USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Dedham > History and directory of Dedham, Mass. for 1889 : containing a complete resident, street and business directory ; Census of Massachusetts and a history of the town from the first settlement to the present time > Part 3
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HISTORY OF DEDHAM.
charge of it at the upper village. In 1802, a second fire- engine was provided in the same way, with a company of eighteen men at Dedham village. There was a uniformed military company, known as the Union Light Infantry, and a troop of cavalry, besides the three militia companies in the town. The town on the 22d of February, 1800, voted to commemorate the birthday of George Washington, and a culogy was pronounced by Rev. Thomas Thatcher. The laying out of new roads, the establishment of the first news- paper, the Columbian Minerva, in 1796, and a proposition by Calvin Whiting the same year, to construct an aqueduct in the village, were further indications of growth and im- provement.
But a more important and significant mark of the enterprise of the citizens at this period, was the establishment of manu- facturing corporations. The great increase in the production of cotton in the Southern States, and the invention of the cotton-gin in the latter part of the eighteenth century, had attracted the attention of enterprising men in Rhode Island and Massachusetts to its manufacture. And it was perceived by some citizens of Dedham that the excellent water-power furnished by the canal dug in 1640, known as Mother Brook, might be utilized for a cotton-factory. From the earliest settlement of the town, the descendants of Nathaniel Whiting had continued to maintain grist-mills and saw-mills at the second and third privileges. At the upper dam, about which there was a controversy in the first century, had been built a leather-mill by Joseph Lewis. The first cotton-factory was built at this dam. In 1807, Samuel Lowder, Jonathan Avery, Reuben Guild, Calvin Guild, Pliny Bingham, William Howe, and others, were incorporated as the Norfolk Cotton Manufactory, for the manufacture of cotton goods. Nearly all the corporators were citizens of Dedham. Its capital stock was divided into fifty shares. A large wooden factory was built, and a tub-wheel with common water-frames placed in it. The machinery was rude and imperfect. The cotton was picked in the neighboring houses by hand, and after it was spun, it was sent abroad to be woven. But soon the store-rooms were crowded with cotton yarns and cotton cloths. Many of the manufactured goods were sold by retail at the mill. In order to have a better assortment of goods, the
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HISTORY OF DEDHAM.
company obtained leave to manufacture wool, and made satinets. During the war of 1812, manufactured goods com- manded a high price, and the affairs of the company appeared very prosperous. The annual meetings, with reports of profitable business, were festive occasions. The stockholders were regarded as public benefactors, as well as fortunate in business. The inhabitants felt a degree of pride in having a cotton-factory in the town, and when their friends from the interior visited them, they were invited to see its curious and wonderful machinery. After a time the tub-wheel gave way to the common water-wheel, and the cotton-picker was introduced.
But this career of apparent prosperity was not of long duration. The business was not conducted by an agent, but by a president, three directors, a clerk, and treasurer. The three directors were required to remain at the factory, and no one was permitted to transact important business without the concurrence of his colleagues. The manufactured goods ac- cumulated during the war, although high prices could have been realized. They were held in the hope of still better prices. No dividends from the profits of the business were ever declared. At the close of the war of 1812 came a fall in prices, and the Norfolk Cotton Manufactory was left with manufactured goods on hand, to the amount of upwards of twenty thousand dollars, which were worth less than it cost to manufacture them, besides uncollected debts to the amount of forty thousand dollars. Of course, from this time the prop- erty rapidly declined in value, but for a time the stockholders were divided as to the expediency of closing the business and selling the property. Finally, after having refused to take twenty-five thousand dollars, the land, privileges, buildings, and machinery were sold at public auction in 1819 to Ben- jamin Bussey for twelve thousand five hundred dollars. The stockholders lost about one-third of their investment, besides interest.
But the failure of this experiment did not deter others from engaging in similar enterprises. In 1821, the Dedham Worsted Company was incorporated, with William Phillips and Jabez Chickering as the principal corporators. This company purchased the second privilege, with the saw-mill and grist-mill owned by Hezekiah Whiting and his ancestors.
