USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. I > Part 56
USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. I > Part 56
USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. I > Part 56
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In accordance with the custom in those days, Rev. Samuel Brown was a slave owner, five of them, Tony, Cuff, Kate, Flora and Betty, all living to be eighty or more years of age. Tony is said to have lived more than one hundred years and, after the death of Rev. Mr. Brown, became the property of Josiah Torrey. Mr. Torrey married the widow of the Rev. Mr. Brown and Tony was a part of her estate. Many stories are told of this slave's strength, also his piety. He and Flora were admitted as members of the church.
Abington had several men in the French and Indian War. There is a record of the General Court under date of December 28, 1763, which reads: "There was presented a petition of Elisha Hersey and sixty others, all of Abington, who had been in His Majesty's service in the late wars, praying for a grant of land for a township, eastward of the Penobscot River, in consideration of their services rendered."
Among others who died in the service in that war was David Dwight, son of Tony, the slave of Rev. Samuel Brown already referred to. An- other Abington boy, Job Tirrell, son of Samuel Tirrell, was killed by the Indians while crossing Lake Ontario in a bateau.
Resolutions were passed at a town meeting March 10, 1770, which show that the people of Abington were early aroused against the ty- ranny of the mother country. These resolutions were drawn up by Jo- seph Greenleaf and published in the "Boston Gazette." Among officers from this town in the Continental Army were Captain Jacob Poole, Cap- tain Luke Bicknell, Lieutenant John Ford and Surgeon David Jones, Jr.
The spirit of '76 survived in the descendants of Revolutionary stock and was equally apparent in those who were later arrivals on these shores and their descendants. The town gave a good account of itself in the War of 1812, and was especially responsive at the outbreak of the Civil War, as might be expected from a town in which were staged so many of the gatherings of abolitionists. Island Grove Park was the scene of many such gatherings, long before the general public was ready
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to accept William Lloyd Garrison, Charles Sumner, Wendell Phillips and many others heard there, as any better than dangerous agitators.
Island Grove Park was purchased by the town as a park in 1882. It contains about fourteen acres. The present park commissioners are Thomas F. Lydon, William H. Nash and Raphael Mckeown.
Casting of Meeting-house Bells-It is believed that the first meeting- house bells cast in this country were cast at the foundry of Colonel Aaron Hobart in Abington. A bell founder was employed by Colonel Hobart. He was a deserter from the British Army. An advertisement ap- peared in a Boston newspaper in 1769, in which Colonel Hobart offered the services of his foundry for casting bells. The editor of the paper commented upon the offer, saying that it was "a very fortunate circum- stance that bells could now be cast in this country, and that we need not be obliged to send to England for them." The time was at hand when sending for England for things was becoming vexatious.
When Colonel Hobart gave up the business of casting bells, one of his sons and a blacksmith taught Paul Revere to mould and cast the first bell which became a product of the work of that noted character in Revolutionary history.
There was a demand for cannon for merchant ships to go out as pri- vateers. Pig iron and coal were furnished by the government and, after some experimenting and the assistance of a Frenchman who had worked in a cannon factory in France, a product was turned out which was ef- fective. The business was later taken over by the government and re- moved to Bridgewater, under care of Colonel Hugh Orr.
In addition to boot and shoemaking which Abington, in common with many other towns in the country, had made its chief industry from the days of the factory system, the making of overshoes and moccasins was an important industry in the early forties. Major Joseph Hunt be- gan making overshoes from buffalo-skin in 1840. They were long-legged boots, with the hair on the inside and no leather sole. Later a sole was added, also leather foxing. About 30,000 pairs a year were manufac- tured by Major Hunt and his brother, Colonel Thomas J. Hunt. The boots were warm and much in demand, especially for those who rode horseback.
In 1852 Albert Chamberlain improved the making of the boots by ma- chine sewing and in 1853 he received an award from the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics' Association for the greatest improvement made in manufacture and for the best fur-lined boots, shoes and overshoes.
Buffalo robes were made in Abington and in some other towns in Plymouth County. Half a century ago many of the robes were still in ex- istence, much the worse for wear, but they are as scarce in this vicinity now as Navajo blankets.
