USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Needham > History of Needham, Massachusetts, 1711-1911 : including West Needham, now the town of Wellesley, to its separation from Needham in 1881, with some reference to its affairs to 1911 > Part 46
USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Wellesley > History of Needham, Massachusetts, 1711-1911 : including West Needham, now the town of Wellesley, to its separation from Needham in 1881, with some reference to its affairs to 1911 > Part 46
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In 1869 Jonathan Avery bought the building and made it into tenements, and in 1906 the estate was purchased by Miss Martha Anna Clarke, and the Nehoiden Block removed by William Carter to the "Sand Hole" on Rosemary Street, where Mr. Carter had other property.
Mr. Cyrus W. Jones has an extensive collection of programmes, circulars, etc., and among them is one that reads as follows: -
"Social Ball | Nehoiden Hall | East Needham | Friday Evening, March 7, 1845 | Dancing to commence at 7 o'clock | Tickets $1.50 including refreshments"|
The managers were Edgar K. Whitaker, Galen Orr, Moses Mann, Rufus Mills, Charles Curtis and Josiah H. Carter. Music by Moses Mann, Eben Flagg and Artemas Newell.
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
April, July and October, once a year in each of the four churches, and its meetings have been largely attended, with fine music and able addresses. For many years the Union Temperance Band has influenced the young people for good, and its banner is inscribed "Temperance the Handmaid of Religion". In 1895 the Episcopal Sunday School was invited to join, and for a time some of its members at- tended meetings of the Band. The Union Temperance Band is considered as a continuation of the Nehoiden Band of Hope, and consequently was fifty years old in 1908.
In the early seventies there was Autumn Lodge Number 94, Independent Order of Good Templars, which met every Friday evening in Waban Hall. High Rock Lodge Number 47, I. O. of G. T., was organized about the same time, and met every Tuesday evening in the Parker Building, then sometimes called the Greenwood & White Building, or White's Building. Later its meetings were in the Odd Fellows Building, but the lodge lasted only a few years.
On November 17, 1879, Social Lodge Number 8, I. O. G.T., was chartered, and lasted about six years, meeting Thursday evenings in Odd Fellows Hall. Hillside Lodge Number 116, I. O. G. T., was organized, and met in Highland Hall Tuesdays. Crystal Wave Lodge Number 152, I. O. G. T., was chartered on November 21, 1894, and was a success for a number of years, its membership increasing from twenty-nine to seventy. The meetings were held in the Baptist vestry and later in the chapel of the First Church.
In 1876 a Temperance Reform Club was formed, and May 22 one hundred and nineteen signed the pledge in Parker Hall. On June 8 the club had a torchlight proces- sion, and on the 16th two banners were presented to it in Parker Hall. The leaders were D. Banks M Kenzie and the Rev. Louis Charpiot, who were connected with the Appleton Temporary Home for Inebriates, which institu- tion occupied for about ten years, 1872-81, the estate on
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which previously had been the Oakland Hall Institute. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union dates from May 28, 1886, and in 1904 had forty-two regular members and twenty-one honorary. The Union held its early meetings in the First Parish Church, but in later years met at the residence of Dr. Vesta D. Miller, who was president from its formation until her decease. In 1888 the Union or- ganized a Loyal Legion, juvenile, at Highlandville, which did good work for ten years, also a Loyal Legion on the Great Plain, and this was a success for two or three years. Both of these Legions had large memberships, and they flourished as long as the women who were their leaders could give the needed time. In February, 1903, a branch of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union was formed at Highlandville, and from about 1893 to 1895 there had been a Young Woman's Christian Temperance Union in that village.
The History of Needham would be incomplete without some reference to Dr. Vesta Delphine Miller, who was de- voted to many good causes, particularly to that of Temper- ance. For more than thirty years she practiced medicine, and was skilful, faithful and self-sacrificing, often in emer- gencies acting as nurse for many hours at a time, regardless of her own health. Many families depended upon her as their physician and friend, and her comparatively sudden death on February 23, 1908, caused sorrow in numerous homes. Her funeral was on the afternoon of the 25th, and was largely attended, the Rev. Charles E. Sawtelle and the Rev. Robert L. Webb officiating. Mrs. Miller brought comfort and hope not only to many, who recovered from illness, but to others who could not, and no one was more sincerely esteemed than she was. She received the degree of M.D. from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Boston, but had previously studied at the New England Female Medical College, 1865, and at the Cincinnati Medi- cal College. Subsequent to obtaining her degree she at- tended the New York Post-Graduate Medical School.
