USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Canton > History of the town of Canton, Norfolk County, Massachusetts > Part 46
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Robert Draper, a son of James Draper, born Nov. 21, 1836, came to this country in May, 1849. He joined his father at Canton soon after 1851, and assisted in the business until
543
THE RISE OF SOUTH CANTON.
1868, when he purchased the lot of land at the corner of Washington and Chapman streets, known in ancient days as "Captain Vose's three-corner lot." Here he erected a small factory for the manufacture of cotton stockinet for rubber- shoe linings, but the building and contents were a total loss by fire in June, 1870. A new beginning, however, was made in time, and increased business continually kept adding to the buildings, until in 1880 a large and substantial four-story brick factory was erected.
Several small factories have been in operation at Ponka- poag engaged in the manufacture of fancy hand-knit goods : namely, John Dewick, since 1869; Charles Stretton and Son, since 1870; John Stretton, since 1876; and William Roberts, on Dedham Street, since 1879.
Let us now turn our attention to the development of the manufacturing interest on the lower privilege of the East Branch of the Neponset River. I have given its history down to the year 1784, when all trace of the powder-mill had disappeared. Tradition asserts that Abijah Everton, while drunk, sold out this property for the paltry sum of eighty dollars to Nathaniel Fisher. It seems incredible; but as late as 1810, a suit was brought in the courts to reclaim the property by the Everton heirs. In 1794 we find Nathaniel Fisher had here his "great forge " and " corne mill," and in 1797 scythes were made here. A plan now before me, drawn by Nathaniel Fisher himself, which can be identified though without signature by the way in which he spells "intch," shows the forge to have been on the south side of the stream, and the corn-mill on the north, both above the bridge. The land lying south of the forge, about where the viaduct now stands, is described as being then in possession of Leonard and Kinsley, but formerly a part of Ephraim Jones's farm. Fisher was the surveyor of his time, and to him we are in- debted for many plans of ancient homesteads, as well as for the town map of 1793. He resided at one time on the Hart- well farm, but his principal home was in the house now stand- ing on the Dunbar farm; and Spring Lane was in his day known as Fisher's Lane. He was the son of Ezekiel and
544
HISTORY OF CANTON.
Susannah (Wadsworth) Fisher, and was born at Packeen on what is to-day known as the Mayo place, on the 29th of September, 1740. He married, Nov. 13, 1762, Hannah Baker; she died Feb. 3, 1803. He had a son Nathaniel, who was born Aug. 24, 1769, and graduated from Harvard College in the class of 1789, and died Feb. 25, 1802. He had a son Abel, born April 26, 1767, who was in business at one time with Beaumont, and lived in the old house still standing between Sherman Street and the railroad bridge, on Chapman Street. Jabin and Elijah were also his chil- dren. He died Dec. 6, 1796.
In 1802 a cotton-mill was erected on this privilege. Mr. James Beaumont, who was born in Denby, England, June 4, 1788, and died in Canton, Sept. 19, 1868, entered into a part- nership with Abel Fisher and Lemuel Bailey, and in 1803, under the firm-name of James Beaumont and Company, be- gan the spinning of cotton yarn. The first manufactured was used as wicking by the candle-makers. Subsequently warp and filling yarn was made for domestic cloth, and soon after cotton cloth was manufactured. This copartnership was in due time dissolved, and one formed between Mr. Beaumont and Richard Wheatley, which lasted until 1808. In 1809 this factory (Beaumont's) passed into the hands of Mr. Rich -. ard Wheatley, Mr. David Wilde, and John Waterman. This building, which was on the south side of the stream, was consumed by fire in 1814. After Mr. Beaumont sold out, he built a factory which is now a dwelling-house, known as the British Block. Here Mr. Beaumont manufactured satinet and pelisse wadding. The cotton was received from market in bags containing from two to three hundred pounds, and then weighed out in lots of from ten to fifty pounds. Men, women, and children took the packages home and separated the bad cotton, dirt, and seeds from the good cotton. The cotton was then returned to the "breakers," thence it went to the finishers, thence to the drawing-frames, and then to the roping-frames; it was then taken by children and wound by hand on large bobbins, and sent to the stretcher, thence to the hand mule, and then made into yarn worth
PRESENT FIRST CONGREGATIONAL MEETING-HOUSE.
545
THE RISE OF SOUTH CANTON.
about sixty to seventy-five cents per pound. About 1808 Mr. Beaumont erected a brick house in Canton; it was the second in town, and so remained until the erection of the Town Hall in 1879. The bricks for Beaumont's house were from Pecunit meadow, where bricks had been made at the time of the first settlement of the town.
