USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Medford > History of the town of Medford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement in 1630 to 1855 > Part 29
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(D. C.) · Albert B. Weymouth (H.C.), Geo. A. Newcomb (W. U.) . 1863
1800
William C. Woodbridge Edward Brooks (H. C.) David Osgood (H. C.) Andrew Bigelow (H. C.) . Gorham Brooks (H. C.) . Jonathan Porter (H. C.) . John P. Bigelow (H. C.) . Convers Francis (H. C.). Charles Brooks (H. C.) . William Ward (H. C.) Sidney Brooks (H. C.) Thomas Savage Clay (H.C.), William H. Furness (H. C.), Edward B. Hall (H. C.) . George B. Osborn (H. C.) . Ward C. Brooks (H. C.). .
Elijah N. Train (H. C.) . · John James Gilchrist (H.C.), Joseph Angier (H. C.) .
302
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
CHAPTER XII.
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
THIS library had its origin in the Medford Social Library, so called, which was founded in 1825, by a society, whose design, as set forth in their constitution, was to collect books, "promotive of piety and good morals," and to aid in "the diffusion of valuable information."
The shares in the library were placed at one dollar each, and made subject to a tax of fifty cents a year.
Each proprietor could take out two volumes at a time; and any person, by paying ten dollars or more in one pay- ment, could become an honorary member for life, entitled to use books as a shareholder, without tax or assessment.
By the will of Turell Tufts, Esq., who died in 1842, the interest of five hundred dollars was secured to this library, the principal being in charge of the town as a perpetual trust ; and it was provided that the income should be ex- pended annually for valuable books.
This library served its patrons silently but effectively for thirty years. But its growth was not satisfactory ; and as the Legislature, in 1851, had authorized towns to establish and maintain libraries by taxation to the extent of twenty-five cents for each ratable poll, it was thought that, by availing themselves of the act, the library asso- ciation could make their books, then numbering 1, 125 volumes, more useful to the town than they were,
That thought became a public sentiment ; and at the annual town-meeting, March 12, 1855, Messrs. William Haskins, Judah Loring, and Charles Cummings were made a committee to confer with the trustees of the Social Library in regard to making its collection of books the property of the town, and in that way the basis of a larger public institution.
This committee reported progress at a subsequent meet- ing ; and two hundred dollars were appropriated for the
PUBLIC IBRARY
ull,
Copeland det
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
303
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
town library, if satisfactory arrangements should be made with the stockholders of the Social Library. The com- mittee were continued in office, charged with the duty of consummating the work so well begun, and of making necessary rules and regulations for the management of the town library.
They reported on the Ioth of March, 1856, the follow- ing compact : -
The undersigned, committee of the trustees of the Medford Social Library, having been authorized at an adjournment of the last annual meeting of the stockholders of said library, to transfer, in behalf of said stockholders, the use of the books in said library, as the foun- dation of a permanent town library, to be supported and managed by the authority of the town; and Messrs. William Haskins, Charles Cummings, and Judah Loring, having been chosen by the town in April last to act for the town in this matter : we agree by this writ- ing in behalf of said stockholders, to transfer to them, and through them to the town of Medford, the books, shelves, etc., of said Social Library, and also the annual income from the funds of said library ; said income to be applied for the benefit of said library ; reserving only to said stockholders the privilege of having said books, etc., re- turned to them in good order (reasonable wear excepted) whenever in the judgment of said stockholders the town does not provide reason- able care and good management for said books.
(Signed) PETER C. HALL,
ALVAH N. COTTON, Committee.
MEDFORD, Feb. 22, 1856.
The report of the committee, including the library reg- ulations, was accepted and adopted ; and one hundred and fifty dollars were added to the appropriation made the preceding year.
Charles Cummings, Peter C. Hall, and Alvah N. Cotton were chosen as the "Library Committee ;" and they proceeded to purchase books, prepare a catalogue, and furnish a room in which to place the library.
The room they furnished was on the second floor of the railway-station ; and the library, with about thirteen hun- dred volumes on its shelves, was first open to the public July 26, 1856.
The name " Medford Social Library" was changed to that of "Medford Tufts Library," in honor of Turell Tufts, whose bequest has been mentioned ; but the name was again changed, in 1866, by vote of the town, and the library was called "The Medford Public Library."
