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 48
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 48
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58
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MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
Paul Dewing, who was a military man, is remembered as sometimes playing a huge ophicleide, or tuber, horn. The Flaggs of West Needham and the Manns of East Needham were excellent musicians, and the Fries brothers, Henry, August and Wulf, contributed to give Needham a reputa- tion as the home of some exceptionally accomplished per- formers. Henry D. C. Fries lived in East Needham in the fifties, and his brothers were often there. Moses, William Willard and Joel Richards Mann, sons of Lieut .- Col. Moses
1 Mr. Moseley states that to the best of his recollection there were four numbers of the Needham Globe, and that the first was issued in July. Cyrus W. Jones says that August I is No. I, and that his file consists of three papers; evidently a file of this paper is extremely rare.
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
Mann, who was an old-time chorister, were well known, and Willard as a clarinet player had few equals anywhere. Moses Mann, the younger, organized the noted Boston Brass Band. Isaac Flagg played the fife, Solomon Flagg, and his son Solomon, Jr., the snare drum, and Eben Flagg was a noted bandmaster associated with "Ned" Kendall, and who had a high reputation for his mastery of the bugle, cornet and clarinet. Eben Flagg engaged in contests of skill with some well-known bugle and cornet players, and was usually victorious. In 1861 he was the leader of Flagg's Band. It is said that for some time after his first wife's death he declined to play an instrument; he died in Wellesley April 30, 1893, aged eighty-four years and eleven months.
Elisha Flagg, the father of Isaac and Eben, was skilled with the fife, and furnished martial music for the musters.
The Nehoiden Glee Club flourished in the years im- mediately preceding the Civil War, and the writer has a programme of a concert given by this club in 1860. After the war the Highlandville Cornet Band was organized in that village, and its members were of English birth. Thomas Beach led with an Eb cornet. A uniform was obtained, and for years this band was one of the institutions of the town. The Needham Brass Band was formed at Highland- ville in the seventies, and for a time met in Highland Hall, but later on the premises of James Beless, who rendered generous assistance to the musicians in procuring uniforms and in various ways. In 1883 William Wragg was the business manager of the Needham Brass Band. About 1885 the band was given up, which was regretted, as its members were not only good musicians, but steady and reliable young men. In 1871, or 1872, the Nehoiden Cornet Band was formed at the Great Plain, with Charles Ewing, the druggist, as the leader. Mr. Ewing played a Bb cornet, and John Clews, who lived at Highlandville, added much to the music with his EP cornet. The band sometimes
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
met in Highland Hall, and included a number of members resident in that part of the town. Alonzo Bond of Boston, a popular instructor, was their teacher, but the organization barely survived a second summer. They had no uniform except caps. The writer remembers attending one of their rehearsals in Highland Hall, and recalls Mr. Bond's energetic manner. The Needham Choral Society flourished for a year or two soon after the division of the town. In 1907 Charles E. Cushing, who plays the cornet, formed an ex- cellent orchestra of eight pieces, known as the Needham Concert Orchestra. At times the musicians consisted of four ladies and four men, all but two of whom were resi- dents of this town. Since 1909 there has been a fine High School orchestra, familiar as the Needham Harmonic Orches- tra, and which includes ten, or more, pieces. Edward F. Howe has a good orchestra of some half dozen instruments, and in 1910 the Needham Military Band was formed. In 19II the band numbers thirty-two musicians, some of whom are accomplished performers, and it is a source of pride to the citizens of the town. It has a uniform, and in 1911 a fully equipped band-stand was erected on the common, the public subscribing some $800 for the purpose.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES AS TO INDIVIDUALS, HOUSES AND LANDS, ETC.
Sixty-five years ago an old black house stood just south of the residence of the late Sherman Bowers and was reached by a cart-path which ran from Webster Street to Rosemary Street. Joseph Mudge, Jr., was an auctioneer in 1790. Moses Mann was licensed in 1795 "to sell by retail distilled Spirits at his Shop" in Needham.
Nathaniel Bullard and Royal McIntosh were auctioneers in 1805, '06. Jabez Morse was a glazier in 1815; Jonathan Bowditch and Benjamin Davenport were then blacksmiths. Peter Lyon and Samuel W. Dix were blacksmiths at the Lower Falls under the firm name of Lyon & Dix in 1821.
