USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. II > Part 50
USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. II > Part 50
USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. II > Part 50
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The population of Sharon in 1925 was 3,119 and the number of reg- istered voters 1,408. The high land of the town is considered as healthy a location as can be found in Massachusetts and many people seek the good air and quiet of the town for summer homes, especially those who are seeking better health. The Health Camp of the Southern Middlesex Health Association is in the town. More than one hundred youngsters are given a chance to live in the open air and gain weight. It is one of the camps under the banner of the Massachusetts Tuber- culosis Association and is maintained by the proceeds from the sale of
FIRST PARISH UNIVERSALIST CHURCH, ORGANIZED 1744, STOUGHTON
TOWN HALL AND FIRE DEPARTMENT, STOUGHTON
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Red Cross stamps at Christmas. The camp combines health and rec- reation. The children live in bungalows, dine in a main building, and raise their own vegetables as well as enjoy all that the big outdoors offers in the summer.
The office of the Massachusetts Audubon Society at the bird sanc- tuary on Moose Hill, shows that thousands of visitors call there and take the trouble to register. Winthrop Packard of Canton, is secre- tary of the society. It is more than thirty years old, making it the old- est Audubon Society in the United States. The sanctuary has com- pleted its first decade and presents an area unsurpassed for nature study. Shrubs and trees have been provided to furnish food for birds in winter, especially when the snow covers the ground. Grain and nut meats are also provided and the birds nest freely and unafraid and give tone to their appreciation in songs at all seasons.
One of the newer industries in Sharon is the manufacture of moving picture film.
STOUGHTON
One of the towns in this vicinity which has a town manager with whom it seems to be well pleased and under whose rule it has pros- pered is Stoughton. This is a town of rising eight thousand inhabit- ants (7,857 in 1925) which observed its two hundredth anniversary in September, 1926.
Since it was incorporated, December 22, 1726, its boundary lines have been changed many times to accommodate other towns which wished to become independent and for various other reasons. But regardless of its perimeter, the town has always given a good account of itself in times of peace and war, and is destined to pursue its peaceful but suc- cessful way of normal and healthy growth and importance.
There have been several handsome new buildings erected and fi- nanced in recent years, to take care of municipal needs. One of them was the Central Fire Station, which was accepted by the town June 10, 1927. The building is of brick with stone trimmings, built in mod- ern Georgian style, and provides for all the needs of the firemen as- signed to that station. The cost of the building, including a new fire alarm system, was about $60,000. The annual expenses of the fire department are about $14,000.
The town has a budget of about $350,000. About $6,000 is spent for health and sanitation, $45,000 for highways, bridges, sidewalks, drain- age and street lighting; $12,000 for care of the poor; $95,000 for schools; $17,000 for the water department; and other departments in the usual proportion, in comparison with other towns of about the same number of inhabitants.
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Some spacious school buildings have been built and equipped in re- cent years. The town has reason to take pride in its town buildings and in the general appearance of the municipal property.
The town has improved the appearance of the Maplewood Cemetery at North Stoughton the past year, by building a wire fence with iron posts around it and constructing an archway over the entrance, with evergreen trees on both sides of the gateway. This was made possible by a gift of $6,000 from Fred Harris, a former resident, now a retired business man of Boston.
Stoughton is engaged in a variety of industrial lines. A close neigh- bor to Brockton, it carries on numerous businesses connected with the shoe industry, in addition to the making of shoes, such as lasts, find- ings, blacking, etc. Elastic webbing, woolen goods, screw machine products, cement blocks, shoddy, rubber goods, knit goods and many other things are among the articles manufactured.
The town has a notable record in the shoe industry. During the handicraft period of shoemaking, there were thirty-four small shops from which a part of the labor was pieced out to homes in the town. When steam power and machinery were introduced in the industry, Stoughton was one of the towns to have early shoe factories. The first bootmaking plant was established in 1815 at East Stoughton, by Littlefield Brothers. Brogans were manufactured there largely for the slave owners in the South and in Cuba.
