USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > History of Newton, Massachusetts : town and city, from its earliest settlement to the present time, 1630-1880 > Part 81
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HON. WILLIAM CLAFLIN was born March 6, 1818, in Milford, Mass., about two miles from the centre of the town, on the road to Hopkinton. The place of his nativity was an old-fashioned house, of one story and a half. His mother was of the Adams family, of Braintree. His father, Hon. Lee Claflin, was a native of Hopkinton. He received his early training at a district school about a mile from his home, and after five or six years was sent to the Milford Academy, where he was prepared for college.
He entered Brown University in 1833. In less than a year afterwards, his mother died, and, his health being delicate, he was taken from college, and placed in his father's manufactory, where he labored for three years.
In 1838, by the advice of his physician, he went to St. Louis to seek recov- ery of health; and as soon as he was able, he engaged in business at St. Louis, which, with intervals of fluctuation, has been continued to the present. date.
In 1855, Mr. Claflin removed to his residence at Newtonville, the estate- formerly owned and occupied by General William Hull.
830
831
HON. ALEXANDER H. RICE.
In 1848, Mr. Claflin was elected by the Free Soil party to the Legislature of Massachusetts, from the town of Hopkinton, where he resided at that time, and his services must have been satisfactory to his fellow-citizens, for he was afterwards re-elected three years in succession. He was appointed on many of the most important committees of the House, which shows that he was a prominent member. In 1859, he was elected to the State Senate, and in 1860 was a delegate to the Chicago Convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency of the United States, and again in 1864 and 1868,-the last time as a delegate from the State at large. In 1868, he was made Chair- man of the National Committee, which caused him to take an active part in the first campaign for the election of General Grant. In 1861, he was Presi- dent of the Massachusetts Senate, afterwards Lieutenant-Governor of the State for three years, and finally Governor, and discharged the duties of his office to the entire satisfaction of the people. He received the honorary degrec of Doctor of Laws from Harvard University in 1869; also, the same degree from the Wesleyan University.
Mr. Claflin took high ground in favor of the. Temperance reform, and of the equality of all men, black and white, before the law. He was known as. a strict anti-slavery man, at a period when his uncompromising adhesion to the right involved unpopularity, and was a bar to success in business. It is said that he never sought political position ; on the contrary, position sought him. His administration of the highest office in the Commonwealth was marked by great sagacity and ability, and was highly useful to all the interests of the State.
After leaving the gubernatorial chair, he retired to his private business, like Cincinnatus to his farm, universally honored and respected. In 1876, he was elected Representative in Congress, and re-elected in 1878.
Governor Claflin is a consistent and honored member of the Methodist church. But his Catholic spirit embraces all good men, and the good and great of every name and nation have been cheered by the elegant hospitality of his home.
HON. ALEXANDER H. RICE was born August 30, 1818, at Newton Lower Falls, the son of Thomas Rice and brother of the late Thomas Rice, jr., long a prominent and useful citizen of the town. His early studies were in the public schools of Newton of which he always had a high estimate, and later on he attended the Academy of the late Rev. Daniel Kimball in Needham, and of Master Seth Davis in Newton. He graduated with high honors at Union College, Schenectady, N. Y., then under the presidency of Dr. Nott ; and, dur- ing his college course, often reached the rank of maximum scholarship. His health being impaired he abandoned the idea of professional life and returned to the business in Boston in which he had been initiated in his youth, and afterwards became the head of the well-known firm of Rice, Kendall & Co., of that city. Almost immediately after his return to Boston, he became in- terested in its educational, philanthropic and business institutions and affairs. He was for several years an active member of the School Board, and of Board of Visitors to the Hospitals, a member and afterwards for several years President of the Board of Trade, and prominent in many other Associations.
