USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Weston > Weston, a Puritan town > Part 10
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1950. "With profund regret we report the resignation of Miss Judith Stromdahl as Librarian to take effect in February, 1951, upon her appointment as Librarian of the Arlington Library. At all times since she came to Weston in July, 1946, she has rendered exemplary service in every branch of her duties, for which we tender her the sincere thanks of the Board and of the Town. To succeed Miss Stromdahl, we have appointed Miss Jeannette F. Favreau, formerly an Assistant Librarian of the Arlington Library, later Librarian of the State Teachers' College at Keene, New Hampshire, and most recently employed at the Massachusetts Division of Public Libraries."
The Trustees give special mention in 1951 to the Children's Department: "located in an attractive room with a separate en- trance, on the lower floor of the South wing. It began in a small way thirty years ago, and has been in the capable hands of Miss Margaret E. Mosher from the beginning." The Trustees pointed out the growth of this department over that period, and com-
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129
The Weston Town Library, 1857
mented particularly on the classes conducted for elementary school pupils in the use of Library facilities. There were in 1951, 940 borrowers, including children as young as three years. "Coopera- tion between the Library and the Schools, is not confined to the younger pupils; special facilities are also provided for High School students, particularly those engaged in research for the Sears' Essay and the like." Also in 1951: "We take this occasion to extend our thanks for work well done, to Miss Favreau upon her completion of her first year as Librarian; to Miss Mosher upon the completion of thirty years in charge of the Children's De- partment; and to Mrs. Effie A. Merrill, Library Assistant, who for many years has rendered loyal, affable and efficient serv- ice to the Librarian and to the patrons." The Trustees further reported this year the establishment of a collection of music records.
"The annual Open House in May, 1952, took the form of a musical, the program focusing attention on Library Music Col- lections. The speaker was Dr. Willis Wager of the Boston Uni- versity of Music." Also, "We are greatly indebted to the Weston Garden Club for continuing to supply the Library with flowers, and for placing new shrubs and vines and a flagstone walk on the grounds."
As an example of a small library run on modern lines with a suitable budget, in 1953 two Librarians from Germany touring the United States under the auspices of the Department of State, visited the Weston Town Library. In the same year, "the Libra- rian and the Assistant attended all meetings of the Massachusetts Library Association, while the Trustees participated in the activi- ties of the recently formed Massachusetts Library Trustees Asso- ciation." Early in 1954 the Trustees appointed as Assistant Li- brarian, Mrs. Charlotte McConaghy, who was already on the Staff in a part-time capacity. Her quick intuition and ready willingness to be of service make her a valuable member.
From a Library that was open to the townspeople four hours on alternate Saturdays attended by one Librarian, one hundred years later the building and its facilities were available to the public
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Weston: A Puritan Town
sixty hours a week. In 1957, in response to an appeal from the Trustees, Town Meeting voted an appropriation for a professional survey of the century-old institution; as a result, "there will be alterations of the present house with modernizing of equipment, while an addition is considered necessary in a not too distant future." In the Centennial year also, on a mild Indian Summer evening, November fourteenth, a program at the Town House with Miss Judith Stromdahl and Mr. David McCord as Speakers, was followed by a reception at the Library, Townspeople and guests mingling happily in the stroll over the Common. The deli- cious refreshments were served by the Ladies' Aid Society of the Baptist Church.
In 1958,-"As the Weston Public Library hits its stride in its second century, the outstanding trend is that residents of the Town, young, middle-aged and old are finding time to do a quite substantial amount of reading. From a survey of twenty com- parable libraries in Massachusetts we find Weston heading the list with a circulation of fifteen books per capita. The runner-up is Wellesley with eleven and nine-tenths books." In this year Miss Favreau represented Weston at the National Conference of the American Library Association in San Francisco.
