USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 1622-1918, vol 1 > Part 26
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THE TOWN NAME
The Indian name of the region now included in the Town of Milton was Unketyquisset (the name is spelled in various ways), but as that was too un- wieldly the General Court adopted the name of Milton, at the request of the inhab- itants. Three distinct theories as to the reason for the adoption of this name have been presented. The first says the town was named in honor of John Milton, the celebrated English poet, who in 1662 was at the zenith of his fame. The second says it was named from the old mill (Mill Town), which was erected by the inhabitants of Dorchester on the Neponset River in 1633. This was the first water-mill in New England. The third theory, which is perhaps the most plausible one, is that the town derived its name from Milton, England. There are, however, in England and Wales about twenty towns called Milton, or of which the word Milton forms some part of the name, and it is impossible to determine which one was copied in giving name to the Massachusetts town.
EARLY TAVERNS
Soon after the town was incorporated Roger Billings built a large house on what is now Canton Avenue and opened a tavern, which in a few years became
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
noted for "its fancy dinners and high living." Mr. Billings died in 1683, when the name of the hostelry was changed to "Blue Hill Tavern." The house was torn down in 1885 and some of the timbers were used in building a barn.
The Bent Tavern was opened on the corner of Canton Avenue and Atherton Street by Lemuel or Rufus Bent about 1740. About 1790 the name was changed to the "Bradlee Tavern," when Stephen Bradlee took possession. He was a son of John Bradlee, who settled in Milton some years before the beginning the Revo- lution. Stephen Bradlee died in 1803 and the house was kept for some time by his widow. Then she married Maj. Jedediah Atherton, who in 1810 built a new tavern on the site of the old one and opened it as the "Atherton House."
White's (later Wild's) Tavern was in existence as early as 1787, for in that year there was considerable excitement in the town over the report that a man had died of yellow fever at this house.
Clark's Tavern, on Randolph Avenue, was built in 1809 by Samuel Tucker for his son Joshua, who conducted it for several years. Then Minot Thayer pur- chased the property and ran the tavern for some time. He was succeeded in turn by several other proprietors before the house ceased to be a place of enter- tainment for travelers.
TOWN HALL
From the time Milton was incorporated until 1835, the town meetings were held in the meeting house. In March, 1835, the annual meeting was held in the Academy Hall. On August 24, 1836, the trustees of the academy voted to rent to the town the lower story of the building for forty dollars a year. A few meet- ings were held here, when the selectmen obtained permission to use the old stone church known as the "Railway Village Meeting House." Just how many town meetings were held in this house is not certain, but in 1837 it was voted to pay the trustees of the church $300 for the use of the building.
At the same time this sum was voted a committee, consisting of John Ruggles, Jason Houghton, Jesse Tucker, Moses Gragg, Alva Martin, Walter Cornell and Samuel Adams, was appointed "to purchase a piece of land near the center of the town and proceed to erect thereon a town house not to exceed 40 by 60 feet, one story in height, and at a cost not to exceed $2,500." About that time the surplus that had accumulated in the United States Treasury during the adminis- tration of President Andrew Jackson was distributed among the states, and by the states to the counties and towns. Through this channel Milton received $3,424.89, which paid for the lot and town house and left a balance of $589.46 in the town treasury. This hall served the town for more than forty years.
At the annual meeting in March, 1878, the town voted an appropriation of $35,000 for a new town hall. William H. Forbes, Samuel Gannett, J. H. Wol- cott, James M. Robbins, Samuel Babcock, George Vose, Edward L. Pierce, Horace E. Ware and Albert K. Teele were appointed a building committee, with instructions to procure plans and specifications and superintend the erection of the building. The plans selected were those prepared by Hartwell & Tilden, architects of Boston. William C. Poland & Son of Boston were awarded the contract for the brick and stone work; Creesey & Noyes of Boston, the car- pentry work ; J. Farquhar's Sons of Boston, the roofing; and L. Cushman & Son
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
of Waltham, the copper work. The roofing and copper work were afterward included in the contract of Creesey & Noyes, as were also the painting and glaz- ing, except the interior decorative painting, which was done by W. J. McPherson of Boston. The new hall was dedicated on February 17, 1879, Edward L. Pierce of the building committee delivering the historical address. The total cost of the strucure was $34,959.09.
