USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Brookline > Historical sketches of Brookline, Mass. > Part 12
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165
DR. CHARLES WILD.
home, getting a lunch at one house and a nap in another, particularly if there was much sickness.
He had a breezy way of entering a house, stamping off the snow or dust with noise enough for three men, throwing off his overcoat, untying a huge muffler that he wore about his neck, and letting down his black leather pouch with emphasis. There was an indescribable noise he made sometimes with that deep gruff voice of his which cannot be represented in type. It must have been heard to be understood, and the first salutation was quite likely to be (if the patient were an acquaintance), " Well ! well ! well ! what kind of a kick-up have you got now ?" If the patient was an infant it might be " How's Nicodemus to-day ?" or, " Well ! is Ichabod's tooth ready for the lance this morning ?" His fancy for nicknames was proverbial. He usually called a friend's child whose name was Florence, either " Rome," " Milan," or some other Italian city. A charge upon his books of a visit to " Don Sebastian," rather nonplussed the mem- ber of his family who was to make out the bills. On inquiry it proved his nickname for a member of the Cabot family.
And who that ever saw the solemn deliberation with which he stirred thick yellow powders into molasses in a table spoon, silently, with an ominous glance occasionally at the hapless victim who lay waiting for the order to open his mouth, will think of them without a recoil ? When one thinks, in the light of modern science, of the fearful potions of calomel, rhubarb, and jalap, picra, ipecac, and antimony, and countless other abominations, swallowed by hopeless humanity in former times, the chief wonder is that any lived to tell the tale.
When the business was transacted, and there was no special anxiety, then the Doctor settled himself to be
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
sociable, and there he stayed often for two or three hours at a time, telling the drollest stories, with comical gri- maces and hectoring the children, who never could keep away from him though they knew he. would surely tor- ment them. But if the case was serious or doubtful, the Doctor was grave and silent, and sat catching flies with the rapidity and precision of a terrier, if there were any to catch, - or walked back and forth cutting tobacco and chewing it with an avidity that was marvelous.
In the great and solemn crises of birth and death, in the great domestic trials through which all families must pass somewhere between the cradle and the grave, the Doctor was the calm counsellor and the sympathizing friend. His quaint brusque speeches and ways were sel- dom an offense to any one, and his hearty cheerfulness was better than medicine to dispel the blues. He en- joyed the ludicrous side of life to the full, and when any- thing occurred that he considered " too good to lose," he would give everybody the benefit of a hearty laugh over it.
An incident that suited the Doctor exactly, occurred in a farmer's family. The farmer was sick from a strain or something that required an external application, and the Doctor ordered a large slice of brown bread to be soaked in brandy and laid upon his stomach. The next day when the Doctor called, the wife met him at the head of the stairs. "Doctor," said she, " that brown bread hasn't done any good. I couldn't make him eat more than half of it, and he's dreadful sick." " Eat it ! good gracious, woman ! Eat it ?" growled the astonished Doctor, " I didn't tell you he was to eat it ! It was to go on out- side."
" Will it kill him, Doctor ? "
" Kill him ! No, he'll live through it !" and he did, and soon got well.
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DR. WILD'S HOMEOPATHY.
The Doctor's salutations at his departure were unique, as well as those which marked his entrance to a sick room, " Now if you can't sleep well and don't know what to do you can amuse yourself with taking an emetic."
There was no end to the odd conceits, the quizzical expressions, the grotesque turns of thought which were constantly occurring to him. And he was wonderfully kindhearted withal, and as prompt about doing a favor, as if it was a matter of course, and never afterward ap- peared to remember it.
He was consulted upon all sorts of matters, from choos- ing a matrimonial companion to building a porch or a hen-coop, and his opinion was authority, for his shrewd good sense was seldom at fault.
In the year 1839 the attention of Dr. Wild was turned to homoeopathy, which was then new in this part of the country. He was convinced that there was something more than mere theory in the matter, and by trying it in a chronic case where other means had failed, the happy result confirmed his previous opinion.
In the language of another, " From this time he pur- sued the investigation and trial of the system until lie became a firm believer in its truth and efficiency. He was a man of quick observation, of an investigating mind, and disliked to leave a subject until he had mastered it. He had great intellectual candor, looking at a new subject, thoughit, or creed with interest, not casting it aside as humbug or charlatanism till he was convinced from inves- tigation that it was such."
