CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY FROM F 74A7 P24 e " Universi,y Librar y ^^llimilliiiftfl&iilB?!?' and Present, a n olin 3 1924 028 819 088 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028819088 TOWN of AELINGTON PAST AND PBESENT A NARRATIVE OF LARGER EVENTS AND IMPORTANT CHANGES IN THE VILLAGE PRECINCT AND TOWN FROM 1637 to 1907 CHARLES S. PARKER ARLINGTON C. S. PARKER & SON, PUBLISHERS 1907 KC~ I l-.-l;/;,; OOPVRIGHT, 1907 By CHARLES S. PARKEB Stanbope press H. Q1LSON COMPANY B O B T O N, u. a. a. A. H. W. L E. C. 462 ,1.1 :\V\ao -■' YTIi'Si: : ! VI MW Prepared and published by authority of t/ir Com in iff ee of the Town of Arlington appointed to make arrange- ments for Ita' celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town. PREFACE In September of last year I accepted a proposition from a sub-committee of the general committee chosen by the Town of Arlington having charge of the celebration of the centen- nial anniversary of the town's incorporation. It was to the effect that I should assume the duty of preparing for the printer and superintend the issuing from the press, in suitable book form, the matter filling the pages of this volume. The details of the transaction met the approval of the general committee. The larger share of the material used in the construction of the narrative portion of this " Town of Arlington Past and Present," was gathered piece-meal during the past thirty and more years of my residence in Arlington, but with no thought it would ultimately be used in this way. It has, however, proved a pleasant task, although making greater demands upon my time than was anticipated. There has been one fixed purpose in view from the outset, — to magnify the name Arlington and, if possible, give to the town the place in history that is her legitimate right. The incidents named will be found true to the record, and it is hoped that they have been told in a clear and entertaining manner. Sketches of Arlington by Hon. James P. Parmenter and others, and the "History of Arlington" published by Mr. William R. Cutter in 1880, have been drawn from, by permission of the authors, in constructing the story of those earlier days when a few people owned great farms in what is now Arlington (then called Menotomy); also for that other period between 1739 and 1807, when all that is now Arlington territory was a portion of the Northwest Precinct of Cambridge. Due credit is given in the succeeding pages to the parties named, where such matter is used, but it is eminently proper that in this formal way appre- 5 6 Preface ciation of the value of the service they have rendered should be expressed. The courtesy of Miss Edith Whittemore, custo- dian of papers and records stored with Arlington ~ Historical Society, is also gratefully acknowledged. The labor of constructing a narrative out of the material con- tained in the several well preserved volumes filled with records made by town clerks, also by selectmen, during the one hun- dred years of the town's corporate life, has been facilitated and in fact made easy through the card catalogue system introduced by Thomas J. Robinson, the present town clerk. His help has been freely given_ whenever sought while tracing lines not always easily followed, and my appreciation of his courtesy is difficult to express in words. Through these means and from sources named, has been con- structed a narrative, telling how a small group of colonists obtaining grants of land in this territory in the early part of the seventeenth century has grown to what Arlington represents today in population, business enterprises and wealth. Arlington is, in extent of territory, one of the smaller towns of Middlesex County. It lies in the southeastern part of the County; is bounded by Winchester and Medford on the north, by Medford, Somerville and Cambridge on the east, by Belmont on the south and Lexington on the west. It is about three miles in length and two miles in width, with its Town Hall in almost the geographical center. The western part of the town is hilly, Arlington Heights and Turkey Hill (the former on the south and the latter the north side of Massachusetts avenue as the main thoroughfare is now named) being the more promi- nent elevations, while the eastern section is level. There are two ponds of considerable size — Mystic Pond along the north- ern boundary and Spy Pond on the southerly line. Mystic River forms a part of the northeastern boundary, and its tribu- tary, Alewife Brook, separates Arlington from Cambridge and Somerville. Mill Brook runs through the town from west to east for about two miles, and then turning to the north flows into Mystic Pond. The preceding paragraph from the pen of Judge Parmenter 8 : "V. ■;'4'~4-~ : *-^* '' ' /•:•' Preface 7 (in his contribution to History of Middlesex County) describes the Arlington of today, but not the boundaries of the town when incorporated in 1807. In 1842 the town gained a large block of territory from Charlestown. In 1850 a portion of this annexation was surrendered to be joined to portions of Woburn and Medford then taken to form the town of Winchester. In 1859 the town, of Belmont was incorporated, and by that legisla- tive act Arlington lost more than a third of the acreage included in the bounds named in the act' of 1807 which created the town. To illustrate the gains and losses of territory as mentioned above, the accompanying picture or map, as any one sees fit to name it, has been prepared. It is copied from a large map of Arlington, marked off with colored lines to show these losses and gains, made by Engineer Henry S. Adams, of Arlington, and used to illustrate an historical paper, and afterwards presented to Arlington Historical Society. This copy was made in Arlington Engineering Department by Draughtsman George E. Ahem, under direction of Supt. Robert W. Pond, and is their free-will offering to their fellow citizens. It not being possible to repro- duce colors used by Mr. Adams in marking off divisions on his map, rings, dots, dashes, etc., have been substituted in this miniature reproduction, but are equally effective in accomplish- ing the purpose for which they are introduced. For some slight inaccuracies in lines, I am responsible. It was a plain picture, one to be taken at a glance, rather than a tracing of a survey of town boundaries, — a scientifically correct map, — that was asked for. This slight deviation in lines meant an immense saving of time, at no real loss in effectiveness in the picture. Supercritical critics must blame me, and not the draughtsman, for slightly technical errors, as in cases where it can be shown the lines vary the smallest fraction of an inch from those recorded in the town book. For the sectional plan followed in the make-up of this volume I am responsible. It was in response to the committee's invi- tation that Arlington clergymen and others prepared special articles appended to the general history. In consequence the reader will discover breaks in the record of several decades which 8 Preface will require turning to another section of the volume to com- plete. The more full details which will there be found ought to prove ample compensation for this inconvenience. Frequently during the past few months the meaning of the word Menotomy has been asked. Every gazetteer and encyclo- paedia has been scanned in vain, and all that can be said is that Menotomy is probably an Indian name. Possibly it describes the natural features of the locality. It may be, however, that the sluggish stream forming the easterly boundary of the village of Menotomy was first so named, and later accepted by the people of Cambridge to designate the outlying territory. Most of the Indian names for sections of eastern Massachusetts have been analyzed by experts, and the derivation made plain. This has not been the case with Menotomy. The fact that early settlers invariably adopted the Indian names for the territory where they located, is the only basis discoverable for the claim that Menotomy is an Indian name. The purpose of some illustrations used in the following pages was to as far as possible show types of houses of succeeding generations, and availability has in the main been the deciding factor; certainly there has been no thought of discriminating for or against anything of historic value. To those who have so willingly loaned valuable originals, I return thanks. With this explanation regarding my connection with the pro- ject and hints as to its compilation, " Town of Arlington Past and Present" is offered for the consideration of my fellow-citizens. CHARLES S. PARKER. Arlington, March 1, 1907. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Adams House, Built 1680 99 Addison Gage Mansion House 105 Arlington Boat Club House 304 Arlington Center in 1817 70 Arlington House, Built 1826 97 Arlington Town Hall, Built 1852 110 Baptist Church, Built in 1790 220 Baptist Church, Built 1902-3 . . 223 Bird's Eye View of Spy Pond 287 Bit of Massachusetts Avenue 99 Blake Homestead 91 Building First Used by the Baptists as a Church 219 Cooke, Rev. Samuel 42 Corner Massachusetts Avenue and Mystic Street 98 Corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Pleasant Street 93 Cotting Academy, afterwards High School 259 Cotting House and Bakery 94 Crosby School Building 248 Cutter Mill Pond 32 Cutter School Building 248 Cutter, Stephen, House (F. M. Chase) 99 Cutting Ice on Spy Pond 289 Effect of Tornado of August, 1871 132 Fessenden House 96 Fire Warden's Outfit in 1843 271 First Arlington Boat Club House 303 First Baptist Church 207 First Church Building in Arlington, . Built 1734 105 First Parish Church, 1804 54 First Parish Church 207 First Parsonage, Built 1740. 44 First Universalist Church 207 Fiske, Rev. Thaddeus, D.D., Portrait 46 Flume at Mill Street 31 Grand Army Hall 204 Hicks, Samuel D. Estate 104 9 10 List of Illustrations PAGE High School Building 248 Hiram Lodge, Parade of, in 1897 294 Horse Car in Use in 1859 117 Hose Three House 275 Hot-Houses on the Rawson Farm 280 Jason Russell House (Tragedy of April 19, 1775) 184 Locke Homestead 95 Locke School Building 248 Map Showing Loss and Gain in Territory 6 Masonic Seal 295 Menotomy Hall . 171 Middle District Schoolhouse, Built 1801 251 Modes of Travel 81 Monument to Memory of Killed in Civil War 154 Northwest District Schoolhouse, Built 1826 255 Old Eureka 273 Old-Time Stage Coach 77 Orthodox Congregational Church 207 Parmenter, Hon. William E. (Portrait) 257 Parmenter, William E., School Building 248 Park Avenue (Congregational) Church 244 Parson Fiske House, Built 1791 45 Peck, Abel G., Estate 105 Post Office Building, 1818 to 1840 82 Post Office Building, 1840 to 1852 85 Post Office Building, 1852 to 1895 83 Procession of June 17, 1867 126 Reception of Governor Bullock, June 17, 1867 128 Retreat of the Regulars 177 Revolutionary Soldiers' Monument 189 Robbins Library . 267 Robbins, Eli (Portrait) 268 Robbins, Mrs. Maria C (Portrait) 268 Ruined Tower of First Parish Church 133 Russell, Capt. Edward, House 100 Russell Grocery 291 Russell School Building, Burned 1872 257 Russell School Building, Built 1872-3 248 School Building in Old Burying Ground, 1810 252 Site of Capt. George Cooke's Mill 19 St. Agnes (Roman Catholic) Church . 238 Tablet in Front of Jason Russell House . .184 List of Illustrations 11 PAGE Town Hall Site in 1907 165 Town Pump 158 Town Seal 134 Trinity Baptist Church 246 Tufts' Tavern (George Russell Hotel) 100 View of Arlington Center (West) in 1867 124 View of Arlington Center (East) in 1867 125 View of Arlington Center (East) in 1897 162 View of Arlington Center (West) in 1897 163 Wellington, Dr. Timothy (Portrait). 269 Wellington, Dr. Timothy (Dr. Hodgdon), House 103 Winn, Dr. William A. (Portrait) 261 Winn Homestead, Site of Capt. Cooke's House 20 TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION ONE PAGE Arlington as Menotomy . 17 Settled prior to 1635. — Why Menotomy was chosen as the site for a village. — Mill Brook and its mill privileges. — Capt. George Cooke builds a mill in 1637; his real estate holdings and public service. — "Watertown road" (now Pleasant street) cut through the wilderness, 1638. — Road to Woburn, 1643. — Mill privilege passes to Cutter family. — List of tax payers in Menotomy. — Some old-time farms located. — Home-making in early times. SECTION TWO Arlington as Second Precinct. . . .34 The church the unit. — People of Menotomy petition for permission to build a church. — Petition granted. — Residents of Charles- town in adjacent territory permitted to join Second Precinct church. — Church built and dedicated. — Difficulties encountered in securing a minister. — Rev. Samuel Cooke chosen and settled as pastor. — Charlestown members granted district privileges. — Sketch of Parson Cooke and his successor, the Rev. Dr. Fiske. — Homes of first pastors. — Old-time taverns. — Change in high- ways. — Incidents preceding war of the Revolution. — How the war affected fortunes of the people. — Water works introduced in 1799. — Larger church accommodation needed. — Building a new church. SECTION THREE Arlington as West Cambridge Chapter I 59 The town is incorporated. — Separation not opposed by Cambridge. — Reasons financial and political suggested as contributing causes. — First town meeting. — Grand celebration July 4, 1808. — Population in 1807. — Whittemore Card Factory and other busi- ness enterprises. — Middlesex Turnpike controversy and its out- come. — The old stage coach. — Post-office facilities. 13 14 Table of Contents PAGE Chapter II ... . . 73 Business enterprises enumerated. — Mount Pleasant Cemetery estab- lished and dedicated. — Section of Charlestown annexed to Arlington. — Becomes a suburb of Boston. — Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad. — Postal facilities, past and present. — Naming streets. — River street bridge over Mystic River. — New dwellings contrasted with old. — Eliminating bogs and creating park lands. Chapter III . 102 Development of Pleasant street section. — Mystic street opened for fine estates. — County Commissioners order the town to build new outlet to Center. — The tornado of 1851. — Building Town Hall, — a ten year problem and how it was solved. — New fire engines bought. — Know-Nothing movement. — New town clock. Chapter IV ..... . . 115 Representative districts formed. — Arlington and Winchester con- stitute Sixth Middlesex. — The first horse cars. — Large section of land surrendered to form town of Belmont. — Street lighting with gas. — Russell Park accepted. — Flagstaff presented to town. — Civil War period. Chapter V . ..... 123 The town renamed, and celebration of event. — The "training field" sold. — Tornado of 1871. — Adopting town seal. — Arlington Water Works heir to Arlington Lake Water Company. — Water Works inaugurated in 1872. — Bank Block erected. — Grading of Massachusetts avenue stopped by injunction. — Arlington favors a "Metropolitan District." — First newspaper enterprise. — Celebrating centennial of Battle of Lexington, and the aftermath. — Swan's Block built. — The "P. L. L." movement. — Reynolds's reform crusade and what came of it. — Cambridge fails to secure a slice of Arlington territory. — Movement for a Metropolitan District. — Change in method of street building. Chapter VI ... . . . . . 149 Diminishing historical items. — Shrinkage in real estate valuation. — Cambridge seeks a piece of Arlington territory. — Pollution of Alewife Brook. — Charlestown street named Broadway. — Old elm cut down. — First Union Thanksgiving service. — Arlington Improvement Association. — Catholic Cemetery established. — Telephones introduced. — Apartment houses started. — Free text-books for schools. — Soldiers' monument built and dedicated. — Change in leadership caused by death. Table of Contents 15 PAGE Chapter VII. . 157 Arlington Cooperative Bank. — Fire alarm system. — Schools sup- plied with flags. — Australian ballot introduced. — Town pump abandoned. — First National Bank chartered. — Building Finance Block. — Patriots' Day inaugurated. — Board of Health chosen for first time. — Electricity in place of gas. — Changing grade of Massachusetts avenue. — Arlington has a state senator. — Two new brick blocks. — Main street renamed Massachusetts avenue. — A new postmaster. — The "Advocate's " quarter-centennial. — Sherman Block built. — First electric car to Arlington. — Histori- cal Society organized. — List of prominent people deceased. Chapter VIII . . ... 164 Town buys Pattee and Robbins' estate for a new Town Hall site. — Committee of Twenty-one chosen. — Abolishing grade crossings. — Rebuilding Broadway. — Stephen Symmes leaves his entire estate to found a hospital. — Town Hall fire discloses a serious defalcation. — Change in town's financial officers in consequence. — Votes to choose selectmen annually. — Old Menotomy Hall. SECTION FOUR Military Record ... 173 Indian Wars. — Revolutionary War period. — Arlington's part in the events of April 19, 1775. — First capture of provisions and munitions made in this town. — Fatalities more numerous here than elsewhere. — The Civil War period and Arlington's part in the same. — The Drill Club. — Forming a Grand Army Post. SECTION FIVE Arlington and her Churches 207 First Congregational (Unitarian) Parish. — First Baptist Church of Arlington. — Arlington Heights Baptist Church. — First Uni- versalist Church of Arlington. — Orthodox Congregational Church. — St. Agnes' (Roman Catholic) Church. — St. John's (Episcopal) Church. — Park Avenue Congregational Church. — Trinity Bap- tist Church. — Methodist Episcopal Church. SECTION SIX Arlington Public Schools, 1693 to 1907 ... . 248 First schoolhouse built in 1693. — Its dimensions and site named. — Used as a church. — New building erected in 1746. — New brick school in 1801 for "Middle District," in 1808 for "East District." — Center school building removed to burying ground in 1810. — Names of teachers employed in 1811. — School building for 16 Table of Contents "South District" in 1826. — First School Committee chosen in 1827. — New arrangement of school districts in 1838. — New schoolhouses built. — First four-room building erected in 1861. — High school established 1864. — Russell School, of brick, built in 1872-73. — Wooden buildings replaced with brick structures 1893-1900. — Bequests for educational purposes. — School Com- mittees from 1827-1907. — List of buildings and cost — Appro- priation for school purposes in 1811 and 1906 compared SECTION SEVEN Arlington and her Libraries . . . 265 First Library in 1807. — Founded in 1835. — Dr. Learned's legacy. — First librarian. — Where the library was first located prior to 1852. — Transferred to Town Hall. — Finds a home in Swan's Block. — Transferred to Robbins Library building. — Donors and their funds. SECTION EIGHT Arlington Fire Department 270 Fire service compulsory in early times. — Fire Wardens and their outfit. — Old-time engines described and engine houses located. — Changes in methods and introduction of up-to-date apparatus, through a gradual development. — Associations connected with fire department. SECTION NINE Business Enterprises . . . . 280 Market Gardening. — Middlesex Aqueduct Company. — Harvesting the ice crop. — Schwamb Brothers and their enterprises. — Russell Store. — Whittemore Card Factory. — Schouler Print Works. — Welch & Griffiths Saw Factory. — Ice Tool Business. SECTION TEN -Societies and Associations . . 295 Hiram Lodge, F. and A. M. — Bethel Lodge No. 12, I.O.O.F. — Arlington Boat Club. — Arlington Historical Society. — Arlington Woman's Club. — District Nursing Association. — Foresters of America. — Knights of Columbus. — Other societies and associa- tions. SECTION ELEVEN Centennial Celebration. — Appropriation for same. — List of General Com- mittees. — Sub-committees. — Features of the Day. — Special Guests. TOWN OF ARLINGTON PAST AND PRESENT SECTION ONE ARLINGTON AS MENOTOMY 1637-1732 Settled prior to 1635. — Why Menotomy was chosen as the site for a village. — Mill Brook and its mill privileges. — Capt. George Cooke builds a mill in 1637; his real estate holdings and public service. — "Watertown road" (now Pleasant street) cut through the wilderness, 1638. — Road to Woburn, 1643. — Mill privilege passes to Cutter family. — List of tax payers in Menotomy. — Some old-time farms located. — Home-making in early times. 4 LTHOUGH Arlington in this year 1907 is celebrating the -£j^- completion of her first century as an incorporated and separate township, it is not a new town. As a location of happy homes and prosperous business enterprises, some of the territory embraced within the town's corporate boundaries has had a distinctive name dating back to the earlier days of colonial history. The people having homes here have shared to a full degree in all the responsibilities resting upon the colony, the state, or the nation at any and all times during the two hundred and fifty years and more since the beginning of things on "bleak New England shores," when demands for time, money, or the supreme sacrifice of life have come to them. Sharing thus to the full measure which population and means demanded for anything intended to aid in carrying forward or solving the great problems which seem to have been assigned to the American people by an overruling Providence, it is fitting that the story of what Arlington is today should be prefaced with all that 17 18 Town of Arlington is obtainable regarding a distant past which a present prosperity evidences must have been honorable; and a special occasion of pride to those among us able to name as their ancestors men who carved for themselves homes in what was then the wilderness. Writers of local histories are often at a loss to assign a good or sufficient cause why a certain locality was chosen by the earlier settlers of the territory secured as the place to found homes and establish a settlement. As a rule it would seem that chance, and not always the fortunate one either, ruled in the choice. No such enigma presents itself to the one called on to answer the question why, early in the seventeenth century, homes were established and something worthy the name of a village came into existence in the territory now called Arlington. Nature had pro- vided in this section that most inviting of all inducements, a stream of water capable of being utilized for mechanical purposes; and a history of Arlington, of its larger business enterprises at least, might be easily constructed out of what has occurred along the line of that little stream which, rising at the Great Meadows that form the westerly boundary of Arlington, flows in almost the geographical center of the town easterly and then northerly until it finds outlet in Mystic Lake , that is the northern boundary of the town. It is a narrow, swift stream, having a fall of over one hundred feet in its course of about two miles, and in earliest records is called "Mill Brook" and "Bull's Creek" at various times; when Arlington took it for a water supply, in legal documents it is called "Sucker Brook." Power with which to grind corn and run a mill to transform logs into lumber for various purposes was then, as it now is, the prime essential for a community where there is no other means of supplying bodily needs and comforts. Because her mill stream met this demand, Arlington's real history dates back to within about fifteen years of the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. In the year 1635 there arrived in Cambridge, in company with Rev. Thomas Shepard, the minister of that town, Capt. George Cooke and his brother Joseph. They came registered and desig- nated on the list as servants "to enable them the more easily to escape from England." Both were men of means and the Past and Present 19 former evidently of signal ability. Shortly after arriving they purchased in "Newtowne," as Cambridge was then called, several houses and much land from the colonists who, under the leader- ship of Rev. Thomas Hooker, were on the eve of departure for Connecticut. Two years later, namely in 1637, Captain Cooke obtained a grant from Cambridge of twenty acres of land on the border of Mill Brook, there built a dam and erected a mill. This location was near the lowest level of this water course and not a great distance from its outlet into Mystic River. It was the first mill to, be run by water in all the territory within SITE OF CAPT. GEORGE COOKE'S MILL the Cambridge grant, or adjacent territory either ; a single wind mill in Cambridge, "which would only grind when the wind was from the east," being the only means of grinding corn prior to this date. The site of that first mill is plainly marked even at the present time by banks of earth extending from either side and about the middle of the mill pond at Fowle's Arlington Mills. The accompanying illustration is a good picture. The visiting stranger today will probably think as a young man expressed to the writer some years ago, "a pretty small body of water to call a mill pond." But it should be remembered that in 1637 there was no railroad bed occupying a portion of it as 20 Town of Arlington there is at the present time; also that the dam at Mill street was not built until many years afterwards. By striking levels it will be seen that Captain Cooke's mill pond must have covered all the territory westward as far as Grove street. Captain Cooke's grant of land at this site con- sisted of about twenty acres on the margin of Mill Brook, and in addition to the mill erected there he "built a dwelling house, barns and suitable outbuild- ings," as the record ALBERT WINN HOMESTEAD reads Site of Capt. George Cooke House, built I 637-8 Capt. George Cooke was undoubtedly a man of strong convictions, great energy, and commanded the respect and confidence of the people of this section (then parts of Cambridge and Charlestown) , for he was selectman of Newtowne, as Cambridge was then called, in 1636, 1642-3; representative to the General Court 1642-5, and speaker of the House in 1645. He was one of the earliest members of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston, its captain in 1643, and was- the first captain of a similar company incorporated in Middlesex County. In 1643 Captain Cooke was one of three commissioners and the commander-in-chief of a company of forty men comprising the guard to attend them, who were sent on an expedition to Rhode Island, "with authority to apprehend Samuel Gorton and his company, and to bring them to Boston if they do not give them satisfaction." In the House of Deputies he served on many of its important committees. In 1645 he was elected one of the Reserve Commissioners of the "United Colonies. Captain Cooke returned to England near the end of 1645 (being excused by the General Court, according to the record, "from further service, being to go for England"); was a colonel in Cromwell's army, and sacrificed his life in the Past and Present 21 service of the Commonwealth, being reported slain in the wars in Ireland in the year 1652. This pioneer in the territory now called Arlington, in business enterprises if not as a home maker, stands as a type of men in all New England at that early period in our history, of whom it may be said Providence seems to have raised up to create a new world. Born amid trials, privations, persecutions, thus enured to bear hardships and overcome seeming ^insurmountable obstacles, they attained a vigor sufficient to conquer for themselves wealth, power, honored names. Better than all this, they imparted sufficient of their strength of character and nobleness of purpose to enable succeeding genera- tions of their progeny to receive and transform into close simili- tude to their attainment the millions from other lands who, in these later years, have sought an asylum and an opportunity for growth and development in the home they had founded. It was a moral as well as a physical triumph, and because of the former the latter was signally successful, and the results are apparently permanent. With the departure of Captain Cooke for England the business of the mill was evidently abandoned and the property allowed to go to decay, for the mill was entirely demolished prior to the date when land and buildings connected with it passed to other hands. In 1670, Edward Collins of Medford, acting as attorney for Mary Cooke of England, daughter of Captain Cooke, sold "the mill privilege, buildings, and twenty acres of land," to John Rolfe of Nantucket. Mr. Rolfe erected an entirely new mill on the old site. In 1681 Rolfe's widow was granted permission "to make a dam above the old mill pond to keep water in, for to accommodate the mill with water," and this is without doubt the dam at Mill street. On his decease the mill and certain other parts of his father's estate passed to his son, John Rolfe. William Cutter had married Rolfe's sister, Rebecca. The senior Rolfe had given to Mr. Cutter an acre of land, but without any legal conveyance of the same, on which he, being a carpenter, had built a house. 