USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The memorial history of Boston : including Suffolk County, Massachusetts, 1630-1880, Vol. III > Part 78
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The Brighton Avenue Baptist Church, in Union Square, was organized Dec. 2, 1853. Its corner-stone was laid Sept. 11, 1855 ; services were first held in its vestry in January, 1856, and it was dedicated Feb. 10, 1857.3
The First Universalist church, in Cambridge Street near Union Square, was organized June 12, 1860. Its chapel was dedicated Aug. 7, 1861.4
Services of the Protestant Episcopal Church were first held in Brighton town hall, Sept. 10, 1854, by the Rev. Cyrus F. Knight. They were con- tinued by lay readers and neighboring clergymen until the church of the Epiphany was organized, Jan. 8, 1863, with David Greene Haskins as rector. A church edifice was erected on Washington Street, corner of Church Street, in which services were first held, Sept. 1, 1864. This property was sold in 1872, and a new parish, Saint Margaret's, organized ; Charles A. Holbrook being rector. He was succeeded by Thomas Cole. Its present rector is Augustus Prime.
The Methodist Episcopal church, on the corner of Farrington and Har- vard avenues, the seventh and last established in Brighton, was organized March 24, 1872, and the corner-stone of its edifice was laid on Christmas day, 1876. During its erection the society worshipped in the Universalist church.5
Besides the original school-house of 1722, there was, prior to the year 1800, a second on the west corner of Cambridge and North Harvard streets, which was removed about 1830. The teachers of these early public schools, as well as of the private schools with which the town has always been well provided, were very generally supplied, as was the pulpit here, from those who were in some way associated with the neighboring college. The district
1 [The succession of the pastors is given in Dr. Tarbox's chapter on " Congregational (Trin- itarian) Churches " in this volume .- ED.]
2 [See the chapter on "The Roman Catholic Church."-ED.]
8 Its pastors have been : J. M. Graves (Feb. 1, 1854-Jan. 1, 1856; died Jan. 15, IS79, aged 76) ; J. M. Benham (July 28, 1856-Sept. 1, 1857) ; J. W. Parker (Nov. 1, 1857-July 1, 1859) ; S. M. Stimson (Aug. 7, 1859-June 1, 1861) ; Ralph II.
Bowles (Aug. 23, IS61-Jan. 1, 1867) ; William R. Thompson (Aug. 6, 1868-Aug. 31, 1871) ; F. E. Tower (Jan. 1, 1872 - ).
4 [For the succession of pastors in this church sec Dr. Miner's chapter on "The Cen- tury of Universalism " in this volume .- ED.]
$ Its ministers have been : John P. Otis (1872-74); Willard Taylor Perrin (IS74-76) ; William G. Richardson (1876-79); W. H. Hatch (1879-80) ; W. G. Leonard (ISSo - ).
606
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
system of schools was superseded here by the graded system soon after its adoption by Cambridge in 1834. A school similar in character to a high school, established by a private corporation on Academy Hill, was kept here in 1839 and 1840 by Josiah Rutter. This was superseded by the pub- lic high school kept in the same building, and taught by John Ruggles from 1841 to 1859. Upon the excellent foundation laid by the ripe scholar- ship and wide experience of Mr. Ruggles, a flourishing institution has been reared.1 A liberal support was accorded to her schools after the incorpora- tion of the town; and in the years 1842 and 1843 she stood first among the citics and towns of the Commonwealth in the pro rata appropriation for each pupil. Two of Brighton's largest school-houses, the Allston and the Bennett schools, are among the finest in the city. The land upon which the latter stands, on Agricultural Hill, was given to the town in 1861 by Stephen H. Bennett.
The private schools of Brighton are often referred to in records of the last century. James, son of Caleb Dana, taught a well-remembered school for boys and girls at the beginning of the century in the old Dana mansion on Washington near Allston streets. Jacob Knapp, a graduate of Harvard in 1802, taught for several years, at his house on Bowen's Hill, a classical school of much repute for boys. Hosea Hildreth, a graduate of 1805, taught a private school, and also gave instruction in singing and music. Major Thomas Hovey, a soldier of the Revolution, - still remembered in tradition, -J. F. Durivage, Teacher Miles, and Jonas Wilder taught private schools here more than fifty years ago. Professor Henry W. Torrey, of Harvard Univer- sity, and several others, while undergraduates, taught in the public schools at different periods. Until 1795 the schools were generally under the charge of the selectmen of Cambridge. At that time they came under the control of a committee of six, chosen to superintend them and "to carry into effect the School Act." The Rev. John Foster and Jonathan Winship represented Brighton upon this committee. In 1820 there were three public schools in the town, having an attendance of one hundred and seventy children out of two hundred and thirty-three of a suitable age; in 1846 the pupils num- bered four hundred.