While the Doctor was in what might be called a transi- tion state, between the old practice and the new, there was a trying time both for him and his patients, for he had new difficulties and old prejudices to encounter, but he car- ried along with him to a wonderful degree the confidence of his patrons and met with marked success in his practice.
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168 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
The second meeting held in New England by physi- cians who were pioneers in the new practice was held at Dr. Wild's house February 16, 1841, and the Massa- chusetts Homoeopathic Fraternity was organized, and a constitution and by-laws adopted. The present char- tered society is a continuation of this original institution.
He carried his books with him from house to house and studied by the bedside of the patient, comparing and ob- serving, and referring to the best authorities then extant for the wisest methods of procedure.
,
Miss Amanda M. Corey, afterwards the wife of Mr. James Edmond, was then a school girl, very bright and original, but often under the Doctor's care, and was a great favorite of his. Soon after he began practicing the new treatment she wrote the following lines, which greatly amused and delighted the Doctor.
ILLI, CUI CARMINA APPLICENT. *
A son of Esculapius comes, I hear his chariot wheels ; The very sound my soul benumbs, A shiver o'er me steals. Ye muses, aid me if you can, Ye sundry settled bills, In self-defense to sing the man Of gallipots and pills !
Ye classic bards of olden days, My vacant soul inspire ; Ye smiling ghosts of comic lays, Awake my sleeping lyre. Desert your graves in winding-sheets, Diseases fierce and grim ; Ye aches and pains your dark retreats Forsake and sing of him.
Ye memories of departed pills, Of bitter powders too, Support my shrinking soul that fills With horror at the view.
* "Him to whom the song applies."
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POEM ON DR. WILD.
Ye spirits all of tuneful rhyme, Where'er ye chance to be, Come mount Parnassus' heights sublime, And sweep the lyre for me.
Come, sing the Homeopathic knight ; Describe him, as he comes To kindly give the aching wight A dose of sugar-plums ! Who banishes disease and woe, And contradicts the song, "Man wants but little here below, Nor wants that little long."
Come, sing capacious pockets crammed With roots the fields supply, That in the sounding mortar jammed, Diseases stern defy. The names that on his vials wrote, In goodly rows appear, That choke the rude, contracted throat, And stun the vulgar ear.
But most of all, his awful eyes, That pierce my very soul ; That scan my feelings as they rise, And penetrate the whole For eyes and " specs " together, strike The very seat of life; And scare my timid spirit, like A-keen-edged carving-knife !
But, lo ! his steed is at the gate, And he is at the door; Be steady now, my whirling pate, Ye shaking nerves give o'er. He doffs the frightful rubber coat, That dark'y shrouds his form, And, fastened tight beneath his throat, Defies and scares the storm.
He leaves his cap and gloves below, Arise my longest hairs ! For now, with solemn step and slow, I hear him on the stairs. Two ponderous volumes in his hands, This second Galen brings, And by the couch of sickness stands, A man of mighty things. 12
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
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And now he reads those mystic books, Enlighteners of disease, And grasps his patient's wrist, and looks Profound as Socrates. Prescribes a dose, then lifts his eyes And fastens them on me;
My blood runs cold, my spirit dies, So terrible is he !
Ye pitying Muses, one and all, That e'er on mortals smiled, O teach me how to break the thrall, The spell of And if the task of serving you Apollo e'er assigns, It shall be hers, life's journey through, Who perpetrates these lines.
Dr. Wild was a public-spirited man, interested in what- ever promoted the welfare of the community. For many years he was an attendant upon the ministry of Dr. Pierce, at the Unitarian Church, and was a member of the choir connected with it. Before the days of the organ the Doc- tor played the flute.
As his health began to fail with advancing years, he relinquished by degrees his practice, to his son, Dr. Ed- ward A. Wild.
He had now more leisure for reading and thought, and became interested in the theology of the New Jerusalem Church. He considered it with candor and patient inves- tigation, and was satisfied that here at last he had found the two great books of nature and revelation in harmoni- ous agreement instead of seeming antagonism.
He heartily embraced the doctrines of the Church and was baptized in the High Street Church in Brookline. He spent some months in a curative institution in Boston without any manifest improvement to his health, and re- turned to Providence whither his wife had already gone, and in that city he died on the 3d of May, 1864, aged seventy-one years.
