USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Braintree > Brief history of the town of Braintree in Massachusetts, prepared for the observance of the tercentenary celebration of its founding, 1640-1940 > Part 5
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6
[ 47 ]
-
Benjamin Vinton French By MARION S. ARNOLD AND ALLEN GAGE
B ENJAMIN VINTON FRENCH, eldest son of Moses and Eunice (Vinton) French of Braintree, was born July 29, 1791.
The parents of Mr. French lived in a white colonial house, of the type now generally known as "Cape Cod," which stood on Elm Street about where Hawthorne Road now starts. Some of the timbers from this house, which has since been torn down, were used to build the house now in the name of Mr. Wayne Hannigan, formerly in the name of Arnold. Northwest of the French Homestead stood the house of Thomas Thayer, who came from England to Braintree in 1640 with his father, Thomas Thayer. Mr. French later acquired this very old house and made it his home.
In 1812 he began as a grocer in Boston and followed that business for twenty-five years, and by energy and diligence acquired a handsome property. In 1817, he married his cousin, Caroline French, born 1798, daughter of Abijah French of Boston, and twenty-six years later she died, Sep- tember 4, 1843, aged 45 years. Five years later he married a young woman, Florence Alice Seger, cousin of De Witt Clin- ton. About one year after his first marriage, he began to take an interest in agricultural affairs, and in 1824 acquired more land in Braintree for farming purposes. He became a per- manent resident, about 1836, having relinquished his business in Boston.
Mr. French was among the first scientific agriculturalists in Massachusetts ; and had a well-stocked library on the subject. He continually studied and experimented with various the- ories. The elder Quincy, himself a veteran farmer, once re- lated "that in varied husbandry Mr. French had no com- petitor." The farm of Mr. French comprised nearly 200 acres, of which the greater part was under cultivation, and
{ 48 ]
TOWN HALL, 1857-1911
ARNOLD TAVERN, WASHINGTON STREET, BUILT 1800
-
-
BIRTHPLACE OF SYLVANUS THAYER, BUILT 1720
THE FRENCH HOUSE, FIRST POST OFFICE BUILT BEFORE 1700
were enclosed by substantial stone walls and were thoroughly drained. Many of these walls are still standing in splendid condition.
Hundreds of visitors came to see the model barn which Mr. French built between Elm and Adams Streets. This barn later became the Drinkwater tannery. Mr. French's stables were considered the finest in the state. A set of scales was in the runway; everything had to be weighed - hay, potatoes, beets, mangels and turnips. The vegetables were dumped into the chutes, going into separate rooms in the basement that occupied about one-quarter of this floor. The balance was used for horses, cows and oxen. The cellar was paved with flat stones.
He had at his house a splendid greenhouse and conserva- tory, and flowers were abundant in his gardens. On one of his many trips abroad, he brought from England an Irish expert on gardening, Mr. Michael Keene, who superintended his place, and many were the gardens in Braintree that glowed with beauty from the seeds and cuttings furnished them through the generosity of Mr. Keene.
Mr. French specialized in Pomology, and the variety and excellence of the fruit on his farm was a common topic of remark. In 1851 he exhibited, at the Horticultural Rooms in Boston, 230 choice specimens of as many different varieties of the apple and the pear, for which he received a splendid piece of plate. In 1858, he had on his place over 400 varieties of the apple, as many of the pear and about 100 each of plums and cherries, besides every variety of other fruits which can be cultivated in this climate. Part of his nursery was on Middle Street, opposite River Street, now part of the Arnold Farm. In his nurseries could be found all the native, as well as the rare exotic flowers and shrubs.
Mr. French was the man who enclosed the cemetery on Elm Street by its fine stone walls and iron fence, and there will be found a fine monument erected to his memory. His ideas from abroad gave the First Congregational Church its wonderful edifice which burned in 1912.
Not only in Braintree was he active; while residing in Boston, he served the city as Assistant Assessor, Overseer of the Poor, Director of the House of Reformation for Juvenile Delinquents ; besides being a director of banks and
[ 49]
3
L
insurance offices. In 1843 he was a member of the Executive Council of Massachusetts under Governor Morton.
The idea of a cemetery in the vicinity of Boston, like Père La Chaise at Paris, originated with Mr. French. He ex- amined the grounds, and in connection with Mr. Brimmer, the owner, laid the plan which resulted in the Mount Auburn Cemetery.