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
Early in 1813 the General Court authorized the towns of Newton and Needham to jointly maintain a fire-com- pany at the Lower Falls. Needham was to furnish eight of the twenty-one enginemen, and thus became identified with Newton's oldest fire-company, which for many years has been known as Cataract Engine Company Number I. The Act of 1813 repealed one passed on June 18, 1812, which created the fire-company, and authorized the select- men of each town to appoint annually in March not more than ten enginemen, thus forming a company of twenty.
The Thomas Kingsbury house, later the home of the Bowen family, at the corner of Highland and Greendale Avenues, was built in 1821. It is said that the old barns on the Noyes and Colonel McIntosh places were both made from portions of a huge ancient barn that stood on the Robert Fuller, Jr., farm. When the Noyes barn was taken down in 1891 it had been on the same site for about seventy years. The house on Rosemary Street, which in 1906 was turned around and moved nearer the street by Mr. William Carter, and now greatly renovated stands north of the Nehoiden Block, was long conspicuous as an old tenement painted red, and the timber from which it was built was cut on Davis C. Mills's land off Greendale Avenue, not far from Great Plain Avenue. Newell Smith's house, later the home of Luther Kingsbury, was built in 1826 on Parish land. The Hagar house on South Street was built in 1827. William Bradley was a blacksmith in Needham in 1845. Artemas Newell, known as "Squire Art", had a reputation for giving good dinners at his house in Needham, and among his guests were Governor Banks, Thomas Wentworth Hig- ginson, and also the then Auditor-General of the Common- wealth and others. Squire Newell had much to do with securing the first railroad facilities for East Needham. The writer well remembers the Squire, who leaned heavily on a cane, and wore a rather brilliant dressing-gown. He died July 3, 1871, aged sixty-four years.
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
In 1860 C. H. & G. W. Dewing had a store on the Great Plain, and Frederick Marchant and Timothy N. Smith had lumber yards close to the railroad, on the west side, and opposite to each other on Great Plain Avenue. Mr. Marchant's yard was on the north side of the avenue.
On August 24, 1893, the one-act comedy entitled "My Uncle's Will" was given in the town hall for the benefit of the Needham Library Building Fund, and Miss Annie M. Clarke of the Boston Museum Company, who for more than fifteen years was a summer resident of Needham, appeared as Florence Marigold with Frank Andrews of the Grand Opera House, Boston, as Charles Cashmore. Miss Clarke is said to have also played the leading part in a drama given in Needham for the same fund, or other object of public interest.
Needham felt an earthquake at 2 A.M. on February 5, 1908, and again at 8.30 P.M. on August 15, 1909.
The church-bell, mentioned on page 204, weighs nine hundred and sixty pounds.
THE HUNNEWELL ESTATE
The Honorable John Welles had a fine estate in what is now Wellesley and in Natick, and in 1839 his son-in-law, Horatio Hollis Hunnewell, came to reside in West Needham, occupying the house formerly the home of Dr. Morrill. In 1852 the fine Hunnewell mansion was erected, and two years later the noted Italian gardens were laid out, with six terraces four hundred feet long and the upper terrace seventy feet above the level of the lake. These gardens contain over two acres, and, with the other features of this beautiful estate, are noted far and wide, and are annually visited by thousands of persons, who enjoy the generous hospitality of the owner and share with him the oppor- tunity to view the results of his taste and successful manage- ment. The azaleas and rhododendrons make a most bril- liant show in their season, and the place is attractive and
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
worthy of study at all times. The property consisted in 1881 of about four hundred acres, of which one hundred and fifty acres were in Natick and the rest in Needham. Formerly sixty-six acres, with buildings, were owned by the Misses Susan and Jane Welles, but were later acquired by Mr. Hunnewell, who also bought thirty acres of the Dr. Morton estate. Ten acres of this land he gave to the Town of Wellesley for a park, and built there the fine town hall and library building, which he also presented to the town.
The playground of twenty acres on Washington Street, and that in South Natick, are among his many presents to the people, and his kindly manners and generous deeds, without the slightest ostentation, made him beloved in the community where he lived for upward of sixty years. Prior to 1881 Mr. Hunnewell had gathered around him his chil- dren and grandchildren, and one mansion after another rose on the Hunnewell estate, until at the present time (1911) the family occupies six or eight fine residences. The letter W may still be seen upon the gates of the Welles place as one approaches the Natick line.
