History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 15

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 15

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On the 17th of May, 1803, the Rev. Jason Haven, the minister of the First Church, died, in the seventy- first year of his age, and the forty-eighth of his ministry, which was longer than that of either of his predecessors. It also included a period of many important events. It began when Massachusetts was a province under a royal Governor. Mr. Haven, during the Revolution, was a strong supporter of the patriotic cause, and did much to sustain the people in their sacrifices during this trying period. He was chosen a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1779. In 1793, the church covenant and the mode of admitting church members were changed. The covenant then adopted was very brief, and does not contain articles of belief, like that of 1767. Its only requirement was a belief in the Christian religion. The effects of the Revo- lution upon the opinions of men in religious matters were now beginning to be seen in that spirit of indif- ference to the dogmas of the Puritan theology which

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

was to culminate twenty-five years later in open revolt. But to Mr. Haven, supported by his deacons and the church, is due especial honor for having so managed the church property that the income remained for a long time untouched, and the capital accumulated, the parish expenses meantime being met by taxation, and at a time of pecuniary distress.

Probably no pastor of the Dedham Church, with the possible exception of Mr. Allin, had ever exer- cised so strong an influence upon his people as Mr. Haven. He was a faithful pastor and preacher. He had talents and gifts which qualified him for the varied duties of his sacred office. His sermons were perspicuous and direct. He had all the gravity and dignity which belonged to the ministerial character, and Dr. Prentiss, in his funeral sermon, says of him that, "from a personal intimacy of more than thirty years, I can, with pleasing confidence, add that in his temper and life there appeared an habitual correspond- ence with his professional character."

Mr. Haven preached the Artillery Election sermon in 1761, the General Election sermon in 1769, the Dudleian lecture in 1789, and the Convention sermon in 1791. These were printed, and also eleven ordina- tion and occasional sermons. In 1796 he preached an excellent historical sermon, it being forty years after his settlement in the ministry. He also preached a half-century sermon, "relating to changes in the inhabitants," as stated in Dr. Lamson's " Historical Discourses" (1838), but no copy probably exists.

As in the last years of Mr. Haven's life his health and strength declined, the church extended a call to Mr. Joshua Bates to become an associate pastor, and he was ordained March 16, 1803, only a few weeks before Mr. Haven's death. Mr. Bates was a native of Cohasset, and was born March 20, 1776, and was graduated at Harvard College in 1800. He was licensed to preach by the Andover Association in 1802. Dr. Bates continued to be the pastor until Feb. 20, 1818, when he resigned to accept an elec- tion as president of Middlebury College, in Vermont. Upon the Sunday preceding the dissolution of the pastoral relation, Mr. Bates preached a sermon re- viewing the ministry of his predecessors, and in which he alludes to " a gradual but evident declen- sion in the zeal and spirituality of the church" which took place towards the close of Mr. Haven's life. Mr. Haven also had left an address to be read to his people after his death, which contains warnings and exhortations. Mr. Bates, in his sermon, states, how- ever, there had been a gradual improvement for several years in the state of religion in the parish.

From these expressions in Mr. Bates' sermon it is

easy to understand what has been affirmed by con- temporaneous history to be the causes of the division of opinions and belief in the Dedham Church. There had been, as we have seen, a relaxation of the articles of belief contained in the former church cov- enants in that of 1793, and a reaction had been going on since the close of the Revolution throughout this country against the dogmas of Calvinism. The volcano which had long been slumbering was ready to burst into an active eruption. Mr. Bates was a Cal- vinist, and while his abilities, his piety, and his un- exceptionable life served to repress any active oppo- sition during his ministry, yet when he asked a dismission, the majority voted for it willingly, in the belief that a successor might be ordained whose views would be more compatible with their own.

