History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 20

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 20


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132 | Part 133 | Part 134 | Part 135 | Part 136 | Part 137 | Part 138 | Part 139 | Part 140 | Part 141 | Part 142 | Part 143 | Part 144 | Part 145 | Part 146 | Part 147 | Part 148 | Part 149 | Part 150 | Part 151 | Part 152 | Part 153 | Part 154 | Part 155 | Part 156 | Part 157 | Part 158 | Part 159 | Part 160 | Part 161 | Part 162 | Part 163 | Part 164 | Part 165 | Part 166 | Part 167 | Part 168 | Part 169 | Part 170 | Part 171 | Part 172 | Part 173 | Part 174 | Part 175 | Part 176 | Part 177 | Part 178 | Part 179 | Part 180 | Part 181 | Part 182 | Part 183 | Part 184 | Part 185 | Part 186 | Part 187 | Part 188 | Part 189 | Part 190 | Part 191 | Part 192 | Part 193 | Part 194 | Part 195 | Part 196 | Part 197 | Part 198 | Part 199 | Part 200 | Part 201 | Part 202 | Part 203 | Part 204 | Part 205 | Part 206 | Part 207 | Part 208 | Part 209 | Part 210 | Part 211 | Part 212


In this general survey of the services rendered by Dedham soldiers in the field during the civil war, no ! biographies of the heroic dead have been attempted. But among them were true and noble men, whose memories are. gratefully cherished in Dedham. The old town had its full share in the sacrifices and strug- !


gles of those memorable years. The record of her brave sons who marched to the battle-fields of the war is one of which she has always been proud, and has been ready to perpetuate.


For drill, under votes of May 6 and May 27, 1861 2573.15


For further pay for drill under vote of June 4, 1866 4650.00


Company I, Thirty-fifth Regiment Massachusetts Infantry-69 men.


SS,814.81


For bounties under vote of July 21, 1862 ($100), 6,900.00


86


HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.


Company D, Forty-third Regiment Massachusetts Infantry, and other nine months' men-126 men.


For bounties under votes of Aug. 25,


and Sept. 15, 1862 ($200) 825,200.00 For expenses of enlistment 520.00


$25,720.00


Men enlisted in other regiments and in navy, in- cluding substitutes provided by individuals- 418 men.


For bounties under votes of April 4 and July 25, 1864. $26,856.00 For expense of recruiting, estimated at. 600.00


27,456.00


Estimated amount expended in aid of soldiers' families, exclusive of State aid .. 16,200.00 Amount of State aid (nominally reimbursed to the town) 51,000.00


$136,090.81


During the year 1864, thirty-four enrolled men procured substitutes in the military and naval service, at an expense to themselves of not less than $20,000.


Not long after the close of the war the erection of a soldiers' monument was proposed, and was consid- ered in town-meeting. But at a town-meeting held May 7, 1866, it was voted to erect a building to be called " Memorial Hall," the walls to be of Dedham granite. Its purposes were to provide a suitable place for the transaction of all the public business of the town, and also a suitable memorial of the soldiers of Dedham who had died in the service of their country. The land was purchased by subscription, and presented to the town for the purpose. The building was begun in the course of the year, and was finished in the summer of 1868. The cost of the building, me- morials, furniture of the hall, and the grading of the lot, including expense of the committee and architect, was less than forty-seven thousand dollars. The size


1 of the building, the general arrangement of the rooms, and the manner of locating the building and the lot, were determined by the committee. The architect was Mr. Henry Van Brunt, and the memorials were de- signed by him, but the committee are responsible for the inscriptions. In some particulars the committee did not adopt the designs of the architect, and in others, though they adopted his designs, they did not adopt the designs considered most appropriate by him The stone- and brick-work was done by D. G. Corliss & Co., of Quincy.


The following is a brief description of the building :


The design, which was by Messrs. Ware & Van Brunt, architects, of Boston, recalls the provincial town-halls of England in outline and general char- acter, and is carried out in the peculiar, warm, yellow


granite of the neighborhood, relieved by bands of blue Quincy granite. Its main exterior dimensions are one hundred and four by sixty-four feet on the ground, with an elevation of thirty-four feet to the cornice, and eighty-five feet to the summit of the tower, which surmounts the middle division of the front on Washington Street. On this front, in the most conspicuous place over the main entrance, is inserted a large tablet of Quincy granite, decorated with oak leaves and a crown of laurel, and bearing this inscription :


" To Commemorate The Patriotism and Fidelity Of Her Sons Who Fell In Defence of The Union, In The War Of The Rebellion, Dedham Erects This Hall. A.D. MDCCCLXVII."


