History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 56

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 56

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THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.1-The Cambridge Public Library is a direct descendant from the Cambridge Athenæum. 'This was incorporated in February, 1849, for the purpose " of maintaining in the city of Cambridge, a lyceum, a public library, reading-room, lectures on scientific and literary subjects, and for promoting such other kindred objects as the members of the corporation shall from time to time deem ad- visable and proper."

In October, 1850, the corporation received from Mr. Edmund T. Dana, of Cambridge, the gift of a lot of Jand containing ten thousand square feet, and situated on the corner of Main and Pleasant Streets, in Cam- bridgeport. The decd of gift contained the following conditions : " (I) That the corporation shall, within

1 By Miss Almira Hayward.

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two years, erect upon the land, and complete so as to be fit for occupation, a building suitable for the pur- poses of the Cambridge Atheneum as set forth in the act whereby the same was incorporated. (2) That the land and building (with the exception of the lower story and cellar of the building, which may be used for other purposes) shall be used forever for the purposes set forth in the Act of Incorporation."

An edifice named the " Athenaum " was erected on the land during the following year, at a cost of about $18,000, and dedicated and opened to the pub- lic in November, 1851. The foundation of the library was due to a bequest of $1000 for the purchase of books, received by the will of Mr. James Brown of Watertown. With these books, and others con- tributed from various sources, the library was estab- lished, a room in the Athenaeum having been fur nished for the purpose, and Miss Caroline F. Orne appointed librarian. A catalogue of the books hav- ing been prepared and printed, the library was opened for the delivery of books in November, 1857. According to the regulations any resident of Cam- bridge known to the librarian, or recommended by any citizen thus known, was entitled to the use of the library upon the payment of one dollar per an- num, and subscribing a promise to comply with the regulations adopted for its management.

The Atheneum Corporation, in March, 1858, dis- posed of its real estate and personal property to the city of Cambridge. The library was also transferred to the city, which obligated itself to contribute not less than $300 per annum for the term of fifteen years for its support and increase, and to maintain it forever for the use of the inhabitants of Cambridge.

Mr. Dana having released the Athenaeum Corpora- tion from the conditions of his deed of gift, the " Athenæum " became the "City Hall," and the li- brary, now the property of the city, received the name of the " Dana Library," in accordance with an ordinance bearing the date June 30, 1858.

The intentions of Mr. Dana in relation to the li- brary, which, till 1879, bore his name, are evident from the following clause, being clause No. 23 of his last will and testament:

"I give to Edmund T. Ilastings and to William W. Wellington, and to the survivor of them, fifteen thousand dollars, in trust, to appropriate the same in such manner as I may, by any instrument, in writing nudler wy hand, appoint."

In a separate instrument, bearing the same date as the will, the testator did direct as follows:

"To Edmund T. Hastings and William W. Wellington, or whosoever else may execute the trust created by the twenty-third clause of my will :

" The guin of fifteen thousand dollars, bequeathed by the said twenty- third clause, is to be paid over, if and whenever my trustees or trustee shall deem it expedient to do so, to the f'ity of Cambridge, to be hell by then said City in trust, as an entire fund, the income thereof to be appropriated anunally, forever, to the increase and support of the library of the Cambridge Athenaeum : provided, however, that if and whenever my said trustees or trustee shall be of opinion that it is not expedient that the said sum of fifteen thousand dollars should be so ap-

propriated, the same to be paid over to my heirs-at-law ; and provided, further, that the said capital som be paid over, either to said City of Cambridge, or to my heirs-at-law, within three years from my decease. " EDM. T. DANA."

The trustees appointed by the will, in au instru- ment signed by them and transmitted to the City Council, signified their intention to pay this sum of fifteen thousand dollars to the city of Cambridge, whenever they should receive it from Mr. Dana's executor.

It unfortunately happened that the instrument referred to in Mr. Dana's will and copied above, though signed by Mr. Dana, was not duly attested. It was therefore contended by the residuary legatees, "that, by the twenty-third clause in the will, nothing passed to the City of Cambridge, the same not being named as legatee ; and it not being competent for a testator, by a duly executed will, to create for him- self a power to dispose of his estate to legatees by another instrument not duly executed as a will or codicil." The case was brought, by the adminis- trator, with the will annexed, before the Supreme Court of this State, which, after a full hearing, decided that the twenty-third clause in the will, with the unattested instrument signed by Mr. Dana, did not "create a valid bequest to the City of Cam- bridge."

