USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Winthrop > The history of Winthrop, Massachusetts ; 1630-1952 > Part 17
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31
One of the chief troubles with the Winthrop schools in the seventies was overcrowding; no one questioned that but most citizens did not want to spend the money to build a new school. In 1872, J. B. Samuels prepared plans for a four room school to be built near the Town Hall above the circular pond then there. The cost was set at $10,564 but the project was abandoned be- cause of the expense.
That year, however, the town was willing to spend money on roads and it was ordered by Town Meeting that a new street should be built connecting Pleasant Street and Winthrop Street, the road being laid out in sweeping curves instead of in a straight line because such a street would be more attractive. The work was done under plans made by Whitman & Breck, an engineering firm, which has been succeeded by the present firm of Whitman and Howard-a firm which has served the Town well and faith- fully for nearly a century now.
This new street, which was eventually named Pauline Street, was built in the late summer and fall of 1872 and a human skele- ton was found at the point where the street and the Narrow Guage formerly intersected. The skeleton was in reasonably good condition and interest was added when the skeleton of a dog was found beneath that of the man. Experts came down from Harvard University and found that the bones were those of an Indian who had been buried there about 1550. Another skull
158
was found nearby. Similar skeletons had been found a bit earlier on the estate of Doctor Sam'l Ingalls and, also, previously men- tioned were the other skeletons found later at the Winthrop Center Station of the Narrow Guage.
While Winthrop was growing rapidly, it is still of interest to note that, in these seventies, Winthrop found much to boast about in the excellence of its agriculture. The Town was still a town of farmers apparently. In 1870 corn 10 feet four inches in height was measured and the potato crop that year, using the Early Rose variety, was found to be "The Best in Massachusetts" -on what authority is not stated. David Blaney gathered 440 bushels of potatoes from just two acres; most of the tubers weighed between a pound and a half and two pounds. The local farmers attributed their success to the fact that they still used kelp and rockweed for fertilizers just as Winthrop farmers al- ways did. As told in detail in the next chapter the seventies were the period when the horse-drawn stages were replaced first by the horse cars and then by the steam railroad which was eventually taken over by the Narrow Guage.
While Taft's has been frequently mentioned, perhaps it was not until the Seventies that the far-famed establishment reached the pinnacle of its glory. Old residents have spoken of the steady parade of glittering carriages and prancing horses which drove through Winthrop streets, to and from the Point, and there is an account of one August day, when a slick, white United States Revenue (Coast Guard) cutter dropped anchor off the Point and sent a party of 34 officers and their guests ashore to the Point Shirley Pier to dine at Taft's. The same day, a tug from the Boston Navy Yard brought down a party of 20 officers and their charming guests, while six handsome yachts also dropped anchor off the Point and their owners and guests swelled the assemblage eating at Taft's. Indeed, Taft's by this time was world-famed. Any gourmet who came to Boston felt obliged to visit Taft's; probably no other restaurant on the North Shore before or since enjoyed the reputation and prestige of the Point Shirley estab- lishment.
Probably few Winthrop people were in the custom of dining at Taft's frequently but everyone in town talked about the ex- travagant bill of fare. Really fantastic legends grew up; one of which was to the effect that Taft's boasted it could supply any guest with any item of food that might be desired. Certainly the 42 dining rooms and halls in the rambling building were served from a most elaborate kitchen, larder and cellar. A menu now in the collection of the Winthrop Public Library offers a most astonishing variety and abundance of foods. A visitor has recorded, according to a letter at the Library, that Taft gratified
159
his curiosity by taking him back stage and showing him 24 vari- eties of fish and 29 varieties of game. The list reads: turbot, deep sea flounder, Spanish mackerel, sea trout, rock bass, striped bass, black bass, blue fish, Mexican bonetta, mullet, weak fish, chicken halibut, black flounder, sand flounder, sole, plaice, smelts, rock cod, haddock, eels, paper shell clams, pearl shell clams, grass frogs and soft shelled crabs. The list of game: Illinois chicken grouse, chicken partridge, Erie black duck, Erie summer duck, Erie teal, woodcock, upland plover, dough birds, brant, Jersey willet, godwit, jack curlew, seckelbilled curlew, beetlehead plover, redheart plover, chicken plover, winter yellowlegs, sum- mer yellowlegs, brown backs, grass birds, jack snipe, sand snipe, rock snipe, peeps, humming birds (served in walnut shells), chickens, and beef (in all forms). This must have been a rather poor day in the Taft larder for menus which have been preserved show lobster, oysters, and the like, as well as turkey, goose, veni- son, moose, bear and other gamey meats. The vegetable list was probably not as exhaustive as that of modern hostelries because the nation had not then begun to grow winter vegetables in the South but certainly as far as sea food and game, both bird and animal went, Taft's had everything there was available.
