USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II > Part 42
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The Methodist Episcopal Church in Newtonville
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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
originated in a Methodist class formed in 1857, and composed of members previously residing in Watertown. The question of forming a Methodist society was first agitated in the spring of 1860. The first public meeting of the society on the Sab- bath was held March 24, 1860, in the piano-forte wareroom of Mr. Amasa Dexter. The public services were shortly afterwards held in Tremont Hall, and the first pastor of the society appointed by the conference, Rev. G. W. Mansfield, com- menced his labors April 14, 1860. The chapel on the corner of Washington and Court streets, now occupied by the Central Congregational Society, was their first house of worship, dedicated in April, 1860.
The church was organized May 17, 1860, con- sisting of twenty-four members. Two of them were in the Union army in the war of 1861 - 1865. The Sabbath-school was organized April 21, 1860.
Another society in the village, which had com- menced the brick church near the railroad station, having become weakened by removals, so that they were unable to finish the work, desired to sell the edifice which they were unable to hold. It was purchased by the Methodist Society for about $6,000, finished, and dedicated in August, 1863.
The following ministers have been stationed here : G. W. Mansfield, Z. A. Mudge, Henry Baker, William M. Ayres, T. W. Bishop.
The growth of the North Village of Newton dates back to a period of more than a century ago, when David Bemis purchased thirty-nine acres of land on the Watertown side of Charles River, and subsequently twenty-five more, - embracing all the land now covered by the buildings on that side of the river. In 1778 David Bemis, with Dr. Enos Sumner, who then owned the land on the Newton side of the river, constructed the dam across the river, where it now stands. A paper- mill was erected here in 1779, and the business of manufacturing paper was carried on successfully more than forty years. Many of the workmen and much of the machinery requisite were im- ported from Europe. So important was the en- terprise considered in a public point of view, that when the establishment was burned down, the legislature of Massachusetts made a special grant to enable the owners of the mill to rebuild. The process of paper-making was then slow and tedious, requiring as many months as it now requires days. Each sheet was made singly by dipping the mould into the pulp, and then turning it over upon a
woollen felt, to which the pulp adhered. Upon this another felt was laid for the reception of an- other sheet, and thus the process was continued. Mr. Jacob Mead, an ingenious citizen of Waltham, subsequently invented a machine for weaving cop- per wire for the construction of paper-moulds, which proved a great convenience to the public, and highly remunerative to the inventor.
All the land bounded by Charles River on the southerly, that is, the Newton side, extending from. or near Watertown line to a point on Charles River, near the north end of Morse Island, after- wards called Fox Island, belonged, during a cen- tury or more from the first settlement of Newton, to Richard Park and John Fuller, and their de- scendants. The former owned six hundred acres of the easterly portion, and John Fuller the wes- terly portion, containing seven hundred and fifty acres. John Fuller had seven sons, whose names all began with the letter J. This valuable tract of land was ceded in 1849 to Waltham, and is the territory now occupied by the Waltham Watch Factory. For more than a century it bore the name of Fuller's Corner. The father, with some or all of his sons, while traversing the then wilder- ness, refreshed themselves with cake and cheese, and drank from the brook near which they re- clined, which hence gained the name of Cheesecake Brook, by which name it is still known. At a later hour they cooked some wild game on a small conical hill, which from that time onwards for half a century was known as Cook Hill ; but the name has now become obsolete.
Besides the manufacture of paper on the New- ton side of the river, David Bemis built and car- ried on a grist-mill and snuff-mill on the Water- town side until his death in 1790, it being the first mill on that side at that place. At his de- cease the property on the Watertown side was inherited by his two sons, Luke and Seth, the latter of whom in 1796 made preparations for the manufacture of chocolate, dye-woods, and medici- nal roots and woods for use, and carried on these branches of business successfully till about the year 1803. At that time he commenced spin- ning cotton by machinery. At this early day, when few factories were in operation, it was the custom to manufacture cotton cloth for domestic use in the family. All families were possessed of spinning- wheels, and nearly all had looms. Hence there was a great demand for " Bemis' warp," which was much superior to that spun by hand. The woof
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for filling was still spun, and the cloth woven, in families.
The preparation of the cotton for carding was at that time slow and expensive, the cotton being picked by hand at an expense of about four cents a pound. This gave employment to a great many people in the families in the vicinity. Mr. Bemis subsequently invented a machine for this purpose, which was denominated "the devil," which per- formed the work in a much more expeditious and satisfactory manner. It did not differ materially from the cotton-pickers in use at the present day.