The library hours were at first from two to four o'clock, and from seven to nine P.M. on Saturday only ; but this
304
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
provision did not satisfy the public ; and the hours were gradually increased, until the library was open twenty- three hours every week.
This institution so increased in prosperity, that it soon outgrew its accommodations, and in 1861 was removed to a commodious room in Usher's Block, on High Street, where it remained until 1869, when rooms were secured for it in the basement of the town-house, and tastefully fitted up by a committee appointed for that purpose, in whose hands was placed an appropriation of $500 by vote of the town, in March of the last-named year.
A reading-room was opened, in connection with the library, under the general direction of the committee; and its tables were well supplied with the prominent English and American reviews, magazines, and popular periodicals, together with cyclopædias, dictionaries of several lan- guages, gazetteers, maps, etc., for general reference.
The people of the town, young and old, frequented these rooms, and accorded to the very helpful institution their hearty commendation and increasing patronage. But progress was not to end there. The town had done nobly ; and to supplement its generous action, a citizen made to the town the following proposition : -
MEDFORD, Jan. 22, 1875.
TO THE SELECTMEN OF THE TOWN OF MEDFORD, MASS.
Gentlemen, - Feeling a deep interest in the welfare and prosper- ity of my native town, I am induced to make the following commu- nication, with the request that it be laid before the town of Medford, at the annual meeting to be holden in March next.
It has been very gratifying to me to notice the interest taken by the town in the support and maintenance of a Public Library for the use of its citizens, by the very liberal annual appropriation for that object ; and it has occurred to me that the time is not very far distant when a public building especially devoted to this purpose will be ab- solutely necessary. With this view of the case, I beg now to tender to the inhabitants of Medford in their corporate capacity the " Man- sion House " of my late honored father, situated on the northerly side of High Street, in this village, to be always retained by them, and to be forever devoted exclusively to the purpose of a town library, to- gether with so much of the land connected therewith, as is bounded and described as follows, viz. . .. and which contains about sixteen thousand three hundred and fifty-five square feet, more or less. .
And I also beg to offer to the town one thousand dollars to be devoted to the purpose of providing black-walnut shelves or book- cases, and otherwise furnishing the building (particularly the lower story) for library purposes.
6
Thatcher Imagour
305
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
The building inside and outside has been recently put in the most perfect repair ; and my intention is to present it to the inhabitants of Medford in their corporate capacity, just as it is, with all the expen- sive bronze gas-fixtures, marble statues and vases, water-fixtures, etc. Very respectfully your most obedient servant,
THATCHER MAGOUN.
Under date of March 5 of the same year, Mr. Magoun made another communication to the selectmen, in which he proposed to present, through them, to the town the sum of four thousand dollars, in addition to his first gift, to be expended, under the direction of the Library Com- mittee, in fitting and furnishing the Mansion House for a library building, and in the purchase of standard works for the enlargement of the library.
At the town-meeting on the 8th of the same month, the citizens, by a rising vote, expressed their appreciation of the munificent gift, and unanimously accepted the same on the conditions specified by the donor.
Messrs. Samuel C. Lawrence, Henry C. DeLong, James A. Hervey, James M. Usher, Joshua T. Foster, Dudley C. Hall, William C. Haskins, and James O. Curtis were then and there made a committee to wait upon Mr. Magoun, notify him of the action of the town, and tender to him its high appreciation of his thoughtful liberality.
This committee were further instructed to request Mr. Magoun to sit for his portrait to be painted at the expense of the town by such artist as he should select, that it might, when completed, be placed upon the walls of the library building.
The requisite writings having been made, the work of fitting up the building was at once entered upon. The L afforded ample room for the book-cases. The lower floor of the main building was devoted to waiting and reading rooms, and the upper rooms were reserved for the impor- tant uses which were soon found for them.
The re-opening of the library, in its new quarters, June 30, 1873, was an event of great public interest. Its doors were thrown open to the public, interesting ceremonies were observed, and illuminations made the occasion a bril- liant one, that was enjoyed by a large concourse of people.
The portrait of Mr. Magoun, painted by Mr. J. Harvey Young of Boston, was hung in a prominent position in the reading-room.
Other suggestive portraits also adorn the library walls.
