History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 1622-1918, vol 1, Part 50

Author: Cook, Louis A. (Louis Atwood), 1847-1918, ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: New York; Chicago, The S.J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 644


USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 1622-1918, vol 1 > Part 50


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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY


"With the highest esteem and respect, I am ever, my dear friend, yours most affectionately,


"B. FRANKLIN."


The collection of books selected by Mr. Price and paid for by Doctor Frank- lin number 116 volumes, not one of which was fiction and scarcely any of less solidity than "Blackstone's Commentaries," so the people of Franklin certainly got "sense instead of sound." The receipt of the books was a memorable event in the town. Rev. Nathaniel Emmons, pastor of the church that had asked for a bell, preached a sermon entitled "The Dignity of Man," which was afterward printed and dedicated "To His Excellency, Benjamin Franklin, President of the State of Pennsylvania, the ornament of genius, the patron of science and the best of men."


Several years after the Franklin collection was received, a social library was founded in connection with it. In the course of time the books supplied through the generosity of Doctor Franklin became obsolete and were rarely read. For a long time both the Franklin and the social libraries remained practically uncared for and became almost unknown. About 1869 two of the citizens of the town offered to give $100 each toward the establishment of a new library. Natives of the town who had become non-residents, were appealed to for subscriptions to the fund and several of them responded, about four hundred dollars being thus received. The Franklin Library Association (a stock company) was then organ- ized and the books remaining of the Franklin collection were turned over to the new association for preservation.


Not long after this the entire library was given to and accepted by the town, since which time it has been supported by the town appropriation and an income of $350 annually from a fund. The library building is the gift of Mrs. A. W. Peirce and Mrs. A. D. Thayer, daughters of the late Joseph G. Ray. In 1916 the library numbered 9.723 volumes and reported to the state library commission an income of $1,757. It is now known as the Ray Memorial Library.


HOLBROOK


On December 9, 1871, more than two months before the Town of Holbrook was created by act of the Legislature, Elisha N. Holbrook made a proposition at a meeting of citizens that, in the event the Town of Randolph was divided and a new town established, he would give to the said new town $50,000, one-half of which was to be used in the erection of a town hall and library building, $10,000 for a public library, and the remainder for the liquidation of the town debt. The Town of Holbrook was incorporated on February 29, 1872, Mr. Holbrook hav- ing died on the 5th of that month, though he made provision in his will for carry- ing out his proposal of the preceding December.


In 1873 a town hall was built on Franklin street, at a cost of $35,000, and the following year the public library was established in rooms upon the first floor of the building. Early on the morning of December 25, 1877, fire broke out in the town hall and the library, which was in the rear part of the building, was de- stroyed. Insurance to the amount of $3,500 was received, an entire new collec- tion of books bought, and when the new town hall, on the site of the former one, was opened in 1879 the library was again ready for the public patronage.


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On February 28, 1898, the town hall and library were again seriously dam- aged by fire and an insurance of $5,000 was recovered. At that time the library numbered about eight thousand volumes. Again the work of rebuilding was undertaken and on June 11, 1898, the library was once more opened to the public. At the beginning of the year 1917 the Holbrook library numbered about nine thousand volumes. The town appropriation for 1916 was $324.85 and the income from other sources was $1,182.83.


MEDFIELD


As early as 1786 a social library was established in Medfield, the shares being four dollars each. It accumulated about seven hundred volumes, but after some years it was disbanded and the books distributed among the members. Another stockholders' library was started in 1828, and it acquired about one thousand volumes, when, like its predecessor, it passed out of existence.


The present free public library dates back to 1873. Early in that year George Cummings offered to give $800 for the purpose of starting a library whenever the citizens of the town would obligate themselves to give a like sum. On March 29, 1873, it was announced that the desired sum had been subscribed and the library was opened in the town hall. Most of the books were destroyed in the fire of January 8, 1874, but the loss was made good by the gifts of public spirited citi- zens, and before the close of the year the library was reopened in the new town hall building. In 1892 the town granted the use of an additional room for a read- ing room. At his death George Cummings bequeathed $1,000 to the library and since then George M. Smith left it a legacy of $500, the income of both gifts being expended for its support.