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HISTORY OF DEDHAM.
This purchase was made in 1823, but, owing to the failure of Mr. Chiekering, the mill and property were sold in 1824 to Benjamin Bussey.
The first and second privileges were now owned by Ben- jamin Bussey, a man of capital, energy, and capacity. He soon after erected woolen-mills at both the privileges, with machine-shops, dye-houses, and dwellings, and began the manufacture of woolen cloths, which he successfully con- ducted until 1843, when he sold the property to J. Wiley Edmands. The manufacture of woolen goods has ever since been carried on at these privileges, first by Edmands & Colby, incorporated in 1853, under the name of the Maverick Woolens Company, with Thomas Barrows, of Dedham, as agent, and afterwards by the Merchants Woolen Company, incorporated in 1863. During all this period the business has been profitable to the owners. Mr. Barrows was an ex- perienced and prudent manager, and the sale to the Merchants Woolen Company was made at an advantageous price. This company has much enlarged the capacity of the mills and machinery, and the privilege has long since ceased to furnish the necessary power for running the machinery, which is supplied by steam. The water of Charles River is found to be unequaled for the purposes of cleansing wool.
The fourth privilege was first used by Nathaniel Whiting and James Draper in the first century of the settlement of the town. But this right had reverted to the town, for in 1789 the town again transferred it to Joseph Whiting and others. Upon this privilege a building had been erected for blocking copper cents, but it was used for this purpose only a short time. It was afterwards fitted up by Herman Mann for the manufacture of paper. In 1804, George Bird purchased the property, and carried on the manufacture of paper with suc- cess. At about the same time another mill was erected for the manufacture of wire, of which Ruggles Whiting, of Boston, was the agent. These mills were near together, and were operated by the same wheel. The mill of Mr. Bird was burned in 1809, and was rebuilt with a new raceway and foundation. This was a paper mill. In 1814 the manu- facture of wire was discontinued, and the factory was used for making nails. In 1819, George Bird became the owner of the whole privilege, land and buildings.
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HISTORY OF DEDHAM.
In 1823, Frederick A. Taft, a skillful and experienced manufacturer of cotton goods, formed a copartnership with George Bird, and the factory was furnished with machinery from the Norfolk Cotton-Factory. In 1823, a new corpora- tion was created under the name of the Norfolk Manufacturing Company, in which John Lemist, of Roxbury, and Frederick A. Taft were prominent corporators. Mr. Bird leased the land, privilege, and buildings to the corporation for ten years. In 1830 the corporation bought the whole of the mill property. In 1832, F. A. Taft sold his interest in the com- pany to his brother, Ezra W. Taft, and in a few years after, Mr. Lemist disposed of his interest to James Read. The principal owners were Mr. Read and Mr. E. W. Taft, who was the agent of the corporation. In 1835 a new stone mill was erected by the corporation and supplied with new machinery. Mr. Taft continued to be the agent for about thirty years, and under his management the affairs of the corporation prospered. In 1863 the corporators decided to close up the business, and the mill and privilege were sold to Thomas Barrows. Mr. Barrows enlarged the mill, and supplied it with machinery for the manufacture of woolen goods, which business he continued until 1872, when he sold the property to the Merchants Woolen Company, which conveyed the same to Royal O. Storrs and Frederick R. Storrs in 1875. The business was continued by R. O. Storrs & Co. until their failure in 1882, when the property was purchased again by the Merchants Woolen Company. By purchase of Thomas Barrows, this company also became the owner of the third privilege, with the old saw-mill and grist-mill, so that it now owns the first four privileges on Mother Brook. In 1814 the Dedham Manufacturing Com- pany was incorporated, and erected a fifth dam at the village known as Readville, now in Hyde Park, on which a cotton- factory was built.
