History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 102

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1534

USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 102

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The church was formally " embodied" Sept. 6, 1798, with ten members. Mr. Thomas Noyes, a na- tive of Acton, son of one of the Acton men in the Concord fight, a graduate of Harvard College (1795), was ordained July 10, 1799.

The only descendants of Mr. Noyes living in Wellesley are a granddaughter, Mrs. F. M. E. White, wife of Hon. George White, judge of probate of Norfolk County, with their three children. He was pastor till July 9, 1833. The first deacons were Joseph Daniell and William Bigelow. His suc- cessor was Joseph W. Sessions, ordained Oct. 2, 1833, dismissed May 31, 1842; succeeded, Oct. 6, 1842, by Rev. Harvey Newcomb, dismissed July 1, 1846 ; Andrew Bigelow, July 7, 1847, to Feb. 2, 1853; A. R. Baker, Jan. 1, 1856, dismissed 1861; George G. Phipps, Jan. 23, 1868, dismissed April 1, 1878; P. D. Cowan, April 9, 1879, the present pastor.

The church building was renewed and dedicated Jan. 1, 1835, and this building was sold and a new one erected in 1868, the old building having been moved and presented by Charles B. Dana to Wellesley College, and named Dana Hall.

The church at Wellesley Hills (Grantville) was built in 1847, and the church was organized Feb. 24, 1847, with thirty members. John Batchelder and Reuel Ware were chosen deacons, and Rev. Harvey Newcomb was installed as pastor Dec. 9, 1847, and dismissed Nov. 8, 1849 ; Rev. William Barrows, set- tled Aug. 22, 1850, dismissed Jan. 22, 1856; Edward S. Atwood, settled Oct. 23, 1856, dismissed Sept. 21, 1864; Charles H. Williams, settled July 25, 1867, dismissed Dec. 29, 1868 ; James M. Hubbard, settled Dec. 29, 1868, dismissed Jan. 13, 1874; J. L. Har- ris, settled June 18, 1874, dismissed Dec. 21, 1875 ; Jonathan Edwards, settled March 1, 1876, the pres- ent pastor. The church was remodeled in 1877.

There have been several private schools in the his- tory of the town, one kept by W. H. Adams, of more than local repute, about 1846 to 1852 ; one by Miss Thayer about 1820. The preparatory school of the The Grantville Unitarian Society was gathered in December, 1869, and engaged Rev. A. B. Vorse to preach to them. He has continued as their preacher to the present time. Misses Eastman, with seventy scholars and a corps of fourteen teachers, with large accommodations, has a most promising career before it. A small private family school is kept at Wellesley Hills, by Miss In February, 1871, the society purchased Maugus Hall, and have continued its use as their chapel. Chesboro ; but, of course, the crowning educational jewel and the pride of our town is Wellesley College, | The Catholic Church, near the Lower Falls, was which deserves and receives an extended description. opened for services April 18, 1875, and dedicated by

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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Archbishop Williams May 8, 1881. Rev. Michael Dolan has been its pastor to the present date.

A Methodist Church was built on Pine Plain, now known as Unionville, in 1800, and preaching, largely by circuit ministers, was had for over forty years. George Pickering was the first preacher, a man of power and fame in his later ministry. There are many reminiscences of preachers, sermons, and reli- gious harmony and quarrels, which can find no room here.

The first post-office in the town was established in 1830, with Charles Noyes, son of Parson Noyes, as postmaster, in a little shop where the postmaster con- ducted his business, that of an optician. The mail was brought once in two days, by the Uxbridge stage, and known as West Needham Post-office. It is now known as Wellesley, and, with W. H. Flagg as post- master, has an average of one thousand letters per day to deliver.

The post-office at Wellesley Hills was established as Grantville, in November, 1851, with W. H. Adams as postmaster, and was kept in his house, in which

was also a school. It is now kept by Miss Mary P. Austin, with an average of two hundred letters dis- tributed daily.

Meridian Lodge of Masons was organized at the Lower Falls, in a hall in a building owned by John Pulsifer ; declined in anti-Masonic days ; was removed to Natick, where it is now a flourishing lodge.

Sincerity Lodge of Odd-Fellows was organized in 1875 in Wellesley, and is now in excellent condition, with (1883) Freeman Phillips as chief officer and sixty-four members.

