USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 1622-1918, vol 1 > Part 17
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Fisher's optimism so impressed the people that they immediately appointed
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a committee of six to repair to the place and cause the 8,000 acres to be located there. Capt. John Pynchon of Springfiefild was employed to purchase the lands of the Indians. He procured four deeds of relinquishment from the natives, for which they received ninety-four pounds and ten shillings. The tract afterward became known as the "Pynchon Purchase." In the records the name Petumtuck is spelled in various ways, but the one here used is the most common. In 1670 the number of proprietors of the new purchase was twenty-six, twenty of whom were inhabitants of Dedham. The tract was afterward incorporated as the Town of Deerfield.
OLD-TIME TAVERNS
The first mention of a public house of entertainment in the town records is in the minutes of a town meeting held in 1646, when Michael Powell was licensed to keep a taven, the location of which is now uncertain. Powell was at that time the town clerk.
Woodward's Tavern stood on High Street, where the Registry Building now stands. The exact date when the house was opened cannot be ascertained. In 1658 it passed into the hands of Joshua Fisher, who received a license from the town authorities to conduct a public house. He was succeeded by his son, who conducted the tavern for several years. About 1735 Dr. Nathaniel Ames became the landlord. His son, Fisher Ames, was born in this house on April 9, 1758. Richard Woodward assumed the management in 1769 or 1770. It was in this house that the committee drafted the resolutions in September, 1774, declaring in favor of armed resistance to Great Britain if it became necessary, the first open declaration of that character made by any of the colonists. The building was torn down in 1817.
Gay's Tavern, which stood on Court Street near Highland, and Howe's Tavern, farther north on the same street, were two noted hostelries in their day. The former, of which Timothy Gay was owner and proprietor, was a sort of political headquarters for years during the early history of Norfolk County. About 1803 the building was removed to the northwest corner of High and Washington streets, where it and several of the adjoining buildings were destroyed by fire on October 30, 1832. About sixty horses belonging to the Citizens Stage Company perished in the fire. The tavern was rebuilt by Mr. Gay, who christened the new building the "Phoenix House." It was opened in 1834 with James Bride as the landlord, and soon came to be widely known as "Bride's Tavern." At the time it was completed it was the finest hotel in Norfolk County and in its appointments rivaled some of the leading hotels of Boston. Under different names and different man- agers the house continued to do a good business until it was again burned to the ground on the morning of December 25, 1880. Among the distinguished guests of this hotel were Gen. Andrew Jackson, while President of the United States, and President James Monroe.
In 1801 Martin Marsh leased part of the Ezekiel Holliman tract and built a tavern on Court Street, almost opposite the court-house. It was opened in 1804, about the time the Norfolk & Bristol turnpike was completed, and soon became a popular stopping place for stage passengers. Mr. Marsh was a mason by trade and also a member of the Masonic fraternity. Some of the first meetings of Con-
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stellation Lodge were held in a room in his tavern. In June, 1818, he sold out to Moses Gragg and Francis Alden, who renamed the house the "Norfolk Hotel." It was opened under the new management with a grand dinner on July 4, 1818. In the latter '40s the place lost much of its former reputation through dances, etc., that respectable people declined to attend, and the greater part of its patronage was diverted to the Phoenix House. In May, 1849, most of the furniture was sold at auction, and the next year a man named Stimson leased the house and started a dancing school. On June 1, 1866, the building was sold to the trustees of St. Mary's School and Asylum. This institution was closed in June, 1879. After that the house was occupied by various persons and used for various purposes until June, 1905, when it was bought by Charles H. Gifford. A few years later Mr. Gifford sold the property to Walter Austin, the present owner.
FIRE DEPARTMENT
During the first three years of Dedham's existence as a town, no attention was paid to precautionary measures against fire. But at a town meeting in 1639 the following action was taken: "For the prevention of damage that might arise by fire vpon any house in our Towne it is Ordered that every Housholder in our Towne shall forth with pvide & mayntaine one good stronge & Sufficient Lader that may be sufficient in all respects for the speedie & safe attayneing to ye toppe of ye Chimney of his house vpon occasiones which sayd Laders shall be kept in possesion at against or neere the house or Chimney wher fire is vsually made & for the greater care heere in as in a case of so greate Concernmt it is further ordered that who so ever being an housholder in our Towne shall fayle in any the pticulers aforesaide for the space of fourteene dayes together shall forfiet vnto ye Towne & the vse there of ye sum of Five Shillings," etc.
