USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Dedham > Dedham tercentenary 1636-1936 > Part 15
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1. BROAD OAK, West street (Needham road)
Built by Rev. Ebenezer Burgess, D. D. in 1839, this fine old place is now owned and occupied by John K. Burgess and his sister, Sarah. It is situated on the Needham road, just across from the Onion House.
2. THE OLD ONION HOUSE, West street
Built in 1735 by Hezekiah Fuller. In 1776 the house passed to his daughter Anna (Fuller) Onion and was occupied by members of that family name until 1892, then by descendants until 1912. Now occupied by Mason Sears and family.
3 THE DIAMOND HOUSE, 927 High street
Built before 1799 by Deacon Baker, then passed to the Fessenden family. Inter- esting for its unique form of architecture and fine old woodwork. Now occupied by John W. Wendell and family.
4. THE DEDHAM CLUB, 943 High street
. This was formerly two houses, one built about 1736, the other, now the east end, in 1800. They were first joined by an overhead passage, then made into one com- plete unit. It became the property of the Dedham Polo Club and was recently pur- chased by Horace F. DeCourcy Pereira for a residence.
5. OLD DEACON EVERETT HOUSE, 41 Dexter street
Built about 1768 and occupied by the Richards, Lawrence and Baker families to the present day. Much added to and surrounded by beautiful gardens, it is one of Dedham's loveliest old homes. Now owned by Miss Frances M. Baker.
6. HOUSE OF W. H. Y. HACKETT, 848 High street
Directly opposite the old Training Field, this house held a strategic position for many years and witnessed many stirring events of national and local importance, including drills, musters and public executions.
7. THE QUINCY HOUSE, 759 High street
Also known as the Dowse House, it was built early in the nineteenth century by Edward Dowse, who lived during the period of its erection in a smaller house nearby, which was later moved to upper High street and is still standing. The clock on the steeple of the First Parish meeting house was the gift of Mr. Dowse and his wife. Mr. Edmund Quincy, grand-nephew of Mr. Dowse, subsequently became the owner of the property, which remained in the family until recently purchased by Dr. James A. Halsted.
8. THE DEXTER HOUSE, 699 High street
Now owned by Mrs. Theodore P. Burgess, this house was built about 1765 and owned successively by the Dexter, Henshaw, Sprague, Swett and Burgess families. Its builder, Samuel Dexter, was the son of the Rev. Samuel Dexter, fourth minister of the First Church. Mr. Dexter was deeply interested in education and was a frequent benefactor to the town schools. The Dexter school on High street was named in his honor. The house, overlooking the Charles River and surrounded by gardens, is noted for its fine old wallpaper and handsome interior.
9. THE PARSONAGE, facing the green of the First Church
Built about 1798, it was the parsonage of the First Church and Parish under Rev. Alvan Lamson, the seventh minister. Now owned and occupied by Miss Julia Baker.
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The Quincy House 759 HIGH STREET
The Dexter House 699 HIGH STREET
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The Parsonage 15 COURT STREET
The Norfolk House 19 COURT STREET
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10. THE NORFOLK HOUSE, 19 Court street
Built 1801 by Martin Marsh, known as The Norfolk House, the Alden Inn, and other names. Noted as an inn, it entertained many celebrities, including Lafayette, (for whom a ball was given in the famous hall with the spring floor), aind several presidents of the United States. It is the subject of a charming book, "Tale of a Dedham Tavern", by its late owner, Walter Austin, and is still occupied by Mr. Austin's family.
11. THE GAY TAVERN, 73 Court street
Previous to 1795, this house was also an inn, of which there were several on Court street, formerly the Boston Post road to New York. Its present owner, an archi- tect, has renovated and modernized it, but kept the simple, charming lines of the original house. Hugh Perrin is the owner.
12. HOUSE OF LEWIS E. MOORE, 57 School street. (Open Wednesday only ) .
Little is known of the history of this house, which is exceedingly quaint and situated on one of Dedham's most interesting old streets. The character of the house has been carefully preserved. It is known to be at least 100 years old.
13. THE JOSEPH GUILD HOUSE, Franklin square
About 1817. Occupied by Samuel Noyes in 1818. Purchased by Joseph Guild in 1829, it has remained in the Guild family for four generations, and is now occupied and owned by Rev. L. C. Dethlefs and his wife, Elsie Guild Dethlefs. Its garden is a particular attraction.
14. HOUSE OF LAWRENCE G. DEAN
About 1807, but occupied by Eliakim Morrill in 1809, then successively by Joseph Morrill, Daniel Farrar, and George W. Fisher until 1931, then by the present own- er. The Dedham Library Association, founded in 1854, occupied the left hand front room from 1870 until 1872, when the Dedham Public Library was opened. The libra- rians were Elizabeth Skillings and Frances Mann.
