication of the Revised Statutes of 1836, the
index to which was made by him.

Of his reputation and influence while at the bar
some mention has been made. There were probably
few lawyers in the commonwealth of his time who
had such a full and accurate knowledge of the prin-
ciples of the common law as Judge Metcalf His
reputation as a writer upon legal subjects is well
established. His volumes of the Massachusetts Re-
ports, it has been said, are the " model and despair
of his successors." His opinions as a justice of the
Supreme Judicial Court are remarkable for their
precision of statement and their familiarity with the
decisions, both English and American, as well as with
the principle and maxims, of the common law, of
which he was master. He never concealed his dis-
trust of the changes eff'ected in the administration of
the law by legislation, especially the statute giving
full equity jurisdiction to the Supreme Judicial
Court.

He was an accurate scholar, and occasionally wrote
articles for the reviews on other than legal subjects.
He was in person below the average height, and of
great gravity of demeanor, although he had a quaint
humor. He was a keen and intelligent critic upon
many subjects, and his pithy sayings will be long
remembered and quoted by those who knew him.

He received the degree of Doctor of Laws from
Brown University in 1844, and from Harvard College
in 1848.

Seth Ames was the youngest child of Fisher
Ames, and was born in Dedham, April 19, 1805,
and was but three years of age when his father died.
He was graduated at Harvard College in 1825, and
studied law with Theron Metcalf in Dedham, and
was admitted as an attorney of the Court of Common
Pleas at the September term, 1828, being the same
term at which Ezra Wilkinson was admitted. He
never practised law in this county, but removed to
Lowell, where he practised law for twenty years. In
1849 he was appointed clerk of the courts for the
county of Middlesex. In 1859 he was appointed a
justice of the Superior Court, then established, and
in 1867 was appointed chief justice of that court.
In 1869 he was made an associate justice of the
Supreme Judicial Court, which office he resigned
Jan. 15, 1881. He died at his residence in Brook-
line, in this county, Aug. 15, 1881.

Althouiih Judjie Ames had no connection with

THE BENCH AND BAR.

Norfolk County during his professional career, yet
as he was born and pursued his professional studies
in Dedham, and was admitted to practice in the court
held fur this county, and often presided as justice of
the courts here, he may be claimed as a son of Nor-
folk County. He well sustained the illustrious name
ho bore. Of great simplicity and modesty of char-
acter, he possessed an admirable judicial mind, and
was the master of a pure and concise style as a writer,
qualities which make his legal opinions worthy of
imitation. In the language of Chief Justice Gray,
'• he was a diligent student, a good lawyer, a safe
counsellor, a faithful and useful public servant, a
Christian gentleman."

Ezra Wilkinson. — He was born in Attleborough,
Feb. 14, 1801, and was graduated at Brown Univer-
sity in 1824. He began his professional studies with
Hon. Peter Pratt, of Providence, R. I , where he
remained about a year, and he completed them in the
office of Josiah J. Fiske, in Wrentham. He was ad-
mitted as an attorney of the Court of Common Pleas,
at Dedham, at the September term, 1828. He was ad-
mitted as a counsellor of the Supreme Judicial Court,
at Taunton, at the October term, 1832. He began
practice at Freetown, and subsequently removed to
Seekonk, in Bristol County. In 1835 he removed to
Dedham, and had an office in the same building for- |
merly occupied by Fisher Ames, and then by Theron
Metcalf. He was employed to collate and complete
the records of the court, which had fallen into some
confusion through the prolonged illness of Judge
Ware, the clerk, who had then recently deceased. In
1843 he was appointed by Grovernor Morton as dis- '
trict attorney for the district then composed of Worces- j
ter and Norfolk Counties. He held this office until
1855. In 1859, upon the establishment of the Su-
perior Court, he was appointed one of the associate
justices, being then nearly sixty years of age, and he
held the office until his death, Feb. 6, 1882, being \
more than twenty-two years. He had been in active
practice for thirty-one years, so that his professional
and judicial career covered a period of fifty-three
years. He faithfully and promptly met all the re-
quirements of his judicial position without any inter- i
ruption by illness, or asking any time for relaxation.
Within a month before his death he held a term of
court at Salem, and rendered decisions which com-
manded respect and confidence. In person he was
very tall and erect, even to the last days of his life.
He was scrupulously neat in his attire, and bore him-
self with dignity without affijctation. He was not
easy or fluent in speech, but he was concise and accu-
rate in his use of lansuasre. !

He was always a Democrat in politics. He was
representative to the General Court from Dedham for
three sessions, and was the candidate of his party
against John Quincy Adams for Congress. He was
also a member of the Constitutional Convention of
1853.

He died in Dedham, but his remains were interred
in Wrentham. At his funeral in St. Paul's Church,
Dedham, a large number of members of the bar from
Boston and elsewhere were in attendance. Resolu-
tions of respect for his memory were presented in the
Superior Court at Salem, and in Boston, shortly after
his decease. At the April term of the Superior
Court in Norfolk County, 1882, Associate Justices
Colburn and Staples being upon the bench, the fol-
lowing resolutions, adopted by the members of the bar
practising in Norfolk County, were presented to the
court, and entered upon its records. These resolu-
tions, with the remarks by Mr. Justice Colburn, em-
body the high estimation and profound respect felt by
the bench and bar for Judge Wilkinson's character
and attainments.

They were presented by Asa French, Esq., district
attorney, and addresses followed from Ellis Ames,
John Daggett, Asaph Churchill, Nathaniel F. Saflford,
Samuel B. Noyes, Frederick D. Ely, and Erastus
Worthington. The following are the resolutions:

" Whereas, On the sixth day of February last the Hon. Ezra
Wilkinson, a justice of the Superior Court, departed this life at
the age of eighty-one j-ears, the members of the bar practising
in the county of Norfolk, where he was born, and for twenty-
five years was a leading practitioner, at the first term of that
court held for civil business since his decease, would express
their high appreciation of his character and services as a coun-
sellor, as a prosecuting officer, and a judge, in the following
resolutions :

" Besolved, That we hold in grateful memory the high sense
of professional duty and obligations, and the thorough devotion
to the study of jurisprudence, which characterized Judge AVilk-
inson from the beginning to the end of his long career; that
we would recognize his accurate and ample learning botti in the
common and statute law, his unswerving integrity, which tol-
erated no suggestion of any indirect or questionable method in
advancing his client's cause, his power of clear statement and
convincing argument to the jury upon which he relied, rather
than upon appeals to passion or prejudice, and his constant
desire to maintain the honor and dignity of his profession.

" That as a district attorney from 1S43 to 1855 for the district
of which the county of Norfolk formed a part, he acquired a
deserved reputation of strict fidelity to the duties of that respon-
sible office, and for learning and skill in criminal pleading and
practice, and for his performance of the highest duties of a pros-
ecuting officer in ten capital trials from 1843 to 1849, that being
the period during which the ofiice of attorney-general was
abolished in this Commonwealth.

'• That as a judge of the Superior Court during a period of
more than twenty-two j-ears — 1859 to ISSl — we recall his judi-
cial patience in the trial of causes, his readiness and aptness in
applying legal principles to the facts of the case, and in which

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

he rarely erred, and his capacity to discern the real points in
issue, which enabled him to bring to the minds of the jury the
exact questions they were called upon to decide.

" That by his death has been removed one of the few survivors
of the latest generation of lawyers who were trained in the school
of the common law before its essential modification by the stat-
utes, and we regard Judge Wilkinson as a remarkable example
of a jurist who kept liimself fully informed of the decisions
and statutes made and passed during half a century, and at the
age of more than fourscore years, and scarcely more than a
month prior to his death, was able to preside at the term of his
court in the county of Essex, and to render decisions which
commanded the respect and confidence of those before him."

Mr. Justice Colburn responded to the resolutions
as follows :

" Gentlemen of the Bar, — The life of Judge Wilkinson ex-
tended over nearly the entire portion of the nineteenth century
which has passed. Born in this county, with the exception of
a few years spent in the adjoining county of Bristol, he con-
tinued a resident of this county until his death. Leading a
single life, unaverted by family ties and cares, from inclination
or gradually contracted habit, going but little into society, he
early learned 'to scorn delights and live laborious days,' not
from a desire for fame or fortune, but from a pure love of know-
ing all that could be learned upon all subjects which excited his
interest or would qualify him for the adequate discharge of the
duties of his chosen profession. From his admission to the bar
to his appointment to the bench he had an extensive and varied
practice. For twelve years he held the office of district attor-
ney, and during the first half of this time, there being no attor-
ney-general, he had the sole management of all capital trials
and the argument of all exceptions in criminal cases in his dis-
trict. As soon as appointed he began to especially qualify
himself for his new duties ; he went to the fountain-head ; he
acquired all the English criminal reports and leading treatises
and books of precedents, and became one of the most accom-
plished criminal lawyers and an unsurpassed criminal pleader.

"Upon the formation of the Superior Court, in 1859, Judge
Wilkinson was appointed to that bench, and continued uninter-
ruptedly, ably, and acceptably to discharge his judicial duties
during the remainder of his life. For the adequate perform-
ance of these duties his legal acquirements and extended civil
and criminal practice qualified him in an unusual degree. His
independence of his surroundings rendered absence from home
at long terms of the court in distant counties less irksome to him
than to other men. He seemed always to have some subject
which occupied his mind and furnished him with all the recrea-
tion he required, exempting him from that feeling of impatience
which sometimes results from protracted labor away from home
and friends. His stores of learning, his knowledge of unfa-
miliar matters of practice and procedure, the results of wide
studies and long experience, were always at the service of his
brethren of the bench, and the starting of an inquiry, which he
could not readily answer, would lead him to an investigation
for the assistance of an associate with as much interest and
patience as if it had become important in the discharge of his
own duties.

"Though not possessed of what are considered brilliant tal-
ents, he had a soundness of judgment, an independence in
reaching his conclusions after duly weighing all arguments, a
power of application, and a willingness to give his entire time
and attention to any subject he had in charge, which more than
compensated for the most brilliant talents without these quali-
ties. He had read appreciatively all the leading authors in
English literature, some of whom he especially admired, as

those well acquainted with him knew, and as his notes in the
volumes of his extensive library and various memoranda show.

" Though always deeply interested in public and political
affairs, he was never a politician or desirous of political ad-
vancement, his political services having been limited to three
sessions of the Legislature and the Constitutional Convention
of 185.3. He thoroughly despised all hypocrisy, cant, and in-
sincerity, and never hesitated to express his convictions on all
proper occasions, but never obtrusively, however much they
might conflict with the prevailing sentiment of the times. All
kinds of dishonesty, oppression, and injustice excited his indig-
nation, and as prosecuting officer, though pursuing offenders he
believed to be guilty with all his strength, he has been known
to withdraw a case from the jury when the evidence appeared
to be leading to certain conviction, having become satisfied from
his previous conferences that his witnesses, through excessive
zeal or pride or opinion or some worse motive, were testifying
more strongly against the defendant than their actual knowl-
edge would warrant, and fearing that injustice might be done.
And I have heard him say that, in sentencing defendants, he
had never imposed more than the one day of solitary imprison-
ment absolutely required in certain cases; that nothing but a
positive statute provision could induce him to add what he
regarded as a kind of torture to a term of confinement to hard
labor.

" Descended from a long line of New England yeomanry, he
derived from them many of the best characteristics of that
bi'anch of the Anglo-Saxon race, which has so largely influ-
enced the destiny of the Western world, had a fund of anecdote
illustrating their early struggles and peculiarities, and an un-
usual knowledge of their local and municipal histories. As age
advanced his fondness for rural quiet and retirement increased;
he acquired large tracts of land, and delighted to spend his
summer leisure among their rocks and woods, brooks and foun-
tains, which had been familiar to him in youth and early man-
hood. Though he appeared to those who did not know him
well reserved and unsocial, this was not his natural disposition,
but resulted from circumstances and his self-reliance, which
induced habits of life not readily changed. He was at times a
most instructive and entertaining companion. No man who
has lived eighly-one years can be said to die untimely ; but the
strength which extended his years so far beyond the allotted
term appeared so free from the predicted labor and sorrow that
we failed to realize how much our senior he really was. A
learned lawyer, an upright judge, a high-minded, honorable
man, in the maturity of years and the full vigor of his powers,
has passed away, leaving the burdens he bore so long and well
to be taken up and carried by younger men, until they in their
turn shall be called upon by the great Disposer of the destinies
of men to lay them down, to be again assumed by others.

"In accordance of the request of the bar their resolutions,
with a memorandum of these proceedings, will be entered upon
the records of the court."

Hon. Waldo Colburn, son of Thatcher and
Hattie Cleveland Colburn, was born in Dedham,
Mass., Nov. 13, 1824. He traces his ancestry in this
country to Nathaniel Colburn, who emigrated from
England, and Aug. 11, 1637, received a grant of
land in the town of Dedham, He remained here
until his death. May 14, 1691. The line of descent
is as follows: Samuel, born Jan. 25, 1654 ; Ephraim,
born Nov. 5, 1687 ; Ephraim, born Dec. 31, 1716;
Ichabod, born Feb. 26, 1754; Thatcher, born Feb.

^:^^.^^^

THE BENCH AND BAR.

20, 1787, and united in marriage with Hattie Cleve-
land in June, 1823.

The subject of our sketch received the rudiments
of his education at the common schools of his native
town, and at the age of fifteen entered Phillips (An- ;
dover) Academy, where he graduated in 1842, in the
" English Department and Teachers' Seminary,"
which at that time was entirely distinct from the
classical course. In the following year (1843) he en-
tered the classical department, where he remained
until the summer of 1845, when he left the academy,
and for two years following engaged in various pur-
suits, chiefly, Itowever, civil engineering and survey-
ing.

May 13, 1847, he entered the law-office of Ira
Cleveland, Esq., at Dedham, where he pursued his
studies with diligence and attention, and May 3,
1850, was admitted to the bar. In the mean time,
however, he had spent some time in the Harvard Law-
School. He at once commenced the practice of law
ill his native town, and very soon took a leading posi-
tion at the bar. He continued practice here until
May 27, 1875, when he was appointed by Governor
Gaston one of the justices of the Superior Court, a
position virtually thrust upon him, as he knew nothing
of the intention of Governor Gaston to appoint him
until the day his name was proposed to the Council,
and he was promptly confirmed. Nov. 10, 1882, he
was commissioned by Governor Long as a justice
of the Supreme Court, a position which he occupies
at the present time. In speaking of his appointment
by Governor Gaston, a writer says, " The comprehen-
sive knowledge of aff"airs, the wisdom, tact, and abil-
ity, the legal culture and judicial grasp of mind dis-
played by Judge Colburn, clothe his appointment
to the bench of the Superior Court with special fitness
and propriety, and make it one of the salutary acts of
Governor Gaston's administration." One of the lead-
ers of the Suff"olk bar, in speaking of Judge Colburn,
says, " He is one of the ablest, most successful, and
popular judges in the commonwealth."

Judge Colburn, although never having been an
active politician, has always labored to advance the
interests of his native town, and has filled many posi-
tions of trust and responsibility within the gift of his
townsmen. He was a member of the Legislature in
1853, serving as chairman of the Committee on
Parishes, Religious Societies, etc. He was returned to
the Legislature the following year, and served as
chairman of the Committee on Railroads and Canals.
During these years he earnestly opposed loaning the
State's credit to the Hoosac Tunnel scheme.

In 1870 he represented the Second Norfolk District

in the State Senate, and served on the Judiciary
Committee, and had charge of drafting the well-
known corporation act. Judge Colburn was also for
several years the candidate of the Democratic party
for attorney-general. He was chairman of the board
of selectmen, assessors, and overseers of the poor of
Dedham for nine successive years, beginning in 1855.
He is also president of the Dedham Institution for
Savings, and a director in the Dedham National
Bank.

Politically, Judge Colburn was a member of the
old Whig party, but upon the death of that organi-
zation he became a member of the Democratic party,
with which he has since affiliated. He is a kind and
beneficent neighbor and friend, a learned and upright
judge, and one of Massachusetts' most honored citizens.
Nov. 21, 1852, he united in marriage with Miss
Mary Ellis Gay, daughter of Bunker Gay, of Ded-
ham. She died Oct. 22, 1859, leaving two daugh-
ters, — Mary and Anna F., — who are still living.
Aug. '5, 1861, he married Elizabeth C. Sampson,
daughter of Ezra W. Sampson, a lawyer, and for thirty
years clerk of the courts of Norfolk County. There
was one son by this marriage, who died in childhood.
Ellis Ames (see history of Canton).
Judges of Probate.^ — William Heath was bora
in Roxbury, March 2, 1737, on the estate settled by his
ancestor in 1636, and was bred a farmer. His fondness
for military exercises led him, in 1754, to join the
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, which he
commanded in 1770, having previously been made a
captain in the Suffolk regiment, of which he became
colonel in 1774. In 1770 he wrote sundry essays in a
Boston newspaper, signed " A Military Countryman,"
on the importance of military discipline and skill in the
use of arms. He was a member of the General Court
in 1761 and in 1771-74, engaged with zeal in the
Revolutionary contest, was a delegate to ihe Pro-
vincial Congresses of 1774-75, and was a member of
the Committees of Correspondence and of Safety.
Appointed a Massachusetts brigadier-general Dec. 8,
1774; major-general, June 20, 1775 ; brigadier-general
(Continental army), June 22, 1775; major-general,
Aug. 9, 1776. He rendered great service in the
pursuit of the British troops from Concord, April 19,
1775, and in organizing the rude and undisciplined
army around Boston, and with his brigade was sta-
tioned at Roxbury during the siege of Boston. After
its evacuation he accompanied the army to New York,

1 The following notices of the judges of the Probate Court
are taken from the " Norfolk Court Manual," prepared aud
published by Henry 0. Hildreth, Esq., in 1876, with the kind
permission of the author.

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

opposed the evacuation of that city, and near the close
of the year 1776 was ordered to take command of the
posts in the Highlands.

In 1777 he was intrusted with the command of the
eastern department, and had charge of the Saratoga
(convention) prisoners. In June, 1779, he was or-
dered to the command on the Hudson, where he was
stationed till the close of the war. Returning to his
farm, he became a delegate to the convention that
adopted the Federal Constitution in 1788, State
senator in 1791-92, and in 1806 was chosen Lieu-
tenant-Governor of Massachusetts, but declined the
office. July 2, 1793, he was appointed judge of the
Court of Common Pleas for the new county of Nor-
folk, and the same day was appointed first Judge of
Probate for the county. He died Jan. 24, 1814,
aged seventy-seven years.

Edward Hutchinson Robbins was born in
Milton, Feb. 19, 1758, and was graduated at Har-
vard College in 1775. He studied law with Oakes
Angier, of Bridgewater, and commenced practice in
his native town. He was chosen a Representative
from Milton in 1781, and Speaker of the House of
Representatives in 1793, which office he held for
nine successive years. In 1802 he was chosen Lieu-
tenant-Governor, and held the office until 1807. In
1793 he was appointed Special Justice of the Court
of Common Pleas for Norfolk County, and in 1799
was appointed Chief Justice of the same court. In
1808 and 1809 he was a member of the Executive
Council. He also held many other positions of trust
and responsibility. On the decease of Gen. Heath, in
1814, he was appointed Judge of Probate for the
county of Norfolk, which office he held until his
death, which occurred Dec. 29, 1829.^

Sherman Leland was born in Grafton, March
29, 1793, and remained on his father's farm until he
was more than twenty years of age. During the two
or three years following he attended school most of
the time, and in October, 1805, commenced the
study of the law, employing the winter months of
that and the three succeeding years in teaching. He
was admitted to the bar at Worcester in December,
1809, and commenced practice at Eastport, Me.,
January, 1810. Oct. 11, 1811, he was appointed
prosecuting attorney for the county of Washington.
He represented Eastport in the Massachusetts Legis-

1 Judge Robbins was a man of fine personal presence, of
genial manners, and great kindness of heart. He was emphat-
ically the friend of the widow and orphan, and his death was
regarded as a great public loss. He lived and died on the fine
estate on Brush Hill, now the residence of his son, Hon. James
Murray llobbins.

lature of 1812, and in December of that year was
appointed first lieutenant, and served under that ap-
pointment in the army of the United States upon the
eastern frontier until April, 1813, when he received
the appointment of captain in the Thirty-fourth Regi-
ment of Infantry in the United States army, and
served until June 5, 1814, when he resigned his
commission and resumed the practice of his profes-
sion. In July he removed to Roxbury, Mass., and
in the year 1815 opened an office in Boston, and
commenced practice in both the counties of SuiFolk
and Norfolk. He was a Representative from Rox-
bury in the Massachusetts Legislature for the years
1818, '19, '20, and '21. He was also a delegate from
Roxbury in the Constitutional Convention of 1820.
He was a member of the Senate of Massachusetts
from the county of Norfolk for the years 1823 and
1824, and, during the temporary absence of the presi-
dent, was elected president pro tern. He was again
a member of the House of Representatives in the
year 1825, and was chairman of the committee on
the judiciary. In 1824 he was a candidate for Rep-
resentative in Congress for the Norfolk District, but,
after several trials, his competitor, Hon. John Bailey,
was elected by a small majority. He was again elected
a member of the Senate from Norfolk County for the
years 1828 and 1829, and was president of the Senate
for the year 1828, and chairman of the Committee on
the Judiciary for 1829. On the 26th of January,
1830, he was appointed Judge of Probate for the
county of Norfolk, in place of Judge Robbins, de-
ceased, and immediately entered upon the discharge
of the duties of the office, which he continued to per-
form until his death, which occurred Nov. 19, 1853,
at the age of seventy years.

William Sherman Leland was born in Rox-
bury, Oct. 12, 1824. After leaving the public
schools in his native town, he entered the law-office
of his father, Hon. Sherman Leland, then Judge of
Probate of the county of Norfolk. On the death of
his father, in November, 1853, he was appointed to
fill the vacancy, which position he continued to oc-
cupy until 1858, when, under the administration of
Governor Banks, the law concerning Courts of Pro-
bate and Insolvency was changed, and he failed to re-
ceive the appointment as judge of the new court.
He resumed the general practice of law, and soon ac-
quired a large and lucrative practice. He was for
many years one of the directors of the People's Bank
of Roxbury, and was at one time its active president.
He was one of the projectors of the Elliot Five Cent
Savings-Bank, and was chosen its president, which
office he continued to hold until his death, which

THE BENCH AND BAR.

took place July 26, 1869, at the age of forty-four
years.

George White was born in Quincy. He was
fitted for college under the instruction of William M.
Cornell, LL.D., and at the Phillips Academy, in
Exeter, N. H. He was graduated at Yale College
in 1848, and began his professional studies in the
Dane Law-School at Cambridge, and received the
degree of LL.B. from Harvard College in 1850.
He completed his studies with Hon. Robert Rantoul,
Jr., and upon his admission to the Suffolk bar, in
1851, he became a partner with Mr. Rantoul, Jiaving
an office in Boston. He was a member of the Con-
stitutional Convention from Quincy in 1853. He was
appointed Judge of Probate and Insolvency in 1858,
and he has held the oflBce since that time. He now
resides in Wellesley, having an office in Boston. (See
notice of Judge White in history of Wellesley.)

The Bar. — Fisher Ames. — He was admitted to
the bar in Suffolk in 1781. He was graduated at
Harvard College in 1774, and studied law with Wil-
liam Tudor in Boston. He had an office in Boston
for a short time, but he removed to Dedham about
the time of the incorporation of the county. He
built an office and began practice, although he was a
member of Congress until 1797. His health, how-
ever, failed in 1795, and while he continued to
practise in the courts to some extent, he gradually
withdrew towards the close of his life. Mr. Ames
evidently found the trial of ordinary cases very
irksome, and his time and attention were taken up
by his farm and politics. His fame as a lawyer was
completely overshadowed by his eminence as a states-
man and political writer. An account of his life and
character will be found in the history of Dedham in
this volume.

Horatio Townsend was born in Medfield, March
29, 1763, and was graduated at Harvard College in
1783 ; studied law with Theophilus Parsons at New-
buryport, and began practice in Medfield. In 1799
he was appointed special justice of the Court of
Common Pleas, and about the same time was appointed
clerk of the courts, which office he held until 1811,
when he was removed by Governor Gerry. He was
reappointed the following year, and continued in office
until his death, which occurred at Dedham, July 9,
1826, at the age of sixty-three years.

Samuel Haven. — Admitted to the Suffolk bar
before the incorporation of the county of Norfolk.
He was the son of Rev. Jason Haven, the minister
of Dedham, and was born April 5, 1771. He was
graduated at Harvard College in 1789, and studied
law with Fisher Ames and his cousin, Samuel Dex-

ter, of Boston. He was the first Register of Probate
of this county. In 1802 he was commissioned a
Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and in 1804
was appointed Chief Justice, and continued in that
office until the court was abolished, in 1811. He
was in the office of Register of Deeds until 1833, a
period of foriy years, and almost wholly retired from
the practice of law. He then removed to Roxbury,
where he continued to reside until his death, Sept. 4,
1847, at the age of seventy-six years.

The mother of Judge Haven was the sister of
Samuel Dexter, Sr., and daughter of Rev. Samuel
Dexter, minister of Dedham. He built the fine
house near the court-house, on the corner of Court
and Ames Street, about 1795. His office stood
upon his grounds, and was the first office occupied
by Waldo Colburn, who began practice in 1850, but
it is now removed. It was in this office probably
the first meeting of the bar was held. He was in-
terested in theological questions, and wrote an elabo-
rate pamphlet upon the case of the Dedham Church
in 1818. He was the father of Samuel F. Haven,
of Worcester.

Thomas Greenleaf. — He was a member of the
bar before the incorporation of the county. He was
born in Boston, May 15, 1767, and was graduated at
Harvard College in 1784. He removed to Quincy
early in the present century. He was a represen-
tative to the General Court from 1808 to 1820. He
was a member of the Executive Council from 1820
to 1822. In 1806 he was appointed a special justice
of the Court of Common Pleas for the county of
Norfolk. He died Jan. 5, 1854, aged eighty six
years and seven months.

Asaph Churchill, of Milton, was a member of
the bar at the formation of the county. He was born
in Middleborough, May 5, 1765, and was graduated
at Harvard College in 1789, having a disputation
with Nahum Mitchell, of Bridgewater, as his part for
commencement. He studied law with John Davis,
Esq., of Plymouth, and was admitted to practice in
Boston in 1795. He was one of few attorne3's, prob-
ably less than twelve, at that time practising law in
Boston. Having continued his office in Boston for
several years, he removed to Milton, where he pur-
chased an estate on Milton Hill of Edward H. Rob-
bins. He had a large practice in Norfolk County.
He died in Milton, June 30, 1841, at the age of
seventy-six years. He was a descendant of John
Churchill, who came to this country in 1640.

John Shirley Williams. — Attorney of Supreme
Judicial Court, 1803. He was born in Roxbury, May
3, 1772, and was graduated at Harvard College in

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

1797. He practised law at Roxbury and at Dedham.
In 1811 he was appointed Clerk of the Courts by Gov-
ernor Gerry, but was removed the next year by Gov-
ernor Strong. He was also County Attorney. He
died at Ware, Mass., while on a journey for his health,
in May, 1843, aged seventy-one years.

Henry Maurice Lisle. — Attorney of Supreme
Judicial Court, 1802. He was an Englishman who
practised law in Milton. He was a man of ability,
but little is known concerning him. There is a tra-
dition that he went to the West Indies.

James Richardson. — Attorney of the Supreme
Judicial Court, 1803. He was born in Medfield, Oct.
lli, 1771, and was graduated at Harvard College in
1797. He studied law in the office of Fisher Ames in
Dedham, and was afterwards his partner in business
until the death of Mr. Ames. He was a learned lawyer,
and had a taste for literature. He was a senator from
the county in the session of 1813-14, and a member
of the Constitutional Convention of 1820. He was
one of the Presidential electors in 1832. He was
president of the Bar Association of the county for
many years. He was at one time engaged in manu-
facturing business, and towards the close of his life
withdrew from active practice. He continued to be
president of the Norfolk Mutual Fire Insurance Com-
pany until his death, which occurred in May, 1858.

Jairus Ware. — Counsellor of Supreme Judicial
Court, March, 1808. He was born in Wrentham,
Jan. 22, 1772, and was graduated at Brown Univer-
sity in 1797. He practised law in Wrentham. He
was Representative to the General Court from 1809 to
1816, and also 1818-23 ; member of the Executive
Council, 1825-26; in 1811 Justice of Circuit Court
of Common Pleas; and in 1819 Chief Justice of the
Court of Sessions. He was appointed Clerk of the
Courts Sept. 1, 1826, and held the office until his
death, which occurred at Dedham, Jan. 18, 1836, at
the age of sixty-four years.

Thomas B. Adams. — Counsellor of Supreme Ju-
dicial Court, March, 1808. He was the third son of
President John Adams, and was born in Quiiicy, then
Braintree, Sept. 15, 1772; was graduated at Harvard
College in 1790 ; was admitted to the bar in the State
of Pennsylvania, and returned to the commonwealth
after the incorporation of the county. He was chief
justice of the Circuit Court of Common Pleas in 1811,
Representative to General Court from Quincy in 1805,
and in 1811 was a member of the Executive Council.
He died March 12, 1832, at the age of fifty-nine years
and six months. Mr. Adams took an interest in the
bar meetings for a time, and his name frequently
appears in these proceedings.

Gideon L. Thayer. — Counsellor of Supreme Ju-
dicial Court, 1808. He was the son of Hon. Ebenezer
Thayer, and was born in Braintree, Sept. 24, 1777.
He was graduated at Harvard College in 1798, and
studied law with Benjamin Whitman, of Plymouth
County, and also with Judge Crauch. He practised
in that part of Braintree which is now Quincy, and
also in the easterly part of the town near Weymouth
Landing. He had a high standing in his profession.
He died July 17, 1829, at the age of fifty-two years.

William Dunbar. — Counsellor of Supreme Ju-
dicial-Court, 1809. He was born in Stoughton, now
Canton, Aug. 15, 1780, and never received a collegiate
education. He practised law in Canton for a time,
and then went West or South, and was gone many
years. He returned to Canton a few years before his
death, which took place May 6, 1848, and did some
office work.

Daniel Adams. — Counsellor of Supreme Judicial
Court, 1809. He was born in VVatertown, March 26,
1779 ; was graduated at Harvard College in 1799, and
commenced the practice of law at Medfield. He was
a Representative to the General Court from 1812 to
1820, excepting one year, and again in 1841. He was
appointed Judge of the Court of Sessions of Norfolk
County in 1822, and upon the retirement of Judge
Ware, in 1826, was made Chief Justice. He died
Sept. 2, 1852, at the age of seventy-three years.

Jabez CiilCKERiNG. — Counsellor of Supreme Ju-
dicial Court, 1809. He was the son of the Rev. Jabez
Chickering, of Dedham (South Parish), where he was
born Aug. 28, 1782. He began practice in Dedham
and continued it for many years. He subsequently
engaged in manufactures, and was cashier of the Ded-
ham Bank. He removed in 1823 to Monroe, Mich.,
where he died Oct. 20, 1826.

Joseph Harrington. — Counsellor of Supreme
Judicial Court, 1809. He had an office in Roxbury,
where he practised many years.

David Allen Simmons. — Attorney of Circuit
Court of Common Pleas, September, 1812. He was
born in Boston, Nov. 7, 1785, and was educated at
Chesterfield Academy in New Hampshire, whither he
removed in his childhood. He returned to Boston
in 1806, and studied law with Thomas Williams, of
Roxbury. He had an office in Boston, and was part-
ner with George Gay, who was admitted at the same
time, for many years, and afterwards with James M.
Keith and Harvey Jewell. He always lived at Rox-
bury, and had a good practice in Norfolk County. He
was a man of remarkable energy, and conducted his
cases with zeal and ability. He died in Roxbury,
Nov. 20, 1859, at the age of seventy-two years. He

THE BENCH AND BAR.

had received the honorary degree of Bachelor of Laws
from Dartmouth College.

JosiAH J. FiSKE. — Counsellor of the Supreme
Judicial Court, 1815. (See history of Wrentham.)

John King. — Counsellor of Supreme Judicial
Court, 1811. He had an office in Randolph, where
he practised many years.

Samuel P. Loud. — Counsellor of Supreme Ju-
dicial Court, 1811. He was born in Weymouth,
March, 1783 ; was graduated at Brown University in
1805 ; studied law in the office of John Quincy
Adams, and began the practice of law in Dorchester.
He was a representative from Dorchester and senator
from Norfolk County for many years ; was a member
of the Executive Council in 1841 and 1842, and
represented the town in the Constitutional Conven-
tion of 1853. He was for six years a justice of the
Court of Sessions for the county, and from 1828 to
1853, a period of twenty-five years of continuous
service, he was chairman of the county commission-
ers. He died at Dorchester, July 11, 1875, at the
age of ninety-two years and four months.

Christopher Webb. — Counsellor of Supreme
Judicial Court, 1813. He was graduated at Brown
University in 1803 and resided in Weymouth, and
was a representative to the General Court from that
town for many years, and was also a senator from
the county from 1827 to 1834. He was county
attorney for the county, and in 1826 was commis-
sioner of highways. He died in Baltimore in Febru-
ary, 1848, aged sixty-seven years.

Erastus Worthington. — Counsellor of Supreme
Judicial Court, 1813. He was born in Belchertown,
Mass., Oct. 8, 1779, and was graduated at Williams
College in 1804. After his graduation he was em-
ployed for a time in teaching, and then began the
study of law, which he completed in the office of
John Heard, Esq., of Boston. He was first ad-
mitted in Suff"olk, but came to Dedliam in 1809.
Here he continued to practise until about the year
1825, when, having been active in the formation of
the Norfolk Mutual Fire Insurance Company, he
became its first secretary, and held this office until
1840, when he resigned it on account of ill health.
He was Representative from Dedham to the General
Court in 1814 and 1815. He wrote and published
" An Essay on the Establishment of a Chancery
Jurisdiction in Massachusetts," which is believed
upon competent authority to have been the first ar-
gument published in favor of an equity jurisdiction
in the commonwealth. In 1827 he wrote and pub-
lished a " History of Dedham from its Settlement in
1635 to May, 1827." He died June 27, 1842.

Ebenezer F. Thayer. — Counsellor of Supreme
Judicial Court, 1813. He was a brother of Gideon
L. Thayer, and was born in Braintree, June 12, 1784.
He studied law with H. M. Lisle, of Milton, with
James Sullivan and Gideon L. Thayer. In company
with Samuel K. Williams, he practised in Boston
some six or eight years, and afterwards in Brain-
tree. He died Feb. 15, 1824, at about forty years
of age.

Thomas Greenleaf, Jr. — Counsellor of the
Supreme Judicial Court, 1814. He was a son of
Thomas Greenleaf, of Quincy ; was graduated at Har-
vard College in 1806, and died in 1817.

Cyrus Alden. — Counsellor of the Supreme Ju-
dicial Court, 1815. He was born at Bridgewater,
Mass., and was graduated at Brown University in
1807, and studied law at Litchfield, Conn., and with
William Baylies, at West Bridgewater. He was ad-
mitted to the bar first at Plymouth. He began the
practice of the law at Wrentham, where he remained
for six years and then removed to Fall River, from
which town he was Representative to the General
Court in 1837. In 1819 he published a work en-
titled, " An Abridgement of Law, with Practical
Forms." He was a worthy man and had a good rep-
utation in his profession. He died in 1855.

Samuel J. Gardner. — Counsellor of Supreme
Judicial Court, 1814. He was born in Brookline,
July 9, 1788. He entered Harvard College in 1803,
being the youngest member of his class. He left
college a few days before the close of his senior year,
being engaged with his class in a rebellion. Gardner
was invited to return and take the valedictory part at
commencement, but he declined. Some years after,
he received an honorary degree from the college. He
studied law with Judge Fay, of Cambridge, and at-
tended lectures at Philadelphia. He began practice
in Roxbury in 1810. His office was on Boston^eck,
and was a well-known landmark for twenty years.
He acquired considerable property in his practice,
and retired from active practice after a time. He was
active in public affairs, being secretary and treasurer
of the Roxbury Grammar School, and manager of
the Roxbury Benevolent Society. He was a Repre-
sentative to the General Court, president of the Nor-
folk County Temperance Society, and Deputy Grand
Master of the Grand Lodge of Freemasons in Massa-
chusetts.

He subsequently lost much of his property, and in
1838 he removed to Newark, N. J., where he en-
gaged in literary pursuits and in the education of his
children. In 1844 he removed to New York. He
was for eleven years editor of the Newark Daily Ad-

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

vertiser. He was an accomplished scholar and able
writer, and under his editorial administration his paper
held a high position among the leading journals of the
country. In the discussions preceding the war of the
Rebellion he was a vigorous supporter of the party of
the Union. He retired from this post at the age of
seventy-two in 1861. He died in the White Moun-
tains, July 14, 1864, at the age of seventy-six years.
After his death a selection of his writings, written for
the columns of his newspaper, appeared under the
name of" Autumn Leaves," and in these the wit and
humor which made his conversation delightful found
expression.

Abner Loring. — Attorney of the Supreme Judi-
cial Court, 1813. He was born in Hingham, July
21, 1786, and was graduated at Harvard College in
1807. He studied law with Ebenezer Gay. He
began practice at Dorchester, and was well read in his
profession, devoted to business, and of unexception-
able character. He died, deeply lamented, July 18,
1814, at the age of twenty-eight years.

Thomas Tolman. — Counsellor of the Supreme
Judicial Court, 1820. He was born in Stoughton,
Feb. 20, 1791, and was graduated at Brown Univer-
sity in 1811. He practised law in Canton until 1837,
and then removed to Boston and had an office there.
He was a Representative to the General Court from
Canton in 1828 and 1836. He was afterwards a
member of the Executive Council. He died in
Boston in 1869.

John B. Derby. — Counsellor-at-Law of Supreme
Judicial Court, 1821. He practised law in Dedham
for some years, and afterwards removed to Boston,
where he died. He was the father of Lieut. Derby,
well known as a humorous writer under the nom de
jylume of " John Phoenix."

Lewis Whiting Fisher. — Attorney of the Cir-
cuit Court of Common Pleas, September term, 1819.
He was born in Franklin, Dec. 29, 1792, was grad-
uated at Brown University in 1816, and studied law
with Josiah J. Fiske, at Wrentham. He afterwards
opened an office at Wrentham, where he lived until
his death, April 20, 1827.

John W. Ames. — Attorney of Supreme Judicial
Court, 1820. He was the eldest son of Fisher Ames,
and was born Oct. 22, 1793. He was graduated at
Harvard College in 1813, and studied law with
Theron Metcalf. He had an office in Boston for a
short time, but soon removed to Dedham. He was
Representative to the General Court from Dedham in
1822, and was president of the Dedham Bank from
June 16, 1829, to his death, Oct. 31, 1833. lie was
never married, but always lived with his mother. He

was much interested in the building of the court-house
in 1827.

Abel Cushing. — Counsellor of Supreme Judicial
Court, 1818. He was graduated at Brown Univer-
sity in 1810, studied with Ebenezer Gay, of Hing-
ham, and practised law in this county for a number
of years, having an office in Dorchester. He was
afterwards appointed a justice of the Justices' Court
in Boston, which office he held until his resignation,
shortly before his death, in 1866. He was a Repre-
sentative to the General Court from Dorchester for
three years, and also a Senator from Norfolk County.

Meletiah Everett. — Counsellor of the Supreme
Judicial Court, 1820. He was born in Wrentham,
June 24, 1777. He was graduated at Brown Uni-
versity in 1802, He studied law with Hon. Laban
Wheaton, of Norton, and began practice in Foxbor-
ough, where he resided until about the year 1832,
when he removed to Wrentham. He was a Repre-
sentative to the General Court from Foxborough in
1831, and was a Senator from the county in 1841 and
1842. He was a safe and prudent counsellor. He
died in Wrentham in 1858. The Hon. Horace
Everett, of Vermont, was his brother.

Ezra Weston Sampson. — He was probably ad-
mitted to the bar in the county of Plymouth. He
was born in Duxbury, Dec. 1, 1797, and was gradu-
ated at Harvard College in 1816. He had an office
in Braintree, where he practised law about twelve
years. Upon the decease of Judge Ware, he was ap-
pointed in 1836 Clerk of the Courts for the county,
and held the office until January, 1867. During the
last year of his life he was unable to perform the
duties of his office by reason of illness. He died in
Dedham, Jan. 15, 1867, at the age of sixty-nine
years.

Warren Lovering. — Counsellor of the Supreme
Judicial Court, October term, 1825. He was grad-
uated at Brown University in 1817. He had an
office in Medway for many years, and at one time had
an extensive practice. He was a Representative to
the General Court from Medway in 1827 and 1828.
He held several important offices, and was a promi-
nent member of the Whig party. The last years of
his life were spent in poverty and obscurity. He died
in 1876.

Jonathan Parker Bishop was born in Kil-
lingly, Conn., April 10, 1792. He was the son of
Jonathan Parker Bishop, a well-known physician
and Hannah (Torrey) Bishop. He commenced the
practice of law in Medfield about the year 1818,
having been admitted to the bar in another county,
and was prominently identified with the affairs of the

THE BENCH AND BAR.

town during his life. He represented the town in
the Legislature in 1848 and 1851, and was actively
interested in the election of Charles Sumner to the
United States Senate, which first took place in the
latter year. He was largely instrumental in the build-
ing of the Charles River Railroad, which was opened
through the town in 1861. He died July 10, 1865.

Aaron Prescott. — Attorney of Supreme Judi-
cial Court, 1820. He was graduated at Harvard
College in 1814. He practised law for many years
in the county, and had an ofiice in Randolph. He
died in 1851.

Jonathan H. Cobb. — Counsellor of Supreme
Judicial Court, 1824. He was born in Sharon,
July 8, 1799, and was graduated at Harvard College
in 1817. He began the study of law in the office
of William Dunbar, of Canton, where he remained
until Oct. 9, 1818, when he went to Charleston,
S. C., and opened a classical school. In 1819 he
returned to Massachusetts, and completed his legal
studies in the office of Jabez Chickering, of Dedham.
He was editor of the Village Register, in Dedham,
and had an office in Boston. In 1831 he was active
in the formation of the Dedham Institution for Sav-
ings, of which he was the first treasurer. In 1831
the Legislature requested the Governor to procure
the compilation of a manual on the mulberry-tree
and the manufacture of silk, which was prepared by
Mr. Cobb, of which several editions were published,
and afterwards republished by order of Congress.
In 1837 he established a manufactory of sewing-silk
in Dedham, of which he was superintendent and
principal proprietor, but which was burned in 1845.
In 1833 he was appointed register of probate for
Norfolk County, which office he held until 1879.
He was for thirty consecutive years the town clerk
of Dedham, declining re-election in 1875. He was
deacon of the First Church for more than forty
years, and for the same period an active magistrate of
the county. He died March 12, 1882.

George C. Wilde. — Attorney of the Supreme
Judicial Court, October term, 1826. He was the
son of the Hon. Samuel S. Wilde, a justice of the
Supreme Judicial Court. His professional life was
a brief one, but he practised law in Wrentham until
about the year 1835, when he was appointed Clerk of
the Supreme Judicial Court in the county of Suffolk,
an office which he held for about forty years.

Ira Cleveland. — Attorney of the Court of
Common Pleas, Dec. 5, 1827.

Horace Mann. — Attorney of Court of Common
Pleas, 1826 ; Supreme Judicial Court, 1827. He
was the son of Thomas and Mary Mann, and was

born in Franklin, May 4, 1796. He was graduated
at Brown University in 1819. He entered the office
of Josiah J. Fiske, at Wrentham, but soon after
became a tutor at Brown University for two years.
He then studied a year in the law-school at
Litchfield, Conn., and completed his studies with
James Richardson, at Dedham. He opened an
office in Dedham, being the same lately occupied
by Jabez Chickering, on the corner of Court and
Church Streets. He was a Representative to the
General Court from Dedham for four years, 1827-
31. In 1833 he removed to Boston, and entered
into a partnership with Edward G. Loring. He was
a member of the Senate from Suffolk four years, and
in 1837 was president of that body. He was chair-
man of the committee for the revision of the statutes
of 1836, and prepared the marginal notes and cita-
tions of cases, as editor with Theron Metcalf. He
was appointed secretary of the Board of Education
upon its organization, June 29, 1837. Of the great
distinction and influence to which he attained in this
office it is unnecessary to speak in this notice, or of
his career as a member of Congress from 1848-52,
which though brief was memorable. He died while
president of Antioch College, Ohio, Aug. 2, 1859.

The brief period of practice in his profession at
Dedham is naturally overlooked by reason of his
having become so widely known as an educator and
philanthropist, yet he was remembered by his con-
temporaries who knew him as a lawyer as a man of
brilliant parts, and was a successful advocate. He
was fond of controversy, and wielded an extremely
caustic pen. He had many admirers in Norfolk
County, and years after his removal from Dedham,
when he was an independent candidate for Congress,
the popularity and influence gained while at the bar,
aided materially in his election.

John Jones Clarke. — Counsellor of the Supreme
Judicial Court, Nov. 5, 1830. He was born Feb.
24, 1803 ; was the son of Rev. Pitt Clarke (H. C.
1790), of Norton, Mass., and Rebecca (Jones)
Clarke, of Hopkinton. He was at school at the Nor-
ton Academy, and was fitted for college partly at the
Framingham and Andover x\cademies and partly by
his father, who was, for his time, a distinguished
scholar and teacher.

He entered Harvard College in 1819, with a class
in which, at the end of the course of four years, a
famous rebellion occurred, on account of which a
large majority of the class were refused their degrees,
and it was not until 1841 that Mr. Clarke received
from the college the degrees of A.B. and A.M.

Upon leaving college, Mr. Clarke pursued the

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

study of law in the oflSce of Hon. Laban Wheaton,

of Norton, for a year ; he then entered the oflBce of
James Richardson, Esq., at Dedham, where he re-
mained two years ; he was then, in 1826, admitted to
the bar of the Court of Common Pleas, and after-
wards, in 1830, to the bar of the Supreme Court.

In 1826, Mr. Clarke commenced the practice of
law in Roxbury, where he has ever since resided,
having an office on Washington Street, nearly oppo-
site Eustis. Here his business gradually increased,
and in 1830 he married Miss Rebecca Cordis Has-
well, a daughter of Capt. Robert Haswell, formerly
in the navy, and afterwards in the mercantile service,
and step-daughter of John Lemist, Esq., a prominent
citizen of Roxbury, a union which has been emi-
nently happy, the fiftieth anniversary of which was
celebrated by a large circle of their friends in 1880.

Mr. Clarke early became one of the leaders of the
bar of Norfolk County, and he was frequently re-
tained in important cases in Plymouth and Bristol
Counties.

On the acceptance in 1848 of a seat on the bench
by Hon. George T. Bigelow, Mr. Clarke formed a
partnership with his brother, Mr. Manlius S. Clarke,
who had to that time been Judge Bigelow's partner.
The principal office of the firm was in Boston, but
Mr. Clarke retained his office in Roxbury for some
years after this, and continued to attend to business
in Norfolk County, in addition to attending to a por-
tion of the large business of the firm of J. J. & M.
S. Clarke in Suffolk County and elsewhere.

This partnership was ended by the death of Mr.
M. S. Clarke in 1853, and for a few months Mr.
Elias Merwin was associated with Mr. Clarke, and
aided in winding up the unfinished business of the
old firm. In April, 1854, he took as a partner Mr.
Lemuel Shaw, Jr., who had been a student in his
office. This partnership continued until 1863, when
in consequence of the increasing personal responsi-
bilities of both partners it was dissolved, and from
the same cause Mr. Clark gradually withdrew from
active practice.

Mr. Clarke early joined the First Church in Rox-
bury, and has been an active and useful member of
that church and congregation.

He was a member of the House of Representatives
for Roxbury in 1836 and 1837, and of the Senate
for Norfolk County in 1853, and when Roxbury was
incorporated in 1846 he was chosen its first mayor,
and rendered efficient service in organizing the new
city government, but declined to hold the office for
more than one year.

Mr. Clarke was at one time president of the Win-

throp Bank of Roxbury, was one of the founders
and the finst president of the Roxbury Gas Company,
and in the early history of the Metropolitan Railroad
was one of its directors, and in every relation in life
has always commanded the respect and confidence of
his fellow-citizens.

Mr. Clarke was in early life a zealous member of
the Whig party, but since the dissolution of that
party he has not taken an active part in politics,
though always doing his duty as a good citizen in
voting at every election. He has always taken a
great interest in the suppression of intemperance, and
has for many years been a total abstainer from all
intoxicating agents.

Mr. Clarke continues to occupy an office at 27
State Street, Boston, where he has been ia practice
since 1848, but of late years his time has been de-
voted principally to the care of estates of which he is
trustee.

John Mark Gourgas. — Attorney of the Supreme
Judicial Court, November term, 1830. He was grad-
uated at Harvard College in 1824. He practised law
in this county during his life, having an office in
Quincy. He died in 1862, and was never married.
He was a careful and accurate lawyer.

Nathaniel Foster Sapford was born in Salem
in 1815, and was graduated at Dartmouth College in
1835. He studied law with Asahel Huntington, of
Salem, where he was admitted to the bar. He began
practice in Dorchester in 1839, where he acted as
magistrate, and also as a master in chancery in the
period of jurisdiction under the insolvent laws. He
was Representative to the General Court from Dor-
chester in 1850 and 1851. In 1853 he was nomi-
nated by the Whig party to succeed Samuel P. Loude,
who had declined further service as county commis-
sioner, but there having been no choice by the people
after two trials, he was appointed by Governor Clifford
to fill the vacancy. He was elected chairman of the
board, a position which he continued to fill by succes-
sive re-elections until Jan. 1, 1868. He was again
elected county commissioner in 1872, and from Jan.
1, 1873, to January, 1879, he was chairman of the
board. He now resides in Milton, but has an office
in Boston.

William S. Morton practised law at Quincy for
many years, but he was not admitted in this county.
He was graduated at Harvard College in 1831, and
died at Quincy in 1871. He was a trial justice for
some years.

Naaman L. White, — He was graduated at Har-
vard College in 1835. He has had an office in Brain-
tree for many years, where he now resides. He was

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THE BENCH AND BAR.

admitted to the bar elsewhere, and is not now in
active practice.

Fisher A. Kingsbury was a native of Norfolk
County, and practised many years at Weymouth. He
died many years ago. He acted as magistrate in Wey-
mouth. He was admitted as counsellor of the Supreme
Judicial Court in 1831.

Asaph Churchill, Jr. — Attorney and counsellor,
September term, Court of Common Pleas, 1834. He
was born in Milton, April 20, 181-1. He was grad-
uated at Harvard College in 1831 ; studied law with
his father at Milton, and in the Harvard Law-School.
He was admitted to the bar before he was twenty-one
years of age, and had an office at the Lower Mills, in
Dorchester, and Milton until 1857, when he took an
office in Boston, where he has since continued to prac-
tise, having had for his partner, from 1857 to 1870,
Edward L. Pierce, and since that time his son, Joseph
R. Churchill. He was a Senator from Norfolk County
in 1857 ; was a director and president of the Dorchester
and Milton Bank, afterwards the Blue Hill Bank, for
more than twenty-five years. He was also president
of the Dorchester Mutual Fire Insurance Company.
He has resided in Dorchester, and has had a large
practice, to which at this date (1883) he is fully
devoted.

Abner L. Cushing. — He was born in Dorchester,
and was the son of Abel Cushing. He was graduated
at Harvard College in 1838. He edited the Boston
Republic a few years, and studied law with his father.
He began practice in Boston, and subsequently re-
moved to Randolph, where he had an extensive prac-
tice in this county for many years. In 1863 he
removed to New York, where he is now engaged in
the practice of law.

Samuel Warner. — Attorney and counsellor. Court
of Common Pleas, September term, 1841. He was
born in Providence, R. I., and was fitted for college
at Day's Academy, in Wrentham. He was gradu-
ated at Brown University in 1838. He began prac-
tice in Wrentham, where he has continued to reside
and practise law ever since. He was Representative
to the General Court from Wrentham in 1843, 1848,
and 1882. He was Senator from the county in 1851,
and a member of the Constitutional Convention in
1853. He was land agent of the commonwealth
from 1851 to 1854, and has been a trial justice since
1858.

Ellis Worthington. — Attorney and counsellor,
September term, Court of Common Pleas, 1842.
He was born in Dedham, Feb. 11, 1816, and was
the son of Erastus Worthington. He was fitted for
college at Day's Academy, in Wrentham, and entered

Brown University, but did not complete his college
course. He studied law in the Dane Law-School at
Cambridge, and in the office of Ezra Wilkinson at
Dedham. He had an office in Dedham for a short
time after his admission to the bar. He afterwards
removed to Fort Wayne, Ind., and thence to Mil-
waukee, Wis., where he continued to practise law.
He was afterwards the general agent of the ^tna
Insurance Company of Hartford at Springfield, 111.,
and was subsequently the vice-president of the Put-
nam Insurance Company of Hartford. He died in
Palmyra, N. Y., Nov. 28, 1871.

John King. — Attorney and counsellor, April term.
Court of Common Pleas, 1843. He is the son of
John King, of Randolph, and was graduated at Har-
vard College in 1839, and studied law with Ezra
Wilkinson. He had an office in Dedham for a time,
but he afterwards removed to the West, and now
resides in Iowa.

Hon. William Gaston. — The subject of this
sketch traces his ancestry to a family of France who
were zealous adherents of the Huguenot cause. The
direct ancestor of his branch of the family, driven
from his native land, sought refuge in Scotland, from
which place, between the years 1662 and 1668, his
sons, being in great peril because of their firm ad-
herence to the Protestant faith, fled to the north of
Ireland for safety.

The forefather of Governor Gaston, with a younger
brother, arrived in this country about 1730. He
located in Connecticut, where his family remained
for more than a century. Not only has Governor
Gaston honored the family name and connected his
name inseparably with the history of the old com-
monwealth, but North Carolina as well claims among
her distinguished citizens one of the same name and
family, William Gaston, an eminent jurist and states-
man, judge of the Supreme Court of the State.

Governor William Gaston, son of Alexander and
Keziah Arnold Gaston, was born in Killingley, Conn.,
Oct. 3, 1820. His father was a well-known mer-
chant of Connecticut, and a man of sterling integrity
and strong force of character. The family removed
from Killingley to Boston in 1838. Mr. Gaston was
prepared for college at Brooklyn and Plainfield Acad-
emies, and at the early age of fifteen entered Brown
University, where he maintained a high rank in his
class and was graduated with honor in 1840. Hav-
ing decided upon the legal profession as a life-study,
he entered the office of Judge Hilliard, of Roxbury,
where he remained for a time, and continued his legal
studies with C. P. and B. R. Curtis, of Boston, with
whom he remained until his admission to the bar in

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

1844. In 1846 he opened a law-ofRce in Roxbury,
and very soon took a leading position at the bar. He
continued his practice here with marked success until
1865, when, in company with Hawley Jewell and
Walbridge A. Field, he formed a copartnership in
Boston, under the firm-name of Jewell, Gaston &
Field, which continued until Mr. Gaston's elevation
to the gubernatorial chair of Massachusetts in 1874.

Governor Gaston is a Democrat in politics, and,
although not an active politician, he has had many
positions of trust and responsibility virtually thrust
upon him, and his career in many respects has been
as remarkable as it was brilliant. In 1853 and 1854
he was elected to the House of Representatives as a
Whig, and in 1856 was re-elected by a fusion of
Whigs and Democrats against the Know-Nothing
candidate. He was elected to the Senate in 1868,
although his district was strongly Republican. He
was also for a long time city solicitor of Roxbury,
and mayor of Roxbury, 1861-62. In 1870 he was
his party's candidate for Congress, but was defeated.
In 1870, after the annexation of Roxbury to Boston,
he was elected mayor of the city, and re-elected in
1871. In this year a spirited contest ensued for the
mayoralty, Mr. Gaston being the Democratic candidate
and Hon. Henry L. Pierce the nominee of the Re-
publicans. At first it was announced that Mr. Gas-
ton was elected, but upon a recount of votes Mr.
Pierce was declared mayor by a plurality of seventy-
nine votes. Mr. Gaston's popularity and strength
was significantly shown in this contest, for only one
month previously Gen. Grant had carried the city
by five thousand five hundred majority.

In the fall of 1874 Mr. Gaston recceived the nom-
ination for Governor, and entered the canvass in op-
position to Hon. Thomas Talbot, at that time acting
Governor of the commonwealth, and one of the
strongest men in the Republican party. The result
astonished and electrified the country. Mr. Gaston
was elected by seven thousand plurality. He entered
upon his high ofiice with a determination to discharge
its duties solely for the benefit of the commonwealth
as a whole, and nobly was this duty performed. He
brought to the gubernatorial chair not only a superior
legal mind, but that executive ability which a success-
ful administration of the ofiice demands. Not a bitter
partisan, he was guided by a conservative policy
which was commended alike by both parties. He
declined the nomination for Governor in 1876, al-
though a large majority of the convention was in his
favor, and he also declined in the same year the con-
gressional nomination from the Fourth District.

In 1875 he received the degree of LL.D. from

Harvard, and also from his Alma Mater, Brown Uni-
versity. In 1852 he united in marriage with Louisa
A., daughter of Laban S. Beecher, of Roxbury.
Scholarly, with social attainments of a high charac-
ter, and a legal mind that has placed him among the
leaders of the Suff"olk bar, he is justly esteemed as
one of Boston's most honored citizens.

Samuel Bradley Notes, eldest son of Samuel
and Elizabeth (Morrill) Noyes, was born in Dedham,
April 9, 1817. On his father's side he is of the
Noyes family of Choulderton, Wiltshire, England, and
his ancestor, Nicholas Noyes, with his brother, James,
a clergyman, came to New England in 1634, to New-
bury in 1635, five years after Winthrop's settlement
of Boston. On his mother's side his grandfather,
Eliakim Morrill, was a highly respectable citizen of
Dedham, and his great-grandfather, the Rev. Isaac
Morrill (H. U. 1737), was a solemn Puritan divine,
who died (1793) in office as pastor at Wilmington.
It will thus be perceived that Mr. Noyes is of a very
old New England stock, and of that Puritan clerical
strain which Dr. Holmes so felicitously calls " the
Brahmin caste" in society. Mr. Noyes himself has
always been interested in church and parochial afiairs,
and has enjoyed a wide acquaintance with the clergy
of his faith. He attended the public schools, and for
one year a private school in Dedham under the tuition
of Hon. Francis W. Bird (B. U. 1832). He entered
Phillips Academy, Andover, in 1836, and remained
there till the summer of 1840, when he left to join
his class at Cambridge (H. U. 1844). Of his student
life at Phillips Academy Mr. Noyes has always re-
tained a most tender regard ; and in 1875 the Phil-
omathean Society in the academy, in which Mr. Noyes
played a prominent part during his student days at
Andover, held its semi-centennial anniversary and he
was chosen the orator of the day, his address being
subsequently printed, together with the other literary
exercises of the day, in an illustrated pamphlet of
permanent interest and value. On leaving college he
studied law with the Hon. Isaac Davis, of Worcester
(B. U. 1822), afterwards with Hon. Ezra Wilkinson,
of Dedham (B. U. 1824), and Hon. Ellis Ames, of
Canton (B. U. 1830). He was admitted to the
Norfolk County bar, April, 1847, and began practice
in his adopted town of Canton, where he has resided
ever since, with the exception of two years which he
spent in Florida. He married, in January, 1850,
Miss Georgiana, daughter of James and Abigail
(Gookin) Beaumont. Her father came to New
England from Derby, England, in 1800, and built
the first mill erected for the manufacture of cotton
by machinery in Massachusetts in 1802. Her mother

'^'i^e ■''hyAJi.nvtchva

THE BENCH AND BAR.

was the daughter of Edmund Gookin, a lineal de-
scendant from Daniel Gookin, who in 1650 was
magistrate of all the Indians in Massachusetts, and
who accompanied the Apostle John Eliot in his visits
to the various tribes, and whose history of the Indians
is published in the collections of the Massachusetts
Historical Society. They have four children and two
grandchildren.

His public offices have been justice of the peace
(1849), trial justice (1850), commissioner of insol-
vency (1853), special county commissioner for Nor-
folk County (1856), trial justice again (1857). From
1849 to 1871 he was a member of the school com-
mittee of Canton, superintendent of public schools,
1857-58, 1861-64, 1867-71, and he has always been
an interested worker in the cause of popular education
even beyond the borders of his own town.

In 1864 he was appointed by Hon. William Pitt
Fessenden, Secretary of the United States Treasury
Department, a special agent of the department, and
acting collector of customs at Fernandina, Florida. In
this post, on the frontiers of a rebellion not then sub-
dued, he had a rare chance to study the undercurrents
of the great war among the Southern people, and his
private journal would no doubt show quaint and sug-
gestive incidents of the popular temper and conduct
in Florida and Southern Georgia at that exciting time.
After two years' service here he returned North, leav-
ing behind him many warm friends, whose memory
he cherishes as among the most valued treasures of
his busy life. On his return to Massachusetts, in
May, 1867, he was appointed by Hon. Salmon P.
Chase, chief justice of the Supreme Court of the
United States, a register in bankruptcy for the Second
Congressional District in Massachusetts, an office
which he still holds, although the acts of Congress of
1878 so far modified its duties that Mr. Noyes has
had leisure to return to some extent to the practice of
his favorite profession of the law. As a lawyer Mr.
Noyes has naturally been interested in politics, — State
and national, — giving much time and attention to
questions of public policy and administration, and
since its organization has been a consistent and useful
member of the Republican party.

In politics results are generally reached through
carefully-arranged and judiciously-executed details,
projected and planned away from public observation
and in a wise adjustment of means to ends, in the
absence of which political movements are like the
moves in a game of chance. As an adviser as to what
to do and how to do it, and a worker in the execution
of well-laid plans, he has lent a ready and serviceable
hand to party movements and party successes.

Mr. Noyes has always maintained an extensive
acquaintance with political leaders, hence his influ-
ence has been much sought and not withheld when
it could be used in the furtherance of justice or the
promotion of the right, etc., in helping to shape
party action and legislation, so to secure these desir-
able ends.

In private life Mr. Noyes is known to be a man of
taste and culture, a reliable friend, and never more
so than when friendship is needed, a genial com-
panion and an accomplished entertainer in private
hospitalities. The classics of his school and college
life have been to him life-long companions and friends.
He has from his youth devoted himself to music with
an absorbing enthusiasm. While in college he was
leader of the college choir and of the Harvard Glee
Club.

It is quite safe to assume, that had he given him-
self to the study and practice of the fine art of
music as the leading object of his life, the natural
qualities of his voice, so finely attuned, combined
with a power of passionate musical expression, born
of genius, would have given him distinguished rank
among the great tenors of the age. As an ama-
teur he has been always heard with favor at the
musical festivals, parish churches, and society meet-
ings in the county, and whenever he consents to take
the •' baton" and assume the conductor's role, as he
does sometimes in the old " Stoughton Musical So-
ciety," he discovers the ability to impress large bodies
of performers with his own enthusiasm, and to lead
them to fine musical results.

He has also been a very industrious writer for the
public press, and his historical and local essays have
often a picturesqueness and vivacity which are charm-
ing. He is fond of ancient lore, and of gath-
ering and reading out-of-the-way literature of the
personal and archaic kind, from which he gathers
rare sayings and incidents to adorn his contributions
to the press. His special taste is towards the old
English writers of the age of Addison and of John-
son, while his knowledge of Shakespeare, and of the
famous actors who have represented him for the last
forty years on the American stage, is extensive. He
is a member of the New England Historic and
Genealogical Society, of the New England Agricul-
tural Society, of the Massachusetts Press Associa-
tion, of the Bunker Hill 3Ionument Association, and
of the Stoughton Musical Society, of which latter he
is a member of the committee of arrangements for
the centennial celebration of its anniversary in 1886,

Socially, Mr. Noyes is a hale and hearty friend,
with nothing negative in his make-up, but abounding

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

in positive points of a warm and strong personality.
Of Puritan stock, he has not a shade of Puritan
austerity, but rather the reverse, and his good fellow-
ship is a Boston proverb. He is Saxon rather than
Norman in temperament, and his friends find in him
a certain mellowness, as of an older civilization than
our own, which makes him well met with the agree-
able and those who make merry.

In the affairs of a busy and exacting profession he
has retained and developed his taste for literature and
history, and while a New Englander by birth and
education, his temperament has always led him to
that wider society of mankind, whei'e

" One touch of nature makes the whole world kin."

Nehemiaii C. Berry. — Attorney and counsellor,
Court of Common Pleas, Dec. 24, 1846. He had
an office for some years at Randolph, and practised
in this county, but he many years since removed to
Roxbury, and took an office in Boston, where he
continues to practise in his profession.

Elijah Fox Hall. — Attorney and counsellor,
Court of Common Pleas, September term, 1847.
He began practice as a partner with Jonathan P.
Bishop, of Medfield. He afterwards was a partner
with Fisher A. Kingsbury at Weymouth, where he
continued to practise until his death in 1867. He
acted as a magistrate in Weymouth.

James Humphrey was born in Weymouth, Jan.
20, 1819. lie was educated at the Phillips Acad-
emy in Andover, where he was graduated with the
first honors of his class in 1839. He was a teacher
until 1852, when he entered the office of D. W.
Gooch, in Boston, and was admitted to the Suffolk
bar in 1855. He held the office of selectman in
Weymouth for twenty years, and during a large part
of the time was chairman of the board. He was Rep-
resentative to the General Court in 1852 and 1869,
and was a Senator from the Norfolk and Plymouth
District in 1872. He was elected a county commis-
sioner in 1874, and held the office until November,
1882, being chairman of that board during a great
portion of his term of service. In November, 1882,
he was appointed justice of the District Court of
East Norfolk, which office he now holds. He resides
at Weymouth.

Edward Avery was born in Marblehead, March
12, 1828. He was educated in the schools of his
native town, and afterwards in the classical school of
Mr. Brooks, in Boston. He studied law in the office
of F. W. Choate in Boston, and at the Dane Law-
School in Cambridge. He was admitted to the bar
in April, 1849, and began practice in Barre, in the

county of Worcester, where he remained until the
winter of 1850-51. He then removed to Boston,
and has since had an office there. On the 1st of
October, 1858, he became associated in business with
George M. Hobbs, a copartnership which still con-
tinues. Mr. Avery has for many years been a lead-
ing practitioner in all the courts of Suffolk and other
counties, and the firm has up to the present time al-
ways had an extensive practice. Mr. Avery has
given especial attention to cases arising under the
insolvent laws of Massachusetts and under the United
States Bankrupt Law, and in this branch of the law
he has been eminently successful, although he has
always attended to general practice. Mr. Avery, since
he has had an office in Boston, has always been a resi-
dent in Norfolk County. For some time he resided
at Quincy, but for many years past he has lived at
Braintree. He has been employed as counsel in the
trial of many important causes in this county, and
has thus been identified with the Norfolk bar. In
1866 he was a Representative to the General Court
from Braintree, and in 1867 was re-elected to the
House, and also to the Senate from the Norfolk and
Plymouth District.

Edward Lillie Pierce. — Admitted at the Feb-
ruary term of the Supreme Judicial Court, 1853.
He was born March 29, 1829, and is a son of Col.
Jesse Pierce, of Stoughton. He was graduated at
Brown University in 1850. During his college course
he distinguished himself in several prize essays and
in articles which appeared in the Democratic Review.
He entered the Law-School at Cambridge, and re-
ceived the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1852. He
was the author of the successful prize essay offered to
his class upon the " Consideration of a Contract,"
which was printed. He afterwards wrote an essay
upon "Secret Suff'rage," which attracted attention in
England, and was there reprinted. He was after-
wards in the law-office of Salmon P. Chase, at Cincin-
nati. In 1857 he published the first edition of his
work on " American Railroad Law." He took an
active part in politics in 1857 as a member of the
Republican party, advocating the most liberal treat-
ment of foreigners against the proscriptive policy
which then was popular in Massachusetts.

He continued to practise in his profession, having an
office in Boston, as a partner of Asaph Churchill.
At the breaking out of the war, in 1861, he enlisted
as a private in the Third Massachusetts Regiment.
He afterwards, in 1862, by appointment of Secretary
Chase, had the charge of the freedmen and plantations
of the Sea Islands, and his official reports of this trust
were widely read. He was on duty at Morris Island

-^'■^.^h

'byA.HJhtclvi-1^

y^C^l^^^

THE BENCH AND BAR.

in August, 1863, when he was appointed collector of
internal revenue for the Third District of Massachu-
setts, which office he held for three years.

He was appointed by Governor Bullock, in 1866,
to the office of district attorney of the Southeastern
District, to which office he was elected by the people
in 1866, and again in 1868. In October, 1869, he
was appointed secretary of the Board of State Chari-
ties, and held that office until 1874, when he re-
signed it.

In 1875 and 1876 he was Representative from
Milton in the General Court, and in the latter session
was chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary.
He is the author of the " Act to Limit Municipal
Indebtedness." He was appointed by President Hayes
in December, 1878, assistant treasurer of the United
States at Boston, but he declined the appointment.

Mr. Pierce has been one of the lecturers at the
Boston Law-School since its foundation. In 1881
he published a new edition of his work on " American
Railroad Law," much enlarged and enriched by co-
pious notes and citations. In 1874 he prepared an
elaborate " Index of the Special Railroad Laws of
Massachusetts."

Mr. Pierce was one of the literary executors of
Charles Sumner, and was the author of the memoir
of Mr. Sumner, published in 1877, an elaborate and
excellent biography. He has also been the author of
many articles contributed to the reviews and news-
papers, of official reports, and public addresses upon a
variety of social and political topics, all of which are
marked by such ability, breadth, and exhaustiveness
of treatment of their respective subjects as to entitle
them to hold a permanent place in the current dis-
cussions of vital questions. Mr. Pierce has made
several journeys to Europe, one in 1873, to inspect
European prisons, reformatories, and asylums, the
result of which was given in his report for 1873 as
secretary of the Board of State Charities.

Mr. Pierce received the degree of Doctor of Laws
from Brown University in 1882. He resides at
Milton, and has an office in Boston.

Asa French was born on the 21st of October,
1829, in Braintree, where his ancestors have lived
since the town's earliest settlement.

He received his early education in the public schools,
was prepared for college at the Leicester Academy,
Worcester County, Mass., and was graduated at Yale
College, in the class of 1851. Upon leaving college,
he began the study of law at the Albany Law-School,
and afterwards entered the Harvard Law-School, where
he received the degree of LL.B. in 1853. He sub-
sequently pursued the study of his profession in the

office of David A. Simmons and Harvey Jewell, in
Boston.

Mr. French was first admitted to practice in the
Supreme Court of New York, at Albany, in 1853,
and afterwards at Boston. He has always had an
office in Boston ; but has made Braintree his home,
and has been identified with the Norfolk County
bar.

He represented Braintree in the lower branch of
the State Legislature in 1866. In 1870 he was ap-
pointed by Governor Claflin district attorney for the
Southeastern District, to fill the vacancy caused by the
resignation of Hon. Edward L. Pierce, and held this
office by successive re-elections until October, 1882,
when he resigned.

In 1882 he was tendered the appointment of justice
of the Superior Court of Massachusetts, but declined
it. He has been one of the commissioners on inland
fisheries for the State of Massachusetts since 1873.

He is president of the board of trustees of the
Thayer Academy and of the Thayer Public Library,
both in Braintree, and both founded and endowed by
the late Gen. Sylvanus Thayer.

In 1883 he was placed by President Arthur upon
the annual Board of Visitors to the West Point Mili-
tary Academy.

Mr. French was appointed judge of the Court of
Commissioners of Alabama Claims in Washington,
under the act re-establishing that court, approved
June 5, 1882.

Erastus Worthington. — Attorney and coun-
sellor, February term. Supreme Judicial Court, 1854.
He is the son of Erastus Worthington, of Dedham,
where he was born Nov. 25, 1828. He was gradu-
ated at Brown University in 1850. After residing
nearly a year in W^isconsin, he entered the Dane Law-
School, at Cambridge, where he received the degree
of LL.B. in 1853. He completed his professional
studies in the office of Ezra Wilkinson, at Dedham.
He began practice in Boston, and was for some time
a partner with David A. Simmons, of Roxbury. In
1856 he was elected register of insolvency, which
office he held until July, 1858, when he resumed
practice in Dedham. He was trial justice from 1857
to 1867. In 1866 he was elected clerk of the courts
for Norfolk County, and entered upon the duties of
that office in January, 1867, and has since been elected
for three terms of five years each. He continues to
hold the office, and resides in Dedham.

Charles Endicott. — Attorney and counsellor,
April term. Court of Common Pleas, 1857. He was
born in Canton, Oct. 28, 1822. He was for several
years town clerk, selectman, and held many town

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

offices. He was a deputy sheriff oF the county from
1846 to 1853, and commissioner of insolvency from
1855 to 1857. Upon his admission to the bar he
began practice in Canton, where he continues to re-
side. He was a Representative to the General Court
in 1851, 1857, and 1858, and a Senator from Norfolk
County in 1866 and 1867, and a member of the Ex-
ecutive Council in 1868 and 1869. He was county
commissioner from 1859 to 1865. He was State
Auditor from 1870 to 1875, and Treasurer and
Receiver-General for the Commonwealth from 1876
to 1881, when he became ineligible for re-election by
reason of the constitutional limitation in the term of
that office. He now holds the office of tax com-
missioner. He resides in Canton.

Joseph McKean Churchill is the son of
Asaph Churchill, and was born in Milton, April
29, 1821. He was graduated at Harvard College
in 1840, and pursued his professional studies in the
Dane Law-School, Cambridge, where he received the
degree of LL.B. in 1845. He began and continued
the practice of law in Boston for many years. He
was Representative to the General Court from Milton
in 1858, and a member of the Executive Council in
1859 and 1860. He was also a member of the Con-
stitutional Convention of 1853, and for twelve years
was an overseer of Harvard College. He was a cap-
tain in the Forty-fifth Regiment Massachusetts In-
fantry in the war of the Rebellion. He was a
county commissioner from Jan. 1, 1868, until April,
1871, and chairman of the board during two of those
years. He was then appointed a justice of the Mu-
nicipal Court of Boston, which office he continues to
hold. He resides in Milton.

James E. Tirrell was born in Weymouth, March
28, 1833. He was educated in the schools of Wey-
mouth, and studied law with Fisher A. Kingsbury
and Elijah F. Hall, in Weymouth. He was admitted
to the bar in Suffolk, July 16, 1856. He now resides
and has an office at Quincy.

John L. Eldridge was born in Provincetown,
Mass., Dec. 25, 1842. He was fitted for college at
the Boston Latin School, and was graduated at Har-
vard College. He pursued his legal studies at the
Dane Law-School, and received the degree of LL.B.
in 1866. He also studied in the office of Joseph
Nickerson, in Boston. He was admitted to the bar
in Suffolk in November, 1867. He resides at Quincy,
but has an office in Boston.

Everett C. Bumpus was born in Plympton, Nov.
28, 1844. His parents subsequently removed to
Braintree, and he left the Braintree High School in
April, 1861, to go into the military service of the

United States during the civil war. He served with
some intervals until the war ended, both as private
and officer. He pursued his studies while in the
army, and at the close of the war he entered the office
of Edward Avery, and was admitted to the bar in
Suffolk, May 10, 1867. He was a trial justice at
Weymouth from 1868 to 1872, when he was appointed
Justice of the District Court of East Norfolk, which
office he resigned Oct. 1, 1882. He was then nomi-
nated and elected the district attorney for the South-
eastern District, to succeed Asa French. He was
re-elected in 1883 for the term of three years, and
now holds that office. Hid residence is in Quincy,
but he has an office in Boston.

Frederick D. Ely. — Attorney and counsellor,
Superior Court, Oct. 8, 1862. He was born in
Wrentham, Sept. 24, 1838, was fitted for college at
i Day's Academy, in Wrentham, and was graduated at
Brown University in 1859. He studied law in the
office of Waldo Colburn, in Dedham. He has been
a trial justice from 1867 to the present time. He
was Representative to the General Court from Ded-
ham in 1873, and Senator in 1878 and 1879. He
resides in Dedham, but has an office in Boston.

John D. Cobb. — Attorney and counsellor, Superior
Court, April 23, 1867. He was born in Dedham,
April 28, 1840, and was graduated at Harvard Col-
lege in 1861. He studied law in the Dane Law-
School, and received the degree of LL.B. in 1866.
He also was in the office of Waldo Colburn, at Ded-
ham. He entered the military service of the United
States Aug. 16, 1862, and served until the end of the
war as sergeant, and was promoted to be lieutenant
and acting adjutant of the Thirty-fifth Massachusetts
Infantry. He was Representative to the General Court
from Dedham in 1876 and 1877. He was appointed
assistant register of probate Jan. 1, 1879, which office
he has since held. He resides in Dedham.

Edmund Davis. — Attorney and counsellor, Supe-
rior Court, Oct. 1, 1867. He was born in Canton,
Dec. 12, 1839, and was graduated at Dartmouth
College in 1861. He entered the military service of
the United States Aug. 16, 1862, and was severely
wounded at the battle of Antietam. by reason of which
he was discharged from service Sept. 16, 1862. He
studied law in the office of Waldo Colburn, at Ded-
ham. He began practice in Franklin, and was a trial
justice for some time. He then removed to Hyde
Park, where he now resides and has an office.

Thomas E. Grover was born in Mansfield, Feb.
9, 1844. He studied law principally in the office of
Ellis Ames, in Canton, and was admitted to the bar
Sept. 7, 1867. Mr. Grover has held the office of trial

THE BENCH AND BAR.

justice for many years. He resides in Canton, and has
offices both in Canton and Boston.

James E. Cotter was born in Ireland in 1848.
He came to this country in 1856, and resided in
Marlborough until his admission to the bar. He was
educated in the public schools, and at the State Normal
School at Bridgewater. He studied law with William
B. Gale, of Marlborough, and was admitted to the bar
in Middlesex, Jan. 2, 1874. He removed to Hyde
Park, where he now resides. He has an office in
Hyde Park and in Boston.

George Winslow Wiggin. — Attorney and coun-
sellor, Superior Court, Oct. 17, 1871. He was born
in Sandwich, N. H., March 10, 1841. He was edu-
cated in the course for four years at Phillips' Acad-
emy, Exeter, N. H. He was afterwards a teacher in
the Friends' Boarding-School at Providence, R. I.,
and principal of the Wrentham High School for four
years. He studied law in the office of Samuel War-
ner, of Wrentham. He began practice in Franklin
in 1872, where he has since resided and practised law.
He has been a trial justice since 1872, and was elected
a county commissioner in 1878, and was re-elected in
1881. He has been chairman of the board during
the past year. He has also an office in Boston.

James Hewins was born in Medfield, April 27,
1846. He was educated in the Medfield and Wal-
pole High Schools, and entered Amherst College.
He studied law with Robert R. Bishop and at the
Dane Law-School, in Cambridge. He was admitted
to the bar in Suffolk, Feb. 26, 1868. He has been
a trial justice, and is Representative to the General
Court in 1884. He resides in Medfield, but has an
office in Boston.

Oscar A. Marden was born in Palermo, Me.,
Aug. 20, 1853. He was educated at the Westbrook
Seminary, in Deering, Me. He studied law in the
Boston University Law-School, where he was grad-
uated in 1876. He also studied in the office of S. K.
Hamilton, in Boston. He was admitted to the bar in
Suffolk, Oct. 8, 1876. He has been a trial justice
for several years, and resides in Stoughton, but has an
office in Boston.

The following gentlemen were admitted to the bar
in Norfolk County, and are now practicing attorneys in
the county :

Asa Wellington, Quincy, admitted April, 1852.

Charles J. Randall, Wrentham, admitted Jan. 3,
1859.

Henry B.Terry, Hyde Park, admitted April 4,1871.

Don Gleason Hill, Dedham, admitted Oct. 18, 1871.

Charles Amory Williams, Brookline, admitted Oct.
1, 1873.

Zenas S. Arnold, Boston, admitted Jan. 20, 1874.

Charles A. Mackintosh, Dedham, admitted Oct. 4,
1875.

Frank Rockwood Hall, Brookline, admitted Jan. 8,
1878.

William G. A. Pattee, Quincy, admitted May 14,
1879.

John Everett, Canton, admitted May 14, 1879.

Nathan Hyde Pratt, Weymouth, admitted Jan. 1,
1880.

James J. Malone, Quincy, admitted May 18, 1881.

Charles Francis Jenney, Hyde Park, admitted Oct.
4, 1882.

Albert Everett Avery, Braintree, admitted Jan.
23, 1883.

The following gentlemen were admitted to the bar
elsewhere, but are now practicing attorneys in the
county :

Charles H. Drew, Brookline. Office in Boston.

Moses Williams, Brookline. Office in Boston.

Bradford Kingman, Brookline. Office in Boston.

Thomas L. Wakefield, Dedham. Office in Boston.

Alonzo B. Wentworth, Dedham. Office in Boston.

John R. Bullard, Dedham. Office in Boston.

Horace E. Ware, Milton. Office in Boston.

Henry F. Buswell, Canton. Office in Boston.

Jonathan Wales, Randolph. Office in Boston.

John V. Beal, Randolph. Office in Boston.

Charles H. Deans, West Medway.

Emery Grover, Needham. Office in Boston.

E. Granville Pratt, Quincy. Office in Boston.

George Fred. Williams, Dedham. Office in Boston.

Orin T. Gray, Hyde Park. Office in Boston.

W. H. H. Andrews, Hyde Park. Office in Boston.

Artemas W. Gates, Dedham. Office in Boston.

Robert W. Carpenter, Foxborough.

Fred. H. Williams, Foxborough.

Edward Bicknell, Weymouth. Office in Boston.

Fred. J. Stimson, Dedham. Office in Boston.

Charles E. Perkins, Brookline. Office in Boston.

John C. Lane, Norwood. Office in Boston.

Sheriffs.^ — Hon. Ebenezer Thayer, of Braintree,
the first sheriff of Norfolk County, was the son of
Hon. Ebenezer Thayer, also of Braintree, and was
born Aug. 21, 1746. His father was for many years
a prominent citizen of the town, having served in the
office of Representative eighteen years, and was chosen
Representative to the General Court seventeen years

1 The following sketches of the sheriffs and county treasurers
of the county are mainly taken from the " Norfolk County
Manual," by Henry 0. Hildreth, Esq., by the permission of the
author.

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

successively, and in 1776 was a member of the Ex-
ecutive Council. His mother was Susanna, daughter
of Rev. Samuel Niles, of Braintree. Mr. Thayer
served the town many years as selectman, town clerk,
and treasurer ; was Representative to the General
Court in 1796, 1800, and 1801, a member of the
Senate in 1795, '96, '97, '98, '99, and a member of
the Executive Council in 1793 and 1794. He was
also a brigadier-general in the militia. On the or-
ganization of the county, in 1793, he was appointed
Sheriff, but owing to ill health, resigned early in the
following year. He died May 30, 1809, aged sixty-
three years.

Atherton Thayer, half-brother to the preceding,
was born in Braintree, Feb. 9, 1766. His mother
was Rebecca Miller, of Milton, who was the second
wife of Hon. Ebenezer Thayer, Sr. On the resigna-
tion of the office of sheriff by his brother, in 1794,
he was appointed to fill the vacancy, and continued in
the office until his death, July 4, 1798, aged thirty-
two years.

Benjamin Clarke Cutler, of Roxbury, was born in
Boston, Sept. 15, 1756, and was for many years a
merchant, removing afterwards to Jamaica Plain.
He was appointed sheriff July 31, 1798, and held
the office until his death. He died very suddenly at
his residence on Centre Street, Jamaica Plain, April,
1810, aged fifty-four years.

Elijah Crane was born in Milton, Aug. 29, 1754,
and was the son of Thomas Crane, for many years a
prominent citizen of that part of Stoughton, now
Canton. He early removed to Canton, where his
regular business was that of a farmer, in which he
met with marked success, although much of his time
was devoted to public life. He was a man of large
and erect stature, well-developed form, and graceful
carriage, and was noted for his splendid horseman-
ship. He early took a deep interest in military mat-
ters, rising by successive appointments to the rank
of brigadier-general of the Second Brigade, First Di-
vision, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, to which he
was promoted Aug. 1, 1803, and promoted and com-
missioned major-general of the First Division June
16, 1809, which position he continued to hold until
his discharge, June 8, 1827, a period of service in
the highest military office of the State without a
parallel in Massachusetts. He also attained high
rank as a Mason, being successively Junior Grand
Warden of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts in
1820 and 1821, Senior Grand Warden in 1822, and
Grand Master in 1832. On the death of Sheriff
Cutler, in 1810. he was appointed sheriff, and con-
tinued in office until 1811, when he was removed for

political reasons by Governor Gerry. The following
year he was reappointed, and continued in office by
successive reappointments until his death, the longest
term of service as sheriff ever held in the county.
He died Feb. 21, 1834, aged eighty years.

William Brewer, of Roxbury, was for many years
a prominent citizen of the town, having been chair-
man of the Board of Selectmen for several years, and
was Representative to the General Court from 1801
to 1811, inclusive, and again from 1814 to 1817, in-
clusive. In 1811 he was appointed sheriff of Nor-
folk County by Governor Gerry, which position he
held for one year. He died Aug. 2, 1817, aged
fifty-nine years.

John Baker (2d) was born in Dorchester, Feb. 27,
1780. He learned the trade of a wheelwright in
Roxbury, and soon removed to Dedham, where for
some time he carried on the same business. He was
a coroner, and for several years a deputy sheriff of the
county. On the death of Gen. Crane, in 1834, Mr.
Baker was appointed sheriff, and held the office until
his death, which occurred Jan. 1, 1843, at the age of
sixty-three years.

Jerauld Newland Ezra Mann was born in Med-
field, June 26, 1796. He learned the trade of a
carriage-painter, serving his time with the Messrs.
Bird, of Walpole. In 1823 he went to Easton,
where he remained but a short time, removing the
year following to Taunton, where he remained five
years, at the end of which time he went to Wrent-
ham, and thence to Dedham, where he took the
place of his brother-in-law, Maj. T. P. Whitney,
as deputy sheriff and jailer. On the death of
Sheriff Baker, Mr. Mann was, Feb. 8, 1843, ap-
pointed sheriff for the term of five years, at the ex-
piration of which he declined a reappointment, but
continued to act as deputy sheriff and jailer until
July, 1855, when failing health compelled his resig-
nation. He soon after removed to Vernon, Conn.,
the residence of his youngest daughter, where he died
April 15, 1857, aged sixty years and ten months.

Thomas Adams was born in Quincy, April 20,
1804. In early life he was engaged in business with
his father as a butcher, and afterwards was proprietor
of different stage-lines, and an extensive dealer in
horses. He then went to Roxbury, where he con-
tinued to reside until his death. He was deputy
sheriff under Sheriff Mann, and in 1848 succeeded
that officer as sheriff of the county. He was re-
moved from office for political reasons in 1852, but
was reappointed the following year, and continued in
office until Jan. 1, 1857. After Roxbury became a
city he was for two or three years city marshal. He

NORFOLK DISTRICT MEDICAL SOCIETY.

died suddenly of apoplexy Jan. 2, 1869, aged sixty-
five years.

John W. Thomas was born in Weymouth, April
1, 1815. Learned the trade of a shoemaker, and
afterwards went into business as a manufacturer ;
was a Representative to the General Court in 1852,
a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1853,
and a lieutenant-colonel in the militia. May 13, 1852,
he was commissioned sheriff of Norfolk County by
Governor Boutwell, but was removed the following
year for political reasons. In 1856 he was elected
sheriff by the Republican and American parties, and
assumed the position Jan. 1, 1857. He soon after
removed to Dedham, where he continues to reside.
He was the first sheriff elected by the people in the
county, and at each successive election was chosen by
a large majority of the popular vote. He held the
oflBce until January, 1878, when he declined a re-
election.

Rufus C. Wood was born in Palmer, May 30,
1818. His parents removed to Dudley, where he
learned the trade of a machinist, and lived until he
was twenty years of age. He previously had at-
tended the public schools and the Nichols Academy
in Dudley. He removed to Canton in November,
1836, and worked at his trade for eleven years in the
Kinsley Iron and Machine Company's works. He was
appointed a deputy sheriff by Sheriff Adams in 1853,
and he held that ofBce until his election as sheriff,
in 1877. During President Lincoln's administration
he was appointed postmaster at Canton, which oflBce
he held for sixteen years, and resigned at the time
of his election as sheriff. In 1877 he was elected
sheriff of the county, has been twice re-elected, the
last time, in 1883, by the nomination and vote of
both political parties. Since his election as sheriff he
has resided in Dedham, and is master of the House
of Correction in connection with his office.

County Treasurers. — Isaac Bullard, the first
treasurer of the county, was born in Dedham, July
10, 1744, and was a lineal descendant from William
Bullard, one of the first settlers of the town. He
was for many years in public life, having been town
clerk for three years, selectman five years, and Rep-
resentative to the General Court from 1794 to 1801,
and again in 1806 and 1807. He was chosen deacon
of the First Church, May 28, 1780, which office he
continued to hold until his death. On the organiza-
tion of the county, in 1793, he was cho.sen county
treasurer, to which position he was annually elected
until his decease, which occurred June 18, 1808, at
the age of sixty-four years.

John Bullard, son of the preceding, was born in

Dedham, Jan. 9, 1773. He was also much in public
life, having been twenty years a selectman and one
year town clerk. On the death of his father, in
1808, he was chosen county treasurer, which position
he occupied by successive elections until his death,
Feb. 25, 1852, a period of forty-four years. He was
seventy-nine years of age. (See history of Dedham.)

George Ellis was born in Medfield, Sept. 2, 1793,
and early removed to Dedham, where for several
years he carried on business as a trader. He was
captain of one of the Dedham militia companies, for
several years a deputy sheriff of the county, and for
fourteen years one of the selectmen of the town. He
was secretary and treasurer of the Dedham Institution
for Savings from May, 1845, to June, 1855, when,
owing to ill health, he resigned. On the death of
John Bullard. in 1852, he was appointed by the
county commissioners county treasurer, and the two
following years was elected by the people, failing of a
re-election in 1855. He died June 24, 1855, aged
sixty-two years and ten months.

Chauncey C. Churchill. (See history of Dedham.)

CHAPTER IL

XORFOLK DISTRICT MEDICAL SOCIETY.

BY A. E. SPROUL.

Included in the Massachusetts Medical Society
are several subordinate organizations, " wherein the
communication of cases and experiments may be
made, and the diffusion of knowledge in medicine
and surgery may be encouraged and promoted."
One of these is the Norfolk District Medical Society.
It is subject to the regulations of the general society
in all matters wherein the latter is concerned. It
was organized in 1850, and consists of Fellows of
the Massachusetts Medical Society residing in those
portions of Boston formerly known as Roxbnry, Dor-
chester, and West Roxbury, and in the towns within
the present boundaries of Norfolk County. The
" district" corresponds to the old county lines, which
were changed by the annexation of Roxbury and
Dorchester to Boston. The officers are as follows :
President, Dr. J. H. Streeter, Roxbury ; Vice-Presi-
dent, Dr. A. R. Holmes, Canton ; Secretary and
Librarian, Dr. G. D. Town.shend, Roxbury ; Treas-
urer, Dr. E. G. Morse, Roxbury. Following is a

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

list of present members, brought down to Feb. 1,

1884:

1835.1 — Alexander, Andrew, Dorchester.

1866.— Allen, George Otis, West Roxbury.

1866. — Amory, Robert, Brookline.

1873. — Bemis, Charles Albert, West Medway.

1882. — Blanchard, Benjamin Seaver, Brookline.

1840. — Blanchard, Henry, Dorchester.

1871. — Blodgett, Frank Marcellus, Roxbury.

1871. — Bolles, William Palmer, Dorchester.

1868. — Bowditch, Henry Pickering, West Roxbury.

1871. — Bragdon, George Abbott, Dorchester.

1878. — Broughton, Henry White, Jamaica Plain.

1879. — Brown, Roscoe Ellsworth, East Weymouth.

1873. — Call, Norman, Roxbury.

1865. — Campbell, William Henry, Roxbury.

1878. — Channing, Walter, Brookline.

1868, — Chase, John AVinslow, Dedham.

1882. — Cheever, Clarence Alonzo, Mattapan.

1874. — Clement, George AVilmot, Roxbury.

1837. — Getting, Benjamin Eddy, Roxbury.

1849. — Cushing, Benjamin, Dorchester.

1874. — Cushman, Thaddeus Thompson, Randolph.

1878.— Daniels, Edwin Alfred, Medway.

1862. — Dearing, Thomas Haven, Braintree.

1847. — Dickerman, Lemuel, Foxborough.

1880. — Donovan, Samuel Mngner, Quincy.

1883.— Drake, William Abram, North Weymouth.

1879. — Dunbar, Eugene Fillmore, Roxbury.

1867. — Edson, Ptolemy O'Meara, Roxbury.

1868. — Edwards, Charles Lawrence, Hyde Park.

1870. — Emery, William Henry, Roxbury.

1881. — Ernst, Harold Clarence, Jamaica Plain.

1865.— Everett, Willard Shepard, Hyde Park.

1874. — Farr, Edwin Lawson, Roxbury.

1848. — Faulkner, George, Jamaica Plain.

1866. — Fay, George Wyman, East Weymouth.

1858.— Fifield, William Cranch Bond, Dorchester.

1875. — Finn, .James Anthony, Roxbury.

1847. — Flint, John Sydenham, Roxbury.

1847. — Fogg, David Sylvester, Norwood.

1880. — Fogg, Irving Sylvester, Norwood.

1856. — Forsaith, Francis Flint, AVey mouth.

1848. — Francis, Tappan Eustis, Brookline.

1880. — Fraser, John Chisholm, East Weymouth.

1877. — French, Justus Crosby, Dedham.

1882. — Galligan, Eugene Thomas, Roxbury.

1882. — Garceau, Alexander Emmanuel, Hyde Park.

1863.— Garceau, Treffle, Roxbury.

1875. — Gerry, Edwin Peabody, Jamaica Plain.

1854.— Gilford, Silas Swift, East Stoughton,

1869. — Gilbert, Daniel Dudley, Dorchester.

1854. — Gilbert, John Henry, Quincy.

1871. — Gordon, John Alexander, Quincy.

1869. — Goss, Francis Webster, Roxbury.

1878. — Gould, Lawrence Mervin, Hyde Park.

1882.— Granger, Frank Clark, Randolph.

1863. — Greene, James Sumner, Dorchester.

1871. — Hall, Josiah Little, Brookline.

1847. — Harlow, James Frederick, Quincy Point.

1867. — Hayes, Charles Cogswell, Hyde Park.

1869. — Hazelton, Isaac Hills, Grantville.

1 Date of admission.

1853. — Hitchcock, Joseph Green Stevens, Foxborough,

1862. — Holbrook, Silas Pinckney, West Medway.

1854. — Holmes, Alexander Reed, Canton.

1880. — Jaques, Henry Percy, Milton.

1833. — Jarvis, Edward, Dorchester.

1877. — Kenneally, John Henry, Roxbury.

1877. — Kilby, Henry Sherman, Wrentham.

1848.— King, George, Franklin.

1875. — Kingsbury, Albert Dexter, Needham.

1869. — Mansfield, Henry Tucker, Needham.

1883.— Martin, Francis Coffin, Roxbury.

1846. — Martin, Henry Austin, Roxbury.

1874. — Martin, Stephen Crosby, Roxbury.

1849. — Maynard, .John Parker, Dedham.

1872.— McNulty, Frederick Joseph, Roxbury.

1875. — Mecuen, George Edward, Roxbury.

1872. — Moran, John Brennan, Roxbury.

1870. — Morse, Edward Gilead, Roxbury.

1843. — Morse, Horatio Gilead, Roxbury.

1880. — Mullen, Francis Henry, Dorchester.

1870. — Nichols, Arthur Howard, Roxbury.

1871. — Otis, Robert Mendum, Roslindale.

1878. — Page, Frank Wilfred, Jamaica Plain.

1870. — Perry, Joseph Franklin, Dorchester.

1882. — Pierce, Matthew Vassar, Milton.

1867. — Pratt, Gustavus Percival, Cohasset.

1881.— Prior, Charles Edwin, Holbrook.

1867. — Quincy, Henry Parker, Dedham.

1877. — Read, George Mumford, Dorchester,

1856. — Richardson, John Henry, Medfield.

1858. — Robinson, Albert Brown, Roxbury.

1873. — Rogers, Orville Forrest, Dorchester,

1873. — Sabine, George Krans, Brookline.

1854. — Seaverns, Joel, Roxbury.

1881. — Sherman, AVarren Hobart, Quincy.

1852. — Shurtleff, Augustine, Brookline.

1863. — Skinner, Edward Manning, Jamaica Plain.

1871. — Smithwick, John, Sharon.

1855. — Stedman, Charles Ellery, Dorchester,

1864. — Stedman, Joseph, Jamaica Plain.

1861.— Stone, Silas Emlyn, Walpole.

1847. — Streeter, Joseph Herman, Roxbury.

1882.- Thurlow, John Howard, Roxbury.

1872. — Tinloham, Granville Wilson, AVeymouth.

1862.— Tower, Charles Carroll, South AA^eymouth.

1877. — Towle, Henry Charles, Dorchester.

1877. — Townshend, George Drew, Roxbury.

1868. — Trull, AVashington Benson, Brookline.

1876. — A''an Slyck, David Bernard, Brookline.

1872. — Vogel, Frederick William, Roxbury.

1854. — AValdock, James, Roxbury.

1838.- — AVales, Bradford Leonard, Randolph.

1880.— AVelch, John Frederick, Quincy.

1874. — Wescott, AVilliam Henry, Dorchester.

1880.— AVest, Edward GraefF, Roxbury.

1882.— White, Herbert AVarren, Roxbury.

1878.— AVells, Frank, Brookline.

1872.— AVilliams, Edward Tufts, Roxbury.

1831. — AVing, Benjamin Franklin, Jamaica Plain.

1874.— AVing, Clifton Ellis, Jamaica Plain.

1876. — Wingate, Uranus Owen Brackett, AA''ellesley.

1867. — AVinkler, Joseph Alexander, Jamaica Plain.

1880. — AVithington, Charles Francis, Roxbury.

1882. — AVood, Henry Austin, Roxbury.

1875. — Yale, Joseph Cummings, Franklin.

1874. — Young, Charles Sayward, Stoughton.

DEDHAM.

CHAPTER III.

DEDHAM.

BY ERASTUS WORTHINGTON.l

The Settlement — The Town Covenant — Names of the Signers —
Organization of Town Government — Character of Settlers —
Formation of the Church — The Kev. John Allin — Division
of Lands — Burial-Ground — Training-Ground — Description of
the Village in 1664.

On the third day of September, 1635, at the Gen-
eral Court held at Newtowne, afterwards Cambridge,
it was thus ordered :

" There shall be a plantation settled about two
miles above the falls of Charles River, on the north-
east side thereof, to have ground lying to it on both
sides the river, both upland and meadow, to be laid
out hereafter as the court shall appoint."

The falls of Charles River here referred to, are the
falls at Newton, and although the distance above the
falls is understated in the record, yet the place desig-
nated can be none other than that now occupied by
the village of Dedham. This order was the fiat which
proclaimed the existence of the settlement of Dedham,
and the record therefore properly stands at the begin-
ning of its written history. It marks with certainty
the time when the settlement had been definitely de-
termined upon. Before this time, however, as the
record clearly implies, the lands described, to some
extent, must have been explored, and settlers were
ready to undertake the new plantation. The settle-
ment at Watertown, begun in 1630, had already be-
come alarmed at the rapid increase of its inhabitants.
The tide of emigration had then set strongly to the
shores of Massachusetts Bay, and a new settlement
had to be provided. In the preceding spring the
General Court had given leave to the inhabitants of
Watertown to remove themselves to any place they

^ In writing the following history of Dedham, I have taken
the materials largely from my father's " History of Dedham,"
published in 1S27 ; from the Centennial address of Samuel F.
Haven, in 1836 ; from the historical discourses of the Rev. Dr.
Lamson, and the other historical discourses by the pastors of
other churches. The care and accuracy with which these were
prepared render them authentic sources of history, and they
have left little for the gleaner in the history of the first two
centuries. I have also availed myself of the researches of others
upon certain special subjects; but with these exceptions, I have
sought original sources for historical facts. I only regret that
in the limited time given for the preparation of this history,
there has been no opportunity for giving citations of authorities,
or for that careful revision of the text which every historical
work should receive. — E. W.

Dedham, Feb. 1, 1884.

should make choice of, provided they should continue
under the government. The student of the early
records of the colonial towns, and especially those of
Watertown, will be surprised and interested to find
how soon after the arrival of Winthrop, the insuflS-
ciency of land became an urgent and impelling reason
for the advance of civilization into the interior. It
is easy to imagine how eagerly the pioneers, in the
search for an eligible location, ascended the river above
the lands already granted to the Newtowne proprietors,
lying above Watertown, to the broad meadows and
wide plateau of the future town of Dedham. To the
eye of the early settler, it must be remembered,
meadows had an especial value, since they would fur-
nish both water . and forage for his cattle before the
uplands could be cleared.

The removal from Watertown was gradually ef-
fected, and it is probable that the year 1635-36 was
mainly spent in preparation for occupying the new
settlement. The fact, however, that in the register
of births and deaths in Dedham are recorded the
births of two children in June and July of 1635,
would seem suflBcient to prove that the plantation
was actually begun in that year. It is said that there
were twelve of these pioneers who first planted their
rude houses upon the plains of Dedham. Although
the names of all these cannot now be ascertained, yet
among those who were here as early as 1635 were
doubtless Edward Alleyne, Philemon Dalton, Samuel
Morse, John Dwight, Lambert Genere, Richard
Evered, and Ralph Shepherd. Capt. Thomas Cake-
bread was the military man of the company, but he
never came as a settler. Mr. Robert Feake was a
prominent man at Watertown, and although his name
was first subscribed to the covenant, and he had an
allotment of land, he never removed here. Possibly
Abraham Shaw was one of the number, as his house
and goods at Watertown were burned about this
time.

On the eighth day of September, 1636, upon the
petition of nineteen settlers for a confirmation of the
grant of the previous year, and to distinguish the
town by the name of Contentment, the General Court
ordered " that the plantation to be settled above the
falls of Charles River shall have three years immu-
nity from public charges, and the name of the plan-
tation to be Dedham ; to enjoy all that land on the
southerly and easterly side of Charles River not for-
merly granted to any town or particular persons, and
also to have five miles square on the other side of the
river."

This is to be considered as the act incorporating
' the town, as it conferred the name by which it has

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

always been known. No definite reason can be as-
signed for the change made in the name selected by
the petitioners ; but it has been suggested that John
Dwight, John Rogers, and John Page were emigrants
from Dedhara, in Suffolk, England, which may satis-
factorily account for it.

The territory included in this grant to the Dedham
proprietors was magnificent in its extent and some-
what indefinite in its boundaries. On the southerly
and easterly side of the river, it included the present
town of Dedham, with the portions that have been
annexed to West Roxbury and Hyde Park, the
towns of Norwood, Dover, a portion of Natick, Med-
field, Walpole, Norfolk, Franklin, Wrentham, and
the greater portion of Bellingham. On the northerly
and westerly side of the river the grant of five miles
square included Dedham Island, then a neck of land,
Needham, Wellesley, the greater portion of Natick,
three thousand four hundred acres in the town *of
Sherborn, and the town of Medway. Besides, three
hundred acres had been purchased near the Roxbury
line, by the proprietors, of Philemon Dalton, John
Dwight, and Lambert Genere, who had bought of
Samuel Dudley.