The division which occurred in the Third Parish in 1808, growing out of the location of the new meeting-house, resulted in the union of the seceding members with the Baptist Society in Medfield. They numbered about sixty. While the new doc- trines which they heard at Medfield doubtless proved offensive to some, yet the law then compelled them to belong to some religious society for the purpose of taxation, and so they remained. After the new meeting-house of the parish had been completed, the old one was advertised to be sold at public auction. It was purchased by Mr. Aaron Baker, who offered it to the seceders, and it was taken down and its timbers were removed and erected upon the site now occupied by the Baptist meeting-house in West Ded- ham. This was in the spring of 1810. The meet- ing-house was finally completed, and dedicated to the service of Almighty God on Thanksgiving-day, Nov. 28, 1810. From that time until 1823 the Rev. Mr. Gammell preached alternately here and at Medfield. The number who took letters from the church in Medfield for this church was twenty-five, and Nov. 1, 1824, " The First Baptist Church in Dedham" was duly formed, and the Rev. Samuel Adlam ordained as its first pastor. In the same year a parsonage was built by Miss Molly Fisher, and during her life she kept it in repair, and at her decease, in 1837, she gave it to the church by her will.

On the 1st day of March, 1809, the new meeting- house of the Third Parish was dedicated to Almighty God. It occupies an elevated situation, and can be seen for many miles. The land upon which it stands was given for the purpose. Its bell was a gift from Hon. Joshua Fisher, of Beverly. The pulpit was furnished by the ladies of the parish, and subscriptions were made, so that in 1836 the fund amounted to upwards of five thousand dollars. Previous to 1817

DEDHAM.

heated bricks and foot-stoves were the only heating- apparatus in the meeting-house. The Rev. Mr. Thacher preached a sermon, on leaving the ancient meeting-house, from the text, " Our fathers worshiped in this mountain." At the dedication of the new meet- ing-house the Rev. Mr. Bates, of the First Parish, and the Rev. Mr. Chickering, of the Second Parish, took part in the exercises.

In the Second Parish, more than three years elapsed before the settlement of a successor to Mr. Chickering. On the 26th of April, 1815, Mr. Wil- liam Cogswell was ordained as the minister of the parish. He was a native of New Hampshire, and was a graduate of Dartmouth College in 1811. Mr. Cogswell continued to be the pastor of this church until 1829, when he resigned to become secretary of the American Education Society. During the min- istry of each of the first three pastors of the Second Church and Parish, peace and harmony had prevailed within it, while discords and divisions prevailed in the other parishes of the town. The ministry of the first two pastors covered a period of more than seventy-two years, and to this circumstance, as well as to the per- sonal character and influence of the incumbents, is to be ascribed the exemption of this parish from church quarrels. Mr. Cogswell preached a sermon, June 23, 1816, containing a brief history of the South Church and Parish, which was printed. In 1828 the meet- ing-house erected in 1769 was taken down, and the present one was erected the same year, and dedicated Oct. 9, 1828.

CHAPTER IX.

DEDHAM-(Continued).

Dedham in the Beginning of the Present Century-Manufac- turing Corporations-Mill Privileges on Mother Brook-War of 1812-Legacy for Schools in Will of Samuel Dexter-The First Church-Resignation of Rev. Joshua Bates-Parish Elect Rev. Alvan Lamson - Majority of Church Refuse to Concur-Ecclesiastical Council-Protest by a Majority of the Church-Ordination of Mr. Lamson-Suit at Law to Recover Church Property-Decision of Supreme Court-New Meeting-House Society Formed-Rev. Ebenezer Burgess- Improvements in Old Meeting-House-Third Parish -- Rev. John White-Second Parish, Rev. Harrison G. Park, Rev. Calvin Durfee and his Successors-Description of Dedham Village in 1818-Dedham Bank-New Jail and Court-House -Town-House-Norfolk Mutual Fire Insurance Company -Dedham Mutual Fire Insurance Company-Dedham In- stitution for Savings -- Gen. Lafayette's Visit-Gen. Jack- son's Visit.

IN the beginning of the present century, Dedham remained a farming town, with a population nearly

