USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Dedham > Proceedings at the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Dedham, Massachusetts, September 21, 1886 > Part 11
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250TH ANNIVERSARY.
prisoners confined for debt, testified the popular feeling. In the evening there was an illumination of the houses, and a display of fireworks on the Common, excelling anything of the kind before seen in New England. A wooden obelisk was erected under the Liberty Tree, on the four sides of which were allegorical representations designed and exe- cuted by Paul Revere. This unfortunately took fire from the lanterns upon it the same night, and was consumed.
In all these stirring events the towns around Boston were in full sympathy. In Dedham, the Sons of Liberty prepared to mark the event by a permanent memorial. Dr. Nathaniel Ames, the younger, was an ardent patriot and a leader. He records in his diary that May 21, five days after the news of the repeal arrived, the stone-cutter was at work on the Pillar of Liberty. From entries in the same diary it appears that for eleven or twelve days in May, June, and July stone-cutters were thus employed. On June 30 he records, " Daniel Gookin turns the Pillar of Liberty." This was a wooden column about ten or twelve feet high, which rested upon the stone as a pedestal. On the 14th of July the Sons of Liberty voted to raise the Pillar on July 22. It was raised on that day, in the words of Dr. Ames, "in the presence of a vast concourse of people." The Pillar was painted on the 28th of the. same month.
Before the Pillar was raised an effort was made to sur- mount it with a bust of William Pitt, as appears by the following entry in Dr. Ames's diary of 1766: -
" July 2. Went to Boston. Bespoke Pitt's Head for Pillar of Liberty."
But the bust was not procured upon this request. For another entry in the same year is as follows: -
" Dec. 15. Sons of Liberty met. Agree to have Pitt's Head."
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THE TOWN OF DEDHAM.
Dr. Ames writes Feb. 15, 1767, that he " went to Boston with Mr. Haven and Battle. Spoke Pitt's bust of Mr. Skilling."
This Mr. Skilling was a well-known wood-carver of that day, who executed similar busts and figures to adorn the entrances of some fine houses in Boston. Finally, Feb- ruary 26, Dr. Ames again went to Boston, and "brought . the bust of Pitt for the Pillar of Liberty."
The original inscriptions in Latin and English were un- doubtedly composed by Dr. Ames. He was accustomed to make entries in Latin in his diary, and the style of the English is characteristic. He writes: "Aug. 6. Howard altered erepsit into evulsit," traces of which alteration are now discernible.
It strikes one strangely, perhaps, to find on this stonc, erected by the Sons of Liberty, an expression of satis- faction that their loyalty to King George III. had been confirmed by the repcal of the Stamp Act. But it must not be forgotten that it was then ten years before the Declaration of Independence, and if any entertained the thought of independence as a contingency which might occur, certainly no one avowed it. The patriots fondly indulged the hope, rather, that in the repeal of the Stamp Act all their trials were ended, and that the oppressive policy of the British ministers toward America had been reversed. But their joy was short-lived, and by the pas- sage of the act imposing a duty upon tea and other articles passed in June, 1767, the series of measures was continued which brought on the Revolution.
As the conflict approached, the Pillar of Liberty nat- urally ceased to be an object of interest. Dr. Ames records, " May 11, 1769. The Pillar of Liberty was over- thrown last night." Perhaps this was due to the revulsion in popular feeling. It is not certain that it was afterward replaced. But there were those living not many years
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250TH ANNIVERSARY.
since who remembered in the last decade of the eighteenth century both pillar and bust lying upon the ground, and the latter being kicked about by the boys of that period. It is certain that no one took pains to preserve them, and they are now irrecoverably lost.
We may, however, now feel assured that this historic stone which stands to-day as the memorial of ante-Revolu- tionary times is so securely placed that on the ter-cente- nary of the incorporation of Dedham it will still remain in good preservation to testify to the patriotism of 1766, and to its grateful appreciation in 1886.
The following are the inscriptions now upon the stone, given in the chronological order of their being placed upon it: -
The Pillar of LIBERTY Erec'td by the Sons of Liberty inthis Vicinity Laus DEO REGI, et Immunitat" autoribusq. maxime Patrono PITT, qui Rempub.rrrfumevulfit. Faucibus Orci
INSCRIPTION OF 1766 [WESTERLY FACE.]
1 76
THE TOWN OF DEDHAM.
The Pillar of LIBERTY To the Honor of WILLM PITT EfOR y other PATRIOTS who faved AMERICA from impending Slave ry, uconfirm'd our moft loyal Affection toKG GEORGE III by pro curing aRepeal of the Stamp Act, 18%MARCH, 1766.