In 1810 Mr. Wilde bought the first power-loom that came to Canton. It was so complicated that it took six days to set it up; at the end of fifteen days it was given up as worthless. The next power-looms were built by Crehore of Milton, and put in operation at Crane and Wilde's factory on Steep Brook. They were among the first in the State that made good cotton cloth.
In 1822 there was standing only a blacksmith's shop where the Neponset mill now stands, but ere two years had elapsed, a great change took place in this neighborhood. In 1824 three young, rich, and enterprising gentlemen - Darius B. Holbrook, Charles P. Dexter, and William Hill -began the erection of the stone mill. The first stone was split by Col. John Gay, in the wood-lot of Gen. Elijah Crane, on the 15th of March, 1824. The above-named gentlemen were incor- porated on June 12, 1824, under the name and style of "The Boston Manufacturing Company." They contracted for the privilege with Mr. Joseph W. Revere, and erected a substantial stone mill. They also erected comfortable boarding-houses, and an immense barn, and they proposed to afford facilities for the education of the children of their employees. The land on which "The Chapel " stands was purchased from Mrs. Katy Hartwell ; but the schoolhouse was finally erected where it now stands. For a few years property rose in value, houses were erected, the road was opened by the town across the Fowl meadows, to afford the shortest route for teams to Boston, great sums of money were expended in connection with the mill, and the monthly pay- roll is said to have amounted to seven thousand dollars. After struggling for three years, the company failed. A sec- ond company, called the Neponset Woollen Company, under the presidency of Harrison Gray Otis, attempted to run the
35
546
HISTORY OF CANTON.
concern, but in 1829 their stock was selling at twenty-five cents on a dollar. A third company was formed, and met with the same result; for six years the wheel stood still. In 1843 Andrew Robeson took out the woollen, and replaced it with cotton machinery, and formed a corporation to manu- facture cotton cloth. This business was continued with Mr. Joseph W. Wattles either as overseer or owner until 1877, when a corporation called the Neponset Mills was formed by Mr. Wattles, Mr. O. S. Chapman, and Mr. Charles H. French, who continued to manufacture print cloths. After two years the business was abandoned and the machinery sold. In August, 1883, James L. Little, Jr., of Boston, and others, purchased of the Revere Copper Company, for thirty- five thousand dollars, the stone mill, about twenty acres of land, and tenements sufficient for twenty families. They also purchased the meadows formerly belonging to the Hart- well farm, and Hartwell's Brook, which they proposed to convey by pipes to the mill, since used as a bleachery.
A building on Sherman Street, near the station at Canton Junction, for the manufacture of suspenders, braid, and other elastic articles, was built in 1865. A corporation, established under the general laws, composed of Joseph W. Wattles, Charles Draper, Horace H. Mansfield, and Daniel T. V. Huntoon, erected this year the building, and began the manufacture of goods under the name of the Canton Elastic Fabric Company. In January, 1869, the property was sold to Mr. Wattles, and the company dissolved in 1870. The name of the Narraganset Suspender and Web Company was then assumed, and the business of manufacturing elastic goods continued. The mill was destroyed by fire in 1884.
547
THE ORTHODOX CHURCH.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
ORTHODOX, BAPTIST, AND UNIVERSALIST CHURCHES.
The Orthodox Church.
[N 1828 a number of those who held and cherished the I faith of the Puritans were anxious to restore that faith and the privileges of Puritan worship to this town. With this idea, they, in conformity with the Congregational . usage, invited a council of churches to meet and advise with them. Accordingly, on the 3d day of July there assembled, at the house of Mrs. Katy Hartwell, Deacon Ebenezer Crane, who was the son of General Nathan, and resided on Green Street; Hannah, Betsey, and Frances Crane, Tilly Flint, Stephen Thayer, Judith Albee, Abigail, Mary, and Jane H. Kollock. The following ministers were present for the purpose of con- sultation and advice: John Codman, D. D., of Dorchester, Ebenezer Burgess, D.D., of Dedham, Calvin Hitchcock, D.D., of Randolph, Calvin Park, D.D., of Stoughton, Rev. Samuel Gile, of Milton, Rev. Jonathan Curtis, of Sharon, Rev. Wil- liam Cogswell, of South Dedham. It was a feeble flock; but they were bidden to go forward, and with words of hope and promise, and hearty prayers for their prosperity, they were organized into the Evangelical Congregational Church of Canton. They immediately began holding service at the house of Mrs. Hartwell ; and here the little band were domiciled until their first church edifice was completed in March, 1829. Their first pastor was the Rev. William Har- low, a graduate of Yale in the class of 1822, and he was ordained by the persons who had composed the council at the foundation of the church. The Rev. Jay H. Fairchild preached the sermon, which is remembered as a memorable
548
HISTORY OF CANTON.
