USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 1622-1918, vol 1 > Part 49
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James M. Stewart, editor of the Franklin Register, published a paper called the Walpole Standard in the early '70s. It lived to start on its eighth volume, when it was discontinued. Other Walpole newspapers of the last century were : The Enterprise, started by E. H. Hosmer in March, 1878; the Norfolk County Tribune, which succeeded the Enterprise in June, 1881; the Walpole Star. started in June, 1882, by Charles J. McPherson, and the Standard and Enter- prise which was published for a short time in the 'Sos. The Walpole Enterprise of the present day is an edition of the Foxboro Reporter.
The first newspaper in Braintree was called the Reporter and was started by Charles G. Easterbrook of the Weymouth Gazette. It lasted not quite two years and left but little history. The Old Colony Bulletin began its career in April, 1875, with the name of C. F. David at the head of the editorial columns. He sold the outfit in October following and it was removed to Abington. Mr. David later started the Weymouth Advance, which was not a successful venture and the paper lived but about two years, as already stated.
In 1878 Daniel H. Huxford, editor and proprietor of the East Norfolk Register, of Randolph, began the publication of the Braintree Observer, which is still in existence. It is now published every Saturday as an independent newspaper by the George W. Prescott Publishing Company of Quincy.
On April 29, 1882, Frederick P. Fairfield, a Boston man, issued the first number of the Milton News. Some six months later the paper was purchased by W. W. Woodward, who conducted it for a few years, when it went to the wall.
NEWSPAPERS IN 1917
According to Ayer's Newspaper Directory for 1917, there are seven towns in Norfolk County that have no newspapers published within their limits, viz : Bellingham, Dover, Medfield, Norfolk, Plainville, Westwood and Wrentham. Of the newspapers in the other towns, the Braintree Observer, Foxboro Reporter, Franklin Sentinel, Needham Chronicle, Quincy Patriot-Ledger, Stoughton Sen- tinel, Walpole Enterprise and Weymouth Gazette and Transcript have already been described.
The Braintree Bee, an independent weekly, was established in 1894, and is now published every Saturday by the firm of Pratt & Pratt, editors and pro- prietors.
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
The Brookline Chronicle made its appearance on May 9, 1874, with the name of W. H. Hutcheson as editor and proprietor. In July, 1875, it was purchased by Wing & Arthur. In January, 1877, Charles M. Vincent became the owner, but sold it about a year later to Alexander S. Arthur, who in July, 1879, took Charles A. W. Spencer into partnership. The Chronicle is now published every Saturday as an independent newspaper by the Chronicle Publishing Company, with Arthur W. Spencer as editor.
In 1903 the Brookline Townsman made its bow to the public as an inde- pendent weekly. It is now published by the Brookline Press (incorporated) and the editor is V. G. Byers.
N. T. Merritt, a journalist of considerable experience in that line, established the Canton Journal in December, 1876. About four months later he sold out to D. S. Hasty of Easton. E. B. Thorndike became the proprietor in 1880, and in May, 1882, the office and printing establishment were removed to the "old school house," where commodious quarters were obtained and the paper was greatly improved. The Journal is now published by the Canton Publishing Company (incorporated), with Herbert Mosman as editor. An edition called the Easton Bulletin is issued every week for North Easton.
Cohasset has three newspapers, though none is published in the town. The Cohasset Citizen is an edition of the "East Wind," published at Hull; the Cottager is an edition published by the Abington Advertiser ; and the Sentinel is published by the South Shore Publishing Company of Boston, which publishes a number of newspapers for the small towns along the coast.
The Dedham Transcript was established in 1870. Some years later the busi- ness was incorporated under the name of the Transcript Press, which now publishes the Transcript as an independent newspaper every Saturday. An edition for local distribution is also issued by the Transcript Press under the name of the Standard.
An independent newspaper called the Holbrook Times began its career in 1889. It is now published every Saturday, following the original policy of inde- pendence, by John King, who is both editor and proprietor.
The only newspaper in Millis is an edition of the Milford Gazette, which is issued as an independent sheet every Friday, devoted largely to the local news of the town.
Charles F. Marden is the present editor and proprietor of the Milton Record, which was established in 1904. It is published every Saturday as an independent weekly. In Needham, besides the Chronicle already mentioned, there is a weekly independent newspaper called the Recorder. It was founded in 1895 and is now published every Friday by Ellis S. Tisdale and Robert Coupe, editors and proprietors.