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Lasts were first manufactured in this town about 1850. Leonard P. Arnold and Captain Bela Smith were pioneers in that industry, which became an important one hereabouts, in spite of efforts to control the wood-turning business, making it necessary for a time to send to Can- ada for turned blocks.
Ship Outlived Live Oak Forests-When, in 1927, it became necessary to replace some of the ribs of "Old Ironsides," it would have been a mat- ter of much satisfaction to the people of Abington if the "live" oak tim- bers had again been supplied from the same forests which served the "Constitution" so many years. Abington and vicinity is no longer re- nowned for its "ship timber" and for its sawmills and lumbering, as was the case when the American Navy was an infant. The shots from the British Frigate "Guerriere" in the War of 1812 were unable to dam- age the Abington "Live" oak, out of which the "Constitution" was con- structed, to keep up the traditions of the British Navy, but it made his- tory for the new American nation.
The rebuilding of the famous war vessel was with specially prepared timber, sent from the Naval Air Station at Pensacola, Florida. It was selected from fifteen carloads which were brought to Boston on one of the Boston & Maine fast freight trains.
Captain Clayton M. Simmers, U. S. N., officer in charge of the work of restoring the "Constitution," received the shipment from Harrison Brown, general agent of the Boston & Maine. The railroad took unusual care of these timbers on the trip north. The lumber had been sub- merged in water at Pensacola for many years as a means of retaining for ships of the American Navy the special qualities of the live oak. It was essential that the wood should not be allowed to dry before it was shaped on the sides of the frigate "Constitution" and accordingly the Boston & Maine and participating railroads saw to it that the timbers were wet down at least every three days en route.
Then they were put in place beside other live oak, grown in the Ab- ington forest, which had passed through two wars and withstood the ravages of time for one hundred and thirty-four years.
Commodore Isaac Hull, commander of the "Constitution" in the bat- tle with the "Guerriere," was in command of the Charlestown Navy Yard eighty-five years ago. Charles F. Read, clerk of the Bostonian So- ciety, is a near relation of the commodore. He recalled recently, for the benefit of the society that Commodore Hull was accustomed, when dances were held at the Navy Yard, to request Mr. Read's mother to send a good-sized delegation of young women over there, with the warning : "Don't send any men ; we have enough of them already."
There is a tradition that, before the battle with the "Guerriere," fol- lowing a custom of those days, grog was served to the crew of the "Con-
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stitution," but that the crew refused to partake until after the antici- pated victory, declaring that "Americans don't need no rum to enable them to fight Britishers."
Sliced to Form Other Towns-Fifty years ago a part of the descrip- tion of Abington, written by Rev. Elias Nason, in "A Gazetteer of the State of Massachusetts," referred to it as "an important and flourish- ing boot and shoe-manufacturing town in the north-westerly part of Plymouth County, having an area of about twenty-five square miles, with Holbrook, Weymouth, and Hingham on the northwest; South Scituate, Hanover and Hanson on the east; the latter and East Bridgewater on the south, and North Bridgewater on the west. It is twenty miles south- east of Boston by the Old. Colony Railroad, which accommodates three villages, North Abington, the Centre, and South Abington; while the Hanover Branch Railroad affords communication with East Abington."
Perhaps as many changes have taken place in that small area of Mas- sachusetts as in any which might be selected, so far as changes in names are concerned. A part was established as Rockland, once East Abing- ton, March 9, 1874. March 4, 1875, the new town of South Abington was set apart, and May 3, 1886, the name was changed to Whitman. South Scituate changed its name to Norwell, March 5, 1888. North Bridge- water changed its name to Brockton, May 5, 1874. The Old Colony Railroad is seldom referred to now by that name, as it is being operated under a ninety-nine year lease by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company. The Hanover branch is operated by electricity and with fewer trains than half a century ago.
There has been no change in the elevation of Beech Hill, however. It is still the highest land in the town. The water from Beech Hill Mea- dow on its east side flows through Scituate into the Atlantic Ocean, while from the pond on the west side of the hill, the water flows into Narragansett Bay. Abington forms the water shed between the North and Taunton rivers. The geological formation is sienite and carbonifer- ous, with bog iron ore, blue slate and peat found in some localities. There are some two hundred farms in the town, with considerable fertile soil. The town is noted for its excellent strawberry crops.