The Wellesley Soldiers' Club, George H. Robbins commander, composed of soldiers who served in the late war, succeeded Grand Army Post No. 62, and has about twenty-five members.

Very much matter which would naturally be looked for in a work like this respecting early history will be found in the history of the town of Needham, while numberless historical memoranda of great local interest and of great interest to families and individ- uals are necessarily shut out from want of space and the general character of the work.

VIEW OF WELLESLEY COLLEGE.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

WELLESLEY-(Continued).

WELLESLEY COLLEGE.

BY REV. D. S. RODMAN.

As an illustration of one of the developments in the intellectual life of our country Wellesley College stands pre-eminent and worthy of note. It was founded by a single individual for the higher educa-

tion of women. Its first corner-stone laid only thir- teen years ago (1871), it already contains the largest number of students in any college for young women in the world.

It is in a location which, for suitableness and influ- ence, it would be difficult to surpass ; has buildings unexcelled for convenience and beauty ; a body of trustees composed of some of the most prominent

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friends of education in the land ; libraries containing more than twenty-five thousand volumes, to which large additions are constantly made; scientific apparatus and other appliances of most approved construction ; and what is far more important, an able corps of professors and teachers ; class-rooms affording illustra- tions of great principles and methods in education, and four hundred and eighty students eager to avail themselves of the highest advantages the institution can offer.

The Founder .- Henry Fowle Durant, the founder of the college, was born in Hanover, N. H., Feb. 20, 1822. He entered Harvard College at the age of fifteen, and was graduated in 1841. Having studied

such business connections as might afford him means for beneficent objects, confronting the question, "How can I best serve God in my day and generation ?"

In his wife he had a noble Christian inspirer, helper, and friend. Their wealth was consecrated to God. How best to use it in his service was the question. He now carefully studied the various forms of benevolent efforts, and moved among men an observer of society and its many needs.

The decision was finally made to found an institu- tion of Christian learning for young women. With this new purpose Mr. Durant's native gifts, intense nature, energy of will, sound judgment, keen percep- tion, persistency of purpose, his executive ability,

EAST LODGE.

law, he was admitted to the bar in 1843. Eminently gifted with the talents that insure success, he soon became a lawyer of lucrative practice and fame. In 1854 he was united in marriage to Pauline Adeline Fowle, daughter of Col. John Fowle, late of the United States Army.

While in the prime of life and in a career of bril- liant achievement, his son, a boy eight years old, of fine promise and beautiful character, suddenly died (1863). This event, under the influence of God's Holy Spirit, changed the governing purpose and direction of his life. With characteristic decision he became the man of Christian spirit and endeavor. He relin- quished his practice at the bar, and retained only

literary and cultivated taste, all were brought into requisition, and indicated the man for the work, the work for the man. The magnificent institution at Wellesley is the result.

" Never," says Dr. Howard Crosby, " was any great institution more completely the work of one man. To Mr. Durant belongs the credit of the plan and the execution, as well as the pecuniary gift."

Location .- Wellesley College is situated on the banks of Lake Waban, in Wellesley, about one mile from the railway station. The grounds comprise three hundred and thirty-one acres of meadow and wood land, of lawn and glade, with a mile of frontage on the lake.

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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

The commonly-used entrance, one-half a mile from the station, is marked by a lodge and gateway of great beauty. The lodge is of the Elizabethan style, built of irregular rubble work of granite in various colors, with trimmings of Nova Scotia freestone. Passing through the gateway, you enter an avenue bordered with elms. Sweeping through an evergreen grove by a circuitous way, you have glimpses of Simpson Cottage on an elevation upon the right; of Stone Hall, a massive pile of brick, upon the left. Skirt- ing an old forest of oaks, you pass the College of Music, and soon reach the main building on a rising knoll, overlooking the waters of the lake.

On the 18th of August, 1871, the first stone of these foundations was laid at the extreme northeast corner by Mrs. Durant. On the 14th of September, Mrs. Durant also laid the corner-stone at the north- west corner. This was done without public ceremo- nial, but in a manner characteristic of the spirit of the founders, and significant of the principles that actuated them and of the designs that were to be carried out.