Although, as has been seen, the first manufacturing cor- porations were unsuccessful in business, still they gave a new impetus to the improvement of the town. They brought hither men of enterprise and capital, who became valuable citizens, and also employed many skilled operatives of char- acter and intelligence. The most striking results occurred in the increase of population. In 1800 the population of the
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town was 1973. In 1820 it was 2485, and in 1830 it had increased to 3057. In the first quarter of the present century the village had changed from being a collection of scattered farm-houses to a compact and growing village.
In the war of 1812, Dedham took decided ground in sup- port of the government and the policy of the war. When the Hartford Convention was proposed by the General Court, one of its representatives denounced it as a revolutionary proceeding. Upon a communication from the town of Boston requesting its co-operation in measures to oppose the war, the town, in July, 1812, rejected the proposed combina- tion. The town voted that every drafted man should receive from its treasury, a sum sufficient to make his wages fifteen dollars a month while in actual service. Soldiers for the army were here recruited and drilled. In August, five hundred delegates from the towns of the county assembled in convention at Dedham, and expressed their approbation of the war. The Dedham Light Infantry, Capt. Abner Guild, did service at South Boston during the war for several months. During this war large quantities of beef and pork were packed in West Dedham by Willard Gay, and, while the coast was blockaded, James Pettee, Samuel French, and Colburn Ellis drove horse or ox-teams to New York and Philadelphia. The trip to New York occupied three weeks, and to Philadelphia, six weeks.
The Hon. Samuel Dexter, who died in 1810, had left in his will, a legacy of one hundred and seventy dollars as an addition to the school funds, and in making this bequest, he suggested that certain sums formerly appropriated for the same purpose, which were expended in hiring soldiers, should be replaced by the town. The town accepted the bequest, and directed the treasurer to loan the money on security. But this fund has disappeared with the other school funds of the town.
In 1817, the county had erected a new stone jail on the site of the present one, with a house for the keeper. These buildings were built of hammered stone, at an expense of about fifteen thousand dollars. The jail was thirty-three feet square and eighteen feet high. Its walls were massive, leaving but little space in the interior for cells and staircases. The jail stood until 1851, when it was removed to make roon
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HISTORY OF DEDHAM.
for the main portion of the present structure. The old wooden jail, built in 1795, was used as a house of correction until 1833, when a new brick building was erected on the site of the present jail. Some of the cells of this house of correction are retained in the present jail, but the building was taken down in 1851. The stone house for the keeper stood until 1880.
On the 4th day of July, 1825, the corner-stone of the new court-house was laid. It was built of hewn white granite, brought from Dover, about eight miles. It was then a Grecian building, eighty-nine by forty feet, with porticos at either end, having four Doric columns, three feet and ten inches in diameter at the base, and twenty-one feet high. The architect was Solomon Willard, of Boston, and Damon & Bates, master builders. Its cost was about thirty thou- sand dollars, and its architecture was always much admired. It was completed and dedicated Feb. 20, 1827, during the term of the Supreme Judicial Court. Chief Justice Parker made an address, and the bar gave a dinner to the judges and attorney-general. The enlargement on High Street, which completely changed the appearance of the building, and the dome surmounting it, were finished in 1861.
CHAPTER VI.
THE CIVIL WAR, 1861-65-COMPANIES OF DEDHAM MEN-THEIR SERVICES IN THE WAR-EXPENSES OF THE WAR FOR BOUNTIES AND AID TO SOLDIERS' FAMILIES-MEMORIAL HALL.
At the beginning of the civil war in 1861, there was no militia company in Dedham. None had existed since 1842. There were a few men residing in Dedham who belonged to the volunteer militia, and they at once joined their companies and went to Washington for three months' service. But the inhabitants of Dedham, while they differed as to the political causes of the war, were united in their efforts to sustain the President in his call for seventy-five thousand volunteers. The young men immediately took steps to form a company, in anticipation that their services would soon be required.
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HISTORY OF DEDHAM.
