History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 38

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 38

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GRACE CHURCH, UNIVERSALIST .- On Oct. 4, 1856, a Universalist parish was organized. At first their services were held in the town hall, but under the inspiration of a generous offer from the late Oliver Dean, M.D., it was determined to build a house. This was located close upon Main Street, and was consecrated May 5, 1858. The cost, besides the land, | was about seven thousand dollars. The building was used until June, 1874, when it was sold to the Bap- tists, and removed to School Street. In 1873 the parish built the present " Grace Church" directly in the rear of its first building. This graceful and beautiful house of worship is one of the architectural attractions of Franklin. It cost, with all its appoint- ments, furniture, organ, and steam-heating apparatus, ! fifty-two thousand dollars, of which sum Dr. Dean originally gave two thousand dollars. Rev. A. N. Adams was the first settled pastor. He was installed May 5, 1858, and on the same day in which the first church building was dedicated, and was dismissed in 1860.

In 1860 a church was organized, also a Sunday- school, and all the other auxiliaries which help to sus- tain vigorous church work. The pastors have been

Rev. A. N. Adams, 1858-60; Rev. N. R. Wright, 1861-62 ; Rev. S. W. Squires, 1862-66 ; Rev. H. D. L. Webster for a few months, succeeded by Rev. Rich- ard Eddy, 1867-69. After being without a pastor for nearly three years, Rev. A. St. John Chambre (D.D. 1878) was installed July 1, 1872. He closed his pastorate in 1880, and was followed by Rev. L. J. Fletcher, D.D., just deceased. The list of church members numbers now about one hundred and eight from a parish of about ninety families.

THE BAPTIST CHURCH was organized in 1868 with thirteen members. Its pastors have been Rev. J. W. Holman, M.D., succeeded by Rev. George banded. September, 1881, Rev. A. W. Jefferson, anew the denominational interest. As a result of his labors the church was reorganized in June, 1882, and now numbers thirty-five, with a Sunday-school of about sixty-five. This society first held their ser- vices in the town hall until a neat chapel was built on East Street during the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Rounds. In 1874 the society purchased the build- ing in which they now worship of the Universalists, moved it to School Street, and made some alterations.

CATHOLIC CHURCH .- In 1851 the Catholics were given the use of the town hall for a service, conducted monthly by Rev. M. X. Carroll, from Foxborough. In 1862 he was succeeded by Rev. M. McCabe, of Woonsocket. From 1863 to 1873, Rev. P. Gillie, of Attleborough, held occasional services. From 1872- 76, Rev. Francis Gonesse, of Walpole, had charge of the parish. In February, 1877, Rev. J. Griffin became and still remains the resident pastor. In 1871 the society bought the old Congregational Church, and remodeled its interior for their forms of worship. A large and commodious parsonage has been built directly west of the church.

THE METHODIST CHURCH .- As early as 1853 a Methodist meeting was held in the town hall by Rev. John M. Merrill. He gathered quite a large congregation. In 1855, Rev. Pliny Wood succeeded him. In 1856, Rev. M. P. Webster took up the work, but the enterprise failed so rapidly that the Conference decided in 1857 to suspend the services. In 1871 meetings were again started under the charge of Rev. John R. Cushing, of Boston. He organized a Sunday-school, and gathered a good congregation. In April, 1872, the Conference sent Rev. E. P. King into this field. He organized a church of thirteen members, and laid the corner-stone of a church build- ing October 3d. The house was dedicated June 25, 1873. The same year the church membership in-

176

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

creased to sixty-six. April, 1874, Mr. King was transferred, and Rev. J. N. Short became pastor for three years. He was followed in 1878 by Rev. William Wignall, 1878-79; Rev. O. W. Adams, 1880-81 ; Rev. A. C. Godfrey, 1882 ; and Rev. M. D. Hornbeck, the present pastor, since April, 1883.

SWEDENBORGIAN .- A few members of the New Jerusalem Church have held meetings constantly for seventeen years at the house of the late J. A. Wood- ward, but they have never been organized into a distinct church.