INSCRIPTION OF 1766 [NORTHERLY FACE.]
Erected here July 22,1766, by Doct: Nath! Ames 2"} Col. Eben. Battle, Maj Abijah Draper& other. Patriotsfriendly to the Rights of the Colonies at that day
Replaced by the Citizens July 4. 1828.
INSCRIPTION OF 1828
[NORTHEKLY FACE. ]
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250TH ANNIVERSARY.
THIS STONE WAS FIRST
PLACED NEAR THIS SPOT
JULY 22, 1766.
IT SUPPOR-
TED A WOODEN
COLUMN
SURMOUNTED BY A BUST
OF WILLIAM PITT.
BOTH COLUMN AND BUST
DISAPPEARED
ABOUT THE
CLOSE OF THE LAST
CEN-
TURY. THE STONE WAS
REMOVED FROM THE OP-
POSITE CORNER IN 1886.
INSCRIPTION ON TABLET OF 1886 [EASTERLY FACE.]
THE POWDER HOUSE.
The Powder House upon examination was found to be in a state of partial dilapidation, though its walls and curved oaken rafters were in a sound condition. In repairing and restoring it, the original design has been adhered to as closely as possible. The shingles have been replaced by new ones of the best quality, painted on both sides and laid when dry; a new solid door, having strap hinges and a padlock, has been put in; the oak threshold has been replaced; all the wood exposed to the weather has been painted; the brick walls have been pointed anew where practicable, and well oiled; a bronze tablet has been in- serted in the front wall bearing the following inscription :
THE POWDER HOUSE BUILT BY THE TOWN 1766.
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THE TOWN OF DEDIIAM.
The Powder House, as the quaint little brick structure which crowns the great rock near Charles River has been called since its erection in 1766, is better known to the people of Dedham than any other spot within her borders. It is not the "stern round tower of other days " from which bards in classic lands have drawn inspiration; neither has it been the scene of any great historic event. It is a plain building, erected by plain people, for a practical purpose, but little more than a hundred years ago; yet so thor- oughly is it identified with the social life of this community that it has come to be regarded as almost a sacred spot, dear not only to the present dwellers in the village, but to the sons and daughters of Dedham now scattered through- out the length and breadth of the land.
The Powder House was not built, as many have sup- posed, with any reference to its use during the Revolution- ary War, though doubtless it well answered the purpose of keeping the Provincial powder dry in those days when ammunition was well-nigh worth its weight in gold. But in 1766 there was no expectation of independence of the mother country, and but little desire for separation ex- pressed on the part of the Colonists. The public sentiment that produced the violent disruption of the ties that had so long existed between Great Britain and her American Col- onies was the quick growth of the following years. It, too, may well be doubted whether the natural beauty of the location entered at all into the calculations of the builders. The Powder House was constructed in those days when everything was sacrificed to convenience and utility, in compliance with a long-felt desire that the public ammunition should be stored in some public place, and not subjected to the risk and inconvenience of being kept on private premises.
But a few years after the settlement of the town, in mak- ing provision for the common defence the storage of the
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250TH ANNIVERSARY.
town's ammunition became a question of much importance. The first mention of the matter which we find in the Town Records is contained in the following entry : -
"3 of II mo. 1652.
" At a general meeting of the Towne the Selectmen are desired to issue the case concerning the barrell of powlder delivered to Ensign Phillips."
The next entry on the subject is as follows : -
" Assemb. 28, 12 Mt. 1661.
" Timothy Dwight is requested to procure a barrill of Powder to Exchange that barrel that nowe is in the Town Store ; & what it doe a mount to more than the ould powder is really wourth to him, the Towne is to make good to him."
Nearly a century later we find the following entries on the Town Records : -
" May 15, 1745.
"Voted, if it be the mind of the Town to choose a Committee to procure a Stock of Ammunition by Calling in what is lent out and procuring what is wanting.
"Voted in ye affirmative.
" Mr. Isaac Bullard, Mr. Samuel Richards, Maj. Eliphalet Pond, Committee."
" Feb. 24h 1746-7.
"The Committee chosen to procure a stock of Ammunition for ye Town make return. That they have laid out one hundred and twenty five pounds old Tenor and have Procured two barrells of Powder and Six Duzon of Flints & about one hundred and a quar- ter of Bullets."
The following entries in the Town Records afford the only information we possess as to who was the custodian of this important item of town property :-
"May 27, 1755.
" Paid to Mr. Isaac Bullard for his care and labor about the Town Stock of Powder, 6 shillings.
"May 22, 1759. To Isaac Bullard for Taking Care of the Powder, 5s. 4d."
