USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Medway > The history of Medway, Mass., 1713-1885 > Part 19
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The broad and scholarly instructions given in the high school, render it most valuable for the higher education of those connected with it. As a fitting school for college, it has a good record and its rank is highly respect- able. The Medway high school has sent out five classes, and the total number of its graduates at this date (1885) is thirty-seven.
The following statements and table of school statistics, taken from the town school report for 1884-5, will show items of interest in bringing to a close this account of the schools in Medway :
The appropriations for schools, $6,500; for school books, $500; for school inci- dentals, $1,000; for transportation, $500. Total amount raised, $8,500.
Other receipts for schools : from tax on dogs, $302.74; from the Massachusetts School Fund, $192.26; from pupils of other towns, $113.07. Total, $608.07.
Total amount for school expenditure, $9, 108.07.
The number of schools, 18; teachers employed, 20; pupils enrolled, 805; pupils between eight and fourteen years, 481 ; average membership, 612; average daily attendance, 549; per cent. daily attendance, .897; high school year, 40 weeks;
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grammar and No. 2 school year, 36 weeks; all other schools, 30 weeks; added at private expense, 15 weeks. Total, 589 weeks.
The aggregate of current monthly salaries, $708; the average monthly salary of male teachers, 1884-5, $105; the average monthly salary of female teachers, 1884-5, $32.21 ; cost to the town for the year ending February, 1885, for each pupil enrolled, including teachers' wages, fuel, care of school-houses, school books, and super- vision, $10.83; cost to the town for each pupil enrolled as above, with amounts paid for transportation and school incidentals added, $12.91 ; cost to the town for each pupil enrolled, including all above items, with six per cent. interest on permanent investments ($28,000) added, $15.
A comparison of the State and town shows an average daily attendance in the State, .895 ; in the town, .897. The monthly pay of male teachers in the State, $108.02 ; in the town, $105; of female teachers, in the State, $44.18 ; in the town, $32.21. The average cost for enrolled pupils in the State, $19.34 ; in the town, $12.91.
SCHOOL STATISTICS, 1884-1885.
No. of School.
GRADE OF SCHOOL.
NAMES OF
No. of Pupils
between 8 and No. of Pupils
14 years.
Average
Membership.
Average
Attendance.
Per Cent.
Attendance.
Monthly Sala-
High.
Geo. H. Rockwood, A. M., Prin. F. E. Brooks, A. B., Principal. Miss Emma Tate, Assistant. Miss Annie A. Allis, Assistant.
76
7
53.I
50.8
.95
$IIO $100 $40 $40
I
Grammar.
Miss Susie E. McLane. Miss Hettie J. Richardson.
27
23
21.4
18.5
.86
$40 $36
I
Primary.
Miss Caroline C. Jameson. Miss Mary G. Russell.
40
25
25.7
24.1
.93
$32 $24
2
Mixed.
Miss Alice M. Duren. Miss Lelia S. Taylor. Miss Amy C. Jones, Assistant.
69
42
50.
38.
.76
$36 $36 $16
3
Primary.
Miss Minnie A. Park.
21
14
17.5
15.
.86
$32
4
Grammar.
Miss Effie E. Adams.
50
27
46.
42.5
.93
$40
4
SubGrammar. Miss Nellie A. Warfield.
44
40
41-3
37.4
.96
$32
4
Intermediate.
Miss Melissa C. Gay.
28
28
23.4
21.5
.92
$32
4
Primary.
Miss Helen Z. Allen.
77
=5
49.
46.
.94
$32
5
Mixed.
Miss Mary L. Rogers.
19
II
18.
16.3
.90
$28
6
Mixed.
Miss Sarah M. Keane.
31
22
21.6
18.8
.86
$32
7
Grammar.
Miss Emma A. Baker.
31
19
27.
21.
.78
$40
7
Intermediate.
Miss Caroline S. Cogswell. Miss Grace H. Wilder.
