USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > History of Newton, Massachusetts : town and city, from its earliest settlement to the present time, 1630-1880 > Part 74
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Newton Theological Institution,
$60,000
Colby University, Waterville, Me., 120,000
Brown University, Providence, R. I.,
50,000
Massachusetts Baptist Charitable Society, 10,000
Baldwin Place Home for Little Wanderers, 10,000
American Baptist Missionary Union, 39,000
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HISTORY OF NEWTON.
Women's Baptist Missionary Society,
$ 1,000
American Baptist Home Missionary Society, 50,000
Northern Baptist Education Society, 10,000
Massachusetts Baptist State Convention,
10,000
Home for Aged Men, Boston,
10,000
Home for Aged Women, Boston,
10,000
Home for Aged Colored Women,
5,000
Children's Friend Society,
5,000
Young Women's Christian Association,
5,000
Boston Baptist Bethel,
1,000
Massachusetts Homeopathic Hospital,
5,000
American Baptist Publication Society,
5,000
Worcester Academy, Worcester, Mass.,
5,000
Towards a new Baptist church edifice at Newton Centre, under certain conditions,
25,000
To a society to be incorporated for the relief of aged and
indigent Baptist ministers and male missionaries, under certain conditions,
25,000
To most of the above institutions Mr. Colby contributed largely during his lifetime. His real and personal estate was estimated at a million and a half. Mr. Colby removed to Newton in 1846, and was known for more than thirty years as one of its most liberal and public spirited citizens.
MARY DAVIS OR DAVIE .- This woman deserves a place among these biographical sketches, as having attained the greatest age of any person on record among the people of Newton. There is a statement in Bradford's History of Wiscasset, Me., that " George Davie purchased a tract of land at Wissacassett, of the Sheepscot Sagamores, in 1663, and settled there. He lived on an eminence, about half a mile north of the point, and about fifty rods from the river. A brother and two others lived there at the same period. After Philip's war, the Indians became disaffected and hostile, and the settle- ment was broken up in 1680. The widow of one of the Davies died in New- ton in 1752, aged 116." This is Goody Davis. She lived in the south part of Newton (Oak Hill), and cultivated her ground with her own hand till extreme old age, using both scythe and hoe with considerable vigor and suc- cess. The hole, which had been the cellar of her house, was to be seen a hundred years after her death. Dr. Homer says,-" She sustained a good character, and retained her faculties, bodily and mental, to a very consider- able degree, until within about two years of her death. She was supported in her declining years at the expense of the town, with peculiar cheerfulness. She lived through half the reign of Charles the First, through the Protecto- rate of Oliver Cromwell, the reigns of Charles Second, James Second, Wil- liam and Mary, Queen Anne, George First, and died in the old age of George Second." About two years before her death, a likeness of Mrs. Davis was drawn by a portrait painter. This portrait is now in the Library of the Massachusetts Historical Society, presented by Dr. Bentley, of Salem, with the indorsement,-" Portrait of Mrs. Davis, aged 117 years." In the words
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HON. J. WILEY EDMANDS.
of Dr. Homer,-" This picture is a venerable curiosity. Time has touched the colors with a clay-like, dingy tinge. From her great age, the face is wrinkled and rugged. The features are strongly delineated, the eyes blue and smiling, the lips full and rosy, the forehead honest and open, and a white cap surrounds the head, face and chin, which gives a death-like look to the picture ; as though it had been taken from some living being, who had already entered the valley of the shadow of death; yet the expression is benevolent. But if the original was ever handsome, this is a sad memorial of withered beauty."
Mr. Seth Davis states her age at 117 years and 115 days ; and adds, "She buried three husbands, had nine children, and, at her death, left forty-five grandchildren, two hundred great-grandchildren, and eight hundred great- great-grandchildren." If this be true, the statement of Dr. Homer, that "she was supported by the town in her declining years," seems hardly credi- ble. A slip of paper pasted on the back of the picture states also the above facts, and adds that at the age of 104 she could do a good day's work at shelling corn, and at 110, she sat at her spinning-wheel. The portrait was painted by Smibert, by request of Governor Belcher.