Nathan Tucker and his brother were pioneers in the shoe industry in East Stoughton, and it is said that the Tuckers introduced patent leather to the trade. Among other manufacturers of note previous to the Civil War were James Hill, whose factory was on the site of the present Belcher Last Company; Atherton & Stetson, G. & S. Wales and Martin Wales, S. Pettee, Nathaniel Morton, Bradford Kinsley, Monk & Reynolds, L. & W. Belcher, Samuel Savels, J. & D. French, J. E. Drake and J. W. Goldthwaite. Some of these firms were practically put out of business by the Civil War cutting off the important South- ern trade.
Daniel French, the dean of Stoughton shoe manufacturers, in 1851, formed a partnership with Joshua Reynolds and took over the business of Martin Wales. He later formed the D. & J. French Company, mak- ing medium grade calf, buff and grain boots and shoes in Mckay sewed, standard wire and pegged. This product was especially adapted to the Southern States. This company, in 1884, made 150,000 pairs.
The Three K Shoe Company started business in 1911, in South Stoughton, and continued successfully several years.
Upham Brothers & Company made boots for many years and, when boots went out of vogue, made high shoes for men and women. In 1915.
THE SQUARE, STOUGHTON
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JOHNY CON
HIGH SCHOOL, STOUGHTON
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the men's line was discontinued. In 1918 the firm was incorporated with A. A. Meade as president, C. S. Upham as treasurer, and E. P. Richmond as director.
In 1925 the Walker-Thrall Company succeeded the Selis Shoe Com- pany which had been in existence since 1919.
Two Hundredth Anniversary Celebration-In August, 1926, Stough- ton celebrated its two hundredth anniversary with pageant, parade, ex- hibitions and sports. The observances were continued a week, with historical features three nights. An amphitheatre, seating three thou- sand people, was arranged on the high school grounds. The pageant showed Chickataubut and his braves visiting the land beyond the Great Blue Hill; the Ponkapog plantation of about 1655, with the apostle to the Indians, John Eliot, converting "praying Indians"; attacks on the settlers in King Philip's War; birth of Stoughton as a town in 1726; ac- tion on the "Suffolk Resolves" at Doty's Tavern, and Richard Henry Lee presenting the resolutions before Congress June 7, 1776; for these were vital incidents in the early history of Stoughton.
The Stoughton Historical Society, April 19, 1899, erected a monu- ment on West Street, marking the site of the first house built in Stoughton for Deacon Isaac Stearns, in 1716.
The first meeting-house in modern Stoughton was erected in 1743. It was called the "Church of Christ," and the site has been occupied by a meeting-house ever since.
Cobb's Tavern, still in existence, was built by Warren Cobb in 1797. On the same site had stood the Elijah Fisher Tavern in Revolutionary days. This tavern and the Doty Tavern at the foot of the Blue Hills, the Widow Noyes Tavern on the Bay Road at the head of Chemung Street, the Capen Tavern and others were on the routes of the old coach lines which furnished the only means of public conveyance.
The oldest house still standing in Stoughton was built by George Talbot, one of the first selectmen of Stoughton. The town of Dor- chester, in 1724, voted to build the turnpike as far south as this house. It was in this house that the first town meeting was held by the voters of Stoughton after the town of Canton was separated from Stoughton in 1797.
Reference is made elsewhere to the Old Stoughton Musical Society, which has been in existence since 1790, the oldest musical society in the United States. It took part in the two hundredth anniversary celebra- tion, leading the community singing and rendering some of the old- time hymns which are seldom heard from any other organization. A quartette of the old society consisted of Erastus Smith, ninety-two; George H. Goward, ninety-two; Henry L. Johnson, eighty-nine; and Major George W. Dutton, eighty-nine.
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Someone, fond of searching for old-time items concerning the towns in this vicinity, came across an old copy of the "Old Colony Reporter" and North Bridgewater "Union" which recorded as a startling bit of news about Stoughton, under date of February 9, 1849: "Robbery-The Stoughton depot was robbed on Monday night last, of a box of cheese and a valuable gun. J. W. Hamilton suffers." It was not stated whether his suffering was occasioned by the gun or the cheese.
The Stoughton of today is a growing town in Norfolk County, with a Trust Company, societies, clubs, fraternal organizations, as well as churches, diversity of industries, wide-awake merchants and profes- sional men. Its schools and public library furnish educational advan- tages which are appreciated, as denoted by the large percentage of scholars to population and large circulation of library books in the homes.