Mr. French was one of the founders of the Norfolk County Agricultural Society, the U. S. Horticultural Society, the U. S. Agricultural Society, and the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture.
A man of distinguished appearance, who loved the beau- ties of his Godgiven world and tried to bring to full fruition its trees, plants and flowers, the memory of Mr. French will ever be associated with beauty and elegance.
[ 50 ]
1
Highlights of Braintree Roads By MARION S. ARNOLD
ROUTE I
T HIS route, on leaving Town Hall, goes northerly on Washington Street to Braintree Square where stands the First National Bank, the First Church and business blocks.
Elm Street on the right passes the church and goes down to the railroad, crosses it and should be followed to the point where the road divides, - Adams Street on the right, Elm at the left. The pond and Middle Street are seen on the right before coming to Adams Street. On Adams Street, at the right in the yard of a large stone mill, were the ancient iron works and many old mills. Take Elm Street to the inter- section with Commercial Street ( formerly the old Plymouth road). Turn left on Commercial and follow it straight to the old Adams houses, which are at the foot of a long hill and are easily recognized.
I. Opposite the Thayer Public Library, which was the gift of General Sylvanus Thayer to the town, stands a house built by Thomas French, son of the emigrant John French, before 1700. It is still occupied by the French family, and the first Post Office in the town was kept in the southwest room in 1825 by "Squire Asa " French, who was born April 16, 1775 and died November 14, 1853. The old scales which were used to weigh the mail are yet in the possession of the family.
2. Northerly, across the street was lately a corner, that of Union and Washington Streets, now obscured by the way of the new under- pass; easterly, stood the first Town Hall, built in 1829. It had a pointed roof and the body of the building was later cut into two parts, moved to Taylor Street and used as tenements. They are still standing.
3. On the west side of the street, on the corner of Central Avenue and Washington Street, in the vacant lot, stood the old Arnold Inn or Tavern where covered baggage wagons with eight or ten horses used to stop on their way between Boston and New Bedford. Their drivers stayed over night and refreshed themselves at the bar in the southeast front room.
[5]]
4. Next, on the west side will be seen Thayer Academy with its fine gymnasium on the north side and the new Frothingham Hall on the south side of the campus. This was also a gift to the town by General Sylvanus Thayer. The headmaster, Mr. Stacy B. Southworth, occupies the house opposite on the east side of the road. This was once the house of Dr. Jonathan Wild, which was moved from Thayer Academy grounds to its present location and has since been occupied by the headmasters of the Academy. General Thayer passed his last days in this house.
5. Going on towards the north end of the town will be seen on the right (east side) a low Cape Cod colonial house which has the figures 1777 on its chimney, the year it was built, by one Zebah Hayden.
6. A short way farther on (west side) is seen a handsome, white, nearly square colonial house with 1804 on its chimney. The grounds are beautifully laid out, as they should be, as it is the site of the first school land and building, 1716. The house was later the home of one of our beloved school teachers of the last generation, Miss Joanna Penniman. It is known as the Daniel Penniman house. Its number is 555.
7. On the east side is the new High School building, once the site of the Center School, a small white building, a row of tall elm trees on each side of it. This later was removed to Elm Street, be- came a Baptist church, then a Post Office and store, and was finally incorporated in another building.
8. Across the street from its original site is West Street, long known as " Old Narrow Lane," and in early days as the way to Aldridge's farm. Great Pond lies at its western end and is well worth seeing. It passes through a fine residential section also. On the northwest corner of West and Washington, on the site of the present Episcopal Church, stood in 1763 the second schoolhouse. And on the right side of West Street, a few rods above the church, stood the old " Pound " - " pinfold " on the map of 1832.
9. On the east side of Washington Street is the Hollis School, which stands on the old Hollis homestead where David Norton Hollis had a large farm with his house close beside the street with a huge barn in the rear. The school was named for the Hollis family.
IO. Across Webster Road, north of the Hollis School, stands a beautiful and large white house built by Colonel Otis Wild, sold by him in 1840 to the Hollis family. It was once a meeting place of the Christian Science Church when it was first organized, but in the last generation there stood, under the wide-spreading trees, the porch of the second building of the First Congregational Church. This was
{ 52 ]
used by the young men of the village as their " Club," and was called " The Old Lab."