Thus were the generous intentions of Mr. Dana frustrated ; and the munificent donation, which he designed for the library, passed into the hands of his residuary legatees.

In 1874 the library was made free to the public, and in June of that year Miss Orne, after a long and faithful term of service, was succeeded by the present librarian, Miss Almira L. Hayward.

In 1875 the library was arranged by subjects, and a new catalogue was issued. In 1879, by vote of the City Government, the name of the library was changed to the Cambridge Public Library, thus iden- tifying it more closely with the other public institu- tions of the city.

The catalogue printed in 1875 was followed by five supplements, and these by six bulletins, The library had increased, meanwhile, from seven to eighteen thousand volumes ; and in 1885 the need of a new catalogue had become imperative. An additional appropriation of two thousand dollars was granted, in 1886, for this purpose, and the new catalogue was issued in 1887.

In addition to this general catalogue completed in 1887, a separate list of children's books was prepared early in 1888. The intent of this catalogue was to save much wear of the larger catalogue; and, as it embraces all the juvenile books of the library as well as other books especially useful and instructive to young people, it has been found to be of great service to all.

The crowded state of the rooms occupied by the library had begun to attract general attention, and

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a movement had been made by several private citi- zens towards providing better accommodations, when the munificent offer of Mr. Frederick H. Rindge, of Los Angeles, California-a former resident of Cam- bridge-was made public through Hon. William E. Russell, then mayor of Cambridge.

On June 14, 1887, Mr. Rindge, being in Boston, sent to the City Council, through the mayor, the fol- lowing communications :

BOSTON, June 14, 1887.

HON. WILLIAM E. RUSSELL:

DEAR SIR,-It would make me happy to give the City of Cambridge the tract of land bounded by Cambridge, Trowbridge, Broadway and Irviog streets, in the City of Cambridge, and to build thereon and give to said city a Public Library building, under the following cooditioos, -That oa or within said building, tablets be placed bearing the fol- lowing words :

First,-Built io gratitude tn God, to His Son ,Jesus Christ, aod to the Holy Spirit.

Second,-The Ten Commandments, and " Thou shalt love thy neigh- bor as thyself."

Third,-Meo, women, childreo, obey these laws. If you do, you will be happy ; if you disobey them, sorrow will come upon you.

Fourth,-It is noble to be pure ; it is right to be honest; it is neces- sary to be temperate ; it is wiss to be industrious,-but to koow God is best of all.

Fifth,-(Words for this tahlet to be given hereafter).

It is my wish that a portion of said tract of land be reserved ag a playground for children aod the young. I ask yon to present this com- muoication to the city government of Cambridge, and notify me of its action in relation to it. Should the gift be accepted, I hope to proceed at ooce with the work.

Yours respectfully,

FREDERICK H. RINDGE.

HON. WILLIAM E. RUSSELL :

DEAR SIR,-Should the City of Cambridge accept my gift of land and Public Library building, I suggest that a committee, composed of the following nemed citizens of Cambridge, be appointed by the city gov- ernment of Cambridge to confer with my agent, Mr. Fraocis J. Parker, io matters relating to the accomplishment of the purposes of the build- ing aod land : Mr. Justin Winsor, Col. T. W. Higginson, Hon. Samuel L. Montagus, Hon. William E. Russell.

Yours respectfully,

FREDERICK H. RINDGE.

Mayor Russell also stated that the tract of land mentioned contained nearly 115,000 square feet; 224 feet each on Broadway and Cambridge Streets; 590 feet on Trowbridge Street ; and 520 feet on Irving Street. It was Mr. Rindge's intention that the build- ing should cost from $70,000 to $80,000, and that the surrounding land be laid out as a public park. The following resolutions presented by the mayor were unanimously adopted by both branches of the city government :

" Resolved, That the city of Cambridge accepts with profound grati- tode the munificent gift of Mr. Frederick H. Rindge, of land and building for a Public Library as stated in his letter of June 14, 1887 ; that the city accepts it upon the conditions stated in said letter, which it will faithfully and gladly observe as a sacred trust, in accordance with his desire.