47
38
37.
34.
.92
$32 $32
7
Primary.
Miss Mary F. Wilder.
45
45
37.7
34.6
.92
$32
7
Sub Primary.
Miss Alma A. Knowlton.
84
17
55-3
48.8
.88
$32
8
Mixed.
Mr. George W. Wheat.
25
9
16.2
14.9
.92
$28
9
Intermediate. Miss Ada E. Newton.
33
31
31.2
29.5
.95
$32
9
Primary.
Miss Susie A. Gardner.
58
58
40.6
37.4
.92
$32
rics.
TEACHERS.
enrolled.
157
THE GRADUATES OF THE HIGH. SCHOOL, 18SI - 1885.
ISSI. ABBOTT, ADDIE C.
BIRD, HERBERT STETSON. JONES, ELLEN MARIA.
HOYT, FANNY B. 1882. SMITH, ALBERT L. ISS3.
MANN, ARTHUR SIMONDS. SPENCER, HENRY FRANCIS. SWARMAN, ELMERA LILLIE. THOMPSON, SANFORD ELEAZAR. WALKER, MARY WHIPPLE.
COOMBS, ALVIN WIGHT.
CROOKS, CORA ESTHER.
DANIELS, ARTHUR HILL.
CHILDS, HENRY THOMAS.
CLARK, EVA ESTELLE.
CLARK, GEORGE HAWLEY.
CONGER, ALBERT CRAIG.
JAMESON, CAROLINE COGSWELL.
DANIELS, CHARLES HENRY.
JENCKES, GRACE ADELLA.
HOWE, FLORENCE ELIZA.
KNOWLTON, JUNIUS CECIL.
PARTRIDGE, MINNIE.
MANN, HERBERT JAMES.
POND, ELEANOR DORCAS.
RUSSELL, MARY GRACE.
RICHARDSON, WILLIAM STEPHEN.
WHEAT, GEORGE WARREN.
SCOTT, VIRGINIA.
STEVENS, ETTA SIBYL.
STEWART, FLORENCE ISABELLE.
WHITNEY, MAUD MILLER.
THE MEDWAY GRADUATES FROM COLLEGES, 1774 -1SS5.
ADAMS, DANIEL, 1774, Harvard College, clergyman ; died 1778. ADAMS, JASPER, 1815, Yale College, clergyman ; died 1841.
ALLEN, ALLDIS SAMUEL, 1827, Yale College, physician ; died 1833. ADAMS, EZRA, 1835, Amherst College, clergyman ; died 1864. ADAMS, EDWIN AUGUSTUS, 1861, Amherst College, clergyman. ADAMS, GEORGE BURTON, 1873, Beloit College, clergyman ; died ISSI. BAILEY, CHARLES, 1841, Brown University, physician. BULLARD, JOHN, 1776, Harvard College, clergyman ; died 1821. BULLARD, ELT, 1787, Yale College, lawyer ; died 1824.
BULLARD, AMOS, 1833, Amherst College, clergyman ; died 1850.
BULLARD, MALACHI, IS41, Dartmouth College, clergyman ; died 1849.
BULLEN, HENRY LEWIS, 1842, Dartmouth College, clergyman. CARY, GEORGE LOVELL, 1852, Harvard College, clergyman. CLIFFORD, JOSEPH CLARK. 1862, Amherst College, Captian U. S. A. COLE, ARTHUR WELLS, 1877, Yale College; lawyer. DANIELS, DAVID, 1776, Harvard College; died 1827.
DANIELS, DAVID, 1824, Brown University, merchant; died 1847.
DANIELS, HIRAM CLARKE, 1844, Dartmouth College, clergyman.
DANIELS, JOSEPH LEONARD, 1860, Yale College, clergyman. ELLIS, FERDINAND, 1802, Brown University, clergyman ; died 1858. FAY, GILBERT OTIS, 1859, Yale College, clergyman.
