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SELECTMEN'S OFFICE
Henry Huttleston Rogers 1839 -- 1909 Fairhaven's Benefactor
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/annualreportofto 1953fair
ANNUAL REPORT OF
The Town Officers OF
Fairhaven, Mass.
FAIRH
TOWN
A
ASS,
INCORPOR
R
TOWN HALL
22-1812.
R
ED
FEB
FOR THE
Year 1953
REYNOLDS PRINTING, Inc. New Bedford, Mass. 1954
HENRY HUTTLESTON ROGERS
More than forty-four years ago, in the month of November, "Little Journeys", by Elbert Hubbard, devoted one number of Volume 25, to H. H. Rogers. (This Volume 25 was selected from the many volumes for which Mrs. Mary E. Harris had subscribed.) Elbert Hubbard II, representing the five children who own the copyrights on Elbert Hubbard's writings, has grant- ed permission to quote the following.
"Henry Huddleston Rogers was a very human individual. He was born at the village of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, in the year eighteen hundred and forty. He died in New York City in Nineteen hundred and nine, in his seventieth year."
"H. H. Rogers had personality. Men turned to gaze at him on the street; women glanced, and then hastily looked, un- necessarily hard, the other way; children stared."
"The man was tall, lithe, strong, graceful, commanding. His jaw was the jaw of courage; his chin meant purpose; his nose symboled intellect, poise and power; his brow spelled brain."
"He was a handsome man, and he was not wholly unaware of the fact. In him was the pride of the North American Indian, and a little of the reserve of the savage. His silence was al- ways eloquent, and in it was neither stupidity nor vacuity. With friends he was witty, affable, generous, lovable."
"In business negotiations he was rapid, direct, incisive; or smooth, plausible and convincing, all depending upon the man with whom he was dealing. He often did to others what they were trying to do to him, and he did it first. He had the splendid ability to say 'no' when he should, a thing many good men cannot do. At such times his mouth would shut like a steel trap and his blue eyes would send the thermometer be- low zero. No one could play horse with H. H. Rogers. He him- self, was always in the saddle."
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"H. H. Rogers was the ideal executive. He did not decide until the evidence was all in; he listened, weighed, sifted, sort- ed, and then decided. And when his decision was made the case was closed."
"The parents of H. H. Rogers were neither rich nor poor. They had enough, but there was never a surfeit. They were of straight New England stock. Of his four great grandfathers, three had fought in the Revolutionary War. The father had made one trip in a whaler. He was gone three years and got a one-hundred and forty-seventh part of the catch. The oil market was on a slump, and so the net result for the father of a millionaire-to-be was ninety-five dollars and twenty cents. This happy father was a grocer, and later a clerk to a broker in whale-oil. Aside from that one cruise to the whaling grounds, Rogers Pere played the game of life, near home and close to shore."
"The mother planned for the household. She was econo- mist, bursar and disburser. She was a member of the Congre- gational church, with a liberal bias, which believed in 'endless consequences' but not in 'endless punishment.' Later the fam- ily evolved into Unitarians by the easy process of natural selection. The father said grace, and the mother led in family prayers. She had ideas of her own and expressed them. The family took the Boston Weekly Congregationalist and the Bed- ford Weekly Standard. In the household there was a bookcase of nearly a hundred volumes. It was the most complete library in town, excepting that of the minister."
"The home where H. H. Rogers was born still stands. Its frame was made in Sixteen Hundred and Ninety, mortised, tenoned and pinned. In the garret the rafters show the loving marks of the broadaxe, to swing which musical instrument with grace and effectiveness is now a lost art."
"How short is the life of man! Here a babe was born, who lived his infancy, youth, manhood; who achieved as one in a million, who died, yet the house of his birth - old at the time - still stubbornly stands as if to make mock of our ambitions."
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"I had tea in this house where H. H. Rogers was born and where his boyhood days were spent. I fetched an armful of wood for the housewife, and would have brought a bucket of water for her from the pump, only the pump is now out of commission, having been replaced by the new-fangled water- works presented to the town by a Standard Oil magnate. Here Henry Rogers brought chips in a wheelbarrow from the ship- yard on baking-days; here he hoed the garden and helped his mother fasten up the flaming, flaring hollyhocks against the house with strips of old sail-cloth and tacks."
