History of Milton, Part 16

Author: Hamilton, Edward Pierce
Publication date: 1957
Publisher: Milton, Mass. Milton Historical Society
Number of Pages: 356


USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Milton > History of Milton > Part 16


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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In 1843 the Town had considered the desirability of a firehouse at the Center, but action was not taken. Dr. Teele says that the "90s" Hose Com- pany was formed in 1848 to operate a hose connected with a pump at Webb and Twombly's Mill in the Village, but the mill was not built until about 1850, and the first mention that I can find of the company is in the Town Auditors' report for the year ending February 1859. Two years before this the Town had bought hose for the Webb and Twombly mill pump, and it was probably then that the "90s" started operations. For some unknown reason they did not enjoy the privilege of poll tax abatement which the oth- er companies had received. Perhaps it was because their operations were re-


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stricted to a very small area, which was also covered by the "Fountain" en- gine. In 1861 pipe was laid in the Village area, and half a dozen fire hydrants installed, which considerably increased the effectiveness of the "90's".


Firewards were authorized by Massachusetts law as early as 1712, but Milton did not elect any until 1794. These officials were supposed to attend all fires, and to have complete charge of fire fighting. They were authorized to require any citizen to obey their orders and to furnish assistance at the fire. Failure to obey them resulted in a heavy fine. On the other hand they had no authority except at a fire, and so had no control over the training of volunteer companies.1 In 1850 the Town furnished them with "poles", which served as staves of office. They were about an inch and a half thick, six and a half feet long, and painted white except for a foot of black at the top.


Aside from the purely social aspect, these companies engaged in two ma- jor activities, competitions and actual fire fighting. There was great rivalry among the various groups, resulting in many challenges and competitions. Each engine consisted of a partially open trough or tank, and a force pump which could draw either from a suction pipe or from the trough. The pump had a pair of opposed arms with long bars at their ends, each of which had room for a dozen or more men. In many cases a fire was so far from a source of water that two or more engines would be placed in series, the first pump- ing water into the trough of the second engine, which in turn pumped to the fire or to a third engine. The first engine in the series could put the sec- ond to shame by pumping water into its trough faster than the second en- gine could pump it out, thus "washing" it, while the second engine had the opportunity of pumping out of its trough faster than the first engine could fill it, thus "sucking" it. Many a time at a fire there was much more real in- terest in "washing" and "sucking" than there was in putting out the fire.


The "Fountain" was a famous company, and had rather more than held its own against all comers for many years, but in 1846 it met defeat. In that year the Town bought and turned over to the "Danube" Company of East


1. I was much amused when searching for a list of Firewards' duties in the law library of a prom- inent Boston law firm, to find them in a volume of old Massachusetts laws which had inscribed on the flyleaf: "Property of the Inhabitants of the Town of Milton"!


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FOUNTAIN ENGINE NO. 1, 1858


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The Firemen


Milton a brand new modern engine made by W. C. Hunneman and Co., which cost $1200, and the company's name was at once changed to the " Hydrant Company". At a fire in April of that year over toward Quincy, the old "Fountain" arrived very shorthanded (as well as out of breath), while the brand new "Hydrant" had many replacements. The "Fountain" was "washed" for the first time in its career, and great was the blow to the company's pride.


Within the week the "Hydrant" was challenged by the "Fountain" to a competition, but this was scornfully refused. In August of the following year at a fire at Meeting House Hill in Dorchester, the "Fountain" washed the "Hydrant" for fifteen minutes straight, until its pump finally broke. The "Hydrant" immediately challenged the "Fountain" and this was ac- cepted. The two engines met and had played for about three minutes when the "Fountain" broke its brake beam, the contest ended, and all enjoyed a ""collation" at the Railway House provided by the "Hydrant" company. A new contest was arranged for October, with various guest companies invit- ed, the "Vulture"(?) of Quincy, the "Alert" and "Independence" of Dor- chester, and the "Button" tub of Roxbury. The two competitors pumped into each other's tubs, and the "Fountain" did it again, "washing" the "Hydrant" very thoroughly! Within a fortnight there was a fire at Crehore's Card Factory, and the "Hydrant" got another "washing" from the Village engine, and this was repeated a year and a half later at the piggery fire at Mattapan. The "Fountain" boys must have had what it took, for their en- gine was far from the most modern.