In 1959, the Library was serving some 7500 people, contained about 43,400 volumes and was staffed by five full-time and twelve part-time workers as well as High School Pages,-there is superb organization that carries on quietly and smoothly. "The Trustees wish to pay special tribute to the Library Staff for the excellent work they are doing in circumstances of unusual difficulty .- Weston is indeed fortunate in having a Staff whose interest in their duties goes so far beyond the limits required." In 1959 also, at the Annual Town Meeting, the Trustees obtained the appoint- ment of a Special Committee of seven citizens to study the plant and the facilities of the Library. In May, 1960, a Special Town Meeting voted to appropriate $35,000 for alterations to the present building. These alterations were begun in December, 1960; the Committee went on record as stating that this was, "Step I in a
131
The Weston Town Library, 1857
double step program, Step II to be an addition to be erected sup- posedly in three years."
Also in the spring of this year, 1961, the sudden passing of the able Librarian, Miss Jeannette F. Favreau, was a shock to the townspeople, who will always remember her gentle presence and her quiet and efficient service to the Library.
Library Trustees
Isaac Fiske, Esq. 1857-1861 Rev. Calvin H. Topliff 1857-1866 Dr. Otis E. Hunt 1857-1863 Nahum Smith 1861-1872
Benjamin F. Morrison 1864-1867
John Coburn 1866-1884
Rev. Edmund H. Sears 1867-1875 Oliver R. Robbins 1872-1903
Horace S. Sears 1887-1921
Rev. Amos Harris 1876-1886
Rev. Charles F. Russell 1884-1887 Frank H. Upham 1886 Elizabeth S. Gowing 1887-1896
Rev. J. Mervin Hull 1896-1900 Theodore F. Dwight 1900
Henry G. Pearson 1900-1903 Justin E. Gale 1903-1917
Arthur T. Johnson 1903-1928
Rev. Palfrey Perkins 1917-1926 Louisa W. Case 1921-1937
Charles M. Eaton 1927-1938
Grant M. Palmer Jr. 1928-
Rev. Miles Hanson Jr. 1937- Gertrude Fiske 1938-1950
Kathleen H. Anthony 1950-1953
Marjory L. Blaney 1953-1956
A. Elizabeth Hower 1956-
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Weston: A Puritan Town
Librarians
John Coburn 1857-1893
Elizabeth S. White 1893-1903
Maude M. Pennock 1903-1939
Elaine G. Howe 1939-1944
Florence P. Scully 1944-1946
Judith E. Stromdahl 1946-1951
Jeannette F. Favreau
1951-1961
Children's Librarian Margaret E. Mosher 1921-
Library Trust Funds
1859
Charles Merriam
$ 1000.00
For books of all kinds
1861 Isaac Fiske
300.00
For books of all kinds
1873 Charles H. Fiske
100.00
Unrestricted
1894 Charles A. Hastings
I000.00
For books of all kinds For books of all kinds
1895 Henry A. Gowing
5000.00
1899
George B. Cutter
988.47
Unrestricted
190I Herbert Merriam
1000.00
For books of all kinds
1905
Abbie J. Stearns
1865.00
For books of all kinds
1912 Mary P. Cutter
3500.00
For books of all kinds For reference books
1920
Grant Walker
I0000.00
For books of all kinds
1920
Caroline S. Freeman
I 0000.00
For children's books
192 I
Francis A. Foster
2 500.00
For reference books
1923
Horace S. Sears
8000.00
For vacation and sick- ness expenses
1923
Horace S. Sears
3000.00
For books of all kinds
1926
Andrew Fiske
2 500.00
For books of all kinds
1940 Florence M. Coburn
500.00
For books of biography
1940 David W. Lane
200.00
1942
Fannie E. Morrison
I0000.00
For books of biography Unrestricted
1943
Agnes P. Brock
I000.00
Unrestricted
1913
Francis Blake
I000.00
The Two Hundredth Anniversary, 1913
The Celebration in 1913, of the 200th Anniversary of the Incor- poration of the Town of Weston, was a success from beginning to end. It brought together the townspeople as nothing had ever done before-from north, east, south, west, people of all ages shared in preparing and in enjoying the festivities. The weather was ideal, no accidents occurred, and the town was most attractive in its holi- day attire. Decorations and illuminations were appropriate and effective at the Town House, at the First Parish Church, and at the Library; the whole Center was circled with red, white, and blue lights, while directly over the Post Road was an electric sign in red, white, and blue, bearing the inscription, 1713-1913. Signs of welcome were placed at the main entrances to the Town. The Waltham Watch Company Band, the finest in the area, furnished the music for the Parade, for the Band Concerts, and for dancing in the Big Tent on the school grounds.
