USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Bridgewater > Old Bridgewater tercentenary (1656-1956) : June 13-17 1956 > Part 4
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OLD
BRIDGEWATER TERCENTENARY-1656-1956
STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE
BRIDGEWATER TOWN HALL WHERE THE NORMAL SCHOOL WAS STARTED.
NICHOLAS TILLINGHAST First Principal of Bridgewater Normal School.
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TERCENTENARY-1656-1956
LIBRARY
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BRIDGEWATER TERCENTENARY-1656-1956
The Lazell family came to the relief of the situation and purchased the land and gave other substantial assistance. Lazell, Per- kins and Company contributed for the brick ends of the building, which was of the same dimensions as the first building, namely 54 ft. x 27 feet in width.
Succeeding generations have perfected things mechanical in Bridgewater. It is stated that the iron and nail industry started almost as soon as the Pilgrims stepped ashore at Plymouth. As a matter of fact England had encouraged, within ten years of the landing of the Pilgrims, a thorough search for mineral deposits. This fact doubtless soon led the Duxbury men here in search of iron deposits.
In the year 1786 two events of histori- cal significance took place in Bridgewater. The first was the result of the inventive genius of one of our expert machinists, Ezekiel Reed, who achieved lasting fame by the invention of a machine to manufac- ture nails. The other event was the part- nership between Robert Perkins and the Lazell brothers, Nathan and Isaac, junior, sons of Isaac Lazell.
Isaac Lazell, Sr., with Robert Perkins, constructed a Slitting Mill near the same site, which was the second mill of that kind to be erected in America. Within ten years it was recorded that 445 tons of iron annually were cut and rolled, of which one hundred tons were for hoop-iron and nails.
In the year 1793 another Slitting Mill was erected. This notable development of the iron industry, after the Revolutionary War, was the result of the lag caused after the British Act of 1750 which had prohib- ited the building of such mills.
In the year 1815 Jesse Reed, the son of Ezekiel, who invented the nail machine, patented a tack machine made here in Bridgewater which made tacks in one op- eration, and almost revolutionized the in- dustry.
The tack machine, perhaps invented by the Reed father and son was exhibited in duplicate by the D. B. Gurney Company of Whitman at the Bi-centennial Celebra- tion at Abington in the year 1912. That machine is now in the Smithsonian Insti- tute in Washington.
Generation after generation have con- trolled the Henry Perkins Foundry, which carried on the traditions of the 18th Cen- tury when an ancestor first "damnified" the town river. Later Perkins interests joined with the Lazell men and the Iron Works achieved mightily.
In more recent years the Independent Nail and Packing Company, now in its third generation, has reached a position of leadership in the nail industry. For some years it has sponsored research projects and established a research foundation at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, intro- ducing scientific research in place of the old system of trial and error technique.
The two oldest houses in town are Edson - Washburn house now known as the "Tory House" in Central Square and the Alden house on High Street. Both houses date from about 1700.
In 1716 John Washburn and his wife Rebecca gave the land for the old church- yard and the First Parish Church with the beautiful green in front extending to Summer Street. Both donors were buried in the western corner of the graveyard.
In 1842 the Mount Prospect cemetery was dedicated.
In 1823 a paper mill was established at Pratt Town where there had been a dam in 1792, a grist-mill in 1794 and a fulling- mill in 1798. The site is now occupied by the expanding George O. Jenkins Co., mills.
The present town hall was built in 1843.
The Old Bridgewater Inn was built in 1827 by Captain Abram Washburn.
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BRIDGEWATER HIGH SCHOOL
WHM-ELIJAIN SCHOOL
MCELWAIN SCHOOL
FIRST NORMAL SCHOOL
BAPTIST CHURCH
OLD BRIDGEWATER TERCENTENARY-1656-1956
GRADUATING CLASS, BRIDGEWATER HIGH SCHOOL, 1956
BRIDGEWATER CHURCHES
The present First Parish Church, Uni- tarian, was built in 1845. The architect, Solomon K. Eaton, also designed the Acad- emy building. The hurricane Carol de- stroyed the steeple completely in 1954. A community committee has been formed to raise funds for the restoration of the steeple. It was planned as a feature of the present celebration. Rev. Wm. Lord McKinney.
