History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 193

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1818

USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 193

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" The present year," writes Preceptor Farnsworth, "is the most successful in point of numbers and in- come from tuition for the past quarter of a century. Average number attending, about ninety-three; re- ceipts, about four thousand dollars. These figures include the primary department. About one-third of the pupils come from out of the city, representing some ten different towns. Nearly a quarter of the pupils are fitting for college. We expect to send six young men to college at the end of the present school year, besides several others who expect to take pre- liminary examination."

It would be an interesting list of names, could we find it, of those who have been the educators of the children and young people of Taunton during the two centuries and a half nearly of its history. To say that the generations of men and women have been largely fashioned by these hundreds and per- haps thousands of school-teachers is not speaking extravagantly. Teaching has taken its rank as it should among the "learned" professions. Normal schools educate the educators. Republics are some- times charged with being " ungrateful," but faithful, life-long teachers are remembered with gratitude by their pupils of " long ago." I have heard the names l' of Taunton teachers spoken of with affection, and

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TAUNTON.

familiar as household words,-" Ma'am Wilbur, Mrs. Barney, Harriet Prentice, Mercy Crossman, the Til- linghast sisters,-Fanny, Mary, and Joanna,-Fred- erick Crafts, Elias Morse." These represent the teachers of both sexes of a past generation, who have long since ceased from their labors. There are more recent names, some of them among the living, which represent an influence beginning with early child- hood and entering into the warp and woof, the. texture of an endless being. Such names are George C. Wilson, A. A. Leach, Luthera H. Leach, Eliza Drake, May G. Reed, Ann D. Reed, Emma Payson, Ellen Luscomb.

Mr. Alvin B. Winch was the first teacher of vocal music in the public schools, commencing about 1870. His son, William I., and brother, John F., are emi- nent vocalists in Boston. Mr. Winch was distin- guished in his profession. On his decease, in March, 1881, Mr. Milton R. French, of rare musical ability, was chosen his successor, and still teaches.

It was a felicitous thought of some of "the boys" of twenty years ago, including the names of the pres- ent mayor, city treasurer, register of deeds, and rep- resentative business men of this and other cities, to send to one of these teachers, Mr. A. A. Leach, a gold-headed cane, with an affectionate note, to which he thus responded :

" TAUNTON, March 19, 1883.

" TO THE BOYS :

"Accept my heartfelt thanks for your valuable and wholly unex- pected gift and for the kind words accompanying the same.

" These words and the names of so many of my former scholars recall to mind the time when we, as teacher and pupils, sat together in the old school-room; and if the room was not so spacious or the furniture so elegant, perhaps the lessons there learned were as good a preparation for the battle of life as those received under more favorable circum- stances at the present day.

" It is very gratifying to me, I assure you, to know that after the lapse of so many years you have not forgotten your old schoolmaster. And, while I am well aware of my many imperfections as your teacher, I comfort myself with the reflection that it was always my earnest en- deavor to do my duty faithfully and impartially.

" And now, my dear friends, I again teuder to you, one and all, my most sincere thanks for your kind remembrance, and my best wishes for your present and future well-being.

" Yours very truly, " A. A. LEACH. " To Horatio L. Cushman, Henry W. Colby, Joseph E. Wilbar, Edward A. Presbrey, Bowers Wood, George H. Tanswell, Charles A. Morse, Henry S. Washburn, Daniel II. Mason, George A. Washburn, Baylies Wood, Gordon II. Godfrey."

This answer to " the boys" moved one of them to pen the following lines :

" So these were ' boys,'-these with the care-worn look Of twoscore years or more upon their brow. Were these grim fellows we are grecting now The old-time urchins of the slate and book ? Him with the sober phiz and trim cravat, Whose face scarce ever breaks into a smile,-

Was this the youth who donned the old straw hat And, barefoot, trndged for many a weary mile ?

" And this strong, burly chap of fourteen stone, Who romped in boyish sport upon ' the Green'

In those old days,-did st ever think, I ween, Thy work should be the saddest task of all : To shroud and decorate the funeral pall

Of friends and schoolmates thou so well hadst known ?