JOHN WILEY EDMANDS was born in Boston in the year 1810. He was the son of Thomas Edmands, Esq., meniber of the old book-selling firm of Lin- coln and Edmands, of Boston. His father spent the evening of his days in Newton. The subject of this sketch entered the English High School in Boston at its establishment in 1821, and graduated with the honor of a Franklin medal in 1823. Valuable reminiscences of his school years are imbodied in an address which he made before the assembled graduates, on the occasion of the observance of the half-century anniversary of its establish- ment. After graduating at the High School, he entered the store of Amos and Abbott Lawrence, became a member of the firm in 1830, and soon after- wards its acting manager. In 1843, he retired from the firm, whose multifa- rious business he had conducted with marked sagacity and success, and sought rest in travel and leisure, though his services were sought far and wide ; and it is not extravagant to say that there was not a large railroad or manufacturing corporation in New England, the treasuryship of which he could not have had by signifying his willingness to accept. He was after- wards interested in the Maverick Woollen Mills at Dedham, and at one time contemplated the establishment of a mill of a similar character at Newton Lower Falls, but this plan was abandoned.
When the Pacific Mills Company at Lawrence was chartered, Mr. Edmands, at the earnest solicitation of Mr. Abbott Lawrence, became connected with the management, and was elected treasurer in 1864, which position he held till his death. It was in this position that Mr. Edmands most clearly exhibited his wonderful financial ability. Through the financial crisis of 1857, he stood firm, while others yielded to the pressure, and in the face of what was thought utter disaster, Mr. Edmands foresaw the reaction of the future, and expended a large sum in making the Pacific Mills the largest individual manufacturing establishment in the world, and bringing its stock up from the lowest to the highest figure ever attained by any stock company in the United States. This
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HISTORY OF NEWTON.
Corporation was one of the most extensive and successful manufacturing establishments of the world, employing over five thousand persons, its manu- factures finding a ready market throughout the United States and many for- eign countries. Through his wise management and of those associated with him, it continued, in the midst of general financial disaster, to be remunera- tive to its stockholders. He continued at his post, as the financial head of this great business establishment, until the last.
Mr. Edmands had wide business relations, and was connected with many financial institutions. He was a director in the Arkwright Mutual Fire In- surance Company, of the Massachusetts Hospital Life Insurance Company and of the Suffolk Bank, and was Vice-President of the Provident Institu- tion for Savings. He was for some time director of the Ogdensburg Rail- road, and had been the treasurer. He was, also, treasurer of the Eye and Ear Infirmary, took a deep interest in the welfare of his country, and, through- out his life, he never failed in the performance of his duties as a citizen. He supported and delighted to honor such men as Daniel Webster, Edward Everett, Rufus Choate, and others, and occupied an honored seat at the great gatherings of the party in Faneuil Hall.
Removing to Newton, in 1847, thirty years before his death, Mr. Edmands at once identified himself with the town of his adoption, and its interest and best good were always his chief care.
In the Fall election of 1852, he was nominated as the candidate for Con- gress in this District, and was elected, succeeding such men as John Quincy Adams and Horace Mann. He performed his duties in this capacity in a suc- cessful manner. Mr. Edmands, however, did not hunger for political position, and declined a re-nomination. In 1868, he was chosen Presidential Elector from his District, receiving the nomination of the Republican party. On several occasions he was mentioned in connection with high official stations at Washington, including that of Secretary of the Treasury under President Lincoln.
His engrossing duties did not keep him away from the town meeting assem- blies of Newton, of which he was a punctual attendant. Many projects, hav- ing in view the future welfare of the town, received his warm advocacy and earnest support. A petition from the West Newton Athenæum for an appro- priation aid in increasing its usefulness coming up, Mr. Edmands was appointed Chairman of a Committee to consider the subject. He made a re- port, in which he proposed that the town should aid that and other similar institutions, by appropriating a sum each year equal to the amount obtained by private subscription, thus making public and private liberality for this deserving object go hand in hand. When a " Newton Home" was proposed, for sheltering and training little girls before evil had the ascendency, he at once gave the idea his approval, and was one of the first liberal contributors towards the establishment of the "Newton Home." The rigid economy prac- tised in the Home, and the strict adherence to the principle with which it was started, " never to run in debt," were rare qualities of commendation to Mr. Edmands, and elicited his highest approval and approbation.
Engraved byJ.C. Buttre
Arily.
777
HON. ALFRED B. ELY.
