USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Medway > The history of Medway, Mass., 1713-1885 > Part 22
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These three halls have all been put to other uses, and the church vestry has suffered unwonted inroads on its sanctity. The need of a village hall has long been felt. The " town-meeting" by a long triennial "swinging round the circle " of parishes, had acquired such a rotary momentum that it was useless to ask for a town hall to be located here. Although the central one of the trinity of villages in Medway, we have never reaped much benefit from it in town affairs. If a high school house, a new en- gine, or a soldiers' monument is asked for by either of the town's three children, the unfortunate parent must refuse, or pay for three. I wonder we have allowed the East Parish its monoply of the poorhouse so long. These frequent triangular contests have been unfavorable to that concentration of effort and interest as important in town af- fairs as in larger spheres of government.
This building was in no sense intended as a memorial hall, and yet how eminently proper to place on its walls some tribute to the memory of those sons of the Village who gave their lives for freedom and union in the great Rebellion. That gift may seem to some remote in its relations to our local affairs, but let me say that without the noble devotion to duty, and the heroic self-sacrifice of our soldiers, this hall would not have been built. With their death the nation was born again to a new and healthy career of material prosperity.
But above these lower considerations arises the precious moral influence of their example. This cannot be estimated at the price of a paltry piece of marble. As a boy, and a student of American history, I often wondered if the scenes of the Revolu- tion could ever be reenacted on our soil, if the common-place men I saw about me were capable of those patriotic emotions which animated their great grandfathers at Lexington and Bunker Hill. That question was soon answered for the whole coun- try. The "spirit of '75" revived and ennobled the humblest citizen. Let us thank God that a higher opinion of human nature than once prevailed, is possible !
The following fact shows how history repeats its record. The town of Medway lost thirteen out of a population of eight hundred, in the Revolution; in the Rebellion, fifty-two out of about thirty-six hundred. The comparison of these proportions give no support to theories of modern degeneracy. Let us then perpetuate the names of our fallen heroes by a suitable mural tablet in this hall.
Then came the "Star Spangled Banner," performed by the band, after which the Rev. Horace D. Walker, of Bridgewater, read an original poem, composed expressly for this occasion. The following is an extract :
The mother who cherished has sent out her call To those who've forgotten her never, Where'er we had wandered we heard it, and all Came shouting " Old Medway forever!"
We're children once more, and in Memory's light, Live over the bright blessed hour, When these hills were as grand as the Alps in their height, And the Charles had the Amazon's power.
This Hall binds the Future, and Present, and Past ; It gracefully owns the glad debt Of the living to-day, to the dead who stood fast, And nobly their duty here met.
Sanford Hall ! where Future, and Present, and Past, We greet on this eve of New Year! May never a shadow its brightness o'ercast ; The smile of the Lord ever cheer !
Then the audience sang, the band playing the accompaniment, an orig- inal hymn by the same author, as follows :
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TUNE : Auld Lang Syne.
We're met as ne'er before we met, Our thoughts on days of old, Here owning blessings God has given And asking grace to hold ; So here we come as brethren all, And feel as children true
Of dear old Medway's blessed soil, The old love burn anew.
To generations passed before, So wise to guard and gain
For us such goodly heritage We raise our grateful strain ; We come to bless their honored names, Who feared no toil nor ill ;
To feel as ne'er we felt before, Their works shall praise them still.
Still may God's blessings crown this spot They loved and kept of yore, And future years be brighter far Than all that went before. Thanks that this Hall so clearly will In coming days declare
Our generation has not failed Our fathers' hearts to share.
And when our children here shall meet, To them may SANFORD HALL
Be full of memories as rich As those we now recall. So e'er we part, as children true, We pledge our mother dear
To guard and swell her old renown Through each succeeding year.
At the conclusion of the singing, the Rev. Rufus K. Harlow, of the Village, delivered the
DEDICATORY ADDRESS.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen - Every structure man builds represents an idea, and better ideas are indicated by a better architecture.
