USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 44
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In November, 1803, the sentiment of the lodge appears to have been in favor of a remoyal to Quincy, and a petition to that effect, presented to the Grand Lodge, called forth the following dispensation :
" To all the Fraternity to whom these presents shall come :
" Know ye, that on a petition preferred to the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, on the evening of the 12th day of December, 5803 (1803), by the officers and members of Rural Lodge, for permission to hold that lodge in future in the town of Quincy, in the County of Norfolk, which by the within charter was established to be held at Randolph, in said county ; " It was unanimously voted to grant the prayer of the petitioners, and that Rural Lodge should hereafter hold their meetings in the town of Quincy only.
" By order of the Most Worshipful Grand Master.
" Attest. "JOHN PROCTOR, " Grand Secretary."
Thus Rural Lodge went to Quincy, and there it has since remained and prospered.
making some arrangements for the formation of a lodge in their own town. At this meeting Brother. Simeon Alden was chosen moderator, and Brother Royal Turner scribe. A committee was chosen to present a petition to the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Massachusetts for a charter. On June 9, 1819, a charter was granted by the Grand Lodge to the following charter members : Royal Turner; Ephraim Wales, Luther Thayer, Jr., Robert Shank- land, Samuel French, Isaac Spear, Leonard Alden, Timothy Dorman, Samuel Thayer, Jr., Horatio B. Alden, William French, and Joshua Niles, with full powers and authority to convene as Masons in Ran- dolph under the name of Norfolk Union Lodge. The above lodge met June 22, 1819, at the hall of Brother Silas Alden, in the building now occupied by the post-office, printing-office, and periodical store, and chose the following officers : W. M., Royal Tur- ner; S. W., Ephraim Wales ; J. W., Luther Thayer. The lodge continued to meet at the above hall until 1824, afterwards meeting in the hall of Brother Seth T. Thayer, hall of Brother David Jacobs (now Howard House), Shankland's hall, Hiram Alden's hall, hall on North Street (old meeting-house), and the present hall (Jones's block).
The following brothers have served as Worshipful Masters since the organization of Norfolk Union Lodge : Royal Turner, 1819-20 ; Timothy Dorman, 1821; Luther Thayer, 1822; Aaron Prescott, 1823- 25; Ephraim Spear, 1826; George Clark, 1827 ; John Johnson, 1828; B. L. Wales, 1829; John Wales, 1830-32; Robert Shankland, 1833-34; B. L. Wales, 1835-37 ; B. L. Wales, 1855-56; J. White Belcher, 1857-63; John B. Thayer, 1864- 66; Cyrus Morton, 1867 ; Henry H. Packard, 1868- 70; Frank Morton, 1871-72; Samuel A. Bates, 1873-74; Frank Morton, 1875 ; J. Tisdale South- worth, 1876-77; N. Everett Buck, 1878-80; Car- roll A. Thayer, 1881-82; Henry A. Belcher, 1883.
Of those who served as Masters previous to 1837 all but one, Bradford L. Wales, are now deceased. From 1833 to 1837, owing to the continued perse- cution of Masonry caused by the so-called Morgan ex- citement, but a few regular communications were held, and in December, 1837, the charter of Norfolk Union Lodge, in common with those of many other Masonic lodges, was surrendered to the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge. During the next eight years many of the members passed away, but in 1855 the true spirit of Masonry, which had lain dormant in the hearts of the few remaining members, kindled with a new life, and seven members petitioned the Grand Lodge for
On the evening of Jan. 22, 1819, a few of the brothers of Rural Lodge, residing in Randolph, met at the residence of David Jacobs for the purpose of the return of the charter; and at the December meet-
205
RANDOLPH.
ing of the Grand Lodge in that year the charter was returned, and a new era commenced in the history of Norfolk Union Lodge. At the communication held in January, 1855, Bradford L. Wales was chosen Worshipful Master ; Isaac Spear, Senior Warden ; E. S. Conant, Junior Warden. From 1857 to 1866, under the administration of Brothers J. White Belcher and J. B. Thayer, many names were added to the roll of membership; but many others, who were called to serve their country in the late Rebel- lion, left to return no more.