Norwood has a live weekly newspaper called the Messenger. It was estab- lished in 1895 and is now published by Ambrose Brothers, A. N. Ambrose being the editor. The Messenger is issued every Saturday and is devoted chiefly to local news and matters pertaining to Norwood and vicinity.
In 1909 a second daily paper made its appearance in Quincy. It is called the Quincy Daily Telegram and is published every afternoon except Sunday. J. D. Smith is the present editor and the paper is published by W. G. Spargo.
There is also in Quincy a monthly publication called the Granite Cutters'
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
Journal. It was founded in 1877 by the Granite Cutters' International Associa- tion and is published by that organization in the interests of the workmen in the granite industry. The present editor is James Duncan.
In 1914 the Randolph News Publishing Company began the publication of an independent weekly newspaper called the Randolph News. It is issued every Friday and has a good local patronage.
Sharon has two weekly newspapers-the Advocate and the News. The former was started in 1881 by William B. Wickes, who continued to publish the paper for several years. It is now issued every Saturday as an independent newspaper by the Sharon Publishing Company. The News was founded in 1914 and is also published on Saturday as an independent weekly by the News Publishing Company, with Mary A. Mahoney as editor.
The South Weymouth Times was founded in 1911 and is now published every Friday by Sydney Rogers Cook. It is devoted chiefly to local news and interests. The South Weymouth Sun is an edition of the Abington Advertiser.
M. W. Hawley is the publisher and William H. Davis the editor of the Stoughton News, which began its career in 1911. It is now published every Friday as an independent weekly.
The Wellesley Townsman was established in 1906 and is now issued every Friday by the Wellesley Publishing Company. It is purely local in character and devoted to Wellesley interests. The Wellesley Review is an edition of the Natick Bulletin and is issued weekly. In 1901 the students of Wellesley College began the publication of a paper called the Wellesley College News. It is issued every Thursday during the college year and is edited by the students.
West Medway has a weekly edition of the Milford Gazette that is devoted to Medway interests, but no paper is published in the town proper. The South Shore Newspaper Company of Boston issues a weekly called the Weymouth Enterprise, for circulation in that town.
CHAPTER XLVII
LIBRARIES AND HISTORICAL SOCIETIES
LAWS RELATING TO PUBLIC LIBRARIES-A FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY IN EVERY TOWN IN NORFOLK COUNTY-BRIEF HISTORY OF EACH-HISTORICAL SOCIETIES AND THEIR OBJECT - DEDHAM - CANTON - WEYMOUTHI - MEDFIELD - HOLBROOK - FOXBORO-WALPOLE-MEDWAY-MILTON-QUINCY.
For more than a century the State of Massachusetts, by liberal and appro- priate legislation, has sought to encourage the establishment of free public libraries. The act of March 3, 1798, provided "That any seven or more persons capable of contracting, in any towns or districts in this Commonwealth, who have or shall become Proprietors in common of any Library, may form them- selves into a Society or Body Politic for the express purposes of holding, in- creasing, preserving and using such Library," etc.
Since that time a number of laws relating to public libraries have been enacted. By the act of May 28, 1890, the governor was authorized to appoint a board of library commissioners, to consist of five residents of the Common- wealth, whose duty it should be to advise the librarian or trustees of any public library in regard to the selection of books, and any other matters pertaining to the maintenance or management of the library. The board was also "authorized and directed to expend, upon the application of the board of trustees of any town having no free public library owned and controlled by the town, a sum not exceeding one hundred dollars for books for any such town entitled to the bene- fits of this act; such books to be used by the trustees for the purpose of estab- lishing a free public library, and said commissioners shall select and purchase all books to be provided as aforesaid."
Under the provisions of this act free public libraries have multiplied in the State of Massachusetts until nearly every town in the state has an institution of this nature. Every town in Norfolk County has a public library, a majority of them having been established before the passage of the act of 1890. On May 6, 1892, an act was approved giving one hundred dollars' worth of books to any town whose valuation does not exceed $600,000, which maintained a free public library prior to the passage of the act of 1890, "and which has fully complied or hereafter fully complies with the provisions of said act." A few of the towns in Norfolk County have received state aid under the provisions of this act. In this chapter are given brief histories of the free public libraries in the several towns of the county. For the convenience of the reader these histories have been arranged in the alphabetical order of the towns.