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NEEDHAM LYCEUM
The following is from some loose sheets in a note book of Dr. Josiah Noyes:
Needham Jan. 7th 1831. People from various parts of the town of Needham met at the Alms-house to consider the nature, purposes and objects of Lyceums; and deter- mine whether it would be expedient to form an institution of this kind - if deemed expedient, what measures were best to establish one and bring it into successful operation .- To regulate the meeting they chose Moses Garfield-Moderator Josiah Noyes - Clerk -
Copious remarks were made at this meeting, a consti- tution read &c - It was thought best to defer transacting much business till a subsequent meeting that more might be present. Accordingly Voted, that the meeting be ad- journed to Friday Jan, 14th, 6 o'clock, P. M. at the Alms- house - and that notice thereof be given from the several pulpits in town on the Sabbath, Jan. 9th. Meeting ad- journed -
Josiah Noyes Clerk at sd meeting
Adjourned meeting Jan. 14th 1831
After reading several Constitutions of Lyceums and the Constitution of the Working Men's Society of Dedham the proceedings of the Meeting for forming a Work Men's Society for Needham, - considering the expediency of having one Society or two in the town, - comparing the natures objects and uses of each and both conjointly - It was thought best to have but one Society for the town to accomplish the objects of both - According - it was - Voted that a Committee be chosen to form a Constitution and determine the name of the Society made up of the two aforenamed. Voted that the Committee of twelve appointed at the meeting for forming a Working Men's Society be this Committee. (See their names below) -
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Voted that this meeting be dissolved
J. Noyes Clerk of s. adjourned meeting - Moses Garfield Charles Rice
Reuben Ware
Spencer Fuller
William Flagg Committee to meet at the Alms-house
William Eaton, Jr - Wed, Jan, 26, at 6 o'clock.
Israel Whitney
Amraphel Smith
Rufus Mills
Josiah Noyes Ebenezer W. McIntosh Committee appointed at the meet- Daniel Kimball ing to form a Working Men's Society, to form a Constitution
The Lyceum was of great educational value to Needham, as it was throughout rural New England, but in our town it did not survive the Civil War. The meetings were usually held semi-monthly during the winter, either in a school- house or at the almshouse. These different places of meet- ing gave all sections of the town opportunities to attend, and there were courses of lectures by Dr. Noyes on chemistry, by the Rev. Daniel Kimball on local history and other topics, and instructive subjects were treated by out-of- town speakers, some of them from a distance. Although Dr. Noyes refers in his diary to a "Debating Society", which met at Myrick's Tavern in the winter of 1834, a feature of the Needham Lyceum was the discussion of questions such as "Civilization", "Books and observation", "Colum- bus and Washington", "War or reference of nations", "Capital Punishment", "Superiority of intellect in man or woman", the "Bank Question" and "Slavery", each of these two great issues requiring more than one meeting, "Levelling System", "Wealth and Knowledge", etc. Dr. Noyes was much interested in the Dover Lyceum, which was organized the same year as the one in Needham, and lec-
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tured before it on chemistry, illustrating by experiments. Presumably the lectures given by Dr. Noyes in Needham, Natick and other places were similar. The Dover Lyceum sometimes met in Noanet Hall, or Newell's Hall, which was just across the river, and was the meeting place of various organizations. In the winter of 1841/2 the Rev. Daniel Kimball gave a series of lectures on local history, which are valuable, particularly those relating to the oldest houses in town, many of which have since disappeared. Mr. Kim- ball's manuscript, or a copy of it, was in the possession of the late Charles C. Greenwood.
A programme of the "Closing Exercises" of the Needham Lyceum on April 2, 1860, includes an address by its pres- ident, the Honorable Edgar K. Whitaker, and various literary features. The meeting was to be held at Village Hall, at 72 o'clock "precisely", and the directors were Otis E. Bowen, Augustus Eaton and Charles E. Keith.