Blackbirds, Wild Cats and Women-Some of the votes passed by the town years ago sound very quaint now. In 1716, Voted, "That every man sixteen years old, and upwards, shall kill twelve blackbirds or pay two shillings to the town charge, more than their part." In 1737, any person killing a wild cat was entitled to twenty shillings. In 1775, "That it was an indecent way, that the female sex do sit in their hats and bon- nets, to worship God in his house, and offensive to many of the good people of this town." In 1793, all persons who allowed their dogs to go to meeting, were fined for breach of the Sabbath.
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The principal streams are French's Stream, Hersey's River, Stream's River and Beaver Brook. In the angle between Abington, Norwell and Hingham, is Accord Pond, so called because of the amicable settlement of the boundaries between the towns. The bounds between Abington and Hingham were established March 21, 1861. Island Grove Pond, named for the historic Island Grove, is a beautiful sheet of water in the centre of the town; and more about it and the grove on its bank for which it was named is mentioned elsewhere.
About 6,000 acres of the town were in woodland in 1875, the principal growths being oak, maple, birch and pine. There were 14,000 apple trees in the town half a century ago. The soil is favorable for the growth of fruit trees and some celebrated nurseries have been located in the town for many years. Noted nurserymen, now doing business in other States, got their first start in Abington.
The Abington Mutual Fire Insurance Company was incorporated May 30, 1856, and was the second company of the kind in Plymouth County. The Hingham Mutual Fire Insurance Company insured buildings and household furniture but did not insure stock in trade, hay, grain or mer- chandise included in the buildings which it assumed as risks.
The first president of the Abington company was Baxter Cobb. John Newton Noyes was secretary. The directors were Asaph Dunbar, Thomas J. Hunt, William Brown, Zophar D. Ramsdell, Baxter Cobb, Jenkins Lane, Washington Reed, Joseph Cleverly and William P. Cor- thell.
The Abington Bank was incorporated April 8, 1850. Asaph Dunbar of Abington was president and J. N. Farrar of Boston, cashier. In July, 1865, it ceased to do business under the State laws and reorganized un- der United States laws and became the Abington National Bank.
The Abington Savings Bank was organized April 18, 1853, with Ezek- iel Thaxter, president; Zibeon Packard, vice-president; and J. N. Far- rar, treasurer.
BRIDGEWATER
Bridgewater an Iron Town-Bridgewater, one of the handsomest residential towns in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, contains two important State institutions, the State Farm, and the Bridgewater State Normal School. It is the home of the Plymouth County Agricultural Society, which was organized in 1819, and, until the Brockton Agricul- tural Society started in 1874, was the largest agricultural organization and carried on the largest and most important outdoor fair in this part of the country.
It is a town with an interesting industrial history, especially in the iron industry, which early was introduced in the town and which was re- tained much longer than in most of the towns in this vicinity. It is the
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parent town of Brockton, once the North Parish of Bridgewater, West Bridgewater, East Bridgewater and of the town of Bridgewater, as it now stands and which has for two hundred years frequently been re- ferred to, for purposes of distinction as South Bridgewater, although no such name was actually adopted.
Ancient Bridgewater was formerly a plantation granted to Duxbury in 1645, on account of the fact that Marshfield was set apart from Dux- bury and the men of Duxbury were entitled to some compensation, in the wisdom of the men of the Plymouth Colony.
The Bridgewater of the year of our Lord, 1927, doesn't differ substan- tially in general appearance from the neat, dignified, well shaded, thrifty, well-kept, prosperous town of half a century ago. It has kept pace with new inventions and improvements and has not lacked for enterprising, clear-thinking, straight-forward citizens. It should not be inferred that its remaining true to the same prominent characteristics denotes any lack of conformity to progressive ideas. Rather, the town is one of those in New England still "unspoiled," possessing a real character and en- titled to congratulatory mention.
The living expenses of Bridgewater are somewhat over half of a mil- lion dollars a year and this sum furnishes the inhabitants considerable of the joy of living. The taxable property for the year 1926 amounted to $5,350,912, the total real estate value being $4,275,765, and the per- sonal estate $1,075,147. The gain in valuation during the year was $288,- 830. The town assesses 14,900 acres of land, 2,341 voters and 1,328 dwellings.