22 Town of Arlington Dying intestate, the estate passed mainly to Rolfe's son John. In 1685 the junior John Rolfe, "in consideration that my honored father John Rolfe, late of Cambridge, deceased, did in his life- time give unto my loving brother-in-law William Cutter, of the same town, carpenter, one small piece of land at the west corner of his homestead to set a house on," etc., gives to said Cutter four acres of land and a share in the mill privilege. William Cutter ultimately acquired, by purchase, nearly all the original holdings of the Rolfe family in Menotomy. From 1693 to 1698, William Cutter was subjected to lawsuits instituted by Mary Cooke of England to recover the grant of twenty acres to her father, but he was able to maintain his title. The controversy is fully reported in the County Court Records. It is a singular fact that the exact date when Captain Cooke secured title to the land surrounding and mill privilege at Mill Brook is not recorded. Contemporaneous records only fix it as 1637. No less remarkable, however, than that each historian who has gathered data locates the "600 acres granted Captain Cooke" by a subsequent vote, " in the vicinity of his mill." In reality the grant was in another part of Cambridge, and has been definitely located by Mr. Thomas Hutchinson's researches within the limits of what is now the town of Lexington, and Vine Brook passed through the same. Forest street, Bow street, and the road over Turkey hill were built or at least cut through the forest to obtain access to this farm from the mill. Captain Cooke's name is not mentioned in connection with building the road "from Watertown to Cooke's mill in Menotomy," but he was one of the committee appointed by the General Court to "lay out the way from Cambridge to Woburn," in 1643, and described in the records of that town as "leading to Cambridge mill and town." This is the present Mystic street. Another public service rendered by Captain Cooke in addition to those already named was building a two rail fence to secure the Indians' corn. This fence was of "two sufficient rails in the town line between Cambridge and Charlestown, about half a mile in length, beginning at the outside of Cooke's land and running out northward to meet Captain Gibbons's fence, and inclosed the Past and Present 23 land on the west of the two great ponds called Misticke ponds which Squa Sachem reserved for her use during her life from sale of lands to the towns of Cambridge and Charlestown, for the Indians to plant and hunt upon; extending, in Charlestown limits, from the south side of Mr. Nowell's lot, near the upper end of the ponds, to the brook of Cooke's mill." The Cutter family was among the first to acquire territory in Arlington, and many large holdings of real estate are today in the possession of their descendants. William Cutter, a wine cooper by trade, had extensive holdings in Cambridge and Menotomy, and his brother Richard "had four acres of land in the Menotomy neighborhood, bounded John Brewer east, William Towne west, Charlestown line north, and common south." How important the Cutters became to this section in the next generation has already been stated; how closely the family has been identified with the growth of the town for more than two and a half centuries will be shown in succeeding pages. People of today who are satisfied with house lots, and believe a "little farm well tilled" far better than broad tracts of unpro- ductive land on which taxes will be assessed, are often surprised at the land grabbing propensities of the early settlers, who wan- dered off into wild territory to endure great suffering and -many hardships, when their desires for more land in this locality could not be met. The fact is, clearings were few and far between and were in the greatest demand by all. It takes time to cut down forests and clear the ground so it will produce hay, grain, and vege- tables. These cleared places or "meadow lands" as they are termed in early records, to secure which one had to purchase great tracts of wood land, were due to the burning of the timber by the Indians for purposes of their own. To the fact that at Lexington there was a wide stretch of this cleared land, is due the desire to secure broad tracts there, as well as the making of the roadway we call Massachusetts avenue and the building of a bridge over Menotomy River (now Alewife Brook), which was not then the narrow and clogged stream it has since become. It was from these broad acres in Lexington that Cambridge people cut the fodder for their cattle while other lands were be- 24 Town of Arlington ing cleared, and the proximity of Mill Brook to this road led to the location of Captain Cooke's mill. At about the time Captain Cooke erected his mill, a road was made from Water- town to the mill, and Pleasant street both in Arlington and Belmont closely conforms to the original survey for this county road. What is now named Massachusetts avenue was then called Concord road, and this new road from Watertown met and crossed it at nearly right angles and reached the mill by what is now called Water street. But there was for many years prior to the Revolution another "right of way" to the mill nearly parallel with Water street through the passageway between Studio Block and Associates' Building, across vacant land in the rear and Boston and Maine Railroad, by the way of what is now Russell terrace and continuing through the Sylvester Stickney estate to the mill. Land for homesteads in the territory known today as Arling- ton had been granted to a few householders prior to the coming of Captain Geo. Cooke, whose estate here consisted of "dwelling house, barnes and outbuildings on the twenty acres on a part of which the mill stood," as the record reads. When these emi- grants arrived is largely a matter of conjecture, and is perhaps not material in a sketch of the town's early history, which this is intended to be, and not a chronological or genealogical record. But if these farms cannot now be located it will be of interest to know that the tax list of Cambridge for 1688 was made up with "A list of tax payers in Menotomy" in a separate section, which will help any interested to trace out the details, arranged alpha- betically, as follows : Matthew Abdee. James Hubbard. John Adams. Israel Mead. Samuel Buck. Nathaniel Patten. Richard Cutter. Joseph Russell. William Cutter. William Russell. Gershom Cutter. Jason Russell. Nathaniel Cutter. Jonathan Saunders. William Dickson. John Wellington. John Dickson. Edward Winship. John Dunster Joseph Winship. Past and Present 25 Taxed for estates only — Thomas Hall, Justinian Holden, Lieut. Edwin Winship. The next year (1689) holdings were granted to Abraham Watson, John Dickson, Samuel Cooke, Philip Cooke, Joseph Adams, Gershom Cutter, William Cutter, Jonathan Dunster. This action on the part of Cambridge indicates that the village had in 1688 become of some importance to the mother town. Further proof appears in a grant by Cambridge of a "quarter acre of ground upon their [Menotomy] common, near Jason Russell house, near the highway, for the accommodation of a school house." So much space has been given to Captain Cooke and his mill and in diverging roadways leading to it, that his brother Joseph's connection with old Menotomy has dropped out of view, but that he was here is shown by his sale of land to John Adams in 1664. This tract consisted of "thirteen acres of upland and meadow lying by Notomy River, abutting on highway leading from Cambridge to Concord east; west the swamp ground leading to Fresh Pond meadow; south by Menotomy River; north on swamp toward Spy Pond." This was but a small addition, however, to the said John Adams' holdings, which in 1664 con- sisted of one hundred and seventeen acres, stretching from Meno- tomy meadow to Mr. Pelham's farm. Jason Russell, grandfather of the Jason Russell killed April 19, 1775, bought twenty acres of this Pelham, "in the first division of the Rocks," and as Pelham terrace of today is located in this purchase, the propriety of going back to this ancient date for a name is apparent. It joined the "forty acres for the ministry, bounded on Concord road north- east," that was set apart in 1689. It will be the task of some one interested enough and with time to accomplish the task, to determine the population of this territory at stated periods prior to 1807. Mr. Thomas Hut- chinson is working along these lines and has made a valuable collection of facts and statistics, but these are not complete enough to be of use at this time. All now available are few and scattered, such as that the stretch of territory east of Fresh Pond to Menotomy River was divided into allotments by vote 26 Town of Arlington of Cambridge in 1658; but no names given in the local records. The same is true of divisions mentioned as having taken place at other periods in this territory. In the absence therefore of more complete records out of which to construct a connected story of early settlers and where their dwellings were located from 1635 to the close of the cen- tury, the following are presented with the hope that Arlington Historical Society may at some future time take up this im- portant branch of local history and pursue it until the sources of information are exhausted. A volume of this sort, with geneal- ogies supplementing it, would be a priceless gift to succeeding generations. The scraps of history along this line referred to are as follows: Herbert Pelham had a house and 600 acres of land in 1642 — probably the earliest house built in the direction of Lexington in the limits of Cambr dge, — and Edward Goffe had 600 acres of land, and Roger Shaw, 200 acres more, near the southwest side of Capt. George Cooke's farm, another grant of 600 acres ex- tending in the direction of Lexington, and including much land now located in that town, as well as in Arlington. John Bridge had also a grant of a much smaller piece of land at this early period in the vicinity of Vine Brook, where his stacks of hay once stood. This shows that haying was carried on at a dis- tance from the settled area near the village, before 1645. Capt. George Cooke had one dwelling house, with mill and outhouses, and twenty acres of land in Menotomy limits, in 1642, bounded easterly on the Charlestown line. The house stood on the site of the late Albert Winn's cottage on Summer street, and the twenty acres of land surrounded this spot, being included, for the greater part, in the late Albert Winn's farm. I have been particular to use these somewhat old designations, because they are more familiar to the former residents of Arlington, who have been absent from the town for several years, than a more modern description would be. In 1645 forty-seven lots were granted by the town on the southerly side of the Charlestown line, and on the westerly side of Menotomy River, but it is doubtful if any houses were built upon them for a long series of years. These lots were soon subject to many changes of ownership, and were located on the level ground south of the present Medford street, the ancient way to the Weir Past and Present 27 Bridge over the Mystic River — the weir being very early estab- lished in that water course. 1647. Cutting trees and taking away wood from "Great Swamp" — its location was on both sides of Menotomy River — was forbidden, showing it to be common property and reserved for grazing and hay cutting purposes. 1658. The "Great Swamp" was divided into allotments on the east side of Fresh Pond and Menotomy River. 1653. Justinian Holden bought 289 acres bounded south on Fresh Pond and east on Menotomy River. 1656. Edward Ross, servant of Edwin Winship, had liberty to mow the grass in the swamp anent the north end of Spy Pond. [The building of the steam railroad eliminated this stretch of swamp land in Arlington.] William Patten resided on the easterly side of North avenue in Cambridge and had charge of the town herd of cattle driven daily to feed in the grass lands in Menotomy. 1655. John Fownell sold to Henry Dunster, President of Harvard College, thirteen acres to add to the grant from Charles- town, which grant is now within the limits of Arlington. Lots were granted about the Menotomy Bridge over the Ale- wife Brook, and on the plain forming a large portion of the present North Cambridge, before the Menotomy side of that stream received attention, and among the most important was that of John Adams, who, in 1664, bought the grant of Joseph Cooke, a former Cambridge resident, who was then of Stannaway Co., Essex, England. This purchase was a lot of thirteen acres, lying by the brook, the highway from Cambridge to Concord being east. This John Adams is prominent as one of the first settlers to locate at the present Arlington Center, and his farm, in 1664, embraced 117 acres, which he had purchased of Golden Moore, and from a more particular description in the public records, it was said to be bounded on the northeast by Widow Russell's farm, that was purchased of Richard Jackson, and on the other sides by other lands, leaving sufficient space for the highway that led to Concord. From its early occupant are descended, more or less . remotely, a large part of the former inhabitants of Arlington. He had been granted other lands. His house was near the center of the town. Minute directions are inscribed on the records in 1689 for the division of a large tract which apparently covers the greater part No. Laid out to 67 William Manning, 66 . Owen Warland, 65 Nathaniel Hancock, 64 Widow Russell, alia: 63 John Sawtelle, 62 Andrew Belcher, 61 Peter Towne, 28 Town of Arlington of the present town of Arlington. This region was called by the general name of the Cambridge Rocks, and the description of 106 lots in the first division contains information to explain the ap- proximate location of a large number. For example, the 68th lot was laid out to Jacob Hill. It contained eight acres, and its bounds show it to be located on the present westerly corner of Water street and Massachusetts avenue. The lots westerly of it, and on the same side of the avenue, were: Acres. Hall, And so on, up the avenue, till the point modernly called "The Foot of the Rocks" is reached, when the direction appears to change. Many lots bounded on the southerly side of Massachu- setts avenue appear in the enumeration. 1697. John Adams conveyed to his son Joseph the homestead and adjoining lots, "chiefly because he has been a loving son to me." 1699. John Adams conveyed to William Patten ten acres, south by Menotomy River, south and west by John Dickson's meadow and Jonathan Butterfield's, southeast by said Adams, northwest by Adams's swamp and northeast by the country road. The second division of lots at the Cambridge Rocks began where the first ended, and the record is continued through many pages till the description of 104 lots is included. Originally there was tendered to the selectmen a plan of these lots, but like many other things of that time, it has been lost. Jason Russell soon bought one of these Arlington lots and William Russell bought the Hancock and Warland lots, with a lot laid out to his mother, the Widow Hall, and acquired possession of the Sawtelle lot, and thus the Russell family soon occupied an important section of the territory at Arlington Center. Another large section at the Center was occupied by the Cutters, and there is a plan of their tract still extant, bearing the date of 1725. Thus, if one had the time, it would be easy to show how this portion of Arlington was occupied in the earlier times by the Adamses, the Russells, the Cutters, and others. Past and Present 29 The foregoing items are in the main taken from an article contributed to the columns of Arlington Advocate a few years ago by William R. Cutter, of Woburn, and were the result of later researches in the "Proprietors' Records" of the town of Cambridge, which in reality is a book of land transfers. But if little is known of location or area of holdings in Arling- ton in early days, it is our good fortune to be able to present a picture of the home-making process of those early times, in a letter written to Governor Hill of New Hampshire by John Adams, in 1847, when the writer was one hundred and two years old. He was a son of Joseph Adams (born here in 1713), and the writer's home was in the old Adams homestead, a picture of which will be found on page 99. He writes: My father gave me what learning time and circumstances would admit, aiming at nothing more than that I might be able to do common business. He had no man's help but mine, and it kept me in constant employ. He had at this time a place (fifty years ago it was usual to call a common farm a place) in Lex- ington belonging to my mother-in-law, which he carried on and had the profits. At this place I often went to work. The house was rented to a mechanic, where I used to board. When I was in my nineteenth year I was sent there in the spring to work. The woman of the house had been confined and her nurse was still with her. The nurse was young and so was I, and in the course of the week which I was to work there, often speaking to each other, we had formed a sort of acquaintance. When my week was out, not having said all I wished to, I asked the privi- lege of paying her a visit at her father's, and not being denied I was careful to pay it, which only made another to be desirable; and being well treated by all the family, my visits were made as opportunity offered through spring, summer and fall; and, to be short, until I was my own man (one and twenty-two full years; and this was two or three years before the final consummation!). By this time there was a mutual desire that we might spend our lives together; but how was it to be done? I was poor — my partner was not rich; and to think of going to live together in such circumstances was not prudent. We concluded to live as we were until we could gain a little something to live on. I would go to work on my new lot of wilderness land which I had newly bought and she would work where it was most to her interest. 30 Town of Arlington My land was part of Cambridge farm in Ashburnham, Mass., fifty miles from my native place. Early in the spring I took my ax on my back and set out for my new country, began to chop down the timber on two or three acres, went back, worked at Medford in the summer making bricks on shares. In the fall I again went to my land, cleared off my wood, sowed two acres of rye, returned to West Cambridge, worked through the winter making shoes with Mr. John Russell; in the spring went and disposed of my bricks, went again to my land; my rye looked well but had no barn, built one that summer, saved a little more, returned to Mr. Russell's in the winter. In the spring went to my land, made some provision for a house; and in the year 1770 hit so that on the 9th of July, my partner being as ready as I was, we were married. Having provided a team to carry her furniture and a horse for her and another for myself, we set out for the woods. She had never seen a foot of land within forty miles of our place, but her courage held out till we got home, and then it was better than ever. We were now where we had long wanted to be, and hoped that we with thank- ful hearts and contented minds should enjoy ourselves together through life. Children and health blessed this "home in the wilderness," and for fifty-three years this couple shared life's lot. This sketch of old Menotomy opened with all the facts obtain- able regarding the building of the first mill. It may fittingly close with a tracing of this and other business enterprises along Mill Brook. John Cutter, on March 3, 1768, sold to Jonathan Cutter, only heir of the last William, one half of the ancient milldam, yard, and pond, containing two and one half acres, shown in plan of the date of about 1725, being John's estate of inheritance in fee simple, and also the old mill privilege originally belonging to Col. George Cooke. Jonathan Cutter, on March 25, 1768, sold to Ammi Cutter the same premises, being described as "one certain ancient milldam, pond, and yard," containing by estima- tion two acres and a half. These premises Ammi increased by the purchase of one and a half acres of meadow and upland of his father John Cutter, in 1770, immediately below the old mill- dam and yard, and now included in Fowle's lower pond; also by the purchase of three and three quarters acres more in the same Past and Present 31 direction below the dam, and extending to the Woburn road, of his cousin Samuel Cutter, in 1778, afterward Ammi's son's, Benjamin Cutter's, of Charlestown, who sold a part to Ephraim Cutter, containing one acre and a half and twenty-two rods, in 1804, shown in a plan by Peter Tufts, Jr., dated 1803, and makes a part of Fowle's lower millpond, and the lanes formerly leading to Ephraim Cutter's mill. Ammi Cutter left "one Grist Mill, with a Bolt in the same," located on the ancient dam bought by him in 1768, which was assigned on the distribution of his estate, in 1795, as a part of the portion of his sixth son Ephraim Cutter, who built a new dam and mill below the old one, about 1800. On the distribution of Ephraim Cutter's estate at his death in 1841, the mill and privilege fell to the possession of his sons, Benjamin and Samuel L. Cutter. In 1850 Benjamin Cutter, of Woburn, bought of his brother, Samuel Locke Cutter, the un- divided half of the mill and lands, which they had owned in common. The premises are now the property of Dr. Benjamin Cutter's son-in-law, Samuel A. Fowle. The second mill privilege made useful on this stream (count- ing the 1637 mill and its nearby successor as one) was created by building the dam at what is now Mill street, built by William Cutter in 1704, probably at that time avail- ing himself of the grant from his mother-in-law, the widow Rolfe, in 1685. This privilege, like the other lower down the stream, remained in the hands of the Cutter family until 1835, when Mary Cutter, widow of Stephen, sold the privilege to Eli Robbins, reserving the privi- lege granted to the Baptist church of using so much of the mill pond as is necessary for the ordinance of baptism. The following- year Robbins sold the privilege to Cyrus Cutter, and it was in the old mill, at the age of eighty-two, that he lost his life by accident. FLUME AT MILL STREET 32 Town of Arlington CUTTER MILL POND In which the Baptist church has reserved rights The privilege is now a part of the Fowle's Arlington Mills property as well as the original Captain Cooke grant. What is now the dam and mill pond of Charles Schwamb & Son, according to Cutter's history, was the next mill privilege located on this stream, and must have been in use prior to 1778, as it was in that year certain co-heirs quitclaimed to Samuel Cutter, "a certain grist mill in Cambridge, with all and singular the dam, flooms, mill pond," etc., at this place. This property was sold to Ichabod Fessenden in 1795; by him to John bywl " Perry and Stephen Locke in 1809. The succeeding transfers are easily traceable. The Theodore Schwamb Co. mill privilege was the next interruption to the flow of Mill Brook, and unlike the others, which were in the main grist mills, was an edge tool factory. It was built by Gershom Cutter, and descended to his son Aaron Cutter. The Schouler mill privilege as it is still spoken of, though it is no longer in existence, dates back to the beginning of the last century. In 1810 or 1811 Abner Stearns of Billerica built here a large factory, in which besides his fulling mill he had a spinning machine of seventy-two spindles. The yarn spun was taken elsewhere to be made into broadcloth. The peace of 1815 making his business unprofitable, Stearns left West Cambridge, and in 1832 sold the whole property, mills, dwellings, etc., to James Schouler, who intro- duced the business of calico printing, and his sons later made it a great success. Prior to locating here Abner Stearns had owned the privilege farther west in 1808, carrying on wool carding, etc., which later came into the control of Welch & Griffiths by lease. Stearns sold this to John Tufts, and the old mill and others he erected there were destroyed by fire in 1831, so when Welch & Griffiths came in 1832, there was the mill privilege alone available. Past and Present 33 In the interval Tufts had sold to Ezra Trull of Boston, and Trull had sold to Cyrus Cutter, so the lease came from this latter. In 1816 Ichabod Fessenden built a mill at the J. C. Hobbs privi- lege as it is still called, though Deacon Hobbs has been some years dead, and another enterprise strikingly different from the making of machine knives which made him famous is carried on at the brick factor}' he erected there. SECTION TWO ARLINGTON AS SECOND PRECINCT OF CAMBRIDGE 1732-1807 The church the unit. — People of Menotomy petition for permission to build a church. — Petition granted. — Residents of Charlestown in adjacent territory permitted to join Second Precinct church. — Church built and dedicated. — Difficulties encountered in securing a minister. — Rev. Samuel Cooke chosen and settled as pastor. — Charlestown members granted district privileges. — Sketch of Parson Cooke and his successor, the Rev. Dr. Fiske. — Homes of first pastors. — Old-time taverns. — Change in highways. — Incidents preceding war of the Revolution. — How the war affected fortunes of the people. — Water works introduced in 1799. — Larger church accommodation needed. — Building a new church. DURING the entire period covered by the history of Massa- chusetts Bay Colony and for a considerable time after the independence of the colonies had been acknowledged by England and Massachusetts had become one of the United States of America, all authority except the purely military seems to have been centered in the church. For many years this authority was almost absolute. As is naturally the case where such conditions exist, it trenched closely all too often on lines that were tyrannical. The emigrants to these shores fled from oppression at home to found in a new continent a state where "they might worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences." They fled from "conformity," and in the new world established a com- munity of "freemen," to be governed by rules and laws mutually agreed upon. But by that strange moral blindness which, in the past at least, has dulled the vision of so many good people to the fact that difference of opinion may be as sacred to one set of men as another, they demanded "conformity" to their religious creed and form of worship in the new land and enforced that demand with at least a vigorous arm. 34 Past and Present 35 To be a "freeman" a man must be an "orthodox member of the church, at least twenty years old, worth £200, and must take oath to be true and faithful subjects and yield assistance and support to church and Commonwealth." Though we may smile at or vigorously condemn, as the mood serves, the stern austerity of these men, we should ask is it not probable we should have been like them had we lived in their time. They came here for peace, for unity. To have their form of worship condemned, their creed ignored or scouted by men whom they judged ought to act with them, was not to be tolerated. It was destructive of all they had planned for in the new world in which they had made a home at the cost of great privation and no small measure of suffering. Quakers, Baptists, and others were "disturbers of the peace." They must be punished and brought to reason by fines and im- prisonment. The Quakers would not bear their share in fighting a foe. In the opinion of the Puritan it was a coward who would not defend his home. The Baptists denied theirs to be a saving faith. Could this be tolerated? The colonists do not need this defense, but these facts are worth consideration. Because of this supreme authority on the part of the church (and it was the church as a whole and not a priest, pastor, synod, or vestry that enforced it), no town or "precinct" rights were granted other than authority to a certain number of people to "found a church." That church, so founded, became in its turn the center of legal as well as ecclesiastical authority, and the history of any "First Parish" in Middlesex County, during the years from 1630 to 1800 at least, is of necessity the history of the town for that period. This is true to an almost singular extent of the Second Precinct of Cambridge, as Arlington was designated when partial control in local affairs was granted. At this period in our history, everybody was obliged to attend public church worship "except for good and sufficient reasons." All dwellers in Menotomy were members of the Cambridge church or at least under its jurisdiction, and to this church they must journey on Sunday. May 10, 1725, residents here petitioned the church at Cambridge 36 Town of Arlington to allow them to establish a church of their