NEWTON, NEEDHAM AND NATICK SOCIETY FOR APPREHENDING HORSE THIEVES
This society was formed at Charles Denny's tavern on April 19, 1822, with Benjamin Slack as moderator and John W. Slack as clerk. On May 3 they met at the same place, adopted a constitution, which was printed, and at an adjourned meeting, on June 1Ith, Ebenezer Starr was chosen president, John W. Slack clerk, and five directors and seven riders were also elected. The earlier meetings were held in the afternoon, but the annual supper soon became the principal feature of the society, and involved small assessments. The notices of the meetings were addressed to the clerk and signed by the president and vice- president. There were about fifty members, and after the first year the number of directors was increased to seven, and some years as many as ten riders were chosen. On April 8, 1835, they had a supper at Nathan F. Crafts's and then disbanded. The funds were divided among the
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twenty-nine members then in good standing, which gave them $2.86 each. Their records were by vote deposited in the office of the town clerk, who was also clerk of the society, and have remained there to this day. The president suc- ceeding Mr. Starr was Benjamin Slack, 1826-32. In 1833 the time of the annual meeting was changed from June to January, and Henry Crafts was chosen president and served two years, when William Farris became the last president of this society, with Seth Davis as vice-president. The second clerk was John Sargent, the tavern-keeper in Welles- ley Hills, who was in office 1824-6. John W. Slack was again clerk in 1826-32, Miciah 1 M. Rutter 1832, Town Clerk Asa Kingsbery 1 1833- .
NEEDHAM YOUNG PEOPLE'S ASSOCIATION
The Needham Young People's Association is the result of a meeting held in the library rooms at the town hall on June 1, 1910, for the purpose of forming a Boys' Club, and in the autumn of that year Bourne Hall was transformed into a gymnasium, which is now (1911) well equipped. Classes in athletics, for boys and girls, are conducted by competent teachers, and this gymnasium is an important institution, furnishing a headquarters for the young people, and providing them with varied resources and amusements. Louis A. Holman has directed this work with untiring devotion and with no pecuniary compensation.
AGRICULTURAL AND KINDRED SOCIETIES
Residents of Needham were active in the old Norfolk Agricultural Society, as some are to-day in Middlesex and Norfolk Pomona Grange Number I, Patrons of Husbandry of Massachusetts. On April 30, 1860, there was a meeting in Village Hall to form the Needham Horticultural Society,
1 The reader is reminded that in this book names are spelled as found in the records.
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on which occasion Edgar K. Whitaker was chairman and George W. Palmer secretary. The organization was per- fected on May 7, when the constitution was adopted, and the objects of the Society are therein declared to be "the promotion of Horticulture, and incidentally Agriculture, Floriculture, and general Improvements". Mr. Whitaker was elected president, Holland N. Batcheller secretary and Charles E. Keith Ist vice-president, and these gentlemen were re-elected annually until the society ceased to keep records. They took as their motto "Labor omnia vincit", and during the first year held nine public meetings, besides their elaborate exhibition on the evenings of September 24 and 25, when there was a display of fine fruits, beauti- ful flowers, and specimens of women's skill in artistic direc- tions. There were seventy-six contributors to this exhibi- tion, some of them offering several samples of fruit and flowers, and the list is interesting as it gives the names of the different varieties of apples, pears, grapes, and numerous vegetables, then esteemed most choice. The women made these occasions a success, and a brief list illustrating their ambitions in the line of fancy work at that time may be of interest: - Miss Jane Avery (now Mrs. Carter) "I Picture of a Rose - in water colors" "I Crayon Head". Miss Harriet E. Sawyer "I Beautiful Fruit Picture, in Water Colors". Picture frames decorated with corn, cones and "Leather Work" were in fashion, as well as frames of hair. Miss Harriet E. Kingsbury brought, among other articles, "I Ottoman of Raised Worsted Work", and some bead work. Similar contributions were received from others. Mrs. F. F. Stedman "Hair Work, elegantly framed" "2 Embroidered Vests". Miss Myra Smith (Mrs. Greenwood) 'I Beautiful Wax-work Bouquet of Flowers in a Glass Case". Miss Sarah C. Mills (Mrs. Cutter) "I What- Not, Elegantly Wrought in Leather". Mrs. Noyes excelled in decorating picture frames with cones and "Burrs", and really beautiful specimens of her work are preserved