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hogs and Togreabes
As early as 1632 there was legislation in Massachusetts to restrain the swine, and in 1636 the office of hogreave was created. Under both charters laws were passed, and amended from time to time, relative to swine running at large. In 1719 the town chose Jonathan Smith and Andrew Wodkins "for the Regelalating of Swine & Sworn", and on March 4, 1722/3, voted that "Swine Should Run at Larg". The vote of 1722/3, with slightly varying language, was annually repeated until 1768, when the majority was on the other side, but the vote was reconsidered at an adjourned meeting. In 1769 the sentiment was again unfavorable to the liberties of the swine, and from that time on, with the exception of 1770-5, it was rarely in their favor for two con- secutive years, although in 1790 the hogs were to be free a portion of the year. This was about the last of the votes that did not enjoin constant restraint.1
It is said that the pigs in early times wandered long dis- tances, remaining in the woods for months and rearing their families there. The General Court had enacted in February, 1713/14, that swine were to be restrained, and a fine of twenty shillings was imposed upon a man who
1 In 1781 the vote was "Swine to Run at Large this year Being well yoked and Ringed"; the next year there was a contest as to whether they would "Shut up their Hogs" from March 25 to May I, and from September I to October 31, but the votes which were once passed were later reconsidered. There was an annual controversy about the swine for many years, and as a nuisance and detriment to the town, because of the way in which they were kept, they have been a live issue to the close of the nineteenth century, and may be in the twentieth. In 1884 the citizens had much difficulty in getting rid of a piggery, containing several hundred animals, which a non-resident had located on Marked Tree Road, and but a short distance from the modern centre of the town.
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refused to serve as a hogreave, but in 1747 it was provided that the same person should not be chosen to that office oftener than once in four years.
POUNDS AND STOCKS
On May II, 1713, Josiah Newell and Josiah Haws were chosen by the town to make a pound, and in December the former was granted £2, 10s., 2d. "for defraying the Charg of Sitting up a pound for this Town". In September, 1721, it was voted to build a pound and stocks, and the next May to rebuild the pound on land given by Josiah Haws. Mr. Haws lived on the hill north of where Edward Granville Fuller's house is, and it is not unlikely that the land he gave was identical with the site of the modern pound, which was at the entrance to the driveway of the late Michael W. Quinlan on Great Plain Avenue. Mr. Haws was to build the pound for £2, 5s. "upon the Land of Sª Haws which Land he Gives free for the ufe of the Town as Long as Sd pound" shall exist. He rebuilt it in 1733, and for more than twenty years had charge of it, and made the necessary repairs at the ex- pense of the town. In 1733 the town voted to build a pound near the house of Peter Edes, in the West, but reconsidered the vote a few days later. At the March meeting in 1744/5 fio were appropriated to build a pound, and a year later Robert Ware and Josiah Newell, Jr., had performed the work, and another fio were required to pay for it. From 1761 to 1764 Amos Fuller, Jr., made repairs on the pound, and in 1767 Capt. Ephraim Jackson was granted £9, 8s. "for his Building a Stone pound and Finding Meterials their for"; this stone pound appears to have resulted from a vote of May 22, 1766, which was to build a pound "Near Cap" Jackfon's or Lit Mackintafh's: where it Shall be thought moft proper". The selectmen were the building committee. On March 14, 1763, the town refused to abate forty shillings "of the note that was Given by Mefrs Lokers of Sudbery to Capa Eleazer Kingsbery Town Treafurer as
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
a Fine For their Breaking open Needham Pound", or to pay Ephraim and Moses Bullard two "Dollors" "for their Detecting Mefrø Lokers in the act of Pound Breach". In 18II Lieut. Fisher Mills repaired the pound to the extent of $22.25. In 1847 the town directed the selectmen to sell the old pound if they could get $20 for it, and to build a new one on the town farm. It does not appear what action was taken under this vote, but in 1855 the selectmen were authorized to build a pound at the town farm, and it con- tinued in use until the division of the town in 1881, since which time the pound has been nominally at the stable of the pound-keeper.
