USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > History of Newton, Massachusetts : town and city, from its earliest settlement to the present time, 1630-1880 > Part 65
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In accordance with arrangements made by the Joint Special Committee of the City Council and the Trustees of the Newton Free Library, the formal transfer of the Library, with its building and other property, real and personal, from the care of its Board of Trustees to that of the City Government was made on the even- ing of March 16, 1876. There were present his Honor, Mayor · Speare, and members of the Board of Aldermen, Common Coun- cil and School Committee, with officers of the City Government, clergymen of the city, and others, interested in the business which had called them together.
Hon. J. Wiley Edmands, President of the Board of Trustees, occupied the chair ; and, upon his invitation, the services of the occasion were introduced with prayer by Rev. S. M. Freeland.
The title-deeds of the property, and the keys of the building, were then tendered to the city, through its chief magistrate, by Mr. Edmands, the most liberal donor to the funds of the Library, -who made the transfer in an appropriate address.
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Mr. Edmands in presenting the keys and title-deeds of the prop- erty to the Mayor, as the representative of the city, said,-
Its books have not been gathered at hap-hazard, to give fictitious impor- tance to its catalogue by the numbers on its shelves, but have all been selected with much care and discrimination, making up an assortment of miscellaneous works, equal, to say the least, in point of merit and profitable reading, to the average collections of our public libraries.
Early in the history of the Library, the enterprise lost the character of an experiment. Its ready appreciation by the community gave evidence that it had not been started too soon. It found friends to come to its support, when money was needed to continue it; and its steady growth has confirmed the most sanguine hopes and expectations of those who joined in establishing it. They well knew, that, however fortunate they might be in pecuniary re- sources, the degree of popular favor which the Library should secure would constitute the measure of its usefulness. There has been no disappointment in this respect; and the rapid growth and present prosperous condition of the Library is due to its appreciation by the public.
During the past four years (those of its full operation), the number of books has increased over thirty per cent., and the circulation, forty-one per cent .- the number on the shelves at this time being 11,289.
Since the close of the official year, September 30, when the Annual Re- port of the Managers was published, its progress has been greater than at any former period. The circulation of the five months ending the first day of the present month is 32,298 volumes, being an excess of 11,862 over the same months of last year. This increase illustrates the growing disposition of the community to avail themselves of the advantages of the Library, and is significant of what will, before long, be required, in enlarged accommoda- tions, to meet the wants of our rapidly increasing population.
A fitting response was made by the Mayor, Hon. Alden Speare. The following extracts from his address present important and in- teresting statistics :
The city of Newton gratefully accepts this most princely gift, which it has ever been the good fortune of any city in the Commonwealth to receive.
We accept, not only this beautiful and substantial building,-fitly repre- senting the lasting remembrance in which you and your associates will be held by the citizens of Newton in all coming time,- but also, the results of ten years of earnest thought and honest labor. All this you have freely given, asking, expecting, and receiving no other reward than a conscious- ness that you have tried to use properly thie talents God has given you, whether those talents have been the money you have contributed, or days and nights devoted to the advancement of the interests of the Library.
Newton accepts this, another, its last, its best school-house,- a school- house which shall furnish opportunities for culture to all its inhabitants, from the pupil in our primary schools to the graduate of the highest university of this or any land.
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If our children are properly instructed at home and in our public schools, the desire is aroused for a wider range of knowledge and breadth of culture, which libraries alone can supply.
There are over eleven thousand carefully selected volumes in this Library, about one-third as many as there are in the circulating department of the Boston Free Library, exclusive of its branches, and three times as many, in proportion to the number of inhabitants to be accommodated. You also have attained an average weekly circulation of over eleven hundred volumes ; . and, through agencies established in the various wards, the books are easily accessible to all our citizens.
The Mayor afterwards, in the following words, introduced the Hon. J. F. C. Hyde, the first Mayor of Newton, as follows :
We are favored with the presence of the gentleman who first had the lionor of suggesting that which we to-night have had the pleasure of consummating. I need not introduce to you, but I have the honor of presenting to you, the Hon. James F. C. Hyde.