"In the winter the ice sometimes froze solid clear across Buzzards Bay. The active and hustling boys had skates made by the village blacksmith. Henry Rogers had two pairs, and used to loan one pair out for two cents an hour. Boys who had no skates and could not beg nor borrow and who had but one cent could sometimes get one skate for a while and thus glide gracefully on one foot."
"To grow up on a coast and hear the tales of seafaring men who have gone down to the sea in ships, is to catch it sooner or later. At fifteen Henry Rogers caught it, and was duly recorded to go on a whaler. Luckily his mother got word of it, and cancelled the deal. About then good fortune arrived in the form of opportunity. The young man who peddled the New Bedford Standard wanted to dispose of his route. Henry bought the route, and advised with his mother afterwards, only to find that she had sent the seller to him."
"When the railroad came in, Henry got a job as assistant baggageman. Henry Rogers was twenty. It was a pivotol point in his life. He was in love with the daughter of a captain of a whaler. They were neighbors and had been schoolmates together. Henry talked it over with Abbie Gifford - it was war or the oil-fields of Pennsylvania. And love had its way, just as it usually has."
"He entered into a partnership with Charles Ellis, and erected a refinery between Titusville and Oil City. The first year he and Ellis divided thirty thousand dollars between them."
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"In the fall of eighteen hundred and sixty-two, when he went back to Fairhaven to claim his bride, young Rogers was regarded as a rich man. The bride and groom returned at once to Pennsylvania and the simple life. Henry and Abbie lived in a one-roomed shack on the bank of Oil Creek. It was love in a cottage all right, with an absolute lack of everything that is supposed to make up civilization."
"About this time, Charles Pratt, a dealer and refiner of oils, of Brooklyn, appears upon the horizon. Pratt now contract- ed for the entire refined output of Rogers and Ellis at a fixed price. Crude oil suddenly took a skyward turn. Rogers and Ellis had no wells. They struggled on trying to live up to their contract with Pratt, but soon their surplus was wiped out, and they found themselves in debt to Pratt to the tune of several thousand dollars."
"Rogers went to New York and saw Pratt, personally assum- ing the obligation of taking care of the deficit. Ellis disappeared in the mist. The manly way of Rogers so impressed Pratt that he decided he needed just such a man in his business; a bargain was struck, and Rogers went to work for Pratt. Pratt gave Rogers an interest in the business, and Rogers got along on his twenty-five dollars a week, although the books showed he was making ten thousand dollars a year. Then comes John D. Rockefeller on from Cleveland, with his plans of cooperation and consolidation."
"Rockefeller was only one year older than Rogers, but seemed twenty. Rockefeller was always old and always dis- creet; he never lost his temper; he was warranted non-explosive from childhood. Rogers at times was spiritual benzine. The Standard Oil Trust was duly formed with a capital of one-mil- lion dollars. The Pratt Oil Company, with principal works in Brooklyn, but a branch in Cleveland, was one of the twenty concerns that were absorbed."
"And so it happened that Henry H. Rogers aged thirty- two, found himself worth a hundred thousand dollars. He was one of the directors in the new company."
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"And viewing the life of Rogers for years, from the time he saw the light of a whale-oil lamp in Fairhaven, to the man as we behold him now we must acknowledge his initiative and his power. He gave profitable work to millions."
"And so in eighteen hundred and eighty-five, when he was forty-five years of age, he built the Rogers School. In a few years, Rogers - or Mrs. Rogers, to be exact, - presented to the village a Town Hall. Next came the Millicent Library, in memory of a beloved daughter. When his mother passed away, as a memorial to her, he built a church and presented it to the Unitarian denomination. The Fairhaven Water-works System was a present from Mr. Rogers. And lastly was the Fairhaven High School. His last item of public work was an object-lesson as to what the engineering skill of man can do. He took a big bog or swamp that lay to the north of the village and was used as a village dumping ground. He drained the tract, filled in with gravel, and then earth, and transformed it into a public park of marvelous beauty."