The Roman Catholic was built in 1855 and enlarged in 1898. Rev. Percival J. Quill.
The Central Square Congregational in 1862 and remodelled in 1883. This was a transfer from the Scotland Church which was formed about 1821. Rev. Robert May- hew.
The Swedenborgian Church was built in 1871. Rev. Harold R. Gustafson.
The Trinity Episcopal Church was built in 1883. Rev. Clinton H. Blake, Jr.
The Baptist Church was dedicated March 5, 1902. Rev. Carl R. Bartle.
The Methodist Church (Gammons Me- morial) was built in 1913. Rev. John P. McCallum.
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BRIDGEWATER TERCENTENARY-1656-1956
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CENTRAL SQUARE
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FIRST PARISH
METHODIST
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BROCKTON (NORTH BRIDGEWATER)
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INDUSTRY
SETT
EDUCATION
ROGRESS
1881.
CITY OF BRO
SACHEM'S ROCK
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MAYOR HJALMER PETERSON
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B ROCKTON'S recorded history began in 1628 also, when the southern boundary line of Massachusetts Bay Colony was es- tablished, as that line, in part, became the northern boundary line of Brockton. In 1637 the Bay Colony granted to the town of Boston all the land from Mount Wolliston to the Plymouth line. This grant included what is now the extreme north- eastern corner of Brockton. In that same year of 1637 the Bay Colony granted to the town of Dorchester the land beyond the "Blew" Hills to Plymouth line. This grant included the present towns of Can- ton, Stoughton, the most of Avon, and the north central part of Brockton.
In the year 1640 Governor Endicott and Israel Stoughton for the Bay Colony and Governor Bradford and Edward Win- slow for Plymouth Colony attempted to locate the line between the colonies. They started at the mouth of a brook, which they named Bound brook, on the line between Cohasset and Scituate, and ran the line to the middle of a pond called Accord pond. They then proceeded to run a straight line from the pond to the southernmost part of Charles river.
FIRE ENGINE, 1910
Aaron Hobart, the Abington - Whitman historian, says that it is not so stated in their report, but the fact is said to be, that when they arrived on the easterly side of Rhode Island they found their course would carry them far south of the true station. So they marked a white oak tree and made an angle in the line. In the course of their survey they must have walked through the northerly part of Brockton, and they may have been the first white men to visit Brockton. The line from Bound brook to the pond was thereafterwards accepted as being the correct line for that part, but the survey from the pond to the angle tree was not confirmed, and that part of the line remained unsettled.
In 1642 another attempt was made by Nathaniel Woodward and Solomon Saffery of the Bay Colony to locate the line, and especially to locate the point three miles south of the most southerly part of the Charles river, which point was the westerly end of the line. Their survey was not con- firmed.
CITY HALL
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TOP ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT-BELMONT STREET CLOVERLEAF, D. W. FIELD PARK, PARKING LOTS; MIDDLE ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT-WEST JR. HIGH, BROCKTON HIGH SCHOOL, SOUTH JR. HIGH; BOTTOM ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT- ELLIS BRETT, BROCKTON AT NIGHT, MIDWAY AT FAIR GROUNDS.
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About three and a half miles easterly of that tree they marked another tree and made an angle, and then proceeded toward's Accord pond. They "were cast more than halfe a mile to the southward of the middle of the said pond". They do not state in their report that the angle tree they marked was the same one marked in 1640, but the fact that they proceeded easterly three and a half miles, and then made an angle is some evidence that they marked the same tree that was marked in 1640.