FITTS, CALVIN RICHARDS, 1864, Amherst College, clergyman ; died 1883. HAMMOND, TIMOTHY, 1808, Harvard College, lawyer; died 1834. HARDING, SEWALL, 1818, Union College, clergyman ; died 1876.
ISS5.
DEANS, ANNA LE BARON.
GARDNER, EVA SWIFT.
HIXON, LENA BRADFORD.
WOODMAN, MYLA LILLIAN. 1884. BICKFORD, MARY EVELYN.
158
HARDING, JOHN WHEELER, 1845, Yale College; clergyman. HARDING, WILLIAM GREENOUGH, 1857, Williams College, manufacturer. HAWES, JOEL, 1813, Brown University, clergyman ; died 1867. HIXON, ASA, 1825, Brown University, clergyman ; died 1862. HIXON, LLOYD WELLS, 1857, Dartmouth College, teacher. HILL, CALVIN GRANT, 1867, Amherst College, clergyman. HORTON, SANFORD JABEZ, 1843, Trinity College, clergyman. IDE, JACOB, JR., 1848, Amherst College, clergyman.
JAMESON, ARTHUR ORCUTT, 1881, Harvard College; died 1881.
JAMESON, MISS KATHARINE STRONG, 1884, Smith College, teacher. JENCKES, MISS MARY A., 1881, Wellesley College, teacher. JONES, EDMUND ADAMS, 1865, Amherst College, teacher. LOVELL, NATHANIEL, 1810, Harvard College, physician ; died 1817. LOVERING, WARREN, 1817, Brown University, lawyer; died 1876. LOVERING, AMOS, IS28, Brown University, lawyer; died 1879. METCALF, NATHANIEL WHITING, 1846, Brown University, teacher; died 1871. MONROE, FRANCIS LE BARON, 1857, Williams College, physician. MORSE, JOHN, 1791, Brown University, clergyman ; died 1844. MORSE, ELIJAH, 1809, Brown University, lawyer; died 1831. MORSE, ABNER, 1816, Brown University, clergyman ; died 1865. MORSE, FREDERICK DANIELS, 1862, Amherst College, physician. PARTRIDGE, MOSES, 1814, Brown University, clergyman ; died 1824.
PARTRIDGE, LYMAN, 1863, Brown University, clergyman. RICHARDSON, GEORGE LOVELL, 1862, Dartmouth College, teacher. STEVENS, CHARLES PLIMPTON, 1884, Tufts College.
SANFORD, MOSES, 1800, Harvard College, lawyer ; died 1830. SANFORD, DAVID, 1825, Brown University, clergyman; died 1875. THAYER, ADDISON SANFORD, 1881, Harvard College, physician. TURNER, CHARLES, 1815, Brown University ; died 1816.
WALKER, HORACE DEAN, 1841, Yale College, clergyman ; died 1885.
WALKER, AUGUSTUS, 1849, Yale College, clergyman ; died 1866.
WALKER, GEORGE FREDERIC, Amherst College, clergyman.
THE UNDER-GRADUATES OF COLLEGES, 1885.
DANIELS, ARTHUR HILL, 18S7, Olivet College, Mich.
JAMESON, MISS CAROLINE COGSWELL, 1888, Smith College, Mass. JENCKES, MISS GRACE ADELLA, 1888, Wellesley College, Mass. KNOWLTON, JUNIUS CECIL, 1887, Amherst College, Mass.
POND, MISS ELEANOR DORCAS, 1889, The Boston University, Mass. RUSSELL, MISS HELEN HALE, 1887, Smith College, Mass.
SPENCER, HENRY FRANCIS, 1888, The Boston University, Mass.
STEWART, MISS FLORENCE ISABELLE, 1889, The Boston University, Mass.