In the main vestibule, from which stairs to the right and left conduct to the hall above, in a broad niche facing the entrance, are five marble tablets in a Gothic framework of black walnut. The central tab- let, which is enriched by a carved canopy supported by columns, bears this inscription :


" The Town of Dedham Has Caused To Be Inscribed Upon These Tablets, The names of her Sons, Who Fell Representing Her, Un Defence of the onion, In The War Of The Rebellion-1861-1865, And In Whose Honor She Has Erected This Hall."


The tablets on either side contain the names of forty-six soldiers, with the rank, date, and place of death in each case, arranged in order of regiments.


The following is the list of names on these tablets :


Michael Heniban, Co. F, 2d Regt .; killed at Chancellorsville May 3, 1863, aged twenty-five.


Charles W. Carroll, capt. Co. F, 18th Regt .; wounded at 2d battle of Bull Run Aug. 30, 1862; died Sept. 2, 1862, aged twenty-six.


Robert R. Covey, Co. F, 18th Regt .; killed at 2d battle of Bull Run Aug. 30, 1862, aged thirty-six.


Edward G. Cox, Co. F, 18th Regt. ; wounded at 2d battle of Bull Run Aug. 30, 1862; died Oct. 22, 1864, aged twenty- five.


Henry C. Everett, Co. F, 18th Regt .; died Jan. 19, 1865, aged twenty-two.


87


DEDHAM.


Edward Holmes, corp. Co. F, 18th Regt. ; killed at 2d battle of Bull Run Aug. 30, 1862, aged twenty-six.


Jonathan H. Keyes, Co. F, 18th Regt .; killed at Fredericks- burg Dec. 13, 1862, aged twenty.


George O. Kingsbury, Co. F, 18th Regt .; killed at 2d battle of Bull Run Aug. 30, 1862, aged nineteen.


Daniel Leahy, Co. F, 18th Regt. ; killed at Fredericksburg Dec. 13, 1862, aged twenty-eight.


Leonard W. Minot, Co. F, 18th Regt .; died April 23, 1862, aged twenty.


Henry D. Smith, Co. F, 18th Regt. ; killed at 2d battle of Bull Run Aug. 30, 1862, aged thirty.


Nelson R. Stevens, Co. F, 18th Regt .; died March 1, 1862, aged nineteen.


Edmund L. Thomas, Co. F, 18th Regt .; wounded at 2d battle of Bull Run Aug. 30, 1862; died Sept. 16, 1862, aged nineteen.


George N. Worthen, Co. F, 18th Regt. ; wounded at 2d battle of Bull Run Aug. 30, 1862; died Sept. 4, 1862, aged twenty- four.


Horace S. Damrell, sergt. Co. H, 18th Regt .; died March 7, 1862, aged nineteen.


Oscar S. Guild, Co. H, 18th Regt .; died Feb. 22, 1862, aged seventeen.


Joseph M. Jordan, Co. H, 18th Regt. ; killed at Gaines' Mills June 27, 1862, aged eighteen.


Cyrus D. Tewksbury, Co. H, 18th Regt. ; killed at Petersburg July 5, 1864, aged twenty-four.


Albert C. Bean, Co. I, 20th Regt .; wounded at Cold Harbor June 3, 1864; died June 8, 1864, aged thirty.


John Finn, Jr., sergt. Co. B, 22d Regt .; wounded at North Anna River May 23, 1864; died June 5, 1864, aged twenty-three.


William Heath, Co. I, 22d Regt. ; accidentally shot at Hall's Hill Dec. 7, 1862, aged twenty-five.


David Fletcher, Co. I, 23d Regt. ; killed at Whitehall, N. C., Dec. 16, 1863, aged forty-two.


Charles W. Phipps, Co. A, 24th Regt. ; killed at Deep Bottom Aug. 16, 1864, aged twenty-seven.


Edward Sheehan, Co. B, 28th Regt .; died Nov. 17, 1863, aged forty-three.