Programme of Celebration. Sunday, June 15th.
Ringing of Church Bells at 7 o'clock A.M.
Town Crier, Village Square, at 10 o'clock A.M.
Anniversary Services at the respective Meeting Houses at the customary hour.
A Union Service will be held at the Big Tent, at 4 o'clock in the Afternoon.
Bells will ring at Sunset.
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Weston: A Puritan Town
Monday, June 16th.
Ringing of Church Bells at 7 o'clock A.M.
Athletic Sports at 9:30 A.M. Historical Pageant at 3 o'clock in the Afternoon. School Exhibit.
Historical Loan Exhibit at Jones House.
Bells will ring at Sunset.
Tuesday, June 17th.
Ringing of Church Bells at 7 o'clock A.M.
Parade at 9:30 A.M.
Children's Entertainment at 10: 30 A.M.
School Exhibit.
Historical Loan Exhibit.
Band Concert at 2 o'clock, P.M.
Historical Exercises at 2:30 o'clock, P.M. In the Big Tent.
Band Concert at 8 o'clock, P.M.
Fireworks at 8:30 o'clock, P.M.
Dancing in Tent from 8:30 to 11 o'clock, P.M. Bells will ring at Sunset.
The Pageant was held on the estate of Mr. Robert Winsor, where there was an ideal natural amphitheater, and a stretch of water for the coming of the Norse galley, with Leif Ericson the leader, in shining helmet and armor, standing in the bow. The Episodes of the Pageant were based upon actual events in the history of the Town:
I. Early Times
I. The Indians
2. The Coming of the Norsemen
3. Settlement of the West Precinct
I35
The Two Hundredth Anniversary, 1913
II. Revolutionary Times
I. The English Spy
2. March to Concord
III. Washington's Visit (1789)
More than four hundred townspeople took part. The "dressing- rooms," in a shady dell with a good approach to the stage, were a busy center: Indians, Norsemen, Puritans, and Colonials all in costume, the coach for President Washington with four handsome horses and outriders in uniform, and last but not least, hired for the occasion, were two yokes of sleek and placid oxen with their drivers, from Sudbury. They accompanied the Puritan farmers from Watertown, when the stage was used for the scene of the Settlement of the West Precinct. About twenty-five hundred tickets were issued without charge, to Weston residents upon application.
The Parade on the third day of the Celebration was supported by the townspeople with enthusiasm. A platoon of police under Chief P. J. McAuliffe, headed the line, followed by a troop of horse with uniformed riders. After these came the Waltham Band with Company F of the Fifth Infantry of Waltham; the Weston Fire Department with apparatus followed. The Bingville Horn Band, Joseph P. Adams, Bandmaster, marched in front of the People of the Pageant (in costume); behind them came a cavalcade of ponies driven by young Weston people, and then a team of goats. The Hillcrest Farm Drum Corps preceded the Floats rep- resenting various interests of the town, and the parade closed with a column of decorated automobiles. In awarding prizes, true to Weston tradition, First Prize was given to The Farmers' Float, drawn by handsome farm-horses. This float was prepared by members of the Weston Grange.
On Sunday and on Monday, at sunset, when the bells rang out- the sweet-toned Baptist bell, and the Paul Revere from the First Parish belfry, the Town soon grew quiet; but on Tuesday, June seventeenth, the pealing summoned to further festivities. At the
136
Weston: A Puritan Town
school grounds, the Band gave the last concert; the fireworks were wholly successful-supervised by the Fire Company, the display was constant and the set pieces were princely. Then strains from the Band in the Big Tent called everyone to the dance, which ended promptly at eleven o'clock with Auld Lang Syne. There was a moment's hush, then an outburst of cheers, and the Two Hun- dredth Celebration of the Town of Weston was over.
