USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Nahant > Some annals of Nahant, Massachusetts > Part 27
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But Dexter No. 1, with "Father" Kemp at the end of the hose, was already on the scene. Kemp had manfully fought his way up the stairs of the old Hervey Johnson house and extinguished the small flickering line of fire which extended along the roof. How it caught no one knows. Some said sparks from the chimney were responsible, but as there was no fire in the stove, this seems im- probable. Some said firecrackers, but no boy would choose the sloping roof of a two-story house as a place upon which to explode firecrackers; so how the fire started remains a mystery.
But when Willie Waters and his barge, and the Russian officers and band with the Russian lieutenant well in the lead, and the citi- zens of "Cold Roast Boston" in the rear, reached the scene of action, a great time began. All hands fell upon the house in a body, and rushed upstairs in a solid wedge, carrying all before them, and the old house which Hervey Johnson's great-great-great-grand- father built two hundred years or so ago had the honor of having an officer from the Russian fleet fighting his way up the stairs side by side with little "Buster" Taylor.
The fire department acted with marked energy. It not only put out the fire, but it deluged the whole house and broke many of the windows. After the fire was apparently extinguished Herbert Foster Otis, who is a prominent member of the department and a special policeman of the town of Nahant, appeared astride a ridgepole with an axe, and began to chop a hole in the roof till he was re- quested to let the old house stand, and threatened with having the hose turned on him if he did not; so he desisted.
Then the hose carriage arrived, and the crowd pulled out the hose and attached it to the engine, not that there was any use for it, but they wanted to do something. After the whole thing was over, and the engine and the hook and ladder truck and the Rus- sians had gone, the police of Nahant arrived at breakneck speed in an express wagon.
CHAPTER XXI THE SEVENTIES AND EIGHTIES
THE second fifteen years of Nahant's life as a separate town is a record of further development as a summer resort, of natural increases in municipal improvements, and of the usual political struggles through which any town passes. The period opens with the sons and grandsons of Joseph and Caleb Johnson holding most of the town offices. There were twenty-three children in these two families and many more grandchildren. Of course, many of them moved away from Nahant. In 1868, of the three selectmen, three school committee, town clerk, town treasurer, highway surveyor and two auditors, eleven in all, nine were Johnsons; and a likewise large majority of town offices were held by them for many years. They were a capable group of year-round residents and naturally could hold their own. But in those days the annual town report was only a list of expenditures, except for the school committee report. Other town departments were not required to make reports and explain their actions. Appropriations were asked for in town meeting with only the hasty explanation and consideration possible during the session. Expenses mounted, as was to be expected, but some of them caused comment. The salary list was moderate enough until the selectmen's salary account jumped in five years from under $400 to over $2,200. There was also the usual unreasonable grumbling that the John- sons were running things as they liked, and there are always the disgruntled who seize a pretext for complaint. All these things culminated in an auditor's report in the town report for 1876, where comes the first intimation of desire for changed methods. The auditing committee for that year ventured to make some "suggestions, which, if adopted, they think will aid the people in a more intelligent comprehension of their
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municipal affairs." They proceeded to urge annual reports for all departments, with explanations about their work and needs. The proposal was partly followed, for the first time, in the annual town report of 1877. The two boards of auditors for these two years contained three men for the first time. Before that two men were chosen. For 1876 the Board was Alfred D. Johnson, Frederic Tudor and H. C. Lodge, and here appears Senator Lodge's name for the first time as a Nahant town official. This Tudor is, of course, the son of Frederic Tudor who did so much for Nahant. In this latter report reference is made to the "lack of method in making appro- priations" and the "inexpediency of making appropriations in town meeting without any previous estimates to judge by." During the two years previous this difficulty was obviated by making small "carry on" appropriations in March, and referring the estimates of appropriations to a committee who reported at a later meeting. The auditors said "the method appears to us clumsy and ineffective," necessitating a second town meeting and leading to confusion and loss of time. Here is apparent the lack of information in town meeting and the efforts to remedy the fault, and it leads up, as years go on, directly to the present-day advisory committee, which exercises exactly the functions found wanting and needed fifty years ago. That Board of Auditors submitted a list of appropriations, and considered them and recommended them to the town in town meeting, and in print in the town report, so that all voters had the suggestion of an independent group to assist them. There can be no question of the need for information. The town departments all have wants, and for them to come into town meeting and ask for money, with only the hasty explanations then possible, means only confusion or political voting, with- out the balanced consideration necessary for intelligent voting. The budget as a whole gets no thought under such methods. Hence the efforts to improve the system, as evidenced so early in the town's history, and as now culminated in the advisory committee, established in 1922, which is the successor to the warrant committee, established several years earlier.