POSTOFFICES
The first postoffice in the town was established at Milton about the beginning of the Nineteenth Century. Owing to the burning of the records at the time of the British attack on Washington in the War of 1812, it is impossble to give the exact date, but the office was in existence in 1801, with Dr. Samuel R. Glover as postmaster. He was succeeded by Moses Whitney in 1805, who held the office for some twelve years, when he resigned and Nathan C. Martin was appointed.
In April, 1872, the postoffice at East Milton was established, with J. W. Bab- cock as postmaster, and on April 1, 1874, the Blue Hill postoffice, on Canton Avenue near Harland Street, was opened for the receipt and delivery of mail, with Stillman J. Tucker as postmaster. This office at first received mail once a day through the postoffice at Mattapan. With the introduction of rural free delivery the postoffice at Blue Hill was discontinued, leaving but two offices in the town at the beginning of the year 1917.
WATERWORKS
The system of waterworks in Milton was built by the Milton Water Company and was purchased by the town in 1902 for $320,155.02, of which sum $120,546.67 was applied to the payment of bonds issued by the company prior to the time of purchase. The annual appropriations from 1903 to 1916 inclusive aggregate $47,000, but of these appropriations $24,503.64 represents unexpended balances that were turned back into the treasury, making the net cost to the town at the close of the year 1916 the sum of $342,651.38.
Since the plant was purchased by the town the mains have been extended until at the beginning of the year 1917 there were a little more than fifty-two miles, all of which except about one mile consisted of pipe more than four inches in diameter. The number of public hydrants was 401 and the total consumption of water for the year 1916 amounted to 135,878,000 gallons.
FIRE DEPARTMENT
On February 24, 1670, a town meeting ordered that every householder should have a "lader long enough to reach to ye top of his house by the last day of ye Fifth Month, or pay ten shillings for faleure to do so & five shillings a month thereafter so longe as he shall neglect to provide sayd lader." . This is the first mention of fire protection to be found in the town records, though some precau- tion may have been made earlier, as the records for the first eight years are missing.
In 1793 the "Firewards Society of Dorchester and Milton" was organized and
OLDEST HOUSE IN EAST MILTON
-
OBSERVATORY. BLUE HILL RESERVATION, MILTON
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
Stephen Badlam was elected clerk. The members of the society were exempted by the two towns from military duty and the payment of poll tax. The first engine was a small affair, filled by leather buckets. Nearly every house had two buckets kept in some convenient place, where they could be easily reached in case of fire, and a number of buckets was always kept with the engine.
The first suction engine-the "Fountain"-was kept near the end of the bridge, on the Dorchester side of the Neponset River. A little later the "Alert" was procured and stationed on the Milton side and there was a friendly rivalry between the two companies as to which could respond the more promptly and render the better service at a fire. In 1845 a hydrant engine was purchased for $1,200 and the same year a hook and ladder company was organized. A supply of hose was also purchased for the use of the fire company. Three years later the "Ninety's Hose Company" was organized. It is said to have taken its name from the "87 Hose Company," mentioned in "Doesticks," a volume published about that time. Better fire protection was afforded in 1861 when a line of pipe was laid from the mill to Canton Avenue and six hydrants were located thereon.
In 1881 an engine house was built by the town in the rear of the town hall, at a cost of $3,195 and a chemical engine was bought for $2,000 and placed in the new house. During the next two years a fire alarm system was installed, and at the close of 1883 there were twenty-three miles of wire and eighteen aların boxes. At that time there were six reservoirs, in which water could be stored for fire emergencies-one near the town hall, one on Central Avenue, and the other four at points in East Milton. The annual town meeting in 1887 made an appropriation for the purchase of a steam fire engine and the erection of an engine house at Milton Centre. This was the first steam fire engine introduced in the town.
According to the report of the board of fire engineers for the year ending on December 31, 1916, "The apparatus of the department now consists of I motor ladder truck with chemical tank attachment; I 750-gallon capacity motor pump engine; I motor combination hose and chemical truck; totalling a cost to the town of $19,450, all of which is housed in the Central Fire Station. The depart- ment also maintains horse-drawn combination hose and chemical apparatus at both East Milton and Brush Hill."
During the year 1916 the department answered 131 alarms, besides eight calls to Boston and six to Quincy. The value of property involved in the 131 fires in the town was $66,160 and the total loss by fire was $5,207.30, on which the prop- erty holders recovered insurance of $4,332.30, making the actual fire loss $875- a record rarely equaled by town fire departments.