The Main Building .- This, the first in construc- tion, is in the form of a double Latin cross. The length is four hundred and seventy-four feet. To this is added a building containing gymnasium, laun- dries, and kitchens, extending one hundred and twenty- five feet. The width of the wings is one hundred and seventy feet. There are in the main four stories, at points extending into five, the whole crowned with a | mansard roof, and set off with spires, towers, bays, porches, and pavilions. The architecture is in the style of the Renaissance.

The material is brick, laid in black mortar, with Nova Scotia freestone trimmings. The main parti- tion walls throughout the building are of brick, with fire-proof floors in the library and chapel. The win- dows are varied in size and form; the window- heads semi-circular, with flat arches. The ends of the arms of the cross are carried up in pavilions and covered with French roofs, the whole producing an irregular but harmonious exterior that is beautiful but not finical, substantial but not unwieldy. Dignity, grace, and repose are the general effect.

The main entrance is through a porte-cochere, or portico of Nova Scotia freestone. This is sup- ported by twelve massive pillars of the same material. Over the portal is the monogram, "I. H. S."

place of intersection, opens loftily up seventy feet to a glass roof that surmounts this central space, thus distributing the cheery light through all the corri- dors. Around this space at every story run galleries supported on the lowest floor by a colonnade of ten polished Hallowell granite columns, which are sur- mounted by foliated marble capitals, and on the floors above by fluted iron columns with Corinthian capitals.

Around this area at the several stories are balus- trades of different ornamented patterns, and finished in a varied and attractive style. From above the ob- server looks down upon an immense jardinière on the lowest floor that rises from a mosaic of marble tilings. This is of graceful, irregular outline, filled with earth and planted with palms, tree-ferns, and tropical flora in rich luxuriance.

This entrance hall and the many corridors to the topmost story are enriched with paintings, engravings, sketches, casts, and statuary. Among these are the famous "Gibraltar" of R. Swain Gifford, a marine painting by Arthur Quartley, a flower piece by Mario Nuzzi (1603-1673), "The Cumæan Sybil" by Ved- der, and other paintings and sketches by Kennett, Bellows, Parsons, Magrath, Ellen Robbins, Edward Frere, Otto Gunther, Zangower, Keith, Bristol, Head, Smiley, Hart, Lambinet, and others.

It was the wish and good judgment of Mr. Durant | not to seclude these in an art gallery only for special exhibition, but to place them where they would con- stantly educate taste, awaken thought, and render this temporary home more beautiful and attractive.

The broad and central stairways with their carved balustrades of ash and treads of oak, the floors of oiled cherry, are examples of the thoroughness of the con- struction of the whole building. The stairways in the east and west wings are similar to the central. The halls and corridors correspond on every floor. The whole arrangement is on the simplest plan and in the most convenient form for access.

The interior wood-finish is of western ash. The students' rooms are in suites of a bedroom and parlor, occupying a space about twenty by fourteen feet, and intended for two. They vary in form and size, are cheerful and pleasant, more than half looking out upon the lake and having a southern exposure, the others fronting the avenue that approaches the col- lege. A few larger parlors with two bedrooms accom- modate three or four pupils. There are also a few single rooms. Pretty carpets are upon the floors.

The central hall is one hundred and seventy feet in length and sixty feet in width. This is crossed at right angles by a corridor that extends a distance of four | The furniture is of black walnut.

hundred and seventy-four feet, meeting a like corri- On the right of the main entrance is the " Brown- dor and opening in each wing. This hall, at the . ing room," and on the left are the " reception-room"

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COLLEGE LIBRARY.

and the general office. In the eastern end, upon the first floor, is the library. This room is fifty by seventy-seven feet in size. It is characterized by beauty of proportions, convenience for study, and wealth of material. To the scholar it is a most at- tractive room for treasures " both new and old."

It is estimated that there is shelf-room for fifty thousand volumes. It already contains twenty-five thousand, all easily accessible and well catalogued. The lower alcoves are furnished with chairs and tables, as in the main room. Those above are reached by three spiral stairways. The entire finish is in black walnut. This room is intended to be fire-proof, and is separated from the main building by doors of iron.

The suite of rooms belonging to the president, and the young ladies' parlor, are at this end of the build- ing.

The chapel is a fine audience-room, directly over the library. There is seating capacity for six hun- dred and fifty. A gallery extending the width of the room is entered from third floor. This room is finished in black walnut, and richly frescoed. Ornamental trusses interlaced over the chancel sup- port the roof. Transverse beams divide the ceiling into panels, which are handsomely frescoed.

