USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Somerville, past and present : an illustrated historical souvenir commemorative of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of the city government of Somerville, Massachusetts > Part 25
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Among women of note were Mrs. Sarah Munro, prominent in all good works, Mrs. Columbus Tyler, the Mary who " had a little lamb," a mother in Israel. Mrs. Maria Theresa Hollander, a lady of extraordinary executive ability and progressive thought, and Mrs. C. A. Skinner, remarkable for the vigor of her mind, her devout faith, and her efforts for the cause of woman at Tufts College. Mrs. E. M. Everett, too early called away, was a valuable officer of the W. C. T. U., and also a superior worker in the religious train- ing of the young. Many fine school-teachers have retired here from their labors, whose names we would be glad to mention if our space permitted. Several persons of eminence have lived here for short intervals: D. A. Wasson, philosopher and poet, G. Stanley Hall, educator, and others ; but we have already exceeded our limits, and must leave the past of Somerville, with good hopes for its future. There are doubtless many esteemed families of the old days which I have not mentioned, for the reason that in conse- quence of the people of the town being scattered they did not come under my observation, but these deficiencies will, I trust, be made up by other con- tributors to this volume.
HOME CIRCLE.
BY GEORGE I. VINCENT.
WASHINGTON COUNCIL, No. 9.
OF the four councils of the Home Circle in Somerville, Washington No. 9 is the oldest. It was instituted in Pythian Hall, Union square, on the evening of February 21, 1880, by the supreme leader, Henry Damon, and had thirty-two charter members. Stillman H. Libby was the first leader, and under his administration the council was auspiciously established, and it has continued prosperous to the present time.
The Home Circle, as is well known, is a fraternal beneficiary order, and while its beneficial feature is the more prominent, yet the spirit of fraternity and good-fellowship is active among its members, and a fruitful source of pleasure and profit. The manifestation of this fraternal spirit is not limited, by Washington Council, within its own membership or the membership of the order, but is extended in works of charity as opportunity offers.
The ladies of the council have organized a sewing circle, which meets at the homes of its members, the gentlemen being entertained at supper and by games of cards in the evening. Many of the products of this society are supplied to families in need, while others are disposed of by sale, and the proceeds applied as the society may deem advisable; the Somerville Hospital and the Day Nursery being among those that have been remem- bered.
The council participated in both of the hospital fairs, the receipts from the tables being augmented by donation from the council funds.
Sociability has been promoted by excursions, and by card-parties and entertainments in connection with the meetings of the council. A very suc- cessful series of dancing parties, extending through several winters, has also been conducted. While the object of these parties has been simply to provide a pleasant evening for the members of the council, their children and friends, yet the financial result has been the accumulation of a sub- stantial sum, which has been invested by the trustees. It may also be said, in passing, that the council is in easy financial circumstances.
Washington Council has lost, by death, five of its members, the benefi- ciaries of whom were promptly paid the full amounts of their benefit certi- ficates, which ranged from one thousand to five thousand dollars.
The council has continued as tenants of the Knights of Pythias since its institution ; but in the fall of 1895 the hall which that order had oc- cupied in Union square was taken for business purposes, and the old Odd Fellows Hall, at No. 45 Union square, over Hotel Warren, was leased by the Knights, and became Pythian Hall ; Washington Council meeting there- in for the first time December 12, 1895. The apartments are among the most spacious and convenient society rooms to be found in the State.
The meetings of the council are held on the second and fourth Thurs-
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SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
(lay evenings of every month at eight o'clock, and all members of the order are welcome.
It is hardly necessary to present the merits of fraternal beneficiary orders. It is well known that they place within the reach of all a moderate amount of life insurance at cost ; enabling people of limited income to make provision for dependent relatives. The Home Circle is among the younger of these orders, but it ranks with the best, is progressive, and pays all obliga- tions promptly.
HARMONY COUNCIL, No. 43.
Wednesday evening, March 8, 1882, thirty-four ladies and gentlemen of Winter Hill, having petitioned the supreme council of the Home Circle for a charter, met at Fraternity Hall, and organized a council of the Home Circle, the supreme leader, Julius M. Swain, now supreme secretary of the order, occupying the chair. Messrs. B. P. Lovejoy, Edwin Taylor and J. F. Kennard presented the name of Harmony Council, No. 43, which was accepted.