The other side of the picture is that of the fire-fighting capabilities of these companies, and I regret to report that the record is pretty pitiful. This was, however, not entirely their fault as it was largely due to the time lag of getting word of a fire, collecting part of the company, arriving at the scene, and then finding a supply of water. Probably all that could reasonably be ex- pected in most cases was to prevent the flames from spreading to other buildings. In a city where distances were short, effective fire fighting could be expected, but in the case of village companies too much could not be ac- complished at any distance from the fire house.


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At night a company would often turn out upon seeing a glare in the sky. On one occasion a Milton company chased such a will-o'-the-wisp as far as the top of Brush Hill, only to find that the fire was in Dedham. A fairly typi- cal entry in the records of the "Hydrant" Company is : "An alarm ... was given this evening about nine o'clock. It proved to be the house of -. The tub was promptly on hand and did all the service which the supply of water afforded. The building was destroyed."


Firemen's parades and musters were held upon various occasions. The "Hydrants' " uniform for such appearances was "white shirt, dark pants, and a straw hat". Once in a while the "Hydrant" would lend a helping hand in an unexpected way. In 1861 Thomas Hollis, who then lived in the former Railway House,2 wanted his well pumped out. The "Hydrant" com- pany did the job and then was fed by Mr. Hollis. Through some fortunate chance the old "Hydrant" engine has been preserved and still is in the pos- ession of the Town, while all that is left of its rival the "Fountain" is an old daguerreotype of the engine and its crew, which included a large white dog.


The "Granite" Hook and Ladder Company was formed in East Milton in about 1844 in conjunction with the "Hydrant" Company. In 1873 the fire house was moved from Adams and Squantum Streets to a new location on Granite Avenue between Bassett and Antwerp Streets.


For over half a century these private companies were the sole fire depart- ment of the Town, controlled to some extent by the Firewards and the Se- lectmen, but still largely independent social organizations. In 1878 the Board of Fire Engineers was established, with W. S. Leavitt as chief. The companies still had their same equipment and retained their old designa- tions for a few years to come, but the centralized control had begun. In this year two reservoirs, great brick-lined underground cisterns, were built in East Milton, and the following year a third was added, as well as one near the Town Hall of 40,000 gallon capacity. There were in all sixty-four fire- men at that period.


2. This stone building was first the tavern of Railway Village, then the Hollis dwelling (hence Hollis Street), then a tavern of somewhat dubious reputation, the Blue Bell, and then toward the end of the century an eminently respectable boardinghouse. The Milton Post Office today occupies the site.


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The Firemen


In 1880 it was suddenly realized that the Fire Department had not at all kept up with the growth of the Town, and that we were in fact practically dependent on Boston for any effective protection. Action was soon taken, and in the next year a horse-drawn chemical engine was bought, and manned by a permanent skeleton crew paid by the Town. At the same time telephones were established to warn of fires. The Chemical Engine was installed in a brick firehouse behind the Town Hall, and this was equipped with quick hitching harness for a pair of horses. A separate fire-alarm system was in- stalled the next year, and it soon consisted of twenty-three miles of wire and alarm boxes. In 1883 a reservoir was built at Central Avenue and Ruggles Lane, and the Fire Engineers asked the Town to buy a steam fire engine, saying that the day of the hand pumper was over.


The number of fires was actually very small in those more simple days; in all the year 1882 there were only four calls for Milton fires and six for out- of-town ones. In the days of candles and kerosene lamps many precautions were taken to avoid any chance of fire indoors or out. Too often any fire al- most automatically meant the loss of house and barns, even if some of the contents could be saved. Moreover only the men smoked in those days, and the cigarette, responsible today for so many accidental fires, was practically unknown. The advent of signal systems and more effective fire-fighting ap- paratus has made us very much more careless in our habits.