In the rear of the platform is a memorial window, consisting of two pictures made by Berkhart, at Munich, and presented to the college by Governor and Mrs. William Clafflin, in memory of a daughter who died in Rome.

In the western end, on the first floor, is the dining- hall. This will accommodate three hundred and fifty. It is finished in hard wood, and lighted by eighteen arched windows. It communicates with the domestic hall that is specially fitted to facilitate the domestic work. The appointments in this part of the building are of a complete and finished character. The laundry is furnished for cleansing and drying clothes by steam. Excellent facilities, in a separate room, are provided for young ladies who wish to do their own laundry-work.

The building is warmed by steam. Fresh air is constantly admitted into the basement; heated by contact with steam-radiators, charged with moisture by the addition of a prescribed quantity of steam, it is distributed through the building. Every study-parlor has its separate flue, and the register enables the occu- pant to regulate the heat at her pleasure. It is gen- erally conceded that there is no public building in the country better warmed and ventilated. The building

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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

is lighted by gas, manufactured upon the college prem- ises, and conducted into every room. German student- lamps are also furnished for every study-parlor. Water is supplied in great abundance from four artesian wells. Hot and cold water is provided in every part of the building. Bathing-rooms are at convenient points in every story. A steam passenger-elevator is in use day and evening. The drainage, natural and arti- ficial, is faultless.

Four years were occupied in the erection of this building. All was done under the constant and scrutinizing supervision of Mr. Durant. He spared neither expense nor effort to secure the utmost pos- sible degree of excellence in all its appointments. The best materials and the most thorough workmanship were everywhere made a first consideration.

More than seven millions of brick, and twenty miles of steam, water, and gas-pipes were used in the construc-

tion. Its fine proportions, exquisite symmetry, the response of the interior to the expectations awakened by the exterior, the excellence of its general plan, the refined nicety of its details, the elegance and sim- plicity that characterize it throughout the combination of so many fine qualities make the adaptation to its destined use almost perfect. It is justly considered the master-piece of Mr. Hammatt Billings, Boston's ablest architect.

On Sept. 8, 1875, this building was opened with three hundred students. This faculty was represented by Miss A. L. Howard as president, associated with twenty-nine professors and teachers.

A charter had been obtained, in 1870, from the State. The establishment of such an institution in this part of the country, unique in conception, high in aim, Christian and progressive in spirit, reasonable in expense, fully equipped by one individual, marked an era in the history of education. It proved a great incentive throughout the land, and indeed throughout the world.

The fifth year (1879- 80) opened with three hundred and seventy- five students, and the sixth (1880-81) with three hundred and seventy-two. There were more applicants than could be received. It was evident that other buildings must be erected.

Dana Hall, a build- ing in the village that had been presented to the college by C. B.

STONE HALL.

Dana, was filled by members of the teachers' class, and by graduates.

Stone Hall .- At this juncture Mrs. Valeria G. Stone, of Malden, Mass., gave one hundred thousand dollars to the college, to be expended in the erection of a building for teachers, to be called " Stone Hall."

The corner-stone was laid May 27, 1880; and in September, 1881, it was opened to the reception of students. This building is of three stories, its walls of brick, and orna- mented with terra-cotta. The interior partitions are of brick without wood furrings. The external walls are vaulted with eight-inch spaces; and the corridor walls are built with flues for ventilation and heating ; the latter communicating with hot-air chambers in the basement.

It is arranged for a family of one hundred students, all having separate apartments. There are four din- ing-rooms, a kitchen, and laundry. It has a parlor and reception-room, and is intended to provide all the requisites of a home. Stone Hall occupies the entire summit of a knoll overlooking the lake.

College of Music .- The increasing demands for greater facilities in the study and practice of music

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WELLESLEY.

led to the erection of Music Hall. The expense was incurred by Mr. Durant. The corner-stone was laid June 10, 1880, and it was opened for use in Juue, | advantages of the institution. 1881. It is of brick, contains thirty-eight music-rooms for practice, with a hall for choral singing. The floors are deafened : double partition-walls, with double doors, are designed to prevent the transmission of sound between the rooms.