The easterly boundary of the territory then was not
Neponset River, owing to grants to Israel Stoughton
and others which intervened, but a century after,
Neponset River became the boundary-line between
Stoughton and Dedham. It required many commit-
tees and much negotiation subsequently to define the
boundaries between Dedham and Roxbury and Dor-
chester.

This grant of the General Court in confirmation
and enlargement of the grant of a plantation made
in 1635 was made to the nineteen persons who were
petitioners. They were the sole owners of the land
until they should admit new associates. The names
of these petitioners and proprietors were

Edward Alleyne,
Abraham Shaw,
Samuel Morse,
Philemon Dalton,
Ezckiel Holliman,
John Kingsbury,
John Dwight,
John Coolidge,
llichard Evered,
John Howard,

Lambert Oenere,
Nicholas Phillips,
lialph Shepherd,
John Gayc,
Thomas Bartlett,
Francis Austen,
John Rogers,
Joseph Shaw,
William Bearestow.

While it is true that the nineteen men whose
names are signed to the petition should be regarded
as the nominal founders of the town, yet only a few
of them were long identified with the plantation or
had any permanent influence upon its future growth.

Edward Alleyne, who had come from Watertown the
preceding year, was doubtless the principal man of
the company. That he was a man of education, the
records of the first two years, made by him, are ample
evidence, and the covenant drawn by him shows that
he was a man of excellent capacity. He afterwards
obtained a grant of three hundred acres of land for a
settlement at Bogastow (East Medway), but he died
suddenly while attending the General Court in 1642,
without having begun his new plantation. Abraham
Shaw, having obtained leave to erect a corn-mill on
Charles River, died in 1638, without beginning his
enterprise, and Joseph Shaw, his son, removed to
Weymouth. Ezekiel Holliman remained only a short
time, and then removed to Salem, and became an
adherent of Roger Williams. He subsequently went
to Rhode Island, and, it is said, baptized Roger Wil-
liams at Providence. Philemon Dalton removed to
Ipswich, Ralph Shepherd and Nicholas Phillips to
Weymouth, William Bearestow to Scituate after a
few years, and Francis Austen to Hampton. John
Coolidge, Thomas Bartlett, and John Rogers prob-
ably never removed from Watertown. Of those who
remained here as permanent settlers were Lambert
Genere, John Gay, John Kingsbury, and John How-
ard. Richard Evered was the progenitor of the
Dedham family bearing the name of Everett. John
Dwight was for sixteen years a selectman, and died
here in 1661. It was from him that Dwight's Brook
took its name, and his house, which stood near the
brook, on High Street, near the easterly abutment of
the railroad bridge, was not removed until the con-
struction of the railroad in 1849.

The settlement was now in the period of its "non-
age," as it was aptly termed in the petition. Its
affairs were guided and directed at first by those who
had not yet removed from Watertown. But in the
winter of 1636-37 there were some who had begun
to live permanently in their new habitations. Of the
motives and character of the settlers we have clear
and indubitable assurance in the covenant which was
drawn up before the act of incorporation. Its sim-
plicity and brevity are admirable, while the spirit
which pervades it shows that their earnest desire and
prominent motive were for a loving and comfortable
society.

"THE COVENANT.

" 1 . We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, do, in the fear
and reverence of Almighty God, mutually and severally promise
amongst ourselves and each to other to profess and practise
one truth according to that most perfect rule the foundation
whereof is everlasting love.

"2. That we shall by all means labor to keep off from us all
such as are contrary-minded, and receive only such unto us as

DEDHAM.

be such as may be probably of one heart with us, as that we
either know or may well and truly be informed to walk in
peaceable conversation, with all meekness of spirit, for the edi-
fication of each other, in the knowledge and faith of the Lord
Jesus, and the mutual encouragement unto all temporal com-
forts in all things, seeking the good of each other out of all
which may be derived true peace.

* 3. That if at any time difference shall arise between par-
ties of our said town, that then such party and parties shall
presently refer all such difference unto some two or three others
of our said society, to be fully accorded and determined without
any further delay, if it possibly may be.

"4. That every man that now or at any time hereafter shall
have lots In our said town shall pay his share in all such rates
of money and charges as shall be imposed upon him rateably
in proportion with other men, as also become freely subject
unto all such orders and constitutions as shall be necessarily had
or made, now or at any time hereafter, from this day forward,
as well for loving and comfortable society in our said town, as
also for the prosperous and thriving condition of our said fel-
lowship, especially respecting the fear of God, in which we
desire to begin and continue whatsoever we shall by his loving
favor take in hand.

"5. And for the better manifestation of our true resolution
herein, every man so received to subscribe hereunto his name,
thereby obliging both himself and his successors after him for
ever, as we have done.

" Names subscribed to the covenant as followeth."

There is no date to this covenant to show when it
was drawn up, but it must have been before the act
of incorporation, for the petitioners state that they
were at present under covenant. One hundred and
twenty-five names are subscribed to this covenant,
but it will be found upon examination that the list
contains the names of some who were mere children
when they came with their parents, and also of others
who came years after the beginning of the settlement.
In the fifth clause of the instrument the intention is
clearly expressed that it should be signed by every
man received into the society, both himself and his
successors after him for ever.

In order that these names may be conveniently
referred to, and that what is known concerning them
may be given in a condensed form, the list has been
prepared, with such additions as are furnished from
authentic sources :

Robert Feake, Watertown. Freeman May 18, 1631 ; he never
removed to Dedham, although he had an allotment of land.

Edward Alhyne, Watertown. Freeman March 13, 1638;
representative four years, 1639-42; died suddenly while at-
tending General Court, Sept. 8, 1642.

Samuel Morse, Watertown. Came in the "Increase" from
London in 1635 ; freeman Oct. 8, 1640 ; died June 20, 1654.

Philemon Ballon, Watertown. A linen-weaver; came in the
'•Increase" in 1635; removed to Dedham in 1637, and from
thence to Hampton or Ipswich in 1640 ; freeman March 3, 1636;
died June 4, 1662.

John Ihcvjht, Watertown. Removed in 1635 to Dedham;
freeman March 13, 1638; died .Jan. 24, 1661.

Lambert Genere, AVatertown. Removed to Dedham in 1636;
freeman May, 1645; died June 30, 1674.
3

Richard Evered, Watertown. Removed to Dedham in 1636 ;
freeman May 6, 1646; died July .3, 1682.

Ralph Shepherd, Watertown. Came in the " Abigail" in
1635, and removed to Dedham the same year, and afterwards to
Weymouth, where he died.

John Hnggin, Watertown. He never lived in Dedham, but
was afterwards at Hampton.

Mr. Ralph Wheelock, Watertown. Educated at Clare Hall,
Cambridge University, England, where he took his degree in
1626 and 1631; he came to Dedham in 1638; freeman March
1.3, 1638; died Jan. II, 1684, at Medfield.

Thomas Cakehread, Watertown. He never removed to Ded-
ham, but had an allotment of land; freeman May 14, 1634;
died at Sudbury Jan. 4, 1643.

Henry Phillips. Freeman March 1.3, 1638; member of ar-
tillery company, 1640; ensign of militia companj', 1648; he
removed to Boston ; he was a butcher bj' trade.

Mr. Timothy Dalton. He was an elder brother of Philemon
Dalton ; freeman Sept. 7, 1637 ; educated at St. John's College,
Cambridge, England, where he took his degree in 1613; he had
been in ofiBce in England, and was called to be teacher in the
church at Hampton.

. Mr. Thomas Carter came in the "Planter" in 1635 to Water-
town. Educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, where he
took his degree, 1629-33; he was called to the church at Wo-
burn.

Abraham Shaiv, Watertown. His house and goods were
burned at Watertown in 1636, and he removed to Dedham;
freeman March 9, 1637, and died in 1638.

John Coulidye, Watertown. Freeman May 25, 1636; he
never removed to Dedham, but had an allotment of land.

Nicholas Philli2)s, Watertown. Freeman May 13, 1640; he
was a brother of Henry Phillips; removed to Weymouth late
in life, and died September, 1672.

John Gaye, Watertown. Freeman May 6, 1635; removed to
Dedham ; died March 4, 1688.

John Kinijsbiiry, AVatertown. Freeman March 3, 1636, and
removed the same year to Dedham; he was a representative in
1647; he died in 1659.

John Rogers, Watertown, 1636. He probably never removed
to Dedham, but had an allotment of land.

Francis Austin. He was here but a short time, but removed
to Hampton according to Savage; the note in Haven's Centen-
nial address respecting him is doubtless an error, as will be seen
by the reference to Winthrop's History there cited.

Ezekiel Holliman. Had an allotment of land in Dedham, but
remained only a j'ear or two; he removed to Salem, and^ence
to Providence, R. I.

John i>a/cAc/or, AVatertown. Freeman May 16,1635; he re-
moved to Hampton.

Nathaniel Coaleborne. Freeman June 2, 1641 ; died May 14,
1691.

John Roper. Freeman June 2, 1641: he had an allotment
of land in Dedham ; he had one son in Capt. Lothrop's com-
pany killed by Indians at Bloody Brook, Sept. 18, 1675, and
another who was in Capt. Turner's company' in King Phillip's
war, and whose wife was killed by Indians.

Martin Phillips. He was in Medfield in 1664.

Henry Smyth. Freeman May 13, 1640; he came from New
Buckenham, Norfolk, in England; he had an allotment of land,
and lived in that part of Dedham which became Medfield.

John Fray rye. Freeman March 13, 1638 ; he was one of the
founders of the Dedham Church, and lived in that part of Ded-
ham which became Medfield.

Thomas Hastings, Watertown. He probably never removed
to Dedham.

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Francis Chickering. Freeman in 1640; came in 1637 from
the north part of Suffolk, England; member of artillery com-
pany in 1613; ensign and representalive in 1614 and 1653.

Thomas Alcock. Freeman 1635 ; came in the fleet with Win-
throp; he lived in Dedham till 1646, and afterwards removed
to Boston.

Willinm Bnltard. Freeman May 13, 1640; he lived and
died in Dedham in 1687.

Jonas Humphrey. He was a tanner and lived in Dorchester.

Edioard A'eiiipe. Freeman March 13, 1638; he probably re-
moved to Wcnham, and afterwards to Chelmsford.

John HiiiitiiHj. Freeman March 13, 1638; one of the founders
of the Dedham Church, and the first ruling elder; he died
April 12, 1689.

Timothy Dicight. Freeman June 2, 1641; he was a brother
of John D wight; representative for Medfield, 1652, where he
died in 1677.

Henry Denguyne, Watertown. He was a physician, and never
came to Dedham.

Henry Brock. He came in 1642, and died in 1652.

James Herring. Freeman in 1654; he came in 1642.

Nathan Aldis. Freeman in 1640 ; joined the Dedham Church
in 1640 ; one of the first deacons ; he died March 15, 1676.

Edivard Richards. Freeman June 16, 1641; he married a
sister of John Hunting.

Michael Poicell. Freeman June 2, 1641 ; he came in 1639 ;
representative in 1641 ; he kept an ordinary in Dedham; re-
moved to Boston in 1646, and was one of the original members
of the Second Church there in 1650, and was called to act as
teacher, but was not approved by the court.

John Elderkin. He came from Lynn in 1641 ; he removed
to Reading in 1646, and thence to New London, Conn., and died
June 23, 1687.

Michael Bacon. He came from Ireland in 1640; his de-
scendants removed from Dedham.

Robert Onion. Freeman in 1646 ; came in the " Blessing" to
Roxbury at the age of twenty-six, and removed to Dedham.

Samuel Mills. He came in 1642, and lived and died in Ded-
ham.

Edward Culver. He came in 1640.

Josfph Shaw. Freeman May 22, 1 639 ; he was a son of Abra-
ham Shaw, and removed to AVeymouth soon after his father's
decease, in 1638.

William Bearstowe. He cauie in the " Truelove"' in 1635;
he was one of the petitioners for incorporation of the town, and
afterwards removed to Scituate.

John Howard. Freeman May 14, 1634; he died in 1660.

Thomas Bartleti, Watertown. He never removed to Ded-
ham.

Ferdinando Adams. Freeman May 13, 1640; he had an
allotment of land, and was called a shoemaker; in August^
1651, he had leave to go to England, and afterwards went to
St. Catherine's and sold his allotment to John Frayrye, Oct. 10,
1652.

Daniel Morse, Watertown. Freeman May 6, 1635 ; he was a
son of Samuel Morse; he removed to Dedham, and afterwards
to Medfield; he died in Sherborn in 1688.

Jusr2)h Morne, AVatertown. Freeman May 6, 1635; son of
Samuel Morse; removed to Dedham; he died June 20, 1654.

John Ellice. Freeman 1641 ; he lived in Medfield, where he
died April 2, 1697.

Jonathan Fayerhanke. He came from Yorkshire, England,
with six children, before 1641; his name does not appear in the
list of freemen ; he died Dec. 5, 1668.

John /7a(on, Watertown. Freeman May 25, 1636; removed
to Dedham; died Nov. 17, 1638.

Michael Metcalfe. Freeman May 13, 1640 ; he was born in
1586, at Tatterford, in Norfolk, England, and was a dornock
weaver at Norwich; he arrived, with his wife and nine chil-
dren and a servant, about midsummer in 1637; he was admitted
as a townsman July 14, 1637 ; joined the church in 1639, and
was selectman in 1641 ; his name stands first on the committee
chosen to "contrive the fabrick of a meeting-house;" he died
Dec. 27, 1664.

.John Morse. Freeman May 13, 1640; he was probably a son
of Samuel Morse.

Mr. John Allin. Came over in 1637; freeman March !:'>,
1638 ; ordained as pastor or teacher of the church April 24, 1639,
and continued in that office until his death, Aug. 26, 1671.

Anthony Fisher. Freeman May 3, 1645 ; born at Sylehain,
near Eye, in Suffolk, Eng and, on the border of Norfolk; he
came to Dedham in 1637; in his will he is called late of Dor-
chester: he died Feb. 13, 1670.

Thomas Wight. He came from the Isle of Wight to Dedham
in 1637; he was of the Medfield incorporation in 1652, and
died March 17, 1674.

Eleazer Lusher. Freeman March 13, 1638 ; he came to Ded-
ham in 1637, and was one of the founders of the church; also
one of the founders of the artillery company ; representative
in 1640 and for many years after; assistant in 1662 and to the
time of his death; captain in 1644, and major of the regiment
afterwards; he was town clerk twenty-three years and select-
man twenty-nine years; he died Nov. 13, 1673.

Robert Hinsdale. Freeman March 13, 1638; one of the
founders of the church Nov. 8, 1638; member of the artillery
company in 1645 ; removed to Medfield, where he aided in
founding the church ; and thence to Hadley, where he resided
for several years, and afterwards to Deerfield, "and there was
gathering his harvest in the corn-fields when he was killed, with
his three sons, when Capt. Lothrop, with the flower of Essex,
fell at Bloody Brook." (Savage's Genealogical Diet.)

John Luson. Freeman March 13, 1638 ; he came to Dedham
in 1637, and was one of the founders of the Dedham Church;
he died in May, 1661.

John Fisher. It is impossible to identify him; his place in
the order of names indicates that he came with John Luson
and Thomas Fisher, and may have been a brother of the latter.

Thomas Fisher. Freeman March 4, 1634, and came to Ded-
ham in 1637; he was in Cambridge in 1634.

Joseph Kingsbury. Freeman 1641.

George Bearstotce. He came from London in the " Truelove"
in 1635; had an allotment of land in 1636, but probably did
not come until 1642; member of the artillery company; he
afterwards removed to Scituate; he was a brother of William
Bearstowe ; the family name is properly written Barstow.

John /lullard. Freeman May 13, 1640; came in 1638, and
was either the eldest son or a brother of William Bullard.

Thomas Leader. He came to Dedham in 1640; removed to
Boston in 1647, where he died Oct. 28, 1663.

Joseph Moyes. Nothing is known of him except that he re-
moved to Salisbury, where his wife died in 1655.

Jeffrey Mingeye. Freeman May 13, 1640, and afterwards
removed to Hampton.

James Allin. Freeman in 1647; came to Dedham in 1639;
he was a cousin of Rev. John Allin, and received a legacy in
his will; he was received into the Medfield Church, Oct. 2,
1646, and died Sept. 27, 1676.

Richard Barber. Freeman May 13, 1640; died June 18,
1644 ; he gave his small estate, by his will, to the poor.

Thomas Jordan. He was probably of Dorchester, and never
lived here; his daughter Hannah was probably married to
Isaac Bullard.

DEDHAM.

Joshua Fisher. Freeman May 2, 1649 ; he lived in that part
of Dedham which became Medfield; representative in 1653,
and six years more, and died in 1674; he was a deacon of the
church.

Christoj^Jier Smith. He married Mary, daughter of Jona-
than Faj'erbanke, but there is no evidence that he ever lived
in Dedham.

.John Thurston. Freeman May 10, 1643; he came from
Wrentham, in Suffolk, England, a carpenter, in the " Mary
Ann," of Yarmouth, in 1637; his estate was partly in Medfield,
set off in 1651.

Joseph Clarke. He came probably from Dorchester to Ded-
ham, and removed to Medfield.

Thomas Eames. He was in Dedham in 1642; he afterwards
lived in Cambridge, Sudburj-, and Sherborn ; on Feb. 1, 1676,
he suffered by the Indians, who burned his buildings, killed
his wife and some of his children, and carried awa3' others
captive.

Peter Woodward. Freeman Ma}' 18. 1642; he was repre-
sentative in 1665, 1669, 1670; he died May 9, 1685.

Thwaits Strickland. He came to Dedham in 1643; he re-
moved to the Narragansett Country.

John Guild. Freeman May 10, 1643 ; admitted to the church
July 17, 1640 ; he died Oct. 4, 1682 : he had lands in Wrentham
and Medfield; he was the progenitor of the numerous family
of the name in Dedham.

Samuel Bulleyue. Freeman June 2, 1641 ; he was deacon of
the church, and died Jan. 16, 1692.

Robert Goicen. Freeman 1644.

Hugh Siaceij. Came in the " Fortune" to Plymouth in
1621 ; he afterwards removed to Dedham, where his wife and
daughters were admitted to the church in 1640; he removed
soon after to Lynn or Salem, or maj- have returned to Eng-
land.

George Barber. He came in 1643; member ot the artillery
company in 1646; freeman May 16, 1647; he removed to Med-
field; was representative in 1668-69, and the chief militia
officer.

James Jordan. He was the father of Thomas Jordan; he
died in April or May, 1655, and in his will speaks of his age
and infirmity.

Nathaniel Whiting. Freeman May 18, 1642; he came to
Dedham in 1641 ; he married Hannah, eldest daughter of .John
Dwight; he is said to have lived in that jiart of Dedham
which became Medfield.

Benjamin Smith. Freeman June 2, 1641.

Richard Elllce. He married a daughter of Lambert Genere,
but his name does not appear upon the list of freemen.

Austen Kilham. Freeman June 2, 1641; he came from
Salem; removed to Wenham, and afterwards to Chelmsford.

Robert Ware. Freeman May 26, 1647: he came in 1643;
member of the artillery company in 1644; he married Marga-
ret, daughter of .John Hunting; his daughter married Rev.
Samuel Mann, of Wrentham, and his son, Robert Ware, was
one of the settlers of Wrentham.

Thomas Bayes. He is not on the list of freemen, and re-
moved to Boston.

John Fayerbanke. He was probably the eldest son of Jona-
than Fairbanks, who died Nov. 13, 1684.

Henry Glover. He died in Medfield, July 21, 1653.

Thomas Herring. Came to Dedham in 1642.

John Plympton. Freeman probably May 10, 1643; he came
from Roxbury to Dedham in 1642; he renioved to Deerfieldand
was sergeant; his son Jonathan was killed by the Indians, Sept.
18, 1675, at Bloody Brook, and two years after he was taken
captive himself by the Indians and carried towards Canada, and,

according to tradition, burned at the stake ; two of his sons,
Joseph and John, settled in Medfield.

George Fayerbanke. He was the second son of Jonathan
Fayerbanke, and removed to Medfield, and afterwards to Sher-
born ; he was not on the list of freemen ; he died Jan. 10, 1683.

Timothy Dwight. He was the son of John Dwight, and came
to Dedham with his father in 1635, when about five years of
age; freeman in 1655; representative in 1678 and 1691, and
perhaps later; town clerk ten years; selectman twenty-four
years; he died Jan. 31, 1718.

Andrew Dewing. Freeman in 1646; member of artillery
company in 1644.

Joseph Ellice. Freeman in 1663.

Ralph Freeman.

.John Rice.

Daniel Pond. Freeman in 1690; he died in February, 1698 ;
his sons, Ephraim and John, settled in Wrentham.

John Houghton. He probably came in the " Abigail" from
London when quite young ; he removed to Lancaster about 1652.

.Jonathan Fayerbanke, Jr. He was the youngest son of Jon-
athan Fayerbanke, and came with his father when a child;
freeman in 1690.

James rn/c« (properly Fales). Freeman in 1673; he lived
in that part of Dedham wl.ich became Medfield.

Thomas Metcalf. Freeman in 1653 ; youngest son of Michael
Metcalf; deacon of the church; representative in 1691; died
Nov. 16, 1702.

Thomas Fuller. Freeman in 1672; he came in 1643; en-
sign; representative in 1672, 1679, and 1686; died Sept. 28,
1690.

Thomas Payne. Freeman June 2, 1641; died Aug. 3, 1686.

Robert Grossman. He probably was of Taunton; his son
Nathaniel was killed by the Indians at AVrenlham, March 8,
1676.

William Avery. Freeman in 1677; a physician and apothe-
carj- ; member of the artillery company in 1654; lieutenant of
town's company in 1673; representative for Springfield in 1669;
died at Boston, March 18, 1687, aged about sixty-five years ; he
made a donation of sixty pounds to the town for a Latin school
in 1680.

John Aldia. He was a son of Nathan Aldis; deacon of the
church, and died Dec. 21, 1700.

John Mason. He was a son of Robert Mason, who removed
from Roxbury to Dedham, where he died Oct. 15, 1667; he
married a daughter of John Eaton, May 5, 1651.

Isaac Bullard. He was a son of William Bullard, and came
with his father when a child ; he died in 1676.

Cornelius Fisher. Freeman May 2, 1649; he was a son of
Anthony Fisher; he lived in that part of Dedham which be-
came Wrentham; representative under the new charter in
1692, and died Jan. 2, 1699.

John- Partridge. He was of Medfield.

James Draper. Freeman in 1690; he came to Dedham in
1683, having formerly lived in Lancaster and Roxbury; he
died July 13, 1697, aged seventy-three years.

James Thorpe. Freeman in 1690.

Samuel Fisher. He was of Wrentham, where he was deacon
of the church; representative in 1689, and died Jan. 5, 1703.

Benjamin Bullard. He lived in that part of Dedham which
became Medfield, and afterwards at Sherborn.

Ellice Wood. He married the widow of John Smith, of
Dedham, who was the schoolmistress for many years; he re-
moved to Dorchester, where he died Oct. 19, 1706, aged seventy-
three years.

Thomas Fisher. Freeman in 1678; he was a son of Thomas
Fisher, who removed to Dedham from Cambridge.

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

The covenant may be considered as the constitution
embodying the general principles and purposes of the
company. But in the work of organizing their gov-
ernment they also displayed that remarkable capacity
which characterized the Puritan colonists, and in se-
curing the titles to their lands and providing for the
common weal, they adopted laws and regulations
similar to those under which they and their ancestors
had lived for centuries.

The inhabitants having acquired the right to make
laws, exercised it for three years in their aggregate
capacity. But as the affairs of the plantation required
monthly town-meetings, these diverted them from
their necessary business, and in 1639 they delegated
all their power to seven men to be chosen annually.
The powers of these seven men were coextensive in
every respect with those of the town in legal town-
meeting assembled, excepting that they were subse-
quently prohibited from making free grants, from ad-
mitting townsmen, and from making dividends of
lands. The seven men kept records of their doings
and inserted them in the town records, and they are
recorded promiscuously among the doings of all the
proprietors. They met monthly for many years, and
passed many necessary by-laws, for the establishment
of highways and fences ; for the keeping of cattle
and swine and horses ; for keeping a proper register
of land-titles, and of births and marriages ; for the
support of schools and religion ; for additional bounties
for killing wolves and wild-cats, and for the extinguish-
ment of Indian claims.

The proprietors were extremely anxious lest any
un6t persons should gain admittance to their society,
and by an ordinance it was declared that every man
should give information of what he knew concerning
any man coming into the town, before he should " be
admitted into the society of such as seek peace and
ensue it," No person in covenant should bring his
servant with him, and thereby entitle the servant to a
lot of land, without bringing testimony of a good
character before he should be permitted to reside here.
Nor could any proprietor sell his lots without leave of
the company. The purpose of these ordinances was
to protect the plantation from such as should be " con-
trary-minded," in the language of the covenant. It is
to be remembered that a leading idea of the colonists
was to build up a homogeneous society, where all
should be of the same religious belief, and from its
fellowship all others were to be excluded.

In the allotment of lands, each married man had a
home-lot of twelve acres, with four acres of swamp-
land, and each unmarried man eight acres, with three
acres of swamp-land. The village was laid out in

lots of similar size, and all having a margin of meadow.

So accurately were these lots defined, that not many
years since a plan showing the lots first granted in
Dedham village was made from the description in the
proprietors' book of grants, and some of the lines
verified by an actual survey. Excepting the home-
lots, all the lands cultivated were inclosed in common
fields. In 1642 the proprietors agreed that two hun-
dred acres south of High Street should be made a
common tillage field, and that each proprietor's share
therein should be marked out by the seven men
chosen for the purpose. This common plough-field
was surrounded by a fence made at the common
charge. The wood-reeves decided the number of
rods of fence to be made by each owner. This field
was to be cleared every year by October 12th, in order
that the cattle might be turned into it. After the
timber was cleared from the home-lots, then the in-
habitants were to obtain leave of the wood-reeves to
cut wood and timber from the common lands. After-
wards woodlands were assigned to the proprietors
according to their services and merit. Besides these
lands there were herd-walks or common feeding lands
for the cattle. These were burned over annually for
many years. By an ordinance of 1637 absence from
town-meeting was punishable by a fine, one shilling
for the first half-hour, and three shillings for the
whole meeting. In 1639 it was required that every
householder should provide a ladder for his house
under a penalty of five shillings. A long ordinance
for the establishment of highways was passed in 1637.
Officers called wood-reeves were chosen annually for
burning over the herd-walks, to give orders for cutting
wood and timber on the common lands, to cause the
ordinance respecting ladders to be observed, to collect
the penalties for trespasses on the common lands, and
to view fences, and cause them to be repaired. One
of the earliest of the ordinances declared that there
should not any waters become appropriated to any par-
ticular man, but should rest for the common benefit of
the whole town for matter of fishing. Another ordi-
nance provides for the discovery of mines in the
town, reports having been made of a copper-mine at
Wronthani, and a bright and shining metal near a
brook in Natick.

Such was the manner in which the settlers organ-
ized their town government. Worthington, in his
History (1827), makes the following just reflections
concerning the circumstances under which they acted :
" Here in the woods at Dedham a number of strangers
met, who had come from various places in England,
and had probably acquired some slight knowledge of
the intentions of each other when they first set out

DEDHAM.

from Watertown to come here. There were then no
general laws in the colony to regulate their various
interests or their common enterprises. It was after
the coming of the first inhabitants to this place that
the General Court delegated powers to the selectmen to
execute according to their best discretion what was
afterwards regulated by general statutes. They had
the common intent of dwelling in the town, and they
formed a civil society out of its first simple elements.
They actually did what theorists have conjectured
might be done in such a case, but of which they could
never exhibit a well-authenticated instance. The
colonial government was given by a charter. It was
the offspring of royalty. The Dcdham Society origi-
nated in a compact, and its laws derived their force
from the consent of the people. It was the begin-
ning- of the American system of government.'"

To some of the men who laid these foundations
allusion has been made. Edward Allcyne died in
1642, and but few of the original nineteen petition-
ers even then remained. In 1637 the company
received important accessions by the admission of
several men of superior character and intelligence.
Among these were Mr. John Aliin, invited, it is said,
to become the teacher in the church, Eleazer Lusher,
Michael Metcalf, Anthony Fisher, and Jonathan
Fairbanks, all of whom remained and identified them-
selves with the town. Of Mr. Allin more will be
said in connection with the account of the gathering
of the church hereafter. But probably Eleazer
Lusher maintains the most eminent position among
the real founders of the town. He was the leading
man all his lifetime, and directed the most important
affairs of the town. He was town clerk for twenty-
three years and selectman for twenty-nine years. The
full and perfect records he kept, the excellent style of
his writings, the peace and success of the plantation
under his guidance show that he was the leader in
the organization of the town. He was a deputy to
the General Court for many years, and an assistant
from 1662 to the time of his death, which occurred
Nov. 13, 1672. He was also prominent in the
colony as well as the town. Johnson, in the '' Won-
der-Working Providence," styles him the " nimble-
footed captain, a man of the right stamp, and full for
the country." In the church records, at the time of
his death, he is spoken of as Maj. Eleazer Lusher, " a
man sound in the faith, of great holiness and heavenly-
mindedness, who was of the first foundation of this
church, and had been of great use, as in the common-
wealth so in the church."

The following couplet was repeated frequently by
the generation which immediately succeeded him :

"When Lusher was in office, all things went well.
But how they go since it shames us to tell."

There were others who came the succeeding year
and afterwards who deserve honorable mention, such
as Ralph Wheelock, a man of excellent education,
who went to Medfield ; Robert Hinsdale, also of Med-
field, and afterwards of Hadley ; Michael Metcalf,
always prominent in the church and town ; William
Bullard and John BuUard, Thomas Fuller, Edward
Richards, and John Guild, names which are still
well known in the town which they founded.

The company in 1638 consisted of about thirty
ft\milies. They at first met for religious worship
under one of the large trees which probably stood on
the east side of Dwight's Brook, near the house of
John D wight. As early as the 1st of February,
1638. a committee was chosen " to contrive the frame
of a meeting-house, to be in length thirty-six feet
and twenty feet in breadth, and between the upper
and nether sill in the sides to be twelve feet." The
pits, or pews, were five feet deep and four and one-
half feet wide. The elders' seat and the deacons'
seat were before the pulpit; the communion table
stood before these seats, and was so placed that the
communicants could approach in all directions. This
house was not finished until 1646. It was subse-
quently enlarged, and finally pulled down in 1672.

The formation of a church was attended with
some delays and difficulties. At first, the settlers
who were members of the Watertown Church re-
quested a dismission, with Mr. Thomas Carter as a
teacher. This request was not complied with. The
people then requested Mr. Allin, with such as he
might see fit to associate with him, to undertake the
formation of a church. He first applied to Mr.
Ralph Wheelock, and they jointly added eight more.
These agreed to go out, each in turn, while his char-
acter and qualifications for church membershipjeere
scanned by the rest, they agreeing to submit to the
judgment of the company, to be taken or left as might
seem fit. The result was that Mr. John Allin, Ralph
Wheelock, John Luson, John Frarye, Eleazer Lusher,
and Robert Hinsdale were accepted. Edward Al-
leyne, at first objected to, was afterwards received.
John Hunting was admitted towards the end of the
summer, making in all eight ready to enter church
communion. They endeavored to secure for teacher
a Mr. John Phillips, a minister of reputation, then
recently from England, and he came, only to spend a
year.

The eighth day of the ninth month (November),
1638, was the day appointed for entering into church
covenant, and, according to the usage of that time,

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

letters were sent to the magistrates and other churches,
giving them notice of their intention and requesting
their countenance and encouragement. The Gov-
ernor informed them that no church should be
gathered without the advice of other churches and
the consent of the magistrates, and afterwards ex-
plained that there was no intent to abridge their
liberties, but if any people of unsound judgment or
erroneous way should privately set up a church, the
commonwealth would not so approve them as to
communicate the freedom and privileges which they
did unto others, or protect them in their government
if they saw their way dangerous to the public peace.

In the letters sent to the churches their presence
and spiritual help was requested, and they were
represented on the day appointed. It was agreed
that the day appointed should be spent in solemn
prayer and fasting. Mr. Wheelock should begin
with prayer, and Mr. Allin should follow, first in
prayer, and then, "by the way of exercising his
gift," should speak to the assembly, and conclude
with prayer. Then each of the eight persons made
a public profession of faith and grace. The elders
and messengers of the other churches and the whole
people were then called upon to state any impedi-
ment to the further proceeding, if any were known
to them. Mr. Mather, teacher of the church in
Dorchester, replied, in the name of the rest, that
they had " nothing to declare from the Lord which
should move them to desist," and gave them some
loving exhortation. The covenant was then publicly
read, to which all assented ; the right hand of fellow-
ship was extended to each of them by the elders, in
token of loving acceptation into communion. This
was the manner of forming the church in Dedham.
The covenant then entered into related to living in
holy fellowship, according to the rule of love in all
holy watchfulness of each other, to mutual helpful-
ness, and for the spiritual and temporal comfort and
good of one another in the Lord.

The church thus gathered was without oflBcers.
Mr. Allin was requested to supply the place of teacher
for a time, with the assistance of Mr. Wheelock, to
see that its aifairs were orderly conducted. During
the following winter ten additional members were
admitted, and the next spring they proceeded to fill
the more important oflBces. Mr. Allin was chosen
into the teaching ofiice, and there was some further
discussion and consultation with the cliurchcs as to
whether he should be appointed as pastor or teacher;
but Mr. Allin, while professing that he was indifferent
as to which office was selected, thought he was better
qualified for that of pastor, and with the assent of the

rest took the title of pastor. Four persons were
named for the office of ruling elder: Ralph Wheelock,
John Hunting, Mr. Thomas Carter, and John Kings-
bury, of Watertown. John Hunting was chosen, and
Mr. Wheelock was much disappointed, as he had been
thought of before Mr. Hunting.

Everything was ready for the ordination, but still
there was considerable agitation as to the nature of
ordination and to whom the right belonged. The
conclusion to which they arrived was that the ordi-
nation was simply a declaration of the election, and
that the same body which could elect, could also of
right ordain. The 24th day of April, 1639, was the
time appointed for the ordination. The elders of the
neighboring churches were present, but took no part
in the services excepting in giving the right hand of
fellowship at the conclusion. Elder Hunting was
first ordained by John Allin, Ralph Wheelock, and
Edward AUeyne, they being deputed for the purpose.
They laid their hands on his head, repeating these
words of ordination : " We, in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ, ordain thee, John Hunting, into the
office of ruling elder in this church of Christ." Then
Elder Hunting, with the other two, laid their hands
upon the head of Mr. Allin, accompanied with prayer,
and in the name of Christ and his church ordained
him "to the office of pastor in the church," "the
whole proceeding on the part of the elder being
marked with gravity, comely order, and with effect-
ual and apt prayer and exhortation to the church."
Mr. Whiting, of Lynn, then gave the right hand of
fellowship, and the assembly was dismissed. On the
Sunday following the ordination, notice was given to
church members to bring their children for baptism,
and to prepare themselves for communion on the
Sunday after.

No deacons were chosen until 1650. There were
some different apprehensions in the church as to the
nature of the office. Finally, June 23, 1650, Henry
Chickering and Nathan Aldis were regularly chosen
to the office, and were ordained the following Sunday.
A year after Mr. Allin's ordination the number of
church members was fifty-three.

The Dedham Church was the fourteenth church of
Christ under the government of Massachusetts Bay.
Johnson says, " They called to the office of pastor
the reverend, humble, and heavenly-minded Mr. John
Allin, a man of very courteous behavior, full of sweet
Christian love towards all, and with much meekness
of spirit contending earnestly for the faith and peace
of Christ's churches." Cotton Mather, in his life of
Allin, says, " He was none of those low-built, thatched
cottages that are apt to catch fire, but, like a light-

DEDHAM.

built castle or palace, free from the combustions of
passion."

The Rev. John AUin probably came from Wren-
tham, county of Suffolk, England, and was born in
1596. He was graduated at Cambridge University,
and was a preacher in England, though it is uncertain
whether he was ever " in orders in the Church of
England." He came to Dedham in 1637, and his
influence in both the civil and religious aifiiirs of the
town was very great from the beginning. For this
work he was admirably fitted by temperament and
education. When some dispute arose in the colony
respecting its relations to the English government,
and the question was referred to the ruling elders for
advice, Mr. Allin was chosen to deliver their opinion.
A discourse delivered by him before the Synod at
Cambridge in 1648, which framed the well-known
platform, received a warm eulogium from Governor
Winthrop. He also, with Mr. Shepherd, of Cambridge,
was the author of a '' Defence of the Nine Questions
or Positions," being a reply to some charges by Eng-
lish divines that their brethren on this side had em-
braced opinions at variance with those professed
before embarkation. But he was from disposition
averse to controversy. His brethren and townsmen
were much attached to him. The church continued
in great harmony during his life. He received lib-
eral grants of land from the Dedham proprietors and
two hundred acres from the General Court at Bogas-
tow in 1643. He took an interest in the labors of
John Eliot among the Indians. He was a man of
learning, had a vigorous mind, and in the discharge
of his pastoral duties was faithful and assiduous.
Cotton Mather writes his epitaph thus :

" Vir sincerus, aiuans pacis, patiens que laborum
Perspicuus, simplex doctrinae, purus amator,"

Mr. Allin married, for his second wife, the widow
of Governor Thomas Dudley, Nov. 8, 1653. He
died Aug. 26, 1671. After his death his people
published two of the last sermons he preached,
" writing their preface with tears," according to
Mather. They also built a tomb or monument over
his grave, with an inscription cut thereon with the
date of his death. Elder Hunting died April 12,
1689, and the office of ruling elder was never again
filled.

During Mr. Allin's ministry of thirty-two years
the records do not show any rates for his support.
He depended upon voluntary contributions and the
grants of land from the proprietors. All his succes-
sors had salaries voted them by the town, although
the salary was paid by the people.

When the proprietors divided their common lands,
in 1656, eight shares were devoted to the support of
the teaching church-officer. The shares drew divi-
dends wherever they were made, of the common lands?
and remained unsold until after the Revolution. Since
that time some of these lands have been sold, and the
proceeds are the funds now belonging to the first
church in Dedham.

In 1644 the inhabitants declared their intention to
devote some portion of their lands to the support of
schools, and granted lands to trustees for raising a
fund of the annual income of twenty pounds for the
salary of a schoolmaster. The town raised this sum
before the lands became productive. In 1680, Dr.
William Avery, formerly of the Dedham Church,
gave sixty pounds for a Latin school to be ordered
by the selectmen and elders. This fund was for
many years in the hands of trustees, but was finally
lost by being wrongfully appropriated, or discredited
by the operations of bills of credit. In 1695 three
hundred acres of good land in Dedham were granted
as a school-farm to support schools. This farm was
sold by order of the town to defray its ordinary ex-
penses. Thirty years after, the town instructed a
committee to recover this farm, and voted a larger
sum to carry on the law-suit than the compensation
received for it. This was the work of the second
and third generations. The first school-house was
built in 1648, and the master's salary twenty pounds
at first, and afterwards twenty-five pounds.

In 1638, land was " set out for the use of a public
burial-place for the town forever" from the lands of
Nicholas Phillips and Joseph Kingsbury, who were
compensated by the allowance of other land. Prob-
ably it had been used for burials before. This reser-
vation, although its contents are not given, refers to
the ancient burial-place in Dedham village, with its
present boundaries, except the additions made in 1860.
A way to it leading from High Street was established
in 1664.

In 1638 an acre of ground, upon which the meet-
ing-houses have always stood, was obtained of Joseph
Kingsbury for the purpose of erecting a meeting-
house upon it. In 1641, John Phillips sold to the
church three acres, being another part of the same
lot sold to him by Kingsbury, having the burial-
ground on the south. In the same year Joseph
Kingsbury granted to the church three acres lying
between the parcel last named and the meeting-house
acre. In this way the church acquired its title to
lands in Dedham village.

The "training-ground," a portion of which has
since been known as the '• Great Common," was ap-

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

propriated by the proprietors in 1644: for tlie use of
the military company. This grant was confirmed in
1648, with the provision annexed, that the trained
company should not appropriate it to any other use
than the public exercise of the company, without the
consent of the selectmen, nor should the selectmen
have power to dispose of any parcel thereof without
the consent of the trained company. In 1677 one
acre was granted to Amos Fisher in fee, and other
persons have been permitted to improve portions of
the ground. An almshouse was built in the westerly
portion in 1773, and in 1836 this building and land
belonging to it was sold by order of the town. In
the alienation of both parcels it is stated that the
consent of the parties interested was first obtained.
A highway laid out through it in 1826 completed all
that remained to be done, to destroy its symmetry and
its usefulness for any purpose.

A law of the colony forbade the settlers to build
their houses above half a mile from the meeting-
house, and this law was enforced for more than fifty
years.. As late as 1682 complaints were made that
this law had been disregarded.

It has been seen that in choosing a place for the
plantation the settlers were careful to provide for
their cattle. In the summer the cows and oxen ftd
on the common lands near home. The herds in-
creased rapidly, and in 1659 there were four hundred
and seventy-two cattle feeding on the common lands.
The horses were turned into the woods, and, though
fettered, broke into the corn-fields. Sheep were not
introduced until a later period, when they were kept
in one flock, and guarded by a shepherd from the
wolves. Swine, with yokes upon their necks, were
allowed to run in the woods. There was a scarcity
of English grass for many years, and in 1649 the wet
season prevented the making of hay upon the mead-
ows, and the inhabitants went to WoUonomopoag to
cut grass. Wheat was raised until about 1700 on
the newly-cleared lands, and flax was cultivated to
some extent.

The village of Dedham in 1664 is thus described
in Worthington's History (1827), and it probably
gives a substantially correct idea of the first collec-
tion of houses built upon the plain near the meeting-
house :

"In 1064 ninet}--five small houses, placed near each other,
were situated within a short distance of the place where the
court-house now stands, the greater part of thcin cast of that
place and around Dwight's Brook. A row of houses stood on
the north side of High Street, as that road was then called,
which extends from the bridge over Dwight's Brook westerly
by the court-house. The total value of these houses was si.\
hundred and ninety-one pounds. Four only of the houses

were valued at twenty pounds each. The greater number were
valued at from three to ten pounds. Most of these houses were
built soon after the first settlement commenced. There were
then very few carpenters, joiners, or masons in the colony.
There was no saw-mill in the settlement for many years. The
only boards which could be procured at first were those which
were sawed by hand. The saw-pits now seen, denote that
boards were sawed in the woods. The necessary materials —
bricks, glass, and nails — were scarcely to be obtained. These
houses, therefore, must have been constructed principally by
farmers and not by mechanics, and were very rude and inconven-
ient. They were probably log houses. Their roofs were covered
with thatch. By an ordinance of the town a ladder was ordered
to extend from the ground to the chimney as a substitute for a
more perfect fire-engine. Around these houses nothing could
be seen but stumps, clumsy fences of poles, and an uneven
and unsubdued soil, such as all the first settlements in New
England presented. The native forest trees were not suitable
shades for a door-yard. A shady tree was not then such an
agreeable object as it now is, because it could form no agreeable
contrast with cleared grounds. Where the meeting-house of
the first parish now stands there stood for more than thirty
years a low building, thirty-six feet long and twenty feet wide
and twelve feet high, with a thatched roof and a large ladder
resting on it. This was the first meeting-house. Near bj' was
the school-house, standing on an area eighteen feet by fourteen
feet, and rising to three stories. The third story, however, was
a watch-house of small dimensions. The watch-house was be-
side the ample stone chimney. The spectator elevated on the
little box, called the watch-house, might view this plain on
which a part of the present village stands, then a common
plough-field, containing about two hundred acres of cleared
land, partially subdued, yet full of stumps and roots. Around
him at a further distance were the herd-walks, as the common
feeding lands were called in the language of that time. . . .
The herd-walks were at first no better cultivated than by cut-
ting down trees and carrying away the wood and timber, and
afterwards, when it was practicable in the spring, by burning
them over under the direction of town ofiicers called wood-
reeves. . . . The meadows were not yet cleared to any extent.
Beyond the herd-walks was a continuous wilderness, which was
becoming more disagreeable to the inhabitants, fur the cattle,
goafs, and swine seem to have allured the wolves to their neigh-
borhood. The dense swamp about Wigwam Pond was not yet
cleared."

After King Philip's war the inhabitants began to
abandon their first habitations, and built houses in
all parts of the town. In sixty or seventy years the
humble village of the first settlers was swept away,
and their places were occupied by a few farmers for
the next hundred years. Some removed to Boston
by reason of King Philip's war. In 1642 the number
of persons taxed was sixty-one, and in 1666 the
number was ninety-five, and in 1675 the number
continued the same.

DEDHAM.

CHAPTER IV.

DEDHAM— (Cojjfuuterf).

Mother Brook, or East Brook— Dedham Island — Long Ditch —
Indian Village at Natick — Pacomtuck, or Deerfield — Bogas-
tow, or Medfield — Wollonomopoag, or Wrentham — Decease
of Leading Men among the First Settlers.

On the twenty fifth day of the first month, March,
1639, it was ordered "that a ditch should be dug
at common charge through upper Charles Eiver
meadow unto East Brook, that it may both be a par-
tition fence in the same, and also may form a suitable
creek unto a water-mill, that it shall be found fitting
to set a mill upon, in the opinion of a workman to be
employed for that purpose." This is the origin of
Mother Brook, or Mill Creek, which starts out of
Charles River about a quarter of a mile north of High
Street, and runs in a direct course through the meadows
and around the highlands, through the easterly vil-
lage of the town to Neponset River. It is estimated
that about one-third of the water of Charles River
flows through this channel, and upon it are five mill-
dams of great value, and at the present day are two
extensive woolen-mills and one cotton-mill, beside the
old saw-mill. East Brook took its rise about one
hundred rods east of Washington Street, where it
crosses the stream. From Charles River to this point
the channel is obviously artificial, and was constructed
under the order of the town in 1639. The plan was
then conceived and carried out, of uniting the waters of
Charles with the waters of East Brook, and afterwards
with those of Neponset River. The execution of a
public work like this in the very infancy of the settle-
ment is striking evidence of the energy and capacity
of the settlers. They then had only small hand grist-
mills, which had been imported by Governor Win-
throp, and their chief design in cutting this canal was to
make a dam, where they might have a grist-mill oper-
ated by water-power. The town at the same meeting
granted liberty to any one to build a water-mill on that
stream who would undertake it. John Eiderkin was
the first to accept this proposal, and grants of land
were made to him accordingly. In 1612 he sold one-
half of his rights to Nathaniel Whiting and the other
half to Mr. Allin, Nathaniel Aldis, and John Dwight,
and in 1649, Nathaniel Whiting became the sole
owner. In 1652 he sold the mill and his town rights
for two hundred and fifty pounds, but in 1653 he re-
purchased the same.

In 1664 a new corn mill was erected by Daniel
Pond and Ezra Morse, but Nathaniel Whiting remon-
strated and brought a suit, which he lost. Further

and frequent complaints were made by Nathaniel
Whiting to the town, and a committee chosen to
regulate the water at the upper dam. Finally, in
1699, it was thought advisable to remove Morse's
dam and let the water run in its old channel. As a
compensation for this measure, forty acres were
granted to Ezra Morse, near Neponset River, at the
old sawmill, or at Everett's Plain, where he may find
it most to his satisfaction. In 1700 the Wiiiting
mill was burned, and the town loaned twenty pounds
for one year as aid towards the erection of another mill.

In 1658-59, Eleazer Lusher and Joshua Fisher
agreed to build a saw-mill on the Neponset River,
near the Cedar Swamp.

In 1682, Jonathan Fairbanks and James Draper
asked leave to build a fulling-mill below the corn-
mills on East Brook, but Nathaniel Whiting was
associated with James Draper by order of the town.

The descendants of Nathaniel Whiting held these
mill privileges on Mother Brook down to the present
century.

The turning of the waters of Charles River by
means of the artificial channel, and uniting them with
head- waters of 3Iother Brook, in 1640, has proved to
be most beneficial and permanent in its consequences
through all the subsequent history of the town. Until
the beginning of the present century it furnished saw-
mills and grist-mills, then of the highest importance,
with power, and from 1807 down to the present time
there have been erected upon it cotton- and woolen-
mills, which have been prosperous, and have con-
tributed to the substantial growth of the town.

At the beginning of the settlement of the town,
what is called Dedham Island was a neck of land
around which Charles River flowed, with a slight fall
in its course, a distance of nearly five miles in an
irregular horseshoe bend, leaving a distance of only
two-thirds of a mile across the meadows at itsJieel.
This neck is estimated to contain about twelve hun-
dred acres, and upon it was a herd-walk and possibly
some houses of the early settlers. Across " Broad
Meadows," at the heel of the horseshoe bend, the
upper and lower channels of the river are distinctly
visible at high water. The damage to the meadows
arising from the waters remaining upon them, was felt
to be serious by the first generation, as it has been by
every succeeding generation of riparian owners. The
enterprising and public-spirited settlers conceived the
plan of cutting a " creek or ditch" through the
" Broad Meadows," thus uniting the two channels of
the river. The purpose was to permit the flow of the
waters through this artificial channel instead of accu-
mulating upon the meadows along the river below.

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

In 1652 liberty was granted to cut a creek or ditch
through the " Broad Meadows" from river to river.
Lieut. Fisher and Thomas Fuller were deputed to
survey the length of the water-course through the
" Broad Meadows," and the manner of the ground
through which the same was to be cut, and the
height of the water in the lower river.

This was the origin of " Long Ditch," the con-
struction of which converted the neck into an island.
It is not long since it was possible to pass through
this channel in a small boat, but the lower portion
has become much obstructed by the growth of bushes
and the closing of the channel. Its history, however,
is a monument of the energy and foresight of the
first generation of the Dedham settlers. The great
causeway on the bank of the river, which crosses the
channel of " Long Ditch" where it leaves the river,
was built in 1701.

In 16-46, John Eliot, the minister at Roxbury,
began the work of converting the Indians to Chris-
tianity and civilization. His first instructions were
given at Nonantum, a part of the present city of
Newton. He met with success in the conversion
of some Indians, among others, of Waban, a wise
and grave man of the Massachusetts tribe. Mr. Eliot
maintained that the Indians could not become Chris-
tians unless they were first civilized. He therefore
proposed that the Indians should be collected into one
village, and designated a place on Charles River, ten
miles west of the village of Dedham. This was in the
southerly part of the town of Natick, a name which sig-
nifies " a place of hills." To this proposition, when pro-
posed to the General Court, Dedham readily assented.
Mr. Allin was interested in Eliot's work, and aided
him in his new enterprise. The General Court
granted two thousand acres at Natick in 1651 for
the new Indian town. It has been asserted that the
town really had about six thousand acres, and the
boundaries were never satisfactorily settled with the
Indians. The Naticks, as they were afterwards called,
soon built a little town which had three long streets,
two on the north, and one on the south of Charles
River. Each family had a house-lot. The houses
consisted of poles set in the ground, and were covered
with peeled bark. A few, built in the manner of
English houses, were less perfect and comfortable.
There was one large house which answered the double
purpose of a school-room and meeting house. In the
second story the Indians deposited their skins. They
were supplied with spades, hoes, axes, and other
farming implements. A form of government was
adopted, and an English magistrate was appointed to
hold a court, and, in fact, appointed the Indian con-

stables and smaller officers. In 1670 the Indian
Church at Natick had two teachers and from forty to
fifty communicants. They observed the Sabbath,
some of them could read and write and rehearse the
catechism. The experiment was in a degree success-
ful. In the beginning of the eighteenth century the
tribe was in a civilized state, they had civil officers
of their own, and a military company organized in
the manner of the colonists. There were some, like
Waban and Deacon Ephraim, who led sober. Christian
lives, but their numbers gradually diminished until
they were extinct in 1826.

When the General Court granted the two thousand
acres, to be taken from the territory of Dedham for
the Indian town at Natick, it granted to the Dedham
proprietors, as compensation, eight thousand acres of
unlocated lands which they might select. In 1663
messengers were sent out to explore near Lancaster.
The messengers reported the land to be good, but
hard to cultivate, and there was not enough meadow
land. John Fairbanks informed the selectmen of
some good land twelve miles from Hadley, and John
Fairbanks and Lieut. Daniel Fisher were sent out
to discover and examine it. On their return they
reported the land to be exceedingly good and that it
should be taken possession of under the grant. This
was Pacomtuck, the present town of Deerfield.
When the report was received, the Dedham proprie-
tors appointed six persons to repair to Pacomtuck,
and cause the eight thousand acres to be located.
Capt. John Pynchon, of Springfield, was employed
by the town to purchase the lands of the Indians,
and procured three deeds from them, which are now
carefully preserved at Deerfield. The grantee in these
deeds is Capt. John Pynchon, of Springfield, for the
use and behoof of Maj. Eleazer Lusher, Ensign
Daniel Fisher, and other English of Dedham, their
associates and successors. Dedham gave £94 10s.
for these deeds, which sum was raised by an assess-
ment on the common rights in the Dedham proprie-
tary.

In 1670 the proprietors of Pacomtuck met at
Dedham, twenty-six being present, — Capt. John
Pynchon, Samuel Hinsdale, John Stebbins, John
Hurlburt, and Samson Frary not being inhabitants of
Dedham, but Samuel Hinsdale was a son of Robert
Hinsdale, of Dedham. The remaining proprietors
were inhabitants of Dedham. It was then voted to
have a correct plan made, the place for the meeting-
house to be designated, the church-officers' lot and
lots of proprietors to be assigned.

In 1672, Samuel Hinsdale, who was afterwards
slain at Bloody Brook, made a petition to the Dedham

DEDHAM.

proprietors to authorize five persons to admit inhabit-
ants, and to hire an orthodox minister at Deerfield,
and to act for themselves in other matters, by reason
of their remoteness from other settlements. This
petition was granted, and seems to end the relations
of the Dedham proprietors with Pacomtuck. Doubt-
less their shares were purchased by the Pacomtuck
proprietors who inhabited there. The town was
incorporated as Deerfield, May 24, 1682.

As the territory granted to the Dedham proprietors
in 1636 was so extensive, there was a great induce-
ment to begin new settlements within its limits. The
desire or necessity for more land, seems to have been
a controlling reason for extending the settlements.
The fear of attacks from the Indians had at first
checked the advance of the line of settlements.
From the beginning, the settlers had looked with
longing eyes upon the wide meadows at Bogastow,
now the easterly part of Med way. Edward Alley ne,
in 1640, had a grant of three hundred acres there,
where he should choose, with fifty acres of meadow.
After the death of Mr. Alleyne, in 1642, this grant
was located under the direction of Maj. Lusher. In
January, 1650, with the sanction and co-operation of
the Dedham proprietors, at a general meeting there
was granted, for the accommodation of the village, a
tract extending east and west three miles, and north
and south four miles. A company was immediately
formed, and regulations similar to their own, adopted
for the government of the new town, and rules were
adopted for the equitable division of the lands. In
January, 1651, Dedham formally transferred all right
and power of town government to the new settlement,
which was incorporated May 23, 1651, as Medfield.
The grant to Edward Alleyne was conveyed to the
town of Medfield by his nephew in 1652. A num-
ber of the Dedham settlers removed to Medfield, and
prominent among them was Mr. Ralph Wheelock,
said to have been a non-conformist preacher in Eng-
land, educated at Clare Hall, Cambridge, and who
came to Dedham in 1638. Whether his disappoint-
ment at not being the choice of the Dedham Church
as ruling elder, had inclined him to remove is not
stated upon authority, but he was in the habit of
preaching occasionally at Medfield. He was a repre-
sentative from Medfield, and died Jan. 11. 1684, at
the age of eighty-three. He was the ancestor of the
founder and first president of Dartmouth College.
The fact that so large a number of the Dedham set-
tlers had early received grants of land in Medfield,
makes the existence of that town nearly coeval with
Dedham. It was an offshoot of the Dedham settle-
ment, rather than a child of the parent town.

The attention of the settlers was also turned south-
ward to their uplands and meadows at Wollonoraopoag.
The large and beautiful ponds there, are not mentioned
in the records as among its attractions, but in 1649
they had gone there to cut grass from the meadows,
and in 1647 notice was given by John Dwight and
Francis Chickering of their hopes of a mine there.
In 1660 a committee was deputed to view the up-
land and meadow near about the ponds by " George
Indian's wigwam." In 1661, at a general town-meet-
ing, it was voted that a plantation should be set up at
Wollonomopoag, and that six hundred acres should be
laid down for the encouragement of the plantation.
The bounds of the plantation were afterwards fixed
in the same year ; the south bounds to be the Dor-
chester line, and the north bounds to be the 3Iedfield
bounds in part and Charles River in part. In 1662
a committee made a report upon extinguishing the
Indian title. Philip, sachem of Mount Hope, claimed
lands at Wollonomopoag. In 1662 Dedham had paid
£24 10s. for his title to lands within its plantation,
and again in 1669 the further sum of £17 Os. Sr?.
were paid him for a further release of his title. Tlie
payment of these sums seems to have been an obstncle
to removing to the new plantation. In 1663 the
company drew lots in the Wollonomopoag plantation,
and a settlement was actually began. An examination
of the names of these settlers shows that they were
nearly all the sons or sons-in-law of the Dedham set-
tlers, so that the new plantation was actually the child
of Dedham, and the Dedham proprietors continued
to aid and direct it in a paternal way for .several years.
In 1669, Mr. AUin, the Dedham pastor, Elder Hunting,
and Major Lusher approved a call to the Rev. Samuel
IMann to be the minister for the infant settlement.
Major Lusher kept their records. 'At length, in 1672,
the inhabitants were of sufficient numbers and capac-
ity, in the opinion of the General Court, to carry on
the work of the church and commonwealth, and upon
their petition, Oct. 17, 1673, they were made a town
by the name of Wrentham. In the following Decem-
ber the books and records were transferred from Ded-
ham to Wrentham. Fifty years later a considerable
portion of the south precinct of Dorchester was also
set off" to Wrentham.

The settlement at Dedham was gradually increa.sirig
in its population. In 1657 there were one hundred
and sixty-six families. Mr. Alliu received sixty
pounds as his annual maintenance, and had a good
stock of cattle, and a good accommodation in ctirn-
land and meadow. Johnson describes Dedham about
this time as " an inland town about ten miles from
Boston, well watered with many pleasant streams.

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

abounding with garden fruits fitly to supply the mar-
kets of the naost populous town, whose coin and com-
modities allures the inhabitants of the town to make
many a long walk ; they consist of about a hundred
families, being generally given to husbandry, and
through the blessing of God are much increased,
ready to swarm and settle on the building of another
town more to the inland." The deeds of lands refer
to barns and orchards. The inventory of Mr. Allin's
estate included chairs upholstered with leather, Tur-
key-work cushions, feather-beds and pillows, " a gilt
bowl with covering," " a wine-cup with a foot," and
a warming-pan, so that some of these homes in the
wilderness had both comforts and luxuries. Mr.
Allin was a well-to-do farmer, having extensive out-
lands and a comfortable homestead, with parlor, kitchen,
and buttery on the first floor, and chambers over each.
Deacon Chickering the largest landholder ; Ensign
Daniel Fisher, for three years speaker of the House
of Deputies, and afterwards an assistant ambassador
to King Philip, "learned in the law,'" the father of
him who afterwards collared a royal governor ; Tim-
othy Dwight, who came over with his father, John
Dwight, when a mere child, the town recorder, select-
man, deputy to the General Court, " of an excellent
spirit, peaceable, generous, charitable;" Elder Hunt-
ing, son-in law to Mr. Allin ; Michael Metcalf, the
schoolmaster ; Dr. William Avery, the donor of money
for a Latin school ; and Lieut. Joshua Fisher, who kept
the ordinary and had an annual bill for " dieting the
selectmen ;" these were the contemporaries of the gra-
cious Allin and 3Laj. Lusher through the first thirty-
five years of the settlement. How wisely and well
these men wrought has already been seen.

But the time had arrived when the leaders of
the first generation' were to rest from their labors.
Michael Metcalf died in 1664; Anthony Fisher, in
1669 ; Mr. Allin, in 1671 ; Major Lusher and Joshua
Fisher, in 1672; Daniel Fisher, in 1683. Another
generation was about to enter into their labors and
the rule of peaceful life was about to be broken.

CHAPTER V.

Indian Deeds — Philip's War— Rev. William Adams— New
Meeting- House — Timothy Dwight — William Avery — Daniel
Fisher, the second — His Part in llesisling Sir Edmund
Andros.

At the time of the coming of the settlers, there
were no Indians to be seen within miles of the set-

tlement. Chicatabot, sachem of the Neponsets, after-
wards claimed the territory west of Neponset River,
bounded northerly on Charles River and southerly
on the land of Philip, sachem of the Pokanokets.
Philip claimed lands at Wollonomopoag, and was
in the habit of repeating his claims after he had
once released them. Magus, another sachem, claimed
the territory including Natick, Needham, and Ded-
ham Island. It was the policy of the Massachu-
setts colony, under the advice of the Council for
New England, to purchase the title of any savages
who might pretend to rights of inheritance to the
lands granted, that they might avoid the least scruple
of intrusion. The Dedham settlers were careful to
observe this precept. It has been seen that deeds
from Philip of the lands at Wollonomopoag and from
the sachem of the Pacomtucks at Deerfield were
procured by the Dedham settlers. Besides these
deeds, in 1685 there was obtained from Josias, the
grandson of Chicatabot, a confirmatory title to the
tract of land known as the town of Dedham. In
1680, John Magus and his wife, Natick Indians, in
consideration of five pounds in money, released the
Indian title to Natick, Needham, and Dedham Island.
In 1685, William Nahaton, Peter Natoogus, and
Benjamin Nahaton, Punkapog Indians, released their
title.

In 1681 the town voted that all deeds and other
writings relating to town-rights, should be deposited
in a box kept by Deacon Aldis for the purpose, and
it appears there were seven Indian deeds among
them. Whether this box was really provided or
not, a bundle of Indian deeds was found in 1836,
including all the deeds excepting that from Philip,
whose autograph cannot be found. A curious letter
from Philip to the selectmen of Dedham, which was
copied into the Wrentham records, relates to his land
claims. Three of the deeds are still kept in the
town clerk's office at Dedham, and the three deeds
from the Pacomtucks have been sent to Deerfield.
For all these conveyances an adequate consideration
in money was paid, and if there was any attempt at
overreaching in the bargains, it was by Philip of
Mount Hope, to whose unscrupulous demands the
Dedham settlers yielded for the sake of peace.

In 1673 the selectmen received orders from the
General Court to prepare the town for defense against
the Indians. For several years Philip had excited
alarm in the Plymouth colony by his bad faith and
secret combinations with other tribes, and it was now
rendered certain that a serious outbreak was about to
occur. The soldiers were called out for frequent
trainings. A barrel of gunpowder and other ammu-

DEDHAM.

nition were procured. The gun, which was a small
field-piece called a drake, given to the town by the
General Court in 1650, was mounted on wheels.
The meeting-house was made the depository for sup-
plies. The people maintained a garrison and set a
watch. The inhabitants had been encouraged to en-
list into the troop of horse commanded by Capt. Pren-
tice by an abatement of taxes. The fear excited was
great in the settlement, and many fled to Boston.
The Wrentham settlers packed their goods, and with
their wives and children came to Dedham, leaving
their deserted houses behind them. The town was
well situated for defense. It was built in a compact
manner, that it might be prepared for defense against
the Indians. Little River and Charles River on the
north, were safeguards against approach from that
direction, while on the other sides of the village the
plain was cleared to a considerable extent, and was
overlooked by the watch in the belfry of the naw
meeting-house. The Indians in the town were
ordered to depart, and to go either to Natick, Ne-
ponset, or Wamisit. A war tax was levied upon
the inhabitants, which exceeded one shilling for
every pound of valuation.

Dedham escaped the horrors of an Indian attack
by reason of these preparations, but Dedham men
were found in the bloodiest battles of the war. The
troop of horse under Capt. Prentice was a part of the
force which made the first attack upon Philip on
June 28, 1675, immediately after the massacre at
Swanzey, and lost one killed and one wounded.
Robert Hinsdale, one of the founders of the Dedham
Church in 1638, but who had removed to Hadley,
with his three sons, were killed at Bloody Brook in
Capt. Lothrop's company. John Wilson, John
Genere, and Elisha Woodward were slain at Deer-
field.

In December, 1675, the combined forces of the
colonies, consisting of six companies under Gen.
Winslow, were collected at Dedham and marched
against the Narragansetts in Rhode Island, and was
the force engaged in the great battle of the Narraganset
Fort. In February, 1676, Medfield was burned and
twenty of the settlers killed, and the deserted houses
at Wrentham were nearly all consumed soon after.

Indians were detected lurking in the neighboring
woods of the Dedham settlement, but they found the
watch set and the garrison prepared. On the 25th
of July, 1676, a party of Dedham and Medfield men,
numbering thirty-six Englishmen and ninety praying
Indians, won a signal success in slaying Pomham, a
Narragansett sachem, and capturing fifty of his fol-
lowers. An expedition under Capt. Church had

gone to the Narragansett country in pursuit of him,
but he escaped them.

This achievement contributed much to bring the
war to a successful conclusion, as Pomham was re-
garded as an enemy second only in power and influ-
ence to Philip himself. The death of Philip soon
after brought hostilities in this vicinity to an end,
and the settlement could again feel some sense of
security.

There were other changes going on in the town
besides those resulting from the dread realities of
an Indian war. It has been seen that many of the
leading men of the first generation had gone to their
final rest. In a little more than .six months after Mr.
Allin's death, Mr. William Adams had been called to
be his successor, and was ordained Dec. 3, 1673. He
was the son of William Adams, of Ipswich, born May
27, 1650, and was graduated at Harvard College
in 1671. He married, for his second wife, Alice
Bradford, daughter of Maj. William Bradford, of
Plymouth. He relinquished for one year eight pounds
of his salary on account of the expenses incurred
during Philip's war.

Soon after his settlement as minister, the new meet-
ing-house was raised. The old meeting-house, with
its thatched roof, was out of repair and insufficient
for the congregation. In 1672, before Mr. Adams
was called, the people had voted to erect a new meet-
ing-house. It was finished in 1673. It had "three
pair of stairs," one at the north, another at the east,
and another at the south corners. The fore seat in
the front gallery was parted in the middle, and the
rest open at both ends. The south gallery was for
men, and the north gallery for women and boys. The
seats in the lower part of the house were parted
in the middle by an aisle, so that the men were
ranged on one side and the women on the other. It
had a bell, which had become quite necessary,^ince
the people were moving farther from the meeting-
house than formerly. The practice of beating the
drum to summon the congregation had been aban-
doned for many years. They had much difficulty in
caring for tlie orderly behavior of the boys, to whom
were assigned seats where they might " be watched
over." Ten years after, it was proposed to construct
new galleries, and in 1696 galleries were erected
"over the other galleries," that over the woman's
gallery being for " young women and maids to sit
in."

Mr. Adams died Aug. 17, 1685. Two of his ser-
mons were printed, one being an election sermon. In
a book used for the parish records there is a com-
mentary written by him covering sixty-three pages.

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

During his ministry there was harmony among his
people, and they showed attachment to their [tastor.
The parish now included all of the original territory
granted to Dedham proprietors excepting Medfield
and Wrentham. In 1682 a vote was passed that no
one of the inhabitants should remove a greater dis-
tance than two miles from the meeting-house withont
special license, as any person so removing would ex-
pose himself to danger, and to want of town govern-
ment. The people, therefore, were not widely scat-
tered, although the small house-lots of the village
were gradually being abandoned. The generation
which had now succeeded to the management of the
secular and religious aifairs of the town were much
inferior to the first, in point of education and manners.
The wilderness had been a rough school in which to
rear their families, in spite of the care which the
fathers had taken to provide for their education.
The town was indicted in 1674, and again in 1691,
for not supporting a school. The Indian war had
doubtless a depressing influence in this respect.

The leading men at this period appear to have
been Timothy Dwight, Daniel Fisher (the second of
that name), and William Avery. Timothy Dwight
was the son of John Dwight, and was a small child
when he came with his father. He had been town
clerk ten years and selectman twenty-four years before
this time, but he was still in active life, and survived
until Jan. 31, 1718. He was the husband of six
wives and the father of nineteen children. He was
the progenitor of a line of» descendants that have
made the name of Dwight known and honored
through the succeeding generations. William Avery
was the son of Dr. William Avery, and was a deacon
of the church and selectman for twenty-two years.
His name was honorably perpetuated for many years
in Dedham. Capt. Daniel Fisher succeeded to the title
and name of his father but not to his official distinc-
tion, but he inherited his spirit. His father had been
prominent in the struggle between the Massachusetts
colony and Randolph, the special messenger of the
crown, in his attempts against the colonial charter.
Among those against whom he exhibited articles of
high misdemeanor was Daniel Fisher, and in 1682
Randolph wrote to England that " His Majesty's quo
warranto against the charter, sending for Thomas
Danforth, Samuel Norvell, Daniel Fisher, and p]iisha
Cooke, will make the whole faction tremble." Such was
the character and position of the first Daniel Fisher,
who died in 1683. In 1686 the charter was vacated,
and soon after, Sir Edmund Andros was appointed
the royal Governor of all the English possessions in
America north of Pennsylvania, by King James II.

His activity in oppressive legislation had rendered
him especially obnoxious to the people of Boston,
where he resided. In April, 1689, the news of the
landing of the Prince of Orange in England was
brought to Boston. On the morning of the 18th
of April, it being Thursday, when the weekly lecture
of the First Church invited a concourse from the
neighboring towns, a rumor spread that there were
armed men collecting and a rising in the different
parts of Boston. " At nine of the clock the drums
beat through the town and an ensign was set up on
the beacon." The captain of the " Rose" frigate was
taken and handed over to a guard, and Randolph
and other high officials were apprehended and put in
jail. From the eastern gallery of the town-house in
King Street, a declaration of the gentlemen mer-
chants and inhabitants of Boston and the country
adjacent was read to the assembled people, reciting
the oppressive acts of Andros, and concluding that
they seize upon the persons of the grand authors of
their miseries to secure them for justice, and advising
the people to join them for the defense of the land.
Andi'os was in the fort on Fort Hill. A summons
was sent to him to surrender and deliver up the
government and fortification, promising him secu-
rity from violence, but assuring him an attempt
would be made to take the fort by storm if opposition
should be made. After some negotiation the Gov-
ernor " came forth from the fort and went disarmed
to the town-house, and from thence under guard to
Mr. Usher's house." On the succeeding day, the
news having spread to the adjoining towns, the coun-
try people, according to Hutchinson, " came into town
in such a rage and heat as made. all tremble to think
what would follow." Nothing would satisfy them but
that the Governor must be bound in chains or cords
and put in a more secure place, and Andios was con-
ducted under guard from Usher's house back to the
fort. Tradition says that the man who led the im-
prisoned Governor by the collar of his coat was Capt.
Daniel Fisher, the second of the name, of Dedham.
As Haven in his centennial address most felicitously
says, it was " a second Daniel come to judgment."
He was inspired with a keen sense of the personal
obloquy his father had endured from royal emissaries
as well as a thorough sympathy with the cause of the
people. He served as selectman for nine years. He
was the Daniel Fisher who went to Deerfield with
John Fairbanks in 1663. He was also the great-
grandfiither of Fisher Ames.

DEDHAM.

CHAPTER VI.

DEDHAM— ( CunUnued.)

Province Charter — Changes and Contentions — Incorporation of
Needham — Rev. Joseph Belcher — The Second Parish and J
Church— Rev. Thomas Baleh— The Third Parish and Church
— ^Rev. Josiah Dwight — Rev. Andrew Tyler — Incorporation
of Walpole — Services of Church of England begun — Rev.
William Clark— Samuel Colburn — Devise of Estate to Epis-
copal Church — Rev. Samuel De.xter — The Fourth Parish and
Church — Rev. Benjamin Caryl — Services of Dedham Men in
French Wars — New Meeting-House — Dr. Nathaniel Ames —
The Pillar of Liberty — Events Prior to the American Revo-
lution.

In 1692 the charter, under which the colony had
existed for fifty-five years, wa.s dissolved by a legal
judgment, and a new charter of the province of Mas-
sachusetts Bay, with a Governor, Lieutenant-Governor,
and secretary, appointed by the crown, took its place.
This is commonly considered as marking the begin-
ning of a new period in the history of Massachusetts.
In the Dedham settlement it was a time of depres-
sion. The town had been without a pastor for about
eight years, since the death of Mr. Adams. Divi-
sions had arisen among the people during the vacancy,
and they had extended calls to four diflferent persons
to become their minister. In the correspondence
which occurred during these efforts of the church
and town, the discouraging state of affairs at Ded-
ham was not concealed, and it had the effect of
causing a declination of each invitation. At length,
in 1692, Mr. Joseph Belcher, of Milton, accepted
the call. The town offered him sixty pounds to pro-
vide him with a dwelling, and a salary of one hun-
dred pounds, and afterwards wood to the value of ten
pounds was added, or that amount in money. He
was ordained Nov. 29, 1693. Soon after, the meet-
ing-house was enlarged by the addition of new gal-
leries. Prior to this time, the ministerial rate had
been paid by the voluntary contributions made each
Sabbath. Mr. Belcher proposed that for one quarter,
his salary should be paid, and he would rely upon
contributions for the remaining three-quarters of the
year. The result was not satisfactory, and a few
years after, the ministerial rates were collected in the
same manner as the country rates. Those who de-
sired to worship elsewhere had liberty to pay the
rates to the minister where they worshiped. These,
doubtless, were those who lived at a remote distance
from the meeting-house and were desirous of forming
new parishes. About the year 1702 pews were first
introduced, and a year or two previous, the meeting-
house was again enlarged.

In civil matters, there were some changes worthy of
mention. In 1694: the inhabitants of the town and
the proprietors first acted as separate bodies. lu
1695 the proprietors laid out the thirty-four hundred
acres of their Sherborn lands which were included in
the grant of 1636, and assigned them to those who
could then show their rights therein. This was to aid
in the formation of the new town which was incorpo
rated in 169-4. In 1698 the bounty for killing a full-
grown wolf was increased from twenty to thirty
shillings, and a number of these bounties was soon
after received. A considerable portion of the town

1 still remained a wilderness. In raising thirty pounds
to repair the meeting-house, it was voted to pay one-
half in wheat at five shillings, rye at four shillings,

[ corn at two shillings, and a day's work at two shil-
lings. In 1701 it was voted that the law forbidding
any person not an inhabitant to purchase land in the

[ town is in force, and that measures be taken to get it
approved by the General Court. The contentions
and divisions existing in the town are well exempli-
fied by the town-meeting in March, 1703. It as-
sembled on the sixth, and was held all day, but did no
business but adjourn to the thirteenth day. The ad-
journed meeting could do no business, but adjourned
to the seventeenth day, when town-ofiicers were chosen.
A new meeting was called on the twenty-seventh day,
when another board of town-ofiicers was chosen, and on
the seventeenth of April a third board of town-officers
was chosen by order of the Court of Sessions. In 1700,
Sir Prentiss began to keep school at twenty pounds
for the year and keeping his horse with hay and
grass. In 1715 the town granted fifteen pounds lor
the school, which was the sum granted for several
years, both before and after that year. In 1718 the
town imposed a penalty of twenty shillings for every
month an unlicensed stranger should remain in the
town. The province taxes until 1720 were called
the country taxes in the assessment, as the name of
province was odious to the people. In 1722 the
settlement was visited with the smallpox, and the
inhabitants held public worship in a private house
for fear of the contagion.

The gradual extension of new settlements within
the territory of the proprietors is shown by the incor-
poration of new towns. In 1711 forty persons, re-
siding in that part of the town now called Needham,
petitioned the General Court to be set off as a sepa-
rate township. Dedham at first opposed the separa-
tion, but afterwards gave its consent on condition
that the petitioners should have less territory than
they demanded. The town of Needham was incor-
porated Nov. 5, 1711, with all the territory asked for

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

in the petition. Bcllingham was incorporated Nov.
27, 1719. In 1691 the selectmen had reported that
the lands near Mendon and Wrentham, which con-
stituted the town of Bellingham, were not worth lay-
ing out for a dividend, so that there was probably no
opposition to the incorporation. It was named in
honor of Governor Richard Bellingham. The town
of Walpole was incorporated Dec. 10, 1724, and was
carved out of the southerly part of Dedham. It
was named for Sir Robert Walpole, then the prime
minister of England.

Mr. Belcher died at Roxbury, April 27, 1723,
Five of the principal inhabitants were directed to
hire a coach to bring his body to Dedham, and forty
pounds were afterwards allowed Madam Belcher for
expenses upon the occasion of the funeral. He was
born in Milton, May 14, 1668. He was graduated at
Harvard College in 1690. His house stood upon the
site occupied by the meeting-house of the Allin
Evangelical Society. His portrait, which now hangs
in the vestry of the First Parish, was presented by Mrs.
Elizabeth Gay, Jan. 1, 1839. Dr. Cotton Mather
preached a discourse after his death, in which he
speaks of him as " an excellent preacher to walk with
God, and an excellent pattern of what he preached."

The inhabitants residing in the southerly and west-
erly portions of the town, on account of their remote-
ness from the meetinghouse, had for several years
made known their desire for a new parish. In 1722
they had presented their petition to be set off into a
town or precinct. But the town did not then give its
consent to the prayer of the petition. In 1728, how-
ever, the town voted that if the inhabitants of the
southerly part of the town will unite with some
families in the westerly part of Stoughton in a petition
to be made a parish, it will give its consent. Ac-
cordingly the South Parish of Dedham was incorpo-
rated by the General Court, Oct. 18, 1730. The terri-
tory thus incorporated included also what was after-
wards the West Parish. But this union of the two
sections was not of long continuance. A division
arose at once between them upon the location of the
meeting-house. Indeed, the frames of two meeting-
houses were raised about the same time, and neither
was satisfactory to all parties. Unable to settle the
question, the precinct voted to petition the General
Court for a committee to come and view their situa-
tion, and to set oflF to the old precinct as many as they
shall judge to be most for the peace and harmony of
both precincts, and the committee did set oflF to the
old precinct those families living in what afterwards
became the West Parish. They also recommended to
the South Parish that it remove its meetin";-house

farther south, which was done. In 1769 another
meeting-house was erected in this parish.

The church connected with the Second, or South
Parish of Dedham was gathered June 23, 1736, con-
sisting of fifteen members. They called the Rev.
Thomas Balch to be their pastor, and on June 30th
he was ordained. Mr. Balch was a native of Charles-
town, and was born Oct. 17, 1711, and was graduated
at Harvard College in 1733. He continued to be the
pastor of this church until his death, which occurred
Jan. 8, 1774, at the age of sixty-two years. His
ministry continued thirty-seven years and nearly six
months, and he died in the full confidence and afiec-
tion of his people. He was an excellent preacher,
and was a man of high character and attainments.
A number of his sermons were printed.

The people in the westerly section, after being re-
united with the old parish in 1733, were still dissatis-
fied with their parochial relations, and on the 4th of
June, 1735, they organized a new church indepen-
dently of the First Church. On that day the Rev.
Josiah D wight, a son of Capt. Timothy Dwight, of
Dedham, was installed as pastor. That this proceed-
ing was viewed with disapproval by the First Church,
is evident from the fact that, though invited, it was
not represented at Mr. Dwight's installation. The
number of church members was thirteen. At the
time of Mr. Dwight's installation the meeting-house
begun in 1731 was unfini.shed ; it was not plastered,
and had no pews except those built by individuals for
themselves. It was afterwards completed, and the
house stood for seventy-eight years before the present
one was built. The parish was finally incorporated
as the Third Parish, Jan. 10, 1736. But the trials of
this people were by no means ended. Mr. Dwight
and his people did not get on without diff"erences and
dissensions, and he requested a dismission, which was
granted May 20, 1743. The terms of the dismis-
sion were that he should receive fifty pounds, and
that a " number of respectable individuals should on
his removal accompany him as far as Thompson."
He was born in Dedham, Feb. 7, 1670, and was grad-
uated at Harvard College in 1687, and was the min-
ister of Woodstock, Conn., before he came to Dedham.
After his dismission from the Third Parish he returned
to Woodstock, where he spent the remainder of his life.

The name by which this parish is designated in
the act of incorporation, and which it has since re-
tained, is that of " the Clapboard trees." This was
an ancient name for this locality, and probably there
were trees here at the beginning of the settlement,
which were considered to be adapted to furnish a
coverin<r for the dwelling-houses.

DEDHAM.

In November, 1743. the Rev. Andrew Tyler, of
Boston, was ordained as Mr. Dwight's successor. He
was of good repute as a preacher, and a man of per-
sonal attractions. During the first twenty years of
his ministry he had the respect and confidence of his
people. From 1764 to 1772 very serious disputes
arose between him and the parish, and repeated but
fruitless attempts were made to restore peace by
parish meetings, church meetings, and ecclesiastical
councils, and finally by referees, until Dec. 17, 1772,
when he was dismissed. He left the ministry and re-
sided in Boston until his death, in 1775. The church
had no other pastor for nearly eight years after Mr.
Tyler's dismission, during which its troubles and dis-
sensions appear to have continued, which the trials
and expenses of the Revolutionary war did not serve
to mitigate.

In 1731 the Rev. Dr. Timothy Cutler, rector of
Christ Churcli, Boston, " at the desire of some church-
men and dissenters willing to be informed," first began
the service of the Church of England and to preach
in Dedham. He was a graduate of Harvard College,
a native of Charlestown, had been pastor of a Congre-
gational Church at Stratford, Conn., and subsequently
president or rector of Yale College. He had con-
formed to the Church of England, and was at this
time a missionary of the " Society for the Propaga-
tion of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," a society formed
in Loudon in 1701. The place where these services
were held by Dr. Cutler, was in a house owned by
Joseph Smith, in the westerly part of Dedham. The
house was standing until within a few years on Sum-
mer Street. Here Dr. Cutler preached at intervals,
and between November, 1732, and May, 1733,
monthly, to congregations of forty or fifty persons,
and administered the sacrament to eight or nine
persons. He continued his services until Christmas,
1733, after which they were not regular. In 1734
he baptized five children. In the same year six per-
sons had their ministerial taxes abated on the ground
that they carried on the worship of God in the way
of the established Church of England, as the law at
this time permitted them. After this time. Dr. Cut-
ler visited Dedham occasionally, preaching to a con-
siderable congregation and administering the sacra-
ments. Dr. Cutler died in 1765, and after his death,
Dr. Ebenezer Miller, of Braintree, succeeded to the
charge of the services here. In 1733-34 efforts were
made towards the building of a chui'ch, but it was
not until 1758 that the work was actually begun,
and it was opened. Dr. Miller ofiiciating, the Sunday
after Easter, 1761. The location of this church was
near the corner of Court and Church Streets, but be-
4

fore 1771 nothing was done more than outside work.
A contribution from some gentlemen in Newport, R. I.,
aided in finishing the house. Up to the time of the
Revolution it had not advanced very far towards
completion, as it had no pews, and was neither lathed
nor plastered. After Dr. Miller's death the Rev.
Edward Winslow, his successor at Braintree, con-
tinued to have charge of the services.

On the 16th of August, 1767, the Rev. Wil-
liam Clark began to read the service at Dedham.
He was the son of Rev. Peter Clark, of Danvers,
a graduate of Harvard College in 1759, and was
educated to be — like his father — a Congregational
clergyman, but had conformed to the Church of
England. He went to London and was ordained
Dec. 18, 1768, by the Bishop of London. On the
18th of June, 1769, he began his services as mis-
sionary, officiating on alternate Sundays at Dedham
and Stoughton. He married, Sept. 15, 1770,
Miss Mary Richards, of Dedham. After 1772 he
took leave of his people at Stoughton, and removed
to Dedham. The troublous times immediately pre-
ceding the first conflict of the Revolution interfered
with the attendance upon his services and the ad-
ministration of the sacraments. But he continued to
hold service until after Easter, 1777, and the law
was passed forbidding prayers for the king's majesty,
when he closed his church. Mr. Clark was very
discreet in his conduct and speech during this trying
period. At the public town-meeting held May 29,
1777, a vote was passed that he, with three of his
church, were looked upon as inimical to the United
States. On the 21st of the following May he writes:
" I was surrounded by a mob when I got home, but
escaped on my parole." On the 5th of June follow-
ing he was taken prisoner and carried to Boston,
when he gave bail, and the others were taken to jail.
His arrest was not approved by the committee of^the
town at first, but they were urged to make the
prosecution. The charge made against him, was
based upon his writing a letter to a gentleman of a
neighboring county, recommending one of his con-
gregation who was in distress to his kindly assistance
in helping him to support himself. He was adjudged
guilty by the tribunal in Boston, and sentenced to
banishment and confiscation of his estate, and sent on
board a guard-ship in Boston harbor, where he re-
mained about ten weeks, when he returned to Ded-
ham. On the 10th day of June, 1778, having
through the intervention of Dr. Nathaniel Ames,
who sympathized with him in his distress, procured
a passport, which was brought to him by Fisher
Ames, he took leave of his friends in Dedham and

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

sailed from Boston to Newport, thence to New York,
and thence to England. His wife accompanied him
to Newport, but returned to Dedham, where she
died in child-bed in the succeeding December. He
remained in England during the war, when he re-
turned to Nova Scotia, where he again married,
and resided a few 3'ears. He finally lived at Quincy,
Mass., where he died, in 1815, at the age of seventy-
five years.

In 1756, Samuel Colburn, the onlj^ son of Benja-
min Colburn by his second wife (Mary Hunting), a
young man twenty-four years of age, whose father
had died in 1747, leaving him a large landed estate,
enlisted as a volunteer in the force raised during the
French war by Governor Shirley, destined to reduce
the fortifications of the enemy at Crown Point and
vicinity. Into this force about twenty men enlisted
from Dedham. It has been asserted and believed
that Colburn was drafted or impressed into the ser-
vice, but against his name on the original roll at the
State-House is plainly written the word volunteer.
His friend and neighbor, Samuel Richards, also en-
listed, and there is really no ground to believe
that he was compelled to join the army. He enlisted
on the 18th of March, 1756, marched with his com-
pany, and on the 28th day of October he died of
disease at the Great Meadows, between Saratoga and
Stillwater. His friend, Samuel Richards, died on
the 13th day of August.

Before his departure, Samuel Colburn made his
will, dated May 7, 1756, by which he devised his
estate to trustees, subject to the life-estate of his
mother, for her maintenance and comfortable sub-
sistence, first, for the payment of £26 14s. Ad. towards
the building of an Episcopal Church in Dedham,
whenever the same should be undertaken ; and when
such church should be undertaken to be erected, one
acre of his land on the south side of the way opposite
his dwelling-house, next to Samuel Richard's house,
should be set apart for that purpose in the most con-
venient place, and this notwithstanding the devise to
his mother. In case the church should be built at
the time of his mother's decease, the said estate
should be to the use of said church ; and in case it
should not then be built, then the income should be
applied to hire and pay for preaching and carrying on
public worship in the Episcopal way in Dedham until
said church should be built, and then the whole to be
to the said church forever. By this will, at the de-
cease of his mother, in addition to the church acre,
about one hundred and thirty-four acres of land, in-
cluding the Colburn homestead, which was in Ded-
ham village, was given for the use of the Episcopal

Church in Dedham. Owing to mismanagement of
the estate by those intrusted with it, some of it was
alienated and lost, and the devise of the church acre
wholly ignored. After the Revolution, and the de-
cease of Mrs. Colburn in 1792, what remained was
appropriated for the support of preaching " in the
Episcopal way.'' How and by what inducements
Samuel Colburn was led to make this liberal devise
to the church of England, then so obnoxious to the
Puritan establishment, has been a matter of con-
jecture and of vague tradition. That Samuel Colburn
was well acquainted with the service of the Episcopal
Church and the Book of Common Prayer, there is
some evidence. He had lived in the family, or was
the neighbor, of Samuel Richards, who was a zealous
churchman, and as clergyman of the Church of Eng-
land had held services in Dedham during twenty-five
years, and ever since the time of his birth, he must
have known something of the church which he made
the object of his bounty. Besides, it is said that he
disapproved of the conduct of some of his relatives
and neighbors in religious matters.

Retracing the events of the eighteenth century,
the vacancy occasioned by the death of Mr. Belcher
was filled in a little more than three months by the
Rev. Samuel Dexter. He was born in Maiden, was
graduated at Harvard College in 1720, and was or-
dained May 6, 1724. The first meeting of the parish
as a separate precinct, consequent upon the incoipo-
ration of the Second Parish, was Jan. 4, 1730-31.
The meeting-house required frequent repairs, and
owing to a depreciation of the currency there were
frequent adjustments made in the minister's salary;
pews first began to be erected ; two new bells were
provided in two years ; the deacons' wives had sepa-
rate seats assigned them ; and the ever-recurring dis-
turbance by the boys, — such were the more important
events in the history of the parish during Mr. Dex-
ter's ministry. On Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23,
1738, being at the conclusion of the first century
since the church was gathered, he preached a dis-
course, of which two editions have been printed, and
is the first sermon containing historical references
which has been printed. He also left a diary or
journal. In the earlier portion of his ministry there
were dissensions in the parish, and these gave the
sensitive pastor much distress. After the incorpora-
tion of the West Parish, afi"airs moved more smoothly.
He died, after a short illness, Jan. 29, 1755, in the
fifty-fifth year of his age and the thirtieth of his
ministry. " He died as he had lived, enjoying the
general respect and confidence of his people."

In 1748 a fourth parish was incorporated called

DEDHAM.

Springfield, now the town of Dover. The Rev. Ben-
jamin Caryl was ordained as pastor of the church '
Nov. 10, 1762, and he died Nov. 13, 1811. The
parish was incorporated as a district by the General
Court, July 7, 1781, when the name of Dover was
given to it.

This was the period in the history of Massachu-
setts when her people were involved in the wars and
military expeditions of the mother-country. In an
expedition against the Spanish West India settle-
ments the province furnished five hundred men, and
six men from the South Parish of Dedham were
among those who perished. In the famous expedi-
tion against Louisburg. 1745, there were a number
of men probably from the South Parish, and among
them the Rev. Mr. Balch, who served as one of the
chaplains, and was absent from his people sixteen
months. In the last French war more than fifty
Dedham men served at Ticonderoga, Fort Edward,
Fort William Henry, Lake George, and in Canada,
at the Bay of Fundy and Louisburg. Among the
names of those who served in this war will be found
those of the oldest families, and it is said that at this
period one-third of all the eflPective men of the prov-
ince were in some way engaged in the war. Mr.
Haven quotes from Dr. Nathaniel Ames' Almanac of
1756 the following lines :

" Behold our camp ! from fear from vice re6ned,
Not of the filth but flower of human kind I
Mothers their sons, wives lend their husbands there I
Brethren ye have our hearts, our purse, our prayer."

These wars were the schools in which Massachu-
setts men were trained in the duties of the soldier,
and which fitted them for the great conflict with the
mother-country in the war of the Revolution twenty
years later.

On the 5th day of February, 1756, about seven
months after the decease of Mr. Dexter, Mr. Jason
Haven, of Framingham, was ordained as his successor.
One hundred and thirty-three pounds, six shillings,
and eightpence had been voted him " as an encour-
agement to settle here," with an annual salary of
sixty-six pounds, thirteen shillings, and eightpence,
and twenty cords of wood, during the time of his
ministry here. Owing to the depreciation of the
currency, the salary of Mr. Haven was increased in
1770, and again in 1779.

The old meeting-house built in 1673 had now
stood for more than eighty years, and in March, 1761,
it was voted by the parish, with unanimity, to build
a new one. The structure was to be sixty feet long
and forty-six feet wide, with a steeple and two porches.
A committee was appointed to apply to the church

" for liberty to get materials or timber" from its lands.
Mr. Haven furnished the plan of pews and seats on
the floor of the house. On the 7th of June,
1762, the inhabitants assembled to take down the old
house. The new house was finished Sept. 21, 1763.
The timber was of solid oak and the floor had oak
underneath. It had fifty pews on the floor. The
person paying the highest parish rate had the first
choice, and so on to the end of the list. The deacons'
seat immediately under the pulpit, and above it, entered
from the pulpit-stairs half-way up, the elders' seat,
were both retained in the new as in the old house.
But the velvet cushion given by the young women
for the pulpit, the curtain for the window, the clock
given by Samuel Dexter, and the Bible afterwards
presented by Mrs. Barnard, formerly the widow of
Rev. Mr. Dexter, on condition that the reading of a
portion of it should have a place in the public services
on the Lord's Day, — all these things show some ad-
vancement in the ideas of the people respecting pub-
lic worship. The old New England version of the
Psalms was exchanged for Tate and Brady, and a
chorister was appointed, with power to nominate a
number who should assist in singing. Before this,
one of the deacons had read the Psalm line by line
as it was sung. No instrument of music was intro-
duced until 1790, when the bass viol was admitted to
strengthen the bass.

The church and parish were now entering upon a
period of respite from disputes and dissensions. The
serious questions which were beginning to arise be-
tween England and the province perhaps served to
withdraw the minds of the people. Perhaps the in-
fluence of a man like Samuel Dexter, who had re-
moved to Dedham, may have been exerted for peace.

Samuel Dexter was the son of the Rev. Mr. Dexter,
and was born in Dedham, and became a merchant in
Boston. In 1763 he came to Dedham, and built a
fine residence for that day, which now stands in ex-
cellent preservation. He was a man of wealth, of
public spirit, and no man since the days of Lusher
had done so much to promote the interests of the
town and church by his services, his advice, and his
donations. He was many times a deputy to the
General Court; he sat five years in the Provincial
Congress, and was negatived several times as a coun-
cilor by the royal governor. At the beginning of
the Revolution he was a member of the Supreme Ex-
ecutive Council of State, which assisted and supported
the military operations in the vicinity of Boston.
He differed from the majority of his associates as to
the policy of bringing undisciplined troops so near the
British army in Boston, and in consequence retired

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

from public service, and never entered it again. In
1784 he sold his estate to Dr. John Sprague and re-
moved to Mendon, where he died June 10, 1810, in
the eighty-fifth year of his age. He bequeathed five
thousand dollars to Harvard College to found a pro-
fessorship for promoting the study of Biblical Criti-
cism. He was the father of the Hon. Samuel Dexter,
the eminent lawyer, and afterwards Secretary of War
and of the Treasury in the administration of John
Adams.

In 1732, Dr. Nathaniel Ames removed from Bridge-
water to Dedham. He was a man of an acute mind,
a ready wit, and of amiable temper. He is best
known as the author of the Ames Almanacs, which
were published for forty years, although it has been
said some of the first of these must have been published
by his father. He became a prominent citizen, and
was much employed in town and parish afi'airs. He
married, for his second wife, Deborah, the daughter
of Jeremiah Fisher, and granddaughter of Daniel
Fisher, the second of that name. By this union he
had several children, among whom were Fisher Ames
and Nathaniel Ames, who both lived and died in
Dedham. The Ames almanacs are rare and curious
and contain predictions of wars and direful events,
founded upon the conjunctions of planets, with some
quaint verses. He lived in a house which was a
tavern for many years, and which stood on the loca-
tion of Ames Street, near High Street, opposite the
court-house in Dedham. It was known prior to the
Revolution as Woodward's tavern, but at some time
previous it had been kept by Dr. Ames. He died in
1764. His widow survived until 1817, and died in
the ninety-fifth year of her age. The house was
taken down after her death.

The passage of the Stamp Act in 1765 was the
beginning of the series of measures by which Eng-
land asserted the right to tax the colonies, and which
were the proximate causes of the American Revolu-
tion. The attempt to enforce it in Boston excited the
people to violence, and a mob destroyed the records
of the Vice-Admiralty Court, and the houses of the
Crown officers of customs. With this spirit of resist-
ance the men of Dcdliam had full sympathy. In
October, 1765, Samuel Dexter, their representative to
the General Court, was instructed not to encourage the
execution of that act, and the duty of resisting it was
enjoined upon him, for the reasons so fully assigned at
that time in public documents and writings. In October,
1766, the General Court having proposed to the town
whether it will bestow an indemnity on the late sufferers
by the riots in Boston, the town voted that it could
not consent even to a partial indemnity. In Novem-

ber, however, the town voted that it would be a
dangerous precedent to grant it as a matter of right,
but that " we may show our dutiful regard to our
most gracious sovereign, and our gratitude to those
worthy persons who caused the repeal of the Stamp
Act, we give instructions to vote for the indemnity,
as it, is now asked for on the ground of generosity."

The news of the repeal of the Stamp Act reached
Boston in May, 1766. It was received with the
most enthusiastic expressions of joy ; a day was set
apart for the purpose, and by the ringing of bells, the
display of banners, the release of prisoners for debt by
subscription, a brillant illumination with loyal inscrip-
tions, and figures of Pitt, Camden, and Barre, the
people testified their gratitude and delight. In this
public rejoicing the people of Dedham most heartily
joined, and they have left a lasting memorial of their
joy to succeeding generations.

In the northwest corner of the court-house yard
there stands a square granite pillar, about five feet in
height, which bears the following inscriptions, reveal-
ing its history to him who can decipher the letters,
now blurred by time :

" The Pillar of Liberty erected by the Sons of Liberty
in this vicinity.
"Laus Deo Regii et Imraunitat m autoribusq maxime
Patronus Pitt qui Reinpub. rursum evulsit faucibus Orci.

"The Pillar of Liberty to the honor of William Pitt, Esq.,
and others, Patriots, who saved America from impending
slavery, and confirmed our most loyal affection to King George
III. by j)roeuring a repeal of the Stamp Act, 18th March,
1760.

"Erected here July 22, 1766, by Dr. Nathaniel Ames (2d),
Col. Ebenezer Battle, Major Abijah Draper, and other patriots
friendly to the rights of the Colonies at that day.

" Replaced by the citizens, July 4, 1828."

This monumental stone once formed the pedestal
of the " Pillar of Liberty." It was surmounted by
a wooden column about twelve feet high, on the top
of which was placed a wooden bust of William Pitt.
From memoranda now preserved, it appears that the
stone was prepared in May, and on the 22d of July
the Pillar of Liberty was erected in the presence of
" a vast concourse of people." Whether the bust
which had been " bespoken" on July 2d was never
furnished, or whether it proved unsatisfactory is un-
certain, but in the succeeding February, Dr. Ames,
with Rev. Mr. Haven and Mr. Battle, went to Bos-
ton and bespoke " Pitt's bust of Mr. Skillin." The
Mr. Skillin referred to was a ship-carver, and those
who remember the figure-heads of vessels fifty years
ago, can form a good idea of the artistic merits of
this bust of William Pitt. The pillar was originally
placed on the corner of the common, in front of the

DEDHAM.

meeting-house, directly opposite the tavern. It stood
intact until about the beginning of the present cen-
tury, when the column and bust fell, and, after lying
about the stone pedestal for a time, disappeared.
After the building of the new court-house, in 1827,
the pedestal was removed across the street to near
its present location. Such, briefly, is the history of
one of the oldest memorials now preserved in Ded-
ham, and it is worthy of better care of the present
and coming generations than it has received from the
past.

Another monument of this period, when the minds
of the people were turned to preparations for war, is
the old powder-house, on the rock which bears its
name, on Ames Street, near the river. As early as
1762 the town voted " to have the powder-house
builded on a great rock in Aaron Fuller's land, near
Charles River." The committee chosen did not per-
form their duty, and in May, 1765, two more persons
were joined to the committee, and instructed to have
the house built forthwith. It was finished in 1766,
and was used for many years for the storage of am-
munition, probably as long as there were trained com-
panies in the parish. The town has very recently
owned muskets and cartridge-boxes which have been
handed down for many years.

The town sent delegates to a convention held in
Faneuil Hall in September, 1768. This convention
of the towns of the province was called to protest
against the encroachments of the crown. Immedi-
ately upon the adjournment of this convention, the
squadron conveying the troops from Halifax, sent for
by Governor Bernard, arrived and the selectmen
refused them quarters.

In March, 1770, all duties imposed by the act of
1767, except the tax on tea, were abolished. In the
same year Dedham declared by vote, " That, as the
duty on tea furnishes so large a sum towards the
maintenance of innumerable multitudes, from the
odious commissioner of customs down to the dirty
informer by him employed, we will use uo foreign tea,
nor permit our families." In January, 1773 and
1774, the town passed similar resolutions, and a com-
mittee of correspondence was chosen. In Septem-
ber, 1774, the town met for the purpose of adopting
measures to prevent the late acts of Parliament from
being carried into effect, and chose delegates to the
convention which subsequently passed the Suffolk
resolves. A convention had been held in Stoughton
in the preceding August, and was adjourned to meet
at Woodward's tavern, in Dedham, on the 6th of
September. It was then adjourned to Vose's tavern,
in Milton, on the 9th of September, when the resolves

were passed. But the time for resolutions and con-
ventions was wellnigh spent. Samuel Dexter and
Abner Ellis were chosen delegates to the Provincial
Congress in January, 1775, and in March, the town
voted to raise a detached company of minute-men,
consisting of sixty, to be drilled in the military art,
three half-days in each week, and be ready to act on
the shortest notice in case of an alarm. They were
enlisted for nine months. Their pay was fixed, and
the money was borrowed to pay them.

We are now brought by the course of events to the
very beginning of the Revolution. It was a century
since the town was summoned to take an active part
in Philip's war, the first real conflict of arms since
the beginning of the settlement. During the last
half of the century then passed, in the French wars,
and in many expeditions and campaigns, Dedham
men had been called upon to participate, and in 1775
there were not a few survivors of these veteran sol-
diers. For the great conflict about to begin around
Boston they were prepared, not only in spirit and
resolution, but by military experience gained in real
campaigns.

CHAPTER VII.

DEDHAM— {Continued).

Dedham Village in 1775 — Leading Men — Lexington Alarm —
Minute-Men and Militia Companies March — Siege of Bos-
ton — Town Votes upon Question of Independence — Bounties
for Soldiers — Parishes Raise Money by Taxation — Articles
of Confederation Approved — Delegates to State Convention
for forming Constitution — Expenses of Revolutionary War —
Pecuniary Distress — Amendments to State Constitution Pro-
posed — Col. Daniel Whiting.

In 1775 Dedham contained about seventeen hun-
dred inhabitants, who lived in four parishes, what is
now Dover being the fourth. They were nearly all
farmers, for there was then no compact village near
the meeting-house of the First Parish. During the
century then passed the inhabitants had removed to
the other parishes, and the village had been aban-
doned except by the farmers. Near the meeting-
house stood the residence of Samuel Dexter, and di-
rectly opposite the parsonage, while a little farther east,
stood Woodward's tavern. There were a few mechan-
ics, but no shop-keepers and no lawyers. There was
a physician (Dr. Nathaniel Ames), and one school-
master, and he was employed only for a short time in
one place. The farmers carried the products of their

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

farms to Boston for a market, though the roads were
bad and circuitous. Among the articles they carried
were peeled oak bark, hoop-poles, oak and pine tim-
ber for building, oak staves, ship timber, charcoal,
and wood for fuel to some extent. Vegetables and
produce from the gardens were carried in panniers.
The generations of the preceding century had endured
great hardships, and probably derived but a bare sub-
sistence from their labor. They had not only served
as soldiers in the French wars, but the taxation of
their polls and estates to meet the expenses of these
wars had been a drain upon their resources. More-
over, by the emission of bills of credit, the currency
had so depreciated, that by the end of the wars eleven
or twelve hundred pounds were not equal to more
than a hundred pounds sterling. All these expenses
had been met without obtaining any compensation
from the mother-country. The generations then
living were also deficient in education, as, in the
pressure for money, the funds given for schools
by Metcalf, Avery, Kingsbury, and Damon had been
applied to other purposes, and the school lands in
Needham had been sold to pay ordinary expenses.
But they retained the strong love of civil and relig-
ious liberty of their ancestors, though somewliat nar-
rowed and intensified by political events and their
own circumstances. The places of Lusher and Fisher
of the first century were filled now by worthy succes-
sors. First and foremost among them should be
named Samuel Dexter, who was usually the mode-
rator of the town-meetings and framer of the resolu-
tions then passed. He was a man of vigorous spirit,
and gave liberally of his means to the patriotic cause.
There was Dr. Nathaniel Ames the younger, the town
physician, an ardent patriot, then in the thirty-fourth
year of his age, his brother Fisher being then but
seventeen. There were also Abner Ellis (Third Par-
ish), a deputy to the General Court; Richard Wood-
ward, of Woodward's tavern ; William Avery, repre-
sentative of an honored name in Dedham annals ;
Capt. Joseph Guild and Capt. George Gould, men
who held posts of trust and responsibility; and Capt.
Aaron Fuller and Sergt. Isaac Bullard, names of fre-
quent recurrence in the town records, and who were
afterwards deacons of the Dedham Church.