Town Library .- Mention has been made of the library presented by Dr. Franklin to the town as a birthday-gift. With its one hundred and sixteen volumes was afterwards connected a private library of one hundred and twenty-five volumes for the use of its shareholders. At first the use of the public library was limited to members of the parish ; but in 1791 it was "opened to the whole town, until the town shall order otherwise." These antiquated books became so little esteemed, that in 1840 they were found stowed away in their venerable bookcase in a barn. In 1856 a library association was formed to which the town by vote gave in charge the old Franklin and Social Library.

These libraries were formed into a free town library, to which the town has appropriated money annually for its increase and support ; in addition to this town grant, amounting now to five hundred dollars, the library has the income of three thousand dollars, a legacy of Dr. Dean, for the purchase of books. The report for 1883 is as follows :

Librarian's salary ..... $150.00

| Volumes added 217

Room rent ... 100.00

Loaned .. 12,785

Incidentals 201.75

| Number of borrowers. 657

116 new books. 187.77

Whole number of vol-

Total, $639.52

umes .. 3,000

Waldo Daniels has been the librarian from the beginning.

In 1795 the number of children in town required six school-houses, whose location was decided by a committee chosen for the purpose. Now the town supports ten mixed schools, exclusive of the High School. The Central School is graded into four de- partments and six schools.

At first the clergyman visited and catechised each school annually. As the notice of his coming visit was announced from the pulpit the previous Sunday, great were the preparations for it. After the close of Dr. Emmons' ministry this duty of examination by law devolved upon the school committee, and with them it now rests.

A High School was established by the town in 1868. It was opened on May 20th with twenty-two scholars, Miss Mary A. Bryant, principal. She was succeeded by Miss Annie E. Patten and Thomas Curly. Lucien I. Blake, of Amherst College, was principal in 1877-78, followed by Theodore Parker Farr, a graduate of Tufts College. The present principal is Mrs. M. A. B. Wiggins.

Private Schools .- At the request of many parents, Mortimer Blake, a graduate of Amherst College, began in September, 1835, at his own charges, a private school of a higher grade than the town public schools. He occupied first the Central District school- house with fifty-six scholars, fourteen of whom came from other towns; but within the first year of this school's existence a large two-story building was erected at the western foot of the Common by a stock company with accommodations for one hundred pupils, besides recitation-rooms and exhibition hall. This building was in after-years used for a store and straw- shop alternately, till now-minus the cupola-it is used entirely for tenements. The bell now hangs in the belfry of the South Franklin Church. The school continued for several years, and during the first princi- pal's connection with it its term-rolls often numbered one hundred scholars. It included the names of many scholars since well known, and not a few re- nowned as educators and heads of important institu- tions of instruction, as well as lawyers, physicians, and ministers. The academy gradually subsided under the rise of public high schools, although the succeeding principals, Bigelow and Baker, endeavored faithfully to maintain it.

Public Schools .- The first grant of money by the town for the support of schools was £200, voted May 20, 1778. This was divided in proportion to the number of children living in each school district be- tween the ages of four and sixteen. The grants of money in succeeding years have steadily increased with the increase of school attendance. In 1782 it A Kindergarten was opened a few years since by Miss Lydia P. Ray, a graduate of Vassar College, in a building fitted especially for the purpose. It is now was only £80, and varied but little till 1796, when it was $320 ; increasing till in 1814 it was $600, and in 1839, $1000. In 1873 it reached $6000. It has taught by Mrs. J. C. Blaisdell, and numbers about increased largely each year, till the appropriation for | twenty little children. 1883 was $8300. These sums include the total annual Dean Academy .- At the annual session of the Massachusetts Convention, held in grant for schools.

177

FRANKLIN.