Coming down to more modern times, Engine No. I, called the "Hero," was presented to the town in January, 1801, and was named by a company of volun- teers composed of Eliphalet Baker, Jr., Jesse Clapp, Elisha Crehore, David Dana, Paul Fisher, Amasa Guild, Reuben Guild, Reuben Newell, James Noyes, Eli Parsons, Reuben Richards and Calvin Whiting. It was located at what was known as the "Upper Village."
Engine Company No. 2 was organized about this time, and in April 1802, was presented with the engine "Good Intent," which was purchased by the inhabitants of the town by subscription. It was stationed in the "Centre Village." The first Good Intent company was made up of the following: Abner Atherton, John Bul- lard, Jr., William Bullard, Francis Child, Josiah Daniels, Abner Ellis, Stephen Farrington, George Gay, John Guild, Nathaniel Guild, William Howe, Herman Mann, Sr., Thaddeus Mason, Martin Marsh, James Richardson, Edward Russell, Jesse Stowell and Seth Sumner.
In 1826 the "Enterprise" was purchased by subscription and located in the Upper Mill Village, but the members of the company that first handled it can not be learned. The three engines mentioned constituted the town's fire depart- ment until at a special meeting held in December, 1831 the sum of $1.500 was voted "for the purchase of fire engines and apparatus for extinguishing fires." The appropriation was to be divided among the several school districts, in pro- portion to the taxes paid by each, though any two adjoining districts were given Vol. I-9
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permission to unite their proportion of the funds. The appropriation of this sum had the effect of multiplying the number of fire companies and engines in the town from three to eleven. Six of the engines were located in the First Parish, two in the Second and three in the Third.
On May 4, 1846, the town voted to raise the sum of $2,500 for the erection of engine houses "and for placing the Fire Department in a more efficient state for service." David A. Baker, George Ellis and Samuel C. Mann, of the first parish, Joseph Day, of the second, and Merrill D. Ellis, of the third, were ap- pointed a committee to carry the order into effect. Under the supervision of this committee Dedham's first engine houses were erected.
Since 1846 the department has been developed little by little to keep pace with the growth of the town. This work of development has been made easier in some respects by the organization of new towns that took away some of Dedham's terri- tory, so that the department now does not have to cover so wide a field. The first steam fire engine was installed in 1873, and at the same time the town ex- pended $2,500 in the purchase of new hose. A new engine house was also built in that year. According to the report of the board of fire engineers-Henry J. Harrigan, John E. Shaughnessy and W. E. Patenaude-for the year 1916, there were then in service one engine company, two hook and ladder companies and four hose companies, and the cost of maintaining the department for the year was $19,274.42.
DEDHAM WATER COMPANY
A few years after the close of the Civil War in 1865, the citizens of Dedham became interested in the subject of some system of waterworks for the town, as a means of extinguishing fires and obtaining a supply of water for domestic purposes. Nothing was accomplished, however, until April 11, 1876, when the Legislature passed an act incorporating the Dedham Water Company. The in- corporators named in the act were: Edward S. Rand, Jr., Waldo Colburn, Wins- low Warren, E. Worthington, Royal O. Storrs, William Bullard, Ira Cleveland, Edward Stimson, Thomas Sherwin, J. P. Maynard, Thomas L. Wakefield, L. H. Kingsbury, F. D. Ely, John R. Bullard and Charles C. Loring. The act authorized the above named stockholders, "their associates and successors," to take water from the "Charles River, Buckmaster Pond, or any other natural pond or ponds, spring or springs, brook or brooks within the Town of Dedham."
It was also provided in the act of incorporation that the capital stock should not exceed $200,000, of which the town was given authority to hold one-fourth. No further action was taken for about five years and little interest was manifested in the project until after the dry seasons of 1879 and 1880, when the water in many of the wells failed, and this stimulated the company to do something toward the establishment of a system of waterworks. A meeting of the incorporators was held early in the fall of 1880, the capital stock was fixed at $75,000, and the following officers were elected: Royal O. Storrs, president ; Winslow Warren, secretary ; Erastus Worthington, treasurer. Percy M. Blake was then employed as civil engineer to examine the field and report upon the best plan for obtaining a supply of water and the cost of constructing works. He made his report on December 28, 1880, recommending the Charles River as the most available source,
MEMORIAL HALL, DEDHAM
PUBLIC LIBRARY, DEDHAM
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with a large "filter well" on the southerly side of the river near Bridge Street, from which water could be pumped to a standpipe on Walnut Street, and from the standpipe distributed to the different parts of the town. He estimated that a plant of this character could be built for less than the amount of the capital stock, which in the meantime had all been subscribed.