The ladies with great promptness forwarded to the Governor, on the 23d of April, sixty flannel shirts for the soldiers about to depart. The town, at a meeting legally called on the 6th of May, by formal resolution pledged itself " to stand by the volunteers and protect their families during the war," and appropriated ten thousand dollars for this general purpose. The first company was formed early in May, and while waiting to be assigned to some regiment the men employed themselves in perfecting their drill. The town supplied them with uniforms, and allowed them compensation during a certain period. In August, this company was mustered into the service of the United States as Company F, Eighteenth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. The regiment was commanded by Col. James Barnes, a graduate of West Point, an officer possessing high qualifications, as was sub . sequently proved. All the commissioned officers and fifty- six men of this company belonged in Dedham. Its officers were Henry Onion, captain, with Charles W. Carroll as first lieutenant, and Fisher A. Baker, aa second lieutenant, the two latter having recently graduated from Dartmouth Col- lege. Nine Dedham men also enlisted in Company H of the same regiment. On the 26th of August they left for the seat of war.
The town was liberal in its appropriations of money for bounties and aid to soldiers' families during the war. The raising of each quota of men required large sums of money, and for a considerable period the constant efforts of the selectmen, who were officially charged with the business of obtaining volunteers. A statement of moneys expended during the war, made in 1868, is probably nearly accurate. It is taken from the appendix to the pamphlet containing the exercises at the dedication of Memorial Hall, Sept. 29, 1868 :
Amount Expended by the Town of Dedham for Soldiers' Bounties and Aid of Soldiers' Families during the War of the Rebellion.
Whole number of men raised and mustered into the military and naval service, six hundred and seventy-two.
Company F, Eighteenth Regiment Massachusetts Infantry- 59 men.
For outfit, uniforms, etc., under vote of May 6, $1591.66
1861
For drill, under votes of May 6 and May 27, 1861 2573.15
For further pay for drill under vote of June 4, 1866 4650.00
$8,814.81
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HISTORY OF DEDHAM.
Company I, Thirty-fifth Regiment Massachusetts Infantry- 69 men.
For bounties under vote of July 21, 1862 ($100). 6,900.00
Company D, Forty-third Regiment Massachusetts Infantry, and other nine months' men-126 men.
For bounties under votes of Aug. 25, and Sept. 15, 1862 ($200) $25,200.00
For expenses of enlistment. 520.00
25,720.00
Men enlisted in other regiments and in navy, including substi- tutes provided by individuals-418 men.
For bounties under votes of April 4 and July 25, 1864. $26,856.00
For expense of recruiting, estimated at. 600.00
27,456.00
Estimated amount expended in aid of soldiers' families, ex- clusive of State aid .. 16.200.00 Amount of State aid (nominally reimbursed to the town) ... 51,000.00
$136,090.81
During the year 1864, thirty-four enrolled men procured substitutes in the military and naval service, at an expense to themselves of not less than $20,000.
Not long after the close of the war the erection of a soldiers' monument was proposed, and was considered in town-meeting. But at a town-meeting held May 7, 1866, it was voted to erect a building to be called "Memorial Hall," the walls to be of Dedham granite. Its purposes were to provide a suitable place for the transaction of all the public business of the town, and also a suitable memorial of the soldiers of Dedham who had died in the service of their country. The land was purchased by subscription, and presented to the town for that purpose. The building was begun in the course of the year, and was finished in the sum- mer of 1868. The cost of the building, memorials, furniture of the hall, and the grading of the lot, including expense of the committee and architect, was less than forty-seven thousand dollars. The size of the building, the general arrangement of the rooms, and the manner of locating the building and the lot, were determined by the committee. The architect was Mr. Henry Van Brunt, and the memorials were designed by him, but the committee are responsible for the inscriptions. In some particulars the committee did not adopt the designs of the architect, and in others, though they adopted his
72.00
0 40มล
MEMORIAL HALL
14.00
:
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PHOTO MIC. CO.BOSTON
MEMORIAL HIALL.
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HISTORY OF DEDHAM.
designs, they did not adopt the designs considered most appropriate by him. The stone and brick-work was done by D. G. Corliss & Co., of Quincy.