From 1866 to the present time the lodge has pros- pered, having on its roll of membership two hundred and eighty-four names since the organization of the lodge, with a present membership of seventy-five. Of the Masters who have served since 1855, the lives of all but one (Cyrus Morton) have been spared, and they are to-day active members and workers in the lodge.
Rising Star Lodge, No. 76, I. O. O. F., was organ- ized May 24, 1845, on which date the first meeting was held in the office of John King, Esq., a lawyer. This meeting was a preliminary one, and was called to organize the lodge, choose officers, and adopt a constitution and by-laws. The second meeting was held on June 3, 1845, at which time Rising Star Lodge was instituted, and the following officers in- stalled by officers from the Grand Lodge of Massa- chusetts : N. G., Hiram Alden ; V. G., John King ; Sec., R. W. Turner; Treas., Caleb Stevens ; W., Samuel Clark; C., William D. Daggett; O. G., Joseph S. Rollins ; I. G., Samuel M. Soule ; R. S. N. G., Levi Mann (2d) ; L. S. N. G., J. P. D. Wil- kins; R. S. V. G., Levi Mann ; L. S. V. G., Seth T. | King; Investigating Committee, Levi Mann (2d), Caleb Stevens, Samuel M. Soule ; Scene Supporters, George Jennings, William T. Cooper.
Below is a list of the Noble Grands of the lodge since its institution, with their terms of service :
Name.
From
To
Hiram Alden
June 3, 1845
Oct. 7, 1845
John King
Oct. 7, 1845
Jan. 6, 1846
Jan. 6, 1846
April 7, 1846
Caleb Stevens
Jan. 22, 1866
July 9, 1866
Jan. 3, 1876
July 10, 1876
Levi Mann (2d)
[ Oct. 6, 1846
Jan. 5, 1847
J. P. D. Wilkins
July 7, 1846
Oct. 6, 1846
Jan. 5, 1847
July 6, 1847
Jan. 15, 1855
July 2, 1855
Sept. 12, 1864
Jan. 22, 1866
Jan. 14, 1867
July 15, 1867
M. H. Mecuen
July 6, 1847
Jan. 3, 1848
Samuel Clark
Jan. 3, 1848
July 3, 1848
Ralph Houghton
July 3, 1848
Jan. 1, 1849
Barnard Greene.
July 14, 1856
Jan. 5, 1857
July 2, 1849
Jan. 17, 1850
.July 11, 1853
Jan. 2, 1854
Orlando Pendergrass.
July 12, 1858
Jan. 3, 1859
[Jan. 6, 1868
July 6, 1868
From
To
William Jacobs.
( July 20, 1857
Jan. 4, 1858
Leonard Poole.
July 1, 1850
Jan.
6, 1851
Loring W. Thayer.
Jan. 6, 1851
July 7, 1851
Richard Stevens
Jan. 5, 1852
July 19, 1852
Zenas Snow
July 19, 1852
Jan. 3, 1853
H. C. Whitemore.
Jan. 2, 1854
July 17, 1854
S. O. Thayer.
July 2, 1855
Jan. 14, 1856
July 7, 1851
Jan. 5, 1852
George N. Johnson
Jan. 14, 1856
July 14, 1856
( Jan. 7, 1861
Jan. 6, 1872
Enos S. Maloon
July 2, 1860
Jan. 7, 1861
Jan. 12, 1863
Sept. 12, 1864
[ Jan. 4, 1858
July 12, 1858
William S. Handly.
July 14, 1862
Jan. 6, 1862
W. H. A. Tucker.
Jan. 3, 1859
July 11, 1859
P. Gifford
July 9, 1866
Jan. 17, 1867
Danforth Thayer.
Jan. 6, 1862
July 14, 1862
John G. Pool.