The men of 1775 were now ready for further sac-
rifices and suffering in the maintenance of their liber-
ties. They had pledged themselves to stand with
their brethren in the province in their resistance to
British aggression, and they were prepared to redeem
that pledge. There were five companies of militia in
the town, corresponding to the number of the parishes,
except there were two in the First Parish. Besides

these were the minute-men and an association of
veterans of the French wars.

Such were the names and characters of some of
those who stood ready on Dedham soil to join their
countrymen in the conflict about to open, and such
was the preparation that had been made when, on the
morning of the 19th of April, 1775, there came the
messenger to bring to them the " Lexington alarm."
We are told he came through Needham and Dover,
and probably the more direct routes were obstructed
by the British. It was received a little after nine
o'clock in the morning, so that the news had no
doubt gone through the southern towns of Middlesex
before reaching Dedham. The minute-men were
ready to march as they had enlisted, " upon any
emergency." There are traditions still kept of the
plough being left in the furrow and of the team stopped
in the highway and its driver mounting his horse and
galloping for his musket and accoutrements. They
did not wait for more than a platoon to gather before
they started. Capt. Joseph Guild, of the minute-
men, with his own hand silenced some croaker who
said the alarm was false. As the day wore on, the
militia companies mu.stered under their respective
captains. The first company of the First Parish, with
sixty-seven officers and men, were led by Capt. Aaron
Fuller. A second company of seventeen men, under
Capt. George Gould, with Richard Woodward as
lieutenant, went probably from Dedham Island and
that portion of West Roxbury formerly included in
Dedham. Then the company of the Third Parish,
under Capt. William Ellis, consisting of thirty-one
men. Next in distance came the company of the
South Parish, under Capt. William Bullard, with
sixty men. The company from the Fourth Parish
(Dover), under Capt. Ebenezer Battle, with sixty-
seven ofiicers and men, perhaps marched by another
route. Nor were these all. The veterans of the
French wars, whose blood was stirred by the long-
expected summons, gathered themselves upon the
common before the meeting-house, and after a prayer
offered by Rev. Mr. Gordon, of Roxbury, followed
their sons to the post of danger, led by Hezekiah
Fuller and Nathaniel Sumner.

We are told that the town that day " was almost
literally without a male inhabitant below the age of
seventy and above that of sixteen." There were not
less than three hundred men under arms, including
the minute-men and the militia and excluding the
veterans. It is not known where the Dedham sol-
diers met the British on the retreat towards Boston,
but of those who actually participated in the conflict
one f Elias Haven) was killed and one (Israel Everett)

DEDHAM.

wounded. The former was from the Fourth Parish,
and was the son of Deacon Joseph Haven, and was
thirty-three years old at the time of his death. He
left a son and a daughter. He is supposed to have
been killed in Cambridge. There were two named
Israel Everett in the Dedham companies. The father
was a sergeant in Capt. Gould's company, and served
three days. The son, called Israel Everett, Jr., served
in Capt. Aaron Fuller's company, and is no doubt the
one who was wounded, as the roll shows that he served
but one day. He was probably the same Israel
Everett who is named in the Everett genealogy as
the son of Israel, born Oct. 13, 1744.

The rolls of all these companies, containing the
names, time of service, and number of miles traveled,
signed and attested by their respective captains, are
carefully arranged and preserved at the State-House,
with the names of the thousands who on that day
marched at the Lexington alarm.

It would seem from these rolls that the companies
from the First Parish marched out about fourteen
miles, and the companies from the other parishes
marched about twice that distance. These facts
would indicate that they did not go beyond Cam-
bridge. The minute company was kept in service
about a fortnight, and the rest from three to ten
days.

During the month of April, companies of soldiers
from the southerly parts of the province and from
Rhode Island were constantly passing through Ded-
ham in large numbers. Some of the provincial
cannon were removed to Dedham on the 28th of the
month. All was tumult and confusion. In May,
the town voted to raise one hundred and twenty
men in the parishes, to be ready to march on an
alarm, and to be raised by the several militia officers
of the town. The minute-men were to assemble for
two months, three half-days in the week, to learn
their duty. The privates in the two companies were
to be paid at the rate of four shillings a day while in
actual service. Committees were appointed to pro-
cure guns and ammunition, to establish a night-watch,
and to cause the great gun of King Philip's war " to
be swung." Samuel Dexter announced that he
would give his time, trouble, and expense in serving
the town at the Congress, and Ebenezer Brackett
was chosen to guard the cannon.

The Dedham soldiers were part of the provincial
army then concentrating around Boston, with head-
quarters at Cambridge. They probably did not par-
ticipate in the action on Bunker's Hill. During the
succeeding winter they formed a portion of the force
engaged in the siege of Boston on Dorchester

Heights. After the evacuation of Boston by the
British, in March, 1776, they marched to Ticon-
deroga, to Canada, and other points, and some moved
with the army to New York. On the 4th of April,
1776, Gen. Washington spent the night in Dedham
on his way to New York. There is a tradition that
he was entertained at the residence of Mr. Dexter.

At the November session of the General Court in
1775, an act was passed reciting that, whereas Boston
is now made a garrison by the ministerial army, and
become a common receptacle for the enemies of
America, it provides that Dedham should be the
shire-town of Suffolk, and that the courts should be
held there and at Braintree. The books of record
and papers from the registry of deeds were also
removed to Dedham. On the 27th of May, 1776,
in the warrant for the town-meeting in March, there
having been an article " to know the minds of the
town about coming into a state of independency,"
after several adjournments, the town unanimously
voted that if the honorable Congress shall declare the
colonies independent of Great Britain, the inhabitants
will solemnly engage to support it in that measure
with their lives and fortunes. In July of the same
year, the towns in the province having been required
to procure their proportion of soldiers in two levies,
Dedham voted a bounty of seven pounds in addition
to the other wages of the soldiers in enlisting. Sev-
enty men received this bounty. A committee was
chosen to provide for families in distress. Com-
mittees of safety and correspondence were chosen
for the year and the subsequent years of the war.
The aggregate amount of service by the soldiers of
the town during this year must have been equal to
fifty-five men employed twelve months each. Upon
the records of the First Parish there is recorded a
report, made by Capt. Joseph Guild, showing the
number of soldiers from the First Parish during 1775—
78, and the amounts of the bounties paid to them.
By this report it appeared, that fifty-five soldiers
from the First Parish only had served during 1776,
whose aggregate services were equal to twenty men
employed twelve months each. In February, 1777,
the town voted a bounty of twenty-four pounds to each
man who would enlist for three years or during the
war. Forty-nine soldiers received this bounty.
Afterwards each parish assumed the payment of
the bounties to soldiers belonging to it, and raised
the money by taxation. In 1778 the First Parish
imposed a tax upon its inhabitants of four thousand
four hundred and eighty pounds. The Second Parish
in 1777 raised their quota of men for the Continental
service without using any bounty-money of the town.

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

In 1778 the First Parish alone had thirty-three men
employed one month near Boston, seventeen men in
otlier places, and thirty men in the army. The
selectmen, militia officers, and special committees
were authorized and requested to procure soldiers
and borrow money. In Jauuary, 1778, the town
approved the articles of confederation of the colonies.
In May a form of State constitution proposed by the
Provincial Congress was approved by the town,
though it was rejected by a large majority in the
province. The next year the town instructed its
representative to vote for a convention for the pur-
pose of proposing a form of State government to the
people. In July the Rev. Jason Haven and Dr.
John Sprague were chosen delegates to the conven-
tion for forming a new constitution.

In 1779, eight thousand pounds were assessed
towards defraying the expense of hiring soldiers. In
1780, the committee appointed the last year to hire
soldiers reported that they had performed that ser-
vice, and had paid them twelve thousand pounds ; the
number employed was sixty-six, and the amount of
service equivalent to twenty-two men twelve months
each. During this and subsequent years of the war
a demand was made for a supply of beef for the army.
To meet this demand, the sum of one hundred thou-
sand pounds was assessed upon the inhabitants, and
eight thousand pounds more for horses. The com-
mittee authorized to hire soldiers this year reported
that they were unable to procure any ; but a small
number were afterwards hired, and twenty-six men
drafted from the companies to complete the required
number. Great difficulties arose in collecting the
taxes on account of the fluctuations of the paper
currency, then much depreciated. This is the ex-
planation of the apparently large sums raised by tax-
ation. The credit of the town was bad and money
scarce, and a deduction of two shillings on the pouud
was made to persons who made prompt payment of
their taxes. Worthington, in his history, estimates
the annual expenditures of the town during the war
at about eight thousand dollars, federal currency.
The nominal amount of the expenditures very imper-
fectly denotes the weight of the burden. In 1781
two thousand pounds in lawful money, or its equiva-
lent in Continental currency, was granted to defray
the expenses of hiring soldiers. The town chose a
committee to remonstrate to the General Court that
it has been called upon to raise more than its propor-
tion of men.

It is obvious from the recorded votes of the town
during the war that the burden of taxation was very
great, and that the inhabitants suffered much pecuni-

ary di.stress. They were all farmers, and had but
little money. That the war had exhausted their
means of payment appears quite manifest, for, not-
withstanding their strong attachment to the cause to
which they had pledged their lives and fortunes, they
at last complained to the General Court.

In the common cause the people acted and suffered
with great unanimity. The strong current of popular
feeling ran in one direction, and the public doings of
the town were harmonious. They had the leadership
and advice of able and competent men, and neither the
records nor tradition disclose any opposition to the
support which the town gave to the patriotic cause in
the American Revolution

The treatment of the Rev. William Clark and the
other inoffensive members of the Church of England
has already been described. That he was forced to
leave his home and his country without being guilty
of any real offense, would seem to be established by
the fact that a committee of the town had once ex-*
amined the charge against him and dismissed it, ex-
pressing themselves as satisfied, and that they disap-
proved of the action of his accusers. The interest
taken in him by Dr. Nathaniel Ames after his trial
at Boston would also confirm this view. His expul-
sion must be set down as one of those acts done where
the public mind is wrought up by excitement upon
a great occasion, of which every civil war fur-
nishes a parallel, and, while unjustifiable, must be
pardoned to the spirit of liberty. It is said there was
a prominent citizen of the town who was a loyalist,
and, although a military man, he took no part in the
war, but he remained undisturbed.

The Revolution imposed upon the people the neces-
sity of forming a State government, and upon the sub-
mission of the constitution to the people, the town
unanimously voted to adopt the preamble and most
of the articles, but some were objected to, and a com-
mittee of fifteen was chosen to report amendments.
These amendments were that all religious denomina-
tions should be equally protected ; that judges should
hold their offices for seven years instead of during
good behavior ; that clergymen should be ineligible to
the office of representative, and that the salary of the
Governor and judges should not be increased for the
first five years after their appointniont. These amend-
ments were adopted by the town, and are quite sig-
nificant of the political views and temper of the
people.

In the appendix to Mr. Haven's centennial address
(1836), there are given the names of one hundred
and six men who served in the war of independence.
The first name in the list is that of Col. Daniel Whit-

DEDHAM.

ing, who was probably the most prominent officer from
Dedham. He was born in that part of Dedham
which is now Dover, Feb. 5, 1732-33. He served
in the French wars, and at the Lexington alarm he
marched as lieutenant of one of the companies, and
was also captain during the siege of Boston. He
afterwards served in the Continental army at Ticon-
deroga. At the attack on Cherry Valley, N. Y.,
led by Walter Butler, a savage Tory, with Joseph
Brant, the Mohawk chief, the fort was defended by
Col. Ichabod Alden's regiment, of which he was
major. Col. Alden was killed and Maj. Whiting
succeeded to the command. He served during the
whole of the war, and died at Natick in February,
1808, and was buried at Dover.

CHAPTER VII I.

D'EBB.A^l—iCotitinued).

Second Parish — Rev. Jabez Chickering — Third Parish — Rev.
Thomas Thacher — Fourth Parish Incorporated as a District
under the name of Dover — Shay's Rebellion — Incorporation
of Norfolk County — Episcopal Church — Rev. William Mon-
tague — Old Church Removed and Rebuilt — Fisher Ames;
Sketch of His Life — Edward Dowse — Rev. Jason Haven —
Church Covenant of 1793 — Division in the Third Parish —
New Meeting-House — About Sixty Members Withdraw to the
Baptist Society in Medfield — Second Parish and Church —
Rev. William Coggswell.

Although for eight years the town had been dis-
turbed in its internal atfairs by the burdens of the
war. still they did not suffer the vacancies in the office
of pastor to go unfilled. In the Second Parish Mr.
Balch died in 1774, and on the third day of July,
1776, the Rev. Jabez Chickering was ordained as his
successor. He was born in the Fourth, or Springfield
Parish of Dedham, now Dover, Nov. 4, 1753, and
was graduated at Harvard College in 1774. He
studied theology in his native town under the direc-
tion of the Rev. Benjamin Caryl. He married
Miss Hannah Balch, a daughter of his predecessor,
April 22, 1777. During the early portion of his
ministry the public mind was occupied with the Rev-
olutionary struggle, and the number of additions made
to the church during his long ministry is said to have
been small. His parish was harmonious, however,
and he continued its pastor for thirty-five years and
eight months. He died March 12, 1812, in his fifty-
ninth year. He was a man of excellent repute in
the churches, but he left no printed discourses.

In the Third Parish, the vacancy occasioned by the
dismission of Rev. Andrew Tjler in 1772 was tilled

June 7, 1780, by the Rev. Thomas Thacher, who was
born in Boston Oct. 24, 1756, and was a son of Oxen-
bridge Thacher, Esq. He was graduated at Harvard
College in 1775. He was a man of excellent abilities,
and about twenty of his discourses were published.
He was a member of the American Academy of Arts
and Sciences, and was a delegate from Dedham to the
convention for adopting the Constitution of the United
States in 1787, with Fisher Ames as the other dele-
gate. It was during his ministry in 1808 that a divi-
sion occurred in this parish respecting the location of
a new meeting-house, and a portion of the parish
withdrew and afterwards were members of a Baptist
Society in the same territorial parish. Mr. Thacher
was opposed to the Calvinistic theology, and by his
will he gave his farm of twenty acres, and personal
estate amounting to three hundred and sixty-five dol-
lars, upon the condition that the parish should dis-
solve its connection with any pastor who should adopt
the Calvinistic or Hopkinsian creed. He died Oct.
19, 1812. in the fifty-sixth year of his age, and the
thirty-third of his ministry. He never married, and
in his manners was somewhat eccentric, but was much
respected for his character and abilities.

In 1784 the Fourth Parish was incorporated as a dis-
trict, with the name of Dover. Its first minister, the
Rev. Benjamin Caryl, survived until 1811. Dover
was incorporated as a town, March 31, 1836.

During the Revolutionary period, the town was
accustomed to give minute instructions to its repre-
sentatives in the General Court. In 1786, they in-
structed Nathaniel Kingsbur}', its representative, to
attempt the reduction of taxes by reducing the sala-
ries of public officers, by lopping off unnecessary de-
partments of government, by abolishing the Courts
of Quarter Sessions, by regulating the practice of
lawyers or totally abolishing them ; also to use his
utmost efforts to procure a division of the county, to
oppose the emission of a paper currency, to encour-
age manufactures, and to prevent the introduction of
foreign luxuries. It is obvious, from the language of
these instructions, that there was a considerable num-
ber of sympathizers with the promoters of the insur-
rection known as Shay's Rebellion in 1786. But
in September of that year the town promised to use
strenuous exertions in support of the government,
and in October a committee appointed to report a list
of grievances made their report, protesting against
treasonable and riotous proceedings, and proposing, as
remedies for existing evils, private economy, industry,
and frugality.

The General Court, by an act passed March 26,
1793, which took effect on June 20th, incorporated

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

the county of Norfolk, including all the towns of Suf-
folk, except Boston and Chelsea. Hingham and Hull
were excepted by an act passed subsequently. Dedham
was made the shire-town. This had been the desire
of the people for many years, and at several periods
since 1726 it had been the subject of votes and reso-
lutions in the towns. The local position of Dediiam
probably determined its selection as the shire town,
although several other towns were proposed, among
them Medfield, and it was also proposed that several
towns of Middlesex County should be united with
this county. A wooden court-house and jail were
finished in 1795. The court-house stood on the west
side of Court Street, fronting the meeting-house
common, while the jail stood near the corner of High-
land and Court Streets. Until the erection of a
court-house the courts were held in the meeting-
house.

In 1792, the Rev. William Montague, who was
born at South Hadley, Mass., Sept. 23, 1757, and
was graduated at Dartmouth College in 178-1, came
to Dedham. He had been admitted to orders as
deacon and priest in the Episcopal Church of the
United States by Bishop Seabury in 1787. He was
no doubt attracted to Dedham by the condition of
the Colburn estate, which had now fallen to the Epis-
copal Church upon the decease of Mrs. Colburn. He
took an especial interest in the recovery of glebe-
lands which had been given for the Episcopal Church
in New Hampshire and Vermont, as well as in Mas-
sachusetts, during the time he was in Dedham. He
found here scarcely more than a handful of the old
churchmen remaining. During the period which
had passed since Mr. Clark's departure, in 1778, the
services of the Episcopal Church had been suspended,
except on a few occasions, when Dr. Parker, of
'Boston, officiated. The old half-finished church,
then called Christ Church, was standing, but its
windows were broken and it was much dilapidated.
It was made a depository of miltary stores during the
war, but it had been afterwards cleared for public
worship at the request of Dr. Parker. The trustee
who had resisted the urgent request of Mr. Clark, to
set apart the church-acre according to the provisions
of the will of Samuel Colburn, had also suffered great
and unnecessary waste to be committed upon the rest
of the estate. Probably he was embarrassed, if not
overawed, by the intense hostility which then existed
towards the Episcopal Church. Twelve persons as-
sembled and agreed with Mr. Montague that he
should become rector, and wardens and vestrymen
were chosen. The income of the estate was vested
in him for fifteen years, and he was to receive fifty

pounds sterling per annum for preaching every other
Sunday, and at the end of that time he was to have
one hundred pounds sterling per annum. He was to
have liberty to reside in Boston, Cambridge, Brain-
tree, or Dedham. At the same time, Mr. Montague
was authorized to settle the affairs of the church
relative to the lands, leases were to be executed, and
the prices, shape, and dimensions of the lots were to
be fixed by him. In February, 1794, he procured
an act to be passed by the General Court by which
the rector, wardens, and vestrymen were authorized
to lease the lands and to do all necessary corporate
acts. Mr. Montague was his own surveyor and con-
veyancer, and the divisions of the lots and the lines
of the streets bounding and intersecting them are the
work of his hand. A considerable portion of the land
was alienated. As the church lands occupied a cen-
tral situation in Dedham village, there was a demand
for lots, and Mr. Montague was frequently brought in
contact with the people in a manner which led to dis-
trust and misunderstandings. He continued to offici-
ate in the church at irregular intervals until 1811,
when he ceased, although he claimed to be rector at
a subsequent time. Moreover, his accounts in the
management and leasing of the lands, being unsettled
and involved, became the subject of disputes with the
members of his parish, and afterwards of litigation.

Finally, in 1818 about thirty persons, including all
the members of the parish, obtained a new act of in-
corporation giving the church control of the estate,
and in July of that year Mr. Montague was suspended
from the ministry, upon his resignation, by Bishop
Griswold. He died in Dedham, July 22, 1833.

The old church was repaired, pews built, and an
organ put up in 1795. In 1797 it was voted to re-
move the church to vacant land on what is now
Church Street, on Franklin Square. The church
was moved to this new location, but while raising it
to the proposed height, the timbers supporting it gave
way, the whole structure fell, and was broken in frag-
ments. The rebuilding of the church was begun,
only a portion of the old church being used. This
work was carried on during several years, and it was
not finished until 1806. It was constructed with a
basement, originally intended for an academy by Mr.
Montague, but which afterwards was used for storage.
The entrance to the church was by means of a double
flight of steps rising parallel with the front on Church
Street. It had a recessed chancel, with pulpit and
reading-desk in front of the chancel-rail, and a gal-
lery at the opposite end, in which was an organ. It
was painted in fresco, with Grecian columns and cor-
nices. It was surmounted with a belfry, and in

DEDHAM.

1818 a bell was placed in it by subscription. In
1803, Madam Esther Sprague gave five hundred dol-
lars to the church, and Madam Elizabeth Sumner
gave two hundred and fifty dollars for a library or
plate. In 1813 there were thirteen communicants
and twenty families belonging to the parish.

After the reorganization of the parish, which
during the time Mr. Montague continued to be the
rector, was known as Christ Church, the church was
repaired and opened for divine service on the last
Sunday of October, 1818. From that time, services
were continued without interruption, sometimes by
the neighboring clergy, and from Easter, 1819, until
the beginning of 1821, the Rev. Cheever Felch, a
chaplain in the navy, officiated. On the 22d day of
November, 1821, the Rev. Isaac Boyle, having been
elected rector, was formally instituted into that office
by Bishop Griswold.

In the spring or summer of 1793, Fisher Ames,
after an absence of a few years, returned to Dedham,
and from this time he made his permanent residence
there. He was born in Dedham, April 9, 1758, and
was the youngest child of Dr. Nathaniel Ames. His
mother was Deborah Fisher, the daughter of Jeremiah
Fisher, from whom he took his first name. His father
died whe.n he was but six years old, and his early train-
ing was left to his mother, a woman of excellent capa-
city and strength of character. He early began the
study of Latin, and was instructed partly in the town
school when the teacher happened to be capable of
teaching him, and partly by the Rev. Mr. Haven, min-
ister of the Dedham Church. In 1770, soon after he
was twelve years old, he entered Harvard College,
where he was graduated in 1774. He was too young
during his college course to master the sciences then
taught, but he was remarkably attentive to his studies,
and his mind was quick and accurate. He excelled in
the classics and the literary exercises. His declama-
tions were remarkable for their energy and propriety,
and he sometimes spoke an original theme and wrote
some verses. He had a poetic imagination, which he
showed in his prose writings afterwards, but he never
confessed to being a poet. After his graduation in
1774, on account of his youth and the troubles inci-
dent to the outbreak of the Revolution, as well as the
limited resources of his mother, he did not besin his
professional studies for .some years. During this pe-
riod he was engaged for a time in teaching school,
and he did military service in some expedition to
places in Massachusetts or to the Rhode Island fron-
tier. He continued his studies, revising his course
in the Latin classics, and reading history, both ancient
and modern. He was especially fond of poetry, and

was familiar with Shakspeare and Milton. He studied
law with William Tudor in Boston, where he was
admitted to the bar in 1781. He probably began
practice in Dedham, although at that time there
could have been but little litigation. But he em-
ployed his pen in writing a series of political essays
for the Independent Chronicle, under the names of
Lucius Junius Brutus and Camillus, upon the
questions which agitated the people of Massachusetts
during Shay's Rebellion. The vigor of thought and
style of these essays attracted attention, and they may
be regarded as the beginning of his public career, since
they first introduced him to prominent public men.
He was chosen a delegate to the convention for rati-
fying the Federal Constitution, held in 1788, of
which he was an ai'dent supporter. He made his
first speech in this convention upon biennial elec-
tions. He was elected also to the Legislature of
1788. He produced such an impression upon the
public mind by his speeches and essays, that he was
chosen the representative to the first Congress from
the Suff"olk District, which office he held during the
whole of Washington's administration, a period of
eight years. His congressional career was brilliant
and successful. Probably in the galaxy of statesmen
and orators, for which this period of American history
was so remarkable, there was no man who produced
a greater impression as an orator and political writer
than Fisher Ames. He was a Federalist of the
school of Hamilton, Jay, and Pickering, and his
later essays are worthy of being ranked with the
papers of the " Federalist." As a political writer his
fame has been as enduring as it was brilliant. The
few speeches which have been published were prob-
ably imperfectly reported, and while chai-acterized by
an elevated tone of thought and vigorous expression,
yet much of the profound impression which they
produced must have been due to the circumstances
under which they were delivered.

On the 15th day of July, 1792, he married Frances,
the third daughter of the Hon. John Worthing-
ton, of Springfield, of whom President Dwight, of
Yale College, said, " He was a lawyer of the first emi-
nence and a man who would have done honor to any
town and any country." After his marriage, Mr. Ames
kept house in Boston until the succeeding spring. In
1791 he had opened a law-office on King, now State
Street. The formation of the new county of Norfolk
doubtless determined his removal to Dedham. In
November, 1795, he finished his substantial mansion,
built upon his patrimonial estate, near the old house
where his mother continued to reside. His law-office
in Dedham was on the corner of the meeting-house

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

common, near the " Pillar of Liberty." About the
time he removed to his new residence his health sud-
denly failed in a dangerous and alarming manner, and
for the remainder of his life he never fully recovered
it. In a letter dated Dec. 9, 1795, referring to a
party of his neighbors to partake of a supper in his
new house, he speaks of lying down " to prepare
himself for sitting up and talking, and husbanding
his words till the supper was done." In another let-
ter he speaks of weighing one hundred and forty-four
pounds, which was thirty less than his utmost in health.
In August of the same year he writes, " Court week
is over and I am alive and beginning to take long
breath. Not half the jury actions were tried. My
share of them kept me in a throng of people at my
own house, and on the way to and from court, and
there the heat, the crowd, and the effect of speaking,
almost did me over."

From the close of his congressional career in 1797,
Mr. Ames spent the most of his time upon his estate
in Dedham. He practiced his profession in Suffolk and
Norfolk, and had his health permitted he would have
devoted himself to the law. But he took great satis-
faction in the care of his farm. He makes frequent
allusions in his letters written at this time to his large
stock of cattle ; to the productiveness of his cows ;
to his breed of sheep ; to his sixty swine ; to his de-
sire to get the best of garden seeds ; to his belief that
his farm is approaching the period when it will be
profitable, and adding that " if he did not think it
would be, it would not be an amusement ; it would be
a mere piece of ostentation on any other prospect, an
expen.'sive folly, a toilsome disappointment."

Mr. Ames was deeply interested in the growth and
development of his native town. Writing to Thomas
Dwight in 1795, he says, " Dedham will never become
more than a village, but it is growing up to be a smart
one ;" and after describing the new house of Judge
Haven then building, and the establishing of a mill
for printing calico and muslin, he resumes, "This, if
true, will look very like bragging. But is there not
a cold, hard spot in that heart which is indifferent to
the natale solum ? Philosophers affect to despise such
attachments, and few who do not feel them will give
them quarter. The growth of the place I live in
concerns my profit and pleasure, and it seems to me
there is reason, if not philosophy, for my taking an
interest in the event." He had a desire to cultivate
social relations with his neighbors. After alluding to
having invited thirty to his house to a supper, he
continues, " Although it is a reproach that so much
company has been so unsocial, I do not despair with
proper help of regenerating Dedluun in this respect."

He was active in attempting to improve the ex-
ternal appearance of the village. In 1800 he writes,
" I went home yesterday to attend town-meeting.
After a long and rather wrangling contest, sometimes
outvoted, at last prevailing, we carried it to apply
nine hundred dollars by way of contract to our roads,"
and concludes. " I am sick of town-meeting. I took
no refreshment, but stayed many hours in the meet-
ing-house, and am two-thirds dead in consequence."
Soon after he writes again, " We have done as well
with our road through our village as we did ill in the
meeting-house. The whole, from Mr. Joe Lewis' up
to Parson Wight's, is an elegant road, equal to a
turnpike, all ploughed, and raked and rounded off, so
that all admired, and many will, I hope, imitate it.
It was done by subscription." He was interested in
schools; in a scheme for bringing water in logs to
the western part of our plain ; in the building of the
Boston and Providence Turnpike, of which corpora-
tion he was the first president; in the making of a
public square in the centre of the village ; in the
draining of the meadows on Charles River ; in the
straightening and widening of the roads ; in the es-
tablishment of an academy, a library, and the build-
ing of a new meeting-house and a town-house for
holding meetings and the safe-keeping of the records.
He planted the elms on High Street, of which but
few remain, the only memorials of the taste and public
spirit of Fisher Ames. With his declining health and
strength, he was unable to overcome with his per-
suasions and arguments the determined opposition of
the sturdy farmers from the other parishes to the orna-
mentation and improvement of the village, which has
not disappeared in the lapse of three-quarters of a
century. Had the suggestions of Mr. Ames been
adopted in his time, Dedham village would have been
the " loveliest village of the plain."

The only public office which Mr. Ames held after-
wards was that of councilor, when Increase Sumner
was Governor. He received the degree of Doctor of
Laws from the College of New Jersey in 1796. In
1804 he was chosen president of Harvard College,
but he declined the office. In 1800, by request of
the Legislature, he delivered an eulogy upon Wash-
ington, which has been much admired.

The most attractive side of Mr. Ames' character is
revealed through his familiar letters. Those which
have been publLshed are written with a remarkably
facile pen, and are full of brightness and wit. They
give us an idea of his personality and of his conver-
sational powers, for which he was distinguished. We
desire to know more of his social and domestic char-
acter, and it is to bo regretted that no memoir of

DEDHAM.

personal recollections was written by one of his con-
temporaries. The essay by President Kirkland, pub-
lished with his works, is rather an estimate of his
character and services, than a biography.

Fisher Ames died on the morning of July 4, 1808, j
being little more than fifty years of age. He had a
public funeral in Boston, at which his friend Samuel
Dexter pronounced the eulogy. He was buried in
the old burial-ground in Dedham village. Mrs.
Ames resided in Dedham until after the decease of
her eldest son, John Worthington Ames, in 1833,
after which she resided with her son, Seth Ames, at
Lowell until her death, Aug. 8, 1837. The mansion-
house was sold in 1837, and nothing but the frame
now remains in the main portion of the residence of
Mr. F. J. Stimson, opposite the court-house.

Fisher Ames was the youngest child in a family
of five children. His eldest brother was Dr. Na-
thaniel Ames, who was born Oct. 9, 1741, and was
graduated at Harvard College in 1761. He married
Melitiah Shuttleworth, March 13, 1775, and died
July 21, 1822, leaving no children. He was a
practicing physician, and he also was the first clerk ■
of the Court of Sessions and Court of Common
Pleas in the county. He built and occupied the
house now owned by Dr. J. P. Maynard, and his
land joined that of his brother Fisher. Dr. Ames
was pronounced in his political views, and he was
a thoroughgoing Republican. Between the two
brothers there was no agreement in politics, and
this led to heated controversies between them, but
it should be added that this did not destroy their
fraternal affection and confidence. Another brother
was Dr. Seth Ames, born Feb. 14, 1743 ; was
graduated at Harvard College in 1764; was a sur-
geon in the Revolutionary army, and died Jan. 1,
1778. William Ames, another brother, died young,
and Deborah, a sister, was married to Rev. Samuel
Shuttleworth, of Windsor, Vt., who was afterwards
a member of the bar.

Fisher Ames had six children. John Worthing-
ton was the eldest, born Oct. 22, 1793 ; was gradu-
ated at Harvard College in 1813,; was a member of
the bar ; representative to the General Court and
president of the Dedham Bank, and died Oct. 31,
1833. Nathaniel, the second son, entered Harvard,
but left during his college course and went to sea.
He was the author of " Mariner's Sketches," a book
which attracted some attention. Jeremiah Fisher
Ames, the third son, was graduated at Harvard Col-
lege in 1822, was educated as a physician, and pur-
sued his studies abroad, but he died at the age of
twenty-seven. Hannah Ames, a daughter, died

young and unmarried. W^illiam Ames was bred to
business, but retired early. He lived in Dedham
until his death, in 1880, though he was accustomed
to make annual visits to Springfield and other places.
All these children died unmarried. Seth Ames, who
was born April 19, 1805, and was graduated at Har-
vard College in 1825, and who was chief justice of
the Superior Court and a justice of the Supreme Ju-
dicial Court, died in 1881. leaving several children,
none of whom reside in Dedham. The youngest son,
Richard, removed to the West when a young man,
and died, leaving a family in Bloomington, 111.
There is no living representative of the Ames family in
Dedham. The most conspicuous and illustrious name
in its history has disappeared from among its citizens.

In 1798, Mr. Edward Dowse, a retired merchant
from Boston, purchased the lands on either side of
High Street, and soon after built his mansion-house
upon the north side of the street. He married the
daughter of William Phillips, of Boston, a wealthy
merchant, and her sister, Mrs. Shaw, the widow of
Maj. Samuel Shaw, lived with them. Mr. Dowse
was a hospitable and liberal-spirited gentleman, and
was the donor of the clock in the spire of the meet-
ing-house, which still strikes the hours for the village.
He was a Republican, and was elected to Congress in
1819 from the Norfolk District, but resigned his seat
at the close of the first session. In this house Presi-
dent Monroe was entertained during his visit to Bos-
ton. Mr. Dowse died in 1828, in his seventy-third
year Mrs. Shaw died in 1833, and Mrs. Dowse in
1839, and then the estate passed into the possession of
their nephew, Hon. Josiah Quincy, and was the resi-
dence for many years of the late Edmund Quincy.

On the 17th of May, 1803, the Rev. Jason Haven,
the minister of the First Church, died, in the seventy-
first year of his age, and the forty-eighth of his ministry,
which was longer than that of either of his predecessors.
It also included a period of many important events.
It began when Massachusetts was a province under a
royal Governor. Mr. Haven, during the Revolution,
was a strong supporter of the patriotic cause, and did
much to sustain the people in their sacrifices during
this trying period. He was chosen a member of the
Constitutional Convention of 1779. In 1793, the
church covenant and the mode of admitting church
members were changed. The covenant then adopted
was very brief, and does not contain articles of belief,
like that of 1767. Its only requirement was a belief
in the Christian religion. The eflFects of the Revo-
lution upon the opinions of men in religious matters
were now beginning to be seen in that spirit of indif-
ference to the dogmas of the Puritan theology which

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

was to culminate twenty-five years later in open revolt.
But to Mr. Haven, supported by his deacons and the
church, is due especial honor for having so managed
the church property that the income remained for a
long time untouched, and the capital accumulated,
the parish expenses meantime being met by taxation,
and at a time of pecuniary distress.

Probably no pastor of the Dedham Church, with
the possible exception of Mr. Allin, had ever exer-
cised so strong an influence upon his people as Mr.
Haven. He was a faithful pastor and preacher. He
had talents and gifts which qualified him for the
varied duties of his sacred office. His sermons were
perspicuous and direct. He had all the gravity and
dignity which belonged to the ministerial character,
and Dr. Prentiss, in his funeral sermon, says of him
that, "from a personal intimacy of more than thirty
years, I can, with pleasing confidence, add that in his
temper and life there appeared an habitual correspond-
ence with his professional character."

Mr. Haven preached the Artillery Election sermon
in 1761, the General Election sermon in 1769, the
Dudleian lecture in 1789, and the Convention sermon
in 1791. These were printed, and also eleven ordina-
tion and occasional sermons. In 1796 he preached
an excellent historical sermon, it being forty years
after his settlement in the ministry. He also preached
a half-century sermon, " relating to changes in the
inhabitants," as stated in Dr. Lamson's " Historical
Discourses" (1838), but no copy probably exists.

As in the last years of Mr. Haven's life his health
and strength declined, the church extended a call to
Mr. Joshua Bates to become an associate pastor, and
he was ordained March 16, 1803, only a few weeks
before Mr. Haven's death. Mr. Bates was a native
of Cohasset, and was born March 20, 1776, and was
graduated at Harvard College in 1800. He was
licensed to preach by the Andover Association in
1802. Dr. Bates continued to be the pastor until
Feb. 20, 1818, when he resigned to accept an elec-
tion as president of Middlebury College, in Vermont.
Upon the Sunday preceding the dissolution of the
pastoral relation, Mr. Bates preached a sermon re-
viewing the ministry of his predeces.sors, and in
which he alludes to " a gradual but evident declen-
sion in the zeal and spirituality of the church" which
took place towards the close of Mr. Haven's life.
Mr. Haven also had left an address to be read to his
people after his death, which contains warnings and
exhortations. Mr. Bates, in his sermon, states, how-
ever, there had been a gradual improvement for
several years in the state of religion in the parish.

From these expressions in Mr. Bates' sermon it is

easy to understand what has been affirmed by con-
temporaneous history to be the causes of the division
of opinions and belief in the Dedham Church.
There had been, as we have seen, a relaxation of the
articles of belief contained in the former church cov-
enants in that of 1793, and a reaction had been
going on since the close of the Revolution throughout
this country against the dogmas of Calvinism. The
volcano which had long been slumbering was ready to
burst into an active eruption. Mr. Bates was a Cal-
vinist, and while his abilities, his piety, and his un-
exceptionable life served to repress any active oppo-
sition during his ministry, yet when he asked a
dismission, the majority voted for it willingly, in the
belief that a successor might be ordained whose
views would be more compatible with their own.

The division which occurred in the Third Parish
in 1808, growing out of the location of the new
meeting-house, resulted in the union of the seceding
members with the Baptist Society in Medfield.
They numbered about sixty. While the new doc-
trines which they heard at Medfield doubtless proved
offensive to some, yet the law then compelled them
to belong to some religious society for the purpose
of taxation, and so they remained. After the new
meeting-house of the parish had been completed, the
old one was advertised to be sold at public auction.
It was purchased by Mr. Aaron Baker, who offered
it to the seceders, and it was taken down and its
timbers were removed and erected upon the site now
occupied by the Baptist meeting-house in West Ded-
ham. This was in the spring of 1810. The meet-
ing-house was finally completed, and dedicated to the
service of Almighty God on Thanksgiving-day, Nov.
28, 1810. From that time until 1823 the Rev. Mr.
Gammell preached alternately here and at Medfield.
The number who took letters from the church in
Medfield for this church was twenty-five, and Nov. 1,
1824, " The First Baptist Church in Dedham" was
duly formed, and the Rev. Samuel Adlam ordained
as its first pastor. In the same year a parsonage was
built by Miss Molly Fisher, and during her life she
kept it in repair, and at her decease, in 1837, she gave
it to the church by her will.

On the 1st day of March, 1809, the new meeting-
house of the Third Parish was dedicated to Almighty
God. It occupies an elevated situation, and can be
seen for many miles. The land upon which it stands
was given for the purpose. Its bell was a gift from
Hon. Joshua Fisher, of Beverly. The pulpit was
furnished by the ladies of the parish, and subscriptions
were made, so that in 1836 the fund amounted to
upwards of five thousand dollars. Previous to 1817

DEDHAM.

heated bricks and foot-stoves were the only heating-
apparatus in the meeting-house. The Rev. Mr.
Thacher preached a sermon, on leaving the ancient
meeting-house, from the text, " Our fathers worshiped
in this mountain." At the dedication of the new meet-
ing-house the Rev. Mr. Bates, of the First Parish,
and the Rev. Mr. Chickering, of the Second Parish,
took part in the exercises.

In the Second Parish, more than three years
elapsed before the settlement of a successor to Mr.
Chickering. On the 26th of April, 1815, Mr. Wil-
liam Cogswell was ordained as the minister of the
parish. He was a native of New Hampshire, and
was a graduate of Dartmouth College in 1811. Mr.
Cogswell continued to be the pastor of this church
until 1829, when he resigned to become secretary of
the x\merican Education Society. During the min-
istry of each of the first three pastors of the Second
Church and Parish, peace and harmony had prevailed
within it, while discords and divisions prevailed in the
other parishes of the town. The ministry of the first
two pastors covered a period of more than seventy-two
years, and to this circumstance, as well as to the per-
sonal character and influence of the incumbents, is to
be ascribed the exemption of this parish from church
quarrels. Mr. Cogswell preached a sermon, June 23,
1816, containing a brief history of the South Church
and Parish, which was printed. In 1828 the meet-
ing-house erected in 1769 was taken down, and the
present one was erected the same year, and dedicated
Oct. 9, 1828.

CHAPTER IX.

D'EBB AM— {C'onthiued).

Dedham in the Beginning of the Present Century — Manufac-
turing Corporations — Mill Privileges on Mother Brook — War
of 1812 — Legacy for Schools in AVill of Samuel Dexter — The
First Church — Resignation of Rev. Joshua Bates — Parish
Elect Rev. Alvan Lamson — Majority of Church Refuse
to Concur — Ecclesiastical Council — Protest by a Majority
of the Church — Ordination of Mr. Lamson — Suit at Law to
Recover Church Property — Decision of Supreme Court — New
Meeting-House Society Formed — Rev. Ebenezer Burgess —
Improvements in Old Meeting-House — Third Parish — Rev.
John White — Second Parish, Rev. Harrison G. Park, Rev.
Calvin Durfee and his Successors — Description of Dedham
Village in 1818 — Dedham Bank — New Jail and Court-House
— Town-House — Norfolk Mutual Fire Insurance Company
— Dedham Mutual Fire Insurance Company — Dedham In-
stitution for Savings— Gen. Lafayette's Visit — Gen. Jack-
son's Visit.

In the beginning of the present century, Dedham
remained a farming town, with a population nearly

the same as it had been for fifty years previous. The
occupations of the people had not changed materially
since the period preceding the Revolution. A greater
interest in the public schools was manifested, and a
new brick school-house, near the meeting-house, was
finished in 1800. In 1804, the sum of twelve hun-
dred dollars was granted by the town for the support
of schools. At this period, however, the schools were
kept only a few weeks during the winter. Fisher
Ames, in one of his letters, expresses the opinion that
the law should require the district school to be kept
a certain number of months. In 1799, the money
granted for the support of schools was divided accord-
ing to the number of scholars in each district between
the ages of five and sixteen. There were signs of
present and future growth' in population, and in the
external appearance of the village. Besides the erec-
tion of the fine houses on High Street and elsewhere,
the lands of the First Church and of the Episcopal
Church were leased in village lots, and a number of
smaller houses were built. The fact that Dedham had
been made the shire-town of the new county, gave it
some additional importance, and attracted hither
lawyers seeking practice, and some retired men of
wealth seeking a pleasant country residence. The
completion of the Norfolk and Bristol turnpike in
1804 was an important event, since it afforded a
direct and well-graded road between Dedham and
Boston, and afterwards led to the establishment of
the stage-lines between Boston and Providence, which
brought in the business of coach-making, and gave
the appearance of bustle and life to the quiet village,
when the stages stopped for change of horses. In
1801, a fire-engine was purchased by subscription and
presented to the town, and a company of twelve men
appointed to take charge of it at the upper vil-
lage. In 1802 a second fire-engine was provided in
the same way, with a company of eighteen men at
Dedham village. There was a uniformed military
company, known as the Union Light Infantry, and a
troop of cavalry, besides the three militia companies
in the town. The town on the 22d of February,
1800, voted to commemorate the birthday of George
Washington, and a eulogy was pronounced by Rev.
Thomas Thacher. The laying out of new roads, the
establishment of the first newspaper, the Columhian
Minerva, in 1796, and a proposition by Calvin Whit-
ing the same year, to construct an aqueduct in the
village, were further indications of growth and im-
provement.

But a more important and significant mark of
the enterprise of the citizens at this period, was the
establishment of manufacturing corporations. The

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

great increase iu the production of cotton in the
Southern States, and the invention of the cotton-gin
in the hitter part of the eighteenth century, had at-
tracted the attention of enterprising men in Rhode
Island and Massachusetts to its manufacture. And
it was perceived by some citizens of Dedham that tlie
excellent water-power furnished by the canal dug in
1640, known as Mother Brook, might be utilized for a
cotton-factory. From the earliest settlement of the town
the descendants of Nathaniel Whiting had continued
to maintain grist-mills and saw-mills at the second
and third privileges. At the upper dam, about which
there was a controversy in the first century, had been
built a leather-mill by Joseph Lewis. The first cotton-
factory was built at this dam. In 1807, Samuel
Lowder, Jonathan Avery, Reuben Guild, Calvin
Guild, Pliny Bingham, William Howe, and others,
were incorporated as the Norfolk Cotton Manufactory,
for the manufacture of cotton goods. Nearly all the
corporators were citizens of Dedham. Its capital
stock was divided into fifty shares. A large wooden
factory was built, and a tub-wheel with common
water-frames placed in if. The machinery was
rude and imperfect. The cotton was picked in the
neighboring houses by hand, and after it was spun,
it was sent abroad to be woven. But soon the store-
rooms were crowded with cotton yarns and cotton
cloths. Many of the manufactured goods were sold
by retail at the mill. In order to have a better assort-
ment of goods, the company obtained leave to manu-
facture wool, and made satinets. During the war of
1812 manufactured goods commanded a high price,
and the afi"airs of the company appeared very prosper-
ous. The annual meetings, with the reports of profit-
able business, were festive occasions. The stock-
holders were regarded as public benefactors, as well
as fortunate in business. The inhabitants felt a
degree of pride in having a cotton-factory in the town,
and when their friends from the interior visited them,
they were invited to see its curious and wonderful
machinery. After a time the tub- wheel gave way to
the common water-wheel, and the cotton-picker was
introduced.

But this career of apparent prosperity was not of
long duration. The business was not conducted by
an agent, but by a president, three directors, a clerk,
and treasurer. The three directors were required to
remain at the factory, and no one was permitted to
transact important business without the concurrence
of his colleagues. The manufactured goods accumu-
lated during the war, although high prices could
have been realized. They were held in the hope of
still better prices. No dividends Irom the profits of

the business were ever declared, At the close of the
war of 1812 came a fall in prices, and the Norfolk
Cotton-Manufactory was left with manufactured goods
on hand, to the amount of upwards of twenty thou-
sand dollars, which were worth less than it cost to
manufacture them, besides uncollected debts to the
amount of forty thousand dollars. Of course frpm
this time the property rapidly declined in value, but
for a time the stockholders were divided as to the
expediency of closing the business and selling the
property. Finally, after having refused to take
twenty-five thousand dollars, the land, privileges,
buildings, and machinery were sold at public auction
in 1819 to Benjamin Bussey for twelve thousand five
hundred dollars. The stockholders lost about one-
third of their investment, besides interest.

But the failure of this experiment did not deter
others from engaging in similar enterprises. In 1821
the Dedham Worsted Company was incorporated, with
William Phillips and Jabez Chickering as the princi-
pal corporators. This company purchased the second
privilege, with the saw-mill and grist-mill owned by
Hezekiah Whiting and his ancestors. This purchase
was made in 1823, but owing to the failure of Mr.
Chickering the mill and property were sold in 1824
to Benjamin Bussey.

The first and second privileges were now owned by
Benjamin Bussey, a man of capital, energy, and ca-
pacity. He soon after erected woolen-mills at both
the privileges, with machine-shops, dye-houses, and
dwellings, and began the manufacture of woolen
cloths, which he successfully conducted until 1843,
when he sold the property to J. Wiley Edmands.
The manufacture of woolen goods has ever since
been carried on at these privileges, first by Edmands
& Colby, incorporated in 1853 under the name of the
Maverick Woolens Company, with Thomas Barrows,
of Dedham, as agent, and afterwards by the Mer-
chants Woolen Company, incorporated in 1863.
During all this period the business has been profita-
ble to the owners. Mr. Barrows was an experienced
and prudent manager, and the sale to the Merchants
Woolen Company was made at an advantageous
price. This company has much enlarged the capac-
ity of the mills and machinery, and the privilege
has long since ceased to furnish the necessary power
for running the machinery, which is supplied by
steam. The water of Charles River is found to be
unequaled for the purposes of cleansing wool.

The fourth privilege was first used by Nathaniel
Whiting and James Draper in the first century of
the settlement of the town. But this right had re-
verted to tiie town, for in 1789 the town again trans-

DEDHAM.

ferred it to Joseph Whiting and others. Upon
this privilege, a building had been erected for block-
ing copper cents, but it was used for this purpose
only a short time. It was afterwards fitted up by
Herman Mann for the manufacture of paper. In
180-i, George Bird purchased the property, and car-
ried on the manufacture of paper with success. At
about the same time, another mill was erected for the
manufacture of wire, of which Ruggles Whiting, of
Boston, was the agent. These mills were near to-
gether, and were operated by the same wheel. The
mill of Mr. Bird was burned in 1809, and was rebuilt
with a new raceway and foundation. This was a
paper-mill. In 1814 the manufacture of wire was
discontinued, and the factory was used for making
nails. In 1819, George Bird became the owner of
the whole privilege, land, and buildings.

In 1823, Frederick A. Taft, a skillful and experi-
enced manufacturer of cotton goods, formed a copart-
nership with George Bird, and the factory was fur-
nished with machinery from the Norfolk Cotton-
Factory. In 1823, a new corporation was created
under the name of the Norfolk Manufacturing Com-
pany, in which John Lemist, of Roxbury, and
Frederick A. Taft were prominent corporators. Mr.
Bird leased the land, privilege, and buildings to the
corporation for ten years. In 1830 the corporation
bought the whole of the mill property. In 1832, F.
A. Taft sold his interest in the company to his brother,
Ezra W. Taft, and in a few years after, Mr. Lemist
disposed of his interest to James Read. The principal
owners were Mr. Read and Mr. p]. W. Taft, who was
the agent of the corporation. In 1835 a new stone
mill was erected by the corporation and supplied with
new machinery. Mr. Taft continued to be the agent
for about thirty years, and under his management the
affairs of the corporation prospered. In 1863 the cor-
porators decided to close up the business, and the mill
and privilege were sold to Thomas Barrows. Mr. Bar-
rows enlarged the mill, and supplied it with machinery
for the manufacture of woolen goods, which business
he continued until 1872, when he sold the property to
the Merchants Woolen Companj-, which conveyed
the same to Royal 0. Storrs and Frederick R. Storrs
in 1875. The business was continued by R. 0. Storrs
& Co. until their failure in 1882, when the property
was purchased again by the Merchants Woolen
Company. By purchase of Thomas Barrows, this
company also became the owner of the third privilege,
with the old saw-milf and grist-mill, so that it now owns
the first four privileges on Mother Brook. In 1814
the Dedham Manufacturing Company was incorpo-
rated, and erected a fifth dam at the villace known

as Readville, now in Hyde Park, on which a cotton-
factory was built.

Although, as has been seen, the first manufacturing
corporations were unsuccessful in business, still they
gave a new impetus to the improvement of the town.
They brought hither men of enterprise and capital,
who became valuable citizens, and also employed
many skilled operatives of character and intelligence.
The most striking results occurred in the increase of
population. In 1800 the population of the town
was 1973. In 1820 it was 2485, and in 1830 it
had increased to 3057. In the first quarter of the
present century the village had changed from being
a collection of scattered farm-houses to a compact
and growing village.

In the war of 1812, Dedham took decided ground
in support of the government and the policy of the
war. When the Hartford Convention was proposed
by the General Court, one of its representatives de-
nounced it as a revolutionary proceeding. Upon a
communication from the town of Boston requesting
its co-operation in measures to oppose the war, the
town, in July, 1812, rejected the proposed combina-
tion. The town voted that every drafted man should
receive from its treasury, a sum sufiicient to make his
wages fifteen dollars a month while in actual service.
Soldiers for the army were here recruited and drilled.
In August, five hundred delegates from the towns of
the county assembled in convention at Dedham, and
expressed their approbation of the war. The Dedham
Light Infantry, Capt. Abner Guild, did service at
South Boston during the war for several months.
During this war, large quantities of beef and pork
were packed in West Dedham by Willard Gay, and
while the coast was blockaded, James Pettee, Samuel
French, and Colburn Ellis drove horse- or ox-teams
to New York and Philadelphia. The trip to New
York occupied three weeks and to Philadelplm six
weeks.

The Hon. Samuel Dexter, who died in 1810, had
left in his will, a legacy of one hundred and seventy
dollars as an addition to the school funds, and in
making this bequest, he suggested that certain sums
formerly appropriated for the same purpose, which
were expended in hiring soldiers, should be replaced
by the town. The town accepted the bequest, and
directed the treasurer to loan the money on security.
But this fund has disappeared with the other school
funds of the town.

In the year 1818, occurred the division of the
church connected with the First Parish, perhaps the
most memorable event in the history of the town.
It was the result of no parish quarrel over some

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

question of temporary importance, like the location
of a meeting-house, but was the natural conclusion
of theological differences which had been gradually
developing for a quarter of a century. Nor were the
questions involved only of local interest and import-
ance ; but upon the legal determination of them by
the Supreme Judicial Court, the title to the property,
church records, and all the material part of the
churches in half the towns of eastern Massachusetts
was decided to be vested in the town or parish, and
not in the churches. It is not difficult, therefore, to
understand why this event produced such a profound
impression not only in the Dedham parish, but in all
the neighboring towns.

The occasion of the controversy was the election of
a successor to the Rev. Dr. Bates, who had resigned
in February, 1818. On the 31st day of August,
Mr. Alvan Lamson was elected as " a public Protest-
ant teacher of piety, religion, and morality" at a
meeting of the parish by a vote of eighty-one
to forty-four. In this election the church refused
to concur by a vote of seventeen to fifteen. The
parish, having received Mr. Lamson's acceptance of
its election, caused a council, composed of the pastors
and delegates of thirteen churches, to be convened on
the 28th day of October following for the purpose of
ordaining Mr. Lamson. When the council assembled,
the Hon. Samuel Haven, a son of the former pastor,
appeared and read an elaborate and learned protest on
behalf of a majority of the church against the ordi-
nation of Mr. Lamson as its pastor. The propositions
maintained in this protest were, that according to
Congregational usage, the first step in electing a pas-
tor must be taken by the church ; that while the
parish, under the constitution of the commonwealth,
might choose a religious teacher and contract to sup-
port him, still he would not be a settled minister of
the gospel or pastor of the church ; that the parish,
being merely a civil body, could not call together an
ecclesiastical council, but this could only be done by
the church ; that the ecclesiastical body, the Christian
church existing in this place, had chosen no pastor, of
course desired no ordination, and had not invited her
sister churches to convene for any purpose whatever,
and concluded with a solemn protest against the council
taking any further measures in relation to the ordina-
tion of Mr. Alvan Lamson. These positions were care-
fully argued at considerable length, and in a manner
becoming the gravity of the occasion, by Judge Haven.
The protest was printed in the pamphlet afterwards
published and written by him, entitled a " Statement
of the Proceedings in the First Church and Parish
in Dedham Respecting the Settlement of a Minister,

1818, with some Considerations on Congregational
Church Polity." It was claimed on the part of the
parish, that it did not request to have Mr. Lamson
ordained over the church, but that a majority of the
church actually concurred with the parish, including
members of other churches who resided and com-
muned in Dedham, and that the opposition was
altogether of a doctrinal nature, which was disclaimed
by the committee of the church.

The council continued their deliberations during
the first day, and decided to ordain Mr. Lamson over
the First Parish in Dedham. In the result of the
council, drawn up and read by Dr. Clianning before
the ordination exercises, it is stated that " the council
regard the well-known usage according to which the
first step in electing a pastor is taken by the church
as in the main wise and beneficial. But they believe
that this usage, founded on different circumstances
of this Christian community and on different laws of
the commonwealth from those which now exist, is
not to be considered as universally necessary." They
held that the spirit and end of the usage was to be
regarded rather than the letter, and that an adherence
to it would increase division or postpone indefinitely
the settlement of a Christian minister ; that, while a
concurrence of the church and parish was very de-
sirable, each body had the right to elect a pastor for
itself, it being secured to the church by the essential
principles of Congregational polity, and to the parish
by the constitution and laws of the commonwealth.
They expressed the satisfaction " with which they
witnessed the singular self-command manifested by
both parties in the public discussions before them,
a circumstance too honorable to be passed over in
silence." The " Result" closed with many earnest
exhortations to a spirit of conciliation.

It is a somewhat remarkable circumstance, that in
the protest of the church, or in the " statement" pub-
lished by Judge Haven, or in the " Result of the
Council," there is scarcely an allusion to any diver-
sity of religious opinions in the parish. Beyond the
fact that the parish committee claimed that this was
the reason of the opposition to Mr. Lamson, and that
the church committee disclaimed it, and a single allu-
sion in a few words in the " Result," there is abso-
lutely nothing in the printed proceedings which dis-
closes that the controversy had any religious aspect.
The issues were made upon questions of Congregational
usage and the legal powers of parishes, and not upon
articles of religious belief As it often happens in
public discussions, the real points of difference were
kept in reserve. But there can be no doubt that the
parish and the church were then divided into two re-

DEDHAM.

ligious parties, known afterwards under the distinctive
names of Unitarian and Orthodox. Mr. Lamson was
a graduate of the Divinity School in Harvard College,
and was a Unitarian. The Rev. Dr. Henry Ware,
who preached the ordination sermon, had been elected,
in 1805, Hollis Professor of Divinity as a Unitarian,
and Dr. Channing, who was one of the council, had
his celebrated controversy with Dr. Worcester in 1815,
which resulted in the separation of the Unitarian from
the Orthodox Congregationalists. All the members
of the ordaining council represented churches which
were either at that time or afterwards became Unita-
rian. That those who opposed Mr. Lamson's ordina-
tion were Orthodox Congregationalists, was proved by
their subsequent action. Probably there were some
who acted without regard to differences of faith.

Mr. Lamson was ordained Oct. 29, 1818. The
majority of the church, including the two remaining
deacons (one having died soon after Mr. Lamson's
ordination), and a minority of the parish, being dis-
satisfied, caused another council to be convened at
Dedham, on Nov. 18, 1818, composed of pastors and
delegates of sixteen neighboring churches belonging
to the same association which did not attend, at the
invitation of the parish, the ordaining council. This
council was called for its advice to those who re-
quested it. It was in session two days, and reviewed
the proceedings in Mr. Lamson's ordination. The
result of their deliberations was, that " in the settle
ment of a minister in the First Church and Parish,
the council discover in the measures pursued, the
want of such a spirit of condescension as seems
best adapted to produce and preserve unity and peace.
It appears that the parish, in opposition to the wishes
of the church, have proceeded to settle a public
teacher of religion and morality, not in accordance
with the accustomed and pacific proceedings of Con-
gregational Churches in New England, nor, in the
judgment of this council, was this one of those cases
of necessity which, in the opinion of some, would
justify such a procedure." But the council gave no
definite advice.

The church, or that portion which remained united
with the parish, elected Mr. Lamson as its pastor
Nov. 14, 1818, by a majority of the voting mem-
bership of the church. But at this time the dis-
satisfied members had withdrawn. Deacon Samuel
Fales did not attend services after Mr. Lamson's
ordination. Deacon Joseph Swan died November
13th, and Deacon Jonathan Richards resigned March
15, 1819. Deacon Fales was removed or dismissed,
and Eliphalet Baker and Luther Richards were
chosen. That portion of the church which had

seceded, claimed to constitute the First Church, and
as the lands and funds of the church, under the laws
of the commonwealth, were vested in the deacons, a
suit was begun by Deacon Eliphalet Baker and Dea-
con Luther Richards against Deacon Samuel Fales
for the recovery of the property of the First Church
in Dedham. After a trial by the jury, the case was
carried upon questions of law to the full bench of the
Supreme Court, and was argued by Solicitor-General
Davis for the plaintiffs and Daniel Webster for the
defendant.

The two questions involved in this decision are,
whether the plaintiffs were in fact deacons of the
First Church in Dedham, having been appointed by
those members of the church who remained and
acted with the parish, and the legal character of the
grants to the church in Dedham. But, in consider-
ing these questions, both resolved themselves into
one point. The legal estate of these grants to the
church in Dedham being vested in the deacons by
the statute of 1754, as trustees, the court holds " that
the trusts intended, must have been the providing for
the public worship of God in Dedham, and the in-
habitants at large of that town, as parishioners or
members of the religious society, were the proper
cestuis que trust, because the effect of the grants was
to relieve them from an expense they would other-
wise have been obliged to bear or forego the benefits
of a Christian ministry." The court say, further,
" in whatever light ecclesiastical councils or persons
may consider the question, it appears to us clear
from the constitution and laws of the land, and from
judicial decisions, that the body which is to be con-
sidered the First Church in Dedham must be the
church of the First Parish in that town, as to all
questions of property which depend upon that re-
lation."

The court held that, while the proceedings of the

parish and the council were not conformable to the

general usage of the country, yet, under the third

article of the Declaration of Rights, parishes have

the exclusive right of electing public teachers, and

that a teacher of "piety, religion, and morality" is a

minister of the gospel within the meaning of the

Declaration of Rights ; that the non-concurrence of

the church in the choice of a minister, in no degree

impairs the constitutional right of the parish ; that

I Mr. Lamson became the lawful minister of the First

I Parish in Dedham and of the church subsisting

I therein ; that the church had the right to choose

I deacons, finding that the former deacons had abdi-

1 cated their office ; that the members of the church

I who withdrew from the parish ceased to be the First

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Church in Dedham, and that all the rights and
duties of that body relative to property intrusted to
it devolved upon those members who remained with
and adhered to the parish.

It is to be observed that the decision of the court
turned chiefly upon the third article of the Bill of
Rip;hts passed in 1780, which gave to parishes the
right to elect a public teacher. As a civil tribunal, it
paid no regard to the rules or decisions of ecclesias-
tical councils or the usage of churches. The ques-
tions decided, related to the title of the church prop-
erty, and as a church could not exist independently of
a parish, the members who remained with the parish
were the church in the eye of the law, and the mem-
bers who seceded were not.

Of the effects of this great controversy and its final
decision upon the inhabitants of the First Parish in
Dedham, it is to be said that it implanted a root of
bitterness among those who participated in it on
either side, and among their immediate descendants.
The church connected with the First Parish has
always rested its claim to be the First Church in
Dedham upon the decision of the court. The church
formed by the seceders in 1818 has also claimed to
be the First Church in Dedham in accordance with
Congregational usage, and because they were a ma-
jority of its members at that time. The church con-
nected with the First Parish, still retains the church
covenant of 1793, while the church now known as the
First Congregational Church adopted articles of faith
and a new form of covenant in 1821.

The members of the church who withdrew after
the ordination of Mr. Lamson numbered eighty-nine,
twenty-four men and sixty-five women, and including
the three deacons. During the year 1819, these
church members, with those of the parish who came
away with them, held services on the Sabbath in the
house which was formerly that of the Rev. Mr.
Haven. This was directly opposite the parish
meeting-house, and on the site of the present meet-
ing-house of the new society. This was dedicated
Dec. 30, 1819. The erection of this spacious and
well-proportioned house in a little more than a year
from the time of the separation, at an expense of
nearly ten thousand dollars, by forty-three contribu-
tors, none of whom had large means, furnishes
striking evidence of tlieir zeal and spirit of self-
sacrifice. While they were without a pastor, they
maintained prayer-meetings, which had been hitherto
unknown in the parish. The widow of Deacon Swan
gave two silver flagons and a baptismal font. On
the 14th day of March, 1821, the Rev. Ebcnezer
Burgess was ordained as pastor. A new society was

incorporated in connection with the church, under the
name of the " New Meeting-House Society." In
1826 a new vestry was built by Mr. Burgess at his
own expense.

The First Church and Parish, after the separation,
were also moved to the improvement of the old
meeting-house of 1763. In 1805, the parish had
determined to enlarge it, but afterwards rescinded
the vote. In 1807, it was voted to erect a new
meeting-house, and a building committee chosen,
but this vote was also rescinded. But in 1819, the
old house was enlarged by an addition in front, the
slant of the roof being changed, the north and south
porches removed, and the house entirely remodeled
within. The outside clock was given at this time by
the Hon. Edward Dowse and Mrs. Hannah Shaw, a
sister of Mrs. Dowse. The inside clock was the gift
of John and Samuel Doggett, Jr., of Boston, for-
merly of Dedham. In 1821, an organ was purchased,
and soon after Dr. Watts' version of the Psalms was
exchanged for the New York Collection of Hymns.
In 1828 a vestry was provided for the use of the
Sunday-school and for libraries. A Sabbath-school
had been founded in 1816, and was held in the old
brick school-house, which stood near the meeting-
house.

In the Third Parish, the vacancy existingby the death
of the Rev. Mr. Thacher was not filled until April
20, 1814, when the Rev. John White was ordained.
He was born in Concord, Dec. 2, 1787, and was
graduated at Harvard College in 1805. His ministry
continued until his death, Feb. 1, 1852, and during
this whole period of nearly thirty-eight years, this
parish enjoyed uninterrupted harmony. Mr. White
was a sincere man and a faithful pastor, and entirely
devoted to his work. He was " mild, gentle, courte-
ous, and conciliatory." During his ministry, a Sun-
day-school was organized, and the chHdren were
catechised by the pastor. Mr. White and his esti-
mable wife are held in most grateful memory by the
people of this parish. Mr. White was ordained
before the separation of the Unitarians from the
Orthodox Congregationalists, but he, with his parish,
was always ranked with the Unitarians. Mr. White
delivered a centennial discourse relating to the history
of this parish, Jan. 17, 1836, which was printed.

The Second Parish, on the other hand, adhered to
the confession of I'aith and covenant of its founders,
and has always been known as Orthodox. On the
16th of December, 1829, Mr. Harrison G. Park, a
graduate of Brown University, was ordained as pastor
by the same ecclesiastical council that was convened
to sanction the dissolution of Mr. Cogswell's pastoral

DEDHAM.

relation. Mr. Park remained as pastor until Sept.
23, 1835, when he was dismissed at his own request.
He was succeeded by the Rev. Calvin Durfee, a grad-
uate of Williams College, who was ordained March
2, 1836. On June 26, 1836, he preached a centen-
nial discourse relating to the history of this parish,
which was printed. Mr. Durfee remained the pastor
until 1852, when he was succeeded by the Rev.
Moses M. Colburn. Mr. Colburn resigned Feb. 3,
1866, and Oct. 1, 1866, the Rev. Joseph P. Bixby
became the acting pastor. Mr. Bixby remained pastor
of the South Church and Parish at the date of the
incorporation of the town of Norwood, in 1872.

The following interesting description of the appear-
ance of Dedham village in 1818 is found in a sermon
delivered by Rev. Dr. Lamson in 1858, being the
Sunday after the fortieth year of his ordination. It
will serve to make the changes which occurred during
those forty years more striking and apparent :

"In prevailing ideas and modes of tbinking, and in the
habits and occupations of the people the last forty years have
produced a marked change. Until a comparatively recent
period the population of the place was almost exclusively agri-
cultural, and there were remains clearly discernible of primi-
tive tastes and habits. The old settlers, as they were called,
were still largely represented. Where yon manufacturing
village, bearing every mark of prosperity and thrift, now
greets the eye, there stood at the time of my coming here only
a small cluster of dwellings — eleven, I believe, in all^dotting
the roadsides, and a school-house of the scantiest dimensions,
old and of the rudest structure, sufficed to hold the children.
In the central village the houses could be readily counted, and
there were large fields and vacant spaces. Where our classical
court-house and several adjacent buildings now stand, there
was, inclosed in part by a stone wall of an ordinary kind, old
and irregular, an open lot which served for a corn-field or for
mowing in summer, and in winter furnished excellent coasting-
ground for the children. There were no railways, as you
know, in those days. Stage-coaches, several in number, — from
four to six and eight, and sometimes more, — and usually keep-
ing together, passed through the place, conveying passengers
to and from the steamboats at Providence, in the dry weather
of summer, raising a dust which penetrated the neighboring
houses and covered the gardens, lying thick on every leaf and
flower. Between Dedham and Boston, for the accommodation
of the inhabitants of this place and of Roxbury, there was five
days in the week — Wednesdays and Sundays being the ex-
cepted days — a slow, lumbering stage-coach, ordinarily drawn
by two horses, and on certain days, as Monday and Saturday,
by three, going in the morning and returning in the afternoon,
and occupying two hours each way on the road, the time con-
sumed in taking up and leaving the passengers at the ends of
the line often making an extra half-hour. Of this no one
complained, and the public Seemed to think itself amply ac-
commodated. The inhabitants assembled for worship on Sun-
day, occupied the large square pews — the body-seats, as they
were then called — and the free seats in the galleries. The
interval between the morning and afternoon service was
short, and most of those who lived out of the village stayed
either in and about the meeting-house or at the neighboring
inn. The house had then neither furnace nor stove, but foot-

stoves were used, which were replenished with coals at the
parsonage or at some other friendly house within convenient
distance. The afternoon service was then and for several
years, as it is now, generally, in the more rural parishes better
attended than the morning, and the minister reserved what he
considered his best sermon for tlie afternoon."

But a new era of changes and improvements had
already begun in Dedham village. It was about to
shake oif its rural aspect and to take on a more im-
posing appearance.

In 1814, the Dedham Bank was established with a
capital of one hundred thousand dollars. Its first
president was Willard Gay, who lived and carried on
the business of packing beef and pork at West Ded-
ham. He resigned his oflBce May 20, 1829, and
was succeeded by John Worthington Ames, the eldest
son of Fisher Ames. Upon the decease of Mr. Ames,
in 1833, Dr. Jeremy Stimson was elected, his election
having been made Feb. 14,1834. Dr. Stimson held
the office of president, until the bank was reorganized
as a national bank, Feb. 7, 1865, when he declined
a re-election, and Lewis H. Kingsbury was elected.
Mr. Kingsbury resigned May 20, 1873, and Ezra W.
Taft was elected, who has since held the office.

The cashiers of the bank have been Jabez Chicker-
ing, from March 25, 1814, to Dec. 19, 1823 ; Eben-
ezer Fisher, Jr., from Dec. 19, 1823, to Jan. 1,
1847; Lewis H. Kingsbury, from Jan. 1, 1847, to
Feb. 7, 1865 ; John H. B. Thayer, from Feb. 7,
1865, to his death in April, 1873 ; and Lewis H.
Kingsbury, from May 20, 1873, to the present time.
The capital of the bank at the present time is three
hundred thousand dollars.

In 1817, the county had erected a new stone jail
on the site of the present one, with a house for the
keeper. These buildings were built of hammered
stone, at an expense of about fifteen thousand dollars.
The jail was thirty-three feet square and eighteen feet
high. Its walls were massive, leaving but -little
space in the interior for cells and staircases. The jail
stood until 1851, when it was removed to make room
for the main portion of the present structure. The
old wooden jail, built in 1795, was used as a house
of correction until 1833, when a new brick building
was erected on the site of the present jail. Some of
the cells of this house of correction are retained in
the present jail, but the building was taken down
in 1851. The stone house for the keeper stood
until 1880.

On the 4th day of July, 1825, the corner-stone of
the new court-house was laid. It was built of hewn
white granite, brought from Dover, about eight miles.
It was then a Grecian building, ninety-eight by forty
feet, with porticos at either end, having four Doric

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

columns, three feet and ten inches in diameter at the
base, and twenty-one feet high. The architect was
Solomon Willard, of Boston, and Damon & Bates,
master builders. Its cost was about thirty thousand
dollars, and its architecture was always much ad-
mired. It was completed and dedicated Feb. 20,
1827, durins the term of the Supreme Judicial Court.
Chief Justice Parker made an address, and the bar
gave a dinner to the judges and attorney-general.
The enlargement on High Street, which completely
changed the appearance of the building, and the
dome surmounting it, were finished in 1861.

Prior to 1829, the town-meetings were held alter-
nately in the meeting-houses of the diflFerent parishes.
In that year, the town built a plain one-story building,
costing about two thousand two hundred dollars, for
a town-house. It was a rude building, and had no
rooms for oflBces, or place for the preservation of
records, but it served for town-meetings and elections
until 1868. In 1832, the town-farm of sixty-three
acres, situated in the West Parish, was purchased
for a poor-house.

In April, 1825, the Norfolk Mutual Fire Insurance
Company was organized. Its first president was John
Endicott, and its first secretary was Erastus Wor-
thington, and it was mainly through his efforts that
the company was established. In 1833, Mr. Endicott
was succeeded by James Richardson, and on June 30,
1840, Mr. Worthington having resigned by reason of
ill health, he was succeeded by Ira Cleveland as sec-
retary. The subsequent presidents have been Abra-
ham F. Howe, from April 7, 1857, to April 1, 1862;
Luther Metcalf, from April 1, 1862, to April 5, 1863;
and Ira Cleveland, from April 5, 1863, to the present
time. The secretaries, after the resignation of Mr.
Cleveland, April 5, 1863, were George D. Gordon,
from April, 1863, to April, 1873; Preston R. Mans-
field, from April, 1873, to February, 1880; and Eli-
jah Howe, from that time to the present. Mr. Cleve-
land has also been treasurer of the company since
1850. This company has been successful, and has
always been considered a reliable and conservative
company. It is the owner of the brick building in
which its office and the Dedham National Bank are
located.

The Dedham IMutual Fire Insurance Company was
incorporated in 1837 for insuring buildings and per-
sonal property. This was an offshoot of the Norfolk
company, and its officers have generally been the same
as of that company.

In 1831, the Dedham Institution for Savings was
incorporated. The first president was Rev. Ebenezcr
Burgess, D.D., who held that office from May 4, 1831,

to Dec. 7, 1870. He was succeeded by Thomas Bar-
rows, who was president until May 12, 1877, when
he was succeeded by Waldo Colburn. Its treasurers
have been Jonathan H. Cobb, from May 4, 1831, to
Nov. 10, 1834; Enos Foord, from Nov. 10, 1834, to
May 9,, 1845; George Ellis, from May 9, 1845, to
July 2, 1855; and Calvin Guild, from that date until
the present time. The amount of deposits received
from May 1, 1831, to May 1, 1843, was two hundred
and twenty-six thousand nine hundred and fifty-four
dollars, and the amount from May 1, 1867, to May 1,
1881, was one million eight hundred and thirty-four
thousand seven hundred and ninety-four dollars.

All these things indicate the growth of the town
in wealth and enterprise, and that Dedham was be-
coming a centre of business activity, as well as as-
suming the proper dignity becoming the shire-town
of the county. It had become a resort of people
from Boston to spend the summer, and in the winter
for lawyers and others attending the courts ; and
there were balls and sleighing parties. There were
two good taverns, where guests were hospitably enter-
tained, one near the court-house, kept by Martin
Marsh, and afterwards by Francis Alden and Moses
Gragg. The other was built by Timothy Gay on the
site occupied for many years by the Phoenix House.
In 1830, the population of the town was upwards of
three thousand. It had then a stone court-house and
a stone jail and keeper's house. In the town there
were four Congregational meeting-houses ; one Epis-
copal Church and a Baptist meeting-house in West
Dedham ; eleven small school-houses, two woolen-
mills, two cotton-mills, four saw-mills, five manufac-
tories for making chaises and carriages, one machine-
shop, one manufactory for making ploughs, five
taverns, eleven retail stores, two apothecaries, one
printing-press for printing books and a newspaper,
and a bank and an in.surance company. Many new
streets had been laid out and constructed between
1820 and 1830.

On the 23d day of August, 1824, Gen. Lafayette
passed through Dedham on his way from Providence
to Boston. He arrived at half-past ten o'clock in the
evening, and remained about an hour at Alden's
Hotel. He was enthusiastically received by a large
number of people, who had gathered during the day
in anticipation of his arrival, and by a salute of artil-
lery, by the ringing of the bells, and the illumination
of the houses in the village. Hundreds of ladies and
gentlemen shook hands with the general, and at half-
past eleven o'clock he was escorted by a cavalcade of
a hundred horsemen to the residence of Governor
Eustis, in Roxbury, where he spent the night.

DEDHAM.

In 1833, Gen. Andrew Jackson, then the President
of the United States, made a visit to Boston, and
passed through Dedham on his way from Providence.
He made the journey in a carriage, and was accom-
panied by Martin Van Buren, then Vice-President,
and members of his cabinet. He was received in
Dedliam by a large concourse of people, who were
ranged in lines on each side of Court Street as the
carriages containing the party passed. It was on the
occasion of this visit that President Jackson received
the degree of Doctor of Laws from Harvard College.

CHAPTER X.

B'E'D'SAM—iCotitinued).

Universalist Society, South Dedham — Episcopal Church — Rev.
Isaac Boyle— Rev. Samuel B. Babcock — New Church — -Ded-
ham Branch Railroad — Manufactures — Population in 1835 —
Newspapers — Centennial Celebration, 18.36 — Dr. Lamson's
Historical Discourses, 1838 — Dr. Burgess' Discourse in "Ded-
ham Pulpit" — Rev. John White's Historical Discourse, 1836 —
Rev. Mr. Durfee's Historical Discourse, 1836 — Destructive
Fires — Improvements in Schools and School-Houses — Norfolk
County Railroad — First Baptist Church, West Dedham —
Baptist Church, East Dedham — Baptist Church, South Ded-
ham — Methodist Episcopal Church, East Dedham — First
Parish — Resignation of Dr. Lamson, and of Dr. Burgess —
Third Parish — Successors of Rev. John White — Successors of
Dr. Lamson in First Parish — Improvements in Meeting-
House — Successors to Rev. Dr. Burgess — Burning of St.
Paul's Church — New Stone Church — Chapel — Roman Cath-
olic Church — St. Mary's School and Asylum — Annexations
to West Roxbury and Walpole — Dedham Gas-Light Company
— Dedham Historical Society.

In the year 1827 there began a movement which
led to the formation of the Universalist Society in
the South Parish. It will be remembered that the
church of the Second Parish adhered to the ancient
covenant and confession of faith, and probably those
who dissented had been seeking another place of wor-
ship. The Rev. Thomas Whittemore, a preacher of
the Universalist denomination, held services Feb. 6,
1827, for the first time. In the following September,
fifty-two persons entered into covenant or agreement
for forming a religious society to be denominated the
First Universalist Society. In May, 1828, a legal
meeting was held to take the first steps towards the
building of a church edifice. The work was speedily
begun, and on the 14th day of January, 1830, the
church was dedicated. While the church was being
built, the Rev. J. C. Waldo supplied the society for
about eight months. The Rev. Alfred V. Bassett
was the first pastor, being inducted into oflace June

17, 1830. He died Dec. 26, 1831, having in his
brief ministry secured the affection of his people.
His successors were the Rev. T. B. Thayer and Rev.
R. S. Pope, and from the years 1836 to 1840 the
society was without a pastor. In 1840, the Rev.
Edwin Thompson became the pastor, and closed his
ministry here in 1844. He was prominent in the total
abstinence movement begun about this time, known
by the name of the Washingtonian movement, to
which he subsequently gave his whole time and ener-
gies. After Mr. Thompson, the succession of pastors
were the Rev. C. H. Webster, from 1846 to 1853;
the Rev. Ebenezer Fisher, from 1853 to 1858; the
Rev. A. R. Abbott, from 1858 to 1860 ; and the Rev.
M. R. Leonard, from May, 1861, to 1865, when he
was succeeded by Rev. George Hill.

The Episcopal Church in Dedham village, during
the rectorship of the Rev. Mr. Boyle, had received
some accessions to the number of families, and also to
the number of communicants connected with it. The
troubles arising from the divisions in the First Church
had caused many persons to have a nominal con-
nection with the Episcopal Church for the purpose
of parochial taxation, since the law then compelled
every property-holder to pay a tax for the support of
public worship, though he might select his place of
worship. There were some, however, who were in-
terested in the services of the church, among whom
may be named Samuel Lowder, Edward Whiting,
Theron Metcalf, and Erastus Worthington. The
growth of the parish, however, was quite gradual.
In 1822 a Sunday-school was first established. The
number of families reported as connected with the
parish from 1822 to 1828 was about fifty, and the
number of communicants increased from twenty-five
in 1822, to forty-one in 1828. In 1831, an organ was
procured by subscription, Mr. Edward Whiting being
a large contributor. From the beginning of the rec-
torship of Mr. Boyle, the name of the church was
changed from Christ Church to St. Paul's Church.
Mr. Boyle was a man of high character and scholarly
attainments, but he was afilicted with deafness, which
impaired his efficiency in the public services of the
church. He resigned April 21, 1832. The parish,
in accepting his resignation, entered upon its records
a minute of its estimation of his " Christian integrity
and pastoral fidelity." He was graduated at Harvard
College in 1813, and received the degree of Doctor
of Divinity from both Trinity and Columbia Colleges
in 1838. He was ordained as deacon by Bishop
Griswold April 29, 1820, and he died Dec. 2, 1850.
The parish then invited Mr. Samuel Brazer Babcock,
a graduate of Harvard College in 1830, a lay reader,

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

but wlio was pursuing his theological studies, to offi-
ciate in the parish, which invitation he accepted Au-
gust 18, 1832. Mr. Babcock was ordained as deacon
in 1832, and as priest in 1833. During the first ten
years of Mr. Babcock's ministry, the parish received
the accession of two gentlemen who subsequently
became identified with the parish, and have been its
constant and liberal benefactors down to tlie present
time, and both are still living. The project of erect-
ing a new church had been entertained for some time,
but could not be carried out for lack of means. Ed-
ward Whiting had left a bequest of one thousand
dollars for the purpose. At length, in 1845, the
parish proceeded to erect a new church. The site of
the old church on " Franklin Square" was objection-
able, both to the parish and to the people who resided
upon the square. A subscription was made up by
several owners of estates bounding upon the square,
and paid to the parish, and a conveyance was made to
the subscribers of the whole " church common," with
the provision that no building should ever be erected
upon it. A new site on the corner of Court Street
and Village Avenue was purchased. The old cliurch
was taken down in December, 1845, and on Jan. 15,
1846, the new church was consecrated. It was con-
structed of wood, of niedia3val Gothic architecture,
with a tower after the Magdalen tower, in Oxford, Eng-
land, and was an architectural ornament to the viUage.
It had a good organ and fine bell, both the gifts of
parishioners, and other liberal gifts were made by
others. It cost, including furniture, about seven thou-
sand dollars. On Nov. 30, 1845, it being the last
Sunday on which services were held in the old church,
Mr. Babcock preached a historical discourse reviewing
the history of the parish, which was printed.

The building of the Boston and Providence Rail-
road was an event which excited much interest in the
people of Dedham. Tiie first surveys located the road
through Dedham village, southerly of the present
station, and following the line of the turnpike. The
decision to change this location occasioned great dis-
appointment. The people doubtless regarded the
railroad as a substitute for the turnpike, and they
desired to retain the same relative position to the
former, which they had hitherto sustained to the
latter. The losses • which the owners of the stage
company had sustained in the burning of the Dedham
Hotel and stable, with sixty horses, Oct. 30, 1832,
and the burning of the Phoenix stable, with fifty-three
horses, Jan. 7, 1834, had prepared the minds of the
people to regard favorably the new enterprise of the
railroad. Gen. McNeill, the engineer, and William
Raymond Lee, afterwards the superintendent, with

other engineers and contractors, resided in Dedham.
Application was made to the directors of the Boston
and Providence Railroad Company for building a
branch from Low Plain, now Readville, to Ded-
ham. This application was granted upon condi-
tion that the citizens of Dedham would give the
land. A subscription was immediately collected in
Dedham amounting to about two thousand dollars,
besides some contributions of lands, and deeds were
made to the Providence Railroad corporation. An
act authorizing the construction of the railroad was
passed by the Legislature. This was done in 1834,
and the road was completed in December of that
year, and was opened Dec. 28, 1834, wlien the presi-
dent and directors of the Boston and Providence
Railroad Company were invited to a collation at the
Phoenix Hotel, then kept by James Bride. The cars,
built in the manner of English railway-carriages, with
two compartments each like a stage-coach, were drawn
by horses to Boston until the completion of the main
line, when a connection was made at Readville with
trains from Providence drawn by locomotives. It
was some years before trains were drawn from Ded-
ham to Boston by steam-power. The first season-
ticket passengers to Boston from Dedham, were Alvan
Fisher and Francis Guild. The ultimate eff"ects of
the building of the railroad upon the local business
prosperity of Dedham were quite diff"erent from what
was then anticipated. The manufactories for building
stage-coaches, for which extensive buildings had been
erected near the Phoenix Hotel, in the course of time
were suspended, and no other business ever took their
places. Indeed, for a time the old stage-coaches ran
from Dedham to Boston, as passengers preferred to be
called for at their houses. To meet the convenience
of this class of passengers, the railroad corporation
provided a carriage for several years to take up pas-
sengers in Dedham. As late as 1841, a long omnibus^
drawn by four horses, was driven from Dedham to
Boston by Reuben Farrington, Jr.

There was at this period considerable business
activity in Dedham. A silk-manufactory had been
established by Jonathan H. Cobb, for many years the
register of probate for the county. In 1837 there
were manufactured 7135, pairs of boots and 18,722
pairs of shoes, valued at $32,483. There were also
silk goods manufactured to the value of ten thousand
dollars, straw bonnets of the value of twenty thousand
dollars, chairs and furniture of the value of twenty-
one thousand two hundred and fifty dollars, and
marble paper and enameled cards of the value of
eighteen thousand dollars.

In the Second, or South Parish there was also aa

DEDHAM.

activity in manufacturing enterprises. The tanneries
established by George Winslow, Lyman Smith, and
Joseph Day had begun the successful business which
has ever since been continued by their enterprising
sons. Willard Everett made furniture, a business
afterwards much enlarged, and continued for many
years by his sons. Subsequently, Curtis G. Morse
and Addison Boyden prosecuted the same business.
The enterprise of these men and others laid the
foundation of the growth and prosperity of this
beautiful village, which is the present village of
Norwood.

In the Third, or West Parish the activity in manu-
facturing enterprises was less apparent. There was
an iron foundry, and some years after a sugar-mill at
the dam of Rock Meadow Brook. But this parish
having the best farming lands in the town has
always remained an agricultural community. It has
produced large quantities of milk, which is sent to
Boston by milk wagons. Probably this parish has
experienced fewer changes than any other portion of
the town during the last century.

The population of the town in 1835 was three
thousand five hundred and thirty-two. In 1840, it
was three thousand two hundred and ninety, the de-
crease being due to the depression of business in the
mills following the financial crisis of 1 837. Although
the building of the railroad had an untoward effect
upon the local business of Dedham village, it induced
many excellent and valuable citizens, whose places of
business were in Boston, to make their residence
here. Dedham was then regarded with favor by
those seeking a country residence.

Since the beginning of the century, there had been
during most of the time a weekly newspaper in Ded-
ham. The Columbian Minerva was published by
Herman Mann from 1797 to 1804. The Norfolk
Repository was published by the same proprietor
from 1805 to 1814, though with some irregularity.
In 1813, the Dedham Gazette was established by
Jabez Chickering, with Theron Metcalf as editor, and
was continued until 1819. In 1820 the Village
Register was started by Asa Gowen, and continued
by Jonathan H. Cobb and Barnum Field. In 1822,
it passed into the hands of H. and W. H. Mann, who
continued it until 1829, when it was discontinued.
In 1829, the Norfolk County Republican was pub-
lished for one year. In 1830 the Dedliam Patriot
was established, and passed through various changes
in name and location. It was finally edited by Ed-
ward L. Keyes, a prominent politician and gifted
man, who purchased it in 1844, and published it in
Roxbury, and afterwards in Dedham, under the name

of the Dedliam Gazette. It was afterwards owned
and edited by Henry 0. Hildreth, who subsequently
removed it to Hyde Park. In 1831 the Independent
Politician and Working Men's Advocate was begun.
In 1832 it became the Norfolk Advertiser and Inde-
pendent Politician, and afterwards the Norfolk Ad-
vertiser. It was afterwards published under the name
of the Norfolk Democrat by Elbidge G. Robinson
Wntil his decease in 1854, when it was merged in the
Dedham Gazette.

On the 21st day of September, 1836, the town
observed the second centennial anniversary of its
incorporation. The bells were rung at sunrise and
a salute of one hundred guns fired. At half-past ten
o'clock a procession was* formed, moving, under the
escort of the Dedham Light Infantry, commanded by
Capt. William Pedrick, with the Boston Brass Band,
through the principal streets to the meeting-house of
the First Parish. At the Norfolk Hotel, the proces-
sion was joined by His Excellency, Edward Everett,
the Governor of the commonwealth, and his suite,
and by the reverend clergy and other invited gutr-ts.
On the green in front of the meeting-house, was an
ornamental arch erected for the occasion, covered
with evergreens and flowers. Upon one side of it
was inscribed, " Incorporated 1636," and on the
other, "1836." Between this arch and the meeting-
house, eight engine-companies had placed their engines
and apparatus in two lines, leaving a space between
them for the passing of the procession. On the inner
sides of these lines about five hundred children of
the public schools were arranged by their instructors.
Under the arch and between these lines of children,
the procession passed into the meeting-house. The
services of the day were full of interest. A hymn,
written for the occasion by Rev. John Pierpont,
sung to the tune of " Old Hundred," and a prayer by
the Rev. Alvan Lamson, were followed by an- ad-
dress from Samuel F. Haven, of Worcester. The se-
lection of the orator was in every way a fortunate
one. A native of Dedham, having for his maternal
grandfather Mr. Dexter, and his paternal grand-
father Mr. Haven, both ministers of the Dedham
Church, he was also a learned antiquary. His ad-
dress, which was printed with an appendix con-
taining valuable notes, is perhaps the most concise and
interesting account of the early history of the town
which has ever been written. At the dinner about
six hundred persons were seated, and James Rich-
ardson presided. Governor Everett, a direct de-
scendant of Richard Everard, one of the first settlers
of Dedham, made a very felicitous and elegant speech.
Other speeches were made by Judge John Davis,

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Josiah Quincy, Henry A. S. Dearborn, William Jack-
son, Franklin Dexter, Alexander H. Everett, and
Robert C. Winthrop. The ladies furnished a colla-
tion in the court-house, using the court-rooiu as a
drawing-room, and the library for the tables. There
was also vocal music, and an address from the Gov-
ernor in the court-room. At the time of this cele-
bration there were nine men who had served in the
Continental army, or had done military duty' in dis-
tant campaigns in the Revolution, still living. Be-
sides these, there were thirteen others who had done
military duty during the Revolutionary war in the
State. The whole services of the day were worthy
of the event they commemorated.

The two hundredth anniversary of the gathering of
the First Church occurred Nov. 18, 1838, allowing
for the difference between the old and new style.
The Rev. Dr. Lamson prepared and delivered three
historical discourses on the occasion, on Thanksgiving-
da}', and the succeeding Sunday. These discourses
contained a very accurate and complete history of
the church down to the time of Dr. Lamson's set-
tlement, and were printed with many pages of val-
uable notes. They contained full notices of the
lives of Allin, Adams, Belcher, Dexter, and Haven,
and of their respective terms of service. Dr. Lamson
was an excellent historical scholar and critic, and
the discourses are admirable for their true historical
method and perspicuity of style.

The Rev. Dr. Burgess also delivered in "the new
meeting-house of the First Church" a centennial
discourse Nov. 8, 1838. Although not exclusively
historical, it contained a full account of the pastors
of the Dedham Church. It was printed in a
volume of sermons of all the different pastors from
1638 to 1800, which was prepared with great care
and fidelity by Dr. Burgess in 1840. A printed
discourse by Mr. Allin, the first pastor, was found,
after a patient search, and inserted in the volume.
The title of this collection of sermons was the " Ded-
ham Pulpit," and the preservation of these sermons,
which had become extremely scarce, was an appro-
priate memorial of the second centennial of the
church.

On the 17th of January, 1836, the Rev. John
White delivered an interesting and valuable his-
torical discourse upon the first centennial anniversary
of the church in the Third Parish. This, with the
centennial di.scourse upon the history of the South
Church in the Second Parish by the Rev. Mr.
Durfee, delivered June 26, 1836, completed the ob-
servance of the centennial anniversaries of all the
Congregational Churches of the town. It is not a

little remarkable that the First Church closed the
second century of its existence only about two years
after the Second and Third Churches closed their
first century. Posterity cannot be too grateful to
these faithful pastors for their efforts to preserve
these memorials of the past.

Some destructive fires occurred between 1830 and
1850 which are worthy of record. On the 30th day
of October, 1832, the Dedham Hotel and stable,
owned by Timothy Gay, were consumed by fire, and
one man and sixty horses perished in the flames, in-
volving a loss of twenty-eight thousand dollars. On
the 7th day of January, 1834, the stable attached
to the Phoenix Hotel, which was rebuilt on the same
site, was burned and fifty-three horses perished, with
a loss of ten thousand dollars. Both these fires were
the work of an incendiary, and one John Wade was
convicted of the former offense, and sentenced to death,
but his sentence was commuted to imprisonment in the
State prison for life. The motive was the destruction
of the property of the Citizens' Coach Company. Jan.
27, 1837, the railroad station, with cars and loco-
motive, were burned, with an estimated loss of ten
thousand dollars. March 12, 1845, the silk-factory
was burned, with a loss of forty thousand dollars.
March 28, 1845, the factory near Cart Bridge, used
for calico printing, was burned, with a loss of fifteen
thousand dollars. On the site of the latter building
a carpet-factory was burned in 1827. July 17, 1846,
a paper-mill, known as Taft's Mill, belonging to the
Norfolk Manufacturing Company, was destroyed,
being the third mill burned on the same spot. In
January, 1849, another railroad station was burned,
and Jan. 17, 1850, the Phcenix stable was again
destroyed. These visitations of the same spots by
fire are somewhat remarkable.

In 1840, the condition of the public schools still
continued to be unsatisfactory. The school-houses
were small and inconvenient. Even in Dedham vil-
lage there had been up to a recent period a one-story
school-house with two school-i'ooms. About the
year 1848, there began to be a new interest in the
improvement of the schools. The school committee
recommended the abolition of the school districts, and
the establishment of a high school in Dedham village.
This latter proposition met with a decided opposition
from the people of the other parishes, but at length
it was carried by great efibrt, and the high school
was established. It was opened Sept. 15, 1851, and
Charles J. Capen was the first master. It was kept
in the Masonic Building, on Church Street, and had
forty-two scholars at its opening. Mr. Capen re-
signed in 1852, and was succeeded by Carlos Slafter,

DEDHAM.

who has remained the master ever since. The school-
house was dedicated Dec. 10, 1855, and cost about
five thousand five hundred dollars.

In the South Parish a new school-house was built
in 1851, and in 1856 it was much enlarged and im-
proved, making the expense of the whole structure
about ten thousand dollars.

In Dedham village, May 23, 1859, a new and
spacious school-house erected by the Centre School
District was dedicated. It was named the Ames
School, in honor of Fisher Ames.

New school-houses had also been built within a
few years at West Dedham and at East Dedham.
The latter .school-house was enlarged and improved in
1860, by adding four rooms at a cost of about six
thousand dollars. In 1860, there were remaining but
two or three of the small school-houses of the former
time. The town also had begun to make more liberal
appropriations for the support of the schools. In
18-10 the appropriation was three thousand dollars;
in 1850, five thousand dollars; and in 1856, nine
thousand seven hundred and ten dollars. The reports
of the school committee during this period indicate
progress in the condition of the schools themselves,
and the establishment of the high school did much
to raise the efficiency of the grammar schools. In
1867 the school committee gave names to the schools
of the town. By the abolition of the school districts
their former designations had become obsolete. The
names of men who had by their benefactions or ser-
vices done something worthy to be recognized, such as
Dexter, Avery. Ames, Everett, Colburn, and Fisher,
were thus perpetuated.

In 1859 a committee reported in favor of building
a new town-house, but no action was taken on the
subject.

In 1849, the railroad from Dedham to Blackstone,
then known as the Norfolk County Railroad, was
opened. About the same time, and for the purpose
of connecting with this road, the Boston and Provi-
dence Railroad corporation built its new branch
through West Roxbury to Dedham. There had been
much discussion respecting the building of the rail-
road to Blackstone for several years, and another rival
route had been surveyed, running through the west-
erly part of the county, known as the " Air-Line."
The majority of the people of Dedham favored the
Norfolk County route, and so instructed their rep-
resentative, and the " Air-Line" was constructed
through Dover and Needham. Not many years after-
wards the Norfolk County Railroad passed into the
hands of other corporations, and a new road con-
structed through Dorchester connected with it about

a mile and a half south of the village. The eifect of
these changes in the ownership of the Norfolk County
Railroad has been to leave Dedham without any direct
railway connection with the westerly and southerly
portions of the county, and to the obvious detriment
of the shire-town.

In addition to the formation of the Universalist
Society in the South Parish in 1827 (of which an
account has already been given), there were other
religious societies formed during the first half of the
present ceitury in other parts of the town. Mention
has already been made of the organization of the
" First Baptist Church" in West Dedham in 1824,
of which the Rev. Samuel Adlam was the first pastor.
The succession of pastors after him were Rev. Jona-
than Aldrich, Jan. 3, 1828, to Feb. 27, 1830 ; Rev.
Thomas Driver, May, 1830, to the autumn of 1838_;
Rev. T. G. Freeman, from the spring of 1839, to
April, 1841 ; the Rev. Joseph B. Damon, from Oct.
13, 1841, to October, 1843; the Rev. J. W. Park-
hurst, from October, 1843, to Nov. 24, 1850 ; the
Rev. Jeremiah Chaplin, from Nov. 24, 1850, to
Sept. 6, 1858 ; the Rev. Benjamin W^. Gardner, from
Nov. 11, 1858, to Nov. 1, 1867; the Rev. L J.
Burgess, from Nov. 1, 1867, to Sept. 9, 1871; the
Rev. Samuel J. Frost, from Sept. 15, 1872, to April
26, 1874 ; the Rev. S. C. Chandler, from Sept. 6,
1874, to Jan. 20, 1878 ; the Rev. T. M. Merriman,
from April 6, 1879, to May 6, 1883 ; the Rev. E.
S. Uffbrd, from June 28, 1883, to the present time
(1884).

A Baptist Church was formed in East Dedham,
Sept. 13, 1843, consisting of twenty-one members, of
whom .sixteen were members of the Baptist Church
at West Dedham. A small chapel was soon erected,
which was removed to High Street, opposite Harrison
Grove, in 1846. In 1848, the Rev. William C Pat-
terson became the first pastor of the church, an4^e
chapel soon proved too small for the congregation.
The new church, built on the corner of Milton and
Myrtle Streets, which is the present house of wor-
ship, was built at a cost of less than five thousand
dollars, and was dedicated Nov. 18, 1852. The
Rev. Mr. Patterson continued to be the pastor of the
church until 1863, when, at the request of the church,
the relation of pastor and people was dissolved. In
1866, the Rev. Charles Skinner was called to this
church, but he remained less than a year. In 1869
the Rev. A. Edson was recognized as pastor, and re-
mained one year. In 1871, the Rev. K. H. Campbell
was pastor for only a short time.

In November, 1875, the Rev. Charles H. Cole was
installed as pastor, and he remained until 1878. In

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COONTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

February, 1879, the Rev. D. C. Bixby was called.
The society was then in debt, and the house of wor-
ship out of repair. By a great effort on the part of
pastor and people, some repairs were made and a debt
of nearly two thousand dollars canceled. Mr. Bixby
closed his pastorate in November, 1880. He was
succeeded by Rev. J. H. Wells, May 1, 1881, who is
the present incumbent. During the year after his
becoming the pastor the house of worship was re-
paired at a cost of two thou.sand five hundred dollars.
In 1882, Mr. Jonathan 3Iann, of Milton, presented
the society with a fine bell weighing two thousand
one hundred and sixty pounds. In 1883, the pastor
procured pledges for the sum of two thousand two
hundred dollars for the erection of a parsonage, and
Mr. Mann purchased and presented a lot of land
for the purpose, and at the close of the year 1883
the parsonage was completed. The present number
of church members is eighty, and the church and
society are in a better condition than ever before.

On the 3d day of November, 1858, a Baptist so-
ciety was formed at South Dedham by members of
the First Baptist Church in West Dedham who
lived in South Dedham. The house of worship was
dedicated April 25, 1862. The first pastor was the
Rev. Joseph B. Breed, and his successors were the
Rev. J. J. Tucker, from Sept. 1, 1862, to his death,
June 13, 1864; Rev. C. Osborn, from April 5,
1864, to Aug. 25, 1865 ; the Rev. George C. Fair-
banks, from Sept. 6, 1866, to March 9, 1869 ; Rev.
Edwin Bromley, from June 6, 1869, to April 6.
1876; Rev. J. H. Gilbert, from Aug. 3, 1876, to

; Rev. W. A. Worthington, from May 4, 1879,

to Sept. 12, 1880, and soon after he was succeeded
by the Rev. B. W. Barrows, the present pastor.

The church edifice of the Methodist Episcopal
Church at East Dedham was dedicated Oct. 12,
1843. As early as 1817, the Rev. PJnoch Mudge,
with his colleague. Rev. Timothy Merritt, both Meth-
odist preachers, had held meetings in Dedham. In
1825 a "class" was formed of twenty members and
attached to the church in Dorchester. Methodist
meetings from time to time afterwards were held
in Dedham', Lower Plains, and Mill Village. In
1842, Mr. J. E. Pond, of Walpole, a local preacher,
was engaged to supply every Sabbath, and this year
the Rev. C. K. True baptized nine persons. Ser-
vices were then held in Trescott's Hall. In 1858
the church edifice was enlarged, and again, during
the pastorate of Rev. Z. A. Mudge, in 1880, it was
moved, raised, and new vestiies put in, and a
thoroughly comfortable and commodious house was
secured, at an expense of three thousand seven hundred

dollars. Reopening services were held in the church
on the evening of Oct. 22, 1880.

The pastors of this church have been Rev. Henry
P. Hall, 1844; Rev. J. L. Hanaford, 1845; Rev.
William R Stone and Leonard P. Frost, 1846; Rev.
Leonard P. Frost (.supplied), 1847; Rev. Daniel
Richards, 1848-49 ; Rev. John G. Cary, 1850 ; Rev.
Kinsman Atkinson, 1851-52 ; Rev. Howard C.
Durham, 1853-54; Rev. John M. Merrill, 1855-
56; Rev. Augustus Bailey, 1857; Rev. William
Pentecost, 1858-59 ; Rev. Mosely Dwight, 1860-61 ;
Rev. Ichabod Marcy, 1862-63; Rev. William P.
Blackmar, 1864-66; Rev. J. W. P. Jordan, 1867;
Rev. A. B. Smart (local preacher), 1868-69 ; Rev.
F. T. George, 1870; Rev. James A. De Forest,
1871-72; Rev. Z. A. Mudge, 1873-75; Rev. Wil-
liam Cottle (local preacher), 1876 ; Rev. Charles H.
Vinton, 1877 ; Rev. John Thompson (local preacher),
1878; Rev. Z. A. Mudge, 1879-31; Rev. E. W.
Virgin, 1882-84.