"Birthplace of American Liberty" -- At the time of the celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the town of Stoughton the historical committee claimed that Stoughton had the right to claim birthplace of American liberty. The facts presented to substantiate this claim were that on August 16, 1774, at the Doty Tavern in Old Stoughton was held the first formal meeting, or "county congress," where delegates reduced to writing the principles of American independence.
The second, or adjourned meeting, of the "county congress" was held at the house of Richard Woodward in Dedham, to "complete the business," September 6, 1774.
The third meeting was held at Vose Tavern, the home of Captain Daniel Vose, at Milton, where the famous "Suffolk Resolves" were unanimously adopted, September 9, 1774.
On September 17, 1774, in Philadelphia, the first Continental Con- gress, inspired by the "Suffolk Resolves," passed the Declaration of Rights.
May 20, 1775, the famous Mecklenburg Declaration was prepared in the Carolinas.
July 4, 1776, The Declaration of Independence !
Hugh Earl Percy (Lord Percy) who arrived in Boston July 5, 1774, with the Fifth Regiment of Foot, and later was especially prominent at Lexington, wrote in letters to friends in England about this time: "The people, by all accounts, are extremely violent and wrong-headed; so much so that I fear we shall be obliged to come to extremities. ..... Their method of eluding that part of the act which relates to the town meetings is strongly characteristic of the people. They say that since the town meetings are forbid by the act, they shall not hold them; but as they do not see any mention made of county meetings, they shall; hold them for the future. They, therefore go a mile out of town, do just
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the same business there they formerly did in Boston, call it a county meeting and so elude the act."
It will be seen that Lord Percy had a certain grasp of what was go- ing on and his words may explain the somewhat strange appellation of the "Suffolk Resolves." They declared that the sovereign who breaks his compact with his subjects forfeits their allegiance. According to Rev. Edward G. Porter, in "Memorial History of Boston," "They ar- raigned the unconstitutional acts of Parliament, and rejected all offi- cers appointed under their authority. They directed collectors of taxes to pay over no money to the royal treasurer. They advised the towns to choose their officers of militia from the friends of the people. They favored a Provincial Congress. They determined to act upon the de- fensive as long as reason and self-preservation would permit, 'but no longer.' They threatened to seize every Crown officer in the province as hostages if the governor should arrest anyone for political reasons. They also arranged a system of couriers to carry messages to town offi- cers and corresponding committees. They earnestly advocated the well- known American principles of social order as the basis of all political ac- tion ; exhorted all persons to abstain from riots and all attacks upon the property of any person whatsoever; and urged their countrymen to convince their 'enemies that in a contest so important, in a cause so solemn, their conduct should be such as to merit the approbation of the wise, and the admiration of the brave and free of every age and of every country.' For boldness and practical utility these resolves surpassed anything that had been promulgated in America. They were sent by Paul Revere as a memorial to the Congress at Philadelphia, where they were received with great applause, and recommended to the whole country."
At least three towns in Norfolk County, as counties now are, had a hand in fashioning these resolves, drawn up by Joseph Warren. They were nineteen in number and in defense of them General Warren fell at the battle of Bunker Hill.
Picture of the Town Today-In recent years the town of Stoughton has spent $45,000 to acquire land to protect the water shed of its water supply, build a new standpipe and for other purposes of the depart- ment. The new standpipe was completed October 3, 1926. It has a height of sixty-five feet, a diameter of fifty feet and a capacity of 954,- 500 gallons. The elevation of the top is three hundred and ninety-five feet. The location of the standpipe is at the corner of Pleasant and Oakland streets. The total expenditures of the Water Department, not including special articles, is about $25,000 annually.
The Police Department is conducted at an annual expense less than $10,000.
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The Fire Department has one Engine Company, a Ladder Company, Combination Company and two Hose companies, one at North Stough- ton and the other at West Stoughton. The annual appropriation for the department is about $12,000. The forest fire warden has towers at Sharon and Holbrook.
Arrangements have been made whereby Stoughton will be allowed to enter the Metropolitan Sewer System, which means the solution of one of Stoughton's greatest problems.