The appropriation for schools for 1927 was $114,000; for highways $22,000; fire department, $14,000; general government, $11,000; speak- ing in round figures. The health work is well administered, the streets well lighted, the poor well cared for, there is an excellent public library, for which an appropriation of $5,000 is made, and the town manages its affairs capably and harmoniously. These few facts give a general idea of what manner of town lies about equal distance from Boston on the north and New Bedford on the south, with Middleboro joining it on the south and Brockton, the nearest city, ten miles to the north.
The Fire Department of the town has been a popular branch of the public service for eighty-three years and some of the most useful citi- zens in !the generations which have come and gone during those four- score and three years have "run with the machine" and been proud to take their part in protecting their own lives and property and those of their neighbors. The men chosen to have charge of the department Oc- tober 7, 1844, the first year of the department, were: Chief engineer, Ar- temus Hale; clerk, Artemus Hale, Jr .; assistant engineers, Philip D. Kingman, Eli Washburn, Axel Dearborn and George W. Bates. Mr.
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Hale had served the town as town clerk and treasurer, representative in the General Court, had been moderator at town meetings and was a rep- resentative citizen generally, and the other men were also men accus- tomed to doing their full share as good citizens.
In the days of hand engines the "Veto" and the "Ousamequin" did good service for many years and occasionally took part in the firemen's musters, which furnished a great deal of sport in the old days.
The first steam fire engine was purchased in November, 1883. A brick engine house, with accommodations for two engines and with a conveni- ent hall for meetings and social purposes was provided and the depart- ment has kept up to date as new improvements in equipment have come along. The present apparatus consists of a White auto combination chemical and hose truck, one Maxim auto triple combination pump and hose truck, one combination and ladder truck, one chief's car, one hose sled and 3,000 feet of two and one-half inch hose, and all other appli- ances required by law and necessary to make the equipment effective. These are housed in the two-story brick building with a one-story addi- tion and hose tower situated on School Street.
There are three companies of twelve men each, under Chief Engineer Frederick Waite, and Assistant Engineers Charles E. Marshall and Rob- ert A. Price. There are thirty-one fire alarm boxes and 156 hydrants.
Bequest for a Hospital-If the town accepts the conditions inciden- tal to the gift, it will have a modern hospital, with ample funds to operate the same, through the munificent gift of William H. Conant. According to the board of selectmen for 1927, Roland M. Keith, Leo F. Nourse and Walter E. Rhoades, as stated in their annual report, "The main bequest is now valued, as per the statement of the Boston Safe De- posit and Trust Company, at $272,000, under the first indenture and a second one of $162,000, which will not be available until after the last annuitant has passed on, but the first and main indenture of $272,000 will be available on the death of William H. Conant's son.
"Under the provisions of the indentures above named the manage- ment of the hospital devolves upon the town, which will select a board of trustees for this purpose, but the handling and investing of the funds will be entirely in the hands of the Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Com- pany."
For a town of the size and importance of Bridgewater, with its indus- tries, a considerable distance from hospital service available in other cities and towns, such a munificent gift is greatly appreciated by the in- habitants.
The Conant family has contributed much to Bridgewater and this sec- tion of the country in general. The progenitor of the family in America, Roger Conant, landed at Plymouth from the ship "Ann," in 1623. His-
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torians refer to him as a "pious, sober and prudent gentleman," but he was not of the communion of the Pilgrims, and found more congenial atmosphere in the vicinity of Cape Ann, and had charge of a settlement located on several islands in Gloucester Harbor. In 1626 he became the founder of Salem. He was the governor of the colony until the arrival of John Endicott, late in 1628.
The first of that family to come to Bridgewater was William Conant, a grandson of the progenitor of the family. In 1706 he bought land on the north bank of Satucket River, in what is now East Bridgewater, and built a house there which remained in use until it was taken down in 1811. He came here with his family from Beverly. One of his sons who lived in the house after the decease of William Conant, was David Conant, who had married the daughter of Benjamin Hayward, a grand- son of Thomas Hayward, who came from England and was one of the original proprietors and first settlers of Bridgewater. This record of the family shows that the Conants were prominently connected with the beginnings of Bridgewater.