Part of Weston showing Old House Locations
NORTH
SUDBURY
CONCORD
MERRIAM
CONANT
13
N
12)
WOE
S
=
CRESCENT
1
5
10
DERBY
LOVE
SUMMER
9
J
MEADOWBR
HIGHLAND
00)
WELLESLEY
ASH
RESERVOIR
NEWTON
ROUTE
CHARLES
SOUTH
TURNPIKE
PLAIN
6 BOSTON POST ROAD
3 2
A
CHESTNUT
128
LORING
4
CHURCH
Legend
1. Josiah Smith Tavern
2. Elm and Law Office
3. Old Powder House
4. Tavern of the Golden Ball
5. Site of Flagg Tavern
6. Bigelow Mansion-Wing
7. Distinguished Landmark
8. Harrington Homestead
9. The 1740 Mansion
10. John Derby House
II. Gambrill House-Forgotten Post Road
12. Coburn Landmark
13. Hobbs Corner
14. Whitney Tavern
Historic Houses
م
The House at Stony Brook
As the first problems of the Watertown colonists were food and shelter, in 1634 a mill was built at head-tide on the Charles River, not far from where the bridge crosses from Watertown Square to Newtonville,-this is still called Mill Bridge. At first a corn or grist mill, a saw-mill was soon added. The second mill in Water- town, in 1662, was in Waltham on Beaver Brook, a tributary of the Charles, and the third, on another tributary, Stony Brook, in the West or Farmers' Precinct, on the Sudbury Road, now the Boston Post Road.
This Stony Brook mill was built by Richard Child, and three others, probably in 1678, as the town meeting in Watertown, Jan- uary fifth, 1679 voted: "That the new corn mill now set up at Stony Brook be freed from rates for 20 years." A saw mill was also built at which, tradition says, a great part of the timber used in the early houses of the town was sawed.
Abraham Bigelow, great grandson of John Bigelow, who came with Sir Richard Saltonstall to Watertown in 1630, was born in Weston in 1713. In 1735, he married Abigail Bullard, also of Weston, bought the mills at Stony Brook, and built on the uplands of Sibley Road at the left of the Boston Road a fine large gambrel-roofed house, with large windows, wide doors, and a hand- some stairway in the hall. The house is still standing but in sad need of repair.
Abraham was not only a wealthy miller; he served in various town offices, and as the epitaph on his tombstone in the Farmers' Burying Place records: "For many years represented the Town of Weston in the General Court of this province which public Betrustment he discharged with fidelity and honor." Abraham died
144
Weston: A Puritan Town
in 1775, leaving the mills to his widow in trust for the two sons, Amos, aged fifteen, and Abraham, Jr., thirteen. The latter, born in 1762, in the family mansion, attended Weston schools, studied with Parson Woodward, and was graduated from Harvard in 1782. In the town records of 1779, is the entry: "Paid Master Abraham Bigelow, Jr., for keeping a reading and writing school nine weeks, and boarding himself, {15, 9S.," and in 1783 and 1784 for longer periods.
Abraham Jr. was the first Captain of the Weston Light Infantry of the State Militia, organized in 1785, to be responsible for orders only from the Governor as Commander-in-Chief. On the twenty- sixth of January, 1787, Captain Bigelow received orders: "To march with his Company entire, to the westward to meet the Insurrectionists under Daniel Shays." True to his vows of loyalty, Captain Bigelow and his Company joined General Benjamin Lincoln with his quickly raised force of 4400 men, as they marched to Worcester over the Post Road. As already stated, there is no mention of this incident in Town Records, nor did Town Meeting vote any bounty to the patriotic townsmen.
"At a Legal Meeting of the Inhabitants of the Town of Weston, on Monday the tenth day of December, 1787, Capt. Abraham Bigelow, Jr. was elected to represent the Inhabitants of the Town, in a Convention to be held at the State House in Boston on the second Wednesday of January next, to take under their considera- tion for their assent and ratification, the Constitution or Form of Government for the United States of America as reported by the Convention of Delegates held at Philadelphia on the First Monday of May, 1787." An important event! Weston, through Abraham Bigelow, Jr., had a voice in ratifying the Constitution of the United States.