July 15, 1867
Jan. 6, 1868
I. N. Linfield.
July 6, 1868
Jan. 4, 1869
J. B. Hathaway
Jan. 4, 1869
July 12, 1869
Israel P. Beal
Jan. 6, 1873
Jan. 2, 1871
Ephraim Mann
Jan. 2, 1871
Jan. 1, 1872
George S. Wilbur.
July 12, 1875
Jan. 3,1876
J. D. F. Lyons
Jan. 1, 1872
Jan. 6, 1873
John Y. Clark
July 7, 1873
Jan. 5, 1874
George W. Hawes
Jan. 4, 1875
July 12, 1875
James W. White
July 6, 1874
Jan. 4, 1875
A. G. Dean.
July 10, 1876
Jan. 1, 1877
S. Edgar Burrell
Jan. 5, 1880
July 12, 1880
Daniel H. Huxford
July 2, 1877
Jan. 7, 1878
Fred W. Dyer
Jan. 7. 1878
July 1, 1878
Wales French
July 1, 1878
Jan. 13, 1879
A. L. Chase.
Jan. 13, 1879
Jan. 5, 1880
A. W. Hamilton
July 12, 1880
Jan. 3, 1881
William A. Croak
Jan. 3, 1881
Jan. 9, 1882
Henry H. Shedd
Jan. 9, 1882
July 10, 1882
John E. Nickerson
July 10, 1882
Jan. 1, 1883
Joseph Belcher.
Jan. 1, 1883
July 9, 1883
Edwin B. Hooker
July 9, 1883
Date.
The present officers, for the term beginning Jan. 7, 1884, are: N. G., Edwin B. Hooker; V. G., Chas. H. Thayer ; Rec. Sec., Frank N. Deane; Per. Sec., A. L. Chase ; Treas., Chas. E. Lyons ; Warden, Thos. Stetson ; Conductor, Geo. W. Hawes; O. G., H. H. Bromade; I. G., M. Norton Hunt ; R. S. N. G., S. Edgar Burrell; L. S. N. G., H. H. Shedd ; R. S. V. G., Geo. A. Payne; L. S. V. G., H. L. Spear ; R. S. S., Chas. Middleton ; L. S. S., Saml. A. Foster ; Chaplain, Elmer L. Willis.
The lodge is now in a very prosperous condition, numbering over one hundred members. It owns the building which it occupies.
Randolph Lodge, No. 524, Knights of Honor, was instituted March 22, 1877. The present officers are : P. D., Ira E. Beals ; D., Weston P. Alden ; V. D., George B. Bryant; A. D., Nelson E. Knights ; C., Gustavus Thayer; G., Cyrus N. Thayer ; R., Daniel B. White ; F. R., Minot W. Baker; T., Charles H. Belcher; G., William W. White; S., George B.
July 17, 1854
Jan. 15, 1855
[ Jan. 5, 1874
July 7, 1873
M. M. Alden ..
Jan. 3, 1870
July 11, 1870
Royal M. Thayer.
July 11, 1870
July 10, 1871
Warren M. Babbitt
July 10, 1871
[ Jan. 1, 1872
July 1, 1872
May 12, 1869
Jan. 3, 1870
[ July 11, 1859
July 2, 1860
Jan. 5, 1857
July 20, 1857
Name.
[ Jan. 17, 1850
July 1, 1850
§ April 7, 1846
July 7, 1846
Daniel Howard
Jan. 1, 1849
July 2, 1849
July 6, 1874
Jan. 1, 1877
July 2, 1877
206
HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
Nichols. It has a membership of fifty-six, and is in good working condition.
Union Lodge, No. 435, Knights and Ladies of Honor, was instituted May 13, 1881. It is now offi- cered as follows : P. P., Mrs. Geo. W. Holbrook ; P., Mrs. Geo. W. Hawes; V. P., Mrs. Royal W. Thayer ; S., Mrs. M. W. Baker; F. S., M. W. Baker; C., Miss Helen M. Houghton ; T., Mrs. Wate Lyons ; G., Mrs. H. H. Bromade; G., Mrs. Nelson E. | only his particular branch, and is practically ignorant Knights ; S., Cyrus N. Thayer.