I SO
THE TOWN OF DEDHAM.
The first vote on the subject of building a house for the storage of ammunition which we find on the Town Records is as follows : -
" March Ist, 1762.
" It was put to the Town to see if the Town will build a Powder house. Voted in the affirmative, and then the Town voted to refer the further consideration of said powder house to next May meeting."
At the May meeting it was voted upon, as the following extract from the Record will show: -
"May 18, 1762.
" Voted to have the Powder house builded on a great Rock in Aaron Fuller's land near Charles River. Also The Town made Choice of Capt. Eliphalet Fales, Mr. Daniel Gay, & Mr. Ebenr Kingberry a Committee to Build Said House."
It is evident that this committee took no action in the matter intrusted to them, as in the warrant for the May meeting in 1764 appears the following article : -
"Sixthly, To Know the Mind of the Inhabitants, where the Town's Stock of Powder &c. Shall be lodged."
At the town-meeting it was "Voted to refer the Sixth article in the Warrant respecting the Town's Stock of Powder &c. to next March Meeting."
But it was not until the next May meeting that the town voted on the question, as will be seen by the following record : -
" May 20, 1765.
"The town having at their meeting on the 18th day of May, 1762, voted to build a Powder House on a Great Rock in Aaron Fuller's Land near Charles River and appointed a Committee for that purpose, and said Committee not having complied with the Request of the Town respecting that Business, the Town did at this Meeting Vote to join Two more Persons to said Committee, and did direct them to get Said House erected - To be Eight
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250TH ANNIVERSARY.
Feet Square on the outside and Six Feet high under the Plates, the Materials to be Brick and Lime Mortar. Then Deacon Na- thaniel Kingsbury and Capt. David Fuller were chose for the other Two Committee Men."
But the work proceeded slowly, as the first evidence of any action taken on the part of the committee is found in the following entry in the town books : -
" Nov. 12, 1765.
"To Capt. David Fuller, three pounds four shillings to purchase materials for building a Powder House."
Although the Town Records afford no direct evidence as to the beginning of the erection of the Powder House, the recently discovered diary of Dr. Nathaniel Ames, the younger, contains the following entry, it being the only allusion to the matter which can be found in its ample pages : -
"June 7th 1766. Powder House begun in Dedham."
From this record of Dr. Ames, and the fact that the builders began to receive pay for their work early in 1767, we infer that the building was begun and finished in 1766.
In the town treasurer's books we find the following entries : -
"March 2, 1767.
"To Ebenezer Kingsbury for Timber & Boards & Carting Bricks for the Powder House, f1. 14s. 8d."
" March 20, 1767.
"To Ebenezer Shepard, one pound, Eighteen Shillings & four pence three farthings, for Work done on the Powder House."
" April 6, 1767.
"To Capt. David Fuller, Three pounds, Eight Shillings Eleven Pence & three Farthings in part of acct. for Materials & work for the Powder House and Boarding the Workmen."
*
IS2
THE TOWN OF DEDHAM.
" May 28, 1767.
"To Capt. David Fuller, Two pounds and three pence three farthings in full for Materials and Work for the Powder House & Boarding Workmen."
The last entry concerning the erection and use of the Powder House in the town books is the following : -
" Feb. 26, 1768.
"To Capt. David Fuller, one Shilling and Two Pence half- penny for removing the powder &c. to the Powder House Last Spring."
This order, which was drawn Nov. 16, 1767, taken in connection with the entries before quoted, proves conclu- sively that the Powder House was erected in 1766, and was first used in the spring of 1767.
In these days of costly public and private buildings it is an interesting fact to know that the total expense in- volved in the construction of this historic edifice amounted to £12. 6s. 4d. If., from which it may be safely inferred that neither architect nor contractor had any part in its crection. Only once since its erection has the old house been threatened with destruction. In 1859, the building being sadly out of repair, an attempt was made to secure its removal by the town; but the opposition to this measure was so strong that it resulted in the insertion of the follow- ing articles in the warrant for the April town-meeting : -
" Sth To see if the town will appropriate a sum not exceeding fifty dollars, to repair and preserve the Powder House, on Powder House Rock.
" 9th To see if the town will sell or otherwise dispose of the Powder House, on Powder House Rock."
At this meeting, the town having refused to expend any money in repairs, Article 9 in the warrant was dismissed, with the understanding that the necessary work involved in repairing the house would be done by private subscrip-
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250TH ANNIVERSARY.
tion, which in the course of a few weeks was satisfactorily accomplished.
This picturesque relic of Colonial times, with more than a century of sacred associations clustering thickly about it, and overlooking one of the loveliest of landscapes, is warmly commended to the watchful and fostering care of those who in the years to come shall fill our places and improve upon our work.
