USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Walpole > The story of Walpole, 1724-1924; a narrative history prepared under authority of the town and direction of the Historical Committee of Bi-Centennial > Part 13
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THE LIEUTENANT WILLIAM BACON HOUSE, Neponset Street, South Walpole (about 1760)
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reaching Providence at 4.30 via Walpole and Wrentham. The reverse trips were the same, save that the second coach left at 10 a. m. Fare $2.50.
The running time over the pike, an average of 7 miles an hour, was exceptionally fast. Capt. Basil Hall, R. N., a distinguished British naval officer who traveled in America in 1827-28, made the trip over this route, and speaks of it as being "considerably the quickest rate of travelling we met with any where in America." 1
But speedy as this was, at one period the speed craze became such a vogue that the Citizen's company put on some very light coaches with fast horses, called the Pioneer Line, and covered the distance in three and a half hours .?
General Lafayette, when he visited America in August, 1824, made use of the turnpike route to Boston. The start from Providence was late, and it was after 9 at night 3 when his carriage drove up to Fuller's Tavern at South Walpole. The General alighted and passed into the tavern for refreshment.
A crowd had been waiting there to catch a glimpse of the old hero. In its ranks was Holland Wood, who had fought under Lafayette in the Revolution. And when the General
1 Hall's Travels. 2 Ded. Hist. Reg., I, 116.
3 Boston Globe, Dec. 9, 1906.
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came out and passed to his carriage between lines of spectators, it is told that he recognized the veteran artillerist and warmly grasped his hand.1
Proceeding northward, Lafayette and his escort came in a short time to the East Walpole tavern of David Morse, which stood on the site of present library and hospital of Bird & Son, Inc. When the tavern was built has yet to be determined. Tradition has it that some part of it was there more than 200 years ago; but tradition, though usually interesting, is often inaccurate.
Whatever the truth, the tavern certainly was there from early turnpike days, and was open for business in 1824 when Lafayette came through. The story runs that the distinguished visitor stopped off long enough to sample Morse's rum. 2
In its later days the tavern was not a very imposing affair, but is said to have boasted two large wings at one time. The truth probably is that in most of its lifetime as a public house it was more a roadside grogshop than a bustling hostelry. 3 At one corner was a store in which the neighbors were served with rum at four cents a drink, while the ordinary traveler on the turn-
1 Reminiscences of James Hartshorn Mss. of G. A. Plimpton.
? Recollections of late Geo. W. Lewis. Mss. Harry A. Whiting. ' Boston Globe, Nov. 26, 1903.
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OLD BLACKSMITH SHOP AT EAST WALPOLE. Built before the Revolutionary War
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OLD MORSE TAVERN At East Walpole where Lafayette stopped in 1824. On site now occupied by Bird & Son Library and offices
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pike, dropping in to the tavern proper, paid 6 cents for the same goods. 1
Here, at the tavern, was Walpole's first post office. And on the second floor was the largest hall between Dedham and Wrentham until after 1850.2 In 1847 the building was sold and con- verted to stores and tenements, and about three years later was purchased by Francis W. Bird, who offered the hall for public uses without charge save for lighting. On several occasions he provided speakers of note; and it is said that Julia Ward Howe there gave her first lecture. After 1884, when the new post office building was erected, the old Morse Tavern was used for business purposes by the Bird company, and in 1903 3 gave way to the present structure. 4
It was the coming of the railroads that doomed all the old taverns. In September, 1834, cars began running between Canton and Boston 5 and in the next year over the full length of the Boston & Providence Road.6 Business on the turnpike at once began to fall off-indeed, it had already done so, perhaps in anticipation of what the railroad would do. In September, 1833, the Citizen's company advertised that
1 Recollections of Capt. Polley in "Other Industries," 7.
2 Recollections Geo. W. Lewis.
3 Boston Globe, Nov. 26, 1903.
4 Old Morse Tavern. Mss. acct. possession of H. A. Whiting.
5 Ded. Patriot, Sept. 11, 1834, quoted in Ded. Hist. Reg., I, 143.
6 The Mass. R.R. System, 6.
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their coaches were now the only ones passing directly by way of the pike.1 In 1835 and 1836, with the railroad now well established, through business on the turnpike slumped .? The stage lines, however, managed to make a go of matters for many years by catering to local traffic and feeding the rail line. One coach line ran from Walpole to Sharon and another from South Walpole through the Centre to East Walpole and thence to Dedham.3 By the fall of 1836 only one coach line was advertised as running between Boston and Providence. 4
In 1843 that section of the turnpike between Dedham and the Foxboro line was taken over by the county commissioners and became a public road; and in the next 15 years the whole length of the pike had passed from the hands of the turnpike company. 5
Another Walpole turnpike, that between Wal- pole Centre and Wrentham, was opened for travel about 1812, but did not last long as a toll road.6 It was laid out Sept. 16, 1830 as a public highway by the County Commissioners,7 and is the present highway between Walpole Centre and Wrentham village-Main St.