To rectify their line they located the middle of the pond, returned about seven miles to "a late way that goeth from Bran- trey to Bridgewater", and there marked the line with heap of stones and a stake. The "late way" is now North Main street, Brockton, and is the first reference in the old records to that way. The heap of stones and stake mentioned were located about where the Montello Fire Station is now. They then agreed, "that the line stretched from Accord pond upon such a course" would strike the angle tree. As a matter of fact, and as it was later proved the line from the pond to the Montello Fire Station if continued would go far south of the angle tree. This mistake caused many arguments petitions and law suits before it arguments, petitions, and law suits before it was finally corrected in 1773.
In 1665 certain lots of land were granted in Brockton. Thomas Hayward was then granted 60 acres around North Main and Huntington streets and running easterly to Trout brook. Thomas Snell was granted meadow land just east of Hay- ward's grant on Trout brook, between Elliot and Ashland streets, and other meadow lots in the city was granted to other men in that year.
In that same year of 1665 Peregrine White, because "hee was the first of the English that was borne in these ptes, and
in answare vnto his owne petition", was granted 200 acres "lying and being att the path that goes from Bridgewater to the Bay, adjoyning to the Bay line". In 1667 Peregrine White obtained a deed of this grant from Josias Wampatuck, "allies Chickatabuck", giving the Indian names for Searles and Trout brooks.
In September of 1667 Peregrine White deeded this grant to Col. Daniel Searle, Esq., describing it as 400 acres, and bound- ing it on Searles brook "called by ye In- dians Manamachenog, and from thence circularly as ye brook runs until it meets with another stream called by ye Indians Shumacastacut" (Trout brook), and then 320 rods (one mile) eastward, and then upon a due square to ye Massachusetts line". This deed included all of the Mon- tello and the Cary Hill sections of Brock- ton and comprised 673 acres. In 1703 Samuel Searle of Dunstable, the son of Daniel Searle, sold the Peregrine White grant for forty pounds to Thomas Snell, John Howard, and Ephraim Howard, of Bridgewater.
The north four mile line of the original grant to old Bridgewater was partly in Brockton, and partly in Whitman. Torrey street on the west side of Brockton is lo- cated on that four mile line. It ran east- erly from the Easton town line, and crossed Main street, Brockton, just north of Lawr- ence street. The corner of Crescent and Quincy streets, Brockton, is on the four mile line, and from there it continued on into Whitman.
In 1668, when old Bridgewater was granted an additional two miles, the north additional two miles extended to May avenue and North Main street in the Montello section of Brockton where it "molested" the Peregrine White grant. The boundary line between Brockton and Abington running from North Quincy
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street, Brockton, easterly to Beaver brook is a part of that north six mile line.
The north additional two mile grant was divided into three parts, which were called the "West Shares", the "East Shares" or the "Old Men's Shares", and the "Young Men's Shares". The West Shares began at the Brockton-Easton line and extended three miles easterly to a little east of Main street on the southerly end, and to a little westerly of North Main street on the northerly end.
The Old Men's Shares began at the east end of the West Shares and extended three miles easterly into Abington and Whitman. The Young Men's Shares were east of the Old Men's Shares.
In 1673 Thomas Snell was named to make and maintain two horse bridges in Brockton, one over the brook on Main street near the Campello car barn, and the other over Salisbury brook on Main street near Allen street.
In 1683 the Old Men's Shares were divided into forty-two lots of about 15 rods in width and three miles in length, and allotted to forty-two of the Bridgewater men. These lots were numbered from north to south, and "molested" the Peregrine White grant on the north. It might be of interest at this time to note that the new Cardinal Spellman High School will be erected in Brockton on land that was part of the 24th to 29th lots of the Old Men's Shares. Those lots were originally laid out as follows: 24th to John Hayward; 25th to Nathaniel Packard; 26th to Samuel Packard; 26th to Samuel Leonard; 27th to John Washburn, Sr .; 28th to John Cary, Sr., and 29th to Rev. James Keith.
