USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > Celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Newton, Massachusetts, December 27, 1888 > Part 5
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"This bridge built in 1719, and was then known as the Great Bridge, and the first one built in the State."
I find in the town records of Cambridge that an appro- priation of two hundred pounds lawful money, towards build- ing a bridge over Charles River, was made, and that the bridge was built about 1660, and was called and long known as the Great Bridge.
And in Holmes's History of Cambridge there is re- corded an order of the selectmen that timber bought for the fortifications be used for repairing the Great Bridge, and that the bridge was rebuilt in 1690 at the expense of Cam- bridge and Newton, with some aid from the public treasury.
Dr. Paige's History of Cambridge gives a detailed ac- count of the conception and building of a bridge across Charles River, and the citizens of Cambridge agreed to con- tribute two hundred pounds towards its construction, and that the bridge was completed before March, 1663. This bridge was larger than any previous bridge built in the col- ony, and was called the Great Bridge.
In 1734, it was provided that a draw in said bridge, not less than thirty-two feet wide, should be constructed, at an equal distance from each abutment, and that the opening in the middle of said draw should be the dividing line between Cambridge and Brighton at that point.
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This bridge as described by Messrs. Holmes and Paige was built more than fifty years before the Watertown bridge, and is conceded by all authorities to be the bridge across the river near Harvard Square in Cambridge; and I think it is the second bridge below the arsenal bridge between the lower part of Watertown and Brighton Corner.
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ADDRESS OF JULIUS L. CLARKE, ESQ., FIRST CLERK OF THE CITY OF NEWTON.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,-There are some people in the world who regard lineal descent or pedigree as of little or no account, unless dating far back into the cen- turies or shrouded in some mysterious antiquity. With all deference to freedom of opinion, and with loyal veneration for ancestral honor and distinction, yet claiming no special prestige as a lineal representative of Newton's earlier set- tlers, it may suffice for me to say that about one generation ago important interests prompted my selection of a home in West Newton, familiarly known in old-time prosaic vocabu- lary as "Squash End." And so, friends, although my New- ton pedigree reaches back only a single generation, I am proud to add even my humble tribute to this memorial ser- vice, and to the city of my home, in connection with some of whose departments of municipal administration you have from the first honored me with responsible trust.
Without trespass upon history already so well and perti- nently cited, permit me a word in emphasis of the welcome fact that Newton to-day takes her place in the historic and distinguished procession of towns and cities which have pre- ceded her in the observance of their two hundredth anniversa- ries. The occasion therefore furnishes a fitting opportunity for taking account of stock,-in other words, the social, moral, intellectual, and material wealth which has become the crowning glory of Puritan and Pilgrim Newton. I say Puri- tan and Pilgrim with no thought of sectarian or partisan im- plication ; for, irrespective of any and all differences, sup- posed or otherwise, whether in creed, polity, or practice, both
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were brought by lineal descent and by succession into New- ton's common fellowship and interest. Both were consci- entious in their faith and example ; yet neither were perfect. Both had their faults, as we have ours; and so it is that none of us are ever too old to learn, nor ever so wise that we may not become wiser, nor ever so good that we may not become better. But, aside from all this, that Puritan and Pilgrim ancestry richly merit our most grateful and reverent regard. Their spirit and purpose were noble, patriotic, and progressive. Their achievements were grand and far-reach- ing. In all this toilsome yet glorious struggle for the estab- lishment of principle and right, and for the richest fruitage of practical thrift, living faith, and conscientious integrity, their aims were loyally cherished and faithfully exemplified through their own and descendant generations, and often from the executive chair of the Commonwealth, as happily evidenced by its present occupant, from a Pilgrim ancestry, whom we welcome to-day as our guest.
But, returning to our account of stock, we find that ever since that sparsely settled and impoverished hamlet along the south shore of Charles River was divorced from her Cambridge associate,- whether her better or poorer half, the oracle saith not,-and set up for herself as an independent "Newtowne " municipality, her record has been one of al- most continued growth and prosperity, though at first slow, yet ever leading onward to higher and higher education and culture, and to greater enlargement, influence, and wealth. Her twenty original settlers are to-day represented by more than as many thousands ; while in place of their aggregate property valuation of £8,536, or about $42,000, Newton's real valuation has come to be almost a thousand-fold greater. Why, the poorest man among those twenty settlers was worth as much as £85, about $425; while the richest, Ed- ward Jackson, Deacon John Jackson, and Thomas Ham- mond, the fortunate possessors respectively of $12,000, $6,000, and $5,000, were, so to speak, the " bloated mill- ionaires " of their time, though bearing sorry comparison
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with millionaires of our day. In this financial relation it may be interesting to know that for the first nine years Newton's annual town tax for current expenses averaged about $100; for the next twenty-five years, about $450; and for the next forty-five years, about $830. While the monetary necessities of our now thriving city are con- stantly increasing in volume and forcing compliance with their demand, a comparison of these beggarly figures with present assessments, more than half a million a year, may at least create a suspicion that the world moves, and espe- cially its "Garden City."