Webster Council, No. 451, Royal Arcanum, was instituted March 17, 1880. The Regents have been as follows : 1880, Charles E. Higgins ; 1881, Daniel H. Huxford; 1882, George H. Wilkins; 1883, William A. Croak. Present officers : R., Henry L. Spear; V. R., L. Morton Packard ; O., Joseph Belcher; P. R., William A. Croak ; S., Walter H. Lyons ; C., Edward H. Bromade; T., Franklin W. Hayden; G., William B. Brown; C., Lewis S. Paine ; W., Walter M. Howard ; S., Frank E. Fay ; M. E., Dr. Frank C. Granger ; R. to G. C., Wm. A. Croak ; Alternate, George H. Wilkins.
In addition to these, there are several other tem- perance and social organizations in the town, all of which are flourishing and doing a good work.
The Randolph Choral Society merits a word by itself. Music has always flourished in Randolph, and the choral society has enjoyed upwards of thirty years of useful life. The members have practiced generally some of the best music by the best masters, -such, for instance, as Haydn's " Creation," Men- delssohn's " St. Paul," Mozart's " Twelfth Mass," and Haydn's "Seasons." The society visited both the | great " Jubilees" held in Boston in 1869 and 1872, with one hundred members. At that time the late Dr. Ebenezer Alden was president and Mr. John B. Thayer, a widely-known musician, chorister. Mr. Thayer filled the latter office acceptably for upwards of twenty years. Dr. Alden was succeeded in the presidency by Mr. Alfred W. Whitcomb. The present officers are : President, Hon. Winslow Bat- tles ; Vice-President, John B. Thayer ; Conductor, L. F. Brackett; Secretary, George C. Spear. The pres- ent membership is about seventy.
through the region, and has caused to be erected in their stead the great factory buildings of the present day. Formerly, the work went to the workman ; now, the workman goes to his work. In the old days a man who had learned the trade of shoemaker knew all about the details of manufacture, and could turn out, with his own hands, a complete article of footwear. To-day the workman of the shops knows of all others. He is a small cogwheel in a great machine, instead of being, as formerly, the thorough master of all parts of his trade. Years ago it was customary for shoemakers to travel miles to Randolph after " stock." They would load up with the roughly cut " raw material," and take it away to their re- spective homes for completion. Sometimes, when it was more convenient, several of these shoemakers would jointly occupy the same apartment, and work as a separate " gang," which was the nearest approach to the factory system of the present time. To Ran- dolph came workmen from widely scattered towns, often many miles distant, seeking for work to be done at their homes. It is an interesting fact that at the period to which allusion is made the present flourish- ing "shoe city" of Brockton (then the little village of North Bridgewater) paid tribute to Randolph, and, together with the remaining villages of the old town of Bridgewater, as well as the Abingtons, Hanson, Halifax, Weymouth, Braintree, and other towns, sent thither her shoemakers for employment. The quality of the leather used in shoemaking then was as much superior to that now employed as the clumsy appearance of the manufactured product was inferior to the stylish footwear of the present year of grace. Everything was done by hand. The men did the heavier work, while in almost every house the " women folks" turned an honest penny by "fitting" or " siding" boots, i.e., sewing up the side-seams of the legs with waxed thread, holding the boot, meanwhile, fast in a pair of wooden " clamps." As there were no railroads, shipments were slow and uncertain. It was common enough for a man to load boots into sacks and carry them into Boston on horseback.