" And one, whose name appeared upon the list, Who wandered from us at an early day ; I wonder if the little boy we missed Ilas laid his youthful looks and pranks away ?

I think of him with fresh and ruddy cheek,- This truant bee from our scholastic hive,- I have in mind a child with bearing meek, And not the bearded man of forty-five.

" And thou, whose genial look and pleasant eye Foreshadowed, even in that youthful time, The fair fulfillment of thy manhood's prime; Did ever once a thought possess thy brain That thon wouldst play the soldier o'er again With deadly arms and earnest battle cry ? Didst ever think that on some hard-fought field, When either combatant disdained to yield, That thou wouldst bear away the cruel scar That marks the terrors of ' grim-visaged war'?

" Ah ! dear old comrades, we but litlle thought The mimic battles that we daily fought Were embryotic forms of real strife To paint the conflict of a struggling life.

How little did our boyish reasoning mark The ebb and flow of all those troublous tides, Whose narrow channels are but treach'rous guides Upon the stream where human lives embark.

" And yet the ' boy is father to the man,' And did we know it, each of us might trace Even in childhood, the imperfect plan That in the years shall stare us in the face. Alas ! we learn the question quite too late

To shape for better ends our earthly fate. One thing alone is taught us hard and fast, We are but ' boys' and shall be to the last."

Water-Works.1-The year 1875 was a fortunate one for Taunton. It was the birth-year of a project for supplying the city with an abundance of pure and wholesome water. The early history of the enter- prise is but the history of all progressive movements in their beginning. The plan once seriously proposed, and the now familiar objections were at once put for- ward. The city did not need a public water supply, the people were not ready for it, the condition of the public treasury would not permit the outlay which would be required if water were introduced in unlim- ited quantities, the public health would be actually endangered because of the lack of any sufficient sewers and drains to carry away the flood,-these and other objections more or less fanciful were urged by the timid and conservative. And now, eight years later, the project of 1875 is an accomplished fact, a thing of seven years' growth, an indispensable depart- ment of the municipal economy. And what of those who opposed the scheme? With scarcely an excep- tion they are now to be counted among the strongest friends of the water department, and would loudly protest against any curtailment or restriction of its beneficent operations.

The need of a supply of water more abundant and certain than that furnished by wells, public reservoirs, or private cisterns seems first to have been felt in the fire department. In his report to the City Council for 1871, Chief Engineer Edward Mott says, "We

1 By William R. Billings.

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HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

have reason to feel thankful for the liberal appro- priation made the past year for reservoirs, yet a large fire in some parts of our city would demonstrate the want of several more. As this is a matter of so much importance, I would respectfully call your attention to the expediency of introducing water into the city from some neighboring ponds, which would be a great benefit to the fire department. It could also be used for domestic and mechanical purposes." But this appeal brought no response. In October, 1872, the Albion Lead-Works, on Walnut Street, were wholly destroyed by fire. All the available public reservoirs and private cisterns were pumped dry, and as a last resort a line of hose three thousand five hundred feet in length was laid to the river in order to get water to protect surrounding property.

In his report for 1872, Chief Engineer Mott calls attention to this and other fires, renews his appeal for more water, and appears to be somewhat discouraged, for he says, "In the absence of any prospect of water being introduced into the city for a long time to come, it will be necessary to build several reservoirs each year."

Mayor Fox, in his inaugural for 1873, says that the · greatest need of the fire department is a sufficient supply of water, but he makes no suggestion as to what should be done.

On the 7th of May, 1873, an extensive fire occurred on Broadway, in the building known as Jones' Athe- næum. The fire was bravely fought, but against the heavy odds resulting from the lack of sufficient water.

At last the attention of the city government seems to have been aroused, for on May 14th, seven days after this last conflagration, we find that in the board of aldermen it was "ordered that the committee on fire department be requested to consider and report whether any steps can be taken to provide a better supply of water in case of fire." This order was received from the Common Council and was adopted in concurrence. The members of this committee were Aldermen John Holland and Charles H. At- wood, Councilmen Benjamin L. Walker, Henry S. Harris, and Onias S. Paige, and they brought in their report July 2, 1873.