As early as 1824, when there were as yet few public libraries in the State, the Brighton Social Library was formed by an association of citizens. This institution was in 1858 merged in the Brighton Library Association, incorporated by the legislature for the circulation of books, for public lec- tures, and for exercises in debate, declamation, and composition. In 1863 Mr. James Holton left a bequest for a public town-library, the provisions of which were fulfilled in 1864 by the election of trustees and the organization of the Holton Public Library. When Brighton was annexed, in 1874, the imposing library building of brick and freestone, on Rockland Strect, be- gun by the town, was completed by the city at a cost of seventy thousand
1 When he retired, in 1859, a festival in his
preciation in which he was held by his numerous honor, and a service of silver, testified to the ap- friends and pupils.
607
BRIGHTON IN THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS.
dollars, and was dedicated, Oct. 29, 1875, as a branch of the Public Library of Boston.1
Until the establishment of a post-office in Brighton, in 1817, the people of the town were compelled to go over the river to Cambridge for postal service. The Rev. Noah Worcester, D.D., the first postmaster of the town, was commissioned Feb. 3, 1817, and held the office, assisted by a daughter, until age and infirmity obliged him to resign. He had been a citizen of Brighton, which he had several times represented in the State Legislature, from 1813 till his death, Oct. 31, 1837, aged seventy-nine. For some years he edited in Boston The Christian Disciple, subsequently entitled The Friend of Peace, of which cause he was commonly called the " Apostle." He was the intimate friend and associate of William Ellery Channing, and was emi- nent as a thinker and writer on theological and philanthropic subjects. His successors in the office have been J. B. Mason ( 1837-43), William War- ren (1843-57), Timothy Munroe (1857-61), and John F. Day (1861-64), a soldier of the Republic who died of starvation in the rebel prison at Millen, Ga., in October, 1864. His widow, commissioned in 1865, has since had charge of the office. A second post-office, discontinued since annexation, was established in 1868 in the eastern part of Brighton, at the point where the Boston and Albany Railroad crosses Cambridge Street, formerly known as Cambridge Crossing. A new station-house was erected here by that corporation, and named Allston, - a designation which still attaches to this section of the city.
About the year 1810, the brothers Jonathan and Francis Winship began in a small way, on Washington Street, opposite their mansion-house, the trade in seeds and flowers, trees and fruits, which has since become so im- portant a feature in the business of the town. These pioneers have been followed by Joseph Breck & Son, William C. Strong, and many others who have pursued the same healthful and attractive industry. The cultivation of the strawberry has long been a specialty here, - two noted varieties, the Brighton Pine and the Scott's Seedling, having originated in this town. Be- sides the' large area occupied for nurseries in Brighton, about two hundred acres are devoted to market gardening.
The cattle business of Brighton, which dates from the occupation of Cam- bridge by Washington's forces in 1775, was established by Jonathan Winship, builder of the Winship mansion, a fine old residence of the last century still standing. Cattle were formerly driven from great distances to the Brighton market, and the sales were even then very large, as many as 5,000 beef- cattle being sold and slaughtered in a single week. In 1840 the sales amounted to $2,449,231. Before the day of railroads and the development of Chicago as a rival, most of the Brighton beef was put up in barrels and salted. The running of the Boston and Albany Railroad through the centre
1 [A pamphlet giving an account of the dedi- historical address by the Rev. Frederick A. catory services was issued by the city, with an Whitney. -- ED.]