The following officers were elected and installed : leader, B. P. Love- joy ; vice-leader, Mrs. M. A. Kennard ; instructor, Mrs. A. S. Farrar ; past leader, Fred P. Orcutt ; secretary, C. H. Colgate ; financier, C. W. Gulliver ; treasurer, J. F. Kennard ; guide, S. M. Craig ; warden, Mrs. E. S. Lovejoy ; sentinel, C. E. Simpson ; trustees, F. L. Walker, Edwin Taylor, A. P. Griffin.
Harmony Council has met now for several years, on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month, in the beautiful lodge-rooms of Odd Fel- lows Hall. The council is in a prosperous condition, with 113 members and reserve funds in the bank. It has paid out in death benefits over thirty thousand dollars.
The officers in charge for 1896 are as follows : leader, Mrs. Annie L. Elliott ; vice-leader, Mrs. Amelia A. Davis ; instructor, Mrs. M. Ella Durell ; past leader, Mrs. John L. Potter ; secretary, Miss Abbie F. Gage ; financier, Mrs. Mary R. Hamlet ; treasurer, D. Edward Mansfield ; guide, Ernest S. Firth ; warden, Mrs. Emma G. Smith; sentinel, John L. Potter ; trustees, J. A. Durell, E. G. Davis, J. F. Kennard.
SOMERVILLE COUNCIL, No. 103.
This council was instituted July 7, 1886, at the residence of Hon. J. Haskell Butler, on Pearl street. Thirty-three members were present, and they organized by electing Herbert E. Merrill, leader ; and Dr. Sanford Hanscom, past leader.
Quarters were secured in Arcanum Hall, on the corner of Broadway and Franklin street, and its meetings are still held there. It has been very successful, both as regards increase in membership, which has reached 226 and is the largest of any council in the order in this State, and in fraternal feeling, no differences of any nature having arisen among its members.
The leaders have been as follows : H. E. Merrill, Mrs. Mary E. Dustin, Mrs. Martha B. Clark, J. Foster Clark, A. H. Libby, C. P. Battelle, E. W. Southworth, C. L. Underhill, and Mrs. B. P. Liscomb, the present leader.
LOYAL ORANGE INSTITUTION. BY F. O. J. TARBOX, W. M.
MT. HOREB LODGE, No. 19.
THIS lodge was founded in Cambridgeport, April 10, 1871, with a mem- bership composed chiefly of residents of Arlington and Somerville. It was located in Cambridge, with the expectation that a large membership would soon be obtained in that city, but the anticipations were not realized, and the lodge struggled on until November 21, 1874, when it was removed to Arlington. It remained in that town nearly thirteen years, when it was moved to Somerville, and located in Templar Hall, on Summer street. On November 30, 1891, it changed its quarters to Pythian Hall, Union square, and when that hall was transferred to Hotel Warren, the lodge was again moved to Pythian Hall, where it is now located.
Thomas Pratt of Arlington was the first W. M., and following him have been eighteen others in the same office, among whom were a number of our prominent citizens.
Mt. Horeb is the parent of three other lodges, and it still holds a large and increasing membership; in fact, the increase during the past year has been phenomenal, and the indications are that there will be but slight cessa- tion for admission for some time to come. Every person to be eligible to membership in the Orange Institution of the United States must be a firm believer in the Holy Bible and an American citizen, and those who have been members are expected to always recognize that bond of universal brotherhood and the tenets of the order : Justice, truth and righteousness to all God's creatures, to help the weak and infirm, to care for the sick and dying, and to maintain the liberties of the people and the freedom of our institutions even unto death.
Mt. Horeb Lodge meets on the first and third Wednesday evenings of each month. Its officers for the current year are : F. O. J. Tarbox, W. M .; C. D. Lowery, D. M. ; Rev. Wm. H. Lannin, chaplain ; Samuel D. Bond, D. of C. ; Wm. Taylor, recording secretary ; Thomas Henderson, financial secretary ; Samuel L. Morrison, treasurer ; Herbert Bennett, in-tiler ; Wm. Hamilton, out-tiler.
There are many other associations and clubs in Somerville in addition to those already treated of, the most important of which are the Wonoha- quaham Tribe No. 69, I. O. of Red Men, Knights of Columbus, several lodges of Knights of Honor, lodges of N. E. Order of Protection, Order of the Eastern Star, several temperance organizations, United Order of Pilgrim Fathers, etc., and it is much to be regretted that their histories have not been received for publication in this work.
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BANKS OF SOMERVILLE.