The first permanent settlement in Brockton was in 1697 by Zaccheus Pack- ard, a son of Samuel Packard, on the north- west corner of Copeland street and Samuel avenue, where Warren Keith lives now.
A deed from John Turner to Zaccheus Packard, dated May 7, 1697 (new calen- dar), recorded at Plymouth, conveys 20 acres "bounding Southerly with the said Zaccheus Packard his own Land whereon his new Dwelling House standeth". Zac- cheus Packard and his wife, Sarah, a daughter of John Howard, were the par- ents of eight boys and one girl. Seven of the eight sons settled in Brockton, and the eighth son settled just over the Brockton line in West Bridgewater at the end of Samuel avenue. Their youngest child, Abiel Packard, was born on May 9, 1699 (new calendar), and he was the first white child born in Brockton.
Daniel Waldo moved his family down from Chelmsford in 1700 to what is now the Montello section of Brockton, but was then a part of the old town of Dorchester. He was the second settler in Brockton. He built his house on the west side of North Main street between Woodland and Hill- crest avenues. His youngest child, Zacha- riah, born on December 5, 1701, was the first white child born in Montello and the second born in Brockton. In 1716 Waldo and his family moved to Pomfret, Conn., except some of his daughters, who married Bridgewater men.
The official seal of the City of Brock- ton states that the city was settled in 1700. That was true when the seal was adopted about 1881, but in 1983 part of West Bridgewater, including the site of Zaccheus Packard's farm, was annexed to Brockton. Therefore, the seal of the city could now be changed to read, "settled in 1697".
In 1703 Richard Field, a son of John Field of old Bridgewater, built his house on the east side of Main street in the Cam- pello section of Brockton, just south of the car barn. That house is still standing, being numbered 1466 Main street, and it is the oldest house in Brockton. His father's
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house, built in 1677 on River street, West Bridgewater, is also still standing, and is now occupied by Senator Hastings Keith.
Late in 1703 John Snell, a son of Thomas Snell, settled on Copeland street, Campello, just south of Southworth street. In 1705 John Wormall of Duxbury settled on the northerly side of Summer street, be- tween Perkins avenue and Edson street. In 1712 administration was taken out on the estate of John Wormall ,"who deceased the beginning of October, 1711, in an expidi- tion to Anopolis royal" (Nova Scotia). He was Brockton's first war casualty. In 1707, ten years after the first settlement, the population of what is now Brockton was about 30 persons.
The first street laid out in Brockton was the Bay path, or Bay road, now Main street, in the sixteen sixties. The second street laid out was Meadow lane and a part of Summer street in Campello in 1703. It was described in the records of old Bridgewater as, "a way from the bay road on Little Plain, south of Richard Field's house, easterly to Matfield river and cross- ing the river at the cartway, and across Thomas Snell's land, -to the southeast corner of Samuel Kingman's field. The third street to be laid out was also in 1703. It is described as being, "a way beginning a little to the west of Zaccheus Packard's land, so as to run square over Daniel Field's land to the southwest corner of John Snell's orchard, and by his house to the common". That way is now Copeland street from Hayward avenue northerly to Southworth street, and a part if not all of Southworth street.
Other early settlers in the Summer street and Plain street section of Brock- ton were: - Richard Holt on the south side of Summer street opposite Wormall's farm; Samuel Kingman on the west side
of Summer street near Plain street; David Packard on Plain street south of Summer street; Solomon Packard on Plain street east of his brother, David Packard; Ben- jamin Edson on the Wormall place on Sum- mer street; John Kingman the 2nd on the east side of Summer street, south of Per- kins avenue; John Kingman the 3rd on the west side of Summer street, opposite East street; Henry Kingman on the east side of Summer street, north of Parker avenue; and James Packard in the vicinity of Sum- mer and Lyman streets near Crescent street.