Probably few alive in Winthrop can remember October 1, 1878, the day when George S. Taft, son of O. A. Taft, married Cara Mayo of Chelsea. The wedding reception was held at the hotel and it was probably the most brilliant affair ever held in Winthrop, at least as far as eatables and drinkables went. Taft had invited many of his favored clients and, with everything on the house, it is not likely that those fortunate enough to have an invitation sent regrets. More than 200 guests, including many notables from Boston, attended and dined and danced to the music of the Germania Band until an early hour. It is to be added that George S. Taft died September 19, 1884, six years later.
A picture of Winthrop in 1873 is given by some verses at- tributed to Dr. Sam'l Ingalls :
"We've schooners and sloops and flat boats and scows, Fishermen, lobsters, chickens and cows,
Men that kill snowbirds for the table at Taft's,
And hunt for wild geese in dories and rafts. Some that raise cabbages, turnips and peas,
Some live by their wits, some follow the seas, Judges and lawyers and clergymen too, And six hundred others, all good and true."
This same year, the political future of Winthrop was under discussion. At one town meeting the question was: Shall Win- throp join Middlesex County? At the second meeting the prob-
160
lem was: Shall Winthrop accept annexation to the City of Bos- ton? The Town enthusiastically rejected both. In 1874 the Winthrop schools served 123 scholars.
These seventies were also the period of an energetic real estate development at Ocean Spray. George Woodman of Boston had previously discovered the attractiveness of the beach and its little bluffs and had established what seems to have been a tent colony used by his family and some friends during the summers. In 1875 Dr. Sam'l Ingalls purchased the 43 acres originally owned by the Wheeler estate. The adjoining area, owned by Captain J. W. Tewksbury, was also, at the same time, divided up into cottage lots.
By June the sale was on and lots were bought and cottages built in a most pleasing manner. In 1876 the sales continued, as did the building of cottages and the new residents of the town invited everyone in town to a monster clambake to celebrate the first anniversary of the development. Reports indicate that "a most enjoyable time was had by all". The clambake became an annual custom and was continued for a number of years. In 1878 the development continued with unabated success and the Winthrop Brass Band, led by Albert W. Richardson, was en- gaged to play once a week for the pleasure of the summer colony. On the Fourth of July a noisy and brilliant celebration was staged under the direction of a committee composed of such men as Cap- tain Ryder, William A. Clisbee, Allen Atwood (who is said to have invented hamburg steak), Noah Little, and J. H. Jessup- who is the inventor of a candy package which enclosed a trifling prize to the delight of the children. The night was gay with fireworks. The first display came from Ocean Spray, then came bursts from Great Head, from Taft's down to the Point, from Nahant, and from the home of Benjamin Franklin Dean on Great Brewster and finally from the homes of Augustus Ross on Middle Brewster.
When August 29, 1878, came near, a strong committee was formed to organize the second clambake. By late afternoon a crowd estimated at 10,000 had gathered from all parts of Greater Boston, said to be the largest number of people ever assembled in Winthrop up to that time. After the clambake, all the houses at the Spray were illuminated with red and green lights and a huge calcium lamp spilled white light from a pole 60 feet high above the home of Alexander McDonald. The Winthrop Band gave a "grand concert" at the new bandstand and then paraded, tooting and pounding away with all its might, through the streets of the Spray. As an illustration of real estate publicity in those days, Dr. Ingalls, the promoter, published a piece in the East Boston Advocate in which he declared ". .. Just across the water
161
you can almost shake hands with Nahant, while your eye catches the smoke of the moving palaces"-presumably steamers. He added a description of yachts as ". .. white wings of the floating argosies of the bay and the spray that glistens in the sunshine over the Brewsters and the Graves".