In 1916 the town accepted the gift of a new building from Granville F. Dailey of New York, to be erected on the corner of Main and Pleasant streets, and a trust fund of $500 was received from John M. Richardson. At the begin- ning of the year 1917 the library numbered nearly seven thousand volumes. In the preceding year the town appropriation and dog tax amounted to $206.53 and the income from other sources was $428.21.


MEDWAY


The Medway Public Library had its origin in the Dean Library Association, which was incorporated on March 3, 1860, the incorporators being Luther Met- calf, William H. Cary, John Cole, Dr. A. B. L. Monroe and Clark Partridge. It took its name from Dr. Oliver Dean of Franklin, who offered to give $400, on condition that a like sum was raised by popular subscription. Life memberships cost ten dollars and the annual fees of those who did not hold life memberships were $1.50. Upon the death of Doctor Dean the association received a number of shares of Boston & Albany Railroad stock, which afterward reached a value of about five thousand dollars, the income of which was to be used for the pur- chase of books.


From the time of its organization until 1872 the library was kept in Fisher's Hall, but upon the completion of Sanford's Hall in Medway Village the library was removed there, as being a more central location. In 1892 the town voted to


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conform to the requirements of the library law of 1890, and received $100 worth of books from the state as the basis of a free public library, which was opened to the public on the 18th of June of that year. The town then made an appropria- tion of $125 and the dog tax-aggregating $424-one-fourth of which went to the Dean Public Library and the balance to the town library, which was for several years kept in the same room as the postoffice. William T. Adams, who wrote a large number of juvenile stories under the pseudonym of "Oliver Optic," and who was a native of Medway, presented the library with a complete set of his works. Recently a building has been erected and presented to the town by the heirs of the late Addison and Lydia Thayer, and the two libraries have been united in the new building under one management. In 1916 the town reported 4,753 volumes and an income of $435.87.


MILLIS


The public library of Millis was organized in 1878 as the "East Medway Cir- culating Library." When the Town of Millis was set off from Medway and incorporated by the act of February 24, 1885, the members of the East Medway Circulating Library Association decided to tender to the selectmen of the new town all books in their possession (about 325) as the foundation of a free public library. This was done at a meeting of the association held on March 19, 1885, and the offer was accepted by a town meeting four days later. The association also turned over its cash on hand (some $30) for the purchase of new books. The library building was erected by the heirs of Lansing Millis and presented to the town. In 1916 the library numbered 4,480 volumes and reported an income of $214.76.


MILTON


At a town meeting held on March 7, 1870, it was "voted that the town appro- priate the sum of $3,000 for a public library, to be paid to the trustees thereof, when a like sum has been raised by subscription or donation and secured to the satisfaction of the selectmen, and that nine trustees be chosen by the town to expend said amount and have charge of said library."


The citizens of the town manifested their interest in the proposition by promptly contributing the necessary $3,000, upon which the trustees rented a room at Milton Lower Mills and on February 23, 1871, the library was opened to the public, with 3,500 volumes upon the shelves, selected with great care by a committee. Ten years later a building was erected at the Lower Mills especially for the accommodation of the library, and a few years later a branch was estab- lished at East Milton. From the beginning the town has been liberal in support of the library, and the institution also has the income from the following funds : Vose, $4,900 ; Wolcott, $1,000; Kidder, $1,000; Churchill, $500.


Probably no public library in Norfolk County has been of more assistance to the public schools than the one in Milton. On January 2, 1895, the trustees voted to allow the teachers to take from the library "books that have been in the library for one year, in the proportion of one book to every two pupils in the high and grammar schools, and of one book to every three pupils in the primary schools,


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under such rules and restrictions as the executive committee may prescribe, the expense of transportation to be borne by the school committee." At the close of the schools in 1916, vacation reading lists were printed and distributed among the pupils in the primary and grammar grades, those reading the greatest number of books to constitute a "roll of honor" and have their names posted on the library bulletin board. The library now has three branches and eight school deposits, an arrangement by which every citizen of the town is brought in touch with the library.