"Rogers had the invincible heart of youth. He died as he had lived, always and forever in the thick of the fight. He had that American trinity of virtues; pluck, push, and perseverance. Courage, endurance, energy, initiative, ambition, industry, good- cheer, sympathy were his attributes."
BIRTHPLACE OF HENRY H. ROGERS
It has been quite a jolt to many to have it said that Fair- haven was not the birthplace of Henry Huttleston Rogers, espec- ially since the most of us would at any time be ready to take an oath that he was a native son. Let us present for future reference the statements of some of the believers of his Fair- haven nativity. I. In "A Brief History of the Town of Fair- haven," Chapter V, page 95, Mr. George H. Tripp whose topic was "Educational History," wrote as follows: - "The schools of Fairhaven received a fresh inspiration, and all educational interests were quickened into new and lasting activities by the erection in 1885 of the Rogers School building, a gift to the town of his birth by Mr. Henry H. Rogers." Mr. Tripp was born
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in the year 1853. The History was written in the year 1903. Mr. Tripp, was 50 years of age at the time he made that state- ment. Henry Rogers was 13 years of age at the time of Mr. Tripp's birth. It is evident that Mr. Tripp, through youth and middle age, accepted as an established fact the general impres- sion that Fairhaven was Mr. Rogers' birthplace.
II. Leonard Bolles Ellis stated in his "History of New Bedford and Its Vicinity," page 394, published in 1892: “Hen- ry Huddleston Rogers was born in Fairhaven, January 29, 1840." Mr. Ellis compiled the genealogy of the Rogers' family in 1891, which gives him the standing of an authority in making this statement.
III. In "A Brief History of the Town of Fairhaven," Chap- ter III, page 48, Mr. Lewis S. Judd, Jr. whose topic was "Relig- ious History," stated in reference to the Memorial Church: "A loving memorial to an honored parent, from one who has evidenced in such distinguished ways his regard for his native town." Mr. Judd's father was born in 1827, 13 years before the birth of Henry Rogers. Mr. Judd, Jr. had never questioned the birthplace of Mr. Rogers. (Lewis S. Judd, Jr. died in March 1928. His father died in April 1898.)
IV. The Bristol County Journal, writing in reference to the iron fence which Mr. Rogers gave to the Unitarian Society in 1880, (now occupied by Boys Club) stated, "It is the gift of Henry H. Rogers who is a native of this town." This state- ment may be found in THE FAIRHAVEN STAR of Saturday, February 21, 1880. For at least 40 years, therefore, the birth- place of Mr. Rogers had been recorded as Fairhaven.
V. A pamphlet of 62 pages, commemorative of the 250th anniversary of the settlement of Dartmouth as a town, was published in 1914. On page 60 we find: "Mr. H. H. Rogers, a native and lover of Fairhaven, has added one gift after another, from the Rogers School in 1885, to the Millicent Library in 1893, to the beautiful Town Hall in 1894, and in 1901 pre- sented the Masons with their building."
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"A beautiful edifice dedicated to Christian doctrine."
"Cathedral of worship with beauty unsurpassed"
"Emblematic of Faith -Self government, all American"
rrr
"School of magnt - American ble - a memorial tle
"a learned people are an enlightened people"
"Thru these portals is Democracy in action"
LI
et grandeur es nry H. Rogers"
THẾ
"An enlightenment - a knowledge gained by reading."
-
"A place of learning - for all children."
VI. In a copy of THE FAIRHAVEN STAR of February 1, 1894, which we have had in our possession since the date of issue, we find this assertion, among other statements, making up a description of the Rogers School: "The generous dona- tion of this building to the town on July 7, 1885 was prompted by Mr. Rogers' wish to promote the education of the youth of his native town, and furnish an enduring token of his interest in the welfare of its inhabitants." The publisher and editor of the STAR, Charles Dean Waldron, ( A publisher and editor hears and sifts everything) apparently never had a question as to the place of birth of Mr. Rogers.
VII. In "History of Fairhaven," by Miss Ruth L. Brockle- bank, teacher of History at the Rogers School, 1920-1923, stated in her mimeographed material of 35 pages, on page 24, under the title of "A Tribute to Mr. Henry Huttleston Rogers:" "His interest in his native town has been shown in other practical ways." On page 23, in addition to a remark about his deeds of charity she remarked, "To his native town he was most generous of all."