FINANCIAL HISTORY
Milton is the third wealthiest town in Norfolk County, being exceeded in this respect only by the Town of Brookline and the City of Quincy. According to the report of the assessors for the year 1916, the total valuation of property was $35,104,044. This is $1,965,319 lower than the valuation of 1915, but the decrease is not due to any real loss of property, being due merely to a readjust- ment of assessments by the board of assessors. On December 31, 1916, the funded debt of the town was $455,000, distributed as follows :
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
School loans $244,000
Water bonds outstanding. 160,000
Sewer loans 29,000
Library loan 15,000
Public Park loans
7,000
Total
$455,000
Of the school loans, $175,000 was authorized in 1916 for the purpose of erect- ing a new high school building. On the other side of the ledger the town prop- erty was valued as follows :
School buildings and contents. $ 273,890
Public Library and contents.
137,318
Police Station and contents 35,304
Other buildings and contents. 167,947
Cemetery
50,000
Public grounds and parks.
36,000
Other real estate.
19,700
Waterworks
315,000
Total
$1,035,159
In addition to this municipal property, the treasurer reported assets consisting of cash on hand and uncollected assessments of $201,167. If this be added to the $1,035,159 representing the value of buildings, etc., the town has total assets of $1,236,326, or nearly three dollars for every dollar of the funded debt. Surely the holder of Milton's obligations need feel no anxiety as to the safety of his securities. The total appropriations made by the annual meeting in 1916 amounted to $397,705, to wit :
Highway construction
$ 50,000
Highway maintenance
30,300
Sprinkling and oiling streets.
10,000
Sidewalks
5,000
Police department
33,245
Fire department
24,770
Water department
14,400
Schools
96,300
Poor
7,000
Public Library
10,000
Street lighting
17,923
Interest
11,079
Salaries
10,800
Public parks
3,600
Miscellaneous
73,288
Total
$397,705
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
In a majority of the cases, as shown by the above table, the appropriations were in excess of the actual necessities, and the auditor, in his financial statement at the close of the year, reported unexpended balances amounting to $180,007. This shows that while the people of Milton are liberal in giving support to the town's institutions, the officials who have charge of the disbursement of public funds have been governed by reasonable concern for the interests of the tax- payers of the town, and that they have used good business judgment in making their contracts and purchases.
A FEW FIRST THINGS
The first birth recorded in the town records is that of Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Swift, who was born on August 21, 1662.
The earliest recorded marriage was solemnized on November 30, 1671, when Alc Caig became the wife of Samuel Pilcher, though it is quite certain that this was not the first in the town-being only the first on record.
The first recorded death is that of Robert, son of Edward Vose, who died on November II, 1667. An infant son of John Keney died two days later.
The first mention of a school is in the records for March 4, 1669, when "Ebenezer Tucker was chose Scoole Master for the west end of the Town."
The first sermon was preached by Rev. Stephen Kingsley, but Rev. Joseph Emerson was the first regularly licensed clergyman to hold religious services in the town.
The first powder mill in this section of the colony was ordered in August, 1673. A company was at that time organized by Rev. John Oxenbridge and Rev. James Allen, pastor and teacher respectively of the First Church in Boston, Robert Sanderson, Capt. John Hull and Freegrace Bendall to build a mill for the manufacture of gunpowder. They brought over from England Walter Everendon as superintendent, and the mill was located just south of the Neponset bridge, on the Milton side of the river. At the time of King Philip's war the General Court ordered "a constant watch to be kept at Unkety for the preserva- tion of the powder mill and the grist mill in its immediate vicinity."
The first pound was built in 1670 on Mr. Cushing's land near the present White Street.
The first paper mill was started in January, 1728, and the first chocolate mill in the fall of 1764. The first violoncello was made by Benjamin Crehore in 1798, and the first piano by the same man two years later.
OLD FAMILIES
One little passage in the historical address of Edward L. Pierce at the dedica- tion of the town hall, February 17, 1879, is worthy of more than passing notice. Said he: "There has been a continuity in the life of this town rare in municipal history. Growing in population by natural increase rather than by accessions from other places, there has been a steady flow of influence and character from one generation to another. Eight of the original trustees, to whom, in 1664, a tract of land was conveyed for a meeting house and other ministerial purposes, have always since had and still have descendants in the town bearing their names,
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
and in some instances living upon and holding, without break in the chain of title, their ancestral acres-the Voses, Wadsworths, Tuckers, Sumners, Gullivers, Babcocks, Swifts and Cranes."