The plan recommended by Mr. Blake was adopted and work was commenced as soon as practicable in 1881. Kendall & Roberts were awarded the contract for the construction of the standpipe ; Goodhue & Birnie, for laying the mains through the streets; and the Knowles Pump Company, for the pumping station and ma- chinery. The diameter of the standpipe was increased from fifteen to twenty feet, and some other changes were made in the original plans, which brought the total cost of the works up to about ninety-two thousand dollars. The first public test was made early in December, 1881, and a few days later the water was turned into the mains for general use.
On January 1, 1917, the company had about forty-one miles of mains and was supplying water to more than two thousand customers. The daily consumption of water is over one million gallons. Some years ago the old filter well was aban- doned and the water is now taken from driven wells. The result of this change has been a great improvement in the quality of the water, which has been ap- proved by the Massachusetts State Board of Health.
MEMORIAL HALL
At a town meeting held on March 6, 1865, the question of erecting a monument to the soldiers from Dedham who served in the Union army during the War of the Rebellion came up for discussion and was referred to the following com- mittee: Ira Cleveland, E. Burgess, Comfort Weatherbee, Eliphalet Stone, Eben- ezer F. Gay and J. N. Stevens. At an adjourned meeting on April 6, 1865, the committee reported in favor of the erection of a granite monument, "decorated with military emblems and provided with proper tablets for the inscription of the names, ages and date of the death of all who have died, with the names of the battlefields on which they have fallen, or the hospitals or prisons where they have died." Franklin Square was recommended as the location for the monument, which the committee estimated could be erected at an expense of from four to six thousand dollars.
As the war had not yet come to a close, no action was taken upon the report of the committee, the meeting deciding to wait until peace was restored. On May 7, 1866, at an adjourned town meeting, it was voted to build a "Memorial Hall," with walls of granite on the lot bounded by Church, High and Centre (now Wash- ington) streets, in Dedham Village, "to provide a suitable place for the trans- action of the town's business and a memorial to the soldiers of Dedham who died in the service of the United States during the War of the Rebellion."
A building committee of five was chosen, viz .: Waldo Colburn, Augustus B. Endicott, William Ames, Addison Boyden and Merrill D. Ellis. The town treas- urer was authorized to borrow, with the consent of the selectmen, a sum not exceeding thirty-five thousand dollars for the erection of the building. Ware & Van Brunt of Boston were employed as architects. Prior to this time the lot had been purchased with a fund raised by subscription and placed in the hands of
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James Foord as trustee. The building is 64 by 104 feet, two stories high, with the town offices on the first floor and a large hall on the second. There is also an attic story, which has been used for several years by the Masonic lodge. In the main corridor on the first floor are the marble memorial tablets bearing the names of the Dedham soldiers who lost their lives in defense of the Union. On March 2, 1868, the town treasurer was authorized to borrow $12,000 more to complete the building, which was dedicated on September 29, 1868, Bates' and Gilmore's bands furnishing the music and Erastus Worthington delivering the dedicatory address. On the front wall, facing Washington Street, upon a panel of Quincy granite, is the following inscription :
To Commemorate The Patriotism and Fidelity Of Her Sons Who Fell In Defence of the Union In the War
Of the Rebellion Dedham Erects This Hall A.D. MDCCCLXVII.
This is said to be the first Memorial Hall. or monument of any description, erected to the memory of Union soldiers in the United States.
THE TOWN SEAL
No common seal for the Town of Dedham was adopted until the town meet- ing of April, 1878, at which it was voted to adopt a seal, with the following device, to wit : "In the centre of the foreground a shield, upon which is inscribed the rep- resentation of an ancient oak; on the right of the background the representation of a factory building ; on the left the implements of agriculture : above, the sword and scales of justice; and beneath, in a scroll the motto, 'Contentment;' in the upper semicircle of the border, 'The Town of Dedham,' and in the lower semi- circle, 'Plantation begun 1635, Incorporated 1636.'"