1 American Traveller, Sept. 27, 1833. 2 Wood, opposite 92.
3 Facts Relating to the Norfolk County R.R., 4.
4 Badger & Porter, October and November, 1836, 3.
5 Wood, 100. 6 Ibid., 170.
7 Wm. Willis Plans No. 180, possession Ded. Hist. Soc.
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When the Boston & Providence Railroad was projected a route through East Walpole, Walpole Centre and Wrentham was surveyed, but was abandoned in favor of the Canton-Sharon line because of the hilly nature of the country and a succession of swamps which the road would have to pass in Walpole, Wrentham and Attle- boro. 1
In December, 1845, a movement was started in Walpole by John A. Gould for construction of a railroad from Walpole to Dedham over the route which the Providence line had failed to adopt. In the following April the legislature chartered the Walpole Rail Road Company -- John A. Gould, Edmund W. Clapp and Joseph Hawes of Walpole, and John Morse of South Dedham-for the purpose of building the rail- road, which was to connect with the Dedham Branch of the Providence road.
While work on this new line was under way there came a new development. It was pro- posed to build another road from Walpole to Blackstone; and the Norfolk County Rail Road was authorized by the legislature in March 1847, to proceed with the work. Express au- thority was given to unite with the Walpole Rail Road whenever a majority of each com- pany should agree. This merger took place on July 19, and Mr. Gould, who had been treasurer 1 Report of the Board of Commissioners, 63.
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of the Walpole company, was elected a director of the new corporation.
As soon as the new officers were in control, it was decided that a straightening of the line would be necessary between Walpole Centre and Dedham; with a result that, though much work had been done in East Walpole, that sec- tion was abandoned, and the present route adopted.
This was a terrific blow to East Walpole in- dustries, which then, as now, were among the most important in the town. F. W. Bird at- tempted to have the legislature order the East Walpole route adhered to, but did not succeed. Thereafter he was a constant opponent of the railroad.
On April 9, 1849, the freight cars began run- ning between Walpole and Boston, and on the 23d that part of the road was opened to the public. On May 15 the first through passenger car for Blackstone left the station at Boston at 10 a. m., carrying officials and guests, pro- ceeded to Walpole, where others embarked, and continued on to Blackstone, where a fine spread was awaiting. The return trip was made in the afternoon. Next day the road was opened for public travel through its length. 1
In those early days the locomotives were usually put up at Walpole. There was a tank 1 Gould Diary, 19 to 31.
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close to the track which used to be filled by water hand-pumped from the river. Later a windmill was built to do the work. There were three locomotives, named the Welcome Farnum, Hampton Willis and Edward Crane. Farnum, Willis and Crane were officials of the railroad company, Farnum, a resident of Blackstone, being president. 1
Even before the Norfolk County Railroad was in operation a move had been made to build an extension from Dedham to Boston, making the road independent of the Boston & Providence. This was vigorously opposed by the B. & P. and by individual citizens, including F. W. Bird, who claimed that it was "a desperate game of stock-speculators who hope to . . . get rid of their worthless Norfolk County [Railroad] stock."? The N. C. R. people asserted that their road was part of a prospective line to the West and would need greater terminal facilities than the Boston & Providence offered. The opposition claimed that this was a mere subter- fuge, and that the real plan was to put through a system to New York City which would hurt traffic on the B. & P.3
The opposition appears to have been right; and on July 3, 1854, John A. Gould wrote in his
1 Recollections of Daniel P. Bird, 1924.
? Norfolk County R.R., 24.
3 Facts relating to the Norfolk Co. Railroad, 24.
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diary: "The cars commenced running from Boston to New London over the Norfolk, Blackstone and Southbridge and other roads, making a part of the regular line from Boston to New York." And on Jan. 1, 1855: "The Boston and N. Y. Central R.R. running from the foot of Summer St. in Boston and connect- ing at South Dedham with what was for several years the Norfolk Co. R.R. was this day opened for public travel. This corporation now has a R.R. in running order from Boston to the Norwich and Worcester R.R. in Conn., and then run over other roads or by steam boats to N. Y."1
Thus was Walpole's railroad history begun. In after years East Walpole was served by the line from Norwood to Wrentham and Attle- boro; and a cross line from Framingham to Mansfield further developed the transportation facilities in the town.