Savage life wants occasional shelter, and the hut shows this. Civilization wants a home, and the comfortable dwelling is the response. Education needs its drill-rooms and arsenals, and schools, lecture halls, and libraries indicate the demand. The devel- opment of the æsthetic nature is discovered by art galleries. The awakening of the soul is revealed by the temples where it worships God. Man only a little higher than the brute is bewildered amid the appliances that satisfy the necessities of man a little lower than the angels. Show a savage the palace of Louvre and he is as unapprecia- tive of its use as was Pat of the value of a trunk he was invited to buy. "Buy a trunk? And what would I do wid a trunk?" "Why, put your clothes in it, to be sure." " And go naked myself?" A man must own more than one suit of clothes before he can appreciate a trunk, and a community must feel the need of a hall, as we have, rightly to value this elegant structure. I have been invited to tell you how and why this building came to be.
It embodies many ideas, but a central one is developed in this beautiful hall which convenes ns to-night. Our most sagacious citizens have for a long time felt the need of some place of assemblage for our people for secular purposes ; a place for literary and social entertainment, for political debate, a halting house for our rotary town- meetings in their triennial revolutions. A citizen who has done more, perhaps, for our village than any other one man,- shrewdly caring for the living, and reverently providing a pleasant resting-place for the dead,- did more than confess and deplore the need, and set himself to devise means to meet it. The unsuccessful proposition made to one who has remembered us in another direction, opened the way for common talk about a hall. Our young ladies, true to the instincts that have somehow found a channel straight from mother Eve to every one of her daughters, when they saw that this hitherto forbidden fruit " was pleasant to the eye, and desirable to make people wise," determined to have it, and when a woman really determines anything, good or bad, who shall stop her?' We gladly acknowledge that the very first money for this hall was raised by the hard and persistent labor of our young ladies. We will not detain you with the mention of the process that has made the project which some de- nounced as quixotic a certainty, we will only allude to that princely generosity of our citizens, and the sons of our citizens, that has made the gift of this building absolute - relinquishing all revenues that may accrue from it to the expenses of our religious societies and the replenishment of our library. The hall being a certainty, around
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that as a nucleus other ideas crystallized. A story underneath for the purpose of trade was suggested; worthier accommodations for our constantly increasing library were recommended; and then, as the plans for the building were drawn at a time when Mansard was an angel and his invention celestial, the trustees thought good to cover all in a storied roof, after the fashion of other cities, and forecasting the time when Medway shall be their peer. Alas ! the angel has fallen ; there are none now so poor as to do him reverence; his invention has gone down into a fiery furnace, and popular indignation consigns his memory to the same fate; and yet we have the roof - and it is just as celestial as ever to us, and we are glad to thank the much execrated inventor for the pleasant suite of rooms that over-top us, embracing a commodious parlor, where our ladies will devise liberal things, and a smaller hall with ante-rooms that would afford ample accommodations for a permanent organization. We understand that negotiations are pending between such an organization and the trustees for the rental of the place as a permanent home. If they do not seize upon this golden op- portunity we shall deem them worthy of the adjective by which they designate their order, "Odd Fellows." Yes, we will give them the superlative of the adjective and vote them the oddest fellows we ever knew.
It is evident to you all that this building offers rare possibilities for the good of our people. This beautiful hall suggests courses of instructive and elevating lectures, enter- taining and refining concerts. It answers the question, where? that has often stood between us and things harmless per se, but which are out of place in the sanctuary, the only place of concourse we have hitherto had. We hope to see this hall utilized ; and for those purposes worthy of the name it bears and the clegance of its appoint- ments. We hope its influence will be to lift our people up to worthier aspirations, so that the demand that always regulates supply, both as to quantity and quality, shall raise its standard by a continuous, if it must be gradual process.
If any of our friends present who have wealth, want to advance this work of educa- tion and culture, here is a grand opportunity. Give the trustees in charge the foun- dation of an annual course of lectures. By such a personal administration of one's estate, much satisfaction would be derived while living, and a first-class quarrel prc- vented when, after one's funeral, the heirs discuss the will.
Of the library, which now finds better accommodations, we can speak in the posi- tiveness of experience. It is an advantage to our people. We are aware that many of the books are not of a very high order, and, perhaps, works of fiction show the hardest usage; but then we are creating a taste for reading, and the recipe for profit- ing people by reading is somewhat of the same character as the famous one for making hare soup : " First catch your hare." First get people to reading ; teach them that books were made for something better than table ornaments or supports for open window sashes, then we can gradually improve the quality. Our librarian has told me that it is a noticeable fact that some who began with fiction, and would have nothing else, now will take more solid and profitable reading. Does not all lit- erary interest begin at about the same point? Did not the driest theologian, the most abstract scientist, the profoundest statesman begin with Mother Goose and go through the Arabian Nights, Gulliver's Travels, and Robinson Crusoe, before they waded out into the deeper, bottomless waters.
