Our country and its people; a descriptive and biographical record of Bristol County, Massachusetts, Part 56

Author: Borden, Alanson, 1823-1900; Boston History Company, Boston, pub
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: [Boston] Boston History Company
Number of Pages: 1399

USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Our country and its people; a descriptive and biographical record of Bristol County, Massachusetts > Part 56

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Engine house and lot on Central street. .$ 3,000

Engine house and lot corner Rock and Franklin streets 3,000

Engine house and lot on Pleasant street. 3,000

Engine house and lot on Pear street. 3,000

Rapid engine and hose carriage. 300

Torrent engine and hose carriage.

850

Cataract engine and hose carriage

850

Niagara engine (new).

1,500

Ocean engine and carriage

1,000

Massasoit engine. 500

Two hook and ladder carriages.

250

One bucket carriage. 250

Hose (950 feet new). 1,400

This makes a total of. $18,900

527

THE CITY OF FALL RIVER.

many engine-men, hose-men, and hook and ladder-men, to be divided into companies, as the number of engines and the number and quantity of other fire apparatus belonging to the city, shall from time to time require; providing for the appointment of a chief constable, with gen- eral supervision over assistant constables, police officers and watchmen; for the appointment in April annually of not more than twenty night watchmen, and an of- ficer of the watch; constituting the may- or and aldermen a board of health.

At the first city election, held, as be- fore stated, on the 6th of May, 1854, the fol- lowing officers were elected :

Mayor, James Buffin- ton.1

Aldermen, James Hen- ry, Edward P. Buffinton, Oliver H. Hathaway, Al- van S. Ballard, Edwin Shaw, Julius P. Champ- ney.

Common Council-Rob- ert C. Brown, Henry Wil- JAMES BUFFINTON. bur, Oliver Grinnell, Christopher W. Tillinghast, John Mason, jr., Smith Winslow, William Goodman, Obadiah Chace, Gardner Groves, Nathaniel Bonney, David S. Brigham, Sheffield Brightman, Peter J. Dennise, Henry Diman, jr., Howard B. Allen, William M. Almy, Thomas T. Potter, Albert Winslow.

1 James Buffinton was born in Fall River on March 16, 1816. In his early youth he made a whaling voyage into the South Atlantic and when he returned began the study of medicine in the office of Dr. Thomas Wilbur. He subsequently opened a drug store on South Main street and carried on a successful business. He took a deep and active interest in public affairs and his ability and unselfish services were rewarded by his election to many places of honor. Be- sides serving as the first mayor of the city, he was elected to Congress and served from 1855 to 1863, and in 1869 was again elected. His death took place!March,7, 1875.

528

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

A meeting of the Mayor and Aldermen was held on the 15th of May, at which Alvan S. Ballard was chosen clerk pro tem., and the oath of office was administered to the officials. It was

Ordered, That a set of rules and orders, presented by Alderman Edwin Shaw, be adopted by this board temporarily.

Voted, That a committee of two, consisting of Aldermen Shaw and Henry, notify the Common Council that this board is now ready to meet them in convention for such business as may legally come before the City Council.

An adjournment was then taken to the City Hall, to meet in conven- tion. The officers present were marshaled into the City Hall by Col. William Sisson, accompanied by the Selectmen, where a large assem- blage of citizens was in attendance. The meeting was called to order by Chester W. Greene (father of ex-Mayor Greene), chairman of the Board of Selectmen, and prayer was offered by Rev. Benjamin J. Rel- yea. The names of the elected city officers were then called by the clerk and to them the oath of office was administered by James Ford, justice of the peace. Chester W. Greene then addressed the mayor in behalf of the Selectmen, and Mayor Buffinton then delivered his in- augural address. The machinery of the new order of government was soon working smoothly.