THE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
THE DEAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION was incorporated March 3, 1860, in Medway Village "for the purpose of maintaining a Library and a Reading- room and promoting public instruction by lectures or otherwise." The corporators named in the act were Messrs. Luther Metcalf, Clark Partridge, William H. Cary, John Cole, and A. L. B. Monroe, M. D.
The library originated in a conversation between Dr. Oliver Dean, of Franklin, and Mrs. Sarah B. Metcalf, the wife of the Hon. Luther Metcalf, during which Dr. Dean expressed a desire to aid in such an enterprise for the benefit of the Village where he once lived and practiced as a physician. He conferred with the Hon. M. M. Fisher as to the plan, and proposed to give
159
at first $400, if a like sum were raised by the people. An association was formed whose capital stock was fixed at $1,000, divided into shares of $10 each. A sufficient number of shares were taken to meet the requirement of Dr. Dean, and the nucleus of a library was formed, to which additions have been made yearly until it consists of about three thousand volumes. The Hon. Luther Metcalf was the first President, and Orion A. Mason, Esq., has been from the first, Clerk and Treasurer. For the first ten years, the library was kept in Fisher's block. In 1872 it was removed to its present quarters in Sanford Hall building. In the agreement for the erection of this hall. it was provided that the association should have a suitable library and reading-room and the free use of the hall for lectures. By the will of Dr. Dean the association received a legacy from him in the stock of the Boston and Albany Railroad Company valued now at $4,375, the income of which is to be used for the purchase of new books. One share of stock at ten dollars constitutes a life membership in perpetuum. One dollar and fifty cents an equal right to the use of library for one year, or five cents for a week. One hundred volumes are usually taken out and returned each week. The library is open Saturday evenings and Wednesday afternoons. The reading- room every day and evening.
The present officers of the library are, the Hon. M. M. Fisher, President ; O. A. Mason, Esq., Clerk and Treasurer; the Rev. R. K. Harlow, E. A. Daniels, M. D., and Frederick L. Fisher, Esq., Library Committee; the Rev. R. K. Harlow, Messrs. James M. Grant, William H. Cary, Jr., H. E. Mason, and E. C. Wilson, Reading-room Committee; Miss Mary E. Fisher and Mrs. M. C. Newell, Librarians.
THE CIRCULATING LIBRARY in East Medway was established by a soci- ety which was organized October 28, 1878, under the following resolution : " Feeling the need of a circulating library in our village, we have thought proper to form ourselves into a society for the accomplishment of this ob- ject." Accordingly, a constitution was adopted and officers were chosen, viz. : a president, a vice-president, a secretary, and a treasurer. The society was constituted of twenty-four ladies, and seventeen gentlemen. Funds were secured for the purchase of books by an annual tax upon the members, public entertainments given, and by the income from the loan of books. New volumes were added to the library yearly, and in 1883 a catalogue was published.
Soon after East Medway was incorporated as the town of Millis, the Library Society, by vote taken March 19, 1885, donated their library, to- gether with such funds as were in their treasury, to the town of Millis, as the . nucleus of a Free Public Library. The library consisted of 313 volumes, and the money in the treasury amounted to about forty dollars. The town of Millis, by vote taken March 23, 1885, accepted the gift, and tendered thanks to the donors.
The library was placed in the town office ; the town clerk was appointed librarian, and the books distributed on Tuesday and Saturday evenings of the week, without charge, to the people of the town for reading. At their meeting for making the first annual appropriation, the income of the tax on dogs was appropriated by the town for the purchase of books for the Free Public Library of Millis.
1
160
THE NEWSPAPERS.