608
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
of this district was the beginning of an era of more spcedy and com- fortable conveyance, and it at once largely increased the quantity of live- stock brought to market. As much as $2,000,000 per annum has been received by this road for the transportation of cattle, and it has recently ex- pended large sums in increasing its facilities for this important business. For the ycar 1880, Brighton's receipts of live stock were, - cattle 229,894; sheep and lambs, 470,449; calves, 25,951 ; hogs, 751,198. The number of cattle slaughtered was 84,487; sheep, 307,126; calves, 13,434. This traffic,
THE WINSHIP MANSION.1
of which she once had a monopoly, is now shared with Watertown and North Cambridge. The establishment and successful operation of the ab- attoir has completely revolutionized this business. By an act of the Mas- sachusetts Legislature, approved June 26, 1870, the Butchers' Slaughtering and Melting Association in Brighton was incorporated, with a capital of $200,000, for bringing the business of slaughtering, melting, and rendering under one general management. A tract of sixty acres of dry and sandy soil lying on the Charles River in the southwest part of the town, equally accessible to this and the Watertown market, was purchased. The work of building, grading, and constructing was begun in 1872, under the sanction
1 The Winship house, a mansion of consider- able importance in its day, was erected in 1780 by Jonathan Winship, a farmer who cultivated a large tract of land in its vicinity, and who died Oct. 3, 1784, aged 65. He was a descendant of Lieutenant Edward Winship (he wrote it Win- shipp) who is found in Cambridge in 1635,
where he was an active and energetic citizen. Its next occupant was Jonathan Winship, Jr, who also carried on the farm. He contracted for the supply of beef to the French fleet that visited Boston shortly after the Revolutionary War. The building at the right of the picture was used by him as a store.
609
BRIGHTON IN THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS.
of the State Board of Health, and business began in June, 1873. The in- vestment in this enterprise of half a million dollars, enabling its projectors to improve in some respects upon the best foreign models, has completely transformed what was once a most repulsive business and a nuisance to everybody. Private slaughtering is prohibited in any section of the ward under heavy penalties. The grounds of the Association are bounded by Market Street and by Winship Avenue, with a frontage of about a thou- sand feet on Charles River, by which sloops and schooners approach the wharves which have been constructed on the territory. A branch of the Boston and Albany Railroad enters the enclosure.
An annual cattle-show and exhibition of domestic manufactures and agri- cultural products was established here in June, 1818, by the Massachusetts Agricultural Society. Suitable buildings were erected on Winship Placc, Agricultural Hill. The fair was held in the month of October, and an annual address, together with a public dinner, ploughing matches, and various other exercises made the occasion one of great interest and enjoyment. Since the establishment of the numerous county agricultural societies through- out Massachusetts, this State exhibition has been abandoned. Agricultu- ral Hall, the large building in which were held the indoor festivities of the Brighton Fair, now does duty as a hotel on the corner of Chestnut-Hill Avenue and Washington Street. The Cattle-Fair Hotel Corporation, estab- lished in 1830, erected in that year their large and handsome building on Market Square.
The first burial-ground in Brighton was laid out in Market Street, near the old meeting-house, in 1764, - that of old Cambridge, opposite the College, dating from 1635. This sufficed for the town until 1850, when it purchased the beautiful, well-wooded tract of fourteen acres on South Street, known as the Aspinwall Woods. The grounds were tastefully laid out and orna- mented, and Evergreen Cemetery was publicly consecrated Aug. 7, 1850. Its Egyptian gateway was modelled after the first in Mount Auburn, and is appropriately inscribed. The monument of Holton, founder of the public library, and many other memorials of the dead are here, and it is daily becoming more and more attractive to the living.
At a town-meeting held April 24, 1865, only a few days after the surren- der of Lee, it was voted to erect a monument to the Brighton soldiers who had fallen in the war. A committee was appointed to raise the money by voluntary subscriptions from cach adult, and from each of the school chil- dren in the town. The soldiers' monument in Evergreen Cemetery, one of the first erected in the State, was dedicated July 26, 1866, in the presence of Brighton's surviving soldiers. An address was made by Mr. Bickford, chairman of the selectmen, the Rev. Frederic A. Whitney delivered the oration, prayer was offered by the Rev. Ralph H. Bowles, and original hymns by Anna H. Phillips and Dr. Augustus Mason were sung. The monument is of Quincy granite, and is thirty feet in height. Upon a
VOL. 111 .- 77.
610
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
square base is placed a pyramidal plinth with inscriptions and names on all sides. Above this is a square shaft with moulded basc and capital, upon the top of which is an eagle resting upon a ball. The die of the shaft is decorated with a shield, with stars and flags.
Among the noted men of Brighton not previously mentioned are: Daniel Bowen, who opened the first museum in Boston in 1791, owner of the fine old mansion on Bowen Hill, where he carried on the art of printing as early as 1802; Colonel Isaac Munroe, born 'here April 26, 1783, founder and editor of the Baltimore Patriot, eminent in character as in journalism, and who died Dec. 21, 1859; Rev. Titus Strong, D.D., author of many educa- tional and theological works, forty years rector in Greenfield, Massachu- setts, born in Brighton, Jan. 28, 1787; died June 11, 1855; Hon. Joseph Adams Pond, who died president of the Massachusetts Senate, Oct. 28, 1867, at the early age of forty; and Hon. Joseph Breck, florist and horticulturist, president of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and a State Senator, who died June 14, 1873, aged 78.