VIII. On page 25 of this pamphlet a Grammar School pupil, Norma G. Weeks, who composed and read the tribute to Mr. Rogers, in connection with a pageant held on the lawn of the Rogers School on June 15, 1921, began her essay with these words: - "Henry Huttleston Rogers was born in Fairhaven." This material, it should be remembered, was corrected and offered to the public by the History Department of our public schools.
IX. In The Daily Mercury of January 26, 1883 we find this: - "The people of Fairhaven are under more than the usual obligation to Henry H. Rogers who is to be congratulated on the proposed interest he feels in this, his native town." This was before the erection of the Rogers School. It was in November, 1882, that Mr. Rogers purchased the tract of land east of the foundry.
X. In "History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, published in 1883 compiled under the supervision of D. Hamilton Hurd,
we find this statement on page 279: - "Henry Huttleston Rog- ers was born in Fairhaven, Mass., January 29, 1840."
XI. After the erection of the Rogers School on Center Street, the town, at a special meeting held in Phoenix Hall on July 7, 1885, voted that a tablet be placed in the building. It was also voted to accept the wording of the tablet as moved by Hon. Weston Howland. This wording was evidently not quite acceptable to a few of the town fathers so the placement of the tablet was delayed nearly two years, until Tuesday, March 8, 1887. Now it is a safe conjecture that Mr. Henry H. Rogers, in the meantime, was consulted as to the wording. At any rate, the writer who was a pupil of the school at the time the tablet was placed in position and who had copied the wording in 1938, surmising that since so many choice pictures and mot- toes had disappeared from the walls of the rooms since con- struction of the building, that the tablet, too, might have taken flight, made another inspection on Friday, October 6th of the following year, finding the inscription: - "This tablet placed here by the citizens of Fairhaven commemorates the noble and enlightened liberality of Henry Huttleston Rogers who erected this building and presented it with the land upon which it stands to his native town of Fairhaven, July 7th, A. D. 1885."
XII. The dedication of the Rogers School took place on September 3, 1885 at which Mr. Rogers made an address. At its conclusion he directed his words to those who as pupils would in part become the custodians of the property. These words were: - "My young Friends: - I wanted to do something which would fittingly express my gratitude and the fondness for my birthplace with its time-honored family associations."
XIII. Franklyn Howland, author of "History of Acush- net" stated on page 135, in substance, the following: - "In July 1903, after Acushnet voted to build an addition to the Parting Ways school building, Henry H. Rogers, a native of Fairhaven, donated $5,000 to complete the construction."
XIV. In "Little Journeys," Volue 25, Elbert Hubbard wrote: "He (Henry Huddleston Rogers) was born at the village
10
of Fairhaven, Massachusetts in the year eighteen hundred and forty."
MR. ROGERS' SUMMER HOMES
Between the Four Corners and Port Phoenix there stood only one house and that was the house of Mr. Allen. More than a century ago this Edmund Allen estate passed into the hands of James Fisher and in 1867 Mr. Fisher sold his twelve acre farm to John B. Tarr for $15,000. In 1884 the Tarr prop- erty indirectly became the property of Henry H. Rogers which was not far from the southeast corner of Fort and Cedar Streets. This, with renovations, became the summer home of Mr. Rogers and family. At 3 o'clock on the afternoon of Sunday, February 18th, 1894 the bells of this town began to ring. Crowds were seen rushing down Fort Street. Citizens of New Bedford came over the bridge in packed horse-cars. Upon their arrival they saw that Mr. Rogers' summer home was afire and aflame. The dwelling was badly damaged and was taken down. Then in 1895 arose in its stead the magnificent mansion, a veritable palace of eighty-five rooms. This then became the summer home of Mr. Rogers, his family, and guests. In 1909 Mr. Rogers died and this mansion, furnishings, and land became by will the property of his son, Harry. Within six years, that is, in 1915, this mansion and furnishings were sold to a Boston wrecking firm. Complete disintegration took place as we see it today. Thus we have the changes on the old Edmund Allen estate with- in a century of time.