Mr. Hyde said,-
It gives me pleasure to be present to-night to witness the consummation of a thing so desirable as the formal transfer of this Library to the city. I had the honor to suggest, in my address last year, that such an arrangement would be a wise and proper thing, and expressed the hope that measures might be taken to place this Library in the charge and under the direction of the city.
Before the year closed, some action was taken in this direction. The Mayor, my successor, approving the measure, seconded the suggestion pre- viously made; and, soon after the inauguration of the new government, appli- cation was made to the General Court, and the necessary authority obtained ; and we are here to-night to witness the formal and legal transfer of all the property of the Newton Free Library, as a free gift, to the city of Newton, subject only to such proper provisions as the nature of the gift demands. Henceforth, these doors are to swing open widely and freely to all,-as well to him who pays but two dollars tax, as to him who pays two thousand. Here rich and poor, young and old, all, from every part of the city, may come and enjoy the advantage of the thousands of volumes that fill these shelves. In the long roll of years yet uncounted, who can tell what blessings mnay come to this and succeeding generations from a wise and proper use of these books? No city or town, so far as I now remember, has ever received such a princely gift. Some cities have had a sum pledged, if the city would raise an equal amount; but here, all is freely given. A large, convenient, and most sub- stantial building, well adapted to the uses for which it was designed, with more than eleven thousand volumes, selected with the greatest care by those who inaugurated this noble enterprise, are now to be transferred to the city as a free gift.
·
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J. S. Farlow, Esq., said,-
I shall never forget, and I do not think any of those who were present will ever forget, the meetings held in the early days of this enterprise. The doubts and misgivings felt, more or less, by all, as to their ability to raise a sum sufficiently large to procure what every one present at those meetings admitted to be a necessity of the town; viz., a good library building, library, and reading-room, that should be free to the whole town; and whether, if such were established, could or would their use and benefits be availed of and appre- ciated by the whole town, composed, as it was, of so many scattered villages. Fortunately for us, sir, these doubts and fears, and many others that arose from time to time, were dispelled and overcome. A favorable opportunity offered to obtain this eligible site ; and a few brave spirits at once subscribed the means and secured it.
Matters rested thus for a while, until the offer of a munificent conditional donation was made by our friend here on my right [Mr. Edmands]. This gave renewed vitality to the project. The offer was gratefully accepted, and promptly responded to, by contributions more than sufficient to fulfil the con- ditions of our friend's gift, and to an amount large enough to cover the esti- mated cost of the building and library. Before the building was completely finished, however, it was found that in this, as is very often the case with other undertakings, the actual had exceeded the estimated cost; and those engaged in it learned, very much to their disappointment, that they were likely to have a completed building without complete means for meeting its cost. This was somewhat embarrassing, to be sure. But in no wise discour- aged, and acting upon the idea
" That those would now give Who had not given before, And those who had always given Would give the more,"
they started a new subscription, and succeeded in obtaining the needed funds. The building proceeded on to completion; the library and reading-room were supplied with the requisite books, periodicals and newspapers ; the corpora- tion was duly organized under legislative charter; by-laws, rules, and regu- lations were enacted ; and the library and reading-room thrown open free to the whole town.
Here, then, was an apparent fruition of the hopes of those who initiated and carried through the enterprise ; not really so, however, in the opinion of the Managers. They realized that the work could not be considered com- plete, until suitable provision had been made for its maintenance and improve- ment, for a term long enough to demonstrate the correctness of their early decision, that a free library was a necessity of the town. The longest term of service for which any of the Managers were elected was five years. For such a period, at least, the Managers felt it incumbent on them to provide at once the necessary funds. The field of contribution had, it was thought, been pretty well reaped on the first application, and, to all appearance, been closely gleaned on the second. What hope could there be in attempting a
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third? Discussions in repeated meetings of the Managers afforded no solu- tion of the difficulty. Reports of sub-committees, appointed to consider and devise, if possible, some course likely to prove successful, failed to present any. Matters seemed far from encouraging. But at one of the meetings, the President drew from his pocket a letter, which, he said, had been ad- dressed to him by a secret, anonymous friend of the Library. The letter contained a gift of four thousand dollars to the Library. The turning-point was reached. The reading of the letter electrified all present; liberal sub- scriptions followed, and in a few days the whole amount required was ob- tained. It was some time before even the Managers knew who this secret friend was; and, to this day, few in Newton know to whom they are indebted for this timely gift. We owe a great deal to all who, by their labors and con- tributions, have aided in achieving this work; but to three men, pre-emi- nently, belong the honor and credit of its accomplishment. The first is the Hon. J. Wiley Edmands, whose munificent donation gave vitality to the work at the outset, and whose continuous labors have so materially aided us throughout. The second is George II. Jones, Esq., whose unremitting zeal, clear judgment, and unswerving fidelity did so much to make success sure. The third on this roll of honor, is the anonymous friend of whom I have spoken, John C. Chaffin, Esq. A liberal open donor before, his secret gift at a critical time clinched the nail of success so well driven by the others.