Mr. David Burrell, still hale and hearty at eighty- two, and himself one of the pioneer boot and shoe manufacturers of the town, said to the writer, recently, that he well remembered that during the war of 1812, when the presence of British cruisers off the Atlantic seaboard made shipments by water unsafe, men would load ox-teams with boots (the latter being placed in empty molasses hogsheads), and in that primitive fashion make their slow way southward into
Business .- Randolph was one of the pioneer " shoe ' towns" of the State, and the business of manufactur- ing boots and shoes still remains her chief industry. It dates back to the beginning of the century, and one cannot help being impressed, on looking back- ward over the years, with the vast improvements and changes which have taken place. Machinery has done it all. Machinery has swept away the little shoemakers' shops which were formerly scattered all | Georgia and others of the Southern States. The same
207
RANDOLPH.
octogenarian, when asked to name the first shoe manu- facturer of the town, gave the name of Capt. Thomas French as being, if not the earliest, certainly one of the very first. He had a tannery, located on the site of the present residence of Mr. Jonathan Wales, and manufactured shoes to some extent. Other early manufacturers were Isaac Thayer, Silas Alden, Elea- zar Beal, Alden & Tolman, Howard & Niles, Seth Mann & Co., Burrell & Maguire, John Alden, Hiram Alden, Luther Thayer, Oliver Leach, William Abbott, David Parker, Levi Mann, Mann & Odell, Charles McCarty, Wales Wentworth, James Littlefield, James A. Tower, Samuel French, Henry Bass, John Wales, John Belcher, Ezra Thayer, Alexander Strong, Dan- iel Howard, Alfred W. Whitcomb, Matthew Clark & Co., Mann & Sawin, Jonathan W. Belcher, etc .; while of more recent date are J. Warren Belcher, Howard & French, F. Clark & Co., Charles H. How- ard, and George H. Burt & Co. Other firms there were, and are; but as the present article does not attempt to serve the purposes of a gazetteer or of a directory, no attempt will be made to make the list scrupulously complete.
More than passing mention should be made, how - ever, of the present firm of George H. Burt & Co., which is considerably the largest in the town at the present time, employing some three hundred hands, oc- cupying two connecting factories (the largest being one hundred and sixty-two feet in length), and manufac- turing from twenty thousand to twenty-four thousand cases of fine calf boots per year. The business was begun by Alexander Strong in 1849, and he con- tinued a partner in the business, either active or silent, until his death. His son, Edward, was also identified with the business for many years, withdraw- ing some two years ago. Mr. Sidney French was the firm's agent in charge of the factory until about 1871, when Mr. George B. Bryant, the present agent, succeeded him. . , The concern has other factories in the " shoe towns" of Marlboro' and Brookfield. The pay-roll at the Randolph factory is from twelve thousand to fifteen thousand dollars per month.
Mr. Charles H. Howard, who manufactures fine boots and shoes, is quite an old established manufac- turer, and like the other principal remaining manu- facturers, Howard & French and F. Clark & Co., does a prosperous and increasing business.
The following interesting boot and shoe statistics are taken from the census of 1880 :
Number of establishments. 26
Employés (male) over sixteen. 649
(female) over sixteen 82 Total wages paid during year. $300,843
Capital invested .. 153,600
Stock used.
... .
$721,450
Value of product ..
1,163,300
The boot and shoe shipments for 1883 were 38,000 cases.
The firm of J. W. Pratt & Co. is an old and pros- perous one. Calf shoe-laces are a specialty, while a large business in leather remnants is also done. Over one hundred thousand dollars' worth of work is an- nually turned out.
Messrs. George C. Spear & Co., who deal exclu- sively in leather remnants, have built up a heavy and growing trade, their goods being exported to a con- siderable extent.
Fire Department .- For years the town has main- tained an efficient fire department. The old hand- machines-" Fire-King," "Fearless," and "Inde- pendence"-have, however, been replaced by two steamers, an extinguisher, and the requisite hose and hook-and-ladder companies. In years past nearly all the prominent men of the town had belonged to the department, and had " run wid der machine" to fires with youthful ardor, in order to assist at " breaking her down" according to the fashion of the times. The present department is in a high state of effi- ciency. Mr. C. A. Wales is chief engineer.
Statistics .- It has seemed most convenient and appropriate that certain statistical information respect- ing the town be grouped under a single general head. The subdivisions will be clearly indicated.