discourse, from the text, "What is Truth?" In December following, Mr. Harlow was dismissed from his charge; and until October, 1831, the pulpit was without a pastor. Rev. Mr. Hathaway then supplied for six months, and was suc- ceeded by the Rev. Mr. Farnsworth, who remained until 1833, when the Rev. John Turner filled the pulpit, remaining until 1835. Rev. Erastus Dickinson succeeded him; he was in- stalled over the church and ministered to the congregation until 1837. For the next eighteen months no voice pro- ceeded from the pulpit, and the brethren decided that they would meet, open the house, and when they could not obtain a clergyman, that the laymen should conduct the service, and that a sermon should be read every morning and afternoon ; this continued for a year and a half, when the Rev. Harrison G. Park was engaged to preach, and with the assistance of other clergymen continued to break the bread of life to them until 1842. The following year the Rev. John S. Kidder preached ; and subsequently a candidate, William B. Ham- mond, was so satisfactory in his ministrations that he was invited to become their pastor. He was installed June 5, 1844, and remained until 1849. Again, until 1851, there was no regular minister. Then Rev. Solomon Clark was in- stalled on November 12, and remained until 1859.
An invitation having been extended to the Rev. Ezra Haskell, it was accepted, and he occupied the pulpit. It was owing to his labors that the arduous task of erecting a new church was carried to a successful completion, the members of the church, with public-spirited Christians out- side of its limits, taking hold of the work with interest; and on the 22d of August, 1860, the new church was dedicated, and at the same time Mr. Haskell was ordained. The old meeting-house which stood on the top of the hill was sold, removed to Walnut Street, where it was used as a machine- shop until 1870, when it was destroyed by the fire which con- sumed Draper and Sumner's mill. Mr. Haskell labored with great success until 1865, when he removed to Dover, N. H.
On Sept. 18, 1865, a call was extended to the Rev. Roland H. Allen; he accepted, and was installed in November, and
549
THE ORTHODOX CHURCH.
remained until March 26, 1867. He in turn was succeeded by Rev. William E. Dickinson, who was in occupancy from Nov. 27, 1867, to April, 1870. The Rev. Joseph Jennison came in February, 1871 ; he was not only active in parish and church affairs, but was one of the principal movers in the foundation of a public reading-room. He left Canton in 1874. In October of that year the Rev. John W. Savage began his labors. He remained until November, 1880, when he removed to Stonington, Conn. It was during his ministry, on the 12th of June, 1878, that the semi-centennial of the founding of the church was celebrated. In the morning an historical sermon was delivered by the Rev. William B. Ham- mond, and in the evening addresses were made by Timothy Kaley, Elijah A. Morse, - a strong friend of the church since his residence in Canton, - and by Deacon Jeremiah Kollock, who during the whole of the half-century had been its stead- fast friend and earnest helper. To him am I indebted for much of the material used in this sketch. On this occasion three of the original members at the formation of the church were present, and joined in the exercises.
Deacon Jeremiah Kollock was the son of Thomas, one of the deputy sheriffs of this county, commonly known as "Queue " Kollock, from the fact that he followed the old style of wearing the hair long after it had been discarded by other people. Thomas purchased, in 1809, the Hartwell place, and it has been called since that time the Kollock farm. He died Dec. 14, 1843, at the age of eighty years. The following is an estimate of his lifework by his pastor : -
" Respected, esteemed, beloved, Thomas Kollock, Esq., having finished a long course of usefulness on earth, has now gone to his Father's in peace, in a good old age. He had made preparations for it in an active and diligent course of industry and usefulness in youth and manhood. In his public offices and private duties he occupied an extensive field of duty and labor. In the discharge of a difficult and delicate public office his integrity was unimpeached, and his gentleness and humanity fully approved. In the county of Norfolk he was extensively known and universally esteemed for his unobtru-
550
HISTORY OF CANTON.
sive modesty, kindness, and affability. As a citizen he was a pillar of strength, upholding with firmness the fabric of society, prompt to discharge its duties, and ever ready to bear his portion of its burdens and responsibilities. He belonged to a generation which has almost wholly passed away ; a few yet linger, but they will soon all be gone. He was a type and specimen, not indeed of what was most brilliant and distinguished, but of what was solid and worthy, honest, upright, and true, in his generation. For a long series of years he was an in- habitant of this town, and his life was passed in the open light of his fellow-citizens ; and the testimony I render is only the repetition of the common voice."