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BLAKE. AND ASPINWALL PLACES.
His son, Dr. Edward A. Wild, had gained an extensive practice in his father's stead, in this town, previous to the War of the Rebellion. He had spent some time abroad during the great war between Russia and the allied armies, and gained much knowledge in the hospitals of the Crimea. At home he was a public-spirited citizen as well as a popular and successful physician.
When the Rebellion began he gave up his profession to enter the service of his country, and gathered and drilled in this town, Company A, of the First Massachusetts regi- ment.
From the office of Captain which he held at the open- ing of the war, he rose, as is well known, to the rank of Brigadier-general. Of what he did and what he suffered for his country his empty sleeve is but a partial testimo- nial. He is too well known to need any tribute from our pen, and we share the regrets of a large community that not one of this respected family remain in the town where the two doctors were so long useful, and where they were and are still held in grateful and affectionate remembrance.
Captain Walter Wild, the Doctor's youngest son, also was in the service of the United States during the late war.
THE BLAKE AND ASPINWALL PLACES.
The whole hill extending westward from the first ris- ing ground west of Cypress Street to Beacon Street, and from Washington Street on the north to the railroad in the valley on the south, is one of the most beautiful hills in our town to look at or to look from. Though of less height than Corey's Hill, it commands a wide and varied prospect which never tires the eye, and its undulating surface is very beautiful in detail.
The part of it now comprising Mr. Blake's estate, ex
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
cept the orchard on the southeast, was purchased off the Croft farm about fifty years ago, by Mr. Lewis Tappan, who built the stone house which is still standing, and oc- cupied it a few years. The place extended a little fur- ther west than at present, and included a strip of land now on the Aspinwall place.
After the removal of Mr. Tappan to New York the house was occupied by Mr. Nathaniel R. Cobb, and sub- sequently by Henry Robinson, an English gentleman, who resided there a number of years. All its owners have been gentlemen of wealth and taste, but no one has brought the place to such elegance and perfection as its present owner.
About forty acres of land, including the higher part of the hill and the woods that crown it, were purchased by Dr. Aspinwall in 1788 of Mr. Benjamin White. The Doc- tor's fine taste is evinced in the selection of the site for his house, commanding as it does an unbroken view of Boston and Charles River, with all the towns along the north side of the river for miles, while the most beautiful part of Brookline lies directly in the foreground. When the house was built in 1803, there were not more than six houses in view in Brookline from the front of it.
There was an old house standing on the lower slope of the lawn, near the street, whose owner, a Mr. Blanchard, was the first sexton of " Brookline meeting-house," but this was removed about the beginning of the present cen- tury.
The late Augustus Aspinwall, a son of the Doctor, continued to occupy and improve the place after the death of his venerable father ; a sister of his remaining unmarried being his housekeeper, and the companion of years of loneliness which followed the early death of his much-loved wife. Mr. Aspinwall made his garden and
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MR. ASPINWALL'S ROSES.
greenhouse his recreation after business hours, and they became famous for the most exquisite roses that money and choice cultivation could procure.
His love for them was almost a passion, and it seemed as if the affection which might otherwise have been lav- ished upon the dearest of kindred, found occupation and solace among his beloved roses. There were hundreds of varieties, and they bloomed successively through all the seasons, and their admiring owner shared them with such of his friends as were appreciative of their rare beauty. Choice vines and fruit trees were also an attraction of this fine garden and farm.
On this place, as on the adjoining one of Mr. Blake, the fine native forest trees have been allowed to grow and expand, and choice evergreens, on the Blake place partic- ularly, planted in groups and trimmed into symmetry, contrast exquisitely in autumn with the brilliant hues of the abundant maples.
The road-side trees along both these places are a per- petual blessing, and make Washington Street for a half mile like a woodland avenue.
We have heard strangers remark upon the richness and beauty of the grass in many parts of Brookline, com- paring it with English lawns so famous for their beauty. It has often been said that a New Englander must go south and remain for a time before he can appreciate the luxuriance and greenness of the grass of his native soil ; but we think the dullest eye could not look upon the closely trimmed lawns, without a sense of their beauty, or the waving wealth of cultivated grass upon many of the finely kept places in our town, without a glow of ap- preciation which will reveal to him that though there may be " a great crop of hay," there is something more and finer than that.