the same as it had been for fifty years previous. The occupations of the people had not changed materially since the period preceding the Revolution. A greater interest in the public schools was manifested, and a new brick school-house, near the meeting-house, was finished in 1800. In 1804, the sum of twelve hun- dred dollars was granted by the town for the support of schools. At this period, however, the schools were kept only a few weeks during the winter. Fisher Ames, in one of his letters, expresses the opinion that the law should require the district school to be kept a certain number of months. In 1799, the money granted for the support of schools was divided accord- ing to the number of scholars in each district between the ages of five and sixteen. There were signs of present and future growth in population, and in the external appearance of the village. Besides the erec- tion of the fine houses on High Street and elsewhere, the lands of the First Church and of the Episcopal Church were leased in village lots, and a number of smaller houses were built. The fact that Dedham had been made the shire-town of the new county, gave it some additional importance, and attracted hither lawyers seeking practice, and some retired men of wealth seeking a pleasant country residence. The completion of the Norfolk and Bristol turnpike in 1804 was an important event, since it afforded a direct and well-graded road between Dedham and Boston, and afterwards led to the establishment of the stage-lines between Boston and Providence, which brought in the business of coach-making, and gave the appearance of bustle and life to the quiet village, when the stages stopped for change of horses. In 1801, a fire-engine was purchased by subscription and presented to the town, and a company of twelve men appointed to take charge of it at the upper vil- lage. In 1802 a second fire-engine was provided in the same way, with a company of eighteen men at Dedham village. There was a uniformed military company, known as the Union Light Infantry, and a troop of cavalry, besides the three militia companies in the town. The town on the 22d of February, 1800, voted to commemorate the birthday of George Washington, and a eulogy was pronounced by Rev. Thomas Thacher. The laying out of new roads, the establishment of the first newspaper, the Columbian Minerva, in 1796, and a proposition by Calvin Whit- ing the same year, to construct an aqueduct in the village, were further indications of growth and im- provement.

But a more important and significant mark of the enterprise of the citizens at this period, was the establishment of manufacturing corporations. The

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

great increase in the production of cotton in the Southern States, and the invention of the cotton-gin in the latter part of the eighteenth century, had at- tracted the attention of enterprising men in Rhode Island and Massachusetts to its manufacture. And it was perceived by some citizens of Dedham that the excellent water-power furnished by the canal dug in 1640, known as Mother Brook, might be utilized for a cotton-factory. From the earliest settlement of the town the descendants of Nathaniel Whiting had continued to maintain grist-mills and saw-mills at the second and third privileges. At the upper dam, about which there was a controversy in the first century, had been built a leather-mill by Joseph Lewis. The first cotton- factory was built at this dam. In 1807, Samuel Lowder, Jonathan Avery, Reuben Guild, Calvin Guild, Pliny Bingham, William Howe, and others, were incorporated as the Norfolk Cotton Manufactory, for the manufacture of cotton goods. Nearly all the corporators were citizens of Dedham. Its capital stock was divided into fifty shares. A large wooden factory was built, and a tub-wheel with common water-frames placed in it. The machinery was rude and imperfect. The cotton was picked in the neighboring houses by hand, and after it was spun, it was sent abroad to be woven. But soon the store- rooms were crowded with cotton yarns and cotton cloths. Many of the manufactured goods were sold by retail at the mill. In order to have a better assort- ment of goods, the company obtained leave to manu- facture wool, and made satinets. During the war of 1812 manufactured goods commanded a high price, and the affairs of the company appeared very prosper- ous. The annual meetings, with the reports of profit- able business, were festive occasions. The stock- holders were regarded as public benefactors, as well as fortunate in business. The inhabitants felt a degree of pride in having a cotton-factory in the town, | and when their friends from the interior visited them,

the business were ever declared. At the close of the war of 1812 came a fall in prices, and the Norfolk Cotton-Manufactory was left with manufactured goods on hand, to the amount of upwards of twenty thou- sand dollars, which were worth less than it cost to manufacture them, besides uncollected debts to the amount of forty thousand dollars. Of course from this time the property rapidly declined in value, but for a time the stockholders were divided as to the expediency of closing the business and selling the property. Finally, after having refused to take twenty-five thousand dollars, the land, privileges, buildings, and machinery were sold at public auction in 1819 to Benjamin Bussey for twelve thousand five hundred dollars. The stockholders lost about one- third of their investment, besides interest.

But the failure of this experiment did not deter others from engaging in similar enterprises. In 1821 the Dedham Worsted Company was incorporated, with William Phillips and Jabez Chickering as the princi- pal corporators. This company purchased the second privilege, with the saw-mill and grist-mill owned by Hezekiah Whiting and his ancestors. This purchase was made in 1823, but owing to the failure of Mr. Chickering the mill and property were sold in 1824 to Benjamin Bussey.