Worcester, Oct. 18-20, 1864, the subject of a State denominational school, to be of the highest grade be- low that of colleges, was brought before the Council by Dr. A. A. Miner, president of Tufts College. A committee was appointed with full discretionary powers, Rev. A. St. John Chambre, of Stoughton, chairman. Dr. Oliver Dean offered a tract of eight or nine acres which he had bought of the estate of Dr. Emmons, and $10,000 towards a building, besides $50,000 as a permanent fund, and his offer was ac- cepted. May 16, 1867, the corner-stone of Dean Academy building was laid with appropriate public ceremonies. As the work of building went on, Dr. Dean increased his donations to nearly $75,000. The style of the edifice was French Lombardic, and its total cost, exclusive of furniture and gas apparatus, was $154,000. It was two hundred and twenty feet front ; the main centre fifty by sixty feet deep, of four stories ; and two wings, each fifty-eight by forty- four feet in depth, with still other wings in the rear and three stories high. It was dedicated May 28, 1868, Rev. E. C. Bolles, of Portland, giving the address. The school had been commenced with forty- four pupils, Oct. 1, 1866, in the vestry of the Uni- versalist Church, under Mr. T. G. Senter, principal. The summer term of 1868 was opened in the new edifice.

Four years later, during the night of July 31, 1872, this magnificent building with nearly all its contents was destroyed by fire. The young school became suddenly homeless, and Principal Senter re- signed. The Franklin House was bought and the school resumed in it, with C. A. Daniels as principal for one year, and Dr. J. P. Weston for five years. After two years of labor and great anxiety, a second and the present edifice was completed and dedicated June 24, 1874. It occupies substantially the same foundations, and differs but little from the previous one, except being in Gothic style.

Until the year 1877, Dean Academy was open to both sexes ; but the demand for a young ladies' school led the trustees to limit it accordingly. The new arrangement opened in 1877-78, with about fifty pupils, under Miss H. M. Parkhurst, principal. After two years' trial the limitation was removed, and the school is now open to both sexes. Professor Lester L. Burrington, from the Illinois State Nor- mal University, became the principal in 1879, and the school is still under this faithful and devoted teacher.

College Graduates .- The interest of the town in education is further indicated by its long roll of col- lege graduates and professional men. Few towns can

show a larger ratio of educated men and women. Since its incorporation as a precinct, fifty-three of its young men and one lady are known to have graduated from college. Their names are here given. Many others, natives, but hailing elsewhere, are graduates. The honorable women of the town who married pro- fessional men are not a few. The total number given in Blake's " History of Franklin" is one hundred and twelve.

LIST OF GRADUATES.

Name. Institution.

Graduated.

Professor Aldis S. Allen, M.D ... Yale.

1827

Benjamin F. Allen

Brown

1817

Judge Asa Allis

Brown 1796

J. Frank Atwood, M.D.

Harvard 1869

Henry M. Bacon.

Amherst 1876

Rev. Abijah R. Baker, D.D.

Amherst 1830

David E. Baker

Amherst 1878

Rev. Mortimer Blake, D.D Amherst 1835

Gilbert Clark, M.D

Eclectic Medical, Phila 1873

Rev. Henry M. Daniels

Chicago Theological. 1861

Rev. William H. Daniels

Middletown 1868

Hon. Williams Emmons.

Brown .. 1805

Elisha Fairbanks, Esq.

Brown.

1791

Theodore P. Farr.

Tufts

1878

Professor A. Metcalf Fisher.

Yale.

1813

Rev. Charles R. Fisher

Trinity

1842

Hon. George Fisher.

Brown

1813

Lewis W. Fisher.

Brown

1816

Elisha Harding, M.D.

Brown.

1819

Rev. Thomas Haven.

Harvard

1765

Peter Hawes, Esq.

Brown

1790

Rev. Isaac E. Heaton.

Brown.

1843

Rev. Samuel Kingsbury ..

Brown

1822

S. Allen Kingsbury, M.D 1816 Brown

Hon. Horace Mann, LL.D.

Brown

1819

Edward McFarland, Esq.

Holy Cross, Worcester.

1873

Alfred Metcalf, Esq ..

Brown

1802

John G. Metcalf, M.D.

Brown

1820

Judge Theron Metcalf.

Brown

1805

George T. Metcalf, Esq.

Brown

1853

Erasmus D. Miller, M.D.