John H. Birch, Co. I, 35th Regt. ; died Aug. 15, 1863, aged thirty-two.


George C. Bunker, Co. I, 35th Regt .; killed at Fredericksburg Dec. 13, 1862, aged twenty-one.


Michael Colbert, Co. I, 35th Regt .; killed at Petersburg July 30, 1864, aged thirty.


John G. Dymond, corp. Co. I, 35th Regt. ; died March 29, 1863, aged twenty-eight.


Charles H. Ellis, corp. Co. I, 35th Regt .; died a prisoner of war Feb. 27, 1864, aged thirty.


Edward E. Hatton, corp. Co. I, 35th Regt .; killed at Antietam Sept. 17, 1862, aged twenty-two.


William Hill, Ist lieut. Co. I, 35th Regt .; killed at Fredericks- burg Dec. 13, 1862, aged thirty.


David Phalen, Co. I, 35th Regt .; died July 30, 1863, aged forty-eight.


Charles H. Sulkoski, Co. I, 35th Regt. ; killed at Antietam Sept. 17, 1862, aged twenty.


Nathan C. Treadwell, Co. I, 35th Regt .; wounded before Rich- mond Sept. 28, 1862; died Oct. 26, 1862, aged nineteen.


Joseph P. White, Co. I, 35th Regt .; killed at Antietam Sept. 17, 1862, aged twenty-five.


George F. Whiting, Co. I, 35th Regt .; wounded at South Mountain Sept. 14, 1862 ; died Oct. 5, 1862, aged twenty- seven.


Julius M. Lathrop, capt. Co. I, 38th Regt .; wounded at Cane River April 23, 1864; died April 26, 1864, aged twenty- three.


Charles L. Carter, Co. E, 39th Regt. ; died a prisoner of war Feb. 8, 1865, aged twenty-three.


James J. Hawkins, Co. D, 43d Regt .; died Nov. 4, 1862, aged twenty-five.


John HI. Bancroft, Co. A, 54th Regt .; killed at Fort Wagner July 18, 1863, aged twenty-four.


Anson F. Barton, Co. G, 56th Regt. ; died Oct. 7, 1864, aged eighteen.


John W. Fiske, Ist lieut. Co. B, 58th Regt .; killed at Poplar Spring Church Sept. 30, 1864, aged twenty-three.


William H. Tillinghast, Co. E, Ist Cav .; killed at Deep Bottom Aug. 14, 1864, aged forty.


Joseph T. Stevens, corp. Co. I, 1st Cav .; died March 31, 1862, aged twenty-nine.


Albert O. Hammond, Co. M, 2d Cav .; died Sept. 12, 1864, aged twenty-eight.


John E. Richardson, 4th Cav. ; died a prisoner of war in 1864, aged nineteen.


Edward Hutchins, sergt. Andrew Sharpshooters ; killed at Gettysburg July 3, 1863, aged thirty-six.


The first floor is occupied by two rooms for the town officers, a room for the school committee, and a small hall, besides two rooms rented for stores. The main hall on the second floor is fifty-six by ninety feet, with a balcony at the entrance and an ample stage opposite, from which there is ready retirement to four committee-rooms, all of which are accessible from Church Street by a private entrance and stair- case. The hall is capable of accommodating one thousand people. The building throughout is finished with chestnut. In 1881, steam heating apparatus was provided, the hall received a new floor and other repairs, and its walls and ceilings were elaborately decorated in colors, at a cost of $4667.53.


A fine copy of Stuart's large portrait of Washing- ton in Faneuil Hall, executed by Alvan Fisher, an artist who resided many years in Dedham, and who died in 1863, was placed in the hall by his widow. The copy of Stuart's portrait of Fisher Ames was presented by Judge Seth Ames, and the portrait of Lincoln was procured by subscription. The clock was the gift of Mr. John Bullard, of New York, a native of Dedham.


On the 29th day of September, 1868, the hall was dedicated. The occasion was one of great interest. The principal address was delivered by Erastus Wor- thington, and contained a historical account of the services of the Dedham soldiers during the war. Addison Boyden was the president of the day. The report of the building committee was briefly made by Waldo Colburn, and the keys delivered to Ezra W. Taft, chairman of the selectmen, who responded with appropriate remarks. Original hymns, written by Mrs. William J. Adams and William Everett, were


88


HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.


sung, and a patriotic poem delivered by Horace H. | maintain a public library and reading-room in Ded- Currier. The address and poem, with the other ex- ercises of the day, were published by the town. Ap- pended to these is a roll of officers and men from the town of Dedham who served in the army or navy of - the United States during the war.