BY J. O. HAYDEN.
CHAPTER XXV.
THE banks of Somerville are a source of pride to her citizens. They are all young institutions it is true, but they rank with the best in the State and enjoy a first-class reputation for shrewd management and careful in- vestments.
For several years the savings bank and two co-operative banks supplied the wants of the community to a certain extent, but from time to time the advisability of organizing a national bank was discussed.
With few manufacturing establishments located within her borders, and surrounded by cities having old and prosperous national banks, it was thought that a similar institution in this city would have a precarious exist- ence at the best, but a spirit of enterprise finally prevailed, and in August, 1892, the Somerville National Bank opened its doors.
Its usefulness was demonstrated in a very few weeks, and by conserva- tive management it has made for itself a good record.
It started with a capital of $100,000, and after the first year paid to its stockholders 6 per cent per annum on their investment, and has accumu- lated a surplus fund, which at the present time amounts to $16,000.
Mr. Quincy A. Vinal was the first president, and it was largely owing to his able efforts in conducting the bank affairs, and to his marked business qualifications, that the institution gained a firm footing early in its career. Mr. Vinal retired in January, 1894.
The management of the bank is now in the hands of the following gen- tlemen : J. O. Hayden, president ; John A. Gale, vice-president; James F. Beard, cashier ; Allen F. Carpenter, Simon Connor, A. Marcellus Kidder, James F. Hathaway, David D. Lord, Walter C. Mentzer, Frederick W. Parker, Albion A. Perry, George O. Proctor, Nathan H. Read, Frederic W. Stone, J. Frank Wellington, L. Roger Wentworth, directors.
The banking rooms are centrally located at No. 58 Union square, Stone building.
The Somerville Savings Bank was incorporated February 24, 1885, and opened for business on the 15th of April the same year. Its first president was Oren S. Knapp, Esq., who held the office until his death in November, 1890, and gave much of his time to a watchful care of its interests. He was succeeded by Albion A. Perry, who has since held the position, ably admin- istering the trust confided in him.
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PHILIP EBERLE.
SILAS HARVEY HOLLAND.
J. WARREN BAILEY.
OLIVER H. PERRY.
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SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
The bank has enjoyed continuous prosperity and a constant growth of business. Two weeks after the organization of the bank the total assets amounted to $6,259.25. A year later they amounted to $38,974.48. At the present time they amount to $611,000. The present number of depositors is 3200.
The management of the bank is vested in a board of trustees composed as follows : president, Albion A. Perry ; vice-presidents, Silas H. Holland, J. Walter Sanborn ; clerk and treasurer, Frederic W. Stone; George L. Baxter, Charles A. Cushman, Philip Eberle, Horace P. Makechnie, J. Wal- ter Sanborn, Josiah Q. Bennett, S. Newton Cutler, J. O. Hayden, Marshall H. Locke, William Veazie.
The banking rooms are at No. 57 Union square, Stone building.
The Somerville Co-operative Bank was chartered May 4, 1880, and is to-day one of the foremost institutions of its kind in the State. The last re- port of its affairs to the Savings Bank Commissioners showed the assets to be $565,263.55. Thirty-three series of shares have been issued, and the earnings have averaged 6 per cent. The number of shareholders, October 19, 1896, was 1,318.
The officers of the bank are as follows : president, J. Frank Wellington ; vice-president, George W. Snow; secretary and treasurer, Franklin J. Hamblin ; directors, Marshall H. Locke, Benjamin F. Thompson, James F. Beard, Charles S. Butters, Charles Mills, Cutler C. Crowell, Fred C. Ayer, Nathan H. Reed, Ezra D. Souther, Samuel T. Richards, George A. Kim- ball, Herbert W. Raymond, Miah G. Kenny, William S. Miller, Belvin T. Williston ; auditors, Horace M. Parsons, Howard B. Chase, Otis H. Cur- rier ; attorney, Herbert A. Chapin.
The banking rooms are at 59 Union square, Stone building.
The West Somerville Co-operative Bank was chartered November 29, 1890, and during the six years it has been in operation it has accumulated assets of $157,450, and has never paid less than 6 per cent dividend to its shareholders. Thirteen series of shares have been issued. The officers of the bank are as follows : president, J. Warren Bailey ; vice-president, W. C. Mentzer ; secretary and treasurer, O. H. Perry ; directors, A. J. Stevens, F. F. Stockwell, L. E. Merry, F. F. Phillips, C. L. Stevens, C. A. G. Win- ther, S. F. Woodbridge, W. A. Muzzey, D. E. Robbins, J. F. Terry, E. D. Lacount, W. A. Snow, E. S. Sparrow, R. S. Wright, G. W. Bryant ; attor- ney, D. C. Delano.