832
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
He was a member of the Common Council of Boston in 1853, and its Presi- dent in 1854, and was elected Mayor of Boston for 1856, upon nomination by a committee of citizens representing all parties in politics. He was re-elect- ed and served through the following year and declined another nomination. During his administration many important and notable improvements were undertaken, especially the settlement of long standing controversies over the Back Bay lands, which opened the way to the improvement which now con- . stitutes the most elegant part of the city. He also recommended and initi- ated the opening of Devonshire Street, which resulted in the most important improvement in the business portion of Boston. Immediately on retiring from the Mayoralty of Boston, Mr. Rice was elected to Congress, and served through the following eight years. These years covered the most important period. In 1875, he was elected Governor of the Commonwealth of Massa- chusetts and re-elected the two following years, both times by handsome majorities. During his administration many measures of public interest and some of public controversy were settled. The government was acknowledged to be pure, rigorous and progressive.
In politics Mr. Rice was originally a Whig of the progressive sort, and on the dissolution of that party became a Republican, and has participated in the historic acts, and supported the policy of that organization. He has been for many years a resident of Boston, and, by a wise and faithful discharge of duty and a high and honorable career, has shed renown on the place of his nativity.
HON. JAMES F. C. HYDE, first Mayor of the city of Newton, descended in a direct line, through both his parents, from the early settlers of Newton. He was the son of James Hyde, and grandson of Thaddeus Hyde. His mother was Clarice Clark, daughter of Norman Clark. Ile received his education in the schools of the town. His energy of character, and administrative talent, brought hin early to the notice of the public. He served the town as Select- man sixteen years, and a portion of the time as chairman; was moderator of nearly all the town meetings for twenty-two years, and for several years a member of the School Board. He was Representative two years, and a member of the State Board of Agriculture, and for several years, President of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. His articles on agricultural sub- jects are numerous and valuable. He is Director in several Insurance Com- panies, and has been prominently connected with the Newton Savings' Bank, and for many years Director in Newton National Bank.
As the first Mayor of the city of Newton, he administered the important trust with wisdom and prudence, counselling economy, integrity and faithful- ness, and illustrating these qualities in his official conduct. Mr. Hyde was one of the leading citizens of Newton Highlands, a prime mover of the Con- gregational church in that part of the city, and its first deacon. Mr. Hyde was born in Newton, July 26, 1825. He has been distinguished by great industry, giving himself with tongue and pen and his many and versatile facul- ties to incessant efforts for the public good. He is an excellent illustration of the position to which a young man may attain, under the free institutions of New England.
833
HON. ROYAL M. PULSIFER.
HON. ALDEN SPEARE, second Mayor of Newton, was born in Chelsea, Vt., October 26, 1825. His great-grandfather, Deacon Moses Speare, was a native of Quincy, Mass., and his grandfather and father, both physicians, were born in Shutesbury, Mass. He was fitted for college in the Academy at Newbury, Vt. On account of the death of his father, he was obliged to relinquish the purpose of a liberal education, and removed to Boston in 1844, where he has been engaged in mercantile pursuits till the present time. Mr. Speare came to Newton in 1864, and purchased the homestead formerly of George S. Dex- ter, Esq., on Centre Street, a part of the estate once owned and occupied by the late Rev. Dr. Homer. During his residence in Boston, he was elected on the Board of the School Committee three terms, of three years each, and in Newton he served two years in the same office. He was Mayor two years, 1876 and 1877. In his official relations he labored to promote economy in the administration of the government, and cheerfully set an example of the same in his own person. He established a fund of one thousand dollars for the purchase of books for the Newton Free Library, and has been a prompt and liberal supporter of all public improvements. Besides his private business, the services of Mr. Speare have been sought as a wise and judicious niana- ger of public trusts. He is one of the original Directors of the Everett National Bank, Boston, a Manager in the Boston Penny Savings' Bank, and a Director in eight Railroad Corporations, of one of which he is President.