Of all its public expenditures, whether as town or city, none have yielded more welcome return than those devoted to educational interests, to which I desire especially to refer, though in the few moments assigned me I can do little more than picture in briefest outline the marvellous contrast between now and then. Of the rise and progress of our educational service, let me say, in passing, that here, as else- where, the church and the school have been potent factors in moulding and developing the character of our population, though it is a notable fact that for sixty years after her set- tlement Newton had no public or private school, and that the meeting-house preceded the school-house by nearly half a century, the children meantime having the privilege of attending school in Cambridge, four or five miles away, on the north side of the Charles, and for which Newton, then an integral part of the former, was taxed as early as 1642. It is a singular fact in this connection that, while the church so long preceded the school in Newton, the former was far behind the latter in one very essential improvement, one hundred and thirty-two years having elapsed during which no such thing as a stove was known in a Newton church, while only ninety-seven years passed before her schools were pro- vided with that necessary addition, the town voting in 1796 to purchase five stoves for that purpose.
The erection of the first school-house, 16X 14 feet, in 1699, with Deacon John Staples as master four days in the week
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at two shillings a day, followed two years later with two more, 16X 16 feet, one near the First Church at Newton Centre and the other at Oak Hill, the same teacher giving two-thirds of his time to the former and one-third to the latter, proved the beginning of a new era in our school his- tory. Though not till sixty-three years later, in 1766, was a single schoolmistress employed ; and, when that most desir- able innovation did come, the schools were for a considerable period classified as "men's schools " and " women's schools," the distinction being extended even to appropriations for their maintenance. Yet the authorities of that day evidently believed in the value of " book learning "; for parents were required to pay 3d. a week for a child "learning to read, and 4d. a week for learning to read, write, and cipher."
With kindest respect for our honored predecessors, it may be said that from this little beginning, with its unique regu- lations and its little sixteen-foot shanty, has come forth the broad, grand educational system now so deservedly the pride of our city, and so many of whose school graduates have been represented in the ministry, in college and seminary professorships, and in every department of public, profes- sional, and honorable business life. That little sixteen-footer, costing only $100, has given place to twenty or more spa- cious school buildings, in which more than 4,000 pupils are now enrolled, in nearly ninety schools, under the instruction of more than one hundred teachers; while the annual school expenditure of $50 or $75 in those first years has now reached upwards of $100,000 a year, not including cost of buildings, etc., the present valuation of which aggregates nearly $600,000,- and all this a living example of Newton's noble generosity and progressive spirit.
In conclusion, we recall in treasured reminiscence and in pleasant association very many of high and deserved reputa- tion, both as citizens and educators. In the very beginning of this notable record, we find two of Newton's town clerks prominently identified with her educational development, Deacon John Staples officiating as her first public school-
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teacher, and, later on, Marshall S. Rice as the founder of a private school for boys, in which more than a thousand pupils received their education in greater or less degree. Nor should we forget in this connection the once popular Female Academy and Boarding School, established in the Nonantum House at "Newton Corner," by Mrs. Susannah Rowson, the daughter of a British officer, and a lady whose literary and educational repute attracted a generous patron- age, both home and foreign. Among those of more recent note may be named the late venerable Seth Davis, with whose educational work, commencing in the early days, we are all so familiar, Rev. Cyrus Pierce, Judge Abraham Fuller, Dr. Henry Bigelow, Hon. D. H. Mason, and many others, of whose faithful and efficient services time forbids enumeration. But, closely associated with the extension and development of their work, we remember the first Sec- retary of the Massachusetts Board of Education, Horace Mann, under whose supervision the first State Normal School was established in Lexington, afterwards removed to West Newton, and subsequently to Framingham, its loss to us being fortunately compensated by a popular successor, the West Newton English and Classical School. Impor- tant also in the same connection may be named the New- ton Theological Seminary, opened in 1825, the Lasell Female Seminary, in 1851, both well and widely known, as have also been various other public and private schools before and since.
In all this history, as has been so well and truthfully said by one of our own distinguished historians, I am happy to say our " Poet Laureate " on this occasion, " Newton has been a benediction to the world through such instrumentalities and influences." These, with other tributary agencies, in- cluding church and ministry, and last, but not least, various public libraries, two of which were founded about the year 1798, a year before the establishment of the first public school, and finally our Free Public Library, so generously endowed by the late J. Wiley Edmands and others, and now
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becoming a most useful auxiliary to our public school sys- tem, its circulation aggregating more than 100,000 volumes a year, and exceeding the ratio to population of nearly, if not every other city in the Commonwealth,-all these, in con- nection with an efficient school administration, past and present, have been most helpful co-operators in raising our standard of education, culture, and refinement.