Daniel Field settled on the east side of Main street, south of Meadow lane; Tim- othy Keith on the west side of Main street, north of Brookside avenue; John Packard on the north side of Crescent street, op- posite the post office; Zaccheus Packard, Jr., on the west side of Lyman street, op- posite Saint Colman's church; Abiel Pack- ard on North Main street south of Wyman street; Robert Howard at the corner of North Main and Manners avenue, where the Laird homestead is now; and Daniel Howard on the north corner of North Main and Woodland avenue.
Ephraim Howard had a saw mill on Torrey street, near the Easton town line in 1717. James Packard had a saw mill at Crescent and Summer streets about 1720. In 1722 James Packard and ten other men agreed to build an iron works or forge "to make iron with on the Damm of Packard's Saw Mill nigh unto James Packard's Dwelling house, and to bring in what iron oar we have or can find in any of our lands in our North Precint at Twenty shillings a Tun at said Iron Works". This forge was located where they could make use of the water power from Trout brook, and was the first one built in Brockton,
OLD BRIDGEWATER TERCENTENARY -1656 -1956
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PHANEUF
HOSPITAL
re :
TOP ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT-GODDARD HOSPITAL, BROCKTON HOSPITAL, AND
PHANEUF HOSPITAL; SECOND ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT-YMCA, YWCA AND YWHA;
BOTTOM ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT-WAR MEMORIAL BUILDING, VA HOSPITAL AND BROCKTON PUBLIC LIBRARY.
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BRIDGEWATER TERCENTENARY-1656-1956
The West Shares on the west side of Brockton were laid out into 22 lots in 1716. These lots were two miles long running north and south. The four lots nearest North Main street were combined by their owners and divided into half mile lots. East of those lots the rest of the West Shares were laid out into 22 little lots running east and west on North Main street, and across Main street down to near Lawrence street.
In 1738 Brockton and a part of the town of Avon were set off as the North Parish of Bridgewater. The first pastor of the North Parish was Rev. John Porter of Abington, who served until 1802 when he died at the age of 87 years. In 1750 the population of what is now the City of Brockton was about 520, of which 90 were Packards. The people of the North Parish contributed their share in men and taxes during the Revolutionary War. Levi Keith, who lived on the north corner of Main and Plain streets in Campello, made shoes for most of the people of the parish before the Revolution. He may have been Brockton's first shoe manufacturer.
Micah Faxon, in 1808, bought the old John Packard farm at the corner of Main and Crescent streets, and moved over to Brockton from the southwest corner of Brookville square in Holbrook. In 1811 Micah Faxon transported the first shoes on horseback from Brockton to Boston, and really started Brockton on the road to become a shoe town. In 1821 the North Parish was incorporated as the Town of North Bridgewater. During the Civil War the town again contributed its share, if not more than its share, towards winning one of our major wars.
By 1870 the town had grown so in population, and in the manufacture of boots and shoes, that it began to consider
changing its name. It was the opinion of the great majority of the people that the town should have a strong, distinctive name, one that would not be confused with the name of any other town or city. Meet- ings were held to suggest names. Petitions were signed by many of the citizens in favor of this name or that name. The town was more deeply stirred and excited than it had ever been before in peace time.
For awhile the name of Standish was favored. In fact the state legislature passed an act giving the town the right to take the name of Standish, but the people refused to accept it. Then the name of Brocton was suggested and favored after putting in the letter "k" to make it, Brock- ton. Finally in March of 1874 the legisla- ture authorized the town to take the name of Brockton received 1,080 votes, the name people voted on those three names the name of Borckton received 1,080 votes, the name of Avon 411 votes, and the name of Aller- ton was forgotten, and North Bridgewater thereby became the town of Brockton.
On January 10, 1881, the town voted in favor of becoming a city by a vote of 631 to 124, which was approved by the legisla- ture on April 9, 1881, and then accepted by the town on May 23, 1881. Brockton, therefore, in this year of 1956 is celebrat- ing its 75th anniversary as a city. The first city election was held on December 6, 1881, with Ziba C. Keith being elected as our first mayor. He was afterwards re- elected several times.