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
On the opposite side of the street, a long stretch of land, once the Cottons', then the Sharps', then the Crofts', and afterwards the Crafts', has been divided and subdi- vided among many owners, and separated by beautiful avenues which it is a matter of public regret were laid out so narrow that their widening now begun, involves the destruction of the beautiful trees which have so long been their chief charm and attraction.
From Park Street west on this side of Washington Street the changes have been so slight during many years, that the returning native of the town who might wander perplexed and bewildered in the lower part of the town like an awakened Rip Van Winkle, would here find himself at home again, and the finely cultivated farm of the Griggs family and the familiar sight of the tannery beyond, assure him that he was still in Brookline and following the windings of the Brighton road.
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175
ROBINSON AND WITHINGTON FAMILIES.
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CHAPTER X.
THE ROBINSON, WITHINGTON, AND COREY PLACES. - CYPRESS STREET. - BOYLSTON STREET. - GIDEON THAYER. - DR. SHURTLEFF. - BRADLEY'S HILL.
A MONG the earliest annals of the town of Dorchester appear the names of Robinson and Withington, and from 1636 downwards they constantly reappear as "El- ders " in the church, or selectmen of the town. In 1690 we find " Captain John Withington " leading the Dor- chester soldiers on the "Canada Expedition ; " and in the Revolutionary War, the young men of both families seem to have been numerous and active in the service of the country.
During Shays' Rebellion in 1787, we find " Captain James Robinson " of Dorchester, in command of a com- pany of men from that place who were employed to assist in putting down the insurrection. In this company ap- pear the names of John and David Withington, corporals. In an old diary kept by Colonel Samuel Pierce of Dor- chester, appears a curious incident under date of Decem- ber 30, 1773. On December 15th he notes the destruc- tion of the tea in Boston harbor. It seems that some chests of it not wholly broken up or emptied, were carried out by the tide, and about a half chest had drifted ashore at "the Point," doubtless now South Boston or City Point. An old gentleman of the Withington family had fished it out and carried it home, not because of any Tory lean -. ings, but probably because he liked a good cup of tea and
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
could not bear to see it wasted. Colonel Pierce's diary reads, -
" December 15. There was the destruction of the Tee ; they supposed there to be about 340 chests destroyed, all thrown into the dock in one nite."
" December 30. There was a number of men came from Bos- ton in disguise, about 40; they came to Mr. Eben Withing- ton's house down in town, and demanded his Tee from him which he had taken up, and carried it off and burnt it at Boston."
It was publicly burnt on the Common.
Henry Withington from whom the Brookline families descended was a " Ruling Elder " twenty-nine years.
Deacon John Robinson, afterwards of this town, was born in Dorchester in 1763. He was therefore too young for military service in the Revolution, but being often sent by his father with milk to the British troops, then occupying " the Castle," he was justly indignant at their boastful threats of the ability of the King's troops to over- run the country and conquer the rebel colonies, and desired very much to enter the service as a fifer, but to this his father would not consent, on account of his tender years. His memory of the fortifying of Dorchester Heights, the evacuation of Boston, and all the prominent events of the times was very distinct.
About the year 1790 the two young men. now only re- membered as venerable, white-haired fathers of the town, John Robinson and Enos Withington, who had been brought up to the trade of tanners, sought a suitable spot to locate themselves and commence business. Their at- tention was drawn to Brookline at that time, chiefly be- cause of its minister, the Rev. Joseph Jackson, whom they and others of the Dorchester people occasionally walked all the long distance from that town to this on Sundays to hear, he being "a mighty man " in the pulpit in those
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BUILDING THE FIRST TANNERY.
days. He did not confine the force of his logic, or the power of his eloquence to the sins of ancient Jews or Philistines, or labor vigorously to overthrow a man of straw of his own construction, but rather directed his efforts toward the sins, or what he considered sins of his own people. Deacon Robinson used to mention a sermon of Mr. Jackson's, which he heard one Sunday morning when he had walked from Dorchester, in which there was something of what might be called personal preaching. Some of the good man's parishioners had been rather gay and frisky, and kept late hours, which called down upon them the thunders of the pulpit, in which the pastor seemed to be making vigorous exertions to pound the Bible to pieces.
