History of Dedham, Massachusetts, Part 14

Author: Smith, Frank, 1854-
Publication date: 1936
Publisher: Dedham, Mass., Transcript Press
Number of Pages: 1246

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AVERY SCHOOL. This school was first known as the Mill School, later as the Mill Village School, later still as District No. 3 and finally as the Avery School, being named in honor of a dis- tinguished Dedham family, and especially in honor of Dr. William Avery, who in 1680 gave £60 for the encouragement of a Latin School in Dedham. The Avery School was established by the town May 27, 1784, on a petition presented by the citizens in that part of the town asking to be set off from the schools of the town and allowed to draw their proportion of the school money to be used for schooling as they saw fit. The first school house stood on Walnut Street nearly opposite the residence of the late Dr. F. L. Babcock. In 1825 a new school house was built on High Street

* The Endicott School, first called the East Street School and organized in 1717 was named for the Honorable John Endicott, and the Burgess School named in honor of the Rev. Dr. Burgess, have been discontinued by the town. The Low Plain School was in that part of the town which was annexed to Hyde Park and now known as the Damon School.

** Prof. William H. Clarke in his Mid Century Memories gives a concrete example of the discipline in the Center School (now the Ames School) in 1850. The master when occasion required could exercise disciplinary power in full force. To keep the boys in check he often carried a rattan in his hand in readiness for use. On one occasion for some misdemeanor, I saw him give one of the largest boys a cut across his shoulders, when the boy turned upon him and they grappled, both going over on the floor, resulting in victory for the teacher, who held the boy to the floor by his hands on his neck. The girls ran out of the room with fright, but the principal was master of the situation after this battie.

Terry T Thater 1996

Top, ST. MARY'S PAROCHIAL SCHOOL; center right, QUINCY SCHOOL; left center, COLBURN SCHOOL; bottom, OLD RED BRICK SCHOOL HOUSE (Norwood)

Top, AVERY SCHOOL; left center, DEXTER SCHOOL; right center, RIVERDALE SCHOOL; bottom, CAPEN SCHOOL

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EDUCATION

which gave way in 1844 to a new school house which was erected on the present site of the Avery School house. In 1894 the town purchased and very considerably enlarged the school house lot. The present school house was built in 1921 at a cost approxi- mately of $200,000. Early records of the Avery School district show a common practise which is a curiosity to us of the present day. At a meeting held in 1808 it was voted that the boarding of the master be put out to the lowest bidder. Accordingly an auction was held and ten shillings ($2.50) per week was the lowest bid and Rufus Whiting the successful bidder. At a meet- ing held in 1809 it was voted "that the several individuals of this school district furnish half a foot of pine wood to each scholar they send and that Rufus Whiting inspect and measure the wood."

DEXTER SCHOOL. This school was first called the Second Middle School District, later District No. 2, and finally named the Dexter School in 1867, in honor of Samuel Dexter, a leading citi- zen of Dedham in the years immediately preceding the Revolu- tion. The school probably dates from 1774. On a petition of the citizens living near the Great Common the town voted May 4, 1801, to divide the First Middle District provided the petitioners build a school house near the Great Common. A school house was erected on a lot of land just northerly of the present site. A new school house, being the present Dexter School house, was erected on the present site in 1846; it now ranks as one of the older school houses in the state.

QUINCY SCHOOL. The Quincy School had its beginning in a small half basement room in a building on Curve Street, corner of Mt. Hope Street, which was leased and furnished in 1871. To it was transferred a class of children from the Avery School in charge of Mrs. Mary S. Morse. Here the school continued until the erection of a school house in 1872. The school was named for the Honorable Josiah Quincy, the founder of the "Quincy Homestead Association" which was designed to aid working men, artisans, and clerks to secure homes for themselves on the co- operative plan. The present school house was built in 1910.