" Resolved, That in gratefully accepting this gift, the city tenders to Frederick 11. Rindge its heartfelt thanks, and desires to express its sense of deep obligation to him, recogniziog the Christian faith, generosity, und public spirit that have prompted him to supply a long-felt want by this gift of great and permanent usefulness."

The gentlemen named by Rindge accepted the trust, and plans from five of the leading architects of the country were submitted to them. Those presented by Messrs. Van Brunt and Howe were finally selected,

and the building was begun in the autumn of 1887 and completed in June of 1889.

The Library Building .- The library building, a fine specimen of modified Romanesque architecture, is an ornament to the city and a perpetual monument to the wise generosity of its donor. The material used is known as " Dedham wood stone," a light-brown granite found in the woods of Dedham, Mass. This is relieved by trimmings of Longmeadow brown sandstone. The beautiful arched entrance, the round tower, and the general form of the building give it a distinctive character suited to its purpose. The elab- orately carved capitals of the pillars and the frieze on the Irving Street end of the building attract general admiration. The interior is finished in ash, and the coloring of the walls is in terra-cotta, old gold, or olive green shades. The reading room, being finished to its arched roof and well lighted by electricity, af- fords the place for study and reading which is so de- sirable in every library. The Cambridge Memorial Rooms are furnished with numerous cases and drawers, in which to preserve souvenirs of the artists and anthors of Cambridge.

The book-room, or "stack," as it is called, occupies the rear wing, and has a capacity of 85,000 volumes. This is as nearly fire-proof as possible, having iron book-cases extending from the basement to the third story ; iron floors and stairs, and fire-proof doors shutting it off from the main building. The books are at present arranged thus : Basement, periodicals and government publications ; first floor, fiction and juvenile books; second floor, biography, history, and travel; third floor, miscellany, science, art and poetry. As the library now contains about 27,000 volumes, there is abundant shelf-room for many years. The dedication of the new building occurred on the 29th of June, 1889. The presentation of the deed of gift was made, on behalf of Mr. Rindge, by Mr. Parker, and accepted by Hon. Henry H. Gilmore, mayor of Cambridge. He in turn presented the key of the building to Mr. Samuel L. Montague, president of the Board of Trustees, who replied by appropriate words of thanks for the generous and beautiful gift. Other addresses were made by Colonel T. W. Higgin- son, of the Board of Trustees, and Mr. S. S. Green, librarian of the Worcester Public Library.

The books were moved during the next week, and the library opened to the public on the first Monday in August, 1889.

Desiring to meet the wants of those living at a dis- tance from the library, the trustees have, during the past year, established five delivery stations where books from the library are received and delivered three times a week. These stations have been found a great convenience to those readers who might not often visit the library itself.

As a means of bringing the public schools and the library into closer relations, each teacher in the High Schools, aud the three higher classes in the grammar

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schools, has been allowed the use of ten cards. By a weekly delivery to each school of books to be used as the teachers direct, a large amount of good reading has been put into the hands of children. It has been the aim of teachers and librarian to make this a means of elevating the taste of our young people by intro- ducing them to better books thau they would them- selves select.

The Cambridge Memorial Rooms, devoted to the history of the city, have already begun to attract many visitors. Here are to be preserved the works of Cambridge authors and artists, and such memorials of them as may be donated or purchased. About three hundred volumes have already been placed in these rooms, and several historic souvenirs have also been received.

In 1873 Mr. Isaac Fay, a public-spirited citizen of Cambridge, bequeathed to the library $1000, the in- come of which was to be expended in the purchase of books. In accordance with the wish of the donor, this income has been spent for valuable additions to the library.

The Citizens' Subscription Fund, begun in 1888, has now reached the sum of $13,000. About $2000 of this amount has been spent for standard works in foreign languages and for additions to the departments of science and history. A large number of instructive and entertaining books of travel have also been dupli- cated for school use.

Since occupying its new building the library has been rapidly growing in popular favor as well as in books. The annual appropriation from the city treas ury must meet the current expenses, and it is hoped that in time the income from the Citizens' Fund will afford ample means for the steady increase of the library, which now numbers abont 27,000 volumes.

CHAPTER VII.

CAMBRIDGE-(Continued).

LITERATURE.

BY THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON.