own, but were denied on the ground "that near one half of said inhabitants had not signed the petition." A renewal of the petition in 1728 met with refusal, but the grounds are not stated. Another petition sent to the General Court, June 30, 1732, was opposed by Cambridge and rejected Nov. 3, 1732. This petition was renewed the following month, and Cambridge was ordered to appear December 6, 1732, and show cause why the same should not be granted. Dec. 27, 1732, by order of the General Court, the prayer of the petitioners was granted by the acceptance of the following report: Ebenezer Burrill, Esq., for the committee of both houses on the petition above, reported that said committee, appointed to take under consideration said petition, having repaired to the lands petitioned for, and notified the petitioners and agents for the town of Cambridge [Hon. Spencer Phips, Jonathan Remington, Frances Foxcroft, William Brattles, Esq., and Mr. Andrew Board- man] with other petitioners, and having carefully viewed the place and heard the parties, are humbly of the opinion that the lands in the northwest part of said town petitioned for, be set off as a distinct precinct by the following boundaries: On Menotomy River from Charlestown till it comes to Spy Pond Brook, then on said brook till it comes to a watercourse or ditch in Whiting's meadow, so called, the ditch to be the boundary till it comes to Hamblet's Brook, following the course of said brook to the bridge, thence on a straight line to the northwest corner of Mr. Isaac Holden's orchard and continuing the same course to Watertown line. And that the inhabitants of the said precinct be vested with all the powers, privileges and immunities that other precincts within this Province do or by law ought to enjoy. The boundary line between Charlestown and Cambridge was parallel with Broadway and about the south side of Warren street. On the strip of land between this line and Mystic River, west of Alewife Brook, resided Samuel Cutter, George Cutter, Samuel Gooding, Joseph Russell, William Dickson, Philip Carteret, and David Dunster. Obtaining permission from the Charlestown church, these landholders joined with the Second Precinct people in meeting the expense of building a church; but this vote of the Past and Present 37 Charlestown church did not release these men from taxes to support schools, etc., of that town. This action doubtless found its initiative in a vote passed by the freeholders and inhabitants of the Second Precinct at a meet- ing held in the schoolhouse March 5, 1733, "to see whether our inhabitants would desire our neighbors in the adjacent part of Charlestown to join with us in settling the gospel ministry among us." This was the action of the second meeting of the freeholders. At a third meeting, held April 16, a committee was chosen to provide preaching for six months after the following May 1, and ninety pounds was raised for support of preaching for one year. Another meeting of the freeholders was held July 10, 1733, at which the project of a meetinghouse was successfully launched. Some years previous Cambridge had granted to the dwellers in Menotomy the lot of land on Massachusetts avenue and Pleasant street, still occupied by First Parish church, for "a commons and burying ground." This naturally was selected as the place on which to erect the church building, as it had not yet been used for burial purposes; interments of deceased residents of Menotomy being in the grounds connected with the first church of Cambridge. The record speaks of this plot as being "the parcel of land lying between Mr. Jason Russell's pasture and Ebenezer Swan's field, which was reserved out of the commons for a burying place." At a meeting held Sept. 17, 1733, it was voted to raise three hundred pounds by general tax to build a meetinghouse, the dimensions of which were to be forty-six by thirty-six, with twenty-four foot posts, and a suitable belfry. The committee to superintend the building consisted of James Cutler, John Cutter, Ephraim Frost, Henry Dunster, Jonathan Butterfield. The inhabitants of the Charlestown section of the parish joined heartily in this enterprise and in the following year it was ready for occupancy. It contained "seventeen pews besides the ministerial pew, which was next the pulpit stairs." The holders of these pews were Rev. John Whiting, John Cutter, Henry Dunster, Jason Russell, Ephraim Frost, James Cutler, Joseph Adams, Jonathan Butterfield, Joseph Winship, Rev. Nathaniel Appleton, Abraham 38 Town of Arlington Hill, John Swan, Joseph Russell, William Dickson, Samuel Cutter, John Winship. In addition to these "pews" (square, box-like inclosures with seats on three sides with door from the aisle) owned exclusively by those purchasing them, there were benches of plain wood in the space to the rear; also "seats over the gallery stairs for the negroes to sit in." It is evident that in Menotomy at least, at the early time now under review, a spirit of equality was developing, for when, a few years later, an attempt was made to introduce more "pews," it was successfully resisted, the wooden bench people being in the majority. The earlier settlers of Massachusetts Bay Colony, and notably of those in Menotomy, came largely from England, where titled people held precedence in every walk in life and nowhere so sig- nally as in the church. The pastor owed his appointment to the squire or lord's choice, and in everything this potent force was bowed to without question if not always with reverence. It was natural, therefore, that men who were acknowledged leaders in the new land should expect from their friends and fellow townsmen recognition in church as well as secular affairs, and it was just here that the difficulty in assigning seats in the new church presented itself, and proved a source of more animosities than any problem encountered by the colonists. It was left to a committee, finally, but one has to smile at reading that another committee was chosen to select seats for the first or larger com- mittee. How this committee should proceed was not entirely a matter of its own choice. One record instructs the committee "to dignify and seat the meetinghouse according to the personal and real estate and having reference to age and honor." Another committee was instructed "to give men their dignity in their sitting in proportion to their minister's rate they pay, allowing one poll to a rate, making such allowance for age as they shall think proper, except where they are tenants, and in these cases to act their best judgment." Rev. William Smith, who had inherited a farm in this vicinity, but who was a settled pastor in Weymouth, is believed by historian Past and Present 39 W. R. Cutter to have been the minister engaged by the committee to provide preaching, and Wyman's "History of Cambridge " says, "A Mr. Smith was preaching here in 1734," but it was not until February 1, 1735, that the first church in Arlington was "opened and consecrated." Rev. Mr. Appleton, minister of the First Parish in Cambridge, was the central figure in this dedicatory service. It seems to have been an easier matter to build a church than to select a minister to preside over the little flock. Time and again failure was encountered. On Wednesday, Oct. 8, 1735, the church had a "day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer" to assist them in making a decision on this important matter of "settling an orthodox minister," without the prayer of the petition being granted; and two other similar "wrestlings in prayer" had no better results. A Mr. Thomas Skinner of Harvard University was chosen, but his answer not being satisfactory, he was passed over. Mr. Joseph Gardner, chosen in 1737, finally declined the service, and a like fate attended the effort to secure Mr. Daniel Rogers. In 1738 the venerable John Hancock of Lexington, with Revs. Appleton, Storer, and Turell, attended a day of fasting and prayer at Menotomy, and as a result, a unanimous vote to invite Mr. Thomas Prentiss to become pastor was passed April 23, 1739, but he in turn declined, having accepted the call from the First Parish in Charlestown. This persistence could have but one ending, and on May 21, 1739, Samuel Cooke was unanimously chosen minister and accepted the call to become the first pastor. On Sunday, Sept. 9, 1739, the church of the Second Precinct of Cambridge was formally organized, Rev. John Hancock of Lexing- ton presiding and accepting the letters of dismissal from other churches presented by the following: Samuel Cooke, pastor. William Russell, Ebenezer and Elisabeth Swan, Jonathan and Ruth Butterfield, Ephraim and Sarah Frost, Joseph and Rachel Adams, John and Lydia Cutter, William Winship, John and Elizabeth Winship, Joseph and Anna Winship, Henry and Martha Dunster, William and Ruth Dickson, Ebenezer and Sarah Prentice, Ephraim and Mary Frost, Jr., Joseph Adams, Jr., John Fillebrown, John and Mary Williams, John and Elisabeth Swan, Francis and Elisabeth Locke, Thomas and Chary 40 Town of Arlington Wellington, Thomas and Mary Frost, Jonathan and Rachel Butterfield, Jr., William and Anne Cutter, Thomas and Patience Hall, Joseph and Mary Russell, Josiah and Sarah Robbins, Thomas and Sarah Williams, Walter Russell, Jr., Samuel Frost, William Withington. Sarah Cool (widow), Sarah Hill, Mehitabel Cutter, Elisabeth Russell, Alice Cutler, Hannah Winship, Anne Cutter (widow), Anna Fessenden (widow), Sarah Wilson, Sarah Russell, Elisabeth Carteret, Elisabeth Cutter (widow) , Lydia Reed, Anna Cutter, Martha Wilson, Mercy Perry (widow), Jane Cutter, Ruth Robbins, Deborah Robbins, Sarah Smith, Mary Butterfield, Rebecca Hill, Sarah Harrington, Abigail Cutter, Jr., Misses Mary Swan, Elizabeth Locke, Deborah Chrissen, Rebecca Adams, Martha Frost, Abigail Cutter, Elisabeth Winship. These thirty men and fifty-three women subscribed to the formal and decidedly formidable creed, and on the following Wednesday, Mr. Samuel Cooke was ordained and installed as minister over this company of eighty-three men and women. The churches at Cambridge, Lexington, Medford, and Watertown were represented at this council by their ministers. The communion table of the new church was supplied with a service through the gift, of twenty-five pounds from the First Parish of Cambridge, and six pounds from Mrs. Rebecca Whitte- more of Medford. This generosity on the part of the donors was formally recognized by a vote of thanks passed at a meeting held Dec. 7. The residents of Charlestown casting in their lot with the people of Menotomy in founding the First Parish, continued to bear what was, to a degree at least, a double burden of paying certain taxes in both Charlestown and Cambridge until 1762. Sept. 28, 1761, it was voted by the First Parish in Menotomy: To prefer a petition to the Great and General Court, praying that we (with those of out neighbors belonging to several adjacent towns, who are desirous of being joined to us) may with their lands and estates be incorporated with us into a separate district. The petition recited: That they were more than twenty years since made a precinct; that they labored under great inconvenience by being obliged to attend on training-days and at town meetings, some at Cam- bridge and some at Charlestown, to which towns they belong; and by being taxed towards the support of the grammar schools in said towns; that others on the near borders — Woburn, Lexington, Past and Present 41 Watertown, and Medford — whose names were attached to the petition, desired to join with them in forming a separate town- ship. The General Court, by an act defining lines and imposing con- ditions, granted the petition as far as it related to Charlestown and Cambridge territory, and the Northwest Precinct voted to accept the act, but afterwards evidently reconsidered its action because it did not include the other territory named and did not confer privileges sought, as the citizens of Arlington never took advantage of the act. Any surprise that the granting of township rights to a commu- nity numerous enough to seek them was so long and strenuously opposed, not by the people from whom separation was sought, but by legislative authority, is removed when the facts are under- stood. Every town had the right to send a representative to the General Court, and the English governors much disliked to give their assent to the forming of a new town, for a new town implied a new legislator who was only too likely to set himself in oppo- sition to the representative of the King even in that early day. On the petition presented by the inhabitants of Menotomy in 1762 to become a separate township, it was voted to allow the forming of a district, but as this did not allow representation, while conferring nearly all the rights and privileges enjoyed by towns, this act was rejected and the village or parish remained a part of Cambridge. Records by which population or valuation of this section in earlier times can be fixed or estimated are exceedingly meager, but one item in Page's "History of Cambridge " furnishes a starting point. He says that in 1777 Menotomy had 122 assessed white polls; also one black; that the territory contained 4,345 acres and 118 rods. The Rev. Samuel Cooke's dwelling stood until 1871, when it was removed to make room for the present parsonage of the Orthodox Congregational parish. Parson Cooke's original purchase was from Jason Russell and embraced the land where now stands the Orthodox Congregational church, the cottage of Mr. George Y. Wellington, Dr. Andrew F. Reed's house, also that of Wellington 42 Town of Arlington A. Hardy, on the south side of Maple street; estate of George Swan; Orthodox Congregational parsonage; two houses belonging to Deacon Myron Taylor. Robbins estate and Old Cemetery form northern boundary. Before this old landmark was turned over to its purchaser to be removed, some very important relics connected with it were disposed of. Two window shutters pierced by British bullets on the 19th of April, 1775, were sold to Mr. Frank Brooks of Medford, who paid $25 for the same. A window quite thickly marked with signatures cut with diamonds of more or less important personages visiting the house in former years, ultimately came into the possession of Robbins Library and has been turned over to the custody of Arlington Historical Society. Rev. Samuel Cooke was a native of Hadley in this state and was born January 11, 1709. Consequently he was not quite thirty years of age when he was ordained to the gospel ministry. He entered Harvard College with the class of 1731 and graduated in 1735. He taught school in Roxbury for a year, was private tutor for Colonel Royall at the old mansion known as the "Royall Home" in Medford, then began preaching, at intervals occupying the pulpit at Menotomy, Marlboro, and Roxbury. His salary at his first parish here was fixed at two hundred and sixty pounds, depreciated currency, one half at settlement and the other half at end of first year. Further reference to the work of this old-time pastor, especially during the Revolutionary war period, will be found in the section devoted to "Military History." In this connection extracts from a sketch of his life, written by Parson Cooke in 1778, are appended. Samuel Cooke, born in Hadley, January 11th, 1709, was the son of Mr. Samuel and Mrs. Anne Cooke; the grandson on his father's side to Aaron Cooke, Esq., and Sarah Cooke; and the great-grandson of Major Cooke, of Northampton, and of William and Sarah Westwood, of Hadley, who came from Old England. . . . The estate in England after some time my REV. SAMUEL COOKE Past and Present 43 grandfather sold, but employing a knave, lost it. The estate at Hartford he gave to his son Aaron. That in Hadley to his sons Westwood and Samuel, and to his son Moses his estate from his own father in Northampton. . . . My father by his will left his homestead at my mother's decease wholly to my brother Jonathan in lieu of my education. The rest of his estate was equally divided between my brother and me — we paying legacies to our sisters. I began to learn Latin in 1720, but being then the only son I was called off to the farm till a brother, born almost out of season, and growing, allowed me to resume my study in the year 1729. I entered Harvard College in 1731 — had my first degree, 1735 — kept school part of a year at Roxbury — one year and a part was in the College Buttery — Nov., 1737, went to Col. Royall's, Medford, for a year to instruct his son — and in 1738 returned to College. I then preached six months at Marlborough, and six at Roxbury and Menotomy. In May, 1739, I received a call to settle in the ministry in this place. In July, I gave my answer, and on September 12, 1739, I was ordained the first minister of this Second Precinct in Cambridge. . . I boarded the first year in the family of Mr. Joseph Adams, at 10s. per week — silver being then 26s. per ounce. On May 12, 1740, I bought one acre of ground of Mr. Jason Russell for house, which was raised July 17, at the expense of the people — The frame being given, and the cellar and well dug and stoned gratis, and the boards and shingles carted from Sud- bury and Billerica free of charge to me. I married Oct. 2, 1740, Miss Sarah Porter, daughter of Mr. Samuel and Mrs. Anne Porter, of Hadley, and on Oct. 16, I brought her to my house. On Aug. 2, 1741, a son was born to us, and on the 9th he was baptized Samuel, and on the 14th inst. Samuel died. On the 22d the mother died, both dying of the throat distemper. I married September 23, 1742, Anna Cotton, daughter of the Rev. Mr. John and Mrs. Mary Cotton, of Newtown. On the 30th she came home. [A lengthy paragraph mentions births and deaths in the family. — Ed.] February 12, 1761, my wife Anna died, aged 38, after having been mother of eleven children; seven survived her, but must follow. I married 25 Nov. 1762, Mrs. Lucy, relict of the late Rev. Nicholas Bowes, of Bedford, and daughter of the late Rev. John and Elizabeth Hancock, of Lexington. On Sept. 21, 1768, my wife Lucy died. Few families have met with more and greater change by 44 Town of Arlington Death in equal time. But let us not tarry then — it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed — the father is con- tinued, and lives parted in old age. Seven out of thirteen remain. Let us prepare to follow — be ye also ready. Parson Cooke died June 4, 1783, and was succeeded by Rev. Thaddeus Fiske, who lived to be ninety-three, his death occurring Nov. 14, 1855. He had seen five pastors installed over his old parish before his death. The accompanying picture of the "Parson Cooke House," FIRST PARSONAGE — REV. SAMUEL COOKE Built 1740 copied from a photograph in possession of the Historical Society, proves there was ample warrant for the statement previously made, that "in stately proportions it was second only to the church over which its owner presided as minister. " This building was removed to Warren street and used as a tene- ment house for a few years. It was destroyed by fire Dec. 19, 1881. A legend regarding this piece of property, and perhaps contain- ing a larger element of truth than is frequently the case with items of history not duly authenticated, is worth a place here. One of Past and Present 45 Miss Anna Bradshaw's verbal restrictions on her gift of her entire worldly possessions to trustees of Arlington Orthodox Congrega- tional Parish, was that the homestead should be torn down when the time came for its removal, and not sold to be made use of by a certain class of tenants she named, as some other buildings had been during her lifetime. The writer remembers that at intervals a story to the effect that "Anna Bradshaw's house is haunted" came to his ears with more or less of thrilling detail within a few years after its removal, and that for a long time before PARSON FISKE HOUSE Built 179 1 it was burned it had stood empty for lack of tenants; also inti- mations later that perhaps this was another instance of selling a building to an insurance company. The picture of Parson Fiske's house given here is a further illus- tration of the esteem in which the minister of early times was held. Like the other, the original adorns the walls of the Historical Society room in Robbins Library. This dwelling stood on land now divided by Pelham terrace, and the house lot extended on the other side of Pleasant street to Spy Pond. When the late Hon. Joseph S. Potter bought the portions 46 Town of Arlington of this estate not previously sold, this historic old building was torn down. Deacon Henry Mott of the Orthodox Congregational church (he also served the town many years as selectman and assessor), who bought a portion of this land and built the house now occupied by W. H. H. Tuttle, for a time used the well of the Fiske estate which was located on his purchase. The Rev. Thaddeus Fiske, in an account of himself and ancestry appended to a "Sermon delivered at West Cambridge, April 13, 1828," at the close of his ministry, and published at Boston by Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1843, states, "I was born on the 22d of June, 1762. At the age of seventeen, I began to prepare for college under the tuition of Rev. Mr. Samuel Woodward, who was an able instructor and linguist, the minister of Weston, my native town. I was offered by him for examination, and was admitted a student of Har- vard University in July, 1781, and graduated in 1785." After he had taken his degree, he taught a grammar school in Lexington, and boarded in the family of the Rev. Jonas Clark. He returned to the University in Cambridge, and studied divinity under Rev. Prof. Wigglesworth, and was licensed to preach Aug. 8, 1786, by the "Association of ^Ministers in and about Cambridge." He preached his first sermon in his native town, and after supply- ing several vacant parishes, was invited in March, 1787, to preach to the Second Congregational Church and Society in West Cam- bridge, then called Menotomy, now Arlington. On July 16, 1787, he received a call to settle as their minister. "I hesitated," he says, "for some time, whether to decline or accept their invitation. The parish was very small and poor, and. considerably involved in debt, having been destitute of a settled minister about six years REV. THADDEUS FISKE, D.D. Second Pastor First Parish Church Past and Present 47 and were in a broken state, very much reduced in numbers and property. It was generally thought doubtful whether they would be able to support a minister, or pay the small salary they offered me. . . . But it was feared by many, and so stated to me, that if I gave a negative answer, the church and society would not make any further effort to obtain a minister, and would be broken up and dissolved." He accepted their invitation, and was ordained April 23, 1788. The proceedings in reference to his settlement are entered else- where in this work. Having cast his lot with the "Second Church and Congregation in Cambridge," he immediately endeavored to allay the difficulties that obstructed their prosperity. He began by relinquishing a part of his salary. To supply the deficiency of his support, he boarded and instructed children and youth, and some he prepared for admission to college; he instructed many daughters of his parishioners, and other young ladies of the neighboring towns. Though this employment occupied much of his time, yet he was enabled to perform the usual duties of a minister, and to "study and write and preach" upwards of twelve hundred sermons during his ministry. He visited and taught his flock from house to house, gave religious instruction to youth, and continued the practice adopted by his predecessor, the Rev. Samuel Cooke, of meeting the children annually, and oftener, for the purpose of examining and assisting them in their knowledge of the Assembly's Catechism, which was universally taught then by their parents and heads of families. Sabbath schools were designed at first to aid this prac- tice. He assisted in defraying the current expenses of the parish ; he contributed fifty dollars toward furnishing a new house of wor- ship, built in 1805; he remitted annually, during his ministry, the parish taxes of many individuals who were either unable or un- willing to pay their annual assessments; he gave fifty dollars in aid and support of a singing school for the service of the house of worship, and ten dollars toward purchasing an octavo-viol for the use of the singers; had a set of curtains put in the foreseat of the front gallery for the singers' convenience, and the pulpit painted, at his expense. He commenced, in 1806, the establishment of 48 Town of Arlington a social library, and took the entire care of it in his house, and delivered books to the proprietors for more than twenty years without compensation. This and much more he did; and hence, in a few years, "the appearance of the town, and the morals and habits of the people," were changed for the better, and "its favorable aspect induced many individuals and families of other towns to come and settle in the place, and aid and share in its growing prosperity." He received from his people at the same time "many tokens of their respect and benevolence," and en- joyed his full share of "their regards and affections." In 1788 the Rev. Mr. Fiske became a member of the Board of Overseers of Harvard University; in 1821 he was honored with the degree of Doctor of Divinity by Columbia College, New York. He voluntarily resigned his pastoral office and charge April 23, 1828, leaving a church of about one hundred members and a congregation of about five hundred souls for his successor. The old-time pastor was in a broad sense an autocrat, and the house assigned to him or owned by him vied with the church not only as a social and religious center but also in size. This was natural. As a rule he was the only man in the community whose education extended beyond the rudimental stage, and legal and medical advice was not unfrequently sought from the old-time pastor, who evidently was expected to know everything. Then again, parish and precinct being synonymous it is easy to understand what a preponderance of influence the acknowledged head of the church was likely to exert, with his stately bearing, his correct and neat attire, coupled with the stilted and florid style of speaking and writing then in vogue. Be it said to the everlasting credit of these noble men — noble in spite of faults and a lack of Christian toleration that to us of today seems strange with men of such broad and high views on other subjects — that with rare exceptions they wore their honors gracefully and exer- cised authority with discretion and with Christian humility, except where matters of church discipline and upholding the "creed" were concerned. Turning over the records for material to be used in these pages in picturing the civil life of the Second Precinct of Cambridge, it Past and Present 49 is apparent at every stage that Rev. Samuel Cooke as the first pastor, and Rev. Thaddeus Fiske, D.D., his successor, measured up to the highest standards of what a pastor should be to the church over which he ministered and as a leader of men intrusted with the administration of secular affairs. The men who united in formation of the First Parish church of Arlington in 1735 were men of means and householders, each owning large tracts of land within the precinct lines. It is interesting to note that a considerable portion of the Swan grant is still held by direct descendants, and that the Cutters are now cultivating portions of the land where the first settlers of that name had a home. The mill built by Captain Cooke was responsible for the build- ing of the street now called Pleasant Mystic street owed its construction to the fact that the mill in Menotomy was the only place where Woburn people could conveniently go to have their corn ground. Massachusetts avenue was constructed for the convenience of Cambridge people in reaching the grazing ground and hay fields and at length became the great thoroughfare. There is every reason to believe that the road to Medford is nearly contemporaneous with the Cambridge, Watertown, and Woburn roads, as Governor Winthrop and M. Cradock were granted by the General Court in 1633, "the weare at Menotomy," and Wyman's "History of Charlestown " says, "This weare or fishing dam was in Mystic River, at the outlet of the pond." A road south and north to it is only a reasonable supposition; that it was used as "a way to the only mill in all the territory" would be natural. As mills were erected to the eastward not many years after Captain Cooke built his mill, this way was less and less in use, owing to the fact that Mystic River at this point was only fordable at certain stages of the tide, and the travel was not sufficient to successfully demand a bridge. In 1736, 1738, and 1743 the town of Medford was indicted for not building a bridge over Mystic River, and successfully made a defense that "the ford is easy and convenient and Medford people seldom or never travel that way; " but in 1746 a bridge 50 Town of Arlington was built and has been maintained until now, the present sub- stantial structure having been put up by Medford and Arlington, replacing a worn out wooden bridge, in 1893. Early in the history of the town it became the stopping place of farmers from the west and northwest on their way to Cam- bridge, Boston, and Charlestown with produce. Arlington was at a convenient distance from Boston to make a stop before completing the journey, and "accommodation for man and beast" being a natural demand it was met by enterprising citizens who here opened taverns, some of which became historic. The Black Horse Tavern was located where the house numbered 333 Massa- chusetts avenue now stands. "Cooper Tavern" was on the corner of Massachusetts avenue and Medford street. The "Tufts Tavern" is still standing. All these and others were built long before Arlington was incorporated. The preceding pages contain all important data gathered for Cutter's "History of Arlington," the later researches of Hon. James P. Parmenter, and what has come to light in the past ten years through donations to Arlington Historical Society, up to the few years preceding the opening of the war of the Revolution, with the single exception of what was done in the way of public school education. As these items form the basis of a special department of this volume, including them would be unnecessary repetition. All the historical facts now obtainable are confined to that which is stored in the church records or buried in the mass accu- mulated through the centuries in the Registry of Deeds, neither * of which afford hardly glimpses of the every-day life of the people of Menotomy. The records of conveyances of real estate show the farms to have been often of more than considerable size. The way the church was sustained and public education provided for proves the inhabitants to have been fairly well to do. The dams erected on Mill Brook suggest there was considerable of business enterprise beyond farming, which was the main industry. In closing his sketch of this period of our history, Judge Par- menter says, "For the most part the years seem to have gone by monotonously enough until at last the day came when History Past and Present 51 passed through our streets and the quiet country people took their place among those who were first to face death in the defense of the liberties of the nation." Parson Cooke was intimately associated with Parson Clark of Lexington, and like him was implicitly trusted by Hancock, Adams, and their associates. The sermons he delivered at this period "glowed with the spirit of resistance to oppression," and when the clash came on that memorable 19th of April, 1775, it was with difficulty he was restrained from taking an active part. Before nightfall, however, the parsonage was turned into a hospital, and then came duties which he shared to the full. As early as 1771 a trainband had been organized in Menotomy with Ephraim Frost, captain, Daniel Brown, lieutenant, William Adams, ensign. Before the breaking out of hostilities a full company of " Minute-men," with Benjamin Locke in command, was formed here, which came into active service on that day and at subsequent periods while the British remained in Boston. It is more than probable, if the distinction is not here drawn, that in speaking of "militia" and "Minute-men" in referring to the earlier defenders of the republic as has already occurred, the two organizations may be either confounded or considered one and the same thing. The militia of the Province of Massachusetts Bay was established by an act passed in 1693, and seemed to meet all requirements of the situation. When the colonists took matters into their own hands and established a Provincial Congress in 1774, one of its earliest acts was to place the militia in a position to be in readiness for the impending contest with the mother country. This act provided that all male persons from sixteen to sixty, competent to bear arms, should duly attend all musters and military exer- cises, and provided penalties for avoiding this service. It also provided that if any person lacked the money to furnish him- self with musket and ammunition, merchantable produce might be proffered the clerk of the company, who was authorized to sell it and provide the necessary arms. In case any were too poor to even supply merchandise, the arms were to be furnished from the town stock. A stock of powder was to be provided 52 Town of Arlington by the selectmen, and renewed as occasion required. It was men thus organized that joined in the expeditions against Canada and illustrated their qualifications as soldiers at Louis- burg and at Crown Point. On the other hand the "Minute-men," while members of the militia, were those who pledged themselves to the Committee of Safety, nearly six months before April 19, 1775, to be in readiness to respond at the shortest notice to any emergency call, and thus the promptness with which they assembled in response to the alarm on that memorable occasion is explained. It was in reality an organization of the younger and more active men within the militia, with officers of their own choice to com- mand them, banded together for special service. The "Minute- men" were organized to meet an emergency, and having met it,, as a separate organization ceased to exist. Few entries relating to the war appear on the parish record. In 1778 it was voted that the inhabitants be divided into fifteen messes, in proportion to their valuation, the design evidently being that the "messes" should be equal in property. Each mess had to furnish or support a soldier, and the expense was shared among the members according to their means. Various committees were chosen to carry out the scheme. Some light is thrown on the enormous depreciation of currency by the amounts appropriated for the minister's salary. During the early years of the war it remains at £75. In 1778-9, £300 is voted. The next year it is £1,200; and finally at the close of 1780 it is placed at £3,000. After the surrender of Cornwallis it falls back to £120, and then £100. The closing years of Parson Cooke's life (he died in 1783) were embittered by religious controversies forced upon him among the people of the parish. Rigid and unyielding where he deemed the interests of truth were concerned, the growing spirit of lib- eralism made him all the more determined to resist the under- mining of the old unity of faith among his people, which an increasing laxity in morals and refusing to yield to discipline indicated, and his pulpit utterances gave no uncertain sound. But more than all was the actual establishment of a Baptist Past and Present 53 church in his own parish two years before his death. It was a sign the old order of things was coming to an end in Menotomy; that his church could no longer exist as the sole center of religious instruction; that his teachings must cease to command universal assent and reverence. It is perhaps well that he did not live to a time when the disintegrating process had gone on still farther. The general poverty following the close of the war was shared by this community, and it was not until 1786 that the arrears of salary due the heirs of Parson Cooke was paid; then there was no end of trouble with the new Baptist society, the members of which resisted paying taxes to the First Parish in addition to supporting their own church, and including as it did some of the more wealthy and influential people of the town; again, no min- ister could be secured to take the pastorate of the First Parish. Finally in 1787, a unanimous call was extended to Rev. Thaddeus Fiske ; he accepted the office, and began his long pastorate of forty years. In preceding pages his connection with the church and town has been given due prominence. The introduction of service pipes to convey water for domestic purposes in 1799, the establishment here of the famous Whitte- more Card Mill the same year, the organization of the First Baptist parish of Arlington in 1780, with the settlement of a minister in 1783, together with some other minor events occurring between the settlement of Rev. Thaddeus Fiske, D.D., over First Parish and the incorporation of the town in 1807, are told with sufficient detail under special departments. A single large event remains to be noted before proceeding with the story of the town of Arlington, namely the erection of a new church by the First Parish, which was dedicated March 20, 1805. The parish had outgrown the seating capacity of the old church. It has previously been said that an attempt to add more pews was defeated in 1747, but in 1755 several were put in which reduced space for benches. Additional seats in the gallery failed to relieve the pressure. Then again the building seems to have become unsatisfactory in spite of alterations and repairs and the building of a new belfry. After the usual discussion and delay incident to securing harmonious action, it was finally 54 Town of Arlington decided, at the meeting held Jan. 9, 1804, to build a new meetinghouse. The main building was sold (at auction) to William Whittemore for $440; the tower to John Tufts for $115; the porch to Samuel Watson for $75 — a total of $630. Mr. Whittemore moved the building to a lot opposite the Parson Cooke estate and converted it into a three story dwelling. Later it was sold to his brother Samuel of New York, who in turn disposed of it to Ammi Cutter. Mr. Lombard married a daughter of Mr. Cutter and came into possession-- of it. In 1851 Lombard sold it to Abel G. Peck. A picture of the old church as it is today and how it was finally disposed of, is told in Chapter III. The new house was raised without accident in July, 1804, and dedicated March 20, 1805. It had the same general appearance as many meetinghouses of that day — an oblong building painted white, having in front a porch of four pillars, and on top a short square tower surmounted by a belfry, the dome shape roof of which supported a little spire with a vane — still a familiar type of church architecture in New England villages. It contained ninety-two pews on the floor and fourteen in the galleries. The prospect of a new build- ing seems to have excited the zeal of the musical members of the parish to improve the singing on Sundays. There had been a choir for a considerable time, at any rate since 1775, when William Cutter was chosen by the parish to lead the singing, with two seats in the. front gallery set apart for the singers. In 1796 instrumental music was added in the shape of a bass viol, to the accompaniment of which the choir sang the hymns in Tate and Brady's collection. In 1804 it became desirable to establish the Northwest Parish of Cam- FIRST PARISH CHURCH Built 1804-5 Past and Present 55 bridge Singing Society, for, as was said in the preamble of the constitution, the spirit of music in public devotion "is become somewhat languid, and its genius seems about to withdraw." Accordingly the society was formed for the laudable purpose of reviving the spirit and improving the members in the art of music. "Justice our principle, Reason our guide, and Honor our law." It was provided that every member should sit in the singing seats on Sundays when he was at the meeting. The society lasted three years, and was immediately succeeded by the- West Cambridge Musical Society, which continued until 1817. They met in the winter months for practice, and we may hope were able to bring back "the retiring genius of music." As a fitting conclusion of this section a full list of people serving in public office during the " Precinct" period is given as follows: PRUDENTIAL COMMITTEE-MEN. Henry Dunster, 1733, 1734. James Cutler, 1733, 1736, 1737, 1739, 1740, 1750-52. Ephraim Frost, 1733, 1734, 1738, 1741, 1749. Joseph Adams, 1733-35, 1739-41, 1753. Jonathan Butterfield, Jr., 1733, 1736, 1739, 1748, 1749. John Fillebrown, 1734, 1738. Samuel Whittemore, 1734, 1737, 1738, 1740, 1747. William Russell, 1735. John Winship, 1735, 1737, 1741, 1742. John Butterfield, 1735, 1737, 1743- 45. John Swan, 1735. John Cutter, 1736, 1738-46. Abraham Hill, 1736. Walter Russell, 1736. Samuel Cutter, 1737. Thomas Wellington, 1737. Capt. Philip Carteret, 1738, 1739, 1743, 1746, 1750, 1751. 1756-58, 1760. Seth Reed, 1740, 1752-55, 1761- 63, 1765-67 (dismissed and thanks voted for past ser- vice) . William Dickson, 1741. Joseph Russell, 1742, 1747, 1759, 1764. Nathaniel Francis, 1744, 1745, 1748, 1749. Francis Locke, 1746, 1747. Francis Bowman, 1748. Zechariah Hill, 1750, 1751. Thomas Hall, 1752-55. Gershom Cutter, 1754-58 (1775 — declined). Ephraim Frost, Jr., 1756, 1757, 1759, 1760. Jason Russell, 1758, 1761-63. Joseph Adams, Jr., 1759, 1760, 1765-67. Joseph Wellington, 1761-63. Capt. Thomas Adams, 1764. William Cutler, 1764. Daniel Brown, 1765-67 (1772, 1781 — declined). Patten Russell, 1767-70. 56 Town of Arlington William Bowman, 1768-70 (1771 — excused). Samuel Frost, 1768, 1769 (1770 — excused). Samuel Locke, 1770 (excused). Ensign William Adams, 1770 — declined; 1773, 1774 (1775, Capt. — declined). Nehemiah Cutter, 1770-72. Walter Russell, 1770 (in room of Patten Russell, who had moved out of town), 1771, 1773-77 (1781— declined). Ebenezer Swan, 1771 (1772 — excused). Samuel Cutter, 1772 (1781— de- clined) . Ammi Cutter, 1772, 1791. Philip Bemis, 1773-75 (1776 — excused) . Benjamin Locke, 1775 (1776 — excused) . Ephraim Frost, Jr., 1776-85. Gershom Cutter, Jr., 1776, 1777. Thomas Whittemore, 1778-84. Philemon Russell, 1778-80 (1781 — declined), 1782-84. Amos Warren, 1781 — declined; 1784, 1785. Thomas Russell, 1781 — declined; 1785 — declined. Benjamin Piper, 1781. John Adams, 1785— declined; 1792, 1793, 1802-05. Samuel Butterfield, 1785, 1786 (1787 — declined). Jeduthun Wellington, 1786-90, 1797-1801. Seth Wyman, 1786-90. George Prentice, 1787-90, 1797-1805. Samuel Locke, 1791-93. Philip Whittemore, 1791. James Russell, 1792, 1793, 1806. Capt. Solomon Peirce, 1794, 1795. Benjamin Cutter, 1794-1801. Seth Frost, 1794-96. Amos Frost, 1796. Daniel Adams, 1802-07. Jonathan Whittemore, 1806, 1807. Noah Russell, 1807. PRECINCT CLERKS. John Cutter, 1733-65 — thanks ex- tended him in 1767 for many years' service. Ammi Cutter, 1766, 1767, 1772, 1784, 1785. Thomas Hall, Jr., 1768, 1769. William Whittemore, 1770, 1771 (1772 — declined serving — thanks voted for past services), 1782-84. Walter Russell, 1773-81. John Cutter, Jr., 1786-88. Samuel Locke, 1789-1805. Thomas Russell, Jr., 1806, 1807. PRECINCT TREASURERS. John Fillebrown, 1733. John Cutter, 1734. Joseph Adams, 1735-50 — thanks extended to him in 1767 for past service. Lieut. Samuel Whittemore, 1751- 57 — thanks were extended to him, 1767, for past service. John Cutter, Jr., 1758-61. Dea. Joseph Adams, 1762-67 — thanked, 1767, treasurer five years. Continued in office, 1768-81. In 1788 compensation was allowed him for 19 years' service as Treasurer. Lieut. Samuel Cutter, 1782. Capt. William Adams, 1783, 1784 (1785 — declined). Past and Present 57 Lieut. Daniel Brown, 1785 (de- Samuel Whittemore, Jr., 1786 (1787 clined). — excused). William Whittemore, 1785 (1786 — Samuel Locke, 1787 — refused; excused). • 1788 — excused. Seth Wyman, 1786 — excused. Jeduthun Wellington, 1787-92. Ebenezer Hall, 1793-1807. PRECINCT ASSESSORS. Ephraim Frost, 1733, 1734, 1736, 1738, 1741, 1749. Joseph Adams, 1733, 1734, 1753. Jonathan Butterfield, Jr., 1733, 1734, 1736, 1739, 1747-49. John Butterfield, 1735, 1743-45. Gershom Cutter, Jr., 1735. Thomas Hall, 1735, 1752-55. James Cutler, 1736, 1737, 1739, 1740, 1750-52. John Cutter, 1737, 1741, 1743-45. Samuel Cutter, 1737. Samuel Whittemore, 1737 (in place of Samuel Cutter, dec'd), 1738, 1740, 1747. Capt. Philip Carteret, 1738, 1739, 1743, 1746, 1750, 1751, 1756-58, 1760. Seth Reed, 1740, 1752-55, 1761-63, 1765-67. William Dickson, 1741, 1742. John Winship, 1742. Gershom Cutter, Jr., 1742, 1754- 58. Nathaniel Francis, 1744, 1745, 1748, 1749. Francis Locke, 1746, 1747. Zechariah Hill, 1746, 1750, 1751. Joseph Russell, 1747, 1759, 1764. Francis Bowman, 1748. Ephraim Frost, Jr., 1756, 1757, 1759, 1760. Jason Russell, 1758, 1761-63. Joseph Adams, Jr., 1759, 1760, 1765-1767. Joseph Wellington, 1761-63. Capt. Thomas Adams, 1764. William Cutler, 1764. Daniel Brown, 1765-67. Patten Russell, 1767-70. William Bowman, 1768-70. Samuel Frost, 1768, 1769. Nehemiah Cutter, 1770-72. Walter Russell, 1770, 1771, 1773- 77. Ebenezer Swan, 1771. Samuel Cutter, 1772. Ammi Cutter, 1772, 1791. Philip Bemis, 1773-75. Ens. William Adams, 1773, 1774. Benjamin Locke, 1775. Ephraim Frost, Jr., 1776-85, 1794. Gershom Cutter, Jr., 1776, 1777. Thomas Whittemore, 1778-84. Philemon Russell, 1778-80, 1782- 84. Benjamin Piper, 1781. Amos Warren, 1784, 1785. Thomas Russell, 1785 — declined. John Adams, 1785 — declined ; 1792, 1793, 1795, 1801, 1807. Samuel Butterfield, 1785, 1786. Jeduthun Wellington, 1786-90, 1794, 1796. Seth Wyman, 1786-90, 1794. George Prentice, 1787-90, 1799, 1800, 1803-05. Samuel Locke, 1791-93, 1795. Philip Whittemore, 1791. James Russell, 1792. Jonathan Perry, 1793. Benjamin Cutter, 1795, 1796, 1801, 1802. Capt. Stephen Frost, 1796, 1797. Daniel Reed, 1797-99. Seth Frost, 1797, 1798. Ebenezer Hall, 1798-1800. James Cutter, 1799 — declined. 08 Town of Arlington Ebenezer Cutter, 1800. David Hill, 1801, 1802. John Estabrook, 1801. Jonathan Whittemore, 1802. Ichabod Fessenden, 1803, 1804. Daniel Reed, 1803-07. Jonas Peirce, 1805-07. William Hill, Jr., 1806. PRECINCT COLLECTORS. John Winship, 1733. Ephraim Cook, 1734 — fined for failing to serve. Jason Winship, 1734. William Cutter, 1735. Zechariah Hill, 1736. Joseph Bemis, 1737. David Dunster, 1738 — fined for refusing to serve. John Fillebrown, 1738. William Butterfield, 1738. Moses Harrington, 1739. Walter Russell, Jr., 1740. James Cutler, Jr., 1741. Joseph Belknap, 1742 — fined. William Robbins, 1742. Samuel Swan, 1743. George Cutter, 1744. William Withington, 1745. William Winship, Jr., 1746. Francis Locke, 1747. Timothy Swan, 1748. Joseph Frost, 1749 — fined for not serving. Samuel Frost, 1749 (1771 —fined). Aaron Cutter, 1750. Joseph Russell, 1751. Richard Cutter, 1752. William Adams, 1753. Jason Dunster, 1754. Walter Dickson, 1755. Thomas Cutter, 1756. Samuel Locke, 1757. Jonathan Cutter, 1758. Patten Russell, 1759. Samuel Russell, 1760. John Swan, 1761. Jason Winship, Jr., 1762 — dis- missed; again chosen, 1766. Seth Russell, 1762, 1777, 1778. Benjamin Locke, 1763. Thomas Reed, 1764, Ephraim Cook, 1765. Samuel Swan, 1767 — dismissed. Ebenezer Prentice, 1767. William Whittemore, 1768, 1769. Francis Locke, Jr., 1769. James Perry, 1770. Joseph Belknap, Jr., 1771. Walter Russell, 1772 — excused. Zechariah Hill, 1772. Samuel Cutter, Jr., 1773, 1774. Aaron Swan, 1774 — excused. Joshua Kendall, 1775 — excused. Joseph Wellington, 1775. William Cutler, 1776 — excused. Samuel Whittemore, Jr., 1776, 1777. Samuel Hill, 1777, 1780. Amos. Warren, 1779 — excused. (A committee was chosen to hire a collector in 1779.) William Cutter, 1781, 1785. Jeduthun Wellington, 1782. Jonathan Perry, 1783, 1790, 1791. Seth Stone, 1784, 1788 (the collec- torship set up at vendue, 1788). Dea. Joseph Adams, 1786. Enoch Wellington, 1787. Eben'r Hall (collector for Mr. Fiske's settlement), 1788. Noah Russell, 1789, 1804, 1805. George Prentice, 1792, 1795-1801, 1806, 1807. Samuel Hunt, 1793. Lieut. James Russell, 1794. Ebenezer Cutter, 1802. Ebenezer Thompson, 1803. SECTION THREE ARLINGTON AS WESTj CAMBRIDGE CHAPTER I 1807-1837 J j Population in 1810 917; in 1820, 1,064; in 1830,51,230. The town is incorporated. — • Separation not opposed by Cambridge. — Reasons financial and political suggested as contributing causes. — First town meeting. — Grand celebration July 4, 1808. — Population in 1807. — Whittemore Card Factory and other business enterprises. — Middlesex Turnpike controversy and its outcome. — The old stage coach. — Post office facilities. THOSE who have followed the course of this narrative from the beginning of separate church and precinct privileges granted to people having homes in this territory to this year 1807, will recall that attempts to acquire these concessions met with strenuous opposition both from Cambridge and the General Court, and were frustrated; that it was the third movement to secure township rights that was crowned with success. When, sixty-five years after the first movement, it was deemed expedient to try to secure full township rights, a very different spirit was manifested by the mother town of Cambridge than at first or even later. A committee of that town cordially joined with the gentlemen chosen to represent the Northwest Precinct in the petition to the General Court, and not a sign of friction is discoverable in steps resulting in settling the boun- daries of the new town or adjusting the financial end of the transaction. Perhaps the fact that at the same time Cambridge was ar- ranging for the surrender of territory which later became the 59 60 Town of Arlington town of Brighton, and both proposed new towns were willing to assume a share in accordance with valuation, in maintain- ing "the Great Bridge over Charles River," removed the main cause of opposition. This was the old Brighton bridge. The West Boston bridge was built by a corporation, and was not opened for travel until 1793. The obligation to bear a share in maintaining the old Brighton bridge was not removed until March 24, 1860, when the General Court passed the act which confines building and maintenance of bridges over Charles River to Cambridge and Boston. Political differences also may have paved the way for this divorce by mutual consent. Cambridge was strenuously op- posed to the course the national administration was pursuing, while citizens of Menotomy enthusiastically championed the anti-English course governing affairs at Washington. The events of the 19th of April, 1775, and subsequent burning of Charlestown were too fresh in the minds of these old patriots to be obliterated or even clouded over by financial losses Cambridge might be bearing because of the embargo, even if they were fellow townsmen. The committee intrusted with negotiations which culminated in the incorporation of Arlington consisted of Messrs. Jeduthan Wellington, George Prentiss, Samuel Butterfield, Samuel Locke, William Whittemore, Jr. The General Court of 1807, on February 27, passed an act creating West Cambridge (now Arlington) a separate township, to take effect June 1, 1807, as follows: Chapter 95. An Act to divide the Town of Cambridge, and to incorporate the Westerly Parish therein, as a separate Town, by the name of West Cambridge. Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court Assembled, and by the authority of the same, That all that part of the Town of Cambridge, heretofore known as the second parish, and as described within the following bounds, together with the inhabitants thereon, be, and the same is hereby incorporated into a separate town, by the name of West Cambridge, viz., Beginning at Charlestown line, where the little river intersects the same, and running on a line in the middle of said little river, until it strikes Fresh Pond, so-called; thence west, ten degrees south, until it intersects the line of the town of Watertown; then on Watertown and Past and Present 61 Waltham line, until it strikes Lexington line; thence on Lexington line, until it strikes Woburn line; thence on Woburn line and Charlestown line, to the said little river, first mentioned. And the said town of West Cambridge, is hereby vested with all the powers and privileges, and shall also be subject to all the duties to which other corporate towns are entitled and subjected, by the constitution and laws of this Commonwealth: Provided however, That nothing in this Act shall be so construed as to impair the right or privilege of the congregational minister of the said town of West Cambridge, which he now holds in Harvard College. Sec. '2. Be it further enacted, That the inhabitants of the said town of West Cambridge, shall be entitled to hold such proportion of all the real and personal property now belonging to, and owned in common by them, and the inhabitants of the present town of Cambridge, as the property of the said inhabitants of West Cambridge now bears to the property of all the inhabitants of the late town of Cambridge, according to the latest valuation thereof; excepting always, all rights of common landing places, uses, and privileges now and heretofore possessed and enjoyed by the inhabitants of said Cambridge, which shall hereafter belong and appertain to that town only in which the same may fall. Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, That the inhabitants of the said town of West Cambridge, shall be holden to pay all arrears of taxes, due from them, together with their proportion (to be ascertained as aforesaid) of all the debts and claims now due and owing, from the said town of Cambridge, or which may hereafter be found due and owing, by reason of any contract, engage- ment, judgment of court, or other matter or thing, heretofore entered into, or now existing. Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, That the said town of West Cambridge, shall be holden to support their proportion of the present poor of the town of Cambridge, which proportion shall be ascertained by the present valuation of the town; and all persons who may hereafter become chargeable, as paupers, to the towns of Cambridge and West Cambridge, shall be considered as belong- ing to that town, on the territory of which they had their settlement, at the time of passing this act, and shall, in future, be chargeable to that town only. Sec. 5. Be it further enacted, That the said town of West Cambridge shall be held to keep up and support their proportion of the old bridge, over Charles River, between the first and third parishes of Cambridge, which proportion shall be ascertained from time to time, by the state valuation. Sec. 6. Be it further enacted, That the said town of West Cambridge, shall be holden to pay their proportion of all state and county taxes, assessed on the inhabitants of the said town of Cambridge, until the General Court shall lay a tax on the said town of West Cambridge. Sec. 7. Be it further enacted, That this Act will not have any force or effect, until the first day of June, one thousand eight hundred and seven. Sec. 8. Be it further enacted, That any justice of the peace for the county of Middlesex, upon application therefor, is hereby authorized to issue his warrant, directed to some freeholder of the said town of West Cambridge, requiring him to notify and warn the inhabitants thereof to meet at such time and place as shall be appointed in said warrant, for the choice of such officers, .as the towns are by law required to choose, at their annual town meetings. 