The total cost of welfare work in the town is about $13,000, includ- ing maintenance of a town farm and a few inmates and indigent persons outside the Town Home who are assisted by the town.
More than 50,000 volumes are delivered from the Public Library each year. The circulation sometimes exceeds 5,000 a month, which speaks well for a town of less than 8,000 population.
The Highway Department operates at an expense of about $20,000. Not long ago a modern tractor and plow were purchased to keep the streets clear in severe snowstorms and it has proved a wonderful piece of equipment. The property of the department, exclusive of real estate, is valued at some over $13,000. Stoughton has about fifty-five miles of highway.
The net cost of the public schools is a little over $90,000. The total enrollment is about 1,500. Like nearly every town the problem of ad- ditional accommodations is usually before the voters, but they have been liberal in their response and taken commendable pride in the efficiency of elementary and high schools. The State Public Health De- partment lists this town as having the best health teaching in Norfolk County, which is a distinct honor, when it is taken into consideration that the county includes Quincy, Wellesley and Brookline, known for the excellence of their schools and the generosity of their support.
The system of instruction is coordinated so that the course of study, through the grades, junior high and high school, constitute a twelve- year unit. The aim is to have pupils who enter industrial life at the end of the high school course well fitted for whatever they may under- take, and also to fit those fortunate enough to be able to consider a col- lege course in addition, to enter the leading universities in good stand- ing.
Honorable Halsey J. Boardman of Boston, delivered an address at Stoughton, July 4, 1876, in which he pointed out that when Stoughton was incorporated as a town "Samuel Adams, The pioneer of the Rev- olution, was four years old, and John Adams was not born until nine years later." Old Stoughton included the present towns of Canton, Sharon, Foxboro and about one quarter of Dedham.
The town's present manufacturing industries include shoes, rubber
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goods of various kinds, lasts, blacking, rubber heels, knitted products and underwear.
WALPOLE
This town was incorporated in 1724, one of the several subdivisions of the old town of Dedham. Among the early industries were paper making, grinding grist, manufacturing cotton goods, cassimeres, sat- inet, nails, boots and shoes, stocking yarn, cotton thread, silk covered bonnet wire, shirt bosoms, cotton duck, stoves, machinery, fire frames, lamp wicks, curled hair mattresses, cotton batting, bed ticking, carpet- ing and carpet lining, farming tools, hats, carriage springs and axles, tacks, snuff, shoddy, printing paper, wrapping paper, straw bonnets, twine, Java canvas, cotton waste, bookbinders' board, jewelers' cotton, absorption cotton, hoop skirts, carriages, wagons and sleighs, coaches and chaises, dyes and chemicals.
This list of industries shows that Walpole has not been exclusively given to agriculture, although some good farms exist in the town and it is the town in which is located the Norfolk County Agricultural School.
Walpole had a population in 1925 of 6,508 and has probably increased the number about one thousand persons since, the present number of voters being approximately 2,500.
Walpole was a part of Dedham until December 10, 1724. Forty-eight years later it began to pick on Stoughton and had four spells of annex- ing a part of that town to increase its own area. At various dates it took over parts of Foxborough, Sharon and Dedham, and in turn set apart from its territory Foxborough, Norfolk, Norwood and Dover, in whole or in part. The lines have remained fixed since March 12, 1904, when bounds between Walpole and Dover were established.
The Boston "News-Letter" of December 31, 1724, told of the pro- roguing of the Great and General Court, mentioning that before being prorogued it gave assent to "An Act for Dividing the Town of Dedham, and erecting a New Town there by the name of Walpole."
In early days the industries of the town included a sawmill, grist- mill, forge, smelter, shoe factory and others. Making cotton thread and silk-covered bonnet wire, paper and machinery came later. In re- cent years woven hose and other products, brake and clutch linings for motor cars, hospital supplies, sewing machines, farm implements, suit cases, trunks, carpets, chemicals and many other things have been manufactured.
The town was named for Sir Robert Walpole, the traditional friend of the American colonists in the English Parliament.