The work is completed. Let it speak for itself. The Managers now present this Newton Free Library to you in the very flood tide of its prosperity. They ask of you and your associates of the City Council, and of your succes- sors in office, the generous support such an institution deserves.
In the address of George H. Jones, Esq., a copy of which was furnished to the city authorities, though he was unable to be pres- ent at the public proceedings, we find this additional information :
The citizens of Newton have ever recognized that public benefits require public benevolence, and that the giving must precede the enjoyment of the benefit. This was eminently true in the case of our Library. Once and again large sums were called for, and in both instances more was given than asked; and while, in most cases of the kind, many subscriptions fail of col- lection, we only lost on collections one hundred and ten dollars on about sixty-five thousand. This amount was given by about three hundred per- sons, in sums from five dollars to sixteen thousand; and who shall say that many of the small subscriptions were not as costly as the larger ones, to the donors?
In allusion to the Hon. J. Wiley Edmands, who made the ad- dress transferring the Library to the city, Mr. Jones remarked that his name [Mr. Edmands'], but for his choice, would have been given to the Library.
The Library, having, by these proceedings, become the property of the city and one of its permanent institutions, a code of by-
My B. Fowler
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laws was adopted, providing, besides other regulations, that a Board of Trustees should have charge of all the affairs of the Li- brary and its branches. This Board was to consist of seven mem- bers, to be elected by the City Council,- one each from the Board of Aldermen and the Common Council, " to serve for their elected terms of office," and five members chosen at large, to serve from one to five years. The first Board of Trustees was elected as follows :
From the Board of Aldermen. WILLIAM W. KEITH, EsQ.
From the Common Council. WILLIAM I. GOODRICH.
At Large.
HON. J. WILEY EDMANDS (for five years).
JOHN S. FARLOW, EsQ. (for four years).
REV. BRADFORD K. PIERCE, D. D. (for three years).
HON. JULIUS L. CLARKE (for two years).
HON. JAMES F. C. HYDE (for one year).
At their first meeting, the Board of Trustees duly organized as follows :
J. WILEY EDMANDS, President. FREDERICK JACKSON, Secretary.
The President, ex officio, and Messrs. FARLOW, PIERCE and CLARKE, Committee on Library.
The President, ex officio, and Messrs. HYDE, KEITH and GOODRICH, Com- mittee on Building.
The Board also elected Frederick Jackson, Superintendent ; Hannah James, Librarian; and Caroline B. Jackson, Assistant Librarian.
A pamphlet of forty-four pages, octavo, was printed by authority of the City Council, containing a complete account of the Pro- ceedings and Addresses on this interesting occasion.
The public library in 1877, received a valuable gift from William B. Fowle, Esq., consisting of a large folio volume of Photographic Views of the principal cathedrals and other religious establishments in France. There are nearly eighty of these pictures in all, meas- uring fourteen by seventeen inches, in the most substantial bind- ing. There are also in this collection beautiful views of the chateaux, and also of the ruins of the Roman amphitheatre, at
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Nismes, and other interesting ruins. The exceeding clearness of these photographs brings out in great distinctness the wonderful and curious carvings on the old cathedrals. The size of the views enables one to scrutinize closely every detail of carving. This is undoubtedly one of the most valuable gifts, in this form, the Library has yet received. A large engraved view of the United States Senate, showing Henry Clay, James Buchanan, Daniel Webster, and many others, mostly unknown to this generation, but undoubt- edly famous thirty years ago, accompanied this gift.
Mrs. Lydia M. Jewett, of Newton, also gave for the use of the Library a beautiful copy of " The Transfiguration," from the Vati- can, in Rome, and in her will bequeathed to the Library five thousand dollars.