On the 29th of October, 1860, it being just forty-
two years from the day of his ordination as pastor of
the church of the First Parish, the Rev. Alvan
Lamson, D.D., resigned his office. Two years pre-
vious he had preached a sermon reviewing the forty
years of his ministry, and which may be regarded as
his farewell discourse. His text on that occasion was
from Deut. viii. 4, " These forty years/' and it is not
often that a minister is permitted to take the retro-
spect of so long a ministry himself Dr. Lamson's
election and ordination as pastor was the occasion of
a bitter and prolonged controversy, which resulted in
a division of the church and parish, and a resort to
litigation. But happily, after the strife which im-
mediately followed his ordination had ended, the
internal relations of his society became peaceful and
harmonious, and so remained during the rest of the
forty-two years ; and this was due in a great measure
to the character and influence of Dr. Lamson. While
from the beginning he was a Unitarian of the school
of Channing, and his works and contributions to the
reviews were mainly in exposition and support of
Unitarian doctrines and some were published as
denominational tracts, yet in his pulpit and in his
intercourse with his people he avoided controveri^y
upon doctrinal topics. He labored for peace, and he
truly says, in his farewell discourse, " a polemic pulpit
was always my aversion."' Dr. Lamson, in his work
entitled " The Church of the First Three Centuries,"

' As ;in evidence of his de.'sire to conciliate, in 1846 the Rev.
Dr. Bates, his predecessor, and a Calvinist, preached in his
pulpit by his invitation.

DEDHAM.

embodied his writings upon the views held upon the
Trinity by early Christian writers. Besides, he
preached many occasional sermons and wrote some
tracts, all of which were published in pamphlet
form. He was a scholar of extensive research, espe-
cially in ecclesiastical history, and his writings are
models of pure English, without affectation or redun-
dancy. As a preacher, he was plain and straight-
forward, and relied upon his theme to interest his
hearers. As a man, he was retiring i n his manners, but
to those who enjoyed his acquaintance he was genial and
cordial. In the community where he lived and labored
he was known as an active and intelligent promoter of
all its interests, and he exerted a strong influence in
raising the condition of the public schools ac a time
when his eiforts were needed. He was a careful and
patient student of the local history of Dedbam, espe-
cially as connected with that of the Dedbam Church.
His sermons publi-shed in 1838 and in 1858 contain
the results of much research, and form a complete
and exhaustive history of the church and parish.
He was the first president of the Dedbam Historical
Society, and attended its meetings so long as his
health permitted. He died July 18, 1864, of paral-
ysis, at the age of seventy-one years.

In 1861 the Rev. Ebenezer Burgess, D.D., retired
from the active labors of his pastoral office, after a
ministry of forty years. The fact that both Dr.
Lamson and Dr. Burgess should remain as pastors
during the same number of years, and for so long a
period, is somewhat remarkable. Dr. Burgess was
born in Wareham, April 1, 1790, and was graduated
at Brown University in 1809. He was a tutor for a
time in that college, and afterwards a professor in the
University of Vermont. In 1817 he visited the
Colony of Liberia under the auspices of the American
Colonization Society. He pursued his theological
studies at Andover and Princeton. He also studied
with Dr. Griffin, at Newark, N. J., and with Dr.
Emmons, at Franklin. He adhered to the ancient
faith of the early churches of the colony and the
modifications of creeds which occurred during his
time, even in his own denomination, did not affect his
own belief. He was a Puritan in doctrine and in
practice. He viewed with distrust the innovations
upon old customs and practices in religious worship,
such as the introduction of the organ in sacred
music. He was a minister of the old school, impos-
ing in his presence and precise but courteous in his
manners. He was inflexible in adhering to his con-
victions of duty, and to the prerogatives of a pas-
tor. He was faithful and devoted to his pastoral
duties, and during all his "ministry was liberal in his

charities, and gave largely from the ample means at
his command, not only to his own church and society,
but to Christian missions, in which he took a great
interest. His sermons were concise in expression,
and his manner as a preacher was dignified and im-
pressive. Dr. Burgess wrote little for the press. In
1840, he edited a volume of sermons of the pastors of
the First Church, entitled "Dedbam Pulpit;" he
wrote for Sprague's "Annals" a "Reminiscence of
Samuel J. Mills" in 1849, and the " Burgess Geneal-
ogy," published in 1865. He died Dec. 5, 1870, at
his estate, " Broad Oak," where he had built a man-
sion many years before, and continued to reside after
his withdrawal from the ministry, in 1861. He was
the president of the Dedbam Institution for Savings
from the date of its organization until his death.

In the church and society of the Third Parish in
West Dedbam the Rev. Calvin S. Locke was ordained
as the successor of the Rev. John White (who died
Feb. 1, 1852), on the 6th day of December, 1854.
Mr. Locke remained the pastor until June, 1864.
After a vacancy of two years, the Rev. Henry Westcott
was with the society one year, and Rev. Elisha Gifford
received a call Aug. 12, 1867, and resigned March
11, 1872. The Rev. Edward Crowuinshield began
his ministry Jan. 1, 1873, and closed his pastoral
connection May 31, 1879. The Rev George W.
Cooke has been the pastor since December, 1880.
In the summer and autumn of 1855, repairs costing
upwards of twelve hundred dollars were made in the
church edifice. The floor was raised, a lower and
more elegant pulpit was substituted for the old one,
the walls and ceiling frescoed, and the pews exchanged
for concentric seats. The Ladies' Benevolent Society
carpeted, cushioned, and furnished the church. The
new horse-sheds were built in 1869. The Rev. Mr.
Locke, on the 7th of December, 1879, preached an
occasional sermon, which was printed, and from which
these facts are taken. The church was struck by
lightning and seriously damaged in April, 1883.

In the church connected with the First Parish,
upon the resignation of the Rev. Dr. Lamsen in 1860,
after the lapse of a few months the Rev. Benjamin
H. Bailey was ordained as pastor March 14, 1861,
and he remained until Oct. 13, 1867, when he re-
signed. He was succeeded by Rev. George M. Fol-
som, installed March 31, 1869, and resigned July 1,
1875. The Rev. Seth Curtis Beach was installed as
his successor Dec. 29, 1875, and is the present in-
cumbent. In 1856 the parish erected a vestry, which
was much enlarged and improved in 1879, at a
cost of about three thousand three hundred dollars.
The old meeting-house of 1763, which was remod-

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

eled and improved in 1819, was again remodeled in
1857 in the interior, by removins; the pews and sub-
stituting the concentric seats for the pews, and the
erection of a new and lower pulpit, placed in a recess
at one end of the church. At the same time a large
and excellent organ was placed in the gallery, built
by the Messrs. Hook.

The " New Meeting-House," as it was called in the
act of incorporation, and which title was retained until
1864, was much improved and refitted with a pulpit
of rosewood in 1846. In 1857 a large and superior-
toned organ was placed in a recess behind the pulpit.
In 1866, the whole interior was remodeled and made
more convenient. In 1864, the society was reorgan-
ized under the name of the " Allin Evangelical Soci-
ety," and the church in 1876 adopted the name of the
" First Congregational Church in Dedham."

The Rev. Jonathan Edwards was installed as pas-
tor of the church Jan. 1, 1863. He was dismissed
at his own request, on account of continued ill health,
April 13, 1874. The Rev. Charles M. Southgate
was installed as his successor Dec. 16, 1875, and he
still continues to be pastor of the church. The con-
fession of faith now in use was adopted in March,
1875. The membership of this church Jan. 1, 1884,
was three hundred and eleven. In 1876 the chapel
connected with the church edifice was much enlarged
and improved, at a cost of four thousand five hundred
dollars.

On the 7th day of December, 1856, St. Paul's
(Episcopal) Church, erected in 1846, was wholly
consumed by fire, with its organ and all its contents.
The loss was a severe one to the parish, and to
the village, since it was a tasteful and attractive
church. Both the Unitarian and Orthodox Con-
gregational Churches immediately tendered the use of
their hou.scs of worship to the parish of St. Paul's
Church, which offers were declined with thanks, and
the use of the court-room in the court-house was ob-
tained for the purpose of holding their services. Im-
mediate measures were taken to rebuild the church of
stone, and of somewhat larger proportions. The
wealthier parishioners made large subscriptions. The
stone was given by the heirs of John BuUard, from
their quarry about a mile and a half from the village.
The architect was Arthur Oilman, of Boston, and I.
& H. M. Harmon were the contractors. The church
was finished and the tower carried up two stories.
The organ was given by Mr. Joseph W. Clark, and
the stained-glass windows, made by Doremus, of
New York, were the gift of Mr. Ira Cleveland. The
stone font was the gift of Mrs. E. F. Babcock, the
wife of the rector. The cost of the church thus con-

structed was eighteen thousand three hundred and
thirty-six dollars and fifty-one cents.

In 1859 the tower and spire were finished, at an
additional cost of twelve thousand one hundred and
forty-three dollars and eighty-one cents. In 1875
the brick chapel was erected, at a cost, including the
furniture, of about seven thousand dollars, and paid
for from a legacy given to the parish for the purpose
by George E. Hatton, M.D., in his last will. The
interior decorations, made by Mr. Arthur Noble in
1882 and 1883, were also given by Mr. Cleveland, at
an expense of three thousand five hundred dollars.
The organ was also remodeled and enlarged in 1882,
at the expense of Mr. J. W. Clark, the original donor.
In 1881, Mr. Cleveland placed the chime often bells
in the tower of the church, made by Meneely & Co.,
of Troy, N. Y., and costing five thousand three hun-
dred and forty dollars.

The services of the Roman Catholic Church began
about the year 1846, and were at first held in private
houses. Afterwards services were held in Temperance
Hall until 1857. St. Mary's Church, on Washington
Street, was built and completed in 1857. The Rev.
P. OBeirne, of Roxbury, was the priest who had
charge of the parish from 1846 to 1866. The old
meeting-house of the Universalist Society in South
Dedham was sold in April, 1863, to the Rev. P.
O'Beirne. It has since been enlarged and improved,
and is known as St. Catherine's Church. The Rev.
J. P. Brennan had charge of the parish from 1866 to
1877. The Rev. J. D. Tierney was curate during a
portion of this time, and the Rev. D. J. O'Donavan
was curate during the remainder. The Rev. D. J.
O'Donavan was the priest in charge from January,
1877, to August, 1878.

In June, 1866, Martin Bates, the owner of the
hotel last known as the Norfolk House, and which
had been kept as a hotel for many years, conveyed
that estate to Ann Alexis Shorb and others, Sisters <
of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, in trust for
the use of St. Mary's School and Asylum. The
Sisters of Charity had a school in this building from
1867 to 1879, since which time it has been sus-
pended.

The land and house for parsonage, and the adjoin-
ing land for a church site, were purchased by the
Rev. J. P. Brennan in June, 1867. The Rev.
Robert J. Johnson took charge of the parish in
August, 1878, with the Rev. J. J. McNulty as
curate. In 1878 a church was built at East Ded-
ham, and is known as St. Raphael's Church. The
Rev. Mr. Johnson now has charge over the two
churches in Dedham and St. Catherine's, in Norwood.

DKDHAM.

The corner-stone of the new church now being
erected on High Street was laid Oct. 17, 1880. It
is one hundred and fifty feet in length, and sixty-six
feet in width. It is being built of Dedham granite,
and when completed will be the largest and most im-
posing church of the town. It is estimated that the
number of Roman Catholics in Dedham is about two
thousand. The number of scholars in the Sunday-
school of St. Mary's Church is about four hundred.

In 1852, a part of Dedham was set off to West
Roxbury. Previous to this time the territory of
Dedham had extended some distance north of Charles
River, but by the legislative act of 1852 the centre
of the channel of Charles River became the boundary-
line between West Roxbury and Dedham, from Cow
Island Pond to a point about one hundred and fifty
rods easterly of Blue Rock Bridge. The same line
is now the boundary-line between Dedham and
Boston.

In the same year, a small portion of the territory
of Dedham was annexed to Walpole. A considerable
portion of the village of East Walpole stands upon
the portion of Dedham then annexed to Walpole.

In 1853 the Dedham Gas-Light Company was in-
corporated, with a capital of fifty thousand dollars.
This company has its works at East Dedham. In
1871 the name was changed to the Dedham and
Hyde Park Gas Company, for the purpose of extend-
ing its pipes to Hyde Park. This company continues
to supply gas for lighting the streets and houses in
Dedham village and East Dedham, and to some ex-
tent in the neighboring town of Hyde Park.

In 1862 the Dedham Historical Society was in-
corporated " for the purpose of collecting and pre-
serving such books, newspapers, records, pamphlets,
and traditions as may tend to illustrate and perpetuate
the history of New England, and especially the his-
tory of the town of Dedham." This society has a
valuable collection, especially of books and pamphlets
relating to the history of Dedham. It also has one
of the hand corn-mills imported by Governor Win-
throp, a sermon by the Rev. John Allin printed in
1672, together with many other objects of interest.
The society has needed for many years a suitable
room or building where its collection could be ar-
ranged and made accessible. For a number of years
it has been stored in a small room in the court-house,
but this is quite insufficient for the purpose. With
a suitable building, and a fund sufficient for the care
and preservation of its collection, this society would
be able to attract to itself and its purposes a much
greater interest than it has succeeded in doing here-
tofore.

The officers of the society for 1883-84 are Henry
0. Hildreth, president; Alfred Henries, vice-presi-
dent ; Rev. Carlos Slafter, corresponding secretary ;
Waldo Colburu, Erastus Worthington, Henry W.
Richards, curators ; A. Ward Lamson, George F.
Fisher, auditors ; Don Gleason Hill, historiographer ;
George F. Fisher, chronicler.

CHAPTER XL

D'RBHAM—iContinned).

The Civil War, 1861-65— Companies of Dedham Men— Their
Services in the War — Commodore G. J. Van Brunt — Expenses
of the War for Bounties and Aid to Soldiers' Families — Me-
morial Hall — Names of those who Fell Inscribed on the
Tablets.

At the beginning of the civil war in 1861, there
was no militia company in Dedham. None had ex-
isted since 1842. There were a few men residing in
Dedham who belonged to the regiments of volunteer
militia, and they at once joined their companies and
went to Washington for three months' service. But
the inhabitants of Dedham, while they differed as to
the political causes of the war, were united in their
efforts to sustain the President in his call for seventy-
five thousand volunteers. The young men immedi-
ately took steps to form a company, in anticipation
that their services would soon be required. The
ladies with great promptness forwarded to the Gov-
ernor, on the 23d of April, sixty flannel shirts for
the soldiers about to depart. The town, at a meeting
legally called on the 6th of May, by formal resolution
pledged itself " to stand by the volunteers and protect
their families during the war," and appropriated ten
thousand dollars for this general purpo.se. The first
company was formed early in May, and while waiting
to be assigned to some regiment the men employed
themselves in perfecting their drill. The town sup-
plied them with uniforms, and allowed them com-
pensation during a certain period. In August, this
company was mustered into the service of the United
States as Company F, Eighteenth Regiment, Ma.ssa-
chusetts Volunteer Infantry. The regiment was com-
manded by Col. James Barnes, a graduate of West
Point, an officer possessing high qualifications, as was
subsequently proved. All the commissioned officers
and fifty-six men of this company belonged in Dedham,
Its officers were Henry Onion, captain, with Charles
W. Carroll as first lieutenant, and Fisher A. Baker as
second lieutenant, the two latter having recently
graduated from Dartmouth College. Nine Dedham

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

men also enlisted in Company H of the same regi-
ment. On the 2Gth of August, they left for the seat
of war. They parted from their friends expecting a
short campaign and a speedy return, so little was the
nature of the conflict understood at its beginning.
The regiment was assigned to Martindale's brigade,
and, after being engaged in drill and working on the
fortifications of Washington, on the 26th of Septem-
ber it took up its position at Hall's Hill, Va. Here the
company spent the winter in camp. The ladies sent
them a supply of garments, and the citizens generally
sent them a feast for New- Year's day. Some of their
town.smcn visited them in camp, and a few obtained
furloughs to visit their homes. Three deaths oc-
curred during the winter, Sergt. Damrell and privates
Guild and Stevens, whose remains were brought home
for burial.

On the 28th of October, 1861, Capt. Onion resigned
his commission, and Lieut. Carroll was commissioned
as captain, Second Lieut. Baker as first lieutenant, and
Edward M. Onion as second lieutenant. The com-
pany with its regiment served during the Peninsular
campaign, but during all the battles before Richmond,
the Eighteenth was detached from its brigade and did
not participate in the engagements. Private Jordan,
of Company H, who had left his company, was killed
while in the ranks of the Ninth Regiment. In the
battle at Gaines' Mills Adjt. Thomas Sherwin, of the
Twenty-second Massachusetts Infantry, was wounded,
and was promoted major for gallant conduct, his com-
mission dating June 28th, the day succeeding the
battle.

In the series of battles prior to the second battle
of Bull Run, the Eighteenth bore a prominent part,
being attached to Porter's corps. In the battle of
Bull Run it suffered severely. Of the Dedham com-
pany, seven were either killed or died afterwards of
wounds then received, and five others were wounded
more or less severely. Among them was Carroll, the
brave young captain, who fell mortally wounded, and
was left on the field within the enemy's lines, where
he died three days after. He was decently buried on
the field, but his' remains were subsequently brought
home. Corp. Edward Holmes, privates Robert R.
Covey, George 0. Kingsbury, and Henry D. Smith
were killed on the field. Privates P]dmund L.
Tiiomas and George N. Worthen lingered, mortally
wounded, but a few days in the hospitals, and
died soon after, the former near Washington and the
latter at Philadelphia. It is stated that of forty men
of the company who were engaged, fourteen only came
out unharmed. Of Company F, Corp. William
Simpson and privates Elias W. Adams, Edward G.

Cox, Sumner A. Ellis, Patrick Mears, and Isaac N.
Parker were wounded, and soon after discharged by
reason of their wounds.

The first rumors of this disastrous battle reached
Dedham on Sunday, Aug. 31, 1862. On the day
previous, a telegraphic dispatch had been published
that the enemy were retreating to the mountains.
Special messengers had been sent to many of the
towns near Boston, and the services in the churches
of the village were interrupted with the announce-
ment that a great battle had been fought, and a call
made for lint, bandages, and stimulants. The re-
ligious services were at once suspended, and men,
women, and children went to work with a will. Six-
teen large packages of necessary articles, including a
large amount of clothing, bandages, lint, jellies, cor-
dials, were sent on that Sunday afternoon, and more
was afterwards dispatched.

After the close of the Peninsular campaign the
President had called for three hundred thousand men
for three years, and the quota assigned to Massachu-
setts was fifteen thousand. Of this number the quota
of Dedham was sixty-nine. In the autumn and winter
previous, a number of Dedham men had also enlisted
in the Twentieth, Twenty-second, and Twenty-fourth
Massachusetts Infantry, and were then at the seat of
war. The realities of war had been fully brought home
to the people, and the quota of Dedham was to be raised
in view of them. The recruiting was carried on under
the direction of the selectmen thenceforward during
the war. On the 21st of July the town voted to pay
a bounty of one hundred dollars to each volunteer,
with aid to families, and appropriated six thousand
nine hundred dollars for the bounties. A large and
impressive meeting was held July 10th, before the
legal town-meeting. A roll was opened and a call
made for volunteers. The first man to sign the roll
was the father of the boy who had been killed at
Gaines' Mills. Another was a young man who had
been recently graduated at Harvard College, and was
just beginning his professional studies. A third
announced his purpose in earnest words, to which
subsequently a severe wound received in battle, nearly
a year's confinement in four rebel prisons, and ad-
hering to his regiment to the last day of its service,
bore ample testimony.

With such a spirit animating them, others were en-
rolled, and soon the number was complete. Uniting
with men from Needham and Weston, they consti-
tuted Company I, Thirty-fifth Massachusetts Infantry,
Col. Edward A. Wild. The captain was Sidney
Willard, of Weston, but its first lieutenant was John
Lathrop, and the second lieutenant was William Hill,

DEDHAM.

both of Dedham. Without any opportunities for
drill or organization, the regiment left Boston Aug.
22, 1862, for the seat of war. On their arrival in
Washington they were immediately assigned to the
defenses of the city, throwing up earthworks and
doing picket-duty. They were near their townsmen
who were in the Eighteenth Regiment, who had pre-
ceded them one year in the service, and they heard
the guns around Centreville on the day of the dis-
astrous battle of Bull Run.

Both companies were now in the Army of the Po-
tomac, the first having the discipline of veterans but
with thinned ranks, while the second, as yet imperfect
in the duties of the soldier, was fresh and vigorous.
The Eighteenth still remained with Porter's corps, and
the Thirty-fifth was in the Ninth Corps, under Burn-
side. The army was then in motion towards Mary-
land, to meet Lee in his first invasion of what may
be termed the neutral ground of the Rebellion. The
necessities of those days were inexorable, and called
for long and rapid marches. Burnside's corps started
first, and on the 14th September — only three weeks
after they had left their homes — our men of the
Thirty-fifth met the enemy at South Mountain.
The Thirty-fifth on that day dislodged rebel sharp-
shooters from an extensive tract of forest, and received
a sharp attack from the enemy. Here private George
F. Whiting was mortally wounded, and died on the
7th of October. Sergt. Henry W. Tisdale and private
Clinton Bagley were wounded, the former severely.
With no knowledge of battalion movements, and
having had but a brief period for drill, this new
regiment encountered the disciplined brigades of the
enemy, and stood the test firmly.

But South Mountain was a prelude only to the
memorable battle of Antietam, three days after.
Porter's corps, which left Washington on the 12th,
now joined the main army, and on the 17th supported
batteries in the battle. The Thirty-fifth was engaged
in the movements of Burnside's corps, which had a
highly important part in the battle. They charged
the enemy, drove him over the bridge, and held the
crest of the second hill beyond, until ordered to retire.
They behaved with such steadiness and gallantry as
to receive the highest encomiums of their commander.
Thus within a month from their departure from
home this regiment had been twice on hard-fought
fields, and in the thickest of the battles. But they
had told fearfully upon the regiment. Of those pres-
ent, two-thirds of the officers and nearly one-third of
the men had been disabled. At Antietam, Corp.
Edward E. Hatton (a true man and a brave sol-
dier), and privates Charles H. Sulkoski and Joseph
6

P. White, of South Dedham, were killed. Corp.
pjdmund Davis was very severely wounded, and
six others were wounded more or less severely, of
whom private Nathan C. Treadwell died about a
month after. Besides these, there were two of the
company killed and several wounded who belonged
elsewhere. Such was the share of Company I in
the glory and sacrifices of Antietam.

Company F of the Eighteenth surtained no loss at
Antietam, but at Shepardstown, on the 20th, they
were engaged with their regiment, which lost three
killed and eleven wounded. The Maryland campaign
ended with the retirement of Lee into Virginia, and
whither also returned the Army of the Potomac, but
with unequal steps.

Soon after the call under which Dedham had fur-
nished sixty-nine men for the Thirty-fifth Regiment,
there came yet another call from the President, with
an order for a draft, to which Dedham was required
to respond with one hundred and twenty-two men
for nine months' service. In anticipation of the
draft, the town offered a bounty of two hundred dol-
lars, with aid to families, to volunteers. The short
term of service was a great inducement to some who
were unable to enlist for three years, and soon the
requisite number was made up, almost exclusively
from Dedham. These chiefly constituted Company
D, Forty-third Regiment Massachusetts Infantry.
Its captain was Thomas G. Whytal, of West Rox-
bury, the first lieutenant, Edward A. Sumner, and
the second lieutenant, James Schouler, both of Ded-
ham. On the 24th of October, 1862, it was ordered
to North Carolina, where it remained during nearly
the whole term of its service. The regiment was
under fire at Kinston and Whitehall in December.
The Dedham company, with two others, was detached
for picket-duty for a time, and afterwards marched
with the regiment on Trenton ; was ordered to the
relief of Little Washington, and encountered the
enemy at Blount's Creek. It was then occupied in
picket-duty and those other nameless duties which
constitute so large a part of a soldier's life in camp.
On the 27th of June it was ordered to report to Gen,
Dix, and proceeded to White House, on the Pamun-
key, in Virginia, thence to Fortress Monroe, and
thence to Baltimore. On the 7th of July, the term
of service having expired, it was left to the option of
the men to go to the front (this being immediately
after the battle of Gettysburg), or to return home,
and two hundred of the regiment remained, among
whom were thirteen of the Dedham company. These
returned home July 21st, and all were mustered out
July 30, 1863.

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Such briefly is the record of the company of nine
months' men. But one of its number had died, and
his was an accidental death at Readville. It will not
do, however, to infer from this that their service was
light or unimportant. They were in a department
where no considerable active operations were carried
on during their term of service. But whenever
called upon, as they often were, for special duty,
their record shows it was well performed ; and there
is no doubt but they would have acquitted themselves
with honor in any exigency of the service.

Nothing decisive had occurred with the Army of
the Potomac after the battle of Antietam until the
13th of December, 1862, when occurred that saddest
of all the battles of the war, the assault upon Fred-
ericksburg. The army was now under Buraside, and
his name is inseparably associated with that ill-
starred movement. In this assault, both of the com-
panies bore a very prominent part. The Eighteenth
was the leading regiment of its corps, and on the
13th, having remained until one o'clock on the oppo-
site side of the river, then crossed and engaged in the
battle, which lasted until dark. The regiment
charged the enemy and nearly penetrated his forti-
fied position and stronghold on Mary's Heights,
when it was compelled to return. It rallied again,
however, and was in advance of the corps throughout
the battle. The record adds: " It is believed that the
dead of this regiment lay nearer the enemy's works
than those of any other engaged upon that part of the
field." Two Dedham men in this regiment were
killed, privates Jonathan H. Keyes and Daniel
Leahey, and several were wounded. The regiment
lost in this engagement two officers and eleven men
killed, and nine officers and one hundred and twelve
men wounded.

The position of the Thirty-fifth was scarcely less
exposed, being in the advance of its corps, and they
received a deadly fire at short range. They held
their ground until, their ammunition being exhausted,
their brigade was relieved. It was the last regiment
but one to leave Fredericksburg. The gallant Maj.
Willard, who commanded the regiment in the assault,
was mortally wounded while leading his men sword
in hand. He was the first captain of Company I,
although not a resident of Dedham. Lieut. William
Hill, of Company I, but who on that day was in
command of Company K, and private George C.
Bunker were killed on the heights and buried on the
field. Four Dedham soldiers of this company were
wounded more or less severely. The whole loss of
the regiment was about sixty. The survivors of both
companies may recall with satisfaction and soldierly

pride the deeds performed on that bloody and unsuc-
cessful day at Fredericksburg.

The army now ceased active operations until the
spring of 1863, when Gen. Hooker assumed command,
and it entered upon the Chancellorsville campaign. On
the 2d and 3d of May the Eighteenth was engaged,
and lost one officer and thirteen men killed, but none
of these were from Dedham. In the Second Massa-
chusetts Infantry, private Michael Henihan, a Ded-
ham soldier, was killed, his being the only name in
that heroic regiment of a Dedham man who was killed
during the war.

The Thirty-fifth had now been detached from the
Army of the Potomac and sent to another and dis-
tant department. In March, 1863, it had proceeded
with the reorganized Ninth Corps (Burnside's) to the
Southwest, where its services were much needed.
April and May it passed in Kentucky. Thence
it was transported down the Mississippi to the vi-
cinity of Vicksburg, where the men threw up earth-
works and defenses. They were now with the Army
of the Tennessee, under the command of Gen. Grant.
Under Sherman, after the surrender of Vicksburg,
they marched into the interior of Mississippi in pur-
suit of the force of Gen. Johnston. After days of
toilsome and painful marches, with frequent skir-
mishing and a brief siege, they captured Jackson,
the capital of the State. Here the Thirty-fifth had
the honor of being the first regiment to plant its
colors within the city, pulling down the rebel ensign
from the State-House and of throwing to the breeze
the stars and stripes. In this campaign, private
David Phalen died in camp of disease. In August,
the regiment almost exactly retraced its steps, and on
the 1st of October was in Kentucky.

The Army of the Potomac, in the mean time, had
again moved into Maryland and Pennsylvania to repel
Lee's second invasion. In the great victory of Get-
tysburg the Eighteenth was engaged, and lost one
man killed and thirteen wounded, but the name of
no Dedham soldier appears among them. But Ded-
ham was not without its representative in the sacrifices
of that victorious field. On the 3d of July, Sergt.
Edward Hutchins, of the First Company Andrews'
Sharpshooters, received his death-wound, and lin-
gered but two hours. He was a faithful and fearless
soldier, and one well qualified for his peculiar service.
The Eighteenth was in the battle at Rappahannock
Station, Nov. 7th, and at Mine Creek on the 29th
and 30th of the same month. These concluded its
campaigns in 1863.

The Thirty-fifth, in October, marched across the
mountains through Cumberland Gap to Knoxville,

DEDHAM.

Tenn. It was engaged at Loudon Bridge and Camp-
bell's Station, and afterwards fell back to Knoxville,
then besieged by the enemy under Gen. Longstreet.
It was during this campaign, that private Charles
Henry Ellis, the regimental clerk, was taken prisoner,
was confined in Belle Isle prison, and, it is supposed,
died in Richmond the succeeding year. During this
winter, the regiment suffered much for want of food
and clothing. In March its Western campaign ended,
and it was transported again to Annapolis, Md., where
the Ninth Corps was again reorganized.

We are now brought to the last and greatest act
of the drama, — Grant's overland campaign, — which
on the one hand is characterized as " a campaign un-
surpassed by any on record in the elements which
make war grand, terrible, and bloody," but on the
other, it should also be said, a campaign invested
with a glory that will never fade, since it brought
a victory and peace. At home the summer and
autumn of 1864 were the darkest period of the war.
Men had learned to feel the dread perils of battle
to the cause of the country, as well as to the lives of
our soldiers. All available able-bodied men had been
sent to the field. The draft, like a heavy cloud,
brooded over the community, A Presidential cam-
paign had intervened to divide men in their counsels,
if it did not destroy their harmony of action. The
country seemed to rest under a shadow which nothing
could dispel. It was, however, the darkness which
precedes the dawn, though the day was as yet afar
ofi".

Again the two Dedliam companies were in Vir-
ginia ; the Eighteenth Regiment being in Ayre's
brigade, Fifth Corps (Warren's), numbering about
three hundred men. The Thirty-fifth remained in
the Ninth Corps, with about two hundred and fifty
men ready for duty. The corps was still under
Burnside, whose command was independent of Gen.
Meade, then commanding the Army of the Potomac.
All acted under the orders of Gen. Grant.

On the 3d of May, 1864, at midnight, the march
began, the Fifth Corps having the right of the
column. On the 5th of May, while reconnoitring for
the enemy, the Eighteenth was the first regiment to
encounter Ewell's corps, then moving in pursuit.
The first infantry man killed in the campaign be-
longed to the Eighteenth, and it received the brunt
of the first assault of the enemy in the battles of the
Wilderness. During all those marvelous battles
lasting three days, where neither cavalry nor artillery
could be used, where " not only were the lines of
battle entirely hidden from the sight of the com-
mander, but no ofiicer could see ten files from him,"

the Eighteenth was engaged in skirmishing and in
assaults upon intrenchments. No fatal casualties
occurred among our Dedham men, but Col. Hayes
was severely wounded, and several were killed and
wounded in the regiment.

The Thirty-fifth, with the Ninth Corps, crossed
the Rapidan two days later, and passing over the
battle-grounds at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville,
arrived in the Wilderness during the second day's
battle. In the movement towards Spottsylvania the
Fifth Corps were charged with the duty of seizing
Spottsylvania Court-House. Both the Fifth and
Ninth Corps were in line of battle on the north of
Spottsylvania. Here occurred one of the most fierce
and deadly struggles of the war. In the engagement
of the 18th of May the Thirty-fifth participated. The
result of the battles leaving the Union lines intact,
another turning movement was determined upon. On
the 20th of May the hostile armies again confronted
each other at the North Anna River. The Eight-
eenth, crossing at Jericho Ford, was then detached
from its brigade to occupy an eminence where it was
exposed to a heavy fire from Hill's corps, during
which assault Lieut.-Col. White was wounded. The
Thirty-fifth crossed on the 24th, when it began a
brilliant skirmish, followed by the whole brigade.
The enemy were driven into their works, but a sud-
den storm and a fresh force of the enemy compelled
the regiment to retire.

On the 23d of May, at the battle on the North
Anna River, Sergt. John Finn, Jr., Twenty-second
Massachusetts Infantry, — a Dedham soldier who had
well earned promotion, — received a wound on his
arm which rendered amputation necessary, and he
died from its effects on the 5th of June.

Another flank movement of the Union army turned
it towards the Chickahominy, " a wet ditcl' on the
outer fortifications of Richmond," and a place of sad
memories for soldiers of the campaign of 1862.
But before the passage of the Chickahominy, another
fearful battle awaited them at Cold Harbor. War-
ren's corps, a few days previous, had encountered
the enemy on the Shady Church road, where a
branch of the Tolopotomy crossed it, and had fre-
quent skirmishes with the enemy. While near
Bethesda Church, and holding a line nearly four
miles in extent, the enemy fell upon it with great
vigor and inflicted a considerable loss. In the assault
at Cold Harbor, the Fifth Corps did not actively par-
ticipate. The Ninth Corps was partially engaged,
and the Thirty-fifth was employed in throwing up
earthworks. But in that bloody battle Dedham had
a representative in the list of the killed. The

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Twentieth Massachusetts Infantry was with the Sec-
ond Corps (Hancock's) holding the left of the assault-
ing column. On the 3d of June, private Albert C.
Bean, of Company I, was wounded, and died five days
after. On the 7th of June, the Eighteenth reached
the Chickahominy, and, after some days' skirmishing,
crossed on the 1.3th of June. They passed the
James on the 16th of June, and marched directly
to the fortifications in front of Petersburg. Here
they were engaged in throwing up earthworks in the
presence of the enemy. On the 5th of July, private
Cyrus D. Tewksbury, who had served from the be-
ginning, was killed, — the last man of the Eighteenth
to fall in battle. It is a somewhat curious fact, and
perhaps worthy of mention, that the first of the Ded-
ham men who fell in battle in 1862 and the last just
named, were cousins, both belonging to the same
company and regiment, and died on fields not many
miles distant from each other.

The Eighteenth had now reached nearly the end
of its term of service of three years, and on the 20th
of July it was ordered to Washington in anticipation
of discharge. Twelve of our Dedham men had re-
enlisted, and these, together with those whose term
was not ended, remained with the Eighteenth Bat-
talion and did good service. When the oflBcers were
mustered out, this battalion was merged in the
Thirty-second Regiment. Among these men was
private Henry C. Everett, who died in Washington
Jan. 19, 1865.

On the 3d of September, 1864, the old Eighteenth
was mustered out of service, and its honorable record
closed. It had participated in some fifteen battles.
Of the fifty-eight who enlisted from Dedham, eleven
had fallen on the field, six had died from disease and
wounds received in battle, eight had been discharged
by reason of wounds, and thirteen by reason of dis-
ability resulting from wounds. Of the whole com-
pany, twenty-three men had either died or fallen in
battle.

The regiment bore an honorable part in nearly all
the great general battles of the Anuy of the Potomac,
except those of the Peninsula before Richmond, and
its tattered battle-flag bears no stain, save from the
blood of its defenders. While often called to share in
the defeat of the Army of the Potomac, yet in the
darkest hours of the war it kept its high discipline,
unswerving fidelity, and patriotic faith; and although
It did not .see the days of final victory, it aided in
accomplishing those unparalleled movements, and
fighting those continuous battles, which made com-
plete victory possible at the last. Upon the return
home of the few brave men left of the company, they

were welcomed with fitting ceremonies, in which all
joined with grateful hearts, though sensible that the
formalities of a public occasion but inadequately ex-
pressed their debt of gratitude.

The men of the Thirty-fifth were now destined to
bear a part in the siege of Petersburg and the closing
campaign. At first they were employed " in throw-
ing up earthworks and batteries, laying down abattis,"
and in the construction of works necessary for a be-
sieging army. At the memorable explosion of the
" Mine," July 30th, it was their duty to advance,
after the explosion, and turn the works of the enemy,
which they accomplished. Private Michael Colbert
was killed in the advance of the regiment over the
works, and the regiment lost one officer and nine men
killed, and three officers and twenty-eight men
wounded. The dead were buried under a flag of
truce. Being now in the immediate presence of the
enemy, they were frequently engaged, and suffered
considerable losses, especially while in position on the
Weldon Railroad. At Poplar Spring Church, Septem-
ber 30th, the regiment was repulsed by an attack on the
right and rear, with a loss of nine killed and one
hundred and fifty prisoners. In the same action John
W. Fiske, formerly a sergeant in Company I, but re.
cently promoted to be first lieutenant in the Fifty-
eighth Massachusetts Infantry, which was also en-
gaged, was killed, and buried on the field. He was
an efficient officer, and much beloved.

Nothing decisive occurred to the regiment during
the winter of 1864-65. In March, 1865, it was re-
moved to a part of Fort Sedgwick, about four hun-
dred yards from the enemy's works, — a post of great
danger, being subject to an almost continuous fire, — •
where it remained one month. On the 2d of April
it assaulted Fort Mahone, the rebel work opposite,
and held a portion of it. During the same night,
Petersburg was evacuated by the enemy, and on the
next morning the men had the proud satisfaction of
marching through the streets of Petersburg with
colors flying, band playing, and of receiving, with
shouts of victory and welcome, the President of the
United States as he rode along their lines. On the
9th of April occurred the surrender of Lee at Appomat-
tox Court-House, and at last peace had come, crowned
with honor and victory. The regiment passed in
review at Washington, May 23d, reached Massachu-
setts on the 13th of June, and was mustered out of
service on the 27th.

The Thirty-fifth saw nearly three years of active
and arduous service, beginning almost with the day
of its arrival in the field. On its colors are in-
scribed, by an order of Gen. Meade, the names of

DEDHAM.

thirteen battles, to which was afterwards added a
fourteenth. The record shows that its campaigns
were not limited to a State or a department, but that
in Kentucky, East Tennessee, and Mississippi, as well
as in Maryland and Virginia, it was actively em-
ployed. In many of its battles its position was
among the most exposed to the enemy, and sometimes
in the most deadly conflicts. Indeed, it became a
proverb among the soldiers that the commanding
officer of the Thirty-fifth was sure to be struck down
in every engagement. Of the sixty-eight who en-
listed from Dedham, six were killed in battle, and
one more died soon after of his wounds, five died in
the service from disease, eight were discharged on
account of their wounds, and eleven for disability.

At the expiration of their service it was desired to
give the men a public welcome, but with a soldierly
modesty they declined the invitation, saying they
preferred to pass without ceremony from the life of
the soldier to that of the citizen. They went when
days were dark, and men were few ; they returned
when the anthems of victory were resounding through
the land, and they would have received shouts of wel-
come and of gratitude. Yet in their triumphs, as in
their trials, they were true to themselves, and chose
the conscious rewards of duty done, rather than the'
loud plaudits of their fellow-citizens.

The roll of the dead is not yet complete. In other
regiments than those to which reference has been
made — both of Massachusetts and of other States —
are to be found the names of men born and reared in
Dedham. The Twenty-fourth, Twenty- eighth. Thirty-
ninth, and Fifty-sixth Massachusetts Infantry each
had one man from Dedham among those killed in
battle. From two regiments of Massachusetts cav-
alry three names appear. Three died as prisoners of
war, without a friend to minister to their last neces-
sities, or even to raise for them a humble headstone.
In that hecatomb at Fort Wagner — where the negro
so nobly vindicated his right to the name and fame of
the soldier — Dedham had one representative. Vir-
ginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia hold the ashes of
Dedham men, and at the battle of Cane River, in
Louisiana, while leading his men to the charge, Capt.
Julius M. Lathrop fell, closing a long and honorable
service, in which rank was nobly earned, with a tri-
umphant and peaceful death.

In this general survey of the services rendered by
Dedham soldiers in the field during the civil war, no
biographies of the heroic dead have been attempted.
But among them were true and noble men, whose
memories are. gratefully cherished in Dedham. The
old town had its full share in the sacrifices and strug-

gles of those memorable years. The record of her
brave sons who marched to the battle-fields of the
war is one of which she has always been proud, and
has been ready to perpetuate.

Besides those who served in the army during the
war of the Rebellion, there were a number who had
various positions in the navy. Prominent among
these was Commodore Gershom J. Van Brunt, for
many years a resident of Dedham. He was a native
of New Jersey, and entered the service from that
State in 1818. In the spring of 1861, he was as-
signed to the command of the steam frigate " Minne-
sota," was employed in the severe and trying blockade
service at Hampton Roads, and also took an important
part in the reduction of the Hatteras forts. He
was subsequently intrusted with the supervision and
equipment of the expedition to New Orleans under
Gen. Banks, and at the time of his death was acting,
under the orders of the War Department, as inspector
of transports for the New England district. He
received his commission as commodore in July,
1862. He died at his residence in Dedham, Dec.
17, 1863. Those who saw him in the early
days of the Rebellion, or who knew of his service
afterwards, will not soon forget his fervent zeal, lofty
patriotism, and unswerving faith in the ultimate
triumph of the flag of his country.

The town was liberal in its appropriations of money
for bounties and aid to soldiers' families during the
war. The raising of each quota of men required
larire sums of money and for a considerable period
the constant eff'orts of the selectmen, who were
officially charged with the business of obtaining vol-
unteers. A statement of moneys expended during
the war, made in 1868, is probably nearly accurate.
It is taken from the appendix to the pamphlet con-
taining the exercises at the dedication of Memorial
Hall, Sept. 29, 1868 :

Amount Exi^ended by the Town of Dedham for Soldiers' Boun-
ties and Aid of Soldiers' Families during the War of the
Rehellion.

Whole number of men raised and mustered into tlie military
and naval service, six hundred and seventy-two.
Company F, Eighteenth Kegiment Massachusetts
Infantry — 59 men.
For outfit, uniforms, etc, under vote

of May 6, 1861 $1591.66

For drill, under votes of May 6 and

May 27, 1861 2573.15

For further pay for drill under vote

of .June 4, 1866 4650.00

$8,814.81

Company I, Thirty-fifth Regiment Massachusetts
Infantry — 69 men.
For bounties under vote of .July 21, 1862 ($100). 6,900.00

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Company D, Forty-third Regiment Massachusetts
Infantry, and other nine months' men — 126
men.

For bounties under votes of Aug. 25,
and Sept. 15, 1862 ($200) $25,200.00

For expenses of enlistment 520.00

$25,720.00

Men enlisted in other regiments and in navy, in-
cluding substitutes provided by individuals —
418 men.

For bounties under votes of April 4

and July 25, 1864 $26,856.00

For expense of recruiting, estimated

at 600.00

27,

Estimated amount expended in aid of soldiers'
families, exclusive of State aid 16.

Amount of State aid (nominally reimbursed to
the town) 51

456.00
200.00
000.00

$136,090.81

During the year 1864, thirty-four enrolled men procured
substitutes in the military and naval service, at an expense to
themselves of not less than $20,000.

Not long after the close of the war the erection of
a soldiers' monument was proposed, and was consid-
ered in town-meeting. But at a town-meeting held
May 7, 1866, it was voted to erect a building to be
called " Memorial Hall," the walls to be of Dedham
granite. Its purposes were to provide a suitable place
for the transaction of all the public business of the
town, and also a suitable memorial of the soldiers of
Dedham who had died in the service of their country.
The land was purchased by subscription, and presented
to the town for the purpose. The building was begun
in the course of the year, and was finished in the
summer of 1868. The cost of the building, me-
morials, furniture of the hall, and the grading of the
lot, including expense of the committee and architect,
was less than forty- seven thousand dollars. The size
of the building, the general arrangement of the rooms,
and the manner of locating the building and the lot,
were determined by the committee. The architect was
Mr. Henry Van Brunt, and the memorials were de-
signed by him, but the committee are responsible for
the inscriptions. In some particulars the committee
did not adopt the designs of the architect, and in
others, though they adopted his designs, they did not
adopt the designs considered most appropriate by him
The stone- and brick-work was done by D. G. Corliss
& Co., of Quincy.

The following is a brief description of the building :
The design, which was by Messrs. Ware & Van
Brunt, architects, of Boston, recalls the provincial
town-halls of England in outline and general char-
acter, and is carried out in the peculiar, warm, yellow

granite of the neighborhood, relieved by bands of
blue Quincy granite. Its main exterior dimensions
are one hundred and four by sixty-four feet on the
ground, with an elevation of thirty-four feet to the
cornice, and eighty-five feet to the summit of the
tower, which surmounts the middle division of the
front on Washington Street. On this front, in the
most conspicuous place over the main entrance, is
inserted a large tablet of Quincy granite, decorated
with oak leaves and a crown of laurel, and bearing this
inscription :

" To Commemorate

The Patriotism and Fidelity

Of Her Sons

AVho Fell

In Defence of The Union,

In The War

Of The Rebellion,

Dedham
Erects This Hall.

A.D.
MDCCCLXVII."

In the main vestibule, from which stairs to the
right and left conduct to the hall above, in a broad
niche facing the entrance, are five marble tablets in a
Gothic framework of black walnut. The central tab-
let, which is enriched by a carved canopy supported
by columns, bears this inscription :

"The

Town of Dedham

Has Caused

To Be Inscribed Upon

These Tablets,

S^IjE namts of hn Sons,

Who Fen
Representing Her,

|n .pefciuc of the Hnion,

In The War Of

The Rebellion— 1861-1865,

And In Whose Honor

She Has Erected

This Hall."

The tablets on either side contain the names of
forty-six soldiers, with the rank, date, and place of
death in each case, arranged in order of regiments.

The following is the list of names on these tablets :

Michael Henihan, Co. F, 2d Regt. ; killed at Chancellorsville

May 3, 1863, aged twenty-five.
Charles W. Carroll, capt. Co. F, 18th Regt.; wounded at 2d

battle of Bull Run Aug. 30, 1862; died Sept. 2, 1862, aged

twenty-six.
Robert R. Covey, Co. F, 18th Regt. ; killed at 2d battle of Bull

Run Aug. 30, 1862, aged thirty-six.
Edward G. Cox, Co. F, 18th Regt.; wounded at 2d battle of

Bull Run Aug. 30, 1862 ; died Oct. 22, 1864, aged twenty-
five.
Henry C. Everett, Co. F, 18th Regt. ; died Jan. 19, 1865, aged

twenty-two.

DEDHAM.

Edward Holmes, corp. Co. F, 18th Regt. ; killed at 2d battle

of Bull Run Aug. 30, 1862, aged twenty-six.
Jonathan H. Keyes, Co. F, 18th Regt. ; killed at Fredericks-
burg Dec. 13, 1862, aged twenty.
George 0. Kingsbury, Co. F, 18th Regt. ; killed at 2d battle of

Bull Run Aug. 30, 1862, aged nineteen.
Daniel Leahy, Co. F, 18th Regt. ; killed at Fredericksburg

Dec. 13, 1862, aged twenty-eight.
Leonard W. Minot, Co. F, 18th Regt.; died April 23, 1862,

aged twenty.
Henry D. Smith, Co. F, 18th Regt. ; killed at 2d battle of Bull

Run Aug. 30, 1862, aged thirty.
Nelson R. Stevens, Co. F, ISth Regt.; died March 1, 1862,

aged nineteen.
Edmund L. Thomas, Co. F, 18th Regt.; wounded at 2d battle

of Bull Run Aug. 30, 1862; died Sept. 16, 1862, aged

nineteen.
George N. Worthen, Co. F, 18th Regt.: wounded at 2d battle

of Bull Run Aug. 30, 1862; died Sept. 4, 1862, aged

twenty- four.
Horace S. Damrell, sergt. Co. H, 18th Regt.; died March 7,

1862, aged nineteen.

Oscar S. Guild, Co. H, 18th Regt.; died Feb. 22, 1862, aged

seventeen.
Joseph M. Jordan, Co. H, 18th Regt. ; killed at Gaines' Mills

June 27, 1862, aged eighteen.
Cyrus D. Tewksbury, Co. H, 18th Regt. ; killed at Petersburg

July 5, 1864, aged twenty-four.
Albert C. Bean, Co. I, 20th Regt. ; wounded at Cold Harbor

June 3, 1864; died June 8, 1864, aged thirty.
John Finn, Jr., sergt. Co. B, 22d Regt. ; wounded at North

Anna River May 23, 1864; died June 5, 1864, aged

twenty-three.
William Heath, Co. I, 22d Regt. ; accidentally shot at Hall's

Hill Dec. 7, 1862, aged twenty-five.
David Fletcher, Co. I, 23d Regt. ; killed at Whitehall, N. C,

Dec. 16, 1863, aged forty-two.
Charles W. Phipps, Co. A, 24th Regt. ; killed at Deep Bottom

Aug. 16, 1864, aged twenty-seven.
Edward Sheehan, Co. B, 28th Regt.; died Nov. 17, 186.3, aged

forty-three.
John H. Birch, Co. I, 35th Regt. ; died Aug. 15, 1863, aged

thirty-two.
George C. Bunker, Co. I, 35th Regt. ; killed at Fredericksburg

Dee. 13, 1862, aged twenty-one.
Michael Colbert, Co. I, 35th Regt.; killed at Petersburg July

30, 1864, aged thirty.
John G. Dymond, corp. Co. I, 35th Regt. ; died March 29,

1863, aged twenty-eight.

Charles H. Ellis, corp. Co. I, 35th Regt.; died a pj-isoner of
war Feb. 27, 1864, aged thirty.

Edward E. Hatton, corp. Co. I, 35th Regt.; killed at Antietam
Sept. 17, 1862, aged twenty-two.

William Hill, 1st lieut. Co. I, 35th Regt.; killed at Fredericks-
burg Dec. 13, 1862, aged thirty.

David Phalen, Co. I, 35th Regt.; died July 30, 1863, aged
forty-eight.

Charles H. Sulkoski, Co. I, 35th Regt. ; killed at Antietam
Sept. 17, 1862, aged twenty.

Nathan C. Treadwell, Co. I, 35th Regt.; wounded before Rich-
mond Sept. 28, 1862; died Oct. 26, 1862, aged nineteen.

Joseph P. White, Co. I, 35th Regt.; killed at Antietam Sept.
17, 1862, aged twenty-five.

George F. Whiting, Co. I, 35th Regt.; wounded at South
Mountain Sept. 14, 1862; died Oct. 5, 1862, aged twenty-

Julius M. Lathrop, capt. Co. I, 38th Regt. ; wounded at Cane

River April 23, 1864; died April 26, 1864, aged twenty-
three.
Charles L. Carter, Co. E, 39th Regt. ; died a prisoner of war

Feb. 8, 1865, aged twenty-three.
James J. Hawkins, Co. D, 43d Regt.; died Nov. 4, 1862, aged

twenty-five.
John H. Bancroft, Co. A, 54th Regt. ; killed at Fort Wagner

July 18, 1863, aged twenty-four.
Anson F. Barton, Co. G, 56th Regt. ; died Oct. 7, 1864, aged

eighteen.
John W. Fiske, 1st lieut. Co. B, 58th Regt.; killed at Poplar

Spring Church Sept. 30, 1864, aged twenty-three.
William H. Tillinghast, Co. E, 1st Cav.; killed at Deep Bottom

Aug. 14, 1864, aged forty.
Joseph T. Stevens, corp. Co. I, 1st Cav.; died March 31, 1862,

aged twenty-nine.
Albert 0. Hammond, Co. M, 2d Cav. ; died Sept. 12, 1864, aged

twenty-eight.
John E. Richardson, 4th Cav. ; died a prisoner of war in 1864,

aged nineteen.
Edward Hutchins, sergt. Andrew Sharpshooters ; killed at

Gettysburg July 3, 1863, aged thirty-six.

The first floor is occupied by two rooms for the
town officers, a room for the school committee, and a
small hall, besides two rooms rented for stores. The
main hall on the second floor is fifty-six by ninety feet,
with a balcony at the entrance and an ample stage
opposite, from which there is ready retirement to
four committee-rooms, all of which are accessible
from Church Street by a private entrance and stair-
case. The hall is capable of accommodating one
thousand people. The building throughout is finished
with chestnut. In 1881, steam heating apparatus
was provided, the hall received a new floor and other
repairs, and its walls and ceilings were elaborately
decorated in colors, at a cost of Sl:667.53.

A fine copy of Stuart's large portrait of Washing-
ton in Faneuil Hail, executed by Alvan Fisher, an
artist who resided many years in Dedham, and who
died in 1863, was placed in the hall by his widow.
The copy of Stuart's portrait of Fisher Ames was
presented by Judge Seth Ames, and the portrait
of Lincoln was procured by subscription. The clock
was the gift of Mr. John Bullard, of New York, a
native of Dedham.

On the 29th day of September, 1868, the hall was
dedicated. The occasion was one of great interest.
The principal address was delivered by Erastus Wor-
thington, and contained a historical account of the
services of the Dedham soldiers during the war.
Addison Boyden was the president of the day. The
report of the building committee was briefly made by
Waldo Colburn, and the keys delivered to Ezra W.
Taft, chairman of the selectmen, who responded with
appropriate remarks. Original hymns, written by
Mrs. William J. Adams and William Everett, were

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

sung, and a patriotic poem delivered by Horace H.
Currier. The address and poem, with the other ex-
ercises of the day, were published by the town. Ap-
pended to these is a roll of officers and men from the
town of Dedham who served in the army or navy of
the United States during the war.

CHAPTER XII.

DEDHAM—iContinned).

Readville Annexed to Hyde Park — Dedham Public Library —
Incorporation of Norwood — Death of Rev. Dr. Babcock —
Steam Fire-Engine — Dedham Water Company — Temporary
Asylum for Discharged Female Prisoners— Oakdale — Church
of the Good Shepherd — Islington— Congregational Church —
New Colburn School-House — Brookdale Cemetery — Town
Seal — Conclusion.

On the 22d day of April, 1868, the town of Hyde
Park was incorporated, including within its limits
that portion of the territory of Dedham known as
Readville. For many years this had been a manufac-
turing village, but its proximity to the village of Hyde
Park, which had grown up quite rapidly, had served to
increase its population. During the war, the plains on
both sides of the Boston and Providence Railroad and
between Sprague Street and the New York and New
England Railroad had been used as a place of ren-
dezvous for the regiments about to depart for the
seat of war. From the summer of 1861 to the close
of the war, these plains were almost continuously oc-
cupied by the camps of the newly-raised regiments,
and presented a warlike scene. The town of Hyde
Park was made from the territory of Dorchester,
Dedham, and Milton. The number of acres taken
from Dedham was eight hundred and eighty-six.
The taxable valuation of Readville May 1, 1867,
was four hundred and seveuty-five thousand, eight
hundred and forty-four dollars. It was estimated
that Dedham lost by the annexation of Readville to
Hyde Park, about one-tenth of its population, one-
eleventh of its valuation, and one-twentieth of its
territory. The town appointed a committee to ap-
pear before the legislative committee and oppose the
annexation of the whole of the territory asked for in
the petition, but the Legislature gave substantially
all the territory the petitioners desired.

In 1871, a corporation was established by the
Legislature, under the name of the Dedham Public
Library. It is a private corporation, and the num-
ber of its members is limited to thirty. But the
purposes for which it was created were to form and

maintain a public library and reading-room in Ded-
ham, and the act of incorporation provides that so
long as said corporation shall allow the inhabitants
of Dedham free access to its library and reading-room,
under reasonable regulations, the town may annually
appropriate and pay to said corporation a sum not
exceeding one dollar on each of its rateable polls. It
is therefore a private corporation for the purpose of
maintaining a free public library. The corporation
was organized in November, 1871. About three
thousand volumes were transferred to it by the Ded-
ham Library Association, which had existed for some
years previously. A fair was held by the ladies, on
Feb. 22, 1871, which was very successful, and raised
for the funds of the corporation, upwards of four
thousand dollars. Soon after, Mr. Charles Bullard
left by his will the sum of three thousand dollars,
the income to be expended in the purchase of books.
In 1876, Dr. Danforth P. Wight left by his will the
sum of one thousand dollars for the same purpose,
and in 1877, the corporation received one thousand
dollars under the provisions of the will of Dr. George
E. Hatton. In 1882, the funds were largely increased
by a legacy of ten thousand dollars given by the
will of Mr. John Bullard, of New York, a native of
Dedham. The income of this fund is to be used in
the purchase of books, unless the corporation shall
become possessed of another like sum to be used in
the erection of a library building, in which event the
corporation may use the legacy of Mr. Bullard for
that purpose. The want of a suitable library build-
ing has long been felt by the friends of the library
corporation, and in the course of time this want will
doubtless be supplied. The corporation has funds to
the amount of nineteen thousand four hundred dol-
lars, the income of which is appropriated to the pur-
chase of books and the cost of binding. The town
has annually appropriated a sum which is used to
meet the current expenses of the library. In 1882,
the town appropriation was eleven hundred dollars.
Books are delivered to the people at East Dedham and
West Dedham, by agents of the library corporation.
The library has increased to some extent by donations
of books, but principally by purchase from the funds
of the corporation. Since the organization of the
corporation, Alfred Hewins has been its president.

The town of Norwood was incorporated Feb. 23,
1872. A small portion of the territory of Walpole
was taken lor the new town, but it was mainly con-
stituted from that portion of Dedham known as the
South Parish, or South Dedham. In 1872 the valu-
ation of Norwood was one million six hundred and
eighteen thousand five hundred and fifty-six dollars,

DEDHAM.

and the number of acres of land, six thousand two
hundred and seventy-five. Probably the town of
Dedham lost one-fifth of its valuation, and about one-
fourth of its population, by the incorporation of Nor-
wood into a separate town. In the scale of valuation
and population it was a serious loss to Dedham, and
tended to reduce the relative standing and importance
of the town in the county. It also took away many
intelligent and enterprising citizens. But the course
of events had tended to this result for many years.
The village of South Dedham was situated four miles
from Dedham village, and the railroad communication
between them had ceased over the Norfolk County
Railroad. There was but little business connection
or community of interests between the villages. Ex-
cepting on election-days and at town-meetings, the
people of South Dedham scarcely saw their fellow-
citizens of the old parish. As early as 1722, the
idea of a new town was entertained, and perhaps
never wholly abandoned afterwards. But the occa-
sion of the movement in 1872, was a warm con-
troversy which arose respecting the establishment of
a high school in South Dedham. The people of
that villat^e alleged their remoteness from the high
school at Dedham village, as a reason for its estab-
lishment. The people of the other villages opposed
the proposition mainly on the ground that there were
not a sufiicient number of scholars in South Dedham,
of the proper age and qualifications, to render another
high school necessary or expedient. The proposition
had been carried in two town-meetings, but at a third
and very large town-meeting, the proposition was de-
feated by a small majority. This was in the summer
of 1871, and the petition for the new town was pre-
sented to the next Legislature. The town of Ded-
ham voted not to oppose the petition, further than
it proposed to take more territory than had been in-
cluded in the South Parish. The separation was
made in an amicable spirit, and the two towns have
always been united in the same district for electing a
representative to the General Court,

On the 25th day of October, 1873, the Rev.
Samuel Brazer Babcock, D.D., the rector of St. Paul's
Church, died in Boston, having been stricken with
apoplexy some days previous, while absent from home.
He had been rector of the parish for over forty years,
and it is significant of the stability of affairs in Ded-
ham village, that both the pastors of the Congrega-
tional Churches and the Episcopal rector, should
have remained over their respective parishes for so
long a period. Dr. Babcock was born in 1808. He
was graduated at Harvard College in 1830. During
his rectorship, the old church had been taken down.

a new one built and destroyed, and a third church of
larger proportions and of more durable materials had
been erected. Nearly all the members of his parish,
who were here in 1832, had passed away. The parish
had passed through a period of changes, in which it
had become stronger and more united. Dr. Babcock
had attached personal friends, who were liberal bene-
factors of the parish, which during his rectorship
was harmonious and prosperous. He was a man of
genial manners, a devoted pastor, and an earnest
preacher. His health, for some years previous to his
death, had declined, but he ofiiciated in the church
shortly before his death. He received the degree of
Doctor of Divinity from Columbia College, New
York, and from Griswold College, Iowa, in 1870.
He was buried in the churchyard, and a marble
monument was erected to his memory by two of his
friends and parishioners. His successors have been
the Rev. Daniel Goodwin, from November, 187-1, to
September, 1879 ; and the Rev. Arthur M. Backus,
from January, 1880, to the present time.

In 1873, the attention of the people of the town
was called to the necessity of providing new apparatus
for the extinguishment of fires. The hand-engines
in Dedham village and at the upper village were more
than twenty years old, and were found to be quite
inadequate for the service required at a fire of any
magnitude. Upon the recommendation of a com-
mittee appointed to consider the condition of the fire
department, the town voted to purchase a steam fire-
engine, of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company,
with a hose carriage, at a cost of five thousand dol-
lars. The town also expended at the same time
about two thousand five hundred dollars in the pur-
chase of new hose. A new engine-house containing
a lock-up was erected the same year.

The discussion and investigation relative to the
means of extinguishing fires, naturally led to the con-
sideration of the greater question of procuring a full
supply of water for domestic purposes, as well as for
the extinguishment of fires. This subject had been
talked about for some years, but no definite plan or
source of supply could be decided upon. In 1876,
however, a number of citizens obtained an act of
incorporation as the Dedham Water Company, which
gave the right to the corporation, to take water from
Charles River, or from any pond or brook in the town.
If water should be taken from Charles River, the
amount of water was limited to a million and a half
gallons daily. This corporation was organized Jan.
31, 1877, and the capital stock was afterwards fixed
at seventy-five thousand dollars. There was, how-
ever, but little public interest in the subject, but the

HISTORY OP NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

organization of the corporation was maintained. In
the autumn of 1880, a sum was subscribed to obtain
the services of an engineer, to examine and repoi't as
to the best source of supply and cost of constructing
the works. The engineer, Mr. Percy M. Blake,
about Jan. 1, 1881, made a report, which was printed,
with a contoured plan of the village. Mr. Blake
recommended the plan of taking ground-water from
the meadows on the southerly side of Charles River,
near Bridge Street, and to pump it through the vil-
lage to a stand-pipe to be located on Walnut Street.
About the same time several large subscriptions for
stock were obtained, and with a definite plan in
view, and with efibrt on the part of some of the cor-
porators, the whole amount of the capital stock was
obtained. In January, 1881, the work of construc-
tion was formally authorized by the directors of the
corporation. The works were constructed under the
direction of Percy M. Blake, engineer. The pump-
ing-engines were constructed by the Knowles Steam
Pump Works, of Warren, Mass. The water is taken
from a collecting-well, twenty-six feet in diameter and
eighteen feet deep, located between the engine-house
and Charles River. The pumping machinery consists
of two independent engines, one a compound con-
densing engine, capable of raising seven hundred and
fifty thousand gallons one hundred and eighty feet
high in twenty-four hours ; the other a duplex high-
pressure engine, capable of raising one million four
hundred thousand gallons two hundred and thirty
feet high in twenty-four hours. The iron reservoir
on Walnut Street, is one hundred and three feet in
height and twenty feet in diameter. It is built of
iron of four grades of thickness, the first twenty-
five feet from the base, being five-eighths of an
inch thick ; the second twenty-five feet, half an inch ;
the third twenty-five feet, three-eighths of an inch ;
and the remainder, five-sixteenths of an inch. The
reservoir was built by Kendall & Roberts, of Cam-
bridgeport, Mass. The service-pipes are cement-
lined pipes, and were furnished and laid by George
Goodhue, of Concord, N. H. The total cost of the
works, as reported by the directors, January, 1882,
was about ninety-two thousand dollars. The in-
crease in the expenditure over the estimated cost
was owing to the enlargement of the reservoir or
stand-pipe, and the laying of nearly ten miles of
pipe instead of seven, as provided in the original
contract. To meet this additional cost, the capital
stock of the corporation was increased to one hun-
dred thousand dollars. During the year 1883,
the service-pipes were extended in East Dedham.
The corporation provides about one hundred hy-

drants for fire service in Dedham village and East
Dedham, for which, with a supply for public build-
ings, the town in 1883 contracted to pay annually for
three years the sum of five thousand dollars. The
quality of the water furnished by this company is of
remarkable purity, and the supply is ample. The
introduction of water into Dedham by this corpora-
tion is the greatest work of a public nature ever
accomplished in Dedham, whether we consider its
cost, the eflfort required to carry it through to
completion, or the benefits it confers upon the
people of the town. The first president of the
company was Royal 0. Storrs, but since his resigna-
tion in 1882, Winslow Warren has been the president.

About the year 1863, a private charitable insti-
tution was established in Dedham, under the name
of the Temporary Asylum for Discharged Female
Prisoners. It owed its origin to the personal efforts
of Miss Hannah B. Chickering, of Dedham, a lady
of high character and ability, who devoted many
years of her life to the welfare of prisoners in penal
and reformatory institutions, and who was for a time
a member of the Prison Commission of the common-
wealth. During the last ten years, the buildings,
which are located on what was formerly the farm of
Capt. Eliphalet Pond, about a mile south of the
court-house on Washington Street, have been much
enlarged and improved. The institution is supported
by the donations of a large number of its friends in
Boston and vicinity, and by an annual appropriation
from the Commonwealth.

The village of Oakdale, in East Dedham, was begun
about the year 1870. The land was divided into
building lots, and sold by Charles C. Sanderson to
parties who erected the dwelling-houses. Mr. San-
derson also erected a building containing a public
hall and a store. The school-house was built in 1878,
at a cost of about five thousand dollars. A mission
Sunday-school was begun here June 8, 1873, through
the interest and efforts of members of the family of
Horatio Chickering, who belonged to the Episcopal
Church. Soon after, on the 29th of the same month,
public services of the Episcopal Church were begun
in Sanderson Hall, and for three years they were
conducted by lay-readers. In 1874 Mr. Chickering
purchased a lot of land for the purpose of building
a church. He died in the spring of 1875, but he
made provision in his will for the erection of the
church, which was consecrated Nov. 2, 1876. The
architecture of this church is attractive and appro-
priate, and in it have been placed memorial windows
in memory of Mr. Chickering and his sisters, Mrs.
D. F. Adams and Miss H. B. Chickering. The Rev.

DEDHAM.

William F. Cheney became the minister in charge in
August, 1876. The parish was organized May 1,
1877, under the name of the " Church of the Good
Shepherd," and the Rev. Mr. Cheney was chosen
rector, which oflBce he continues to hold. The parish
was admitted into union with the convention of the
Episcopal Church, in the diocese of Massachusetts,
in May, 1878. Besides the liberal gifts of the church
and land by Mr. Chickering, the parish has received,
or is entitled to receive, other bequests from his
widow, the late Mrs. Lucy Lee Chickering, and from
his sisters.

Between the years 1870 and 1875, a small number
of houses was built upon lands owned and divided
into lots by Alonzo B. Wentworth, about a mile and
a half south of the court-house on Washington Street,
and along the line of the New York and New Eng-
land Railroad. It has a post-oflSce and railway
station, and these are known by the name of Islington.
In 1882, a Congregational Church was gathered
here, having for its pastor the Rev. C. B. Smith, of
Medford. In the same year a small but tasteful
church was erected for this society at the junction of
East and Washington Streets.

In 1875, a new school-house for the Colburn
School at West Dedham, with a hall on the third
floor, was built by the town at a cost of about twelve
thousand five hundred dollars. This is one of the
best school-houses of the town, and is an example of
the great advancement made in school architecture
during the last twenty-five years.

The necessity for a new cemetery had been appar-
ent for many years, and in 1876 the town appointed
a committee to consider and report what action should
be taken concerning the purchase of a suitable tract
of land for that purpose. The majority of that com-
mittee made a report recommending the purchase of
a tract containing about forty-three and one-half
acres, bounded by Mother Brook, East and Harvard
Streets. At the April meeting, 1877, this report
was presented and recommitted, with instructions to
obtain the prices of the lands. At an adjourned
meeting, held April 16th, the committee reported,
recommending the purchase of a portion of the lands.
The town voted to adopt the recommendation by one
majority, and then reconsidered the vote. At another
adjourned meeting, it was voted not to purchase said
lands, and another committee was appointed. That
committee made a printed report at a meeting held
Oct. 20, 1877, but not recommending any particular
lot. It was then voted to purchase thirty-nine acres,
more or less, of the lands recommended by the former
committee, and a sum not exceeding twelve thousand

dollars appropriated for the purpose. The land was
purchased and proceedings taken to perfect the title to
a portion, the reversion of which belonged to Harvard
College under Statute 1877, Chapter 99. A topo-
graphical plan was made by Mr. Ernest W. Bowditch,
landscape gardener, of the whole tract. The name
given by the town was " Brookdale Cemetery." The
care and control of the cemetery was given to three
commissioners appointed annually by the selectmen.
A receiving-tomb was built, a portion of the land
graded, and lots laid out. In 1880 the town set apart
a portion of the cemetery for the exclusive use of such
Roman Catholic residents of Dedham as may purchase
lots therein. The expense of improving this beauti-
ful cemetery has thus far been met by the sale of lots,
and, notwithstanding the diflPerences of opinion which
existed respecting its purchase, the people of the town
quite generally have a feeling of pride and satisfaction
in the possession of a rural cemetery so attractive and
accessible.

It was not until April, 1878, that the town adopted
a common seal. It was then voted " that the town
hereby adopts and establishes a common seal, with
the following device, to wit : In the centre of the
foreground a shield, upon which is inscribed the rep-
resentation of an ancient oak ; on the right of the
background, the representation of a factory building ;
on the left, the implements of agriculture ; above, the
sword and scales of justice; and beneath, in a scroll,
the motto. Contentment ; in the upper semicircle
of the border, The Town op Dedham, and in the
lower semicircle. Plantation begun 1635, Incor-
porated 1636; and that said common seal, when
executed, remain in the custody of the town clerk."

This design originated with a member of the Ded-
ham Historical Society, who first submitted it to a
committee of that society appointed for the purpose,
and it having received the approval of the society, it
was presented to the town for adoption. The design
and seal were made by Henry Mitchell, of Boston.

The oak upon the shield was intended to represent
the Avery oak, a well-known landmark, and one of
the original forest-trees of the town. The mill and
the implements of agriculture signify that Dedham is
both a manufacturing and an agricultural town. The
scales and sword, signify that Dedham is the seat of
justice, where the laws are administered and executed.
The motto — Contentment — is the name first given
to the settlement. The legend in the border gives the
date when the General Court first ordered the planta-
tion, and also the date of the grant giving the settle-
ment the name of Dedham, which properly may be
termed its incorporation.

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Here this history of Dedliam reaches its natural
conclusion. In the retrospect of nearly two hundred
and fifty years, we have endeavored to trace the
transitions which have taken place from one period
to another. The most impressive fact of history is
the unnoted and gradual change which is constantly
in operation. Probably there are few communities
which have experienced less changes than the people
of Dedham since the time of its settlement. They
have been remarkable for the stability of their char-
acter. For nearly two centuries they were mainly
sturdy farmers, well informed in public affairs, jealous
of encroachment upon their political rights, ready to
maintain their opinions, and unfriendly to innova-
tions. While, during the last half-century, these
characteristics have been gradually modified by
changes of occupations and a wider intercourse with
men, still it cannot be said that the spirit which
animated the fathers has not in some degree descended
to the children. Many of the old families have
entirely disappeared and are now disappearing. Not
many new ones have permanently occupied their
places since the beginning of the present century.
The greatest change in the inhabitants has doubtless
been effected by the establishment of the woolen-mills
at East Dedham, where the operatives live only
for a time and then make room for others. But
numerically these constitute a considerable proportion
of the inhabitants. The local business of Dedham,
except in the woolen-mills, has substantially passed
away. The sessions of the courts, and the transaction
of other public business at the shire-town of the
county, still bring people to Dedham from elsewhere.
But these come by one railway train only to leave
by the next departing train. The hotels, once the
centres of social life and gayety, have disappeared.
Dedham village is mainly a place of residence for
those whose business is in Boston. These constitute
the main body of its most valued citizens, and upon
them and upon the interest which they may take in
its local affairs, must chiefly depend its future char-
acter and prosperity. Dedham has become simply a
suburban town in the immediate vicinity of the great
city of Boston. It should be the effort of its people
to make it a desirable place of residence for all who
may come there to live, by actively maintaining its
churches, its schools, its public library, and other
public institutions, its moral and social character, its
local town government, and every undertaking made
to elevate or alleviate the condition of its people.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

JOHN BULLARD.

This branch of the Bullard family traces its an-
cestry in this country to William Bullard, who was
probably the oldest Puritan of the name who settled
in New England. He was born in 1594 and arrived
here in 1635, and is spoken of as " a man of charac-
ter and consideration," and a " distinguished Puri-
tan." He probably first settled in Watertown, and
subsequently became one of the planters of Dedham.
He was the fifty-third signer of her social compact,
and is found among the first to whom her lands were
assigned, and on whom taxes were imposed. The
line of descent is as follows: William (1), Isaac (2),
William (3), Isaac (4), Isaac (5), John (6), William
(7). Isaac (2) was entered on the records of Ded-
ham in 1651, and in 1652 and 1653 was taxed
above the average of her citizens. He married Ann
Wight in 1655, and resided in Dedham. William
(3) lived upon the present Bullard homestead in
Dedham, and in 1697 married Elizabeth Avery. He
was spoken of as " an insatiate lover of real estate,"
and carefully preserved ancient papers. He owned
lands in Dedham, Walpole, Sutton, Upton, Sherborn
Dividends (Douglass), Natick, and Charlestown, and
was one of the great land-owners of the colony.

Isaac (4) was a coroner, and received in 1731
from his father, William, a deed of the homestead in
Dedham. He married Mary Dean in 1731-32.
Isaac (5) was born July 10, 1744, married Patience
Baker in 1766, and died June 18, 1808. He in-
herited the ancient homestead, and erected in 1787
a house (near the site of the original one) which
gave place in 1856 to the present stone-house.

He was a man of intelligence and sterling worth,
much employed in the transaction of public business,
being often placed on important committees with his
friend and neighbor, Fisher Ames. He long served
the ancient church of Dedham as deacon, and was
for many years returned a representative to the Gen-
eral Court, and annually elected treasurer of Norfolk
County from its organization in 1793 until his death
in 1808.

John (6), whose portrait accompanies this memoir,
was born in Dedham, Jan. 9, 1773, married Lucy
Richards in 1802, and died Feb. 25, 1852. He in-
herited the Bullard mansion in Dedham, and suc-
ceeded his father in the regard and confidence of the
citizens of Norfolk County, manifested in his election
to the oflBce of county treasurer on the death of his

^•^ f'lryJiRRltchie -

7^^^^^:^^

DEDHAM.

father ; and so acceptable were his services, and so
highly was he esteemed as a man, that amidst all the
violence of religious and political feeling, and the
changes of office, he was, by the annual voice of the
county, continued in this responsible position from
1808 to 1852, a period of forty-four years; father
and son having held the office fifty-nine years, from
the incorporation of the county to 1852. He was
universally esteemed, and his death was a public loss.
His children were Maria, born May 4, 1803, married
H. F. Spear, M. D., resided in Dedham and Brook-
lyn, N. Y., and died in 1863; John, born Jan. 2,
^,1807, married Jane E. McKillup, resided in Brook-
lyn, N. Y., and died Jan. 13, 1881 ; Lewis, born Aug.
13, 1810, an iron and steel merchant in Boston, died
April 13, 1881 ; and William, born April 20, 1816,
married, in 1841, Mary R. Henderson, died Sept. 28,
1879.

John and William carried on together a successful
business in hides and leather in New York City ;
William returned to Dedham in 1856, and thereafter
took an active interest in its banking institutions and
in the improvement of the town. To his effijrts, with
those of others, it is indebted for the " Memorial
Hall" and the upper or " cart" bridge.

William only of this generation had children, who
are Wm. M., born Jan. 13, 1842 ; John E,., born
March 3, 1846 ; Lewis H., born Dec. 21, 1848, and
Mary, born Feb. 18, 1855.

THOMAS BARROWS.

Mr. Barrows was born in Middleboro', Plymouth
Co., in the year 1795. In his youth he lived at
home, assisting his father in the cultivation of his
farm until 1812, when he entered a cotton-mill as an
operative, where he continued for two years. From
there he went to Wrentham, in this county, where
he engaged in the same capacity for a time, from
whence he was called back to his native town to take
the superintendence of the mill in which he first
commenced his labors. Here he remained five years,
and then took charge of a mill in Halifax, Mass.,
until his removal to Dedham, in 1825, to act as
agent of Benjamin Bussey and George H, Kuhn, in
the manufacture of broadcloths. In 1842 the
mills passed into the hands of Mr. Edmunds. In
1847, Gardner Colby became a partner with Ed-
munds, Mr. Barrows continuing his position as agent
up to 1864, when he retired, and the mills were sold
to the Merchants' Woolen Company. Soon after Mr.
Barrows purchased the mill of the Norfolk Manu-

facturing Company, on Milton Street, to which he
made large additions and improved machinery, and
began again the manufacture of woolens on his own
account. His success varied with the times. In
1872, owing to his advanced age and the depression
of the woolen business, he was induced to sell his mill
to Mr. Harding, and retired from business with his
fortune materially reduced.

Mr. Barrows married, early in life, Mrs. Elizabeth
Bosworth, of Halifax, Mass., by whom he had four
children, two sons and two daughters. The latter
only are living, — Elizabeth, wife of Col. Stone, of
Dedham, and Sarah, wife of C. H. Miller, of Jamaica
Plain.

Mr. Barrows was one of the many instances of a
poor lad acquiring wealth and high social positio
through a long course of honorable toil.

REV. SAMUEL BRAZER BABCOCK, D.D.

Samuel Brazer Babcock was the son of Mr. Samuel
Howe Babcock, and was born in Boston, Sept. 17,
A.D. 1807. His early education was commenced at
the academy in Milton, but afterwards completed in
the English High School in Boston. He was a mem-
ber of the first class of 1821, and officiated as chap-
Iain at the semi-centennial celebration. He pursued
his classical studies at Claremont, N. H., under the
Rev. James B. Howe, the father of the present Bishop
of South Carolina.

He entered Harvard University in 1826, and grad-
uated in 1830. He pursued his theological studies
at first under the Rev. Alonzo Potter, then the rector
of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Boston, and after-
ward completed the same in the Episcopal Theologi-
cal Seminary at Cambridge, Mass. In 1832 he was
ordained a deacon by Bishop Griswold. During that
year he first came to reside in Dedham, On the 9th
day of October of the same year he was married to
Miss Emmeline Foxcroft, the daughter of Mr. Fran-
cis Augustus Foxcroft, of Boston. She was a woman
of refined taste and excellent judgment, and proved to
be a true and valuable helper to him through his long
and arduous ministry, not only in domestic and social
life, but also in the discharge of his parish duties.
By her kindness of heart and gentleness of manner,
and her many charitable ministrations to the desti-
tute and afflicted, she well deserved the epitaph in-
scribed upon the monument under the shadow of tho
church she so much loved, — " When the ear heard
her then it blessed her, and when the eye saw her it
gave witness to her, because she delivered the poor

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

that cried, the fatherless, and those who had none to
help them."

In 1833 he was advanced to the jjriesthood, and
appears in the Convention as minister of St. Paul's
Church, Dedham, but does not report himself as
rector until the Convention of 1834. In principle he
was a stanch churchman, but he was truly catholic in
spirit. His habitual cheerfulness of spirit and kind-
liness of manner made him eminently successful in
his visitations to the sick and sorrowful. In his pul-
pit ministrations he did not present the gospel truths
in forms of gloom. He taught no hopeless reproba-
tion of the sinner. If he showed him the enormity
of his guilt, he also pointed out a sure way of escape
through the redemption of Jesus Christ. Believing
in the holy Scriptures as the word of God, and accept-
ing the creed of the church as its sure warranty, he
indulged in no vain speculations. With the whole
sincerity of his nature he himself rested, and he
taught his people to rest, in the grand simplicity of
the truth as it is in Jesus.

In 1833, when he first took full charge of the
parish, all its affairs were in a most unpromising-
condition. The old church building itself hardly
presented decent accommodations for the proper
celebration of divine service. The parishioners were
few in number, and had not been accustomed to de-
vote much of their worldly wealth towards the support
of the church; in fact, everything, both temporal
and spiritual, had fallen into a most lamentable
condition, and to all human appearance everything
looked dark and discouraging. But he, by his
cheerful disposition and his patient and untiring
energy, gradually taught his people to hope for
better things. Under his wise management his
parish increased in stability and influence year by
year. This growth continued to increase till in 1845
he induced his old parishioners, and many new ones
who had become members during his ministry, to
make liberal subscriptions for the erection of a new
church, and with the valuable aid which he obtained
from churchmen outside of his own parish he suc-
ceeded in raising sufficient funds to build a new and
beautiful church, costing over seven thousand dollars.
By the contributions of friends and the timely aid of
the faithful women of his parish the church was duly
furnished. It was consecrated Jan. 15, 1846. He
now secDQed to have reached the result for which he
had prayed and labored for so many years, and his
heart was satisfied.

For upwards of ten years afterward the temporal
and spiritual interests of his parish were in a pros-
perous condition, and he lived and labored joyously

among his beloved people. But this prosperity was
not permitted to continue. He was soon to meet a
new and severe trial of his faith.

On a cold Sunday morning in December, 1856, the
beautiful church he so much loved suddenly disap-
peared in flames.

But the faithful servant of God did not yield to
discouragement. On that same Sunday morning,
while the flames were consuming the church, he
celebrated, in another place temporarily prepared for
the purpose, the holy communion, to strengthen the
souls and encourage the hearts of his sorrowful
parishioners.

When the time for action arrived he was ready,
heart and hand, to aid in raising means for rebuilding
the sanctuary. He was always full of hope, and he
never doubted the success of the enterprise. By his
own faith and zeal, and the energy and liberality of
his parishioners, the sorrow for the loss of the former
church was soon changed to joy.

In its place there arose a new fire-proof stone
church of much larger dimensions. This church,
when the tower was finished and the spire erected in
1869, cost over thirty thousand dollars. It was duly
consecrated June 17, a.d. 1858.

After this time, during the remainder of his min-
istry, his life seemed to be almost entirely free from,
trouble and anxiety.

Sometimes the indications of failing health admon-
ished him of the necessity of temporary relief from
his pastoral labors, but the interests of his church
continued to flourish, and he enjoyed the strong and
undivided afiection of his people. He had calls to
other fields of labor, but he chose rather to remain
in the parish he so much loved, and among the people
with whom he had so long dwelt. So great was his
attachment to this, his only parish, that he was never
willing to spend his vacation where he could not
readily answer any call for his pastoral services.

Thus he continued to grow in the love and rever-
ence of his own people, and the high estimation of
all who knew him.

His influence was by no means confined to the
limits .of his own parish. He did much for the
educational interests of the town of Dedham. He
was for a long time an active and influential member
of the school committee, and was chairman of the
board when the high school was established.

He was the most active and influential agent in
establishing the parishes at Wrentham and Hyde
Park, and devoted much time and labor towards the
accomplishment of the work.

He was four years secretary of the Diocesan Board

^-'^"^oyAH RUc>m-

6ff,.

^r^/^a^j^

DEDHAM.

of Missions ; nineteen years he was treasurer of the '
Diocesan Convention, and was president of the Stand- ■
ing Committee from 1868 to 1873, the time of his 1
death. He was specially interested in the Society for
the Relief of Aged and Indigent Clergymen of the
Diocese, and spared no efforts to enforce upon church-
men the claims of this excellent charity.

He was for many years a member of the General
Board of Missions from Massachusetts, and twice a
delegate to the General Convention.

In 1870 he received the degree of Doctor of
Divinity from Columbia College, New York, and the
same year the same degree from Griswold College,
Iowa.

Three years afterward, on a pleasant autumnal
Monday morning, he went into the city, apparently
in his usual health, to attend a meeting of the clergy,
and, while drafting a resolution, he was suddenly
seized by an attack of apoplexy, from the effects of
which he died in Boston, Oct. 25, a.d. 1873.

His remains were brought to Dedham, and in the
succeeding week, in the presence of his family rela-
tives and his many friends, were quietly laid to rest
where he had always desired to be — under the shadow
of his own church, and near the grave of the sainted
Griswold.

Thus ended the comparatively long and useful life
of one who was distinguished, not as a sensational or
popular preacher, but as an earnest, devoted Christian
minister, who was found faithful even unto death,
and who now inherits the unfading crown of an
endless life.

REV. EBENEZER BURGESS, D.D.

BY REV. A. C. THOMPSON.

Thomas Burgess and Dorothy, his wife, of Pilgrim
memory, who arrived at Salem, Mass., about the year
1630, afterwards removed within the limits of Ply-
mouth Colony, and were among the original members
of the church formed at Sandwich in 1638. Thomas
Burgess was a prominent man in that place, becoming
a large landholder, filling various oflSces, being in his
later years called Goodman Burgess, and dying in
1685, at the age of eighty-two. His descendants
number at the present time several thousands, and
are scattered throughout the country from Maine to
California. In some branches of the family the name
has been gradually changed into Burghess, Burges,
Burgis, Borgis, Burge, and Burg.

The Rev. Ebenezer Burgess, who belonged to the
sixth generation from the forenamed Thomas, was the
son of Prince Bureess and Martha Crowell. He was

the ninth of eleven children, and was born in Ware-
ham, April 1, 1790. The homestead which descended
from Ebenezer of the third generation still belongs
to the family, as is also the case with the patriarchal
estate of the Pilgrim Thomas, in Sandwich. The
parents of Dr. Burgess, no less than remoter ancestors,
possessed to a marked degree the better traits and
habits of early New England, as regards piety, indus-
try, thrift, and public spirit. At the home in Ware-
ham influences were peculiarly suited to the cultiva-
tion of reverence, truthfulness, self-restraint, energy,
and methodical ways. Domestic worship, morning
and evening, was a truly hallowed season, and the
Sabbath, strictly kept, was a day of elevated religious
enjoyment. At eighteen years of age (April 24,
1808) Dr. Burgess publicly expressed the hope that
he had been savingly renewed, made profession of
faith in Christ, and entered into fellowship with the
church of his fathers.

His fifteenth year found him master of a grammar
school in his native town ; and entering Brown Uni-
versity a year in advance, he graduated (1809) with
honor. Though among the younger members, he
was inferior to none of them in propriety of conduct,
diligence in study, or extent of attainments,^ and was
by all regarded as among the very first in the class
for scholarship. Immediately upon graduation he
was chosen principal of the University Grammar
School. From the year 1811 to 1813 he was a tutor
in the college. After spending some time in theolog-
ical study with Dr. Emmons, at Franklin, he entered
the Middle Class of the Andover Theological Semi-
nary, and graduated in 1815. His only surviving
classmate, the Rev. Herman Halsey, now (1884)
ninety-one years of age, writes with his own hand:
" In scholarship he was accounted the leading mem-
ber of his class ; his character as a Christian was of
the higher type ; as a man, modest and dignified , as
a companion, amiable, unpretending, courteous, gen-
erous."

Having completed his studies at Andover, he became
Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in
the University of Vermont. That was the period of
reorganization of the University. It had been closed,
and the buildings had been occupied by our general
sovernment durintr the war of 1812-15 with Great
Britain. A rival institution had, in the mean time,
diverted to itself the current of students ; political
intrigues hindered resuscitation ; and after two years
of waiting for prosperity which did not return till
I some time later, Dr. Burgess was the more ready to

1 MS. letter of the late Rev. Jacob Ide, D.D., a classmate.

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

yield to solicitations that he would enter upon a special
service in behalf of the American Colonization Society.
Samuel J. Mills, who had become an agent of that
society, was requested to enlist some one as an asso-
ciate in visiting Sierra Leone and other parts of the
West African coast, with a view to selecting a site for
a colony of free blacks from the United States.
" Will you go. Brother Burgess?" wrote Mills in
1817. " Can we engage in a nobler effort? We go
to make free men of slaves. We go to lay the foun-
dation of a free and independent empire on the coast
of poor degraded Africa. Your knowledge of the
Spanish language may enable you to perform most
important services. The information you have already
obtained on the subject under consideration qualifies
you to be eminently useful on the mission." While
at Andover he had been deeply interested in behalf of
the colored race, and a series of articles from his pen
had appeared in the newspapers of Boston, and other
articles elsewhere. He accepted the proposal. The
two men received their commissions, and sailed from
Philadelphia, Nov. 17, 1817. The voyage was mem-
orable for a very signal deliverance. During a terrific
storm the captain ordered the masts to be cut away.
The ship drifted helplessly toward a ledge of rocks
which extended both ways as far as the eye could
reach, and on which the sea was dashing furiously.
" We are gone for this world !" exclaimed the captain.
Dr. Burgess went on deck, where the crew, in con-
sternation and expecting death momentarily, gathered
round him, and he commended them to the mercy of
Almighty God. Fellow-passengers in the cabin were
at the same time engaged in earnest prayer. The ship
on coming within a few rods of the rocks was caught
by a strong current, carried into deeper water, and
borne along nearly parallel with the reef. She rounded
the western extremity, just grazing on a shoal of sand,
and was safe. All exclaimed, " It is the work of
God !"

Arriving in London, the two commissioners pre-
sented their letters to Zachary Macaulay (father of
the late Lord Macaulay), previously Governor of
Sierra Leone, and to the Rev. Messrs. Pratt and
Bickersteth, secretaries of the Church Missionary
Society. William Wilberforce also received them
cordially, and introduced them to Lords Bathurst and
Gambler, preparatory to their introduction to His
Royal Highness, the Duke of Gloucester, who was
president of the African Institution.

The required information having been obtained,
and other preparations made, they embarked for
Africa Feb. 2, 1818. A voyage of seven weeks
brought them to their destination, where letters from

Lord Bathurst, Secretary of State for the Colonies, to
the Governor and other officers at Sierra Leone, secured
for them civilities and assistance. The two agents
having made needed exploration of the coast for more
than two hundred miles, and held intercourse with
native chiefs, embarked May 22d on their homeward
voyage. Within less than a month Mills died of
a pulmonary disease, and was buried in the ocean.
Returning by way of England, Dr. Burgess arrived
home Oct, 22, 1818. The report of the exploration
served materially to concentrate the thought and en-
courage the anticipations of those who were friendly
to African colonization. He was requested to super-
intend the establishment of that colony which became
the Republic of Liberia ; but his health was impaired ;
the effects of an African malarial fever were still upon
him, and he had other duties in view. His interest,
however, in the cause of colonization remained with-
out abatement, and in 1827 the managers " Resolved,
That the thanks of this society be presented to the
Rev. Mr. Burgess for his continued exertions in the
cause of this society." When in 1839 the constitu-
tion was so altered as to admit directors for life, on
the payment of one thousand dollars, he became one.
In 1843 he was chosen a vice-president of the Massa-
chusetts Colonization Society, and the year following
its president, in place of Hon. William B. Banister,
deceased ; but he declined on the ground that the
office should be filled only by a layman. A town in
Liberia was named Millsburgh, in token of combined
respect for the two explorers.

Some months in the winter and spring of 1819-20,
Dr. Burgess spent in study with the Rev. Dr. Edward
Dorr Griffin, at Newark, N. J., but on the last Sabbath
of July in the last-named year he commenced supply-
ing the pulpit of the First Church in Dedham. This
church, the fourteenth in the order of seniority among
churches organized in New England, was instituted
Nov. 8, 1638. There had been a succession of six
pastors, five of whom died in office, and one, then
living, the Rev. Joshua Bates, D.D., had, early in
1818, become the president of Middlebury College.
In the autumn of that year the parish, having called
a minister in opposition to the voice of a majority of
the church, the latter, by a decision of the Supreme
Court, lost its records and other property. A new
house of worship, however, was ready for dedication
at the close of 1819, and Dr. Burgess was installed
pastor March 14, 1821.

During the forty years of his active ministry in
Dedham he commanded, with great uniformity, the
respect of his fellow-citizens, and the unwavering
confidence and deferential affection of his parishioners.

DEDHAM.

In the pulpit he was always noticeably reverent, and
there, as well as elsewhere, his devotional exercises
were characterized by appropriateness, variety, and
freshness. His sermons never failed to have a lucid
arrangement, a practical aim, and well-considered, in-
structive material. Mere speculation and imaginative
flights were quite foreign to his ideas of what is best
suited to the wants of a congregation, needing, as
every congregation does, to be built up in a firm and
intelligent apprehension of the great truths and duties
of the evangelical system. Theologically he differed
but little from Jonathan Edwards. Among the Scrip-
ture doctrines uniformly inculcated, and always im-
plied in his discourses, were the native depravity of
the human heart, the consequent need of regenerating
grace, the duty of immediate repentance and faith in
the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who is God
manifest in the flesh. The days of the Assembly's
Catechism were not then numbered, and in that the
young were faithfully taught. Neighborhood prayer-
meetings were not unfrequently held ; and for years a
week-day service, with preaching, was maintained at
Mill village. Distance, darkness, inclemency of
weather never detained him from any official ap-
pointment. Indeed, his habits of punctuality, prompt-
ness, and general fidelity were of a marked order.

In pastoral labor the poor, the sick, and afflicted
always received tender and faithful ministrations, and,
where there was special need, were often thought-
fully remembered in the way of temporal aid. The
young of the congregation, whether in the Sunday-
school or not, had a large place in his heart ; and in
the form of little books or otherwise, they often
received proofs of his affectionate thoughtfulness.
Dr. Burgess took great pains to improve the service
of song in the house of the Lord by his encourage-
ment of singing-schools year after year.

Secular education in the public schools enlisted his
interest. He was the first, so far as is known, to intro-
duce into New England the infant school with some-
what of the kindergarten element. The first tem-
perance gathering in Dedham was upon his invita-
tion, which resulted in a town temperance society
duly organized. He was also the first in the place to
suggest au institution for savings, became the first
president of the same (May, 1831), and continued
in office till his death. Perhaps no savings-bank in
the State has been more wisely and faithfully admin-
istered. In the year 1826, Dr. Burgess built at his
own expense a spacious vestry to the new meeting-
house.^ During his active ministry there was scarcely

1 Worthington's " History of Dedham," p. 125.

a Congregational Church formed, or a house of wor-
ship built in the vicinity, to which he did not con-
tribute personal and pecuniary assistance. In sup-
plying the families of Norfolk County with the Bible
he took a prominent part. He held office in various
local benevolent societies, and an active membership
in several that were national. It would not be easy
to reckon up the number of boxes containing useful
and valuable articles that went from his house for the
aid and comfort of home missionaries at the West.

When the fortieth year of his pastorate and the
seventieth of his life were completed (1861), Dr.
Burgess resigned official responsibilities and salary.
At the outset of his ministry the average Sabbath
congregation was about one hundred. In the church
of eighty resident members there was, at that time,
not one young man. Growth, however, steady,
healthful, and substantial, took place. Five or more
seasons of marked religious interest occurred. One
of these was in the year after his ordination, when
fifty-two members were added to the church ; another
in 1827, the fruits of which were seventy-three such
additions ; yet another in 1832, when sixty-seven
heads of families made public confession of faith
in Christ. No professional evangelist was employed
by him ; the occasional services of earnest and judi-
cious ministers were welcomed. Upon his demission
of pastoral duties the membership of the church
numbered two hundred and fifty-three, all but six of
whom had been received in the course of his min-
istry. During the same period nearly an equal num-
ber (two hundred and thirty-two) had left to consti-
tute or to strengthen other churches, the Spring
Street Church in West Roxbury being a colony from
that in Dedham. The whole number admitted was
six hundred and twenty-four, of whom one hundred
and forty were removed by death, while the obituary
list of the society amounted to between five and six
hundred. Two hundred and seventy-five marriages
were solemnized, and three hundred and ninety-five
children baptized.

When Dr. Burgess became a pastor annual minis-
terial vacations had not come in vogue. As time
advanced it became his practice to take a journey, at
considerable intervals, with his family, visiting the
Middle or Western States, or Canada. One voyage
with an invalid brother-in-law, Mr, Edward Phillips,
was undertaken in the summer of 1826, and in 1846
-47, accompanied by his family, he made a tour in
Europe, which embraced, besides the countries usually
visited by Americans, two or three which were then
less frequently resorted to, Russia and Sweden, a trip
down the Danube to Constantinople, a visit to Greece,

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. Sketches, to a limited
extent, of the trip, which involved an absence of
fifteen months, appeared in the form of letters to the
Puritan Recorder.

As a general thing Dr. Burgess refrained from
frequent contributions to the periodical press, and
such contributions, when made, were almost invaria-
bly anonymous. For similar reasons, partly from
native modesty and self-distrust, partly from a fixed
purpose to allow nothing to interfere with professional
duties, he refrained from authorship. He had schol-
arly tastes, was more or less acquainted with the
French, Italian, Spanish, and Arabic; was familiar
with the Hebrew, as well as the Greek and Latin ;
he had clearly defined opinions regarding the topics
of the day ; he used the pen daily and with much
ease ; and yet he shunned the enticement and the
publicity of ordinary book-making. With rare ex-
ceptions he declined, when requested, to give sermons
into the printer's hands. Only a few were published,
as

•' A Sermon preached before the Auxiliai'y Educa-
tion Society of Norfolk County," 1825.

" Wareham Sixty Years Since :" a discourse deliv-
ered at Wareham, May 19, 1861.

" Our Fathers Honorable and Useful to Posterity :"
a Centennial Discourse delivered in Dedham, Nov. 8,
1838. This was the closing sermon in the volume
entitled " The Dedham Pulpit," pp. 517, which Dr.
Burgess edited in 1840.

A sketch of the Rev, Samuel John Mills, Jr.,
from his pen is found in Sprague's " Annals of the
American Pulpit" (18-19), vol. ii. pp. 569-72.

In 1865 appeared the " Burgess Genealogy," a
volume of 212 pages.

As a minister of the gospel, " This one thing I do,"
was his motto ; hence he declined the presidency of
Middlebury College, which was ofi"ered him not long
after his ordination. Other offers of eligible positions
were also declined. It was a settled purpose with
him not to allow his name to stand in any connection
implying responsibility without endeavoring faithfully
to meet the demands of the place. This led him to
resign as trustee of the Andover Theological Seminary,
when his tour of 1846-47 would occasion an absence
from at least two meetings of that body.

Whatever a man's public character may be, the
home test is, after all, the chief test. In his domestic
life and relations Dr. Burgess was peculiarly happy.
May 22, 1823, he married Abigail Bromfield, a daugh-
ter of Lieutenant-Governor William Phillips, who
became a helpmeet, with warm sympathy in all his
religious interests and labors. Hospitality, which

now seems to be fast becoming a lost art, was gener-
ously exercised at their house. Not only parishioners,
but numberless other persons found a uniform and
hearty welcome. For more than twoscore years it
was a ministers' home, a frequent place for their rest
and refreshment. Home and foreign missionaries
found an asylum there. Distinguished visitors from
a distance were often guests.

A more afi'ectionate father, wisely indulgent, yet
tenderly vigilant and firm, it would be hard to find.
The early conversion of his children and their relig-
ious culture were evidently his chief aim. The tes-
timony of many who were well acquainted — having
been inmates of the family for months, and some of
them even for years — is that as head of the house-
hold Dr. Burgess was most exemplary, prudent, sym-
pathizing, noticeably thoughtful of the comfort and
welfare of all, domestics included. One who spent
three years in the family, a person of high culture,
keen discernment, and connected with a different
denomination, has said, deliberately, " He was the best
man I ever knew."

In stature Dr. Burgess was above the average
height, erect, and finely proportioned. The first im-
pression made upon a stranger would be that of dig-
nity and gravity. One acquaintance used to pronounce
him " the last of the Puritans." For the Puritans and
Pilgrims he entertained a profound filial respect. His
native county had a large place in his heart. On vis-
iting Plymouth, holding his first-born child in a large
willow basket, he set the little fellow on Pilgrim Rock,
and, raising his hands towards heaven, engaged in
silent prayer.

Dr. Burgess' manners were in some measure old-
time manners, with a touch of primitive New England
stateliness. But it required no long acquaintance to
discover a genuine benignity, a pervasive kindliness.
No harsh judgments would escape from him ; no loss
of temper would ever be witnessed ; no social or pro-
fessional indiscretions would be detected. The clerical
office was sure to be respected in the man. Egotism
had no place ; for ostentation he cherished a deep dis-
like. Regularity, personal neatness, and temperance
in meats and drinks were characteristics. His three
thousand manuscript sermons are models of unblem-
ished orderliness ; not a blot and scarcely an erasure
could be found on them.

In all later years Dr. Burgess enjoyed excellent
health, which was due in part, no doubt, to well-regu-
lated exercise in superintending and cultivating his
farm on the banks of Charles River. To human ap-
pearance there was every reason to suppose that in
longevity he might even surpass his ancestors. la

'J'

l^pc^^^^-t-t

^t^,

DEDHAM.

March, 1870, however, at eighty years of age, he met
with an injury which undermined his strength, and
which induced or aggravated a fatal complaint. Only
a few times could he appear at worship on the Lord's
Day. Suffering became extreme, but it was borne with
Christian heroism till December 7th, when, joyfully
trusting in Him who is the resurrection and the life,
he entered into rest. Underneath his name on a
monument in the cemetery are these words, —

" Whose faith follow."

ALVAN LAMSON.

Alvan Lamson was born at Weston, Mass., Nov.
18, 1792. The genealogy of the family does not
seem to be very well known. John Lamson, the
great-grandfather of Alvan, is believed to have gone
from Reading to Weston, and is supposed to have
been the son of Joseph Lamson, of Charlestown, or
Joseph Lamson, of Cambridge, — the name Joseph
Lamson appearing in both places. Joseph Lamson,
of Cambridge, was the son of Barnabas Lamson (or
Lamsonn, as he wrote his name), of Cambridge.

John Lamson, of Weston, the grandfather of Alvan,
was born in 1724, married Elizabeth Weston, of
Lincoln, and died in 1785.

John Lamson, the father of Alvan, was born in
Weston, in 1760. He married Hannah Ayers. of
Needham, Oct. 17, 1790, and died Sept. 3, 1833.
He was a farmer, owning the land he cultivated.

Alvan Lamson worked on his father's farm till he
left home for the academy at Andover. He early
showed a love of reading and study, being marked at
the district school as exemplary in conduct and rank-
ing high among his schoolmates. When still young
he looked forward to studying for the ministry.
After attending the district school and being for some
time under the instruction of Dr. Kendall, the clergy-
man at Weston, he went to Phillips Academy, And
over, where he completed his preparatory studies, and
in 1810 entered Harvard College.

His class — the class of 1814 — contained several
who stood high in after-life, among others, James
Walker, who became professor and president of the
college; Pliny Merrick, who was judge of the Su-
preme Court of Massachusetts ; and William H.
Prescott, the historian. He took a high rank among
his classmates in the beginning, and maintained it to
the end. In college, as at the academy, he depended
largely on his own exertions for his support.

For two years after graduating he was a tutor in

Bowdoin College. He then entered the Divinity
School at Cambridge, appearing in the catalogue as
a member of the first class which graduated from the
school (in 1817).

In 1818 he was invited to become the pastor of
the First Church and Parish in Dedham, and, after
some hesitation, accepted the invitation.

It was a time of change in religious societies.
Differences of opinion and belief had become de-
cided and sometimes irreconcilable, many old parishes
were divided and new ones formed. There was dis-
agreement in the Dedham Church and Parish as in
others. A considerable majority — two-thirds, or
more — of the parish sympathized with what was
called the Liberal, or Unitarian belief, the larger
number of the most active members of the church
being more favorable to what has been known as the
Orthodox faith. The invitation to Dr. Lamson was
given by the parish without the concurrence or
approval of the church, though a majority of the
members of the church finally acquiesced in the
action of the parish. Hence arose a controversy
which was prolonged and bitter. The parish, and,
in its turn, the church, summoned a council, and the
conflict led to legal proceedings, the final decision of
the Supreme Court ^ being that the parish and the
portion of the church which remained with it still
continued to be the First Church and Parish, re-
taining all their rights and property. The members
of the church and parish who were not satisfied with
the consequences of this decision withdrew and
formed a new association, the church thus consti-
tuted being now known as the "Orthodox," or " Allin
Congregational Church."