Brown

1832

Lewis L. Miller, M.D

Brown

1817

Rev. William Phipps. Amherst 1837

Rev. George G. Phipps.

Amherst

1862

Benjamin Pond, M.D.

Medical, Dartmouth

1813

Rev. Daniel Pond.

Harvard 1745

Samuel M. Pond, Esq.

Brown ... 1802

Rev. Timothy Pond.

Harvard 1749

Metcalf E. Pond, D.D.S.

Boston Dental College. 1874

Jenner L. S. Pratt, M.D

Columbia, New York 1842

Brown 1830

Vassar College. 1878

1874

Rev. Albert M. Richardson ..

Oberlin 1846

Professor Henry B. Richardson. Amherst

1869

Frank E. Rockwood, Esq ... . Brown

1874

Lucius O. Rockwood, Esq ..

.Brown

1868

Henry E. Russegue, M.D.

Boston University. 1878

George W. Smalley.

Yale

Rev. William M. Thayer.

Brown

1843

Abijah Whiting, Esq .. Brown.

1790

Nathan Whiting, Esq ..

Brown

1796

Rev. Samuel Whiting

Harvard 1769

In addition to those mentioned in the above list were several others who died in the course of their collegiate studies or were arrested by change of cir- cumstances.

Material Progress .- The following table, com- piled from the earliest reliable sources, exhibits the growth of the town :

Spencer A. Pratt, Esq.

Miss Lydia P. Ray ..

William F. Ray, A.M.

Brown

1832

Rev. Sanford J. Horton, D.D. Trinity

178

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Year.

Polls.

Valuation.

Popula-

tion.

£2401 188.

127

119

132

198 570 856

1100

1790,

274

£2803 14s. Gd.

143

131

139

270

788

1101

$13,294.40

169

157

180

275

729

1255

1×10.

17,318.95

180

178

163

265

733

...

1630

1-30.

343,124.00

234

208

149

274

563

301

1662

1×40.

417,978.00

262

227

183

191

448

129

1717

1850

648,436.00

304

240

185

192

493

2043

515

811,636.00

379

269

245

142

508

2172

1805

51:

1,116,660.00

402

269

573

2510

:17

1.433,635.00

464

331

393

4051

1,873,830.00

658

354

451

549

These tables indicate that the progress of the town has in late years been rapid for staid New England. | The impulses of this growth are found in the devel- opment of business, as the facts following indicate. They have been carefully gathered from original sources.

Later Industries .- The beginning of the present century marks the introduction of the straw business, in which the town still holds a foremost rank. The braiding and making of rye-straw into bonnets came from Providence, R. I. A milliner of that city, Mrs. Naomi Whipple, and her assistant, Miss Hannah Met- calf, unraveled a piece of imported braid and learned the secret of its plaited strands. She made and sent a case of bonnets, from braid of her own manufacture, to New York, which sold with the rapidity of foreign goods. Sally Richmond, a scholar at Wrentham Academy in the summer of 1799, taught the art of braiding to the ladies where she boarded, and thus came the new industry to Wrentham and Franklin. The storekeepers at first exchanged their goods for the braid ; but as it accumulated, they began to make it into bonnets, carrying it with wooden forms from house to house to be sewed into shape by the farmers' wives and daughters. The bonnets so made were gathered and pressed at first with common hand-flats, afterwards with jack-presses worked by the foot. So grew up the great industry which now employs thou- sands of people in this region.

The first straw manufactory in Franklin was begun in 1812 by Asa and Davis Thayer. After the death of Asa Thayer, in 1816, a partnership was formed be- tween Davis Thayer and Herman C. Fisher, to which, in 1825, Albert E. Daniels was admitted. Another early firm was Asa Rockwood & Son.

The trip to New York, where their sales were made, was not to these first merchants a night ride in a steamer. They went with a horse and wagon to Prov- idence and thence in a sailing-vessel, whenever a cargo and wind and tide were ready, waiting sometimes two weeks for a favorable wind. When they should return to their factories was still more uncertain. Between

the two termini of their business, their lives were drawn in unequal and indefinite lengths which unusual patience alone could equate.