15. THE NATHANIEL AMES HOUSE, 619 High Street
The Nathaniel Ames House was built in 1772 by Dr. Nathaniel Ames, 2nd, and was occuped by him until his death in July, 1882. Dr. Ames was the son of Dr. Nathaniel Ames and the elder brother of Fisher Ames. His father, Dr. Ames, Sr., moved to Dedham in 1732, and was known as a publisher of almanacs from 1726 to 1765. The younger Dr. Ames continued this work for some 10 years afterward. Dr. Ames, 2nd, was brother-in-law of Jeremiah Shuttleworth. By his will, his estate passed to his niece, Hannah Shuttleworth, who, in turn, by her will, left to the Dedham Historical Society many interesting documents, among which was a diary kept by Dr. Ames from the time he was in college, in 1758, to the time of his death, in 1822.
16. THE FISHER HOMESTEAD, 218 Cedar Street (Open Monday only)
This is the second oldest house in Dedham, having been built before 1684. It was originally the property of the Fisher family and is the oldest known Fisher house in the United States. For 100 years it remained the property of the Whiting family and in 1870 was acquired by Mrs. Pratt's family. It is still used as a residence by Mr. and Mrs. Chester M. Pratt.
17. CHICKERING HOUSE, Washington street
Built by Eliphalet Pond about 1727 at the time of his marriage to Elizabeth Ellis. It was owned successively by Martin Bates, Leonard Alden and Martin B. Inches. In 1864 it became the Dedham Temporary Asylum for Discharged Female Prisoners and in 1911 it was turned into a Convalescent Home, which it now is. There are many inter- esting and some amusing anecdotes of Revolutionary and other historical interest con- nected with the house, and visitors are welcome to inspect its up-to-date and charm- ingly equipped rooms.
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18. THE FAIRBANKS HOUSE, East street
Long famous as one of the oldest wooden houses in America, this has now been opened permanently to the public, although owned and controlled by the Fairbanks family. It was built by Jonathan Fairbanks soon after the founding of the town and contains many objects of historic value. Particularly amusing are the three stairways, rumored to have been built for the convenience of three old maid sisters who, unable to get along peaczably together, took this method of leading entirely independent lives in the same house.
NOTE :- The House of Fisher Ames, which has been removed from its original site and is now the property of Hon. Frederic J. Stimson, is not to be opened, but visitors are welcome to visit The grounds, charmingly located on the bank of the Charles River at the end of River Place, and to note the willow tree planted by Lafayette in 1825.
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Chickering House WASHINGTON STREET
The Fairbanks House EAST STREET |128]
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The Gay Tavern 73 COURT STREET
The Joseph Guild House 14 FRANKLIN SQUARE
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The Nathaniel Ames House 619 HIGH STREET
:
The Fisher Homestead 218 CEDAR STREET
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Historic Sites Marked in Tercentenary Observance
One of the first committees appointed to work for Dedham's Tercentenary observ- ance was the Committee on the marking of places of historic interest. The committee caused to be prepared and placed at important sites forty wooden signs from two to three feet long and about eight inches wide. Black letters, two inches high on a white feld, plainly designated to passersby the significance of the places so marked. The combined facts of all the signs present comprehensive and accurate information as to the historic background of Dedham.
More detailed information was supplied by the committee in printed pamphlets containing a map on which the route of a continuous historic pilgrimage about the town was plainly designated. Data for the itinerary was compiled from the report of the 250th celebration where much of it was written by the late Don Gleason Hill and Henry O. Hildreth, from Suffolk and Norfolk County Records, from the Nathaniel Ames Diary, from files of the Dedham Historical Register and from the published town records.
It is impossible to record how many local and out-of-town people visited the his- toric landmarks during Tercentenary week. Calls for transportation and inquiries were so numerous that the Hostess Committee arranged to have Mr. Percy Chamberlain's bus make special trips over the route, certain afternoons of the week, and the plan was given fair patronage. Many from out of town as well as in town were much aided by the pamphlets when touring the historic sites in their own cars.
In connection with the placing of the markers the committee regrets that it was not able to mark all the old houses in Dedham. To do this would have required a vast amount of research and could hardly have been satisfactory except where the owner had personal records. Among the Dedham houses which might repay investi- gation into their past are the Gay Havern, the Stow house, and the Pond house, all known under other names today.
The Committee was influential in having a boulder placed in Franklin Square to the memory of Samuel Colburn, a hero of Colonial Wars, and a benefactor of St. Paul's Church.
The work of the Committee on Markers has permanent value to the people of Dedham to some of whom it has made surprising revelations. The committee was warmly commended for its important contribution to Dedham Tercentenary. It is hoped that the markers will remain in place for some time and that many will continue to have the opportunity of increasing their acquaintance with town history by visiting the town's historic landmarks. The itinerary compiled by the committee follows:
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1636 - Dedham Tercentenary - 1636 Committee on Markers
The Committee on Morkers chose some of the better known points of historicol interest ond ploced signs to indicote their locotion.