MILTON IN 1917
In 1910 the population of Milton, according to the United States census, was 7.924. The state census of 1915 reports it as 8,600, and in 1916 the superin- tendent of the waterworks estimates it at 8,933. These figures show a steady gain in the number of inhabitants, much of which is due as Mr. Pierce said in his address to "natural increase." Of the families mentioned by him, six were represented in the tax list for 1916, the Cranes and Gullivers being the only ones missing.
Milton has two banks, one of which has been in existence for nearly a century, a weekly newspaper (the Record), several churches, some manufacturing inter- tests, steam and electric railway transportation, and is one of the most desirable residence towns in the county.
Following is a list of the principal town officers at the beginning of the year 1917 : James S. Russell, Maurice A. Duffy and James P. Mitchell, selectmen and surveyors of highways; G. Frank Kemp, clerk; J. Porter Holmes, treasurer ; Clarence Boylston, William W. Churchill and Charles H. Horne, assessors ; Josiah Babcock, tax collector; J. H. Raymond and Frederick N. Krim, auditors ; Theodore T. Whitney, Jr., Howard Leslie and Thomas B. Gordon, water com- missioners ; Albert D. Smith, Arthur H. Tucker, Walter D. Brooks, Horace N. Plummer and Caroline E. Williams, overseers of the poor ; Bernard W. Trafford, Malcolm Donald and J. Sumner Draper, park commissioners; Harris Kennedy, H. B. Edwards, Frank P. Fanning, Stephen C. Mitchell, Reginald L. Robbins and Eva B. Churchill, school committee; Maurice Pierce, Peleg Bronsdon, Timothy McDermott and George W. Higgins, constables; Philip S. Dalton, James S. Gallagher and J. H. Holmes, fire engineers.
CHAPTER XXIV
THE TOWN OF NEEDHAM
ORIGINALLY PART OF DEDHAM-LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES-SURFACE-INDIAN OCCUPATION-FIRST SETTLEMENT-PETITION TO BE SET OFF AS A TOWN-THE TOWN INCORPORATED-FIRST TOWN MEETING-CHANGING THE BOUNDARIES- TOWN HALL-WATERWORKS-FIRE DEPARTMENT-ELECTRIC LIGHT-POSTOF- FICES-A HISTORIC MONUMENT-TOWN SEAL- MODERN NEEDHAM.
The territory now comprising the Town of Needham was included in Dedham when the latter was incorporated on September 8, 1636, and remained a part of that town for three-quarters of a century. Needham is situated in the northerly part of the county, in a bend of the Charles River. On the northwest it is bounded by Wellesley ; on the northeast by the Charles River, which separates it from the City of Boston ; and also on the southerly side by the Charles River, which there separates it from the towns of Dedham and Dover. That portion of Dedham known as "Dedham Island," lying on the opposite side of the Charles River from the main part of the town, forms a small part of Needham's boundary line on the southeast. There are several small streams in the town, all tributary to the Charles River. They rise in the central part and flow in nearly all directions, which indicates the general character of the surface.
INDIAN OCCUPATION
At the time Dedham was incorporated, and for many years afterward, the land in what is now Needham was claimed by the Indians. On April 14, 1680, a deed was executed by William Nahaton (sometimes written Nehoiden) and his brothers and sisters to "a parcel or tract of land as it lieth towards the north- erly side of Dedham, by the Great Falls of the Charles River, to the Natic saw mill brook," etc. About a year later, April 18, 1681, John Magus, a minor chief living at Natick, and his wife, Sara Magus, relinquished all their claims to "the whole parcel or tract of land as it lieth in Dedham bounds," etc. The tract thus deeded to the white inhabitants was known as "Magus Hill" and included the present towns of Needham and Natick and that part of Dedham called Dedham Island. The consideration received by Magus and his wife was five pounds in money and Indian corn to the value of three pounds-a total of about forty dollars. The same lands today are worth several millions of dollars.
FIRST SETTLEMENT
It is uncertain just when or by whom the first settlement was made in Need- ham, but it was no doubt soon after the extinguishment of the Indian title, as
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
mentioned in the foregoing paragraph. The records of a Dedham town meeting held in March, 1694, bear evidence that a settlement of some kind existed in the vicinity of Magus Hill. On July 2, 1705, the Dedham selectmen granted one Benjamin Mills a license "to keep a public house near the Lower Falls," and on March 9, 1709, the settlers living on the opposite side of the Charles River from Dedham Village petitioned the town for a grant of eight pounds to pay a minister for three months, which request the records show was granted.