We hope the time will come when the library will be free to every person who is known or can bring a voucher.
There is one thing I wish to say just here. We ought to keep the library room open at all suitable hours, and have it nicely warmed, lighted, and furnished with daily and weekly papers and a few of our best monthly magazines, making it a pleasant reading-room for any who choose to occupy it. The most persuasive argu- ment that was urged upon the founder of our library was that our young people had no place for gathering but the bar-room, saloon, or stores, and no books except what they would borrow from one another. It was an argument, the bearing of which that practical philanthropist could appreciate.
Those who would preserve the morals of our youth ought to learn something from those who try to corrupt them. The devil always has furnished fire and light gratis - always will - where people find that they will go, especially in cold weather. Let us
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fight the devil with his own weapons ; let us offer as good accommodations as he does ; let us have a reading-room. Who will give light for a year? Who will give coal? Who a daily paper? Who will put his magazine upon the table after he has cut the leaves and read it? This will bring the dates just right, for in these fast days our maga- zines are a week old the day that they are born. In the language of the pulpit, " My hearers, this is the personal application of my subject."
We dedicate this building, then, first of all to its practical uses.
This spacious and elegant hall to that which shall make it a source of education, culture, entertainment, and accommodation to our people. We hope to see it often occupied by appreciative audiences, attracted hither by instructive lectures, elevating concerts, and rational entertainments ; and we have confidence to believe that those to whose custody it is now committed by the donors will be more anxious to make it a blessing to our people than to make it simply a source of revenue; and by a wise discrimination will so conduct its affairs as to insure to us the benefits of a public hall without its common, and to be deprecated, evils.
We dedicate the story below us to the uses of legitimate business, and the whole structure to a worthy ministration to the inartificial wants of our community.
Lastly, we consecrate this building to its memorial uses. We are glad to call it after the name of those whose princely generosity secured it to us. We are happy to know that there are sons of Medway who are not only able but willing to make be- quests by thousands for the benefit of our people. Large business success so often makes men miserly, selfish, oblivious of the place where the race of life began, for- getful of the boy friends who have not been able to keep up and in a score of years are far behind, that it is refreshing to have this tangible proof of an exception. We may not say of the living all we might wish. This we will say: The deed is worthy of the name, and the name is worthy of all honor and remembrance in our pleasant vil- lage. It has twined itself with interlacing memories amidst all that is noblest and best and most hopeful here. It shall bring to our remembrance the eldest living rep- resentative of the name- who is with us to-night, most deeply interested of any in these exercises - still fresh and useful in her feelings, like a green Christmas at the time when we naturally expect the cold and snow and dreariness of winter; linking four generations fast together, and standing to us younger people as a grand type of the sort of daughters with which the mothers of the Revolution blessed the world. She is, indeed, a mother in our Israel, " who loveth our nation and hath built us this syna- gogue," at least, by her instrumentality. It shall recall the children who loved their mother with a devotion as deserved as it is pleasant to see, and have remained loyal to their early home through decades of absence. Its mention shall bring to remem- brance the servant of God whose history has been so identified with this people that they are all his family, so that their joys and sorrows find an echo in his heart-just like a father's quick response to a child's emotions. Neither this generation nor the next will need any reminder to preserve the name and memory. It is inseparably as- sociated with the tenderest experiences of these families. But in the coming years, when Sanford Hall is venerable, linked with the name, parents shall repeat the tradition to their children that Goldsmith saw in prophetic vision our first village pastor, of whom he wrote in that inimitable poem :
" A man he was to all the country dear, And passing rich with forty pounds a year; His house was known to all the vagrant train; He chid their wanderings but relieved their pain; Pleased with his guests the good man learned to glow And quite forgot their vices in their wce; Careless their merits or their faults to scan His pity gave ere charity began. Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride,
And e'en his failings leaned to virtue's side;
'But in his duty prompt at every call, He watched and wept, he prayed and felt for all; And, as a bird each fond endearment tries To tempt its new fledged offspring to the skies, He tried each art, reproved each dull delay, Allured to brighter worlds, and led the way."