From this report it does not appear that the com- mittee approached the subject with any boldness or with any intention of doing more than the immediate needs of the fire department seemed to demand. They admit in their report that a need of more water in time of fire exists, but confine themselves to two recommendations, namely : first, that openings be made in the bridges at Winthrop Street and at Weir Street, for the use of the fire department; and sec- ond, that such alterations be made upon the small reservoir on Winthrop Street as will afford a better supply ; the expense not to exceed two hundred dol- lars, the same to be paid from the appropriation for public improvements. These suggestions were adopted

by the City Council, and were carried out under the direction of the committee and the chief engineer of the fire department.

That these measures were of no especial value is shown by the fact that in his report for 1873 Mr. Mott again brought the matter forward, and asked for a special committee to consider the subject. Ap- parently no attention was paid to the request, for we find no record that any such committee was ap- pointed during the year 1874.

But even now, when it appeared that nothing had been done to secure to Taunton the many benefits be- longing to a public water supply, the city had un- wittingly taken a most fortunate step toward that end.

With the co-operation of other cities and towns in its district, this city sent, in 1874, Hon. William C. Lovering to the State Senate. Mr. Lovering was placed upon the Committee on Drainage and Water Supply, and from this vantage ground he could see clearly the city's need of pure and wholesome water.

No definite steps were taken during the year 1874, but subsequent events plainly show that Senator Lovering returned to his seat in 1875 with the firm conviction that the time had come when prompt and effective measures should be set on foot to secure to the city by charter the right to take and hold the waters either of Taunton River, or of some of the neighboring ponds.

We are now brought to the opening of the year 1875, and very soon we find the question of water or no water squarely before the public. Mayor Babbitt in his inaugural makes no mention of the need for water-works, either for fire or domestic purposes, but Engineer Mott, in his report for 1874, speaks of the subject at greater length than in any previous report, and intimates that he has received suggestions and encouragement from several citizens as to ways and means. For the first time the Municipal Board of Health seems to realize that the question has some "interest from its point of view, and says in its report, " the expediency of introducing water for the purpose of flushing drains of the city is impressing its import- ance on the Board of Health from the frequency of the complaints of nuisances resulting from their filthy condition."

From this time on the history of the movement in its various stages is fairly told in the columns of the Daily Gazette. In this journal for Jan. 11, 1875, we find an anonymous1 article urging the adoption of a system of water-works, and outlining a plan which is evidently based upon the Holly system of direct pumping, and which selects the Middleborough ponds as the location for the pumping-station.

On the 15th of February there appeared in the same columns a vigorous article from the pen of Sen-

1 This article was probably written by Percy M. Blake, a civil engi- neer residing in Taunton.

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TAUNTON.

ator Lovering. In exact and forcible language he calls attention to the city's needs, declares that the investigations made by other cities and towns have shown the uncertainty which exists as to the purity of well-water in thickly-settled communities, and pointedly asks if Taunton can suppose that it is any more fortunate in this respect than other places. He says further that the city should lose no time in se- curing the right to the Middleborough ponds or Taun- ton River, and believes that as posterity is to reap so large a share of the benefits of the plan, that it should share the expense, and therefore recommends the issu- ing of thirty-year bonds and the creation of a sink- ing fund to provide for their payment at maturity.

Public attention had now been called to the matter, and a petition for a preliminary survey, headed by Senator Lovering, was soon in circulation. Hon. Edmund Baylies gave evidence of his wise public spirit by his interest in the scheme, and wrote to Mr Lovering, expressing his readiness to bear his share of the expense of such a survey. The petition found ready signers among the leading manufacturers and property-owners, and was presented to the Common Council at its meeting, March 3, 1875, and on the same evening there was presented in the Board of Aldermen an order directing the appointment of a joint special committee, "with instructions to ascer- tain from what ponds or other sources in the city or vicinity a sufficient supply of pure water to meet the present and future wants of the city can be obtained, and that the committee be authorized to have such surveys and estimates made as will furnish full and reliable data relating to the sources of supply and the cost of constructing the necessary works, and report the same in print to the City Council."