Thayer, Fisher & Daniels after a while separated into individual firms. Thayer became Thayer, Gay & Co., then D. Thayer, Jr., & Bros., until their final transfer to Hubbard, Snow & Co.

Hermon C. Fisher became Fisher & Norcross, then H. C. Fisher alone a few years, afterwards Fisher & Adams, and, after the death of Mr. Simeon Adams, Fisher again until he was succeeded in the business by Horace M. Gowen. This line is now extinct.

Albert E. Daniels became Daniels & Green, then Daniels & Son, when the business was transferred to Green & Baker, then to Henry M. Green alone; again it became Farmer & Sherman, then Bassett, Sherman & Co., and now is Oscar M. Bassett & Co. Other firms have also engaged in the straw business,-Hart- well Morse & Co., for twenty years ; Horace S. Morse & Capron, for twelve years, in the old academy build- ing; Foster, Pratt & Day, and Gen. Sumner & Co., about 1855-60. In 1869 no less than seven manufac- tories of straw goods were in active operation, making a million hats and bonnets per year. These were at that time all made, pressed, and finished by hand ; but about 1872 the hydraulic press was introduced, and in 1875 sewing-machines came into use. They greatly increased the amount of production, but with a large decrease of employés as well as a reduced value in products. Two firms only are now manufac- turing straw goods in Franklin, as below :

HUBBARD, BASSETT & Co. are at the New York end of the line, and HUBBARD, SNOW & Co. occupy in Franklin the large factory formerly used by Davis Thayer Bros. They have three hundred and twenty- five employés at the factory, and two hundred and fifty outside to whom work is carried. They manu- factured in 1883 nineteen thousand cases, each con- taining on an average four dozen hats or bonnets ; total, nine hundred and twelve thousand. OSCAR M. BASSETT & Co., successors of Bassett & Sherman, have manufactured only since Sept. 1, 1883 ; but they already employ about two hundred hands and make all varieties of straw goods.

FELT, SATINET, AND CASSIMERE MANUFACTURES have become another leading industry in Franklin. Col. Joseph Ray came with his family to Franklin in 1839, and engaged in making cotton goods. One of his sons, Frank B. Ray, started the first woolen-mill in town at Unionville, a village a mile and a half west of the Centre. He at first prepared wool shoddy to sell to others, using probably the first shoddy picker in the country.

Houses.

Barns.

Horses.

Oxen.

Cows.

Sheep.

466

2983

1,736,370.00

632

320

448

274

599

...

1398

1.20

15,524.75

210

180

143

Total

179

FRANKLIN.

In 1870 he started the first felt machinery in town. bought Dr. Emmons' barn, moved it, and began manufacturing therein. He was succeeded by James M. Freeman, who enlarged both business and shop, but he retired in 1879, and the business also. This enterprise of felt manufactures grew rapidly by the forming of new firms and the addition of cassi- mere and satinet goods. Morse & Waite, in 1871, | were followed by Rays, Rathburn & Mckenzie, THE FRANKLIN RUBBER-BOOT COMPANY was organized, 1882, with a capital of seventy-five thou- sand dollars. Moses Farnum, president ; Joseph G. Ray, treasurer ; Horace Jenks, superintendent of and The Franklin Felting Company,-Enoch Waite, James P. and Joseph G. Ray. There are now seven of these felting-mills running. The firm of J. P. & J. G. Ray are running four mills, viz. : a shoddy- | the works. They are located near Beaver Pond, and mill, using from six to eight thousand pounds of' are employing one hundred and twenty hands, and make 800 pairs of rubber boots and the same number of overshoes per day. rags per day, and employing fifty hands ; a cassimere- mill, with six sets of machinery, one hundred and twenty-five hands, and making 200,000 yards per year ; a cotton warp woolen satinet mill, with eight sets, one hundred and fifty hands, and 1,000,000 yards per year,-this mill is located in Bellingham ; the City Mills, now in Norfolk, for all kinds of felt- ' goods, eighty hands, and 500,000 yards per year. ; Their wool and waste trade amounts to one million dollars per year.