HON. WILLIAM BENTLEY FOWLE, third Mayor of Newton, was born in Bos- ton, July 27, 1826. His father, a renowned and efficient teacher and pro- moter of education for many years in Boston, removed to Newton and occu- pied the estate afterwards owned by the late Thomas Edmands, Esq., from 1836 to 1847. He then removed with his family to Roxbury, but returned to West Newton in 1850, and was one of the founders of the West Newton Athenæum and its first President. Mr. Fowle, the subject of this sketch, returned to Newton in 1866, and has since resided in Auburndale. While in Boston, he was a member of the Common Council in 1860, 1862 and 1865, and in 1865 president of that body. In 1862, after the second battle of Bull Run, he recruited a company of Infantry for the Forty-third Regiment Mas- sachusetts Volunteers, commanded Post at Beaufort, S. C., during the winter of 1862-3, with the rank of Captain, and returned on the expiration of his term of service. In Newton, he was Selectman for the years 1869-71, Alderman, 1877, and Mayor, 1878 and 1879. Mr. Fowle is a close parliamentarian, and an important part of his work as Mayor consisted in establishing just and or- derly relations between the various departments of the City Government; an energetic and successful business man, and an honored and useful public officer and citizen.
HON. ROYAL M. PULSIFER, the fourth and present Mayor of Newton, was born at Chestnut Hill, Newton, June 2, 1843. His remotest ancestor, Bene- dictus Pulsifer, the first of the race to set foot in America, was forced to flee from England on the restoration of the monarchy, he having been a staunch supporter of Oliver Cromwell, and bought land in Ipswich in 1655. In the Revolution, Mr. Pulsifer's ancestors were ardent supporters of liberty. Dur- ing the first eighteen years of his life, he received a common and high school
53
834
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
education, and was prepared for college. Less than three months after the beginning of the civil war, he entered the office of the Boston Herald, where he rose rapidly from one position to another, till he became junior partner in 1865, and, in 1869, purchased the paper, in connection with four others, two of whoni, after a few years, retired. Mr. Pulsifer, besides his interest in journalism, has given considerable attention to several important outside business enterprises. He is prominently connected with two large banking institutions in Boston, and more recently has connected himself with the management of several railroads. He was an efficient advocate of the pro- posal to make Newton a city ; was a member of the first Board of Aldermen, and for three years chairman of the Board of Water Commissioners, in the difficult period of the planning and construction of the Water Works; was . elected Mayor in the autumn of 1879,- the nominee of all parties, - and his election was substantially unanimous. His residence, at Auburndale on the banks of the Charles, is the beautiful estate named " Islington."
REV. S. F. SMITH, author of this History, was born in Boston, October 21, 1808, fitted for college at the Public Latin School, and graduated at Harvard University in 1829, and Andover Theological Seminary in 1832. After a year spent in Boston in editorial labors, he was ordained pastor of the First Baptist church, Waterville, Me., at the beginning of the year 1834, at the same time entering upon the duties of Professor of Modern Languages in Waterville College, now Colby University, and during the year 1841 taught all the Greek in the College. In 1842, he became pastor of the First Baptist church, Newton Centre, and at the same time editor of the Christian Review (quarterly). The pastoral relation continued just twelve and a half years, and was followed by a service of fifteen years of editorial labor in connection with the periodicals of the Baptist Missionary Union. Dr. Smith has been a profuse contributor to the periodical and other literature of his time, and has continued, without intermission, except during a year, (July, 1875, - July, 1876,) spent in Europe, in the service of the pulpit. In 1831-2, he was concerned with the late Lowell Mason, Esq., in the preparation of the " Juvenile Lyre," the first publication in this country devoted to music for children,- most of the songs in which are his translations fron German songs, or imitations, adapted to the German music of Nägeli and others. Many hymns from his pen are found in the various church collections. The well-known composition,-" My country, 'tis of thee,"-was written in 1832, and first used at a children's celebration of American Independence in Park Street church, Boston, the same year. The publications of Dr. Smithi, besides numerous articles in various periodicals, have been, " Life of Rev. Joseph Grafton," "Lyric Gems," "Rock of Ages," "Missionary Sketches," and the present History ; also, occasional sermons. Dr. Smith likewise contributed about one entire volume of the Encyclopedia Americana (1829-1835), in articles translated from the German " Conversations-Lexicon."