The police force established with the incoming of city government was organized with William Sisson, whose title was chief constable; and Daniel Child, Bowen L. Pierce, Edson V. Chace, Philip .Durfee, James E. Watson, Spencer Macomber and Samuel V. Bliffins, assist- ants. The night police consisted of Jeremiah Clark, captain of the watch; Abel Segur, Benoni T. Chace, Job Simmons, Lewis W. Carpen- ter, Jacob B. Dunham, Nicholas Taylor and Gardner Morse, watchmen.1

The well-remembered period of financial stringency and distress of 1857 produced effects that were, naturally enough, felt in Fall River with far greater severity than in communities that were depending less upon manufactures. Indeed, no other period of " hard times " through

1 In the several revisions of the city charter and through regulations otherwise provided, the police force of Fall River was gradually augmented and placed upon its present modern basis. In the beginning of the city's existence the force was small, as already shown, and was directed from the headquarters in the city building. As the city increased in size it was divided into sta- tions, of which there are at the present time four, which are consecutively numbered ; all of these have separate buildings, which are the property of the city. A police patrol was established and a building erected in 1897, at Station No. 1, and in the same year the entire interior of the old station building was remodeled and finished in oak. The entire police force now numbers 125, who are under control of a Board of Police, who are appointed by the governor, consisting of three members. The rank and file of the force is commanded by the chief, four captains, six lieutenants and six inspectors.

529

THE CITY OF FALL RIVER.

which the village or city has passed, caused more than a fraction of the hardship, anxiety and privation experienced at this time. Nearly all the mills ceased operation, throwing thousands out of employment and depriving them of the small incomes that had enabled them to live. It was almost impossible for men of resources to obtain money, while the poor suffered much distress. A local paper told the story of a laborer, his aged mother and three children, who subsisted for two days on fifteen crackers. In August an order passed the Council that the Committee on Finance be authorized to contract loans for $20, 000, in addition to what had already been authorized, and "that the same be loaned by notes of hand, payable on demand, or on time, or by bond or scrip having not more than two years to run." While the banks were disposed to aid business men to the extent of their ability, they were forced to avoid the possible dangers the signals of which were clearly apparent on all sides, and contract their loans. A public meet- ing was called for November 11, 1857, "in consequence of an unparal- leled distress now existing in our community." At this meeting such measures for relief of the poor as were practicable were adopted. The city authorities projected new public work and many heads of families were given employment in the cemetery grounds and other public en- terprises. At that time, according to the records, four-fifths of the mills were closed and more than 2,000 persons were subsisting on charity ; this number was daily increasing. So desperate was the pros- pect late in the fall that a proposition was entertained to send all those who were receiving charity to Titicut, where they would become a State charge. Another plan of relief was the establishment of soup houses, while still another was the laying out of many new streets to grade and pave, thus adding to the number of men in the employ of the city. All of these plans were, to some extent, adopted, but at the best the dis- tress and anxiety continued. Still another plan for relief was for the inill proprietors to start their mills and pay their employees whatever they were able under the circumstances. At another meeting held for consideration of the condition of the needy, a committee of nine lead- ing citizens was appointed, who, after due deliberation, reported a plan for the division of the city into thirty districts, each district to include about thirty families and to be under supervision of other committees who were to act in relief measures under orders from the Mayor and Aldermen. This plan was adopted and through its operation the con- dition of the poor was greatly ameliorated. So satisfactory was the 67

530

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

result that a local paper felt called upon to make the assertion that " no city in the Commonwealth has done more in this direction than our own." In November only two mills were in operation, but this num- ber was increased in December. In that month the city government appropriated $1,000 for the city farm, $1,000 for streets, and $500 for the cemetery, to be expended mainly in giving work to the poor. About the close of the year the New York banks resumed payment and the situation was relieved.

It need scarcely be stated here that the city of Fall River, although at that time a comparatively small community, had within itself the capacity for recuperation from the effects of such a period of financial and business depression as that of 1857-8, to a greater extent than most similar places in the country. If many of the sturdy pioneers, whose persevering industry and bold enterprise had founded the village and laid broad and sure the foundations of its material growth, had passed away or retired from business activity, their immediate descendants were there, filled with the inherited zeal, and hopefulness, and energy of the fathers. When the tide finally turned and signs of oncoming prosperity were discernible, these men assumed what to the more timid might have seemed enormous risks in order to start the wheels and spindles and open the channels of trade in their city. A year later the consequences of the hard times were little felt and soon became only a memory.