In later days, one of the family, Elias Conant, served in the Revo- lutionary War from this town. His son, Martin Conant, a farmer and shoemaker, moved to Lyme, New Hampshire, but Marcus Conant of the next generation (son of Martin Conant), although born in Lyme, New Hampshire, moved to the home of his ancestors in Bridgewater, engaged in the trades of wheelwright, millwright and carpenter, became con- nected with the important cotton gin manufacturing industry and helped make it a Bridgewater institution. His tombstone in Mount Prospect Cemetery in Bridgewater recites the fact that he died at the age of ninety-five years.
Public Welfare and Water-The public welfare work of Bridgewater, like most towns, is partly carried on at a town home or farm, and partly dispensed in the homes of those needing assistance or elsewhere in homes where they can be properly cared for. The town farm is valued some over $6,000 and is under the care of Mr. and Mrs. Myron Amber, as superintendent and matron, respectively. They are successors to Mr. and Mrs. Frank R. Chadwick, who were in charge several years but re- signed in 1926. At the time of the change in the management, extensive repairs were made to the home, making it a pleasant place for the small number of inmates. At the beginning of 1927 they numbered six, one less than were at the farm the previous year when outside aid was given to twenty-four who had settlements in Bridgewater, and thirty-five who had settlements elsewhere.
Bridgewater has one of the best equipped and most efficient water supply plants of any town of equal size in the State. The plant was purchased a few years ago from the Bridgewater Water Company by
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ENTRANCE TO PARK, BRIDGEWATER
PUBLIC LIBRARY, BRIDGEWATER
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the town and the pumping station was rebuilt during the year 1926. Old oil-burning engines were replaced by electric motors and a gasoline engine for auxiliary power. An addition was made to the building for a repair shop. During 1926 the water system was submitted to many tests to prove its efficiency and, as a result, it received the approval of the Board of Insurance Underwriters, and a considerable saving in in- surance rates was gained.
The total water debt at the end of the year 1926, according to the re- port of the town accountant, including $75,000 bonds of the Bridge- water Water Company, assumed by the town in the purchase of the plant, and a temporary loan in anticipation of a future bond issue, was $422,000.
The Bridgewater Public Library, with its 23,500 volumes, is housed in a handsome memorial building dedicated May 30, 1883, "to express with reverence our gratitude that we are still a nation; to declare our conviction that the names of those whose lives were sacrificed should be held in respect forever; to teach coming generations that patriotism is honored in America."
The above quotation is taken from a letter which was sent out by the Memorial Day Committee in 1878, asking that a meeting be held for such a purpose. The meeting adopted a resolution favoring the erec- tion of a memorial building. The same year public-spirited citizens in- terested themselves in bringing together some private libraries and raising money for the purchase of others for a public library. Tem- porary quarters were secured for nearly three thousand volumes which were secured and, when the memorial building was completed, they were moved in.
The building is centrally located, constructed of brick with freestone trimmings. There is a central entrance with open vestibule, in the walls of which are placed tablets of Tennessee marble bearing the names of deceased soldiers. In addition to the space devoted to books, there is a museum, containing many articles of historic value and interest. The total circulation for the year 1926 was 41,936 volumes, and 572 volumes were added that year. A steadily increasing number of students are making use of the library in connection with their school work and sup- plies of books are sent to the outlying schools to make their use more convenient for them.
The children's department is very popular, 14,987 books being taken out in 1926 and 2,336 children used the reading room.
The Public Library trustees are: President, Charles P. Sinnott; vice- president, Gustavus Pratt; secretary, Katherine Prophett; treasurer, Herman F. Wheeler ; other trustees, Margaret A. Crane, Mary R. Flynn, James H. Dickinson and Martha M. Burnell.
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The Public Library trust funds aggregate $19,475, and are in memory of the following: Mary A. Wilbar, Francis A. Parker, Dr. Lewis G. Lowe, Sarah L. Alden, Sarah F. Bates, Anna C. Thompson, Ellen Mark- ham, Harriett M. Gilbert, Rev. Theodore F. Wright, Susan A. Good- rich, Mary A. Dunbar, Samuel P. Gates, Lorin Keith and Pamelia Wright. Rev. Theodore F. Wright was at one time president of the trustees and rendered many generous services in behalf of the library in its early days. i
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