USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Dedham > History and directory of Dedham, Mass. for 1889 : containing a complete resident, street and business directory ; Census of Massachusetts and a history of the town from the first settlement to the present time > Part 1
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Gc 974.402 D36ht 1774647
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01115 0601
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historydirectory 1889unse
HISTORY AND DIRECTORY
OF
DEDHAM, MASS
FOR 1889.
Containing a Complete Resident, Street and Business Directory, Town Officers, Schools, Societies Churches, Post Offices, Etc., Etc.
ILLUSTRATED.
CENSUS OF MASSACHUSETTS
AND A
HISTORY OF THE TOWN
FROM THE FIRST SETTLEMENT TO TIIE PRESENT TIME.
Compiled and Published by A. E. FOSS & CO., Needham.
BOSTON : PRESS OF G. H. WARE, 43 LINCOLN STREET. ,
1889.
-
1774647
2
ADVERTISEMENTS.
ELMER P. MORSE, *FLORIST
Flowers and Floral Decorations Furnished and Arranged to Order. Willow Street, Dedham, Mass.
N
AB
00000
APR. 13
18 92
N
N
THE
/BRARY
We make & Portraits, .
id Crayon I Groups.
place for the
call and examine our .. prices. Printing and Developing for Amateurs.
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED TO ALL.
A. D. G. POCH,
Carpenter * and * Builder, HIGH STREET, DEDHAM.
P. O. BOX, 456.
Jobbing of every description promptly attended to. Window Screens a Specialty.
Studio
etors.
MASS.
2
Our customers
same class of WOin.
ior chinuren.
Please
TASvers
CTA
TO38Ta HOTH
3
ADVERTISEMENTS.
GEO. HEWITT & CO., DEALERS IN
CHOICE FAMILY GROCERIES,
MUSTARD
TT
FRENEY
RAISES
.
SUCAR
100
Also Flour, Teas, Patent Medicines, Crockery, Hardware, Farming Tools, Cutlery, Stationery, Small Wares, Clocks, Silver Plated Ware, &c., &c. Teas, Coffees and Molasses Specialties.
MILTON STREET, EAST DEDHAM. P. O. Walnut Hill, Mass.
Dedham Domestic Bakery AND CONFECTIONERY, Cor. School and Washington Streets, DEDHAM.
I shall make a specialty of Home Made Bread, and shall keep constantly on hand a full assortment of cake and pastry.
ALL MY PIES ARE REAL MOME MADE.
I shall also keep on hand a fresh stock of Confectionery. ROBERT STEWART.
1
4
ADVERTISEMENTS.
IF YOU WANT THE
Best x Creamery x Butter,
Received fresh from the makers every week, and the finest Bread Flour sold in this town go to
BOYDEN & BAILEY, GROCERS, EAST DEDHAM.
M. KEELAN & SON, DEALERS IN
Stoves, Furnaces, Ranges, Drain Pipe, &c.
Kitchen Furnishing Goods. Plumbing a Specialty. Copper, Tin, and Sheet Iron Work done to order.
Eastern Avenue, Dedham.
CHARLES FRENCH,
- DEALER IN -
Wood, Coal & Loose Hay.
WOOD FOR OPEN FIRES A SPECIALTY.
Expressing to and from Boston. Furniture and Piano Mooving. Light and Heavy Teaming.
By resonable prices and prompt and efficient services we hope to receive a portion of your patronage.
High Street, - West Dedham.
.
8442 Containing a complete resident, street and .4 business directory, town officers, schools, societies, churches, post offices, etc .... Comp. and pub. by A. E. ross & co .... Boston, 1889. Check Foro, Alonzo Day co needham Cavalo · Nestory and devices, SHELF CARD 18 204 . 201 1889 A 899
1
SANS
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6
ADVERTISEMENTS. -
ESTABLISHED IN 1863.
RICHARD M. FINN, DEALER IN
CHOICE # FAMILY # GROCERIES BOOTS, SHOES AND RUBBERS, BUSSEY STREET, - EAST DEDHAM.