The following is a brief description of the building :
The design, which was by Messrs. Ware & Van Brind, architects, of Boston, recalls the provincial town-halls of England in outline and general character, and is carried out in the peculiar, warm, yellow granite of the neighborhood, relieved by bands of blue Quincy granite. Its main exterior dimensions are one hundred and fonr by sixty-four feet on the ground, with an elevation of thirty-four feet to the cornice, and cighty-five feet to the summit of the tower, which surmounts the middle division of the front on Washington Street. On this front, in the most conspicuous place over the main entrance, is inserted a large tablet of Quincy granite, decorated with oak leaves and a crown of laurel, and bearing this inscription :
" To Commemorate
The Patriotism and Fidelity
Of Her Sons
Who Fell
In Defence of the Union
In The War
Of The Rebellion,
Dedham Erects This Hall. A. D.
MDCCCLXVII."
In the main vestibule, from which stairs to the right and left conduct to the hall above, in a broad niche facing the entrance, are five marble tablets in a Gothic framework of black walnut. The central tablet, which is enriched by a
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carved canopy supported by columns, bears this inscription :
" The Town of Dedham Ilas Caused
To Be Inscribed Upon These Tablets, The mines of her Sons,
Who Fell
Representing Her,
Su Ocleute of the Union, In The War Of
The Rebellion-1861-65,
And In Whose Honor She Has Erected This Hall."
The tablets on either side contain the names of forty-six soldiers, with the rank, date, and place of death in each case, arranged in order of regiments.
THE COURT HOUSE as originally built.
This view given of the Court House is from the sketch and engraving made by Mr. JJ. W. Barber for his History of New England published in 1839. The first Court House was the building now known as Temperance Hall, and stood within the present enclosure of the Unitarian Church yard.
CHAPTER VII.
MILITARY RECORD.
The following is a roll of officers and men from or credited to the town of Dedham, who served in the army or navy of the United States during the war of the Rebellion, 1861-65.1 The names of those men are included who are known to have had a connection with Dedham by birth, residence, or enlist- ment upon the quotas of men furnished by the town during the war. Names are arranged according to the number of the regiments. Where no rank is named, that of private is understood. The date first named is the date of muster in. Confinement in rebel prisons, and wounds when the cause of death or discharge, are mentioned so far as known. Names of those who died in the service are distinguished by an asterisk.
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INFANTRY. 1
FIRST REGIMENT, Three Years.
Benjamin Blanchard, Co. H, May 31, 1861; must. out May 25, 1864.
SECOND REGIMENT, Three Years.
James Pinney, Co. F, May 26, 1861 ; must. out May 25, 1864. Lafayette Perkins (New Hampshire) Co. K, May 26, 1861; vet. vol. ; must. out Jnne 17, 1865.
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*Michael Henniham, Co. H, May 26, 1861 ; killed at Chancellorsville, Va., May 3, 1863.
1 1 This roll was prepared for and printed with the exercises and ad- dress at the dedication of Memorial Hall, Sept. 29, 1868, by Erastus Worthington, Esq., the writer of the history of Dedham for this work.
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HISTORY OF DEDHAM.
THIRD REGIMENT, Three Months.
Erastus W. Everson, sergt., Co. A, April 23, 1861; must. out July 22, 1861. (See 18th Regt., Co. H.)
FOURTH REGIMENT, Three Months.
Albert A. Nichols, sergt, Co. A, April 22, 1861; must. out July 22, 1861.
FIFTH REGIMENT, Three Months.
James H. Griggs, Co. B, May 1, 1861; prisoner July 21, 1861 (Bull Run) ; exchanged June 1, 1862. (See 33d. Regt.)
Charles W. Strout, sergt., Co. C, May 1, 1861; must out July 31, 1861. Edwin H. Robertson, Co. E, May 1, 1861 ; must out July 31, 1861.
FIFTH REGIMENT, One Hundred Days.
Charles E. Grant, Co. F. July 16, 1864; must. out Nov. 16, 1864. Nathan O. Weeks, Co. F, July 16, 1864; must. out Nov. 16, 1864.