OAKDALE SCHOOL *. This school was opened with one teacher in a rented room in the Sanderson building in September

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A HISTORY OF DEDHAM

1873, "upon the request of many residents". In 1878 the town erected a school house which for the time was ranked as a "mod- ern structure". The school bears the local name of the neighbor- hood. In 1850 the location was chiefly an oak forest .** The pres- ent school house was erected in 1904 at the highest point in the center of a four acre lot and was the first brick school house to be built in Dedham. Taking the advice of prominent educators that "the school garden cared for by the children is useful in economic training, in stimulating an interest in many things; which would ordinarily pass unnoticed by the children; that it can be made in part the basis of the best kind of work in many subjects:" Fred- eric H. Kennard, a landscape architect, was employed to develop the grounds. The lawn in front of the school house is beautifully laid out. The grounds have abundant paths and telford drive- ways. The boys' playground contains about an acre. The girls' playground is fenced from that of the boys and has an area for basketball, and a sand pit for children of the primary grades. The flower garden is placed at the east of the school house and is enclosed by a hedge. Fifty-two pupils can cultivate individual beds of flowers. The vegetable garden which accommodates ninety-six children is placed at the north-west corner of the grounds and the tree section is found a little beyond. The grounds have been adorned with one hundred and eighty varieties of trees, shrubs and vines, many of which are natives of New England. The Department of Agriculture of the National Gov- ernment, exhibited the plan of the Oakdale School grounds at the St. Louis Exposition.

RIVERDALE SCHOOL .*** The Riverdale School was named by the town when the money was appropriated for the first school house in 1885, in honor of the neighboring estate of Albert Nick- erson. The present school house was built in 1921 and added to in 1930.

CHARLES J. CAPEN SCHOOL. This school was named in

* The village of Oakdale was begun about 1870 when Charles S. Sanderson divid- ed a tract of land Into house lots and sold them to parties who erected dwelling houses thereon. With the development of the village Mr. Sanderson erected a build- ing containing a public hall and a store.

* The proceedings of dedication see School Report 1898.

*** It is regretted that a Dedham School has not been named in honor of Horace Mann, who was for twelve years a member of the Board of School Committee and a resident of Dedham when he was appointed Secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Education.

THE OAKDALE SCHOOL

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EDUCATION

honor of Charles J. Capen, for more than fifty years a public school teacher and the first principal of the Dedham High School. The Capen School house was erected in 1931.

West Dedham had its Colburn School, named in honor of the Colburn family of whom Warren Colburn, a distinguished mathematician was the author of the "Elements of Intellectual Arithmetic," in its day one of the most widely used text-books. It was translated into several languages and sold extensively. Dana P. Colburn was the author of several text-books which would have had an extensive use had it not been for the author's untimely death at thirty-six years of age. He was principal of the Rhode Island State Normal School. Other members of the family include the Honorable Waldo Colburn, a distinguished jurist.

The Fisher School was named for the Honorable Ebenezer Fisher who bequeathed $600.00 to the school, the interest of which was to be expended annually toward its support. Mr. Fisher was a prominent citizen and a member of Congress.

The Union School at Walpole Corner, long since discontinued, was supported by the towns of Dedham, Dover and Walpole.

ISLINGTON SCHOOL. A school was organized in Islington in 1876. It was kept in the hall of a building opposite the railroad station. A school house was built in the district in 1884 which was later enlarged and named by the Westwood School Committee the "Wentworth School."

CHAPTER IX

CEMETERIES

FIRST PARISH BURIAL GROUND. This ancient burial place contains the dust of all the first generation of Dedham settlers and bears a tablet with this inscription:

THE BURIAL PLACE

This portion set apart in 1636.

Enlarged in 1638. It was

the only burial place for

nearly a century. Here

were buried Allin, Adams,

Belcher, Dexter and Haven

Ministers of the Church.

and Alleyne, Lusher, Dwight,

and Fisher with other founders of the Town.

This burial place was set apart at the first recorded meeting of the proprietors August 18, 1636 while the plantation bore the name of Contentment, a spot which through the years has been consecrated by the tears of love and affection.

The burial place was taken from the home lots originally assigned to Nicholas Phillips and Joseph Kingsbury and set apart "for the use of a public burial place for the town forever". The Selectmen were required to "take care that the burial place be sufficiently cleared from grass and well fenced, all to be done at the public charge."

In 1664 a "bear way" was laid out from the meeting house to the burying ground which in after years was named Bullard Street. Over this bearing way was borne the noble company of men and women who constituted the early Dedham settlers. They were carried to their last resting place "by the strong and kind arms of their neighbors". The early settlers were so opposed to the superstitions of religion that for many years nothing was said or read at burials, no funeral service made, but all the neighbors, or a goodly company of them, came together and carried the dead solemnly to the grave and then stood by while the burial was made. The following record was made

BROOKDALE CEMETERY

DEDHAM VILLAGE CEMETERY

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CEMETERIES

March 18, 1714. "This day also it was proposed to the town whither they will be at the charg to buy a piese of cloth of Mrs. Mary Fisher for the townes use for a bearing cloth. This was Answered in the affirmative." In early Colonial days it was the custom to dig the graves due east and west, six feet in depth and to bury the body with the feet to the east. This was in preparation for the Judgment Day when the Judge would appear in the east on a great white throne. The Reverend John Allin, the town minister, was probably present at burials but took no part.