NEWTON CENTRE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION.
The Newton Centre Library Association was organized in 1859, by various individuals in Newton Centre. It was a joint stock . company, the value of the shares being ten dollars each. Annual and other subscriptions were also permitted. The number of vol- umes in the Library, in 1872, was 1,450. Funds for the purchase of new books were not furnished to a sufficient amount to meet the demands of the public and to maintain the interest of the subscri- bers, and at length, for a considerable time, few books were taken out by readers. The collection of books contained many valuable publications, and in June, 1873, by vote of the Proprietors, they were donated to the Newton Free Library.
NEWTON LOWER FALLS FREE LIBRARY.
The Newton Lower Falls Free Library was established January 1, 1869, for the free use of all persons residing at the Lower Falls and in the vicinity. The Library was commenced and supported by voluntary contributions. The gift of one dollar, or one accepted volume, entitled any donor to membership in the Library Associa- tion. The catalogue, in 1871, contained the titles of 1,365 volumes.
NORTH VILLAGE FREE LIBRARY.
The North Village Free Library, in 1871, reported a collection of four hundred volumes.
CHAPTER L.
NEWTON .- ELIOT CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. - METHODIST CHURCH. CHANNING CHURCH .- BAPTIST CHURCH .- GRACE CHURCH .- CHURCH OF OUR LADY HELP OF CHRISTIANS .- NEWTON AND WATERTOWN UNIVERSALIST SOCIETY.
IN previous chapters, many items have been presented relating to the northeasterly part of Newton, near which many of the early settlers found their home, the Jacksons, Parks, Hydes, Fullers, and others, and which has borne successively the names of Angier's Corner, Newton Corner and Newton. As this was the beginning of the town, so here commenced that wonderful growth of later times, which has rendered this section one of the most populous, wealthy and beautiful parts of the Garden City. The entire change has been the fruit of the last forty years. In the year 1842, in all this territory there was little or nothing to win the notice of a stranger, or to invite attention to the place as holding out prom- ise of an attractive home. The railroad station, at that date, was one-half of a small wooden building, of a single story, the other half being occupied as a harness-maker's shop ; and twelve or fif- teen passengers, waiting for trains on the Boston and Worcester railroad, would have filled it to repletion. A store or two, a black- smith's shop, and four or five dwellings within sight from the sta- tion, were all that the village could boast. How striking the con- trast to him who walks or rides at the present day through the beautiful streets, and surveys the elegant avenues, the delightful homes, the charming gardens, the spacious school-houses, the five churches, mostly wealthy and benevolent, and supporting their regular pastors, the blocks of sumptuous stores, the convenient halls, the ample railroad station, the tasteful bank, the costly public library, and the air of business, thrift and enterprise, which prevails everywhere ! The few farmers, plodding about their sober
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HISTORY OF NEWTON.
toil, have been replaced by rich and prosperous merchants and professional men, and by industrious and successful artisans ; and the ancient farm-houses, scattered at distant intervals in the valley or along the hill-sides, by luxurious dwellings, adorned with art- treasures from all lands. The only arteries of travel, a generation since, were the road from Watertown to Dedham, from north to south, and the road from West Newton to Roxbury, from west to east, intersecting, as now, near the Nonantum house ; and still, for many a year, not a street lamp dispelled the darkness in which the casual traveller was enveloped by night. More than two centuries elapsed, from the earliest settlement, before the sagacity of mod- ern enterprise discovered these fair domains ; and it is within the memory of the present generation that speculation had scarcely forced the price of land fronting on the main avenue between New- ton and Newton Centre up to the rate of one thousand dollars per acre.
The convenience of access by railroad and the proximity of the city of Boston, rendering it possible for men of business to retire at evening to a peaceful suburban home and to return to their labor in the morning, were the first elements of the growth of New- ton. And one of the first fruits, as well as demands of the rising village, was the erection of a church. True to the principles of her origin, Newton began this new gathering around the old nucleus of two hundred years before, by inviting this later generation, like the earliest, to cluster together around the house of God.
ELIOT CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, NEWTON.