II. Across the street from this house stands an old colonial house, No. 469, which was built in 1756 by Rev. Ezra Weld. Later Captain Thomas Hollis bought it and he sold to Thomas Penniman. Dr. T. H. Dearing, good physician, school committee man, prominent in all town affairs, resided there for many years. The doorways were low so that the Doctor, who was tall, always bent his head when he went through the doorways of other houses. Wearing his hair professionally long, one can see him tip back his head and shake his gray locks vigorously. He had natural ability for medicine.
12. Next on the same side, west, stands what is now known as the " Legion Building," once the Union Schoolhouse (when the school at the south, that of the north, and the center school were merged about 1868). It was the site of the house of Robert Taft, ancestor of President William Howard Taft, and also of Caleb Hobart, both pioneer settlers. An old well was long seen on the premises.
13. Across from the Legion Building, a little farther north, a lane runs easterly, called "Soper House Lane." Looking up this lane is seen a large house, now cement but originally of clapboard exterior. Its roof sloped to the rear and it had, perhaps does now, great heavy beams in the ceilings. It was built in 1747 by Peter Clark and became the property of the Thayers, into which family Lieutenant Edmund Soper married. He was in the Revolutionary War. It was occupied by him and thus its name.
14. As the " Square " is reached, ahead is seen the block standing on the site of the old Lyceum building. The Lyceum was erected in 1829 by a corporation of business men. It housed stores and offices in its lower story and had rooms in the upper, a hall and reading room, which were used for debating clubs and literary societies. The First Church used it for Sunday School purposes until their chapel was built. It burned in 1912 and the church also.
15. On the opposite corner was the parsonage of Rev. Dr. Richard S. Storrs, a fine building now destroyed. A block of stores hides its site.
16. Turning to the right, the new stone church of the First Con- gregational Society, the fifth built on the spot, has its accompanying old cemetery across the street (Elm), the first burial there being the wife of the second pastor, Rev. Samuel Niles, in 1716. His parsonage stood on the east side of the church where the garage buildings are now. The Reverend Mr. Niles was one of our most colorful figures. Here also lived General Ebenezer Thayer, our only Revolutionary General.
[53]
17. Go down the hill across the railroad tracks and passing the fieldstone Unitarian Church see beyond it, on the north side, the large white mansion with its five columns and wide lawn. This was the original homestead site of Thomas Thayer, emigrant, from Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England, who was in Braintree before its incorporation in 1640. It was in the hands of the Thayer family until it passed to Edward Reed, it is said in 1870.
18. Beyond on the same side, on the easterly corner of Cedar Street, and opposite the pond, was the homestead of Thomas Thayer, son of Thomas the first. He was instrumental in having Middle Street, which goes southerly over the river, across the dam, by the pond, laid out in 1690.
19. The first iron works in New England were located easterly of this pond and the yard of a large stone mill on Adams Street, which is at the right where the road divides, is their site. In 1645 Governor John Winthrop, Jr., came here to inspect them, stopping over night at Goodman Faxon's. The cellar of the Faxon house is still to be seen.
20. On the land between Adams Street and Elm, where the roads divide, once stood a large model barn, the property of B. V. French, who lived on the estate of Thoma. Thayer, the second. B. V. French was a noted agriculturist and pomologist. The large tannery owned by B. J. Loring, and later by Colonel Albion Drink water, was in this barn. It is only lately that it was torn down.
21. Following Elm Street easterly, one is passing through the very earliest settlement of the town. There were many landowners and residents on this street, then known as " Monaticot Street," in what was known as " Monaticot Fields." This is the old Indian name of the river which turned the many old mills on its banks and furnished the settlers with alewives or herring. This street was the direct way from Boston to the iron works. The Thayers acquired all this property almost to the old Plymouth Road beyond at the east, now Commercial Street. Richard Thayer, brother of Thomas, settled in this location, coming in 1641 from England with his eight children.
22. Near the easterly end, Elm Street turned to the left and wound about to the Plymouth Road. There is only a trace now to be seen close to the Fore River railroad track. Just easterly of its first turn was the homestead of John French, emigrant, who was ancestor of all the French family in Braintree.
23. Reaching Commercial Street, turn left and, some way beyond will be noticed the Fore River railroad track crossing the road. Just before that, on the right (east) is Braintree's only milestone of 1727. Initials I M on one side and I H on the other. Probably those of
[54]
iSYFIL TH
John Marshall or John Mills, and those of Jonathan Hayward. In old days the letter J was made like I.