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
AVON
At the town meeting held in March, 1892, the citizens of Avon voted to accept the provisions of the act of 1890, and the following June the town received $100 worth of books from the state for the purpose of founding a free public library. Subsequently Lucius Clapp, of Randolph, gave the library $500 for the purchase of books that "shall be instructive and of good moral tone," on the condition that the library establish a reading room open to the public on certain evenings each week. The library is kept in the town hall. In 1916 it numbered 3,710 volumes and had an income of $465.77. During the year 13,899 books were taken from the library by the people of the town for home reading.
BELLINGHAM
In 1894 this town accepted the provisions of the act of 1890 and received $100 worth of books from the state as a nucleus of a free public library. That year the town appropriated twenty-five dollars for the library, but the next year, and for several years thereafter, the appropriation was seventy-five dollars. Nearly one hundred volumes were donated by the Bellingham United Library Association. The report of the state library commission for 1916 gives the number of volumes as 3,075 and the income as $350.41. The trustees for 1916 were: Laurence Mason, A. Evelyn Sackett, Susie C. Fairbanks, Alice A. Burr, Olive C. Cook and Bertha Franklin, the last named being the librarian.
BRAINTREE
At a special town meeting held in Braintree on May 16, 1870, the following communication was received from Gen. Sylvanus Thayer:
"To the Citizens of the Town of Braintree :
"Gentlemen-To establish a free public library in the town, I propose to erect a fire-proof building, suitable for the purpose, towards the cost of which the town shall contribute the sum of ten thousand dollars, the amount needed to complete the building to be paid by me. And I will loan to the town the said sum of ten thousand dollars, for such time as it shall require it, to comply with this offer, at six per cent interest. Upon the acceptance of this proposition by the town, I will give the further sum of ten thousand dollars, as a permanent fund, the income of which shall annually be devoted to the maintenance of said library. Should the town take favorable action upon this matter, I shall be happy to confer with a committee with reference to the immediate consumma- tion of the project.
"Respectfully,
"S. THAYER."
The acceptance of the offer was by an almost unanimous vote, and Asa French, Edward Avery, Francis A. Hobart, Charles H. Dow and Alva Morrison were appointed the committee to confer with General Thayer, and were given full power to act in the premises. General Thayer did not live to see the library building completed, but the executors of his will carried out his generous offer
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by setting apart the sum of twenty thousand dollars for the erection of the building and the support of the library. The cost of the building was $32,500. It was opened to the public on September 1, 1874. According to the library commission's report for 1916, the library had 16,822 volumes on the shelves and an income of $3,088.76, of which $1,550 was appropriated by the town and the remainder came from the endowment fund of General Thayer.
BROOKLINE
As early as 1825 a library association was organized in Brookline, with Rev. John Pierce as president. Membership fees were fixed at five dollars a year for the first two years and two dollars a year after that time. The library was kept in the house of the librarian and was open on the first and third Saturdays of each month, from three to four o'clock in the afternoon for the exchange of books. In 1827 a catalogue was issued showing nearly three hundred volumes. After a few years of comparative success, the library gradually declined and finally ceased to exist.
The question of establishing a free public library came before the town meeting on March 16, 1857, and a committee was appointed to report at an adjourned meeting on the 30th of the same month. The committee was com- posed of Edward A. Dana, Samuel Philbrick, George F. Homer, Charles Follen and Abijah W. Goddard. At the adjourned meeting this committee reported in favor of the project and upon its recommendation the town voted for the support of the library the highest sum that could be raised by taxation. The income the first year was $934. A room was provided in the town hall and the library was opened for the delivery of books on December 2, 1857. Three additional rooms in the town building were occupied as the library grew and it became necessary to procure larger and more suitable quarters. In 1867 the town voted to pur- chase a tract of ground on Washington street and plans for a library building were soon afterward approved. This building was completed at a cost of about forty-five thousand dollars and was opened to the public on October 13, 1869. In 1888 a wing was added at a cost of $16,500 and the reading room was added in 1892 at a cost of $15,840. Besides the liberal appropriations made from time to time by the town, the library has been aided by the donations and bequests of public spirited citizens, amounting in the aggregate to nearly twenty thousand dollars. The reading room is called "Gardner Hall," in honor of John L. Gard- ner, who gave the library $10,000 in January, 1871. At the close of the year 1916 the Brookline library numbered 89.663 volumes and the income for the year was $34,862.40. During the year 230,913 volumes were circulated for home use.