In 1887 the first steam fire engine was purchased. In summer it was drawn by two horses, while in winter an additional Highway Department pair were stationed at the engine house in case of need. There were now five perman- ent full-time firemen, and eighty-four call men organized into four compan- ies. Two years later the Brush Hill Water Company laid some seven miles of pipe, and forty-six hydrants were installed in the west part of the town. By 1890 a large part of the entire town had hydrants. The Blue Hill Hose Company was established in this year, with a hose cart in a small building on Canton Avenue near Dollar Lane. The next year's Town Meeting voted to build a new fire station in East Milton Square to house the hose wagon which had replaced the old "Hydrant" hand pumper. The department now consisted of six permanent full-time firemen and forty-seven call men. Vari-


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History of Milton


ous changes and improvements followed rapidly over the next few years. In 1896 it was claimed that Milton's Fire Department was equal to or better than that of any other city or town in Massachusetts except Boston. This was probably overdoing it a bit, but there seems to be no doubt that we then had fire-fighting facilities very much above the average of the period for a relatively small town.


The old horse-drawn steam fire engine was one of man's great achieve- ments, and those who have never seen one in action have missed one of the dramatic sights of modern civilization. When the alarm rang, stall doors swung open, the trained horses went to their places in front of the engines without any order or guidance, the harnesses dropped onto their backs and the straps were connected in a moment, next the doors swung open and the engine dashed madly down the road hauled by three matched horses hitched abreast, while the bell clanged loudly and smoke and sparks leapt from the engine stack. It was a sight once seen, never forgotten. Today's motor pump- ers with their snarling sirens are but feeble and colorless successors to the steam engines of yesterday. They are, however, much better at putting out fires.


In 1901 a new fire station was built at Blue Hill Avenue and Atherton Street to cover the Brush Hill section. The first automobile, a Pope-Hart- ford for the Chief, was bought in 1909. It was fitted with hand extinguishers. Considerable thought had been given to the question of purchasing motor fire apparatus, but it was decided to wait for the development of more satis- factory equipment.


In 1911 the old ""90's" Hose wagon (Hose No. 3) was installed on Hill- side Street near Randolph Avenue, operated by a volunteer company. It had previously been housed in a shed just north of the old brick police sta- tion in the Village. Three years later a chemical tank and hose basket was installed on the rear of the Chief's automobile, and Milton now could be said to have its first piece of motor apparatus. In 1915 an American-La France hose and chemical became the Town's first real piece of modern equipment, followed shortly by a new ladder and chemical truck, and a mo- tor pumper. The last horse was retired in 1919.3 The other important change 3. For the next year or two horses were hired for short periods during the winter.


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STEAM PUMPER AND HOSE WAGON This was about the last appearance of the old equipment. The horses were hired for the occasion.


The Firemen


that had been taking place was the gradual addition of permanent personnel and the relegation of call men to a more subsidiary and reserve function. The Department had become essentially a full-time professional one, and the transfer from a group of volunteer amateurs was nearing completion. Boards of Fire Engineers appointed by the Selectmen had operated the De- partment for many years until 1928, when a Chief of the Fire Department took over full control under the direct supervision of the Selectmen.


187


The Library


T HE free public library, supported by public funds, is a relatively new institution. The first in the country was established at Peterborough, New Hampshire, in 1833, while the Boston Public Library commenced operations in 1854. A private circulating library was formed in Milton in 1792. It remained in use for over a quarter century and was succeeded in 1838 by one in Milton Village which served residents of both sides of the river for a generation.


In 1870 Milton voted to form a public library, provided that the Town's appropriation of three thousand dollars was matched by an equal sum raised privately. This was accomplished, and the ground floor of a dwelling house on Wharf Lane in the Village was leased and the library opened in February of 1871. Twelve years later it was moved into the Associates Building where it remained for over twenty years. A reading room was opened in East Mil- ton in 1883, at first on the second floor of Babcock's Store and later in the Ellsworth Building.


A Mattapan reading room appeared in 1901 in a small room in Kidder House, a recreational and civic center organized by Nathaniel T. Kidder on the site where today's Kidder Branch Library stands. The Milton Library has had many friends throughout the years, but none perhaps more faithful and continuous in their interest than Mr. Kidder, who gave both money and services over a period of many years. At about this same time the Russell reading room was opened in a house at the northern end of Hillside Street on the estate of James S. Russell.