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Beneath us is another memorial. The Library, founded by the munificence of the late Dr. Dean, of Franklin.
What a monument to hold a memory ! Had the endowment been invested in mar- ble it would have raised a noble shaft. But every year the friction of the rain, and hail, and hurricane (those harpies of our climate), would have claimed their dividends till in the reach of ages all would at last have perished. This monument is growing statelier every day; like a living thing its wear and tear and wastes are constantly re- placed. It holds the secret of immortal youth. It was a rare bequest of one noted for shrewd investments.
The pleasant room above us has been called "Whiting Hall," in memory of one of our earliest families, whose descendants are still honored citizens. The name is now doubly identified with our public buildings. It underlies our church, and roofs this structure.
We value this building for its union of practical with memorial uses. With all its suggestions and hopeful possibilities we dedicate it to the uses of the present, to the demands of the future, conscious that it needs a future fully to utilize it. In the senti- ment of one of the trustees, we have built with fifty years in view. We shall be disappointed if in less than one-half that time the wonder will not long have ceased why the builders laid the scale so large. Our facilities for business will not always be overlooked, our capable water privilege will not always rest content with the sound of the grinding so low. When the cheerful hum of many spindles shall waken hope- ful echoes along our valley, when our many manufactories shall rival our neighbors on one side in caring for the head, on the other in caring for the feet, then this place of concourse will fully vindicate the foresight of the builders, and their generous and philanthropic policy, while embalming their memories, will stimulate their successors to like noble deeds.
The chairman then read various letters and called on gentlemen to re- spond to toasts which were given. The exercises of the evening closed by the audience singing "America," and as they retired the band played " Home, Sweet Home."
THE PARTRIDGE HALL. ERECTED IN IS76.
This building was located in the village of East Medway, giving ac- commodations for a residence, a store, the post-office, a public hall, and vari-
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ous ante-rooms. The builder and proprietor was Elijah Partridge, Esq. It was erected at a cost of about five thousand dollars, in the year of our NATIONAL CENTENNIAL.
THE FIRE DEPARTMENT. 1714-1885.
The early history of the Medway fire department is somewhat shrouded in obscurity, owing to its antiquity. The earliest records show that in 1714, Asahel Adams, Christian Pettibone, Claimwell Metcalf, and Justice John- ston were appointed fire watchers with the powers of " ye tithing man " to pro- vide buckets, hooks, and "ye climbing poles" for the extinguishment of fires. Their duties consisted in watching at night in the villages or from the top of the village hill for signs of fire, and the alarming of the inhabitants thereof. They had powers to enter any settler's barn and take his cattle or horses " for ye public weal," in case of fire.
About 1835 a fire-engine was brought to town by the cotton company, that then owned or run the " old white mill," which was torn down a few years ago to make room for the present Sanford Mills. A man named Mitchel, an Englishman, was clerk of this mill, and he seemed to have very decided ideas on fire matters. He purchased an engine, with buckets and tubes, for the protection of the mill and surroundings. He also caused to be constructed a lot of iron hooks on long poles, for pulling burning buildings to pieces, and was, in fact, the father of the present hook and ladder system.
The first regular suction-hose engine brought to the town was the old " Rapid engine," formerly belonging to Chelsea, which was purchased from Hunneman second hand. This old tub has a checkered record. From being champion of Chelsea, she took her place in Medway as the whole depart- ment, but in after years became the champion of the town, having wrested the honors from newer and younger sisters. She to-day is champion of hand- engines in the state of Maine, where she was sold when ungrateful Med- way traded her off for a brighter namesake. The younger Rapid, however, has not disgraced its predecessor, as it still holds to the title of champion of the town. The first movement looking towards a permanent fire department was in 1855, by the appointment of the following gentlemen as a board of engineers : The Hon. Milton M. Fisher, chief engineer ; William B. Boyd, first assistant ; David A. Cheever, clerk ; Samuel W. Metcalf, Addison P. Thayer, and Moses D. Richardson, engineers. November 6, 1855, this board adopted a code of regulations for the fire department, which was printed.
The department in 1885 consisted of six companies. The board of en- gineers comprises the following gentlemen, all of whom have served in the ranks, chosen May 1, 1884 : Albert W. Barton. chief; William Colvin, first assistant ; Oliver Clark, second assistant ; and M. A. Ware, clerk.