At the close of the year 1916 nearly thirty thousand titles were catalogued in the Milton Public Library. The town appropriation, including the dog tax, for the year was $10,065.76, and the income from other sources amounted to $1,618.88.


NEEDHAM


On March 5, 1888, a town meeting in Needham voted to establish a public library, to be free to all the citizens of the town and "to be supported wholly by taxation, the town devoting to it the dog tax and a reasonable annual appropria- tion." The income for the first year was about eight hundred dollars. A room was set apart in the building leased for town purposes. Prior to the above action by the town meeting there were library associations at Needham and High- landville, both of which turned their books over to the town as part of the free public library. In return for this courtesy on the part of the Highlandville Library Association, a branch of the public library was established in that village. Another branch was subsequently established at Needham Heights, where a building was donated by Andrew Carnegie. This building was purchased in 1915 by William Carter for $9,000 in cash and a site for a new building. The town appropriated $10,000 and Mr. Carnegie donated the balance of the cost, which was $32,500. A delivery and deposit station has been established at the Needhamdale School, but the former branches have been discontinued. The new building was dedicated on May 4, 1916. It is one of the most modern designs in the county and has a capacity of 20,000 volumes. At the time it was opened to the 'public the library consisted of 16,500 volumes. The town appro- priation for 1916 was $28.973.97, and the income from other sources was $19.392. This, of course, included the building fund.


NORFOLK


In 1880 the Norfolk Library Association, which had been organized some years previously, offered its collection of books, numbering about two hundred volumes, to the town. The offer was accepted and the Norfolk Farmers' Club loaned a number of volumes from the club library. An appropriation of about seventy-five dollars was made by the town and the library was opened in a room in the town house. There it remained until the completion of the new high school building in October, 1897, in which more convenient quarters were fitted up for the library, where it is still kept. In 1816 there were 2,334 volumes on the shelves and the town appropriation for that year was $175.


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NORWOOD


On January 6, 1790, while Norwood was still a part of Dedham, twenty- two persons met and organized a social library association. Ten years later it was voted to sell the books at auction and distribute the proceeds among the members. On January 22, 1800, a few days after the auction, another library association was formed and used the same book of records, which is still in the possession of the Norwood Library. It continued as the "South Dedham Parish Library" until the Town of Norwood was incorporated in 1872, when the mem- bers offered to give "their rights and interests" in said library to the town. At the annual town meeting on March 3, 1873, the offer was accepted and a com- mittee appointed to confer with the shareholders. Another town meeting was held on the 7th of April, at which the committee reported that the shareholders of the South Parish Library had signed an agreement relinquishing their inter- ests in the library, "on condition that the Town of Norwood would establish and maintain a free public library for the benefit of the citizens of said town," and recommended that the offer be accepted. The report and recommendation were adopted and a board of trustees appointed to take charge of the library.


On February 1, 1898, George H. Morrill and his wife, Louisa J. Morrill, presented to the town a lot and building "to be used for literary and educational purposes only, and to be known as the Morrill Memorial Library." This mag- nificent gift, which cost over seventy-five thousand dollars, was donated to the town by Mr. and Mrs. Morrill as a memorial to their daughter, Sarah Bond Morrill, who died on March 7, 1895. The gift was accepted on February I, 1898, with appropriate public exercises. In 1916 the library contained nearly eighteen thousand volumes. The town appropriation and dog tax for that year amounted to $4,437.06 and other sources yielded an income of $238.31.