America.
My country, tos of thee Sweet land of liberty, Of thee sing; Land where my fathers died, Land of the pilgrims' Fride, From every mountain side det freedown 1mq.
My native country , - Thee , Land of the noble free,- Thy name I love; I love the rocks and rills The woods and tempted hills; Thy heart with rapture thrills, Like that above .
Letmusic swell the breaks, And ring from all the trees Deveet freedom's song; Let mortal tongued awake Let all that breathe partake, Letrocker their silences break, - The sound Prolong.
Our fathers' God, to Thee, Author of liberty, To Thee we sing; Long way our l and be bright With free dove's baby light,. Protected by the night, Great God, our Thing.
Th
GENERAL INDEX.
Acadia college, 556. Adams, Seth, will of, 821. Adelphian library, 523, 664. Ætna Mill Company, 582. Alarm list, 337. Alcock's swamp, 17. Andover, 37; Pomp Jackson's residence, 376.
Andros, Sir Edmund, imprisoned, 205. Annual appropriations, 774. Aqueduct Company, 735. Associations and societies, 747. Athenæum, West Newton, 665.
Auburndale, its beginning, 702; Congre- gational church, 704; Centenary Metho- dist church, 705; church of the Messiah, 707.
Bald Pate hill, 13, 124; meadow, 16, 98, 110. Baptists, censured, 50; early, 287,,289. Baptist pond, 15.
Barden Frederick, biography of, 769.
Bates, Rev. James, election of, 410, 422; call and acceptance, 422; ordination, 423; resignation, 424; biography, 424, death, 425.
Battle flag from Bunker Hill, 344.
Baury, Rev. A. L., biography of, 479.
Bell of the First church, given by Federal street church, Boston, 415.
Bemis' factories, 576. Bemis, George, biography of, 769.
Bemis' warp, 579.
Bible News by Noah Worcester, 255.
Bigelow, Dr. Henry, biography of, 770.
Billerica, when incorporated, 37; lands divided, 46; farm of Cambridge church in, 92.
Billings and Holden collection, 503.
Biographical notices, 86, 555, 769, 830. Blanden's lane, 90.
Blood, Rev. Caleb, first pastor of First Baptist church, 299; biography of, 299; his publications, 300.
Bog iron ore in Newton, 14. Book club, Newton, 666.
Boston, early limits of, 21; its name, 21; neck, 22; mill pond, 22; exchange of land with Newton, 38; bordering on, 38; grant of land to Newton, 82; received grant from Brookline, 82.
Botolph, St., 21. Botolph's town, 21.
Boundary lines of Newton, 28, 38, 83; of estates, 130.
Braintree Company, names of the, 26, 27. Bridge, the great, 46, 48. Bridgewater Collection, 503. Brighton included in Newtown, 31. Brook farm, 16.
Brookline, 29, 82, 124. Buchanan, James, portrait of, 682. Bullough's pond, 14, 15, 17.
Bunker Hill, British loss at, 348; monu- ment, 383; Monument Association, meinbers of, 383.
Burgoyne, Newton men raised to oppose, 346; surrender of, 378.
Bushnell, Rev. William, call of, 425; biog- raphy of, 426.
Cambridge deeds, extracts from, 44, 106. Cambridge records, extracts from, 44.
Cambridge, first church in, 193; largest taxpayer in Massachusetts, 194; censors of the press at, 194; church catalogue, 194, 195.
Cambridge hill, 123.
Cambridge, protest of, against separa- tion, 64.
Canada expedition, 223, soldiers in the, 350.
Casco (Portland) defended, 187.
Cemeteries - tlie old, on Centre street, 273; given to the town, 273; bounds, 273; first tenant, 274; inscriptions, 276; West Parish, 277; South, 278; Lower Falls, 279; the new, 586.
Centenary Methodist church, 705.
Centennial, Newton's, 738.
Centennial oration of J. F. C. Hyde, ex- tracts from, 375, 745.
Central Congregational church, 709; or- ganized, 710.