In later years came the street railways. More recently, with the tremendous development of the automobile, traffic fell off, and the street cars ceased to operate. And now the motor bus is bringing us back to the days of a century ago, when the stage coaches rolled over Walpole roads. Not only are busses furnishing local transportation over some of the very same high- ways whereon the stages plied, but other lines 1 Diary of John A. Gould, 52, 53.
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are making several trips a day between Boston and Providence. In a part of their route these through-busses roll smoothly and swiftly over the once-famous turnpike road on which travelers of 100 years ago were tossed about in the coaches of the Citizen's Company. Even the fare, $2.00, is the same as of old.
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CHAPTER FIFTEEN
INDUSTRIAL WALPOLE
ALPOLE, as we have seen, came into exis- tence because of the natural resources of her territory and the desire of the Dedham pro- prietors for their development. The discovery of a "mine of Metal," undoubtedly bog iron, near "the place wher Naponcet Riuer deuide" pro- vided almost the earliest known reference to Walpole lands; 1 and the wealth of timber in the Cedar Swamp led to the establishment of the Saw Mill in 1659, around which grew up the settlement now called Walpole Center.2 From those distant days to this, the industrial affairs of the community have been a vital factor in material progress and personal happiness. And no story of Walpole would be complete were the history of its industrial development omitted or passed over with only brief comment.
The earliest map of the town, made in 1794, shows a saw mill and grist mill in Bubbling Brook; a grist mill, that of Ebenezer Hartshorn, 3 at what is now called the Stetson Privilege; a fulling mill near the present Lewis Manufactur-
1 Ante 19. 2 Chap. II. 3 Lewis, 194, 195.
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ing Co. site, at the Centre; a saw mill at the Blackburn privilege, and finally, a fulling mill at South Walpole, probably that of Timothy Mann, on the so-called Clark Privilege of today. The Manns are known to have been in occu- pancy there as early as 1720, as a deed from Theodore Mann, Clothier, indicates.
These industries of 1794 were not the only ones in the town. Back in 1729, only 5 years after Walpole had been set off from Dedham, there is mention in the records of a forge and forge dam.1 In 1739 an "old saw mill" on Spice Brook, now called Spring Brook, was purchased from Vigilance Fisher by Joshua Clap .? One is at first inclined to wonder if this wasn't the famous "Old Saw Mill" ; but it probably was not, as we shall see.
No attempt will be made here to definitely locate the various forges and mills that are men- tioned from time to time in early Walpole deeds. That can be done only after longer study than time now permits.
It would seem, however, that certainly as early as 1746 there was a forge owned by Peter Lyon at or near the so-called Union Fac- tory privilege, present site of the plant of The Multibestos Company. In that year Lyon sold this "forge and iron works" to John Boyden, and described the 6-acre parcel as 1 Town Rec., I, 21. 2 Suffolk Deeds, XLIII, 112.
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being bounded southeast by a branch of the Neponset, southwest on a highway from the forge to Brush Meadow (South Street) 1 and north by a road "from Walpole to Billings" (Common Street).2
There was an early forge at the Stetson Privilege 3 and still another at the Frank Morse Privilege, on Spring Brook, above Diamond Pond.4 This was perhaps the forge of 1729. The pond at the Morse Privilege was sometimes called Forge Pond; 5 but that name was also applied to what appears to be the Union Factory pond (or perhaps the lower Blackburn Privilege, depending upon how South Street ran in those days), for in 1789 Eliphalet Clap, Jr. bought land, an iron, woolen and saw mill or mills on the Neponset at "Forge Pond" and the "road leading to Foxborough." 6
In 1744 Ebenezer Fales bought land from James Smith, bloomer, described as being on the Neponset, and bounded in part by a road "leading from the forge to Robert Allin's house."7 With this went a dam and the privilege of flowing land "which ly on Cornmill pond." A saw mill owned in 1755 by Fales is placed on Spring Brook by Mr. Lewis.8 Forges and Forge Ponds
1 Laid out in 1723; Lewis, 13, 165. Ded. Rec. 1707-1749, 157.
2 Suffolk Deeds, LXIX, 103.
4 Lewis, 65. 5 Lewis.
7 Suffolk Deeds, LXIX, 244.
3 Post, 261.
6 Suffolk Deeds.
8 Lewis, 96, 190.
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are frequently mentioned in both town and county records. 1
For about a century Walpole forges drew their materials from the bog iron deposits along Spring and Mill Brooks, possibly the very "mines of Metal" found by the early explorers. It is said that iron cannon for use in the French and Indian War (1754-1763) were moulded from Walpole ore.2
The deposits along Spring Brook were worked at an early date; and, on the other side of the Neponset, iron ore on Mill Brook is mentioned as early as 1739 in a deed to part of the Robbins farm, on the north side of the brook.3
Ore was taken from the bog in the rear of the present residence of Daniel Turner, on Elm Street, by his grandfather, who employed five men during the dry seasons digging the ore and carting it to a smelter at what is now called Highland Lake, on Stop River, at the crossing of Lincoln Road. Spring Brook ore also went to that foundry.