Ix the admirable " History of Cambridge " by Rev. L. R. Paige, D.D .- a book whichi needs only an index to make it a model of its kind-there are chapters on the civil, military, ecclesiastical and educational his- tory of Cambridge, but none on the literary history. Yet it is doubtful if any municipality in this country can equal Cambridge in the number and variety of its authors. Its very foundation was literary-as litera- ture was counted in Puritan days-since Rev. Thomas Shepard, its first clergyman, was not merely known, in the admiring phrase of his day, as "the holy, heavenly, sweet-affecting and soul-ravishing Mr.

Shepard," but was a voluminous author and was the cause, through his personal weight and influence, of the selection of " Newetowne " as the site of the infant college. Mr. Shepard was the author of "The First Principles of the Oracles of God," "The Parable of the Teu Virgins," "The Sincere Convert," "The Saints' Jewel," "Theses Sabbatica," and various other works, most of which were published in London and some of which went through several editions. Copies of these are preserved in the Boston and Cam- bridge Public Libraries and in that of the Shepard Historical Society, in the church he founded. His " Church Membership of Children " was published at Cambridge in 1663, and his " Eye Salve," an election sermon, in 1673, also at Cambridge. The first print- ing press in America had been established in the town much earlier than this, at the expense of Rev. Joseph Glover, an English dissenter, and others. Mr. Glover himself embarked in 1638 for the colony, bringing with him the press and type and Stephen Daye as printer. Mr. Glover died on the passage, but the press arrived safely and was ultimately placed in the house of President Dunster, on Holyoke Street, who took to himself not merely the press, but the widow Glover. For some thirty years all the printing done in America was in Cambridge, Stephen Daye being followed by his son, Matthew, aud he by Samuel Green. The first work printed at this press was " The Freeman's Oath," iu 1639. About a hundred books were printed here before 1700, the list including Eliot's celebrated Indian Bible and "The Book of the General Lawes & Libertyes Concerning the In- habitants of the Massachusetts." It was not until 1664 that permission was given to set up a press in Boston; and Thomas, in his " History of Printing," claims that "the press of Harvard College was for a time as celebrated as the presses of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, in England."

Of the early presideuts of Harvard College, Mr. Dunster was an eminent Oriental scholar and super- intended -- a doubtful kindness to literature -- the prepa- tion of the "New England Psalm Book." Cotton Mather expressed the unavailing hope "that a little more of art was to be employed in it " than had proved to be the case, in its original form, and the holy Mr. Shepard thus criticised its original compilers, Rev. Richard Mather, of Dorchester, and Rev. Messrs. Eliot and Weld, of Roxbury :

" You Roxb'ry poets, keep clear of the crime Of missing to give us very good rhyme, And you of Dorchester, your verses lengthen, But with the text's own words you will them strengthen."

It was therefore handed over to President Dunster for publishing, and the final form in which it ap- peared is the result of his labors. His successor, Rev. Charles Chauncy, published a few sermons, and President Urian Oakes yet more, including one with the resounding title, "The Unconquerable, All- Conquering and More-than-Conquering Soldier,"

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which was, it is needless to say, an Artillery-election sermon (1674). President Increase Mather, it is well known, was a voluminous author and writer; and from his time (1701) to the present day there have been few presidents of Harvard College who were not authors. Rev. Thomas Hooker, although a vol- uminous theologian, yet remained in Cambridge so short a time (1633-36) that he is hardly to be counted among Cambridge authors, especially as his works were all published at a later date.

During the eighteenth century the Cambridge pro- fessors gave themselves rather to scholarship, such as it was, than to literature. Samuel Sewall, grand nephew of the celebrated judge of that name, first taught the grammar school in Cambridge, and then (1762) became college librarian and instructor in He- brew. He published a Hebrew Grammar, a Latin version of the first book of Young's "Night Thonghts," and various Greek and Latin poems and orations; he also left behind him a MS. Chaldee and English dictionary, which still awaits a publisher in Harvard College Library. His kinsman-though with the name spelt differently-Jonathan Sewell, born in Cambridge (1766), became an eminent lawyer and law-writer in Canada, was one of the first to propose Canadian federation in a pamphlet (1815), and left behind him a work on "The Judicial History of France so far as it relates to the Law of the Province of Lower Canada." The eighteenth century also brought the physical sciences to Harvard College, to invade the old curriculum of theology and philology ; though, as Prof. Goodale has shown, the prominent object of this change was to enable the clerical grad- uates to prescribe for their own parishioners. The first Professor of Mathematics and Philosophy was appointed in 1727, Isaac Greenwood being the incum- bent; in 1738 he was followed by John Winthrop, who was, according to Prof. Lovering, "greatly in advance of the science of his day," and whose two lectures on comets, delivered in the College Chapel in 1759, are still good reading. The year 1783 saw the founding of the Harvard Medical School, and this, though situated in Boston, was not without its effect in Cambridge. Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, the most eminent of the early professors, was a resi- dent of Cambridge till his death, and was instrumen- tal in establishing the botanic garden near his resi- dence.