LADY FAIRHAVEN'S GIFT
Under the date of June 4th, 1933 the Sunday Standard- Times of New Bedford, Massachusetts, printed the following: "Dedication of gift recalls Fort history. Old Fairhaven land- mark now memorial to Henry H. Rogers. Built prior to 1775, presented to town by daughter of noted resident. Mrs. Urban H. Broughton of London, England, daughter of Henry H. Rogers, had purchased the historic Fort from the War Depart- ment for $5,000. It was accepted at the next Fairhaven Town
11
Meeting. The Fairhaven Improvement Association had the walls repaired and has since kept the place in a state of ex- cellent condition.
In "Old-Time Fairhaven", Book III (if ever published ) more about this transaction may be learned.
CHARLES A. HARRIS.
Mr. Charles A. Harris compiled and wrote the biography of H. H. Rogers. Mr. Harris has published two books on "Old Fairhaven."
Lay out by Kenneth R. Vining and art work by Milton K. Delano.
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Table of Contents
Page
Henry H. Rogers
3
Factual Information about Fairhaven
15
Calendar of Board Meetings .......... 17
Directory of Town Officers .... 18
Selectmen's Message
25
Financial Reports of Town Accountant
.....
52
Departmental Reports 57 .......
Report of Fairhaven Water Company for 1952
111
Report of the School Committee ...... ......... 129
Appendix
Annual Town Meeting
180
Special Town Meeting 181
List of Town Meeting Members
217
Vital Statistics
166
.......
Report of the Millicent Library ........ 231
Index .....
247
Town of Fairhaven
Settled 1653 Incorporated 1812
Population 12,764 - 1950 Census Ninth Congressional District First Councillor District
Third Bristol Senatorial District Ninth Bristol Representative District
ANNUAL TOWN MEETING Second Saturday in March
ELECTION OF OFFICERS First Monday in February
14
Fairhaven, Massachusetts
General Information About The Town Located On The Shore of Buzzards Bay 56 Miles from Boston 1 Mile from New Bedford
Registered Voters - 7,097 Tax Rate - $53.00 Valuation - $14,377,080
Area - 7,497 Acres Miles of Streets and Roads - Approximately 60
Number of Dwellings - 4,997 Churches - 9
Public Schools - 6 Private Schools - 3 Banks - 2
Shore Resorts - 7
PRINCIPAL INDUSTRIES
Ship Building Winches and Fishing Machinery
Tack and Nail Making Pharmaceuticals
Oil Refinery
Fishing Industry Diesel Engine Repairing Loom Crank Shafts Toilet Preparations Fish Freezing
BENEFACTIONS OF THE LATE HENRY H. ROGERS Millicent Library High School
Town Hall
Rogers School
Fairhaven Water Works Unitarian Memorial Church Cushman Park
15
· ORGANIZATION · OF· FAIRHAVEN . TOWN. GOVERNMENT.
VOTERS
Moderator
Town Meeting Members
Precinct Chairmen
Finance Commitee
Planning Board
Town Collector
School Committee
Town Treasurer
Town Clerk
Board of Assessors
Auditors
Comm'snrs of Trust Funds
Park Comm's'nrs
Tree Warden
Board of Selectmen
Board of Health
Sewer and Water Com- missioners
·Welfare Board
Bureau of Old Age Assistance
Registrars 3 of Voters
Town Accountant
Burial Agent
Veterans Services
Slaughter Inspector
Animal Inspector
Plumbing Inspector
Sealer of Weights and Measures
Safety Committee
Police Dept.
Supt of Sts. Building Inspector
Civil Defence
Fire Dept.
Shellfish Inspector
Dog Officer
Forest Committee
Forest Warden
Board of Appeals
CALENDAR
BOARD MEETINGS
SELECTMEN-Every Monday at 7:00 P. M. Telephone 2-5416.
BOARD OF PUBLIC WELFARE-Every Monday following Selectmen's Meetings. Telephone 2-5416.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE-Second Tuesday at 7:30 P.M. Telephone 3-1241. SEWER and WATER COMMISSIONERS-Every Thursday at 7:00 P.M. Telephone 3-8531.