The first recorded death in Dedham is that of John Fisher who died the "15th of ye 5 mo 1637". The gravestone of the earliest date now standing in the cemetery is that of Hannah Dyar who died September 15, 1678. It is a fine specimen of imported dark blue slate, two and one half inches thick, and bears the following inscription :

HERE LIES Y BODY OF HANNAH DIAR WIFE TO BENJAMIN DIAR OF BOSTON AGED I8 YEARS DYED SEPT VIS 16 7 8

The original burial ground of one acre, is that part of the cemetery bounded by Village Avenue on the north, by St. Paul's Church grounds on the east, by the part added by Dr. Stimson on the south, while the main driveway from Village' Avenue practically forms the line on the west. Early in 1800 about an

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A HISTORY OF DEDHAM

acre was added by purchase on the west making the present area of the cemetery somewhat more than two acres. This was the only burial place in Dedham Village for nearly two hundred and fifty years and is a typical Colonial Cemetery with no attempt at decoration except the century-old trees which adorn the grounds. The first burying grounds in New England where plants and shrubs and trees were encouraged to grow was at Mount Auburn, which was planned by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society only a hundred years ago. Before that time the neglect of bury- ing grounds was almost universal. It would have been considered "sinful" to adorn a grave with flowers in early Colonial days. With the opening of Brookdale Cemetery there was a feeling that future interest would wholly centre around the new burial place but such has not been the case. The cemetery commission- ers have constantly endeavored to keep up and improve this ancient burial place which continues to be, as in former years, an object of care and interest. Its central location and the tender memories of many generations which surround it alike demand that it shall not be suffered to fall into neglect and decay although since 1881 no interments outside of enclosed lots, or spaces reserved for family burials have been made. In 1842 the ladies of the "Society for the Improvement of the Burial Ground" held a fair on June 6, the net proceeds of which amounted to $234.00.

That portion of the burial ground on the south was divided into lots by Dr. Edward Stimson in 1861, and became a part of the burial ground, by a conveyance made to the town by his son, Frederic J. Stimson in 1881 "of the paths, avenues and open spaces not reserved or sold for lots." This land was formerly a part of the High School grounds and was purchased from the town in 1859 at a cost of $1,000.

Through many years only four tombs were built and those at different times. The first was by Timothy Dwight about the year 1700; the second that of Daniel Fisher. The third tomb was built by Samuel Dexter after the death of his father, the Reverend Samuel Dexter in 1755; and the fourth is that of Edward Dowse who died in 1828. The parish tomb was built in 1816, and since that time the range of tombs connected with it, and those on the west side have been added. Over the Dwight tomb

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CEMETERIES

there has been for many years a stone bearing this inscription:

Here lyes Intombed the Body of Timothy Dwight Esqr who Departed this Life Janr the 31. Anno Domini 1718. Aged 88 years. As the progenitor of a distinguished family the following inscription has been cut thereon:

The Ancestor Of the Dwight family in America: A family like himself, Trusty, serious and Godly Of an excellent spirit: Faithful and upright; Among men of renown In Church and State In Halls of Learning And in War.

In this tomb is the honored dust of three worthies of the town, Major Eleazer Lusher, the Rev. William Adams and Capt. Timothy Dwight. On the occasion of the burial of Timothy Dwight on Friday February 7, 1718 Judge Sewall records: Col. Townsend, Sam' Lynde esqr and I go in the Hackney Coach to Dedham to the Funeral of Capt. Dwight and his wife. Govr Dudley went in his Chariot, Din'd at Belcher's by his Direction, and the Coffin brought and set down at his Gate; Bearers thence, Govr Dudley and Sewall; Townsend, Lynde, Nathan' Hubbard esqr., Kingsbury. Bearers of the woman I know not.