ERASTUS WORTHINGTON, HENRY O. HILDRETH, DON GLEASON HILL,
DEDHAM, Sept. 21, 1886. '
Committee.
HISTORIC HOUSES AND PLACES
DESIGNATED BY TEMPORARY INSCRIPTIONS, SEPT. 21, 1886.
THE AVERY OAK.
T HIS ancient white-oak tree is doubtless older than the settlement of the town. It is still a vigorous tree, and it was chosen as an emblem of the age and vigor of the town, to be placed upon its corporate seal. It stands on East Street, in front of the site of the Avery House, one of the oldest houses of the town, which was taken down in 1885. An offer of seventy dollars was made for its timber in building the old frigate "Constitution." This tree was given by Mr. Joseph W. Clark to the Dedham Historical Society, by a deed of conveyance, June 29, 1886, with the purpose and on the condition that it be carefully preserved in the years to come.
THE FAIRBANKS HOUSE.
This picturesque old house with its antique furniture is an object of great interest to its many visitors. The date of its erection is not known from any historic record. For many reasons, however, which might be adduced, it is believed not to have been one of the rude houses of the first settlers; for all these disappeared in the first cen-
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THE TOWN OF DEDHAM.
tury. This house probably was not built earlier than 1664, though it may have been built before Philip's War. The land, however, on which it stands, from the time of its allotment to Jonathan Fairbanks in 1637, has remained in the hands of his descendants. Jonathan Fairbanks the progenitor died Dec. 5, 1668.
Mr. Fairbanks came to Boston in 1633 from Sowerby, in Yorkshire, England. He was admitted and subscribed to the Covenant, March 23, 1637. Through John, Joseph, Ebenezer, Ebenezer 2d, and his three daughters - Prudence, Sally, and Nancy - the house has come into the possession of its present owner and occupant, Miss Rebecca Fair- banks, who is of the seventh generation in direct descent from Jonathan.
The small wing with a gambrel-roof on the side toward East Street was added to the house when Ebenezer Fair- banks, born Jan. 5, 1758, and married March 3, 1777, became of age, or at the time of his marriage. Though additions have from time to time been made to the house, the main structure is perhaps the same that Jonathan Fair- banks, the first of the name in Dedham, built for the use of his family.
HOUSES OF THE MINISTERS OF THE DEDHAM CHURCHES.
Tradition assigns to a spot near the present Orthodox Congregational Church the site of the house of John Allin, the revered first minister of the church; and that Mr. Adams afterwards occupied the same house is a well- known fact. The house built by Rev. Mr. Belcher, the third minister of Dedham, and afterwards occupied suc- cessively by Dexter and Haven, the fourth and fifth ministers, and in which they all died, stood near the site of the church; it was taken down about the time
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250TH ANNIVERSARY.
the new church was built in 1819. It is an interesting fact that we are thus able to identify, with a reasonable degree of certainty, the dwelling-places of the first five ministers of the Dedham Church, covering a period of more than one hundred and sixty years.
THE HOUSE OF TIMOTHY DWIGHT, THE ANCESTOR OF THE DWIGHT FAMILY IN AMERICA.
This house stood on the east side of East Street, a few feet northwest of the northerly abutment of the railroad bridge, on land granted by the proprietors in the first allot- ments made to John Dwight, the father of the first Timothy, who erected the house. Both father and son were for many years prominent in Dedham affairs. Timothy Dwight died in 1718, at the age of eighty-eight.
In 1664 a valuation of the houses in town was recorded, in which the house of Timothy Dwight appeared by far the most valuable in the town at that time. The house was taken down about 1849, when the West Roxbury Branch of the Boston and Providence Railroad was built. It was once owned and occupied as a place of business by Benjamin Bussey.
THE DEXTER HOUSE.
This fine mansion was built about the year 1765 by Samuel Dexter. He was the son of Rev. Samuel Dexter, fourth minister of the Dedham Church, and was born in Dedham in 1726. He entered mercantile life at an early age, and having acquired considerable property came Nov. 4, 1762, to reside in his native town, where for many years he exercised great influence, and held many impor- tant offices in the church and the town. Mr. Dexter was a representative in the General Court for several years,
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THE TOWN OF DEDHAM.
was five years a delegate to the Provincial Congress, was a member of the Supreme Executive Council of the State, and was active in directing military operations at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. He was deeply in- terested in the cause of education, and was a frequent benefactor of the schools of Dedham, and in recognition of the service which he had rendered, his name was given to the school at the Upper Village. On the death of his wife in 1784 he removed to Mendon, where he died June 10, 1810, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. In his will he bequeathed five thousand dollars to found the Dexter Professorship in Harvard College.