As early as the spring of 1845, many of the new residents of Newton began to find it too serious a tax to attend religious ser- vices at a distance of two miles or more from their homes, and many were so situated that they were wholly destitute of religious privileges. Under these circumstances, several leading members of the First church, in conjunction with others, proposed to form a new organization. Deacon William Jackson and family, descend- ants of the founders of the First church in Newton, a hundred and eighty-one years before, were among the most efficient pro- moters of the Second. The names of the thirty-seven members uniting in the formation of this new church were as follows,- thirty-one being from the First church in Newton :
ELIOT CHURCH, NEWTON.
ELIOT CHURCH.
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Joseph Bacon, Beulah Bacon,
Caroline B. Jackson,
Joseph N. Bacon,
Sarah A. W. Bacon,
Joshua Jennison,
Rev. James M. Bacon,
Charles Jewett, Lucy A. Jewett,
Julia Bridges, Andrew B. Cobb, Lydia M. Cobb, Esther Cook, Hannah W. Fuller,
Beulah C. Pulsifer,
Mary B. Randall,
Sylvia A. Russell,
Joseph W. Goddard,
Abigail Spear, Eliza C. Stevens,
Mary Goddard,
Anna Trowbridge,
Louisa J. Hall,
James N. Trowbridge,
Eliza Hodgden,
Harriet W. Trowbridge,
Europe Houghton,
Otis Trowbridge,
Adeline Houghton, William Jackson,
Elizabeth F. Trowbridge,
Mary Jackson,
William W. Trowbridge, Mary Whitmore.
Lucretia Jackson,
In the words of the pastor of the First church, "The measure was eminently wise, and useful to both parties. In a meeting of the church for free conversation on the subject, there was differ- ence of opinion ; but the free and fraternal manner in which the case was managed was such that, notwithstanding the separation, the cordial fellowship of the parties remained unimpaired."
The corner-stone of the church edifice was laid March 19, 1845, with religious services, in which the Rev. John R. Adams, of Brighton, Rev. John Whitney, of Waltham, Rev. Lyman Gilbert, of West Newton, Rev. William Bushnell, of Newton Centre, and Rev. J. C. Lovejoy, of Cambridgeport, participated.
The meeting-house was dedicated, and the church recognized at the same time, by an Ecclesiastical Council, July 1, 1845. Conse- crating Prayer, by Rev. C. Marsh ; Fellowship of the churches by Rev. William Bushnell ; Dedication Sermon by Rev. E. N. Kirk ; Prayer of Dedication by Rev. J. C. Lovejoy.
On the 4th of November, 1845, Mr. William S. Leavitt was in- vited to become pastor, and, having accepted the invitation, he was ordained December 3, 1845. The Invocation and reading the Scriptures was by the Rev. E. N. Kirk ; prayer by Rev. W. Bush- nell ; sermon by Rev. Edward Beecher ; prayer of ordination by Rev. S. Aiken ; charge to the pastor by Rev. Jacob Ide ; right hand of fellowship by Rev. L. Gilbert ; address to the people by
Mary B. Jackson, Ellen B. Jackson,
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HISTORY OF NEWTON.
Rev. G. W. Blagden ; concluding prayer by Rev. Joshua Leavitt, . the father of the pastor.
In the spring of 1849, the house of worship, being found insuffi- cient to accommodate the rapidly increasing congregation, was en- larged by the addition of twenty-eight pews, making the whole number of pews ninety-two. The building, after this improve -. ment, was re-opened for public worship May 13, 1849.
Mr. Leavitt remained pastor of the church till November 8, 1853, when he was dismissed, after a ministry of nearly eight years.
After this, the church remained without a pastor until October 25, 1854, when the Rev. Lyman Cutler, formerly of Pepperell, was installed pastor. On account of failing health, he was able to preach only once a day for eight successive Sabbaths. He then asked for a suspension of his labors for three months, which was. granted ; but he continued to decline, and died April 28, 1855, just six months after his installation. Mr. Cutler was born in Massachusetts, graduated at Dartmouth College 1847, and Ando- ver Theological Seminary 1850. He was ordained January 22, 1851, and served as pastor at Pepperell, Mass., two years. From this place he removed to Newton, where he finished his short min- istry, and died at the early age of twenty-eight, greatly lamented. He was buried in the old cemetery of Newton on Centre Street.
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