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This group is of non-office holders and therefore is as free from bias and as independent of political influence as seems to be possible. Representatives from all parts of the town are on it. Originally it was instructed to advise the town in writing on all warrant articles requiring appropriations, but in the new by-laws adopted in 1922 the committee can express its opinion upon any matter before the town, and can make suggestions.
The first of these two Boards of Auditors mentioned was Alfred D. Johnson, Edwin W. Johnson and Joseph T. Wilson. Edwin Johnson is mentioned elsewhere, and was until his death a close friend of Joseph T. Wilson, with whom he served in town office for many years. Joseph T. Wilson came to Nahant in March, 1868, to work for the Tudors, and because of his exceptional service in Nahant town offices needs correspondingly exceptional mention. He was born in Kittery, Maine, in 1836, and at the age of nine lost his father and was at once obliged to go to work. There was no com- pulsory schooling in those days, and Wilson was "bound out" to a farmer. Later he went on various fishing vessels, and this was also hard work, so that his entire boyhood was a part of many years' struggle for a footing in life. As he grew up he was of large stature and great strength, the strong man of the town, until finally he injured himself, and for several years, in the 60's was somewhat out of condition. In his teens he learned the cabinet maker's trade, working in Beverly and Boston, and finally returning to Kittery, where he set up in business as a building contractor. During this period he had studied by himself as well as he could, and finally taught school several seasons. School was then open only in the winters and did not interfere with the other occu- pations by which he was struggling upward. Then, with a foothold, came the Civil War, in which he could not partici- pate, and its resulting rapid rise in prices brought him face to face with ruin. Fending off, he left Kittery and landed in Nahant because of the job with the Tudors that he found there. But before the end of 1868 he again started building,
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and in succeeding years did a majority of the building on Nahant and a larger amount out of town. In 1869 Wilson fell from the Schlesinger House on Prospect Street and was picked up not expected to live, and with his chest crushed. His great constitution saved him, but while he was in the midst of this trouble the heavy September gale of 1869 blew down the Schlesinger House, which he was then building. If struggle builds character, as surely it does, here was struggle. From nine to thirty-three years of age knowing only work, whatever work he could get, - farmer's boy, fisherman, plow- man, haymaker, cabinet maker, school teacher, - and fitting one job into another in a strenuous effort to win. Then came rebuffs, even when a step upward was reached, throwing him down so that only his sturdy spirit was left, and he might have repeated the Henley line, had it been written, "My head is bloody but unbowed." But in these uncommonly difficult years he had met men and experiences which gave him character, and on Nahant he made some fast friends almost at once, among them E. Francis Parker, Amos A. Lawrence and Dr. J. Nelson Borland. In 1870 he was elected to the school committee and served until 1897, and was chair- man for most of the time. In 1871 he was elected to the library committee, later becoming library trustee, and served until 1897. In 1876 he was elected selectman, serving until 1906, and was chairman for twenty-eight years. He was appointed trial justice in 1876, and held that position until his death in 1914 in his seventy-ninth year. He was moder- ator at sixty-eight town meetings. This means that he was elected by the people of Nahant for well over a hundred times to various town offices, and his retirement in every instance was voluntary and due to advancing years. The quarter century ending in 1900 saw this one man with very excep- tional authority in the town of Nahant, and standing like a rock in his position, but, after all, only holding his place because the people voted for him and had confidence in him. In 1915 a bronze tablet was erected to his memory in the Town Hall, which, after recounting his various services, con-
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tains these lines by Senator Lodge: "An able, upright and fearless public servant. A high-minded, public-spirited citi- zen." Then follows this quotation:
A friend to truth, of soul sincere, In action faithful and in honor clear, Who broke no promise, served no private end; Who gained no title and who lost no friend.