1


CHAPTER XII.


DEDHAM-( Continued).


Readville Annexed to Hyde Park-Dedham Public Library- Incorporation of Norwood-Death of Rev. Dr. Babcock- Steam Fire-Engine-Dedham Water Company-Temporary Asylum for Discharged Female Prisoners-Oakdale-Church of the Good Shepherd-Islington-Congregational Church- New Colburn School-House-Brookdale Cemetery-Town Seal-Conclusion.


ON the 22d day of April, 1868, the town of Hyde Park was incorporated, including within its limits that portion of the territory of Dedham known as Readville. For many years this had been a manufac- turing village, but its proximity to the village of Hyde Park, which had grown up quite rapidly, had served to increase its population. During the war, the plains on both sides of the Boston and Providence Railroad and between Sprague Street and the New York and New England Railroad had been used as a place of ren- dezvous for the regiments about to depart for the seat of war. From the summer of 1861 to the close of the war, these plains were almost continuously oc- cupied by the camps of the newly-raised regiments, and presented a warlike scene. The town of Hyde Park was made from the territory of Dorchester, Dedham, and Milton. The number of acres taken from Dedham was eight hundred and eighty-six. The taxable valuation of Readville May 1, 1867, was four hundred and seventy-five thousand, eight hundred and forty-four dollars. It was estimated that Dedham lost by the annexation of Readville to Hyde Park, about one-tenth of its population, one- eleventh of its valuation, and one-twentieth of its territory. The town appointed a committee to ap- pear before the legislative committee and oppose the . annexation of the whole of the territory asked for in the petition, but the Legislature gave substantially all the territory the petitioners desired.


In 1871, a corporation was established by the Legislature, under the name of the Dedham Public Library. It is a private corporation, and the num- ber of its members is limited to thirty. But the purposes for which it was created were to form and


ham, and the act of incorporation provides that so long as said corporation shall allow the inhabitants of Dedham free access to its library and reading-room, under reasonable regulations, the town may annually appropriate and pay to said corporation a sum not exceeding one dollar on each of its rateable polls. It is therefore a private corporation for the purpose of maintaining a free public library. The corporation was organized in November, 1871. About three thousand volumes were transferred to it by the Ded- ham Library Association, which had existed for some years previously. A fair was held by the ladies, on Feb. 22, 1871, which was very successful, and raised for the funds of the corporation, upwards of four thousand dollars. Soon after, Mr. Charles Bullard left by his will the sum of three thousand dollars, the income to be expended in the purchase of books. In 1876, Dr. Danforth P. Wight left by his will the sum of one thousand dollars for the same purpose, and in 1877, the corporation received one thousand dollars under the provisions of the will of Dr. George E. Hatton. In 1882, the funds were largely increased by a legacy of ten thousand dollars given by the will of Mr. John Bullard, of New York, a native of Dedham. The income of this fund is to be used in the purchase of books, unless the corporation shall become possessed of another like sum to be used in the erection of a library building, in which event the corporation may use the legacy of Mr. Bullard for that purpose. The want of a suitable library build- ing has long been felt by the friends of the library corporation, and in the course of time this want will doubtless be supplied. The corporation has funds to the amount of nineteen thousand four hundred dol- lars, the income of which is appropriated to the pur- chase of books and the cost of binding. The town has annually appropriated a sum which is used to meet the current expenses of the library. In 1882, the town appropriation was eleven hundred dollars. Books are delivered to the people at East Dedham and West Dedham, by agents of the library corporation. The library has increased to some extent by donations of books, but principally by purchase from the funds of the corporation. Since the organization of the corporation, Alfred Hewins has been its president.