The Medway Journal, a small semi-monthly sheet, 22 x 14 inches, printed on a hand-press, was the first newspaper issued in the town. It was edited, printed, and published, February 10, 1872, by Master Henry A. Bullard, of West Medway, a lad of seventeen years, who had never seen the inside of a printing-office. It was published as a semi-monthly until Oc- tober 19, 1872 ; after that it was a weekly of six columns. The second volume began with January, 1873. The paper was purchased the last of February, 1873, by James M. Stewart, Esq., of Franklin, and continued under the same name, but issued from his printing-house in Franklin. After a few years the name was changed to The Medway Courier, and afterwards to The Medway Magnet, and issued under the management of the same editors and proprie- tors as The Franklin Sentinel. The Medway Magnet is still, 1885, issued by Edward D. Houston, Esq., editor and proprietor, and has a good circulation in the town. There also has been issued since January 29, 1874, The Medway Gazette, published by Messrs. Cook & Sons, editors and proprietors of The Milford Journal, and printed at their office in Milford, Mass. It had, in 1885, a circulation in town of 300 copies.
THE MEDWAY SAVINGS BANK. Incorporated February 20, 1871.
The Medway Savings Bank commenced receiving deposits March 30, 1871.
ORIGINAL BOARD OF OFFICERS.
M. M. FISHER, President.
C. H. DEANS, Secretary.
A. M. B. FULLER, Vice-President .. W. H. CARY, 44
O. A. MASON, Treasurer.
J. H. ELLIS,
TRUSTEES.
C. PARTRIDGE,
J. H. ELLIS,
W. H. CARY,
EDWARD EATON, S. W. RICHARDSON,
D. J. HASTINGS,
C. H. DEANS,
H. TROWBRIDGE, JAMES LA CROIX,
A. M. B. FULLER,
CHAS. HAMANT,
W. P. CLARK,
JAMES O'DONNELL,
WALES KIMBALL, WM. FAIRBANKS,
H. BULLARD,
S. B. SCOTT.
PRESENT BOARD OF OFFICERS.
M. M. FISHER, President.
F. L. FISHER, Secretary.
O. A. MASON, Treasurer.
W. A. MCKEAN,
TRUSTEES.
C. PARTRIDGE, A. M. B. FULLER,
W. H. CARY,
SUMNER ROBBINS,
C. S. PHILBRICK,
S. W. RICHARDSON,
F. L. FISHER,
W. A. MCKEAN,
R. P. Ross, J. B. HOPKINS, O. A. MASON.
WALES KIMBALL,
A. M. B. FULLER, Vice-President. W. H. CARY,
Amount of deposits May 1, 1885, $185,060.95.
161
THE POST-OFFICES.
There are four post-offices in the town, the oldest being that of the Vil- lage, which was established in the spring of 1803. This was on the middle road, as it was called, from Boston to Hartford, and at a convenient distance from Dedham on the east and Mendon on the west. The size of the settle- ment would otherwise have hardly warranted the establishment of an office, there being but eight dwelling-houses, a grist mill, a saw mill, and a store : the Simon Fisher house stood where E. C. Wilson now resides, a part of the Metcalf homestead was then built, the Hawes place where Mr. W. H. Cary's house now stands, the Bullen house opposite Thompson's boot shop, the Simon Fisher house, near Eaton & Wilson's batting mill, the Nathan Fisher house across the river, now the residence of Monroe Morse, Ichabod Hawes' saw mill just back of the boot shop, the Whiting grist mill and house near the present location of Sanford Mills, and the house and store of William Felt. The nearest office on the north was Marlboro, on the east, Dedham, on the south, Wrentham, and on the west, Mendon. Captain William Felt, a man of good business ability, was the first Postmaster, and his first quarterly return was made July 1, 1803, Gideon Granger being Post- master-General. The office was kept in his store, near where the residence of Mrs. Hathon now stands. The amount of mail matter was very small, and was carried by a post-rider who went over the route once each week. The rates of postage were from six to twenty-five cents for each sheet without regard to weight, postage varying with the distance the letter was carried. Correspondence was not as universal as now, steel pens, envelopes, postage stamps, and postal cards were unknown, the daily paper was not established, and the weekly newspaper found its way to but few families. It has been said by an old resident, that probably there were not more than half-a-dozen newspapers left at this office : one or two copies of the Hartford Courant, the Columbian Sentinel, and, perhaps, the Worcester Spy.