Henry Weeks, Co. F, July 16, 1864; must. out Nov. 16, 1864. (See 43d Regiment.)
SIXTH REGIMENT, One Hundred Days.
Edward F. Clark, Co. H, July 16, 1864; must. out Oct. 27, 1864.
SEVENTH REGIMENT, Three Years.
Albinah II. Burgess (Dorchester,) Co. E, June 15, 1861 ; must. out March 23, 1863, for disability.
James Sheehan, Co. G, June 15, 1861; must. out June 27, 1864. Charles E. Park, Co. G, June 15, 1861 ; must out June 27, 1864. Thomas Smeedy, Co. G, June 15, 1861; must. out June 27, 1864.
ELEVENTH REGIMENT, Three Years.
Mark Morse, musician, Co. I, June 13, 1861; must. out June 24, 1864. Andrew Thompson, drummer, Co. F, June 13, 1861; Dec. 1, 1863, trans. to Vet. Res. Corps.
TWELFTH REGIMENT, Three Years.
*Charles L. Carter, Co. B, June 25, 1863 ; re-enl. 39th Regt. Co. E.
THIRTEENTH REGIMENT, Three Years.
Sigourney Wales, sergt., Co. C. July 16, 1861 ; pro. 2d. lieut. Feb. 3, 1863 ; trans. to 55th Regt. May 23, 1863.
James L. McCoy, Co. C, July 16, 1861; pro. 1st sergt. ; must. out Aug. / 1, 1864.
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HISTORY OF DEDHAM.
THIRTEENTH REGIMENT, Continued.
William S. Dramell, Co. D, July 16, 1861; pro. 2d lient. March 6, 1863; Ist lieut. Jan. S, 1864; pro. capt. April 22, 1864; prisoner of war, 1864; must. out Aug. 1, 1864.
John Callahan, Co. G, July 16, 1861; disch. Feb. 19, 1863, for disability.
FIFTEENTH REGIMENT, Three Years.
Fred. Page, musician, Aug. 5, ISG1 ; must. out Aug. 8, 1862, under gen- eral order.
SIXTEENTII REGIMENT, Three Years.
Charles W. Blenus, musician, Aug. 10, 1861; must. out Aug. 9, 1862, under general order.
1
EIGHTEENTH REGIMENT, Three Years.
Edward M. Onion, sergt .- maj., Aug. 24, 1861; 2d lieut. Oct. 29, 1861; 1st lieut. Sept. 1, 1862; capt. May 2, 1863; must. out Sept. 2, 1864. Alfred A. Bestwick, musician, Aug. 24, 1861; must out Aug. 11, 1862, under general order.
Isaac W. Weathers, musician, Ang. 24, 1861; must out Aug 11, 1862, under general order.
Isaac Wallace White, musician, Aug. 24, 1861; must out Aug. 11, 1862, under general order.
Henry Onion, capt., Co. F, July 26, 1861 ; must out Oct. 28, 1861.
*Charles W. Carroll, Ist lieut., Co. F, July 26, 1861 ; capt. Oct. 29, 1861; died Sept. 2, 1862, of wounds received at 2d battle of Bull Run, Va., Aug. 30, 1862.
Fisher A. Baker, 2d lieut., Co. F, July 26, 1861; 1st lieut. Oct. 29, 1861 ; adjt. April, 1862; lieut-col. Aug. 25, 1864, but declined commission ; must. out Sept. 2, 1864.
Warren B. Galucia, Ist sergt., Co. F. Aug. 24, 1861; disch. November, 1862, for sickness. (See 56th Regt.)
James M. Pond, sergt., Co. F, Aug. 24, 1861; Ist sergt .; promoted 1st lieut. Jan. 15. 1864 ; October, 1864,re-enlisted, and trans. to 23d Regt. John K. Thompson, sergt., Co. F', Aug. 24, 1861 ; disch. in 1863 for sick- ness.
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