The following-named persons have served the town as selectmen from its incorporation in 1793 to the present time (January, 1884) :
Joseph White, Jr., 1793-98, | John Porter, 1829-30. 1800-4. Henry B. Alden, 1829-34.
Dr. Ebenezer Alden, 1793-94. Micah White, Jr., 1793-1817. Samuel Bass, 1795-98, 1800, 1802-4.
Thomas French, 1799,1 1805- 11.
Zacheus Thayer, 1801.
Zenas French, Jr., 1835-49.
Samuel Thayer, 1835-38.
Benjamin Richards, 1839-44.
Isaac Tower, 1839-51.
Aaron Prescott, 1845. Jonathan Wales, 1846-50.
Jacob Whitcomb, Jr., 1813.
Joseph Linfield, 1814-17, 1822 -25.
Seth Mann, 1818-24, 1828-30. Royal Turner, 1818, 1821-24, 1828.
Zenas French, 1818-21.
Luther Thayer, 1819-20. Horatio B. Alden, 1825-27. Thomas Howard, 1825-27.
Lewis Whitcomb, 1826-28.
Joshua Spear, Jr., 1831-32, 1835-38.
David Blanchard, 1831-32, 1834, 1852.
Zeba Spear, 1833-34. Jonathan White, 1833.
Jonathan Belcher, 1804.
Joseph Porter, 1807. Nathaniel Spear, 1808.
Jonathan Wales, Jr., 1812-17.
Bradford L. Wales, 1851-53. Archibald Woodman. 1852.
John T. Jordan, 1853.
J. White Belcher, 1853-55, 1861-72.
Seth Mann (2d), 1854-57, 1859 -60, 1862-64, 1872-73, 1876. Thomas White, Jr., 1854-55. Jacob Whitcomb, 1856-60, 1867-68.
1 Resigned May 2d.
208
HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
Ephraim Mann, 1856-57.
| John T. Flood, 1873-82.
James A. Tower, 1874-75, 1877
-79.
Sidney French, 1876, 1880.
Daniel Howard, 1877-79.
John Adams, 1864-66.
Royal T. Mann, 1880-83.
Nathaniel Howard, 1865-67.
John Underhay, 1869-71.
John Berry Thayer, 1881-83. Rufus Albert Thayer, 1883.
The following-named persons have served the town as town clerk and treasurer up to the present time (January, 1884) :
Samuel Bass, 1793-98, 1800-6.
Bradford L. Wales, 1839-43.
Zacheus Thayer, 1799, 1807-8.
Eleazer Beal, 1844-53.
Jonathan Wales, Jr., IS09-22.
Hiram C. Alden, 1854-63, 1865 -76, 1880-83.
Royal Turner, 1823-28.
Henry Stevens, 1864.
Alvin Kidder, 1835-38.
Charles C. Farnham, 1877-79.
In 1840 there was published a plan of Randolph, from surveys made by E. Beal, Jr. In the right- hand upper corner of this map was some letter-press giving a few facts respecting the town. Under the head of " employments" was the following array of statistics, which is not without interest at the present day :
" The chief manufacture is that of boots and shoes. In 1837 there were made 200,175 pairs of boots, and 470,620 pairs of shoes and brogans, of the estimated value of $944,715. There were then employed in this business 804 males and 677 females. The occu- pations of the heads of families (1839), some of whom are females, are as follows : The whole num- ber of families in town is 677; of these, 464 are boot and shoe makers ; 60, farmers ; 48, merchants ; | 45, laborers ; 23, carpenters ; 6, millers; 5, butchers ; 4, stone-cutters ; 4, tailors ; 3, wheelwrights ; 3, blacksmiths ; 2, harness-makers ; 2, painters ; 2, cur- riers ; 1, landlord ; 1, cabinet-maker ; 1, brick-maker ; | 1, cooper ; 1, basket-maker ; 1, sailor. Of the me- chanics, 40 are engaged during the summer in farm- ing. Of these mechanics and laborers, 58 are emi- grants. Fifty of the families, taken as they rise, number 250 inhabitants, whose average age is 23 years."