It was at this time that a plan was launched to build the Point Shirley Ship Canal. James Alexander, local head of the Cunard Line, was back of the idea to cut a waterway through Point Shirley Beach right to the East Boston docks. The Boston Land Company, was another sponsor. Help was asked from the Legislature and a public hearing was held February 28, 1877. Plans called for a canal 250 feet wide to run in from deep water between Great Fawn Bar and Winthrop Bar, to cut through Point Shirley Beach just beyond the present Ridgeway House, and then, crossing the flats, between Apple and Snake Island, and over Bird Island flats into East Boston. This was before the present ship channel from the Graves in between Lovell's Island and Deer Island Light was dredged and some support was given the Point Shirley Canal. Eventually, the idea was abandoned.
In 1878, John Wingate Thornton, prominent genealogist and writer, died. He was the founder of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and built himself a large house at the South- east corner of Pleasant Street and Main Street, called by youth of the present day the ghost house, because it was so long un- occupied. About any old and empty house, stories are likely to accumulate. The house, long an eyesore, was finally torn down within the past few years to make room for the housing develop- ment now occupying the site and the adjacent area. Thornton gave his name to Thornton Station and to Thornton Park, when that former farm land was developed into house lots.
The summer of 1878 was also important as marking the beginning of the development of Great Head into house lots. The roomy period the Tewksbury family had so long enjoyed had ended, once the railroad reached the Head. A tent city sprung up around the Tewksbury houses and cottages were built, in in- creasing numbers as the years went along. Indeed, the name of Cottage Hill was given to what had always been called Great Head.
The winter of 1879 brought the deaths of several prominent Winthrop people. The first was Captain Haskell P. Higgins, aged 68. He had been a prominent mariner for many years. Next was Jeremiah Glidden, a prominent cattle dealer and the oldest member of Saint Andrew Lodge, AF and AM. Then Lucinda H. Newcomb passed away, followed by Edward Floyd, usually known as Squire Floyd. He had filled every town office
162
and was honored and respected by the entire town. He was the father of Amanda Floyd, who recently died at her well known house on Main Street at the foot of Hermon Street. Nathaniel Wales died in March. At his services at the Baptist Church, his sister, a Miss Wales, passed away while two days later, another sister, Mrs. Sarah Tewksbury, died.
On March 20, 1879, the first of what has proved to be a series of major fires destroyed Ford's Hotel at the Beach. Win- throp did not have a fire department at the time and the host of volunteers who hopelessly fought the hotel fire and barely man- aged to save an adjacent livery stable, pointed the need for an organized department. Several other hotels at the Beach burned during subsequent years until most of what was a remarkable series of large summer hotels were destroyed by fire. Winthrop Beach came to be considered the danger spot of the town.
During the summer of 1879, on July 16, a species of tornado, or at least a very severe thunder and lightning tempest, caused havoc in Winthrop. The storm was featured by a heavy fall of hailstones and by vivid and continuous flashes of lightning while the thunder boomed almost continuously. The wind reached a force estimated to be in excess of 60 miles an hour-only a little short of a hurricane. A house at Point Shirley was blown down and its occupants, the Delaney family, were sheltered for the night by Miss Mollie Haggerston, now Mrs. Mollie Lougee. Chim- neys at the Shirley House were blown over and the tent village at Great Head was destroyed as all the tents were blown away. The Emerson estate lost many of its fine trees and the town as a whole suffered similarly. Shipping all over the harbor was badly hit and more than 20 persons were drowned.
That same summer, a public hall for "religious and social purposes" was built at the Beach and the new pavilion was dedi- cated with a church service conducted by Reverend T. H. Good- win, pastor of the Baptist Church. The pavilion, which was on Tewksbury Street, was built by Captain Charles S. Tewksbury. The Winthrop branch post office reported that in July, 1879, 5604 letters and 2187 newspapers went through its windows.
That year also saw the construction of St. Leonard's Hotel on Sturgis Street, now the New Winthrop Hotel. The lumber, salvaged from the Boston Coliseum, was lightered down the har- bor from Boston.