Channing church, 688. Charles river, bounding Newton, 38.
Charles Ward Post, 603.
Chase, Prof. Irah, biography of, 555. Cheesecake brook, 17; origin of its name, 17; location, 89, 578.
Chelmsford, 37.
Chemical works, set off to Waltham, 489. Chestnut hill, 13, 717; granted to Isaac. Beach, 113.
Chestnut hill reservoir, 38, 734, 735.
Children to be catechized, 47, 99. Church membership, certificate of, 289. Church members, the only voters, 49. Church and parish separate, 234.
Church edifice of 1805, 411; sale of pews, 411; the sitters, 413; choir, 413; bell, 415. Cincinnati, Massachusetts, 383; biogra- phy of members, 381.
City of Newton, movements originating the, 728; petition for a charter, 728; the popular vote, 729.
Claflin Guard, 758. Claflin, William, biography of, 830.
Clarke, Rev. J. S., biography of, 771.
Clarke, Dr. Samuel, biography of, 772.
836
GENERAL INDEX.
Clarke, Samuel C., reminiscences of, 824. Clay, Henry, portrait of, 682.
Cockerel church, Boston, 253. Colby, Gardner, biography of, 773. Cold Spring brook, 17, 585.
Colony records, extracts from, 48. Colporteur supported, 755. Columbian Star, 561.
Common at Newton Centre, gift of Jona. Hyde and Wiswall heirs, 19, 141, 316.
Concord, 37; convention at, 332, 369; dele- gates to Provincial Congress, 333.
Conduits, Boston, through Newton, 734, 735.
Constables, collecting taxes, 23, 224. Constitution of Massachusetts, 367. Consumption, deaths by, in Newton, 19. Conveyances of estates, 105.
Cook hill, 578.
Cooke, Phineas, biography of, 772. Corn mill built on Charles river, 92. Corn, prices of, 232.
Cornwallis, surrender of, 373: parole, 374. Cotton, John, elected, 215; salary of, 216; biography, 217; epitaph, 218; publica- tions, 218; events in his ministry, 219; his house burnt and rebuilt, 222.
Cotton machinery, 453; for factories in Mexico, 463; manufacture in Mexico, 463.
County rock, 17. Crane, Rev. Origen, biography of, 469.
Crehore mill, 272.
Cromwell, Oliver, and missions, 180.
Crushing machine, 56.
Crystal lake, 15.
Dana, R. H., his speech at Lexington, 331. Davis, Mary, biography of, 774.
Davis, Seth, his academy, 250; reminis- cences, 136, 168, 437, 721, 775, 809, 818, 820, 822.
Deacons ordained, 53.
Deaths, and ages of inhabitants, from the Ward manuscripts, 281-286.
Decoration hymn, 649. Dedham island, 259.
Deer protected, 54.
Denny place, 97, 125.
Depreciated money, 364.
Deputies chosen, 23.
Descendants of revolutionary soldiers, 383.
Dignifying the pews, 208.
Division of the town, 483; petition for, 490; lines of division, 492; controversy closed, 492.
Dogs, tax on, 55. Dorchester church, members from, 196. Drew's (Erosamon) saw-mill, 124. Dummer farm, 17.
Durant's Corner, 437.
East and West Companies, 334-336, 340, 350. Edmands, J. Wiley, gift to the library, 672, 673; biography of, 775.
Education, 235, 436; six school-houses rec- ommended, 436; school-house at West Newton, 437; school wards, 437; school appropriations, 438, 439, 441, 445; school- house at Upper Falls, 438; school regu- lations, 439; school-houses, 441; high school education, 412; district system abolished, 444; new school-houses, 416; high school building, 447; graduates, 447; training school, 448; art models, 448; honors at Paris and Vienna, 418; school- house property, 419.
Election, the first, of governor, 1780-1800, 394, 395; of presidential electors, 394; of representative, 395.