In 1902 the Library started a successful experiment-books were delivered


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History of Milton


directly to the homes of the citizens by a horse and wagon. This was one of the earliest, if not the earliest, examples in this country of what later came to be called "bookmobile". The horse and wagon continued in use until 1927 when both were demolished by a motor car. A truck replaced the wag- on, but the growth in the use of the automobile soon rendered the house-to- house delivery of the bookmobile unnecessary.


Twenty-six citizens of Milton in 1902 bought the land on which the Li- brary now stands and gave it to the Town. The present building was opened to the public in 1904. The Kidder Library at Mattapan was built in 1928, and the East Milton Branch in 1931, both on land given by Mr. Kidder.


The Library is different from most of the other enterprises of the Town in that it possesses certain invested funds of its own, as well as enjoying the in- come of a trust fund provided for in the will of Nathaniel T. Kidder. Until relatively recent times it also received, why I cannot imagine, all fees paid to the Town for dog licenses.


For those who wish further information on our Library there is available a detailed history written some years ago by Mr. Kidder.


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The Wars


I 'T WAS remarked in an earlier chapter that all troubles with the Indians started outside of the area of Massachusetts Bay. The first of these was the Pequot War of 1637. Our only concern with the punitive expedition sent to the vicinity of the present town of Stonington, Connecticut, is that its "stew- ard", or supply officer, was Richard Collecot, who held the rank of sergeant. He managed to secure at least one Indian slave as the result of the colonists' victory, for we find a letter from Roger Williams to Governor John Win- throp, written in 1637, which says: "I have at present returned Rich. Colli- cut's Pequt girle . . . ".


We do not know what sort of provisions our good sergeant collected for the soldiers, but there is a detailed record of the supplies sent with the later 1645 expedition against the Narragansett Indians, who had been making faces at the Colonists and throwing their weight around a bit unnecessarily. No fighting resulted, and the Indians soon quieted down. Those of us who have eaten Army "C" and "K" rations throughout Europe and the Pacific will be interested in what a soldier was given three hundred years ago. The supplies listed were for two hundred men for an unspecified period, but probably only about a month.


Bread, 10,000 [pounds?]


Pease, 3 hogsheads Beife, 6 hogsheads [in brine] Fish, 10 Kintalls [dried and salted] Oyle, 10 gallons Vinegar, 1 hogshead


Wine, "at your pleasure". Beare, 1 tun [252 gal.]


Oatmeal, 1 hogshead


Flour, 2 hogsheads


Butter, 6 firkins Raisings, 2 barrels


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History of Milton


Strongwater, 1 hogshead [probably brandy ]


Sugar, 50 lbs [for sick only ] Salt, 1 hogshead


The bread, which was almost certainly ship's biscuit, and the raisins made a ration that could easily be carried and eaten on the march. The expedition was made in the late summer and some vegetables and corn on the cob were probably added to this basic ration at times, as well as shellfish.


The Colonists from the first days of the settlement were most conscious of the need of defending themselves, and all the able-bodied men were consti- tuted a militia. This was organized in each town into a trainband which was equipped with arms and turned out a specified number of days each year for training. Before many years had gone by the counties were formed, primar- ily as a means of consolidating the various militia trainbands. The legal mi- litia of the Bay Colony consisted of all able-bodied men between the ages of sixteen and sixty. In 1645, however, it was ordered that all boys from ten to sixteen should be trained in the use of the musket, which in those days might be either a matchlock or a flintlock, the half pike, and the bow and ar- row. Powder was always in short supply, and that is probably the reason for the rather surprising inclusion of the bow, as well as the fact that the heavy musket of the period would have been much too heavy for a small boy to manage. It was required to have a barrel at least three and three-quarters feet long, and usually weighed twelve pounds or more.


By 1660 the Colony regulations for the militia were clear and specific. The able-bodied men of each town all served in the town company, which was supposed to have a minimum size of sixty-four, excluding officers. If there were over two hundred militia men in a town, two companies would be formed. Each company elected its own officers, subject to confirmation by the General Court. The trainbands of all the towns in the county constituted the county regiment, the commander of which, the sergeant-major, was elected by the commissioned officers. This was the basic system of selecting militia officers that continued down, at least in nominal form, to quite re- cent times.