The summer residents of Nahant supported Wilson in his early undertakings in town. Soon came trouble over the purchase of the gravel pit lot, near where the J. T. Wilson schoolhouse now stands, at the corner of Nahant Road and High Street. The town records for two or three years carry votes of appointment and discharge of committees of inves- tigation, and at one time two or three committees were at work on the question, if ill had been done for the town or if it were only a case of indiscretion leading to suspicion. There is an old adage, "Do not stoop to tie your shoes in your neighbor's melon patch," which should have applied. This gravel pit was described as containing a "sufficient amount of gravel for all coming time." Two of the selectmen had bought this lot from previous owners, claiming they were serving the town's interests because it would have been sold for other uses or beyond the town's recovery. During one of the fiery meetings over the question, the crew of the "Lizzie Phillips," a fishing schooner owned by the Gove family, poured into the town meeting in sea boots and oilskins, just off the vessel, and their timely arrival turned one vote on the subject upside down. During the stir over this purchase the town voted to increase the Board of Selectmen to five mem- bers, and the two added in 1876 were Edwin W. Johnson and Joseph T. Wilson. In 1877 Washington H. Johnson went off the Board and William Luscomb was elected in his place. This terminated twenty-three years of service, and a unanimous vote of thanks was given to the retiring officer for his long term as chairman of the selectmen and assessors. The March meeting of 1876 was the first one at which Wilson
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was moderator, continuing in this position for all but three or four meetings, when he was not present, until 1908, when Senator Lodge began to serve when Wilson was absent. After the first few years Wilson was always re-elected by large majorities, despite the fact that he never catered for votes either with patronage or other political favors. Soon after he came to Nahant he was joined by other members of the family, including Captain Albert Wilson, who died in 1896 and whom many will remember. He was a retired sea captain and held a commission in the United States Navy during the Civil War. With him came his family, which included Albert G. and Frank H. Wilson. All of these were with Joseph T. Wilson in his business. These were distant cousins of J. T. Wilson, but became more nearly related by his marriage with Sophila A. Wilson, a daughter of Captain Albert Wilson. Another daughter, Ellen M. Wilson, married J. Colby Wilson, a brother of J. T. Wilson, and it was Colby, as he was familiarly called, who knew everybody in town and was popular with all. He went on the Board of Select- men in 1882 and retired in 1906 with his brother. He died in 1917 at the age of seventy-four.
A few notes from the town records for this period are in- teresting. In 1869 it was voted to "restrain neat cattle" from running at large. Before that cattle were driven west- erly beyond Summer Street to what was called the Great Pasture, and allowed to wander at will. By that year there were several residents in the westerly part of great Nahant who objected. There was much discussion, as the "down towners," who had always done this, did not care to lose the privilege. In 1871 it was found necessary to pass another vote "to enforce the state law against cattle running at large." In 1871 came the appropriation of $8,000 for edge- stones and concrete sidewalks, with Welcome W. Johnson, George U. Perkins and Henry T. Dunham a committee to expend it. HereIwas]the first extensive installation of the sidewalks now so familiar in town. E. J. Johnson in his his- tory of the 80's, bewails this innovation, saying "so that at
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the present time these long, black, cheerless walks extend through nearly every street and lane throughout the town. Perhaps in the future the footpaths and green grass may be restored, for then there was beauty and life, even to the grasshopper that flew away under our feet." But the grass- hopper may be a burden, as even the Bible reminds us, and sidewalks seem to be an accepted feature of town life everywhere.