Under the caption " literary," the old map said, " Randolph Academy was incorporated in 1833, and its average number of scholars is from 80 to 100. The Athenaeum has 202 volumes. The Philoa- lethian Society has 230 volumes. The Female Read- ing Charitable Society has 228 volumes. The schools for different parts of the town are 10. The number of scholars in 1838, from 4 to 16 years of age, was 840 ; and in 1839 the scholars were 911. The amount raised by tax for public schools the latter year was $1900, and the sum for 1840 is $2000." .
The academy, the Athenaeum, and the societies-even that with the ponderous name-have for a long time been extinct.
CENSUS OF 1880.
Number of families. 930
Number of dwellings.
771
Number of native born persons. 3264
Number of foreign born persons .. 763
Number of persons who cannot write, aged ten years and upwards. 153
Number of persons who cannot read, aged ten years and upwards 106
POPULATION.
Year.
Number. | Year.
Number.
1800,
1021
1855
553S
1810.
1170
1×60 .. 5760
1820
1516
1$65.
5374
1830.
2200
1870
5642
1840.
8213
1875
4064
1550
4711
1SS0
4027
TOWN DEBT.
Year.
Amount.
Year.
Amount.
1870
$78,626.26
1877
$17,564.13
1871.
67,373.96
1878
36,555.24
1872
59,909.42
1879
39,055.24
1873
39,940.90
1880
41,138.00
1874
37,506.66
1881
24,328.64
1875
29,315.15
1882
24,736.51
1876 ..
21,619.45
1883
19,751.09
1884 (as estimated Feb. 1, 1884)
14,000.00
VALUATION.
Year.
Real.
Personal.
Total.
Tax Rate on $1000.
1870.
$1,454,190
$1,426,800
$2,880,990
$17.00
1871.
1,485,020
500,950
1,985,020
20.00
1872.
1,378,000
971,050
2,349,050
13.00
1873.
1,382,960
632,765
2,500,105*
13,00
1574
1,420,420
622,690
2,611,860+
14.00
1×75
1,441,840
619,390
2,652,795+
14.00
1877
1,464,030
665,125
2,552,041.54+
12.00
1879
1,461,350
628,440
2,460,838.55f
15.00
1880
1,469,550
609,490
2,523,990.08+
14.00
1881
1,468,300
601,320
2,523,702.48+
17.00
1882
1,471,350
584,900
2,495,002.95+
16.00
1883
1,453,800
563,580
2,017,380.00₺
14.20
1
* In 1873, the year after the setting off of Holbrook from Randolph, there was included in the total valuation here given four hundred and eighty-four thousand three hundred and eighty dollars of bank and corporation stock owned by residents of Randolph, and taxed by the State.
+ Including bank and corporation stock.
Į Does not include bank and corporation stock.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
EBENEZER ALDEN, M.D.1
The subject of this sketch was born in what is now the town of Randolph, Mass., March 17, 1788. At the time of his birth this territory constituted the southerly precinct of the ancient town of Braintree, and was organized into the separate township of Ran-
1 By Rev. Increase N. Tarbox, D.D.
12,60
1,453,900
650,610
2,558,926+
1,467,680
646,120
2,449,422.80+
12.00
Henry B. Alden, 1829-34.
Horatio B. Alden, Jr., 1858-61, 1868-72.
Lemuel S. Whitcomb, 1858, 1861-63.
209
RANDOLPH.
dolph in 1793. An ecclesiastical parish had been formed here May 28, 1731. On the 8th of June, 1881, corresponding in the new style with the date above mentioned, the church at Randolph celebrated its one hundred and fiftieth anniversary with appro- priate and deeply interesting services. Had this event occurred in the days of Dr. Alden's strength and activity, no man would have borne a more prominent part in it than he, for this was a field in which he was especially at home. As it was, the manuscripts and published articles which he had left behind be- came the chief sources of information for those who took the principal parts in this commemoration. Throughout the services his name came up continually as authority for statements made, and was mentioned always with gratitude and love.
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