In 1808 or 1809 Mr. Bemis, with the aid of foreign weavers using hand-looms, began to manu- facture somewhat extensively sheeting, shirting, bed-ticking, satinet, bagging for packing cotton at the South, and cotton duck.
In the fall of 1812 Mr. Bemis commenced the manufacture of illuminating gas from coal, under the direction of an English expert, and the light- ing of his factory by the same in 1812-13 is said to have been the first attempt to illuminate with coal-gas in the United States. Many persons from a distance visited the factory to witness the experiment. But the situation of the gas-factory near Mr. Bemis' dwelling-house, and the many leakages of the pipes, which were of tin, rendered it objectionable, and after the second year the ex- periment was discontinued. It is, however, a fact worthy of record that carburetted hydrogen gas was used for illuminating purposes here two years before it came into use in England.
For the first eighteen or twenty years the opera- tives in the various branches of business in this locality were summoned to their work by the blow- ing of a tin horn. It is said that at that period there was not a bell in Newton, Waltham, or Watertown. In process of time the horn fixed its name upon the village, which for many years bore the soubriquet of Tin Horn. It is said, however, that this title is a coinage of later times, no such name having been in use until subsequent to the employment of the tin horn for the purpose specified.
In 1821 Mr. Seth Bemis became sole owner of the whole water-power, mills, etc., and soon after- wards sold to the Boston Manufacturing Company twelve inches of the power ; that is, he lowered his dam one foot, receiving $12,000 for so doing. He then re-conveyed to his brother Luke and four or five others a joint interest in the establishment under the firm name of the Bemis Manufacturing
| Company, and during their corporate continuance carried on principally the manufacture of satinets and cotton duck until 1830, when this company was dissolved.
On the dissolution of the Bemis Manufactur- ing Company, Mr. Seth Bemnis, in company with Thomas Cordis, one of the old company, bought out the entire property of said company, and continued the same business until 1839, when Thomas Cordis sold out his interest to Seth Be- mis and his son, Seth Bemis, Jr. They used the water-power on both sides, partly for the manu- facture of cotton and wool, and partly for the manufacture of dye-woods and drugs, until 1847. They then sold out their dye-wood business on the Newton side to William Freeman, and Seth Be- mis, Sr., again became sole owner of the factory buildings and water-power on the Watertown side, and so continued till his death in 1850.
On the settlement of his estate, in 1851, Seth Bemis, son of the deceased, became sole proprietor of the Watertown mills and property, and retained the ownership till 1860, when he sold out to Wil- liam Freeman & Co. Still later, William Free- man & Co. sold to the Ætna Mill Company, by whom the works were greatly enlarged, for the purpose of manufacturing woollen fabrics by both water and steam power.
From the original purchase in 1753 by David Bemis, the property on the Watertown side of the river has been in the Bemis family more or less exclusively for more than a century and a quarter, and on the Newton side for nearly a century.
A bridge across this part of the river was first built by the Messrs. Bemis, being private prop- erty, between 1790 and 1796. For ten or twelve years it was without a railing. In 1807 the Wa- tertown end was swept away by a freshet, and a foot-bridge was substituted for two or three years. Still later a bridge suitable for teams was built by subscription. In 1818 the Watertown end of this bridge was again carried away. The next day two men attempted to cross in a boat to the Newton side, above the dam. The boat was up- set, and they were carried over the dam, and one of them was drowned. The other, after having been several times drawn back into the vortex, was thrown out on the Newton side and rescued. California Street was laid out as a public highway in 1816.
The Congregational Church in the North Vil- lage originated in a Sabbath-school gathered at
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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
the depot known as Bemis' Station, on the Water- town Branch Railroad, on the North side of Charles River. This school was commenced June 2, 1861. It was transferred, July 27, 1862, to a small chapel erected for its use on Chapel Street. The land was given by Mr. Thomas Dally, and the cost of the building was $1,200. In December, 1865, the chapel was enlarged at an expense of $2,000. The church was organized July 11, 1866, com- posed of twenty-three members. Rev. Samuel E. Lowry was ordained the first pastor February 21, 1867. . The chapel, which had been in use ten years, was destroyed by fire June 9, 1872, and the present stone edifice was erected on the same site at a cost of $18,000, which was all subscribed previous to the dedication. This service occurred October 16, 1873. From June till December, 1872, when the vestry was completed, worship was held in a shop owned by Mr. Dally. The stone used in the construction was taken from a quarry near Beacon Street, Newton, on land then owned by Mr. Samuel Gooch. The church-mem- bers, in February, 1878, numbered one hundred and ten. The following are the names of mem- bers who have served as deacons : Messrs. Joseph Wain, Henry Mason, Artemas Rumrill, Nathaniel Davidson, W. R. Smith, and Eugene Garlick. . The Methodist Episcopal Church at. Newton Centre was commenced by a prayer-meeting in the Old Engine-House in June, 1875, corner of Centre and Station streets. In January, 1876, a Sab- bath-school was formed, and in the spring follow- ing a preaching service followed. Until October, 1877, it was regarded as a branch of the church at Newton Upper Falls. The late Marshall S. Rice left in his will $1,000 to be used in the erection of a church edifice. April 29, 1879, a church was organized, Rev. G. H. Perkins being the pastor. The first trustees were Alden Speare, E. M. Fowle, J. F. Lamson, S. D. Garey, W. L. Libbey, E. G. Stevens, E. G. Stevens, Jr. Hon. Alden Speare presented to the society the lot known as the Engine-house Lot, where the first meetings had been held. The church edifice was commenced in the winter of 1879.