CONRAD HILLES,
MERCHANT TAILOR,
SMITH'S BLOCK,
HIGH STREET, -
- - DEDHAM.
E. O. KEEGAN, - PROPRIETOR OF HIGH + STREET + MARKET.
BEST QUALITY ALWAYS.
-
e
-
PURE LARD A SPECIALTY.
A Full Line of Choice Meats, Vegetables, Fruit, Canned Goods, &c. HIGH ST., EAST DEDHAM. P. O. WALNUT HILL, MASS.
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-
CONTENTS.
Abbreviations used,
99
Business Directory,
165
Census of Massachusetts,
177
Churches,
77
Fire Department,
72
Historical Sketch,
9
Home Circle,
161
Index to Advertisers,
182
Library,
84
Post Offices,
71
Resident Directory,
99
Schools and Teachers,
85
Societies,
· 89
Street Directory,
66
Town Officers,
69
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Memorial Hall, . 38
The Court House as originally built,
41
The Fairbanks House
62
The Old Avery House,
·
76
Public Library,
. 84
OSCAR REIN, Cigar Manufacturer.
Cigars made of the Finest Tobacco, and for sale by all dealers in Cigars in this vicinity.
BUSSEY STREET, - EAST DEDHAM. P. O., WALNUT HILL, MASS.
A 899
1
·
-
8
ADVERTISEMENTS.
E. A. CHASE & CO., (Successors to Sanderson & Chase,) STONEHAVEN STATION, DEDHAM, MASS., -DEALERS IN- 1
LUMBER AND COAL TOGETHER WITH
LIME, BRICK, CEMENT, SAND, ETC.
Orders left at the Drug Store of H. L. WARDLE, or sent us by Mail will receive prompt attention.
E. A. CHASE & CO.,
P. O. Address. DEDHAM or WALNUT HILL
GEORGE H. HOGAN, CARPENTER AND BUILDER,
SHOP-East Street, near Railroad Bridge. RESIDENCE-Ponniman Square, Dedham.
ALL KINDS OF JOBBING PROMPTLY ATTENDED TO.
JAMES TREFREY, Auctioneer and Appraiser, And Dealer in Second-hand Furniture. EAST DEDHAM, MASS.
Sales attended to in any part of the Commonwealth. Specialty made of Real Estate and Standing Wood. Cash paid for small lots of Furniture, Paper Stock and all kinds of Metal.
HISTORY OF DEDHAM
BY ERASTUS WORTHINGTON. 1
CHAPTER I.
THE SETTLEMENT-THE TOWN COVENANT.
ON the third day of September, 1635, at the General 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 northeast side there- of, to have ground lying to it on both sides of 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 under- stated in the record, yet the place designated 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 beginning of its written history. It marks with certainty the time when the settlement had been definitely determined 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 settlement at Water- town, begun in 1630, had already become alarmed at the
1 This historical account is taken from the History of Norfolk County, published in 1884, by special permission of the authors.
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HISTORY OF DEDHAM.
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 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 insufficiency 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 meadow 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 furnish both water and forage for his cattle before the uplands could be cleared.
The removal from Watertown was gradually effected, 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, 1635, would seem sufficient to prove that the plant- ation was actually begun in that year. It is said that there were twelve of these pioneers who first planted there rude houses upon the plains of Dedham. Although the names of 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. Captain Thomas Cakebread 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
11
HISTORY OF DEDHAM.
previous year, and to distinguish the town by the name of Contentment, the General Court ordered " that the plant- ation to be settled above the falls of Charles River shall have three years immunity from public charges, and the name of the plantation to be Dedham ; to enjoy all that land on the southerly and easterly side of Charles River not formerly 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 always been known. No definite reason can be assigned 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 Dedham, in Essex, England, which may satisfactorily account for it.
The territory included in this grant to the Dedham proprietors was magnificent in its extent and somewhat 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, Medfield, 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 pur- chased 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 committees and much negotiation subse- quently to define the boundaries between Dedham and Roxbury and Dorchester.