If the eighteenth century brought science to Cam- bridge, the opening of the nineteenth brought liter- ature, in the person of a man whose memory is now almost wholly identified with public life. The ap- pointment of John Quincy Adams in 1806 as Pro- fessor of Rhetoric and Oratory was a distinct step in intellectual training, and his two volumes of lectures still surprise the reader by their good literary judgment and recognition of fundamental principles. Levi Hedge was appointed (1810) professor of Logic and Metaphysics and aided the thought of the university

while Adams gave it expression. A few years more brought to Cambridge and to the university a group of men at that time unequaled in America in varied cultivation and the literary spirit-Andrews Norton (1811), Edward Everett (1812), Joseph Green Cogswell (1814), Jacob Bigelow and George Ticknor (1816), Jared Sparks (1817), Edward T. Channing (1819), Charles Folsom (1821), George Bancroft (1822). Some of these men were temporarily, others permanently con - nected with the university, but all left their perma- nent mark on Cambridge. No American professor ever exercised so prolonged and unquestionable a lit- erary influence as Prof. E. T.Channing ; no one trained so many authors ultimately distinguished in American literature.

The influences of a college town have clearly shown themselves in Cambridge through the creation of what may be called literary families, in which authors have appeared in groups. Rev. Abiel Holmes, D.D., came to Cambridge as pastor of the First Parish in 1792, and both he and his eldest son, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, became authors ; nor has his younger son, John Holmes, wholly escaped the same impulse. The Ware family came here in -1805, and were a race of authors; the two Henrys, Dr. John, William, John F. W. and George being all authors. Rev. Charles Lowell came to reside here before 1819; and he and his children, Rev. Robert T. S. Lowell, James Russell Lowell and Mrs. S. R. Putnam, were all authors. Richard Dana (born 1699), the head of the Boston bar in his day, was a native of Cambridge, as was Richard Henry Dana, the poet, his grandson ; so was Richard Henry Dana, the lawyer and author of "Two Years Before the Mast; " so was his son, the third of the name, and editor of the Civil Service Record. The Chan- ning family, closely connected with the Danas, were represented in Cambridge by Prof. E. T. Channing, already mentioned; by his nephew, the brilliant orator and writer, William Henry Chan- ning, and now by a younger relative, the present Prof. Edward Channing, well known as a rising historical writer. With these two families may well be classed their kinsman by marriage, Washington Allston, whose prose and verse were as original and characteristic as his paintings, and who was long a resident of our city. Rev. Frederick Henry Hedge, long eminent as a scholar, was the son of a profes- sor; and both Rev. Joseph Henry Allen and Rev. E. H. Hall represent the Ware family on the mother's side. William W. Story, the sculptor, who lived in Cambridge in his youth, was the son of Judge Story, the most eminent legal writer, in some directions, whom America has produced; and his son-in-law, George Ticknor Curtis, also resided here for a time. The Quincy family was also strongly literary through several generations; and though President Quincy's sons never, I think, re- sided in Cambridge, his grandson, Josiah P. Quincy,

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was for some time a resident among us. Prof. Benjamin Pierce and his sons, James aud Charles, were or are all mathematical writers. The present Prof. Charles E. Norton is also a distinguished rep- resentative of Cambridge authorship in its second generation ; and the children of Dr. Palfrey are authors like himself, both his sons having contrib- nted to military history, and his eldest daughter, Miss Sarah Palfrey, having written prose and verse under the name of " E. Foxton." To these accumu- lated instances of academic or literary families I may perhaps properly add those of my own household, as my father, who became steward of the college, was a pamphleteer, my mother wrote several children's books, my elder brother published a little work on American Slavery, and all before I myself became an author. My wife, Mary Thacher Higginson, has also published two small volumes.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 56

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co Number of Pages: 1034

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034