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Whether this particular sermon decided the young men to come to Brookline, does not appear, but they came in 1790, and purchased land of the last Robert Sharp.
All the land at that time from the Croft house to the one lately owned by Mr. Bartlett, on the north side of the street, was then a dark and tangled swamp, full of rocks, and thick with alder bushes all along the roadside. The site for the tannery was selected (where the work is still continued by Samuel A. Robinson ), and the work of clearing up and preparing to build was soon in successful progress, much to the satisfaction of market-men and others who had to frequent this lonely road at unseason- able hours.
Mr. Robinson built his house in 1791, married Mr. Withington's sister, and settled to his business. Mr. Withington built his house within three years after, and married Patience Leeds of Dorchester, a sister of the James Leeds of whom we gave an account previously. Both houses were alike originally, and the land about them, by the industry of these energetic young men, was re-
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
claimed from its wildness, and orchards and mowing lands took the places of rocky pastures and alder thickets.
During the earlier years of Mr. Withington's married life, having more house room than was necessary, he let a part of his house in summer to Boston families, who then found fewer places of summer resort than at present. Among these families were Governor Gore's, the Hub- bards, Clevelands, and other prominent people of Boston, who enjoyed the fine situation and the grand prospect from the top of the hill.
During the second war with England, when Boston was threatened by British vessels, every available spot of unoccupied room in this house was at one time packed full of duck, which was removed thither by some mer- chants who were apprehensive of losing it in case of an invasion.
Mr. Withington did not continue a tanner all his life, but devoted the principal part of his life to farming. He died when about seventy-four years of age. The late Deacon Otis Withington of Harvard Church, and our present Town Treasurer,* are his sons.
Mr. Robinson was also an active man in the First Church, of which he and his wife early became members. In this church he was a deacon fifty-seven years, and won the reputation of being a man of untiring benevolence.
Dr. Pierce, who succeeded Mr. Jackson in 1796, speaks more than once after a fifty years' pastorate, of Deacon Robinson and his wife, and Mr. Withington and his wife, as living with the marriage tie unbroken, longer than any other couples whom he found residing in the town when he came here.
When Mr. Robinson had held the office of deacon fifty- seven years, and the infirmities of age had already unfitted
1 Moses Withington, Esq.
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. 179
DEACON JOHN ROBINSON.
him for further active duties, he was presented with a heavy and beautiful silver goblet, with the following in- scription : -
TO DEACON JOHN ROBINSON, From the First Church in Brookline.
RECALLING HIS LONG AND FAITHFUL SERVICES AND GRATEFUL FOR HIS CONSISTENT EXAMPLE OF LOVE TOWARD GOD AND MAN. PRESENTED
MAY 14TH, 1854. .
THE 57TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS APPOINTMENT TO OFFICE.
Deacon Robinson was confined to his bed during the last two years of his life, and it has been said that "it was truly · delightful to see him lying so humble and submissive, patiently awaiting his departure. Those in attendance upon him, often heard him quoting from Scrip- ture and verse such passages as best suited his feelings, and which were of comfort and delight." His last utter- ance upon earth was the Doxology, -
"To God the Father, God the Son, And God the Spirit, Three in One, Be honor, praise, and glory given, By all on earth, and all in heaven."
He died January 13, 1855, aged ninety-one years and six months.
An appreciative memorial of him was published in one of the religious papers soon after his death. The widow and the fatherless often had occasion to bless his memory as one of the Lord's faithful stewards, and none who knew him will fail to recall to memory, his venerable figure and countenance, with feelings of the highest re- spect and esteem.
Deacon Robinson was overseer of the poor and a selectman for thirty years. He also was a represent- ative in the State Legislature twelve years. The house which he built has since his death been modernized and greatly improved by his son, so that to appearance it has
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
almost lost its identity. The Withington house, which has not been occupied by any of the family for many years, remains as built by its original owner. The large gas- ometer lately built almost in front of it alters the appear- ance of the neighborhood, which had remained so many years unchanged. The first tannery buildings were de- stroyed by fire several years ago, and rebuilt in an im- proved manner. The second tannery with the house near it were built by Deacon Robinson for his son James, who has since removed from Brookline.
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