The law of 1648 awarded death by hanging to the dog that killed a sheep. In March, 1721, the town "a greed by a vote that no Ram Should go at Larg in the Common from the first day of august untill ye last day of October under penalty of 3 shilling or the Ram that Shall be taken up by any owner of Sheep in this town". Eleven years later a similar vote was passed increasing the time of restraint about a week. On March 13, 1738/9, John Fisher, Esq., James Smith and Aaron Smith were chosen a committee "to draw up Sumthing to bring to the Town Refpecting Rams Running att Large", and on May 16 the town passed the following vote: - "Whereas the Inhabitants of the town of Needham Labour under Dificultys with Respect to Rams going at Large which have been a great damage by reafon of the Sheeps Lambing in Winter Seafon It is There- fore Ordered. That from & after the Laft Day of July next until the first day of November yearly for such term of time as they Shall think Convenient no rams Shall be Suffered to go at Large in Said town under the Penalty of twenty Shillings to be paid by the Owner of Such Ram one Moiety to ye finder and the other Moiety to the poor of said town & every ram so found Running at Large to be posted up in Some Publick Place in Sa town with the Colour & Marks both natural & artificial & if noo owner appear
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
within the Space of Six days then the Sd ram to belong to ye finder of Sd ram he paying ye one half of ye Value of Sa ram to the Select men & overfeers of the Poor. The fore- going Order or by Law having been read three Several times voted that ye Same be accepted & that John Fisher Esq! & Aaron Smith be & hereby are desired to prefent to ye Court of Gen: Sefsions of ye Peace next to be holden at Boston for their Appropriation". On May 14, 1789, a lengthy and elaborate vote restraining rams from going at large between the twentieth of August and the tenth of November "having had Three Several Readings in Town meeting legally afsembled past to be anacted by a Vote in the Affirmative". The town records contain under date of October 16, 1752, a description of two steers "Taken up Damage Fesant by Nathaniel Fisher of Needham", and the appraisal of these steers was recorded as taking place on the 28th. In the back part of Vol. IV. of our town records will be found a number of similar transactions more elabo- rately recorded. At the May meeting in 1779 the town voted "that their Cattel Should feed on the Roads and Commons in the Town". In 1801 James Smith petitioned the town to enforce the law of 1800, which authorized towns to restrain "Neat Cattle and horfes and horse kind" from going at large "without a Keeper", and the town voted to restrain said animals from May I to October "laft", and a sim- ilar vote was passed annually for fifty years, with rare excep- tions. The length of the period of restraint, however, varied, but later included the entire year. The first inspector of Cattle and Provisions in Needham was Samuel O. Fowle, M .D .V., who was appointed in 1893, and served for many years at a salary of $100, which has recently been increased to $300.
POUND-KEEPERS
The following list is incomplete as to the early pound- keepers, but the best that the records afford: -
Joseph Haws, 1714 (May 12), '16-18, four years, probably
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
served for many years, Jeremiah Woodcock, Jr., appointed by the selectmen on May 19, 1746, Amos Fuller, Jr., appointed on May 12, 1766, "To be Pound Keeper For the year Enfuing", Major Ebenezer MeIntosh, 1804-10, '13-17 (twelve years), Lemuel Fairbanks, 1811, Lemuel Pratt, 1812, '13, '18, '19, '30, '32, Capt. Curtis MeIntosh, 1820-5, 31 (seven years), Ebenezer Whiting McIntosh, 1833-7, 44, '45 (seven years), Jabez Smith, 1838, '40-3, '46 (six years), Bill Burrill, 1847, William F. Welch, 1848, James Smith, 1849, Charles McIntosh, 1850-2 (three years), Ezekiel Peabody, 1853-8, '75-81 (thirteen years), Dexter Kingsbury, 1859-66 (eight years), Benjamin Joy, 1868- 71 (four years), perhaps also served a part of 1872, Edward L. Ward, 1872, Everett Johnson Eaton, 1882, '83, '88-90 (five years), Robert Edwin Ames, 1884-7 (four years), Charles Hiram Dewing, 1891-5 (five years), Alger Emerson Eaton, 1896- .
There seems to be no record of the election, or appoint- ment, of a pound-keeper in 1857, in 1867, in 1873 or in 1874. At the March meeting in 1857 the appointments of high- way surveyors, field drivers, surveyors of wood, sealers of leather, sealers of bread and surveyors of lumber were referred to the selectmen, but their selections were ratified by the town on April 2. These officers were again elected in 1859, but the pound-keeper, sealer of weights and meas- ures and the firewards have been appointed by the select- men for more than thirty years. The selectmen have also prepared the lists of other minor town officers when the town did not exercise that power.