This church was fortunate in having another deacon - Ezra Starkweather Brewster - who was a prominent citizen of Canton. He had been a selectman, was for many years treasurer of Blue Hill Lodge of Masons, and for thirty years was a trusted employee in the office of the Revere Copper Company. Twenty years of his life had been passed in the office of Crocker and Brewster before he came to this town in 1853. He was a man universally esteemed and beloved, and his death was a great loss to the people of Canton. A mural tablet of beautiful design, erected in the church with which he was so long connected, by the hand of a dear and appreciative friend, bears this inscription : -
Dea. EZRA S. BREWSTER, Born in Worthington, February 22, 1804, Died June 25, 1882. For many years A Friend, Counsellor, Benefactor and Servant Of this Church. For a day in Thy Courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a Door Keeper In the House of my God, Than to dwell in the Tents of Wickedness.
On the day of the death of Deacon Brewster June 25, 1882, Rev. Mark B. Taylor, the present pastor of the Evan- gelical Congregational Church, preached his first sermon in Canton. With absences of one and two years respectively,
551
THE BAPTIST CHURCH.
Mr. Taylor continued to fill the pulpit until Nov. 12, 1888, when he was formally installed as pastor of the church.
The Baptist Church.
We have seen, during the ministry of Rev. William Ritchie, that attempts were made with success to obtain rebates from the ministerial tax, and during the years 1812-14, the money paid for the support of preaching in the First Congregational Parish by Episcopalians and Baptists was refunded. Soon afterward the formation of the Baptist church took place. The first attempt to gather a church of this denomination was made on the 29th of May, 1814, although preachers had held meetings in Canton in 1806, possibly as early as 1783. The story of this church has been told by an able pen. The Rev. Theron Brown, pastor of the Baptist church in 1864, preached on the fiftieth anniversary of the formation of the church a sermon which, with subsequent additions, formed a memorial volume, in which the story of this church was graphically told. He tells us of the early labors of Elder Joel Briggs in the schoolhouse at York, and the sturdy efforts of Ritchie to counteract their influence. Vividly he draws the picture of the meeting at the house of Ezra Tilden, on the borders of what is now Reservoir Pond, when, on the afternoon of May 29, 1814, the brethren and sisters met together to advise with one another for the formation of a church, and when it was voted to call a council on the 22d of the following month. This council accordingly met at the house of Mr. Samuel Blackman ; and the elders organized the church. They then adjourned to Spurr's Grove, now a part of the Canton Cemetery, where the services of organiza- tion took place. Services were subsequently held in the Blue Hill schoolhouse. "Forty names," says Mr. Brown, "stood on the church roll at the close of the year 1814. During the next year the question of building a meeting- house began to be agitated." It was a first thought to build the meeting-house at Ponkapoag on land owned by
552
HISTORY OF CANTON.
Mrs. Sherman, daughter-in-law of Roger Sherman ; but this plan was abandoned, and it was decided to place the house at Canton Corner on land then owned by Alexander French. The building was begun in 1819, and dedicated Jan. 14, 1821. The sermon was preached by Rev. Elisha Williams. The house, afterward used for a town-house for many years, was torn down in September, 1884. On the 28th of September, 1835, a committee was appointed to buy ground "at the village at the southwest part of the town;" and the land where the present meeting-house stands was purchased from Mr. Gerry Tucker for the sum of $230.
On the 13th of June, 1837, the building was dedicated, the Rev. Baron Stow preaching the sermon. The bell purchased of the Revere Copper Company was placed in the belfry in 1839, and replaced by a steel bell in 1862; the parsonage adjoining the church was completed in 1841, and the hall for parish purposes, now a part of the building, known as Wentworth Hall, in 1850. The church at the time Mr. Brown delivered his historical sermon had had fourteen pastors, six deacons, and seven clerks. The lives and per- sonal histories of the pastors, the creed and the covenant and list of members, have been fully spread upon the pages of his record ; and the internal history of this church, with its vicissitudes and rejoicings, will be found in the "Canton Baptist Memorial," forming a valuable contribution to the ecclesiastical history of the town. Mr. Brown, in his book, gives a sketch of the life of the Rev. Dr. Francis Mason, who was born at York, in England, April 7, 1799, married Miss Lucinda'Gill, of Canton, in 1825, and was baptized in Reservoir Pond in 1826, and joined the Baptist church in Canton. He began his preparation for the ministry, and recited in the Greek classics to Rev. Benjamin Huntoon. After a two years' course at Newton he sailed for Calcutta, where he became a zealous and distinguished missionary.