306
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
That of Mr. Magoun's father was copied at the son's ex- pense, expressly for the place it occupies. That of Gov. Brooks, painted (probably in 1818) by that excellent artist, Mr. Frothingham of Charlestown, was presented to the town by Mrs. Dudley Hall, in 1868. Those of William H. Burbank and Sergeant Samuel M. Stevens, who fell in the war of the Rebellion, were donated by Gen. S. C. Law- rence. And the fine crayon head of the poet Whittier, executed by Mr. William A. Thompson of this town, was the united gift of several citizens. The large landscape painting of Mount Chocorua was the gift of Mr. John E. Richards ; and a picture of the Cradock House, by Was- son, was presented by Mr. N. P. Hallowell.
But the residents of West Medford, by reason of their distance from the centre of the town, did not enjoy all the advantages which the library afforded to other citizens ; and to accommodate them, a branch delivery was opened in 1876 in that precinct of the town, where books, for which orders were deposited on Tuesday or Friday morn- ing, could be received on the afternoon of those several days. This provision gave great satisfaction, and thou- sands of volumes are annually given out at the branch delivery.
In 1879 the town voted a special appropriation to pro- cure show-cases for minerals, metals, fossils, curiosities, and relics, to be placed in the upper rooms of the library building ; and the small collection then on hand, and thus provided for, was greatly increased the following year by a large and valuable collection of Indian curiosities, do- nated by James G. Swan, Esq., a native of Medford, but then a resident of Washington Territory.
Thus a nucleus was formed for a cabinet that doubtless will afford through many years, especially to the young, a great amount of pleasure and profit.
The following table gives, for the periods named, the average appropriation annually made for the library ; also the average number of volumes annually purchased, do- nated, and issued : -
PERIOD.
APPROPRIATION.
PURCHASED.
DONATED.
ISSUED.
1856-60 .
$304 00 .
223 .
7 .
not known
1861-65
350 00 .
191
7 .
12,967
1866-70 .
780 00 .
200 .
37 .
13,527
1871-75 . 1,480 00
100 .
21,375
1876-80
1,500 00
432 . 431 .
49 .
28.435
1881-83 .
1,600 00 . . 360 .
3I .
24,544
307
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
The dog-tax, which, agreeably to a statute passed in 1869, the selectmen have credited to the library, has amounted in the aggregate to $7,468, or to about $533 annually.
The whole sum devoted to the library, exclusive of the Magoun gifts, but including the dog-tax, the interest on the Tufts fund, and four special appropriations, has amounted to $38,534.
The volumes purchased (8,512), those received from the Social Library (1,125), and those donated by individuals (1,097), made, Jan. 1, 1884, a total of 10,734. Deducting those badly worn, and out of print, or rejected as unsuit- able, the number in good condition, at that date, was 9,453.
The names of the successive members of the library committee, with the date of their several first elections, and the number of years they served, are seen in the fol- lowing table : -
ELECTED.
SERVED.
Charles Cummings
1856
II years
Peter C. Hall
1856
8 years
Alvah N. Cotton
1856
5 years
Thomas S. Harlow
1859
I year
Talbot T. Fowler
1861
3 years
Charles Russell
1865
2 years
Elwell Woodbury .
1865
I year
Eleazar Boynton
I866
2 years
Lewis W. Osgood
I866
I year
Samuel C. Lawrence .
1868
17 years
Abner J. Phipps
I868
4 years
Edward P. Hooper
I868
I year
James A. Hervey .
1869
16 years
Henry C. DeLong
1872
13 years
The librarians and assistant librarians have been the following : -
LIBRARIANS.
Joseph P. Hall.
ASSISTANTS. George D. Cummings.
Charles Cummings.
Ida E. Burbank.
Charles Russell.
Eva T. Burbank.
Edward P. Hooper.
Mary J. Symmes.
Edwin C. Burbank.
Hepsie W. Symmes.
MEDFORD LIBRARY AND LYCEUM ASSOCIATION.
This institution was organized in the year 1857. In May of that year the following act of incorporation was granted : -
308
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
Be it enacted, etc., as follows : -
James M. Usher, John Pierpont, jun., Henry W. Usher, their asso- ciates and successors, are hereby made a corporation, by the name of the Medford Lyceum and Library Association, with all the powers and privileges, and subject to all the duties, liabilities, and restrictions set forth in the forty-fourth chapter of the Revised Statutes, with power also to hold real and personal estate not exceeding the sum of twenty thousand dollars.