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at her former home. Most of the ladies were not content with one or two samples of handiwork, but presented a number. "Wrought" slippers and suspenders were also a source of honorable pride. In the very long list of vege- tables and flowers are included "3 Mammoth Squashes, 96, 98 and 105 lbs", sent by James Cartwright, "125 Varieties of Cut Flowers, rare and beautiful" from James Gray of West Needham, vegetables from the Oakland Hall Institute, and flowers from the "Young Ladies of Oakland Hall Institute". Henry H. White (Wight?) exhibited "I Chess Board, inlaid with 94 pieces of wood", and Charles E. Keith "I Sample Double Sole Nailed Miners' Shoes", and "Plough Shoes" and "Hunters Shoes". The profusion of this display of flowers and vegetables was remarkable and on lesser occasions there had been beautiful exhibits. Mrs. Ebenezer Whiting McIntosh had rare flowers, and brought to one of the meetings "a dish of asters containing twenty five varieties". The same evening Master Channing Whitaker exhibited a "Cabbage Rose Measuring T[h]ree feet and five inches in diameter", and "last and least a small vase standing upon the north west Corner of the tables presented by Mr. Keith, admired for its humble symplicity". Many visitors attended the public exhibition, and the society was active in setting out shade trees, visiting noted farms and orchards, such as the pear orchard of John Gordon in Brigh- ton, and had every prospect of usefulness when the Civil War came, which absorbed the attention of all, with the result that the society adjourned sine die on the first Mon- day of October, 1862, and the records came to an end. The previous June they had voted "to have no Strawberry festi- val this year". Besides lectures, the society had planned for general improvement in the cultivation of fruits and flowers, and proposed to stimulate competition by prizes. George W. Palmer, an active member, was the proprietor of the "Needham Plain Nursery", and had his first annual sale of trees in 1861. During the first fourteen months of
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its existence the society had had a lecture on botany from Dr. Noyes, which apparently was enjoyed, and Mr. Henry O. Hildreth of Dedham, and others from out of town, had addressed them. The Needham Horticultural Society printed a pamphlet of sixteen pages in October, 1860, in which its purposes were set forth, and a report of its prin- cipal exhibition followed. There were then sixty-one regular members and twenty-two honorary members.
NEEDHAM FARMERS AND MECHANICS ASSOCIATION
The Needham Farmers and Mechanics Association was organized in the autumn of 1877, largely through the efforts of Abel F. Stevens of Wellesley, who was its first president and served three years. For two seasons Agri- cultural Fairs were held in Parker Hall, the animals exhibited occupying temporary quarters in the square at the north of the hall, and in the yard of Eaton's stable. At these fairs there were many interesting exhibits from Needham, and adjoining towns, showing that the enthusiasm which char- acterized the members of the old Horticultural Society had by no means died out. The women contributed to the success of these fairs, and their work in various domestic departments, as well as with the needle, was most cred- itable. The Association had seventy members in 1888, and about one hundred in 1908, the membership including residents of Needham, Wellesley, Dover, Natick and Sher- born. From the fall until into the spring meetings are held every two weeks, sometimes in a hall, but more often at a private house, when subjects of importance are considered, and speakers from out of town present topics of which they have special knowledge. The membership has never been limited to men, and for thirty years this association has been of great value to the community.
In the early nineties there was a Poultry Club in town, and Highlandville, now Needham Heights, is well known at exhibits in Boston, and in more distant places, as the resi-
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dence of the owners of fancy pigeons, to whom prizes are repeatedly awarded. There were pigeon and poultry "fan- ciers" in that portion of the town nearly forty years ago.
TREES
In 1870 the town accepted the act of the General Court "concerning shade and ornamental trees in Highways and Streets". Five years later the selectmen urged the choice of two Foresters, and the protection of shade trees. On March 5, 1900, George Warren Colburn was elected Tree Warden, the first in Needham, and $100 were appropriated for his use. Mr. Colburn was succeeded in 1908 by John E. Richards, and the latter in 1909 by Ernest E. Riley. In 1910 the appropriation for the work of the tree warden was $700.
Since 1880 a large oak tree on Great Plain Avenue by George C. MeIntosh's has been cut down, and also another great oak on the same avenue by land of Thomas Orr. The late Thomas Orr was expert in relating experiences, and while he was cutting down the oak a severe thunder storm arose, and Mr. Orr, short of limb, started for his house, which was struck by lightning just as he got there. He said, "I ran like the very devil, and the lightning struck the house just as I shut the door". An oak on land of John J. Morgan, near Nehoiden Street, and another a short distance west of the cemetery, on the same street, were cut down. All of these were large trees, but not as ancient as the Greenwood oak and its mate at the west end of the old Training Field. These two venerable trees are probably over three centuries old, but unfortunately the Greenwood oak, vigorous until about 1903, died in 1908, leafing out a little that year for the last time. The noon-house is said to have once stood close by it. The other old oak, which is directly opposite the driveway of the Townsend place, and since 1908 a part of that estate, was looking badly in 1904 when George Kuhn Clarke employed the tree warden to fill the decayed
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places with cement, remove the dead wood, and to brace the largest limb by means of an iron rod. After this treat- ment the old tree showed a remarkable revival of vigor, and in 1907 it was again cared for, and the brace repaired, by the tree warden at Mr. Clarke's expense. In 1911 it is in good condition.