BROOKDALE CEMETERY. The old Burying Ground on Vil- lage Avenue continued the only burying place in Dedham Village until 1878 when Brookdale Cemetery was opened. At the annual April town meeting in 1876 a committee consisting of the Select- men and the following citizens, Erastus Worthington, Eliphalet Stone, Royal O. Storrs, Winslow Warren, Edwin Whiting and Al- fred Hewins were appointed, to make a full examination into the necessity existing for a new cemetery, the necessary quantity of land, its location and all other matters, relating to the subject. On the recommendation of the Committee the town voted October 20, 1877 to purchase for a town burial ground land of Thomas Barrows and Thomas Motley containing thirty-nine acres with

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A HISTORY OF DEDHAM

such adjacent land, owned by Walter E. White, as may be neces- sary to establish suitable boundary lines. This land was pur- chased at a cost of $8,150.00.

The Cemetery Commissioners entered vigorously upon the work of developing the acquired land which was named "Brook- dale Cemetery". A name appropriate and suggestive of the local- ity. During the year 1877 more than ten acres were cleared of underbrush and trees, not wanted in ornamenting the grounds. More than a mile of avenues were built which were given the names of trees, while the paths were named after shrubs or flowers. Ash Avenue is the main entrance to the grounds. Sev- enty lots were laid out and graded and loamed ready for inter- ments. The Commissioners wisely adopted the lawn plan of lay- ing out lots, dispensing with fences and hedges, a plan which renders it necessary that much care be bestowed upon the grass and sodding of lots. Early attention was given to the develop- ment of the ponds and grounds that they might add to the beauty of the cemetery. The attractive design of the Receiving Tomb was a contribution from Frederick R. Storrs.

The Commissioners recommended in 1889 that an appropria- tion of ten per cent of the proceeds of the sale of lots shall be hereafter made for a "Perpetual Care Fund"; the appropriation to be retained by the Town Treasurer and the income expended in the care of burial lots. Later by Public Statute towns were authorized to hold and apply any funds deposited with the town treasurer for the care, improvement or embellishment of any cem- etery burial lot. At the annual March meeting in 1880 the town passed the following vote. The Cemetery Commissioners having the care, superintendence and management of Brookdale Ceme- tery, shall set apart in the manner provided in the printed regulations of said cemetery that section thereof bounded by East Street and land of Walter E. White on the west and by Spruce and Maple Avenues on the south and east, as indicated on the plan of said cemetery, so that the same may be duly conse- crated and reserved, and held exclusively for such Roman Catho- lic residents of Dedham as may purchase lots therein. Owing to an ordinance of the Roman Catholic Church the above portion of the cemetery was not consecrated, but numerous individual lots

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CEMETERIES

have been consecrated for the burial of those of the Catholic faith.

Col. Eliphalet Stone, (founder of Stone Park) who gave much time and labor for the welfare of soldiers during the Civil War, visiting them in southern camps, presented a lot and monu- ment in Brookdale cemetery to the veterans of the town. This lot is situated on a hill, from the top of which may be had a fine view of the surrounding territory within the cemetery. Below the crest of the hill are placed four cannons used in the Civil War, presumably some that were captured from the Confed- erates. A very attractive Chapel, named "Gate Lodge" was added in 1903, designed by Harry B. Alden of Dedham.

June 8, 1934 in the midst of the World Wide Depression, an aftermath of the World War, when our government launched an Emergency Relief program, commonly known as the "ERA", to provide work for the unemployed throughout the various cities and towns, the Selectmen of the town of Dedham put through a project in the Brookdale Cemetery. This project was the cut- ting down of a hill, within the boundary lines of Catalpa Walk, Cedar Avenue and Hemlock Avenue. The work involved the removal of all unnecessary trees; removal of all large stones and rock formation within the hill, which necessitated much blasting; and the cutting down of the top of the hill and filling in of the hollows together with the general grading of the same, this pro- vided work for about fifty men, three days a week during the summer months. While this work was going on a committee of representatives from the two veterans organizations, the Dedham Post, A. L., and U. S. S. Jacob Jones Post, V. F. W., met with the Selectmen to discuss their request for a burial ground in the Brookdale Cemetery for the Veterans of the World War. After several meetings at which this proposition was discussed the committee were given their choice of three suitable sites for this Veterans lot. They selected the hill directly opposite the one mentioned in the preceding paragraph. This hill runs up from Catalpa Walk and down the other side to Mother Brook. The plan of the committee in developing this project which is also under the "ERA", is to remove or clean out some of the trees and the underbrush, remove the present turf, and grade over with- out lowering the hill any more than is necessary, so as not to inter-

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A HISTORY OF DEDHAM

fere with the excellent view of the hill from Washington Street, and to leave a high and suitable spot to place a monument at a later date.