The following table gives the location, date of organization, and religious denomination of the churches in Newton.
First Parish Church Congregational.
. July 20, 1664
West Congregational Church Oct. 21, 1781
Eliot Church . July 1, 1845
Auburndale Nov. 14, 1850
Nortli Evangelical Church July 11, 1866
Central Congregational Church Sept. 8, 1868
Church of the Highlands . July 9, 1872
Baptist.
First Baptist Church July 5, 1780
Second Baptist Church Feb. 8,1835
Newton Baptist Church . 1860
West Newton Baptist Church June 5,1866
Myrtle Baptist Church
Sept. 1874
Methodist.
First Methodist Episcopal Nov. 11, 1832
Newtonville Methodist 1860
Auburndale Methodist June 1, 1862
Newton Methodist 1864
Lower Falls Methodist 1867
Newton Centre Methodist April 29, 1879
Episcopal.
St. Mary's, Lower Falls
. April 7, 1812
Grace Church, Newton 1855
Church of the Messiah, West Newton 1872
Unitarian.
Religious Society, Upper Falls (now extinct), 1827
First Unitarian Society, West Newton , 1847
Channing Religious Society, Newton . 1851
Chestnut Hill Chapel
1861
Universalist.
Universalist Society, Upper Falls (now extinct) Sept. 8, 1814 Universalist Church, Newtonville, . 1872
Roman Catholic.
St. Mary's, Upper Falls Nov. 15, 1867
Our Lady of Help to Christians, Newtonville 1873
St. Bernard's Church, West Newton
Swedenborgian.
New Church, Newtonville
. 1869
The first post-office in the town, and previous to 1820 the only one, was at Newton Lower Falls, a village remote from many of the inhabi- tants. As the first settlers of Cambridge seem to have cherished the expectation that that town, em- bracing also New Cambridge, or Newton, would become the capital of the country, so the people of the Lower Falls very likely anticipated that their village was to be the principal depot and centre of business of the town; which accounts for the location of the first post-office there. The busi- ness enterprise of the inhabitants gave them some grounds for such an anticipation ; for in early times the village was the seat of iron-works, saw-mills, grist-mills, snuff-mills, clothing-mills, leather-mills, paper-mills, calico-printing, machine-shops, etc. The second post-office was established at Newton Corner in 1820, the income of which at first was only thirty or forty dollars per annum. In the
NEWTON.
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Newton Public Library.
early days of the Newton Theological Institution the students and officers were obliged to go to Newton Corner - a distance of two miles-to receive and deposit their letters.
About the year 1798 two public libraries were founded, -one in the east, the other in the west part of the town. The first, after a time, fell into neglect, and the books were sold. The library styled the West Newton Social Library, inaugu- rated in 1797, had a very grave but useful selec- tion of books, and did good service in the town for several years. The West Newton Athenaeum, organized in December, 1849, had in 1872 a library of three or four thousand volumes. This institution was established both as a library asso- ciation and an organization for the promotion of liberal culture and good-fellowship in the town. Among its founders were the late William B. Fowle, Hon. Horace Mann, Rev. Joseph S. Clarke, Cyrus Peirce, Dr. J. H. Brown, and Mr. J. W. Plimpton, the latter of whom, in 1867, made a donation of $1,000 to the library funds. The li- brary property was held in shares of the par value
of ten dollars each. But previous to the existence of the Free Publie Library of Newton it was for many years contemplated, as soon as its financial condition would allow, to throw it open to the gra- tuitous use of the public. A library called the Adelphian Library was formed about 1830. Mr. William Jackson and others, by begging, buying, and giving, procured quite a valuable collection of books, which were placed in the entrance-room of the academy of Mr. Seth Davis, of West New- ton, who was the librarian until 1839. About 1832 or 1833 it was arranged that the books in part should be kept, and occasionally exchanged, in both parishes. Marshall S. Rice was the libra- rian in the east parish. Deacon Samuel F. Dix was the eustodian of the library of 1798. About 1839 or 1840 the libraries of 1798 and the Adel- phian Library were both merged in the Athenæum. The Newton Lower Falls Free Library, organized in 1869 for the free use of the inhabitants resid- ing in Newton Lower Falls and the vicinity, gath- ered a collection of nearly two thousand volumes. A small library in the North Village numbered
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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
five hundred volumes. The Newton Centre Li- brary Association, organized in 1859, had about fif- teen hundred volumes, which, after the inauguration of the Newton Frec Library in 1869, were trans- ferred, by vote of the subscribers, to that institution.