A suggested scheme of sight seeing which will cover most of the marked historical sites is as follows:
The Tercentenary Headquarters is in the building owned by the Knights of Col- umbus in Memorial Hall Square. This is itself a historic site. All of the land near here was owned by Nathaniel Colburn and his descendants since 1638 and was willed by Samuel Colburn to the Episcopal Church in Dedham. Samuel Colburn died October 28, 1756 in the French and Indian War near Saratoga. The Church came into posses- sion of his land in 1792 on the death of his mother. The rector, William Montague, tore down the old Colburn house which stood in the center of Washington Street be- tween the Knights of Columbus Building and the Wardle Block and Montague split the farm into lots.
The Episcopal Church on May 1, 1792 leased the land where the building of the Knights of Columbus stands to Isaac Doggett. Here he built a house and in 1798 sold the "house barn and other buildings on Church land where Jesse Clap lives" to Willard Gay, who immediately transferred them to Timothy Gay, July 9, 1798. Here several people ran Gay's Tavern, the best known proprietor being James Bride. It was burned in the night of October 29, 1832 and October 2, 1833 Timothy Gay entered a contract with Daniel Kingsbury to build a hotel on this spot. This was called the Phoenix Hotel. On August 31, 1837 Gay by his assignee sold the Phoenix Hotel to Theodore T. Kimball. Freeman Fisher was the next owner and Josiah D. Howe, and his widow follow as owners. Hannah Howe sold it to Henry White December 27, 1879, who owned it at the time it was burned Christmas Eve. of 1880 at that time it had been leased to James Eaton.
Now going westerly on High Street on the left side of High Street in the corner of Church Street and High Street with a large sycamore tree we see ---
1. The site of the first Post Office in Dedham where Jeremiah Shuttleworth was Postmaster from 1794 to 1833 and whose daughter, Hannah Shuttleworth, left money to construct the Dedham Historical Society Building (of red brick) which now occu- pies the lot. A large collection of items formerly owned by old Dedham families is found there and a large library of geneologies and historic papers and records is on file.
The house next on the same left hand side of High Street is-
2. The second Post Office in Dedham. A brick end house of beautiful lines, built about 1803 by Jeremiah Shuttleworth and deeded by him in 1826 to Dr. Elisha Thayer, who succeeded Jeremiah as Dedham's second Postmaster and held this position from 1833 to 1856.
Opposite on the right hand side of High street, directly beyond the present new brick Post Office, is-
3. The beautiful white painted wooden house built by Doctor Nathaniel Ames, the third of that name, in 1772. He was the son of the almanac maker and practiced many years as a physician. He followed his father as publisher of almanacs. He was an ardent and even violent patriot, continually opposing his equally patriotic younger
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brother, Fisher Ames, in his views of the conduct of the Government. The Dedham Historical Society holds his diary which gives an intensely interesting picture of the times of the early Republic and a viewpoint until recently rarely seen in histories of the officials of that day.
Still continuing west on High Street we next come to the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds.
4. On this site Fisher Ames built his home in 1795 and died there in 1808. He, as a strong supporter of Washington in Congress, is perhaps our local best known na- tional figure following the Revolution at the formation of the Union. His speeches have long ago been collected and published. What portion of his house remained was moved at the time of the building of the Registry to the river end of River Place and is now the home of Hon. Frederic J. Stimson, whose father, Edward Stimson, bought the house and resided in its original location in 1868.
On this same lot nearer Ames Street stood-
5. The Woodward Tavern. This was "The Tavern" or inn of Dedham and was owned by Joshua Fisher and his descendants and those allied to them by marriage from its construction until 1817. Joshua Fisher as early as May 6, 1649 had applied to be freed from custom on wine (Massachusetts Colonial Records, III, 159) and on October 19, 1658 was granted a request to be allowed to sell "strong waters" (Massachusetts Colonial Records, IV, 352) so we may follow the story of the Dedham Ordinary under its names of Fisher Tavern, Ames' Tavern and Woodward's Tavern. Nathaniel Ames, "the Almanac Maker," married the then owner, a Fisher descendant and through the death of their son inherited it himself. Fisher Ames was born here in 1758. On Sep- tember 6, 1774 the Suffolk Convention was held here and a committee appointed to draw up resolutions against the tyranny of the Mother Country and here began an early expression of force against the tyranny of the "Mother Country." The remarriage of Mrs. Nathaniel Ames in 1772 had brought the Tavern into the management of her second husband, Richard Woodward, but on her death the Ames family took it over and demolished it in 1817.