This grant of the General Court in confirmation and en- largement of the grant of a plantation made in 1635 was made to the nineteen persons who were petitioners. They
12
HISTORY OF DEDHAM.
were 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,
Lambert Genere, Nicholas Phillips, Ralph Shepherd,
Philemon Dalton, Ezekiel Holliman,
John Gaye,
Thomas Bartlett,
John Kingsbury,
Francis Austen,
John Dwight,
John Rogers,
John Coolidge, Richard Evered, John Howard.
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 settle- ment 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 Williams 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 probably never removed from Watertown. Of these who remained here as permanent settlers were Lambert Genere, John Gay, John Kingsbury, and John Howard. 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
£
13
HISTORY OF DEDHAM.
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 construction of the railroad in 1849.
The settlement was now in the period of its " nonage," 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 simplicity and brevity are admirable, while the spirit which pervades it shows that their earnest desire and prom- inent motive were for a loving and comfortable society.
" THE COVENANT. .
" 1. We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, do, in the fear and reverence of Ahnighty God, mutually and severally promise amongst ourselves and each to other to profess and practice 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 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 meek- ness of spirit, for the edification of each other, in the knowledge and faith of the Lord Jesus, and the mutual encouragement unto all temporal comforts 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 parties 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 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 fellowship, 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 forever, as we have done.
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14:
HISTORY OF DEDHAM.
There is no date to this covenant to show when it was drawn up, but it must have been before the act of incorpor- ation, 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 some 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.
CHAPTER II.
INDIAN DEEDS-PHILIP'S WAR.
Ar the time of the coming of the settlers, there were no Indians to be seen within miles of the settlement. Chicatabot, sachem of the Neponsets, afterwards claimed the territory west of Neponset River, bounded northerly on Charles River and southerly on the land of Philip, sachem of the Pokano- kets. 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 in- cluding Natick, Needham, and Dedham Island. It was the policy of the Massachusetts 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 produced 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
1
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HISTORY OF DEDHAM.
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 out- break was about to occur. The soldiers were called out for frequent trainings. A barrel of gunpowder and other ammu- 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 supplies. The people maintained a garrison and set a watch. The inhabitants had been en- couraged to enlist into the troop of horse commanded by Capt. Prentice 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 defenee. 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
16
HISTORY OF DEDHAM.
was cleared to a considerable extent, and was overlooked by the watch in the belfry of the new meeting-house. The Indians in the town were ordered to depart, and to go either to Natick, Neponset, 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 Deerfield.
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 bat- tle 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 followers. 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 regarded as an enemy second only in power and influence 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.
17
HISTORY OF DEDHAM.
CHAPTER III.
INCORPORATION OF NEEDHAM-INCORPORATION OF WALPOLE- SERVICES OF DEDHAM MEN IN FRENCH WARS-THE PILLAR OF LIBERTY-EVENTS PRIOR TO THE AMERICAN REVOLU- TION.
The gradual extension of new settlements within the territory of the proprietors is shown by the incorporation of new towns. In 1711 forty persons, residing in that part of the town now called Needham, petitioned the General Court to be set off as a separate township. Dedham at first opposed the separation, but afterwards gave its consent on condition that the petitioners should have lesa territory than they demanded. The town of Needham was incorporated Nov. 5, 1711, with all the territory asked for in the petition. Bel- lingham was incorporated Nov. 27, 1719. In 1691 the selectmen had reported that the lands near Mendon and Wrentham, which constituted the town of Bellingham, were not worthy laying 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.
The passage of the Stamp Act in 1765 was the beginning of the series of measures by which England asserted the right to tax the colonies, and which were the proximate causes of the American Revolution. 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 resistance the men of Dedham 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
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HISTORY OF DEDHAM.
on the late sufferers by the riots in Boston, the town voted that it could not consent even to a partial indemnity. In November, however, the town voted that it would be a dan- gerous 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 inscriptions, 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.
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