62 Town of Arlington The first "town meeting" under the foregoing act was held June 11th, 1807, and was convened "in the new meetinghouse in said town," according to the wording of the warrant. At this meeting Samuel Locke presided as moderator and town officers were elected as follows: Town Clerk. — Thomas Russell, Jr. Selectmen. ■ — Jonathan Whittemore, Daniel Adams, John Tufts, Samuel Locke, William Whittemore, Jr. Overseers of Poor. — Samuel Butterfield, George Prentiss, Noah Russell. Treasurer. — John Adams. Constables. — George Prentiss, Charles Cutter. Surveyors of Highways. - — Benjamin Locke, Amos Frost, Noah Russell. Surveyors of Lumber. — Caleb Coal, Jonathan Butterfield. Fence Viewers. — James Hill, John Tufts. Firewards. — William Whittemore, Jr., Nathaniel Hill, George Prentiss, Jr. Hogreeves. — Samuel Butterfield, Jr., Ephraim Cooke, 3d, James Cutter, John Frost, Jr., Benjamin Locke. Tythingman. — William Hill, 3d. Poundkeeper. — Josiah Whittemore. Field Drivers. — Eben Swan, William Cutter, Jr., Nehemiah Cutter, Jonathan Frost, Adam Cutter, Amos Russell. Clerk of Market. — John Tufts. The selectmen were named to act as School Committee for one year, and Samuel Butterfield, George Prentiss, Col. J. Wellington, Samuel Locke, Ebenezer Hill a "committee for the purpose of adjusting any matters or things in which the said town of West Cambridge may be interested or liable in common with the town of Cambridge." The meeting also voted to build a "town pound." This was an important town equipment in those early days — for that matter, for fifty years following. The keeping of cattle was universal; proper care that they did not wander into places where much damage could be wrought by these cattle was by no means universal. "Field drivers" to pick up such stray cattle and a Past and Present 63 place where the same could be safely kept until reclaimed by the owner, were essentials. The same applies to the office of "Hog- reeve," their duties pertaining to swine. This first "pound" was built on land leased from Gershom Swan and stood on the site of the Jarvis home on Pleasant street. John Jarvis bought the lot in 1831 and erected the dwelling now standing. The pound was removed to the "Town Training Field," the plot of ground through which Linwood street passes. This pound was about twenty feet square by six feet in height, made of heavy plank and surmounted by a broad timber on which boys of that day loved to "roost." Possibly this word "training field" needs a word of explanation to the majority of readers. One of the first acts of the Provincial Congress was the enrollment of all able-bodied citizens between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years into militia, but with regular army formation, the unit being the "trainband" or company as it is now called. The Congress of the United States continued the plan then in use in all the thirteen states. By it each town was obliged to have its "trainband," and it was equally obligatory that a field on which the evolutions of the company could be executed be provided; also, that a suitable powder house be supplied. This was named the "training field." The powder house (for storing powder and balls) was of brick and stood on the shore of Spy Pond at the foot of Spring Valley. This building was undermined and destroyed in the flood of surface water that plowed through the valley in 1836 and which also unearthed the remains of the horses captured with Lord Percy's supply train on the 19th of "April, 1775. The removal of the "pound" to the training field in 1831 was no interference with the trainband of that date, as for several years previous the green in front of First Parish church had become the usual place of "election day" meetings to prepare for the annual march around Spy Pond by way of Pleasant street, "Weir lane," or Lake street, and Massachusetts avenue. It was also more convenient to the refreshments required by the militia. When the "training field" was sold the "pound" was torn down and a new one of stone built at the town gravel pit, located on the corner of Mystic and Summer streets, not far from the 64 Town of Arlington residence of Mr. George P. Winn. Being little used it was demol- ished a few years later and the stone used for other purposes. The other important event of this first year of town life was the dividing the town into four school districts named South, West, Middle, Eastern, and numbering them in the order named. No. 1 had thirty-nine families; No. 2 comprised forty-two families; the total in No. 3 was forty-two; No. 4 consisted of forty-one, certainly a fair division so far as regards numbers, and no family was a mile from a schoolhouse. Four and a half months, how- ever, was the school year assigned to each district. The 4th of July, 1808, "was celebrated in great style," says the late J. B. Russell, in his reminiscences, "with a procession, military escort and an oration in Mr. Fiske's church, closing with a dinner in an orchard in the rear of Tufts' Tavern." The orator was William Nichols, Jr., of Westford, the then master of the "Center'' school. This school building stood on the common west of the meetinghouse, and abutted on the brick wall of the long range of tombs in the old cemetery. Three years later the school building was removed to give room for additional tombs. The Boston Independent Chronicle for July 7, 1808, devotes con- siderable space to this celebration, which shows it to have been of more than local importance. The article referred to says: The day was ushered in by the ringing of the bell and discharge of seventeen guns at sunrise. At eleven o'clock the procession was formed at Mr. John Tufts, consisting of between two and three hundred citizens from the town and adjoining towns. From thence proceeded, under the escort of Captain Harrington's company of artillery, attended by a band of music from Waltham, to the new meetinghouse; where after the throne of Grace being addressed by the Rev. Mr. Fiske, was pronounced an elegant and appropriate discourse by Mr. William Nichols of Westford. After this performance, the procession returned to Mr. Tufts', where they partook of an excellent repast. When the cloth was removed , regular toasts, eighteen in number [the Chronicle prints them in full] were drunk and responded to, accompanied by the discharge of cannon, the sound of music and expressions of joy and appro- bation. The most perfect peace, harmony, and good order pre- vailed through the day — those peculiar characteristics of genuine republicanism. Past and Present 65 This report can properly be supplemented with a paragraph from the pen of Mr. Russell, previously alluded to: In the exciting times of the Embargo, the outrage on the Chesapeake, etc., the martial spirit was strongly developed. A military company of boys, from twelve to seventeen, was formed, with Josiah Whittemore as captain, E. R. Thompson, lieutenant, and Webster Barber, ensign. It was quite a respectable organi- zation and formed the tail end of the procession at the celebration, July 4, 1808. This company had the use of an old iron cannon, handsomely mounted, that had been in the town from time immemorial, stored in different places, and seemed to belong to no one in particular and was used in firing salutes. This elaborate celebration had its inception in the natural desire to celebrate the birth of the town as an independent muni- cipality, and it was generally so regarded. Judge James P. Parmenter, in his sketch of Arlington prepared for the " History of Middlesex County," says that at the time of incorporation this town had a population of about nine hundred people and the number of families named in the aggregate of the school districts (one hundred and sixty-four) multiplied by the average persons in a family in those days gives practically this figure as the population. On April 23, 1809, Rev. Thaddeus Fiske, pastor of the First Parish church, preached a sermon commemorative of the twenty- fifth anniversary of his settlement over this church, in which he spoke of local affairs in a way to preserve to this generation a strong glimpse at least of the condition of affairs one hundred years ago. He said: Many changes and events have taken place in this church and congregation, and many alterations and improvements have been made in this town within the twenty-five years. ... Almost an entire change has appeared on the face of society here. . . . There were then twenty-eight persons from about seventy and upwards; there are now but four men who have arrived at seventy years. The members of this church are also mostly changed. . . . Of those who have died, two lived to the great age of one hundred and one years (Anna Winship and Thomas Williams) ; four between ninety and one hundred; nineteen between eighty and ninety; 66 Town of Arlington twenty-six between seventy and eighty; hence fifty-one reached or survived seventy years. From this statement it appears that a proportion of about one in six lived to or beyond the common term of life. . . . Compare your situation now with what it was twenty-one years ago. Then you had troublous times; you had been without a minister for five years; there were divisions among you, and discord, and alienation of affection. A new society under a new denomination had been set up; not to introduce a new religion, nor to preach any other gospel than what was already preached, but merely to change one denomination of Christians to another, unhappily dividing a society already small and when united not more than competent to a decent support of a minister with ease to yourselves — a division occasioned by a distinction in the form of godliness, rather than its power. . . . The walls of partition were set up. The number of regular religious professors diminished. For more than five years no additions were made to the church. . . . Debts were accumulating and nothing seemed to prosper in the work of your hand. You were reduced to a condition exceedingly unfavorable both to your religious and temporal welfare. Your situation now is just the reverse of all this. . . . You are free from strife and contention about the different modes and persuasions of religion for the support of the gospel. . . . Instead of being embarrassed in your circumstances, or burdened with debts, you have become independent and easy in your worldly and temporal affairs and have made progress in wealth. A small and inconvenient house of worship is now exchanged for this spacious, elegant and commodious temple. . . . Many dwelling houses have been built and many others repaired and improved. Many families have been added to you from abroad and the growth of population among yourselves has greatly increased. A flourishing manufactory (the Whittemore Card Factory) has been introduced and established, which has brought wealth into the place, afforded employment and means of subsistence to many of you, augmented the property of the town and enhanced the value of real estate of many descriptions. A society for social intercourse, friendship, and mutual improve- ment is formed in the midst of us as a bond of union; the estab- lishment of a social library affords advantages not heretofore enjoyed. Stores have been added and by the increased culti- vation of the soil your farms have become better and more pro- ductive; and many other improvements have been made tending to convenience and utility, to the promotion of knowledge and Past and Present 67 the increase of wealth. . . . "Hitherto the Lord hath helped us." ... In every important transaction a spirit of candor, mutual forbearance and accommodation has been diffused among you; and a disposition to maintain peace and harmony so essential to the interests of true religion and the welfare of society. . . . This sacred temple, I trust, will long remain a monument to your piety and liberality. Few villages can be named that have risen faster, or bid fairer to grow and nourish. Another glimpse at the town's general prosperity is afforded by a paragraph in one of Mr. Russell's reminiscences already alluded to. He says: There were -seven groceries in the town at this period, kept by William Locke, Tufts & Adams, Thomas Russell, Walter Russell, William S. Brooks, Miles Gardner, besides the "Fac- tory Store" kept by William Whittemore & Co., though more business was done by Colonel Russell than all the others com- bined, his store having been established before the Revolution and having a large country trade in Lexington, Bedford, Car- lisle, Billerica, etc. Four years later this general and almost universal prosperity was changed to a marked and really disastrous degree by the removal to New York of the Whittemore & Co. business, and these local misfortunes culminated in what is now spoken of as the War of 1812. People moved away, business languished, and the town fell back to a state of affairs level with the times pre- ceding Mr. Whittemore's enterprise, namely, raising produce for home consumption and finding a scant market for the surplus in Boston, Charlestown, and Cambridge. This state of affairs continued until 1827, when Gershom and Henry Whittemore, sons of the inventor Amos, resumed the busi- ness of card making in Arlington, having purchased machines from their uncle, Samuel, of New York. Though the former success did not follow the reestablishment of the business here, it brought new life to a certain degree, which a few years later was greatly augmented. In 1832 James Schouler, "calico printer of Lynn," bought the Stearns property on Mill Brook and trans- ferred his business to this town, and the same year, namely, 68 Town of Arlington 1832, William Welch and Charles Griffiths, saw makers of Bos- ton, and Charles Reeves of this town, file cutter, secured from Cyrus Cutter a ninety-nine year lease of the mill privilege on Grove street and there erected works which for many years gave highly remunerative employment to a large number of men. As both of these business ventures are treated at length in the department devoted to manufacturing enterprises, this brief mention is sufficient. Arlington was one of the considerable number of towns that early in the nineteenth century had great expectations of the advantages to accrue from the construction of turnpikes to par- allel country roads. Perhaps this is not to be wondered at when the character of the public highways is considered and the promises of the chartered turnpike promoters understood. Their plan was to build a hard roadbed on lines as nearly level as circumstances would allow, two considerations of the deepest concern to agriculturists and manufacturers who must rely on country roads, horrible through all the spring months, because mainly paths over virgin soil. Soon after Arlington was incorporated in 1807, Col. Wm. Whittemore at the center and "Jed" Wellington in the south part of the town now known as Belmont, became financially interested in the "turnpike boom" as it would now be termed. Colonel Whittemore was interested in the "Middlesex Turnpike Co." (chartered in 1805 and located in 1806) whose charter was for a "straight line from Lowell to Charlestown." This charter was repealed in 1841. Mr. Wellington's enterprise was the Concord Turnpike. The section in the limits of Arlington followed what is now Westminster avenue and Lowell street to the foot of the rocks, then continued along the north line of Mill Brook to a junction with Broadway and by a nearly straight line to Charlestown. This course would curtail if not destroy the mill privileges on Mill Brook, and in 1809 Stephen Cutter, John Tufts, Ephraim Cooke, James Cutler, Aaron Cutter, Nathaniel Hill, and heirs of Israel Blackington, sought an injunction in court. The town Past and Present - 69 joined with these citizens, and at a town meeting held Feb. 7, 1810, it was voted: That the representative of the town [Samuel Butterfield held the office from 1807 to 1811] be instructed to use all his endeavors that the Middlesex Turnpike be located at the foot of the rocks (so called) in West Cambridge and at no other place; that Colonel Wellington, George Prentiss, Benjamin Locke be a committee in addition to said representative and for the same purpose. This marked a beginning of a compromise which made the ending of Middlesex Turnpike at the "foot of the rocks." The town bought the holdings of the Turnpike Co. for $516.49, and to avoid the hill, built a new piece of road from what is now the junction of Paul Revere road with the avenue, to Lowell street, at a cost of $1089.15, paid to Samuel Hall for building the same. This was in addition to the expense of building retaining walls. The matter was not disposed of finally until June 25, 1812, when it was "Voted that the town will incur no more expense on account of the Middlesex Turnpike." The Concord Turnpike encountered no similar opposition and was built on lines of what is still called " the turnpike " through to Lexington and Concord; but at Cambridge a wide detour was caused by that town building a fence around the common to shut out roads that had formerly crossed it at different angles. Many people in Arlington took stock in both companies, but neither was a success financially. March 11, 1811. Selectmen directed to report on probable expense of erecting a powder magazine, and the annual ex- pense of depositing military stores at the magazine in Charles- town kept by Peter Tufts, Jr. Sept. 23, 1811. Voted that the selectmen be directed to build a powder house within the limits of the town in such place as they shall deem proper. It was located on the shore of Spy Pond, at foot of Spring Valley. Sept. 12, 1814. Voted that a committee be appointed to pro- vide for the welfare and safety of this town and its inhabi- tants during the present war with Great Britain, to consist of 70 Town of Arlington William Whittemore, Jr., John Adams, Amos Whittemore, Jedu- than Wellington, Noah Russell, Benjamin Locke, George Pren- tiss, Samuel Butterfield. The town voted to meet the expense of military stores, "im- plements and camp utensils," such as this committee deemed necessary. It was also voted that volunteers be paid seven dollars per month in addition to the pay received from the government. Dec. 15, 1814, this last vote was rescinded. In 1816 the town made provision for the care of its poor by erecting a building near where Monument place is located, and the same year made provision for purchase of implements then common for fighting fires. Four years later a fire engine was purchased. Jan. 6, 1817. Voted that the selectmen and overseers of the poor be requested to see to it that the laws against gambling be strictly enforced and that they make a list of the names of all such persons as are in the habit of excessive drinking or of wast- ing their time and prosperity thereby; and that such list be put in the hands of licensed persons in this town, prohibiting them selling spirituous liquors to any person whose name is on said list. The first mention of heating the parish church appears in the ARLINGTON CENTER IN 1817 records of 1820, when the parish "Voted: that a stove and fun- nel be erected in the meetinghouse for the comfort and con- Past and Present 71 venience of all the inhabitants of the parish at proper seasons of the year." The town meetings were all held in the church, and it is not unlikely citizens brought foot stoves as did some of the pew holders to the service on Sunday prior to this date. Aug. 9, 1821. Voted that the selectmen be authorized to dis- pose of all perishable military stores and such as are useless. Voted that all moneys that have been or may be received as pensions or from other sources on account of persons who have been or may be wholly or partially supported by the town shall be disposed of and appropriated for the benefit of said town. In 1821 the first board of fish preservers was chosen. Early in the history of this town great quantities of shad and alewives were captured in Mystic and Menotomy rivers (Alewife Brook) by means of weirs, the fish being used, one or two in each hill of corn, as fertilizers. This wholesale destruction and often waste led to restrictions being placed by action of the General Court on the capture of the fish by these means, and it was in com- pliance with the provisions of that act that these "fish preser- vers" were appointed. The notable event of 1824 seems to have been the visit of General Lafayette, who passed through the town on his way to Lexington where he was received with marked honors, interestingly reported by Hon. Charles Hudson in his " History of Lexington." May 3, 1830. A committee chosen for the purpose reported to the town as follows: We have purchased of the Congregational parish in said West Cambridge, the hearse house standing on the burying ground in said town, together with the hearse and other implements necessary for the interment of the dead, for the sum of ninety dollars, and have taken a bill of sale and transfer of said prop- erty from a committee of said Congregational parish, specially raised for that purpose, which is hereunto annexed. Charles Wellington, Joshua Avery, Abner Peirce. The transfer is signed by James Russell, Amos Locke, Samuel Butterfield, representing the Parish. 72 Town of Arlington The hearse house was removed to Mount Pleasant Cemetery, May 30, 1867, and was located there until the town went out of the undertaking business, when the late J. Henry Hartwell pur- chased a new hearse and an up-to-date undertaker's outfit. The old hearse was sold, and since then the building in which it was stored has been used as a tool house for the cemetery employees. Nov. 6, 1826. Town voted to join with Cambridge in peti- tioning the Legislature for authority to build the proposed new bridge between Cambridge and Boston and authorized the select- men to present a memorial in favor of said petition. Also Resolved that the representative from this town be requested to use his influence to further the wishes of the petitioners. May 11, 1831. Voted that a committee of three persons be chosen by nomination to procure a pall for the use of the town, and the selectmen were chosen for that purpose. Dec. 29, 1831. Voted to order the removal of horse sheds erected on this land near First Parish church but within the bounds of the old burying ground, and the party building them be ordered to remove the same. The various events of special interest, historically, of which there is a record, relating to schools, fire department, public library, business interests, etc., between the years 1824 and 1837, are all treated at length in special articles, and this record of the first three decades of town life will close with noting the erec- tion of a monument in the old cemetery to the memory of Wil- liam and Mary Cutter, as a mark of appreciation of their gift that created the "Cutter School Fund," which is still contribut- ing towards the education of Arlington youth. CHAPTER II 1837-1847 Population in 1840, 1,363. Business enterprises enumerated. — Mount Pleasant Cemetery established and dedicated. — Section of Charlestown annexed to Arlington. — Becomes a suburb of Boston. — Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad. — Postal facilities, past and present. — Naming streets. — River street bridge over Mystic River. — New dwellings contrasted with old. — Eliminating bogs and creating park lands. THE curfew is an old institution. Arlington made the- first appropriation for this purpose March 6, 1837. In 1841 the ringing of the curfew bell was, like the collection of taxes, put up at auction and sold to the lowest bidder. Through all the intervening years the town continued the ringing of the nine o'clock bell, and also the meridian signal by the same means. The fire gong has replaced the noon signal, and though the nine o'clock bell was rung through 1906, it was at the expense of private subscription. The last town meeting of 1906 again voting against making an appropriation for the purpose and the private funds being exhausted, the ringing had been some time discontinued prior to the ushering in of the centennial year. At this time (namely 1837) two mills here were employed in pulverizing drugs, medicines, and dye stuffs; there was a dyeing and calico printing establishment, one saw factory, a wool card factory, a turning and sawing mill, a chair and cabinet factory, and boot and shoe making to the amount of 500 pairs of boots and 31,000 pairs of shoes. In 1841 people residing in the westerly part of Charlestown generally denominated "The Neck," "becoming dissatisfied with the burdens of taxation, unrelieved by corresponding benefits," held a meeting in the Prospect Hill schoolhouse, Nov. 22, 1841. 73 Town of Arlington This was the first of several steps leading up to the incorporation of Somerville, March 3, 1842. This item is of interest and significance to Arlington, as one outcome of the discussion and subsequent Act of the Legislature incorporating the town of Somerville, brought about the trans- fer from Charlestown to Arlington of a section of territory which, shaped something like a wedge, extended from Alewife Brook on the east, Mystic River on the northeast, parallel with what is now Warren street on the southwest, to the Woburn line, the then northern boundary of Charlestown. One of the stone bounds is still to be seen at the southerly boundary of Mount Pleasant Cemetery; another is on the Crosby farm. This block of land was tenanted by people preferring to be joined with a community with whom naturally they had the closest business and church relations, so " Samuel Gardner and twenty-eight other property holders northerly from Alewife Brook," petitioned the town of Arlington to have this strip of territory annexed to that town. The petition was acted on favorably by the town, the following being the formal vote of the town at a meeting held Monday, Dec. 20, 1841: Voted, That the inhabitants of the town of West Cam- bridge do now give their full and free consent and approbation of all that part of the territory of the town of Charlestown which is northwest of the line which divides the farm of Charles Tufts from the farms of Jonathan Teel and of the late Lemuel Por- ter, being oh the easterly side of the Charlestown road and northwest of the line which divides the farm of Samuel G. Thomp- son from the farm of George Hayes, being on the southerly line of the said Charlestown road, together with the polls and estates of the inhabitants residing on said territory, upon condition: That the inhabitants of said territory shall pay or secure to be paid into the treasury of the said town of West Cambridge, on or before the first day of January, a.d., 1843, a sum of money to be added to the William Cutter school fund, and to be kept forever as a part of said school fund, which from a fair valuation of the said territory and the polls and estates of the inhabitants residing therein shall bear the same proportion to the sum of five thousand dollars as the present town of West Cambridge bears to that sum by a like valuation, which shall Past and Present 75 be taken by the assessors which shall be chosen by the town next after the passing of the act of annexation. And that by a compliance by bond or otherwise with the foregoing condition the inhabitants residing on said territory, and all others which may hereafter reside thereon, shall be ad- mitted (if the act for that purpose is obtained at the next Gen- eral Court) to all the rights and privileges and subject to all same liabilities of the present inhabitants of the said town of v West Cambridge. Provided, also, that if in the act which shall separate them from the said town of Charlestown and annex them to the said town of West Cambridge, their just proportion of the surplus revenue deposited with the said town of Charlestown can be obtained, the same shall be paid into the treasury of the town of West Cambridge and be held subject to the control of the said town of West Cambridge. James Russell, Mansur W. Marsh, Walter Fletcher were cho- sen a committee to appear before the Legislature, with full power to safeguard the town's interests. The town record ends abruptly at this point, showing leaves have been lost prior to a comparatively recent rebinding of the old record book, but as the act of the Legislature was adopted February 25, 1842, it is presumable the terms set by this town were cordially adopted by those interested. This annexation gave Arlington the largest territory it ever had, for in 1850 it surrendered a portion of this strip to Win- chester, and March 18, 1859, it lost all the southern section of the town by the incorporation of Belmont as a separate township. Independence Day, July 4, 1842, was marked in Arlington by a general celebration, consisting of a procession headed by the Woburn Band, and formal exercises in First Parish church. The procession formed in front of the Universalist church and ended its short route at the place where exercises were to be held. Rev. David Damon read the Declaration of Independ- ence and also contributed a patriotic poem. The oration was by Rev. J. C. Waldo, the first pastor of the Universalist church. The celebration closed with a picnic banquet in a grove. In 1843 the town bought the major portion of the land now known as Mount Pleasant Cemetery, and it was laid out by a 76 Town of Arlington committee consisting of Thomas Thorpe, Daniel Cady, Josiah H. Russell, Isaiah Jenkins, Edward Smith, Moses Procter, and about the same time set out trees in the old burying ground and built the substantial stone wall on the street side of both lots. Rev. David Damon, then pastor of First Parish church, preached the sermon when this new cemetery was dedicated, and a few days afterwards his body was interred there, his being the first to find a resting place in the new ground. The movement of our narrative in matter of time brings us to steps taken in the direction of solving the transportation problem confronting the people here as well as on the south and southwest of the metropolis. Solving Transportation Problem. The Arlington of today, in the broadest possible contrast with the time when the town was incorporated, is primarily the place of residence of people having business in the nearby metropolis. It owes its position as one of the wealthier smaller towns of the state to the high character of the homes they occupy rather than to local business interests, as is the case with many places of its size. All the larger business enterprises making this a prosper- ous community in 1807 (garden farming as we know it was not then a business interest) have been discontinued; others have not been inaugurated. The policy which shut out the establish- ing here of what has grown to be the great "Waltham Watch Factory," has been continued, and though the future cannot be forecasted, this "tradition" is not likely to be reversed for many years to come. It has been transformed into a residen- tial section and is likely to remain such. The first Boston merchant to have a