Before its final passage, on March 17th, the order received two amendments, one authorizing the com- mittee to expend the sum of five hundred dollars, the other fixing the number of the committee at eight,- three aldermen and five councilmen. By this arrange- ment each ward in the city secured a representative, and the committee consisted of Aldermen Henry S. Harris, Onias S. Paige, N. S. Williams, and Council- men Everett D. Godfrey, George P. King, Charles P. White, Zephaniah Hodges, and Thomas Leach.

To get a committee appointed from the City Coun- cil is no difficult matter, but the attempt to secure an appropriation for a new scheme is generally consid- ered a severe test of the strength of the movement.

The friends of water were jubilant, and proceeded at once to make the most of the opportunities given them. New names were added almost daily to the list of those who supported the scheme, but from the time of his appointment no one was more active and earnest in the work of pushing forward the project than Henry S. Harris, the chairman of the joint spe- cial committee.

their appearance in the city. The following item in the Gazette of March 16th indicates the condition of the public mind: " The city is thoroughly waked up on the water supply question, and everywhere it is the topic of conversation. Advocates of river water and upholders of pond water meet in dire wordy bat- tles on all possible occasions, and all the arguments that can be begged, borrowed, or stolen are duly ven- tilated in season and out of season. If the agitation brings us in the fluid no one will be sorry."

Chairman Harris and his committee found plenty to do. They prepared a series of questions, which was sent to a large number of cities and towns then supplied with water. It would seem that the com- mittee were already favorably impressed with the idea of dispensing with a reservoir, for many of these questions bore directly upon the merits and defects of the so-called Holly system of direct pumping. They began an examination by chemical analysis of the waters of Taunton River, of Elder's and other ponds in Lakeville, and of wells in various portions of the city. The banks of the river were examined to dis- cover their value for the construction of filter-beds, levels were taken of the most important points in the city and vicinity, and the preparation of a water act, which the Legislature was to be asked to enact, was begun.

The chemical analyses were made by Professor William Ripley Nichols, the leveling was done by Engineers Montgomery and Blake, and in the prepa- ration of the Water Act the services of Senator Lover- ing were invaluable.

At its meeting April 7th the City Council authorized the mayor to petition the General Court for the pass- age of the Water Act and for permission to issue twenty-year bonds to the amount of two hundred thousand dollars. An act granting both of these re- quests was approved May 19, 1875. The right to the Middleborough ponds was not obtained without some opposition from Lakeville, Middleborough, and New Bedford, and an examination of sections 1 and 10 of the Water Act will show that certain conditions were affixed to the privileges accorded to Taunton.

On the 7th of July the joint special committee made its report, which was received by the City Council in joint convention, and one thousand copies were afterwards ordered printed. This report is much too long to be quoted here, and its principal points can only be named. As to the quantity of water re- quired, the committee say that though the present actual need is nine hundred thousand gallons, they cannot " recommend any source which would not at any time supply twice that amount, or, in round num- bers, say two million gallons in twenty-four hours," and for a source of supply they are evidently, thoughi cautiously, inclined to favor Taunton River. A report from Professor Nichols is included in the committee's report, giving the results of his examination of the

News of the project had got abroad by this time, and representatives of pump-builders began to make . samples of water submitted to him, and Percy M.

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HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Blake, C.E., presents certain plans and estimates with an accompanying map. Did space permit, it would be interesting to compare the actual figures with the committee's table, showing the estimated receipts from water rates. We must content our- selves with quoting their estimate of the direct annual income of $16,529, and saying that these figures were realized in 1878. The following estimates for various plans were presented: Total cost of reservoir plan, $479,779.39; total cost of stand-pipe plan, $300,850.46; total cost of Holly plan, $249,730; and the report eloses with a letter from the Bangor Water Committee giving their conclusions as to the best methods of supplying cities with water.