This profitable industry was abandoned about 1830 when ore of a better quality was found at Massapoag Pond, Sharon. Mr. Turner remem- bers his grandfather telling how an ambitious Walpolean, anxious to get a jump on the other
1 Town Rec., I, 145, 158, 215. Suffolk Deeds, CLXVI, 136; LXXXVI, 143; CXXX, 229; CXVIII, 11.
2 Lewis, 5, 6. 3 Information from Dana W. Robbins.
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workers, went to Massapoag early one morning and, in his eagerness to make a clean up, filled his boat so full of ore that it sunk. The man was drowned.
The Stop River foundry was perhaps on the site of "Morses Mill at Stop River" mentioned in 1732.1 This may have been the saw mill of Jedediah Morse, who sold lumber to the town in 1735 or 1736.2 "Ye Sawmil Called Morses mill" appears again in 1767, but seems to have been at that time abandoned, for the report is that a "Sawmil Saw" has been found there.3
In 1825 the Stop River foundry was owned by Squire M. Fales. By 1831 it had passed to Gen. Leach of Easton; and in 1845 the property was purchased by George and Thomas Camp- bell, who began to manufacture paper.4 That section of Walpole was annexed to Norfolk when that town was set off from Wrentham.
Something of the inventive genius of Walpole men of that day and of the spirit of enterprise that animated them, is evidenced by an ad- vertisement headed "An old Man may be use- ful," which appeared in the "Dedham Minerva" on May 17, 1798.5
"The Subscriber," it runs, "being unable to
1 Town Rec., I, 38. 2 Town Rec.
3 Page 1 of record book of Births, Marriages and Deaths.
4 Lewis, 202; Map of 1831.
5 Dedham Historical Society collections.
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ELEAZAR SMITH
(From an old print in the Worcester Historical Society collection. Repro- duced by courtesy of the society.)
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follow his trade of shoemaking, and not wishing to expend his former earnings, has endeavoured to find some other means of support. At length he has invented a Machine for making PEGS, which he has so far completed as to be able to furnish all the Shoemakers within 30 miles of Walpole with MAPLE PEGS, of any description they choose, 50 per cent cheaper than they can make them themselves." The advertisement went on to tell that 10 per cent commission on sales would be allowed to traders. It was signed "John Frizell, Walpole, May 15, 1798."
This invention of Frizell is a reminder of one of the most remarkable men that Walpole has ever known, Eleazar Smith. A native of Medfield, Smith built himself a house on High Street, Walpole, in 1776 1 when he was 21 years old. From boyhood he had shown wonderful ingenuity-had made a watch when only 15 years old with a pen knife and a file for tools. A clock with wooden works, made a few years later, is owned (1924) by W. L. Bowker of West Street, Walpole, and is still in good running order.2 Smith's name is on the brass dial.
When still a boy Smith made a machine which turned out 1500 pins a day. The list of his inventions includes the first machine in America
1 Smith Autobiography, 10; Norfolk Co. Atlas, map 101; Map Walpole, 1852.
2 Smith Autobiography, 50.
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that cut nails from cold iron; one for trimming straw braid; and another for ironing straw bonnets.
Greatest of all, however, was Smith's inven- tion of a machine for making cards for the wool- carding industry. He had previously contrived to make the teeth by machine and also to pierce the leather for the insertion of the teeth. While he was at work combining the two machines, the idea was stolen from him and patented. Card-making machinery, which revolutionized the industry, was based upon Smith's inven- tion.
His whole life was a troubled one, debt piling upon debt. His wife died, his children became widely scattered. Smith, in his last years, was dependent upon charity and found an un- marked grave in the Walpole Rural cemetery in 1836. Thirty or forty years ago a stone was placed over his last resting place by the widows of Deacon Everett Stetson and Joshua Stetson, Jr.1 A card tooth machine bearing the name "Eleazar Smith, Walpole, Mass., 1812" is now in the museum of the Worcester Historical Society."