After this, for several years, courses of lectures were given under the name of this organization.
A small library was collected, which is still kept in ex- pectation of future growth.
There is a small amount of money in the treasury of the association ; and the library, not yet large, is secure and well kept in good and sufficient book-cases.
The intention of our citizens in West Medford is towards a larger interest in this important work ; and at a time, as we trust, not far distant, the work will receive new impe- tus, and go on to accomplish the good first intended by those who initiated it.
1 - -
¥0
A L Ravcon d-1
TUFTS COLLEGE .
309
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
CHAPTER XIII.
TUFTS COLLEGE.
THIS institution of science, letters, and theology is situ- ated in the southerly part of Medford, on the most delight- ful and commanding eminence of the whole region around Boston. The site it occupies was formerly called Walnut Hill, because of the heavy growth of hickory with which it was covered when the town was settled ; but it now bears the name of the seat of learning by which it is crowned, and is called " College Hill."
It is part of the farm which Mr. Charles Tufts, late of Somerville, received by inheritance; and when he was asked by his relatives, what he would do with that "bleak hill over in Medford," he replied with this singular proph- ecy : "I will put a light on it."
The tract of land originally given by Mr. Tufts consisted of twenty acres, and the gift was conditioned upon its being made the site of a college that should bear his name.
Subsequently he gave his pledge to add other valuable adjoining tracts ; and due credit should be given to the influence of Mr. Sylvanus Packard, another benefactor of the college, in securing that pledge, which was faithfully kept; so that the plat of ground given by Mr. Tufts, and belonging to the institution, including one acre given by the late Joseph Manning, embraces more than a hundred acres.
When Mr. Tufts said that he would put a light on Wal- nut Hill, no one comprehended the fact that lay hidden in the good man's words ; but when the time came that the leading minds in the Universalist Church resolved to found a college in the interests of their denomination, and were seeking for the most desirable location that could be found for it, then the words of the noble man seemed prophetic, and he gave the hill on which to plant the first
.310
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
«collegiate "light-house " of the Church he honored, and to which he gave his support.
Another well-known Universalist, a citizen of Medford, Mr. Timothy Cotting, gave to the college, at his decease, land on South Street, near the institution, embracing up- wards of twenty acres. But the munificence of Mr. Tufts, in his first gift, was a theme for praise in the whole Church, then first awake to the importance of the work so well begun ; and all applauded the act of the trustees, by which the institution was named "Tufts College " accord- ing to the condition of the donor.
But we must go back in thought to consider the fact that the college is the child of the Universalist Church, and a grand expression of its ideas and faith. Before this Church had been in existence, as a distinct and sepa- rate religious body, a full half-century, there were men in it who were persuaded that its future growth and power in the land demanded the establishment of at least one college of letters, thoroughly equipped and endowed; and the acts of those men, that antedate the gifts, should have grateful recognition in what we are now writing of Tufts College.
One of the most influential of this class of men was Rev. Thomas J. Sawyer, now Dr. Sawyer, Dean of Tufts Divinity School.
From the time when he entered upon his ministry in New York, he was at the front of that movement which intended the development of educational interests in the Universalist Church. He was for several years at the head of an institution of learning known as "Clinton Liberal Institute," at which many of the young men who at that period entered the Universalist ministry received theological as well as scientific and literary training.
But the school was only an academic institution, not in- tended as a place for theological study ; and Dr. Sawyer appealed to the Universalist public in the columns of the religious press, and by a circular letter addressed to the clergy and influential laymen of the denomination, to spring to the work of founding and endowing an institu- tion of a higher class. In these efforts he was nobly seconded by others.