After his settlement Dr. Lamson devoted himself
to his parish and to literary pursuits. His life was
earnest and laborious, but, like most lives given to
study and the quiet performance of duty, it affords
little on which the writer of a brief memoir may
enlarge or which will arrest the attention of a casual
reader. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity
from his college in 1837, and acquired a high repu-
tation as a preacher, writer, and scholar. He at-
tended carefully to his pastoral duties, performing
them with his best strength and ability.

He fully appreciated the importance of good
schools, and gave much time and labor to the care
and improvement of the public schools of the town,
being an active member of the school committee for
a number of years, and diligently attending to some
of its most troublesome and important duties.

1 Baker vs. Fales, Mass. Rep., vol. xvi. p. 488.

100

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

His health was never robust, and at times was
quite feeble, and his work often brought weariness,
nervousness, and discouragement, — uncomfortable
days, and nights with little sleep. About middle
life he was attacked by a serious illness, which, be-
sides its effect on his general health, produced a
paralysis of certain muscles, and which perplexed and
baffled his physician. He suffered from this for
several years, but was finally relieved by vigorous
treatment at the hot sulphur springs of Virginia.
During his absence there the cause of his illness was
almost accidentally discovered. It arose from the
use of water impregnated with lead. This water was
brought from a spring on " Federal Hill." through
logs, to two reservoirs in the village, and thence dis-
tributed by lead pipes. It was supposed to have
caused several cases of severe illness and some deaths.

This visit to Virginia in pursuit of health, and a
trip to Europe of a few months in 1853, were prob-
ably his most extended absences from home after his
settlement. Living thus in Dedham, which during
the earlier part of his residence was a somewhat
secluded village, he came to feel a strong attachment
to the place and his people, and a deep interest in all
that concerned them, and these feelings continued to
the end of his life.

Dr. Lamson had a strong literary taste. He had
a high estimation of the Greek and Latin classical
writers and the standard English and American
authors, and was well versed in general literature.
He was a ready though not a hasty writer. His
style — always pure and simple — had force and
beauty, and his writings won the warm praise of his
contemporaries, who were most capable of judging of
them. He was for a number of years a member of
the examining committee in Rhetoric, during the
professorship of Edward T. Channing, in Harvard
College.

He wrote many articles in the Christian Examiner,
of which, with Rev. E. S. Gannett, he was editor from
January, 1844, to May, 1849. He published a
volume of sermons in 1857, and a number of occa-
sional sermons and addresses, including " A History
of the First Church and Parish in Dedham, in three
Discourses," delivered Nov, 29 and Dec. 2, 1838.
He was fond of historical and antiquarian researches,
was a member of the Massachusetts Historical So-
ciety, and one of the original members of the Dedham
Historical Society.

He was especially interested in the history of the
early church, and in the works of the early Christian
writers, — the Fathers, as they are often called. In
1860 he published a volume entitled " The Church

of the First Three Centuries." He spent much time
on this work after its first publication, and a revised
and enlarged edition of it was issued in 1865, after
his decease, under the supervision of Professor Ezra
Abbot. He was familiar with the history and doc-
trines of New England Congregationalism, and was
summoned as a witness in a case in the New Hamp-
shire Court,^ which depended on the meaning of the
term " Congregational." He was also selected to
write the article on Unitarianism, in Rupp's " History
of all the Religious Denominations in the United
States."

Dr. Lamson was very fond of country life, thought
much of his garden, and took great interest in agri-
culture, pomology, and arboriculture. He was a
member of the Norfolk Agricultural Society, and de-
livered the annual address before it in 1857.

His personal character was of much simplicity. He
was conscientious, — sometimes more than conscien-
tious, — scrupulously honest and honorable in his
dealings, always anxious to avoid violating the rights
of others, and often ready to sacrifice his own. But
he was not wanting in judgment and sagacity. He
was exact in the performance of all which he regarded
as duty, desiring to leave nothing undone which
properly belonged to him to do, but was generally in-
dulgent in his judgment of others. He was no
ascetic, and was never inclined to condemn a reason-
able indulgence in the amusements of life. In his
hours of leisure he enjoyed social intercourse, though
a natural reserve and sensitiveness, and his studious
habits, prevented him from seeking it as constantly as
many do, and gave him the appearance of caring less
for it than he really did.

His connection with his parish continued till Oct.
29, 1860, — forty-two years from the time of his
settlement, — when his resignation, offered a little
while before, took effect. After his retirement he
still retained a lively interest in the affairs of the
parish, taking part in the instruction of the Sunday-
school, and holding himself ready to aid his successor
and his people whenever his assistance was desired.

He married, in 1825, Frances Fidelia Ward,
daughter of Artemus Ward, who was a long time
chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas. He
died July 18, 1864, of paralysis, of which he had

1 Attorney-General vs. Dublin, New Hampshire Rep., vol.
xxxviii. p. 459. Dr. Lamson testified fully for the defendant in
this case, but the court, in their decision, held that such evi-
dence was not admissible, and that the meaning of the word
Coniji-ef/ntional should be determined by the court as a question
of law, reference being made to historical works and other
works of authority.

'/Zly (^^/j&'V-^ M. y^c/^

DEDHAM.

101

had a slight attack the preceding year, — an attack so
slight that its true character was hardly recognized
at the time.

The following is a list of the publications of Dr.
Lamson :

Sermons, 12mo, pp. 424. 1857.

The Church of the First Three Centuries ; or,
Notices of the Lives and Opinions of some of the
Early Fathers, with special reference to the Doctrine
of the Trinity : illustrating its late origin and gradual
formation. 8vo, pp. 352. 1860.

Second edition of the same, revised and enlarged ;
edited by Ezra Abbot. 8vo, pp. 410. 1865.

An edition of this work, with additional notes by
Henry lerson, was published by the British and
Foreign Unitarian Association. London. 1875.

Pamphlets. — Sermon on the Adaptation of Chris-
tianity. 1825.

Remarks on the Genius and Writings of Soame
Jenyns, and on the Internal Evidences of Christianity.
1826.

Sermon preached at the Ordination of Rev. Charles
C. Sewall, at Danvers. 1827.

Discourse at the Dedication of Bethlehem Chapel,
Augusta, Me. 1827.

Discourse on the Validity of Congregational Ordi-
nation (Dudleian Lecture). 1834.

Sermon on the Sin against the Holy Ghost. 1835.

A History of the First Church and Parish in
Dedham, in three Discourses, delivered Nov. 29 and
Dec. 2, 1838. Published in 1839.

A Discourse delivered on the day of the National
Fast, on occasion of the death of President Harrison.
1841.

Congregationalism. A Discourse delivered before
the Massachusetts Convention of Congregational
Ministers. 1846.

The Memory of John Robinson. A Discourse de-
livered at Dedham, Sunday, Dec. 21, 1851.

Impressions of Men and Things Abroad. A Ser-
mon preached at Dedham, Sept. 11, 1853, after
an absence of some months in Europe.

Agricultural Life in some of its Intellectual
Aspects. An Address delivered before the Norfolk
Agricultural Society, Sept. 30, 1857.

A Sermon preached Oct. 31, 1858, the Sunday
after the Fortieth Anniversary of his Ordination.

A Discourse preached Oct. 28, 1860, on Resign-
ing the Pastoral Charge of the First Church and
Parish in Dedham, after a Ministry of Forty-two
Years.

Funeral Sermons. — On Ebenezer Fisher, Jr. 1847.

On Mrs. Mary Dean. 1851.

On Rev. John White. 1852.

On John Endicott. 1857.

On Hon. James Richardson. 1858.

Tracts (Unitarian). — On the Doctrine of Two
Natures in Jesus Christ. First Series, No. 20. (Re-
printed in England.)

On the Foundation of our Confidence in the
Saviour. First Series, No. 89. (Reprint of Sermon
at Ordination of C. C. Sewall. j

On Earnestness in Religion. First Series, No. 188.

What is Unitarianism ? First Series, No. 202.
(Reprint, after revision, of the article on " Unitarian
Congregationalists," in Rupp's " History of all the
Religious Denominations in the United States.")

IRA CLEVELAND.

Ira Cleveland was born in the town of Hopkinton,
Middlesex Co., Mass., Feb. 1, 1802. When four
years old he moved with his father, Ira Cleveland, to
a farm in Milford, Worcester County, and was occu-
pied in attending school and in assisting his father
in agricultural pursuits until he entered college. He
prepared at a private academy in Mendon, entered
Brown University in September, 1821, and graduated
in 1825 valedictorian of his class. Soon after leaving
his Alma Mater he began to study law at Marlboro',
Mass., and in 1828 came to Dedham and entered
the oflSce of the Hon. Horace Mann, where he was
engaged in attending law lectures and preparing for
admission to the bar. During the December term of
the Court of Common Pleas, in 1829, he was duly
admitted as an attorney-at-law, and in the usual
course a counsellor in that and the Supreme Judicial
Court. The ten years which followed were given ex-
clusively to his law practice, which by his industry
and wisdom increased until he received a goodly .share
of the business of the county, and held a satisfactory
position as an advocate. He always had a high re-
gard for the justice and equity of the several legal
tribunals and the integrity of their officers, but at the
same time he was never disposed to favor litigation,
and in most cases advised his clients to adjust their
disputes by private agreement, rather than have re-
course to an expensive and extended process by law.

Mr. Cleveland, in 1840, was connected with the
Dedham and Norfolk County Mutual Insurance Com-
panies, and became so much engaged with the prosecu-
tion of this business that he gradually withdrew from
the bar. He was also appointed public administrator,
which office he held forty-two years. At the present
writing, although in his eighty-second year, he is ac-

102

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

tively engaged with the above-named corporations, as
president of one and treasurer of both.

In the spring of 1837, Mr. Cleveland married Miss
Frances M. Whitney, daughter of Major T. P.
Whitney, of Wrenthani. His wedded life was brief
He buried his wife and infant daughter in the year
following. In his intense bereavement he found a
deeply sympathizing friend in the Rev. Dr. Babcock,
rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. He was
affectionately taken into his family and provided with
a home, where he remained until it was broken by
death, a period of forty-three years. He now resides
in the family of the present rector, the Rev. Arthur
M. Backus.

Mr. Cleveland, soon after coming to Dedham, in-
terested himself and others in beautifying the streets
and squares of the village. Many ornamental trees
were planted in various quarters, and the village
cemetery changed from a dilapidated condition to one
of order and attractiveness.

His more excellent labors have been in behalf of
St. Pauls Church. He became a member of the
church in 1838. The same year he was elected
warden and a delegate to the Diocesan Convention of
Massachusetts, and has acted constantly in these
capacities until the present time. His gifts to the
parish have been generous and frequent. He was
actively engaged in forwarding the execution of the
church building which was constructed in 1845,
costing seven thousand dollars. After this church
was burned, his efficient help enabled the parish to
build the present beautiful stone edifice, at an expense
of over thirty thousand dollars. The sum donated
by him to assist in these two cases was greater than
thirteen thousand dollars. He was largely instru-
mental in erecting the costly monument to the memory
of the late Bishop Griswold which stands on the
north side of the church ; and, together with Joseph
W. Clarke, Esq., placed the beautiful testimonial in
marble, which stands near it, to the memory of his
cherished friend and rector, Rev. Samuel B. Babcock.
In 1881 he added to his constantly increasing bene-
factions the gift of a chime of ten bells, the largest
weighing three thousand and fifty pounds, at a cost
of over five thousand dollars. In 1882 the gratitude
of the parish was called for again through the oSbr
to decorate the interior of the church at an expense
of more than three thousand dollars. The acceptance
of this gift enabled him to fulfill his heart's desire,
and to make glorious that object upon which his affec-
tion was set, viz., the House of God.

Mr. Cleveland, although weighted with the burdens
of over fourscore years, is wonderfully active and

well preserved. His life has been unostentatious, yet
not devoid of strength and earnestness. Intensity of
purpose and persevering devotion are his prevailing
characteristics. These, with his benevolence and
generosity, will make him ever to be venerated, and
his name one which his friends and associates will
ever delig-ht to honor.

.JOSEPH W. CLARK.

Elder John White, the ancestor of Joseph W.
Clark on his mother's side, was one of the first set-
tlers of Cambridge, of Hartford, and of Hadley, Mass.
He was a passenger in the ship " ]jyon," which sailed
from England June 22, 1632. She brought one
hundred and twenty-three passengers, thirty-three
adult males, including John White. The General
Court had assigned the town of Cambridge — then
called Newtowne: — for their settlement, together with
the company of Rev. Thomas Hooker, who had ar-
rived a short time before and made a temporary settle-
ment at Braintree. Here John White found his first
home in this Western world. His home-lot, with his
dwelling-house, was on a street called Cow-Yard Row.
This home-lot with about thirty acres farming land
was early allotted to him, and in August, 1633, the
town granted him three-fourths of an acre more for
a cow-yard. Gore Hall, the beautiful library building
of Harvard University, probably now graces this cow-
yard.

The location and quantity of his allotments indicate
that in his contributions to the common stock he was
in a middle place, neither among the wealthier nor
poorer class.

In February, 1635, the town made its first election
of a board of seven men " to do the business of the
whole town." They were then called Townsmen or
selectmen. John White was one of the number
chosen. Soon after the Rev. Mi-. Hooker and his
people began to feel straitened in their accommo-
dations, and determined to look out for a new home.
They selected the valley of the Connecticut, and
having obtained the reluctant consent of the govern-
ment of Massachusetts, in June, 1636, the main body
of the company effected their removal.

Trumbull, the historian, says in his graphic narra-
tive, " About a hundred men, women, and children
traveled more than one hundred miles through a
tedious and tractless wilderness to Hartford. They
had no guide but their compass over mountains and
rivers, through swamps and thickets, with no covering
but the heavens ; they drove one hundred and sixty

^ng ^tyAE-PAtcK^^

<rfL^

DEDHAM.

103

head of cattle and subsisted on the milk of the cows.
Mrs. Hooker was borne on a litter through the wil-
derness." In the records of Hartford, John White
appears as one of the original one hundred proprietors.
His home-lot was on what is now Governor Street;
only eighteen of the original had a larger share than
his. Here he was chosen one of the board of
" Orderers," as the selectmen were called. Little is
known of his private life except that he was a frugal
and industrious farmer, careful in securing for his
children a good education.

Dissensions soon arose in the church between the
minister and Elder Goodwin, and it was determined
by the elder and his following to found a new colony.
On the 18th of April, 1659, sixty persons signed an
agreement to remove to Hadley. John White's name
being fifth on the list, indicates that he was one of
the leaders in this important step. The town record
of Hadley says, " This plantation by the engagers
did on the 9th of November, chuse by vote six per-
sons (John White being one of them) to order all
publick occasions that conscerns the good of the plan-
tation for the yeare ensuing." The margin of the
record calls this the first choice of " Townsmen."

Thus were laid the foundations of Hadley, — the
frontier settlement of that day, — looking out towards
the northwest, north, northeast, and east on the
boundless forest and its savage Indian occupants.
John White's share in the common enterprise was
one hundred and fifty pounds, the highest share
being represented by two hundred pounds. He at
once took an active part in the affairs of the town,
and was sent a number of times as deputy or rep-
resentative to the General Court at Boston. As evi-
dence of his good report among the brethren, he was one
of the " messengers" from Hadley when the church
at Northampton was gathered, in the year 1661.

After 1670 his name does not appear in the records,
he having returned to Hartford. A new church was
formed there, and he was chosen elder in it. The
home of twenty-three years of the vigor of his life
retained a strong hold on his affections, and it needed
only the attraction of a church formed after his idea
of a perfect Scripture model to win him back to his
early home. His life was prolonged to a good old age,
and in the winter of 1683-84 he rested from his
labors.

His good sense and sound judgment are attested
by the nature of the services his fellow-citizens sought
from him. Each of the three important towns in
which he lived received his aid in management of its
prudential affairs.

The capacity to discharge the duties of a townsman

as well as those of representative to the colonial
Legislature was in that day an indispensable pre-
requisite to the appointment. The office of ruling
elder in the church, which he held during the last
ten or twelve years of his life, was one of great in-
fluence and importance; it was designed to relieve
the pastor of a considerable part of the responsibility
attending the government and discipline of the
church. It required a grave and discreet man, one
who had earned a good report of those without and
within the church. Such a one in all respects fur-
nished for his work was our John White.

To be the descendant of one whose qualifications
caused him to be palled to these various duties in the
church and in the State, and who has discharged
them well, is a matter of just pride.

His descendants should abundantly honor the an-
cestor in whose footsteps they may so safely walk.

Joseph W. Clark was born in Easthampton, Mass.,
Sept. 16, 1810. He was the seventh generation
in descent from " the Most Worshipful William
Clarke, Esq." (as the record has it), who died in
Northampton, July 19, 1690, aged eighty-one. He
was born in England in 1609, and sailed from
Plymouth with his family in 1630, in the ship " Mary
and John," for Boston, a few weeks before that dis-
tinguished company of fifteen hundred, headed by
John Winthrop, afterwards Governor, in a fleet of
thirteen vessels, from the Isle of Wight for Salem.
He settled flrst with the Dorchester colony, where he
remained till 1659, when he was induced to join the
Northampton colony, which was made up in good
part by his companions on the voyage from England,
particularly his lifelong friend, Elder John Strong.

These two worthies were perhaps equally con-
spicuous in stamping their unbending Puritan princi-
ples upon this frontier colony. Two years later, viz.,
in 1661, at the organization of a train-band or militia
company of sixty men, the number being incomplete,
and not large enough to entitle them to a captain,
William Clarke was chosen the highest officer, viz.,
" lieutenant," — at that time considered a most impor-
tant position, securing to him ever after the dis-
tinguishing title of Lieut. Clarke.

He held other important positions, — as representa-
tive to the General Court at Boston, and for more than
twenty years one of the selectmen. He was one of
the judges of the County Court, held alternately at
Northampton and Springfield. He was mentioned^
moreover, as one of the seven pillars on which, with
the first minister, the church there was originally
constituted.

The descendants of this godly man number many

104

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

thousands, some of whom, even of the ninth genera-
tion, are active to-day in the affairs of church and
state in most of the States of the Union.

He settled on a twelve-acre lot on what is now
Elm Street, there being no street till long afterwards.

The President Seelye place is part of this lot, and
through the long period of over two hundred and
twenty years some part of these twelve acres has con-
tinued in possession of Lieut. William's descendants.
In point of longevity and rapid increase, this is prob-
ably the most remarkable family ever reared in the
town.

The record shows that the sixth child of Lieut.
William had eleven children ; one died in early life,
three lived to be above seventy, three above eighty,
and four above ninety. Of these, six were sons, and
each lived with the wife of his youth more than fifty
years. Governor Caleb Strong says they were all
living within his memory, all were respectable, and
in good circumstances. One of the sons, Lieut.
Ebenezer, who lived near the President Seelye place,
attained the age of ninety-nine. At his death, in
1781, there had sprung from the original pair, as
stated by President Dwight, of Yale College, eleven
hundred and forty-five persons, of whom nine hundred
and sixty were then living. When it is remembered
that all this relates simply to one of Lieut. William's
sons, viz., Deacon John and his posterity, some faint
idea may be formed as to the multitude of his de-
scendants, which it is estimated would number not
less than thirty thousand. His tomb and monument
may be seen in the old cemetery at Northampton.

Asahel Clarke, the fifth in descent from Lieut.
William, was born Feb. 17, 1737, was a lieutenant
in the Revolutionary army, and died in Easthampton,
on his eighty-fifth birthday, in 1822. He married
Submit Clapp, who died in 1818. They had twelve
children. The sixth son, Bohan, was born in 1772,
and died at Cambridge in 1846. He married, in
1802, Polly White (J. W. Clark's mother), of Had-
ley. She died in Romeo, Mich., October, 18G8.
They had four sons and two daughters.

When Joseph was eight years old his father re-
moved to Northampton, having bought the mill
property on Mill River with the homestead on South
Street. Here he had only the advantages of a com-
mon-school education till 1825, when he went to
Providence to live with his brother, li^noch White,
who had established a banking-house there as a
branch of the eminent firm of S. & M. Allen &
Co., of Philadelphia and New York, who had also
similar branches in many of the Southern and West-
ern cities. In 1829, before he was twenty years old.

he was admitted as partner with his brother in the
new firm of E. W. Clark & Bro. A few years later
the concern established itself in Boston, and in 1836
E. W. Clark removed to Philadelphia and founded
the house of E. W. Clark & Co., which is continued
to-day by the children of the two succeeding gen-
erations, and enjoys deservedly a high position there.
Joseph W. remained in Boston, under the style of
J. W. Clark & Co. From these two parent houses
in Philadelphia and Boston sprang E. W. Clark,
Dodge & Co., of New York ; E. W. Clark & Bros.,
of St. Louis ; Clark's Exchange Bank, of Springfield,
111. ; and E. W. Clark, Brothers & Farnum, of New
Orleans.

In 1834 he married Eleanor Arnold Jackson,
daughter of Nathan W. Jackson, of Providence, R. I.
The first seven years of married life they lived in
Boston, and three children were born there, viz. : Ran-
dolph Marshall, Agnes White, and Eleanor Jackson.
In 1840 he bought a beautiful residence on Blue Hill,
in Milton, where three children were born, — Mary
Frances, Annie Crawford, and Susan Groodman. Five
years later he removed to Dedham, and since that time
— thirty-nine years ago — he has lived there. Here
Carrie Ward, the youngest child, was born. She died
in Boston in 1872. Randolph Marshall married, in
1863, Mary Vinton, daughter of Rev. A. H. Vinton,
of St. Mark's Church, New York City. He died
Sept. 11, 1872, in Dedham, leaving two daughters,
who, with their mother, live in Boston. Agnes White
married, in 1859, Charles Van Brunt, of Dedham, son
of Commodore Van Brunt, of the United States navy,
Mary Frances married, in 1863, Dr. Courtland Hop-
pin, of Providence, R. I. He died in 1876, leaving
three children. Annie Crawford married, in 1867,
Edward Sturgis Grew. They have four children and
live in Boston. He is partner in the commission
house of Lawrence & Co., successors to the eminent
firm of the last generation of A. & A. Lawrence &
Co. Susan Goodman married, in 1867, Gustav Stell-
wag, a German merchant, who lives in New York.

In Dedham Mr. Clark took an active interest in
all local improvements. He was the chief promoter
of the Dedham and Hyde Park Gas Company some
thirty years ago, and has for many years been presi-
dent of the corporation. More recently the people
are indebted to Mr. Clark, with two or three enter-
prising citizens, for perhaps the i^reatest boon that
has ever been conferred upon the town, the water-
works, giving an ample supply of pure spring water
for all domestic and fire purposes. But for his pecu-
niary aid and influence it is not probable that this
would have been accomplished perhaps for many

DEDHAM.

105

years. From his earliest residence in town he has
been intimately identified with St. Paul's Episcopal
Parish, under the rectorship of his early and constant
friend, Rev. Samuel B. Babcock, D.D. He was for
many years junior warden, with his friend Ira Cleve-
land as senior. He was a liberal contributor in all
the departments of church and parish work. He
was frequently chosen delegate to the diocesan con-
vention.

Soon after the treaty with the Indians, by which
the upper peninsula of Michigan was ceded to the
United States when the vast wealth of the mineral
deposits began to be known and appreciated, he be-
came greatly interested in these lands, and has since
that time been identified with the wonderful devel-
opment of that region which has added so vastly to
the national wealth, and has become one of the lead-
ing sources of copper supply for the world, while this
wilderness of ice and snow has been converted into a
vigorous and thrifty commonwealth, with schools and
churches, and the accompaniments of civilization as
found in the Eastern States. He was one of the
original proprietors of the land which made up the
Calumet and Hecla mines when they were entered at
one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre under the land
department of the United States government. This
is probably the richest copper-mining property ever
developed in the annals of mining. The present valua-
tion is about twenty-five million dollars, while an equal
amount has been divided in money to the shareholders,
aggregating little less than fifty million dollars. He
is president of the St. Mary's Canal Mineral Land
Company. This was the largest land company in the
United States up to the time when the enormous sub-
sidies for railroad building began to work. This grant
was for seven hundred and fifty thousand acres from
the United States government to the State of Michigan
for the purpose of building a canal round the Falls
of St. Mary's at the outlet of Lake Superior, and its
completion opened to the world the vast commerce
of that inland ocean. Now, since the Northern Pa-
cific Railroad is extended to Puget Sound and the
Pacific Ocean, the mind can hardly grasp the magni-
tude of the interests involved. He is president of the
Osceola Consolidated Mines, a legitimate and conser-
vative company, which has been successfully worked
some ten years, and in the past seven years has paid
regular dividends aggregating about one million dollars
to the shareholders. For more than forty years he
has been one of the managers and treasurer of the
" Episcopal Clerical Fund," a chartered society for
the relief of aged and indigent clergymen, and a
liberal contributor to its funds. In 1881 he made

a gift of ten thousand dollars as a memorial to bis
son, who was for many years greatly interested in
its beneficent work. This fund is known as the
"Randolph Marshall Clark Memorial Fund." He
is one of the board of trustees of donations to the
Protestant Episcopal Church, and has been for forty-
five years. He has traveled quite extensively at home
and abroad, has made ten voyages across the Atlantic,
made an extended tour through Norway and Sweden
and Continental Europe. From Stockholm he crossed
the Baltic through Finland to Petersburg and Mos-
cow to Novgorod, at the head of navigation on the
Volga; then down that river and the Don by the Sea
of Azof and the Straits of Kertch into the Black Sea,
visiting Sevastopol, Balaklava, and the intensely in-
teresting fields of the great strife of France and Eng-
land against Russia in 1854-55, returning, via Odessa
and Galatz, up the Danube through Hungary and
Austria. He also visited Cuba soon after the bloody
termination of the Lopez expedition, having for its
object the invasion and revolution of that island.

The sudden death of Randolph Marshall was a
severe shock to his father, and made him nearly for-
get his interests in matters of daily life. But he
soon resuined the management of his alfairs, which
since his protracted absence in Europe he had almost
wholly placed in his son's hands by unlimited power of
attorney. His early education was under the eye of
his pastor. Dr. Babcock, of Dedham : then he went
to Churchill's military school, at Sing Sing, N. Y.,
where he prepared for Harvard University. He
graduated with honor in the class of 1855. Then
he spent some years in travel and study, and entered
into mercantile life as treasurer of a factory in which
his father was largely interested. The church of his
choice in which he was reared carried the afi"ections
and convictions of his manhood. He was a devout
churchman.

On breaking out of the Rebellion he enlisted in the
Massachusetts First Cavalry as lieutenant, and went to
South Carolina, where he served in the region about
Hilton Head and Beaufort. He saw some hard
service there. Then ordered North, he served on the
lower Potomac, and the campaign culminated for him
in the hard-fought battle at Antietam. He was pro-
moted to captain in the Massachusetts Second Cavalry
Regiment, but was soon after invalided by the surgeon
of his regiment without his consent, or even his
knowledge, and returned to his home with broken
health. Disease contracted here probably cost him
his life.

He was thoroughly educated, — accomplished in
French and German. He traveled much, crossed

106

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

the Atlantic twelve times, spent a winter in Dresden,
made a journey through Norway and Sweden, visited
Russia twice, and had exceptional facilities for oh-
servation which he did not fail to improve. His
occasional letters to the press, over the signature of
" Dolphus," were extensively copied through the
country. His lecture on " Moscow and Central
Russia" was received with marked favor.

The exceptional relations of companionship and
trust which always existed with his father were re-
markably tender and touching.

The following tribute to his worth is most appro-
priate and expressive :

"Military Order Loyal Legion, United States.

" Headquarters Commandery of the State of
"Massachusetts.

" Boston, October 3, 1873.

"At a stated meeting of this Commandery, held at the Parker
House, School Street, on Wednesday evening, October 1, 1873,
the following report of a committee to draft resolutions relative
to the decease of Companion Captain Randolph M. Clark,
late First Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers Cavalry, was
adopted :

" REPORT.

" Companion Captain Randolph Marshall Clark, died at his
boyhood"'s home, at Dedham, Massachusetts, September 11, 1873.

"An earnest, upright man, strong in his convictions and
conscientious in his expression of them, — he united with a cul-
tivated mind sound judgment and thoroughness, — independence
of thought and fearlessness of action, — kindliness of heart and
tenderness of sympathy, — governed always by principles of
right and justice, — a trusted friend, — a good soldier, — a valued
citizen, — a true man.

" Resolved, That by his death is stricken from the list of
living companionship and added to the increasing roll of our
fallen comrades, — who rest in peace, — another name, which
shall be guarded in memory with tenderness.

" Re&olved, That we deeply deplore the death of our com-
panion in the midst of his usefulness, and realize the loss we
are called to mourn.

" Resolved, That we' tender our heartfelt sympathy to that
home circle in which he was so loved.

" Resolved, That the recorder be instructed to transmit a
copy of these resolutions to the afflicted family of our deceased
companion, and that this declaration of our remembrance be
entered upon the records of this Commandery.

"Arnold A. Rand,

"Col. U. S. Vols.,
" George N. Macy,

" Brevet Maj.-Gen. U. S. Vols.,
" Francis A. Osborn,

"Brevet Brig.-Gen. U. S. Vols., J

}■ Committee.

[E.xtract from the Minutes.]

"Charles Dkvens, Jr.,

"Bvt. Major-Gen. U. S. Vols., Commandey.
" Jas. B. Bell, Recorder."

EZRA AV. TAFT.

Ezra W. Taft, son of Frederick and Abigail Wood
Taft, was born in Uxbridge, Mass., Aug. 26, 1800.
Early in life he commenced that business activity
which has since been characteristic of the man. He
came to Dedham in 1815 and went to work with
Frederick A. Taft, who started the Dedham Manu-
facturing Company. He remained here most of the
time until 1820. In that year, then only twenty
years of age, he went to the neighboring town of
Walpole, where he hired a little mill and made forty
thousand yards of negro-cloth for the Southern trade.
In 1823 he went to Dover, N. H., and assisted in
starting the Cocheco Mill, now one of the largest
cotton-mills in New England, where he remained
three years as overseer. In 1826 he returned to
Dedham and took the agency of the Dedham Manu-
facturing Company, which position he retained six
years. In 1832, Mr. Taft severed his connection
with this company and assumed the agency of the
Norfolk Manufacturing Company at East Dedham,
where he built the stone mill now standing, and re-
mained in this connection thirty years. At the time
Mr. Taft first identified himself with the manufactur-
ing business all yarn was spun at the mills and sent
out through the country to be woven. From this
crude beginning he has lived to witness the develop-
ment of the business until a modern woolen-mill is
one of the wonders of the nineteenth century.

In 1864, Mr. Taft retired from manufacturing,
and since that time has devoted himself almost con-
tinuously to the business of the town. For more
than thirty years he was a member of the school
committee, and for thirty-one years a director of the
Dedham Bank, and since 1873 has been its presi-
dent. He has been connected with the Dedham In-
stitution for Savings since its organization, and is one
of the investment committee at the present time.
He has also been a member of the old Norfolk In-
surance Company since its organization, and is a
director in the Dedham Mutual Insurance Company.
He was for fourteen successive years one of the se-
lectmen of the town, during twelve of which he was
chairman of the board. He also represented Dedham
four years in the Legislature, besides filling many
other positions of honor and trust. No citizen of
the town of Dedham has been so continuously con-
nected with bank and town business as Mr. Taft,
who lives to enjoy the fruition of a successful busi-
ness career.

Mr. Taft's grandfather, Samuel Taft, lived to be
over eighty years of age, and had twenty-two chil-

fc^^^

66^r-^^^

DEDHAM.

107

dren. He was a noted hotel-keeper in Uxbridge
during the Revolution, and had the honor of enter-
taining Gen. Washington and staff on their journey
north. A pleasing incident is related in this con-
nection. Washington was so much pleased with Mr.
Taft's two daughters that he sent them each a hand-
some dress as evidence of his gratitude for their kind-
ness and attention to him during his sojourn.

Frederick Taft, father of the subject of this notice,
was a very active public man in Worcester County.
He was surveyor for all the southern portions of the
county, and for twenty years was deputy sheriff. ' He
lived to the advanced age of eighty-seven, and his
wife, Abigail Wood, reached the age of ninety years.

Mr. Taft is a member of the Orthodox Church,
and a Republican in politics. He has ever labored
zealously to advance the interests of the town, whether
material, religious, or educational, all finding in him
an earnest advocate, ever ready to take the laboring
oar in all good works.

Sept. 8, 1830, Mr. Taft united in marriage with
Lendamine Draper, eldest daughter of Calvin Guild,
of Dedham, and their feniily consists of six children,
all of whom were present at Mr. and Mrs. Taft's
golden wedding, which was celebrated Sept. 8, 1880.

CARLOS SLAFTER.

Well may the name and worth of Carlos Slafter
have honorable mention in the liistory of Dedham,
for to him, perhaps more than to all others, is the
town indebted for the prosperity of the high school
and for the measure of usefulness to which it has
attained. This school was founded in 1851, and in
1852 Mr. Slafter became its principal, and has re-
mained in that capacity to the present time, a period
of over thirty years. He watched with untiring zeal
over its struggling infancy, and, as its hold on the
community grew firmer and its usefulness broader,
his watchful interest kept even pace with its benefi-
cent development. He has constantly suggested and
instituted measures for its progressive advantage.
At an early day he arranged a course of study for
three years, and soon after for four years ; and, with
various modifications demanded by the advance in
educational ideas, the four years' course has been
continued. The sons and daughters of his earliest
pupils have been graduated, some for college and
some for normal schools, and many for business pur-
suits. Mr. Slafter has been a careful observer of the
progress and improvements in teaching, and has aimed
to keep abreast of the times. He has found great

sources of enjoyment in his calling, and yet has not
been so absorbed in it as to lose interest in the affairs
of the community in which he lives.

The Dedham Library Association was formed at
his suggestion, and to his energy and untiring de-
votion is largely due the foundation of the public
library, an institution of great public benefit, and of
which the town has much reason to be proud.

From early manhood, almost boyhood, Mr. Slafter
has been an educational instructor. He is son of
Sylvester and Mary Slafter, and was born in Thet-
ford, Vt., July 21, 1825. The district school fur-
nished his early means of education, and after a full
term of study at Thetford Academy, at the age of
sixteen years and a few months, he began to teach
in the town of Fairlee, Vt. For several years he
taught winter schools in the town of Lyme, N. H.
Dividing his time between work on the farm and
study at the academy, he entered Dartmouth College
in the summer of 1845. By teaching winters he
obtained the chief means of completing his college
studies, and was graduated in 1849. At the close
of his college course he decided to devote himself to
the teacher's calling, although fully aware that it did
not offer pecuniary rewards to satisfy the most
ambitious minds.

The two years after graduation he spent in Ded-
ham, chiefly in teaching, but for several months he
read law in the office of Ira Cleveland, Esq. In
1851 he became principal of the high school in
Framingham, Mass., but at the close of the year he
was recalled to Dedham, where the years of his active
life have been spent.

In May, 1865, Mr. Slafter was ordained a deacon
in the Protestant Episcopal Church, and was chap-
lain several years for the Dedham jail and house of
correction, but, finding clerical duties combined
with teaching too burdensome, for several years he
has wholly relinquished the former.

In 1858 he married Rebecca, daughter of William
and Rebecca (Dagget) Ballard, and their family con-
sists of a son and daughter, — Theodore Shorey and
Annie Rebecca, — the former an artist, educated in
the Royal Academy of Munich, and is now in Bos-
ton, and the latter, having spent three years in the
Massachusetts Normal Art School, is now a teacher
of art in the Westfield Normal School, at Westfield,
Mass.

ELIPHALET STONE.
Eliphalet Stone was born in Hubbardston, Wor-
cester Co , Mass., May 12, 1813. At the age of
six years he was left fatherless, and his family being

108

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

in very moderate circumstances he was adopted by a
relative. Though he was ambitious to acquire an
education, his early advantages were extremely
limited, being such as farmers' boys received forty
years ago in the district school. He entered into the
active business of life at an early age, and in 183.3
settled in Dedham, since which time he has been
largely engaged in the baking and grocery business,
real estate and building, and for many years was the
leading auctioneer in that part of the county, and
what is a little unusual with so many " irons in the
fire," he succeeded in all. He has been especially
active in building residences in the east village, and
has labored earnestly to advance the interests of this
part of the town, and has lived to see it develop from
an insignificant portion of the town to its present
prosperous condition.

Mr. Stone from early youth has manifested a lively
interest in agriculture and horticultural pursuits, and
has written many valuable papers on fruit culture.

Col. Stone, as he is familiarly called, has been
honored by his fellow-citizens with many positions of
trust and responsibility, and for four years repre-
sented the town of Dedham in the legislature, viz.,
1861, '62, '63, '69. This was during the dark days of
the Rebellion, and it is but simply justice to Col.
Stone to add, tluit during the war no person was
more interested in the welfare of our soldiers than
he, and that he even sacrificed his business interests
to visit the soldiers upon the field, and made arrange-
ments for their comfort, and also interested himself
in making suitable provision for their fiimilies. Be-
nevolence is one of his leading characteristics, and
no one was ever turned empty-handed from his door.

Although now past the scriptural age of three-
score and ten, he apparently retains all the vigor and
elasticity of youth, and is a specimen of the good-
natured, whole-souled, careless man, whose greatness
hangs lightly upon him. He has a prodigious amount
of power, which he carries, apparently, with the ut-
most indifference and ixnconcern to himself. He is a
fine specimen of the gentleman of the old school.
With much dignity and courtesy in his manners, he
is strictly honorable, frank in his address, a keen
observer of men, emphatic in the expression of his
views, and is justly held in high esteem by the people
of Dedham. He is a Republican in politics.

Oct. 10, 1839, he united in marriage with Eliza-
beth, daughter of the late Thomas Barrows, a notice
of whom may be seen on a previous page of this
work.

EBENEZER PAUL.

The subject of this sketch traces his ancestry in
this country to Richard Paul, one of the first settlers
of Taunton, Mass., who is first mentioned as purchas-
ing land in Taunton in 1637, and married Marjorie
Turner, of Taunton, in 1638. The line of descent is
as follows : Richard, Samuel, Samuel, Samuel, Eb-
enezer, Samuel, Ebenezer. Samuel, the great-grand-
father of Ebenezer, came to Dedham in 1719, and
settled in a portion of the town which is now known
as Hyde Park, bordering on the Neponset River,
where five generations of the name subsequently lived
from 1719 to 1867, — one hundred and forty-eight
years. (A portion of this farm was occupied by the
government during the war of the Rebellion, and was
known as the " Readville Camp-Grounds.") His son,
Ebenezer Paul, was born June 16, 1738, and died
Aug. 20, 1803. Samuel, son of Ebenezer, was born
July 21, 1784, and died July 8, 1833.

Ebenezer, the subject of this sketch, was born in
that part of Dedham now known as Hyde Park, Nov.
26, 1819. He was reared as a farmer, and has fol-
lowed agricultural pursuits through life. He has
given his time and attention to his favorite calling,
and is ranked among the progressive agriculturists
of the town. He is a worthy citizen and a man of
sterling integrity. In 1867, after its occupancy by the
government, he sold the Paul farm and purchased the
Deacon Samuel Fales estate in Dedham, where he
now resides. Politically, he is a Republican, and a
member of the Orthodox Congregational Church.

April 15, 1847, Mr. Paul united in marriage with
Susan Dresser, of Dedham, a native of Lunenburg,
Mass. They have had six children, five of whom
are living, viz.: Henry M., born June 25, 1851;
Edward C, born Oct. 10, 1853; Isaac F., born Nov.
26, 1856; Ebenezer T., born Dec. 6, 1858; Susan
F., born May 24, 1861, died Oct. 12, 1862; Martha
D., born Nov. 1, 1865.

Henry M. graduated from Dartmouth College in
1873, and from Thayer School of Civil Engineering
in 1875. He then went to Washington as assistant
professor of astronomy in the United States Naval
Observatory. He married Augusta A. Gray, of
Washington, Aug. 27, 1878. In 1880 he was called
to Japan to open the chair of astronomy at the Im-
perial University of Tokio, which position he held
till his return to his former position in Washington
in the fall of 1883. He has one son, Carroll Paul,
born in Tokio, Japan, May 6, 1882. Edward C.
resides in Dedham, and is assistant cashier of the
Dedham Institution for Savings. He married Jo-

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DBDHAM.

109

sephine M. Prince, of Dedham, Oct. 12, 1881.
Isaac F. graduated from Dartmouth College in 1878,
was admitted to the bar in 1882, and is now a prac-
ticing lawyer in the city of Boston, where he resides.
He married Ida L. Batcheller, of Fitzwilliam, N. H.,
March 22, 1883. Ebenezer T. resides on the home-
stead. He married Marietta Taylor, of Wakefield,
Mass., Nov. 7, 1882. Martha J), is at home with
her parents, not having yet completed her education.

CHAUNCEY C. CHURCHILL.
Chauncey C. Churchill, son of William L. and
Eliza Lamphear Churchill, was born in West Fairlee,
Vt., Sept. 26, 1815. Like many of the leading men
of to-day at the bar, among the clergy, and in busi-
ness circles, he was reared on a farm, received the
advantages of the common and high schools, and
subsequently engaged in teaching. During four
winters he engaged in this laudable vocation, in the
mean time working on a farm during the fall and
summer seasons.

In 1839 he went to Salisbury, Mass., as an em-
ploye in the Salisbury Mills, where he remained until
1842. He then came to Dedham, and entered the
employ of what is now the 3Ierchants' Woolen Com-
pany's Mills, remaining thirteen years, until 1855.

His business capacity, integrity, and usefulness
as a citizen had won for him the confidence and
esteem of the people of Norfolk County, and in 1855
he was elected to the responsible and honorable
ofl&ce of county treasurer, and has been successively
re-elected to the present time, a period of nearly
thirty years.

In 1864 he was appointed deputy collector of in-
ternal revenue, and served five years. He was also
a member of the Dedham school committee for nine
years, commencing in 1871. Although not a com-
municant of any ecclesiastical body, he is an active
member of the AUin Evangelical Society, in Ded-
ham, and has been its collector and treasurer for
a number of years.

June 7, 1842, he united in marriage with Peme-
lia Sabin, daughter of Deacon Benajah Sabin, of
Salisbury, Mass., and their family consists of two
children, a son, Chauncey S., and a daughter, Isa-
dore Maria, wife of Charles H. Leeland, of Dedham.
Mr. Churchill's long and honorable public service
has won him liosts of friends, and he is justly re-
garded as one of Dedham's most esteemed and
honored citizens ; all movements looking to the
welfare of his adopted town have found in him an
earnest advocate.

GEORGE A. SOUTHGATE, M.D.
Dr. George A. Southgate dates his ancestry in this
country to Richard Southgate, who came from Eng-
land in 1714, the line of descent being as follows:
Bichard, Richard, Isaac, Samuel, Samuel, George A.
In 1718-19 the latter, with his family, consisting
of wife and five children, accompanied by his brother
John, joined a company who moved from Boston and
vicinity to Strawberrry Hill, in Worcester County,
and organized the town now known as Leicester.

The elder Richard Southgate was the first treasurer
of the town and a large landholder, receiving from
the original grant seven hundred and forty acres of
land. He was a civil engineer, and did much in
making and laying out lots in the town. The lon-
gevity of the family is remarkable. Richard died in
Leicester, aged eighty-four, and his son Richard also
died in Leicester, aged eighty-four.

Isaac, son of the second Richard, also lived and died
in Leicester at the age of eighty-one ; and Samuel,
son of Isaac, lived and died in Leicester, in 1859,
aged eighty-one ; and Samuel, father of the subject of
this sketch, died in Dedham in 1877, aged seventy
years.

Dr. Southgate's mother was Charlotte Warren Ful-
ler, daughter of Charlotte Warren. His maternal
great-grandmother was Elizabeth Wheeler, and his
great-great-grandmother Mary Belcher Bass Hen-
shaw, whose father was Joseph Bass, who married
Ruth Alden, daughter of John Alden and Priscilla
Mullen. His mother and grandmother are both
living in Leicester, aged seventy-three and ninety-
three years respectively.

Dr. Southgate was born in Leicester, Sept. 27,
1833, and educated at Leicester Academy, where he
fitted for college, and continued under a private tutor
for two years. After spending two years in New
York he entered the oflBce of Jonathan E. Linnell,
' M.D., of Worcester, and when sufficiently advanced
entered the medical department of Dartmouth Col-
i lege, Hanover, N. H., under Dixi Crosby. He
took his degree in Philadelphia in 1859, and in the
! same year commenced practice in Millbury, where he
I remained until July, 1863, when he removed to Ded-
ham, where he has since remained in the active prac-
tice of his profession. He was married June 13,
1860, to Miss Mary Bigelow Willson, of West Rox-
bury, daughter of Rev. Luther Willson, of Petersham,
' and sister of Rev. E. B. Willson, now of Salem, for-
merly of West Roxbury. They have five children,
—Robert Willson, Delia Wells, May Fuller, Walter
Bradford, and Helen Louise. Politically, he is a
Republican, and in religion, liberal.

110

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

JEREMIAH W. GAY.

Jeremiah W. Gay was born in Dedham, Aug. 30,
1804. His father, Capt. William Gay, was born
in Dedham, June 25, 1752. Nov. 25, 1790, he
married Elizabeth Whiting, of Dedham, the daugh-
ter of Joshua Whiting, by whom he had four children,
— William King, who was born April 20, 1792, and
died Jan. 6, 1860; Sophia, who was born Sept. 21,
1793, and di6d, unmarried, at the age of seventy-eight
years; Lucy, who was born Sept. 22, 1797, and died,
unmarried, at the age of eighty-five years ; and Jer-
emiah W., who was married to Hannah P]. Dean,
daughter of Joseph and Hannah (Farrington) Dean,
by whom he had two children, Joseph A., who died
at the age of twenty-seven, and Lusher, who died at
the age of three years. William King Gay married
Susan Gould, by whom he had three children. Capt.
William Gay died at the age of seventy-six years, and
Elizabeth Whiting, his wife, died at the age of ninety-
one years. The grandfather of Jeremiah W. Gay was
Deacon Ichabod Gay, who married Elizabeth King,
who died at the age of forty-two years. He after-
wards married Lucy Richards, who also died at the
age of seventy-three years. Deacon Ichabod Gay was
a farmer, as were nearly all the ancestors of Jeremiah.
He died, greatly respected, Dec. 14, 1814, at the age
of ninety-one years. The great-grandfather of Jere-
miah W. Gay was Lusher Gay, who was born Sept.
26, 1685. The great-great-grandfather of the sub-
ject of this sketch was Nathaniel Gay, who was born
in 1642. Of Jeremiah W. Gay it may well be said
that he has shown respect to the scriptural injunction,
" remove not the ancient landmark which thy fithers
have set up," for the old homestead has remained in
the possession of the family from the time of the first
settlement of Dedham down through six generations
to the present time. The ancestors of Mr. Gay were
buried in the First Parish cemetery and in the cem-
etery in West Dedham.

The educational advantages enjoyed by Mr. Gay
were those of the common school. He has been a far-
mer all his life, and the presence of a comfortable home
with modern appointments, fine barns and outbuild-
ings, and broad, well-tilled acres clearly indicate a
large measure of success. Mr. Gay inherits the
manly bearing and positive character of Deacon Icha-
bod Gay, his grandfather, who was a soldier in the
Revolutionary war. The parents of Mr. Gay were
members of the Unitarian Church, and were highly
respected. Mr. Gay was in politics a member of the
Whig party, and has been identified with the Repub-
lican party from its organization. He has been an

extensive reader on agricultural matters, is well ad-
vised of the current news of the day, and is a man
whose opinion on general matters is rendered of value
by reason of the sturdy good sense with which he is
endowed. Mr. Gay has lived in Dedham all his life,
and has always been respected as a good citizen and
neighbor.

EDWIN AVHITING.

Edwin Whiting, only son of Abner and Loacada
Whiting, was born in Dedham, Jan. 27, 1806.
His father was born in Dedham and married Loacada
Whiting, by whom he had four children, three daugh-
ters and one son. In 1786 he built the house in
which his children were born, and which has been
continuously occupied by members of the family up
to the present time. There have been but two deaths
in the old homestead, that of himself and that of his
wife.

Edwin is of the seventh generation from Nathaniel
Whiting, who settled in Roxbury, Norfolk Co., at
a very early date.

The ancestors of Edwin became farmers and mil-
lers, and carried on an extensive business after the
settlement of Dedham, prior to which one had settled
on the banks of the Charles River and another on the
Neponset River, where they gained a livelihood by
trapping and hunting. Edwin's father was a farmer,
and Edwin was reared on the farm, being the fourth
child, his three sisters passing away at advanced ages.
Edwin's father died at the age of seventy -seven, and
his mother at the age of eighty-six.

Mr. Whiting received the sort of education ordi-
narily obtained in the district school, attending only
the winter term, and working on the farm with his
father during the summer. Thus he continued to
live until the death of his father, when at the age of
thirty-two years he took possession of the farm, making
just and equitable settlement with his sisters for their
portion of their father's estate. He subsequently
inherited considerable property from his uncle, Ed-
ward Whiting, who died without issue. Mr. Whit-
ing's paternal grandfather was Joseph, and his ma-
ternal grandfather was Joshua. Mr. Whiting married
Rebecca Dean, who was the daughter of Joseph and
Hannah (Farrington) Dean, of Dedham, by whom
there was born to them a daughter and son. Mrs.
Whiting died Feb. 12, 1882, and the daughter,
Frances R., directs the household affairs for her
father. The son, George E., carries on the farm
affairs. Mr, Whiting has been a fai-mer all his life,
and at one time owned a large tract of land about

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BRAINTREE.

Ill

the old homestead, but now his real estate possessions
comprise some one hundred and forty acres only, he
having invested to some extent in modern securities.
Mr. Whiting was a Whig in politics, but at the
present time takes but little interest in political
affairs, being content to lead a quiet life at his home.
He is independent in his religious convictions and a
good citizen.

WILLIAM AMES

Amos Ames, of Groton, Mass., was born Jan. 18,
1734 ; was a farmer and large land-owner. He mar-
ried Abigail Bulkley, born Oct. 28, 1733, daughter
of Col. John Bulkley, who was a prominent citizen
of Groton, where he died in 1772, aged sixty-nine
years. Amos Ames died Aug. 4, 1817 ; Abigail,
his wife, died Aug. 20, 1809. The Bulkley family
traces its ancestry to Lord Viscount Bulkley, whose
seat was at B^ron Hill, in the Isle of Anglesey.
Rev. Peter Bulkley settled in Concord, Mass., in
1636. His father was Rev. Edward Bulkley, D.D.

Rev. Edward Bulkley, son of Rev. Peter and Jane
Bulkley, was born at Odell, England, June 17, 1614 ;
he emigrated to this country in 1634. He was
licensed to preach the gospel, and was ordained at
Marshfield in 1642.

Hon. Peter Bulkley, oldest son of Rev. Edward
Bulkley, was born Nov. 3, 1641 ; graduated in 1660.
He settled in Concord. He held many important
offices, and acquitted himself with honor. He mar-
ried Rebecca Wheeler ; died at the age of forty-four.

Joseph Bulkley, son of Hon. Peter and Rebecca
Wheeler Bulkley, born Sept. 7, 1670. He made
his will, which is found on the records of Middlesex,
Mass. He lived in Littleton, Mass.

John Bulkley, son of Joseph Bulkley, born about
1703. He held a colonel's commission, and died in
Groton, in 1772, aged sixty-nine. John, his son,
born in 1748, graduated at Harvard in 1769 ; was
a lawyer, and died Dec. 16, 1774.

Amos and Abigail Ames had seven sons and three
daughters. Three of the sons were in the Revolu-
tionary army, the youngest being only sixteen years
of age at the time of entering the service. All were
taken prisoners, being confined on the prison-ship at
Halifax ; they afterwards made their escape and again
entered the army.

Bulkley Ames, son of Amos Ames, farmer, was
born in Groton, July 20, 1772 ; held many offices of
trust, being selectman of the town for seventeen
years in succession ; married Lydia Prescott, born

Jan. 8, 1780, daughter of Ebenezer Prescott, of
Westford, Mass., whose ancestors settled in Lan-
caster about 1647. He was a large land proprietor,
and owner of the iron-works at Forge Village, in
Westford ; cousin of Col. William Prescott, of Bun-
ker Hill fame. He died Jan. 22, 1811.

Bulkley and Lydia Ames had three sons and one
daughter. William Ames, son of Bulkley Ames,
was born in Groton, Aug. 6, 1807. He was for a
number of years partner of Jabez Coney, and largely
interested in the millwright and machinery business ;
was superintendent in the building of several fac-
tories and public buildings ; married Susan Lewis,
daughter of Capt. Samuel Lewis, of Dedham, who
lived on the place upon which his ancestors settled
in the early settlement of the town. She was bora
April 26, 1814, died Feb. 13, 1880. He had two
sons and two daughters. Politically he is a Repub-
lican.

CHAPTER XII L

BRAINTREE.

BY SAMUEL A. BATES.

The town of Braintree was incorporated May 13,
1640 (0. S.). It included within its limits the
present towns of Braintree, Quincy, Randolph, and
Holbrook. Previous to its incorporation Quincy was
called Mount Wollaston, and Braintree, Monoticut.
It took its name from the river which flows through
it, and which is spelled in so many different ways in
the ancient records that it is uncertain which is the
correct one. It is now written Monatiquot. Hol-
brook and a part of Randolph (perhaps the whole)
were called Cochato, sometimes Cocheco. In one
instance Cochato was called Beersheba. Tradition
says that Randolph was once called Scadding, but I
have never seen the name on the records. Quincy
was set off as a separate town in 1792, and Randolph
in 1793. Holbrook at that time was a part of Ran-
dolph. In 1856 a small portion of Braintree was
annexed to Quincy. It was that portion known in
ancient times as Knight's Neck, but in later days as
Newcomb's Landing.

Religious Societies. — The first church in Brain-
tree was organized Sept. 16, 1639, it being the Lord's
day. The meeting-house was situated in the north
part of the town, in the centre of the street now called
Hancock, near the junction of Canal Street. When
the way from Boston to Plymouth was laid out, in

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

16-48, it was to be four rods wide, commencing at
Smelt Brook, on the borders of Weymouth and
Braintree, running over what is now Commercial
Street in Braintree, and Franklin, School, and Han-
cock Streets in Quincy, till it comes to the meeting-
house, when it shall be two rods on one end of the
house and two rods on the other end, thus leaving it
in the centre of the street. At that time there were
but a few inhabitants in the south part of the town.
But the settlement continued to increase, and grad-
ually to extend towards its southern limits. At what
time the first house was erected in the limits of
Monoticut, the ancient name of the present town of
Braintree, is unknown. We know that in February,
1639-40, only five months after the embodiment of
the church, we find a grant of land to John French
and John Collins, of Monoticut. Soon after 1643
the iron-works were built on Monoticut River, which
must have caused much increase of population in
that part of the town. As early as 1658, and prob-
ably earlier, the town had been settled as far south as
Randolph line, on the old road to Taunton, for at
that time John Moore resided on what is still known
as Moore's farm, a plot of six hundred acres of land,
bounded on the north and east by Monoticut River,
and partly on the west by Great Pond. This portion
of the river iu latter years has been called Moore's
Farm River, in memory of the first settler upon its
borders. As the settlement enlarged, the inhabitants
felt that they needed a more convenient place of
assembling themselves together, as some of them were
obliged to travel many miles to attend upon public
worship. About 1690 the inhabitants began to
move in the matter of forming a new precinct in the
south part of the town, but it was opposed by those
living in the north part. A bitter feud existed be-
tween the difl'erent sections of the town concerning
this matter, of which but little is known at the
present time ; but a person then residing at the north
end, named John Marshall, has left a diary which
contains some sharp allusions to members of the
church, who, he says, acted in a disorderly manner,
and withdrew from the Lords table. That he made
charges which he could not maintain is evident from
what afterwards transpired. The movement for a
new society was continued until 1706, when a meet-
ing-house was built near the corner of Washington
and Elm Streets, in the present town of Braintree.
That this was done legally no one claimed, but its
founders did claim that might deprived them of their
just rights, the opposers of the new movement being
composed of the most influential citizens of the town,
at tlie head of whom stood the Hon. Edmund

Quincy, one of the leaders of the government of the
colony. But the advocates of the new precinct were
sustained by the advice and support of the leaders of
the church in the vicinity, and on May 6, 1706, the
meeting-house was raised in which they might wor-
ship, and which was soon after completed. Sept. 10,
1707, Rev. Hugh Adams was ordained its pastor, and
the church was recognized on the same day. He was
the son of John and Avis Adams, born in Boston,
May 7, 1670, graduated at Harvard College in 1697,
at the age of twenty-one years. In his diary he
states that at his installation at Durham, N. H., " the
Rev. Jonathan Cushing read publicly the testimonial
of my ordination at Braintree, signed by the Rev.
Increase Mather and his son Cotton Mather (of the
Old North Church, in Boston), and Rev. Mr. James
Keith, the hoary-headed pastor of the church in
Bridgewater, who laid their hands on my head in that
ordination." This testimonial was also signed by the
Rev. Nehemiah Walker, pastor of the church in Rox-
bury. We see in this account the names and in-
fluence of those men who, without the consent of the
authorities of the colony, dared to organize the new
church in Braintree. Had those men of whom
Marshall spoke acted in an unchristianlike and dis-
orderly manner, as charged by him, we do not believe
that such men as the Mathers, Keith, and Walker,
leaders iu the church at that time, would have en-
couraged them in their great undertaking, and lent
their aid and presence to embody their new church,
and, in addition, ordain a pastor to break for them the
bread of life. But they had other opposition still to
encounter, and they petitioned the legal authorities to
be set ofi' from the old society, and establish a new
precinct, to be called the South Precinct, in Braintree,
By the action of the authorities in answer to their
petition, they were compelled to pay their proportion
of the expense of supporting the old society, which
was raised by legal rates, and also to pay for the sup-
port of their own pastor, the money necessary being
raised by subscription. This double burden was a
heavy tax upon the new precinct, as it was composed
of men with moderate means. Rev. Mr. Adams re-
mained as their pastor until Aug. 22, 1710, when
the connection was dissolved, and he removed to
Chatham, Mass., and afterwards to Oyster River
parish, now Durham, N. H. During the pastorate of
Mr. Adams the South Precinct was set off", and regu-
larly established as the South Precinct of Braintree.
This was not accomplished without opposition.

A town-meeting was called to meet Nov. 3, 1708,
to consult and consider about, and, if possible, to fix
upon a suitable and reasonable line of division, dis-

BRAIiNTREE.

113

tinction, or limitation of the said South End assem-
bly and society and of the North End congregation,
that said line be lovingly agreed upon and settled, if
it may be. There were those that did immediately
declare against the dividing of the town, and that
they did refuse to join with said inhabitants in that
affair, and requested that it might be entered with their
names in the town-book. These then entered their
names : Lieut. John Cleverly, Ensign William Veasey,
Solomon Veasey, Moses Penniman, James Penniman,
Samuel Penniman, John Newcomb, Jr., James Brack-
ett, Nathan Brackett, and John Sanders. The same
day it was voted that Col. Edmund Quincy, Esq., and
Sergt. Nehemiah Hayden be a committee to petition
the General Court in the name of the town to set off
the south part of the town as a separate precinct.
This was granted, and the legal existence of this so-
ciety commenced on Nov. 5, 1708, and has contin-
ued to this day. The names of those who were
especially active in securing the organization of the
new precinct were Samuel White, Caleb Hobart,
Nehemiah Hayden, Joseph Allen, Samuel Bass,
Samuel Payne, Ebenezer Thayer, Samuel Niles, Jr.,
and Samuel French.

The Rev. Samuel Niles, second pastor of the so-
ciety, was ordained May 23, 1711. Rev. Peter
Thacher (his father-in-law), of Milton, Rev. Joseph
Belcher, of Dedham, Rev. John Danforth, of Dor-
chester, and Rev. Mr. Thacher, of Weymouth, as-
sisted in the services, the sermon being preached by
the pastor-elect, as was the usual custom in those
days. Rev. Mr. Niles was the son of Nathaniel and
Sarah (Sands) Niles, of Block Island, and grandson
of John Niles, one of the first settlers of Braintree.
He was born May 1, 1673 ; baptized March 14,
1697, by Rev. Peter Thacher, at Milton, owning
his father's covenant ; joined the church at Mil-
ton, January, 1699; entered Harvard College when
twenty-two years of age, from whence he graduated
in 1699 ; was licensed to preach soon after; acted as
pastor of the church in his native place for two years,
and until his ordination, in 1711, was actively engaged
in farming and ship building, by which occupations
he earned his living. He had three wives and a
large family of children. He was an able preacher,
and one of the strong supporters of the Calvinistic
creed. He naturally became a leader in the op-
position to the introduction of Unitarian principles
into the Congregational Church of New England.
He died May 1, 1762. He was pastor of this
church for nearly fifty-one years, and was engaged
in active service from the time of his settlement, and
preached till the last Sabbath previous to his death.

His funeral sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Smith,
of Weymouth, from the text, " And Samuel died."
He kept a diary during the whole term of his pas-
torate, which is now in possession of the Hon. Asa
French, of Braintree, and which is very valuable to
the genealogist. The third pastor was the Rev. Ezra
Weld, ordained Nov. 17, 1762. He was born in
Ponifret, Conn., June 13, 1736, graduated at Yale
College in 1759, and died Jan. 16, 1816, aged nearly
eighty years. He retired from active duties Aug.
17, 1807, the society paying him two hundred and
eighty-six dollars and sixty-six cents per annum dur-
ing the remainder of his life.

The Rev. Sylvester Sage was installed as the fourth
pastor Nov. 4, 1807. In consequence of the health
of his family he was compelled to ask for his dis-
charge, which was granted, and he was dismissed by
council May 4, 1809. Rev. William Allen was given
an invitation to become pastor of this church May
24, 1810, but he declined the call. Oct. 26, 1810,
the town voted to invite Mr. Richard Salter Storrs
to settle with them in the work of the gospel minis-
try, which vote was unanimous. Nov. 5, 1810, it
was voted to pay Mr. Storrs the sum of eight hundred
and twenty dollars per annum as long as he is the
minister, and that John Hobart shall carry the pro-
ceedings to him for his consideration, and get his an-
swer as soon as may be, for which service he shall
receive the sum of six dollars. It was also voted that
Dr. Daniel Fogg and Lieut. Nathaniel Thayer shall
be a committee to assist the clerk in fixing and writing
a letter to Mr. Storrs. July 3, 1811, Mr. Storrs was
ordained the fifth pastor of the church. He was born
in Longmeadow, Feb. 6, 1787, and was the son of
Rev. Richard S. and Sally (Williston) Storrs, and
graduated at Williams College in 1807. Previous to
his ordination he spent six months in the missionary
service in Georgia. After a long pastorate o^ more
than sixty-two years, he passed from earth Aug. 11,
1873. aged eighty-six years, six months, and five
days, leaving behind him an unblemished reputation
as a Christian, a scholar, a citizen, a neighbor, and a
friend. In whatever path he trod, he left his footsteps
so deeply imprinted that time will never erase them.
I An earnest advocate of the education of the young
I and tender mind, he spent much time in watching
over the interests of our schools, for many years be-
ing placed at the head of the committee of superin-
I tendence by the free suffrages of his fellow-citizens.
As a citizen he took an active part in the welfare of his
State and nation, and was selected, Oct. 20, 1820, as
I the delegate of the town to meet delegates of other
! towns in convention at Boston, for the purpose of re-

114

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

vising the Constitution of government of this com-
monwealth. As a clergyman he stood at the head of
bis profession, attracting hirge audiences when it was
known that he was to take part in the services, his
impassioned oratory almost magnetizing his hearers.
He was an orator, created rather than manufactured.
His deep, sonorous voice, commanding presence, and
lightning-like eloquence conveyed to the hearts of his
hearers the conviction that his words not only flowed
from the mind, but also from the heart. He married
three times, and had by his second wife one son, the
Rev. Dr. Richard Salter Storrs, of Brooklyn, N. Y.,
who is well known throughout the country. About
1831 the church voted that their pastor, Rev. Dr.
Storrs, should be at liberty for a term not exceeding
five years, that he might accept the position of asso-
ciate secretary and general agent of the American
Home Missionary Society for the New England States.
It therefore became necessary that a colleague should
be procured to perform the duties of the pastorate
during his absence. Mr. Edwards A. Park was se-
lected for that purpose, and was ordained to the work
of the ministry Dec. 21, 1831. Rev. Dr. Park re-
mained as colleague pastor until Jan. 17, 1831:, when
a council dissolved the connection in consequence of
his acceptance of a professorship in Amherst College.
The senior pastor did not resume his duties until
1836, and the pulpit was supplied by transient cler-
gymen, among whom may be named Rev. Paul Jewett
and Rev. William R. Jewett, who preached most of
the time. During the last few years of his life he
was obliged to have assistance, and Rev. E. P. Tenney
and William S. Hubbell were procured for that pur-
pose, and I think the last gentleman was regularly in-
stalled colleague pastor. The Rev. Thomas A. Emer-
son, the sixth pastor, was installed May 7, 1874. He
was born in Wakefield, Dec. 27, 1840, and was the
son of Thomas and Emily (Swain) Emerson. He
graduated from Yale College in 1863, and also from
Andover Theological Seminary in 1869. He married,
Oct. 27, 1875, Fannie Huntington Brewster, daughter
of Rev. Dr. Robert and Ellen 'SI. (Griffin) Crawford,
and granddaughter of Rev. Dr. Griffin, president of
Williams College.

During the existence of this church, a period of
one hundred and seventy-seven years, they have
worshiped in four diff"erent meeting-houses, the first
having been built in 1706. About 1758, the house
having become dilapidated, they resolved on having
a new and more convenient house, and the first
meeting was held within its walls on Thursday, June
28, 1759, that being the day appointed for a public
fast. It was in this house that the citizens of the

old town of Braintree were accustomed to assemble
for the transaction of their civil business, and it
was here that those true men, led by John Adams,
Esq., then a young lawyer, but afterwards President
of the United States, were heard lifting up their
voices in behalf of American independence. This
house was torn down in 1830, to give place to a new
house, which was dedicated to the worship of God
Dec. 29, 1830, with appropriate services. June 3,
1857, the present house of worship was dedicated
by solemn services.

Opposite the church is the spot selected to bury
their dead. It was purchased of Josiah Hobart by
Deacon Joseph Allen, Deacon Samuel Bass, and
Dependence French, a committee appointed by the
precinct for that purpose. The deed bears date
March 10, 1718, and states the price paid for one-
half acre of land to be ten pounds. Within its
limits are buried the earthly remains of those three
veterans in the ministry. Rev. Samuel Niles, Rev.
Ezra Weld, and Rev. Dr. Richard S. Storrs.

About 1810 the citizens of the east part of the
town joined with the inhabitants of that part of
Weymouth called the Landing, and formed the second
society in Braintree, taking the name of the Union
Religious Society of Weymouth and Braintree. It
purchased the meeting-house of the Hollis Street
Church, in Boston, and removed it to Braintree, and
they still occupy it. Their first pastor was the Rev.
Daniel Clark, installed Dec. 31, 1811, who was dis-
missed Oct.-l, 1813, he not giving good satisfaction.
Their second pastor was the Rev. Jonas Perkins, who
was ordained June 14, 1815. He was born in North
Bridgwater, Oct. 15, 1790, graduated at Brown Uni-
versity in 1813, and died June 26, 1874. He was the
son of Josiah and Anna (Reynolds) Perkins. He was
the minister of my boyhood, and I knew him well. I
can 6nd no language to express my appreciation of his
worth as a citizen, pastor, neighbor, and friend better
than that used by Hon. Joseph W. Porter in a sketch
of his life, which I trust he will pardon me for
copying : '■ The pastorate of Rev. Mr. Perkins,
covering, as it did, forty-six years of active service,
with fifteen added years upon the retired list, was
long and successful, resulting in great good to the
church and society, increasing largely their material
as well as spiritual strength, adding to the member-
ship of the church, principally during three powerful
revivals, three hundred and twenty-two members.
Consecrating his whole powers to the work of the
gospel ministry, uniting in himself ripe scholarship,
excellent judgment, with firmness of purpose, and
the strictest integrity, his was a character of the

braintrep:.

115

most admirable proportions. A wise and faithful
pastor, he was eminently a peace-maker, and when,
at the full age of seventy years, in accordance with
long-expressed plans, he resigned his office and re-
tired from its duties, he carried with him the aifec-
tion and respect, not only of his own church and
society, but that of the whole community where he
lived." Being a contemporary of Dr. Storrs, he
served with him upon the school committee to the
satisfaction of the town. Upon his resignation, Oct.
15, 1860, the church was left without a pastor. But
on Jan. 17, 1861, Rev. Lysander Dickerman was
installed pastor over the society. He held that posi-
tion until July, 1867, when he resigned the pas-
torate. He was succeeded by Rev. A. A. Ells-
worth, who supplied the pulpit for about three and
one-half years, when the Rev. Lucien H. Frary ac-
cepted a call from the church and society, and was
installed pastor April 13, 1875, and still remains.
He endeavors to follow in the footsteps of his
venerable predecessor, who so long lived with this
people, and I trust that the mantle of Jonas has
fallen upon him. He is highly esteemed by all
who know him.

The South Congregational Church was the third es-
tablished in the town. It built a house of worship in
South Braintree, and ordained for its first pastor the
Rev. Lyman Matthews, Aug. 4, 1830. He continued
in that position about fourteen years, and resigned
Oct. 4, 1844, at which time he removed to Vermont.
This is the longest pastorate in the society, and the pul-
pit has been occupied by many clergymen during the
period of forty years which has passed since Rev. Mr.
Matthews resigned. Some of them were installed,
while others were hired from year to year. Among
those who have ministered unto them for any con-
siderable time I remember Rev. Francis V. Tenney,
Rev. William B. Hammond, Rev. Dennis Powers,
Rev. Lucius R. Eastman, Jr., Rev. L. Wheaton Allen,
Rev. Albion H. Johnson, and Rev. Edwin Smith.
Rev. E. 0. Dyer is supplying the pulpit at present.
A few years since their meeting-house was burned,
and another was erected on the same site.

The First Baptist Society was organized about 1842,
and built their meeting-house the same year. Their
first pastor was, I think, the Rev. John Blain, al-
though he was never settled over the society, being
what was called an Evangelist.

Rev. George N. Waitt commenced his labors with
them Sept. 10, 1843, and resigned his place in March,
1846. Previous to the coming of Mr. Waitt — that is,
during the winter of 1842 and 1843 — the sect called
Millerites, who predicted the destruction of the earth

in that year, obtained a foothold in the society, and
held meetings there frequently, sometimes every day
in the week. There was great excitement in the town.
It succeeded in making many proselytes, some of them
being the leading members of this young church.
It was a blow from which they never fully recovered,
although time ought to have convinced the followers
of Miller of their error. The ministrations of the
Rev. Mr. Waitt also tended to injure the welfare of
the society. Rev, Aaron Haynes then took charge of
the society, but failed to heal the difficulties with
which they were surrounded. He only remained one
year. Rev. George Daland then took charge, and re-
mained with them about nine years, the longest
pastorate they enjoyed during their existence. During
the ministry of Rev. Mr. Daland, an offshoot from
this society, comprised of some disaffected members,
held meetings in Monatiquot Hall, but a few rods
from the old house, but they had but a brief existence.
Rev. Ruel B. Moody, Rev. Thomas C. Russell, and
Rev. George B. Williams officiated as pastors during
the few following years. The society became so weak
that it was unable to support the preaching of the
Gospel, when they sold their house to the Methodists,
and some of them joined that church.

The Second Baptist Church in Braintree was or-
ganized about 1869. It was composed of members
of the First Baptist Church, who withdrew to form
a church in the north part of the town. They
bought the old school-house which stood near the
j corner of Washington and West Streets, and re-
modeled it as a chapel, removing it to Washington,
1 and afterwards to Elm Street, nearly opposite the
church of the First Congregational Society. Rev.
George B. Williams, the former pastor of the First
Baptist Church, went with them, and broke unto
them the bread of life. But the society failed for
want of support, and the chapel was sold, and- after-
wards used as a factory for the manufacture of boots.
It existed about seven years.

About the year 1831 a number of the citizens of
the town united together for the purpose of sustain-
ing preaching by Methodist clergymen, and held their
meetings in the hall of Samuel V. Arnold. These
meetings were held at intervals, and the only person
who ministered unto them, as far as I can learn, was
the Rev. Jefferson Hamilton, who removed afterwards
to the South. It endeavored to obtain the town hall
in which to hold their meetings, but the town refused
to open its doors for their accommodation. Whether
they ever enjoyed a legal existence is very much
doubted, although spoken of in the records of the town
as the Methodist Episcopal Society of Braintree. It

116

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

existed but a short time, and gradually died out. But
a society of this denomination met Feb. 22, 1874,
and formed themselves into a legal organization. At
the time of its organization the pulpit was supplied by
Rev. Louis E. Charpiot. He was succeeded by Rev.
William Livesey, who died during his term of service,
and Rev. Joseph Hammond finished the term. In
1876, Rev. Edward M. Taylor, from Pennsylvania,
was appointed to the station, and remained three
years.

Rev. Marcus F. Colburn was the next pastor, but
his health failing, he was relieved by Rev. William I.
Ward. During the pastorate of the Rev. Mr. Col-
burn, a branch Sabbath-school was established in the
east part of the town, and a preaching service held
there each Sunday evening. In 1881, Rev. George
E. Brightman was appointed its pastor, and still re-
mains, but his term of service will expire in April
next, the full term of three years being then com-
pleted. At their organization they purchased the
meeting-house formerly occupied by the First Baptist
Society, which was completely destroyed by fire in
the latter part of the year 1883. Since that time
they have held their meetings in the town hall.
They will undoubtedly rebuild the coming summer,
about three thousand dollars having been subscribed
for that purpose.

About fifty years ago the doctrines of Universalism
were preached to its hearers by difi"erent clergymen
of that denomination, chiefly through the instru-
mentality of Samuel V. Arnold, the meetings being
held in his hall. A society was formed soon after-
wards, but it never gained a foothold, and went out
of existence on the death of Mr. Arnold. The Uni-
tarians also held meetings at the town hall for some
years, but have been discontinued, although they had
all the money they needed, but failed for want of
hearers. Rev. Edward C. Towne, Rev. Fiske Bar-
rett, and others ministered unto them during the time
of their existence.

In 1877 the Catholics organized a society, which is
a branch of the Quincy diocese. For some time they
held their meetings in a hall, but a few years since
built a church on Central Avenue, where they con-
tinue to hold their services. The attendance on the
Sabbath is quite large. These are all the religious
organizations of which we have any knowledge, al-
though the Spiritualists have held meetings in the
east part of the town.

Schools. — As soon as a clmrch was established by
the early settlers of New England they began to take
measures to educate their children. Although the
schools were partly supported by assessments upon

each scholar, they were made payable in wood. This
enabled the parent to pay those assessments easily, as
all of them owned land which was well covered with
wood. If a new settler came into town they could
purchase land for from three to six shillings per acre.
The schools of the town were supported by labor, as
all other institutions were at that time. Gold and
silver were rarities at that time, and the trade was
almost wholly carried on by barter. The first men-
tion in the town records of schools is the following
paper, which T copy in full :

"MR. FFLINTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE SALE
OF THE SCHOOLE HOUSE.
" This day Mr. fflint made acknowledgement of the sale of
the house and lote which was lately John Paflins, and since his
death sold unto the said Henry fflint by William Penn, by vir-
tue of an execution, sued out by him in the presence of all the
townsmen, the said Henry fflint doth acknowledge himself fully
satisfied, By Doctor John Morly for the sd house, only the sd Mr.
Doctor doth promise that if he should be called forth oflf the
towne to sirrender backe again the sd house to Mr. filint at
the same rate of seaven pounds which he payd, being allowed at
the discretion of indifferent men for such charges as he has
binne att, in witness hereof the sd Henry fflint and Mr. Doctor
have hereunto set their hands the day and year above written
in the presence of

"Samuel Bass. "Henry fflint.

" Richard Bkackett. " John Moely.

" Moses Paine.

" Thomas Blanchee.

" Martin Sanders.

" Matthew Barnes.

" William Allis."

On the upper corner of the record is the year 1648,
the day or month being torn oS". Henry Flint, teacher
of the First Church in Braintree, was probably the
schoolmaster, and was succeeded by Dr. John Morly,
who afterwards taught school in Boston or Charles-
town. Previous to the execution of this paper, how-
ever, is an account of land recovered from Mr. Cod-
dington, who had removed to Rhode Island. Tradition
says that William Coddington gave the town of Brain-
tree certain lands, the income of which should be ex-
pended for the support of schools in said town. Upon
the division of the town this fund was divided, each
town being allowed their portion. Quincy has hon-
ored his name by naming streets, school-houses, etc.,
by the name of Coddington. The record is headed
" The Schoole Lands, 1640." In the margin are
these words, " The deed of the Land recovered of Mr.
Coddinton." The record is incomplete, owing to the
worn state of the paper, much of it being illegible, but
enough is left to understand something of its mean-
ing. It was covenanted between the town of Brain-
tree and Richard Right that the said Richard Right
shall put the town of Braintree in full possession of

BRAINTREE.

117

land formerly called Mr. Coddington's Neck, to the
said town to be held forever (then giving its bounds)
in consideration of all the said lands the said town of
Braintree hath given to the said Richard Right ninety-
eight pounds, — shillings, and eight pence, being
ground allowed by the courts to the town of Braintree
out of the goods of — Coddington. Richard Right
was the legally appointed attorney for William Cod-
dington in Massachusetts. That the town of Brain-
tree sued Coddington is undeniable, that the courts
allowed the town this land is substantiated, and that
the town paid for this land is equally true. Did
Coddington then give this land for the benefit of the
schools ? I answer, decidedly, Xo ; and until some
evidence is produced to substantiate that claim, I shall
adhere to that opinion.

In the year 1716 the first school was established
in the present limits of Braintree. It was called a
"reading- and writing-school." Oct. 1, 1716, the
selectmen have agreed with Joseph Parmiter to keep
the school at Monotoquod for six shillings per week
and his diet. What his diet cost we know not, as
Mr. Peter Hobart received about six pounds for diet
and a pair of shoes, together with a part of his school
wages. He was engaged the next year at eleven
shillings per week.

To endeavor to trace the formation of all the schools
would require much space. There are now in the
town a high school kept in the town house in apart-
ments especially built for it, two school-houses
where four schools are kept, one house with three
schools, one with two schools, and five with one
school. Besides this, in 1877 a beautiful building
was built on Washington Street, near the town hall,
from the bequest of Gen. Sylvanus Thayer, who en-
dowed the institution with about two hundred and
eighty thousand dollars, to which was added by the
town the sum of twenty thousand dollars. This
school, free to all the citizens of the old town of
Braintree, prepares its pupils for admission to college,
and is under the supervision of Rev. Jotham B.
Sewall, formerly professor in Bowdoin College, as-
sisted by an able corps of teachers. Besides the do-
nations to the town which I have named, Nathaniel
Thayer left to the town the larger part of his estate,
and is now a part of the school fund of the town,
which yields an annual income of from three hundred
to four hundred dollars, and which is used for the sup-
port of schools.

May 4, 1842. John Ruggles Hollis, a native of
this town, died, and left a will bequeathing to the
South Congregational Society a sum of money, the
income of which was to support a high grade of school

for the education of the children of those who were
members of said society. The society built a build-
ing near the church, and established a school called
the Hollis Institute, which was in successful operation
until 1858, when the high school was opened, and it
ceased to exist. It could hardly be called a free
school, as a small tuition was charged each scholar
per quarter, as the income of the fund was not large
enough to pay for its support. Rev. William M.
Thayer and Benjamin Kendall were among the prin-
cipal teachers. Upon its discontinuance the fund was
taken for the purpose of building a new meeting-house,
and the institute building was changed into a dwell-
ing-house.

Manufactures. — The first establishment for man-
ufacturing purposes in the town was on Monatiquot
River, in the easterly part of the town. About the
year 1643 a company called the " Company Under-
takers of the Iron-Works" was formed for the pur-
pose of establishing iron-works in Massachusetts.
The citizens of the town of Boston, then, as now,
ever ready to extend aid to foster the manufacturing
interests of the nation, granted Jan. 19, 1643,
unto John Winthrop, Jr., and associates, three thou-
sand acres of land for the encouragement of an iron-
work to be set up about Monatiquot River, the
said land to be laid out next adjoining and most con-
venient for their said iron-works. The title to this
land was not completed until Nov. 23, 1647, when
a deed was given of two thousand eight hundred and
sixty acres of land, bounded as follows, viz. : South
and west by Boston Common, on the north by divers
lots belonging to Boston, on the east by Weymouth
lands and Weymouth Pond. Also one hundred and
forty acres bounded on the south by Mr. Henry
Webb's farm, Monatiquot River on the west, and on
the north and east with certain lots of Boston. Pat-
tee, in his history of old Braintree and Quincy,
locates this land on the borders of the towns of
Quincy and Milton, the land lying in both towns.
That this is incorrect is evident to every careful exam-
iner of our records. Although it is difficult after the
lapse of so many years to give it a precise location,
yet the records of Suffolk County give light enough to
designate nearly its location, The plot of two thou-
sand eight hundred and sixty acres was situated in the
easterly part of the present town of Braintree. The
line of the town of Weymouth was its easterly bound,
and it extended southward as far as what is now Hol-
brook line. Where the easterly line was, is evident from
this fact, that when the way was laid out from Braintree
to Cochato, or Holbrook, it butted on the land given
by the town of Boston for the encouragement of the

118

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

iron-works. It is therefore, clearly to be seen that
the tract of land was situated in that part of old
Braintree commencing at Holbrook line and running
northerly nearly along the line of what is now Wash-
ington Street at Cranberry Brook to Union Street,
thence running easterly to Weymouth line, the
north line being at not a great distance from Union
and Commercial Streets. This land was afterwards
sold to John Holbrook and Samuel White, of Wey-
mouth, and a portion of this land is now in the pos-
session of the descendants of Samuel White. Many
of the old deeds and later conveyances refer to the
fact of its having been part of the land given for the
encouragement of the iron-works. But it may be
said that the one hundred and forty acres was located
near Milton, and upon that the iron-works were located.
Let us briefly consider this point. How was it
bounded ? On the north and east by certain lots of
Boston, says the grant. On the north was the South
Commons, and on the east what was called Little Com-
mons. Its western boundary was Monatiquot River.
Its southern boundary was Mr. Henry AVebb's farm.
A portion of Webb's farm was sold to Samuel Allen
in 1648, and remained in the family until within a
few years, and is situated near the station on the
South Shore Railroad, at East Braintree. These
boundaries place the location of the one hundred and
forty acres of land as being near the junction of
Commercial and Adams Streets. This land came into
the possession of the creditors of the company, and
was afterwards sold by them. A portion of it was
bought by Elder Nathaniel Wales, who built a house
upon it in 1692, and is occupied by his descendants
at the present time. In the appraisement of the com-
pany's property when it failed are lots of land named
after diiferent individuals, probably after those who
had previously owned it. We find among the names
those of Thayer, French, Penn, Ruggles, and New-
comb, who all owned land in the vicinity of what we
claim as being the true location. The Suffolk records
contain many allusions to these lands, but they are
too voluminous to copy for this work. The company
was not successful in business, and failed in 1653.
Why it was so we know not at this late day, but pre-
sume that the persons who conducted its affairs were
inefficient and unacquainted with the business, as one
of the employes of the company, James Leonard,
soon after its failure went lo Taunton and formed a
company to carry on the same business there, which
was successfully continued for many years. The
difficulty appears to be that Leader, Gilford, and
others whom the company selected as agents or over-
seers, had no personal interest in the business except

their yearly salary, and that the proprietors knew but
little or nothing of the business. The location of the
dam was about forty rods above the bridge on Shaw
Street, in East Braintree. Although unsuccessful, it
produced some good results to the town, as it brought
into the town new settlers, who built dwelling-houses
and reclaimed wild lands. Soon after 1680, John
Hubbard, of Boston, rebuilt the dam, and erected a
saw-mill, iron-works, and forge on or near the same
spot.

These works were occupied some years, but there
was a continual contention between the owner, Thomas
Vinton, who bought them of the Hubbard family,
and the town concerning the passage of the fish up
the Monaticut River. Alewives and other fish ran
in large quantities up the river to the ponds to lay
their spawn if they were not hindered by obstructions
in the river. The people were jealous of their rights,
and claimed that they were deprived of a portion of
their living by these obstructions, as it was their cus-
tom to preserve in the proper season all the alewives
they could consume in their families during the suc-
ceeding year. To deprive them of their fish was to
deprive them of their living, and they would not
submit to this loss. So great was the disaffection
that a number of men went one night and destroyed
the dam. Thereupon law-suits arose, until finally the
town purchased the dam and privilege, and this settled
the difficulties. For many years nothing was done
with this privilege until Caleb Hunt and others ob-
tained the right from the town to build a mill. They
built a new dam about forty rods below the ancient
one, where a saw-mill was established, and afterwards
a grist-mill, which for many years was owned by
Abraham Hobart, and is now occupied by the firm
of Ambler & Hobart, extensive grain dealers.

About the year 1790, Col. William Allen erected
a grist-mill on the river on the south side of Commer-
cial Street, near the stone bridge. It was occupied
by himself and partners for some years, and after-
wards purchased by Jonas Welch, who commenced
the manufacture of chocolate. The chocolate made
proved to be the best in the market, and brought the
highest price. Welch's chocolate became celebrated
throughout the country. Upon the death of Mr.
Welch the business passed into the hands of Alexan-
der Bowditch, who continued the business for some
years. About 1853 another building was erected for
the manufacture of carpeting upon the same privilege,
but did not prove a success. It was also used for a
short time as a manufactory for boot- and shoe-lasts.
About twenty years ago it was burned to the ground
together with the old grist- and chocolate-mill. Al-

BRAINTREE.

119

though several companies have endeavored to purchase

the privilege, they were unable so to do, and the site is
still bare and desolate, with hardly a vestige remaining
to mark the spot.

Not far from 1680 a young man by the name of
John Bowditch, supposed to come from Salem, came to
the town, and, marrying the daughter of John French,
settled here, built a dam, and set up a fulling-mill near
Commercial Street, on one of the best sites for a mill
privilege on Monatiquot River. This privilege re-
mained in the hands of the Bowditch family until about
1796, when it was sold to other parties. During the
time it was in their hands a grist-mill was built, but
when is unknown. When the mill was sold by the heirs
of John Bowditch, a grist-mill is mentioned, but no
fulling-mill. The business of fulling cloth, as separate
from the weaving thereof, had departed. It is remem-
bered by the oldest citizens that one Abigail Bowditch,
a maiden lady, took sole charge of the grinding of corn,
and would with ease take a two-bushel bag of meal
upon her shoulder, carry it up the stairs to the
street, and place it in the wagon, without assistance.
For about twenty years it was occupied by Jonathan
Thayer, Amasa Penniman, Walter Rogers, Benjamin
Smith, and other parties in the manufacture of various
kinds of goods. To attempt to describe the varieties
of business carried on there would fill many pages of
manuscript, and then would be incomplete from lack
of evidence, the information being mostly derived
from tradition. About 1823 a company was formed,
purchased the privilege, and commenced enlarging and
improving the property. John Edson acted as their
agent. Cotton-gins were manufactured quite exten-
sively, and a mill was built for the making of cotton
cloths, which stood until last year, when it being old
and dilapidated, was torn down. This company sold
it to the Boston Flax Company, who did a large and
successful business in the manufacture of twine, linen
goods, etc., employing about six hundred men, women,
and children. It gave an impetus to the growth of
that village hitherto unsurpassed in the history of
Braintree. During the thirty years of its existence
houses were built for the use of the employes, stores
were opened, and business was brisk, not only in the
immediate locality, but throughout the town.

About 1880 they removed their machinery to Lud-
low, Mass., and sold the establishment to the Jenkins
Manufacturing Company. Since that time it has been
occupied by its owners in the manufacture of shoe-
lacings, by the Columbia Rubber Company in that of
rubber cloth, and F. B. Allen in that of fans. The
village has not yet recovered from the effects of the
removal of the Boston Flax Company.

Not far from 1760 Hobart Clark came to town,
and built a fulling-mill upon or near Adams Street.
This privilege was used only a few years, and I can
find no evidence that it was occupied by any other
person except Adam Hobart, Jr., who had a lathe
there a short time, but what he did I find no account
of. This dam finally became rotten, and is now only
known as having caused a vexatious law-suit, which
will be mentioned in another place.

Another dam was erected on Adams Street about
the year 1835 by the Hon. Benjamin V. French, a
native of the town, who had acquired a fortune while
a merchant in Boston. He was a man of active
business habits, and did much for the improvement
of his native town. He purchased a large farm and
carried on the business extensively. He cleared un-
cultivated pastures and meadow lands, built heavy
stone walls, planted all kinds of fruit and ornamental
trees, and so improved the condition of his farm that
it was the attraction of the town for many years,
visitors coming from all parts of the country to view
and enjoy its beauties. He was well known as one
of the leading agriculturists and horticulturists in
the State. If I were to name any one man as the
greatest benefactor of the town, it would be the Hon.
Benjamin V. French. The dam he built on Mo-
natiquot River was not used for some years after its
erection. The owners of the Bowditch privilege
bought the Hobart Clark privilege, and built a
temporary dam that flowed the water back so far
that the French privilege was useless. In order to
obtain his rights, Mr. French was obliged to institute
a suit at law, which, after being carried to the high-
est courts in the State, was finally decided in his
favor. He immediately proceeded to erect a grist-
mill, which went into successful operation. He
carried on the grain business for about twenty years,
when the torch of the incendiary applied Jo the
building destroyed in one hour all the labor of years.
This loss, together with his large expenditures on
his farm, crippled his resources, and compelled him
to surrender his valuable property into the hands of
his creditors. The privilege passed into the hands
of Benjamin Lyman Morrison, who now improves it as
a woolen yarn manufactory, and who has done a re-
munerative business.

At what time the old Thayer mill, as it was for-
merly called, was built we know not, neither by whom
the enterprise was started. On the laying out of
Middle Street as a public way in 1690 it was men-
tioned as passing over the dam. This dam was the
boundary line of Middle Street on its west side. It
was first used for a saw-mill, afterwards for a grist-

120

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

mill. About the year 1816, Robert Sugden, a native
of England, leasing the premises, commenced the
manufacture of woolen goods, and carried it on a
number of years. It was still owned by the Thayer
family. About the year 1831, Alva Morrison, a na-
tive of New Hampshire, leased the privilege, and began
the manufacture of woolen goods, especially woolen
yarns. His business proved successful, and he after-
wards purchased the property. He continued to im-
prove this property from time to time, until a short
time previous to his death, by the erection of new
buildings and other improvements, until he was the
owner of one of the best factories on the river. His
prosperity was mainly due to his skill, and also espe-
cially to his faithfulness in putting upon the market
the best goods that were manufactured. In the
country around, the old stocking-knitters would say
that if their customers wanted the best stockings they
must have Morrison's yarn to knit. No better praise
need be given to his memory. Hon. Alva Morrison
remained in the town of his adoption for the remain-
der of his long life, a period of more than fifty years'
residence, always taking an active interest in town
and State affairs, honored by his townsmen in many of
the most important positions it could confer upon him.
He will be well remembered, especially by his poorer
and more afflicted neighbors, who were the recipients
of his freely-given bounties for their relief and com-
fort. The business is now conducted by his three
sons, Alva S., R. Elmer, and Ibrahim, under the firm-
name of Morrison Brothers.

In the year 1822, Oliver Ames and Elijah Howard
purchased of Asa French, Esq., an unoccupied privi-
lege at the foot of Pearl Street for the purpose of
working in iron, and during the three following years
built shops, dwellings, and other buildings necessary
for the carrying on of the shovel and nail and tack
business. The shovel business has been a part of the
extensive works of the Ameses, who have a national
reputation. The nail and tack business was carried
on by Elijah Howard, of North Easton, and his son,
Jason G. Howard, and their copartner, Apollos Ran-
dall, a native of Easton, who made this town his res-
idence, after entering into business, as long as he
lived. The tack and nail business is not carried on
at present. Jason G. Howard, the only surviving
partner, has retired from business, and resides in
Easton.

In the year 1868, James T. Stevens and George
D. Willis built a small factory on the corner of
Tremont and Taylor Streets, and commenced the
manufacture of nails and tacks. Steam-power was
used. F(ir various reasons they removed their fac-

tory to Weymouth about 1871. In 1872 they
bought a piece of land adjoining the shovel-works,
and erected buildings thereon, using the waste water of
the pond of the shovel-factory and also steam-power.
Mr. Stevens having a thorough knowledge of his
trade, being a practical mechanic, and Mr. Willis
proving an excellent salesman, have built up a good
business with a reputation for good work.

Just off Hancock Street arc two privileges now oc-
cupied by the HoUingsworth & Whitney Manufactur-
ing Company, which it will be necessary to take up sep-
arately. One is called the upper mill, the other the
lower mill. The first we know of the lower mill it
was used for sawing lumber until about 1810, when it
was enlarged, and a grist-mill added. It was owned
by Abraham Thayer, a native of the town. The
upper mill is of an older date. At what time this
privilege was first occupied is not known, but as long
ago as 176-4 it was sold by Daniel Hayden to Azariah
Faxon, and described as a saw- and grist-mill. Mr.
Faxon owned it about thirty years, when he sold it
to Jonathan Thayer. It was used for the manu-
facture of various articles of merchandise by different
individuals until about 1820, when it was purchased
by the Blake & Revere Copper Foundry Company,
who manufactured bells and did other copper work
for several years. About the year 1832, John M.
and Lyman HoUingsworth, two brothers who came
from Milton, purchased both the upper and lower
privileges, and commenced the manufacture of paper.
It was at this mill that they discovered how to make
manilla paper from the old rope, which could be
bought at a small price, and transformed into paper
which was very strong and almost impervious to
water. This discovery was made in 1842. When
they removed from the town their brother, Ellis A.,
took charge of the business, under the firm-name
of HoUingsworth & Whitney, and so well have they
succeeded that they make at this establishment alone
about five tons of paper per day, and which finds a
ready sale. About 1882, upon the death of both
the partners, a stock company was formed, although
the stock is nearly, if not all, owned by their heirs.
The HoUingsworth brothers all made a good fortune
in their business. This company has built on the
old site the most convenient mill in the State.

Just in the rear of the Braintree Cemetery, situated
on Pond Street, is an old dam. In the only reference
to it I have found in the records it is called Samuel
Niles' dam, and probably was used as a site for a saw-
mill. This was in 1731, and the mill was then prob-
ably not in existence, as it is spoken of as formerly
known by that name. It must be of very ancient

BRAINTREE.

121

date, most likely before 1675. No tradition exists,
as far as I can learn, of what the dam was used for.

There is a privilege situated near the corner of
Pond and Granite Streets which was in 1730 in pos-
session of Col. William Hunt, who occupied it for a
forge. The ore was taken from the bottom of Great
Pond by dredging, so tradition says. Iron ore has
been found in considerable quantities, and at one time
was exported from the town. The cinders made at
this forge can be seen at this time. It was afterwards
purchased by David Holbrook, and remained in the
family for four generations, used for a saw- and grist-
mill. Since the death of Moses Holbrook it was pur-
chased by George White, and afterwards used as a
saw-mill by him until his death, which was caused by
an accident while at work in the mill. After his
death it was compelled to yield to the torch of the
incendiary.

Another saw- and grist-mill was situated near Wash-
ington Street, on Cranberry Brook, and is known as
Ludden's mill. But little is known of its history,
but the ruins of the dam are plainly to be seen. Still
another saw-mill was situated on the same brook, far-
ther up the stream, and near Liberty Street. It was
the property of William Wild, a native of the town,
who removed to that vicinity about 1750. Nothing
but the dam remains.

These privileges were all situated on the Monati-
quot River or its tributaries. Said river takes its rise
near the great Blue Hill, in Canton, and is called
Blue Hill River until it reaches Great Pond, in Brain-
tree, when it takes the name of Moore's Farm River.
Near the place where it receives the waters of Little
Pond it joins the Cochato River, which rises near the
borders of Holbrook and Stoughton, and near the
junction it receives the waters of Cranberry Pond, and
flows into Boston Harbor. In the year 1818 the
owners of the privileges on Monatiquot River obtained
of the General Court authority to use the waters of
Houghton's Pond, in Milton, and Great, Little, and
Cranberry Ponds, in Braintree, that they might have
those waters to use during the droughts of summer.
They have enlarged and deepened the natural outlets
of Great and Little Pond for that purpose. Monati-
quot River, after it arrives at the line between Brain-
tree and Weymouth, is sometimes called Weymouth
Fore River, but the name on the ancient i-ecords is
that of Monoticut. Near the Weymouth Hue there
was formerly much ship-building carried on by Sam-
uel Arnold, Nathaniel R. Thomas, and others. But
the business has not been carried on for some years.
The river is navigable as far as Shaw Street bridge,
and on its borders in ancient times were situated

many wharves, from whence the products of the coun-
try were conveyed to the markets, and receiving
goods in return. Prominent among these places may
be mentioned a wharf called William Penn's upper
landing place as early as 1645, and probably earlier.
It was situated near the foot of Mill Lane. The only
wharf now used in that vicinity is occupied by Joel
F. Sheppard, a native of New Jersey, for the trans-
action of a coal and wood business. Besides the
water received from the ponds, the river is fed by a
large number of springs, with which the town abounds.
The most noted of these springs is situated at the
foot of a gravel plain, from whence flows a steady
stream of pure water which never freezes, but con-
tinues to flow with a never-failing supply, although
the earth is parched by the heat of summer ; nor does
it increase during the heavy rains of spring and au-
tumn. The people come for miles around, and carry
away barrels every day through the summer for fam-
ily use. It has been analyzed by competent chemists,
and found to contain medical qualities. The water
of Monatiquot River is also used by the tannery of
Col. Albion C. Drinkwater, which is situated on the
corner of Adams and Elm Streets. He pronounces
it the best water in the State of Massachusetts for
tanning purposes. About the year 1800 the manu-
facture of shoes was commenced in the town by Sam-
uel Hayden, who disposed of his goods in Boston.
This, with the addition of boots, soon became an ex-
tensive business, and from that time to the present
they have been manufactured in this town, not as
large now as at a former period. The number of the
manufacturers are so many that I cannot devote the
space for their names. Sufiice it to say that almost
every dwelling had a shop built near it, where the
workmen took their work from the manufacturers and
made the boots for market. These have gradually
gone to decay or have been removed for other pur-
poses, so that now one can scarcely be found, the
workmen laboring in factories. The Braintree thick
boot bore the highest price in the market, and
sustained its good name for many years. On the
borders of Little Pond, Warren Mansfield commenced
a wheelwright business, which gradually enlarged
until he was compelled to erect a stone factory with
steam-power to fill his numerous orders. He became
a large manufacturer of cars, wagons for the military
service of the government during the Rebellion, and
also large wagons, which he shipped to Cuba and South
America.

During the last few years a factory has been built
for the manufacture of Cardigan jackets, and is run
by steam-power. The business is carried on by

122

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Joseph Winter and wife, natives of England. They
are doing a good business, making the best goods in
the market.

Joseph I. Bates has also lately started a new
business for this town, manufacturing what he calls
" Bates' Consumption Pills," for which he finds a
ready sale.

Old Colony Bulletin. — On June 5, 1875, appeared
the first number of the Old Colony Bulletin, which
was published in South Braintree by Mr. C. Franklin
David. It was issued fortnightly, and remained in
existence some six months, when its publisher re-
moved to Abington. Its first editor was Mr. A. E.
Sproul, who is now on the reportorial staff of the
Boston Herald., and well adorns the profession, prov-
ing himself an able and ready writer.

CHAPTER XIV.'

BRAINTREE— ( Co»^/»»erf).
MILITARY HISTORY.

During the year 1807, when it was feared that
the country would become involved in a foreign war,
it was voted by the town that the men who turned
out for the service of the country should fare as well
as the Third Regiment should fare. At a meeting of
the town, held May 12, 1808, it was voted to give
the men who enlisted in the United States service
three dollars each. Under this vote the town paid
three dollars each to twenty-two men, as appears by
the order-book. The persons paid were Thomas
Hollis, Jr., William Thayer (3d), John Hollis (2d),
Moses French, Joshua Sampson, Jr., George New-
comb, Ebenezer Hayward, Alexander Holbrook,
Asaph Faxon, Jr., Samuel Holbrook, James Hol-
brook, Isaac Allen, James French, Abia Holbrook,
Levi Thayer, Jr., Jonathan Thayer, Jr., Samuel
Robinson, Jonathan Hill, Thomas Wild, Warren
Loud, John Cushing, and Charles Bass.

In the war of 1812 the town of Braintree, like
most of the towns in the State, was opposed to the
war with Great Britain, and the state of feeling can
be seen by the vote for Governor at the election held
Nov. 12, 1812, a high state of political feeling exist-

^ The historj' of the Revolutionary war is being written for
this volume by the Hon. Charles P. Adams, Jr., of Quincy. I
shall therefore leave it to his able pen.

ing at the time. For the Federal candidate there
were thrown eighty-six votes, for the Republican only
fifty. At a town-meeting called May 28, 1812, it
was voted to make each man's pay, with the United
States pay, fourteen dollars per month, as long as
they are out in the service. It was also voted that
if the drafted men are called out for military duty
more than by order of the government, the town
agree to pay them one dollar for each day. Sept.
16, 1814, a town-meeting was held to see if the town
will take into consideration the alarming situation
which threatens our shores by invasion by the hostile
foe, with respect to the defense. Voted to add four
persons to the selectmen, which shall be denominated
a Committee of Safety. The selectmen at that time
consisted of Caleb French, Dr. Jonathan Wild, and
Major Amos Stetson. The persons added were
Messrs. Jonas Welch, Capt. Thomas Hollis, Lieut.
William Reed, and Minott Thayer. Voted that the
town raise the sum of three hundred dollars to pay
the troops, and that we pay the same that Randolph,
Milton, and Quincy pay. The only persons I have
heard of in the United States service were John,
Isaac, and Ebenezer Holbrook and James French.
The latter died in the service at Plattsburg, N. Y.,
in 1814.

Upon the breaking out of the Rebellion, in 1861,
one of the first towns to respond to the call for troops
was Braintree. It already had a company of in-
fantry, who had joined themselves together for the
purpose of perfecting themselves in military drill, and
to enjoy the pleasures of the training-field. They
little dreamed that they would be called at a few
hours' notice to leave their comfortable homes and
loved and loving friends to mingle in the dangers of
war. But so it proved. On the 15th day of April
of that year they received orders late in the afternoon
to report in Boston on the following day, to go —
they knew not whither. But they did not shrink
from the peiforraance of their duty. Many of them
had families dependent upon their daily labor for the
necessaries of life, and knew not how they could sus-
tain those families in comfort while they were absent
in their country's .service. But they marched with
full ranks, in full trust that God would provide means
and would open the hearts of their townsmen, so that
these loved ones would be cared for in their absence.
On the morning of April 16th the Braintree Light
Infantry, Company C, Fourth Regiment Massachu-
setts Volunteer Militia, were formed at their armory
prepared for duty. They marched for Boston to join
their regiment, and in a few days sailed for Fortress
Monroe, where they remained the term of their en-

BRAINTREE.