FRANK B. RAY has one felt- and one shoddy- mill, both in. Franklin.

WILLIAM F. RAY, son of Frank B. Ray, runs a mill at Norfolk, for wool extracts and shoddy, em- ploying fifteen hands and producing 400,000 pounds per year.

A SATINET - MILL, built by Ray, Rathburn & Mckenzie in 1872 for a felt mill, was bought, 1881, by C. J. Mckenzie and changed to a satinet-mill. It runs three sets of woolen machinery, employs forty hands, and produces 350,000 yards per annum.

THE FELTING-MILL of the Franklin Felting Com- pany was purchased, in the spring of 1883, by Adel- bert D. Thayer. It has a capital of forty thousand dollars.

Another CASSIMERE-MILL has this year (1883) been started by Addison M. Thayer, with forty thou- sand dollars capital.

Of these ten mills, three are just beyond the town limits, but are owned and operated by Franklin firms.

THE FRANKLIN COTTON MANUFACTURING COM- PANY has just been formed. This corporation is erecting at Unionville a granite building one hundred and thirty-three feet long and fifty-five feet wide and two stories high, to be run by both steam and water, as the supply serves. They will make a new kind of fancy cotton goods, with imported English machinery, and intend to commence Jan. 1, 1884. Capital, one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The officers are George Draper, of Milford, president; James P. Ray, of Franklin, treasurer.

THE SHOE BUSINESS has never put more than one foot into the town. In 1850, N. C. Newell |

LUMBER AND BOX FACTORIES .- E. L. and O. F. Metcalf commenced as contractors and builders in 1843. In 1847-49 they were actively engaged in building depot, bridges, etc., for the Norfolk County Railroad and Southbridge branch. In 1856 they bought the Frost water-mill, about two miles from the Centre, fitting it up with wood-working ma- chinery, and also opened a lumber-yard at the village. | In 1867 they built a steam-mill near the railway station, which has been enlarged until its present dimensions are sixty by one hundred and eight feet, with wings thirty by fifty feet and thirty by forty feet, all two stories high. In 1870 they added a saw- mill and, in 1873 a grain-mill. They employ a large number of hands in the sash, door, blind, and box departments.

The original firm, after almost forty years of suc- cessful business, dissolved in 1881 by mutual con- sent, Erastus L. going out, and Walter M. Fisher taking his interest in the business, which is now carried on with the firm-name of O. F. Metcalf & Sons.

In the northwestern part of the town is another lumber- and box-factory, started by LUCIUs W. DANIELS in 1874, making 50,000 packing-boxes and using 750,000 feet of lumber per year. The saw- mill demands 400,000 feet of lumber per year to keep its saws busy.

At Nason's Crossing, about half a mile south of the Centre, JOSEPH N. WHITING has been engaged for several years running a grist-mill.

MACHINERY .- Joseph Clark owns the one ma- ! chine-shop in Franklin, located at Nason's Crossing. He manufactures largely woolen machinery, as well as repairs cotton machinery of all kinds, employing a large number of men and adding much to the town industries.

CANNED GOODS .- North Franklin is a head centre of the canning industry. The large factory of Rich- ardson & Hopkins commenced ten years ago on a small scale. Their buildings have been enlarged and

180

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

machinery added, including two forty horse-power boilers. During the busy season, they now employ about one hundred and fifty hands. They make their own cans, of which in 1882 they produced 400,000. This firm put up last year 112,000 cans of corn, 90,- 722 of tomatoes, 45,387 of squash in three-pound cans, and 1267 in gallons ; peas and beans, 15,000 ; pumpkins, 5140 ; cranberries, 3000. Fifteen thousand cases were required to pack the shipped goods.

GEORGE BACON commenced the same industry in 1881 with about twenty-five hands, making a good start the first year with 20,000 cans of corn, 23,000 of tomatoes, and 3,200 of squash, he also making his own cans.

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History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 38

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