It was also ordered that when the seal was executed it should remain in the custody of the town clerk. The design originated with a member of the Dedham Historical Society and was approved by that society before it was presented to the town for adoption. The oak was intended to represent the "Avery Oak," a further account of which is given in the chapter on "Historic Landmarks." The factory and agricultural implements portray the occupations of the inhabitants. The sword and scales signify that Dedham is the shire town of the county, and the motto-Contentment-serves as a reminder that it was the name selected by the first inhabitants of the settlement.
POSTOFFICES
For a number of years after Dedham was settled, letters were carried by pri- vate individuals or received and delivered at the Boston postoffice, which was established by order of the General Court on November 5, 1639, with Richard
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Fairbanks as postmaster. From that time until 1693 the postal service of Ded- ham was altogether under Massachusetts authority. . On May 1, 1693, Andrew and John Hamilton received a royal patent to establish mail communications between Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and New York. Subsequently the route was extended to Williamsburg, Virginia. The first mailrider carried the mail from Portsmouth to Boston. There the second took it and passed through Rox- bury, Dedham, Rehoboth, Bristol and Newport to Saybrook, where he met the rider from New York. The Hamiltons continued to operate the route until 1707, when their patent was annulled and the crown controlled the mail service until December, 1775. After the Government of the United States was established, the mail route came under its jurisdiction. The first mention of a mail coach passing through Dedham was in 1785. The line of coaches between Boston and the West was organized by Eben Hazard, who lived at Jamaica Plain, and continued in operation until 1835. The railroad was opened to Dedham in 1836 and the old mail coach line went out of business.
The first postoffice was established at Dedham in 1793, with Jeremiah Shuttle- worth as postmaster. Mann's Annals of Dedham states that on April 1, 1801, "letters are advertised as remaining in the postoffice in this town for people in the towns of Dedham, Medway, Bellingham, Medfield, Dover, Foxborough, Wal- pole, Hopkinton, Sharon, Canton, Franklin, Kittery, Stoughton, Sherburne and Cohasset."
From this it can be seen that Dedham was the postal center for a large dis- trict. It would be interesting to know who some of the early postmasters were- or the early persons in charge of the station under the Hamilton regime-but many of the postoffice department records were destroyed by the burning of the national capitol and other public buildings in Washington by the British in the War of 1812, and it may be that the lack of information is due in a measure to this fact.
In 1917 the Dedham Postoffice reported annual receipts of over seventeen thousand dollars. The office then employed thirteen people, including the branch at East Dedham. Edmond H. Bowler was then postmaster and the East Dedham branch was under the management of Fred A. Campbell.
THE DEDHAM OF THE PRESENT
Erastus Worthington, writing of the town in 1884, said: "The local business of Dedham, except in the woolen mills, has substantially passed away. The ses- sions of the courts and the transaction of other public business at the shire town of the county, still bring people to Dedham, but these come by one railway train only to leave by the next departing train. The hotels, once the centers of social life and gayety, have disappeared. Dedham village is mainly a place of residence for those whose business is in Boston. These constitute the main body of its most valued citizens, and upon them and upon the interest which they may take in its local affairs, must chiefly depend its future character and prosperity."
Since that was written but little change has come to the town. In 1910 the population was 9,284, and in 1915, according to the state census, it was II,043, a gain of 1,759 in five years. The assessed valuation of the property in 1916 was $16,722,310. Its schools, churches, public library, business interests, etc., are treated in other chapters of this work. Its principal attractions are its well-kept streets, beautiful shade trees and cozy homes.
CHAPTER XVI
THE TOWN OF DOVER
LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES-TOPOGRAPHY-EARLY SETTLERS-POLITICAL HISTORY -THE PRECINCT-SPRINGFIELD PARISH-THE DISTRICT-THE TOWN-FIRST OFFICERS -- TOWN HALL-TOWN SEAL-POSTOFFICES-FIRE DEPARTMENT-EARLY TAVERNS-THE TOWN NAME-SUNDRY INCIDENTS-DOVER IN 1917.