Mr. Dexter was the father of Samuel Dexter, the third of the name, and the distinguished lawyer and statesman, who was born during his father's residence in Boston, but who came to Dedham when but a year old, where he remained during his boyhood and until his entrance to Harvard Col- lege in 1777, from which institution he was graduated in 1781. Until his sudden death in 1816 he was one of the most distinguished men in public life, having been a Sena- tor and Representative in Congress, Secretary of War and Secretary of the Treasury during the administration of the elder Adams.
After the removal of Samuel Dexter, 2d, from Dedham in 1784, the house was successively occupied by Dr. John Sprague, Samuel Swett, and others, and for several years past has been owned and occupied by the family of the late Dr. Ebenezer G. Burgess.
HOUSE OF DR. NATHANIEL AMES.
This house was built in 1772 by Dr. Nathaniel Ames, 2d, and was occupied by him until his death, July 21, 1822, at the age of eighty-one years. It is now owned and occu- pied by Dr. J. P. Maynard. Dr. Ames was the elder
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250TH ANNIVERSARY.
brother of Fisher Ames, of whom he was in politics a vio- lent opponent. He was first clerk of the courts of Nor- folk County, and a physician in large practice. Dr. Ames was a son of Dr. Nathaniel Ames, known as the almanac maker, who removed from Bridgewater to Dedham in 1732, and published almanacs from 1726 to 1765. His son, Dr. Nathaniel Ames, 2d, continued the same some ten years afterward. He was a brother of Fisher Ames, and brother- in-law of Jeremiah Shuttleworth, the first postmaster, hav- ing married Meletiah Shuttleworth. By his will his estate passed to his niece, Hannah Shuttleworth, and by her will many interesting documents pass to the Dedham Histori- cal Society, including a diary kept by Dr. Ames from the time he was in college, 1758, to the time of his death in 1822.
HOUSE OF FISHER AMES.
This house, now owned by Mr. F. J. Stimson, has been so enlarged and reconstructed that it bears no resemblance to the mansion completed by Fisher Ames in 1795. Still, the frame of that house is in the main portion of the pres- ent structure, and the form of the drawing-rooms remains. The Ames mansion was a square house, having a hip roof with a balustrade. It had capacious outbuildings, and a carriage-house with a high-arched doorway. Here Fisher Ames lived until his death, July 4, 1808. His widow and family continued to live in it for many years; but after the death of John Worthington Ames, the eldest son, in 1833, several of the children having died previously, Mrs. Ames went to reside with her son, the late Judge Seth Ames, then a practising lawyer in Lowell. The house was afterward owned and occupied for a short time by Gen. William Gibbs McNeill, who was the chief engineer in the construction of the Boston and Providence Railroad.
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THE TOWN OF DEDHAM.
It was next owned and occupied by Elisha Turner, but after his death it was sold to John Gardner, who occupied it for many years, and in his hands the estate under- went many changes, the houses on both sides having been built by him. Finally, in 1868 it came into the hands of Edward Stimson, who so remodelled, enlarged, and enriched the house by costly improvements as completely to transform its appearance.
THE HAVEN HOUSE.
Samuel Haven, who in 1795 built the stately mansion now owned by Mr. John R. Bullard, was born in Dedham, April 3, 1771. He was the son of Rev. Jason and Cath- erine Haven, was graduated at Harvard College in 1789, and studied law with Fisher Ames, of Dedham, and with his cousin, Samuel Dexter, in Boston. On the formation of Norfolk County in 1793, he was appointed Register of Probate. In 1802 he was commissioned as a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and in 1804 was appointed Chief Justice, which office he held until 1811, when the court was abolished. Mr. Haven continued in the office of Register of Probate until 1833, a period of forty years, but retired almost wholly from legal practice when he resigned, and not long after removed to Roxbury, where he continued to reside with his daughter until his death, which occurred Sept. 4, 1847, at the age of seventy-six years. Judge Haven's intellectual tastes were for theology rather than law ; but the chief occupations of practical interest to him were horticulture and architecture. He spent much time and money in the construction of his house, and the laying out and embellishment of the grounds, making it one of the most beautiful estates in Norfolk County. The vener- able and beautiful English elms standing in front of the house were set out by Judge Haven in 1789, the year in
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250TH ANNIVERSARY.
which he was graduated from college. In 1844 he sold the house to the late Freeman Fisher, who occupied it until 1854, when it passed into the possession of the late John Bullard, and thence into the hands of the present owner, who has done much still further to beautify and adorn it.
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