24. Climb Penn's Hill, stop car, and note view behind in the valley, go on for some distance to the standpipe, which is in Quincy. Near it is a cairn built to the memory of Abigail Adams, the spot where she and small John Quincy Adams watched the burning of Charlestown and heard the guns of the Battle of Bunker Hill.
25. Straight ahead, down the hill, will be found the old Adams houses, open to visitors, and there directions will be given to other old houses in Quincy.
Returning, take Independence Avenue back to Braintree.
ROUTE 2
ON this route it is proposed to leave Town Hall and go southerly to South Braintree "Square" where the street (Washington) turns to the right, winding to the left past the church, back to the river and railroad. Do not cross the tracks, but go up the street seen on the right to Dyer Hill. This is still old Washington Street. It soon goes down to the main road which must be followed almost to a bridge which is over the railroad. Go on, if desired, up hill toward the right, to Norfolk County Hospital. If so, turn back toward the railroad bridge and just before it, take the street at the right (Peach), which route can be taken at first without going to the hospital. Follow Peach Street to its end at Liberty Street, turn left and follow to East Braintree, taking no street to the left, but always keeping towards the right. At the end of Liberty Street turn right on Commercial and follow to Norfolk Square, easterly, near the Union Church at the right. Turn directly left on Shaw Street, passing coal wharf; turn right over river bridge, then left on Allen, crossing railroad to Commercial Street again. Turn westerly on Commercial and follow its winding to the right and across the rail tracks, and take either the second street on the left (Elm) to Braintree, or go straight to Quincy as in Route I.
I. Leave Town Hall southerly and go to South Braintree Square, turning to the right, which is Washington Street, noting at the right the old Gardner Penniman house which was, in its pristine days, a sight to delight the eyes, as is shown by an unusual daguerreotype owned by the family.
[55]
2. As Little Pond, now called " Sunset Lake," is approached, a small stone building is seen ahead, the only one left of all the shops used by Warren Mansfield who made gun carriages, once upon a time it is said, for the Czar of Russia. This stone building has been used since as a blacksmith shop ; now a garage.
3. Ahead, as the road turns to the left, the Second Congregational Church with its tall spire is seen, the parsonage on the left, No. 1090, that of Rev. Lyman Matthews, first pastor in 1830. See on right Hollis Institute, our first academy.
4. Pond Street goes off to the right, but following Washington Street, the once magnificent estate of Hollingsworth of the former paper mill, is passed on the left. It is the site of the house the son of Paul Revere occupied when he had a foundry near-by on a pond soon to be seen on the left.
5. Crossing the river, the road turns sharply to the right and ascends Dyer Hill where stood a very old house, torn down not so long ago, where Ahattawants, the Indian, was shot by John Dyer in 1680. A court case followed. House stood at bend of road at right.
6. Soon the old Dyer Hill cemetery is seen on the right with its lonely whispering pines.
7. Going down from Dyer Hill still southerly, ahead will be seen a bridge which is over the railroad tracks. Before reaching the bridge, stop the car and see at the right, in a large field, the birthplace of General Sylvanus Thayer, Father of West Point. The old road once passed in front of the house. The house was built by Nathaniel Thayer of the third generation from Richard Thayer. He was a "house- wright " and evidently a good one. General Sylvanus 'Thayer, the greatest military genius the country has ever had, drew his first breath of good country air in these beautiful surroundings.
8. If wished, having passed over the railroad bridge, the road can be followed southerly to the Norfolk County Hospital, site of the old " Plantation House " of Rev. Samuel Niles -" Parson Niles " to the last generation. This land he bought in 1712 and his old house was still there in 1901. Lilac bushes which grew beside it are still to be seen. Before the erection of the hospital, an extensive view over the broad meadows of the " Waste Lands or Common Lands " of Boston before 1700 was at the west, the Cochato River winding through them ; a view which the slaves of Parson Niles shared with him. Their burying ground is near-by somewhere, but is not to be seen.
9. One can turn back, and before reaching the railroad bridge, turn right and easterly on Peach Street. At the right is the cottage of
[ 56 ]
Samuel White Thayer where Dr. Elisha Thayer, who wrote the " Thayer Family Memorial " in 1835, was born. Owner invites in- spection. This house was probably built in 1780.
10. Going on easterly, Liberty Street crosses the way. This street was in olden days called "Ironworks Road " (and later "Long Lane ") because bog iron for the second iron works of 1682, which lay at its northern end, was carted from the ponds at the south. Turn- ing left on Liberty Street from Peach, a house on the north side, neat in appearance, stands where two deaf and dumb people used to live. Inside are floor boards twenty-three inches wide and all the quaint features of old houses, brick oven, etc.