The Eighties opened with a demand for adequate school buildings. The Point, with but 11 pupils, was not overcrowded but the Center was very much so, and had been that way for years. Reverend Leonard P. Frost was chosen as principal of the High School, probably the most beloved teacher in Win- throp's annals. He was sufficiently strict and yet kindly, exem-
163
plifying that divine spark of fire which marks the difference between a real teacher and a drudge. How vividly he impressed himself upon his pupils, and how real the affection expressed for him was, is shown by the foundation of the Frost Association by his pupils. For many years, these pupils have held an annual meeting of the Frost Association although the number has dwindled and dwindled until only a handful now remain. Frost's portrait hangs now in the Winthrop High School, the genius of Winthrop's educational system.
Finally the Town Meeting bowed to the inevitable and agreed to build a new school. The building was completed for the fall term of 1881, a four-room grammar school which cost the tax-payers $5,963.43, less than half of what it costs to build a very small private residence in town at the present time. The site was that of the present E. B. Newton School.
When the foundation was dug, additional Indian relics were discovered, some of which were removed privately and have been lost. Others have been preserved. Evidently, although proof is still not definite, the area was once an Indian village.
The year 1881 brought the death of George B. Emerson, one of Winthrop's most distinguished citizens. He was a leader in the establishment of the State Board of Education, which made it possible for Horace Mann, the great educator, to accomplish so very much. Emerson was, of course, a teacher in his own right, being for a time principal of a high school at Boston, but his interests ranged far beyond the classroom. He was the presi- dent of the Boston Society of Natural History and, of his various books, one of the more valuable to most people was his "Report on the Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts."
His horticultural interests were expressed not only in this book and in his work as a trustee of the famed Arnold Arbore- tum, but also in the devotion with which he planted his Win- throp estate. It is said he set out more than 1500 trees of various species and varieties, many of which he imported from North- ern Europe. The site of his house, at a point between the present Emerson Road, Birch Road and Loring Road, is said to be marked by a large tulip tree which he planted. He had a long driveway, reaching out to Pleasant Street, which he planted with parallel rows of specially selected trees. On his estate also were seven large native willows, mostly in a damp hollow towards the har- bor side. One of these, until it fell before the axes of house builders, was known as the "Love Making Tree" from the fact that his daughter, Lucy, was courted by her future husband, Judge John Lowell, amid the branches of the tree. Lest it be considered unbecoming for a maiden in that period to climb trees (probably none ever did, publicly) it should be explained that
164
Emerson had built a platform up in the giant branches of the Willow, a platform reached by a perfectly proper flight of stairs. Emerson also experimented with the Scotch or red pine as suit- able for naturalization in New England. Many thousands of them are now growing in various sections. The writer does not know if any of the Scotch pines planted by Emerson still remain; they would be very old trees now if so. However, the planting of this valuable timber tree in New England can be credited to Emerson certainly.
In this connection it may be of interest to note that on January 8, 1881, a group of gardeners met at the Town Hall and formed the Winthrop Horticultural, Agricultural and Floricul- tural Society. Washburn Weston was president, Samuel Ingalls and Thomas Floyd were vice presidents, David Floyd 2nd, was secretary and Isaac C. Hall the treasurer. Despite the ambitious aims indicated by the organization's name, little was accom- plished-at least no records have been discovered.
This same year of 1881 also ended the career of another great man who had been associated with Winthrop for some years, Father James Fitton, who died September 15. Father Fitton first became a part of Winthrop's life in the days of the Point Shirley Copper Works when he established a Catholic chapel on Triton Avenue and each Sunday drove down to cele- brate the Mass. When the copper works closed down in 1869, the chapel was moved to East Boston but Father Fitton's piety, un- selfish devotion and sterling character had so impressed the people of Winthrop that, when he celebrated his golden jubilee, December 23, 1877, many Winthrop citizens joined in the ob- servance.
The next year, 1882, was remarkable for two things: First, it marked the first attempt to make it legal to sell liquor in town. Then, as for many years thereafter, East Boston was the nearest oasis for the thirsty who could not see why they should be com- pelled to travel so far for a bit of refreshment. In the March Town Meeting several long and impassioned as well as logical speeches were made in favor of license but Winthrop was sternly set against granting the desired privilege. The vote was 96 to 2. Second, that year Winthrop was given its first newspaper when on May 27, 1882, the Beachmont and Winthrop Visitor and Revere Beach Chronicle was published. This paper eventually became the Winthrop Sun, which has continued publication with- out a break. Other papers have been the Winthrop Review, and the present Winthrop Transcript.