Almost coincident with this period of financial stringency, the com- munity was called upon to share in the general anxiety caused by the last visitation of importance of the Asiatic cholera to these shores. The disease made rapid headway in New York city and a few cases appeared . in Newport and Providence, causing terror on every hand. The Board of Health in Fall River took the matter in hand with energy, and a Committee of Vigilance was appointed to superintend the quarantine regulations that were adopted. A health officer was designated to stand on the wharf and hail vessels through a speaking trumpet, and if they were from infected localities they were ordered not to land. All vessels previous to landing were forced to undergo fumigation. As an incident of the epidemic of local interest, the steamer Washington came into the bay loaded with passengers fleeing from the disease in New York. She was not permitted to land in Fall River, and pro- ceeded on to Somerset, where she and her passengers were made wel- come. From that time forward until the disease had substantially

531

THE CITY OF FALL RIVER.

disappeared, the inhabitants of Somerset were compelled to submit to the stringent Fall River regulations if they visited the city. On South Main street a rope was stretched across the way from tree to tree, and passengers by stage from Newport and elsewhere were compelled to submit to fumigation in a near-by building before coming on into the city. But the people of this city, as they had on a former occasion, al- most wholly escaped the disease; this was doubtless the result of two principal causes-the general healthfulness of the locality and the ex- treme and persistent care and watchfulness of the local health author- ities.

It was at about this time that the sewerage of the city upon any ad- equate system was commenced. The local press and the more public spirited citizens had long advocated the necessity for this improvement. When the city was incorporated there were almost no sewers in exist- ence. Although the situation of the city from a topographical point of view is admirable for natural drainage, it began to be apparent that an adequate system of artificial sewers would soon be an imperative necessity, and the work was inaugurated.1

In the midst of the period of financial stringency which has just been described a portion of the inhabitants of Fall River became dissatisfied with the prospects under city goverment. Whether they feared that the community could not be effectively cared for by the mayor and the city boards, or anticipated a much heavier tax rate under the new order, does not appear; it was probably the latter. In any event a pe- tition was presented in January, 1858, to the authorities to have the city charter surrendered; it was signed by only fifty-six citizens, but it created a temporary sensation. While it was ridiculed in the public press and by many individuals, there was influence in the names of the signers sufficient to cause its reference to the Mayor and Aldermen, and a meeting was called to vote upon the proposition. About four hundred persons attended and the vote taken showed a majority in favor of continuing under the city charter of about two to one. That was the last heard of public opposition to the city government.

1 The present elaborate and effective system of sewers in Fall River has been of slow growth, the greater part of it having been constructed within the past twenty years. Within the past few years it has been greatly extended and improved. From the date of the establishment of the system (1873), up to January 1. 1897, the amount of money expended upon it was $1,514,899.41. Of this amount, $171,500 was expended in 1896, of which sum $100,000 was from the proceeds of a spe- cial loan authorized by the Legislature for the purpose. In the year named sewers were built in twenty-three streets, some of them under great difficulty and at great expense. There are at the present time about forty-three miles of sewers in the city, and about 3,500 se werage connections.

532

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

As briefly noticed in the first chapter of the Fall River history, the boundary lines between the States of Massachusetts and Rhode Island passed directly through the city up to the year 1862. Under that con- dition united effort in any direction for the good of the community as a whole was almost impossible; it was a condition that was intolerable, as well as unjust. When the citizen of to-day compares the former situation and the difficulties and annoyances surrounding the direction of public affairs in which the entire community was interested, to the present conditions, he is led to express astonishment that the change was not brought about earlier than it was. Indeed, for many years persistent efforts were made to effect the desired change; but, as be- fore described, it required many years and the adjudication of the United States Supreme Court to place Fall River under one jurisdic- tion, and thoroughly unite its material, educational, moral and social interests. The advantages derived by the city at large from the change can be neither defined in detail nor over-estimated in value. It brought under one city government a community hitherto divided in name, but one in every other respect; it brought into the city of Fall River, Massachusetts, an increase of population of about 3,600, taxable property of nearly $2,000,000 value, 410 dwellings, 631 families, 6 school houses, and a large area of territory that immediately began to improve and become a part of a homogeneous whole.

The premonitions of internal discord and political strive that pre- ceded the outbreak of the great Civil war were now heard. The gen- eral story of this conflict is told in earlier chapters, leaving only the task of briefly noticing the special part taken by Fall River in the great war. In 1860, just before the actual beginning of hostilities between the North and South, the date of the annual city election was changed from March to the first Monday in December, and the beginning of the school year to the first Monday in January; this arrangement contin- ues at the present time.