123

listment, and returned to their homes July 22d, the
same year. Immediately after their departure the
selectmen of the town issued their warrant for a town-
meeting to be held on April 26th, to provide for the
families of the soldiers. The warrant was dated April
19th, only three days after their departure, and was
signed by David H. Bates, N. H. Hunt, and Phillips
Curtis. At that meeting it was voted that a sum not
exceeding S1500 be appropriated for the support of
the families of those who have left the town and
their homes in obedience to the call of the President
of the United States. David H. Bates, N. H.Hunt,
Phillips Curtis, J. H. D. Blake, Jason G. Howard,
Caleb Hollis, and Elisha Thayer were appointed a
committee to expend and distribute the above appro-
priation. Under this vote the committee expended
$1437.44.

Another call was made for troops, and the State
passed a law authorizing towns to aid the families of
soldiers, and on August 19th of the same year the town
voted to borrow $1000, to be expended according to
law. The sum expended under this vote was refunded
by the State. July 14, 1862, the town voted to
offer a bounty of one hundred dollars to each indi-
vidual volunteer resident of Braintree who shall, un-
der the direction of the selectmen, within thirty days
from date, volunteer for the war. The selectmen,
under this vote, expended the sum of §8637.30.
This sum also includes the money paid agreeable to a
vote passed Aug. 18, 1862, whereby the selectmen
were authorized to pay each volunteer resident who
shall enlist previous to the first day of September
under the late call of the President for nine months
$125, to the number of the quota assigned to the town,
and $7500 was appropriated for that object. During
the year 1864 the town paid the sum of $8360.77 for
bounties and expenses of recruiting the quota of the
town. June 1, 1864, it was voted to authorize the
selectmen to pay from the treasury the sum of $125
for each person volunteering in the quota of Braintree
previous to the first day of March, 1865, under any
call from the President of the United States.

During the year 1865 the town paid for bounties
and expenses the sum of $9495, making a total of
$27,930.51 which had been paid by the town in its
corporate capacity for the prosecution of the war.
This is in addition to the sum refunded by the State,
and also to many private contributions for the same
purpose.

The following is a register of the officers and pri-
vates, as far as has been ascertained, who served in the
army. There may be errors, but if so, they are diffi-
cult to correct from lack of records :

COMMISSIOXED OFFICERS.

Three Years' Regiments.
Warren M. Babbitt, asst. surg. 55th Mass. Inf. and surg. 103d
U. S. colored troops, from Aug. 11, 1863, to April .30, 1866.
Cephas C. Bumpus, capt. 32d Inf. and 3d Heavy Art.
George A. Thayer, capt. 2d Inf.
Norman F. Steele, capt. 32d Inf.
Edgar L. Bumpus, brevet capt. 33d Inf.
Everett C. Bumpus, 1st lieut. 3d Heavy Art.
Edward H. Melius, 1st lieut. 3d Heavy Art.
Richard M. Sanborn, 1st lieut. 3d Cav. (complimentary).
Theodore C. Howe, 1st lieut. 3d Cav. (complimentary).
James B. Leonard, 2d lieut. 32d Inf.
Ebenezer C. Thayer, Jr., 2d lieut. 2d Louisiana Inf.
Marcus M. Pool, 2d lieut. 1st Heavy Art.

Volunteer Militia.
Cephas C. Bumpus, capt. Co. C, 4th Inf., for 3 months.
James T. Stevens, capt. Co. I, 42d Inf., for 100 days; 1st

lieut. Co. C, 4th Inf., for 3 months.
Isaac P. Fuller, 2d lieut. Co. C, 4th Inf., for 3 months.
John C. Sanborn, 2d lieut. Co. B, 43d Inf., for 9 months.
Charles A. Arnold, 2d lieut. Co. I, 42d Inf , for 100 days.

ENLISTED MEN,
Fourth Regiment, Company C, Mass. Vol. Militia (Braintree

Light Infantry).
Mustered into service April 22, 1861 ; discharged July 22, 1861.

William M. Richards, sergt. John Finegan.

Joseph L. Frasier, sergt. Roland E. Foster.

Andrew G. King, sergt. William B. Foster.

Edgar L. Bumpus, sergt. Nathan T. Freeman.

Samuel M. Hollis, corp. Henry W. Gammons.

Reuben F. Hollis, corp. Charles Giflbrd.

John T. Ayers, corp. Joseph E. Holbrook.

•John C. Sanborn, corp. George F. Howard.

Charles A. Arnold. Thomas Huston.

Marcus P. Arnold. L. Frank Jones.

James T. Bestick. James B. Leonard.

John E. Boyle. William Leggett.

Everett C. Bumpus. Thomas J. Morton.

John R. Carmichael. Edward H. Melius.

John Coughlan. Francis McConity.

Chandler Cox. William H. McGann.

Nelson Cox. Albert S. Mason.

Marcus F. Cram. Marcus A. Perkins. —

Thomas J. Crowell. Henry H. Shedd.

William Cunningham. Norman F. Steele.

William A. Daggett. Thomas B. Stoddard.

Solon David. Elihu M. Thayer.

Henry W. Dean. Joseph P. Thayer.

James Donahoe. Loring AV. Thayer.

Peter Donahoe. Andrew Toomey.

Lawrence A. Dyer. Henr^' AV. Wright.
Alpheus Field.

There were ten others from other towns who ac-
companied them, making the whole number of rank
and file sixty-six men.

Besides these, Charles H. Crickmay went with
Company H, Fourth Regiment, and Jeremiah Dal-
ton, Jr., with Company G, Fifth Regiment, both of
Braintree.

124

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

The following were mustered in Oct. 11, 1862,
and discharged July 30, 1863, and served in Com-
pany B, Forty-third (nine months') Regiment Massa-
chusetts Volunteers :

Edward H. Melius, sergt.
Charles W. Bean, corp.
Charles A. Arnold, corp.
Thomas B.Stoddard, corp.
Jonathan R. Clark, corp.
Hiram E. Abbott.
John R. Carmichael.
Silas B. Crane.
Robert M. Cummings.
William B. Denton.
Edward A. Fisher.
Hosea B. Hayden.
Hosea B. Hayden (2d).

William G. Hill.
Albert 0. Hollis.
George A. Howe.
Charles B. Leonard.
George A. Mower.
AVilliam W. Mower.
Shubael M. Norton,
John F. Pool.
Jacob C. Snow.
Cranmore N. Wallace.
Francis A. AVallace.
Morrill Williams.

Forty-fourth Regiment,^ Company II.
EveretC. Bumpui, Sept. 12, 1862, to June 18, 1863.

Uom2}a>iy I.
Joseph H. J. Thayer, Sept. 12, 1862, to June 18, 1863.

Forty-fifth Regiment,^ Company A.
John AV. Fowle, Oct. 13, 1862, to July 7, 1S63.

Forty-seventh Regiment,^ Comjiany K.
James AVillis, Oct. 31, 1862, to Sept. 1, 1863.
John Wilson, Oct. 31, 1862, to Sept. 1, 1863.

Forty-eighth Regiment,^ Company I.
John Frecl, Oct. 18, 1862, to Sept. 3, 1863.

Company A'.
James Dooley, Nov. 1, 1862, to Sept. 3, 1863.

The following were mustered in July 14 to Nov.
11, 1864, and served in Company I, Forty-second
Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, being enlisted as
one hundred days' men :

Cranmore N. Wallace, sergt.
John R. Carmichael, sergt.
Isaac P. Fuller, sergt.
Robert Gillespie, sergt.
William L. Pratt, corp.
Francis A. Wallace, corp.
Marcus A. Perkins, corp.
George W. Abbott.
J. Fred. Allen.
Fred. C. Armstrong.
B. Herbert Bartlett.
Henry W. Dean.
Otis B. Dean.
Edwin F. French.
William L. Gage.
Caleb H. Hayden.
Charles T. Hayden.
Lorenzo Hayden.

Waldo Holbrook.
AValter Holbrook.
Davis W. Howard.
"Moses Hunt.
Moses N. Hunt.
Newell A. Langley.
.John McDermott.
Ruel B. Moody.
George W. Nickerson.
Henry Pratt.
Samuel Rennie.
Charles R. Smith.
Thomas 0. Sullivan.
Francis P. Thayer.
Lucian M. Thayer.
Fred. H. Wales.
George D. Willis.
James M. Willis.

Edward Fisher was corporal in Company A, Forty-second

Regiment, from July 14 to Nov. 11, 1864.
Nelson Reals belonged to Twentieth Unattached Company

from Aug. 11 to Nov. 18, 1864.

1 Nine months' regiment.

Persons who enlisted for three years in the service
of the United States :

Second Battery Light Artillery.
William E. Foye, Sept. 3, 1864, to June 11, 1865,

Seventh Battery Light Artillery.
John Brennon, Jan. 1, 1864, to Nov. 10, 1865.

Twelfth Battery Light Artillery.
Silas B. Crane, March 26, 1864, to. June 22, 1864.
First Heavy Artillery, Company C.
Paul Nadell, July 5, 1861 ; transferred to navy, April 13, 1864.
Marcus M. Pool, July 5, 1861, to May 15, 1865,
James E. Hobart, July 5, 1861, to August 16, 1865.

First Heavy Artillery, Company E.
James T. Bestick, sergt., Aug. 6, 1862, to March 26, 1865.
Calvin Briggs, Aug. 6, 1862 ; trans, to Vet. Res. Corps.
Edward S. Dean, Aug. 6, 1862, to July 8, 1864.
Henry W. Gammons, Aug. 6, 1862, to July 8, 1864.

Company I.
John F. Salmon, July 5, 1861, to July 8, 1864.

Compinny M.
Linus C. Bird, March 3, 1862; trans, to Vet. Res. Corps.
Denis Foley, March 6, 1862, to Aug. 16, 1865.
Elisha P. Goodnow, March 3, 1862, to May 19, 1864,
AVilliam Higgins, March 17, 1862, to Feb. 15, 1865.
Michael McDonald, March 6, 1862, to March 6, 1865.

Second Heavy Artillery, Comj^any C.
John E. Boyle, Sept. 5, 1864, to June 26, 1865.
Nehemiah T. Dyer, Sept. 5, 1864, to June 26, 1865.
George P. Hollis, Sept. 5, 1864, to June 26, 1865.
Albert T. Pool, Sept. 5, 1864, to June 30, 1865.
Andrew C. Toomey, Sept. 5, 1864, to June 30, 1865.

Company F.
Fred. AA^ Ingraham, sergt., Sept. 5, 1864, to June 26, 1865.
George Atwell, Sept. 5, 1864, to Jan. 17, 1865.
Hiram S. Thayer, Sept. 5, 1864, to June 26, 1865.

Company 0.
John Navan, Aug. 29, 1864, to June 30, 1865.

Company H.
Samuel Meeker, Aug. 9, 1864, to Sept. 3, 1865.

Company L.
Edward Freel, sergt., Dec. 22, 1863, to Sept. 3, 1865.
Orrin H. Belcher, corp., Dec. 22, 1S6.3, to Sept. 3, 1865,
Horatio W. Cole, corp., Dec. 22, 1863, to Sept. 3, 1865,
Henry B. Dyer, Dec. 22, 1863, to June 22, 1865.
Jacob A. Dyer, Dec. 22, 1863, to Sept. 3, 1865.
Henry Joy, Dec. 22, 1863, to May 26, 1865.

Third Heavy Artillery, Compxiny I).
Lewis Hobart, March 30, 1864.

Company E.
John Cronin, corp., Aug. 27, 186.3, to Sept. 18, 1865.
Patrick Regan, Aug. 27, 1863,

Compiany F.
Edward H. Melius, sergt., Sept. 16, 1863, to Sept. 18, 1865.
Shubael M. Norton, Sept. 16, 1863, to Sept. 18, 1865.
Caleb S. Benson, Aug. 24, 1864, to June 17, 1865.
AVilliam B. Denton, Sept. 24, 1864, to June 17, 1865.

BRAINTREE.

125

Lawrence A. Dyer, Sept. 16, 1863, to Sept. 18, 1865.
Pearl S. Grindall, Sept. 16, 1863, to Nov. 1, 1864.
Elias Holbrook, Aug. 24, 1864, to June 20, 1865.
Charles H. Howe, Aug. 23, 1864, to June 20, 1865.
Hosea Jackson, Aug. 23, 1864, to June 17, 1865.
Hervey N. Jillson, Aug. 24, 1864, to June 17, 1865.
John G. Minchin, Aug. 23, 1864, to June 17, 1865.
Martin Y. B. Minchin, Aug. 23, 1864, to June 17, 1865.
Henry 0. Pratt, Sept. 16, 1863, to Sept. 18, 1865.
Andrew J. Rubert, Aug. 24, 1864, to June 17, 1865.
Samuel W. Savill, Aug. 24, 1864, to June 17, 1865.

Comjiany G.
Eli W. Chase, Oct. 20, 1863, to Sept. 18, 1865.
Robert M. Cummings, Oct. 20, 1863, to Sept. 18, 1865.

Third Heavy Artillery, Company K.
Robert Rennie, corp., May 12, 1864, to Sept. IS, 1865.

Company L.
Charles F. Arnold, corp., Aug. 29, 1864, to June 17, 1865.
Amos W. Hobart, artificer, Aug. 29, 1864, to June 17, 1865.
Cyrus G. Bowker, Aug. 29, 1864, to June 17, 1865.
Alfred H. Butler, Aug. 29, 1864, to June 17, 1865.
Elbridge Joy, Aug. 29, 1864, to June 17, 1865.
Joseph P. Thayer. Aug. 29, 1864, to June 17, 1865.

Fourth Heavy Artillery, Company C.
Grace W. Allen, sergt., Aug. 9, 1864, to June 17, 1865.
Nahum Sampson, sergt., Aug. 15, 1864, to May 5, 1865.
William C. Stoddard, corp., Aug. 9, 1864, to June 17, 1865.
Cyrus Cummings, wagoner, Aug. 13, 1864, to June 17, 1865.
John G. N. Henderson, Aug. 10, 1864, to June 17, 1865.
Lathrop C. Keith, Aug. 9, 1864, to June 17, 1865.
William C. Knight, Aug. 11, 1864, to June 17, 1865.
John Laing, Aug. 12, 1864, to June 17, 1865.
Angus McGilvray, Aug. 10, 1864, to June 17, 1865.
Michael Nugent, Aug. 10, 1864, to June 17, 1865.

Company F.
John Flynn, Aug. 15, 1864, to June 17, 1865.

Company G.
Robert T. Bestick, Aug. 26, 1864, to June 17, 1865.
George C. H. Deets, Aug. 26, 1864, to June 17, 1865.
Samuel V. Holbrook, Aug. 26, 1864, to June 17, 1865.
James Toole, Aug. 26, 1864, to June 17, 1865.

Comptany K.
William M. Strachan, sergt., Aug. 18, 1864, to June 17, 1865

First Battery Heavy Artillery, Compiany A.
Benjamin J. Loring, sergt., Feb. 26, 1862, to Feb. 27, 1865.
George S. Huff, sergt., Feb. 26, 1862, to Feb. 27, 1865.
Charles E. Pratt, Corp., Feb. 21, 1862, to Feb. 27, 1865.
Henry Bayley, July 1, 1864, to June 22, 1865.
Frank Osborn, Feb. 24, 1862, to July 20, 1862.
Elihu M. Thayer, Feb. 19, 1862, to Oct. 20, 1865.

Company B.
Calvin T. Dyer, Sept. 10, 1863, to June 29, 1865.
John Q. Ela, Dec. 3, 1863, to June 29, 1865.
Edward A. Hale, Oct. 29, 1862, to June 29, 1865.
George B. Jones, Oct. 29, 1862, to June 29, 1865.
Charles H. Loring, Oct. 10, 1862.

Michael B. McCormick, Jan. 13, 1863, to June 29, 1865.
George H. Randall, Aug. 7, 1863, to June 29, 1865.

Wilbert F. Robbins, Dec. 4, 1863, to June 29, 1865.
William H. Saunders, Oct. 25, 1862, to June 29, 1865.
Jacob C. Snow, Aug. 18, 1863, to June 29, 1865.
Benjamin F. Spear, Aug. 7, 1863, to June 29, 1865.

Company C.
Francis White, q.m. -sergt., Aug. 22, 1863, to Oct. 20, 1865.
Warren C. Mansfield, Aug. 3, 1863, to June 29, 1865.
William H. McQuinn, Aug. 18, 1862, to June 29, 1865.
Samuel E. Whitmarsh, April 22, 1863, to Oct. 20, 1865.

Company D.
Charles Blake, June 6, 1863.

First Cavalry, Company H.
Peter A. Drollett, Oct. 12, 1861, to Oct. 8, 1864.
Alvin Jackson, Oct. 12, 1861, to Jan. 15, 1865.

Comjiany K.

William A. Daggett, bugler, Sept. 16, 1861, to Sept. 21, 1864.

James B. Frazier, Nov. 26, 1861, to Jan. 4, 1865.

Henry A. Hobart, sergt., Nov. 26, 1861.

George F. Penniman, Sept. 25, 1861, to Sept. 25, 1864.

Second Cavalry, Company F.
Henry W. Gammons, Jan. 2, 1865, to July 20, 1865.
George F. Thayer, April 3, 1863, to April 1, 1865.

Company H.
Owen Fox, Oct. 9, 1863, to July 6, 1864.

Third Cavalry, Company B.
Edwin L. Curtis, sergt., Dec. 11, 1863, to Sept. 28, 1865.

Company D.
Richard M. Sanborn, sergt., Jan. 30, 1864, to Sept. 28, 1865.
Theodore C. Howe, q.m.-sergt., Dec. 7, 1863, to Sept. 28, 1865.
Hosea B. Hayden, corp., Dec. 31, 1863, to Sept. 28, 1865.
William G. Hill, corp., Dec. 5, 1863, to July 29, 1865.
Joseph W. Huff, Corp., March 11, 1864, to Sept. 28, 1865.
Charles B. Leonard, corp., Dec. 21, 1863, to Sept. 28, 1865.
Jonathan R. Clark, blacksmith, Dec. 31, 1863, to Sept. 28,

1865.
George Y. Chick, Dec. 5, 1863, to Sept. 28, 1865.
Stephen W. Dawson, Jan. 29, 1864, to his death.
John Halpin, Dec. 28, 1863, to Sept. 28, 1865.
Isaac R. Harmon, Feb. 15, 1864, to Sept. 28, 1865.
Philip McQuinty, Jan. 5, 1864, to July 29, 1865.
George A. Mower, Feb. 9, 1864, to Sept. 28, 1865.
James Spear, Dec. 10, 1863, to Sept. 28, 1865.
Charles S. Thayer, Feb. 15, 1864, to Aug. 19, 1865.

Company E.
James Riley, Sept. 20, 1862.

Company G.
Patrick Dunlay, Nov. 1, 1862, to May 20, 1865.

Com J) any I.
Royal Belcher, Aug. 5, 1862, to May 20, 1865.
James Smith, Aug. 5, 1862, to May 20, 1865.

Company K.
John T. Ayres, sergt., Aug. 6, 1862, to Oct. 19, 1864.
Timothy Curran, Corp., Aug. 6, 1862; transferred to Yet. Res.

Corps.
John G. Ingraham, corp., Aug. 6, 1862, to March 1, 1863.
Jonathan S. Paine, corp., Aug. 6, 1862 ; transferred to Vet.

Res. Corps.
William A. Bishop, bugler, Aug. 6, 1862, to May 30, 1865.

126

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Edward E. Patten, saddler, Aug. 6, 1862, to Nov. 15, 1864.

John F. Albee, Feb. 29, 186i, to June 22, 1864.

Edward Bannon, Aug. 6, 1862, to May 21, 1865.

John Barry, Aug. 6, 1862, to Sept. 28, 1865.

Lewis D. Bates, Aug. 6, 1862, to May 21, 1865.

Leonard Belcher, Aug. 6, 1862, to March 1, 1863.

Elisha S. Bowditoh, Dec. 7, 1863, to Sept. 19, 1864.

James E. Burpee, Aug. 6, 1862; transferred to Vet. Res. Corps.

Patrick Cahill, Dec. 12. 1863, to July 5, 1865.

Stephen Connor, Aug. 6, 1862, to May 21, 1865.

Chandler Cox, Aug. 6, 1862, to May 21, 1865.

Marcus F. Cram, Aug. 6, 1862, to Jan. 26, 1864.

William L. Cram, Aug. 6, 1862.

John Craddock, Aug. 6, 1862, to May 21, 1865.

Birdsey Curtis, Aug. 6, 1862.

Charles C. Davis, Aug. 6, 1862, to Jan. 23, 1863.

Joseph Desotelle, Aug. 6, 1862, to May 21, 1865.

John Flood, Aug. 6, 1862, to May 21, 1865,

Charles E. Fogg, Aug. 6, 1862, to Aug. 9, 1865.

William H. French, Aug. 6, 1862, to May 21, 1865,

Thomas C. Gardner, Aug. 6, 1862, to May 21, 1865.

Peter T. Godfrey, Aug. 6, 1862.

Oliver S. Harrington, Aug. 6, 1862, to May 21, 1865.

Almon E. Ingalls, Dec. 21, 1863; trans, to Vet. Res. Corps.

George A. Joy, Aug. 6, 1862, to April 27, 1863.

James Kennedy, Jan. 1, 1864; trans, to Vet. Res. Corps.

William S. Leach, Aug. 6, 1862, to Aug. 7, 1863.

Frederic Marr, Aug. 6, 1862.

AVilliain P. Martin, Feb. 22, 1864; trans, to Vet. Res. Corps.

Frank McConerty, Aug. 6, 1862 ; absent.

Michael McMurphy, Aug. 6, 1862.

William W. Mower, Dec. 21, 1863.

Albert S. Nason, Aug. 6, 1862, to May 21, 1865.

Daniel W. Niles, Aug. 6, 1862, to May 21, 1865,

Samuel H. Paine, Aug. 6, 1862, to May 21, 1865.

Charles E. Pratt, Aug. 6, 1862, to Nov. 15, 1863.

Isaac Raymond, Aug. 6, 1862, to May 21, 1865.

Oliver Simmons, Aug. 6, 1862, to Feb. 18, 1863.

Quincy Sprague, Aug. 6, 1862, to May 21, 1865.

George H. Stevens, Dec. 21, 1863 ; trans, to Vet. Res. Corps.

Ansel P. Thayer, Aug. 6, 1862, to Sept. 19, 1864.

Ephraim F. Thayer, Dec. 31, 186.3, to Aug. 8, 1865,

Major Tirrell, Aug. 6, 1862, to May 21, 1865.

Americus V. Tirrell, Aug. 6, 1862, to Jan. 18, 1864.

John F. Wild, Dec. 26, 1863, to April 8, 1864.

Thomas S. Williams, Dec. 5, 1863 ; trans, to Vet. Res. Corps.

Company M.
Garrett G. Barry, .sergt., Dec. 13, 1861, to April 8, 1864,

Fourth Cavalry, Company D.
Alvin Jackson, Jan, 9, 1864, to Jan. 15, 1865.

Compiany F.
William L. Cram, Jan. 27, 1864, to Nov. 14, 1865.

Fifth Cavalry.
Jlmes M. Cutting, vet. surg., Sept. 16, 1864, to Oct. 31, 1865,

Second Infantry, Com2)any G.
William Foley, May 25, 1861, to July 26, 1863.
Dennis Moriarty, May 25, 1861, to April 1, 1802.
William Welsh, May 25, 1861, to Jan. 31, 1863.

2'i^iiith Infantry, Company B,
John Healey, June 11, 1861.

Company C.
John P. Murphy, June 11, 1861, to June 21, 1864.

Company G.
Cornelius Furfy, June 11, 1861, to July 1, 1862.
Richard Furfy, June 11, 1861, to June 21, 1864.

Company H.
John Foley, Aug. 21, 1863, to June 10, 1864.

Company K.
Anthony Columbus, Aug. 21, 1863, to June 10, 1864.

Eleventh Infantry, Company B.
John P. Maloney, sergt., June 13, 1861.
William M. Tirrell, sergt., June 13, 1861, to June 24, 1864,
James Wilkie, corp., June 13, 1861.

Eleventh Cavalry, Com2>any D,
Owen Greelish, June 13, 1861, to Aug. 22, 1861.

Company E.
Francis Marmont, Aug. 14, 1863, to July 14, 1865.

Company K.

James Barrett, June 13, 1861.
Thomas H. Neal, June 13, 1861, to Oct. 22, 1862.
Samuel W. Saville, June 13, 1861, to June 24, 1864,
Thomas Wilson, Aug. 12, 1863, to July 14, 1865.

Twelfth Cavalry, Company C,
Francis W. Kahle, July 22, 1863, to March 6, 1864,
Michael Preston, July 5, 1861, to Dec. 31, 1862.
Ephraim F. Thayer, June 26, 1861, to Feb. 28, 1863.
John Q. Whitmarsh, June 26, 1861, to Sept. 18, 1862.

Comjjuny E.
Christopher P. Tower, June 26, 1801, to March 9, 1863.

.Company F.
Joseph P. Davis, June 26, 1861, to July 8, 1864.

Company II.
Charles A. Pope, sergt., June 26, 1861, to Nov. 30, 1863.
Warren Stetson, July 17, 1863, to June 25, 1864,
John Q. A. Thayer, June 26, 1801, to July 8, 1864.

Thirteenth Cavalry, Compiany G.
Hiram S. Thayer, July 16, 1801, to Aug. 1, 1864.

Sixteenth Cavalry, Company I.
William Cunningham, Aug. 30, 1861, to July 15, 1863.

Cotnpany K.
James Bradley, July 2, 1861, to July 27, 1864.

Seventeenth Cavalry, Company E.
Albert T. Pool, Sept. 5, 1864, to June 30, 1865.
John F. Pool, Sept. 5, 1864, to June 30, 1865.

Comp((ny G.
John Navan, Aug. 29, 1804, to June 30, 1865.

Eiijhteenth Cavalry, Company E.
Asa W. Holbrook, Aug. 24, 1801, to Oct. 26, 1864.

Company K,
Thomas Smith, Jr., corp., Aug. 24, 1801, to Jan. 26, 1863.

BRAINTREE.

127

Nineteenth Cavalry, Company B,
Duncan Crawford, Aug. 3, 1863, to Jan. 14, 1864.

Company E.
Daniel Carrigan, Sept. 2, 1861, to June 30, 1865.
James Carrigan, July 26, 1861; trans, to Vet. Res. Corps.

Company K.
Samuel D. Chase, Corp., Oct. 31, 1862, to June 30, 1865.
Marcus P. Arnold, Oct. 29, 1862, to June 30, 1865.
N. Augustus White, Aug. 19, 1861; no record of discharge.

Twentieth Cavalry, Comjiany F.
Duncan Crawford, Jan. 14, 1864; trans, to navy.

Company G.
John Goodman, Sept. 4, 1861, to Sept. 3, 1864.

Company I,
Charles Holbrook, Dec. 9, 1S61, to Oct. 15, 1862.

Company K.
Thomas J. Crowell, corp., Aug. 21, 1861, to Dee. 13, 1862.

Twenty-second Cavalry, Company E.
Jeremiah Dalton, 2d corp., Oct. 1, 1861, to June 27, 1862.

Company F.
Charles L. Holbrook, July 28, 1863, to Oct. 26, 1864.
Edward Huff, July 17, 1863, to Oct. 26, 1864.

Comjiany I.
Charles H. Crickmay, corp., Sept. 6, 1861, to June 30, 1862.
Alexander R. Fogg, Sept. 6, 1861, to June 27, 1862.

Twenty-third Cavalry, Cotnjjany H.
George B. Jones, Sept. 28, 1861, to Sept. 8, 1862.

Twenty-fourth Cavalry, Company B.
George White, Sept. 18, 1861, to Dec. 18, 1863.

Company C.
Daniel Austin Thayer, July 29, 1862, to Jan. 4, 1864.

Company G.
Loring X. Hayden, Nov. 15, 1861, to Jan. 20, 1866.
Edward M. French, Nov. 13, 1861, to Aug. 4, 1863.
W. Martin Harmon, Nov. 13, 1861, to April 30, 1863.
Abraham W. Hobart, July 26, 1862.
Seth Taunt, Dec. 5, 1861, to July 15, 1865.
George N. Thayer, Sept. 16, 1861, to Jan. 20, 1866.

Company H.
James L. Curtis, July 29, 1862, to Jan. 20, 1866.

Twenty-seventh Cavalry, Company D.
Maxon G. Healy, July 23, 1862, to Sept. 27, 1864.

Twenty-eighth Cavalry, Company B.
John Connors, Aug. 10, 1863, to July 6, 1864.
Amos A. Loring, Jan. 5, 1864, to his death,

Compjany C.
Henry Barton, Dec. 13, 1861, to Dec. 19, 1864.

Company D.
John Connor, sergt., Jan. 2, 1864, to Aug. 19, 1864.
Adams H. Cogswell, Jan. 2, 1862.

Charles Gray, Aug. 10, 1863, to Sept. 15, 1864.
AVilliam Reevers, Aug. 12, 1863, to June 20, 1865.

Company F.
Thomas Smith, Jan. S, 1862, to Sept. 30, 1862.

Company G.
Charles Miller, Aug. 12, 1863.
Francis Winn, Dec. 19, 1861.

Company I.
Frederic Smith, Aug. 11, 1863.

Unassirined.
Peter Higgins, Aug. 14,1863.

Twenty-ninth Cavalry, Comjiany A.
John W. Sweeney, May 21, 1861, to Aug. 28, 1862.

Com2}any B.
Ira D. Bryant, May 14, 1861.
James Freel, May 14, 1861.
George S. Whiting, no record; now draws a pension.

Company D.
John Conley, Aug. 20, 1864, to July 29, 1865.
James Flynn, Aug. 19, 1864.

Thirtieth Cavalry, Compjany F.
Samuel F. Harrington, Nov. 18, 1861, to July 5, 1866.

Thirty-first Cavalry, Company K.
Ebenezer C. Thayer, Jr., corp., Jan. 29, 1862, to Sept. 30, 1864.
John W. Dargan, Jan. 23, 1862, to Nov. 27, 1864.
William Kayhoo, Jan. 17, 1862, to Feb. 14, 1864.
John Rennie, Feb. 6, 1862, to Nov. 1, 1862.

Thirty-second Cavalry, Comjyany E.
Loring W. Thayer, sergt., Dec. 2, 1861, to Sept. 30, 1864.
Norman F. Steele, sergt., Deo. 2, 1861; 2d lieut.
James B. Leonard, corp., Dec. 2, 1861 ; 2d lieut.
Leonard F. Huff, Dec. 2, 1861, to Aug. 23, 1862.
Henry T. Wade, Dec. 2, 1861, to July 2, 1863.

Compa)iy F.
Asa W. Holbrook, Jan. 21, 1864, to June 29, 1865.

Company H.
John Foley, Aug. 21, 1863, to June 29, 1865.

Company I.
William Daley, musician, Aug. 11, 1862, to June 29, 1865.
Anthony Columbus, Aug. 22, 1863, to his death.

Company L.
Charles L. Holbrook, July 28, 1863, to June 29, 1865.
Edward Huff, July 17, 1863, to June 29, 1865.

Thirty-third Cavalry, Company E,
Edgar L. Bumpus, sergt., Aug. 5, 1862, to May 15, 1864.

Company K,
Martin Branley, Aug. 8, 1862, to Nov. 24, 1862.
T. Horace Cain, Aug. 8, 1862, to July 7, 1865.
William Mulligan, Aug. 8, 1862, to June 11, 1865.
John W. W. Rowell, Aug. 8, 1862, to Dec. 28, 1863,
James N. Tower, Aug. 8, 1862, to June 11, 1865.
Nathaniel A. White, Aug. 8, 1862; trans, to Vet. Res. Corps.

Thirty-fifth Cavalry, Company E,
William D. Lyons, Aug. 19, 1862, to April 20, 1863.

128

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Company H.
John Davis, Aug. 19, 1S62, to Aug. 23, 1863.

Thirti/sixth Cavalrij, Comjyanij K.
Albert G. Wilder, corp., Aug. 11, 1862 ; trans, to Vet. Res. Corps
Daniel W. Dean, Aug. 8, 1862, to his death.
Seth Dean, Aug. 8, 1862, to Jan. 27, 1863.

Thirty-eighth Cavalry, Company I.
Edward Freel, Aug, 21, 1862, to Feb. 14, 1863.
John V. Hunt, Aug. 21, 1862, to June 30, 1865.
James W. Thayer, Aug. 21, 1862; trans to Vet. Res. Corps.
Stephen Thayer, Aug. 21, 1862, to June 30, 1865.

Company K,
Hiram P. Abbott, corp., Aug. 20, 1862, to June 30, 1865.
Henry H. Sbedd, Aug. 20, 1862, to Oct. 24, 1862.
George H. Bryant, Aug. 20, 1862, to March 24, 1863.
Warren R. Dalton, Aug. 20, 1862, to June 30, 1865.
Charles David, Aug. 20, 1862, to Feb. 13, 1863.
Edward David, Aug. 20, 1862, to June 14, 1863.
Solon David, Aug. 20, 1862, to June 30, 1865.

Thirty-ninth Cavalry, Company G.
James Bannon, Sept. 2, 1862, to April 12, 1865.
Warren Stetson, July 17, 1863, to May 18, 1865.

Company H.
John Preston, Sept. 2, 1862, to Jan. 29, 1863.

Fortieth Cavalry, Company F.
Michael McMurphy, Sept. 3, 1862, to March 24, 1863.

Company H.
Daniel F. Leonard, Sept. 1, 1862 ; trans, to Vet. Res. Corps.

Fifty-sixth Cavalry, Company E.
Michael P. Foley, Jan. 12, 1864, to July 12, 1865.

Fifty-eifjhth Cavalry, Comptany E.
Joseph Jenkins, March 1, 1864, to July 14, 1865.

First Com2>any Sharpshooters.
Josiah H. Hunt, Oct. 31, 1862; trans, to Vet. Res. Corps.
N. Warren Penniman, Oct. 13, 1862, to July 25, 1864.

Veteran Reserve Corps.
William Butler, Sept. 3, 1864.
Patrick Callahan, May 16, 1864.
Barney Peeney, May 16, 1864.
Peter Hutchneck, May 17, 1864.
Edward Kellogg, May 17, 1864.
Jethro Lynch, May 16, 1864.
Jesse B. Nourse, May 11, 1864.

United States Rerjulars.
Albert F. AVood, April 11, 1861, to April 11, 1864.

Mnsivians.
Abijah Allen, Dec. 22, 1863, to May 31, 1865.
Hiram A. French, Dec. 22, 1863, to May 31, 1865.
Eugene D. Daniels, Dec. 22, 1863, to May 31, 1865.
Luther Hayden, Oct. 26, 1864, to June 13, 1865.
Francis W. Holbrook, Jan. 4, 1864, to May 31, 1865.
Jacob S. Lord, Oct. 26, 1864, to June 13, 1866.
Jonathan Thayer, Jr., Oct. 26, 1864, to June 13, 1865.

Seventieth Infantry {Colored).
John Bell, Jan. 31, 1865.

Seventieth New York Infantry.
Levi Bunker, June 20', 1861, to June 16, 1863.
Edward S. Bunker, July 13, 1861, to Sept. 11, 1862.
Alfred E. Parker, July 15, 1861, to May 5, 1862.

Twenty-fifth New York Infantry.
Thomas Smith, May 13, 1861, to June, 1862.
Third Maryland Infantry,
John Finegan, February, 1862, to March 12, 1863.
Alonzo A. Tower, February, 1862.

Twelfth Vermont Infantry.
Benjamin F. Arnold, Oct. 4, 1862, to Dec. 29, 1864.
Nelson Arnold, Oct. 18, 1862, to June 19, 1864.

The folIowiDg enlisted in unknown orgaaizations,
viz. :

William S. Adams.
William C. Bright.
Symmes G. Buker.
James Dooley.
Michael Doran.
Edward Doyle.
Daniel H. Ellis.
John Freel.
James Flynn.
Patrick Glancy.
James T. Godfrey.
John Hanlon.
Albert Howard, Jr.

Lewis U. Hubbard.
John W. Langley.
Bernard McGovern,
George E. Nelson.
John O'Neil.
John Smith.
Charles E. Smith.
William Taylor.
Edward Tilden.
William Townsend.
Peter Whitmarsh.
William 0. Wright.

The following enlisted in the navy, viz.

Michael Tenney.
Duncan Crawford.
Royal J. Freeman.
George Howe.
Thomas J. Martin.

George A. Raymond.
William H. Spear.
Charles Smith.
Paul Nadell.
William H. Matthews.

Besides these there were thirty-four who were
strangers, some of whom were assigned by the State
as the quota of the town.

Names of those who fell on the field or from
wounds received in battle :

Elisha Paine Goodnow.
George Frederic Thayer.
Owen Fox.
John T. Ayres.
Edward Everett Patten.
Ansel Penniman Thayer.
John Francis Wild.
Garrett George Barry.
Alvin Jackson.
Cornelius Purfy.
Thomas John Crowell.
Charles Henry Crickmay.

Those who died in
prison life were :

William Higgins.
Charles Gray.

From disease :

Silas Binney Crane.
John Ferdinand Albee.

Alexander R. Fogg.
Jeremiah Dalton (2d).
Lawrence McLaughlin.
Loring Winthrop Thayer.
Henry T. Wade.
Edgar Lewis Bumpus.
Edward David.
Ebenezer Coddington Thayer,

Jr.
Thomas Smith.
Alfred Emmons Parker.
Nelson Arnold.

prison or from the effects of

.Tames Bannon..

Benjamin Franklin Arnold.

Elisha Strong Bowditch.
William Sanford Leach.

BRAINTREE.

129

Francis W. Kahle.
Daniel Austin Thayer.
William Martin Harmon.
Amos Atkins Loring.
Leonard F. Huff.
Anthony Columbus .
T. Horace Cain.
Daniel W. Dean.
Seth Dean.

Henry Winslow Dean.
John Finegan.
Levi Bunker.
Edward S. Bunker.
Paul Nadell.
Stephen W. Dawson.
Dennis Moriarty.
John Connors.

The women of the town deserve honorable men-
tion. They contributed to the needs of the soldiers
such articles as bedding, clothing, lint, bandages, and
delicacies of diet as far as was within their means.
An illustration of the spirit of some of the women in
raising funds for these purposes of mercy is worth
preserving. One summer, when money was hard to
get, a townsman jocosely offered, without thinking
his proposal would be accepted, to give the ladies a
load of hay, lying in the wet meadows, if they would
carry it away. They promptly accepted the gift, and
several of the younger women went into the fields,
loaded the hay, had it properly weighed, and duly
deposited in the barn of a purchaser, and converted
the proceeds into stockings, drawers, and shirts for
the men at the front.

For the most of the above statistics I am indebted
to the labored researches of the Rev. George A.
Thayer, a native of Braintree, an officer in the army,
and who now resides at Cincinnati, Ohio.

As an outgrowth of the war, soon after its close
the soldiers of the United States army formed an
organization which they called " The Grand Army of
the Republic." A branch was formed June 4, 1869,
and named Gen. Sylvanus Thayer Post, No. 87, De-
partment of Massachusetts. It was organized by
Gen. James L. Bates, assisted by Capt. Charles W.
Hastings. The charter members were Capt. James
T. Stevens, George D. Willis, Francis W. Holbrook,
Joseph E. Holbrook, Robert P. Bestick, Lucian M.
Thayer, Marcus A. Perkins, John R. Carmichael,
William A. Dagget, and Edward S. Dean. They now
number sixty-three comrades. They have strewed
with flowers the graves of their departed comrades on
Memorial Day each year since their organization.
Nine of their comrades they have borne to the silent
tomb and performed over their graves the usual ser-
vice. They have expended for the relief of their
members the sum of one thousand three hundred and
two dollars and thirty-five cents. They held their
meetings for some time in Holbrook Block, until its
destruction by fire in June, 1882, when they lost
nearly all their property. But though small in num-
bers, they, by the aid of their townsmen, have fur-
nished a fine hall in Rosenfeld's block, which they

occupy at present. It has been beautifully decorated,
mainly through the labor and taste of Comrade Thomas
B. Stoddard, who deserves this notice. The Past
Commanders are James T. Stevens, James T. Bestick,
George D. Willis, Abijah Allen, Henry A. Monk,
Edwin L. Curtis, William L. Gage, Thomas Fallon.
Marcus A. Perkins has served as Quartermaster
nearly fifteen years.

Early in the year 1865 a meeting of the citizens of
the town was held in the town hall to devise measures
to secure the erection of a suitable memorial to the
soldiers from the town who died or were killed in
service. They decided to hold a fair, and were joined
by the ladies to further the object. From the fair
and a musical entertainment about fourteen hundred
dollars were realized. By the will of Mr. Harvey
White a legacy was given towards the accomplishment
of the same purpose. The town in its corporate capa-
city contributed the remainder of the necessary sum
for its completion. The town selected, in 1867, a
committee, consisting of Messrs. F. A. Hobart, Asa
French, Horace Abercrombie, Levi W. Hobart, E. W.
Arnold, Jason G. Howard, Edward Avery, Alva
Morrison, and Edward Potter, to procure plans and
estimates for some memorial. June 27, 1873, the
town voted '• that the soldiers' monument committee
be instructed to erect txpon some portion of the town-
land, near the town house, a statue cut in granite,
after a model submitted by Messrs. Batterson & Can-
field, of Hartford, Conn., with a pedestal designed by
H. & J. E. Billings, architects of Boston, at a cost
not exceeding five thousand dollars above the foun-
dation."

Jason G. Howard and Edward Potter having re-
moved from the town, James T. Stevens and William
M. Richards were chosen to fill the vacancies. Al-
verdo Mason, Marcus A. Perkins, Charles W. Procter,
and Abijah Allen were also added to the committee.
Under the above vote the monument was erected.

The statue is a full-sized model of a soldier, stand-
ing with his musket in position at rest, and is cut
from Westerly granite. The inscriptions placed upon
the pedestal are, upon the front, " The town of
Braintree builds this monument in grateful remem-
brance of the brave men whose names it bears ;" also,
" 1874." Upon the reverse this simple inscription,
" Dying they triumphed." Upon the north and south
sides are the names of those of the quota of Brain-
tree who died or were killed in the service : also
" 1861" at the top and " 1865" beneath, denoting the
duration of the war.

The funds placed at the disposal of the committee
were: citizens' fund and interest, $2338.19; town

130

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

appropriations, $3628.07 ; Harvey White's legacy,
8500.00: total, $6460.26. On the 17th of June,
187-4, this monument was dedicated with appropriate
ceremonies. There let it stand till time shall be no
more, as a record that shall tell future generations of
the bravery and heroism of our citizen soldiers in
defense of the union of the States which was founded
by our fathers, maintained by our brothers, and which,
we trust, will be transmitted to the latest generation.

Miscellaneous. — Besides the bequests to the town
before mentioned, Josiah French, a native of the town,
and one who had been honored by the town in electing
him to some of the most important oflBces, left, as de-
scribed in his will, the following property, viz. : " I
give and devise to the town of Braintree, in the
county of Norfolk, Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
a certain piece of mowing and tillage land lying and
situate in said Braintree, containing five acres, more
or less, and bounded as follows : easterly on Washing-
ton Street, northerly on land of Capt. Ralph Arnold,
southerly on town land, and westerly on land of Peter
Dyer. To have and to hold the same to the said town
of Braintree forever, to be used and occupied by the
said town as a common or common field for companies
and buildings for town or public business, but no pri-
vate dwelling-houses or buildings whatever to be
placed on said premises, but to be forever French's
common, except the wood I give my wife." This
will was dated March 19, 1845, and probated Feb. 11,
1851. After a vexatious law-suit, the town obtained
possession of the property. It is situated in the geo-
graphical centre of the town, and upon it, in 1858,
was built a large and commodious house, which is
used for town hall, high-school room, and for various
town purposes. It has cost the town for building
improvements upwards of twenty thousand dollars,
and is a credit to the town. The remaining portion
of the land is used as a play-ground for the youth,
there being on the west side a fine grove. Josiah
French, the donor, died Jan. 1, 1851, aged about
seventy- four years. Long may his memory be cher-
ished and his gift appreciated.

From the incorporation of the town to 1730 the
town-meetings were held in the meeting-house of the
North Precinct ; from 1730 till 1750, in the same
place and the meeting-house of the Middle Precinct
alternately ; from 1750 to 1830, in Middle Precinct
meeting-house. The town hall erected on the corner
of Washington and Union Streets was first occupied
'as a place for the meetings of the town on March 1,
1830. It was occupied until 1858, when it was sold
to private parties, who removed it to Taylor Street,
and remodeled it into two dwellin<i;-houses.

Thayer Public Library. — At a special town-
meeting held May 16, 1870, the following communi-
cation from Gen. Sylvanus Thayer was received and
read by Asa French, Esq.:

"To THE Citizens ok the Town of Braintree:

" Gentlemen, — To establish a free public library in this town, I
propose to erect a fire-proof building, suitable for the purpose,
towards the cost of wliich the town shall contribute the sum of
ten thousand dollars, the amount needed to complete tlie build-
ing to be paid by nie. And I will loan to the town the said sum
of ten thousand dollars, for sucli time as it shall require it, to
comply with this offer, at six per cent, interest. Upon the ac-
ceptance of this proposition by the town, I will give the further
sum of ten thousand dollars, as a permanent fund, the income
of which shall annually bo devoted to the maintenance of said
library. Should the town take favorable action upon this mat-
ter, I shall be happy to confer with a committee with reference
to the immediate consummation of the project.

liis
" Respectfully, S. + Thayer.

mark
" Braintree, May 16, 1870."

At the same meeting this proposition was almost
unanimously accepted, the town appropriating the sum
named, and a committee appointed to confer with
Gen. Thayer, with full authority to act for the town
in locating said library building and in carrying out
the plan covered by this proposition. Asa French,
Edward Avery, Francis A. Hobart, Alva Morrison,
and Charles H. Dow were chosen said committee.

Oct. 27, 1870, a meeting of the town was called to
see if the town would rescind the above vote, but after
a thorough discussion it was decided not to rescind, by
a vote of two hundred and nineteen for rescinding and
three hundred and twenty-eight opposed. At the
same meeting Warren Mansfield, Joseph A. Arnold,
and Jacob S. Dyer were added to the library com-
mittee. This action was taken in consequence of a
disagreement of the citizens where the library building
should be located.

April 7, 1873, the committee reported to the town
that the plans for the building had been carefully pre-
pared under the personal supervision of the donor,
although the building had not been commenced at his
decease. The executors of his will recognized the
validity of the contract, and set apart the sum of
twenty thousand dollars to be applied for the erection
of said building. They also reported that a lot of
land had been purchased by subscription and pre-
sented to the town as a site for the building. This
land joined the land given the town by Josiah
French. They further reported that the contract for
the erection of the building had been executed, and
that it would be completed the coming season. Asa
French, Francis A. Hobart, and Henry A. Johnson
were appointed trustees on the part of Gen. Thayer's

mm.

Wt'iiOTolitanPullLsSiug S.£nfiTaviag Co,¥ewTorlr

BRAINTREE.

131

estate, and Nathaniel H. Hunt and N. F. T, Hayden
were chosen by the town.

The library was opened to the public Sept. 1, 1874,
and is kept open a portion of each day in the week^
except on the Sabbath. It contains at the present
time (1884) six thousand five hundred and thirty vol-
umes, and has upon its books as borrowers the names
of two thousand five hundred and seventy-four persons.
Besides the gifts mentioned, it has been the recipient
of about five hundred dollars' worth of books from E.
Anderson Hollingsworth, and also a large number of
valuable and beautiful reference books from Jonathan
French, of Boston, whose father was a native of the
town. Miss Abbie M. Arnold is the librarian. She
has held the situation since the opening, and gives
general satisfaction.

Puritan Lodge, No. 179, I. 0. of 0. F., was organ-
ized April 11, 1877, and numbers about seventy
members. They hold their meetings in Odd-Fellows'
Hall in the south village.

Braintree Lodge, No. 1494, Knights of Honor,
numbering about sixty, was organized Feb. 26, 1779,
and holds its meetings in Grand Army Hall.

In closing these sketches, permit me to acknowledge
my indebtedness to the Registers of Probate and
Deeds for Suffolk and Norfolk Counties, to John
Ward Dean, Esq., Librarian of the New England
Historic-Genealogical Society, and to the aged citizens
of the town, for information which has enabled me to
give so many facts in the history of our town.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

CALEB STETSON.

Caleb Stetson was born in Braintree, Mass., Jan.
6, 1801. He was the eldest of the three sons of
Amos Stetson. He received the best education the
country at that time afforded, spending six months at
school and the remaining six playing or working on
the farm. He was offered a collegiate education by
his father, who had a prosperous business, but he de-
clined it, his spirit of enterprise being more active
than his love of study. In 1815 he was sent to a
private school, with a view to the study of law, for
which profession he had a growing taste, and which
he would have honored had he completed his studies.

His father was three or four times elected to repre-
sent the town of Braintree in the Legislature of Mas-
sachusetts, and was one of the selectmen and asses-
sors of Braintree for many years. In the war of

1812 he was major of the State militia, and was or-
dered out for service, in 1813, for coast defense.

After two years' application to the study of law Ca-
leb Stetson abandoned the profession and began to
assist his father in his store. His aptitude for busi-
ness soon became conspicuous in the management of
his father's affairs, which he conducted with great
success for five years. At the age of twenty-two he
married Susannah, daughter of the late Deacon Hunt,
of Weymouth, a most estimable lady, by whom he
had six children.

Mr. Stetson selected for his business the manufac-
ture of boots and shoes. His father furnished him
a capital of three hundred dollars, and he went to
work, this being all the aid he received from any one.
Adding industry and good judgment to his small
fund, he conducted a prosperous business in Braintree
for years.

In 1826 he became initiated into the mysteries of
Freemasonry, becoming a member of Orphans' Hope
Lodge in Weymouth. During the anti-Masonic ex-
citement which followed the reported death of Wil-
liam Morgan, of New York, Mr. Stetson found him-
self so unpleasantly situated in Braintree that he
removed to Boston, where, though anti-Masonry
prevailed to some extent, it was far less aggressive
than in the country towns. He eventually acquired
great wealth in the shoe business, and extended his
operations into other branches of industry. His ac-
tive labors have covered more than half a century of
time. He has passed through four or five severe
financial revulsions in trade, — say, 1826-28, 1836-37,
1847-49, 1857-61, — and what is very remarkable,
he has had no occasion to ask any renewal or ex-
tension of his liabilities for a single day during his
whole life, — a prosperous business period of over
forty years. All correct cash bills have been instantly
paid on presentation. In 1842 Mr. Stetsonr was
elected a director in the Shoe and Leather Dealers'
Bank, in Boston, and in 1857 he was made president.
This ofl5ce he held ten years, with great distinction to
himself and great profit to the bank.

Although Mr. Stetson was an observing and unde-
viating Democrat, of unquestionable courage and pa-
triotism, he was no politician in the low sense of that
word. He was no oflSce-seeker. In 1835 he and his
wife became members of Rev. Dr. Adams' church,
Boston. After the death of his wife, in 1863, he
became connected with the Episcopal Church. In
1852 he was elected a representative to the General
Court from Braintree, and was made chairman of the
House Committee on Banks and Banking. The bill
establishing a Board of State Bank Commissioners

132

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

was prepared by him. In 1854 he was nominated
by the Democratic State Convention as the candidate
for Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts. The same
year he was elected a presidential elector on the Demo-
cratic ticket. This honor he declined, and after that
date he accepted no nominations whatever for political
office.

His first appearance as a public writer was in 1835.
The late Hon. Amasa Walker published a series of
articles advocating extensions of the credit system to
six, eight, and ten months to Southern and Western
purchases. These were answered by Mr. Stetson with
much ability. The general crash of 1837 proved his
wisdom and foresight. In 1836 he wrote several
articles in favor of the sub-treasury. The many fail-
ures of banks turned his attention to the subject of
banking, and he opposed the further issue of currency
under the general system then established. He con-
sidered that the banks were unsafe under the general
laws of Massachusetts, as it tended to encourage their
increase without real capital. He advised the safety-
fund system, which was afterwards adopted in New
York and Massachusetts in 1854.

In 1854 he published a pamphlet, over the signa-
ture of " Silex," of about one hundred pages, giving
a history of mining and the probable effect which the
discovery of gold would have on the future value of
property. To this was appended some twelve or fif-
teen letters, written and published in the Boston
Traveller in the winter of 1853.

On Mr. Stetson's return from Europe, he visited
California. While at San Francisco he was so ill that
it was only with great difficulty that he could be
brought home, and for four years there was hardly a
hope of his recovery ; but by skillful medical attend-
ance and good nursing he was restored almost to his
original vigor and health. To escape the severity of
Northern winters he has spent them for several years
at the South, having purchased a plantation of five or
six hundred acres in Georgia.

In reply to an inquiry made by a friend how it had
been possible for him to accomplish so much in his
life, he replied, " The last forty years of my life, I
have risen out of my bed, when well, at four a.m., and
have done all my correspondence and written all arti-
cles for the press or otherwise from four to seven a.m.
before eating or drinking anything. It is now five
A.M., the day of our forefathers' landing, and I am
nearly seventy-eight years of age."

For practical common sense and industry ; for
sterling integrity and consistency of practice in har-
mony with the profession of principle ; for his noble
and generous sympathies as a friend and citizen, and

as an example of legitimate success worthy to be fol-
lowed by young men, but few who live to the ripe age
of fourscore years have a more commendable record
than Caleb Stetson, of Braintree. His name will be
an enduring honor, both to his native town and coun-
try.

ELLIS A. HOLLINGSWORTH.

Ellis A. Hollingsworth, son of Mark and Waitstill
(Tileston) Hollingsworth, was born in Milton, Mass.,
March 6, 1819. His grandfather, Amor Hollings-
worth, was born on the old family homestead in
Chester County, Pa., held by a deed given from
William Penn, and rendered historic by being the
place whereon the memorable battle of Brandywine
was fought between the forces under Lord Howe and
Gen. Washington, The family were originally
Quakers, who came to America with William Penn,
— probably from Chester County, England.

Amor afterwards moved to Delaware, where his
son Mark was born. Mark received a good com-
mon-school education, and, after having served his
time at paper-making, he immediately started for
Boston to see Bunker Hill and Long Wharf This
trip decided his future career. Not returning, he
engaged with Hugh McLean, manufacturer of paper
at Milton Upper Mills, now called Mattapan, and
said to be one of the oldest establishments of the
kind in America, a company having obtained from
the General Court, about the year 1728, the exclu-
sive privilege of making paper for the term of ten
years, upon condition that they should make, after
the third year, five hundred reams per year for each
succeeding year of the remaining ten, one hundred
and fifty reams of which were to be writing-paper,
and a fine of twenty shillings was imposed upon every
ream made by any one else. After McLean's death,
Mark Hollingsworth, in 1809, purchased these mills,
and, associating himself with Edmund Tileston, his
brother-in-law, under the firm-title of Tileston & Hol-
lingsworth, established the business of paper-manu-
facturing, which has continued from that time until
the present in the same families and under the same
firm-name, the eldest son of each generation succeed-
ing, without an exception, to the business, Mark
Hollingsworth was a Quaker, and was characterized
by the attributes of his people, a quiet, positive, re-
flective man, and a hater of shams. He possessed
much mechanical ingenuity, and by his tact and in-
dustry acquired a competency which made him for his
own time wealthy. He died in March, 1855. Ellis
Anderson was the youngest son of a family of eight

-Sn/fi 2^ A JIMtclvJ!

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BRAINTREB.

133

attaining maturity, viz. : Leander M., Amor, John
Mark, George, Lyman, Maria H. (Mrs. E. K. Cor-
nell), Cornelia W. (Mrs. W. Babcock), and Ellis
Anderson.

When young, Ellis Anderson, owing to precarious
health, was placed with a progressive and scientific
farmer of the State of New York, with whom he
remained until he had obtained a thorough knowl-
edge of agriculture, both theoretically and practically,
and for which he ever after manifested a fondness in
the application of his knowledge to the care of a farm
of his own. He married Susan J., only daughter of
Rufus and Susanna Sumner, a cousin of the Hon.
Charles Sumner. Their children are Sumner and
Ellis. In 1849, under the stimulant of the gold
excitement, he went to California, and after a sojourn
of a year or more he returned to Massachusetts, and
iu 1851 took possession of his father's mills at South
Braintree, Mark Hollingsworth having purchased the
old Revere Copper Works at South Braintree, and
there established a paper manufactory.

One of the most fortunate discoveries of modern
times was the invention at this mill in 1843 of ma-
nilla paper, the production of which has become so
valuable in every branch of industry. Ellis Anderson
continued the manufacture of this paper, and after-
wards in association with Leonard Whitney, Jr., of
Watertown, under the firm-name of Hollingsworth
& Whitney, they commenced the making of their
paper into bags by machinery. The enormous in-
crease of business necessitated the construction and
purchase of new mills, which were accordingly erected
in Watertown, Mass., and in Gardiner, Me. The Po-
quonock mill at Hartford, Conn., was purchased, and
partnerships were formed with large manufacturers
both in Baltimore and in Philadelphia. Mr, E. A.
Hollingsworth showed a wonderful adaptability to the
details of business, and possessing a clear compre-
hension of the mechanical processes, through his
care, economy, and ability the business not only as-
sumed large proportions, but was put upon a solid
financial basis. He was in many respects a most
remarkable man. He did nothing upon the impulse
of the moment, but gave elach subject the most care-
ful thought and consideration. Apparently of vigor-
ous health, he was yet for years a great sufferer, but
possessed of wonderful physical endurance he trans-
acted business day after day when others would have
withdrawn from the task. Calmly, patiently, and
without complaint, he was a personal exemplification
of the motto inscribed upon the Hollingsworth coat
of arms, " Disce ferenda pati" (Learn to suffer what
must be endured). Although thus heavily engrossed

in his immense business, his mind took cognizance of
other more scientific and literary pursuits. A student
of the Journal of Speculative Pldloso'pliy ^ of which
he was among the first subscribers, he was accus-
tomed to remark that his acumen, insight, and success
was largely the result of his philosophical researches.
A lover of the beautiful in nature, he would point
out what would be obscure to a common observer.
He took an interest in collecting minerals and shells,
and a fanciful delight in gathering grasses, of which
he had numbered nearly five hundred varieties. In
reference to his last visit to his Gardiner mills, a
friend writes, " We met him, on the north side of the
Cobbossee, gathering ferns and grasses ; we little
thought then that this was the last time we were to
see him." Mr. Hollingsworth was a Unitarian in his
religious views, although by no means bigoted or
sectarian, and a Republican in politics. He was ex-
tremely unconventional, and by his lack of ostentation
and display showed the spirit of his Quaker ancestry.
His kind heart and sound judgment gave him an
interest in all good and progressive works, of which
he was also a generous contributor. Although his
fellow-townsmen honored him with the presidency of
the Braintree Savings-Bank, he would not consent to
other offices of public trust. Of a retiring nature,
he had comparatively small acquaintanceship with his
fellow-citizens ; but it arose rather from ill health,
and from his quiet, unobtrusive manner, than from
any pride of position or lack of geniality. With
intimate friends he was ever social and communi-
cative. Original and keen-witted, he would give
expression to his thoughts with a clearness and purity
of language that gave him few equals. A quick
observer of the comic in life, and possessing a great
fund of quiet humor, he could tell a story so humor-
ously as to draw tears with laughter. Independent,
self-reliant, and tenacious of purpose, he v?as ever in
social and family relations companionable, loving,
and tender.

Sincerely beloved and deeply lamented by the
community at large, a wide circle of business friends,
and by those who knew him best, he passed this life
Jan. 6, 1882.

THE MORRISON FAMILY.

The Morrison Family originated in the island of
Lewis, on the west coast of Scotland, from Scandinavian
stock. There are many ways of spelling the name,
but from about 1800 Morrison has been generally ac-
cepted. It is Gaelic, from Moor's son, signifying re-
nown, famous, a mighty one. Their heraldic crest is

134

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

three Moors' heads, pointing clearly to their origin.
The chief of the clan Morrison was a ruler of Lewis for
many generations, and many instances of their prow-
ess, mechanical skill, and humor may be cited. " The
record of this remarkable family is one of thrilling
interest, and an air of romance still lingers about
the descendants of the Brieve of Lewis. In various
walks of life, in peaceful scenes, in foreign climes, they
are as celebrated as were their ancestors in the feuds
and bloody dramas of the past. In the fields of dis-
covery, in politics, in the conflicts of arms, in business
and mercantile life, their history is one of progress,
and their record one of honor."'

John Morrison, born in Scotland, county of
Aberdeen, 1628, was one of the first settlers of Lon-
donderry, N. H.. previous to which he assisted in de-
fending Londonderry, Ireland, in its memorable siege of
1688-89. He and his family were among the number
driven beneath the walls, and subsequently admitted
into the city, remaining there until its relief. He re-
moved to America in 1720 with a young family. His
sons James and John, who had preceded him to the
New World, deeded him on Christmas, 1723, a tract of
land, now situate in Derry, N. H., where, on Jan. 19,
1736, being near his end, and " very sick and weak in
body, but of perfect mind and memory," he made his
last will and testament, and shortly thereafter died at
the reputed age of one hundred and eight years. His
son James was one of the proprietors of the ancient
town of Londonderry, N. H., and one of those to whom
its charter was given, from which he is koown as
" Charter James Morrison. ' He was one of the earliest
settlers of the town, and the land then " laid out" in
1728 is now owned by his great-great-grandson. He
was prominent in town aiFairs, and selectman in 1725.
By his wife, Mary Wallace, who died in Ireland, he had
two sons, Halbert and Samuel. He died about 1756.
Samuel, born in Ireland in 170-4, came to London-
derry with his father in 1719, a lad of fifteen, and
shared the hardships of the new settlement. He was
deeded a farm which was afterwards set off" into
Windham, still owned in the Morrison name and with
unchanged boundaries. He was moderator of the
first town-meeting held in Windham in 1742, and
presided at fifty-one consecutive meetings. He was a
member of the first board of selectmen, acting in this
capacity at diff"erent times for seven years. He was
town clerk four years. He was a lieutenant in the
French and Indian war, and was present at the cap-
ture of Louisburg, July 26, 1758. He married
Martha, daughter of Samuel Allison, of Londonderry,
born March .31, 1720. She was the first female child
of European parentage born in that town. Their son

Robert lived all his life in Windham, N, H. ; was born
Feb. 6, 1758, and was a farmer. He had twelve
children, among them Ira and Alva.

From the " History of the Morrison Family" we
extract the following graphic sketch :

"Hon. Alva Morrison [John (1), James (2),
Lieut. Samuel (3), Robert (4) ] was born at Wind-
ham, N. H., May 13, 1806. His father died when
he was nearly two years old. From that time until
he was twenty years of age his life was passed quietly
at home with his mother. He received whatever
education the district school was able to give, and
worked at farming. From his earliest years he ex-
hibited that spirit of industry which led to his success
in after-life. In the spring of 1 826, desiring to acquire
a knowledge of some business other than farming, he
left his boyhood's home and went to Stoughton,
Mass., where his brother Leonard was at work in a
woolen-factory. He worked at the same place, but
the proprietor soon becoming insolvent, he went to
Canton and obtained a situation in a woolen-factory
in that town. Here he remained only until the
factory at Stoughton started again under the control
of a new owner, when he returned to his former situ-
ation. It was while in Stoughton that he married,
July 11, 1830, Mira, only daughter of Col. Consider
Southworth, of that town. (See his biography in
Stoughton history.) She was born Nov. 3, 1810. He
remained in the same factory until May, 1831, when he
moved to Braintree, which was ever after his home.
Having acquired a thorough knowledge of the busi-
ness, he, in company with his brother Leonard, com-
menced the manufacture of woolen goods. They
soon sustained a high reputation, as the goods made
by them were the best in the market. They remained
in company five years, when they dissolved partner-
ship. Alva continued the business at Braintree, and
Leonard started anew at Salem, N. H. By close
attention to business and strict integrity they accumu-
lated wealth. He remained in business until 1871,
when he retired and was succeeded by his sons, who
still maintain the high reputation he established in
1831, He was several times chosen as representa-
tive and senator, and was the recipient of other im-
portant trusts from his fellow-townsmen, who relied
implicitly upon his high integrity and intelligence.
He was a large-hearted, whole-souled man. In his
private as well as public life he was highly esteemed
for great energy of character and strength of purpose.
The wealth which he accumulated he made generous
use of in public and private benevolence. He was
greatly interested in the honor and success of his
country. He was a man of much reading ; he loved

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BRAINTREE.

135

and appreciated the best books of English literature.
In the intervals of business he was given to study
books of science and theology, and upon these sub-
jects formed independent and progressive, though
thoroughly reverent opinions. Religion was with
him a practical thing for every-day use, and his sense
of duty toward his fellow-man and God was the
highest. He was very domestic in his tastes, and found
his greatest enjoyment in his home. In return for
his great love of his family, he found them ever ready
to bestow on him the warmest affection and sympa-
thy. He died May 28, 1879." The business estab-
lished by Alva and Leonard Morrison in 1831, and
continued for a few years, was making satinets. Mr.
Morrison abandoned this in 1837 and began to make
woolen yarns. He made good goods and established
a first-class reputation. During all financial reverses
Mr. Morrison paid every dollar of every obligation,
and never asked an extension. Strong in his sense
of justice and the principles of universal right, he
was among the first to join the anti-slavery move-
ment. In those days that meant almost social ostra-
cism, and in these days we can little conceive the
courage required to maintain those principles. He
was a member of the secret society organized to aid
escaped slaves, and his name was placed at the head
of the Free-Soil ticket for years. From 1856 he
supported the Republican party until Grant's second
administration, when, with Charles Sumner, Wendell
Phillips, and others, he abandoned it. A man of
unusual powers and usefulness, a citizen of command-
ing presence and acknowledged integrity, the whole
community felt a loss when Alva Morrison passed
away. His children were M. Lurett, Alva S., Mary
C. (deceased), E. Adelaide, Robert Elmer, Augus-
tus M. (deceased), and Ibrahim.

Alva S. Morrison, son of Alva and Mira (South-
worth) Morrison, was born Nov. 9, 1835, in Braintree.
Attended common and private schools, which attend-
ance was supplemented by two years passed in Con-
ference Seminary, at Northfield, N. H. He received
a thoroughly practical business education in his
father's mills, working in every department, and when
old enough was placed in charge of the financial in-
terests, and was admitted partner in April, 1856.
From that time Mr. Morrison has attended personally
to the development of the business, and under his
careful management it has grown slowly and steadily.
Previous to 1856 the firm had been " A. Morrison &
Co.," Horace Abercrombie, his son-in-law, being a
partner. An increase of business demanded a larger
and more commodious building, and in 1856 the pres-
ent stone mill was erected a little to the east of the old

building. When R. Elmer became of age, in 1864, he
was admitted partner, and Mr. Abercrombie retired,
and the firm became " A. Morrison & Sons." In
1872, Ibrahim was admitted as partner, and the firm
became " A. S. Morrison & Bros." The brothers
have worked together harmoniously, used good mate-
rial, given good work, maintained the high reputation
previously established, and Morrison's yarns and un-
derwear are standard among dealers thi'oughout New
England. The excessive demand for their goods
necessitated another large building in 1874, since
which time their business has doubled. During the
Rebellion " Alva Morrison & Co." for four years man-
ufactured hosiery and underwear, and in 1879 this
firm's successors introduced the manufacture of
"gents' fashioned underwear," which department is
a very prominent one in their business. " A. S. Mor-
rison & Bros." have ever kept abreast of the progress
of improvement, and availed themselves of each new
advance in machinery or otherwise to secure for their
manufactory the best possible result. Their special-
ties are yarns for manufacturing purposes, knitting
yarns, and the underwear spoken of. Their trade-
mark is the family coat-of-arms with the three
Moors' heads. Alva S. has steadily and earnestly de-
voted himself to business, and has preferred this to
meddling with public affairs, but has served on school
committee seven years, and, believing in the princi-
ples of economy and equality enunciated by Thomas
Jefferson, he is active in support of Democracy, and
as a Democrat was elected to represent his district in
1883. He has been twice married, first, Nov. 9,
1857, to Elizabeth A., daughter of Ira and Elizabeth
W. Curtis, of Weymouth. She died Jan. 1, 1874.
Their surviving children are Anna G., Walter E.,
Fred. G., and Mira I. He married, second, Rebecca
H., daughter of Edward Holyoke, of Marlboro, June
13, 1875. By this marriage he has one daughter,
Alice Southworth. For the last quarter of a century
Mr. Morrison has been one of the representative and
successful manufacturers of Braintree, and his success
has been worthily won by his skill, attention, and ap-
plication in his chosen field of labor.

Ira Morrison, [John (1), James (2), Lieut.
Samuel (3), Robert (4), Ira (5) ] was born July 18,
1798, in Windham, N. H. He was first a hatter and
afterwards a farmer, and settled first in Hopkinton,
N. H., next in Ripley, Me., and in 1845 he moved to
Braintree, Mass., and subsequently bought a farm in
Salem, N. H., where he resided until a year or two
previous to his death, which occurred in Braintree,
March 10, 1870. He married Sophia Colby, and had
four children, among them Benjamin Lyman. Ira

136

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

was a quiet, unostentatious person. " His life was
his best memorial. It was marked by uprightness,
strong love for his family and friends, warm hospi-
tality to those who visited his home, deep interest in
the cause of religion, humble hope in our Divine
Lord, and a death whose sorrows never checked his
faith, and whose happy submission left to all who
loved him the confidence that when he was absent
from the body he was present with the Lord."

Ben.jamin Lyman Morrison, son of Ira and
Sophia (Colby) Morrison, was born in Ripley, Me.,
March 28, 1828. He received the limited educational
advantages of a farmer's boy at the common schools,
and when seventeen came to Braintree, and went to
work in the yarn-mill of his uncle Alva, and, with
the determination to make manufacturing his life-
work, remained with him twelve years, thoroughly
mastering every branch and all details of the business.
During this period, by strict economy, he had laid up
a small capital, and after a fruitless tour through the
West, in search of a location in which to begin busi-
ness, he returned to Massachusetts, purchased a dis-
carded set of machinery of his uncle, and established
himself in an unpretending way as a manufacturer of
woolen yarn in Stoughton, Mass., in company with
Asahel Southworth. This partnership continued eight-
een months, when Mr. Morrison returned to Brain-
tree, and leased a mill at East Braintree. This was
about 1860. Remaining there four years, his industry
and close personal attention being well rewarded, he
was requested by Horace Abercrombie, who owned a
flouring-mill not far away, to join him in partnership,
and make of his property a manufactory of yarn.
Mr. Morrison accepted this proposition. They formed
the firm of " Abercrombie & Morrison." Within a
year's time Mr. Morrison purchased the interest of
Mr. Abercrombie in the mill, and conducted business
in his own name until Jan. 1, 188], when his son
Lyman W. became a partner. The firm-name has
since been " B. L. Morrison & Son." Since 1878 the
machinery has been run by steam- as well as water-
power. Mr. Morrison has been satisfied with a sure
and safe business. He has personally given his at-
tention to each department, manufactured a high grade
of goods, and has been prosperous. He married, Nov.
22, 1855, Lydia D., daughter of Nathaniel and Eliza-
beth (Hollis) Penniman, who belonged to an old
Braintree family. Their children are Lyman W. and
Helen M. In politics Mr. Morrison is Republican.
He was chosen a representative in 1872. He is a
member of Delta Lodge, F. and A. M., of Weymouth,
and is a liberal in religion. jNIr. Morrison is a man
of strict integrity, genial nature, industrious habits.

and one whose honor is unquestioned, and whose word
is as good as his bond. He is a man of kind affec-
tions and feelings. He has concientiously been faith-
ful to his trusts, devoted to his duties, and a sincere,
generous, and true friend.

DAVID THAYER, A.M., M.D.

David Thayer, A.M., M.D., of Boston, is a native
of Braintree, Mass., where he was born July 19,
1813. His ancestors, who were among the first set-
tlers of the town of Braintree, were of Puritan stock,
and came from England previous to 1640, in the
" Mayflower," with the Pilgrims who landed at Plym-
outh in 1620. His flither was Deacon Nathaniel
Emmons Thayer, and his mother Deliverance, daugh-
ter of Deacon Elephaz Thayer, a soldier in the war
of the Revolution, who served under Washington at
West Point.

Dr. Thayer obtained the rudiments of his education
in the common school of his native town, but his
active mind sought a wider range of thought. He
early showed a love of reading, and lost no opportunity
of increasing his knowledge in this way. After work-
ing all day on the farm, the late hours of the night
often found him absorbed in study. He was by no
means a book-worm. He loved out-door amusement,
and was always eager to join his comrades in their
active sports.

There is a French saying that the time best em-
ployed is that which one loses. Its truth was demon-
strated in the case of young Thayer, when, in common
with every one of his school-fellows, he seemed des-
tined to become a shoemaker. Though the experi-
ment proved a failure, the time thus lost was well
employed, as all idea of his ever becoming an accom-
plished artist in this useful branch of industry was
happily abandoned, and he was allowed to seek the
highest education he so eagerly desired. He became
a student at Weymouth Academy, and in 1833 he
entered Phillips' Academy at Andover to fit himself
for college. It was here that he gave his adherence
to the cause he served in later years with unswerving
faith and zeal. George Thompson, the noted English
anti-slavery orator, lectured in Andover. Young
Thayer heard him, became convinced of the crime of
slavery, and joined with a number of his fellow-stu-
dents who wished to form an anti-slavery society.
This the faculty of Phillips' Academy and of the
theological seminary forbade. To join the anti slavery
society already formed by the citizens, and to discuss
the slavery question in the Philomathcan Society in

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BRAINTREE.

137

the Academy, was also forbidden. Then about forty
of the students revolted and asked for their creden-
tials, and left the Academy in a body. Among them
was David Thayer, who was readily given an honor-
able discharge. He completed his preparations for
college at Appleton Academy, New Ipswich, N. H.,
and entered Union College in 1836.

During his college course he showed a preference
for modern languages, which he acquired with facility,
and for the natural sciences, and he took up the study
of medicine under Prof. B. F. Joslin, M.D., LL.D.
At this time his inclination was for a life of travel
and exploration, and a knowledge of languages and
of medicine would, he thought, be valuable aids. He
graduated in 1840, then started out on his travels,
going to the South and West. He remained in Ken-
tucky a year or two. teaching and continuing his
studies. The illness of his father recalled him to
Braintree in 1842.

While at home he continued the study of medicine,
and after the death of his father he entered the med-
ical department of Harvard College, but without
any intention of ever becoming a practitioner of med-
icine.

It was in compliance with the earnest desire of his
mother, after the death of his father in the same year,
that he abandoned the idea of foreign travel, and de-
cided to enter the profession. He took his medical
degree iu 1843 at the Berkshire Medical Institute,
Pittsfield, Mass.

Dr. Thayer began the practice of his profession
in Boston, and in 1844, with J. E. Murdock, the
eminent elocutionist, he established the Boston Gym-
nastic Institute, a school for physical education and
the culture of the voice. It soon became popular,
and was well patronized by the best people of Boston.
It was at this period that Dr. Thayer began his in-
vestigations of homoeopathy. He had read of the
new method of practice, and he now began to experi-
ment with homoeopathic remedies. Therapeutics had
ever been his favorite field in medical science, and
tracing out the secret relations between diseases and
their remedies possesses for him a peculiar fascination.
In 1845 he began to treat cases of diarrhoea with a
drug homoeopathically prepared. The result was a
cure in all the thirty-five cases. The success of this
experiment incited him to further investigation.

And in the same year he opened a dispensary in
Boylston Hall, for the free medical treatment of the
poor in connection with Dr. C. F. Hoffeudahl, a
homoeopathic physician of long experience. This
wider field of observation confirmed the results of
former experiments, and Dr. Thayer became a convert

to the new school of practice. He joined the American
Institute of Homoeopathy in 1847, and twenty-three
years later he was elected its president.

In 1854, Dr. Thayer, in order to apply a crucial test
to the claims of homoeopathy, selected several dis-
eases over which allopathic treatment has little or no
power to cure. These diseases were gall-stone disease,
rachitis (or the distortion of the spine, incurvation of
the long bones, deformed chests, etc.), calculi of the
kidney, and organic disease of the heart. The result
of these observations and tests was so satisfactory as
to convince every unprejudiced mind of the efficacy
of homoeopathic medicines in these grave diseases.

In December, 1854, he made the discovery which
has brought him enviable fame, — the discovery of the
homoeopathic specific for gall-stone colic. A patient
who had suflFered periodically for years from severe
attacks of gall-stone colic came under Dr. Thayer's
observation. Allopathic treatment could not cure the
disease, and could only alleviate the suffering in part
by opiates and hypodermic injections. The doctor
carefully noted and studied the symptoms of the case ;
then he set to work to search the homoeopathic materia
medica for drugs whose provings corresponded with
these symptoms. Several were selected which cor-
responded with the totality of the symptoms, but
these failed to give relief. Finally cinchona, which
has periodicity for one of its characteristics, was tried
in the third decimal attenuation, and proved success-
ful. Months, years passed, and the patient had no
return of the pain. The cure was radical. Dr. Thayer
continued to study the disease, and has treated near a
thousand cases of gall-stone colic with equal success.
His remarkable cures of gall-stone colic became known
and talked about, and were reported to medical socie-
ties. These reports were published, and physicians
all over the country availed themselves of his discov-
ery. Recently a noted French physician in Paris
wrote to Dr. Thayer a letter of congratulation oa
making one of the greatest discoveries in therapeu-
tics, and translated his paper on '■ Gall-Stone Colic and
its Remedy" into the French language, and published
it in the Bulletin de la Sociefe Medicale Homoso-
pathique de France.

Dr. Thayer early became an Abolitionist, and iden-
tified him.self with Garrison and his party. His house
was an asylum for fugitive slaves for many years be-
fore the civil war, and his heart and hand were ever
prompt in aiding the distressed. John Brown visited
him, and received generous contributions of money in
aid of his project of freeing the slaves in Missouri.
The doctor was also an active worker for the cause of
Abolition in politics, and was associated with the

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

prominent men of the party. He was elected a mem-
ber of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
five times. While in the Legislature he was largely
influential in securing the charters of the Massachu-
setts Homoeopathic Medical Society, the Dispensary,
the College, and the Homoeopathic Hospital, in
Boston.

At a period of the civil war when there was great
need of medical aid in our army. Dr. Thayer oifered
himself to Governor Andrew for any service where he
could be useful. The Governor forwarded the letter,
with a cordial recommendation of the writer, to Sur-
geon-General Dale. In answer, Dr. Thayer received
this brief reply, " When your services are needed you
will be notified." It is perhaps needless to add that
had this offer come from an allopathic practitioner of
like ability and standing it would have been accepted.

Dr. Thayer was one of the eight homoeopathic phy-
sicians, also members of the Massachusetts Medical
Society (allopathic), who were summoned for trial
before a committee of that society in 1873 for " con-
duct unworthy and unbecoming an honorable physi-
cian and member of the society," viz. : for practicing
homoeopathy. Though educated an allopathic physi-
cian, Dr. Thayer had practiced homoeopathy since
1847, and had been allowed to continue a member of
this society while guilty of such alleged conduct for
twenty- six years ! The trial resulted in the expulsion
of these physicians. Dr. Thayer's speech in his own
behalf and of one of his colleagues was a forcible, clear,
and logical defense, and was also a powerful argument
in favor of homoeopathy. The facts he stated could
not be disputed, his conclusions could not be denied.
It was published in a pamphlet and widely read, gain-
ing for him many friends outside of Boston.

When the Boston University was established, Dr.
Thayer was very active in organizing the Homoeopathic
College as its medical department. He received the
first nomination as candidate for dean of the college,
but declined the honor. He has occupied the chair
of professor of Practice and that of Institutes of
Medicine in Boston Univer-sity for eight years. He
was for twenty-five years surgeon of the Ancient and
Honorable Artillery Company.

In 1878, when the yellow fever was scourging New
Orleans, the death-rate enormous, and the infection at
its height, Dr. Thayer, learning that homoeopathic
treatment was wanted there, wrote to the president of
the Relief A.ssociation offering his services. The
fearlessness and genero.sity of this offer were charac-
teristic.

Five years later, when he had passed his seventieth
birthday, he visited Europe for the benefit of his

health, and returned enriched with the results of many
original observations and reflections. While visiting
the hospitals of Europe his sympathies were aroused
by witnessing the cruelties inflicted on the poor people
who resort to these institutions for medical and sur-
gical aid ; nor was he blind to the manifest tyranny
of the governments, as shown by the sad, bitter lot of
their toiling peasantry, crushed by taxation, and the
degraded condition of women ; and the general aspect
of all the nations of Central Europe forced him to the
conclusion, so epigrammatically stated by his friend
Wendell Phillips, that under such sore and cruel op-
pression '' Dynamite and the dagger are the proper
substitutes for Faneuil Hall and the Daily Advertiser."

Dr. Thayer has given special study to malarial fever
and kindred zymotic diseases. His paper on " Miasm"
was published in full in the " Publications of the
Massachusetts Homoeopathic Medical Society" in
1879. In the " Transactions of the American Insti-
tute of Homoeopathy" for 1883 is published his
" History of Malarial Fevers." In the former of
these papers Dr. Thayer brought accumulated evidence
to show that there is some ground for the belief that
miasm becomes infectious by attenuation, — by being
diffused through a great extent of atmospheric air, —
and that this law finds analogy in that principle re-
cognized in the homoeopathic school of medicine, viz. :
that specific medicine ispoicerfnl to owe Just in pro-
portion to its attenuation within limits not yet dis-
tinctly dejined, and in that well-known fact, that the
toxic effect of certain drugs is also increased by being
attenuated and minutely subdivided. He also brings
evidence to show that some of the miasmata in their
crude and unaftenuated state are not only non-in-
fectious, but seem sometimes to act as prophylactics
against the disea.ses which the miasmata in an at-
tenuated state have the power to produce.

Dr. Thayer's eminent success as a physician is due
in no small measure to his great industry. The late
Dr. Carroll Dunham, whom all good homoeopaths
reverenced, once wrote to a patient : " It is impos-
sible for the physician to do his best in any case
unless the patient submit himself without reserve or
qualification to such inquest as the physician may
from time to time deem necessary, throwing himself
as much as possible into the state of passive foUow-
your-leadism which a lawyer requires in a discreet
client. The physician must say, as the lawyer does,
select counsel in whom you can place full confidence,
place all the facts before him without reserve, give
access to all sources of knowledge, then let him con-
duct the examination and the case according to his
untrammeled judgment." It is just this power of

BRAINTREE.

139

winning confidence, inducing the patient " to place all
the facts before him without reserve," that gives a
physician the surest means of forming a correct diag-
nosis, and Dr. Thayer possesses it in an enviable
degree. His nature is peculiarly sympathetic, and
acts as a magnet upon those who approach him in
professional as well as social relations, while his
downright honesty inspires absolute trust and reliance.
" There isn't a bit of humbug about him ; he tells
the truth without fear or favor," one patient was
heard to say to another as both sat in his waiting-
room. His uncompromising honesty and absolute
fearlessness command the respect of all, even his
enemies, — for so positive a character is sure to have
enemies, — who have reason to know that he is " a
good fighter." An eminent divine, in commenting
upon the notorious trial and the expulsion of the
homoeopathic physicians from the Massachusetts
Medical Society, spoke of the homoeopath defiantly
shaking his little bottle of pellets in the faces of his
judges, referring to Dr. Thayer. His attitude upon
this, as upon all occasions when aroused to defense,
shows the courage and self-reliance which are his
dominant traits. Convinced that he is right, he
would maintain his ground unshaken, and defy the
whole world were it arrayed against him. How
richly this granite strength of character is marbled
with golden veins of tenderness and charity his many
friends, who know and love him well, can testify.
This tenderness was beautifully shown in his life-long
devotion to his mother, who lived to the age of
ninety-two years. It was in loyalty to her wishes
that he relinquished the cherished plans of his youth,
and entered the profession whose honors and rewards
now crown his ability and untiring industry. For
years before her death, no matter what the pressure
of professional work or his own fatigue, through heat
of summer and winter storms, he left the city every
week to visit her retired home, and found in her
loved presence the charm that banished weariness and
pain. Such filial love is as rare as it is worthy of
emulation. His charity, both of spirit and of deed,
is one of his noblest, most endearing traits. Towards
human error and imperfection he is ever lenient, and
if his tongue cannot speak good, it speaks no evil.
As he has risen by dint of his own unaided eff"orts,
he knows how to sympathize with those who are
struggling, and the poor and the oppressed have
always found in liira a true friend. When he finds
a fellow-creature in distress, his ever-ready sympathy
is excited, perhaps too easily, and he has often parted
with large sums of money to help persons who seemed
to need it more than himself. The oppressed always

found in him a true friend, and the oppressor an un-
relenting enemy. The exacting duties of his profes-
sion and the constant demands of a large practice have
left him no leisure for the scholarly pursuits in which
he delights ; but even now, as in youth, after a hard
day's work, the midnight hour often finds him enjoy-
ing the sounding lines of Homer or the eloquence of
Demosthenes. He is an independent thinker, having
his own views upon all subjects he investigates. His
tendencies are liberal and progressive to a degree that
has sometimes exposed him to criticism. He believes
that no candid or scientific mind will turn aside from
the investigation of what may prove to be a hidden
truth, and may enlarge the resources which the phy-
sician brings to the aid of suffering humanity. Be-
lieving that " that life is most acceptable to the
Almighty which is most useful to His creatures," he
has honestly striven to serve his fellow-men, doing
good wherever he found opportunity, and verily such
shall have their reward.

NAAMAN L. WHITE.
The White family of which we write is largely repre-
sented in colonial New England. They were extensive
land-owners and generally successful agriculturists. It
may be truly said of them, in summing up their general
characteristics, that they abstained from the allure-
ments of the vices of the day in which they lived.
They were remarkable for their temperance, integrity,
and perseverance, and with sincerity practiced the
virtues of the genuine type of New England charac-
ter, and in whatever condition of life they have been
placed their descendants have honored their position
and name. By searching old records we find Thomas
(1) White, probably brother or cousin of William
White (father of Peregrine), admitted freeman of
Massachusetts colony March 3, 1635, being an inhab-
itant of Weymouth, of which he was one of the first
settlers, and whose earliest records bear his name.
He was a man of ability and determination, was for
many years selectman of Weymouth, representative
to the General Court in 1637, 1640, 1657, 1671, and
was commander of a military company, at that time
a post of distinguished honor and responsibility.
Thomas (2), son of the first Thomas, of Weymouth,
was born in Weymouth, and married Mary Pratt ;
settled in Braintree, and was admitted freeman in
1681. He was a man of education, distinction, and
worth, and held a high social position in the town of
his adoption. His children were Thomas, Mary,
Samuel, Joseph, and Ebenezer (3). His death oc-
curred in April, 1706.

140

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Ebenezer (3), youngest son of Thomas (2) and
Mary (Pratt) White, of Braintree, was born in 1683,

married Lydia , and lived in East Braintree.

They had seven children, — Lydia, Elizabeth, Eben-
ezer, William (died in infancy), William, Anne, and
Thomas (4). Ebenezer was a farmer, quiet, unpre-
tending, devoting himself entirely to agriculture.

Thomas (4), son of Ebenezer and Lydia

White, married Deborah Nash, Aug. 23, 1753. He
was a man of decided energy and pluck, was captain
of a military company ordered to Dorchester Neck
(South Boston), March, 1776. His children were
Thomas, Deborah, Alexander, Silence, Solomon, and
Elihu (5).

Elihu (5) married Sarah, daughter of Ellet and
Sarah (Pratt) Loud. He was by birth and education
a farmer, but afterward engaged in commerce, made
foreign voyages, and acquired a competency. He was
a captain in the militia, deputy fish commissioner of
the State for many years. He had nine children, of
whom all attained maturity, — Sarah (deceased) ; El-
liott L. (deceased), remained at home, and filled im-
portant ofiices in the town ; Elihu (deceased), was a
graduate of Brown University, and physician in Bos-
ton ; Harvey (deceased), who engaged in commercial
business ; Harriet A. (deceased) ; Sarah, married An-
drew Glover, of Glover's Corner, Dorchester ; Deborah
Prince ; Catharine S. (deceased) ; and Naaman L.
(6), whose ancestral line is Thomas (1), Thomas (2),
Ebenezer (3), Thomas (4), Elihu (5), Naaman L.
(6).

Naaman L. White, son of P]lihu and Sarah (Loud)
White, was born on the place where he now resides
in Braintree, June 24, 1814. He was fitted for college
at Amherst and Phillips' Andover Academy. He
entered Harvard LTniversity in 1831, in a class which
has furnished its full proportion of men who have i
since distinguished themselves in the various walks
of life.

It has been said that nowhere is the character and
ability of a man more accurately weighed and gauged
than in the close contact, the constant and intimate
association, and the sharp competitions of college life.
However this may be, the appreciation in which Mr.
White was held by his as.sociates is perhaps some-
what indicated by the number of literary societies
into which he was chosen during the college course.
There were at that time three leading literary so-
cieties in the college, conducted by the undergrad-
uates, — the Harvard Union, devoted principally to
public debate, the Institute of '76, and the " Hasty-
Pudding Club." It was usual for each member of
every class to belong to some one of these societies,

— as a general rule, to not more than one. Mr.
White was elected into and became an active mem-
ber of all three. Of the last-named society he was
the president, and at one of its anniversaries he was
chosen the orator.

During two years of the college course he was ap-
pointed by the faculty a class-monitor, — an ofiice of
truth and responsibility, in which weekly reports to
the president were required, and for which a small
salary was allowed. He also competed with the best
scholars of his class for many of the prizes off"ered by
the University for literary excellence, and at one time
he was awarded the first prize for the best-written
essay on a subject given out by the college, and also
the first Boylston prize for declamation ; so that his
prize-money and salary were sufiicient not only to
pay all college bills for that term, but left a liberal
supply for pocket-money besides.

He was a fine helles-lettres scholar, and particu-
larly good in the ancient classics and in the modern
languages and literature. At the same time he was
so far proficient in mathematics and the severer
studies connected therewith as to receive at one of
the exhibitions of the junior year a mathematical
part, — an appointment which required of the recipient
of it to propose some original proposition or problem
in the higher mathematics, and to write out, in de-
tail, a full demonstration of it, which papers were
to be deposited in the college library. At the close
of the junior year he was elected a member of the
Phi Beta Kappa Society. It was also during this
year that the Harvardiana, a literary periodical, was
started by members of his class, and during the re-
mainder of the college course he was a frequent
contributor to its pages. He was graduated with
high honor in 1835. The subject of the com-
mencement part assigned him was the " Character
of Chief Justice Marshall," a rather large subject for
so young a man, but which he sustained with such
credit as to receive the warm approbation of such
men as Judge Story and Charles Sumner, who were
of the audience.

After graduation he was engaged one year as prin-
cipal of the classical department of the Weld School,
in Roxbury, then one of the most popular and
flourishing boarding-schools in the vicinity of Bos-
ton. After leaving this school he commenced the
study of law in the office of Judge Sherman Leland,
and subsequently, successively, in the offices of John
C. Park and Rufus Choate. He was admitted to the
bar in 1 839, and opened a law-office in his native town.
For thirty years he had a quite large and lucrative
practice, principally in the county of Norfolk. He

BRAINTREE.

141

then gradually withdrew from active pursuit of his
profession, and devoted himself principally to the care
and arrangement of his own ample estate and of the
estates in trust of his friends who availed themselves
of his services.

As a lawyer, in his business relations with his
clients, he gave them his honest opinion upon their
cases, derived from study, observation, and experience,
whether that agreed with their own preconceived
opinions or not, or whether it apparently promoted
his own immediate business interests or not ; and it
may be truly said that the amount and volume of
litigation in the community where he dwelt was di-
minished, rather than increased, by his influence.
He was in the habit of saying to his clients that
" laws are highly needful for the welfare and preser-
vation of society, but that individual law-suits should
not be commenced except under the pressure of
absolute necessity, as they were an expensive luxury,
in which few persons could afford to indulge." If he
saw any sign of undue excitement or heat of passion,
his counsel would be that a little delay would not
prejudice his client's rights, and that a few nights'
sleep and a few days of reflection might be highly
beneficial. These suggestions and a little delay would
most generally bring about a change of views, and
avoid a long, troublesome, and, perhaps, comparatively
fruitless suit.

He was particularly averse to what lawyers some-
times call " fancy actions," designed to vindicate
by legal process the personal character and repu-
tation of the party. He told his clients that though
there might be exceptional cases of outrageous libel
or slander where a resort to the law might be not
only commendable, but necessary, and where a jury
would give, and rightly give, exemplary damages,
yet in ordinary and the great majoi'ity of cases of this
kind the party would be far better off to pass the
slander by in silence, and trust to livinc it down, rather
than make a spectacle of himself by entering the
arena of litigation, where the worst and bitterest
passions were sure to be aroused, and where the
general public would take little interest, except as they
would be interested in a gladiatorial combat, without
regard to the moral or intellectual character of either
of the combatants ; that such a contest would be
almost sure to degrade both parties to one common
level. His theory and advice to his friends in matters
of this kind was, that the common estimate of character
entertained by the community where one dwells is in
the end much more correct than we are apt to imagine ;
and that, as a rule, it is better to rely upon this es-
timate, more conducive to peace of mind and more

consistent with true manly dignity, than to invoke
the aid and redress of the law ; and that persistent
and malignant slander very seldom, in the long run,
hurts the object at which it is aimed, but is almost
sure to recoil with redoubled force upon the head of
the author of it.

Through life he has rather avoided than sought
public office. He has acted upon the principle that
no man has a right to pass through the world as a
" deadhead," enjoying the benefits and privileges of
society, but refusing to bear a fair share of its labors
and burdens. Yet he held that the office should
seek the man, and not the man the office. Soon after
he commenced the practice of law in Braintree, he
was twice elected to represent the town in the State
Legislature. He has also filled most of the more
important offices in the town, — selectman, assessor,
overseer of the poor, and surveyor of highways. He
was particularly interested in educational matters,
and in the welfare of the public schools, holding that
the educational department of the town, on account
of its present and prospective influence upon the
character of its citizens, is by far the most important
department in the town. Uniformly he advocated
the most liberal appropriations for educational pur-
poses. For more than fifteen years he was a mem-
ber of the general school committee, and for the
greater part of that time was chairman of the board.
At the present :time he is president of the Braintree
School-Fund Corporation, a corporation having in
charge the real estate, public funds, and securities
left to the town by will, and the income of which is
specially devoted to the support of its public schools.
For several years he has been president of the Wey-
mouth and Braintree Mutual Fire Insurance Com-
pany, and also a director and vice-president of the
Weymouth Savings-Bank. He was a trial justice in
the county of Norfolk for several years, and held that
office till the change in the system of administering
justice in this commonwealth by the creation of Dis-
trict Courts. Early in life he was appointed brigade
inspector of the State militia, an office which gave
him the military rank of major. But having no
great predilection for military life or glory, especially
in time of peace, he resigned the office after holding
it one year.

In early manhood he became a member of the
Congregational Church connected with the parish,
where he had been accustomed to worship. Like
most thoughtful persons, his mind had frequently
been turned to the serious consideration of the great
problems of life, death, and immortality, — of his per-
sonal relations to God as his Creator, preserver, and

142

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

final judge, and to Christ as his personal Saviour.
He joined that particular communion as more nearly
coinciding with his views upon these subjects than
any other religious organization.

There was nothing of narrowness or bigotry about
him. Claiming the fullest freedom for himself, he
willingly conceded the same to all others. Regarding
religion as a personal matter between each man and
his Maker, with which no other may authoritatively
interfere, there was little in him of what might be
called proselytism, or of that lingual activity and
volubility which finds expression in public exhorta-
tions and advice. He held that the best and most
eflBcient lay preaching consisted in an exemplary
Christian walk and life.

LUTHER OSBORN CROCKER.

Luther Osborn Crocker was born in West Dedham,
Jan. 11, 1829. He was the son of Luther Harlow
Crocker and Mary Osborn, and grandson of Daniel
Crooker (now Crocker), being a descendant of Zenas
Crooker, the first American ancestor. Daniel, the
grandfather, was probably born in Pembroke. Luther
Harlow Crocker, the father, was born in Pembroke in
1804. His advantages for obtaining an education
were very limited. When very young, he was put to
labor on the farm. Arriving at suitable age, he went
to Randolph, and learned the trade ©f wheelwright,
serving a regular apprenticeship. From there he
went to West Dedham, and worked at his trade. While
there he married Mary Osborn, a native of Hanson.
He remained there until 1838, when he removed to
Hingham. He engaged in various occupations. At
one time he worked at shoemaking. Then he in-
vested what little capital he had accumulated in the
foundry business, but lost it through the fault of
those connected with him. Naturally endowed with
large inventive powers, and being very ingenious, he
originated many inventions.

While residing in Hingham he engaged in the manu-
facture of stoves from original patterns made by him-
self. After being engaged in this business for about
two years he received an advantageous offer from
New Albany, Ind., which he accepted. Here he
was engaged in making patterns for hemp and spin-
ning machinery, " breakers," etc. After about two
years the main factory was removed to Louisville,
Ky. Thither he removed with his family, who
had remained until this time in Hingham. This
was about 1842. A few years after the firm failed,
and Mr. Crocker started again in the manufacture of
stoves, again making the patterns himself He here

manufactured the same stove he did at Hingham
(Andrews' and Austins' patent), having an oven at
each end, with the fire between them. Various kinds
of heaters were designed, originated, and manufac-
tured by him. During the years from 1842 to 1849
he engaged in the manufacture of gas- and water-pipe,
wagon-boxes, shaftings, pulleys, hemp-breaking and
shackling machines, invented by himself, which pro-
duced this result without injuring the hemp, the
effort to produce which had previously cost hundreds
of dollars, and that in vain. This was the crowning
work of his life, and was patented by him. A cool-
ing fan, to be placed in offices, dining-rooms, etc., run
by machinery, which was wound up as a clock is
wound, was also invented by him.

His brain teemed with positive and original crea-
tions, and he was the inventor of many other ingeni-
ous contrivances for utility and amusement. He
made the machinery for the manufacturing of the
hemp raised on the plantation of one Thompson.
His agreement with him was that he should furnish
machinery, keep it in order for one year, and receive
one-half of the profits. He invested several thousand
dollars in this enterprise, which, however, proved
disastrous.

In 1849 he removed to Cincinnati, and was em-
ployed by the gas company in making draughts and
patterns for the necessary castings, pipe, etc., re-
maining in their employ until 1855. During that year
he removed to the Scioto Valley to take charge of a
saw-mill, grist-mill, and a mill for reducing iron ore to
pig metal, acting as overseer for a large and wealthy
firm. In 1861 he returned to Cincinnati, again
entering the employ of the gas company. With the
opening of the civil war the firm engaged in the
manufacture of shot and shell, Mr. Crocker remaining
with them until nearly the close of the war.

He was a member of a local military organization.
When the rebels threatened Cincinnati the company
was asked to volunteer as soldiers. Mr. Crocker was
the first, and, with one exception, the only man to
give his services. Like a true patriot, as he was, he
joined the army, and performed military duty both in
camp and under fire. He was at this time over sixty
years old, and from the exposure he contracted dis-
ease from which he never recovered. He died at
Hanson, Mass., in 1872. A man of marked and pos-
itive character, he left the world wealthier for his
having lived in it.

Luther 0. Crocker was the oldest child of his par-
ents. He inherited the inventive genius of his father,
and early in life manifested it in numberless ways.
Not caring for books, he neglected what opportunities

'-troi<^X-^^'

BELLINGHAM.

143

were presented for obtaining an education. His
attendance at school would not probably exceed six
months, so that experience and observation have been
his principal teachers. Inured to labor from early
childhood, he was employed at various occupations
until he was seventeen years old, when he began to
run a stationary engine for one of his father's hemp-
breaking and shackling machines. This business
suiting his taste, he was employed as engineer in
various places until 1865. During the war he was
employed at the Bridge water Iron- Works to run the
engine and look after the machinery. Here was built
the iron for the iron-clad " Monitor," made famous by
its encounter with and victory over the rebel ram
" Merrimac."

Whilst employed as engineer at the Boston Flax
Mills, in East Braintree, he invented the now so well
known ticket-punches for the use of railroad conduc-
tors. This punch was invented in 1865. The first
one made was placed in the hands of Conductor
Osborn, one of the oldest conductors on the Old
Colony Railroad, for trial. Finding it worked well,
after devising various improvements, he obtained a
patent April 30, 1867. During his spare moments
he made several punches, when his eyes were opened
to what might be done by devoting his whole time to
their manufacture, by unexpectedly receiving an order
for a large number of his punches from Chicago. As
his entire bank account at this time was only seventy-
five dollars, and he had his family expenses to meet,
the outlook was not very promising. Inquiry was
made about this time by a person — he having seen
one of the punches in use — who the inventor was
and where he lived. Learning his name and address,
he called upon Mr. Crocker, and offered to take joint
interest in the patent and furnish capital for their
manufacture. This proposition being accepted, the
patent was issued to them as joint owners. This
gentleman soon endeavored to manufacture by himself
in another State, which caused Mr. Crocker to resort
to legal measures to secure his rights. This he did by
invalidating the first patent, and procuring one in his
own name. This patent was dated Sept. 21, 1869.

Mr. Crocker soon began their manufacture himself,
but in a very short time his buildings, tools, and stock
were destroyed by fire, — a total loss. Although he
had lost all, nothing daunted, he at once commenced
to build up his business. Aided by his strong
physique and indomitable pluck, he succeeded in
building up a permanent and lucrative business by
working from sixteen to eighteen hours a day. His
over-exertion and mental anxiety soon told the strain
to which his system had been subjected, as for several

years he was so thoroughly prostrated as to be unable
to read or even to hear so much as the rustling of a news-
paper. To-day the machinery for his manufactory is
run by an eight horse-power steam-engine, and he keeps
five men constantly employed in the manufacture of
these punches. Their reputation is "A 1.' They are
in use on all the principal railroads in this country and
the civilized world, as well as in all places where and
for all purposes which canceling punches are used.
The punch used on the first through train of the
Union Pacific Railroad was manufactured by him.
He made two "Anchor" punches for the well-known
and popular author Charles Dickens ; also one
for Duke Alexis, of Russia, which cut out all his
armorial bearings. He was awarded a medal by the
Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics' Association in
1869, and a silver medal by the National Exposition
of Railroad Appliances, at Chicago, in 1883, as being
the best punch manufactured. He manufactures over
one thousand different designs, all of which are orio--
inal with him.

He bought the site upon which his house and shop
now stand when it was a barren ledge of rocks, but
through his taste and skill it has been transformed into
one of the handsomest places in the town of Brain-
tree.

Mr. Crocker was married, Aug. 15, 1854, to Olive,
daughter of Capt. Cyrus Munroe, an officer in the
war of 1812. Her mother's name was Deborah
Thomas. Their children are Oscar Munroe, mar-
ried Anna L. Noyes (he is employed as telegraph
operator in the office of the general manager of the
Old Colony Railroad Company at Boston) ; and Luther
0., who is connected with his father in manufactur-
ing. Luther married Jennie Pratt. They have one
son, — Fred.

Mr. Crocker is in politics Republican, an attendant
at the Congregational Church, and a member of Delta
Lodge, F. and A. M., Weymouth, Mass.

CHAPTER XV.

BELLINGHAM.

BY R0FUS G. FAIRBANKS, LL.B.