BUILDING INSPECTOR-Business transacted in Assessors' Office daily from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Monday to Friday. Saturdays 9:00 A.M. to 12 Noon.
HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT-Office located at Town Yard, Rotch Street. and is open 8:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. Monday to Friday. Saturdays 9:00 A.M. to 12 Noon.
THOSE OFFICERS NOT MAINTAINING OFFICE HOURS IN THE TOWN HALL MAY BE REACHED AS FOLLOWS:
SHELLFISH INSPECTOR : 163 Main St., Fairhaven. Telephone 9-6367. INSPECTOR OF ANIMALS and DOG OFFICER : 138 Alden Road. Fairhaven. Telephone 2-1561.
SLAUGHTER INSPECTOR: 373 Alden Road, Fairhaven. Telephone 2-3557.
INSPECTOR OF WIRES: 110 Green St., Fairhaven. Telephone 3-1963. SEALER OF WEIGHTS and MEASURES: 38 Rotch Street, Fairhaven. Telephone 5-7762.
INSPECTOR OF PETROLEUM : 11 Bridge Street, Fairhaven. Telephone 2-0125.
TREE WARDEN : 134 Bridge Street, Fairhaven. Telephone 3-0866. WHARFINGER: 20 William Street.
PARK COMMISSIONERS: Call Joseph L. Faria, Jr., 39 Elizabeth Street, Fairhaven. Telephone 3-9292.
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Directory of Town Officers
LEGISLATIVE STUART M. BRIGGS, Moderator Term expires 1954
Finance Committee At Large
Frederick J. Hayward William C. Brennan (resigned) Charles A. Maxfield Jr. (to fill unexpired term) F. Eben Brown
Precinct 1
Jack B. Hirschmann, Chairman Eliot Mowat Fred A. Hubbard
Term expires 1954 Term expires 1955 Term expires 1956
Precinct 2
Webster Wilde
Term expires 1954
John A. Murley (resigned) Term expires 1955
Arthur P. Lewis (to fill unexpired term)
John B. Humphreys
Term expires 1956
Precinct 3
Walter J. Borowicz, Secretary Gilbert Vieira James J. Medeiros
Term expires 1954 Term expires 1955 Term expires 1956
Precinct 4
Winston H. Cushman
Clarence I. Bangs
Augustus H. Xavier
Term expires 1954 Term expires 1955 Term expires 1956
Joseph H. Mckenzie Marinus VanderPol Louis E. Doucette
Precinct 5
Term expires 1954 Term expires 1955 Term expires 1956
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ADMINISTRATIVE (Elective Officials Designated by Capital Letters)
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
CHARLES W. KNOWLTON
WALTER SILVEIRA
ALBERT E. STANTON, Chairman
Claudia I. Schiller
Addie M. Stowell
Term expires 1954 Term expires 1955
Term expires 1956 Secretary Assistant
TOWN CLERK
MICHAEL J. O'LEARY
Mabel E. Gammons
Term expires 1956 Assistant Town Clerk
TREASURER
MICHAEL J. O'LEARY
Rose E. G. Keen
Term expires 1956 Statistical Clerk
TAX COLLECTOR
THOMAS J. MCDERMOTT
Term expires 1956
Helen M. Westgate Assistant to the Tax Collector
DEPUTY TAX COLLECTOR John F. Hennessey
TOWN ACCOUNTANT Irva M. Bushnell
ASSESSORS
CLARENCE A. TERRY SUSAN B. VINCENS
CHRISTOPHER J. BIRTWISTLE
Term expires 1954 Term expires 1955 Term expires 1956
BOARD OF HEALTH
DR. C. E. P. THOMPSON Term expires 1954
DR. FILBERT A. SILVEIRA, Agent
CLARENCE A. TERRY
Term expires 1955 Term expires 1956
TOWN PHYSICIAN Dr. C. E. P. Thompson
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HEALTH AND SANITATION
Dr. Edward J. Mee Grace E. Smalley, R. I. John M. Reilly Eben P. Hirst
Dentist District Nurse Plumbing Inspector Associate Plumbing Inspector
SHELLFISH INSPECTOR
Tracy W. Marks
INSPECTOR OF ANIMALS Samuel C. Barrett
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