PLAINVILLE


When the Town of Plainville was incorporated by the act of April 4, 1905, the people lost the privileges they previously enjoyed of taking books from the Wrentham Public Library. At the annual town meeting in 1906 it was voted to accept the provisions of the library acts of 1890 and 1892, and room was set apart in the new school building for a public library. A little later the town received $100 worth of books from the state and the pupils of the high school raised over forty dollars for the benefit of the library. The Plainville Library Association, which had been organized some years before, donated its collection of books ( 112 volumes) and the library was opened early in the year 1908 with about five hundred volumes. During the next two years some five hundred volumes were added by donation and purchase. In 1916 a deposit station was established at Shepardville. The library then numbered 3,750 volumes and reported an income of $407.50, most of which was the town appropriation and dog tax.


QUINCY


At the annual town meeting in 1871 it was "voted that the funds arising from the tax on dogs be appropriated to establish a free public town library," and a


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committee was appointed to report a plan. The committee reported at a special meeting held on May 2, 1871, when a board of trustees was elected and the town appropriated $2,500 for the purpose of fitting up a suitable room and the purchase of books. The library was opened to the public on December 11, 1871, with 4,600 volumes on the shelves, about half of which had been donated by the citizens, Charles Francis Adams presenting 1,650 volumes of congressional rec- ords and other public documents.


In February, 1880, the heirs and descendants of Thomas Crane offered to erect a library building to his memory, to cost not less than twenty thousand dollars, if the town would provide a suitable site. Thomas Crane was a Quincy stone cutter, who acquired a fortune by dealing in granite in New York. The town voted to accept the offer and to call the building "Crane Memorial Hall"; also that after the town library should be deposited therein it should be known as the "Thomas Crane Library." The sum of $10,000 was appropriated for the purchase of a site and the "Thomas Crane Public Library of Quincy" was in- corporated by an act of the Legislature in 1880. On May 30, 1882, the new building was dedicated. Its cost was over fifty thousand dollars and it has a capacity of 40,000 volumes. In 1895 a bequest of $20,000 was made by Mrs. Clarissa L. Crane, widow of Thomas Crane, the income to be used for keeping the library building in repair, improvement of the grounds and purchase of works of art for the library. The Quincy library has one of the best collections of newspaper files and pamphlets pertaining to local history to be found in Norfolk County. In 1916 the catalogue showed nearly thirty-eight thousand titles. The income for that year was $14,444.69 from the town and $1,429.94 from other sources.


RANDOLPH


Randolph's public library is known as the "Turner Free Library." It was founded as a memorial to Col. Royal Turner by his heirs, viz: Seth Turner, Royal W. Turner, Mary B. Turner, Abby W. Turner and Annie M. Sweetser, and was opened to the public on March 22, 1876. The building was erected by the donors at a cost of $40,000, exclusive of the ground upon which it stands. Colonel Turner's heirs also gave the town a donation of $10,000 in money, one- half of which was used in the purchase of books and the remainder placed in an endowment fund. Seth Turner died on April 8, 1883, and in his will left an additional sum of $10,000, the income of which is to be applied to the support of the library. This with the one-half of the original donation gives the institu- tion a permanent fund of $15,000.


The first floor of the building, a handsome stone structure, is used for bank- ing and mercantile purposes, the money received from rentals also going toward the support of the library. Under these conditions it has never been necessary for the town to make large appropriations, further than to comply with the con- dition imposed by the donors that "the town shall keep the building repaired and insured." The library contains complete files of the local newspapers and in 1916 had upon its shelves 25,872 volumes. Several gifts of books were re- ceived during the year. The income from the Turner Fund was $2.725.84, and the town appropriation was $150.


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SHARON


At the annual town meeting in March, 1879, the people of Sharon voted an appropriation of $400 to establish a free public library and a committee of seven was appointed to carry out the instructions of the meeting and act as trustees until the next annual meeting. It was also voted that the annual receipts from dog licenses should be applied to the maintenance of the library "until otherwise ordered." This gave the library an income of $325 the first year. Russel Drake bequeathed the institution $500, Eliza Perkins left a legacy of $300, and there have been other donations and bequests to the library fund, which in 1916 yielded an income of $219.24. The town appropriation for that year was $1,311.28, which included the dog tax.