The late Charles C. Greenwood collected in his grove of less than one acre specimens of a great number of trees and shrubs, and north of his house he had an artificial pond, or large, shallow basin, devoted to pond lilies and other aquatic plants.
The canker worms never seriously damaged the orchards in Needham, and appeared in this town for a limited time only, but in 1904 it was rumoured that Gypsy and Brown- tail moths had been observed, and the next year about $174 were spent in combatting them, Ernest E. Riley having been appointed "Superintendent for Suppressing Gypsy and Brown-tail Moths". In 1906 $1693.78 were expended, of which the town paid $1426.03 and the property owners $267; in 1907 the cost was increased to $2793.44, twelve men drawing pay for services. In 1908 the expense was about $6500, of which the town appropriated $2325, the assessments amounted to $1637.65, and the Commonwealth paid the balance; nineteen men were then employed. The first appropriation by the .town for this purpose was $800 in 1905. The first appearance of the elm beetles in Needham, with serious injury to the trees, was in 1907, and that year and in 1908 they were a far more destructive pest than the moths, which latter have not, apparently, made great head- way in town.
PORTRAIT OF FRANCIS ASBURY BURRILL
OLD OAK TREE ON THE TRAINING FIELD
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Residents of Reedham who have lived Rinety Dears
The names of the men and women of Needham who have reached the age of ninety years are as follows: -
Ephraim Ware, March 26, 1753, aged ninety-four years.1
Joseph Hawes, March 8, 1756, aged ninety-two years.
Mary Gay, March 7, 1757, aged ninety-seven years, two months.
Ebenezer Ware, 1765, aged ninety-eight years.
Widow Deliverance Parker, March II, 1770, aged ninety- nine years.
Widow Lydia Metcalf, December 18, 1770, aged ninety- three years. She was the last of the original members of the First Church.
Josiah Ware, July 3, 1798, aged ninety-one years.
Eliakim Cook, August 2, 1801, aged ninety-one years.
Widow Esther Fuller, November 6, 1801, aged ninety years. Jonathan Smith, June 1, 1809, aged ninety-three years.
Col. William McIntosh, January 3, 1813, aged ninety- one years; born in Roxbury.
Widow Jemima Perry, January 10, 1815, aged ninety- seven years.
Widow Grace Broad, March 18, 1821, aged ninety-one years.
Widow Mary Smith, May 25, 1821, aged ninety-one years.
Jeremiah Woodcock, March 4, 1824, aged ninety-two years, four months.
Widow Rachel Smith, May 18, 1825, aged ninety years.
1 The date following the name is that of death, and all of these nonagenarians died in Needham unless otherwise indicated and most of them were born there.
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Dinah Cato, December 27, 1830, aged ninety years.
Widow Lois Brown, June 22, 1831, aged one hundred years; if she was born on November 9, 1733, as appears to have been the fact, she was under ninety-eight when she died.
Widow Sarah Kingsbury, February 12, 1832, aged ninety- four years.
Benjamin Davenport, December 27, 1833, aged ninety-one years. :
Dr. Isaac Morrill, May 5, 1839, aged ninety-one years.
Widow Abigail Bullard, August 29, 1842, aged ninety years.
Widow Jemima Kingsbury, March 29, 1843, aged ninety- seven years, six months.
Widow Mehitable Fisher, January 30, 1846, aged ninety- four years, eight months.
Widow Hannah Gay, April 11, 1847, aged ninety years; died at Nashua, N. H.
Widow Mary Wilson, November 1I, 1847, aged ninety- seven years.
Widow Esther Mills, September 15, 1853, aged ninety- seven years, four months, sixteen days.1
Sarah Mansfield, September 5, 1854, aged ninety-three years, eight months, twenty-four days.
Widow Lucy Kelley, October 31, 1857, aged ninety years, three months.
Samuel Pond, October 2, 1858, aged ninety-four years, five months, one day; born in Newton.
Hadassah Cisco, September 24, 1864, aged ninety-six years, three months, two days.
Rachel Alden, October 22, 1865, aged ninety-one years, five months.
1 Between 1848 and 1864 there were four persons died in Needham in their ninetieth year, of whom Sarah Mills, wife of Lieut. Fisher Mills, was aged eighty- nine years, ten months and fourteen days. She died October 9, 1857, and was born in Waltham. There were also three women who died in their eighty-ninth year, and one in her eighty-eighth.
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