The Newton (Corner) Library Association was organized originally as only a book-club; but in Jannary, 1849, it assumed the character of a cir- culating library, and gradually acquired, through the liberality of the members and others, about seventeen hundred and fifty volumes. The subject of a Newton free library was from time to time debated in an association of gentlemen styled the Newton Literary Association. But no definite action was taken till June, 1866, when $3,300 were raised by subscription, with which to pur- chase a lot of land on Centre Street, to be offered as a free gift to the Newton Library Association, on which to erect a suitable building for library purposes, and, if declined by that association, to be offered to any other organization which would guarantee the erection of such a building.
In 1867 the late Hon. J. Wiley Edmands offered the sum of $15,000 towards the establishment of a free public library in Newton, provided that an equal sum should be secured by the trustees of the fund. The requisite amount was obtained, and even more, - the whole sum secured being up- wards of $53,000. Mr. Edmands subsequently gave $ 5,000 more as a special donation for the purchase of books. Ground was broken for the building on its present location June 10, 1868. The rough stone for the walls was taken from a quarry in Newton Centre. The corner-stone was laid Angust 13, 1868, and the building dedicated June 17, 1870, - the public exercises on the oc- casion being held in a tent spread in front of the building. The cost of the building and fixtures was about $ 37,000. Before any books were pur- chased, the donation of the Newton Library Asso- ciation formed an important and valuable nucleus, and donations from individuals added five hundred volumes more. The principal room in the build- ing was named Edmands Hall, in honor of Hon. J. Wiley Edmands, the most munificent donor. A beautiful copy of Raphael's celebrated painting of the Transfiguration, in the Vatican at Rome, given to the library by Mrs. D. B. Jewett, adorns Edmands Hall ; also a bust of Charles Sumner, and portraits of distinguished individuals, formerly residents of the town. The number of volumes in the library is abont fifteen thousand.
On the third day of November, 1875, the trus- tees, in behalf of the subscribers to the Newton Free Library, were cmpowered to transfer the Newton Free Library to the city of Newton, on the city's assuming the conditions of trust of the existing organization, under the act of incorpora- tion obtained in 1871. The terms being accepted, the transfer was duly mnadc, and the library became thenceforth a city institution.
Newton Water-Works. - Prior to the year 1871 two or three private aqueducts had been constructed in Newton, which yielded a limited domestic supply ; but there was no public pro- vision adequate to the necessities of the town. In April, 1871, a resolve was passed by the citi- zens in town-meeting assembled, appointing a committee of three gentlemen "to investigate the best method of supplying the town with water, and to report at a subsequent town-meeting." At a town-meeting held November 13, 1871, this committee reported in favor of taking water from Charles River. The report of this com- mittee, which was thorough and of considerable extent, took into view a careful consideration of sources of supply, cost of works, mode of distribution, water damages, and other points im- portant to a full understanding of the subject, and closed their report by recommending that a com- mittee be chosen to apply to the legislature for an act giving the town full power to carry the report into effect, and report at a subsequent meeting. In order to obtain an expression of the popular opinion concerning the introduction of water, the citizens were called upon in 1874 to vote " Yes " or " No" on the question, " Shall the city of New- ton be supplied with water for fire and domestic purposes, at an expense not exceeding $600,000, in accordance with the special Act of the Legis- lature of 1872, chapter 344, authorizing the same ?" The vote was taken by ballot Decem- ber 1, 1874, and resulted in yeas 928, nays 443. On the 9th of December a board of three water commissioners was appointed, who in May, 1875, made their report to the city council, recommend- ing as a source " a well at a point on Charles River above Pettee's works at the Upper Falls "; advising the use of a reservoir for distribution, and estimating the cost at not over $ 800,000.