In 1789, when he was twenty-seven, Abraham, Jr., was appointed by the General Court of Massachusetts to be Clerk of Court in the County of Middlesex; this meant that his home must be in Cam- bridge, the County Seat. Although he sent his resignation as Captain of the Light Infantry Company to Governor Bowdoin, Abraham never lost his love for Weston. At the death of his
145
The House at Stony Brook
brother Amos, in 1795, he bought in the Stony Brook property, sold to settle the estate, and his name is listed as a non-resident tax-payer until 1832. Abraham, Jr. died suddenly in New York; "the mills, a dwelling-house and some acres of land," were bought by the firm of Coolidge, Sibley and Treat, but in a few years the other partners sold their shares to Mr. Nathaniel Sibley, under whom Sibley Mills became nationally known. Many articles of hardware were made, such as door-locks, wood-planing machines, the Sibley dove-tailer, and the Sibley pencil-sharpener, used in schools throughout the country. From the Sibley Mills, ma- chinery was sent not only to cotton factories in Massachusetts, but was shipped to New York, and to mills in Alabama and Tennessee.
Surveying and straightening of the Boston Post Road in the middle of the last century, left the fine old Abraham Bigelow house quite out of the way on the present Sibley Road, but it is a landmark that should be cared for. Nathaniel Sibley built the sightly house that stands well above the highway where Sibley Road, once the old Post Road, bears to the left. Apart from his ability, Mr. Sibley was long remembered for his kindness of heart and his gentle manners. His granddaughter, Mrs. Ernest Wells, who was Helen Sibley, is a native resident of Weston.
The mills and the watercourse were taken by eminent domain for the City of Cambridge Waterworks in the early 1890's. There is not only artistry but a certain nostalgia in the following quota- tion: "Near the Sibley machine shops was a little canyon, enclosing the pool out of which the cascades fell. From above, the waters of Stony Brook came down the rapids white with foam, the banks covered with mosses and ferns, the oaks and hemlocks overarching the stream. Altogether it formed one of the most beautiful bits of natural scenery to be seen this side of the White Mountains, the delight of artists and the admiration of all beholders." Mrs. Wells can testify as to the artists, and the writer knows that they came from distant towns and cities.
From First Parish Records dated 1816: "At a Meeting of the Church, regularly held, it was voted that the thanks of this Church
146
Weston: A Puritan Town
be given to Mr. Abraham Bigelow, Jr. for the gift of a silver basin for Baptism."
This silver bowl is inscribed:
Presented to the Congregational Society in Weston by Abraham Bigelow, Jr. 1815
Two Historic Mansions
Leaving the Abraham Bigelow homestead with hope for its restoration, the writer marks nearby on the Boston Post Road two early estates, the one on the left owned by John Brooks II but known to old-timers as "the Gourgas Place."
The Gourgas family, distinguished Huguenots of Languedoc in Southern France, in 1685, when Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes and all French Protestants were deprived of religious and civil liberties, founded a new home in Switzerland. At Geneva, in 1738, was born Jean Louis Gourgas II who came to this country during the Revolutionary War, either with Marquis de Lafayette in 1777, or with Count de Rochambeau in 1778, following our Treaty of Alliance with France. General Gourgas served with the French forces in the Saratoga Campaign, and later in the South with General Washington when the English acknowledged defeat at Yorktown in 1781.
Whether he had been one of the officers detailed to escort the Bennington prisoners to Boston in 1778, thus spending a night in Weston, or whether it was through his friendship with Colonel Thomas Marshall, General Gourgas, having decided to stay in this country bought land in Weston, built the ancestral home, and sent for his family. The homestead, together with the landscaping of the grounds, had many features of the family estate in Geneva, a painting of which is owned by a great, great grandson, John Mark Gourgas IV, who lives on Conant Road.