In this brief article it is not possible to give the necessary space to write the his- tory of our Brockton churches. Brockton has many churches and synagogues of dif- ferent denominations and religious beliefs that have contributed much for the better- ment of the city and its people.
OLD BRIDGEWATER TERCENTENARY-1656-1956
Brockton has a world-wide reputation as a shoe city. Since the days of Levi Keith and Micah Faxon many of its promi- nent citizens became shoe manufacturers. Some of the manufacturers and shoe com- panies of the past and present are: Wil- liam L. Douglas, who became governor of Massachusetts in 1905; George E. Keith, a descendant of Levi Keith; Daniel Waldo Field and Fred F. Field, brothers ; Moses A. Packard; Thompson Brothers; the How- ards; the Packards; the Keiths; T. D. Barry; Knapp Brothers; Stacy Adams; Stone - Tarlow; Sandler - Fenton, Strath- more; Victory Shoe; Berco Shoe; Taylor ; Flint; Kent; Whitman; Doyle; Burke; Eaton; Foote; Foster; Potvin; Reynolds; Cary ; Ford; Herrod; Leach and Marshall.
In 1957 the V. and F. W. Filoon Com- pany of Brockton will celebrate its 100th anniversary as manufacturers of shoe find- ings. Their factory is located at the cor- ner of North Warren avenue and Prospect street. There are also other shoe finding's factories in Brockton, as well as many other kinds of manufacturing plants.
Brockton has modern, up-to-date schools, with others to be erected soon; a very fine library; a fine War Memorial building; wonderful water from sandy, springy Silver lake, and a beautiful park.
It also has excellent police and fire de- partments; a national guard and a naval reserve unit; a good civilian defense or- ganization, and many civic, veteran, and fraternal organizations.
The population of Brockton for 1956 is about 63,000. It is the home of ex-Cham- pion Rocky Marciano, who needs no intro- duction. The mayor of Brockton for 1956 is Hjalmar R. Peterson. The city clerk is Melvin B. Clifford, a former mayor. The eleven city councillors are: Wilfred A. Derosier, president; James P. Downey, Leonard H. Ellershaw, Roger G. Fisher, Gordon P. Fyhr, Cornelius W. Hallisey, Raymond P. Manning, Hipolit Moncevicz, Oscar F. Nevens, Joseph T. Phaneuf, and Robert J. Tighe.
WILLIAM T. SHINNICK
BROCKTON CITY COUNCIL
1956
JAMES P. DOWNEY LEONARD H. ELLERSHAW ROGER G. FISHER
RAYMOND P. MANNING GORDON P. FYHR CORNELIUS W. HALLISEY OSCAR F. NEVENS ROBERT J. TIGHE
WILFORD A. DEROSIER HIPOLIT MONCEVICZ JOSEPH T. PIIANEUF
OLD BRIDGEWATER TERCENTENARY-1656-1956
BROCKTON
FRIDAY, June 15: 8:30 P. M .- Pageant on Stage.
SATURDAY, JUNE 16:
12:00 M. - Parade with all towns participating-Miss Boston, Miss Massachusetts.
2:00 P. M. to 4:00 P. M .- Special Events at Fair Grounds. Band Concert.
5:00 P. M .- Old Fashioned New England Bean Supper (Buffet Style) at Food Building, Brockton Fair Grounds. All you can eat.
8:30 P. M .- Pageant on Stage.
GENERAL COMMITTEE Laurist W. Reynolds, Chairman A. J. Bradford Alexander, Vice Chairman Margaret O. Alexander, Secretary Frank W. Burrill, Treasurer Roger Keith, Chairman of the Day
Max Berkowitz
Thelma Cook
Elizabeth Whelan James McDuffy
William T. Shinnick
A. Edward Lalli
Marjorie E. MacDonald
John J. Williams
Rufus Sargent
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