For the first five years of its existence the library was kept in rented rooms, but when the town building was completed in 1884 the library was removed there. Recently a new building has been erected by subscriptions from the citizens and a donation from Andrew Carnegie and the books, curios, etc., have been moved into new and permanent quarters. The library now contains over three thousand five hundred volumes and is well patronized by the people of the town. During the year 1916 Sharon was aided by a circulating library sent out by the Woman's Educational Association.


STOUGHTON


Several attempts were made to establish a public library in Stoughton before one succeeded. In April, 1873, the town meeting voted to appropriate the dog tax of that year toward the support of a free public library. This was a humble beginning, but the project was aided by the addition of a small agricultural library, previously established, which was turned over to the town. The library was opened to the public early in 1874 with 524 volumes on the shelves. Wales French, who died on May 31, 1916, was librarian for many years and during his life bought practically all of the books. Henry L. Pierce left a legacy of $25,000, the income of which is to be used for the purchase of new books. This income first became available in 1898. Cassadana L. Phinney left $500 by will for the benefit of the institution.


The library was at first kept in the town house, in which two rooms were set apart for book and reading rooms. A few years ago Lucius Clapp of Randolph, who had previously given the library 500 volumes, presented the town with a new library building. The growth of the Stoughton library has been all that could be desired by the town. In 1916 it reported 17,695 volumes. The town appropriation for that year was $1,849, and the income from other sources was $1,000.


WALPOLE


At a town meeting held on March 13, 1876, a petition signed by George A. Kendall and others was presented asking for the establishment of a free public library. An appropriation of $485, including the dog tax of that year, was made for the purpose of granting the petition and a board of six trustees was


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chosen by the meeting. In April an arrangement was made between the trustees and the East Walpole Library Association by which the 700 volumes belonging to the latter were given to the public library, upon the condition that the books should be sent to East Walpole once a week for ten years. The Young People's Library of about one hundred and twenty-five volumes and the Agricultural Library of seventy-five volumes were also turned over to the public library, which was opened in a drug store on July 15, 1876. In April, 1878, it was removed to a room in a building owned by Nathaniel Bird, and in September, 1881, to the town hall. There it remained until it was removed into its present quarters in the library building, which was given to the town by Andrew Carne- gie. The library now numbers about fifteen thousand volumes. The town appropriation and dog tax for 1916 amounted to $3,000 and the income from other sources to $250.


WELLESLEY


The Wellesley Free Library was established in 1881, mainly through the munificence of Hollis H. Hunnewell, who paid all the operating expenses until 1890. A few hundred volumes were received from the Wellesley Library Asso- ciation and individuals gave a number of books. The building, with a beautiful park of ten acres surrounding it, was presented to the town by Mr. Hunnewell in 1880. The building, a substantial stone edifice, cost about sixty thousand dollars and the donor also provided a fund of $20,000 for the care of the library and grounds. In 1916 the library reported 19,271 volumes. The town appropria- tion and dog tax for that year amounted to $4.253.07 and the income from the Hunnewell Fund to $1,175.04.


WESTWOOD


For a number of years prior to 1897 West Dedham had a library supported by subscription and carried on by an organization known as the West Dedham Library Club. It was kept in Ellis Hall and a fee of two dollars entitled any one to use the books. After a time the Town of Dedham appropriated $150 a year toward the support of the library, and still later it became a branch of the Dedham Public Library.


When the Town of Westwood was incorporated on April 2, 1897, the new town appropriated $150 for the library. On February 2, 1898, a town meeting voted to accept the conditions imposed by the act of May 4, 1888, relating to public libraries and the library became a public institution. In August, 1898, the books were removed to the selectmen's room. Howard Colburn, who was a mem- ber of the first board of trustees, later gave the town a small but neat building for the use of the library, which in 1916 reported 4.872 volumes. The town appropriation, including the dog tax, was $515.39 and the library had an income of $50.30 from other sources.


WEYMOUTH


There are two public libraries in the Town of Weymouth-the Tufts Library and the Fogg Memorial Library. Early in the Nineteenth Century social libraries Vol. 1-27


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