The interior of the Gourgas mansion is beautiful, with arched, hand-carved doorways, wainscoted walls, decorative mantels over the fireplaces, and a graceful stairway at the end of the entrance hall. As the property was held by the Gourgas family until the
148
Weston: A Puritan Town
early 1900's and has changed owners but twice, always coming into careful and appreciative hands, the ancient charm still holds.
On the north side of the Post Road and directly opposite the Gourgas estate is the three-story colonial where Mrs. David Kellogg lives. Lemuel Jones, born in Weston in 1729, married Anna Stimson in 1755 and by 1757 had completed the original two-story house with an ell. He lived there with his wife and their eight children, serving the town in various offices. At Lemuel's death in 1776 the estate was in the hands of Amos, the oldest son. His name is on the tax list until 1805, when the house was sold to Jephthah Stearns with some acres of land. It was Jephthah Stearns who extended the front with two large rooms on the ground floor, a ballroom on the second, and added the third story, intending to open a tavern. His plans proved too expensive, he failed financially, and in 1808 the whole property, including what was still owned by the Lemuel Jones heirs, was bought by William Andrews of Boston. His name is on the tax list, "no minister tax", until 1815 when the estate is in the name of the Honorable James Lloyd of Boston. Mr. Lloyd made some additions, but when he was named United States Senator from Massachusetts he chose to live in Washington and in 1822, sold the property to the oldest son of General Gourgas, John Mark Gourgas I. This son, with his family and a younger brother, in 1803, had come to join his father in the United States; he lived at first in Milton where he soon proved his energy as a citizen and his interest in the townspeople. In 1809, he had a Town Meeting called to consider inoculation for smallpox. Two most disastrous epi- demics in 1791, and 1792, had spread over Eastern Massachusetts, and the dread disease was always present to cause alarm. A success- ful meeting resulted in a vote of the Town to have a general inocu- lation at the schoolhouse on July 20, 1809. The matter was taken up by other towns and in 1828, through the continued efforts of Mr. Gourgas the General Court passed laws in respect to vaccina- tion. John Mark came to Weston in 1816, but the younger brother, John James Joseph Gourgas, after a short stay in Boston went to New York, where he became a prosperous businessman and a noted Mason. From 1813, until 1832, he was Grand Secretary General
حلمى
149
Two Historic Mansions
and from 1832 to 1851, Sovereign Grand Commander. On his frequent trips to Boston he always visited his father, John Lewis; once a friend was with him, Giles Fonda Yates, and the Records read, "these two walked in the gardens at Weston."
The Boston Herald of October nineteen, 1959, carried an article from Washington, D.C .: "Secretary of State Christian A. Herter will receive the Gourgas Medal of Scottish Rite Free Masonry at a Thirty-Third Degree banquet next Friday. The Medal is given in recognition of notably distinguished service in the cause of Free- masonry, Humanity, or Service to the Country." Then the article goes on, "The Medal is named for John James Gourgas, one of the founders of the Supreme Council for the Northern Masonic Juris- diction."
During the pre-Civil War period the Gourgas family were ardent Abolitionists; the fact that Weston was a way-station on the Underground Railway System for aiding escaping slaves to freedom in Canada, may have fostered the belief that an under- ground passage exists between the two estates!
In 1836, by the Reverend Joseph Field of the First Parish in Weston, were married a son of John Mark, Francis Richard Gourgas, and Abigail Peirce Hastings, a Weston girl of English lineage whose ancestor, Thomas Hastings, sailed from Ipswich, England, to Watertown in 1634. The young people settled in Concord, Massachusetts, where Francis had gone after his college days, and had become editor and publisher of the Concord Free- man. He held many town and state offices: he was Selectman, Town Clerk and often Moderator for Concord Town Meeting; he was Representative to the General Court, State Senator, and was running for Governor of Massachusetts when he died suddenly at the early age of forty-two. His name is still remembered in Concord where, "He was considered a rising man in the State and was much relied on in the town as an intelligent and public-spirited citizen and an energetic, faithful and efficient officer."
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