One impelling motive that had inspired Smith in his labors was the need for supplying America with American goods. We had been, up to the
1 Smith Autobiography; Lewis, 189-196. Ded. Hist. Reg., X, 6 et seq.
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ONE OF ELEAZAR SMITH'S CARD TOOTH MACHINES Made in 1814 and now preserved in the museum of the Worcester Historical Society. (Photographed by courtesy of the society.)
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Revolution, and even after it, chiefly dependent upon England for manufactured goods. But the Embargo policy of 1807-1811, and on top of it the War of 1812, had put a stop to all this commerce. Hence necessity, plus patriotism, brought about a tremendous industrial develop- ment in those years.
Walpole, like the rest of America, was caught by the wave. So rapidly did her various manu- factories multiply that the story of each mill site or water privilege must, for clarity, be told separately.
On the Neponset, as it courses through Wal- pole territory, are ten separate water privileges, with a combined fall of 151 feet. 1
The first privilege, known as the Ellbridge Smith Privilege, was that at which Timothy Gay of Dedham had a grist mill in 1814. Gay, according to tradition, was tender of the toll- gate on the turnpike, coming out from his mill to gather in the fees. Some years later the place was auctioned to Daniel and Ellbridge Smith, who put up a new fctory for the manu- facturing of cotton goods. Others afterwards occupied it for short periods. The building was burned down about 1837,2 and the site was not afterwards extensively developed, though in 1875 a shoddy mill of William H. French
1 Hist. Norfolk Co., 719.
2 Hist. Norfolk Co., 719. Mss. Recollections of Albert Ellis, 8.
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employing three hands was at or near the old site. 1
Next downstream, where the road to Wren- tham from South Walpole crosses the Neponset, is the Henry S. Clark Privilege, one of the oldest mill sites in the town. Here it was that Theo- dore Mann, previously referred to, had his fulling mill as early as 1720. In 1812 there were two privileges, one at the roadside, the other some 500 or 600 feet below it, the first being occupied by James Richardson & Co., who manufactured nails, the lower by Col. Timothy Mann, who made cassimeres, satinets and other fine cloths. On Mann's retirement, the business was continued until about 1825 by the Boston & Walpole Manufacturing Co., of which True- man Clarke was agent. Clarke was a son-in- law of Timothy Mann.
The upper mill meanwhile had been burned and rebuilt; and in 1820 Richardson, with Hall J. Howe as partner, began the manufacture of broadcloths and cassimeres in the new mill. After five years Trueman Clarke and his wife came into possession of the upper mill and con- tinued to manufacture piece goods there. Their lower mill burned down about that time (1825) and was never rebuilt. In 1851, Trueman Clarke's son, Henry, together with Naaman Wilmarth, as Clarke & Wilmarth, leased the 1 State Bd. Health Report 1876, 93. Norfolk Co. Atlas, 100.
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Clarke mill and began the manufacture of stock- ing yarn. Wilmarth retired in 1862, but the business was continued. In 1875 the mill was turning out 62,000 lbs. of yarn a year, on three sets of machines, and employed 18 hands. Mr. Clarke died in 1881, and the business was carried on for a time by his son, W. H. Clarke. The property was afterwards sold to the Norfolk & Bristol Street Railway Co.1 It was used as a car barn and abandoned when the railway ceased operations in 1919.
Nearby, but not a part of the Clarke Privilege, was at one time the flourishing boot and shoe factory of Clarke & Mann. John Mann had begun the manufacture of shoes in a small way in 1836. In the following year the partnership was formed, and the big stable of the Boston & Providence Coach Co. was purchased and con- verted, the ell into a dwelling and the main stable into a factory. After twelve years Mr. Mann became sole owner by purchase, and con- tinued in business until after the Boston fire of 1872, in which he suffered financial losses .?
The next privilege, familiarly called the Old Rucaduc, was originally on the property of Capt. William Bacon, whose house, remodelled, is now (1924) on Neponset Street, owned and occupied by Tony Adams.
1 Norfolk Co. Hist., 719-720. Lewis, 193. Map of 1832.
? Hist. Norfolk Co., 720. Mss. Recollections of Albert Ellis, 7.
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The Old Rucaduc is on a small branch, which flows into the Neponset a short distance below, and was occupied in 1812 by a small saw mill, shingle mill and carding mill, owned jointly by Bacon, Horace Clap and Horace and Eli- phalet Smith. Bacon talked of building an aqueduct to irrigate his land. One of the Smiths insisted on calling the aqueduct a "rucaduc," hence the name of the privilege.
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