A vote was passed to purchase Waban Hill, formerly called Prospect Hill, in the east part of the town, as a site for the reservoir. October 9, 1875, the first pipe was laid, in Washington
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NEWTON.
Echo Bridge.
Street, near Woodland Avenue. Land was pur- chased in Needham, between Kenrick's Bridge and Needham Avenue, and near the latter, for a filter- ing basin. On the occasion of the inspection of the water-works by the city government, Novem- ber 13, 1876, the filter-basin, which is situated in Needham, fifty feet distant from the river, was in use ; the great pumping-engine was in operation, the Waban Hill reservoir was one third full, and the hydrants supplied with water along forty-eight miles of street mains. The capacity of the reser- voir is about fifteen million gallons. The area of the bottom of the reservoir is 91,525 square feet ; and the area of water surface, when the reservoir is full, is 126,000 square feet. The gate-house was built in the last half of October, 1876. Wa- ter was first pumped into the reservoir October 30, 1876. In November, 1877, the report of the water commissioners stated that water-pipes had been laid in the streets of the city to the extent of fifty-one and a half miles. Most of the pipes were furnished by the Warren Foundry, Phillipsburg, N. J. The first service-pipes were laid in Octo- ber, 1876. In Woodward Street the Newton water-pipe passes over the Cochituate aqueduct.
Both the conduits of the Boston water-works, -that from Lake Cochituate and that from the
Sudbury River, - pass through Newton from west to east. The former is about eighteen miles in length, and enters Newton a short distance below the village of Upper Falls. Ground was broken for this aqueduct August 20, 1846, and water was introduced into the city of Boston with im- posing ceremonies October 25, 1848. The act of legislature empowering the city of Boston to en- gage in this enterprise was approved by the gov- ernor, George N. Briggs, March 30, 1846. The water is carried over Charles River by three iron pipes properly supported and secured against the frost. The most interesting feature of the work in Newton is a tunnel, executed through porphyritic rock of extreme hardness, on the Harback prop- erty, a few rods east of Waverley Avenue. This tunnel is 2,410 feet in length; in its construc- tion two or more shafts were sunk to a depth of eighty-four feet to the bottom of the tunnel. Several specimens of copper ore were found by the workmen in the process of excavation.
Chestnut Hill Reservoir was constructed on land formerly a part of the town of Newton, and constituting a portion of the Lawrence farm, pre- viously Deacon Nathan Pettee's, and before him occupied by Deacon Thomas Hovey. In April, 1865, the water board of the eity of Boston was
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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
authorized to purchase for this use not exceeding two hundred acres in Newton, Brighton, and Brookline. The bank on the Lawrence meadow was begun May 16, 1866. Water was let into the Lawrence, or upper basin, October 26, 1868. There was no formal celebration, but members of the city government and others were present, an account was given of the progress of the work, and three hearty cheers were given by the five hundred laborers who were crowded on the bank. Water was let into the Bradlee, or lower basin, Octo- ber 25, 1870, -the twenty-second anniversary of the introduction of Cochituate water into the city.
In the construction of the Chestnut Hill Reser- voir, Beacon Street was turned from its course. The land formerly belonging to Newton and occu- pied in this enterprise, after Brighton was annexed to Boston, was, by exchange or otherwise, made a part of Boston.
The Sudbury River conduit, bringing an addi- tional supply of water to the city of Boston, is fifteen and four fifths miles in length, and passes through Newton Upper Falls, north of Newton Highlands, and through Newton Centre to' the Chestnut Hill Reservoir. The principal features of this work in Newton are the bridge over Charles River at the Upper Falls, and the tunnel through Chestnut Hill. The bridge is five hun- dred feet long, and consists of seven arches, - five of thirty-seven feet span, one of twenty-eight feet, and the large arch over the river, the second in size in the American continent, and one of the largest stone arches in the world. It is one hun- dred and thirty feet in span, with a radins of sixty-nine feet. The crown is fifty-one feet above the usual surface of the water, and the top of the bridge about seventy feet above the same. The key-stone is five feet in depth. The pressure upon the foundation is about 2,900 tons, or about 162 tons to the square foot. The foundations of the entire bridge are in the solid rock. To a person standing beneath it, the arch has a very slender and beautiful appearance, being only eighteen feet in width at the crown. There is a remarkable echo in this arch, the human voice being rapidly repeated upwards of fifteen times, and a pistol-shot twenty- five times. The scenery along the river at this point is extremely romantic, and the bridge by its symmetry and elegance adds a striking and beau- tiful feature to the landscape, and attracts many visitors. It was built in 1876 and 1877, during
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