When the war of the Rebellion commenced, Mr. Edmands was among the foremost to declare for the unity and perpetuity of our government. When meetings were called in Newton to obtain volunteers to fill the quota of the town, Mr. Edmands was always present, presiding on several occasions. He offered freely of his means to strengthen the hands of the Board of Select- men, and advanced a large sum at a critical moment to meet necessary lia- bilities, in anticipation of a vote of the town, sanctioning such expenditure. Two of his sons enlisted and performed honorable service, and during the progress of the contest he sent welcome aid to many a wounded soldier of the Newton contingent in his hospital home, besides caring for the necessities of families left behind.
He subscribed a considerable sum towards erecting an enduring monument in the Newton Cemetery, in remembrance of those soldiers of Newton who died while in the service of their country ; at the same time suggesting that subscriptions be received in small sums from school children and citizens generally, in order that all might take part in this patriotic and praiseworthy testimonial. More than eleven hundred pupils of the public schools contri- buted each one dime, with nearly twelve hundred dollars through a donation of one dollar each from inhabitants of the town, which resulted in the erec- tion of the monument.
His gifts to the Newton Free Library, to which he also gave his invaluable counsels and much of his time from its foundation, amounted to nearly $20,000.
Mayor Speare thus referred to him, before the Newton City Council : "Should I say that Newton has lost the man who stood highest in the esteem of all her citizens, I am sure that I should but echo the sentiment of all; but a life and mind like that of our late honored fellow-citizen is not confined in its influence and benefits to any single community.
"Should I say that Boston, the metropolis of New England, had lost one of its largest-minded and most honored merchants ; that the largest manufac- turing establishment, not only in Massachusetts, but of the world, liad lost its controlling mind, and our nation had lost one whose counsels for many years have been sought after in shaping its legislation, the influence of which made them national, I should then come short of the measure of the influence. of the life and labors of the Hon. J. Wiley Edmands."
Mr. Edmands died January 31, 1877, aged sixty-seven years, eleven months,. leaving a widow and eight sons.
ALFRED BREWSTER ELY was born in Monson, Mass., January 30, 1817. By his father, Rev. Alfred Ely, D. D., he was descended from Nathaniel Ely, who came from England to America in 1632 or 1633, and became a freeman of Cambridge, May 6, 1635. Newton had not then been separated from Cambridge, and accordingly, Mr. Ely was descended from one who may, in some sense, be regarded as one of the earliest inhabitants of Newton. His mother's father was Major-General Timothy Newell, of Sturbridge, Mass., who served with distinction in the Revolutionary war. Through his paternal grandfather, Mr. Ely counted among his ancestors Deacon John Edwards, uncle of the celebrated Jonathan Edwards, and through his grandmother, on his father's
778
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
side, he traced his descent directly, and with only seven removes, from Elder William Brewster, one of the original Plymouth Pilgrims and of Mayflower fame.
Mr. Ely prepared for college at the Monson Academy; graduated at Amherst College in 1836; and taught for three years, first as principal of the High School in Brattleboro', Vermont, and then in the Donaldson Academy, Fayetteville, N. C. On his return to the North, he became cash- ier of a New York State bank, and afterwards entered the law office of Messrs. Chapman and Ashmun, Springfield, Mass., and was admitted to the bar in that city. About 1848 he removed to Boston, where he continued in practice until his death in 1872. At this time he took up his residence in Newton, returning thus to the soil which, more than two hundred years before, had hospitably received his ancestor. His practice was large and successful, and in his nearly twenty-five years of active legal work he was retained in many cases of great importance.
For a number of years lie was prominent in political life. His earliest sympathies were in the line of what was later known as "Native American- ism," and when the " American" movement of 1844 was started, he threw him- self into the work with ardor. In the Philadelphia Convention of " Americans" he took an active part, and had great influence in the shaping of the declaration of principles of that body. For a time, he owned and edited the Boston Daily Times and the Boston Ledger, both of which were carried on in the interest of "Americanism." In 1846 he introduced into Massachusetts the patriotic " Order of United Americans," and later, he was presiding officer of the whole order in the United States. The principles of the American party were always dear to him. When the Hon. Henry Wilson was elected to the United States Senate, Mr. Ely was a prominent candidate for the position, and report had it that he failed of election, only because of the impression that Mr. Wilson was more thorougly anti-slavery. He was State Director of the Western Railroad, now consolidated Boston and Albany, State Commissioner of Back Bay lands under Governor Banks' administration, and member of the State Legislature from the Newton district in 1871-2.