But look back a moment. Two hundred years! Where, where have they gone? Quickly indeed have they disap- peared in life's unremitting stream. But not lost. They still live in Newton's history, aye, in the world's history ! The noble men, and the noble women, too, who lived to adorn and beautify the pages of that history with good deeds, loving ministries, and ennobling influences, have left behind a radiant and inspiring example to guide us onward to yet higher attainments and richer rewards. For this grand record of heroism, patience, faith, and sacrifice, we cannot be too grateful ; and may those who shall gather for the observ- ance of coming centennials have reason to rejoice in our memories, as do we in those of our predecessors. Such result will happily exemplify the suggestive truth that in all his ceaseless course, armed with glass and scythe,
" Time is indeed a precious boon, But with the boon a task is given : The heart must learn its duty well To man on earth and God in heaven."
The audience united in singing " America," after which Rev. George W. Shinn, D.D., pronounced the benediction, as follows : -
The Blessing of God Almighty the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost be upon the City of Newton and upon all who dwell therein.
The Lord be favorable to this place in the time to come, as He has been in the time that is past.
May its citizens be law-abiding and upright, may its homes be pure and happy, may its institutions of learning and benevolence flourish, and may the principles of the Christian Faith be so truly received and so truly followed here by all the people of this place that the City of New- ton may receive especial favor from the Lord, whose blessing maketh rich and addeth no sorrow.
BANQUET.
About one hundred gentlemen, at six o'clock, gathered at the Woodland Park Hotel. His Honor the Mayor, J. Wesley Kimball, presided. In the absence of His Excellency the Governor, the Commonwealth was represented by His Honor the Lieutenant Governor, John Q. A. Brackett. Other guests of the city were : Hon. Henry N. Fisher, Mayor of Waltham ; Hon. Mark F. Burns, Mayor of Somerville; Hon. George W. Hart, Mayor of Lynn; Hon. John J. Whipple, ex-Mayor of Brockton. Of the Newton City Government there were present : Aldermen James H. Nickerson, N. Henry Chadwick, Frederick Johnson, and John Ward; Councilmen Heman M. Burr, president and Mayor-elect ; Albert W. Rice, Henry H. Hunt, Frank J. Hale, Ephraim S. Hamblen, Ebenezer H. Greenwood, and Henry H. Read; Rev. G. W. Shinn, D.D., of the School Committee ; Winfield S. Slocum, City Solicitor and Representative to the General Court ; Albert F. Noyes, City Engineer ; Albert S. Glover, Water Registrar; Samuel M. Jackson and Howard B. Coffin, As- sessors ; Joseph D. Wellington, City Messenger. Of former members of the City Council there were present : ex-Mayors James F. C. Hyde and William B. Fowle; ex-Aldermen Otis Pettee, Vernon E. Carpenter, Henry E. Cobb, Noah W. Farley, George M. Fiske, Samuel L. Powers, and Austin R. Mitchell; ex-Councilmen J. Sturgis Potter, Joseph W. Stover, Prescott C. Bridgham, Luther E. Leland, William Peirce, Edward M. Billings, Henry F. Ross, and Lewis E. Coffin ; ex-City Clerk Julius L. Clarke.
Other citizens were Rev. Daniel L. Furber, D.D., Rev. Theodore J. Holmes, John S. Farlow, Isaac T. Burr, John
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B. Goodrich, William E. Plummer, George B. Wilbur, Ed- ward H. Pierce, Austin T. Sylvester, Samuel Hano, George T. Coppins, Edward F. Barnes, M. J. Duane, O. C. Liver- more, F. W. Turner, Chandler Seaver, Jr., C. E. Sweet, D. F. Parker, C. H. Johnson, W. F. Chapman, R. E. Ashen- den, and William C. Brown.
After partaking of the very substantial dinner, served in accordance with the menu on page 71, interesting speeches were made by Lieutenant Governor Brackett, ex-Mayor Whipple, William E. Plummer, City Solicitor Slocum, ex- Alderman Powers, and others. The occasion was enlivened by vocal selections from the Temple Quartette, composed of the following-named gentlemen : William R. Bateman, first tenor; Edwin F. Webber, second tenor; Henry A. Cook, baritone ; Albert C. Ryder, bass.
The selections sung were : -
" Hurrah for the Field," Schmolzer
"Three Huntsmen," . Kreutzer
" In Absence " Buck
" Waltz," Lamothe
" Hail, Smiling Morn," Spofforth
Vocal March, " Now forward," Storch
It is worthy of note that the Woodland Park Hotel has obtained an enviable reputation under the skilful conduct of the proprietor, Joseph Lee, and his estimable wife, who apparently suffer no detriment from the fact of their nativity being of the race so recently emancipated from what was fitly described by the late Senator Sumner as the " Barba- rism of Slavery."
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