A list of post-offices published this year shows that there were not quite thir- teen hundred offices in the whole country. About 1812 a line of mail coaches from Dedham to Mendon, in connection with the Boston and Hartford line, was established by Ebenezer Clark, of Dedham, making two trips a week. This line was continued by others, and the number of trips increased to three each way, and for many years was owned and driven by Joseph Miller, who died a few years since in Medfield. About 1845 a cross-mail, intercepting the Woonsocket line at Rockville on alternate days, was established, giving the residents of the Village a daily mail.
Mr. Felt's successor was Warren Lovering, Esq., a rising young lawyer. He kept the Post-office a part of his term in the store of Gilbert Clark and a part in his law office, which stood where Mrs. Barns's house is located. Mr. Lovering, not being in sympathy with the administration under Jackson, was superseded, in 1829, and Mr. Sewall Sanford was appointed, and the office was removed to his store, where Dr. E. A. Daniels now resides, and remained there until Mr. Sanford's death in 1831. He was succeeded by James B. Wilson, and the office during his term and part of that of his suc- cessor, Clark Partridge, Esq., was kept where Mr. Partridge's house stands. It was removed in 1847 to Fisher's Block, where it remained twenty-six
162
years under the charge of Captain Partridge, and Samuel W. Metcalf, Esq., who was succeeded, in 1858, by Collins Hathon, who kept it until 1861, when O. A. Mason., Esq., received the appointment, and, three years after, the present occupant, Mr. H. E. Mason, was appointed. The office was removed in 1873, to its present location in Sanford Hall.
The next office established was in East Medway, March 17, 1819, and Timothy Hammond, Esq., was the first postmaster. The mail was carried by the Mendon coaches, and the office was kept at the house of Adam Bul- lard, afterwards the residence of the late James La Croix, Esq. Mr. Nathan Jones, for many years sheriff in this town, and who died a few years since in Medfield, was the next incumbent. While he held the office it was kept in his store, on the site now occupied by the house of Mr. Stephen B. Smith. After him, George H. Holbrook, Esq., was appointed, and the office re- moved to his place of business, near the organ shop. After the erection of the meeting-house on its present site, the post-office was removed to the same vicinity, and Mr. Milton Daniels became the postmaster and kept it until his death in 1871, when he was succeeded by his widow, Mrs. Mariam Daniels, who held it until 1877, when the present postmaster, Mr. George B. Fisher, was appointed, and since that time the office has been kept at his store.
In 1832 petitions from Simeon Fuller and Christopher Slocum were made to the post-office department for the establishment of an office in West Med- way. This was stoutly opposed by the people of the Village, who, in their remonstrance, urged as reasons : the small amount of postal matter for that section, being the previous year but $46.48 out of $312.75, and the close proximity of the two offices.
The post-office at West Medway was established September 19, 1834. Olney Foristall, who kept a hotel in a part of the building now occupied by Mr. James Coombs, was the first postmaster. Previous to this time the mail for that part of the town had come through the Village office, and Mr. Wilson, the postmaster, was accustomed, on Sunday, to carry a bundle of mail matter to the meeting-house to be distributed to the people as they came to church. The mail was carried tri-weekly by Miller's Boston and Mendon stage, going to the three Medway offices Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and returning on alternate days.
Mr. Foristall was succeeded by Mr. Simeon Fuller, a trader, who kept the store now occupied by Mr. Coombs. After him came Deacon Daniel Wiley, another trader. Indeed, it seems to have been almost a necessity that in small villages the occupant of the office should be one whose place of business was always open to the public, and he must have some business for his support, in addition to the salary of the post-office.
The successors of Mr. Wiley have been as follows: Messrs. Levi P. Coburn, Stephen Partridge, Jason Smith, Gilbert Nourse, John Cushing, Lewis Clark,' J. N. Tourtellotte, Mrs. Mary A. Tourtellotte, and Vincent Moses, Esq.