In an address by the late Charles Sumner Bird, at the Bi-centennial
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anniversary of Walpole, October 4, 1924, he said: "The products of the factories of Walpole of today are varied and known throughout the world. Walpole fortunately is not solely a mill town, or a farming community, or a suburban town. It is, in fact, a combination of all, and that is the main reason that it exemplifies the best there is in Amer- ican life, a typical New England community of this day."
WELLESLEY
Wellesley was incorporated April 6, 1881, an offshoot of the town of Needham and still earlier was a part of Dedham. The town is about four and one-half miles in length and two and one-quarter in width. The Charles River flows along its eastern boundary. The Boston & Albany Railroad runs through the town from east to west and there are five railroad stations in the town, accommodating a large number of Boston business men who make Wellesley their place of residence. It is considered a very healthful town and the low death rate bears out the claim. W. G. T. Morton, the discoverer of ether, made his home in the village now Wellesley.
As early as 1704 a sawmill was located by Benjamin Mills on a water privilege near where in recent years the Dudley Hosiery Mill was built. Other industries have been shoddy making, and the manufacture of hosiery, boots, shoes, paint and other articles. Drug products are pro- duced to a considerable extent at present.
Wellesley is not so much known for its manufacturing as for its edu- cational institutions. Wellesley College is, of course, the leading in- stitution. There have been from time to time preparatory and private schools under good instruction.
The Babson Statistical Organization is located at Wellesley Hills.
Property belonging to the town of Wellesley totals about $75,000 worth, including land and two hose houses for the Fire Department; about $60,000 owned by the Highway Department; school property val- ued at nearly $1,000,000; pumping station, machinery and land of the Water Department valued at $65,000; station, land and machinery worth $30,000 belonging to the Electric Lighting Department; The Liberty Trust Fund, Town Hall and Library and 588,050 feet of land are listed at $317,600.
The Metropolitan District Commission Parks Department has in Wellesley as property of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, four and a half acres in the Hemlock George Reservation valued at $2,300, and a little more than sixty-six acres in the Charles River Reservation valued at $30,000. The so-called public lands are worth about $165,000.
Wellesley had in 1927, 2,158 dwelling houses on a total acreage of 7,504. There were 2,363 male residents above the age of twenty years.
TOWN HALL, WESTWOOD
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The town makes liberal appropriations for protection of life and property, health and sanitation, highways, bridges, charities, public schools, evening schools, transportation of pupils, vocation and physical education, summer schools and playgrounds, libraries, parks and play- grounds, water and sewerage systems, general government and vari- ous other things which call for sacrifices and good judgment on the part of progressive citizens.
The population is a little over 10,000. According to the State census, it was 9,049 in 1925. The town has increased three hundred per cent since 1885.
The appropriation and receipts devoted to the public library amount to about $15,000 annually. The circulation of library books is about 100,000, a little over half of the number from the main library and the other half from the branches, Cedar Street, the Fells and Wellesley Hills. There are about 30,000 volumes in the library.
The town spends about $320,000 for its public schools each year. About 2,000 pupils are in the schools, including day, evening and voca- tional schools. The number of teachers and supervisors is about one hundred. The assessed valuation of the town is some over $30,000,- 000. The park commissioners and members of the Planning Board have taken good care to safeguard the beauty and general well-being of the town in days to come and provide for more comfort and beauty at present. The town has received numerous generous gifts in recent years of land for parks and playgrounds.
WESTWOOD
The youngest child of Dedham, "mother of towns," is Westwood, which began its independence as an incorporated town April 2, 1897. It is one of the smaller towns of Norfolk County, not yet having two thousand inhabitants, but enjoying a healthy growth, looking the world and the county in the face, and inviting both to watch it make good. The valuation of the town is between four and five million dollars and the annual town approriations are about $125,000. The town has an acreage population of 6,767 and four hundred and fifty-three dwelling houses.
The public library has an annual circulation of about 12,000 books, which shows that the inhabitants of Westwood are a reading people. A trifle over a thousand dollars maintains the library, including the Is- lington branch. The number of books in the Westwood library, January 1, 1927, was 6,114; and in the Islington library, 1,076.
The annual expense of the public schools of the town is about $40,- 000. There are nine regular teachers, three substitutes and three su- pervisors employed. There were in 1926 two hundred and fifty-eight
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