permanent residence here (according to Cutter's " History of Arlington ") was Mr. Ammi Cutter, a branch of the Cutter family identified with the town from earliest days. His house is occupied by his direct descendants and stands opposite the southern end of the old burying ground on Pleasant street. He was an oil merchant, and his journeys back and forth were in his own conveyance, the old-fashioned chaise. This was in 1836. Past and Present 77 But Mr. Cutter was not the only resident of Arlington hav- ing large business interests in Boston at this time, and for these as well as for himself public conveyances were of small value, as Mr. Wellington's statement in his reminiscences shows. He says at first there was the stage from Boston, Lowell, and points in New Hampshire, which carried the mail as well as THE OLD-TIME STAGE COACH passengers, that passed through Arlington three times a week and charged seventy-five cents as the fare each way. It came late in the afternoon on its way to Boston and returned the next day in the early forenoon. Later there was a coach added on this route from Boston to Concord known as "Deacon Brown's stage," which furnished a daily trip, and the time table was more convenient than be- fore. A person desiring to go to Boston by this route left his name at the' Whittemore Tavern on the corner of Medford street and Massachusetts avenue, now known as "Arlington House," and on arrival the stage drove to the residence of the person named 78 Town of Arlington and picked up his passenger. This competition cut the fare each way to Boston to fifty cents. Before many years, namely about 1838, both these lines had a formidable rival in a line of coaches (the name of omnibus was given to the new vehicle) that operated between Boston and this town, making two trips a day, and cutting the fare to twenty-five cents. This was a great financial advantage also, as the toll on the Charles river bridges for carriages was twelve cents. Market men could go over for a toll of six cents. This was a strictly local enterprise, Cummings Lovejoy, a citizen of Arlington, being the proprietor, and his outfit was housed in a large stable on the Philip Whittemore farm near the line of what is now Avon place. It was stated in the opening sentence of a preceding para- graph that more people than Mr. Cutter had business interests in Boston. The selling office of Welch & Griffiths was in Bos- ton, the Schouler Print Works had dealings mainly with mer- chants of that city, other firms located on the busy mill stream had occasion to visit Boston frequently; but more than all else this section had proved attractive to business men of the metropolis who had come here to reside, notably Mr. Nathan Robbins, who bought the Whittemore mansion in 1842. In 1844 these combined interests unified at a public meet- ing held to consider the project, made a concerted movement to build a steam railroad from Arlington to connect with the Fitchburg railroad at North Cambridge, and a survey of what seemed a feasible route was made. This action on the part of Arlington citizens led some of the more enterprising citizens of Lexington to consider seriously the matter of better facilities for reaching Boston, and out of this came a combination of Arlington and Lexington business men which gave to this section steam railroad accommodation in 1846. Mr. George Y. Wellington, the venerable president of Arling- ton Historical Society, was the engineer employed to locate the roadbed and set the levels for this road. He wrote a sketch of this enterprise on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of Past and Present 79 opening the road, from which the following paragraphs are ex- tracted : In October, 1844, several of the leading citizens of the town suggested that a short branch railroad might be built, at small expense, which would be a real benefit to the town. A meet- ing of the citizens was called, and a committee chosen to have the proper surveys made and a petition sent to the Legislature for a charter for the West Cambridge Branch Railroad. A survey was made upon the line of the present road from where the Boston & Maine connects now with the Fitchburg Railroad to the low land south of Massachusetts avenue, in rear of the house of F. E. Fowle. This made only about 1 1-4 miles to build, at moderate cost, and if built the Fitchburg Railroad Company offered to operate the same, and we of West Cam- bridge dreamed of having a little railroad of our own, paid for out of our own pockets, and felt quite independent. At this point citizens of Lexington, led by Mr. Benjamin Muzzey, ca,me forward with a proposition on a much broader scale, which would give Arlington a road in case the project of the "Lexington Branch" was successful. Our citizens would not give way, but the Legislature of 1844-5 granted a charter for the Lexington & West Cambridge Branch Railroad, giving the petitioners for the West Cambridge Branch Railroad leave to withdraw. Then it was that Mr. Muzzey put forth his energy in order to secure a sufficient number of stock subscribers to organize the company. This he accomplished, a few shares being subscribed for by Dr. Wellington, John Schouler, Thomas Russell, Henry :Whittemore, and some of the citizens of West Cambridge, and the Lexington & West Cambridge Branch Rail- road became a corporation. Benjamin Muzzey was elected president; Larkin Turner, treasurer. The road was built, equipped in a modest way, and August 24, 1846, the first train was run over the road. It chanced to be the first train to enter the new Fitchburg depot on Causeway street, Boston, now in use by the Boston & Maine Railroad for other purposes. The conductor was Mr. Amos Locke of Lexington, deceased a few years ago. Mr. Wellington's recollections may be properly supplemented with facts relating to the transfer of this line to the Boston & Lowell Railroad (now a part of the great Boston & Maine Sys- 80 Town of Arlington tern) by purchase of the stock and acquiring the franchise of this Lexington & West Cambridge Branch. The "Branch" was not a signal success financially. Start- ing at Lexington and ending at the "Brick Yards" station of the Fitchburg Railroad, possessing no right to run its engine and cars beyond this point, it was at the mercy of the main lines, all trains from Lexington and Arlington having to await there the arrival of a train on the Fitchburg road to which the passengers cars could be attached, and drawn to the terminal at Boston. Such a line could not attract -freight, so here was another serious handicap. The death of Benjamin Muzzey, the moving spirit in this enterprise, August 21, 1848, was another severe blow. No one had the disposition, provided they possessed the ability, to fos- ter the enterprise as he had. His successor in the office of presi- dent was Hon. Charles Hudson of Lexington. To supplement Mr. Wellington's story with an outline of steps by which this short branch passed to the control of the present management and became part of a great system, re- quires but a few words. Within a short time the Fitchburg Railroad was solicited to purchase the stock and take control of the road. Evidently this corporation considered it a nearly ripe plum that by force of financial gravity would soon fall into their basket without the effort of picking, and declined to purchase or operate it. In the interval the Boston & Lowell Railroad was reaching after suburban travel, and discovering in this branch a possible profitable feeder, secured the needful legislation, and by build- ing a short strip of road from Somerville Junction to Lake street in Arlington, secured what was named the Middlesex Central Branch, which it extended to Concord. How the single track became double and a connection with the main line from Lexington to No. Billerica over the aban- doned road of the Bedford & Billerica Railroad was made are matters of so recent date that recounting is needless. Any reader who will compare the date of building the State Reformatory at Concord with the time- when Boston & Lowell Past and Present 81 Railroad secured control of this branch will perhaps discover on one hand a motive for the purchase beyond what has been named, and also why the Fitchburg Railroad repented of its action when too late to prevent a rival line for freight to Con- cord. Intimately associated in the earlier days as it is now with increased facilities for travel, was the post office business of the country, and probably in no department is the broadening of the scope, increasing facilities, and reducing cost so marked as with this department of the government business. In this development the war of the rebellion was an important factor, demanding as it did special means for reaching men in the field and exigencies created by the unusual situation. Arlington has shared in all the improved facilities of these later years, and young people possibly never stop to consider that these conveniences are peculiar to their time — that in contrast with a not very distant past they are really wonderful. Post Office Established. Its Growth. For five years after Arlington was incorporated in 1807, the town had no postal facilities provided by the United States gov- ernment. The drivers of the stages passing through the town acted voluntarily as letter carriers, but on any other route a private messenger must be employed to deliver a letter. The prices for delivering letters by stage drivers varied, as it did also where the government had an established office, according to distance, — fourpence (6J cents), ninepence (12£ cents), or the English shilling (25 cents), being the ordinary tariff. Letters mailed to parties living anywhere on the traveled road were delivered by the stage driver, but letters directed to those re- siding off the main thoroughfare were delivered at Col. Rus- sell's grocery, and there exposed to public view until called for. 82 Town of Arlington In 1809 a commission as postmaster for Arlington was issued to Col. Russell, on the application of "Squire" Whittemore who apparently had influence with the administration at Washing- ton, but Col. Russell refused to accept the appointment which promised so slight a return for the responsibility he would have to assume, and for three more years Arlington had no post- master. In 1812 Col. Russell took the initiative and on his recom- mendation Capt. William S. Brooks was appointed and accepted the commission. Mr. John B. Russell, whose reminiscences published in the Arlington Advocate furnish considerable data used in the preparation of this volume, says in mentioning this first postmaster that "Captain Brooks was an ardent Feder- alist, but also a public spirited citizen. He was the first man to establish a lumber yard in the town, adding this branch of business to his dry goods and grocery store." Mr. George Y. Wellington says his place of business was directly opposite what is now Whittemore street, on Massachusetts avenue. Captain Brooks held office until 1818, when Amos Whittemore was appointed and transferred the office to his house which was next west of Captain Brooks. He held the office until [1834, when he was succeeded by his brother Henry whose house was next adjoining. Henry Whitte- more's successor was Isaac Shattuck, Jr., who kept store on the corner of Massachusetts avenue and Medford street, and in 1840 he surrendered to Mr. John Fowle, whose store was for many years a local landmark at the junction of Broadway and Massachusetts avenue. This building was removed to make a place for the soldier's monument, and is now located on Monument place. In 1846 Mr. Fowle disposed of his business to two of his clerks, Messrs. Edwin R. Prescott and Abel R. Proctor, and the WHITTEMORE HOUSE Post Office, 1818-1840 Past and Present 83 JOHN FOWLE'S STORE Post Office, 1840-1852 former served as postmaster until 1852. In that year the firm of Prescott & Proctor removed to the just completed Town Hall building, occupying the entire first story and making a dis- play of goods that attracted customers from all the adjoin- ing towns. In 1862 Mr. Prescott re- signed the post office branch of the business to Mr. Proctor, who in turn was succeeded by the head clerk of the firm, Mr. Frederick E. Fowle, in 1868. Mr. Fowle held the office until 1895, when the present post- master, Alfred D. Hoitt, was commissioned. In 1874, while Mr. Fowle was postmaster, Arlington was admitted to the list of "money order" offices. The contrast between an occasional letter stuck on a post in Colonel Rus- sell's old grocery to await the call of its owner, and the three and four de- liveries at homes in Arling- ton by uniformed letter carriers; the twenty-five cents once paid for a letter from Concord, N.H., to the correspondent in Arlington, compared with the two cents which will insure the delivery of a letter of equal weight in San Francisco or the Hawaiian Islands, is one scale by which the advance in conven- iences can be measured and the growth of Arlington be illustrated . The broad lines of Massachusetts avenue — it was originally laid out "six rods wide" — are in a sense characteristic of the TOWN HALL Post Office, 1852-1895 84 Town of Arlington first settlers and their successors, and few towns can boast of better streets. The "road from Watertown to Cooke's mill in Menotomy," though not laid out as wide as the main thoroughfare of the town, was established at a width rare among surrounding towns, and the scenery through which it passed naturally gave it the name "Pleasant" it has enjoyed through several generations. These natural beauties have been enhanced by those acquiring the land and building dwellings along the line of this thorough- fare. The road to Woburn, also that from Watertown to the mill on Mill Brook and from Medford to Arlington, were constructed not long after the road we call Massachusetts avenue was cut through the wilderness for the benefit of Cambridge people, as has been recounted in preceding pages. Opening New Territory. Up to the year 1846 there seems to have been no real nam- ing of streets with the exception of Grove street, built in 1840 to accommodate the saw works; but in that year, according to a table of accepted streets published in "Annual Reports for 1900," the old but little used way to Charlestown through Somer- ville was accepted November 9, 1846, and the same meeting rechristened Weir lane Lake street, and formally gave the name Bow, Forest, Lowell, Somerset place (now Pelham terrace) to the streets we know by these names to-day. These were, with the exception of the terrace last named, to a certain degree County roads, leading as they do to Belmont, Winchester, and Lexington, and it was on lines laid out by the County Commis- sioners that they were accepted by the town at this November meeting in 1846. Appleton street from its junction with Massa- chusetts avenue, and the recently named Paul Revere road (Vine street prior to 1904), are the names now used to designate these portions of the old stage route to the point where it con- nects with Massachusetts avenue, and belong in the above list, being accepted at the same time; but to include them without Past and Present 85 this explanation would be confusing. Since that date streets have been built and accepted in the following order : — Walnut, March 7, 1870. Russell, March 4, 1872. Mill, June 7, 1872. Mount Vernon, April 7, 1873. Warren, May 27, 1873. Maple, April 20, 1874. Park avenue, June 29, 1875. Academy (extension), September 20, 1875. Franklin and Lewis avenue, May 1, 1876. Swan, March 14, 1877. Jason, March 13, 1884; May 2, 1885. Wyman, March 18, 1888; March 13, 1893; July 1, 1895. Wellington, November 8, 1897. Gray, March 10, 1885; November 8, 1897; Addition, March 9, 1891. Draper avenue, March 14, 1892. Russell terrace, Winslow and Prescott streets, March 14, 1892. Bartlett avenue, March 14, 1892. Palmer, March 14, 1892. Kensington Park and Brantwood road, November 8, 1897. Marathon, April 15, 1898. To old residents of Arlington this list will be all that is required to remind them that on broad lines and with an almost super- lative excellence, Arlington has grown during the last third of a century since the town was incorporated, but this record would not meet its aim without considerable more of detail, and particulars of this development will here have an appropriate place. The first new section to be opened on an extensive scale for building purposes, was what was "Pierce Hill," now called Arlington Heights. In 1872 an association of gentlemen doing business in Boston bought the farms located on this property owned almost wholly by descendants of Jonas Pierce, eldest son of Capt. Solomon Pierce of Revolutionary fame, with whom the old veteran had a home until his death in October, 1821. As the Pierce family has been identified with Arlington for more than a hundred years (Jonas Pierce bought the whole of 86 Town of Arlington what is now Arlington Heights, comprising two hundred and fifty acres, March 12, 1803), and the name "Appleton" is re- tained as the name of one of the principal streets, and appears in given names in the Peirce family, it is germane to the sub- ject to say that formerly it was the summer home of Rev. Nathaniel Appleton of Boston, and in the mansion house this gentleman built at the Heights, Captain Solomon died. The house in which Peirce lived after removing from Lexington, known as the Amos Russell house, is standing at the close of our first century. The Arlington Heights Land Company bought this wide tract embracing farms of Peirce brothers, Marsh, Frost and others in Arlington and Belmont, had it surveyed, provided a full set of plans, constructed streets and offered the lots for sale. Unfor- tunately for those chiefly interested the enterprise was launched at the time when the government was on the eve of resuming specie payment (suspended with the outbreak of the war of the rebellion) and the drop from the inflated values obtaining during the war period and afterwards, brought financial loss to most of those interested, and their misfortune followed others drawn into the enterprise. Out of this cloud the section finally emerged and the main thoroughfare called Park avenue, accepted by the town and laid out by the County Commissioners as a County road to Pleasant street in Belmont in 1874, connects with many streets on which there are attractive residences of prosperous business men of the metropolis. As the reader familiar with Arlington thirty years ago scans the list naming accepted streets, he will- be reminded how the Cyrus Wood farm was divided for building lots by the exten- sion of Franklin street and the building of Lewis avenue; how the skating rink on the Swan estate gave place to the group of buildings on Swan place and Swan street; the abandoning by Dr. R. L. Hodgdon of his vegetable garden furnished lots for the fine residences which make Wellington street such an attrac- tive approach to Spy Pond; the transformation wrought on the Addison Gage estate. Past and Present In 1883 Mrs. Teel divided "Jason Russell orchard," as it was called, into house lots and gave the same to her children (Rus- sell, Albert L., and Josiah Teel, Mrs. Tappan, and Mrs. Dupee). Through it, running south from Massachusetts avenue, a wide and well graded street was built, which was accepted in 1884. Later this street was extended through land of other owners to the entrance to Menotomy Rocks Park, and is there joined by the street through Kensington Park, a building section opened in 1896 by a company of young men from Cambridge. Gray street through the Homer property was naturally a part of the general development of this section, which, embracing Bartlett avenue as it does, is unquestionably the most popular and interesting residential section of the town. Wyman street, accepted in 1888, and Palmer street, accepted in 1892, represent a portion of the John P. Wyman farm which he made into a residential section. All these developments of the town in the matter of residen- tial sections have been within the memory of a large majority of the citizens and more of detail is not needed to make plain the situation as to locality, its growth, or the character of the increase. Nothing remains of the buildings first erected within this territory, but those who well remember some of them say the Amos Russell building at Arlington Heights and the old structure on the corner of Forest street and Massachusetts avenue, are representatives of those removed long ago. Until within a comparatively few years a similar building stood on the John P. Wyman farm; another was the Capt. Ed. Russell house on Massachusetts avenue. A building with many of these char- acteristics, very old, on the corner of Massachusetts avenue and known as Russell's grocery, the youngest will remember, as it was torn down recently to make room for the extension of Associates' Building. These houses were low posted, with the back roof reaching within six or seven feet from the ground; often with a "hip" roof. The rooms were large and the open fireplaces capacious, four feet and more in width, the height of the ceiling and the 88 Town of Arlington breadth of the fireplace being conducive to economy in heating. The frame was generally of hewn oak timbers and the boarding of white pine often more than two feet in width. The frame was pinned together at mortised joints and hand-wrought nails held the boards. Shingles and clapboards were of split lumber and hand shaved. Like their builders they were substantial. Such were the dwellings of the first settlers, but their descendants wanted something better, and nothing so clearly indicates the general prosperity of these sons of the first comers as the build- ings erected a few years prior to the incorporation of Arlington, and in the period shortly after. They were in the main pleasing in architectural design, and those still standing are not unfit companions of the more modern buildings by which several are surrounded. A description of some of these buildings would not be inap- propriate in this connection, but as Mrs. Whittemore, in a special section, has named those on M assachusetts avenue and in a sec- tion devoted to Pleasant street other buildings are mentioned, repetition here would simply occupy space. Suffice it to say, these dwellings signify a prosperous and happy people. The visitor of today, as well as those of other days, discovers that nature has done much to make this territory attractive, with the broad outlook from the more elevated sections, the ponds nestled in its valleys or the natural beauties of what we now call Menotomy Rocks Park, and these have not and could not be changed to materially enhance their attractiveness. But there were sections by no manner of means sightly if sometimes picturesque, while certainly not conducive to health, and changes wrought in the topography of Arlington by the present gener- ation will deserve the thanks of all who are to come after us. The first of these undesirable and malarial breeding sections was eliminated by the building of the Lexington & West Cam- bridge Railroad in 1845. The land in the rear of Frederick E. Fowle's residence on Massachusetts avenue was a swamp which received the surface drainage of a large section of the main thoroughfare and through it ran the brook that crosses the old cemetery on its way to its outlet in Spy Pond. Across this Past and Present 89 morass the bed of the road was built. It was nearly ready for the rails, when one night the crust on which it rested gave way and the next morning the filling had sunk nearly out of sight. The soft earth was crowded out by this pressure and when the damage to the road bed had been repaired by additional filling, this swamp hole was a thing of the past. Another swampy place in the center of the town has been disposed of by a slower process. This was located on the south- easterly side of Mystic street, and men of sixty years and over will remember that in winter it vied with Spy Pond as a place for skating. J. Winslow Peirce, who owned the larger section of this land, which adjoined his coal yard, was the first to be- gin a filling in process, but it remained for a syndicate com- posed of Sylvester Stickney, Lucien C. Tyler, J. W. Whitaker and Edwin C. Prescott, who purchased the land adjoining Rus- sell terrace, to cut down the knoll and use the gravel in wiping out this second piece of undesirable territory and it is today a well filled residential section. The third enterprise was of larger dimensions and commanded expenditure by the town. Arlington was one of the first tow^is of its size to accept the provisions of an Act of the Legis- lature authorizing the choice" of commissioners to have control of park property. To eliminate the swamp between Chestnut street and the border of Mt. Pleasant Cemetery was the first under- taking of the board of Park Commissioners elected by the town. This work has been prosecuted gradually for a series of years, both by the town and those owning property contiguous to it, and though much remains to be done before the plans of the committee are accomplished, the territory is no longer a mosquito breeding place, though hardly as attractive as it was previously, in the summer time at least, when the rank ver- dure hid the dank ooze that was a menace to the public health. But if the future is to be indebted to the past for a cut here and a fill there which has materially changed in all cases, and wonderfully improved in others, the face of nature within close range of the more populous center, in other cases the wisdom of 90 Town of Arlington the Park Commissioners in leaving nature unadorned creates an obligation on that future it will joyfully meet. The southern boundary of Arlington is Belmont. A wide stretch of territory on this border line consists of ravines plowed out by the glaciers which scoured and tore at the hills of New England, that at this particular point were stayed by the resisting force of our granite hills. An illustration of the force of the glacier is discovered in that weird section of Menotomy Rocks Park known now as always within the memory of any here as "Devil's Den." Another reminder of that far distant past is the morain on the south side of the street or lane which is the southern boundary of the Park,, said by one assuming to be a judge, and at any rate a well known expert, to be the finest of the sort in all eastern Massachusetts. One of the earlier papers presented at a meeting of Arlington Historical Society, was "Massachusetts Avenue as I Remember it Sixty Years Ago," by Mrs. Almira T. Whittemore. From it the following paragraphs have been culled as a fitting closing to the record of this decade. First on the south side of Massachusetts avenue and east of the great elms that for a century had arched this entrance to the town (one of which is still standing in a little protecting inclosure) was and is the Jonathan Whittemore house. It is near the street line, but there was a wide section of land on either side, this farm land stretching back southerly to an extent which made this estate rank with the largest in the town. The house is an excellent type of the two-story brick ends and wooden front and back dwellings within the town's limits that evidence the wealth and social standing of their owners. The farm adjoining this Whittemore estate belonged to Samuel Butterfield. His house was a two-story frame building with "hip" roof. His son Samuel remodeled it into its present form. Like his father, he was a leader and prominent in town affairs, and in his day largely increased his inheritance. The westerly line of this estate was "Weir lane," now Lake street. On the opposite side of Lake street was the house of Francis Past and Present 91 Yates. The land had a narrow frontage on Massachusetts avenue, but extended to Spy Pond on Lake street. Next in order was the large estate of Abner Peirce, the prin- cipal building on it being his "country store." though the house was attractive and commodious. In amount of business trans- acted, the store was a close rival of the older "Russell Store" at the Center, and as a merchant Abner Peirce was a success. Some years later Mr. Peirce removed his dwelling house (a two- story frame "hip" roof building with broad piazza) to the oppo- site side of the street, where it remained until torn down within a recent period to make a place for William A. Muller's modern residence. On the original site Abner Peirce built the house owned for many years by the late John P. Squire and now occupied by his son-in-law, Walter L. Hill. George Peirce (no relation to Abner) owned the estate adjoining, and his dwelling, known as the Thomas D. Cook house, tells its own story of an earlier generation, both in form and evidences of age it bears. It was on this farm, on the sloping southern exposure towards Spy Pond, that raising garden produce under glass was commenced. It has developed into the