The Commissioners from the first entered into the spirit of making Brookdale Cemetery a place of restful beauty rather than the abode of gloom, and arranged for the planting and embellish- ment of the grounds with trees, shrubs and flowers. There are today great garden cemeteries, glorious with blossoms, which within the lifetime of many had previously been places of neglect. To the great satisfaction of the Commissioners, Brookdale Ceme- tery has become a place of resort to the living and a peaceful rest- ing place for the dead.

CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH. The Parish purchased half an acre of land of Nathan Kingsbury in 1752 for a burial place .* John Buckmaster who died January 12, 1752, was the first person to be buried in the cemetery. In 1848 the citizens of the parish erected a monument to his memory. In 1813 a committee was appointed to see about the enlargement of the burying ground and to invite the Baptist Society to cooperate in so doing. The enlargement of the cemetery from time to time has included the donation of much land by the late John Fisher. From 1837 both religious societies have united in improving the ceme- tery. In 1843 the two parishes held a fair and the proceeds were used in fencing the cemetery. A piece of land at the east was purchased and the grounds were greatly improved. The whole sum expended at the time was eleven hundred dollars.

SPRINGFIELD PARISH. A little plot of land was enclosed on the estate of Nathaniel Chickering and here the body of John Battle was buried in 1729. This plot was bequeathed to the par- ish in 1746, "to be for the use of the said precinct for a burying place."

SOUTH PARISH. A piece of land of about three-fourths of an acre, was laid out in 1741 on the right of Captain Ebenezer Woodward and given by him to the South Precinct for the use of a burying place forever.

* When this ground was purchased, it was made an occasion of bitter strife be- tween opposing factors, there was a great difference of opinion about the proper location. The Rev. Mr. Tyler brought together two of his parishioners, Mr. Jona- than Onion and Mr. Obed Baker, and attempted to reconcile them, but one of them declared, "I'll never be buried in that burying-ground as long as I live and breathe." "Well," replied the other, "if God Almighty spares my life I will."

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CEMETERIES

PINE RIDGE CEMETERY. Dedham has an unusual bury- ing ground in Pine Ridge Cemetery founded some thirty years ago by "The Animal Rescue League" as a resting place for the pets of the subscribers to the work of the League. There are now more than sixteen hundred pets buried in this beautiful wooded spot on Charles River. It is the opinion of the care-taker that many persons have such an affection for these little helpless cats and dogs that their graves in the cemetery receive more attention on Memorial Day than do the graves of many departed humans. The cemetery is visited on Memorial Day by thousands of animal lovers from all parts of the Country. In the spring of the year flowers are sent to the cemetery from all over the United States, as far west as California, to be placed on the graves of the little creatures. The largest monument is a regular mausoleum having the remains of a white Yorkshire terrier of the late Boston mer- chant, R. H. White. The tomb cost $3,000 and was originally erected on the owner's estate at Chestnut Hill. Near the entrance, Admiral Richard Byrd's famous dog Igloo is buried in a rough granite ice-burg bearing the inscription, "He was more than a Friend". An unusual monument is a white stone carving depict- ing a cat with its head sticking out of a wicker basket, the way that her mistress always carried her pet in her travels. Besides these elaborate headstones there are hundreds of small granite markers carrying simply the name, Towser, Prince, etc., etc., etc.

CHAPTER X

DOMESTIC LIFE IN THE COLONIAL HOME

No better description of the social life of early New England can be given than the following brief quotation from Horace Bushnell: "Most of all to be remembered are those friendly circles gathered so often round the winter fire; not the stove but the fire. There is no restraint, certainly no affectation of style. They tell stories, they laugh, they sing. They are serious and gay by turns, or the young folks go on with some play, while the fathers and mothers are discussing some hard point of theology in the minister's last sermon, or perhaps the great danger coming to sound morals from the multiplication of turnpikes and newspap- ers. Meantime the good housewife brings out her choice of home grown exotics gathered from three realms-doughnuts from the pantry, hickory nuts from the chamber, and the nicest, smoothest apples from the cellar. And then as the tall clock in the corner of the room strikes nine, the conversation ceases and the neigh- bors prepare for home."

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History of Dedham, Massachusetts, Part 14

Author: Smith, Frank, 1854- Publication date: 1936 Publisher: Dedham, Mass., Transcript Press Number of Pages: 1246

Author: Smith, Frank, 1854-
Publication date: 1936
Publisher: Dedham, Mass., Transcript Press
Number of Pages: 1246