The banking rooms are at 3 Studio building, Davis square, West Som- erville.
INDUSTRIES OF SOMERVILLE.
CHAPTER XXVI.
SOMERVILLE is pre-eminently a residential city. Its near proximity to Boston, its unrivalled means of access by steam railroads and electric lines of street railway, its charming diversity of beautiful hills and rolling plateaus, and its generally good sanitary conditions have rendered it a favorite abiding-place, and as a "city of homes " it ranks among the high- est in the Commonwealth.
It is, however, not alone as a sleeping-place for Boston's thousands of busy workers that Somerville is distinguished, for it has within its borders industries of such considerable importance that it stands fifth in the list of the manufacturing cities of the State. These industries are diversified, and they cover almost every line of work, and some of them are of very great magnitude and financial standing. Among these, and leading the others in importance, is the immense establishment of the
NORTH PACKING AND PROVISION CO.
The business was established in 1855, but the company was not incor- porated until January 2, 1890.
The business at this packing-house consists of "the slaughtering of hogs, rendering, curing, packing, jobbing and exporting the product of the same, together with the packing of beef and the general distribution of fresh and cured meats to all markets of the world."
The packing-house occupies thirteen acres of land, and the substantial brick buildings are equipped with the latest and most approved machinery for conducting the business in an economic and systematic manner.
The main and connecting buildings are six hundred and fifty feet long by one hundred and fifty feet wide, and five to nine stories high. In the main building on the Medford-street side are situated the packing-house offices of the company : these offices are spacious, airy and convenient, and accommodate a large working force, which consists of superintendent, pay- masters, bookkeepers, entry and receiving clerks, auditors, and shipping and time clerks. The other buildings consist of engine, boiler, electrical and ice-machinery plant, one hundred and ten feet long by one hundred feet wide, three stories high, with chimney one hundred and seventy-six feet high ; blacksmith, wheelwright, and general repair shop, seventy feet long, fifty feet wide, three stories high ; stable, one hundred and thirty-five feet long, eighty feet wide, three stories high; the wholesale and retail
452
CHARLES A. CUSHMAN.
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SOMERVILLE, P.IST AND PRESENT.
market, one hundred feet long, eighty feet wide, three stories high ; steam cooperage plant, three hundred feet long, one hundred feet wide, four stories high ; cold storage warehouse, one hundred and seventy-five feet long, one hundred and twenty-five feet wide, six stories high, having a stor- age capacity of seventy-five thousand barrels.
Besides the cold storage warehouse there are over six acres of floor surface under refrigeration in the other buildings, the entire plant having a capacity of handling five thousand hogs per day.
'These buildings are located within two miles of the business centre of Boston, and in close proximity to all the rail and water transportation lines entering and leaving the city, with tracks of the Grand Junction Railroad on the south side of the buildings and the Fitchburg on the north, entering the yards and connecting with all railways west and east, by which all live animals and other supplies are received, and a large amount of manufac- tured product is delivered to the wharves of Atlantic steamship lines for export and coastwise trade ; also carloads are delivered to interior points in this country direct from the packing-house. Track facilities of the company will accommodate one hundred cars at a time in its yards.
The live hogs which furnish the basis of the manufacturing operations are largely purchased at markets in the West receiving live stock, and transported in latest approved stock cars direct to the packing-house, where they are unloaded at the live-stock storage building, which is nine stories high, each floor being constructed of brick and cement, with troughs through which running water is supplied, with a capacity of storing and yarding twelve to fourteen thousand hogs.
The entire plant has recently been remodelled and enlarged, and is the most complete packing-house in the world. All departments of this busi- ness are conducted in the most orderly and cleanly manner imaginable, and great care is exercised in the selection of animals by experienced buyers.
The business of the company amounts to over $15,000,000 annually, eight hundred thousand hogs being slaughtered and their products distrib- uted to the various markets of the world.
There are employed by the company at the packing-house upwards of twelve hundred men, in its various departments.
The officers of the company are : G. F. Swift, Pres .; E. C. Swift, Treas. and Gen. Manager; S. Henry Skilton, Asst. Manager ; Charles A. Cush- man, Superintendent.