CANTON
Through the efforts of the Grand Army of the Republic, a free public library was established in Canton in 1874. A small agricultural library in the town was absorbed by the new institution. George E. Downes left a bequest of $5,000, that portion of the income not used in caring for his burial lot in the cemetery to be given to the public library. In 1898 Miss Caroline Tucker Downes left by
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
will a fund of $2,000, the income of which is devoted to the purchase of books. For many years the library was kept in rooms upon the first floor of the memorial hall, but in 1901 Augustus Hemenway erected and furnished a neat and sub- stantial building, which, together with the site, he donated to the town for library purposes. At the close of the year 1916 the Canton library contained 18,619 volumes and the income for the year was $5.024.86. Lucy D. Downes was at that time the librarian.
COHASSET
The Cohasset Free Public Library dates its beginning from March, 1878, when Rev. Joseph Osgood, in his report as superintendent of schools, urged the establishment of such an institution, and induced the town to vote an appropria- tion of $300 for that purpose, payable when a like sum had been raised by private subscription. The teachers of the town went to work and in a short time the needed sum of $300 was obtained. The library was then organized and was further aided by the citizens by the donation of books and money. Dr. David W. Cheever, of Boston, a summer resident of Cohasset, gave a fund of $300, called the "Marion Cheever Fund," as a memorial to his deceased daughter, to be in- vested in books of a scientific character at the rate of thirty dollars annually. For about twenty years the library was kept in rooms upon the first floor of the town hall, when it was consolidated with the Paul Pratt Memorial Library, the history of which is as follows :
Paul Pratt was born in Cohasset on May 17, 1788, and died there on August 31, 1853. He left considerable property to his two daughters-Harriot E. and Sarah S. The latter was one of the trustees of the Cohasset Public Library from the time of its organization until her death in 1896. Harriot E. Pratt died on April 19, 1898, and in her will provided that one-half of her estate, except certain real estate, should be paid to the chairman of the board of selectmen of the Town of Cohasset, the pastor of the First Parish Church, the pastor of the Second Congregational Church, Randolph Knapp and James Longley, and two others to be selected by these five, the fund to be used for the establishment of a free public library to be known as the "Paul Pratt Memorial Library." The first meeting of the trustees was held on February 3, 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Samuel T. Snow gave a site on Main street and the building was finished in December, 1902. Then the trustees of the Paul Pratt Memorial and the Cohasset Public libraries came to an agreement to work together and the old library was moved out of the town hall into the new building.
In August, 1916, the trustees leased quarters in the building of the Beech- wood Improvement Association and established a branch of the library at Beech- wood. The library has the income from $14,500 invested in interest bearing securities, and the town appropriation in 1916 was $2,150. At the close of that year the librarian, Miss Sarah B. Collier, reported 15,575 volumes.
DEDHAM
A social library was organized in Dedham on November 24, 1854, under the general laws of the state in force at that time. Carlos Slafter and Dr. Joseph P.
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Paine raised about thirteen hundred dollars by subscription ; by payment of five dollars any one could become a shareholder and each member of the association paid a varying sum annually toward the library's support. A circulating library belonging to Elbridge G. Robinson, editor of the Norfolk Democrat, was pur- chased for $200, and the institution was opened on February 1, 1855, in a house next to the insurance building and Dr. Samuel Adams, a dentist who lived in the house, was the first librarian. After a time persons who were not members were admitted upon the payment of a certain sum annually. Interest in the library increased and about 1870 a movement was started for the establishment of a public library which should be free to all the inhabitants. Lack of funds was the principal obstacle to the project. The women of the town held a suc- cessful "fair," from which was realized the sum of $4,000 to be used for the support of the new library.
On March 24, 1871, the Dedham Public Library and Reading Room was in- corporated by an act of the Legislature. In the act Waldo Coburn, Thomas L. Wakefield, Edward Stimson, Edmund Quincy, William Chickering, Erastus Worthington, Alfred Hewins, Henry O. Hildreth "and their associates and successors," were given power to hold in trust real and personal property not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars in value, exclusive of books, papers and works of art. It was also provided in the act that "so long as said corporation shall allow the inhabitants of Dedham free access to its library and reading room, under reasonable regulations, said town may annually appropriate and pay said corporation a sum not exceeding one dollar on each of its ratable polls."