In 1688 Brighton's population consisted of twenty-eight families and thirty-five ratable polls. Her numbers at other periods have been as follows :
1749 . . 290 1840 . . 1425 1870 . . 4967
1777 . . 326 1850 . . 2356 1875 . . 6200 1810 . . 608
1860 . . 3375 1880 . . 6693
1830 . . 972 1865 . . 3859
Her valuation in 1865 was $3,812,694 ; in 1873, $14,548,531,-nearly four times as large. In 1865 the amount of capital invested in the three princi- pal industries of Brighton was $390,942.
Besides the advantages she enjoys in common with the rest of the metropolis, Brighton is said to take the lead of every other town in the Commonwealth in the character of her roads, over which there is constant pleasure travel from Boston proper. . Especially is this the case with the beautiful avenue surrounding the Cochituate Water Works at the Chestnut- Hill Reservoir; and since the elimination of the unpleasant slaughter-house odors that once pervaded her precincts, Brighton's many natural advan- tages and picturesque situations have made her generally known as one of the most attractive and desirable portions of the city for residences.
Francis & Drake
CHAPTER XIX.
CHELSEA, REVERE, AND WINTHROP, FROM THE CLOSE OF THE PROVINCIAL PERIOD.
BY MELLEN CHAMBERLAIN, Librarian of the Boston Public Library.
T "HE first volume of the Town Records of Chelsea ends with the year 1775, and the second opens with a transcript of the Declaration of Independence and the appended order of the Council, dated July 17, 1776, in which it was directed that the document should be printed and a copy sent to the ministers of each parish of every denomination within the State, to be read to their respective congregations at the close of divine service on the afternoon of the first Lord's day after its receipt, and thereafter to be delivered to the town clerk for record in the Town's Book, there to remain as a perpetual memorial. This record is followed, however, by several entries of an earlier date : -
" March 25, 1776. Voted, to choose a committee to estimate the damages the town, or any particular person or persons, hath sustained by the king's troops, or by part of the Continental army being stationed in said town.
"June 3, 1776. Voted, to instruct their representative, according to a Resolve of the House passed May roth, that if the Honorable Congress should, for the safety of the said Colonies, declare them independent of the kingdom of Great Britain, they, the said inhabitants, will solemnly engage with their lives and fortunes to support them in the measure.
" Nov. 25. Voted, that they would not give their consent that the present House of Representatives of this State, together with the Council, should not 1 enact any form of government for this State. Also, voted, that they would choose a member for that business."
At this period, and for many years later, the principal settlement at Chelsea was within the present limits of Revere; and Winnisimmet and Pulling Point, as outlying districts, were obliged to clamor for their share of the public money. They were heard at the town-meeting, March 18, 1777, when it was -
1 The patriotic and wise spirit of Phillips the Chelsea town records ; but apparently they were seldom reduced to writing by himself.
l'ayson is discernible in many votes entered on
612
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
" Voted, That the school be kept in the Body of the Town ye whole of this present year. Voted, to allow Winnisimet and Pulling Point their proportionable part of the school money this present year, provided they lay it out in schooling of their Chil- dren, and that their proportion of money be drafted out of the Town's Treasury for the abov-said purpose."
The following votes, selected from many similar to be found in the Town Records, show that the inhabitants of Chelsea, during the Revolutionary period, were not without their share in the common anxiety, distress, and sacrifices : -
" May 26, 1777. Voted, no person be allowed to sell any sheep's wool out of the town till the inhabitants of the town be supplied with wool both for their own use and for the use of the soldiers.
" March 30, 1778. Voted, not to allow of an Inoculating Hospital for the small- pox to be set up in any house in the town of Chelsea.
" April 2, 1778. Voted, to draw money out of the town's treasury for to procure shirts, stockings, and shoes for the use and benefit of the town's quota of soldiers who are inlisted in the Continental army for three years, or during the war ; and that each soldier be furnished with one shirt, one pair of stockings, and one pair of shoes, it being agreeable to a Resolve of the General Court of this State.