The recommendations of the joint special com- mittee are in substance that the river scheme, by direct pumping, is the most advantageous for the city, that the present is a most favorable time to contract for the building of the work, owing to the low price of iron and of labor, and they "earnestly hope that the time is not far away when we shall all rejoice in its perfect consummation."

During the month of July, Engineer Blake had on exhibition at the City Hall and in a room in Jones' Block, Broadway, apparatus for filtering water taken from Taunton River. These exhibitions served to keep alive popular interest in the subject, and showed that good results might be obtained by artificial filtra- tion of water taken directly from the river. At its meeting of Aug. 4, 1875, there was laid before the City Council a petition signed by Hon. Edmund H. Bennett and many others asking the Council to cause warrants for ward meetings to be issued, at which the citizens should, by their votes, accept or reject the water act passed by the Legislature. Warrants were accordingly issued for Tuesday, Sept. 21, 1875.

The friends of water made systematic efforts to secure a full vote. Two preliminary business meet- ings were held in Bank Hall September 10th and 14th. Rallying committees were appointed in each ward, and arrangements were made for a mass meeting in Music Hall on the evening preceding the day of election. This meeting was large and enthusiastic. Hon. Wm. C. Lovering presided, and the National Band, from its station in the gallery, enlivened the scene with strains of music. The speakers were Mr. J. A. Richardson, of the Holly Company, James Brown, : Esq., Hon. E. H. Bennett, Dr. Joseph Murphy, Hon. Harrison Tweed, and T. T. Flagler, president of the Holly Company.

On the following day this question was answered by the citizens at the polls, "Shall the act to supply the city of Taunton with pure water be accepted ?" and in this manner :

Yes.

No.

Yes.

No.

Ward 1

278

Ward 6 ...

107

285

155

103

1194

570

The result was a surprise to even the friends of the

measure. As was to be expected, the opposition came mainly from the outside wards, for the greatest benefits of the proposed scheme would not imme- diately be felt by residents in those wards.

In Board of Aldermen, October 6th, the joint special committee were instructed to continue their investigations, to make definite recommendations as to where and how the water was to be obtained, to decide upon the area over which the pipes should at first be laid, and to present estimates of the cost of construction, and in this order the Common Council concurred.

In a resolve authorizing a water loan of two hun- dred thousand dollars, which was introduced at this meeting, the Common Council did not concur, and in the Board of Aldermen it was passed only by the cast- ing vote of Mayor Babbitt. Upon this same evening, however, the City Council in joint convention elected Marcus M. Rhodes, Parley I. Perrin, and Henry S. Harris as water commissioners for periods of one, two, and three years, respectively, from January, 1876. To aid them in obtaining the information re- quired by the City Council, certain members of the joint special committee visited, in company with Commissioners-elect Perrin and Rhodes, several cities and towns where water had been introduced, and in the month of December they made their final report. This report, though shorter than that of July 7th, is too long for quotation, but in it we find the following things recommended : a filter-bed at shallow water on the northerly side of Taunton River; a twenty-four- inch conduit leading therefrom to the pump-well at the pumping-station; the pumping-station to be located on the lot belonging to Ebenezer Hall, on Dean Street, near the old wharf. A distributing system consisting of a twenty-inch force-main to City Square, with twelve-, ten-, and eight-inch branches at that point to different portions of the city, and enough smaller pipe to make a total length of about twenty-four miles, with one hundred and eighty hydrants and seventy-five gates. The stand- pipe and reservoir plans are put one side, and the direct-pumping system is emphatically declared to be the best suited to the city's needs and circumstances. The total cost is placed at two hundred and forty-five thousand dollars. The committee wish it distinctly understood that they do not advocate any particular kind of pumping-machinery, and name the Worth- ington, the Holly, or the Flanders pump as being then in use in direct-pumping systems.

Things so far had in the main gone well with the friends of the water-works project, but there was one serious obstacle which must be removed or conquered in some way. The public statutes regulating muni- cipal indebtedness required a two-thirds vote of the City Council to authorize the issue of a water loan. The failure to get from the City Council of 1875 a two-thirds vote in favor of a resolution authorizing a I water loan of two hundred thousand dollars showed

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History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 193

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1818

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1818