The first and second privileges were now owned by Benjamin Bussey, a man of capital, energy, and ca- pacity. He soon after erected woolen-mills at both the privileges, with machine-shops, dye-houses, and dwellings, and began the manufacture of woolen cloths, which he successfully conducted until 1843, when he sold the property to J. Wiley Edmands. The manufacture of woolen goods has ever since been carried on at these privileges, first by Edmands & Colby, incorporated in 1853 under the name of the Maverick Woolens Company, with Thomas Barrows, of Dedham, as agent, and afterwards by the Mer- chants Woolen Company, incorporated in 1863. they were invited to see its curious and wonderful | During all this period the business has been profita- machinery. After a time the tub-wheel gave way to the common water-wheel, and the cotton-picker was introduced.

ble to the owners. Mr. Barrows was an experienced and prudent manager, and the sale to the Merchants Woolen Company was made at an advantageous But this career of apparent prosperity was not of long duration. The business was not conducted by an agent, but by a president, three directors, a clerk, and treasurer. The three directors were required to price. This company has much enlarged the capac- ity of the mills and machinery, and the privilege has long since ceased to furnish the necessary power for running the machinery, which is supplied by remain at the factory, and no one was permitted to steam. The water of Charles River is found to be transact important business without the concurrence unequaled for the purposes of cleansing wool. of his colleagues. The manufactured goods accumu- The fourth privilege was first used by Nathaniel Whiting and James Draper in the first century of the settlement of the town. But this right had re- verted to the town, for in 1789 the town again trans- lated during the war, although high prices could have been realized. They were held in the hope of still better prices. No dividends from the profits of

DEDHAM.

ferred it to Joseph Whiting and others. Upon this privilege, a building had been erected for block- ing copper cents, but it was used for this purpose only a short time. It was afterwards fitted up by Herman Mann for the manufacture of paper. In 1804, George Bird purchased the property, and car- ried on the manufacture of paper with success. At about the same time, another mill was erected for the manufacture of wire, of which Ruggles Whiting, of Boston, was the agent. These mills were near to- gether, and were operated by the same wheel. The mill of Mr. Bird was burned in 1809, and was rebuilt with a new raceway and foundation. This was a paper-mill. In 1814 the manufacture of wire was discontinued, and the factory was used for making nails. In 1819, George Bird became the owner of the whole privilege, land, and buildings.

In 1823, Frederick A. Taft, a skillful and experi- enced manufacturer of cotton goods, formed a copart- nership with George Bird, and the factory was fur- nished with machinery from the Norfolk Cotton- Factory. In 1823, a new corporation was created under the name of the Norfolk Manufacturing Com- pany, in which John Lemist, of Roxbury, and Frederick A. Taft were prominent corporators. Mr. Bird leased the land, privilege, and buildings to the corporation for ten years. In 1830 the corporation bought the whole of the mill property. In 1832, F. A. Taft sold his interest in the company to his brother, Ezra W. Taft, and in a few years after, Mr. Lemist disposed of his interest to James Read. The principal owners were Mr. Read and Mr. E. W. Taft, who was the agent of the corporation. In 1835 a new stone mill was erected by the corporation and supplied with new machinery. Mr. Taft continued to be the agent for about thirty years, and under his management the | French, and Colburn Ellis drove horse- or ox-teams to New York and Philadelphia. The trip to New York occupied three weeks and to Philadelphia-six weeks.

affairs of the corporation prospered. In 1863 the cor- porators decided to close up the business, and the mill and privilege were sold to Thomas Barrows. Mr. Bar- rows enlarged the mill, and supplied it with machinery for the manufacture of woolen goods, which business he continued until 1872, when he sold the property to the Merchants Woolen Company, which conveyed the same to Royal O. Storrs and Frederick R. Storrs in 1875. The business was continued by R. O. Storrs & Co. until their failure in 1882, when the property was purchased again by the Merchants Woolen Company. By purchase of Thomas Barrows, this company also became the owner of the third privilege, with the old saw-mill and grist-mill, so that it now owns the first four privileges on Mother Brook. In 1814 the Dedham Manufacturing Company was incorpo- rated, and erected a fifth dam at the village known

as Readville, now in Hyde Park, on which a cotton- factory was built.