" The constitution and form of government for the State of Massachusetts agreed upon by the Convention of said State, Feb. 28, 1778, was read at this town-meeting for the town's consideration, to be acted upon at some future meeting." And, " May 29, the vote was called to see if the town would act upon the constitution and form of government ; and the town voted by yeas and nays, and the vote passed in the nega- tive by a great majority of the voters present.
" April 8, 1778. Voted, to have a sinoke-house, or room to smoke persons in, at Winnisimmet Ferry, in order to prevent any person or persons coming out of the town of Boston from spreading the small-pox in any town in the country.
" Voted, not to be at any cost or charge to hire any person or persons to tend said smoke-house.
" Sept. 28, 1778. Voted, to give Lieut. Silas Clark the sum of eighty pounds, as a present in time past, for the support of his family, as a Continental officer in the army, considering the extraordinary price of the necessaries of life.
" Voted, to choose a committee of three persons to apply to the Great and Gen- eral Court to get an abatement of Chelsea's State tax."
But notwithstanding their distress they voted, Dec. 17, 1778, to give to the Rev. Mr. Phillips Payson the sum of six hundred pounds lawful money, as a consideration for his support on account of the extraordinary prices of the necessaries of life. This vote called forth an affectionate and touching letter from their beloved pastor, which is entered on the records of the town.
The formation of a State constitution engaged a share of their attention ; and they voted, Aug. 2, 1779, and chose Captain Jonathan Green " a delegate to meet at Cambridge, the first day of September next, in order to frame a constitution, or form of government, agreeably to a resolve of the General
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CHELSEA, REVERE, AND WINTHROP, ETC.
Court the fifteenth of June last past; " and at the same meeting they chose Lieutenant Thomas Pratt, Samuel Sprague, and Joseph Green as a com- mittee to instruct the town's delegate to the convention. It was also voted, " that the committee of correspondence take care that the Articles of Con- vention [respecting Burgoyne's army] be strictly complied with."
When the draft of the Constitution was laid before the people, May 9, 1780, a committee, of which Rev. Phillips Payson was chairman, was chosen to consider the same and " make remarks." June i the town met, accord- ing to the adjournment, and took up the business of the warrant: -
"Then voted to accept of the Declaration of Rights by yeas and nays, - eleven yeas and one nay ; with this amendment, -p. 12, article 16, add : ' But as its frce- dom is not such as'to exempt the printer or printers from being answerable for false, de- famatory, and abusive publication.' Voted, to accept the name of this Commonwealth, -Massachusetts. Voted, to accept the form of government with the amendment, by yeas and nays, - cleven yeas and one nay. Alterations and corrections in the form of govern- ment : First, that all shall be voters for a Representative, Senators, Governor, etc., that pay taxes and are twenty-one years of age. Secondly, that the words 'order' and 'direct,' in the paragraphs respecting the Governor and Council, be changed for the words ' consult ' and ' advise.' Thirdly, that the scheme of rotation be adopted in the prin- cipal department of government. Fourthly, that the clergy be exempted from all offices in the civil department. Fifthly, that in page 18, 1. 24, the words ' at the least ' be blotted out. Sixthly, that in page 22, add at the bottom, 'excepting vacancies by the choice of councillors.' Seventhly, that no person shall be a member of Congress for this State unless he possesses a right of freehold, an estate sufficient to qualify him for a seat in the Senate double to a Senator. Eighthly, in page twenty, add, 'or in the town clerk's absence, in the presence of the selectmen only.' Voted, if our dele- gate, Capt. Jonathan Green, shall not be able to procure these alterations and correc- tions, we leave it to his option to vote in Convention, by the best of his judgment, either for or against [the] frame of Government that shall be finally obtained in the honorable Convention, without referring of it again to the people at large."
At the town-meeting, Sept. 4, 1780, called to elect officers for the new government, twenty votes were cast for John Hancock for governor, and one for James Bowdoin. Benjamin Greenleaf had nineteen votes for the office of lieut .- governor. Jonathan Green was the first representative to the General Court under the Constitution.
But a change in the form of government did not bring about a change in the circumstances of the people. The war continued, and it is piteous to read the almost frantic, and sometimes ludicrous, efforts made by the town to fill their quota. Some of the votes are as follows : -
"Jan. 4, 1781. Voted, raised, and granted the sum of twenty thousand pounds, to be assessed on the polls and estates in the town of Chelsea, for the purchase of beef for the army, agreeably to a Resolve of the General Assembly of this State.
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