The law as it existed in 1660 required foot soldiers to train eight days a year, and "troopers", or mounted men, six days. All men must possess suit-


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The Wars


able arms, except magistrates, ministers, and the officers and students of Harvard College. If one was unable to supply himself with arms, he was to be furnished at the Town's expense. Although required to have arms, dea- cons, schoolmasters, doctors, masters of ships, and active fishermen were excused from drill, as were, in certain cases, farmers residing beyond a spec- ified distance. Men going to muster had to be carried free by all ferrymen.


While the great majority of the militia men were foot soldiers in the early days, two-thirds musketeers to one-third pikemen in each band, there were also a very few troops of horse which were select organizations. The law of 1672 required that one, or one's father, must have an estate of £ 100 in order to be eligible for enlistment in a troop, and this of course made the cavalry a corps d'élite. Normally each county had one troop.


In 1669 there were three sergeants in Milton, Robert Badcock, William Blake, and Samuel Wadsworth, and two years later Corporal Thomas Vose is mentioned, as well as Corporal Thomas Swift. The last named, however, was at a somewhat later date serving in a troop of horse, and I doubt if he was a member of the Milton band. I can find no record whatsoever of any commissioned officers, and I rather doubt if Milton at that time could raise the sixty-four men required for a company. Perhaps we still served with the Dorchester trainbands and had no separate company of our own.1 This sus- picion is somewhat confirmed by the fact that, when the first draft was made on the towns of Suffolk County for soldiers for King Philip's War, Milton was not included in the towns listed in the call. On the other hand the Town Records of 1670 mention that the trainband and a few others who were pres- ent held a quite irregular town meeting, so there was a local band at this time.


King Philip's War burst like a bombshell upon a people who had been at complete peace with the Indians for almost a generation and a half, and as has usually happened in this country, the military were unprepared for the enormous task that developed. The local trainbands of the militia were evi- dently considered as home guard companies and as sources of obtaining trained men, and not as mobile troops. Drafts were made upon the towns to


1. This seems most probable since it is known that the Stoughton men drilled with the Milton company during the first few years after the settlement of that town.


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form bodies of troops to be used on expeditions against the Indians, and the officers were apparently selected by the General Court. There was also at least one volunteer company, commanded by Capt. Samuel Moseley, to whose reputation there still clings a suspicion of former piracy, and whose command was certainly a rowdy and somewhat disreputable one. I mention it because one of the members was a John Holman, and Milton's Thomas Holman had a son of that name. Holman is not included in a list of the sol- diers furnished by our Town, but that might easily be explained by the fact that Moseley's company was a volunteer one and thus somewhat irregular. None of these companies were permanent, they were formed for an expedi- tion and dismissed upon completion of their mission. It soon became appar- ent that mounted troops and pikemen were almost useless against Indians, and it was ordered that all must be armed with carbines and muskets, pre- pared to serve as foot soldiers.


On the whole Milton furnished relatively few men to the Colony forces, only seventeen or eighteen in all, but two were quite active throughout the war, and one achieved fame by leading his men into an Indian ambush. Capt. Samuel Wadsworth was a prominent citizen of Milton, who had served as Selectman for the five years before the war. He was placed in command of a company raised by a draft in January of 1676, and served with it on vari- ous defensive missions along the frontier. His lieutenant was our Thomas Vose, but I find record of no other Milton men. During part of the period this company operated to guard Milton, Braintree, Weymouth, and Hing- ham. It was disbanded in March and the men reverted to their local train- bands. In April Capt. Wadsworth was in command of another company, which included some soldiers from Roxbury, but about which we lack fur- ther information. On 20 April 1676 a large body of Indians attacked Sud- bury, and Capt. Wadsworth marched on the following day with his compa- ny to lend assistance. While about a mile from Sudbury on the Marlborough road he saw a small party of Indians and rushed to the attack. The Indians retreated into the woods, followed by the Colonists, who suddenly were am- bushed by some five hundred Indians. A fighting retreat was made to a near- by hill where a losing battle was kept up until dark. Only some thirteen of




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