In May, 1847, a mass-meeting was held in the city of New York, at which a committee of five was appointed to
3II
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
place an agent in the field for the raising of funds, the subscriptions to be valid when the sum of one hundred thousand dollars should be pledged ; but when the general convention assembled in the same place the following Sep- tember, nothing had been done; but at that convention, a prominent Medford clergyman came to the front ; and his agency in the college enterprise should be herein recog- nized. Rev. Hosea Ballou, 2d, D.D., preached a sermon before that convention, in which he urged the "duty of general culture," and the importance of having "at least one college placed on a permanent basis ;" and his logic was so clear and sound that it carried conviction to the minds of many who had not seen the importance of the enterprise. On the following day another mass-meeting was held; and after such a discussion as the importance of the subject demanded, it being found that a good de- gree of harmony of opinion prevailed among the older and younger clergy, it was again voted that one hundred thou- sand dollars was the minimum with which a college enter- prise could be safely launched.
Six months elapsed before an agent was in the field : but the work was talked of, and brought before the people by the denominational press ; and at length the Rev. Otis A. Skinner (afterwards Dr. Skinner) was appointed to raise the proposed subscription.
The sum was so large that many warm friends of the measure were disheartened, and really thought that it could not be pledged. But the right man had entered upon the work, and he would not listen to the word " failure " from any one. Though he was years in accomplishing the task assumed, he was able to announce in the summer of 1851, that the full amount was promised.
On the 16th and 17th of September in the year last named, the subscribers held a meeting in Boston, at which a board of trustees was designated, who subsequently took the necessary legal action which fixed the site of the col- lege, and determined its name.
April 21, 1852, the Legislature granted a charter which conferred upon the institution power to give every kind of degree usually given by colleges, "except medical degrees ;" but on the 2d of February, 1867, this restric- tion was removed, and since that time Tufts College has had legal rights and powers equal to any similar institution in the State.
312
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
In July, 1852, Rev. Thomas J. Sawyer was elected presi- dent of the college. He declined to accept the office. In May, 1853, Rev. Hosea Ballou, 2d, was elected to the im- portant position, which he filled with honor to the institu- tion until the time of his death, which occurred in May, 1861.
In the July succeeding his election, Dr. Ballou had the satisfaction of laying the corner-stone of the main college hall ; the address being delivered by Rev. A. A. Miner. The event was one of great public interest; and it drew together a large concourse of spectators from Boston, Cambridge, and other surrounding towns. The president- elect was a ripe scholar, yet lacked the experience that comes of college life ; and he resolved to spend a year in visiting the most prominent institutions of learning in this country and Europe, in preparing himself for the arduous and complicated duties of his new position.
The responsibility of launching the new enterprise, of organizing the college, and establishing its curriculum, rested largely on him ; although he had the counsel and assistance of Mr. John P. Marshall, the present senior professor and dean of the college of letters.
The college was regularly opened for the admission of students in August, 1855, although a few students resided there the previous year, and received instruction from the president and Professor Marshall. The success of the in- stitution was, at first, as marked and satisfactory as its friends had reason to expect it to be; but the great anxiety attending the work of organization and develop- ment so affected the health of Dr. Ballou that he sank under its prostrating effects, and was cut down before the college could fully avail itself of the eminent abilities which he brought to the discharge of his duties, and before he could witness and rejoice in the unexampled material prosperity which has since that time been realized by the college which he did so much to create.
In the spring of 1862, Rev. A. A. Miner, D.D., was elected to succeed Dr. Ballou, and held the office of president until the date of his resignation, February, 1875. His presidency marks a season of exceptional material development, during which a great increase of endowment and unrestricted gifts came to the college through his personal influence.
Very soon after the college was established, Silvanus
From a Dag
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8.13allon
313
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
Packard, a prosperous merchant, without children, an- nounced his intention of making Tufts College his child. He gave generously to it during his lifetime, and dying bequeathed to it nearly the whole of his property, amount- ing to about $300,000.
Dr. William J. Walker was also a munificent benefactor, giving to the college upwards of $200,000.
Another notable friend of Tufts College was Dr. Oliver Dean, who devoted the greater portion of his wealth to the founding of Dean Academy, one of whose functions was to be the fitting of young men for the college. He also showed still more distinctly his favor to the college by contributing in all $90,000 to its funds.
But the college was especially fortunate in its infancy, and when it was practically without funds, in having for its treasurer Thomas A. Goddard, a wealthy merchant, and one of the grandest laymen that the Universalist Church has ever produced.
When the college was almost destitute of funds to meet its current expenses, this man quietly paid the deficiency out of his own pocket, and kept it from debt.
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