Previous to the 17th of November, a.d. 1719,
that tract of land now known as the town of
Bellingham existed merely as an* unimportant por-
tion of the town of Dedham, which town then ex-
tended from Mendon line to the line of Providence,

144

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

R. I., by way of the Petucket River; thence to
Attleborough and Wrentham, in our own State, and
then running its northern boundaries, which serve
no purpose in our present work. That portion of
this area lying between Mendon and Wrentham first
came to particular consideration on the 27th of
October, a.b. 1713, when the Dedham proprie-
tors granted thirty-five acres of it to one Jacob
Bartlett, who was found already settled on the prem-
ises. At this early period so vast and extensive was
the territorial area that acquiring land by purchase
was almost altogether unknown. As a matter of
record, the first public gathering on the above-named
tract was a meeting of the settlers called by virtue of
a crown wai'rant, the return upon which was as fol-
lows :

"In pursuance of a warrant to me directed by John Chand-
ler, Esquire, one of her Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the
Countj' of Suffolli, These are to give Publiek notice that a
meeting of the proprietors of that tract of land belonging to
Dedliam lying between Wrentham, Mendon, and Providence
is appointed to be held and kept at the house of Deacon
Thomas Sanford, in Mendon, on the eleventh day of March
next ensuing, at eight o'clock in the morning, then and there
to agree upon a division of land and what relates thereunto,
of which all persons concerned are to take notice and give
their attendance accordingly. Dated this twenty-fifth day of
February, a.d. 1714. Jonathan Wight, Constable."

On the following March the scattered populace
assembled as above, having previously divided the
land into three divisions, containing lots of from
twenty to sixty acres each, and, having chosen Capt.
John Ware, of Wrentham, moderator, and Thomas
Sanford clerk, they proceeded to draw slips of paper
from a box. On each slip of paper was a number
corresponding to a lot of land, and he who drew a
number became the owner in fee-simple of the tract,
the numbers running as high as one hundred and
twenty-one, thus showing one hundred and twenty-
one settlers located or about to locate. From the
year 1714 to 1719 the chief, and, indeed, the only,
public business consisted in the laying out of land to
new-comers and the granting of additional territory
to those already settled. In the year 1719 the people
became exceedingly restless over the difiiculty expe-
rienced in attending church at Dedham Centre and
the performing of town business there. Accordingly,
as the outgrowth of this agitation, a petition was j
drawn up, — '

[

"To his Exclency Samuel Shute, Esq., Capt. General and |
Governor in Chieff in & over his Majesties Province of ye
Massachusitts Bay, in New England, & to ye Honourable Coun- j
cil ct House of Representatives in General Court conveined at
Boston.

" The Petition of The Inhabitancc of a Tract of Land be-

longing to Dedham, westward of Wrentham, and ye Inhabitance

of a Considerable Farm adjoyning thereto and ye Inhabitance
of a small Corner of Mendon ajacent Thereto (to ye number of
four families) Humbly Shewette : That Whereas ye above Sd
Inheritance are Scituated at a Remoat Distance from ye Respec-
tive Towns where they at present belong : (viz.) The Inhabit-
ance of the Town of Dedham, to ye number of three and 20
Families are about Twenty miles Distance from the Town where
thej' belong and Doe Deuty, & being very Remoate fi-om ye
Public worship of God, & The Inhabitance, to the number of
thirteen families of ye above Sd Farme being Six or Seven
miles Distance from ye place of Public worship : & ye Inhab-
itance of Mendon afore Sd being about four miles Distance ;
and Considering our Remoateness & ye Inconvenianeys we La-
bour under by Reason of the same : and that ye uniting and
Incorporating of ye above Sd Tracts togeather & making of
Them a Town may put us in a way in Some Convenient Time
to obtain ye Settlement of ye Gospel among us Ac (the uniting
of ye Above Sd Tracts of Land, Together will make a Town of
aboute seven Miles Long & three miles & half wide) and Fur-
ther Considering what ye Inhabitance of ye above Sd Tract of
Dedham Land & the Farme are already Incorporated into a
Training Companie and that they have little or No Benefit of
Town Privelidges or having No benefit of ye Schools we do Re-
spectively Pay to. The whole Number of Families belonging
to ye above Sd tracts being forty & Lands enough already Laid
out to accommodate 20 or 30 more: The Inhabitance of Ded-
ham Land being voated off by ye Town for that end.

" Our Prayer Therefore is that your Honours would Gra-
ciously plese to consider our DifFeculty Circumstances and grant
us our petition, which is That ye above Mentioned Tracts of
Land (as by one Piatt hereto affixed & Described) may be in-
corporated togeather & made a Town & Invested with Town
Preveliges. That we may be Inabled in Conveniant Time to
obtain ye Gospel & public worship of God settled, & our Incon-
veniances by Reason of our Remoateness be Removed: granting
us such Time of Dispence from Public Taxes as in wisdom you
shall think Conveniant, & in your so doing you will greatly
oblige us who am your Humble petitioners : and for your
Honours, as in Consciance we are Bound, Shall forever pray.
Dated ye 17th Day of November 1719.

"John Darling

Nicholas Cook

Pelatiah Smith

Tho. Burch

.John Thompson

Ebenezer Thayer

Cornelius Darling

Ramli. Hayward

John Marsh

Oliver Hayward

Samll. Rich

John Thompson Jr

Isaac Thayer

Ebenener Thompson

Richard Blood

Joseph Holbrook

Zuriel Hall
" In the House of Representatives

'•Nov. 26, 1719 Read <fec.
" Ordered that the Prayer of the Petitioners be Granted & That
a Township be Erected & Constituted according thereunto & the
Piatt above : Provided They Procure and Settle a learned or-
thodox Minister within the Space of three years now coming.

" And That John Darling, John Thompson & John Marsh be
Impowered to Call a Town Meeting any time in March next to

Daniel Corbet

William Haywarit

James Smith

Nicolas Cook, Jr

Jonathan Hayward

Seth Cook

Samll. Thompson

Samll. Darling

Joseph Thompson

Nathiiniel Weatherby

Samll. Smith

The Inheritance of Mendon

John Holbrook

John Corbet

Peter Holbrook

Eliphalet Holbrook.

BELLINGHAM.

145

choose Town Officers <t- manage ye other prudentiall affairs of

ye Town. The name of the Town to be called Bellingham. [

" Sent up for Concurrence i

" John Burrill, Speaker. ,
"• In Council Xov. 27, 1719

" Read and Concurred |

" Joseph "Willard, Sec. \_

" A true copy examined I

" P. J. Willard, Sec"

Why or how the name happened to be Bellingham
cannot be told, although it was undoubtedly borrowed
from Sir Richard Bellingham, an early colonial Gov-
ernor. As will be noticed from the order of incorpo-
ration, Bellingham never had a corporate charter, but
came into existence solely on the proviso that a learned
orthodox minister was settled in three years, and this
being complied with, she took her stand among the
sister towns of the colony. In accordance with the
allowing of the petition, the citizens came together at
the house of John Thompson, and organized a town-
meeting. Thus it was on March 2, 1720, the first
town-meeting was held in Bellingham. The action of
that meeting was the election of Pelatiah Smith
moderator; Selectmen, John Darlin, Pelatiah Smith,
John Thompson, Nathaniel Jillson, and John Corbet ;
Town Clerk, Pelatiah Smith ; Treasurer, John Hol-
brook ; Tithingmen, John Marsh, Nicholas Cook ;
men for the due observance of swine, Samuel Darling,
Oliver Hayward ; Constables, William Hayward and
Nicholas Cook. The matter of a house for public
worship being considered, John Darlin, Nicholas
Cook, Sr., John Corbet, John Holbrook were chosen
a committee to find a suitable place to locate the
building. John Corbet, Pelatiah Smith, Nathaniel
Jillson, and Nicholas Cook were chosen a committee
to build the bouse, so far as covering and inclosing
was concerned. At a meeting called in May, it being-
desirous to have funds, it was " Voted that no inhabit-
ant shall take in any cattle from any outside town
without first paying twelve pence per head into the
town treasury, this vote to stand in full force for the
term of one year." In the 14th of November meet-
ing at John Thompson's house the town decided
" That the meeting-bouse should be sett whare thare
Is a stake Standing Near Weatherlys corner with a
heap of stones Laid about said Stake and a pine-tree
marked Said Stake Standing In an old Road that goes
from mendon to wrenthau, the Demension of the
meeting-house Voted to be : fourty foott long thirty
foott wide. Eighteen foott Between Joynts. The
Stated price for the Laborers for a Narrow axx man
finding himself tow shillings and a sixpence pr Day,
Broad axx man three shillings pr day, finding them-
selves." It was also decided at this same meeting
10

that forty pounds be raised for the town expenses for
that year. The location of the building is fixed in
the vicinity now known as Crimpville, near the resi-
dence of Albert Burr. At a meeting held Nov. 23,
1721, the vote was passed that the meeting-house
should be lathed and plastered with white lime, also
an " allej'-way" should be left four feet wide through
the centre and an " alley-way" four feet wide between
the ends of the seats and the sides of the building.
In January, 1772, seventy-four pounds were received
from the Great and General Court as a part of the
fifty thousand pound bank. A very common practice
in our town at this early period was the allowing of
swine to go at large during the late fall and winter
months, sometimes extending the time even so late as
June. On one occasion in particular the town de-
clared any rams found at large between July and
November might be taken up by any one, and the
owner obliged to pay three shillings for each offense,
but nothing was to be paid unless the ram was first
captured. In April, 1720, the inhabitants laid out
sixty-six acres of land about the meeting-house for a
training-field. On a survey the area measured seventy-
seven acres, the records saying eleven acres were for
bad land. In January, 1723, the town decided to
grant fifty acres of land to the first minister settling
in town, and shortly afterward Thomas Smith entered
upon his duties. In this same year a difficulty arose
with Wrentham on account of the dividing-line be-
tween the two towns, and considerable spirit was man-
ifested by the people before the line was amicably
adjusted, Bellingham going so far as to choose a com-
mittee to go before a court of law, and a tax was levied
on cows to defray the expense thereof. The town after-
ward sold one hundred and fifty acres of common
land, and realized one hundred and forty pounds,
which was expended in surveying and other incident-
als connected with establishing the final line. April
22, 1726, a town-meeting was called, in whicb^if was
decided to have a new minister, Rev. Mr. Smith hav-
] ing left and Rev. Mr. Sturgeon then acting as pastor,
I In the following meeting it was fully decided to dis-
miss Mr. Sturgeon, and pay his board-bill of twenty-
six shillings and his bill for firewood at the same time.
In the following winter Rev. Jonathan Mills was
ordained. A familiar and common practice among
our early settlers was to warn people outside the town
lines. Numerous instances occur, and we give a form
as showing how the end was accomplished : " Suf-
folk SS. To the constable of the town of Bellingham
' Greeting. In his Majesties name you are required

forthwith to warn his wife and children out of

our town of Bellingham within fourteen days as the

146

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

law directs and make return of this warrant with your
doings herein-unto the Selectmen." So, as will be
observed, an eiFeotual road was opened to rid the town
of those people liable to become paupers. The old
meeting-house location having become obnoxious, or
at least not desirable, on Feb. 1, 1754, a new build-
ing stood completed near the town centre, concerning
which more will be said hereafter, and a town-meeting
was straightway called about money matters. In
searching records we find it no uncommon thing to
see the result of a negative vote recorded as '' passed
in the nagetive." In 1755, John Corbet asked the
privilege of building a mill and dam on the Charles
River, but the town refused to grant him the right.
In the same meeting the first call (we have observed)
for a member to the General Court was brought up,
and the town decided not to send anybody. The
Great and General Court being not only surpri.sed but
incensed at this answer to its decree, promptly fined
the town. A town-meeting was straightway called,
and a vote passed to draw up a petition asking the
General Court to abate the fine. In addition to this,
the town voted two pounds and ten shillings to carry
on the petition and to cover unforeseen charges. On
the same day the town decided to assess the soldiers
who enlisted in his Majesty's service, and not being
quite decided as to the efi"ect of this vote, an addi-
tional vote was recorded that the town would stand
by the assessors in the assessment of said soldiers.

In the early part of the year 1757 a demand was
again made for a representative, and the town again
voted " in the nagetive" at its May meeting. At
about this time the first continuous town pauper came
to the surface, and being considered an evil, but neces-
sary fixture, he was passed from hand to hand in
a manner not to be envied even by a convict of our late
day.

At the meeting of 1759 the abatement of a tax
was first requested, but the town decided not to abate.
In April, 1761, the town again voted not to send a
representative. In 1761 a town-meeting was con-
vened, and a committee chosen to find the centre of
the town. At an adjourned meeting it was voted to
build a second meeting-house (Baptist), and to locate
the same on the knoll in the crotch of the roads at
the town centre. In May, 1762, the General Court
again asked for a delegate, but the town passed over
the warrant by a large vote. On March 6, 1764, the
townsmen came together and elected oflBcers for the
year. On the 15th of the same month, at an ad-
journed meeting, the town voted to annul the votes of
March 6th, and then proceeded to elect other and
diff"erent officers in their stead. At this action, a

protest signed by nineteen citizens was sent to the
General Court and also entered on the record of the
town. The Legislature decided that the March 6th
meeting was legal and the after-vote void, much to
the satisfaction of the officers first chosen. The town
neglected to choose town officers in full in 1765, and a
command so to do was sent by the court at Boston.
The result of this action was a meeting in which Bel-
lingham was burdened that year with nine selectmen
and seven assessors. This action stood but one year ;
the town choosing the usual number of selectmen and
three assessors at the next annual Assembly. At the
March meeting in 1773, the condition of the country
being in an unsettled state, and the town being greatly
inconvenienced by the excessive taxation, a committee
consisting of John Metcalf, John Corbett, Samuel
Scott, William Holbrook, and Benjamin Partridge
were chosen to look into the condition of afi"airs, and
report at the next meeting. The town being so neg-
ligent about sending a representative, a fine was again
imposed, and a petition of abatement was sent as pay-
ment. Some expense accruing in the conveying of
the petition, and no immediate action being taken
on the part of the Legislature, the town voted Oct.
22, 1773, as follows : " Put to vote to see if the town
will send to Court any more to get the fines of that
we are fined for not sending a Representative in years
passed. Passed in the negative."

The industry of the town, as also that of nearly every
other town surrounding, was agriculture. The largest
farm ever known here went by the name of Rawson's
farm, and its area amounted to nearly nineteen hun-
dred acres, and was located at the north end.

The public business up to the time of the Revolu-
tion appears to have been the settlement of town
lines and the consideration of church affairs.

Taxation becoming more and more burdensome,
the people asked the General Court in May, 1774, to
assess the town for a less sum, and the committee laid
before the court the poverty of the people ; in addi-
tion to which they sought to be excused from sending a
representative and from being fined. On Sept. 2, 1774,
nineteen shillings were voted to the General Court to
assist in carrying on expenses ; also to agree to the
covenant whereby the citizens declared the purchase
of no goods imported from Great Britain. The sum
of twenty-five dollars was voted for ammunition, and
delegates were chosen to the convention at Dedham,
wherein prudential measures were adopted on current
affairs. On Sept. 30, 1774, the town chose Luke
Holbrook as its first delegate, he to attend " the
Provincial Congress to be held in Concord on the
second Tuesday of Oct. next." December 19th, seven

BELLINGHAM.

147

pounds additioual were set out to the purchase of pow-
der and bullets. Stephen Metcalf was elected the con-
gressional delegate for February. In the January
meeting the motion was put to see if the town would
pay those men ready to go at a minute's warning in
defense of the colonies, and " not a hand was raised
in the aflBrmative." On April 25, 1775, the town
" Voted six dollars bounty to its share of men (each)
of the thirteen thousand six hundred enlisted, if
Congress does not give it." Dr. John Corbett was
then chosen to the Congress assembled at Watertown.
Stephen Metcalf was also empowered. At the meet-
ing of November 3d the first vote to establish a new
county was taken, and Belliugham voted " ?to" unani-
mously. At the next meeting, held shortly after, the
town resolved " that it is the opinion of the inhabit-
ants of this town that it is constitutional and necessary
for each county in this colony of Massachusetts Bay
to have county assemblies erected and established
in them, the members to be chosen one or more
in each town each year, with power to grant county
taxes and establish roads, and to perform all acts
proper for county assemblies. All that are chosen to
be paid for by those that chose them." Bellingham
was heartily in accord with the popular feeling con-
cerning the stand taken by Great Britain, and so
deeply did she feel the injustice that on July 4, 1776,
a town-meeting was convened, and the people declared
(almost at the same moment the declaration was
proclaimed in Philadelphia), '• that in case the Hon-
orable Continental Congress should think it necessary
for the safety of the United Colonies to declare them
independent of Great Britain, the inhabitants of this
town with their lives and fortunes will cheerfully
support them in the measure." The sum of two
hundred and forty pounds was voted to pay enlisting
soldiers. Concerning the form of a new government
for the State, Bellingham responded to the General
Court as follows, "dated Sept. 17, 1776, concern-
ing a form of government for this State, as voted in
town-meeting, called in conformity to said resolve, on
due notice for that end, held at Bellingham on the
20th of October, and by adjournment on the 2d of
December after :

" We are of opinion that the settling a form of government
for this State is a matter of the greatest importance of a civil \
nature that we were ever concerned in, and ought to be pro- ,
ceeded in with the greatest caution and deliberation. It ap- j
pears to us that the late General Assembly of this State, in
their proclamation dated Jan. 23, 1776, have well expressed [
that 'power always resides in the body of the people.' We
understand that all males above twenty-one j-ears of age, meet-
ing in each separate town and acting the same thing and all
their acts united together, make an act of the body of the people.
We apprehend it would be proper that the form of government ,

for this State to originate in each town, and by that means we
may have ingenuity of all the State, and it may qualify men
for public station, which might be effected if the present Hon-
orable House of Representatives would divide this State into
districts of about thirty miles diameter, or less if it appear most
convenient, so that none be more than fifteen miles from the
centre of the district, that there may be an easy communica-
tion between each town and the centre of its district, that no
town be divided, and that each town choose one man out of each
thirty inhabitants to be a committee to meet as near the centre
of the district as may be; to meet about six weeks after the
House of Representatives have issued their order for the towns
to meet to draw a form of government, and the same committee
to carry with them the form of government their town has drawn
at the district meeting and compare them together, and propose
to their towns what alteration their town in their opinion ought
to make, and said committee in each district adjourn to carry
to their several towns, and lay before them in town-meeting for
that end, the form of government said district has agreed to,
and the town agrees to or alters as they see meet; after which the
district committee meet according to adjournment and revise
the form of government; after which each district committee
choose a man as a committee to meet all as one committee at
Watertown at twelve weeks after the order of the House of
Representatives for the town, first meeting to draw a form of
government, which committee of the whole State may be em-
powered to send precepts to the several towns in this State to
choose one man out of sixty to meet in convention at Water-
town, or such other town as each committee shall judge best.
Six weeks from the time of said district's last sitting the said
one man out of sixty to meet in convention to draw from the
forms of government drawn by each district committee one
form of government for the whole State; after which said
convention send to each town the form of government they
have drawn for the town's confirmation or alteration, then ad-
journ, notifying each town to make return to them of their do-
ings at said convention, and at said adjournment said conven-
tion draw a general plan or form of government for this State,
so that they add nothing to nor diminish nothing from the
general sense of each town, and that each town be at the charge
of all they employ in the affair.

" Doctor John Corbett,
" Coroner John Metcalf,
"Elder Noah Alden,
" Deacon Samuel Darling,
" LiECT. Seth Hall,

" Committee."

According to the desire of the General CoTirt^ a
vigilance committee was chosen on March 5, 1777,
consisting of Jonathan Draper, Daniel Pennimao,
Asahel Holbrook, David Scott, and Ezekiel Bates.
In April, a certain party being sick, a town-meeting
was straightway convened, and it was voted that the
man had the smallpox, and in consequence of this
vote a hospital was established in the woods. On the
records we find, " Voted that the town forbid any
person from having the smallpox in the house of
Daniel or Silas Penniman, except said Silas, now sick,
and if any person or persons be so presumptuous as to
have the smallpox in either of them two houses they
shall forfeit to the town ten pounds, to be recovered
by the treasurer." Ezekiel Bates was chosen to look

148

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

into, receive evidence, and decide on Tory cases. The
form of government proposed on May 28, 1778, by
the General Court was voted on by the town, and
unanimously adopted by a vote of seventy-three per-
sons. The names of those citizens of this town who
served in the Continental army are as follows :

Amos Ellis.
Nathan Holbrook.
Abijali Holbrook.
Seth Holbrook.
Nathaniel Thayer, Jr.
Dennis Darling.
Nathaniel Scott.
David Scott.
Lot Perry.
Joseph Perry.
Asahel Holbrook.
David Peri-y.
Henry Holbrook.
Joel Leg.
Joseph Frost.
Stephen Wj'man.
Elisha Hayward.
Amariah Holbrook.
Abel Bullard.
Benjamin Twitchell.
John Rockwood.
William Chase, Jr.
Tbaddeus Gibson.
John Phillips.
Moses Hill.
Ichabod Bozworth.
Amos Thompson.
Benjamin Clark.
Josh Phillips.
Caleb Phillips, Jr.
James Bailey.
Asa Holbrook.
John Cook.
Daniel Cook, Jr.
Samuel Adams.
Oliver Perry.
David Staples.
Nathan Freeman.
Cyrus Thompson.
Joseph Rockwood, Jr.
Aaron Hill.
Eben Darling.
David Belcher.
Elias Thayer.
John Coombs, Jr.
Moses Darling, Jr.
Levi Darling.

Samuel Pickering.
Simon Alvison.
John Chilson.
Robert Smith, Jr.
Elisha Aldcn.
Caleb Thompson.
David Cook, Jr.
Jabez Mefcalf.
Stephen Perry.
John Godman.
Joshua Darling.
Levi Daniels.
Peter Albee.
Daniel Trask.
Nathan
Abner Wight.
Phineas Holbrook.
Sylvenus Scott, Jr.
Samuel Arnold.
David Jones.
Joseph Ward, Jr.
John Arnold.

Capt. Jesse Holbrook.
George Slocomb.
Silas Penniman.

Ezekiel Hayward.

Jonathan Scott.

Levi Rockwood.

Silas Adams.

John Chilson.

Ezekiel Thayer.

Samuel Wight, Jr.

John Upham.

John Hall.

Noah Alden, Jr.

Ichabod Draper.

Ichabod Seavcr.

Joseph Partridge.

Richard Darling.

Joseph Dartridge.

Amos Adams.

Samuel Twist.

David Thompson.

Stephen Eastey.

Hennery Holbrook.

Elijah Holbrook.

In early days the delegates were not allowed their
own judgment in public affairs, but were instructed.
Rev. Noah Alden, pastor of the Baptist Church at
that time, was chosen a delegate, and the town in-
structed him as follows : " Sir, — You being chosen by
the inhabitants of this town to represent them in a
convention proposed to be held at Cambridge on the
1st day of September next, for the sole purpose of

framing a Constitution or form of government for the
Massachusetts Bay Colony, we, your constituents,
being legally assembled in town-meeting on this 16th
day of August, 1779, claim it as our inherent right
at all times to instruct those that represent us, but
more necessary on such an important object as that
of a form of government, which not only so nearly
concerns our interests, but our posterity. We do, in
the first place, instruct you, previous to your entering
upon the framing the form of government, you see
that each part of the State have properly delegated
their power for such a purpose, and that a bill of
rights be framed wherein the natural rights of in-
dividuals be clearly ascertained, — that is, all such
rights as the supreme power of the State shall have
no authority to control, — to be a part of the Constitu-
tion ; that you use your influence that the legislative
power consist of a Senate and House of Representa-
tives, the representatives to be annually chosen
from the towns, as they were previous to the year
1776. That the Constitution be so framed that elec-
tions be free and frequent, most likely to prevent
bribery, corruption, and unchaste influence. That
the executive power be so lodged as to execute the
laws with dispatch. The Senate to have knowledge
of the House, but to revise and propose amend-
ments to it, and when not agreeing to act as one
body, the senators to be annually chosen by the peo-
ple. That the holding the Court of Probate, granting
of license, and registering deeds in but one town in
the county, as heretofore established, has been a
grievous burden to us. That you use your influence
that the Constitution be so framed that each incor-
porated town may have power to hold and exercise
powers of a Court of Probate, and to grant licenses,
and to record their deeds within the several towns.
We further instruct you that, when you have drawn
a form of government or the outlines thereof, you
cause a fair copy thereof to be printed. That you
use your influence that the convention adjourn to
some future day, and the copies so printed be laid
before your several towns for their consideration and
I amendment, to be returned to the convention at their
I adjournment. In this way we think the sense of the
\ State at large will be most likely to be collected.
That the judicial be so established that justice may
be impartially demonstrated without being obliged to
be at such an enormous expense to gentlemen of the
law to argue causes. That right of trial by jury be
kept sacred and close, as has been the late usual
practice in this State. That the statutes of Old
England, or any part thereof, nor any foreign laws
be adopted in this Constitution. That a county as-

BELLINGHAM.

149

sembly be established to grant county taxes in each
county, and to act in all other matters appertaining
thereto."

In October, 1780, a committee was chosen to favor
a new county to be set off from Suffolk. At the
meeting of April 2, 1781, the town assisted in the
election of John Hancock, Governor, and his honor,
Thomas Gushing, Lieutenant-Governor. Stephen
Metcalf was again elected representative. The name
of no other man appears as representative from Belling-
ham for a long term of years. On the 6th of May,
1782, he was again elected, and instructed by the town
as follows :

" Sti; — Having chosen you to represent the town in the Gen-
eral Court the ensuing year, we think meet to give you the
following instructions : Whereas, the Governor's salary for a
year has been eleven hundred pounds, and Counselors seven
shillings for one day, and Senators 10 shillings a day, we think
them sums exorbitant, and we instruct you to use your utmost
endeavors and influence to have those salaries lessoned and all
others in this Commonwealth to be set at a reasonable rate, and
that all persons under pay from the Commonwealth that are
not absolutely necessary for the business thereof be dismissed,
and that there may be a law made that every representative be
paid out of his own town treasury such sums as lie and his town
shall agree upon for his attendance while he is sitting, and that
the General Court be removed out of Boston and set in some
other town, and that the annual expense of this State be ascer-
tained that is used for its own support, and the annual income
thereof, and how the money has been expended that has been
granted toward its support, and how much it is in debt when
what is granted is all paid, that so the people, who have a right
to know, may know how the money is expended that they pay;
and a separate account of the annual expense this Common-
wealth is at for and toward Continental charges, and how much
this State is in debt for Continental affairs, and that there be
printed, published, and sent to each town in the State every
year the state of its treasury and of what money has been and
from time to time is granted and how exjiended, that for this
Government and Continental affairs, separate, and whereas the
mode of trials in our common law courts, the attorneys' fees
that they demand is so extravagant that poorer .sort of people
are necessitated to sufl'er every injury without being able to
obtain redress in common course of law of which a redress
ought to be obtained."

The same gentleman was chosen by the town at its
first afBrmative action on a new county to represent
its will. In 1784 tlie town voted not to send any one
to the General Court. On the following year Stephen
Metcalf was again empowered to attend, but before
leaving the town instructed him to use his " utmost
endeavor that the Stamp Act made last session of the
General Court be repealed, and that a law be passed
allowing no action in any other county than where
the defendant resides. Also that the Governor's salary
and other servants of the State be made less, and all
other needless expense reduced." The town being
interested in fishing to some extent, chose Joseph

Holbrook to join with the other towns on the Charles
River in a petition to the General Court, for " ways
to be opened through dams on the river to allow the
free passage of fish." In 1787 the town cast sixty-
seven votes for Governor, sixty-three of which were
for John Hancock ; also in the same meeting Lieut.
Aaron Holbrook was chosen representative in place
of Judge Metcalf, who alone had represented the
town previously. Lieut. Holbrook was instructed to
influence the establishment of courts in a small circuit,
also that he do his best to establish credit, " that he
use his power to have what was"called a dry-tax light,
and that the banefull ' gugaws' of Briton and all
West India goods that the Publick can best do with-
out be heavily dutied. We charge you to encourage
home manufactorys." In December, 1787, Rev.
Noah Alden was sent to the convention in Boston to
give expression to the town's mind on the proposed
Constitution, and which expression had been previoasly
declared in that it was against the adoption. The
first action taken by the town in national govern-
ment affairs was at a meeting held Dec. 18, 1788, in
which, as national representative, Fisher Ames re-
ceived eight votes and William Heath six. Electors
for choice of President, Jabez Fisher and Caleb Davis,
two votes each. As representative to the General
Court, Lieut. Holbrook served two years, the town in
the year 1789 sending no one. In 1791, Lieut.
Holbrook was returned to the General Court, and
specially empowered to seek a division of Suffolk
County. At the same meeting it was " put to vote to
see if the town will provide a house for the inocula-
tion of the smallpox, and voted no. Secondly, voted
that the town disapprove of the smallpox coming
into town Contrary to Law."

In 1784 (one hundred years ago) Belliugham had
as her citizens the following persons:

David Metcalf.
Stephen Metcali.
John Metcalf.
.John Metcalf, Jr.
Jonathan Metcalf, Jr.
John Coombs.
John Coombs, Jr.
Jonathan Hill.
Aaron Hill.
David Hill.
Robert Smith.
Abel Smith.
Ebenezer Fisher.
Amos Ellis.
Benjamin Partridge.
Joseph Partridge.
Job Partridge.
John Partridge.
John Corbit, M.D.

Benjamin Spear?T- -
Xathan Holbrook.
Seth Holbrook.
Eben Holbrook.
Amzi Holbrook.
Aaron Holbrook.
Joseph Holbrook.
Joseph Holbrook, Jr.
Peter Holbrook.
Asahel Holbrook.
Asa Holbrook.
Jesse Holbrook.
Darias Holbrook.
Amariah Holbrook.
Joel Jencks.
Ezra Forestall.
ElishaBurr.
Benjamin Boss.
Nathaniel Butterworth.

150

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Samuel Cobb.
Joshua Bullard.
Obediah Adams.
Samuel Adams.
Amos Adams.
Silas Adams.
Jejjtha Wedge.
Daniel Wedge.
David Hay ward.
Hezekiah Hayward.

Thayer.

Jonathan AVright.
Jonathan Howe.
David Lawrence.
David Penniman.
Samuel Penniman.
Josiah Penniman.

Johnson Streetor.
Joseph Thompson.
Josiah Wheelock.
Ehen Wheelock.
Gideon Albeo.
Nathan Albee.
Stephen Albee.
Abel Albee.
.Tames Albee.
Asa Pond.
Eli Pond.
Lisa Pond.
John Clark.
Samuel Clark.
Isaac Bates.
Timothy Merriman.
Amariah Jones.

A total of seventy-one, all of whom resided in the
thirty-one dwelling-houses then standing, with an
accompaniment of twenty-nine barns. John Metcalf,
Jr., possessed two saw-mills, and John Corbit one,
the only mechanical industry in town. Acres of
land cultivated, 127 ; English mowing land, 170 ;
meadow-grass, 151 ; pasture land, 330 ; woodland,
171 ; other land, 1974. Annual amount of cider,
in barrels, 110. Number of horses, 35; oxen,
40 ; cows, 152 ; young stock, 52 ; sheep, 86 ; and
swine, 38.

In 1793 and 1796 no representative was sent, and
in May of the same year a warrant was issued bear-
ing the words " Norfolk County," all previous
having " Suffolk SS." upon their fiice. The nine
towns in the new county, through some dissatisfac-
tion, considered the proposition of returning to Suf-
folk. Bellingham loudly remonstrated against it,
and chose a committee to oppose any such action.

In the next annual meeting Joseph Holbrook was
elected representative, and his pay placed at one
dollar per day, the town-fathers further declaring " if
he receive more, he shall pay it to the town." About
this time the General Court ordered a survey of the
different towns in the State, and Judge Metcalf was
cho.sen to the work here, but we cannot give the
result of his effort, as it is not a matter of record.
In 1796 the town located guide-boards for public
convenience, and in the next meeting considered the
feasibility of uniting with other towns for the pur-
pose of establishing a post-road to Dedhani, what
is now known as the old Boston and Hartford turn-
pike. Two years previous to this, however, the
matter was privately agitated, as the following letter
will show :

"Dkdham, March 27, 17'.»1.
" '*>''■, — After your good wishes expressed toward establishing
a line of stages on the middle road between Boston and Hart-
ford, we fool a little disappointed at not receiving so prompt an

answer to our proposal, which I had the honor to present with
the articles of association of the first branch inclosed to you
lately, requesting your speedy answer, which is not yet re-
ceived. Here a number of us have associated to run carriages
statedly from Boston to Smith's, in Bellingham, as soon as the
rest of the line is completed, but cannot proceed to the expense
of purchasing eight coach-horses with carriages until some
confidential persons along the road shall assure of its being
continued through to Hartford. And if you think best to have
no connection with us, we request to know it immediately, that
others may be taken into the company, with full resolution to
carry it into effect, and we hope yet we shall not have to regret
the disinclination of so able a partner.
" In haste, though with esteem, I am

" Your very humble servant,

" Fisher Amks."

" To Senator Metcalf, Bellingham."

" Philadelphia, April 1, 1794.
" Stephen Metcalf, Esq. :

" My Bear Sir, — On my motion the road to Hartford by
Dedham, Mendon, and Pomfret, is agreed to in the committee
of the whole House on the post-office bill. It will probably
pass the House, and I will endeaver by proper explanations to
procure for it a due consideration in the Senate. Should it be
established by law that a mail shall be put on the middle road,
it will be important that the towns should exert themselves
more than they have done heretofore to work on the highway
and render the middle road passable. I thought it might be
useful to give you early information on this subject. There is
again a hope of peace. Some among us have their passions
raised to the war pitch, and others would like a war against
their debts ; but the prevailing desire is peace. It will be
necessary, however, to prepare for war, as it is thought that it
will prove the most effectual way to avoid it. Our happy
country seems to stand in need of little more than peace and
good order to secure its prosperity. I own I dread war, by
which we can gain nothing and may lose everything as a
people. The arrangements which the present critical posture
of affairs demands will delay the session of Congress for some
time. It is however expected that we shall rise by the middle
of May at the latest. I am, dear sir, with esteem and regard,
" Yours truly,

" Fisher Ames."

This road was finally established and a post-mail
placed on the same through Mr. Ames' influence with
the national government, the towns and States of
Massachusetts and Connecticut assisting in the con-
struction.

The town finding some diSiculty in obtaining the
church for public meetings, chose a committee to pass
upon the feasibility of constructing a new building,
and the finding of a suitable location therefor. This
committee —

" having met and taken the matter into consideration, agree-
able to appointment, beg leave to report : That we are
of opinion that the most central and convenient spot for
erecting said building is on the land now occupied by David
•Tones, situated at the end of the road leading from Ezekiel
Bates' dwelling-house to the road known as the Taunton road,
and is bounded partly on the west by the said Taunton road.
The said Jones proposes giving the town one acre of land for
the purpose of setting said house and other buildings upon,
providing said town will agree to erect such a building as will

BELLINGHAM.

151

best accommodate the religious society in said town for a house

of public worship.

"EzEKiEL Bates, 1
" Laban Bates, |
"John Scammell, i
" Eliab Wight, J

Gommittee."

"Bellingham, March 15, A.d. 1800.
" We, the undersigned, do hereby propose to the inhabitants
of said Bellingham that we will undertake the building of a
public house in said town for the purpose of better accommo-
dating said inhabitants to transact their public concerns in. We
propose said house to be forty-five by fifty feet on the ground,
twenty-five feet posts, and one porch of fourteen feet square,
which shall be built of good materials and be well wrought ;
providing said town will grant the sum of one thousand dollars,
five hundred to be assessed and paid into the treasury for the
above purpose by the first day of April, 1801, and the other five
hundred to be paid by April 1, 1802, and also to grant us the
privilege of building pews in said house for the accommodation
of the religious society in said town, and giving us the benefit of
the sale of said pews to defray in part the expense of said build-
ing ; and if the above proposals should be accepted by a vote of
said town, we do hereby jointly and severally agree and en-
gage to completely finish said house without any other expense
to said town, and we will give bonds to indemnify for the above ]
purpose.

" In testimony whereof we have hereto set our hands.
" Laban Bates, " John Scammell,

" Eliab Wight, " John Chilson,

'•Simeon Holbrook, "Joseph Fairbanks,
"Seth Holbrook, "Samuel Darling, Jr.,

"Stephen Metcalp, Jr., " Elisha Burr."

In the September meeting the above was accepted
by the town, and the first sum of five hundred dol-
lars assessed. Joseph Fairbanks having set up a saw-
and grist-mill on the Charles River, near where the
Caryville Mills now stand, the selectmen laid out the
road now known as Pearl Street, the road running to
the Franklin line from the old turnpike. From 1796
to 1800 the town was not represented in the Legisla-
ture, but in the last-named year Laban Bates was
elected to that office, serving also in 1804. In 1802
the town declined to be represented. In December
of the same year the town accepted of the new meet-
ing-house (our present town hall), and Thomas Bald-
win, of Boston, was decided upon to preach the dedi-
cation sermon. A committee was chosen, and the
clergy in surrounding towns invited. A subscription -
paper was then circulated for the support of services.
This not meeting with much favor, the town voted
two hundred dollars in lieu thereof, and Rev. N. W.
Rathburn was called. At the next annual meeting
John Bates was chosen town clerk, in place of Eliab
Wight, who had served the town in that capacity for
a long term of years. In 1804 the town exchanged
the old training-ground for a new one about the new
meeting-house.

The difficulty arising from the attendance upon

public duties at Bellingham Centre on account of the
great distance, and this, aided by the growth of West
Medway, so nearby, culminated in 1807 in a petition
for a new town formed from parts of Bellingham,
Franklin, Medway, and HoUiston. A viewing com-
mittee from the Legislature visited the premises and
reported adversely. In 1816 the matter was again
agitated, and a hearing granted by the standing com-
mittee of the House of Representatives. This com-
mittee decided favorably, providing a portion of that
part taken from Bellingham was relinquished ; but
the people declining to do this, the decision was again
adverse. In 1823 the matter was brought up again,
and several hearings granted. In May, 1824, the fol-
lowing petition was sent to the Senate and G-eneral
Court. " The undersigned, inhabitants of the West
Parish in Medway, humbly represent that your peti-
tioners, comprising a small part of the towns of Med-
way, Bellingham, Holliston, and Franklin, were incor-
porated for parochial purposes about seventy-five years
past by an act of the Legislature, since which time re-
ligious worship has been regularly supported and parish
privileges constantly exercised therein. That within
a few years past two commodious houses for public
worship, a parish house, and other buildings equally
adapted to town and parish purposes have been erected,
and that said parish as herein described contains about
two hundred and fifty ratable polls, twelve hundred
inhabitants, and nine hundred acres of land. They
further represent that the inconveniences and evils of
transacting town business in their several towns at the
distance of from four to seven miles from their homes,
while the distance to the centre of the parish does in
no instance exceed three miles, the remoteness of
your petitioners in Holliston from the shire-town of
their county (Worcester) as at present situated, and
the expense and inconvenience of performing military
duty in their several towns at the distances above men-
tioned, render an incorporation of your petitioneis for
town purposes highly desirable and necessary. Your
petitioners therefore humbly pray that they may be
incorporated as a town, with all the privileges of other
towns within this commonwealth, according to the fol-
lowing boundaries, viz. : Beginning at the Milford line,
on the northerly side of Nahum Clark's farm, and
running easterly, including said farm and across the
land of Henry Adams, to a stake and stones on the
northerly side of a town road ; thence across said
road to the northeast corner of said Adams' farm ;
thence to a white-oak tree standing on the east side
of the road, about twenty rods north of Capt.
Jonathan Harding's barn ; from thence to the
south side of the farm belonging to the estate of A.

152

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Morse, opposite his dwelling-house ; from thence to
continue a straight line on the southerly side of said
Morse's farm to the Pond road, so called ; thence run-
ning southerly on said road about twenty-five rods ;
thence easterly a straight line along the south side of
Capt. M. Rockwood's home farm to the old grant
line (so called) ; thence southerly on said line and
Candlewood Island (so called) ; road to the old county
road ; thence running southerly across said road and
Charles River to the end of a road near Amos Fisher's
house, in Franklin ; thence southwesterly on said road
to a town road leading from the factory village in
Medway to Franklin meeting-house ; thence to the;
corner of the road near the house of Joseph Bacon ;
thence, following said road by Luther Ellis' house, to
the southeasterly corner of Leonard Lawrence's land
on the westerly side of said road ; thence to the
southeast corner of Stephen Allen's meadow-land ;
thence westerly across Mine Brook to a white-oak tree
on the line between Bellingham and Franklin ; thence
westerly, on a division line of lands of Stephen Met-
calf and Jesse Coombs, to a town road in Bellingham ;
thence westerly across Charles River to a stake and
stones beside the turnpike road west of Elijah Dew-
ing's barn ; thence, crossing said road and running
northwesterly, to a town road on the division-line of Na-
than Allen and Benjamin R. Partridge, easterly from
said Allen's house ; thence northerly on said division
line to Hollistontown line ; thence running westerly
on Holliston's line to farm corner (so called) ; thence
northerly on the town line of Milford to the corner
first mentioned. And as in duty bound will ever
pray."

At this time (1825) Bellingham's valuation was
$15,627; number of polls, 215; inhabitants, 1034.
The amount of valuation taken into the proposed
new town, $2157 ; number of polls, 28; inhabitants,
201. This would have left a valuation of $13,570,
and 187 polls, with 833 inhabitants. The number of
acres of land in Bellingham, 11,466; the number
proposed to have been taken, 1133; leaving 10,333.
The new town as a whole would, had it been set off, con-
tain a valuation of $14,793, with 234 polls, and 1225
inhabitants. Out of all the persons to have been set
off (134), only 61 objected, and 173 asked the State
government to incorporate them, they representing a
valuation of $11,280.70 ; but, for some reason to the
writer unknown, the town was never established, and
the question from that day to this has not been agi-
tated, though it seems from present indications it may
arise before long. In 1827, Maj. John C. Scammel
served as representative. No one served in 1828,
but in 1829 Col. Joseph Rockwood was elected, and

served two years, with Maj. Scammel returned in
1831. In 1829, John Cook was chosen town clerk,
and the matter of a town farm was first discussed.
In 1830 the annual town expense reached one thou-
sand one hundred dollars. The committee authorized
purchased the farm of Seth Holbrook, paying therefor
three thousand five hundred dollars. The farm con-
tained one hundred and fifty-five acres, and also its
equipment of stock and tools. Rules for the disci-
pline of inmates were adopted at the time the town's
paupers were removed there. The expense the first
year was four hundred and twenty-four dollars and
eighty-four cents. The town's powder-hou.se stood at
this time on the land owned by Simeon Barney, and
which house was built in 1811. In 1836 the small-
pox again made its appearance, and a hospital was
erected on the town farm, and the sum of one hundred
and fifty dollars was expended in inoculation. In
1837 the town petitioned for a post-office, and selected
Rev. Joseph T. Massey as postmaster. In the latter
part of the year 1837, Edward C. Craig was appointed
town clerk in place of John Cook (2d). Mr. Craig
was appointed to the office at the next meeting. In
1840 the third story in the meeting-house was fin-
ished off for an armory, and at this time the roll
numbered one hundred and thirty-two of those per-
sons doing and subject to military duty. Edward C.
Craig declining to serve, Francis D. Bates was chosen
town clerk in 1842. In this same year the choosing
of tithingmen was abolished. In 1842 the town
granted James Freeman the right to construct a shop
on the town's land adjacent to the church, and in 1843
stoves were procured and placed in the town meeting-
house for heating purposes. The selectmen generally
occupied the position of Board of Health, but the first
regular board consisted of Nahum Cook, George W.
Blake, and James P. Thayer, elected May 1, 1843.
In 1845, James M. Freeman was chosen town clerk.
In 1846, Noah J. Arnold was chosen to favor the
construction of a railroad from Woonsocket, R. I., to
Boston. Mr. Freeman was retired in 1846 as town
clerk, and Amos Holbrook elected. In 1832 and
1834, Stephen Metcalf served as representative; in
1836, no one; and 1837, John Cook (2d) ; in 1838,
Asa Pickering; 1839 and 1840, no one; 1841,
Dwight Colburn; 1842, Edward C. Craig; 1843,
Jeremiah Crooks; 1844, James W. Freeman; and
in 1845 and 1846, no one. At the meeting in No-
vember, 1846, four votes were taken on a represen-
tative, and no choice was made in either ballot. On
the next day four more ballots were taken, with the
same success. On the following day, after two more
ballots, it was voted to dismiss the warrant without

BELLINGHAM.

153

sending a representative. The first printed school
committee report was issued in 18-47. In the same
year the town was unsuccessful in electing a repre-
sentative. In 1848 a movement was instituted on
the part of the town of Roxbury, seeking to have the
county-seat removed thereto, but the idea never met
with much favor, our own town voting no unani-
mously. Francis D. Bates was again chosen town
clerk. About this time a diflSculty arose with the
Norfolk County Railroad, and the town forbade the
company crossing or otherwise interfering with the
town roads. In 1849 a board of town auditors was
first chosen, which board consisted of Samuel Met-
calf, George Nelson, and Edward C. Craig. In 1851,
Martin Rockwood acted as representative. In the
same year leave was granted James P. Thayer, Alan-
son Bates, and others to build a boot-shop on the
town's land at the centre.

In 1851 ten ballots were taken before Edwin Fair-
banks was elected representative. Next year, the
crows becoming so numerous as to cause a great deal
of damage, a bounty of twenty-five cents was allowed
on old birds and one-half as much on young crows,
the bounty extending over a period of four months.
The orthodox church at this time having become a
thing of the past, and the building being occupied
solely by the town, it was decided expedient to finish
ofi" the lower floor and rent it for boot-shop purposes.
Fenner Cook served at the State-House in 1853, and
Willard Thayer, after a long struggle, was finally
elected delegate to the convention on revising the
State Constitution. In the same year all that tract
of land about the town house was sold, reserving one
acre for the town hall and yard.

As crows previously became so far a nuisance as
to demand a bounty, so this year a bounty of twenty-
five cents was allowed on woodchucks. In Novem-
ber the town so far relented as to allow, for the first
time, the leasing of the town hall for " public enter-
tainments of a moral nature." In the same month,
after an uninterrupted and persistent efi'ort to choose
a representative for the next year, the idea was '
finally abandoned, and no choice was made. The
Charles River Railroad being agitated, and the town
recognizing the benefit naturally derived from direct
communication with Boston, resolved, in 1849, —

" That it is of vital importance to the present and future wel-
fare of this town to have the Charles River Railroad extended
to the State line, near the village of Woonsocket, in the State
of Rhode Island, and the town in its co-operative capacity does
most earnestly pray that the said railroad may be chartered
agreeably to the report of the committee on railroads and canals
which is now before the honorable Senate on its final passage, i
as the passage of the bill chartering said railroad would be the '

means of building it, and thus opening a communication by
railroad to the inhabitants of Bellingham not only with Boston,
but with Woonsocket and Providence, in the State of Rhode
Island, and with the city of New York."

This resolution passed unanimously, and the railroad
is now known as the Woonsocket Division of the New
York and New England Railroad. In the year 1856
the town abated the taxes on the stock of the above
road. In 1854 and 1855, Charles Cook (2d) served at
the State capitol. At the March meeting Eliab Hol-
brook was elected town clerk. About this time applica-
tion was made for the town hall for a dance, and the
town considered the request, as it " Voted that the
town let the town hall for all good and lawful dances."
In 1856, Martin Rockwood was sent to the General
Court, and during the next year Ruel F. Thayer
acted as town clerk. In 1858, Horace Rockwood
served as representative. In 1858 our present tax
collector came to light in the same ofiicial position
which he has held for a long term of years, with
short intervals of rest. We refer to Hon. Daniel J.
Pickering, collector. In 1860 the renowned Dr.
George Nelson was placed on the school committee,
and the Baptist clergyman, Rev. Joseph T. Massey
(previously named), elected town treasurer. In 1861
the citizens liable to military duty were a follows :

Sanford W. Allen. Anson E. Cook.

Addison H. Allen. James 0. Chilson.

Elijah Arnold. Louis M. Chilson.

Louis Arnold. Whipple 0. Chilson.

Albert Arnold. Hiram M. Cook.

George Ames. Munroe F. Cook.

Samuel A. Adams. William E. Cook.

Edmund J. Adams. Nathan A. Cook.

Dexter D. Bates. John D. Chilson.

Addison S. Burr. William E. Coombs.

Seneca Burr. Stephen F. Coombs.

Crawford Bowdich. John Carr.

Albert F. Bates. Henry B. Cook.

Alanson Bates. William H. Carey.

William Bates. Albert H. Colburn.

Edward Butler. Julius Cross.

Henry W. Blake. Joseph Cross.

Nathaniel Bozworth. Alvin H. Clark.

Boswell Bent. Sherman R. Chilson.

Chnrles Barrows. Moses Drake.

Andrew Boyce. Thomas McDowell.

Frederick J. Bemis. Joseph L. Daniels.

Charles E. Burr. Perry H. Dawley.

Adams J. Barber, Jr. Lyman C. Darling.

Smith Bnrlingame. Alfred 0. Darling.

James Burlingame. William A. Darling.

Joseph U. Burr. A. M. Darling.

Davis P. Chilson. Luke Darling.

Elisha N. Crosby. Edwai-d McDowell.

Hiram A. Cook. Alexander McDowell.

Samuel W. Claflin. Ariel B. Drake.

Willard N. Chilson. William McDowell.

Henry Cook. 0. N. Evans.

Elisha Chase. John H. Eaton.

154

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

John Eddy.
Albert W. Follett.
Joseph Fairbanks.
Edwin Fairbanks.
William Fairbanks.
Calvin Fairbanks.
John E. Fisher.
Louis L. Fisher.
Charles Farrington.
Joseph Fisk.
Oliver Gardner.
Edward Gallagan.
John W. Gerstle.
Alonzo H. Gayer.
Joseph Gerstle.
Thomas 11. Gay.
Thomas B. Getchell.
Joel Howard.
George Uixon.
Joseph H. Holbrook.
Charles P. Hancock.
Frank E. Hancock.
Jarius Hancock.
Michael Harpen.
John W. Higgins.
George H. Howard.
Thomas Hines.
Joseph Hope.
Charles N. Hixon.
Luther Hixon.
George Jennison.
James A. Joslin.
Horace Inman.
Dudley Keach.
AVilliam Keach.
Amos Keach.
Frederick Kingman.
Peter McKean.
David Lawrence.
Warren Lazelle.
George Matterson.
Joseph Moore.
John C. Metcalf.
Francis Metcalf.
Frederick B. T. Miller.
Solyman Miller.
James Malone.
George Xelson (2d).
Ellis T. Xorcross.

Amos L. Osgood.

Asa Pickering (2d).
William Page.
Amos Partridge, Jr.
Charles Partridge.
Vernon S. Partridge.
Asa Partridge.
Calvin N. Rockwood.
A'ernon B. Rockwood.
Henry U. Rockwood.
George B. Rockwood.
Louis H. Rockwood.
Henry Rhodes.
Thomas R. Richards.
William Sherburne.
Charles H. Shippee.
Edgar N. Scott.
Erastus D. Slocum.
William Spragiie.
George N. Tillinghast.
Benjamin Tinkham.
Andrew J. Tingley.
Martin Tingley.
Charles W. Thayer.
Charles Tingley.
Henry Thayer.
Charles Williams.
Sylvanus White.
Elbridge AVhitney.
Henry A. Whitney.
Willis Whitney.
Samuel Sturtevant.
Cornelius Sullivan.
Daniel Shea.
Lucian Sheppard.
Hazard P. Slocum.
Ruel F. Thayer.
.James P. Thayer.
Charles T. Thayer.
Joseph Thompson, Jr.
Charles Thomas.
Benjamin M. Usher.
Alonzo N. Whitney.
Jonathan Wright.
Elijah D. Wilcox.
Benjamin W. Woodbury.
Henry Wilcox.
Henry Waterman.

In all one hundred and sixty-nine.

The commencement of the civil war drew out
the first public action of the town in an appropria-
tion of two thousand dollars to fit out and drill
those men who had gone and were going in defense
of their country. In the same year Hon. Daniel J.
Pickering was sent as representative. In July, 1862,
the town ofi'ered a bounty of one hundred dollars for
each volunteer until seventeen were obtained, and to
all who enlisted in ten days after that date ten dol-
lars additional was paid. A call coming in August
of the same year for more men (nine months'), a
bounty of two hundred dollars was offered, and those

enlisting for three years received seven hundred dol-
lars. In September five thousand dollars were voted
to pay the town's enlisting soldiers. In 1868, George
H. Townsend was sent as representative. In 1865
one thousand dollars was expended in paying State
aid to soldiers' families. In the same year Hollis
Metcalf and others asked the town to lay out and
widen the street now known as Pearl Street. The
town refusing the prayer of the petition, the county
commissioners granted the same, and charged the
expense to the town. In 1866, William Fairbanks
was elected to serve the district at the State-House.

Of those persons from our town who served in the
war of the Rebellion, the following names appear in
the " Record of Massachusetts Volunteers," none ap-
pearing on the town books :
George Swift.

Elisha H. Towne.
Charles E. Burr.
Patrick Gallagher.
John Terlin.
Peter McKeen.
George L. Metcalf.
John C. Metcalf.
Edward J. Adams.
Charles P. Hancock.
Jarius Lawrence.
Thomas McDowell.
Willard 0. Freeman.
George A. Richardson.
Robert Poste.
James Davis.
Thomas D. Getchell.

John V. Coombs.
Amos R. Bent.
Joseph Osgood.
Pardon L. Crosby.
Asa Pickering.
Frederick Bates.
Martin V. B. Cook.
John J. Gertsell.
Joseph Gertsell.
Samuel D. Gregory.
Handel Holbrook.
Joseph W. Holbrook.
AVillis Whiting.
James W. Pickering.
Garrick F. Moore.
Howard Carleton.

A total of thirty-three. In 1872, Seneca Burr was
chosen representative, and in 1875, Rev. Joseph T.
Massey, pastor of the Baptist Church, was sent. In
1879, Hiram Whiting was empowered, and in 1882,
Nathan A. Cook. In 1870, Rev. J. T. Massey was
elected town clerk, and served ten years, Roland
Hammond, M.D., being then chosen to the office on
account of Mr, Massey resigning his pastorate and
leaving the town, to spend the remainder of his life
near his boyhood home in Virginia, where he has
purchased the " Thomas Jefferson"' estate. In April,
1882, Dr. Hammond tendered his resignation, and
Arthur N. Whitney was appointed by the selectmen
to serve out the unexpired term, and in 1883, Henry
A. Whitney, the present incumbent, was elected.

Having considered in chronological order the most
important events in the town's past career, it may be
advisable to look for a moment to its people, its facili-
ties, and its industries as they now exist. Our people,
collectively considered, travel very little, and the pos-
terity of the early families to a great extent still reside
within the town limits, and on the same homesteads
occupied by their fathers. Few mechanical indus-

BELLINGHAM.

155

tries have settled here ; still, those that have, find
warm support on the part of the citizens. Perhaps
because farming alone constitutes the chief industry
of the town, this may serve as a reason why so
many of our younsr men leave town on arriving at
that period when it becomes necessary for them to
strike out for themselves.

By the last census the town had as its inhabitants
612 males and 635 females, a total of 1247. Of
this number, 360 were ratable polls, 307 of whom
were born in town, 24 were naturalized, and the re-
mainder persons coming in from other towns. There
are 25 individuals following professional pursuits in
town and out, and 26 are engaged in trade, 178 in
farming, and 356 in manufacturing and mechanical
industries, making a total of 1069, who are continually
adding to the common stock. There are 11 foreign-
born and 5 native-born who can neither read nor
write. Of those citizens who have been and are
specially prominent and beneficial to the town we
may mention Stephen Metcalf, Stephen Metcalf, Jr.,
Noah Alden, Noah Arnold, Rev. Joseph T. Massey,
Cornelius H. Cutler, William Fairbanks, Hiram W.
Whiting, E. Baron Stowe, Ruel F. Thayer, and
Nathan A. Cook. The town is divided into localities,
as follows : At the south end of the town, " Rake-
ville" and " Scott Hill" ; west of and approximate
to the town centre, " Crimpville" ; toward the north
part of the town, " North Bellingham" ; and at the
extreme north end, " Caryville,'' named from William
H. Cary, formerly a resident, but now of Medway.
Bellingham Centre has a post-office, with one mail
per day from Boston. North Bellingham has a post-
office, with two mails per day from Boston, and Cary-
ville also has a post-office, and besides having two
mails per day to and from Boston, has one to Milford
and one to Medway. Bellingham is in the form of
a parallelogram, is nine miles long by two wide, and
is bounded by Medway and Franklin on the north
and east, the State of Rhode Island on the south, and
the towns of Mendon and Milford on the west. The
Charles River enters the town at South Milford, and
flows through the town centre. North Bellingham,
and Caryville. At the centre are two dams, one the
property of Seneca Burr, who runs a saw- and grist-
mill ; the other, known as " the old red mill," is owned
by the Rays, of Franklin, and is now used to grind
rags, etc., for use at other mills. At North Belling-
ham the Ray Woollen Company has an extensive
privilege for the manufacture of satinet cloth, and
which was formerly run by Noah Arnold as a cotton-
mill. Dr. Seth Arnold, of "Dr. Seth Arnold's
Balsam," formerly resided here with his relative.

This privilege consists of two granite mills having
eight sets of machinery and a capacity of three
thou.sand yards per day. This mill is superintended
by Hiram Whiting, Esq. One mile below on the
river, and four miles from the centre, is the Caryville
Mills, having a capacity of three thousand jards of
satinet, as at North Bellingham. This privilege is
owned by Taft, McKean & Co. (Moses Taft, William
A. McKean, Addison E. Bullard), and was formerly
run by William Cary, from whom the locality was
named. Previous to the present company the con-
cern was run under the name of C. H. Cutler & Co.,
the latter firm coming into existence on the death of
C. H. Cutler, five years ago. At Rakeville is an
establishment where farm tools are made, and which
business was established by Jerold 0. Wilcox, and
is now carried on by his son, D. E. Wilcox. The
main line of the New York and New England Rail-
road runs through the southeast portion of the town,
and the station there is termed Rand's Crossing.
The Woonsocket Division of the same road runs the
entire length of the town, with stations at the centre.
North Bellingham, and Caryville. The Milford,
Franklin and Providence Railroad, just completed,
runs across the town, and crosses the Woonsocket
Division of the New York and New England Rail-
road at Bellingham Centre, and also has a station in
town named South Milford, so, as will be observed,
there are four stations in the town besides the junc-
tion at the centre. The passenger service is so ad-
justed that nearly every station in town can forward
its traffic to and from Boston five times daily, the
distance being about twenty-nine miles. In town
there are five stores, four factories, three grist-mills,
and seven saw-mills. Formerly there were four boot-
and shoe-factories, producing over 225 twelve-pair
cases per week, three of which establishments were
at the town centre and the largest at Caryville. To
the one at Caryville we now refer. This business
was established in 1848 by E. & W. Fairbanks. In
1864 the latter bought out the former, and made
within ten years two substantial additions thereto, so
that ninety hands found employment in making
boots for the Western trade. The annual production
consisted of 7000 cases, in the making of which
were consumed 125,000 pounds of sole leather, 350,-
000 feet of upper leather, 160 bushels of pegs, and
7500 pounds of nails.

In the year 1874 the proprietor, William Fair-
banks, died, and, virtually, with his death the entire
business became lost to the town. Immediately upon
his decease the business was disposed of by his ex-
ecutor to Houghton, Coolidge & Co., of Boston,

156

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

who undertook its continuance, but discontent and
dissatisfaction arising, on the night of the 25th
of July following the entire factory was burned,
with nothing saved, the whole entailing a pecuniary
loss of nearly one hundred thousand dollars. Thus
was los^ to the town one of its most prolific sources of
income, which has never been regained. In 1882
the Ray Woolen Company constructed a granite mill,
which has in some measure atoned for this loss, and
as the census of 1875 appears tlie best source of in-
formation, we give the condition of the town for that
year, which is, in fact, substantially its present basis,
excepting the boot and shoe industry, which does not
exist with us in any capacity. We find in the entire
town two hundred and fifty dwelling-houses occupied
and seven vacant. With these we find three hundred
and nineteen families, and for their use are one public
school and three Sunday-school libraries, containing
eleven hundred and seventy-five volumes. In addi-
tion to these, at the town clerk's office are one
hundred and thirty-four volumes of " Massachu-
setts Reports," war records, and public documents.
The amount of personal property in town is valued
at $109,160; real estate, $418,808; the total val-
uation, $527,968 ; number of farms, 157 ; acres
in farms, 8000 ; acres unimproved, 3000 ; value of
farms and buildings, $361,639: total value of farm
property, $430,156 ; woodland in acres, 1232 ; cul-
tivated land, 2331 ; number of horses, 185 ; cows,
300 ; total income from farm property, $94,017 ;
capital invested in boot and shoe business, $25,000 ;
product, $33,000 ; wages paid annually'to laborers on
boots and shoes, $175,000 ; stock used in manufac-
ture, $332,940 ; capital invested in factory for manu-
facturing farming tools, $2500 ; product, $18,000 ;
sum invested in satinet cloth making, $150,000, pro-
ducing a valuation of $330,000. In town are 11
manufacturing establishments, 5 engines, and 5 water-
wheels, with an aggregate of 405 horse-power and
machinery to the value of $50,000; also 29,778
domestic animals, valued at $23,000. The total
amount of capital invested in town is $180,000,
and this sum realizes annually $038,547. Quite a
number of years ago, previous to the building of the
Woonsocket Division Railroad, an iron-mine was dis-
covered in that tract of land known as " Cedar
Swamp," and this mine was worked for several years,
the ore being carried to Taunton and worked up into
locomotives. For the last twenty-five years, however,
nothing has been done with it. On the road leading
from North Bellingham Station to what is called
" Bellingham Four Corners" is a whetstone quarry,
from which in the past quantities of the material

have been put on the market, but this also has gone
into disuse.

At tlie centre of the town, in the triangle fronting
the Baptist Church (Rev. Daniel A. Wade, pastor),
is a soldiers' monument measuring in height about
fifteen feet, placed there by the citizens of Bellingham
in commemoration of those who gave their lives in
support of tlie national Constitution.

At the present time there are but two churches in
town, — the Centre Baptist, to which previous refer-
ence has been made, and the North Bellingham Bap-
tist, a short sketch of which is as follows:

The North Bellingham Baptist Church^ is the
outgrowth of an interest established here in 1847 as
a society called the " North Bellingham Baptist So-
ciety," which worshiped in a chape! built for the
purpose by Bates & Arnold, at that time prominent
cotton-manufacturers in this town, and formally ded-
icated to the worship of God in September or October
of that year, Re,v. Dr. Granger, of Providence, R. I.,
preaching the dedication sermon.

The society had no settled pastor for many years,
but depended upon supplies from week to week,
though with a few brief exceptions they have had
uninterrupted preaching, the late Rev. Otis Converse,
of Worcester, supplying them for upwards of a year
at a time on three or four different occasions. They
have always maintained a Sabbath-school, which is
still in existence.

On the 13th of October, 1867, a church was formed
consisting of ten persons, as follows : William Hunter,
of Goose River Church, Nova Scotia; Roswell Bent,
of East Dcdham Church ; Ann Bent, of First Baptist
Church, Lowell ; Elizabeth Hunter, Mary Hunter,
Jane Hunter, Barbara Hunter, of Goose River
Church, Nova Scotia; Rebecca Bemis, Matilda S.
Murphy, of West Medway Church.

At the same meeting the following persons were
received as candidjUes for baptism, and it was fur-
thermore voted that they be considered as constituent
members, viz., John B. Philips, Stephen F. Coombs,
Hiram E. Hunter, Catherine Thomas, and Nancy S.
Coombs. The first baptism occurred the following
Sabbath, October 20th, when the foregoing persons
were baptized. Rev. Samuel Hill oflBciating. Since
that time some seventy-five different persons have
united with the church, forty-five of whom have
been received on profession and the balance by letter.
Of this number the church has lost fifteen by dismis-
sion to other churches, five by death, and four by ex-
clusion, leaving its present membership fifty-one.

1 By P. F. Coombs.

BELLINGHAM.

157

It lias had five deacons, viz., William Hunter,
Justin E. Pond, George H. Greenwood, Charles 0.
Drake, and Roswell Bent, vphich latter is the present
incumbent. Stephen F. Coombs has been its clerk
since its organization, with the exception of ten
months, and was al.so superintendent of the Sabbath-
school eleven years. About the middle of March,
1882, the church extended a unanimous call to Rev.
Edwin D. Bowers, of Rockport, Mass., to become its
pastor, which action was concurred in by the society
a few days afterward, he accepting, and entered upon
that relationship the 1st of April following, and so
continues at the present time. Worship is still held
in the chapel, which is large enough for all purposes,
having been improved and beautified at different times
as necessity demanded.

Educational, — Readily appreciating the advan-
tages derived from a thorough education, our town has
always gone to a deal of trouble and expense in pro-
viding proper schools, and the result is most gratifying.
As a matter of fact, she entered upon this duty of
intellectual culture soon after her incorporation, in
1719. On May 7, 1792, the town was divided into
six districts, and in 1798 into seven, continuing later
on into a division of nine. She began by appro-
priating fifty dollars to sessions held only in the win-
ter at private houses, and, of course, early observing
the inconvenience of this method, in 1795 six hundred
dollars was set off to the construction of a school-
house in each district, but this amount being decidedly
inadequate to the desired end, eleven hundred dollars
more followed the same channel in two years there-
after. In 1793 fifty pounds was expended in school-
ing, and in 1796 the appropriation increased to three
hundred dollars. SiLce that time the amount has
been annually increased by small additions, until in
the year 1882 the sum of two thousand one hundred
and sixty-nine dollars and twenty-five cents was ex-
pended in educational work. The sum appropriated
for each child between five and fifteen years of age
amounts to nine dollars and thirty-five cents. The
largest amount per pupil is expended by the town of
Milton, which is twenty-six dollars and eighty-eight
cents. The percentage of valuation expended for this
work reduced to decimals is .0039, and sixteen out of
the twenty-four towns in the county spend a less per-
centage of their valuation than does Bellingham,
the town of Milton standing at the foot of the list.
Our town has two hundred and thirty-two pupils, and
the average attendance for 1882 was one hundred
and ninety-one, or, in per cent., .8233. In 1883
the average attendance jumped from .8233 to .92,
which, we believe, places the town number one in

the county, as in 1882 the towns of Dedham and
Randolph alone excelled her. Medway, our next-
door neighbor, ranks number sixteen. In the county,
the towns of Dover, Medfield, Norfolk, and Sharon
have a less number of pupils than our own town.

The superintendent's (Rev. D. A. Wade) report
for 1883 shows a marked improvement over 1882,
and subsequent years will no doubt excel each other,
consecutively, in this work, so highly essential to com-
mon advancement and well-being. The annual meet-
ing of 188-t has entered upon the duty of reducing
the number of school committees from nine to three,
and no doubt in a very few years the number of
schools will be reduced, and consequently those re-
maining be made larger, and this under the advice of
the State Board of Education. In whatever else our
town may have failed, she cannot be charged with
having been asleep to the mental and moral worth of
her children.

In addition to schools, our people are susceptible to
the moulding influences of the press. For daily news
we depend on Boston and also on the Woonsocket
evening Reporter^ an Associated Press sheet. For
weekly news of other towns, as well as our own locals,
we depend on the Milford Journal, Woonsocket
Patriot, Franklin Sentinel, and Dedham Transcript,
the last named having the court and county news.
These papers constitute a constant source of reliable
information, and meet with an increasing circulation
among our citizens. Bellingham has two titles, which
may or may not serve to cause a smile on the coun-
tenances of those who have been accustomed to hear
them repeated for many years. The first is " Bel-
lingham Navy- Yard," and the second " Blue Jay
Town." As to the first named, we cannot give its ori-
gin, but, sure enough it is, whoever coined it never
lived to see it die, and from present indications I pre-
sume ^oe never shall. As to the latter title, we must
admit its force, for in truth the town is as full of blue
jays as the annual town-meeting is full of independent
ideas. As will be noticed by the reader of this arti-
cle, our town offers very low taxes and excellent busi-
ness facilities to new-comers. Situated, figuratively
speaking, approximate to Boston and Providence, an
excellent market is always open for the disposal of any
production. Railroad-stations for passenger and
freight traffic are located in each section of the town,
and the larger towns beyond give us a much better
railroad accommodation than is usually found in
towns having ten times our own population. Excel-
lent water privileges exist, but, of course, in the
present age of steam their value is much less than
formerly. First-class roads and enough of them, pure

158

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

well-water and plenty of it, no license, together with
other facilities and a desire on the part of the citizens
to aid and assist, render to business men a rare oppor-
tunity for the establishment of mechanical industries,
such as very {"cw towns offer, and such as we believe
will produce successful competition. If this article
shall serve as a fortunate inducement, the writer will
have been amply repaid for the time and labor spent
in its compilation.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

AMOS HARRISON HOLBROOK.

Amos Harrison Hoibrook, son of Amos and Lucretia
(Burr) Hoibrook, was born Nov. 23, 1818, in the
house where he now resides in the town of Bellingham
(and which was also the birthplace of his father j.
Joseph Hoibrook, the first settler on this place, came
from Braintree before 1700, and the Bellingham
branch has never changed its home. The line to
Amos H. is Joseph (1), Jesse (2), Amariah (3),
Amos (4), Amos H. (5). Joseph had sons, — Joseph,
Jesse^ Elijah, and David. The three lots he owned as
proprietary lots were divided into four shares, the
eldest's being a double portion, following the English
manner of preference for the elder. Of these shares,
Amos H. now owns three, all but that of the elder,
and thus the land has been in the possession of the
Hoibrook family since its original occupation by the
Indians.

Joseph was a deacon of the church, and was one of
the petitioners for the organization of the town of Bel-
lingham. He was a man of great energy and perse-
verance. When over sixty years old he rode horse-
back to New Jersey to engage a professor for Provi-
dence College on its establishment, and was on the
road six weeks. Jes.se was captain of the Belling-
ham company, and was ordered to Ticonderoga in
1755, and did good service. He helped his sou
Amariah build the house now occupied by A, H. in
1780, and also in his old age was probably engaged
with the patriot, or Continental, army in Rhode Island
during the Revolution. He was prominent in town
affairs and public business, was selectman in 1780, al-
ways a farmer, and served his day and generation well.
He married a Thayer, and had two children, — Amariah
and Jesse (2). He lived to a good old age, and, with
his father and descendants, is buried in the cemetery
at North Bellingham. Elijah lived on his portion, his
house being about one hundred rods east of the old

home, was also a farmer, was married before 1750,
had four sons, who were all soldiers in the Revolution.
After the war some of them settled in Virginia. Ama-
riah was born June 6, 1756. He went as a soldier
in the Revolutionary war. During his service he
returned home and married Molly Wright, of Wren-
tham, now Franklin, born March 28, 1759, died Aug.
24, 1845. They had nine children, — Tryphena, Na-
hum, Amos^ Amariah, Joel, Abigail, Nathan, Asa,
Lyman, — all of whom lived to advanced age, except
Nathan, who died when about forty-five. Amariah (2)
died Sept. 7, 1797. He served during the war in Rhode
Island, Roxbury, Mass., and New Jersey, under Gen.
Washington. He was paid off at expiration of ser-
vice in New Jersey with Continental money, and was
unable to purchase a dinner with all of it. Had it not
been for some silver he had in his possession pre-
viously, he would have fared badly before reaching
his home in Bellingham. He engaged in farming on
the homestead after the Revolution, held some town
oflBces, was a man of sterling integrity, and held
in great esteem by his fellow-citizens. Amos was
born April 27, 1783, lived at home until he was four-
teen years old, then went to West Medway to learn
the blacksmith's trade, where he remained six years.
He worked as journeyman about two years, then es-
tablished himself at Bellingham Four Corners for a
few years. He married, Dec. 1, 1808, Lucretia,
daughter of Elisha and Lucretia Burr, of Bellingham
(an old New England family). She was born Oct.
12, 1787, died May 10, 1860. Their children were
Whitman, born Jan. 29, 1811 ; Lucretia, born Aug.
20, 1815; Amos H. ; Almira, died young; Olive
(Mrs. C. F. Cushman), born April 26, 1827. About
the time of his marriage he moved to the old home-
stead, buying out the interests of his father's heirs,
and passed his life there. He worked at his trade
in connection with farming, and was many times
chosen selectman, was a captain of the militia, highly
esteemed for his sound sense and good judgment.
He was a Democrat in politics. His death occured
May 16, 1867.

Amos H.^ the present occupant of the Hoibrook
farm, has been twice married, first to Nancy, daugh-
ter of David and Sally Adams, of Bellingham, Dec. 15,
1853. By this marriage he had two children, — Ida
M. (deceased) and Nannie A. Mrs. Nancy Hoibrook
died Nov. 19, 1862, and he married, June 9, 1864,
Mary J., daughter of Andrew and Margaret Burnham,
of Medway. They had one child, M. Florence. Mrs.
Mary J. Hoibrook died when Florence was but four
years old, March 3, 1869. She had enjoyed vigorous
health, and on the day of her death she was cheerful

^n^ ^1>yA_HBitoh,ie.

Ekci ^ ay

?t^2>/^^

BELLINGHAM.

159

and happy, and visited friends half a mile distant ;
while on the way she complained of severe pain in
her head, and became unconscious ; in ten hours after
she breathed her last. She possessed talents of a high
order, and had a good academic education. Kind, con-
si(}erate, and dignified in all her social relations, she
won the love and confidence of her associates. She
was the light and joy of the domestic, circle, — a de-
voted wife and faithful, loving mother. Her loss was
deeply felt by all who had her acquaintance ; •' None
knew her but to love her." She was a member of
the Baptist Church, and distinguished for Christian
work.

Mr. Holbrook had the advantage only of common
school education, supplemented by attendance at high
school in Bellingham and Franklin for a short time.
He has always resided on the old ancestral acres, has
held various official positions, — town clerk for ten years,
assessor, selectman for many years, — and in every po-
sition has ever been worthy of the universal respect
and esteem with which the people, among whom he
has always been resident, now hold him. He has never
given a promissory note but once in his life, and that
was to his brother in settlement of his father's estate,
of whom they were the heirs. His politics have been
Free-Soil, Whig, and Republican. He was chosen
special county commissioner two terms, from 1865 to
1872, has frequently been sent to State and county
conventions by his town.

He is one of Bellingham's most .substantial citizens,
and one of the truly prosperous farmers, having in
possession one hundred and eighty acres in Belling-
ham and Franklin.

XATHAN A. COOK.

Nathan A. Cook was born in Uxbridge, Mass.,
Sept. 14, 1823. He comes of good Puritanic stock,
reaching back through the early settlement of New
England to an English family of good repute.
Walter Cook, the first American ancestor, was a resi-
dent of Weymouth, Mass., in 164.S. The line of
descent to Nahum runs thus : Walter (1), Walter (2),
Nicholas (1), Nicholas (2), Ezekiel, Ziba, Nahum,
Nathan A., which shows Nathan to be in the eighth
generation. We can tell but little of the two Walters,
but Nicholas (1) was one of the signers of the pe-
tition for the organization of Bellingham, which pre-
viously belonged to Dedham and Mendon. He was a
very prominent man in town aiFairs. His will was
made Oct. 10, 1778, and disposes of real estate at
" Candlewood Hill." From Nicholas to Nathan all

this family have been connected with afi'airs of note in
town and with public office.

Ziba was a farmer all his life, born and reared in
Bellingham, and passed most of his days on Scott Hill.
He married Joanna, daughter of Seth and Amy
(Cook) Aldrich, and had six children, — Duty, Nahum,
Ziba, Eunice, Joanna, Amy, — who all attained ma-
turity. He was a member of the Christian Church.
He was born May 6, 1764, and died at Blackstone,
July 15, 1840, aged seventy-six. His son Nahum
was born in Bellingham March 28, 1796, married Sibil,
daughter of Bazaliel and Jemima (Morse) Balcom,
of Douglas, Mass., and settled in Uxbridge as a farmer.
After a residence there of four years he returned to
Bellingham, purchased the place where, with his son
Nathan, he now resides. At one time he owned real
estate in six towns. His children were Xathan A.
and Amy A. Amy married Alvah Aldrich, of Belling-
ham; had fivechildreu. — Albert A., George E., Hattie
A., Charles W., and Weston. She died Feb. 9, 1879.
Mrs. Sibil Cook died June 26, 1858. Nahum and
wife were for many years members of the Reformed
Methodist Church. He has held various town offices
during his life, and stands well in the regards of
those who know him. He is of positive character,
strict, stern, and straightforward. His " yea is yea,
and his nay is nay," and dissimulation is unknown to
him ; he came of good Democratic stock, and has al-
ways adhered tenaciously to their principles. At one
election for member of Congress there was but one
Democratic vote cast in town, and that was his. The
printed ballots for some reason did not arrive, and
Mr. Cook cut the printed ticket from his newspaper
and deposited it. Although eighty-seven years old,
he still attends town-meetings and elections.

Nathan A. Cook was reared a farmer, and received
his education at Franklin Academy and Holliston
Academy. This last school was a noted institution,
under the celebrated instructor " Master Rice^' On
account of failing health, Mr. Cook was compelled to
return to country life. He taught winter terms of
school seventeen consecutive winters, and was called,
when member of school committee, several terms
when teachers had failed. His home has been with
his father during his whole life, with the exception of
two years, and he has succeeded to the management
of the ancestral acres, of which, in the towns of
Bellingham and Blackstone, they have about one
hundred and twenty-five acres. He married, March
28, 1845, Sena A., daughter of Stephen and Miranda
(Cook) Cook. Their children were George E., who
died at twelve years of age ; Nahum H., born Jan. 12,
1849 (he married Ellen R. Farrington, and is now a

160

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

merchant and deputy postmaster at Bellingham
Centre) ; Irwin F., born Jan. 31, 1855, was educated
at the academy at Woonsocket, R. I., and Business
College, Providence, in which school he became a
successful instructor. He afterwards taught in the
public schools of Attleborough, and won high en-
comiums as a teacher. He sought the most difficult
schools, and spared no exertions nor labor to bring them
into perfect discipline. He was soon principal of the
graded school of North Attleborough, and filled that
position with marked success. His delicate physical
nature, how&yer, could not stand the labor which his
indomitable will placed upon him, and he died of con-
sumption Sept. 22, 1880, keeping at work until within
a very few days of his death. An Attleborough
paper in noting his funeral says, " Mr. Cook was
universally respected and beloved, and gained the love
of his friends and pupils to an unusual degree. He
was devoted heart and soul to his profession, having,
as his highest aim, his greatest ambition, to be a good
teacher. Long it will be ere his memory is forgotten."
Nathan A. Cook has been much in public business.
He has often been called upon to fill positions of
honor, responsibility, and trust. He was appointed
justice of the peace about thirty years ago, and has
held that commission ever since. He is in his second
term as trial justice. He has been selectman three
terms, town treasurer, assessor, overseer of the poor,
member of the school committee, superintendent of
schools, collector of taxes, and, with Samuel Warner,
of Wrcntham, represents the Eighth District of
Norfolk County in the State Legislature. To this
office he was elected in 1882, receiving in his own
town all of the votes cast but five. He is Republican
in politics. He has done much probate business, settled
many estates, is exact, methodical, and accurate, and
is justly popular. He is a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, an exhorter of that communion, and
is clerk of the Quarterly Conference of the East Black-
stone Society. He is a member, also, of Montgomery
Lodge, F. and A. M., Milford, Mass., joining it in
1862.

CHAPTER XV L

FRANKLIN.i

Early History as Precinct — First Cession of Dedham — Pur-
chase of Wrentham — The New Precinct — Church Organized —
First Minister — Meetiug-House — Church Music — Discords —
Precinct Ministers — Revs. Haven, Barnunn, Emmons — Civil
History — Move for a Town — Town History — Incorporation —
Why named Franklin — Town Library — Topography — Maps
— Indian Traditions — Revolutionary War — Sentiments in
Town-Meeting^Soldiers' Second Meeting- House — Its Site,
Cost, Bell — Moved and Modernized — Interior Glimpse of
Home Life — Military Affairs — Trainings and Musters — The
Poor — Burial-Grounds — Post-Offices — Temperance — Early
Industries.

More than two hundred and forty years ago, when
the forest-trees had withdrawn their shadows hardly
the distance of an Indian's arrow-flight from Boston
Common, the Puritan immigrants began to feel an
impulse to "go West."

Following rather than leading this impulse, the
Governor and his court, in session at Newtowne, Sept.
2, 1635, ordered "that there shall be a plantation
settled about two miles above the falls of Charles
River, on the northeast side thereof, to have ground
lying to it on both sides the river, both upland and
meadow, to be laid out hereafter as the court shall
direct."

September 8th of the next year, 1636, this order
was followed by another, naming the new settlement
" Deddham," and this grant of territory was so large
as to include what now forms thirteen towns and
parts of four others.

Twenty-four years passed away, and the new settlers
so spread that in 1660 thirty-four of them bought of
the Wampanoags six hundred acres of land still farther
west for one hundred and sixty pounds. They adopted
the Indian name of Wollomonopoag. Among their
still familiar names were Anthony Fisher, Sargent
Ellis, Robert Ware, James Thorp, Isaac Bullard,
Samuel Fisher, Samuel Parker, John Farrington,
Ralph Freeman, and Sargent Stevens.

Oct. 16, 1673, a petition for the incorporation of
Wollomonopoag as a town was presented to the Gen-'
eral Court, and with, to us, astonishing promptness,
was granted " the next day," — so say the colonial
records. Thus Wrentham, the namesake of the
p]nglish home of some of the settlers, took her place
and name in history.

The settlement increased so steadily that in 1718
it was divided into four school districts, each with a

1 Compiled from "Blake's History of Franklin" and other
sources, by Mrs. E. L. Morse. Copyright reserved.

FRANKLIN.

161

three months' school. These afterwards became sub-
stantially the shoots of three substantial towns, the
chief of which was Franklin, the others Norfolk and
Bellingham. The next year (1719) the first precinct
was set off and called Bellingham.

After many petitions and refusals, Wrentham reluc-
tantly gave her consent, and, on the 23d of December,
1737, Governor Belcher with his signature cut off a
second precinct, which in forty years grew into the
town of Franklin.

The New Precinct, — The first warrant to organ-
ize the new precinct was issued by Jonathan Ware,
justice of the peace, and was addressed to Robert
Pond, Daniel Hawes, David Jones, Daniel Thurston,
and John Adams, five of the freeholders. The other
petitioners were —

David Pond,
John Failes,
Samuel Morse,
Michael Wilson,
Ezra Pond,
Samuel Metcalf,
Ebenr. Sheckelworth,
Ebenr. Partridge,
Thomas Man, Sr.,
John Smith,
Eleazer Metcalf,
Josiah Haws,
Joseph Whiting,
Eleazer Fisher,
Simon Slocum,
James New,
Uriah Wilson,
Edward Hall,
Nathaniel Fisher,
Samuel Partridge,
Daniel Maccane,
Baruch Pond,

Nathaniel Fairbanks,
Jonathan Wright,
Benjamin Piockwood,
John Richardson,
Job Partridge,
Thomas Rockwood,
Robert Blake,
John Fisher,
David Lawrence, Jr.,
Eleazer Ware,
Eleazer Metcalf, Jr.,
Ebenezer Lawrence,
Michael Metcalf,
Ebenezer Hunting,
Edward Gay,
Nathaniel Haws,
Ebenr. Clark,
David Darling,
Ichabod Pond,
Lineard Fisher,
David Lawrence.
In all, 48.

The first meeting was held on the 16th of Janu-
ary, 1737-38, at twelve o'clock. The needful officers
were chosen, and four days later, at a second meeting,
they went to work with a will. First, they voted
eighty pounds for preaching, and appointed a com-
mittee to secure it ; another committee was chosen
to provide materials for a meeting-house in place of
the small building heretofore provided, to be forty
feet long, thirty-one wide, and twenty-feet posts. They
also sent a request to Wrentham for the fulfillment of
a promise made them ten years before, that money
paid by them, amounting to one hundred and thirty
pounds eleven shillings, towards its meeting-house
should be repaid to them. At first Wrentham re-
fused, but after four months' delay the request was
granted.

First Church and Minister. — Meantime, a church
must be organized to occupy the new meeting-house
11

when built and listen to a minister yet to be called.
Some twenty brethren, having secured letters from
the mother-church at Wrentham, kept the 16th of
February, 1738, "as a day of solemn fasting and
prayer to implore the blessing of God and His direc-
tion in the settling of a church, and in order to the
calling and settling of a gospel minister in said place."
And on that day in a large assembly the covenant
was read and accepted, and Rev. Mr. Baxter, of Med-
field, moderator, pronounced them a duly-organized
church of our Lord Jesus Christ. Without any lis-
tening to miscellaneous candidates, they united upon
their first selected preacher. On Nov. 8, 1738, Rev.
Elias Haven was installed as the first pastor of the
new church. The audience assembled, not in the
meeting-house, as it was not yet built, but in a
valley near its future site. After sixteen years of
ministerial work, performed in physical weariness and
pain, Rev. Mr. Haven died of consumption, and God
gave him rest from his labors, Aug. 10, 1754, in his
fortieth year. The stones placed by a remembering
town over his grave in the old cemetery still stand,
and the inscription thereon may be legible for years
to come.

The Meeting-House. — The precinct having an
organized church, a settled minister and his salary
provided, and materials ready for a church building,
its next duty was to select a site whereon to build.
This, as in the first settlement of all New England
towns, must be at the centre of its territory ; for in
those early days no house was permitted to be built
above half a mile from the meeting-house without
leave of the Court. At a meeting of the settlers,
held the 7th of April, 1738, five men were sent into
a corner " to Debate and Consider and Perfix upon a
place for Building a Meeting-House on and bring it
to the Precinct in one hour." Meanwhile, the rest
spent that hour in voting and unvoting until they
reached an apparent finality, — to set the house " at
the most convenientest place on that acre of Land
That was laid out By Thomas Man for the use of the
West Inhabitants in said Precinct." But who shall
decide where this "most convenientest place" is?
3Ir. Plimpton, " survair" of Medfield, is selected to
bring his implements to bear on the solution, who
reports for the west corner of Man's lot " as near as
they conveniently can." But next year. May 9,
1739, a new question arises, whether this be in the
exact centre of the precinct, and a new surveyor is
called to this problem. He and his two chainmen
are put under oath to honestly " survey the ground
where the meeting-house shall shortly lie." May 23d
he reports in writing as follows :

162

HISTORY' OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

" To the Inliahitants of Wrentluiin Westerly Precinct.

" Gext^ : — These maj' Inform you that I the Subscriber Have
Been and Measured to find the Center of s* Precinct, Mess'.
Decon Barber and Benj. Rockwood being chainman, and ac-
cording to what we find by Measuring on the Grou"* from the
Northerly End to tlie Southerly End and from the Westerly Side
to the Easterly Side of the Same I find the Center of s<i Measur-
ing to be South westerly from the Present Meeting-house a little
Beter than an Hundred Rods, where we Pitched a Stake and
Made an heap of Stones.

"Ei.EAZKTi Fisher, Snri^ei/or."

The deed of one acre of land from Thomas Man
was accepted Sept. 11, 1739, and was put for safe-
keeping into the care of Simeon Slocum. In the
same month of September, another committee put
seats in the barn-like building according to the tim-
ber provided, and " one lock and key and bolts and
latches for the doors, and cants" for the gallery
stairs, and also a foundation for the pulpit and pul-
pit stairs, and rails round the galleries, and made five
" pillows," — a small number for a modern audience.
The bills, presented March 3, 1740, show that the
committees had been reasonably expeditious. The
final cost of the meeting-house was £338 13s. 6d.,
as reported in October, 1741. The boys, too, were
promptly at work, for in July, 1740, Capt. Fairbanks
is directed to get the windows mended, and to prose-
cute the depredators.

Part 2^(^ssti with the meeting-house arose the
" horse-houses," whose long strings of successors
afterwards made the Franklin Common so famous.
They were all planted and grew on Thomas Man's
acre. Among them were Richard PuflFer's " small
diner-house," and Isaac Heton and Dr. Jones had
a " small noon-house."

Of this oldest real meeting-house no picture or
description is in existence. Some of the sashes, two
feet square with five-inch panes of glass set diagonally
in lead, were visible in an old house not many years
ago, but of their present whereabouts, if they exist
at all, no man now knoweth.

The building stood on the slight hill north of the
present Catholic Church, in a surrounding girth of
dwarfish pitch-pines. It was guarded by platoons of
horse-sheds and some small dinner-houses, where the
forefathers of the hamlet shared their lunch and ex-
changed opinions, and the mothers nursed their in-
fants and compared news during the hour's noon in-
termission of the Sabbath service.

This first house was used — subjected to occasional
internal modifications as the congregation increased
and the taste changed — until Oct. 12, 1789, forty-
eight years from its completion. A committee was
then chosen to sell the outgrown and aged building
within twenty days, or to pull it down at their dis-

cretion. As there is no record of its sale, it was
probably taken down. Next to the house and its
minister comes

The Church Music of "y" Olden Time."— The
" Old Bay Psalm-Book" was used at first in all the
colonial churches. A chorister started the tunes
with a pitch-pipe, and the congregation, each in his
own good time, — which might be faster or slower
than the leader's, — followed on or hastened ahead.
All sang the same part, and with an energy begotten
of facing northeasters, felling forest-trees, and shout-
ing to tardy oxen winding among their stumps. No
two sang alike, and the sounds were so grievous to
the ears of the people that their distress found voice
in a vote of the precinct, June 26, 1738, " To sing
no other tunes than are Pricked Down in our former
Psalm-Books which were Printed between Thirty and
forty years Agoe, and To Sing Them as They are
Prickt down in them as Near as they can." The
older people remonstrated against this invasion of
their liberties, but the precinct refused, in September,
" to ease those that were inclined to sing the old way."
Six months later, March 8, 1738-39, the church
" voted to sing by rule, according to note," and chose
Joseph Whiting to set the tunes in the church.

Later in the same meeting some curious soul stirred
up the brethren by the query, " What notice will the
church take of one of the brethren's stricking into a
pitch of the tune unusually raised February 18th?"
For answer, another vote was recorded :

" Whereas, our brother, David Pond, as several of our
brethren, viz., David Jones, Ebenezer Hunting, Benj. Rock-
wood, Jr., Aaron Haws, and Michael Metcalf, apprehend,
struck into a pitch of the tune on February 18th, in the public
worship in the forenoon raised above what was set ; after most
of the congregation, as is thought, kept the pitch for three
lines, and after our pastor had desired them that had raised
it to fall to the pitch that was set to be suitable, decent or to
that purpose; the question was put, whether the church ap-
prehends this our brother David Pond's so doing to be disor-
derly ; and it passed in the affirmative, and David Pond is
suspended until satisfaction is given."

But David Pond froze over at this cold blast of
reproof and suspension, and his musical thermometer
went below zero, where it stayed for thirteen years.
At last, Jan. 12, 1751-52, he melted into confession
of error, and all discord was drowned in harmony.

Another vote of the church on this subject is sig-
nificant. May 18, 1739, it was voted " tliat the man
that tunes the Psalm in the congregation be limited
till further direction to some particular tunes, and the
tunes limited are Canterbury, London, Windsor, St.
David's, Cambridge, Short One Hundredth, and One
Hundredth and Forty-eighth Psalm tunes ; and Benj.

FRANKLIN.

163

Rockwood, Jr., to tune the psalm." Ten years'
practice so wore upon these seven permitted tunes
that, April 5, 1749, the church removed the limita-
tion and the hymns thereafter flowed smoothly on in
many separate streams like the voice of many waters.
All went musically, as between the tunes, for a time ;
but on April 15, 1760, sprang up a war of rival
hymn-books which lasted for five years, until the 4th
of July, 1765, when it was decided by the victory of
Dr. Watts' version of the psalms over the Old Bay
Psalm-Book, and Tate and Brady's version of psalms
and hymns. Dr. Watts remained in possession of the
field for nearly ninety years, until the Puritan hymn-
and tune-book, born in Mendon Association in 1858,
raised him also onto the shelf of antiques.

The Precinct Ministers. — Rev. Elias Haven, the
first minister of the young church, after sixteen years
of pastoral labor in failing health, through which he
was tenderly helped by a loving people, died of con-
sumption in 1744, and was buried in the central
cemetery of the town, where a stone still stands to his
memory. Then came the trying experiences of hear-
ing candidates and selecting his successor. But they
sat down patiently to scrutinize whomsoever came be-
fore them ; and the sitting, if not the patience, lasted
for six years. One after another preached in review
before them. Aaron Putnam, Joseph Haven, Stephen
Holmes, Thomas Brooks, a Mr. Norton, Joseph
Manning, to whom they said, " Stay with us," but
he declined; Messrs. Parsons, Goodhue, Phillips,
Payson, who also declined their call ; Jesse Root and
Nathan Holt, who refused to stay ; John Eals, Mr.
Gregory, and at last came Caleb Barnum, of Danbury,
Conn. He, the fourteenth candidate, was urged to
stay by one hundred and two votes, and was off'ered
seventy pounds salary per annum, and one hundred
and thirty-three pounds settlement as an additional
motive. After several months of consideration, he
finally accepted, and was settled June 4, 1760, and
six years after the death of Mr. Haven.

Rev. Caleb Barnum was the son of Thomas and
Deborah, born in Danbury, June 30, 1737 ; gradu-
ated at Princeton, 1757, and received an A.M. in
1768 from both Princeton and Harvard. His brief
pastorate of eight years was full of divers disturb-
ances, not the least of which was the hymn-book
conflict already mentioned. Some difiered also from
his opinions and beliefs as preached from the pulpit,
and some left to attend Separatists' meetings, but the
majority vindicated the pastor. The difi"erences
seemed to be more between the precinct and the
church than in the church itself; but the minister
stood as a central figure between the two parties, and

was attacked by both. His resignation was caused
by these dissensions, and being made final, despite
their reluctance to grant it, he was dismissed March
6, 1768.

The next February he was installed over the First
Congregational Church in Taunton. In 1775 he
joined the army of the Revolution, and became chap-
lain of the Twenty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment,
Col. John Greaton, then near Boston, Feb. 10, 1776.
On the return of his regiment from Montreal he was
taken sick at Ticonderoga, and discharged July 24,
dying at Pittsfield, Aug. 23, 1776, aged thirty-nine.

Once more the pulpit was empty, and again a pro-
cession of candidates appeared. One and another
was called upon to stop, but each declined, and they
all moved on. Then the people looked each upon his
neighbor, and asked, " Why will no one stay with
us?"

The meeting-house, now thirty years old, and too
small as well as growing old-fashioned (for there was
even then a fashion for meeting-houses), was pondered
upon as a possible obstacle. Therefore, in 1772, they
chose five men to " consult upon the conveniences
and inconveniences of enlarging and repairing their
meeting-house, and to draw a plan thereof and
report."

Meanwhile, the committee of supply had in some
way heard of a young graduate of Yale College who
had preached in New York State, and was now
among the New Hampshire hills. He was small in
stature, with a thin, small voice, and he hesitated
about appearing before a church containing two such
vigorous and bellicose parties. But he came, Oc-
tober, 1769, and essayed to fill the vacant pulpit. So
well did he supply their needs, and so thoroughly did
they test him, that on Nov. 30, 1772, the church, by
a vote of thirty-two out of thirty-four, invited him
to become their pastor. Two weeks later the precinct
heartily seconded their invitation, and April 21,
1773, Nathanael Emmons was settled as the third
precinct minister. The service was held out of doors,
like that of both of his predecessors, in the valley
west of the present Catholic Church.

The memory of Dr. Emmons' life and ministry is
still bright in the town where he lived and labored
for more than fifty years. His namesakes are found
in many a family, and many a town and State, while
anecdotes of him and his pithy apothegms are still
current, and still bright as new coins, and more valu-
able for use.

In one aspect Dr. Emmons has been and still is
misrepresented. He was not curt, dogmatic, and
repellent. He was not unsocial and austere to his

16-t

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

people, nor a bugbear to the young. He was affable,
genial, and witty, and enjoyed a good joke as keenly
as any. In the pulpit his clear-cut and logical sen-
tences sharpened the intellects of his hearers and
made them alert, discriminating, and clear-headed
thinkers, having settled opinions of their own. He
ruled, therefore, only by always moving in the line of
his people's intelligent convictions. They knew him
to be simply following truth, and they had to follow
his guidance because he justified to them every step
of his way.

Dr. Emmons' active ministry continued about fifty-
four years, from April 21, 1773, to May 28, 1827.
Twice during this time, in 1781 and again in 1784, he
became discouraged in his work and asked for a dis-
mission ; but his people unanimously refused to grant
it. Before the close of 1784 a powerful revival added
seventy to his church, quickened his weary spirit,
and ended his discouragements. During his fifty-four
years of work three hundred and eight were gathered
into the church. But his slender physique could not
forever second the strong spirit within, and in his
eighty-third year he fainted in the pulpit while
preaching a sermon from Acts ii. 37 (see " Emmons'
Works," vol. vi., p. 688). He then knew that his
earthly work was done, and a quiet waiting for the
Master's call to " come up higher" was all that re-
mained to him here. His letter of resignation to his
people is worthy of a place in this history for its
loving simplicity :

"Frankli.n, May 28, 1827.

"To the members of the Church, and to the members of the
Religious Society in this place.

" Brethken and Friends : I have sustained the pastoral
relation to you for more than fifty years, which is a long min-
isterial life. The decays of nature, and increasing infirmities
of old age and my present feeble state of health, convince me
that it is my duty to retire from the field of labor which I am
no longer able to occupy to my own satisfaction nor to your
benefit. I therefore take the liberty to inform you that I can
no longer supply your pulpit anji perform any ministerial labor
among you; and, at the same time, that I renounce all claims
upon you for any future ministerial support, relying entirely
on your wisdom and goodness to grant or not to grant any gra-
tuity to your aged servant during the residue of his life.

"Natdanael Emmons."

After thirteen years of patient waiting, he died
Sept. 23, 1849, at nearly ninety-six. Dr. Emmons'
funeral, Monday, September 28th, was attended by
ministers and people from far and wide. It was the
last service held in the old church which his voice had
dedicated fifty-two years before. The next day the
carpenters began their alterations.

Dr. Emmons' dwelling-house stood on the north
corner of the present Main and Emmons Streets.

It was removed some years ago, and it now does duty
as a tenement-house, as historic buildings are wont
to do in our hurrying age. June 17, 1846, a granite
monument, paid by a public subscription, was erected
with public services near the centre of the Common,
across which the venerable pastor had traveled to
and from his church for more than half a century.
An address was given in the church by Rev. M.
Blake, and then the large company adjourned to the
Common, where the dedicatory address was made by
the then pastor, Rev. T. D. Southworth. These
addresses were printed.

A few years ago this monument was moved into
a new part of the cemetery, out of public sight and
contrary to the unalterable provision of the society
which procured, located, and erected it on the
Common.

The ecclesiastical history of the precinct, which
in those early years was practically identical with its
civil record, here practically ends.

Precinct Civic History. — In 1740-42 move-
ments were made in the precinct to petition Wren-
tham for leave to become a town by themselves ; but
lack of maternal sympathy quieted them till March
4, 1754, when a petition was actually presented to
and refused by Wrentham. Discouraged by this
rebuff, and absorbed in the political events which
preceded the Revolution, the people postponed fur-
ther action, and continued to journey to Wrentham
to vote or stayed at home. But the question soon
came up again in earnest. War meetings became
more frequent and important, and the ride of five to
eight miles to Wrentham so often was wearisome for
man and horse. The population of the precinct had
also increased, and was fully large enough to justify
a separation. Therefore, Dec. 29, 1777, another
petition was addressed to Wrentham " for liberty to
be set off into a district township, according to grant
of court that they were at first incorporated into a
precinct, with a part of said town's money and stocks.
Deacon Jabez Fisher, Esq., Jonathan Metcalf, Samuel
Lethbridge, Asa Whiting, Dr. John Metcalf, Joseph
Hawes, and Capt. John Boyd, chief men of the
precinct, are put in charge of the matter." In re-
sponse to this petition, Wrentham sent nine men as
a joint committee to consider the matter. February
21st they reported that '• said inhabitants be set off
as a separate township by themselves." The process of
division was speedily begun. It involved many and
complicated matters of importance. The men already
raised as the whole town's quota for the Continental
army were proportionately accredited to each section.
Firearms and military stores were also similarly

FRANKLIN.

165

divided. The salt allowed by the General Court
and all other properties were duly adjusted. Even
of the five solitary paupers dependent upon the whole
town, two were assigned to the forthcoming town.
All preliminaries being thus arranged, another com-
mittee was elected to present their petition to the
General Court. The charter of incorporation, granted
in answer to this petition, appears among the acts of
1778, and is dated in the House of Representatives,
February 27th, and in the Council, March 2d. It
is as follows :

" State op Massachusetts Bay.

" In the year of our Lord 1778.

"An Act incorjMJi-athig the Westerly Part of the Town of
Wrentham in the Connty of Suffolk into a Town by the name of
Franklin.

" Whereas, the Inhabitants of the Westerly part of the
town of Wrentham in the County of Suffollv have Represented
to this Court the Difficulties they Labor under in their present
situation, and apprehending themselves of sufficient Numbers
it Ability, request that thej' maj- be incorporated into a sepa-
rate Town.

"Be it There/ore Enacted By the Cotincil & Hotise of Rep-
resentatives in General Court Assembled & by the Authority
of the same, That the Westerly part of said Town of Wrentham
separated by a line, as follows, viz., Beginning at Charles
River, where Medfield line comes to said river ; thence running
south seventeen degrees and an half AVest until it comes to one
rod East of y" Dwelling-House of A\''illiam Man ; thence a
strait line to the eastwardly corner of Asa Whiting's barn;
thence a strait line to sixty rods due south of the old cellar
where the Dwelling-House of Ebenezer Healy formerly stood ;
thence a Due West Cource by the Needle to Bellingham line,
said Bellingham line to be the West Bounds and Charles
River the Northerly Bounds, Be and hereby is incorporated
into a Distinct and separate Town by the name of Franklin,
and invested with all the powers. Privileges, and immunities
that Towns in this State do or may enjoy. And be it further
enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the inhabitants of
said Town of Franklin shall pay their proportion of all State,
Count.y, and Town charges already granted to be raised in the
Town of Wrentham and also their proportion of the pay of the
Representatives for the present year ; and the said Town of
Wrentham and Town of Franklin shall be severally held punc-
tually to stand by & perform to each other the Terms & proposals
Contained and Expressed in a vote of the Town of Wrentham
passed at Publick Town-meeting the sixteenth Day of Feb-
ruary, 1778, according to y« plain and obvious meaning there-
of; and Be it also Enacted by y*' authority aforesaid, That
Jabez Fisher, Esq., Be & he hereby is authorized & required
to issue his warrant to one of the principal inhabitants of said
Town of Franklin, authorizing & requiring him to Notifie and
warn the Freeholders & other inhabitants of said Town to
meet together at such time and place as shall be expressed in
said warrant, To choose such officers as Towns are authorized
by Law to Choose, and Transact other such Lawfull matters as
shall be expressed in said warrant. And be it further enacted.
That the inhabitants living within y® Bounds aforesaid who in
the Late Tax in the Town of Wrentham were rated one-half
part so much for their Estates and Faculties as for one single
Poll shall be taken and Holden to be Qualified and be allowed
to Vote in their first Meeting for the Choice of ofiicers and such

other meetings as may be Called in said Town of Franklin
untill a valuation of Estates shall be made by Assessors there.
" In the HorsE of Representatives.