The town of Norwood was incorporated Feb. 23, 1872. A small portion of the territory of Walpole was taken for the new town, but it was mainly con- stituted from that portion of Dedham known as the South Parish, or South Dedham. In 1872 the valu- ation of Norwood was one million six hundred and eighteen thousand five hundred and fifty-six dollars,


89


DEDHAM.


and the number of acres of land, six thousand two hundred and seventy-five. Probably the town of Dedham lost one-fifth of its valuation, and about one- fourth of its population, by the incorporation of Nor- wood into a separate town. In the scale of valuation and population it was a serious loss to Dedham, and tended to reduce the relative standing and importance of the town in the county. It also took away many intelligent and enterprising citizens. But the course of events had tended to this result for many years. The village of South Dedham was situated four miles from Dedham village, and the railroad communication between them had ceased over the Norfolk County Railroad. There was but little business connection or community of interests between the villages. Ex- cepting on election-days and at town-meetings, the people of South Dedham scarcely saw their fellow- citizens of the old parish. As early as 1722, the idea of a new town was entertained, and perhaps never wholly abandoned afterwards. But the occa- sion of the movement in 1872, was a warm con- troversy which arose respecting the establishment of a high school in South Dedham. The people of that village alleged their remoteness from the high school at Dedham village, as a reason for its estab- lishment. The people of the other villages opposed the proposition mainly on the ground that there were not a sufficient number of scholars in South Dedham, of the proper age and qualifications, to render another high school necessary or expedient. The proposition had been carried in two town-meetings, but at a third and very large town-meeting, the proposition was de- feated by a small majority. This was in the summer of 1871, and the petition for the new town was pre- sented to the next Legislature. The town of Ded- ham voted not to oppose the petition, further than it proposed to take more territory than had been in- cluded in the South Parish. The separation was made in an amicable spirit, and the two towns have always been united in the same district for electing a representative to the General Court.


On the 25th day of October, 1873, the 'Rev. Samuel Brazer Babcock, D.D., the rector of St. Paul's Church, died in Boston, having been stricken with apoplexy some days previous, while absent from home. He had been rector of the parish for over forty years, and it is significant of the stability of affairs in Ded- ham village, that both the pastors of the Congrega- tional Churches and the Episcopal rector, should have remained over their respective parishes for so long a period. Dr. Babcock was born in 1808. He | 31, 1877, and the capital stock was afterwards fixed was graduated at Harvard College in 1830. During his rectorship, the old church had been taken down, | ever, but little public interest in the subject, but the


a new one built and destroyed, and a third church of larger proportions and of more durable materials had been erected. Nearly all the members of his parish, who were here in 1832, had passed away. The parish had passed through a period of changes, in which it had become stronger and more united. Dr. Babcock had attached personal friends, who were liberal bene- factors of the parish, which during his rectorship was harmonious and prosperous. He was a man of genial manners, a devoted pastor, and an earnest preacher. His health, for some years previous to his death, had declined, but he officiated in the church shortly before his death. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Columbia College, New York, and from Griswold College, Iowa, in 1870. He was buried in the churchyard, and a marble monument was erected to his memory by two of his friends and parishioners. His successors have been the Rev. Daniel Goodwin, from November, 1874, to September, 1879 ; and the Rev. Arthur M. Backus, from January, 1880, to the present time.


In 1873, the attention of the people of the town was called to the necessity of providing new apparatus for the extinguishment of fires. The hand-engines in Dedham village and at the upper village were more than twenty years old, and were found to be quite inadequate for the service required at a fire of any magnitude. Upon the recommendation of a com- mittee appointed to consider the condition of the fire department, the town voted to purchase a steam fire- engine, of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, with a hose carriage, at a cost of five thousand dol- lars. The town also expended at the same time about two thousand five hundred dollars in the pur- chase of new hose. A new engine-house containing a lock-up was erected the same year.


The discussion and investigation relative to the means of extinguishing fires, naturally led to the con- sideration of the greater question of procuring a full supply of water for domestic purposes, as well as for the extinguishment of fires. This subject had been talked about for some 'years, but no definite plan or source of supply could be decided upon. In 1876, however, a number of citizens obtained an act of incorporation as the Dedham Water Company, which gave the right to the corporation, to take water from Charles River, or from any pond or brook in the town. If water should be taken from Charles River, the amount of water was limited to a million and a half gallons daily. This corporation was organized Jan. at seventy-five thousand dollars. There was, how-


90


HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.