There must have been a considerable number of inhabitants at that time, or the grant would hardly have been made. It is not probable that a meeting house had then been erected, but that the preaching was to be done at a pioneer school house, or in the homes of some of the inhabitants. A little more than a year later the people of what is now Needham took the first steps to have a town of their own established, by petitioning the General Court to that effect.
THE PETITION
The petition asking for the incorporation, which was presented to the General Court in May, 1710, was signed by Henry Alden, Samuel Bacon, Hezekiah Broad, Edward Cook, Robert Cook, Andrew Dewing, Andrew Dewing, Jr., Jonathan Dewing, John Fisher, John Fisher, Jr., Thomas Fuller, Robert Fuller, John Gill, Joseph Hawes, Stephen Hunting, Eleazer Kingsbury, James Kingsbury, Josiah Kingsbury, Timothy Kingsbury, John McIntire, Thomas Metcalf, Benjamin Mills, Benjamin Mills, Jr., William Mills, Zechariah Mills, Richard More, Matthias Ock- inton, Isaac Parker, Jonathan Parker, John Parker, John Parker, Jr., Samuel Parker, Christopher Smith, John Smith, Joshua Smith, Andrew Wadkins, Ebe- nezer Ware, Ephraim Ware, Jeremiah Woodcock and John Woodcock.
Opposition to the petition developed in the Town of Dedham, which appointed a committee to appear at the October session of the General Court and show why the petition should not be granted. The effect of this move on the part of the mother town was that the General Court declined to grant the prayer of the petitioners at that time, but advised the people of Dedham to exempt them from paying taxes for the support of the minister at Dedham, provided they would undertake to have religious services among themselves and to employ a minister to conduct such services. This advice was accepted by a town meeting held in Dedham on November 13, 1710, and on the 19th of March following still further encouragement was given by the proprietors of undivided land in Dedham setting apart two lots of land (about one hundred and thirty-three acres) to be used by the settlers of Needham for the support of the ministry. This placed the inhabitants of Needham in the position of a separate precinct, although such precinct was not organized under the laws of the colony.
THE TOWN INCORPORATED
The people of the little settlement northwest of the Charles River were not satisfied, however, with their quasi-precinct organization and during the summer and early fall of 1711 another petition asking the General Court to incorporate "that portion of Dedham lying north of the Charles River as a separate town," was circulated and signed by most of the inhabitants. This petition came before
PUBLIC LIBRARY. NEEDHAM
TOWN HALL, NEEDHAM
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
the General Court at the fall session, and on November 5, 17II, it was granted, "the new town to be known as Needham."
Concerning the name of the town, Rev. Stephen Palmer, in a historical address delivered by him at the centennial celebration of the town in 1811, said: "I have been informed by one of the descendants of the venerable Timothy Dwight, of Dedham, who was a member of the Legislature when this town was incorporated, that it was named Needham at the request of Governor Dudley after Needham in England, and because that town is near to Dedham, although in a different county."
FIRST TOWN MEETING
Needham's first town meeting was held on December 4, 1711, when the fol- lowing officers were elected: Timothy Kingsbury, John Fisher, Benjamin Mills, John Smith and Robert Cook, selectmen ; Timothy Kingsbury, clerk; Robert Cook, treasurer. On May 19, 1712, Robert Cook was elected as the first representative to the General Court. The only other business transacted at the meeting of December 4, 1711, besides the election of officers, was the appointment of a com- mittee to select a suitable place for a burial ground. The committee was com- posed of the selectmen, Jonathan Gay, Jeremiah Woodcock, Thomas Metcalf and Eleazer Kingsbury.
CHANGING THE BOUNDARIES
As established in 1711, Needham included the present Town of Wellesley and a part of Natick. On October 3, 1774, the westerly part was set off as a precinct and about four years later was organized as a separate parish. Natick was set off from Dedham in 1781. By an act of the General Court in 1797, the tract known as the "Needham Leg," containing 1,656 acres, was added to Natick, but Needham received in return 404 acres from Natick in another place, the change making both the towns of better shape. On June 21, 1803, the Turtle Island, at the Upper Falls of the Charles River, was taken from Needham and annexed to Newton. The Town of Wellesley was set off on April 6, 1881, reduc- ing Needham to its present dimensions.
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