Eliot, John, and the Indians, 170; letter to Shepard, 177; his courage, 178; peti- tion against selling liquor, 180; monu- ment, 186; petition against slavery, 535. Eliot Congregational church, 426, 684; corner-stone, 685; dedication and re- cognition, 685; first pastor, 685; Rev. L. Cutler, 686; Rev. J. W. Wellman,. 686; Rev. S. M. Freeland, 687; deacons, 687.
Eliot family, genealogy of, 824.
Eliot Manufacturing Company, 268, 269. Ely, A. B., biography of, 777.
Engine at Lower Falls, 744. English oppression, 204, 205.
Evang. Cong. church, Auburndale, 704. Evening schools, 56.
Families, six, who worshipped in Rox- bury, 223, 224.
Farlow, J. S., speech of., 679.
Female academy at Newton Centre, 722. Fifth church built, 426, dedicated, 427.
Fire companics, 526; department, 528; la-
ter growth, 528; report against, 529; de- partment, property of, 533.
First Baptist church, early Baptists, 287; certificate of membership, 287; of bap- tism, 288; preliminary mccting, 292; in- fluence of Elhanan Winchester, 292, 300; views of church polity, 293; members, 294; organized, 295; meeting-house, 296; first pastor, 299; sale of pew lots, 303; enlargement, 303; an annual meeting, 304; description of lionse and sittings, 304; the ministerial tax, 304; Mr. Graf- ton's death and funeral, 495; new edifice dedicated, 496; pastors, 499; admissions, 499; statistics, 500; ministers, members of, 501; Sabbath-school, its commence- ment, 501; superintendents, 502; be- quests, 502; the choir, 503; church clock, 504; reminiscences, 504; Sabbath-school at Thompsonville, 507.
Fish, used as manure, 45; protected, 54. Flag raising in Newton Centre, 606.
Flynt, Henry, preaches at Newton, 216; his character, 216; his preaching, 216; tutor at Cambridge, 216.
Fortifications at Cambridge, 22; rate for expense of, 22; course of, 23; cxtent of, 24.
Fourdrinier press, 272. Fowle, William B., biography of, 833.
Freeholders in 1679 and 1798, 309.
Free library, transferred to the city, 676; additions, 681.
Frecman's oath, 78, 79.
French and Indian war, the fallen in, 317. Fresh pond, 24, 28.
Fuller, Abraham, biography of, 779.
Fuller academy, 217, 438, 720.
Fuller farm, 89, 118, 167, 169.
Fuller, Joseph, biography of, 781.
Fuller's corner, 89; tavern, 119.
Furber, Rev. D. L., ordained, 427; twenty- fifth anniversary, 430; thirtieth do., 431; consecration prayer at new cemetery, 588.
Gardner, Col., his regiment, 346, 347; death of, 347; bravery of, 347; letter to a committee in Boston, 349.
General Court, letter of, to Mr. Wiswall, 198.
837
GENERAL INDEX.
George III, statue of, in New York, 321; run into bullets, 321.
Girls, schools for; 248; in Boston, 248.
Grace church, 694; new building, 696; chime of bells, 698.
Grafton, Rev. Joseph, 301; ordained, 301; salary, 301; admissions during his pas- torate, 301; elected to the Convention, 301; offices held by, 302; children, 302; colleague, 302; death and funeral, 495; publications of, 495; reminiscences of, 406, 805.
Grammar school in Cambridge, 236; in Newton, 246.
Gray's elegy, Knowles' addition to, 561. Great bridge, 51, 57.
Great meadows, 17, 120.
Greenougli, Rev. William, ordination, 253; biography, 254; his salary, 255; his the- ology, 256; personal appearance, 256; colleague, 256; marriage, 257; death, 257; reminiscences of, 801.
Greenough, Mrs., and Daniel Webster, 804.
Grove hill cemetery, 586.
Hackett, Prof. H. B., biography of, 563. Halfway covenant, 229.
Hammond, Samuel, in the Boston tea party, 329.
Hammond's pond, 15, 124, 139.
Hancock, John. elected governor, 394, 395. Handel and Haydn Collection, 503. Harbach house, 93.825.
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