In this last public work of his life, his characteristic energy continually dis- played itself. Though then so wasting with disease that almost any other would have kept his sick chamber, he was one of the most active and labo- rious of the members. He was the originator of the idea of cheap workingmen's trains in Massachusetts, and it was chiefly through his instrumentality, as one. of the Railroad Committee of the House, that a bill insuring the practical realization of the same became a law of the State.
On the breaking out of the Rebellion, he was commissioned Quartermaster 13th Connecticut Volunteers, November 9, 1861, and November 11, of the same year, appointed Aide-de-camp to Brigadier-General Benham, who was then engaged in active operations in West Virginia. In the following spring he received the Commission of Assistant Adjutant-General, Northern Divis- ion of Department of the South, and was re-appointed to service under Gen- eral Benham, who had been transferred to a command in this Department. He was in active service at Hilton Head, Beaufort, the siege of Savannalı, and
779
JUDGE ABRAHAM FULLER.
at Fort Pulaski, being one of the first to enter the latter fortress after its capitulation, and one of those appointed to receive the surrender. After the battles of the Edisto and Stono, in which he fought, he was ordered North to service on the staff of Major General and Governor Morgan in Albany. He was on sick leave several months, from fever contracted in the marshes of the Edisto and Stono, and, suffering still from the effects of this disease, which afterwards hastened his death, he resigned his commission in 1863. He died July 30, 1872, distinguished alike in civil and military life, both as a man and a Christian.
Mr. Ely was twice married. His first wife was Miss Lucy Ely, daughter of Charles I. Cooley, Esq., of Norwich, Conn. He had two sons, one of whom only survives him. His second wife was Miss Harriet Elizabeth, daugh- ter of Freeman Allen of Boston and Newton, who also survives him and by whom he had one daughter.
JUDGE ABRAHAM FULLER was the son of Joseph Fuller, jr., and of Sarah, daughter of Abraham Jackson. He was born March 23, 1720, and was an only son. His only sister married Rev. Isaac Jones, of Weston. As his father, so he, had a son and a daughter. Previous to 1760, Abraham Fuller kept a private grammar school in Newton, and in that employment undoubt- edly learned to set a high value on education, which was made manifest by his inserting in his will a bequest of £300, " for the purpose of laying the foundation of an academy in Newton." Judge Fuller enjoyed in a large . degree the respect and esteem of his fellow-citizens, and filled many impor- tant offices. He was Selectman four years, Town Clerk and Treasurer twenty- seven years, commencing in 1766, Representative to the General Court eighteen years,- the longest period of service in the last two departments of any citizen of Newton,- Delegate to the Provincial Congress, Senator, Councillor, and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. On receiving notice of the bequest in his will, the town of Newton ordered the following Minute to be entered on their Records :
" The inhabitants of Newton have always felt and manifested uniform and unshaken confidence in the integrity and discretion of Judge Fuller. There have been few instances where, for such a series of years, and such a variety of services rendered by an individual for his native town, with such unlimited confidence on the one part, and such integrity and disinterestedness on the other,- he was universally esteemed and venerated. His native town and country are largely indebted to him. His public services will, by future gen- erations, most assuredly be justly esteemed and universally acknowledged."
After the death of his father, in 1766, Judge Fuller removed to the house built by his grandfather, Captain Joseph Fuller, and carried on the farm, adding to the cultivation of the soil the business of a maltster. At that period, when beer was the very frequent beverage of the people, the trade in malt was a very important one; and it is related of Judge Fuller, that at one time, there being a scarcity of malt, it happened that he was the only holder of the article in the town. So far from taking advantage of this, he continued to sell at the old prices, and would only allow each purchaser to have a limited quantity, lest the poor should be deprived of their beer. The old
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HISTORY OF NEWTON.
malt-house where the business was carried on, was standing in 1825, and was occupied for lodging rooms by the farm laborers employed by General Hull.