Although, as has been seen, the first manufacturing corporations were unsuccessful in business, still they gave a new impetus to the improvement of the town. They brought hither men of enterprise and capital, who became valuable citizens, and also employed many skilled operatives of character and intelligence. The most striking results occurred in the increase of population. In 1800 the population of the town was 1973. In 1820 it was 2485, and in 1830 it had increased to 3057. In the first quarter of the present century the village had changed from being a collection of scattered farm-houses to a compact and growing village.

In the war of 1812, Dedham took decided ground in support of the government and the policy of the war. When the Hartford Convention was proposed by the General Court, one of its representatives de- nounced it as a revolutionary proceeding. Upon a communication from the town of Boston requesting its co-operation in measures to oppose the war, the town, in July, 1812, rejected the proposed combina- tion. The town voted that every drafted man should receive from its treasury, a sum sufficient to make his wages fifteen dollars a month while in actual service. Soldiers for the army were here recruited and drilled. In August, five hundred delegates from the towns of the county assembled in convention at Dedham, and expressed their approbation of the war. The Dedham Light Infantry, Capt. Abner Guild, did service at South Boston during the war for several months. During this war, large quantities of beef and pork | were packed in West Dedham by Willard Gay, and while the coast was blockaded, James Pettee, Samuel

The Hon. Samuel Dexter, who died in 1810, had left in his will, a legacy of one hundred and seventy dollars as an addition to the school funds, and in making this bequest, he suggested that certain sums formerly appropriated for the same purpose, which were expended in hiring soldiers, should be replaced by the town. The town accepted the bequest, and directed the treasurer to loan the money on security. But this fund has disappeared with the other school funds of the town.

In the year 1818, occurred the division of the church connected with the First Parish, perhaps the most memorable event in the history of the town. It was the result of no parish quarrel over some

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

question of temporary importance, like the location 1818, with some Considerations on Congregational Church Polity." It was claimed on the part of the parish, that it did not request to have Mr. Lamson of a meeting-house, but was the natural conclusion of theological differences which had been gradually developing for a quarter of a century. Nor were the , ordained over the church, but that a majority of the questions involved only of local interest and import- church actually concurred with the parish, including members of other churches who resided and com- muned in Dedham, and that the opposition was altogether of a doctrinal nature, which was disclaimed by the committee of the church. ance ; but upon the legal determination of them by the Supreme Judicial Court, the title to the property, church records, and all the material part of the churches in half the towns of eastern Massachusetts was decided to be vested in the town or parish, and not in the churches. It is not difficult, therefore, to understand why this event produced such a profound impression not only in the Dedham parish, but in all the neighboring towns.

The occasion of the controversy was the election of a successor to the Rev. Dr. Bates, who had resigned in February, 1818. On the 31st day of August, Mr. Alvan Lamson was elected as " a public Protest- ant teacher of piety, religion, and morality" at a meeting of the parish by a vote of eighty-one to forty-four. In this election the church refused | to concur by a vote of seventeen to fifteen. The parish, having received Mr. Lamson's acceptance of its election, caused a council, composed of the pastors and delegates of thirteen churches, to be convened on the 28th day of October following for the purpose of ordaining Mr. Lamson. When the council assembled, the Hon. Samuel Haven, a son of the former pastor, | appeared and read an elaborate and learned protest on behalf of a majority of the church against the ordi- nation of Mr. Lamson as its pastor. The propositions maintained in this protest were, that according to Congregational usage, the first step in electing a pas- tor must be taken by the church ; that while the parish, under the constitution of the commonwealth, might choose a religious teacher and contract to sup- port him, still he would not be a settled minister of the gospel or pastor of the church ; that the parish, being merely a civil body, could not call together an ecclesiastical council, but this could only be done by the church ; that the ecclesiastical body, the Christian church existing in this place, had chosen no pastor, of course desired no ordination, and had not invited her sister churches to convene for any purpose whatever, and concluded with a solemn protest against the council taking any further measures in relation to the ordina- tion of Mr. Alvan Lamson. These positions were care- fully argued at considerable length, and in a manner becoming the gravity of the occasion, by Judge Haven. The protest was printed in the pamphlet afterwards published and written by him, entitled a " Statement of the Proceedings in the First Church and Parish in Dedham Respecting the Settlement of a Minister,

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History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 15

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