In education, 1882 was also of importance in that it brought the first graduation from the Winthrop High School. Indeed this was a busy year for it also brought the formation of other
165
organizations. The Winthrop Yacht Club came into being, being led by such yachtsmen as George Tyler, Charles Chamberlain, Isaiah Whorf and Captain Willie Floyd. Yachts in this club in- cluded such sloops as the Idler, Ella May, Nellie G. and the Ino.
This year, too, the Winthrop Baseball Association was formed-the game was just becoming popular-and the first game was played with Chelsea. Of interest is the fact that the ball game was preceded by a track meet. Chelsea won the ball game, 13 to 8, and then in the evening fireworks were exhibited. It was a great day for picnics while many Winthrop homes enter- tained friends. Taft's, it is recorded, was host to something like the occupants of 1500 horse-drawn vehicles of one kind or an- other. Taft is reported to have cooked more than 1,000 game birds that single day.
This same year brought great activity all along the Beach. Many celebrities, as well as the near great and just plain people, enjoyed the proximity to the waves and the ocean breezes. Nat Goodwin, a famous actor at the time, spent his summers at Ocean Spray for many years.
Soon after July first every available cottage was occupied and the hotels were comfortably filled from then on until Labor Day. The St. Leonard, operated by J. E. Gove, was host to hundreds, as was Ford's Hotel, operated by Mrs. A. W. Cotton. The Shirley House, on the Shore Drive, was operated by Mrs. J. P. Howard. Great Head that year had comparatively few houses on its sides but most of the grassy area was crowded with tents in which families spent the summer, apparently with pleasure.
The next year, 1883, brought the first known baseball game between Winthrop High School and an outside team. Chelsea High sent its team to Winthrop and went home, beaten 12 to 4. On July 31 of that year, Winthrop had one of its very few mur- ders. The body of Mary Phal, a "girl", was found under the trestle of the railroad skirting Great Head's ocean exposure. Three men and a girl had been seen walking out on the trestle late the night before but the identity of the men was never learned and the murder was never solved.
Taft at this time was at about the pinnacle of triumph. On August 17 his guests at a special banquet sat down at 2:45 and did not leave the table until 7:30 in the evening. Taft distin- guished himself by offering to pay $1,000 to anyone present who could name one edible bird found in North America, a specimen of which he could not instantly produce. No one claimed the prize. For souvenirs, Taft presented his guests with humming birds cooked and packed in walnut shells.
In 1884, the Broad Gauge Railroad having ceased operations, a move was launched to make its right of way a boulevard all
166
along Winthrop Beach to Great Head. The Town Meeting agreed and so did the County Commissioners and so the road from Revere ran unbroken right along the Beach to the beginning of Great Head.
This year, 1884, also brought the purchase of the property of the Revere Water Company's property in Winthrop by the Town and by November many citizens had water piped into their homes-thus beginning the present town water system which has been operated so efficiently ever since.
Just as 1884 opened, Winthrop people were delighted at the completion of the bridge from the foot of Washington Avenue to the Winthrop Beach railroad station across the outlet of the present Lewis Lake. This was a great convenience for many because, before the bridge was built, it was necessary to walk all around town via Magee's Corner and Shirley Street to reach the Beach and Great Head. Richard Shackford was the con- tractor concerned. Today, with the road filled in solidly, save for a culvert, many people fail to realize that the distance from River Road to the site of the former railroad station was once open water and then spanned by a bridge.
Towards the end of 1884, Winthrop was amazed at the report that a human skeleton had been found buried at the foot of Woodside Avenue. Investigation disclosed, however, that no murder was involved for the bones had probably belonged to one Thomas Dwife, a British marine killed in the battle at Shirley Gut when Captain Mugford beat off a British attempt to capture his stranded schooner, the Franklin. The British soldier's body had drifted ashore at the foot of Woodside Avenue and had been buried where it was discovered. Identification was made by the presence of a bronze badge with the British coat of arms-a sort of buckle or fastener employed as part of the uniform belt Bri- tish marines then wore.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.