The fourth post-office in Medway was established in Rockville, Feb- ruary 23, 1838. As there were already three offices in town, and the village of Rockville was very small, the department was somewhat reluctant to establish it; but principally through the efforts of Dean Walker, Esq., who about that time came to Rockville, the application was successful.
163
Deacon Timothy Walker was the first postmaster, succeeded by Messrs. Eliab B. Blake, John S. Walker, Erastus H. Tyler, and Frederic Swar- man, the present occupant.
THE ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE OF THE MAILS IN 1885.
VILLAGE. Arrive, Boston 9.15 A. M., 5 P. M. ; close 8.45 A. M., 3.30 P. M. Arrive, Milford 6 P. M. ; close 8.45 A. M.
ROCKVILLE. Arrive 10 A. M., 5 P. M. ; close 8.05 A. M., 3.15 P. M.
EAST MEDWAY. Arrive 9 A. M., 4.45 P. M. ; close 8.50 A. M., 3.40 P. M.
WEST MEDWAY. Arrive, Boston 9.15 A. M. , 5 P. M. ; Milford 5.15 P. M. ; Medway 9.30 A. M. Close, Boston, 8.40 A. M., 3.30 P. M. ; Milford, 9.30 A. M. : Medway, 5.15 P. M.
THE RAILROADS. 1836- 1885.
No enterprise has ever excited such genuine interest, or required so much time, persistent effort, and pecuniary expenditure, as the necessary means by which the three different sections of the town have secured railroad ac- commodations. Few of the people are aware that from the initial steps in this direction to the consummation of the work, twenty-five years elapsed.
From a very large mass of manuscript papers and printed matter left by the Hon. Luther Metcalf, who was very conspicuous in the movement, a very full history of the various schemes devised, the protracted struggles, and obstacles encountered, has been obtained.
The value and magnitude of the work and its results, alone justify the space given to this enterprise in the annals of the town.
The completion of the Boston and Worcester Railroad, in 1832, on the north, and of the Boston and Providence Railroad on the southeast, and the Blackstone River on the southwest, left a large triangular section of the State without railroad accommodation. The practical question among business men, living within this territory, was, how to bisect it in such a way as to secure the best railroad facilities.
The following statement, drawn up by Mr. Metcalf, and found among his papers, discloses the fact that the first public action upon the matter was had in his office, in Medway Village, very early in the history of railroads.
THE HON. LUTHER METCALF'S WRITTEN STATEMENT.
" The following statement was written March 8, 1872, from my recollections and memoranda in my possession :
THE FIRST MEETING of citizens interested in the project of a Railroad from Woonsocket to Boston was held at Medway Village on the thirtieth day of November, 1836, among whom were Dr. Fowler, Willis Cook, and some other persons from Woonsocket, Welcome Farnum, of Blackstone, Dr. Nathaniel Miller, of Franklin, Dr. Artemas Brown, Luther Metcalf, Warren Lovering, Wyman Adams, and others, of Medway, with other persons from some of the adjoining towns.
After a free and pretty full expression of the views of those persons present, it ap- peared to be the desire of all to have a survey made from Woonsocket along the valley of Peters River and Mine Brook through Bellingham and the northerly part of Franklin to Charles River, a little above Medway Village, thence in the valley of said river to Medfield and on easterly through West Dedham to the Dedham Branch of the Boston and Providence Railroad at the village in Dedham.
164
Accordingly it was voted to employ an engineer and commence a survey at once, and a subscription was opened to defray the expense of the same, a committee chosen to carry the vote into effect. The committee engaged R. S. Scott and S. B. Cushing, engineers, who commenced the survey of Woonsocket sometime in December and pro- ceeded with the work as far as West Dedham when the deep snows of that win ter pre- vented the completion thereof.
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