In the same year an ordinance was passed by the city government for the establishment of a free public library and an appropriation made for its maintenance. The Fall River Athenaeum, established in 1835, transferred its library of about 2,400 volumes to the city, and contributions of books were made by citizens and others. The library was opened May 1, 1861, and during the first year the number of sub- scribers was 1,248, to whom were delivered 30,252 volumes.

The attack upon Fort Sumter was made on the seventh anniversary

533

THE CITY OF FALL RIVER.

of the date of the city charter of Fall River. The population of the city was then about 14,000; the valuation was more than $11,000, 000, and the place was starting out upon the period of marvelous develop- ment which was only temporarily checked by the oncoming war. Very soon after the news of the firing upon Fort Sumter was received, a call was issued for a public meeting on April 19, 1861, and on that evening the City Hall was crowded with an enthusiastic assemblage. That was the day of the attack upon Massachusetts soldiers in the streets of Bal- timore, and this community, in common with every other in the Com- monwealth, was thoroughly aroused. The meeting was called to order by Nathaniel B. Borden, who was chosen chairman and made the opening address. Speeches followed by David Anthony, James Ford, James Buffinton, Dr. Foster Hooper, John Collins, John Westfall, J. C. Blaisdell, Dr. R. T. Davis,1 Walter C. Durfee, and others. Dr. Hoop- er2 offered the following resolutions:

Resolved, That the Government of the Union shall be sustained. That the city government be requested to appropriate $10,000 in aid of those who may volunteer, and for the support of their families. That each volunteer be paid the sum of $20 per month from the city treasury, in addition to what is paid by the government.

These resolutions were adopted by acclamation and referred to the City Council, who reported on the 24th as follows:

Whereas, etc., In the southern section of our country public law is disregarded, the authority of the United States set at defiance, and armed forces have been, and are, organizing with the avowed purpose of overthrowing the government as formed by our Revolutionary fathers, and of establishing a new government, in which free- dom of the press, of speech, and of the individual man shall be more restricted-in a word, a government for the perpetuation of slavery; and

Whereas, etc., For the repelling of such forces the standing army being inadequate, the President of the United States has made requisition on the several States for militia; therefore, to the end that said requisition may be more readily answered,

Ordered, That to each of our citizens who may join a militia company of our city, organized according to law, pledged to render military service whenever and wher-

1 A portrait of Dr. R. T. Davis will be found in this work, and his biography in Part II.

2 Dr. Foster Hooper was born in Walpole, N. Y., April 2, 1805. He entered college at Burling- ton, Vt., in early youth, graduated as a physician, and settled in Fall River in 1826. He was a man of more than ordinary ability and of very decided character. He soon acquired an exten- sive practice, but still found time to exercise his active publie spirit for the general welfare of the community. He had a natural taste for politics and gained a high position in that field. He was a member of the General School Committee in 1830 and was an enthusiastic worker in the cause of education. He was representative in 1831, county treasurer in 1837 39, and State Senator in 1840-42. At the time of his death he was collector of internal revenue for his district. In all of these varied and responsible positions he gained the commendation of his fellow citizens. He died while on a visit to New York city, on October 18, 1870.

534

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

ever required, whether by authority of the State or the United States Government, there be paid from the city treasury the sum of fifteen dollars for outfit, when such company shall be mustered into service; and thereafter, for a term not exceeding three months, fifteen dollars a month, the latter to be applied for the support of the family or dependents, as the soldier may direct; and if, at the expiration of the ser- vice, a balance, or the whole, shall remain unpaid, then payment to be made to the soldier in person, or his legal representatives; these payments to be made in addi- tion to compensation that may be realized from the United States Government.

This order was adopted and the $10,000 appropriation made. Fall River was the third in the list of applicants to Governor Andrew for permission to raise military companies. Enlistments began before the above described action of the authorities, and a company was partly formed under Lieutenant Cushing, who had seen service in the Mex- ican war, and a rifle company was organized by Capt. C. W. Greene, who was later a lieutenant colonel. These were armed and on June 11 were mustered into service of the United States, as companies A and B of the 7th Regiment, an account of which is given in an earlier chap- ter. The regiment was commanded by Colonel (afterwards General) D. N. Couch, of Taunton, and Lieutenant Colonel Greene of Fall River. A company was also formed from "adopted citizens," but it was not considered expedient to muster them into the service at that time, and on July 5 the city voted each member $12 and the company was dis- banded. In September, 1861, a bounty of $15 was authorized to be paid to each volunteer in a company then forming.