hothouse methods which make Arlington famous as a grower of garden produce. Near Linwood street stood a schoolhouse and the "Town Pound" was close by. James Russell, 2d, owned the next block of land and his house, now the property of Walter — , K.Hutchinson, also remains to show another type of dwelling in vogue at that period. Mrs. Russell survived her husband many years. In early life she had been one of the school teachers of the town, and at her death all her property was given to the town for school purposes. The residence of Stephen Blake, still standing, which adjoins this property, was the birthplace of the Blake brothers, and the wives of the Messrs. Wood and John S. Crosby. BLAKE HOMESTEAD (now 334 Mass. Ave.) 92 Town of Arlington Abner P. Wyman, at the time of his death, was one of our most successful garden farmers, owning nearly all the present holdings of his sons Franklin and Daniel on Lake street, but at this time he was engaged in blacksmithing. His shop was next to the Russell farm and his sign read, "Earth Forks, Pitch Forks, Hoes." Here he began also the making of ice tools, out of which has developed the present Gifford-Wood Company, as he disposed of his business to William T. Wood when he decided to go to farming and Mr. Wood made ice tools his specialty. The house and shop on the corner of Avon place was built by Mr. William L. Clark, who here carried on harness making quite extensively. Next came the estate of Amos Whittemore, of wool card fame. The lot extended several hundred feet along the avenue and ran back to Spy Pond. The dwelling stood not far from the street, about the center on the street line. The factory was in the rear and about the middle of this lot. "The house was originally called the Beal house, and before the Revolution was owned by a Tory family. It was a very large building, with a long parlor on one side of the entrance. A granddaughter remembered that it had a handsome tiled fireplace and that the walls were papered with red velvet paper. The hall in the center had winding stairs; on the opposite side of the parlor were two rooms. The dining room was in the rear, as was also another room called 'the shop,' where the inventor spent much of his time." A fire destroyed this fine property, and all will agree with Mrs. Margaret L. Sears, a descendant, who wrote the foregoing, that "It is to be deplored that this good example of Colonial architecture should be lost to the town. Had it remained standing it might be classed with the Royall House of Medford and others of that style." Next to the Whittemore estate was an old dwelling then occupied by Nathan Robbins, senior, torn down many years ago, and on an adjoining lot John P. Daniels had a blacksmith shop. The Joshua Robbins house came next. This was a large, brick- end, substantial building (still standing), the upper story in use as a tenement, fish market and bakery on street floor. The Henry Swan house, the next dwelling on this side, was Past and Present 93 removed in 1876 to make a place for Swan's Block, was of wood and the same style as the Blake house. The Dexter homestead was then an imposing building, but the recent erection of a one- story extension to the street line has not only partially hidden the dwelling but robbed it of its stately proportions. Here the Public (now Robbins) Library was stored and Mr. Dexter was librarian. Merrifield's tin shop adjoined the Dexter property. Then came pj«aLi3-*! CORNER OF MASS. AVE. AND PLEASANT ST. Prior to I 872 the drug store kept by King & Thaxter ; next a building used for a harness shop, paint shop, barber shop. Samuel Swan's store was in the building on the corner of Pleasant street and Massachusetts avenue. The accompanying picture, taken in 1872, shows several of these buildings. The First Parish Church appeared then as it does today ; the building burned in 1856 being replaced by the present structure, built on the same plan. Next to the church was the William Whittemore mansion and card factory. Then, and for many years afterwards, this building 94 Town of Arlington was the largest and most picturesque private dwelling in the town. At this time it was owned by the late Nathan Robbins. At his death it passed to his grandchildren, who are its present owners in a new location, as shown in the picture of Robbins Library in the library section of this book. On this estate was. another dwelling house of ordinary dimensions, torn down a few years ago. This group of buildings was owned and occupied by Jesse P. COTTING HOUSE AND BAKERY Pattee, who carried on bread and cracker baking very extensively. All have been recently torn down to clear the "Town House Site," as it is now called. On the opposite corner of Academy street stood the Hannah Locke house, now owned by Dr. Keegan, and next to it a double house, the property of the Teel family, owners of several buildings, including the famous "Jason Russell house," the scene of the special tragedy enacted here April 19, 1775, and the old Teel homestead, both of which are still preserved, but on other lots- of land. Past and Present 95 The Lewis P. Bartlett house, on the westerly corner of what is now known as Bartlett avenue, was similar to that owned by William Cutter and which his wife Mary willed to the Baptist society for a parsonage. It is now the property of Alexander H. Seaver. The Henry J. Locke house, which came next, has been remod- eled,, but the rear portion, which antedates the Revolutionary period (being the old Deacon Adams place) was retained intact, LOCKE HOMESTEAD making that homestead of special historic interest to Arlington, as it was from the L portion of the Locke house that the British soldiers, on the 19th of April, 1775, stole the solid silver com- munion service belonging to First Parish Church. Beyond the stretch of this great Locke farm was almost a row of houses, for at this time "High street," as the westerly section of Massachusetts avenue was then called, was more nearly the business center than what is now spoken of as the "Center." There were located the residences of William Schouler (after- wards Adjutant-General of the state), William H. Richardson, 96 Town of Arlington FESSENDEN HOUSE "Converse house," William Dickson (house and shop), Elijah Cutter (house and shops), William Prentiss, Elbridge Locke, Rebecca Russell, David Hill (recently torn down), David and Daniel Clark. The John Schouler house, later the property of Deacon John C. Hobbs and now owned by William H. Brine, was then, as it is now, an estate to attract notice. Then came the residence of Henry Welling- ton, the "Eureka" fire-engine house, the homes of Abijah Frost and Bowen Russell. The residences of Philip B. and Ichabod Fessenden stood on either side of what is now Fessenden road. The Philip B. house was removed to make a place for the modern building erected on the old site by the late Charles Schwamb; the Ichabod house still stands on the westerly side of Fessenden road, and remodeled inside as well as outside, was long the residence of John D. Freeman. The Gershom Cutter house stood next to the old brick school- house of this district, built in 1801. Having reached the road to "Peirce Hill" (now Arlington Heights) known as Appleton street, we will go back to the starting point and view the north side of Massachusetts avenue. With the exception of houses belonging to Eliakim Nason and Debbie Butterfield, all the section known as the "Henderson District" was vacant land to the present line of Cleveland street. There stood the Crane house. Next came the Williams house; the familiar Belknap estate; Deacon Henry Mott cottage house well back from the street; the old "Black Horse Tavern;" the old Hovey house and shop; Abbott Allen house; the old pre-revolutionary Wyman house; Josiah Russell house, since re- moved to Franklin street; Philip Whittemore estate; the Union District schoolhouse (where Franklin street now joins the avenue) ; Thomas E. Thorpe house, now on the west corner of this street; Past and Present 97 furniture factory of Lane & Croome; the houses of Henry and Amos Whittemore ; and the house and store of John Fowle. The latter was removed in 1887 to make a place for the civil war monument. Whittemore's Hotel, now the Arlington House, was then as now a conspicuous object. The signs on the same are so misleading, and there is such general misinformation re- garding the erection and early ownership of this building, it is worth all it will cost in i space to put in permanent , and easily accessible form its true history. Mrs. James A. Arlington house Bailey, a direct descendant Built l826 of the builder and historian of the Peirce family, has furnished the editor with the following: In 1826 Jonas Peirce built the tavern on the corner of Medford street and Massachusetts avenue. The estimated cost was $7,000, but it far exceeded that amount, which so worried the owner that after returning from his regular trips to Boston market, he often went to the Center to assist the builders. When the building was completed it was carried on in his name by his son and son-in- law as a hotel. In May, 1829, Frederick H. Hedge was ordained minister of the First Congregational (Unitarian) Church. The collation was served at this tavern, the congregation marching thither in a body, headed by a brass band. . . In his will Jonas Peirce left the tavern to his son and daughter, and by them it was leased to a man named Gordon, and for a time was known as ' ' Gordon's Hotel." Later it was sold to Philip Whittemore and given the name of "Whittemore's Hotel." The present owner changed the name to "Arlington House" in 1873, and in the spring of 1875 had the big sign "Cooper Tavern — 1775" painted on the easterly end. A paint brush is a slimsy foundation on which to build a relic of past days. On the opposite corner was "Moses Proctor's store," a two- story building with tenement and offices over the store. From one of these rooms Captain Ingalls went out in answer to his 98 Town of Arlington country's call in 1861, to yield up his life in the earlier part of the great war for the preservation of the Union . Where the R. W. Shattuck building now stands was a dwelling afterwards destroyed by fire. Hon. James Russell occupied the fine estate on the corner of Mystic street, now inclosed by build- ings constituting Finance Block, to make room for which his "office" building was removed. The accompanying picture SQUIRE RUSSELL HOUSE Corner Mystic St. and Mass. Ave. on left Masonic Building and Arlington House on right shows that estate as I remember it, though Mystic street did not at that time terminate at Massachusetts avenue. The Deacon Adams house stood on the railroad roadbed of the Boston and Maine Railroad, and to make room for it this historic old building, scarred by bullets fired into it by the British soldiery on their retreat through this town, April 19, 1775, was first shorn of a considerable section and later torn down. Fortu- nately a good picture of this old building is in existence, from which the photograph reproduced on page 99 was taken. Buildings for business purposes occupied the present Town Hall site, and the George C. Russell house, removed to Russell terrace to make room for Post Office Block, came next. The Col. Thomas Russell house is still in its original place Past and Present 99 on the corner of the way to the railroad depot, but the ancient grocery which he and his father kept was torn down last year to make room for the extension of Associates' Building. Ephraim Cutter home- stead on the opposite corner BIT OF MASS. AV. Eph. Cutter House, Russell store, Russell houses of Water street remains much as it was formerly. A building, since removed to Beacon street, stood where Court street is now located, but one of the Jesse Pattee houses, the old building on the corner of Central street, remains. Next to the Univer- salist Church, erected a short time previously, stood, as it stands to- day, the Stephen Cutter house, dating back years before the Revolution. ADAMS HOUSE Erected about 1680. Portion removed in 1846 to make way for the steam R.R. The tree shown was destroyed in the tornado of I 87 I . It is now a part of the Fred M. Chase estate. The Thomas Ramsdell house, recognizable today by its old-time piazza, though standing now in a group of several houses, was STEPHEN CUTTER HOUSE Now owned by Fred. M. Chase 100 Town of Arlington CAPT. EDW. RUSSELL HOUSE the only house except the Avery cottage before coming to the Baptist Church. The Chadwick house (now George A. Teel) was used for a private school, and on a somewhat distant lot was the house of Thomas Hall, which Mr. Kimball removed to Beacon street, when the building now occupied by his heirs was erected. Isaac Hall lived over his wheelwright shop, which still stands con- spicuous for its unlikeness to any of the adjacent property. The Robert Sehouler house is now as then on the west corner of Sehouler court, and his estate joined that of James A. E. Bailey (mem- ber of the firm of Welch & Griffiths), father of James A. Bailey, often chosen to public office here, and grand- father of Ex-Senator Bailey. The Edward Russell house of Revolutionary time, looked all the smaller in contrast with the stately building to the east, but its two next door neighbors on the west, still standing, made this less conspicuous. The large house on the corner of Grove street was remodeled in 1906, obliterating another of Arlington's historic landmarks. On the corner of Brattle street stood the second building erected by the Baptist Society for church purposes; it had then been remodeled into a double dwelling house, and its general appearance is little changed. Tufts Tavern, known more recently as "George Russell Hotel," which was then the next building on the street, is one of the oldest buildings now standing in town and has undergone no material change in the past sixty years. It was Tufts Tavern TUFTS TAVERN Built long before Revolution Past and Present 101 in Revolutionary time and in the military history section will be found a decidedly interesting story connected with it from the pen of Mrs. Whittemore. The Fletcher family owned the large estate on the westerly corner of Brattle street, and what is now the J. F. Hobbs estate was the property of Nathan Robbins. The Ichabod Fessenden residence was next in order, and he used the mill privilege just below for his business. Jefferson Cutter house occupied the next lot; the dwelling and mill privilege now the property of the Theodore Schwamb Company was then owned and operated by Paul Dodge; Edward S. Farmer now owns the old Farmer home- stead on the corner of Forest street; and on the opposite corner is the building formerly owned by Abel Locke, still in a good state of preservation, the Captain Benjamin Locke House, one of the most picturesque of all the old buildings of which Arlington can boast. The John A. P. Peirce house stood at the "Foot of the Rocks," as it does in 1907, and near by is the next of the numerous build- ings used for business purposes on Mill Brook. In closing the paper from which these items regarding Arling- ton's main thoroughfare have been culled, Mrs. Whittemore said: This is an outline of Massachusetts avenue from Alewife Brook to the "Foot of the Rocks," as I recall its general features before the introduction of the steam railroad. It has interested me to gather these items from the pages of memory. It is to be hoped the comparisons it will enable others to make between this and a time somewhat removed, will prove to be both inter- esting and instructive. CHAPTER III 1847—1857 Population in 1850, 2,202. Population in 1855, 2,670. Development of Pleasant street section. — Mystic street opened for fine estates. — County Commissioners order the town to build new outlet to Center. — The tornado of 1851. — Building Town Hall, — a ten year problem and how it was solved. — New fire engines bought. — Know-Nothing movement. — New town clock. THIS decade in Arlington's history marks a development that has certainly never been excelled in picturesqueness and beauty, if it has been equaled in money value. Time has wrought many changes, but the street which was so appropriately named "Pleasant" when a general naming of streets was adopted in 1846, remains today the one of all others calculated to lure the pleasure-seeking pedestrian or the, perhaps, more fortunate possessor of fine driving turnout or automobile. For many years it was the center of the social life of the town, nearly all the handsome homes housing families of considerable size, and its ample lawns were time and again given up to public events by the generous owners. It was nearly two hundred years after this "road from Water- town to Cooke's mill in Menotomy" that this transformation occurred, but the beautiful environment was there awaiting the advent of wealth and cultivated taste to improve and enhance. As a proper prelude to the details of the remarkable develop- ment spoken of, some further allusion to the dwellings on this street prior to this date will be appropriate. In 1740 Parson Cooke built his house on this street near what is now Maple street; his successor in the pastoral office, Rev. Thaddeus Fiske, D.D., selected the adjoining lot on the south 102 Past and Present 103 for his homestead in 1791. These were the first houses to be built on this thoroughfare and dates given prove that the former was the only house on this street in 1775, within what is now Arlington. The Lane house, now owned by the third generation (George W. Lane), was the first residence added in the vicinity. A few years later (in 1811) Dr. Timothy Wellington built the notable landmark on the corner of Wellington street. The Jarvis house and Cutter residence date back to the thirties of the past cen- tury, but had no neighbors for many years. William Cotting, the baker, owned a wide strip of land extending southward from his bakery on Massachusetts avenue (known for so many years as Menotomy Hall) to what is now Kensington Park, or. timothy Wellington house i j j .i j. u 41 Built 1811-12. Now owned by Dr. Richard L. bounded on the east by the U „ J „ J „ ,,.■, . *' Hodgdon heirs Whittemore, Cooke, Fiske, and other lands; west by the Russell farm. Miles T. Gardner married Mr. Cotting's daughter, Martha E., in 1838, and on a portion of this large Cotting estate built the house and laid out the grounds of the picturesque place between Irving and Gray streets. A few years later Mr. Gardner sold this house and the large lot of land on which it stands to Charles Sanders (he who gave the theater bearing his name to Harvard College). It was from Mr. Sanders that George H. Gray purchased this ex- tensive property. He was a Boston merchant who proved the forerunner of a considerable number of his class that within a few years chose Arlington for a home and Pleasant street for a location; but the next dwelling to be erected on this street was strikingly different in character. This was a little cottage house (now enlarged and in a new location the home of Mr. George Y. Wellington) built where the W. A. Taft house now stands by William M. Chase (the town 104 Town of Arlington clerk of Arlington in 1842) and sold to Mr. Wellington by the late David P. Green when he erected the Taft house. In 1843 Rev. William Ware, the then pastor of First Parish Church, built the handsome but secluded house on the grounds known as the Peabody estate, with its heavy surrounding stone wall and ornate gateway. This fine property was for some years in the possession of Charles Griffiths, of saw-making fame, prior to its passing to the present owner, Francis Peabody, the Boston banker. Adjoining this estate is that of the late Samuel D. Hicks, built by William Warren, sold by him to David Horton, a brother of the first pastor of the Ortho- dox Congregational Church, by him sold to James R. Bayley, Mr. Hicks purchasing of the latter and greatly im- proving it. Deacon John Field was the next addition to this group of Boston merchants who within a few years acquired large SAMUEL D. HICKS ESTATE J ~i. o estates on this street. He bought of William Warren the broad acres on which he built the Colman house (as it is now known) and made the grounds around it attractive by the aid of the landscape gardener. Three years later his associate in the office of deacon of the Ortho- dox Congregational Church, Joseph Burrage, built the A. D. Hoitt place. The Captain Hopkins house, now the residence of Hon. James A. Bailey, Jr., was built the same year, the old Cutter house he had previously occupied being removed to Lake street, and is still located on the east side and next to the railroad tracks. August 15, 1850, Abel G. Peck bought of the trustees of the Nathaniel Lombard estate the large block of land on which the Peck mansion house is still the most conspicuous adornment. At this time (1850) the site was occupied by the old First Parish Church building (built in 1734), removed to that spot in 1804, as described in Chapter I, to make room for the new edifice. Past and Present 105 ABEL G. PECK HOUSE This building Mr. Peck sold to be removed. The purchaser sawed it into equal sections so it could be handled and re- moved it to its present location on Pleasant street. It was the home of Addison Gage for a few years, and later of his son Charles O. Gage until his death. The barn was moved to a lot farther south, converted into a dwelling, and is now the property of the George T. Freeman heirs. In |852 Hon. John Schouler built Ihe only wholly brick dwelling on this street, patterned in general outline after the Town Hall building then in course of construction, and with its Svide sweep of land in front and ample grounds surround- ing, made a specially attractive dwelling. Three years later, in 1855, the culmination of this development of Pleasant street section was reached. Addison Gage, head of the great ice harvest- I ing interests of Boston, and then occupying the remodeled church building, bought of Rev. Thaddeus Fiske a strip several hundred feet on Pleas- ant street and extending back to Spy Pond, as do all the estates previously named. Well back from the street so as to secure a wide stretch of lawn, Mr. Gage erected an imposing FIRST CHURCH BUILDING ERECTED IN 1734 Now 208 Pleasant St. ADDISON GAGE MANSION 106 Town of Arlington dwelling, with barn to match. The purchase of this Gage estate by Arlington Finance Club and removal of buildings to a loca- tion on Addison street which was the initial operation in opening there a new residential section, is of too recent a date to need more than this passing allusion. The corner lots are occupied by dwellings and stables owned by Henry Hornblower and Charles J. Devereaux, and adjoining estates are, like these, picturesque and attractive. As has been stated, the rear line of a majority of the estates named was Spy Pond, and boating and sailing on the lake was naturally a pastime with the group of young people, and the boat- houses added to the picturesqueness of this charming bit of inland water. But it was then, as it is now, a treacherous place, and when after several drownings and many narrow escapes there was a culmination in an event that robbed three homes of daughters just advancing to womanhood, the use of yachts on the lake was discontinued and it is many years since there has been a sailing regatta on Spy Pond, a sport that had until then been the star event of any local celebration or national holiday festivity. Nearly contemporaneous with the development of Pleasant street, as has been already outlined, came another material addi- tion to the taxable property of the town on Mystic street. April 15, 1845, William J. Niles of Boston bought of Luke Wyman fifteen acres of land on this street, the northern boundary being Mystic Lake, and erected a summer home for himself and family, which is still occupied every summer by his three surviving daughters. The stately dwelling, picturesque tower and finely cared for grounds make a pleasing picture. The estate on rising ground nearly opposite was bought of Samuel Adams by Daniel Draper in 1855, and by him sold the same year to James C. Converse, who in 1870 sold it to Nathaniel C. Nash. For many years past it has been the Howard W. Spurr homestead. Lucius B. Horton built the adjoining house and buildings, which estate passed to the late William Stowe by deed dated July 5, 1862. In recent years it has changed hands two or three times and is now the property of George A. Kimball. Past and Present 107 Adolphus Davis, who married a daughter of Daniel Draper, erected the cottage house on that wide tract of land through which Davis and Draper avenues now give access to numerous new dwellings erected since the estate was divided into house lots. It might well be noted in passing, that this gain in population during the period under consideration brought to the Orthodox Congregational Church substantial financial help. Deacons Field and Burrage on Pleasant street, and Mr. Niles on Mystic street, were generous contributors to church and society expenses, and as they also sent their contributions to missionary work through the church channels, for many years the Arlington church headed the list of contributions by the Suffolk North Conference of which it was a member. There is also a matter of street making which is not out of place here. It will be new to most people and will remind others of details well worth recalling after all these years. The way to the Center for residents of Mystic street, until 1856, was through what is now Chestnut street and Medford street. Soon after the late William J. Niles established his summer home at the handsome estate on Mystic street he interested his neighbors in joining with him in an effort to have the town cut through the vacant lot of the Squire Russell estate where the street is now located. The town refused to entertain the proposition. Mr. Niles and his backers appealed to the County Commissioners, and on June 4, 1856, the commissioners issued the following: We adjudge that the said town of West Cambridge (now Arlington) unreasonably refused to accept said town way; and we approve and allow the same and direct the laying out and accep- tance to be recorded by the Town Clerk of said town of West Cambridge, that the same may be established and known as a town way, with costs of hearing. Leonard Huntress, John K. Going, P. H. Sweetser, Commissioners. 