On November 17, 1871, the old Dedham Library Association voted unani- mously to transfer the books and other property of that organization to the new corporation and the 2,977 volumes of the old social library became the nucleus of the new public library, which was opened on February 24, 1872, in a room on the corner of High and Court streets. Charles Bullard in his will gave $3,000 to the library, the income to be used in the purchase of books. Henry O. Hildreth, Ebenezer Wright, George E. Hatton, William Ames, John Bullard, Dr. Henry P. Quincy and several other citizens gave books, amounting in the aggregate to nearly two thousand volumes.
Miss Hannah Shuttleworth died on February 22, 1886, and left a legacy of $10,000 for the erection of a library building. To this were added the following gifts: Albert W. Nickerson, $5,000; George A. Nickerson, $1,000; Joseph W. Clark, $1,000; Stephen M. Weld, $500; Henry P. Quincy, $200; A. W. Lamson, $100; John R. Bullard, $469.49, and the legacy of $10,000 left by John Bullard, making a total of $28,269.49. Later the trustees voted to add $4,000 from the general fund. The lot on the corner of Church and Norfolk streets was pur- chased in April, 1886, and the building was opened to the public on November 22, 1888. The total cost of building and grounds was $35,385.75.
By an act of the Legislature, approved on April 1, 1889, the trustees trans- ferred the entire library to the town, on condition that "the town will forever maintain the same as a free public library." The condition was accepted by the town and since that time Dedham has been the owner of the institution. The number of volumes at the close of the year 1916 was nearly twenty-six thousand, and the circulation during the year was over seventy-one thousand volumes.
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
DOVER
In March, 1894, the Dover town meeting voted $200 for the purchase of books for the purpose of founding a free public library, and a similar sum was raised by subscription. Later in the year the state library commission added $100 worth of books under the act of 1890 and at a special town meeting the sum of $350 was appropriated to furnish a suitable room in the town hall. The library was opened to the public on December 22, 1894, with 498 volumes on the shelves. According to the report of the state library commission for 1916, the Dover Library then numbered 5,718 volumes and reported an income of $805.
FOXBORO
On March 20, 1871, the citizens of Foxboro voted to establish a free public library, to be known as the "Boyden Public Library," in honor of Uriah A. Boyden, a native of the town, who gave $1,000 toward the enterprise. Mr. Boyden also provided for an annuity of $100 for the support of the library, which also receives annually the income of $500 known as the "Carpenter Fund." The building occupied by the library was erected in 1868 as a memorial hall at a cost of $13,000. In 1897 two wings were added, each with accommodations for 1,500 volumes. The cost of these improvements was about two thousand dollars. At the close of the year 1916 the library numbered about forty-five hundred volumes and during the year circulated nearly twelve thousand. The town appropriation for the year was $900.
FRANKLIN
To the Town of Franklin belongs the honor of having the oldest library in Norfolk County. In March, 1785, the Congregational Church there was erect- ing a new house of worship and wrote to Benjamin Franklin, after whom the town was named and who was then United States minister to France, asking him to donate a bell for the church. The letter was written by Jonathan Wil- liams, a nephew of Dr. Franklin. Under date of March 18, 1785, Doctor Franklin wrote as follows to his friend, Rev. Richard Price of London :
"Passy, France, 18 March, 1785.
"Dear Friend :- My nephew, Mr. Williams, will have the honor of delivering you this line. It is to request from you a list of books, to the value of about twenty-five pounds, such as are most proper to inculcate principles of sound religion and just government. A new town in the State of Massachusetts hav- ing done me the honor of naming itself after me, and proposing to build a steeple to their meeting house if I would give then a bell, I have advised the sparing themselves the expense of a steeple for the present, and that they would accept of books instead of a bell, sense being preferable to sound. These are, therefore, intended as the commencement of a little parochial library, for the use of a society of intelligent, respectable farmers, such as our country people generally consist of. Besides your own works, I would only mention, on the recommendation of my sister, Stennett's 'Discourses on Personal Religion,' which may be one book of the number if you know and approve it.
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