Dover is situated in the north central part of Norfolk County. It is bounded on the north by the towns of Wellesley and Needham ; on the east by Westwood ; on the south by Medfield and Walpole; and on the west by Natick and Sherborn, two towns of Middlesex County. For about ten and a half miles the Charles River forms the boundary line of the town, separating it from Sherborn and from Wellesley and Needham.
TOPOGRAPHY
The word "hilly" might be used to describe generally the surface, though there are also some fertile valleys, in which are located some of the finest farms in Norfolk County. Several of the largest hills have been designated by names.
Pine Rock Hill, the highest in the town, rises to a height of 449 feet above sea level and is the highest elevation in the county except the Blue Hill range in Milton. From its summit a fine view of the surrounding country can be obtained and on a clear day vessels can be seen in Massachusetts Bay.
Pegan Hill, so named for an ancient tribe of Indians, lies on the boundary line between Dover and Natick. It is 420 feet high and from its top can be seen the state house in Boston, Bunker Hill monument, and some twenty villages. Around the base of this hill are attractive homes and fertile farms.
Strawberry Hill, in the eastern part of the town, received its name because in early days its sides were covered with wild strawberry vines. Its summit is 200 feet above the Charles River.
In the southern part are Cedar and Oak Hills, the former 400 and the latter 360 feet high. Here there are fine deposits of granite. From the quarries in these hills was taken the stone for the court-house at Dedham, the Dedham Memorial Hall, the asylum at Medfield and several other public buildings.
Big Brook, so named in the early Dedham records, is the largest stream in the town and flows in a westerly direction into the Charles River.
Clay Brook received its name because the early settlers in the vicinity took clay from its banks to be used in the construction of the dwelling houses.
There are two streams called Mill Brook. One rises in Dedham and flows in a southerly course to the Charles River, and the other rises in Dover and flows in southerly direction into the Town of Medfield.
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Noanet Brook rises in the southern part of the town and flows northwardly, emptying into the Charles River not far from Charles River Village. It is the outlet of Reserve Pond, which originally covered some twenty acres of land. In the early land transactions Noanet Brook played an important part, defining boun- daries of grants to settlers. It was named for an Indian chief.
Trout Brook, west of Noanet and flowing in the same general direction, has its source in the Boiling Springs and takes its name from the great numbers of trout which formerly sported in its pure waters.
In the southeastern part of the town is Great Spring, one of the largest in the county and furnishing a never-failing supply of the purest water. Its outlet, called Tubwreck Brook, is a tributary of the Neponset River. This stream derived its name in a curious manner. - One spring, when the brook was much higher than usual, Capt. James Tisdale embarked in a half hogshead for the purpose of float- ing down the brook to gather flood cranberries. The novel craft was capsized and from this incident the little creek became known as "Tubwreck Brook."
EARLY SETTLERS
So far as can be learned, the first settler within the limits of the present Town of Dover was Henry Wilson, a native of Kent, England, who came to Dedham in 1640. He received a grant of land, along with the other settlers, but never built upon it, preferring to go farther west, and he established his home in the easterly part of the town, not far from the Westwood line. He married and brought his wife to the new home in the wilderness, and here their first child, Michael Wilson, was born in 1644, probably the first white child to be born in the town. Game of all kinds was plentiful in those days, and it is said that Mr. Wilson, upon awakening in the morning after the first night spent in his new house, was sur- prised to see a huge wildcat looking in at the window.
The first settler in the western part was doubtless Thomas Battle (spelled Battelle in some of the early records), who built his house on the Clay Brook Road, not far from the Natick line. In 1687 he received another grant of land consisting of "half an acre of upland and meadow bottom as it lieth his own land near the Great Brook. near Natick, bounded by his own land southeast the way to the brook, and by the brook in all other parts." Mr. Battle was elected one of the selectmen of Dedham in 1677 and served in that capacity for five years. He then held for two years the office of town clerk.
In 1682 Thomas Battle sold a portion of his land to James Draper, of Rox- bury, whose son John married in 1686 and it is believed he settled in Dover soon after his marriage. Some years prior to that time a road had been opened from Medfield to South Natick, and several settlers located along the line of this road. Nathaniel Chickering came from England in 1681 and within a few years, by grant and purchase, became the owner of about one thousand acres of land, part of which lay within the present Town of Dover. He settled in Dover in 1694. but did not live to occupy the house he built, his death occurring on the 21st of October of that year. His widow and children moved into the house and some of his descendants still live in the town.
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