The seventh year (1881-82) opened with four hundred and fifty students. The erection of Stone Hall and the College of Music, with the occupancy of Wabau Col- lege, rendered this number possible.

This year (1881) was rendered painfully memorable in the history of the college by the death of its founder. From the begin- ning of the undertaking his cares had been unremitting, his labors great and incessant. With untiring energy he had devoted himself night and day to the most minute details incident to the foundation and establishment of a great seat of learning. Not only during all the work of planning and construc- tion, but for the six years between the opening of the college and his death, he gave the whole strength of soul, mind, and body to it. The result was inevi- table, that so putting his life into the college, he should lay down his life for it. He died at Wellesley, Oct. 3, 1881, ten years after the laying of the first corner- stone. He had lived to see, if not the full accomplish- ment of his purpose, yet more than is given to most men to see of the fruit of his labors. He had seen an idea dear to him take root, gather material forces around it, emerge from the darkness, make itself known, recognized, felt, a power in the world for good. His loss was deeply felt in every department. The inspiration of his presence, his unwearied interest, his constant thoughfulness are daily missed.

Miss Howard having resigned, Miss Alice E. Free- man was appointed president.

Cottage System .- It being the aim of the college to provide for its students the best environments as well as the best instruction within its power, two systems, each having peculiar advantages, were se- lected. The founder erected at great expense one of the most convenient and beautiful buildings for edu- cation in the world, within whose walls can be col- lected three hundred and fifty teachers and students, and as many conveniences for study and improve- ment as can well be grouped together under one roof. But knowing that some find the strain and tension incident to intercourse with so many too great, cot-

tages have been designed, in which those who prefer may find quiet, and at the same time enjoy all the

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COLLEGE OF MUSIC.

Simpson Cottage was erected on one of the fine sites within the grounds, at a cost of about twenty- five thousand dollars. It was the gift of Mr. M. H. Simpson, in memory of his wife, who was an earnest friend, and one of the trustees, of the college. It was opened in September, 1882; will accommodate twenty-three students and a teacher.

It is the design to group around the main build- ing or in its vicinity-as soon as means are furnished -other similar cottages ; each, as far as its home-life is concerned, to be a distinct establishment, with its dining-room, kitchen, and parlors; to be under the care of a lady of refinement and culture; where stu- dents will have even more than the quietness of an ordinary home.

The eighth year (1882-83) opened with four hun- dred and eighty-five students from thirty-nine States and countries.

The requirements for admission for the next year were greater than in any previous year. The prepa- ration of applicants has been of better quality year by year.

The total number admitted this year (1883-84) is five hundred and four.

The college, during these nine years, has given in- struction to eighteen hundred and six students.

They have been from every State in the Union except one (Nevada), and from Micronesia, Sand- wich Islands, India, Turkey, Siam, Japan, Chili, Mexico, Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Bruns- wick.

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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

There have been graduated in 1879, 18; 1880, 41; 1881, 23; 1882, 28; 1883, 50; total, 160.

Twenty-four students have entered upon work in the home and foreign mission fields, and many more are engaged in teaching or are holding other positions of influence in various parts of the world.

The price of board and tuition (including heating and light), at first two hundred and fifty dollars per annum, has been necessarily raised to two hundred and seventy-five dollars. There are twenty-four scholarships of five thousand dollars each, the income from which is appropriated to aid-deserving students, under the direction of the Students' Aid Society. | More than ten thousand dollars were thus applied during the past year (1882-83). The library has a fund of fifty thousand dollars. Funds are needed to retain the present low rate of board and tuition, to endow professorships, to purchase apparatus, to erect cottages for homes, a laboratory building, and an ob- servatory.

The property of the college and its administration are vested in a board of trustees, chartered as a per- petual legal corporation, under the name of Wellesley College. The trustees are selected from the various evangelical denominations, several universities, col- leges, and theological seminaries, the leading foreign missionary societies in the country, laity and clergy, ladies and gentlemen.

Rev. Noah Porter, D.D., LL.D., is president of the board of trustees ; Rev. Howard Crosby, D.D., LL.D., vice-president ; Mrs. Henry F. Durant, treas- urer; Professor E. N. Horsford is president of the board of visitors. The faculty consists of seventy- three officers of government and instruction. There are fifty-three resident professors and teachers. Alice E. Freeman, Ph.D., is the president.

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History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 102

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1534

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1534