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SOMMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
THE FRESH POND ICE COMPANY.
Another important industry in this city is that of the Fresh Pond Ice Company. The business done by this concern is immense, the freight bills paid by the company being among the heaviest of all that are paid to the Fitchburg Railroad. The ice is obtained at Lake Muscatanapus in Brook- line, N. H., where the company has a plant of great magnitude, the immense ice-houses, which are eleven in number, having a storage capacity of upwards of 70,000 tons. The ice is remarkably free from impurities, being considered by experts the best that is offered in this vicinity, and so careful is the com- pany to maintain this purity that it has bought and now controls the entire shore of the lake, thus preventing every possible danger of pollution. Up- wards of two hundred and fifty men are employed in harvesting the crop, and only the latest and most approved tools and machinery are used.
The ice is brought from the storage houses in Brookline in special re- frigerator cars by the Fitchburg Railroad to the extensive sheds belonging to the company, located between Washington street and the railroad, where it is loaded on the ice-wagons and distributed to consumers.
Thirty-six of these great wagons and eighty horses, the best that can be procured, are owned by the company, and from fifty to seventy-five men are employed in the daily distribution of the ice.
The officers of the company are : Josiah Q. Bennett, president ; T. S. Hittinger, superintendent ; and E. A. Davenport, treasurer.
THE SPRAGUE AND HATHAWAY COMPANY.
The Sprague and Hathaway Portrait Copying House in West Somer- ville is an important industrial establishment, one whose products probably reach every corner of the civilized world.
The business of this company was established in 1874, by J. F. Hatha- way and W. D. Sprague, under the firm name of Sprague and Hathaway. The business was originally established in a small way at the corner of Beach street and Harrison avenue, Boston. Cheap rents and better light were the inducements offered them to remove to West Somerville, which at that time could hardly be called even a thriving settlement.
After two years Mr. W. D. Sprague, on account of failing health, was obliged to retire from the business, and for many years it was under the sole control of Mr. J. F. Hathaway, the president of the present corpora- tion. Originally located in the wooden building at the corner of Holland and Wallace streets, they outgrew the capacity of their quarters, and in 1887 erected, at a cost of forty thousand dollars, the handsome studio building at the corner of Day street and Davis square.
In 1890 the business had further increased to such an extent that it was decided to form a stock company, and in September of that year the Sprague and Hathaway Company was incorporated with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars. Another and larger brick and granite building was erected at the corner of Day and Herbert streets, and was thoroughly equipped with every modern improvement.
SECTION OF YARD OF THE FRESH POND ICE COMPANY.
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SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
THE UNION GLASS COMPANY.
Another of the important industries of Somerville is that of the Union Glass Company, whose works are situated on Webster avenue near Union square. This business was founded originally in 1854 by Mr. Emery Houghton. It was only fairly successful, and in 1864 Mr. Houghton sold the property to the present company, which was incorporated in that year under the title of the Union Glass Company. The first year's business was not very good, and new capital had to be put into the enterprise.
It was not until 1870 that the company entered upon an era of prosper- ity, one which lasted for about fifteen years. The gentlemen then con- nected with the institution were men of great commercial sagacity, and at that time the competition of the West was only in its infancy, New England still retaining prestige in glass-making. The principal articles of manufac- ture were pressed work, chimneys, gas globes, lamps and chemical ware.
By degrees the utility of the company was enhanced by the addition of a cutting department, and by its putting upon the market the largest line of artistic vases ever produced in America. By dint of perseverance it solved the long concealed secret of the Venetian art of decorating glass with gold worked into the metal, not applied as paint upon the exterior, and vases of the most delicate workmanship, fully equal to European articles, are now manufactured in these works.
From its glass-cutting department issues choice cut glass that is dis- played in the windows of Boston's largest glass stores. Many of the best establishments in the principal states of the Union are supplied in part from this factory.
In 1862 Mr. John Haines brought to the factory the art of silvering glass, and the Union Glass Company manufactures and exports the greatest number of silvered glass reflectors of any concern in the United States.
This is the only remaining glass factory in the vicinity of Boston, and despite the changes which through force of cheaper producing material have driven the once flourishing industries away from the East in the past few years, the Union Company has persistently held its own against a great competition, by the principle of manufacturing only the very best quality of glass.
In its various departments the company gives employment to about two hundred people, and as many of these reside in Somerville, the factory re- mains a large contributor to the prosperity of its native town.
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