The foremen of the companies are as follows : Torrent, No. 1, West Med- way, W. J. Arbuckle ; Rapid, No. 2, C. P. Harding ; Union, No. 3, Rock- ville, J. H. Ingraham ; Niagara, No. 4, East Medway, Louis LaCroix ; Re- serve, No. 5, West Medway, S. J. Clarke ; General Taylor Volunteer Com- pany, West Medway, H. A. Woodman.
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In addition to the fire department, all the mills have force pumps, and in the Village the Sanford water works give additional security. Large reser- voirs have been constructed by the town at eligible points.
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THE TORRENT ENGINE HOUSE. ERECTED IN IS74.
THE TORRENT ENGINE COMPANY, NO. 1, WEST MEDWAY, numbers fifty men.
OFFICERS .- William J. Arbuckle, Captain ; Henry A. Bullard, Clerk.
EQUIPMENT .- 350 feet hose (good) ; 250 feet hose (fair) ; I pump ; 6 rubber coats ; 2 pair runners ; 5 belts with spanners ; 2 suction spanners ; 6 extra spanners ; 1 wrench ; 2 hose jackets ; 1 5-gallon oil can ; 2 axes ; 2 ladders ; 2 stoves ; I bar ; 3 lanterns ; 2 jacks.
THE RAPID ENGINE COMPANY, NO. 2, MEDWAY VILLAGE, has a vigor- ous organization of some fifty men.
OFFICERS .- C. P. Harding, Captain ; Hugh Kenney, First Assistant ; William Edwards, Second Assistant ; George A. Abbe, Treasurer ; Peter Phillips, Steward ; Joseph D. Clark, Clerk.
EQUIPMENT .- 600 feet hose (good) ; 200 fect hose (fair) ; 5 ladders ; 2 jacks ; 2 stoves ; 2 wrenches ; 2 pair runners ; 6 rubber coats ; 2 lanterns.
THE UNION ENGINE COMPANY, NO. 3, ROCKVILLE, was organized some years since, and although it has a small number of men, it is a well equipped and effective organization.
OFFICERS .- John H. Ingraham, Captain ; John II. Swarman, Steward ; A. S. Clark, Clerk ; ten men.
EQUIPMENT .- 250 feet rubber lined hose ; 100 feet linen hose ; 2 ladders ; 12 spanners ; I axe ; 1 wrench ; 1 stove; 1 brake; 3 lanterns ; 3 rubber coats.
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4
NIAGARA ENGINE HOUSE. ERECTED IN 1879.
THE NIAGARA ENGINE COMPANY, NO. 4, EAST MEDWAY, was organ- ized about 1857. Elihu S. Fuller, Esq., served as captain of the company for twenty-five years ; it embraced about forty men.
In 1879 the town granted $500 toward erecting a building for the ac- commodation of this fire company. The company and their friends pur- chased the site, put in the foundation, and furnished $175 toward the building, which cost $675.
Elijah Partridge, Esq., was the builder. Vid. Town Report of 1880. This company holds its annual meetings on the first day of May.
OFFICERS .- Louis LaCroix, Captain ; A. L. Ware, Esq., Clerk.
EQUIPMENT .- 300 feet hose (good) ; 200 feet hose (fair) ; 200 feet hose (poor) ; 2 stoves ; 4 lanterns ; 2 ladders ; 1 pump ; 5 rubber coats.
THE RESERVE ENGINE COMPANY, NO. 5, WEST MEDWAY, has no records prior to April 4, 1874. The officers at that date were George R. Drake, Captain ; George McIntosh, First Assistant; C. C. Lawrence, Second Assistant ; Lewis Goulding, Treasurer ; Stephen Vose, Steward ; Lewis Goulding, Clerk.
PRESENT OFFICERS. - Charles Gaines, Captain ; Matthew F. Desmond, First Assistant ; Joseph Fisk, Second Assistant ; Almond Smith, Treasurer ; William Russell, Steward ; Almond Smith, Clerk.
This company numbers forty-four men. Equipment : 150 feet hose (good) ; 550 feet hose (poor) ; runners for engine ; 2 stoves ; 2 ladders ; I jack ; 3 lanterns ; 2 belts and spanners ; 2 ladder hose straps.
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