Judge Fuller is said to have been a man somewhat stern in aspect and man- ner, as became one who had been for many years a teacher of youth, a Judge and a Senator. He was a large, portly person, and had a voice so powerful that it is said he could be distinctly heard, calling to his workmen from lis farm to Angier's Corner, a mile distant. Once, when the small-pox prevailed in this vicinity, he agreed with Marshall Spring, of Watertown, to call out to lıim the news from the top of a hill on his farm, called Chestnut Hill. He went, and shouted, " All's well," and Dr. Spring heard him at Watertown.
He was very averse to owing even the smallest sum of money ; and it is related that when on his death-bed, seeming uneasy, his wife asked what troubled him, he replied, " I owe Ludy Harris ninepence for mending my shoe; send over and pay the money. I have never lived in debt, and I cannot die in debt." So the ninepence was paid, and the Judge departed in peace. When he died, the fee of the attending physician was found in his hand.
He had intended to be buried on his farm. But it occurred to him that, not- withstanding the precautions of Jolin Fuller, his ancestor, to keep the place in the family, it might be sold by his descendants. He said, " I never was bought nor sold when alive, and I won't be sold after I die." And so he was buried in the family tomb at Newton Centre.
When the tomb was opened, nine years afterwards, to admit the body of his wife, it was found that the body of Judge Fuller was in a remarkable state of preservation, being converted into a substance as hard as wood, of a dark stone color, but retaining the features so well that he would have been recognized by any person who had known him in life. The body remained in this condition for many years, and was visited by the scientific and the curious until their visits became an annoyance to the family, and the tomb was closed by a marble door. Twenty-five years after burial, the body remained nearly perfect in form, though the coffin had mouldered away, so that it became neces- sary to replace it with a new one. Whatever the preserving influence was,- and it has never been explained, it has ceased to act; for in 1866 the coffin was opened, and nothing was found in it excepting the bones.
Judge Fuller died April 20, 1794, aged seventy-four years, and his wife, April 7, 1803, aged seventy-six. Their only daughter, Sarah Fuller, was married to General William Hull, in 1781. As Judge Fuller had but one daughter, so General Hull had but one son.
There are portraits of Judge and Madam Fuller in possession of the family - the old gentleman is represented as stout in figure, and having a broad, cheerful face; he wears a full-bottomed powdered wig and queue, is dressed in a coat of green homespun clothi, which was made in the family, adorned with large flat gold buttons ; his shirt has immense ruffles, trimmed with lace on the bosom and cuffs. Madam's face has a kindly and genial expression ; she has on a black silk brocade gown and white lace kerchief crossed on the bosom, a white lace cap, with much ruffling round the face. A tradition remains in the family that the cap was brought from England on purpose for the old lady to wear when her portrait was painted.
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TIMOTHY JACKSON.
JOSEPH FULLER, third son of John Fuller, and known as Captain Fuller, was born in 1652, and married December 13, 1680, Lydia, daughter of Edward Jackson, of Newton. His father-in-law* gave him twenty acres of land, from the west end of the Mayhew farm of five hundred acres, which he bought of Gov. Simon Bradstreet in 1646 for $140,- which Bradstreet bought of Thomas Mayhew of Watertown in 1638, with the buildings, for six cows.
This tract commenced near what is now the division line between Newton and Brighton, and extended westward, including what is now Newtonville, and covering the site of General Hull's place, now owned by Governor Claflin. Here Joseph Fuller built his house, and this twenty acres, together with about two hundred inherited from his father, formed the farm which descended to his son Joseph, his grandson Abraham, and his great-granddaughter Sarah, who married William Hull. In 1814 William Hull built a new house, on the same spot where Joseph Fuller's stood for one hundred and thirty years. The house built by General Hull was, after the death of his widow and the sale of the estate, removed to the vicinity of the railroad station once called "Hull's Crossing," now "Newtonville," to make room for the house built by Governor Claflin, who bought the property, and who is the third bearing that title who has owned it,- Gov. Bradstreet, Gov. Hull and Gov. Claflin. The large elm tree still standing near the house was, according to a family tradition, a riding switch, planted by Joseph Fuller the first; and there remained until about 1830, in the hall, a pair of deer's horns, the original wearer of which was shot from his front door by the same Joseph. He was captain of the Newton Horse Company, and it was he who in 1735 gave a training field to them, which was used for this purpose for several years. Mr. Jackson says, " The town discontinued both the training field and the old road which led to it, in 1787, and laid out a straight road near to it, and the old road and the Common reverted to Judge Fuller, and he paid the town therefor two pounds."
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