The Universalist Church.
At about the same period that a society called the Baptist Society was formed, a society was also established in the
553
THE UNIVERSALIST CHURCH.
town, called The Norfolk Universal Society.1 This society in 1819 had been joined by so many former adherents of the old parish that the latter voted to pay the Rev. Mr. Ritchie fifty dollars, which he had previously relinquished, it being the amount paid by those who had united with the society called Universalists. An attested certificate of membership was given to each member, duly signed by a committee which in 1820 consisted of Samuel H. Horton, Samuel Leonard, Consider Southworth, Simeon Presbrey. It is not known that this society held religious meetings. In 1822 Jonathan Stone was clerk; but from its organization down to 1827, its annual business meetings were sometimes held at Downes's tavern. During the years 1820 to 1825 we find records of religious meetings at Carroll's tavern, then kept by J. G. Wood. In May, 1820, the Rev. Richard Carrique, then settled at Attleborough, preached at Carroll's tavern. The services were conducted by Whittemore, Flagg, Gardner, Farnsworth, Killam, and in 1826, Whittemore and Ballou. In 1840 the meetings were held at South Canton in the armory building, then a schoolhouse. The Rev. Edwin Thompson, who preached at Canton, thus writes of this period : -
" Mrs. Peter Wales was a daughter of Joseph Downes, of Canton ; and when on a visit to Canton at one time, Mr. Wales told the Can- ton people, and in consequence of his introduction, I went over to South Canton one summer afternoon in 1840 to preach to a large and crowded congregation in a large schoolhouse. I remember there was a severe thunder-storm on that occasion. After the meeting sev- eral leading men came to me and asked me if I would preach for them regularly, to which I consented. Mr. Coleman, a jeweller, living there at that time, now in Worcester, was the treasurer, I believe, of the movement.
"I made my home at the house of my friend, Edwin Wentworth, for which he never charged me any pay. Of Mr. and Mrs. Wentworth I can say the same that I have said of Mr. and Mrs. Wales. Mr. Went- worth kept an open house every Sunday, inviting all his friends and relatives from Ponkapoag and the distant parts of the town, and used
1 See Appendix XXXII.
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HISTORY OF CANTON.
to take great pains in rallying the people to attend church so as to have a good large meeting every Sunday.
" Then I was made perfectly at home at the houses of Nathaniel Wentworth, Larra Wentworth, Horace Guild, Simeon Presbrey, Father Chandler, Mr. Fanning, for superintendent of Sabbath School, Jona- than Cobb, father of the faithful and venerable ex-Register of Probate at Dedham ; the Deans, Knowles, Algers, Leavitts ; the John- sons, Gays, and Morses of Pleasant Street, then called Ragged Row ; the Endicotts, Davenports, Capens, Frenches, Websters, Dunbars, Hor- tons, Leonards, McKendrys, Billingses, Mansfields, and others. But why should I particularize, as my life was a very pleasant one while in Canton, and I met innumerable friends? My meeting was much the largest in town. Our friends soon hired Leonard's Hall and pur- chased a number of settees, so that our friends were more comfortably seated. While I was at Canton, my friend, the late Joseph Sumner, of South Dedham (now Norwood), came over to see if I would preach for them from November, 1840, to March, 1841, to which I consented. I then engaged the Rev. A. P. Cleverly to help me, so that we were both able to conduct the two meetings. In June, 1841, I left Canton and removed to South Dedham, boarding with Mr. Sumner. We were very fortunate in Canton in engaging the services of Brother Cleverly, as he was able to do a great deal more good in Canton than I possibly could. He labored there with great success for some time, and was of very essential service to me in my South Dedham reform work. They have had many good ministers at Canton, and have enjoyed a goodly degree of prosperity, notwithstanding that most of my friends there in 1841 have passed away. I shall always remember the inhabitants of Canton as a remarkably substantial people."
In 1842 the services were held in Union Hall; in 1844 in Leavitt's Hall; and in 1845 the town voted the use of the Town Hall in which to hold their service; and in 1846 at a place known for the time as Universalist Hall. The meeting- house was erected the following year, and dedicated Nov. 10, 1847.
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