FIELD DRIVERS
The field drivers have had only nominal duties in modern times, and never were important. In Needham the number was originally two, but was soon increased to four, and then reduced to three. There were rarely, if ever, more than five until 1814, when eight were chosen; in 1818 there were
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
eleven, in 1828 twelve, and the number has since varied. In 1880 there were five, in 1898 eight, in 1904 four, and in 19II three. It does not appear to what extent the law as to cattle and swine going at large was enforced a century ago, but in later times it has not always been observed. In the years from 1831 to 1853, inclusive, the fence viewers and the field drivers were combined into one list which numbered from six to thirteen individuals, varying at different dates.
FENCE VIEWERS
A law of December, 1693, required each town to elect two or more fence viewers, and as early as 1653 the select- men had duties as fence viewers. In 1712 there were two fence viewers chosen by the Town of Needham, in 1812 three, in 1854 six, and since 1867 the selectmen have been the fence viewers. The duties of the fence viewers involve considerable formality, and their findings have been recorded at the end of different volumes of the town records.
There are no conspicuous instances of long service among them. For the names of the field drivers and fence viewers from 1712 to 1776 see the lists of minor town officers later in this book.
Early in 1772 Samuel Wight was granted 7s., 2d., 2f. for "Irons for the Stocks in Needham", and Lieut. Jonathan Day ten shillings for "Making & Setting Up the Stocks".
WILD ANIMALS AND BOUNTIES
Wolves were numerous in Dedham in its early days, but scarce after 1700, although not unknown in West Dedham much later. In 1705 Benjamin Colburn received ten shil- lings for killing a wolf, and the bounty was not abolished till 1716. On September 7, 1730, Josiah Kingsbery, the treasurer of Needham, had paid £6 for wild cats killed "and fent to the Province Treafurer", and in the winter of 1731/2 the assessors made a rate "to Defray the Nefsefsary
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
Charges of this Town for this prefent year (With Refpect to the paying for Killing Wild Catts to gether with Other Charges of the Town".
On April 4, 1791, the town voted a "Bounty of one Shil- ling for each Crow that may be killed within the limits of of Said Town by any of the Inhabitants of said town". Later the usual bounty was ten cents, but from 1814 to 1816 it was twenty-five cents, although subsequently again ten cents, and in 1805 and 1818 there was no bounty paid by the town for crows. The season was from May I to July I, and in 1816 the claims for crow bounties were to be brought in within sixty days. The later year seventy-eight crows appear to have thus lost their lives, and in 1827 one hundred and four crows were paid for at twenty cents each. It is said that there was fraud in connection with these claims.
In 1868 the selectmen were requested by the town to instruct the constables "to prevent gunning on the Sabbath".
DEER AND DEERREAVES
In 1693/4 there was legislation in Massachusetts to pro- tect the deer, and in 1739 a law was enacted requiring each town to choose two deerreaves; "Dearreaves" our town clerks called them, and the deer were supposed to be pro- tected from January I to July I. On November 23, 1739, Jonathan Smith and John Goodanow "were Chofen to take care of the Deer as the Law Directs", and were duly sworn. Josiah Ware was deerreave for thirty-five years between 1743 and 1788, and some years had no colleague, notwithstanding the statute. The last deerreaves in Need- ham were Charles Deming and Lieut. Nathan Dewing who were chosen for 1798. All laws for the "preservation and increase" of moose and deer were repealed on February 27, 1797, with the exception that the laws continued in force on certain islands. For many years no deer were seen in Needham, but in the first decade of the twentieth century they became not infrequent visitors in different
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sections of the town. In July, 1910, a buck was seen feeding in the writer's mowing land, and later the same day a doe appeared. In 1909 several had been reported, but usually only one was seen at a time.
For the names of the deerreaves from 1739 to 1776, in- clusive, see the lists of minor town officers.
DOGS
By a law of 1798 owners of dogs were required to certify the number of their dogs to the assessors on or before April I, and after 1798 on or before May I, and each dog was to be taxed $1, and to wear a collar with the name of the owner of the dog on it. If not certified the tax was $2, and no tax exemptions applied. The assessors were to cause unlicensed dogs to be killed, and might pay as high as $2 for killing one dog, and draw on the town treasurer for the amount paid. Owners were liable for dog damages. Pay- ing this dog tax was to give no "habitancy". The law did not apply to the District of Maine. This law was the fore- runner of others, and in 1865 the tax on male dogs was made $2.
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