In 1872 the town appropriated $500 for a flagpole at the "head of Cliff Street," and old Nahanters remember this tall pole in the little plot, now planted, where Cliff Street meets Nahant Road. Apparently it replaced the old staff erected at the beginning of the Civil War, and it was itself removed in 1882, when it became unsafe. This same year there was an appropriation of $4,000 for a public bathing place at the southwest end of Summer Street, but it was reconsidered and left with the selectmen with full powers. The plan was dropped, although some agitation over it continued for a time. This year also saw the purchase of a gun which was given in charge of the engine company. This appears to have been located on Cannon Hill, above High Street, but the name of the hill seems to antedate this purchase. What finally became of it is the subject of several stories. It was used for Independence Day celebrations well into the memory of Nahanters not very old. Some say it was thrown overboard by some people who were annoyed by it when boys had carried it "down town," and some say it was lost overboard from a boat to which it had been "toted" for the celebration. Others remember it as stored in the old town barn on Spring Road. In 1873 the town bought the road roller that many people remember slowly operating under the power of a pair of horses. This year saw the beginning of a squabble over the road by Bass Beach and Castle Rock. A motion to spend town money to preserve the shore east of this road was not accepted, and in 1875 it was voted to discontinue a "part of Washington Street" against the estate of James H. Beal. In 1874 the town voted to pay Julius A. Palmer, Jr., $5,000 for
B. Frank ("Tony") Taylor and Capt. William H. ("Cap'n Bill") Kemp Tudor Wharf in background, Nahant Dory Clubhouse at left. From a cartoon by J. Harleston Parker
President Roosevelt introduced by Joseph T. Wilson At Chairman Wilson's left, G. A. Gove, C. D. Vary, H. C. Wilson, J. C. Wilson. At President Roosevelt's right, W. J. Johnson, R. L. Cochran
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rights at Bass Beach. Palmer had built a house on the steep bank near where the steps now go down to the beach, and this was the only building on the water side of the road from Bass Beach to East Point, excepting a small building used for a blacksmith shop and burned prior to 1860, nearly costing the lives of two men then living in it. This was across the road from the Samuel Hammond place. The Palmer house was bought by George W. Simmons and moved up to Pond Street, where in a much altered condition it is the home of James C. Shaughnessy. Palmer was a character in town meeting because a witty and forceful speaker. He was the writer of "Julie and I" letters which many will remember in the "Boston Transcript." Later he left Nahant and passed out of its history.
This period of the 70's was perhaps the time of most talk about tax dodgers from Boston. The Nahant tax rate was low and Boston authorities were sometimes alert. The alle- gation was wrongly applied to most of the summer residents, for they and their fathers before them were such long-time Nahanters that their intentions were obviously not the dodging of taxes. A good story comes from one instance, however. A wealthy Boston man hired the house owned by Washington H. Johnson, chairman of the selectmen and assessors, - the house on Nahant Road now owned by J. C. Shaughnessy. Boston sued this man for taxes, and in court tried to prove collusion between Johnson and his tenant, whereby if the latter hired Johnson's house his assessments would be light. It seems to have been only the sort of lawyer's littleness which is too often seen. Johnson on the witness stand was asked how much of a house it was that he had let for $1,500, and not seeing the drift of the question he replied lightly, "Oh, it is a little more than a cottage." In his summing up the lawyer for Boston bore heavily on the fact that the chairman of the Nahant assessors had admitted that the house he let for $1,500 was only a little more than a cottage. Therefore the implication that a low assessment was a part of the bargain for the house.
In 1874 Henry W. Longfellow, Alfred D. Johnson and
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Joseph T. Wilson were chosen a committee to name the streets of the town, with one name on each cross street from shore to shore. This same meeting voted $30,000 to build a school- house and buy a lot, and it was voted to buy the lot at the corner of Washington Street and Maolis Road. Few could say today where this is, but Washington Street is now Nahant Road and Maolis Road is Ocean Street from Nahant Road northeasterly. At the same time, $12,000 was appropriated for a fire engine house. Neither of these buildings was erected under these votes. The question of annexation to Lynn had arisen, and this same meeting voted that the committee of the Legislature considering an act allowing this be informed that the town of Nahant was against it. Rising valuations had made the town look more attractive to Lynn than when the city avoided all responsibility for the beach road by placing the town line as far against the mainland as it could go. In 1876 it was voted that each town department make a detailed annual report according to the recommendation of the auditors. The previous committee on naming streets appears not to have proceeded far, for in 1879 another committee was chosen con- sisting of the selectmen, George A. James, Alfred D. Johnson and William Tudor. The latter was a son of Frederic Tudor, Sr. This committee reported in the same year, and the report was accepted, giving street names as they are used today. The town report for 1886 lists the streets of Nahant, giving a brief location of each. It is interesting as showing what they were at that date, and is as follows, except that the locations are not given, as they remain the same today: Nahant Road, and by this time there is no question about its running between Castle Rock and the adjoining estates; Castle Road, Willow Road, Spring Road, Marginal Road, Valley Road, Flash Road, Swallows Cave Road and Bass Point Road. The roads are mostly lengthwise of the town and the streets crosswise, as follows: Cliff, Vernon, Wharf, Pleasant, Summer, Winter, Ocean, Pond, High, Prospect and Emerald. The latest of these was Wharf Street, which was intended to run on the range line which would have placed it as a continuation of
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Pleasant Street. In 1884 it was changed to curve around the Abbott Lawrence estate and built as it now runs. Emerald Street was laid out in 1881, but not all built at one time; from Pond Street to Ocean Street it was constructed several years later.