II. Soon (stop car), in front of a yellow house which was painted a soft gray before the present occupant changed its color, a fine view of the valley filled with trees, with the spire of the South Church rising far beyond, should be noticed. Look back northwesterly. This is per- haps the finest view in all Braintree.
12. A very old house facing the street, as the street turns there, seeming to greet guests coming towards it, is the Francis Nash house, built probably in 1693 according to Suffolk Deeds. It was sold to Ezra Penniman in 1763.
13. Next, cross Grove Street and following Liberty by an old tomb on the corner at right with Cutting over the door (was originally the Penniman tomb) see near the railroad bridge an old Thayer house.
14. Keep on woodsy old Liberty Street, passing on right the cellar hole where recently burned the birthplace of Miss Victoria Wilde, long one of Braintree's school teachers, and her brother, General George F. F. Wilde, hero of the Battle of Manila.
15. As Liberty approaches Middle Street (keep on Liberty still) see just beyond Middle at the left an old house, roof sloping to the rear, built in 1793 by Deacon Eliphaz Thayer. He and his wife Deliverance Thayer were both descendants of John Alden of the Mayflower. Here they brought up a family of ten children, the youngest being our last daughter of the Revolution, Miss Abigail Thayer.
16. After some distance the road ends at the junction of Union and Commercial Streets. (Good view at left.) At the right, where the Jonas Perkins School now stands, there lived the Reverend Jonas Perkins, a beloved minister, who was pastor of the Union Church of Braintree and Weymouth for forty-six years.
17. Across the street from his house, at the north side of Commer- cial Street, on the bank of the river, were the second iron works in
[ 57]
1682. This place was the occasion of much controversy as the dam obstructed the alewives' passage up the river in the spring. Thomas Vinton, the second owner, was a prosperous man and lived near-by.
18. At the left of the iron works site on Commercial Street, and across the road from the Perkins School, stands an old house, once that of Ambrose Salisbury whose son, a graduate of Harvard in 1795, tutored Chief Justice Shaw. The latter's mother, Susanna ( Hay- ward) Shaw, is recorded as being a woman of brilliant mind. She was of East Braintree, one of the old Hayward family, and owned land in the vicinity of Shaw Street. The Ambrose Salisbury house was a tavern in 1812. (Keep to right on Commercial. )
19. At the corner of Faxon Street is an old house (No. 196), known as the home of Miss Rachel Ann Faxon, who kept a school for " Young Ladies " of the last generation. This was the house built by Thomas Vinton who owned the second iron works and was raised by Asaph Faxon® to two stories.
20. At the right next see a brick-faced house (on the south side) which was built by Major Edmund Soper, father of Lieutenant Edmund Soper of Soper House Lane, off Washington Street. It once had a clapboard exterior and was a very handsome " mansion." Major Soper placed a sign on a large tree in his front yard: " This mansion was built in 1772." He was a prosperous business man, large land- holder and built and owned schooners.
21. Farther on is a large house on the north side (left) built by Josiah Vinton. This was later owned by Caleb Stetson, a prominent citizen who built a school for his children in Norfolk Square on Shaw Street (north) but kindly allowed others to attend. He placed three hitching posts in front of his house for the three beaus of his daughters so that they might tie their horses safely.
22. On the same side, down the hill, in a large, square, white house lived the White family of whom Naaman White, the lawyer, was the most noted. His slender figure, high silk hat and long coat are still remembered. His sister, Mrs. Sarah Glover, gave Thayer Academy its fine laboratories and gymnasium.
23. When reaching Norfolk Square, at the foot of the hill, looking southerly to the right at the Union Church, turn to the extreme left on Shaw Street, overlooking the salt inlet of Fore River Bay, the coal wharf of Sheppard will be noticed. Turning right and going over the bridge which separates the salt tide water from the fresh of the river, turn left on Allen Street, cross the railroad track and reach Com- mercial Street again. On the opposite side (south), near the bank of
[ 58 ]
the river, stop and look easterly and see the remains of Colonel William Allen's grist mill which he erected about 1790. In 1810 he sold this to Jonas Welch, who used it for making chocolate. Another grist mill in the vicinity was that of Lyman Morrison, who lived in the old house near-by, on the northeast corner, once the house of Major Amos Stetson.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.