The 7th Regiment went to the front and saw active service on bloody fields The first Fall River soldier killed in the war was Nathaniel S. Gerry, a private in Co. A, of this regiment, and the first commissioned officer killed was Lieut. Jesse D. Bullock, Co. B, of the same organ- ization. As the conflict progressed the patriotism of the inhabitants of Fall River gained in strength and every call of the government for aid was promptly met. For example, when the call for 300,000 men was made early in July, 1862, a public meeting was called, at which it was recommended to pay each volunteer for three years' service a bounty of $100. The following resolution also was adopted :

Resolved, That our old men contribute of their substance, and our strong young men tender their services; remembering that if in ancient times " for a good man some would even dare to die," surely for the necessary support of a righteous cause there should be no hesitancy because life would be attended by hazard.

This and other resolutions connected with military affairs were adopted next day by the city government, and the enlistments went on.

535

THE CITY OF FALL RIVER.

On the 14th of August of that year another citizens' meeting was held, at which it was resolved that "the patriotism of Massachusetts will sustain the government in putting down the rebellion at any cost of men and money." When the call for nine months men was made on the 4th of August, 1862, energetic measures were adopted in the city to fill the quota. On September 1, 1862, the city government voted to pay a bounty of $200 to each nine months volunteer credited to the city quota and appropriated $45,000 for this purpose. Under this call the city furnished companies C and D of the 3d Regiment, and a number of men of the 8th, 43d, 46th, 47th and 48th Regiments of nine months men.

Company G of the 26th Regiment was from Fall River, and was mustered into the service on October 18, 1861, and served three years. A large part of companies F and G of the 58th Regiment were from Fall River; that regiment was mustered in and left for the front the last of April, 1864. Besides these complete or nearly complete organ- izations the city furnished men in greater or less numbers to the 9th, 11th, 12th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 22d, 24th, 25th, 28th, 29th, 32d, 33d, 37th, 39th, 40th, 54th and 57th Regiments; also the 5th and 6th Batteries of Light Artillery, the 2d and 3d Regiments and 1st Bat - talion of Heavy Artillery, and to the 1st, 2d, 4th and 5th Regiments of Cavalry; and 497 men from Fall River served in the navy. In all the city furnished 1,845 men to the armies of the Union, thirty-seven of whom were commissioned officers. The honor roll of 163 names that are carved on the soldiers' monument in Oak Grove Cemetery of those who fell in the cause of the country is only a partial list of the hero dead. The amount of money expended by the city on account of the war, exclusive of State aid, was $107,828.03. Besides this there were expended by the city for State aid to the soldiers' families during the war the following sums: In 1861, $7,262.25; in 1862, $29,771.67; in 1863, $36,476.10; in 1864, $34,000; in 1865, $20,000. Total, $127,- 510.02. This sum was repaid by the Commonwealth. The mayor through the whole period of the war was E. P. Buffinton,1 and no man

1 Edward Purinton Buffinton, son of Aaron and Rebecca Buffinton, was born in Westport, Mass., November 16, 1814. The family settled in Fall River while he was a boy, and he witnessed and shared in the growth of the village and city until it surpassed even his sanguine expectations- He engaged in marketing at an early day at the corner of Main and Pocasset streets, where he continued until the erection of the town and market building in 1816, when he removed to that and continued the business throughout his life. He was a public-spirited citizen, earnest and active in all public affairs and unselfishly devoted to the welfare of the community. In 1852 he was elected a representative, and when the city government was organized in 1854 he was chosen

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Our country and its people; a descriptive and biographical record of Bristol County, Massachusetts, Part 56

Author: Borden, Alanson, 1823-1900; Boston History Company, Boston, pub Publication date: 1899 Publisher: [Boston] Boston History Company Number of Pages: 1399

Author: Borden, Alanson, 1823-1900; Boston History Company, Boston, pub
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: [Boston] Boston History Company
Number of Pages: 1399