Closing this period under consideration came the discussion of sewers and water supply. The water supply was chiefly from wells, though many houses had tight cisterns catching rain water from the roofs because it was softer for laundry purposes. The few bathrooms were supplied from a large tank in the attic, and this was kept filled by hand pumps. Most year-round houses had only the kitchen sink with a pump over it, and nearly every house had its cesspool and outdoor privy. This method of drainage is not inherently bad, indeed most country towns use it today, but Nahant is ledgy, and it was impossible to know just what underground slopes and pitches were doing to the water supply. When trouble came, perhaps brought in from out of town, one well, for example, near where the post office block now stands, was found badly contaminated. It was so serious that strong chemicals applied to disinfect the drainage gave the water a flavor in a half hour. This well was used by the neighbor- hood because of its fine water, and children on their way to school drank freely of it. In 1881 a committee consisting of E. W. Codman, Walter Johnson and E. Francis Parker was chosen to investigate the sewage and drainage of the town. Later the same year it was voted to hire experts, to buy special apparatus for cleaning and disinfecting, to instruct the Board of Health to take extreme measures to protect the water against the drainage and to close all wells condemned by the experts. Dr. Thomas Dwight and Dr. Edward P. Rey- nolds had the water analyzed, and Ernest W. Bowditch was called into conference as a sanitary engineer. The outbreak of typhoid fever had come and there were forty-eight cases between July and October. The possibility foreseen by the town in its appointment of a committee at the spring meeting developed into an actual condition, and of course was full of
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harm to a place famous as a healthy summer resort. High- speed measures were adopted, however, and a report was given to all citizens just prior to a special town meeting in February, 1882. At this meeting it was proposed to expend $40,000 for a sewerage system, and the unprecedented sum shocked nearly every one. E. F. Parker, of the committee of inves- tigation, said in his bluff manner, which those who knew him will appreciate, "Wilson, you will ruin us, but I'm going to vote for it." The motion to spend this "enormous" sum was made by H. C. Lodge and carried by a large majority.
The work of insuring the town against further trouble, and of assuring people that nothing of the sort was likely to repeat its unwelcome visit, had to go farther. There always would be some ground drainage in places hard to reach by a sewerage system, and the selectmen promptly went to work on the water question. There were many springs in town, and most wells gave un unfailing supply. For years the town maintained large tanks on Flash Road near Spring Road, near or westerly from the Flynn house at Mitchell's Corner. These were used for street watering, and were set up on posts so that the watering carts could drive under and fill quickly, while two or three men operated hand pumps that supplied these tanks. The outfit was in charge of the highway department which operated three or four of these carts, all painted a light blue, and used until other methods kept down dust or made dustless roads. This water came chiefly from the ditches in the Great Marsh, but partly from springs. The town authorities pros- pected for a water supply, driving wells in likely places. The possible supply from these was estimated and found to be inadequate, but the town went on, and in December, 1883, authorized the selectmen to obtain estimates of the cost of piping the town for water according to plans made by E. W. Bowditch, who had so capably done the engineering work for the sewerage system. In February, 1884, $20,000 was appropriated for water piping to be installed under the direction of a committee consisting of H. C. Lodge, E. F. Parker and J. T. Wilson.
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