On the left side of High Street we find ---
6. The Second Court House of Norfolk County, built of granite from a quarry on Cedar Hill in Medfield in 1827. Here have been held many famous trials of criminal and civil causes and has been found the source of much world wide notoriety for Ded- ham. In the corner of High Street and Court Street on this lot stood Fisher Ames' Law Office until 1827.
Still continuing on High Street beyond Court Street we see on the right-
7. The Samuel Haven house, a brick-end mansion built by Samuel Haven in 1795. The English elms in front of it are supposed to have been planted by him in 1789. Born in 1771, son of the minister of Dedham, Rev. Jason Haven, he was the first Norfolk County Register of Probate in 1793, Chief Justice of the Court of Com- mon Pleas. This building is now the Dedham Community House and the house and its beautiful grounds are open for public use.
We now look across High Street on the left side to the Church green and see ----
8. The Pillar of Liberty, of which only the granite base with its inscription re- main. Erected in 1766 on the news of the repeal of the Stamp Act by the Sons of Liberty it held a wooden bust of William Pitt. This bust was engaged by our friends Doctor Nathaniel Ames, "Mr. Haven and Col. Ebenezer Battle" of the carver Mr. Skilling and brought to Dedham February 26, 1767 by Dr. Ames. The bust was over- thrown May 11, 1769 perhaps due to the rising feeling against new tax duties but the stone base, after wandering a while to the opposite corner of Court Street and High Street and returning to its original home in 1886, still remains to exhibit the pre- Revolutionary feeling.
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Still on the Church Green and also on Court Street is-
9. The site of the First Court House of Norfolk County, built in 1795. This was a wooden building which in its short history on this site, 1795-1827, was to hear the powerful addresses of the most famous lawyers of our country. Later moved across Court Street and a little further from High Street it was to be the general meeting place for the public to hear orators of national renown including Abraham Lincoln as its most famous guest. It has since been burned.
Still on the Church Green a little further along High Street we find-
10. The site of the first school of Dedham ordered to be built, "A schoole house & a watchouse is resolved to be built this next year" (Dedham Records, 10th month 19, 1648 Dec.). A large granite boulder marks Dedham as having the first free public school supported by public taxation.
Just a few feet further is --
11. The site of the first Church of Dedham. The church was gathered on the "8th day of the 9th month 1638" (Nov.), a total membership of eight persons. John Hunting was ordained as ruling elder and John Allin as pastor on the 24th of the 2nd month 1639 (April). Joseph Kingsbury sold to the Town an acre of land where the Church Green lies in 1638 for a "publique Meeting house" and received an acre in exchange from John Allin to be added to his own land on the north side of High Street. Here was built the first meeting house probably completed in 1638 after the size de- cided upon "the first of the 11th month 1637" (Jan. 1638) to be 36 feet by 20 feet. Additions were made in 1646 (see Dedham Records, 11th Mon. 8, 1646) but continual improvements were made, a bell in 1651, shingled in 1651, floored in 1651, plastered in 1658, a new gallery in 1659.
On the 3rd month 12th day of 1672 it was voted to build a new meeting house, and it was usable by fall of 1673, the old meeting house being sold. The present building was built in 1762.
Turning across to the right hand side of High Street where now stands the Con- gregational Church, built in 1819, we find nearby --
12. The site of the homes of the first five ministers of Dedham covering over one hundred sixty years. The lot just beyond the Congregational Church was sold by Nicholas Phillips to John Allin, the first pastor, on August first, 1639 and here he lived. Mr. Adams later lived in the same house. The third minister, Rev. Mr. Belcher, lived about where the Congregational Church stands and his successors, Samuel Dexter and Jason Haven, fourth and fifth pastors of the Church, lived in the same house, taken down about 1819 when the Congregational Church was built.
We find a sign just beyond the Congregational Church pointing to --
13. The Town Landing is on the west side of a lane on the Charles River. This is on land set out to Nicholas Phillips, August 18, 1636 and by him transferred to the Town before the 6th of the 2nd month, 1638 (April). This may not have been the exact spot where the first settlers landed but the Town has held this for a public landing place or "Keye" ever since. The original way to the Keye went down Ames Street and wound to the westward along the side of the river bank to the Keye. It was aban- doned by 1700 and the present way to the Landing took its place.
Although we have a memorial seat at the Ames Street Bridge'for the "Keye" its actual location was at the Nicholas Phillips lot, where it still remains.
Just beyond the lane to the Landing Place we find within a high board fence ---
14. The Samuel Dexter Mansion, built in 1765 by Samuel Dexter, born in 1726, son of the Rev. Samuel Dexter. He was a merchant and came back to Dedham in 1762. He held office as representative to the General Court, a delegate to the Provincial Con- gress and State Supreme Executive Council. He directed military operations in the
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