organization of the corporation was maintained. In drants for fire service in Dedham village and East the autumn of 1880, a sum was subscribed to obtain | Dedham, for which, with a supply for public build- the services of an engineer, to examine and report as ings, the town in 1883 contracted to pay annually for three years the sum of five thousand dollars. The to the best source of supply and cost of constructing the works. The engineer, Mr. Percy M. Blake, | quality of the water furnished by this company is of about Jan. 1, 1881, made a report, which was printed, remarkable purity, and the supply is ample. The introduction of water into Dedham by this corpora- tion is the greatest work of a public nature ever accomplished in Dedham, whether we consider its cost, the effort required to carry it through to completion, or the benefits it confers upon the people of the town. The first president of the company was Royal O. Storrs, but since his resigna- tion in 1882, Winslow Warren has been the president. with a contoured plan of the village. Mr. Blake recommended the plan of taking ground-water from the meadows on the southerly side of Charles River, near Bridge Street, and to pump it through the vil- lage to a stand-pipe to be located on Walnut Street. About the same time several large subscriptions for stock were obtained, and with a definite plan in view, and with effort on the part of some of the cor- porators, the whole amount of the capital stock was About the year 1863, a private charitable insti- tution was established in Dedham, under the name of the Temporary Asylum for Discharged Female Prisoners. It owed its origin to the personal efforts of Miss Hannah B. Chickering, of Dedham, a lady of high character and ability, who devoted many years of her life to the welfare of prisoners in penal and reformatory institutions, and who was for a time a member of the Prison Commission of the common- wealth. During the last ten years, the buildings, which are located on what was formerly the farm of Capt. Eliphalet Pond, about a mile south of the court-house on Washington Street, have been much enlarged and improved. The institution is supported by the donations of a large number of its friends in Boston and vicinity, and by an annual appropriation from the Commonwealth. obtained. In January, 1881, the work of construc- tion was formally authorized by the directors of the corporation. The works were constructed under the direction of Percy M. Blake, engineer. The pump- ing-engines were constructed by the Knowles Steam Pump Works, of Warren, Mass. The water is taken from a collecting-well, twenty-six feet in diameter and eighteen feet deep, located between the engine-house and Charles River. The pumping machinery consists of two independent engines, one a compound con- densing engine, capable of raising seven hundred and fifty thousand gallons one hundred and eighty feet high in twenty-four hours ; the other a duplex high- pressure engine, capable of raising one million four hundred thousand gallons two hundred and thirty feet high in twenty-four hours. The iron reservoir on Walnut Street, is one hundred and three feet in The village of Oakdale, in East Dedham, was begun about the year 1870. The land was divided into parties who erected the dwelling-houses. Mr. San- derson also erected a building containing a public hall and a store. The school-house was built in 1878, at a cost of about five thousand dollars. A mission Sunday-school was begun here June 8, 1873, through the interest and efforts of members of the family of Horatio Chickering, who belonged to the Episcopal Church. Soon after, on the 29th of the same month, public services of the Episcopal Church were begun in Sanderson Hall, and for three years they were conducted by lay-readers. In 1874 Mr. Chickering purchased a lot of land for the purpose of building a church. He died in the spring of 1875, but he made provision in his will for the erection of the church, which was consecrated Nov. 2, 1876. The architecture of this church is attractive and appro- priate, and in it have been placed memorial windows in memory of Mr. Chickering and his sisters, Mrs. height and twenty feet in diameter. It is built of iron of four grades of thickness, the first twenty- ; building lots, and sold by Charles C. Sanderson to five feet from the base, being five-eighths of an inch thick ; the second twenty-five feet, half an inch ; the third twenty-five feet, three-eighths of an inch ; and the remainder, five-sixteenths of an inch. The reservoir was built by Kendall & Roberts, of Cam- bridgeport, Mass. The service-pipes are cement- lined pipes, and were furnished and laid by George Goodhue, of Concord, N. H. ' The total cost of the works, as reported by the directors, January, 1882, was about ninety-two thousand dollars. The in- crease in the expenditure over the estimated cost was owing to the enlargement of the reservoir or stand-pipe, and the laying of nearly ten miles of pipe instead of seven, as provided in the original contract. To meet this additional cost, the capital stock of the corporation was increased to one hun- dred thousand dollars. During the year 1883, the service-pipes were extended in East Dedham. The corporation provides about one hundred hy- D. F. Adams and Miss H. B. Chickering. The Rev.




Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.