"Feb. 27, 1778.
" This Bill having been read three several times, passed to
be engrossed. Sent up for Concurrence.

"J.Warren Syke.
" In Council.
"March 2d, 1778.

" This Bill, having had two several Readings, passed a Con-
currence, to be engrossed.

" Jno. Avery, Dinj. Secy."

In the original draft of the charter, as preserved in
the State archives, the name of the new town is
written as Exeter. Why its name was first written
Exeter is a conundrum, whose answer is inaudible
among the echoes of the past. Why it was changed
to Franklin is apparent. After the Declaration of
Independence in 1776, Benjamin Franklin with two
others was sent forthwith to France, to arrange for a
treaty of alliance with Louis XVI. The king dallied
with the ambassadors until the close of 1777, when
the capture of Burgoyne settled his doubts, and a
treaty of amity and commerce was formed with them
in January, 1778. News of their success reached
this country while the petition of the new town was
waiting decision. The charter was doubtless amended
in honor of that event, and Exeter was changed for
the honored name of Franklin, the first of the
twenty-nine towns in our States who have since fol-
lowed her example in calling themselves by the same
name.

Dr. Franklin showed his appreciation of the com-
pliment by sending the town a valuable library of one
hundred and sixteen volumes, selected by Rev. Richard
Price, of London, a strong friend of Franklin's and
of American liberty. Of these, mostly folio volumes,
the most secular and sensational was " The Life of
Baron Trench." These one hundred and sixteen seed
volumes were subsequently increased by a social library
to some five hundred, and have since multiplied to
three thousand or more, constituting the present
Public Library, for which maintenance annual grants
of money are made by the town.

Topography. — Franklin, i-n the limits of its orig-
inal charter, included 17,602 i acres, or 27.6 square
miles ; lying longer north and south than its width
east and west. It is twenty-seven and a quarter miles
southwesterly from Boston by the New York and
New England Railroad.

The earliest map of the territory of Franklin was
made in 1735, by Samuel Brooks, surveyor, and is
kept in the town office of Wrentham. It contains
only the four ponds, Uncas, Beaver, Popolatic, and
Long, two or three short streets, and the names of the

166

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

first settlers. The outline of the West Precinct is
dotted within it, and follows nearly the present boun-
daries of Franklin. A later map is in the archives of
the State-House at Boston, and is dated May 27, 1795.
It was from surveys made by Amos Hawes and Moses
Fisher in September, October, and November, 1794.
Nov. 2, 1795, the selectmen were directed to have
another map of the town drawn on parchment, but if
this was done the map cannot now be found. In
1832 a map of the town was surveyed by John G.
Hales and lithographed, in compliance with an act
passed by the State Legislature in 1830. No survey
has been made since by the town.

Charles River forms its northern boundary and re-
ceives the overflow of the ponds that lie, like bits of
broken mirrors, among its hills. Chief of these ponds
are Beaver, Uncas, Popolatic, and Kingsbury's, with
their outlets of Mine Brook, and Stop, or Mill River,
drawing their surplus waters through Charles River
into Massachusetts Bay and the sea. The geological
formation of the town is sienitic, though very few
ledges of rock appear on the surface. Traces of lime-
stone have been found, and a deposit of amethysts,
now exhausted. Green meadows, deep, shady valleys,
and sunny hills make the natural scenery of Franklin
beautiful. It is one of the highest towns in the county,
and from some of its elevated highways the blue hills
of Milton and the round head of Mount Wachusett,
in Princeton, are visible.

Its own hills and rocks have retained but few tra-
ditions of their aboriginal owners and their deeds.
Yet Indian Rock still records the story of the forty-
two of King Philip's warriors, who stopped for a night
and lai(i themselves down to sleep around its base.
They had been on the war-path to Medfield, burning
the houses of its settlers, and were on their way back
to Narragansett. It is said a man named Rocket, in
searching for a lost horse, found their trail, which he
followed till he saw them asleep at Indian Rock. He
hastened back to the settlement, and before daylight
he was back again, with a dozen men in command of
Capt. Robert Ware, to watch and take care of the
sleeping murderers. When the Indians arose at day-
light a dozen bullets quickly found their mark.
Their punishment was so swift and fatal that only
one or two escaped to tell others of the steady and
sure aim of the white man. Hence came the name
of the ledge, which still rears its monumental head
above the trees some five hundred yards east of the
Common. The Fourth of July, 1823, was celebrated
on this rock, and its stony breast is still marked with
the graven initials of the managers of that celebration.
They then proposed erecting a commemorative monu-

ment on the site, but Franklin did not care to revive
such tragic memories, and the trees have now hidden
even the path to Indian Rock.

Uncas Pond also holds the tradition that the wily
Mohegan sachem, in some of his campaigns with the
Pequots in this region, made the shores of this pond
one of his occasional haunts, and the early settlers at-
tached his name to the wood-sheltered sheet of water
as a memento of the fact. But the settlement was
too insignificant at the time of the Indian war to at-
tract any massacres or conflagrations as befell its neigh-
bors, Medfield and Wrentham, and it has to be content
without its legends of savage warfare.

The Revolution. — The young town took her stand
courageously beside her older sisters in the troublous
times of the colonies. Instead of the horn of Ceres,
she must grasp for a while the sword of Mars. Many
of her men had been enrolled two years before among
the five companies of minute-men formed within the
whole town of Wrentham. Some of her inhabitants
were among those who, on the first alarm from Con-
cord, " marched from Wrentham on the nineteenth
of April (1775) in the Colonial service." The ex-
igencies of the Revolution demanded many town-
meetings. Thirty-one were held in the five years
between January, 1773, and Feb. 16, 1778, this
being the last before the separation of Franklin from
Wrentham.

At one of these meetings, held at Wrentham June
5, 1776, one day less than a month before the Dec-
laration of Independence, a paper of instructions to
their representatives to the General Court was, "after
being several times distinctly read and considered by
the town, unanimously voted in the aflirmative with-
out even one dissentient," This paper is inserted as
a sample voice of the times, indicating the clear and
decided convictions of that day, and the hopelessness
of attempting to dragoon such study yeomanry into
duty:

" Gentlemen, — We, your constituents in full town-meeting,
.June 5, 1776, give you the following instructions: Whereas,
Tyranny and oppression, a little more than one century and a
half ago, obliged our forefathers to quit their peaceful habita-
tions and seek an asylum in this distant land, amid an howling
wilderness surrounded with savage enemies, destitute of almost
every convenience of life was their unhappy situation," but
such was their zeal for the common rights of mankind that
they (under the smile of Divine Providence) surmounted every
difficulty, and in a little time were in the exercise of civil gov-
ernment under a charter of the crown of Great Britain. But
after some years had passed and the Colonies had become of
some importance, new troubles began to arise. The same spirit
which caused them to leave their native land still pursued
them, joined by designing men among themselves. Letters
began to be wrote against the government and the first charter
soon after destroyed. In this situation some years passed be-

FRANKLIN.

167

fore another charter could be obtained, and although many of
the gifts and privileges of the first charter were abridged by
the last, yet in that situation the government has been tolera-
bly quiet until about the year 1763, since which the same spirit
of oppression has risen up. Letters by divers ill-minded per-
sons have been wrote against the government (in consequence
of which divers acts of the British Parliament made, mutilat-
ing and destroying the charter, and wholly subversive of the
constitution) ; fleets and armies have been sent to enforce them,
and at length a civil war has commenced, and the sword is
drawn in our land, and the whole united colonies involved in
one common cause : the repeated and humble petitions of the
good people of these colonies have been wantonly rejected with
disdain ; the prince we once adored has now commissioned the
instruments of his hostile oppression to lay waste our dwellings
with fire and sword, to rob us of our property, and wantonly to
stain the land with the blood of its innocent inhabitants; he
has entered into treaties with the most cruel nations to hire an
army of foreign mercenaries to subjugate the colonies to his
cruel and arbitrary purposes. In short, all hope of an accom-
modation is entirely at an end, a reconciliation as dangerous
as it is absurd; a recollection of past injuries will naturally
keep alive and kindle the flames of jealousy. We, your con-
stituents, therefore think that to be subject or dependent on the
crown of Great Britain would not only be impracticable, but
unsafe to the State. The inhabitants of this town, therefore, in
full town-meeting, unanimously instruct and direct you (i.e.,
the representatives) to give your vote that, if the Honorable
American Congress (in whom we place the highest confidence
under God) should think it necessary for the safety of the
United Colonies to declare them independent of Great Britain,
that we, your constituents, with our lives and fortunes will most
cheerfully support them in the measure."

Sept. 15, 1774, soon after the encampment of Gen.
Gage on Boston Common, Wrentham voted to buy
two cannon " of the size and bigness most proper and
beneficial for the town," and ordered them to be made
fit for action. Ammunition was also bought, and
men were armed and trained in military exercise.
The last vote of the whole town touching the war
previous to the incorporation of Franklin, Feb. 16,
1778, was the acceptance of a committee's report,
that the full quota of the town, "being the full
seventh part of the male inhabitants of the town,"
had been secured.

The First Meeting of the town of Franklin was
called by Jabez Fisher, justice of the peace, and was
held Monday, March 23, 1778, at 9 o'clock, a.m.
The requisite town officers were chosen. They were
Asa Pond, town clerk ; Asa Whiting, treasurer ;
Samuel Lethbridge, Deacon Jonathan Metcalf, Asa
Whiting, Hezekiah Fisher, Ensign Joseph Hawes,
selectmen ; and Ensign Hawes was representative to
the General Court. The Committee of Correspondence,
who looked after the affairs of the war, were Capt.
John Boyd, Deacon Daniel Thurston, Lieut. Ebenezer
Dean, Capt. Thomas Bacon. After adjournment
they meditated for a month upon the new State Con-
stitution, preparatory to an intelligent and wise de-

cision. Money as well as men were furnished often
and heartily, and the town bore with marked una-
nimity the heavy expenses of the Revolution as well
as the depreciation of the currency as their home
part of the price paid for liberty.

The depreciation of money was rapid and severe
in its results upon values. In July, 1781, the ratio
of paper to silver was as one to forty ; in September
of the same year, one to one hundred and fifty. In
the following February the town paid £400 for ten
shirts to Deacon Joseph Whiting, who, of course,
would not overcharge.

The patriotic little town looked sharply after its
home enemies. It voted to report all Tories to the
proper court. It directed the soldiers' families to be
" supplied with the necessaries of life at a stipulated
price at the town's cost." They voted not to deal
commercially with any who did not conform to the
scale of prices recommended by the Concord conven-
tion of 1779. They furnished their quota of beef
for the army — thirty-three thousand nine hundred
and eight pounds — in eighteen months, taking almost
the cattle on a thousand hills. They voted in 1779
— when the money credit of the government was
rapidly sinking — that all who had money to lend,
should " avoid lending to Monopolizers, Jobbers,
Harpies, Forestallers, and Tories, with as much
caution as they avoid a pestilence," and rather to
lend to the Continental and State treasuries. There
was the irrepressible spirit of liberty here.

Franklin has not preserved any muster-rolls or
other data to make up a list of its soldiers in the
Revolutionary war. From the muster-rolls of Wren-
tham preserved in the archives of the State one can
select the residents of Franklin proper only by simi-
larity of name. But an examination of these rolls
shows that they do not include all who should be on
them, for the names of many men whose military
record is known from other sources are not -on the
lists. Of the five companies of Wrentham, under
the command of Capts. Oliver Pond, Benjamin
Hawes, Samuel Kollock, Elijah Pond, and Asa Fair-
banks, the last two of the companies were mostly of
Franklin names, as follows :

Capt. Asa Fairbanks' Oompany.

Asa Fairbanks, captain.
Joseph Woodward, lieutenant.
Joseph Haws, "

James Gilmore, sergeant.
Joseph Hills, "

David Wood, corporal.
Peter Adams, private.
.John Clark, "

Asa Metcalf,
Matthias Haws,
John Fairbank,
Joseph Streeter,
John Adams,
Jfathan Wight,
Philemon Metcalf,
Asa Whiting,

private.

168

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Jesse Ware, private.

Peltiah Fisher, "

Isaac Heaton, "

Peter Fisher, "

Elisha Harding, "

Levi Chaffee, "

William Sayles, "

James Smith, "

Joseph Harding, "

William Gilmore, "

Ichabod Dean, "

Capt. Elijah
Elijah Pond, captain.
Asa Pond, lieutenant.
Jonathan Bowditch, 2nd lieu

tenant.
Robert Blake, sergeant.
Timothy Pond, "
Duke Williams, corporal.
Samuel Pond, "

Amos Bacon, drummer.
Nathan Daniels, clerk.
Elisha Roekwood, private.
Abijah Thurston, "
Robert Pond, "

Zepha Lane, "

Eleaz. Partridge, "
Joseph Ellis, "

Abijah Allen, private.

Jonathan Hawes, "

John Pearce, "

Will Man, "

Ebenezer Dean, "

Matthew Smith, "

Asahel Perry, "

John Clark, Jr., "

Joseph Hills, "

Aaron Fisher, "

Joseph Guild, "

Pond's Cmiipaiii/.

Benjamin Pond, private.
Timothy Roekwood, "

- Ellas Ware, "

Elisha Buliard, "

Daniel Thurston, "
Nathaniel Thayer, "

Peter Darling, "

Simeon Fisher, "

Elisha Partridge, "
Simeon Daniels, "

John Allen, "
James Fisher, "

John Metcalf, "
Elisha Pond, "

John Richardson, "
Elisha Richardson, "

In Capt. Cowell's company, of Col. Benjamin
Hawes' regiment, sent on a secret expedition, 23d of
September, 1777, occur the names of Michael and
Timothy Metcalf and Benjamin Roekwood, Frank-
lin men.

There were at least seventeen Ponds that flowed
from Franklin into the American army and are not
recorded. One, Elisha Pond, escaped one night from
the old Sugar-House at New York, where he had
been imprisoned and nearly starved by the British.
Another Pond, Pennel, " died Dec. 16, 17 — , in York
harbor on board a guard-ship, supposed to be poisoned
by ye British doctors." So his only record says, writ-
ten in stone in the City Mills graveyard. Philip
Blake was blacksmith and commissary to a portion of
the American army on Dorchester Heights, and was
afterwards in Sullivan's retreat on Rhode Island, but
his name is not on any roll. Some of the lists must
have been lost. John Newton, an English soldier,
impressed on board a British man-of-war, escaped from
his ship in Boston harbor by swimming three miles
on a dark and stormy niglit. He reached the shore
too exhausted to walk or stand ; but when rested, he
fled towards Dedham. He was met on the way and
was asked, "Who are you?" He only answered,
" John — going !" and he went on, beyond curious
querists, until he reached Franklin. His first as-
sumed American name he kept, and his descendants
still live in Franklin with the name modernized into

Gowen. John Adams, ancestor of the Adams family,
was also a victim of English impressment who found
a home among the Franklin patriots. David Lane,
afterwards called McLane, and a native of Attle-
borough, came to Franklin, and married a wife in
1786. Ten years after he started for Canada as gen-
eral of a secret project, said to be originated by the
French minster to this country, to incite the Canadians
to revolt against Great Britain, and thus to aid the
United States. McLane's directions were to raise
men in Quebec and seize the garrison and then cap-
ture the city. But McLane was betrayed by one of
his men and taken as a spy. He was publicly
executed on the glacis outside the city walls of
Quebec, — the last and probably the only instance in
America of the ancient brutal mode of hanging,
drawing, and quartering a traitor. McLane was, with-
out doubt, more an unhappy lunatic than a criminal.
But the spirit of those days was full of animosity and
cruelty. The later wars of the Republic will find
mention farther on.

The Second Meeting-House. — The war was at
last ended, and the country had won for itself inde-
pendence, and settled down to repair damages. The
old town question soon presented itself again, — whether
to repair the house of worship or build anew. There
were evidently two opinions in the town, for April
26, 1784, two hundred pounds were voted to buy
material for a new building. But October 3d of the
next year the opposition carried the day, and the
constable was ordered " to pay back the money col-
lected for the meeting-house and return the tax-bill
into the town clerk's office, and that the town clerk
pull off the seal of the warrants and write on the
back that they are null and void ;" and secondly,
" that a committee view the meeting-house and report
what is best to be done to repair it." As a result,
£6 2s. 10c?. were spent in patching the shingles, sup-
plying glass to the upper windows, and boarding up
the lower. But this putting of new cloth upon the
old garment was an economy of short duration. A
new meeting-house became more and more a visible
necessity.

One question towards it had been settled January,
1784, in regard to the fixedness of the centre of
Franklin. Two surveyors and three chainmen had,
at a cost of £26 3.s. 4c?. (of which £1 12s. 11(7. was
for " lickquer"), discovered that " forty-seven rods
from the centre of the west door of the meeting-house
where it now stands" was the same unmoved centre
found fifty years ago near the same Morse's mud-
pond.

On Dec. 17, 1787, Deacon Samuel Lethbridge, Asa

FRANKLIN.

169

Whiting, and Ensign Joseph Whiting presented the
following report which was accepted, and a larger
site for the new building than the Thomas Mann's
acre was bought :

" We have agreed with Mr. John Adams for the
wedge of land lying between the way from the meet-
ing-house leading to the Rev. Nathanael Emmons
and the way from the said meeting-house to Ensign
John Adams', being nine acres, at £1 10s. per acre;
also thirty-eight rods of land west of said way at the
same rate ; also one and a half acres in the hollow
south of the old meeting-house at three pounds. And
of Nathaniel Adams one hundred and forty rods of
land east of the way from said meeting-house leading
to Mr. Emmons at the rate of £1 10s. per acre. Also
a road three rods wide through his improved land,
beginning at the road from John Adams', Jr., to go a
straight course between his house and well to the
land above mentioned, for which he is to receive as a
satisfaction eight pounds in money and the acre of
land on which the meeting-house now stands, with
the road that is now wanted, in by his house, to said
acre."

Two years later (1789) fifty-nine and a half rods
lying north of the new meeting-house were bought
at sixpence per rod. This lot completed the nine
acres, of which the present Franklin Common was
a part. This land, when first bought, was covered
with a dense growth of pitch-piues, standing with
their feet firmly planted among small bowlders. It
cost sixty dollars and niuety-one cents to clear this
untamed spot and cover it with grass. Three sides
of this wedge-shaped nine acres were afterwards
trimmed with slender Lombardy poplars. They
were planted April 6, 1801, by William Adams,
according to a previous vote of the town. Some
twenty years afterwards the south end of the Com-
mon was sold for building sites, and on the centre lot
Dr. Amory Hunting built a house in front of the old
gun-house, since removed. After the meeting-house
had been moved to its present site and reversed, the
town bought the Common of the parish and com-
mitted it to the care of a voluntary association. This
association has bordered it with hardy trees, crossed
it with walks, and surrounded it with a durable fence.

A plan for the new meeting-house was presented
by a committee of thirteen, and accepted by the
town December, 1787. Its dimensions were as fol-
lows : Sixty-two feet long and forty wide, with a porch
at each end fourteen feet square. It had fifty-nine
pews on the floor and twenty-one in the gallery, be-
sides the singers' and boys' seats. The centre of the
house had at first long benches on each side of the

main aisle, afterwards exchanged for narrow pews.
The frame still lives, unaltered in size, within a new
covering.

The building was carried on with characteristic
energy and finished in July, 1788, seven months
from the acceptance of the plan. The cost, as ren-
dered by the committee to the town, March 7, 1791,

was as follows :

£ 8. d. f.

.Lumber at Boston 57 19 3

Carting from Boston 16 19 3

Rum, sugar, molasses, and

lemons at Boston 12 6 3

Lickyuers bought at home 3 3 4

Cost of raising the house 26 8 9

Nails and other iron-ware at

Boston 15 7 5

Nails and other iron-ware at

home 25 15 2

Painting, tarring, and glazing 73 6 5

Boards, clapboards, and shin-
gles at home 33 5

Plastering and whitewashing 18 4 3 2

Underpinning the house 26 12 5

Boarding the workmen.... .... 81 14 8

Carpenters' work 233 8

Door - stones and paving

round the house 25 13

Window-weights 5 18 4

Cost of the curtain (behind

thepulpit) 3 7 3

Expenses of the committee... 69 3 7

Total £726 3 4 2

DOXATIOSS.

Hezekiah Fisher, to purchase £ s. d. f.

the glass 29 4 4 "3

Nathaniel Thayer 2 10 7 3

Jonathan Wales 1 16

Josiah Hawes 14 3

Nathan Man 1 3 6 1

(So added in the original) £ 35 8 8 3

£ s. d. f.

Total of class-tax 293 17 1 1

Received from sale of pews... 622 11

Interest on securities for pews. 13 17 6

From the old house 13 12 6

£943 18 1 1

Total cost of meeting-house, £1054 9 2 1
Or, at the then value of paper currency, $3514.86.

This bill was not accepted as readily as the plan
had been ; but examination of the charges by an
auditing committee, March 10, 1794, showed that
£18 5s. 5c?. more were due to the committee than
they had charged. The honest town voted that
this balance should be paid, with interest for four
years, and receipts in full were exchanged. The bill
probably included the cost of preparing the land. lo
1806 the east porch was raised into a belfry to re-
ceive a clock and bell, which had been given to the
parish, costing seven hundred and forty-five dollars.
The bell has never told the name of the giver, nor
the clock-hands pointed to the time or place of its
record, and none of the living know the generous
donor or donors.

170

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

In 1830, while workmen were painting the belfry,
they spattered the bell, whereon some bright genius
among them, thinking to better the matter, painted
the luckless bell all over. Under this covering the
voice of the bell was almost silenced, — it was supposed
forever. It was thereupon sent to the foundry at
East Medway in exchange for a heavier one. The
dumb bell came forth from the fiery furnace freed
from the smothering paint and musically toned as
ever. It now tells the people of Paxton the times
of public assemblings.

The second house was used for fifty-two years,
when it was moved about eighty feet directly north,
and turned a quarter round, with its belfry towards
the south. The old square pews were exchanged for
modern slips, and all the congregation were seated in
platoons with their faces toward the pulpit. In 1856
the interior walls were frescoed.

Upon the completion of the third and present Con-
gregational meeting-house, the second, which was in
its turn the old, was sold and deeded, through Davis
Thayer, Jr., to J. L. Fitzpatrick, and by him trans-
ferred to the Right Rev. J. J. Williams, now arch-
bishop of Boston, for the use of the Catholic congre-
gation. The last sermon in it before its sale was
preached by Rev. Luther Keene, the pastor, in which
he stated that in its eighty-four years of service there
had been 8736 Sabbath sermons preached from its
pulpit, which had been in the charge of 13 ministers;
900 infants received the rite of baptism ; and unnum-
bered dead reposed in it while the last services for
them were being held before burial.

Before the doors of the old sanctuary are closed
after the last service held in it before its alteration in
1840 (which was the funeral of Dr. Emmons), let us
reproduce its interior as described by one who re-
members it well : " What picture can produce its
interior ! Its high box pulpit and impending sound-
ing-board, hung by a single iron rod an inch square ;
the two pegs on each side of the pulpit window, on
one of which sometimes hung the old pastor's blue-
black cloak, and on the other always his three-cor-
nered clerical hat! Jiy no means omit the short
little preacher in the pulpit, with clear, sharp eyes,
bald, shining head, small, penetrating voice, and
manuscript gesture ; the square pews, seated on four
sides, with a drop-seat across the narrow door, and
the straight, cushioned chair in the centre for the
grandmother, filled every one with sedate faces over
which gray hairs usually predominated. The open
space before and below the pulpit, where in winter a
massive wood stove reared its iron head and opened
its square mouth to be filled morning and at noon

with blocks of hard wood big enough to hold fire
through the following services, and keep the circle
of old men who sat around it in a sleepy warmth
while the unfortunate sitters in the outer corners
shivered with cold. To it at noon came the mothers,
bringing their small tin hand-stoves, with perforated
sides and an iron box within to hold live coals, for
a fresh supply to keep their feet warm through the
afternoon service. The long balustrades hemming
the side galleries were crowned with hats against the
two stairways, which a puff of wind from the open
porch-doors sometimes sent scattering down upon the
uncovered heads below. The singers' seats filled the
long gallery fronting the pulpit, in which nothing
louder than a wooden pitch-pipe for years dared to
utter a note. But about 1825 a singing-school
timidly prepared the way for a violin, which soon
introduced a bass-viol for the support of itself and
the new singers. The boys had seats in the south-
west elbow of the gallery, each boy with one eye on
the tithing-man sitting high up in the northwest cor-
ner pew and the other eye wandering or asleep, while
both ears were enviously open to the neighing of the
horses in the hundred horse-sheds and the twitter of
birds in the Lombardy poplars near by."

Not only was the irrepressible boy from the first
looked after by the tithing-man, chosen " to take care
of y" children, to prevent their playing in meeting,"
but in May, 1791, another duty was laid upon these
same officers. "May, 1791, on complaint that divers
persons have from time to time behaved in a very unbe-
coming manner by standing in the porches of the meet-
ing- house of this town on the Lord's Day, and other-
wise conducting in a manner not only inconsistent with
the purpose for which they professedly assemble, but
highly unbecoming a person of good breeding or the
character of a gentleman : Voted, that such conduct
ought to be highly reprobated and discountenanced by
every sober man, and they will hold them as scan-
dalous and infiimous persons ; and the tithing-men
are to take their names and publicly expose them
next town-meeting, and post up this vote and the
names of all future offenders." Absentees had to
justify themselves for their absence. Even after the
congregation were all safely in their pews, and under
the vigilance of such sentinels, the minister could
not always control their attention. It is said that on
one July Sunday in 1790, when the audience were
unusually torpid and sleepy, Dr. Emmons closed his
manuscript, took down his three-cornered hat, came
down from the pulpit, and went quietly home, leaving
his comatose congregation to finish their naps or dis-
miss themselves without a benediction. After giving

FRANKLIN.

171

them a fortnight to consider their ways and be
wise, he explained the reasons of this conduct, and
his penitent church voted: " 1. It is reasonable the
pastor should insist upon having the proper attention
of the people in time of public worship. 2. It is
reasonable ihe church shall desire and endeavor that
proper attention be given in the time of public wor-
ship, and discountenance all inattention."

As a result of the alterations and modernizings of
1840, the top of the old sounding-board lighted upon
a well-house in Ashland ; the old pulpit ended a long
journey in the lecture-room of the Chicago Theologi-
cal Seminary. At the same time, also, the long rows
of horse-sheds were demolished, save a very few
moved to the rear of the new site. The noon-houses
had disappeared some years before 1840. They had
been built for a resort in the intermissions on cold
Sundays. They were four-square, with a seat on
each side and a narrow floor in front of it. A large
stone hearth filled the centre, on which a fire was
built in a pile within reach of the cold feet aimed at
it from the four sides, while the smoke found its way,
when ready, through a wigwam-like hole in the roof.

Home Life. — In these early colonial towns the
meeting-house was as literally their social as their
geographical centre. The families settled on their
farms in concentric circles to the outer limits of the
territory, and, being busy all the week at home, the
Sunday noon intermissions spent in the horse-sheds
and noon-houses were their only opportunities for in-
terchange of family greetings and friendly gossip.
The rude connecting roads were too long, rugged, and
lonely to be traveled for evening gatherings, and the
young folks had to supplement their Sunday talks
by the few weeks of the winter school. The town
industries were home industries among the stumps
and rocks of the slowly civilizing acres and at looms
in the attics. A corn-mill and a saw- mill were their
only external necessities. These they had to build as
soon as possible, — the meeting-house first, and then the
corn-mill. Then both soul and body could be equipped
for other work. Most of their daily food was raised
at home, and they clothed themselves in homespun
cloth made from the flax of their fields and the fleece
of their flocks, whose bodies they ate. A rare visit
to Boston secured what their farms could not supply.
The country grocery was an invention of a later age
and a larger liberty.

The population of the town increased slowly, from
less than one thousand at its incorporation in 1778 to
seventeen hundred and seventeen in 1840. The first
sixty-two years of its town life showed less than six
per cent, increase.

For many years after the war for liberty the chief
business of its town-meetings was discussions of town
boundaries and laying out of roads. On March 23,
1795, the selectmen were directed to erect the first
guide-posts.

Military Affairs. — The military spirit, first called
forth by the stern service of the He volution ary war,
did not die out with the close of the eighteenth cen-
tury, but was revived at least on two days of the year,
— of the May training of the two military companies,
the North and the South so called, and of the fall
muster of the regiment to which they belonged. The
May trainings were the times for a public comparison
of these two companies, when they both manoeuvred
at opposite ends of the Common, marched around Davis
Tha^'er's store and Dr. Emmons' house, and halted in
front of Joseph Hill's store under the poplars, and
when the voices of the captains, and the fifes and
drums were heard through the town. A troop of
cavalry was enrolled, mostly within the town, and the
horses, fresh from the plow and harrow, pranced and
danced at the unwonted music of the bugle among
the sweet ferns at the south end of the Common.
But greater was the excitement, especially among the
boys, when the Franklin Artillery appeared in all its
brazen majesty on the same Common where its gun-
house, cannon, tumbrels, and harnesses were kept.
The dark-blue uniforms, the Bonaparte chapeaux with
their long, black, red-tipped plumes, the flashing long
swords, the slow march to the dirge-like " Roslyn
Castle," as the lumbering brass four-pounders were
dragged over the tufts of grass and bushes by drag-
ropes, angling outwards like wild geese lines reversed,
were always followed by a crowd. But the climax of
military excitement was reached when, about 1825,
the Franklin Cadets made their first public appear-
ance. Their white pantaloons, blue coats, abundantly
buttoned and silver-laced, black shining leather caps
crowned with black-tipped, white perpeudicular
plumes, and above all their new glinting muskets,
made each boy wish himself a man and a cadet.
Many of the after prominent citizens of the town
were proud to be called captain of such an admirably-
drilled corps. The Franklin Cadets, the Wrentham
Guards, and the Bellingham Rifles were the flower of
the old Norfolk County regiment.

The fall musters, however, condensed the highest
interest. They came after the sowing and reaping of
the year were done, and all were glad for a holiday.
The following description of an old-time regimental
muster from a frequent participant will be enter-
taining:

" The day before muster a detailed squad of men

172

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

marked out, by a long rope and with the heads of old
axes, a straight and shallow furrow as a toe-line for
the regiment, which they generally adhered to until
afternoon. A boundary was also roped along the
eastern side, next the road, which marked the limit
for spectators. On this side were built rough booths
for the sale of eatables and drinkables and gewgaws
to the crowd of the coming day. With the earliest
daylight came noisily-driven teams into town, bring-
ing soldiers and civilians, lads and lassies from far and
near. Tents and marquees were hastily pitched
around the meeting-house and along the west side of
the Common. Luncheon-boxes and extra garments
were stowed in these, guards were set, and at six
o'clock the long roll from a score or less of kettle-
drums called the companies together. Drills, evolu-
tions, and marchings displayed the skill of the cap-
tains and astonished the fast-gathering crowds until
nine o'clock, when, at the vociferous shouting of the
adjutant, the musical squads headed their companies
up to the toe-line. The musicians were then gath-
ered at the head of the regiment, near the gun-house,
to receive the colonel and his staff whenever they
should emerge from the tavern near at hand. On
their appearance and reception, the wings wheeled
into an inclosing (square with the officers in the cen-
tre, while the chaplain, on horseback, prayed for the
country and the protection of life and limb. On
straightening out again, then came the march of the
single fife and drum down and back the length of the
line, the official inspection, the regimental manoeuvre-
ings, and the dodging of the line of guards by the
spectators.

" At one o'clock came dinner, in tent, booth, on the
grass, anywhere, hilariously moistened, — possibly with
venerable cider at least, — until at three o'clock a big
gun and a solemn cavalcade of colonel and staff with
chaplain and surgeon called the scattered bands into
line for the grand finale — the sham-fight. Some-
times the infantry tried to capture the guns of the
artillery ; sometimes, divided into two equal battal-
ions, they furiously bombarded each other ; some-
times a tribe of pretentious Indians rushed from be-
hind Dr. Pratt's barn with indescribable yells upon
the cavalry, only to be ignominiously chased back to
their invisible wigwams. Sometimes the whole regi-
ment formed a hollow square, facing outwards, with a
cannon at each corner in defense of their officers,
and banged away at unseen and unanswering enemies,
while the cavalry dashed in all possible directions to
repel imaginary sallies. Trumpets blared, drums rat-
tled, horses reared and snorted, children screamed,
ramrods, forgotten in the hurried loading, hurtled

through the poplars, till a cloud of villainous salt-
petre enwrapped in suffocating folds soldiers, specta-
tors, booths, and landscape, and until cartridge-boxes
were emptied and military furore was satiated. The
hubbub subsided about five o'clock into an occasional
pop from tardy muskets, and the wounded — by pocket-
pistols — were picked up in the booths and along the
poplars, and the crowd took their winding — to some
very winding — way to their supperless homes."

The Poor. — It was not until 1799 that public pro-
vision had to be made for their poor by this thrifty
town. Then there were but five persons. They
were at first boarded by the lowest bidder, who must
be approved by the selectmen, and was held strictly
to take good and generous care of them, furnishing
everything needed except clothes and medical care.
These were separately supplied by the town. If he
failed in any respect, he was to remove his charge
elsewhere at his own expense. In 1835 the dwell-
ing-house and farm of Alpheus Adams were bought
for an almshouse at a cost of three thousand dollars.
In 1868 the house was burned, but another was
speedily built a few rods farther east. At no time
since 1835 has the number of its inmates exceeded
twelve. The appropriation for 1883 was four thou-
sand dollars.

Burial-Grounds. — Land was set apart at the be-
ginning of the settlement for the burial of the dead.
One " God's acre" was at Stop River, now the City
Mills Cemetery ; the other at the Centre. Both of
these are still used for the same purpose. They were
open and uncared for until 1768, when they were
fenced by stone walls. In 1793 committees were
chosen to repair the fences, choose sextons, and fix the
fees for burial. These cemeteries have been enlarged
from time to time as needful, and the dead of to-day are
laid near where the forefathers of the hamlet sleep.

In 1864, November 8th, a third burial-ground was
bought and approved by the town. This is called
the Catholic Cemetery, and lies some one hundred
and fifty rods west of their churah.

The Post-Office. — Franklin had no regular post-
office until 1819. Letters and papers were few and
far between. These were left at Wrentham by the
carriers, who passed three times a week between
Providence and Boston. Any one who chanced to
visit Wrentham brought them to the owners. In
1812, Herman C. Fisher, then a lad of fifteen, was
hired by a few families to go on horseback Satur-
days to South Wrentham and bring the mail to Na-
thaniel Adams', afterwards Davis Thayer's, store.
His route was through Wrentham and Guinea to the
old tavern on the Boston and Providence turnpike.

FRANKLIN.

173

About 1815, David Fisher, keeper of Wrentham tav-
ern, was appointed postmaster. This brought the
Franklin mail much nearer ; but letters for the
northern part of the town were brought from Med-
way village. About 1819 the stone store at City
Mills was built by Eli Richardson, who secured a
post-office there. For a while Mr. Richardson brought
the letters and papers for Franklin Centre to meeting
in the box of his sulky every Sunday, and H. C.
Fisher carried them to the store of Maj. Davis
Thayer to be distributed. But after two years the
Centre people began a movement for a post-office of
their own. In 1822 they succeeded in securing a
regular office, of which Maj. Thayer was postmaster.
His successors have been Spencer Pratt, Theron C.
Hills, David P. Baker, Cyrus B. Snow, Charles W.
Stewart, David P. Baker again, A. A. Russegue, as-
sistant. Smith Fisher, and J. A. Woodward, the
office moving with the appointment from place to
place. Mr. Woodward held from 1871 to May 14,
1883, when a fall from a scaffolding of his house
caused his sudden death, to the grief of the whole
community, with whom he was held in the highest
respect for his uniform urbanity and kindliness. His
successor, and the present postmaster, is Oliver H.
Ingalls ; assistant, Laura E. Blake. The income from
the office at first was not more than thirty dollars per
year; but it gradually increased till in 1882 the
salary was raised to seventeen hundred dollars. It is
now rated in the third class of post-offices.

Temperance. — Most of the people in the olden
time drank liquors to some extent and without scru-
ple, under the impression that they were healthful
and strength-giving. There were some who on spe-
cial occasions would get so thoroughly drunk that
good people cast about for some external check upon
the appetite. When said strength became too fre-
quent and dangerous to the home-peace, their names
were posted by the selectmen so that the dealers,
" who in regard of their remoteness from Boston had
liberty to sell strong waters to supply the necessity of
such as stood in need thereof," should not sell to such
under a penalty. But the evil habit of drinking in-
creased in spite of church and minister. As early
as 1825, after a lecture given in the Popolatic school-
house by a son of Dr. Lyman Beecher, Caleb Fisher,
Elisha Bullard, and several others not only signed a
pledge, but refused to furnish liquor to their men at
work. The example spread, and Franklin became and
still is a temperance town. It has always voted no
license, and now has two active temperance organiza-
tions — a Temperance Alliance and the Woman's
Christian Temperance Union.

Early Industries. — Sawing or splitting the forest-
trees into boards for their houses and grinding the
corn raised on their cleared land were the first neces-
sities of the new settlement. The first corn-mill was
built in 1685, by John Whiting, on the site of the
present Eagle Mill, at the foot of the long and for-
merly steep hill of that name, and about midway be-
tween the two communities. This mill was owned
by Whitings for more than a century. In 1713 the
North Precinct settlers sought for mill privileges nearer
home, and Daniel Hawes, Jr., and Eleazar Metcalf
associated with others to utilize the falls in Mine
Brook for a saw-mill. The following is the contract

which they signed :

"AVrentiiam Feb. the 7 171.3.
" We hose names are hereunto subscribed doe agree to build
a saw mill at the place called the Minebrook : Daniel Hawes
wone quarter, John Maccane wone quarter, Eleazar Metcalf and
Samuel Metcalf wone quarter, Robert Pond Sen. wone quarter.
We doe covenant & agree as follows :

" 1 We doe promis that we wil each of us carry on &, do our
equal proporchon throught in procuring of irones & hueing
framing of a dam & mill ct all other labor throught so faire as
the major part shall se meat to doe then to com to a reckoning.
"2 We doe agre that all of us shall have liberty for to work
out his proporsion of work & in case aney wone of us neglect to
carry on said work till it be done k fit to saw & he that neglects
to carry on his part of said mill shall pay half a crown a day to
the rest of the owners that did said work.

•' 3 We doe agre that said land shall be for a mill pond soe
long as the major part shall se fit. We du all so agre that no
won shall sell his part of said mill till he has first made a ten-
der to the rest of the owners. We du al so agre that no won
shall sell his part in the land til he hes tenderd it to the rest
of the owners.

" Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of
" Ezra Pond " Eobart Pond

"Jonathan Wright "Daniel Haws

his " John Maccane

" Robert X Pond "Eleasar Metcalf

mark " Samuel Metcalf."

On the back is the still further agreement:

" to lay out each man's loot as they are drawn — the first loot
is to be gin four foot from the upper sil of the streak sil and soe
up unto the ind of the sleapers, and to devid it equal into fewer
loots & from the sleapers towards the road so as not to interrupt
the road.

' RoBART Pond
■John Maccane
'Samuel Metcalf

"Daniel Haws
" Eleaser Metcalf
"Daniel Thurston
"March the 7 1717.

This first saw-mill came into and remained in the
hands of the Whitings.

In the laying out of a surveyor's district. May 29,
1736, there is mention of " The Iron Works," said to
be located near the foot of Forge Hill. " Ben Works'
saw-mill" and " Adams' corn-mill" at City Mills, sites
now occupied by other works ; but of other mills or
factories no record is preserved until the beginning
of the present century.

174

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAPTER XVI I.

FllA'NKhl'N— {Continued).

Later Town Histor}' — Ecclesiastical — Ministers of the First
Churcli — Other Churches and Meeting-Houses — South Frank-
lin Congregational — Grace Universiilist — Baptist — Catholic
— Methodist — Town Library — Public Schools — High School
— Franklin Academy — Dean Academy — College Graduates —
Statistics of Material Growth — Town Industries — Straw
Goods — Feltings, etc. — Newspapers — Railroads — Banks —
Fire Protection — The Piebellion — List of Soldiers — Precinct
and Town Officers — Centennial Celebration.

Ministers of the First Congregational Church.
— Rev. Elam Smalley was settled as the succes-
sor, not colleague, of Dr. Emmons, June 17, 1829.
He was dismissed July 5, 1839. and installed Sep-
tember 19th over the Union Church, Worcester.
He remained there until 1853, when he was dis-
missed to become pastor of the Fourth Presbyterian
Church, Troy, N. Y., but was soon compelled by fail-
ing health to give up his work and try a voyage to
Europe, seeking restoration and strength ; but with-
out benefit, for he died soon after his return, in New
York City, July 30, 1858, aged fifty-eight. Mr.
Smalley was born in Dartmouth, fitted himself for
college, and was graduated at Brown University,
1827, whence he received D.D. in 1849. He studied
theology with Rev. Otis Thompson, of Rehoboth.
He supported himself while in college mainly by
teaching singing-schools, in which he was eminently
successful. His only son, George W., is the well-
known London correspondent of the JVno York
'Tribune.

Rev. Tertius Dunning Southworth was in-
stalled the fifth pastor of the church Jan. 23, 1839,
and dismissed April 25, 1850. After leaving Frank-
lin he preached statedly in Lyndon, Pownall, and
Bennington, A^t., nearly five years, teaching a school
at the same time in his house. Thence he went to
Pleasant Prairie, Wis., where he preached for ten
years, part of the time under commission of the
the American Home Mission Society, until a rheu-
matic fever disabled him from further active service.
He returned in 1869 to his early home in Bridge-
water, N. Y., where he died Aug. 2, 1874. He was
buried in a silken surplice given him by the ladies of
Franklin thirty years before. Rev. Mr. Southworth
was born in Rome, N. Y., July 25, 1801 ; graduated
at Hamilton College, 1827 ; spent one year at Au-
burn Theological Seminary, N. Y., and graduated at
Andover, 1829 ; ordained at Utica, N. Y., Oct. 7,
1832 ; installed at Claremont, N. H., June 18, 1834,

remaining there until he came to Franklin in the
summer of 1838.

Rev. Samuel FIunt was installed Dec. 4, 1850,
and dismissed July 6, 1864. He next entered the
service of the American Missionary Association in
establishing schools among the freedmen in North
Carolina. He became associated in 1868, as secre-
tary, with Hon. Henry Wilson, afterwards Vice-
President. He aided in preparing Mr. Wilson's
work, " The Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in Amer-
ica," and edited the last volume after Mr. Wilson's
death. Mr. Hunt was born in West Attleborough,
March 18, 1810; graduated at Amherst College,
1832 ; studied theology from 1836 to 1838 in Prince-
ton, N. J. ; preached a year in Mansfield, Mass., and
was ordained in Natick, July 17, 1839, whence he
came to Franklin. He died in Boston, July 23, 1878.

Rev. GtEORGE A. Pelton was installed for one
year, Aug. 9, 1865, but withdrew during the year
following for a Western field.

Rev. Luther Keene, the eighth regularly in-
stalled pastor of the old church, was installed Oct. 9,
1867, and died suddenly in the midst of his days
April 17, 1874, aged forty-four. His last public ser-
vice was April 5th. He was born in Milo, Me., Jan.
30, 1830; graduated at Amherst College, 1859, and
at Bangor in 1862. He was first settled in North
Brookfield, in October, 1862, as pastor of a Union
Congregational Church. After five years he resigned
to come to Franklin. His ministerial labors, though
short, left permanent results. The membership of the
church was nearly doubled, and a new meeting-house
and a commodious parsonage near it were built. Rev.
Mr. Keene was the first occupant of the parsonage,
and dedicated the new church Jan. 4, 1872, preaching
from John xii. 5.

After Mr. Keene's death the church remained with-
out a settled pastor, depending on the broken and
evanescent impressions of transient supplies, until the
wiser conclusion of the church led to the installation
of the present efficient pastor on Dec. 8, 1880.

Rev. George E. Love.toy, now in office, is a
native of Bradford, Mass., and was resident licentiate
at Andover, 1873. His pastorate previous to Frank-
lin was in Bedford, Mass. Since his ministry here
between sixty and seventy have been added to the
church, increasing its present membership to two
hundred and ninety-two.

The present Congregational Church was built during
1871, as has been mentioned. Its site was bought,
bordering the southeast corner of the Common, and
the building committee in charge pushed the work
through with business-like energy. They were Messrs.

FRANKLIN.

175

Davis Thayer, Jr., Henry M. Greene, Albert E. Dan-
iels, Osman A. Stanley, Dr. George King, E. H. Sher-
man, and Frank B. Ray. John Stevens was the
architect, and Hanson & Hunniwell the builders. The
organ was built by Stevens, of Cambridge. The di-
mensions of the main building are 100 by 60 feet;
audience-room, 60 by 80, and 29 feet high ; chapel
attached to the rear, 45 by 55 feet ; two wings, 25 by
14 feet; height of steeple, 164 fe'et ; whole cost of
the house furnished, $36,000. It has 650 sittings in'
the main audience-room, and 100 in the gallery. The
chapel will seat 500, and the dining-room 400.

Other Churches and Houses of Worship. —
South Franklin Congregational Church. —
Through the summer of 1855 meetings were held on
alternate Sundays in the South Franklin district
school-house. A Sunday-school was formed, and a
library given by friends. The scattered families of
that region showed so much interest in meetings near
their homes, that a council of churches was called
Aug. 20, 1855, at the house of Willard C. Whiting.
As a result, September 13th, a church of eighteen
members was organized. During the spring following
fifteen hundred dollars were secured by subscription
for a meeting-house. The corner-stone was laid Sept.
5, 1856, and the house was dedicated July 25, 1857.
This church has not yet felt strong enough to enjoy
a settled ministry, but has been supplied by acting
pastors to the present date.

Grace Church, Universalist. — On Oct. 4,
1856, a Universalist parish was organized. At first
their services were held in the town hall, but under
the inspiration of a generous offer from the late Oliver
Dean, M.D., it was determined to build a house.
This was located close upon Main Street, and was
consecrated May 5, 1858. The cost, besides the land,
was about seven thousand dollars. The building was
used until June, 1874, when it was sold to the Bap-
tists, and removed to School Street. In 1873 the
parish built the present " Grace Church" directly in
the rear of its first building. This graceful and
beautiful house of worship is one of the architectural
attractions of Franklin. It cost, with all its appoint-
ments, furniture, organ, and steam-heating apparatus,
fifty-two thousand dollars, of which sum Dr. Dean
originally gave two thousand dollars. Rev. A. N.
Adams was the first settled pastor. He was installed
May 5, 1858, and on the same day in which the first
church building was dedicated, and was dismissed in
1860.

In 1860 a church was organized, also a Sunday-
school, and all the other auxiliaries which help to sus-
tain vigorous church work. The pastors have been

Rev. A. N. Adams, 1858-60; Rev. N. R. Wright,
1861-62 ; Rev. S. W. Squires, 1862-66; Rev. H. D.
L. Webster for a few months, succeeded by Rev. Rich-
ard Eddy, 1867-69. After being without a pastor for
nearly three years, Rev. A. St. John Chambre (D.D.
1878) was installed July 1, 1872. He closed his
pastorate in 1880, and was followed by Rev. L. J.
Fletcher, D D., just deceased. The li.st of church
members numbers now about one hundred and eight
from a parish of about ninety families.

The Baptist Church was organized in 1868
with thirteen members. Its pastors have been Rev.
J. W. Holman, M.D., succeeded by Rev. George
Ryan in May, 1873. In 1876 the church was dis-
banded. September, 1881, Rev. A. W. Jeff"erson,
from Poultney, Vt., was sent into this field to awaken
anew the denominational interest. As a result of his
labors the church was reorganized in June, 1882,
and now numbers thirty-five, with a Sunday-school
of about sixty-five. This society first held their ser-
vices in the town hall until a neat chapel was built
on East Street during the pastorate of Rev. Mr,
Rounds. In 1874 the society purchased the build-
ing in which they now worship of the Uuiversalists,
moved it to School Street, and made some alterations.

Catholic Church. — In 1851 the Catholics were
given the use of the town hall for a service, conducted
monthly by Rev. M. X. Carroll, from Foxborough.
In 1862 he was succeeded by Rev. M. McCabe, of
Woonsocket. From 1863 to 1873, Rev. P. Gillie, of
Attleborough, held occasional services. From 1872—
76, Rev. Francis Gonesse, of Walpole, had charge of
the parish. In February, 1877, Rev. J. Griffin
became and still remains the resident pastor. In
1871 the society bought the old Congregational
Church, and remodeled its interior for their forms
of worship. A large and commodious parsonage has
been built directly west of the church.

The Methodist Church. — As early as 1853 a
Methodist meeting was held in the town hall by
Rev. John M. Merrill. He gathered quite a large
congregation. In 1855, Rev. Pliny Wood succeeded
him. In 1856, Rev. M. P. Webster took up the
work, but the enterprise failed so rapidly that the
Conference decided in 1857 to suspend the services.
In 1871 meetings were again started under the charge
of Rev. John R. Gushing, of Boston. He organized
a Sunday-school, and gathered a good congregation.
In April, 1872, the Conference sent Rev. E. P. King
into this field. He organized a church of thirteen
members, and laid the corner-stone of a church build-
ing October 3d. The house was dedicated June 25,
1873. The same year the church membership in-

176

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

creased to sixty-six. April, 1874, Mr. King was
transferred, and Rev. J. N. Short became pastor for
three years. He was followed in 1878 by Rev.
William Wignall, 1878-79; Rev. 0. W. Adams,
1880-81 ; Rev. A. C. Godfrey, 1882 ; and Rev. M. D.
Hornbeck, the present pastor, since April, 1883.

SwEDENBORGiAN. — A fcw members of the New
Jerusalem Church have lield meetings constantly for
seventeen years at the house of the late J. A. Wood-
ward, but they have never been organized into a
distinct church.

Town Library. — Mention has been made of the
library presented by Dr. Franklin to the town as a
birthday-gift. With its one hundred and sixteen
volumes was afterwards connected a private library
of one hundred and twenty-five volumes for the use
of its shareholders. At first the use of the public
library was limited to members of the parish ; but in
1791 it was "opened to the whole town, until the
town shall order otherwise." These antiquated books
became so little esteemed, that in 1840 they were
found stowed away in their venerable bookcase in a
barn. In 1856 a library association was formed
to which the town by vote gave in charge the old
Franklin and Social Library.

These libraries were formed into a free town library,
to which the town has appropriated money annually
for its increase and support ; in addition to this town
grant, amounting now to five hundred dollars, the
library has the income of three thousand dollars, a
legacy of Dr. Dean, for the purchase of books. The
report for 1883 is as follows :

Librarian's salary $150.00

Room rent 100.00

Incidentals 201.75

116 new books 187.77

Total, $639.52

Volumes added 217

Loaned 12,785

Number of borrowers. 657

Whole number of vol-
umes 3,000

Waldo Daniels has been the librarian from the
beginning.

Public Schools. — The first grant of money by the
town for the support of schools was £200, voted May
20, 1778. This was divided in proportion to the
number of children living in each school district be-
tween the ages of four and sixteen. The grants of
money in succeeding years have steadily increased
with the increase of school attendance. In 1782 it
was only £80, and varied but little till 1796, when it
was $320 ; increasing till in 1814 it was $600, and
in 1839, $1000. In 1873 it reached $6000. It has
increased largely each year, till the appropriation for
1883 was $8300. These sums include the total annual
"rant for schools.

In 1795 the number of children in town required
six school-houses, whose location was decided by a
committee chosen for the purpose. Now the town
supports ten mixed schools, exclusive of the High
School.- The Central School is graded into four de-
partments and six schools.

At first the clergyman visited and catechised each
school annually. As the notice of his coming visit
was announced from the pulpit the previous Sunday,
great were the preparations for it. After the close
of Dr. Emmons" ministry this duty of examination
by law devolved upon the school committee, and with
them it now rests.

A High School was established by the town in
1868. It was opened on May 20th with twenty-two
scholars. Miss Mary A. Bryant, principal. She was
succeeded by Miss Annie E. Patten and Thomas
Curly. Lucien I. Blake, of Amherst College, was
principal in 1877-78, followed by Theodore Parker
Farr, a graduate of Tufts College. The present
principal is Mrs. M. A. B. Wiggins.

Private Schools. — At the request of many parents,
Mortimer Blake, a graduate of Amherst College,
began in September, 1835, at his own charges, a
private school of a higher grade than the town public
schools. He occupied first the Central District school-
house with fifty-six scholars, fourteen of whom came
from other towns ; but within the first year of this
school's existence a large two-story building was
erected at the western foot of the Common by a stock
company with accommodations for one hundred pupils,
besides recitation-rooms and exhibition hall. This
building was in after-years used for a store and straw-
shop alternately, till now — minus the cupola — it is
used entirely for tenements. The bell now hangs in
the belfry of the South Franklin Church. The school
continued for several years, and during the first princi-
pal's connection with it its term-rolls often numbered
one hundred scholars. It included the names of
many scholars since well known, and not a few re-
nowned as educators and heads of important institu-
tions of instruction, as well as lawyers, physicians,
and ministers. The academy gradually subsided
under the rise of public high schools, although the
succeeding principals, Bigelow and Baker, endeavored
faithfully to maintain it.

A Kindergarten was opened a few years since by
Miss Lydia P. Ray, a graduate of Vassar College, in a
building fitted especially for the purpose. It is now
taught by Mrs. J. C. Blaisdell, and numbers about
twenty little children.

Dean Academy. — At the annual session of the
Massachusetts Uuiversalist Convention, held in

FRANKLIN.

177

Worcester, Oct. 18-20, 1864, the subject of a State
denominational school, to be of the highest grade be-
low that of colleges, was brought before the Council
by Dr. A. A. Miner, president of Tufts College. A
committee was appointed with full discretionary
powers, Rev. A. St. John Chambre, of Stoughton,
chairman. Dr. Oliver Dean offered a tract of eight or
nine acres which he had bought of the estate of Dr.
Emmons, and $10,000 towards a building, besides
$50,000 as a permanent fund, and his offer was ac-
cepted. May 16, 1867, the corner-stone of Dean
Academy building was laid with appropriate public
ceremonies. As the work of building went on, Dr.
Dean increased his donations to nearly $75,000. The
style of the edifice was French Lombardic, and its
total cost, exclusive of furniture and gas apparatus,
was $154,000. It was two hundred and twenty feet
front ; the main centre fifty by sixty feet deep, of
four stories ; and two wings, each fifty-eight by forty-
four feet in depth, with still other wings in the rear
and three stories high. It was dedicated May 28,
1868, Rev. E. C. Bolles, of Portland, giving the
address. The school had been commenced with forty-
four pupils, Oct. 1, 1866, in the vestry of the Uni-
versalist Church, under Mr. T. Gr. Senter, principal.
The summer term of 1868 was opened in the new
edifice.

Four years later, during the night of July 31,
1872, this magnificent building with nearly all its
contents was destroyed by fire. The young school
became suddenly homeless, and Principal Senter re-
signed. The Franklin House was bought and the
school resumed in it, with C. A. Daniels as principal
for one year, and Dr. J. P. Weston for five years.
After two years of labor and great anxiety, a second
and the present edifice was completed and dedicated
June 24, 1874. It occupies substantially the same
foundations, and diflFers but little from the previous
one, except being in Gothic style.

Until the year 1877, Dean Academy was open
to both sexes ; but the demand for a young ladies'
school led the trustees to limit it accordingly. The
new arrangement opened in 1877-78, with about
fifty pupils, under Miss H. M. Parkhurst, principal.
After two years' trial the limitation was removed,
and the school is now open to both sexes. Professor
Lester L. Burrington, from the Illinois State Nor-
mal University, became the principal in 1879, and
the school is still under this faithful and devoted
teacher.

College Graduates. — The interest of the town in
education is further indicated by its long roll of col-
lege graduates and professional men. Few towns can
12

show a larger ratio of educated men and women.
Since its incorporation as a precinct, fifty-three of its
young men and one lady are known to have graduated
from college. Their names are here given. Many
others, natives, but hailing elsewhere, are graduates.
The honorable women of the town who married pro-
fessional men are not a few. The total number given
in Blake's " History of Franklin" is one hundred and
twelve.

LIST OF GRADUATES.

Name. Institution. Graduated.

Professor Aldis S. Allen, M.D...Yale 1827

Benjamin F. Allen Brown 1817

Judge Asa Aldis Brown 1796

J. Frank Atwood, M.D Harvard 1869

Henry M. Bacon Amherst 1876

Rev. Abijah R. Baker, D.D Amherst 1830

David E. Baker Amherst 1878

Rev. Mortimer Blake, D.D Amherst 1835

Gilbert Clark, M.D Eclectic Medical, Phila 1873

Rev. Henry M. Daniels Chicago Theological 1861

Rev. William H. Daniels Middletown 1868

Hon. Williams Emmons Brown 1805

Elisha Fairbanks, Esq.. Brown 1791

Theodore P. Farr Tufts 1878

Professor A. Metcalf Fisher Yale 1813

Rev. Charles R. Fisher Trinity 1842

Hon. George Fisher Brown 1813

Lewis W. Fisher Brown 1816

Elisha Harding, M.D Brown 1819

Rev. Thomas Haven Harvard 1765

Peter Hawes, Esq Brown 1790

Rev. Isaac E. Heaton Brown 1832

Rev. Sanford J. Horton, D.D. ...Trinity 1843

Rev. Samuel Kingsbury Brown 1822

S. Allen Kingsbury, M.D Brown 1816

Hon. Horace Mann, LL.D Brown 1819

Edward McFarland, Esq Holy Cross, Worcester 1873

Alfred Metcalf, Esq Brown 1802

John G. Metcalf, M.D Brown 1820

Judge Theron Metcalf Brown 1805

George T. Metcalf, Esq Brown 1853

Erasmus D. Miller, M.D Brown 1832

Lewis L. Miller, M.D Brown 1817

Rev. William Phipps Amherst 1837

Rev. George G. Phipps Amherst 1862

Benjamin Pond, M.D Medical, Dartmouth 1813

Rev. Daniel Pond Harvard 1745

Samuel M. Pond, Esq Brown 1802

Rev. Timothy Pond Harvard 1749

Metcalf E. Pond, D.D.S Boston Dental College 1874

' Jenner L. S. Pratt, M.D ;.... Columbia, New York 1842

Spencer A. Pratt, Esq Brown 1830

Miss Lydia P. Ray Vassar College 1878

William F. Ray, A.M Brown 1874

Rev. Albert M. Richardson .Oberlin 1846

Professor Henry B. Richardson. Amherst 1869

Frank E. Rockwood, Esq Brown 1874

Lucius 0. Rockwood, Esq Brown 1868

Henry E. Russegue, M.D Boston University 1878

George W. Smalley Yale

Rev. William M. Thayer Brown 1843

Abijah Whiting, Esq Brown 1790

Nathan Whiting, Esq Brown 1796

Rev. Samuel Whiting Harvard 1769

In addition to those mentioned in the above list
were several others who died in the course of their
collegiate studies or were arrested by change of cir-
cumstances.

Material Progress. — The following table, com-
piled from the earliest reliable sources, exhibits the
growth of the town :

178

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

178G.
1790.
1800.,
1810.,
1820.,
1830..
1840..
1850..
I860.,
1865..
1875..
1880..
1883..

£2401 188.

£2803 H.S. 6<J.

813,294.40

17,318.95

15,524.75

343,124.00

417,978.00

648,436.00

811,636.00

1,116,060.00

1.433,635.00

1,736,370.00

1,873,830.00

119 132

127
143
169
180

210
234

262 ' 227 j 183

240

2G9

131 139

157 j 180
178 I 163
180 ! 143
208 149

198

570

856

270 j 788

275 1 729

265 1 733

274 1 599

274 i 563

301

191 i 448

129

192 493

142 508

573

! 466

40 393

549

Total
Popula-
tion.

1100
1101
1255
1398
1630
1662
1717
2043
2172
2510
2983
4051

These tables indicate that the progress of the town
has in hite years been rapid for staid New England.
The impulses of this growth are found in the devel-
opment of business, as the f;icts fullowiiig indicate.
They have been carefully gathered from original
sources.

Later Industries. — The beginning of the present
centuiy marks the introduction of the straw business,
in which the town still holds a foremost rank. The
braiding and making of rye-straw into bonnets came
from Providence, R. I. A milliner of that city, Mrs.
Naomi Whipple, and her assistant, Miss Hannah Met-
calf, unraveled a piece of imported braid and learned
the secret of its plaited strands. She made and sent
a case of bonnets, from braid of her own manufacture,
to New York, which sold with the rapidity of foreign
goods. Sally Richmond, a scholar at Wrentham
Academy in the summer of 1799, taught the art of
braiding to the ladies where she boarded, and thus
came the new industry to Wrentham and Franklin.
The storekeepers at first exchanged their goods for
the braid ; but as it accumulated, they began to make
it into bonnets, carrying it with wooden forms from
house to house to be sewed into shape by the farmers'
wives and daughters. The bonnets so made were
gathered and pressed at first with common hand-flats,
afterwards with jack-presses worked by the foot. So
grew up the great industry which now employs thou-
sands of people in this region.

The first straw manufactory in Franklin was begun
in 1812 by Asa and Davis Tha3er. After the death
of Asa Thayer, in 1816, a partnership was formed be-
tween Davis Thayer and Herman C. Fisher, to which,
in 1825, Albert E. Daniels was admitted. Another
early firm was Asa Rockwood & Son.

The trip to New York, where their sales were made,
was not to these first merchants a night ride in a
steamer. They went with a horse and wagon to Prov-
idence and thence in a sailing-vessel, whenever a cargo
and wind and tide were ready, waiting sometimes two
weeks for a favorable wind. When tliey should return
to their factories was still more uncertain. Between

the two termini of their business, their lives were
drawn in unequal and indefinite lengths which unusual
patience alone could equate.

Thayer, Fisher & Daniels after a while separated
into individual firms. Thayer became Thayer, Gay
& Co., then 1). Thayer, Jr., & Bros , until their final
transfer to Hubbard, Snow & Co.

Hermon C. Fisher became Fisher & Norcro.ss, then
H. C. Fisher alone a few years, afterwards Fisher &
Adams, and, after the death of Mr. Simeon Adams,
Fisher again until he was succeeded in the business
by Horace M. Gowen. This line is now extinct.

Albert P]. Daniels became Daniels & Green, then
Daniels & Son, when the business was transferred to
Green & Baker, then to Henry M. Green alone; again
it became Farmer & Sherman, then Basssett, Sherman
& Co., and now is Oscar M. Bassett & Co. Other
firms have also engaged in the straw business, — Hart-
well Morse & Co., for twenty years ; Horace S. Morse
& Capron, fur twelve years, in the old academy build-
ing ; Foster, Pratt & Day, and Gen. Sumner & Co.,
about 1855-60. In 1869 no less than seven manufac-
tories of straw goods were in active operation, making
a million hats and bonnets per year. These were at
that time all made, pressed, and finished by hand ;
but about 1872 the hydraulic press was introduced,
and in 1875 sewing-machines came into use. They
greatly increased the amount of production, but with
a large decrease of employes as well as a reduced
value in products. Two firms only are now manufac-
turing straw goods in Franklin, as below :

Hubbard, Bassett & Co. are at the New York
end of the line, and Hubbard, Snow & Co. occupy
in Franklin the large factory formerly used by Davis
Thayer Bros. They have three hundred and twenty-
five employes at the factory, and two hundred and
fifty outside to whom work is carried. They manu-
factured in 1883 nineteen thousand cases, each con-
taining on an average four dozen hats or bonnets ;
total, nine hundred and twelve thousand. Oscar M.
Bassett & Co., successors of Bassett & Sherman,
have manufactured only since Sept. 1, 1883 ; but they
already employ about two hundred hands and make
all varieties of straw goods.

Felt, Satinet, and Cassimere Manufactures
have become another leading industry in Franklin.
Col. Joseph Ray came with his family to Franklin in
1839, and engaged in making cotton goods. One of
his sons, Frank B. Ray, started the first woolen-mill
in town at Unionville, a village a mile and a half
west of the Centre. He at first prepared wool shoddy
to sell to others, using probably the first shoddy picker
in the country.

FRANKLIN.

179

In 1870 he started the first felt machinery in town.
This enterprise of felt manufactures grew rapidly by

the formino; of new firms and the addition of cassi- ;

. . . '

mere and satinet goods. Moi'se & Waite, in 1871, i

were followed by Rays, Rathburn & McKenzie,

and The Franklin Felting Company, — Enoch Waite,

James P. and Joseph G. Ray. There arc now seven

of these felting-mills running. The firm of J. P. &

J. G. Ray are running four mills, viz. : a shoddy- j

mill, using from six to eight thousand pounds of

rags per day, and employing fifty hands ; a cassimere- j

mill, with six sets of machinery, one hundred and

twenty-five hands, and making 200,000 yards per ■

year ; a cotton warp woolen satinet mill, with eight 1

sets, one hundred and fifty hands, and 1,000,000 '

yards per year, — this mill is located in Bellingham ;

the City Mills, now in Norfolk, for all kinds of felt- I

goods, eighty hands, and 500,000 yards per year. |

Their wool and waste trade amounts to one million

dollars per year. I

Frank B. Ray has one felt- and one shoddy-
mill, both in Franklin.

William F. Ray, son of Frank B. Ray, runs a
mill at Norfolk, for wool extracts and shoddy, em-
ploying fifteen hands and producing 400,000 pounds
per year.

A Satinet - Mill, built by Ray, Rathburn &
McKenzie in 1872 for a felt mill, was bought, 1881,
by C. J. McKenzie and changed to a satinet-mill.
It runs three sets of woolen machinery, employs
forty hands, and produces 350,000 yards per annum.

The Felting-Mill of the Franklin Felting Com-
pany was purchased, in the spring of 1883, by Adel-
bert D. Thayer. It has a capital of forty thousand
dollars.

Another Cassimere-Mill has this year (1883)
been started by Addison M. Thayer, with forty thou-
sand dollars capital.

Of these ten mills, three are just beyond the town
limits, but are owned and operated by Franklin firms.

The Franklin Cotton Manufacturing Com-
pany has just been formed. This corporation is
erecting at Unionville a granite building one hundred
and thirty-three feet long and fifty-five feet wide and
two stories high, to be run by both steam and water,
as the supply serves. They will make a new kind of
fancy cotton goods, with imported English machinery,
and intend to commence Jan. 1, 1884. Capital, one
hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The officers are
George Draper, of Milford, president; James P.
Ray, of Franklin, treasurer.

The Shoe Business has never put more than
one foot into the town. In 1850, N. C. Newell

bought Dr. Emmons' barn, moved it, and began
manufacturing therein. He was succeeded by James
M. Freeman, who enlarged both business and shop,
but he retired in 1879, and the business also.

The Franklin Rubber-Boot Company was
organized, 1882, with a capital of seventy-five thou-
sand dollars. Moses Farnum, president ; Joseph G.
Ray, treasurer ; Horace Jenks, superintendent of
the works. They are located near Beaver Pond, and
are employing one hundred and twenty hands,
and make 800 pairs of rubber boots and the same
number of overshoes per day.

Lu3iber and Box Factories. — E. L. and 0. F.
Metcalf commenced as contractors and builders in
1843. In 1847-49 they were actively engaged in
building depot, bridges, etc., for the Norfolk County
Railroad and Southbridge branch. In 1856 they
bought the Frost water-mill, about two miles from
the Centre, fitting it up with wood-working ma-
chinery, and also opened a lumber-yard at the village.
In 1867 they built a steam-mill near the railway
station, which has been enlarged until its present
dimensions are sixty by one hundred and eight feet,
with wings thirty by fifty feet and thirty by forty
feet, all two stories high. In 1870 they added a saw-
mill and, in 1873 a grain-mill. They employ a
large number of hands in the sash, door, blind, and
box departments.

The original firm, after almost forty years of suc-
cessful business, dissolved in 1881 by mutual con-
sent, Erastus L. going out, and Walter M. Fisher
taking his interest in the business, which is now
carried on with the firm-name of 0. F. Metcalf &
Sons.

In the northwestern part of the town is another
lumber- and box-factory, started by Lucius W.
Daniels in 1874, making 50,000 packing-boxes and
using 750,000 feet of lumber per year. The saw-
mill demands 400,000 feet of lumber per year to
keep its saws busy.

At Nason's Crossing, about half a mile south of the
Centre, Joseph M. Whiting has been engaged for
several years running a grist-mill.

Machinery. — Joseph Clark owns the one ma-
chine-shop in Franklin, located at Nason's Crossing.
He manufactures largely woolen machinery, as well
as repairs cotton machinery of all kinds, employing a
large number of men and adding much to the town
industries.

Canned Goods. — North Franklin is a head centre
of the canning industry. The large factory of Rich-
ardson & Hopkins commenced ten years ago on a
small scale. Their buildings have been enlarged and

180

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

machinery added, including two forty horse-power
boilers. During the busy season, they now employ
about one hundred and fifty hands. They make their
own cans, of which in 1882 they produced 400,000.
This firm put up last year 112,000 cans of corn, 90,-
722 of tomatoes, 45,387 of squash in three-pound
cans, and 1267 in gallons; peas and beans, 15,000 ;
pumpkins, 5140 ; cranberries, 3000. Fifteen thousand
cases were required to pack the shipped goods.

George Bacon commenced the same industry in ;
1881 with about twenty-five hands, making a good I
start the first year with 20,000 cans of corn, 23,000
of tomatoes, and 3,200 of squash, he also making
his own cans.

R. E. GuRNEY commenced canning in 1882, put-
ting up about 20,000 cans, and raising nearly all the
material used.

Beet Sugar. — The experiment of making sugar
from beets was tried in Franklin for a year by a cor-
poration formed in 1879, with a capital of one hun-
dred and thirty-three thousand dollars. But the en-
terprise was abandoned for lack of beets. It was
thought that they could not be raised with profit to
the farmer at prices which would also render it profit-
able to the corporation.

Near the depot are Steam Print-AVorks, owned
by Charles L. Stewart and started by him in 1873.

On Dean Street is L. W. Milliken, manufac-
turer of loom-pickers, straps, and other manufactures
of leather. On the same street is the manufactory
of R. Sommers, for toilet and laundry soap, carried
by teams in all the region round about.

On East Street A. Parker Smith manufactures a
leather lacquer for carriages, for Boston trade.

A company has been formed for the manufacture
of jewelry, with a capital of six thousand dollars.
Henry R. Jenks is president, and a building is nearly
completed on Dean Street. Work will commence
early in 1884.

The Press. — The first newspaper published in
town was The Franklin Register ^ a weekly. It was
started October, 1872, by James M. Stewart, editor
and proprietor. It was continued until the removal
of Mr. Stewart in 1881. In 1878 The Franklin
Sentinel began its weekly rounds. It was put on
duty by R. E. Capron. Since January, 1883, The
Sentinel has been published by Houston & Lincoln,
with a lengthened circuit and more imposing dimen-
sions. May its circuit be enlarged as its value
increases.

Railroads. — The Norfolk County Railroad was
incorporated in 1847. In 1849 the road was com-
pleted and running its trains. The line connected

Dedham and Blackstone, and was twenty-six miles
long. The bridge just west of the Franklin station
covers the summit of the road. Its elevation above
the mean low-water level in Boston at this point is
296yYy feet. The Norfolk County Railroad has since
become a link of the New York and New Eng-
land Railroad, and has been gradually lengthened
until, from Boston to Fishkill, — its proper western
terminus, — it measures 227! miles of main track, ex-
clusive of its branches.

In 1877 the Rhode Island and Massachusetts Rail-
road was completed, connecting Franklin and Prov-
idence via Valley Falls, twenty miles. It is owned
and controlled by both Massachusetts and Rhode
Island parties, each on its side of the line. During
the past summer (1883) the Milford and Franklin
Railroad has been completed, and trains are now run-
ning regularly and often over its ten miles of length,
connecting, through Hopkinton and Ashland, with the
Boston and Albany Railroad. Franklin is thus amply
provided with railway connections.

Banks. — Franklin has two banks, — the Frank-
lin National, with a capital of two hundred thou-
sand dollars ; President, James^ P. Ray, and Cashier,
Moses Farnum ; and the Benjamin Franklin Sav-
ings Bank, incorporated Feb. 21, 1871. President,
Davis Thayer, Jr. ; Cashier, Charles W. Stewart.
Number of depositors since 1871, two thousand four
hundred and six ; and eleven hundred and seventy
open accounts at the present time. Amount of net
deposits, $295,574,38.

As will be seen, the industries of Franklin have
increased rapidly.

Fire and Water. — For the protection of all the
varied industries and their buildings, as well as the
houses of the inhabitants of the town, there are as
yet but two hand-engines. These, in case of fire, can
throw water from cisterns or wells, if near and ample
enough. But several recent destructive fires, which
literally devoured the buildings they attacked, have
proved that Franklin is without sufficient protection
against this terrible foe.

Several movements have been made towards the
building of protective water-works, and preliminary
surveys were made by P. M. Blake, C.E., in 1876.
But nothing was done by the town until the town-
meeting in March, 1883. A committee of three —
Joseph G. Ray, Asa A. Fletcher, and William E.
Nason — were then chosen to ascertain the cost and
all other information necessary for the introduction
of a water supply. The immediate and only present
result appears in an act of incorporation passed by
the Legislature May 16, 1883, authorizing the forma-

FRANKLIN.

181

tion of the Franklin Water Company, to take water
from Beaver Pond, and to issue bonds for seventy-five
thousand dollars, payable in thirty years from the
date of issue ; the whole capital not to exceed sev-
enty-five thousand dollars, in shares of one hundred
dollars each. Associated with the committee in the
act of incorporation were Rev. William M. Thayer,
James M. Freeman, James P. Ray, George N. Wig-
gin, Henry R. Jenks, and Homer V. Snow. As yet
the company have attempted no visible measures,
though their next report to the town may contain
definite suggestions.

The town also chose a committee, Sept. 30, 1882,
to take charge of the question of a new town-house.
This subject is awaiting decisive action, not to be
much longer delayed, as the present town-house is
inadequate for use.

The Rebellion of 1861. — The response evoked
by the war for slavery is indicated by the following
resolve, passed unanimously at a town-meeting.
May 2, 1861 :

" Resolved, That it is the duty of all good citizens to dis-
countenance and frown upon every individual among us, if any
there be, who shall express sentiments disloyal to the govern-
ment of the United States, or offer aid or sympathy to the
plotters of treason and rebellion."

But the town expressed itself not in words alone.
It at once raised, on its quota of twenty-three, thirty-
four men, and three thousand dollars were promptly
pledged as aid. On the call of August, 1862, for
three hundred thousand more, forty-three were en-
listed on its quota of thirty-four. The town responded
with a like promptness and profusion to every subse-
quent call for troops. Individual citizens were gen-
erous in subscriptions to pay bounties and to aid the
families of volunteers.

When the first detachment — the overquota of
thirty-six, and called Company C, Forty-fifth Regi-
ment of Massachusetts Volunteers, under 2d Lieut.
Lewis R. Whitaker, a soldier for freedom in Kansas
— was leaving for the field, a farewell meeting was
held in the town hall, at which their lieutenant was
surprised with a fine sword from his men, and they
in turn received each a Bible. When a temperance
pledge was proposed, all, save one or two, enthusiasti-
cally attached their names. On the announcement
that only twenty-three had been called for, one of
the thirteen said they would all go, if they went
afoot and alone.

It is known that two hundred and eighteen soldiers
were furnished by the town during the war. How
many were natives cannot now be ascertained, as the
town's list is confessedly imperfect. But the record

of ninety-seven natives has been made, whose names,
grade, and fate are as below :

Charles R. Adams, son of Peter, Co. A, 33d Regt. ; killed near
Winchester.

Henry P. Adams, son of Oren W., 3d Regt. ; in Andersonville
prison.

William M. E. Adams, son of Erastus, Co. I, 18th Regt. ; served
through.

Alvin B. Adams, son of Oren W., Co. G, 16th Regt.; not
known.

William W. Adams, son of Oren W., Co. C, 45th Regt. ; served
through.

Andrew J. Alexander, son of William, Co. C, 45th Regt. ; hon-
orably discharged.

Lowell W. Adams, son of Oren W., Co. G, 45th Regt. ; wounded,
served through,

AVilliam G. Adams, son of Gardner, Co. K, 44th Regt. ; wounded,
served through.

Caleb W. Ballou, son of Caleb, Co. H, 40th Regt.; disabled
and discharged.

Adin Ballou, son of Albert, 10th Regt., Me. ; not known.

Owen E. Ballou, son of Barton, Co. C, 4th Regt.; honorably
discharged.

William A. Ballou, son of Albert, Co. C, 45th Regt. ; honorably
discharged.

William H. Baldwin, son of Henry, Co. A, 35th Regt.; Ander-
sonville, died.

Seth Blake, son of Seth, Co. I, 18th Regt.; in Andersonville.

Charles H. Bemis, son of Henry, Co. C, 45th Regt.; honorably
discharged.

Thomas CoflSeld, son of John, Co. I, 18th Regt.; honorably
discharged.

Barton F. Cook, son of Milton, Co. H, 3d R. I. Artillery; hon-
orably discharged.

Joseph W'. Cook, son of Winslow, R. I. Cavalry ; honorably
discharged.

Daniel C. Corbin, son of Otis, Jr. ; wounded, discharged.

Anthony Conner, son of Isaac, Co. I, 18th Regt. ; honorably
discharged.

George Clark, son of John, Co. I, ISth Regt. ; died in Ander-
sonville.

James Clark, son of John, Co. B, 18th Regt.; not known.

Nathan Clark, son of Alfred, Co. I, ISth Regt. ; wounded and
discharged.

Barton A. Colvin, son of Jasper, Co. C, 45th Regt. ; honorably
discharged.

Charles A. Cole, Co. C, 45th Regt.; honorably dischargeJ.

George W. J. Cole, Co. C, 45th Regt. ; honorably discharged.

Cornelius Dugan, Co. K, 33d Regt.; honorably discharged.

Joseph Day, son of Ilermon, Co. A, 35th Regt.; sick and dis-
charged.

Edward H. Freeman, son of James M., Co. C, 45th Regt. ; hon-
orably discharged.

George M. Farrington, son of Nathan, Co. A, 35th Regt. ;
wounded and discharged.

Alfred J. Fitzpatrick, son of John L., Co. H, 18th Regt.; hon-
orably discharged.

John M. Fisher, son of Weston, Co. C, 38th Regt.; killed.

Walter M. Fisher, son of Walter H., Co. C, 45th Regt.; hon-
orably discharged.

Marcus Gilmore, son of Marcus, Co. A, 35th Regt.; honorably
discharged.

William S. Gilmore, son of Philander, Co. F, lOth Regt.; hon-
orably discharged.

182

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Nathaniel S. Grow, son of Nathaniel, Co. C, 45th Regt. ; hon-
orably discharged.

Samuel E. Gay, son of Willard, Co. K, 31st Regt. ; disabled.

Pliny A. Uolbrook, son of Ellis, Co. C, 45th Regt.; honorably
discharged.

Joseph W. Uolbrook, son of Eliphalet, Co. C, 4oth Regt.; hon-
orably discharged.

Samuel C. Hunt, son of Rev. Samuel, Co. C, 45th Regt.: hon-
orably discharged.

Frank F. Hodges, son of Willard, Co. C, 45th Regt.; honorably
discharged.

Norman Hastings, son of Nathaniel, Co. C, 45th Regt. ; died
on return.

Albert L. Jordan, son of Alfred, Co. I, ISth Regt.; wounded
five times, discharged.

Henry A. Jordan, son of Alfred, Co. H, 1st Cavalry ; honorably
discharged.

Edwin A. Jordan, son of Alfred, Co. H, 1st Cavalry ; honorably
discharged.

Samuel H. Jordan, son of Alfred, Co. C, 45th Regt. ; lost an
arm, discharged.

George King, M.D., son of George, surgeon, 16th and 29th
Regts. ; honorably discharged.

H. D. Kingsbury, son of Nathaniel D., Co. K, 1st Cavalry;
honorably discharged.

Emery T. Kingsbury, son of Fisher A., Co. C, 45th Regt.;
honorably discharged.

George A. Kingsbury, son of Horatio, Co. B, 42d Regt. ; pris-
oner and paroled.

Herbert L. Lincoln, son of Manly, Co. A, 35th Regt. ; wounded
and died.

Granville Morse, son of Levi F., Co. I, 18th Regt.; honorably
discharged.

Lewis L. Jliller, son of John W., Co. E, 12th Regt. ; wounded
and died.

Eugene H. Marsh, son of Lewis H., 2d R. I. Cavalry ; honorably
discharged.

Jeremiah Murphy, son of Thomas, Co. C, 45th Regt. ; honor-
ably discharged.

Charles M. Nason, son of George W., Co. A, 35th Regt. : hon-
orably discharged.

William E. Nason, son of George AV., Co. A, 35th Regt. ; hon-
orably discharged.

George W. Nason, son of George W., Co. I, 5th Regt., and in
Co. II, 23d Regt.; col. of Newbern fire department; hon-
orably discharged.

Albert D. Nason, son of George W., Co. C, 45th Regt.; honor-
ably discharged.

Albert J. Newell, son of Arnold J., Co. I, 23d Regt. ; un-
known.

Olney P. Newell, son of Hiram, Co. B, 1st Cavalry; honorably
discharged.

Duane Newell, son of Nelson C, Co. C, 45th Regt. ; disabled
and discharged.

George L. Partridge, son of Seth, Co. B, 42d Regt.; honorably
discharged.

Whipple Peck, son of Whipple, 1st R. I. Regt. ; wounded and
discharged.

Horace W. Pillsbury, son of Stephen, Co. I, 1 8th llegt. ; wounded
and discharged.

Alfred J. Pierce, son of Israel, 3d R. I. Artillery; honorably
discharged.

Israel F. Pierce, son of Israel, R. I. Cavalry : honorably dis-
charged.

Henry M, Pickering, son of Samuel, Co. C, 45th Regt.; honor-
ably discharged.

James M. Ryan, son of James, Co. C, 45th Regt. ; honorably

discharged.

AVilliam Sullivan, Co. K, 33d Regt.; unknown.

Charles H. Scott, Co. A, 35th Regt.; unknown.

Smith 0. Sayles, son of Oren W., R. I. Cavalry; unknown.

Thomas W. Sayles, son of Oren W., R. I. Cavalry; unknown.

Michael 0. Sullivan, son of Jeremiah, Co. C, 45th Regt. ; hon-
orably discharged.

George W. Thompson, son of Thaddeus, Co. I, 18th Regt. ;
honorably discharged.

Ransom Tift, son of James, Co. I, 18th Regt. ; honorablj' dis-
charged.

AVilliam H. Thomas, son of Sandrus, Co. I, 18th Regt.; un-
known.

Abram W. Wales, son of Amos A., Co. I, ISth Regt. ; honorably
discharged.

Shepard G. Wiggin, son of Joseph, Co. A, 35th Regt. ; died.

Silas H. Wilson, son of Enoch, Co. A, 35th Regt. ; prisoner,
paroled, disabled.

Otis Winn, son of Peter, Co. A, 35th Regt.; died.

Henry J. AVard, son of Reuben, Co. C, 45th Regt.; honorably
discharged.

Owen W. Wales, son of Otis, Jr., Co. C, 45th Regt. ; discharged.

Lewis F. Williams, son of AVilliam, 12th Heavy Artillery; un-
known.

John B. Whiting, son of Sydnej', Co. C, 45th Regt.; honorably
discharged.

Daniel W. Whiting, son of AVillard C, Co. K, 23d Regt.; hon-
orably discharged.

Lewis R. Whitaker, son of Richard, Co. C, 45th Regt. ; 2d
lieut. ; honorably discharged.

George F. Woodward, son of Austin, Co. C, 45th Regt.; hon-
orably discharged.

Lewis E. Wales, son of Otis, Jr., Co. B, 42d Regt. ; died in New
Orleans.

John D. Wales, son of Otis, Jr., Co. B, 42d Regt. ; honorably
discharged.

George H. Scott, son of George W., Co. I, 18th Regt. ; un-
known.

Alonzo F. Eddy, son of Asahel, Co. I, ISth Regt.; honorably
discharged.

George L. Ri.xford, 4th Cavalry; lionorably discharged.

James F. Snow, son of John W., Co. C, 56th Regt.; unknown.

George B. Russell, son of Thomas, 12th Heavy Artillery; un-
known.

William G. White, son of Adam II., Battery ; unknown.

Dana Follen, son of James; honorably discharged.

These were natives or residents of the town.

Many natives resident elsewhere enlisted in other
places. Among them some are known to have attained
honorable rank and distinction. Edmund Dean, son of
Luther, became adjutant-general of Kansas ; Charles
H. Thayer, son of Nathaniel, was promoted to a cap-
taincy, confined in Libby prison, and exchanged.

It is an honorable record that only one of all the
native soldiery deserted. No public monument, how-
ever, has yet been erected to the memory of the Union
soldiers of Franklin. But it has a G. A. R. Post,
and a public commemoration upon Decoration Day.

Public officers, from the incorporation of the
precinct to the present time. — Among the citizens

FRANKLIN.

183

whom Franklin has honored are the following elected
to its chief oiEces, both as a precinct and as a town :

PRECINCT CLEBKS.
Daniel Thurston (first clerk), i Michael Metealf, 1757

1738.
Ezra Pond, 1739, 1742.
Simon Slocum, 1740, 1741,

1743, 1748, 1752.
John Fisher, 1744, 1747.
Jabez Fisher, 1753, 1756.

Hezekiah Fisher, 1758, 1769,

1773.
Timothy Pond, 1759, 1762.
Jonathan Whiting, 1763, 1768.
Ebenezer Metealf, 1774-77.

TOWN CLERKS.
Asa Pond, 1778, 1780, 1782, : Capt. David Baker, 1824-36.

1785.
Hezekiah Fisher, 1781.
Xathan Daniels, Jr., 17i

1791, 1804.
Amos Hawes, 1792, 1803.
Asa Harding, 1805, 1815.
Lewis Harding, 1816, 1823.

Wilkes Gay, Jr., 1837-39.
Davis Thayer, Jr., 1840-45.
Theron C. Hills, 1846-62.
Alpheus A. Russegue, 1863-

75, 1879, 1882.
George W. Wiggin, 1876-7S,

1882. 1883.

PRECINCT TREASURERS.

Eleazer Metealf, 1738.
Nathaniel Fairbank, 1739.
David Jones, 1740, 1741.
Thomas B.aeon, 1742, 1753.
Robert Blake, 1743-52, 1758,
1768.

Barueh Pond, 1754-57, 1761,

1764.
Daniel Thurston, 1759-60,

1765, 1767, 1769, 1771.

17:

Asa Whiting

1793.
Seth Lawrence, 1788-91.
Joseph Whiting, Jr., 1794-96.
Hauan Metealf, 1797-99.
Lieut. Phineas Ware, 1800-4.
Timothy Metealf, 1805-16.
Simeon Partridge, 1817-19.
Col. Caleb Thurston, 1820-32.

TOWN TREASURERS.

87, 1792, Joel Daniels, 1833-35, 1842-
53.

Wilkes Gay, Jr., 1836-39.

George W. Morse, 1840-41.

Theron C. Hills, 1854-60.

Adams Daniels, 1861, 1662.

Alpheus A. Russegue, 1863-74.

James M. Freeman, 1875-83.

REPRESENTATIVES TO
Ensign Jos. Hawes, 1778, 1881.
Dr. Joseph Metealf, 1779-80.
Peter Adams, 1782-83.
Samuel Lethbridge, 1784-85.
Hon. Jabez Fisher, 1786, 1798-

99.
Capt. Thomas Bacon, 1787-88.
Lieut. Hezekiah Fisher, 1789-

97.
Col. John Boyd,. 1800-4.
Pelatiah Fisher, 1805-6.
Capt. Joseph Bacon, 1807-14.
Lieut. Phineas Ware, 1811-17.
Lewis Fisher, 1815-16, 1818-

21, 1823, 1826.
Dr. Nath'l Miller, 1827, 1833.
Col. Caleb Thurston, 1829-30.
Willis Fisher, 1831.
M.aj. Davis Thayer, 1832, 1834,

1840.
Ensign Seth Dean, 1834.
Joel Daniels, 1837.
Col. Nathan Cleveland, 1838-

39.

THE GENER.\L COURT.
AVard Adams, 1840.
Albert E. Daniels, 1841.
Col. Saul B. Scott, 1843-44.
Dr. Shadrack Atwood, 1847.
Col. Paul B. Clark, 1848.
George W. Nason, 1850.
William Metealf, 1851.
Capt. Hartford Leonard, 1852.
Seneca Hills, 1855.
Mason F. Southworth, 1856.
Theron C. Hills, 1857.
Stephen W. Richardson, 1858.
James M. Freeman, 1860.
James P. Ray, 1861, 1877.
Rev. Wm. M. Thayer, 1863.
Francis B. Ray. 1865.
Alpheus A. Russegue, 1867.
Henry E. Pond, 1868.
Rev. Richard Eddy, 1870.
Joseph A. Woodward, 1871.
John H. Fisher, 1873-74.
Davis Thayer, 1876.
Henry R. Jenks, 1880.
Sabin Hubbard, 1883.

Centennials. — The first century of Franklin is a
precinct was completed Dec. 23, 1837 (old style).
The event was commemorated by a historical sermon
preached Feb. 25, 1838, by the then pastor. Rev.
Elam Smalley, and afterwards printed. The close of
the town's first century, March 2, 1878, was antici-
pated, in a town-meeting of March, 1873, by the
choice of a committee " to prepare a plan for an ap-
propriate celebration of the anniversary, to secure
statistics, and to do whatever they may deem neces-
sary in the matter, and report at a future town-meet-
ing." The committee were Stephen W. Richardson,
William M. Thayer, Waldo Daniels, William Rock-
wood, and Adin D. Sargent. They reported the plan
of a public celebration, and an address by Rev.
Mortimer Blake, D.D., a son of Franklin, then in
Taunton. The plan was adopted, and in 1877 five
hundred dollars were appropriated for expenses, in-
cluding the publication of a town history. March,
1878, the committee was enlarged by the addition of
A. St. John Chambre, Henry M. Green, James P.
Ray, Paul B. Clark, and Edward A. Rand, as a com-
mittee of arrangements. As March is usually unfit
for a public celebration, June 12th was selected, and
the day proved most favorable for the occasion.

The chief features of the celebration were a pro-
cession, including the public schools, and a repre-
sentation of the industries of the town ; a historical
address, with other services, in the Congregational
Church ; a dinner under a large pavilion on the Com-
mon with twelve hundred guests, where history and
prophecy, wisdom and wit. from the Governor of the
State to the town ofiicial, abounded until the wester-
ing sun suggested an adjournment until 1978. More
than ten thousand people came together from far and
near.

A museum of local antiquities, collected by the in-
dustry of a committee of ladies in the vestry of the
Congregational Church, was visited during the day
by more than a thousand people, and elicited unani-
mous surprise at the valuable relics they had gathered.
A vocal concert in the evening was fully attended,
and closed the centennial day.

The history of Franklin, afterwards published, con-
tains the historical address, enlarged by addenda ;
biographical sketches; genealogies in brief; speeches
at the dinner ; with portraits, views of buildings, etc.
It is an octavo of over three hundred pages, prepared
by the author of the address, and published by the
committee of the town. Very few copies remain in
the hands of W. Rockwood of the committee.

184

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

JAMES P. AND JOSEl'lI G. RAY.

There is an inspiration to others in the liistory of
self-made men ; so we gather these fragments from
the lives of these brothers, and place tliem as honored
records among the names of those worthy to occupy a
place in the " History of Norfolk County." Energy
is the corner-stone to their characters, the secret of
their successful lives, — well-directed, steady, per-
sistent energy. Joseph Ray, the father of these
brothers, was born in West Wrentham, Mass., July
24, 1791. He learned the stone-mason's trade, and
followed that some years, building mills, mostly in
the Blackstone Valley, whither he moved in 1813,
making his residence South Mendon, now East
Blackstone. In 1814 he married Lydia, daughter of
James Paine, an iron-worker, then of Smithfield,
R. I., but afterwards a resident of Mendon. Mr.
Ray entered into partnership with Mr. Paine in
1821, the firm-name being " Paine & Ray." They
engaged in the manufacture of cotton and woolen
machinery. Mr. Ray had become thoroughly faiuiliar
with their mechanism, and applied himself not only
to their construction but improvement. The first
geared speeders were invented and constructed in his
shop. The firm had two manufactories, one at South
Mendon, with one hundred and fifty hands, the other
at Slatersville, R. I., with one hundred men. In 1826
Mr. Ray purchased a cotton-mill of nine looms at
Hillsboro', N. H., which number he increased to
ninety. He conducted this successCully until 1839,
when his intimate business relations with Abraham
and Isaac Wilkinson, large cotton manufacturers of
Rhode Island, involved him in their failure, and he was
compelled to suspend payment. Receiving an exten-
sion on his notes for five years, he struggled faithfully
during that period (o restore his wrecked fortunes,
but failed and retired from business in 1844. He
died in 1847.

James P. Ray, eldest son of Joseph and Lydia
(Paine) Ray, was born in South Mendon, Mass., in
1820. He received the educational advantages of
the common and high schools of Bellingham and Ux-
bridge, and the Manual Labor School at Worcester,
with such attention as to qualify him as a teacher at
the age of fifteen, when he took charge of the dis-
trict school at Northbridge, Mass., for one terra. He
then became a clerk in a store at Upton, Mass., but
in 1836 his father, who had been living in North-
bridge, removed to South Mendon, where James en-

tered a cotton- factory and remained one year stripping
cards. The next year (1837), in the midst of the
greatest financial panic this country has ever known,
a boy of seventeen, his entire wealth consisting of
seven dollars, he started business on his own account
by hiring two carding-machines and power to run
them, and buying two hundred pounds of cotton
waste with which to make cottoti batting. This was
the humble beginning of a most remarkable and suc-
cessful business career. He ran his machine several
months, then hiring a horse and wagon, peddled out
his goods. Encouraged by his success, early the next
season he purchased six carding-machines which he
placed in a room in City Mills, Franklin, and con-
tinued the manufacture of batting until 1838, when
he purchased a small " mule" and made cotton wick-
ing during the winter. Notwithstanding ids industry
and care, by the depression of prices he found himself
five hundred dollars in debt the next spring.

Hiring the new mill of Joseph Whiting, of Union-
ville, he moved thither in May, 1839, his father's
family (now dependent on him) also moving there.
Managing his affairs with sagacity and untiring
energy unusual in so young a man, and making cot-
ton batting, wicking, and cotton twine, by 1844 he
had accumulated two thousand dollars. He was
again at this time embarrassed by the failure of
George Blackburn, of Boston, his commission mer-
chant. Receiving an extension of time, he paid the
last of the notes due in 1847. From this his career
has been one of prosperity. In 1844 his brother,
Frank B., three years his junior, who had been em-
ployed by him from youth, became his partner, with
firm-name of J. P. & F. B. Ray. They purchased
the celebrated " Makepeace Mill," and here and in the
mill at Uuionville manufactured batting, twine, wick-
ing, and bagging until 1851, when Joseph Gr. was
admitted partner, the firm becoming " Ray Brothers."

Mr. Ray married. May 31, 1843, Susan K.,
daughter of Capt. Alfred Knapp, of Franklin. Their
children are Edgar K. and James F. Mr. Ray is
Republican in politics ; as such has been representa-
tive from Franklin one term, and State senator two
years. He is a leading member of the Universalist
Church and one of its trustees. Far-seeing, bold,
energetic, and persistent, he has deserved and at-
tained success far beyond the hopes and ambitions of
his early manhood. He has neither courted popu-
larity nor feared censure. He gives generously where
his judgment approves, and refuses sometimes bluntly
when persistently urged to support what he does not
commend.

He has recently devoted much time to the con-

^^^^^^-^ J //^

FRANKLIN.

185

struction of tlie Milford, Franklin, and Providence
Railroad, of which he is president, and its construc-
tion is due to his untiring efforts. He was incor-
porator, and is director of Franklin Rubber Company,
president of Putnam Manufacturing Company, and
of the manufacturing corporations at Woonsocket and
City Mills.

Joseph G. Ray, youngest son of Joseph and
Lydia (Paine) Ray, was born in South Mendon, now
East Blackstone, Oct. 4, 1831. When but a lad of
eight he began life's battle by working all his spare
time morning and evening in his brother's mill at
Unionville making twine. When twelve he attended
school one year in Nashua, N. H. His vacations
were passed in the mill, where he became expert in
the methods of manufacture. In 1847, having saved
money enough for his expenses, he attended school
another year in Walpole, N. H. In 1850 he engaged
with his brother Frank, receiving four hundred and
fifty dollars yer year for his services, and during the
year started the first " rag-picker" and manufactured
the first " shoddy" made in New England. In 1851,
in connection with James, he formed the firm of
Ray Brothers, and bought the property in South
Mendon — then owned by Jenckes & Scott — where
their father commenced the manufacture of cotton
machinery. In 1854 he married Emily, daughter of
Col. Joseph Rockwood, of Bellingham. Their chil-
dren are Lydia P. and Annie R. (Mrs. Adelbert D.
Thayer). From 1861 to 1871, Mr. Ray resided in
Unionville ; from thence removed to Franklin, where
he still lives.

His summer residence is the old homestead of Col.
Rockwood, which Mr. Ray has taken much pains to
make a model home. He has spared no expense in
this, as the elegant building and elaborate surround-
ings clearly indicate. He is a lover of fine horses and
stock, and has done much to improve the quality of
both. He has made several importations of Holstein
cattle, of which he owns a fine herd. One of the
most unique features of this farm is its fish pond,
well stocked with German carp, surrounded by a pri-
vate race-course. Republican in politics, in 1859,
when but twenty-eight years old, Mr. Ray was chosen
representative from Blackstone in the State Legisla-
ture, of which he was the youngest member, and in
1869 was elected to represent his district in the State
Senate. Universalist in religious belief, he was one
of the trustees of the church, and the intimate friend,
confidant, and adviser of the late Dr. Dean in the
building of Dean Academy and the Universalist
Church of Franklin, and was the executive of the
doctor's bequests, to which he gave his whole time

and attention for several years, carrying the entire
financial responsibility. To him more than to any
other living man are the people of Franklin and the
Univer.>;alist society indebted for the completion of the
beautiful clmrch and Dean Academy. By his kind-
ness of heart, unfailing courtesy, his known integrity,
fine social qualities, skill in business and financial
operations, Mr. Ray has won the respect and confi-
dence of his fellow-citizens, and particularly of those
who have been brought into intimate connection with
him. He is treasurer of various manufacturing cor-
porations, was an incorporator, and is director and
treasurerof the Milford, Franklin and Providence Rail-
road Company. As a business man he has few if any
superiors. Both James and Joseph have contributed
largely to church advancement and support. They have
been connected personally and financially with every im-
portant business undertaking begun in Franklin since
the organization of the firm of Ray Brothers. In 1856
their mill at South Mendon was burned, and imme-
diately rebuilt. In 1858 they sold a right to raise a
dam for a new mill built by Edward Harris in the
north part of Woonsocket. This caused the water to
flow back and so injure their manufactory at South
Mendon that they closed up business there, removing
the machinery to Unionville. Frank B. retired from
the firm of Ray Brothers in 1860, the business being
continued by the two other members under firm-title
of J. P. & J. Gr. Ray. This firm purchased the
Bartlett mill at Woonsocket, where they manufactured
cotton sheetings, and in 1873 they, with Cscar J.
Rathburn, president of the Harris Woolen Company,
formed the firm of Rays, Rathburn & Co., which
now owns and operates Jenckesville Mills, of Woon-
socket. In 1865, J. P. & J. G. Ray purchased the
woolen-mill in North Bellingham, which was built in
1810 by their father, and of which he was part owner.
Here they manufacture .satinets as Ray Woolen Com-
pany. Their first mill in Franklin was built in 1870,
and used in making " shoddy." The firm of Rathburn
& Mackenzie was formed in 1872 by James P. and
Joseph G. Ray, Oscar J. Rathburn, and Charles J.
Mackenzie, and built a mill for the manufacture of
feltings. In 1874, J. P. & J. G. Ray purchased an in-
terest in Franklin Felting Company, reorganizing it as
Franklin Woolen Company. In 1877 they built a
brick mill at Franklin in which to manufacture fancy
cassimeres. In 1876 they purchased the original mill
of the Putnam Manufacturing Company, at Putnam,
which was built by Hosea Ballou, of Woonsocket, and
also City Mills, in Franklin. Their business and finan-
cial progress since 1847 has been steady and .satisfac-
tory. Commencing in both branches of textile indus-

186

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

tries with the lower grades of work, they have advanced
step by step, making, in cottons, first batting, next
wicking, next twine, then seamless bags, and finally
finished cloths. In woolen, first shoddy, next satinets,
then fancy cassimeres, without abandoning any branch
on taking up another.

Ei»(J.\R K. Ray, son of James P. and Susan
(Knapp) Ray, was born in Franklin, Mass., July 17,
1844. After a common-school and academic educa-
tion, was fitted for business by his father and uncles,
and has been associated with them since 1865, and in
1870 became a partner in both the firms of J. P. &
J. G. Ray, and Ray, Rathburn & Mackenzie. He is
treasurer of Putnam Manufacturing Company, and
vice-president of their Woonsocket corporation ; is an
active, energetic, and successful business man.

SHADRACH ATWOOD, M.D.

Shadrach Atwood, M.D., was born in Carver,
Plymouth Co., Mass., May 17, 1801. His parents
were Francis and Elizabeth (Ward) Atwood. His
grandfather, Benjamin Ward, was a captain in the
colonial army of the Revolution, and his grandfather,
William Atwood, was a lieutenant in the same service.
Francis Atwood was a farmer, and in 1811 he
purchased a farm in Middleborough, and removed
thither. Shadrach remained with his parents until
he was twenty-one, having advantages of education
only in a small district school until he was nineteen,
when he attended the academy at South Rridgewater.
A few months thereafter he engaged as teacher in a
district school, but becoming acquainted with a new
and remarkably successful system of teaching gram-
mar, he engaged in teaching that as a specialty, with
marked results for some time. He then began the
study of Latin preparatory to a college course, and
when twenty-two years old he went to Amherst,
and, after some preliminary academical study, entered
Amherst College, where he remained about eighteen
months. Here he made rapid progress, showing
those qualities of determination and tenacity of pur-
pose so strongly shown in his entire career, and
which, when a mere child, caused his father to say, " I
never told Shadrach to do a thing which he did not
accomplish, and never heard him say ' I can't do
it.' " About 1825 he began the study of medicine
under Dr. Arad Thompson, of Middleborough, but
after a few months went to Boston, and attended
three courses of lectures at Harvard Medical School,

becoming also a student in the ofiice and assisting in
the practice of the celebrated Dr. Winslow Lewis.
He made good use of the opportunities afforded him,
and was graduated from Harvard in February, 1830.
He soon commenced his long and successful medical
practice by establishing himself at Marlboro', whence,
after eighteen months' time, he removed to Belling-
ham, where he was located for several years. In
1836 or 1837 he changed his residence to Franklin,
which, with temporary absences, has been his home to
the present. In 1878 he gave up active practice,
and retired after a professional career of success and
profit of nearly half a century. He built up a large
practice, was active, energetic, and won many friends.
His nature is positive, and from peculiar circum-
stances he was early thrown entirely on his o