108 Town of Arlington The Tornado of 1851. Friday, August 22, 1851, the center portion of Arlington was devastated by a tornado which, beginning its course in Wayland, passed over Weston and Waltham, doing considerable damage, but on reaching Arlington wrecked everything in its path and swept on to Medford, creating equal havoc, and then onward over adjacent territory and thence to the sea. Judge Parmenter, in his sketch for " Middlesex County History," says that those who saw it described it as a dark cloud sweeping over the surface of the country with frightful speed; its base now touching the earth and now bounding up for a little to return again farther on. Its shape was variously compared to a spreading elm, an upright column, to an hourglass, and to an inverted cone — discrep- ancies probably to be attributed to the different positions of the observers, to the excitement of the moment, and perhaps to actual changes of shape. One eye-witness vividly compared it to an elephant's trunk, waving a little from side to side and sucking up everything that came in its way. Its path was straight for the most part, with curious eddies and turns here and there. It left behind it in Arlington a devastated swath which was, in most places, from thirty to fifty rods wide, although the track was at some points wider and at some narrower than this. The storm occurred about half past five o'clock on a hot, sultry summer afternoon. There had been during the day a light south- west wind, but for an hour before the tornado there was an almost perfect calm. Without warning the storm struck this town at the premises of James Brown (now a part of Belmont) on the Wal- tham line and swept across it, tearing its way through woods, orchards, and cornfields. It crossed Pleasant street near what is now the Belmont boundary and went straight on across the land of Captain Hopkins, Doctor Wellington, and other residents on the eastern side of the street; then over the northeast corner of Spy Pond, demolishing the ice houses at the water's edge; then across the highway at a point near Franklin street, wreaking destruction on store, schoolhouse, and dwellings, and so on till it Past and Present 109 crossed Mystic River about fifty rods below the Medford street bridge. The tornado lasted a very few minutes, but in that time it did damage in Arlington to the extent of nearly twenty-five thousand dollars. Happily no lives were lost and no. person was injured. Medford people were less fortunate. One man was killed, a young man had both feet crushed so badly that amputation was necessary, and five others were seriously hurt. Arlington citizens, at a public meeting, raised $1219 to relieve the more needy suffering loss by the tornado. The storm had several noticeable features much commented on at the time. As it crossed Spy Pond it took up a great deal of water, and this, mingled with the sand and gravel of the railway embankment and the dust of the highway, splashed everything with a liberal coating of gravelly mud. When there was any vertical motion it was a lifting motion — things were taken up into the air, not beaten down to the earth. Trees generally resisted the disintegrated force of the wind, but buildings were racked or shattered. In Medford, where very careful observa- tions were made, few traces of rotary motion were found, but in one place in this town, where a cornfield was flattened before the blast, the corn lay with the tops pointed in and toward the wind- ward, on both sides of the central line of the track, as if two enormous wheels with vertical axes, turning in opposite direc- tions and playing into each other like cogwheels, had passed through the field. Building op Town Hall. For fifty-five years Arlington Town Hall has stood the one conspicuous feature of the town's center, pleasing in architectural design and even now fairly well meeting the purposes for which it was built. The recent purchase of land for a Town Hall s'.te is a prophecy that before long its use for municipal purposes will cease. Consequently it is eminently proper that the paucity of the official records of the town should be here supplemented with information obtained from other documents recently discov- ered, reinforced with facts obtained from some who remember 110 Town of Arlington the erection of the building and events leading up to the final divorcement of the town from the church. In 1852, at the annual town meeting in March, the town voted to elect a committee of five "with full powers to select a site and build thereon a Town Hall." The committee chosen consisted ARLINGTON TOWN HALL Built 1852 of Jesse Bucknam, Samuel Butterfield, William Hill, 2d, John Schouler, George C. Russell. The town records give no further information, but other docu- ments prove this to have been the culmination of long and delib- erate consideration, and not the precipitate action the meager record would lead one to infer. From the testimony of several who well recall all the details, we discover that for several years the old First Parish Church had been generally unsatisfactory as a place for holding town Past and Present 111 meetings, on account of sectional prejudices and divisions on religious matters which happily long since ceased to exist. In 1839 a committee chosen to consider this matter reported that the Baptist Church could be had for the same price the town was paying the First Parish ($50 a year), or the vestry for $25 a year. Also that Philip Whittemore would rent his hall for $30 a year, but the town did not change the place of meeting. In 1847 Mansur W. Marsh, John Schouler, Josiah H. Russell were named as a committee to see what could be done about a site on which to erect a town building. This committee reported that "Moses Proctor will sell his lot on the corner of Medford street and Massachusetts avenue for such a purpose, at a reasonable price, but would sell for no other purpose." "The lot between Deacon Ephraim Cutter and Solon Hardy lots can be bought for $1000." The committee expressed the opinion that a suitable building could be erected for $6000. In 1848 the matter of better hall accommodations in which to transact town business was presented in the form of a numer- ously signed petition to the selectmen, and the year following another committee was chosen to investigate and report to the town all available sites and cost of erecting a suitable public building. Their report was to the effect that Hon. James Russell would sell a lot 132 X 132, fronting on Mystic street (the pres- ent Russell Park site) for $6000; the Swan heirs would sell for $10,000 the block of land on the corner of Massachusetts avenue and Pleasant street but would not sell any part separately; that John P. Daniels would sell his lot (75 feet on Massachusetts avenue 200 feet deep) for $4000; James M. Chase offered his place next to the Universalist Church for $2500; Thomas J. Russell proposed a ninety-nine year lease of the lot corner of Massachusetts avenue and Water street. "The committee had considered the Adams lot (present site of Town Hall) and deemed it inadequate." This report is signed by John Jarvis, James M. Chase, David W. Horton, W. J. Lane, John Schouler. The committee chosen in 1852, however, chose the Adams lot, deemed inadequate, and having secured a release from the railroad of a triangular piece sufficient to square the lot, pur- 112 Town of Arlington chased of Samuel Adams for $4000 the land on which Town Hall stands. The plans presented by Melvin & Young, archi- tects of Boston, were approved; contract for building was let to Wheeler & Drake of that city. The total cost was $22,987.37, of which $970.09 was for furniture and fixtures, $360 for plans, $330 for services of the committee. Except the word "accepted" in the handwriting of the town clerk on the back of the report of the committee authorized to select a site and build a town hall, there is no record of formal acceptance of the building by the town. The warrant for the annual March meeting of 1853, however, "warned" citizens to assemble in Town Hall. That meeting accepted, with thanks, the gift of busts still adorning the walls, presented by Nathan Robbins, Joseph S. Potter, Daniel W. Horton, Joshua Dodge, Robert Schouler, Jesse Bucknam, George C. Russell, John Schouler. Later a gilded plow was added to adorn the walls, the gift of Mr. Schouler. The building committee received no thanks, so far as the record shows. Mrs. Almira T. Whittemore remembers that March 7, 1853, there were interesting exercises in connection with the transfer of Town Hall to the town from the building committee, but would not trust her memory as to the details of the program. On the evening of March 8, the event was celebrated with a grand ball which is still to her a pleasant memory. She distinctly recalls seeing on the occasion of the ball Squire Russell, the dignitary of the town, also a man of fine presence and with the deportment of an aristocrat, walk into the hall with his wife on one arm and on the other Miss Lucy Caroline Whittemore, the belle of the town and only daughter of Gershom Whittemore, another prominent citizen. Mrs. Russell wore a head dress of black lace which fell in voluminous folds over her shoulders, and the group, in the striking finery of those days, made a picture which still lingers in "memory dear." Mrs. Nathan Robbins (many years deceased) who was a granddaughter of Capt. John Parker who led the Minute-men at the Battle of Lexington, was also present and much interest centered on her appearance, as it was whis- pered that her handsome costume would be further enhanced by Past and Present 113 a superb diamond brooch surrounded by pearls. Such pieces of jewelry were not as numerous as they are now, and in the minds of the little community bespoke great possessions and an object to regard with admiration if not awe. The stairway originally was a direct flight from the main entrance to the hall. Messrs. Prescott & Proctor occupied the entire space below the hall for a dry goods emporium. Later the easterly half of this space was used for a post office in front and town offices in the rear of it, and about the same time the public library was assigned the northerly section. The front basement was used as a justice court for several years, cells having been previously built in the rear of this section. Since 1897 the entire street floor has been devoted to municipal uses, accommodating all the boards except School Committee, which now has rooms in High school building. In 1853 Luke Agur, who for a considerable term had served the town as undertaker, resigned his office, and John B. Hartwell was appointed. In 1868 he was succeeded by his son, J. Henry Hartwell, later his son, Charles H., was admitted to partnership and the business is still carried on by him under the old firm name. In 1853 the town bought two new fire engines of the Howard & Davis pattern, and two years later established a fire depart- ment, relieving the selectmen, who until this time had acted as fire wardens or engineers. Full details of this will be found in the special article devoted to the fire department, prepared by Mr. Warren A. Peirce. In 1854 The Arlington Gas Light Company was incorporated, establishing its plant off Mystic street. The following year the fire department became a separate organization by the town's acceptance of the legislative act, but the principal business of the town from 1854 to 1859 was con- tending with residents of the southerly section of the town (now Belmont) who were, demanding separation and incorporation as a township. The legacy of Dr. Wellington to the public library, and accep- tance of an act creating a fire department in Arlington, both 114 Town of Arlington events occurring in 1855, are treated under separate headings and more than a mention of the fact would be superfluous. About the year 1855, originating where and organized by whom it would be extremely difficult to state definitely, appeared in this section a branch of a political party which was really national in its scope, based on an intense native Americanism, and because of its peculiar campaign methods was designated the " Know- Nothing Party." It proved to be the entering wedge which disrupted one national party and caused the dis- integration of another, as the sequel proved. Few drawn into the movement from either great party ever returned to its alle- giance. When the votes were counted at the November election in Arlington, it was discovered that Henry J. Gardner, the "Sam" candidate for Governor in this state, headed the poll more than two to one for either of the other three candidates. July 26, 1856, Michael Kenney was given the right to travel across the "training field" to and from the ice houses at Spy Pond, he to pay fifteen dollars. At the same time the selectmen ordered the seizure of a pile of lumber dumped on this lot by Gage, Sawyer & Co., showing a disposition on the part of the selectmen to protect the town's property, even if it was not used for town purposes. The lumber was released on payment of damages by the ice company. In 1856 the town bought a tower clock to be placed in the steeple of the First Parish Church, "provided the Parish will take charge of the same and keep it in repair." This arrange- ment still continues, with the repair section eliminated. At a meeting of the selectmen, March 2, 1857 (the record says it was an all day meeting) bills for the building of a new bridge across Mystic River at River street were approved, and a vote taken in favor of the acceptance of River street by the town passed. CHAPTER IV 1857—1867 Population in 1855, 2,670. Population in 1860, 2,681. Population in 1865, 2,760. Representative districts formed. — • Arlington and Winchester constitute sixth Middlesex. — The first horse cars. — Large section of land surrendered to form town of Belmont. — Street lighting with gas. — • Russell Park accepted. — Flagstaff presented to town. — Civil War period. IT will doubtless be noted and commented on that during the ten years covering 1855-65, according to the figures given above, Arlington gained but ninety in population. The early part of this chapter deals with the creation of the town of Belmont by act of incorporation passed March 1, 1859. The United States census of 1860 gives the population of Belmont as 1198. A very large proportion of this population resided on territory that was formerly a part of Arlington. While by no stretch of imagination could the establishing of the "Great and General Court of Massachusetts" be construed to be any part of local history, it will be worth while to remind people that the town of which this territory was once a part was represented in the first General Court ever convened in this Com- monwealth, and that one of her first settlers, Capt. George Cooke, was a member of that august body. Under the charter of Charles I of England to John Endicott and others in 1628, "Governors, Assistants and all Freemen of the Colony," were to constitute a General Court for making laws and providing for enforcing the same. As this Court was com- posed of all the Freemen in the colony, and the officers were elected annually by a "show of hands," it was to all intents and purposes a town meeting presided over by a governor, or some other competent official. In the course of time the inevitable happened as plantations 115 116 Town of Arlington pushed out into the wilderness, — impossibility of all Freemen attending sessions of this General Court. In this dilemma the Freemen got together in their scattered communities and chose delegates from among themselves "with the power to do all things which they might do if personally present, except the right to elect officers of the Province or Colony." This first General Court of "representatives" assembled on the 14th day of May, 1634, the places sending representatives being Newtowne (now Cambridge), Watertown, Charlestown, Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester, Saugus ■ — this latter then including the territory embraced within the boundaries of Lynn and Salem. This in brief is the history of the General Court, and the plan then adopted was not materially changed until 1857, when the causes responsible for organizing a representative body (increase in population) made a modification of the original plan imperative. The "House," made up of a representative from every town and each city ward, had become unwieldy in size. The legislature of 1857 passed an amendment to the state constitution creating two hundred and forty representative dis- tricts, "equally as near as may be to their relative number of legal voters." May 1, 1857, this amendment was accepted. The make-up of the "districts" provided for was assigned to the county commissioners of the fourteen counties into which the state is divided. In making the districts for Middlesex County, the commis- sioners joined Winchester to Arlington to form the Sixth Middlesex District, and Moses Proctor of Arlington was the representative chosen for 1857. This union of Arlington and Winchester to form a "district" continued under numerals changed from time to time, until ten years ago, when the growth of the two towns gave a voting strength largely in excess of the required number. In the new apportionment of the county, which must occur every ten years, Lexington was joined with Arlington to form a "representative district." This arrangement proved eminently satisfactory, and in the apportionment of 1906, Lexington and Arlington were joined for another decade. Past and Present 117 Each board of county commissioners has evidently intended to arrange the districts to meet party obligations, and the district of which Arlington has been a part for just fifty years has always been strongly Republican. But on several occasions local con- ditions have disturbed the arrangement and Arlington Demo- crats instead of Republicans have represented the district; Jesse Bacon in 1869, Samuel D. Hicks in 1875. Horse Car Line to Boston. At no time from the date of running the first train over the "Lexington & West Cambridge Branch • Railroad," until by purchase of the stock and franchise of the road it passed to the control of the present management by special act of the legislature, were the proph- ecies of the projectors or the expectations of patrons regarding facilities it was to afford for accommodating the traveling public realized in any marked degree. The "Branch" terminated at the "Brick Yards" station in Cambridge (the old roadbed from Lake street to that point is still in use) where the local engine left the cars to be picked up by a train on the Fitchburg Rail- road to complete the trip to Boston. Delays were more than frequent on the main line; sometimes the branch train failed to make connection. The general dissatisfaction resulting from these inconveniences and annoyances led interested parties to look for means of relief. In 1856 the initial steps towards con- structing a horse railroad line to connect with one already in use between Cambridge and Boston, leased by the Union Horse Railroad Company, were taken. The plan presented was so generally approved by the citizens of Arlington, that not only was the right of way freely pledged to the men interested in securing the franchise, but a vote was passed in town meeting instructing the selectmen to assist the proposed corporation in obtaining a charter from the legislature. The charter of the West Cambridge Horse Railroad Company was granted May 28, 1857. It was nearly two years, however, 118 Town of Arlington before the line was in operation, the first trip being made in June, 1859. Those most active in pushing the enterprise to completion (forming the corporation, selling stock, etc.) were Messrs. Jesse P. Pattee, Hon. John Schouler, Benjamin Poland, and when the road was ready the two first named gentlemen leased it for a term of ten years. The tracks were laid from Mr. Pattee's bakery, whose ample barn furnished accommodations for the horses and storing of cars (people will now locate it best if it is spoken of as the site of old Menotomy Hall), on the extreme southerly line of Massachusetts avenue as far east as Pond lane. There the track crossed the avenue at a sharp angle to the extreme northerly line of the main thoroughfare and held this to the easterly boundary of the town — Alewife Brook. When this new branch road was projected, the rails of the Cambridge line terminated at the bridge at Porter's Station, the stables being located at this point By arrangement with the company operating the Cambridge lines, these tracks were extended westward to join the track of the West Cambridge Railroad Company, this section to be operated on a "pooling" plan satisfactory to both parties in interest. The fare to Cambridge was fixed at 10 cents; from Cambridge to Boston 10 cents; but the Arlington passenger could buy a ticket for 18 cents which was good for one passage to Boston. This rate obtained until the West End Company absorbed all the Cambridge and most of the Boston lines, when this local company also was included in the general transfer of rights and interests. Up to this time the cars ran once an hour, starting at 6 A.M. from Arlington, the last car leaving Boston at 11.05 P.M. In 1863, owing to the death of Mr. Pattee, the lease of the West Cambridge Railroad Company was transferred to George Y. Wellington and the railroad was operated by him until the transfer to the West End R. R. Company above alluded to. William H. Pattee was one of the earlier conductors on this road and is possibly the only one now living, serving the road under the local management. Under the management of the West End Company and its Past and Present 119 successor, the Boston Elevated, the rails were first transferred to the center of the avenue; then a double track was laid. Subse- quently the line was extended to Arlington Heights and elec- tricity introduced as a substitute for horsepower. Fares were cut from time to time also, until now a passenger can ride from Arlington Heights to the utmost limit of the metropolitan district for the single fare of five cents. In the intervening years the Boston & Northern has opened a line to Winchester and beyond, the Boston Elevated has double- tracked Broadway and also made a direct connection with Med- ford, the Lexington & Boston joins the Elevated at Arlington Heights, all conspiring to make Arlington what it has become in the past few years, a center for electric car travel. In 1858 a new and wider bridge was built over Alewife Brook by mutual agreement between Arlington selectmen and a com- mittee from Cambridge, that city to do the work and Arling- ton to meet its share of the expenses. The change materially improved the approach to Arlington from eastward. In this same year the legislature made a change in the laws regarding the sale of intoxicating liquors, requiring towns to appoint agents for the sale of liquors to be bought by the town, and at a meeting of the selectmen held May 31, Samuel Swan was appointed for one year. His successor in this office was Charles C. Sawyer. At this meeting the selectmen voted not to pay a surveyor's bill presented for approval, contracted by Jacob Hittinger for a survey of the lines of Concord turnpike. The next month Francis Gould was employed by the selectmen to make the survey. Mr. Hittinger was a prime mover in the securing of the incor- poration of the town of Belmont and this survey was, by natural inference, one of the preliminary steps. Though the official record does not so state, subsequent events show it to have been the case. A number of wealthy people from Boston had chosen that section south of Lake street as a place of residence, had built expensive mansions and laid out grounds that vied in extent and beauty with palatial estates in any section of the country. The large amount of wealth they represented would secure for 120 Town of Arlington them an exceptionally low rate of taxation if the plan to divide the town could be carried through. Here we perhaps have the strong motive of the leaders and promoters of a division scheme. At least it is the burden of arguments used in published docu- ments issued by the opposition. The proposed lines of the new town robbed both Watertown and Waltham of considerable sections of territory. Consequently these towns, as well as citizens of Arlington residing in the terri- tory north of Lake street, opposed the project. The result was battles royal for five years, in succeeding sessions of the Massachusetts legislature, that became famous, owing to the wealth, political influence, and social standing of the contestants. The pamphlets printed in connection with this controversy would make a sizable volume if gathered in book form, and other costs were correspondingly heavy. The select- men of Arlington approved one bill contracted in this matter amounting to $1020.25. Persistency won finally, and March 18, 1859, the bill incorpo- rating Belmont became a law and citizens of Arlington parted with a regret, which time has only partially diminished, with a broad and beautiful section of the old town. But all of rancor passed away years ago, and on many occa- sions, notably during the Civil War, the communities have been drawn closely together and the kindliest relations are still main- tained through fraternal organizations, the churches, and where there is a community of interest, as is the case with the low lands bordering on Alewife Brook which both towns hope to see ultimately, perhaps speedily, changed in character. For several years prior to the introduction of general street lighting, Arlington had followed the plan of providing for the lighting and care at places where citizens were willing to pay for erecting the lamp posts, and as a consequence the central portion or business section of the town was fairly well lighted, "except moonlight nights," at public expense prior to 1857. That year a general contract was made with Arlington Gas Light Company, whose plant has broadened with the growth of the town. Several years ago electricity was substituted for gas and Past and Present 121 now the cost of street lighting has become one of the four or five largest items in the annual tax levy. In 1860 appears the first record of attempt to secure sidewalks outside the immediate Center, Warren Rawson petitioning for a sidewalk on Broadway. The petition was laid on the table, but a few years later the town adopted a general plan which has resulted in building them on all streets. Soon after the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, a muster- ing-in rendezvous, known as "Camp Cameron," was established at North Cambridge. It embraced several acres, fronting on Massachusetts avenue where the North avenue car barns are now located and extending northward nearly to the line of Broadway in Somerville. Other and more conveniently located camps were opened in sections having better transportation facilities and this location was abandoned when these new camps were ready for use in 1862. The flagstaff was secured by a self-constituted committee and erected in the square at the junction of Pleasant street with Massachusetts avenue, where also was located the "town scales." At a town meeting held April 7, 1867, it was Voted, That the town accept the flagstaff standing on the corner of Main and Pleasant streets, and the flag donated by Benjamin Poland and others, and that the same shall be used on all proper occasions. Subsequently it was taken down and set up on Russell Park and still later an entirely new staff was erected there. The gilded ball surmounting the top-mast, while the staff was doing service at Camp Cameron, was secured by ex-Selectman James A. Bailey and it is now preserved among the war-time relics in G. A. R. Hall. The decade covered by this chapter still lives in the memories of the aged and those in middle life as a period of fear and dread, but out of which there came a promise for a glorious future for our country and the world in the final triumph of the Union cause which decade by decade they are seeing realized. Here would logically appear the story of Arlington's honorable part, sus- 122 Town of Arlington tained in excess of law's demands, in the years from 1861 to 1865. It has seemed better, however, to incorporate this story with the other quick and hearty responses of other generations when liberty has been in danger, or the life or honor of the nation has been in peril. This record and all material details for a narrative will be found in the section devoted to Arlington's military record. In 1866 the town voted to accept the lot of land bounded by Mystic and Chestnut streets and west of Russell school building, donated by the late Hon. James Russell, as a public park. In 1862 President Lincoln issued a call for the special observ- ance of Washington's Birthday, Feb. 22, 1862. The selectmen called a public meeting, and the program of the exercises on that occasion is copied in the town records, as follows: PRAYER. Rev. Daniel R. Cady, D.D. SINGING, America. Chorus. WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. Rev. William E. Gibbs. STAR SPANGLED BANNER. Chorus. ADDRESS. Hon. William E. Parmenter. CLOSING HYMN. Doxology. Washington J. Lane, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, presided, and read Lincoln's proclamation. It was intended that Rev. S. B. Swaim should read the Constitution, and Rev. Samuel A. Smith the "Bill of Rights," but want of time prevented. The music was under the direction of Mr. James F. Clark. The hall was crowded. A true record, ABEL R. PROCTOR Secretary. CHAPTER V 1867 — 1877 Population in 1865, 2,760. Population in 1870, 3,261. Population in 1875, 3,906. The town renamed, and celebration of event. — The "training field" sold. — Tornado of 1871. — Adopting town seal. — Arlington "Water Works heir to Arlington Lake Water Company. — Water Works inaugurated in 1872. — Bank Block erected. — ■ Grading of Massachusetts avenue stopped by injunction. — Arlington favors a "Metropolitan District." — First newspaper enterprise. — Celebrating centennial of Battle of Lex- ington, and the aftermath. — Swan's Block built. — The "P. L. L." movement. — Reynolds's reform crusade and what came of it. — Cam- bridge fails to secure a slice of Arlington territory. — Movement for a Metropolitan District. — Change in method of street building. THE record of events during this decade in the life of the town properly opens with what transpired when the name of West Cambridge was dropped and old Menotomy was again rechristened, this time as Arlington. .- -S I Dissatisfaction at being considered by the great bulk of people not familiar with the facts as merely a village of Cambridge, not a town, had for a considerable time existed and been often expressed by certain old residents. Then again the somewhat rapid increase in new comers of influence in town affairs at that time proved a strong factor. They had no interest in main- taining the name, and naturally had little sympathy with the utterance of Rev. Samuel Smith, who closed his historical address detailing events of April 19, 1775 (April 19, 1864), as follows: I hope the name of the town will never be changed. It would be like giving up our birthright. As the Second Precinct of Cambridge we hold an honorable place in history; who would alienate that inheritance? Other names may be more eupho- nious, but as soon should the man give up his surname, conse- 123 124 Town of Arlington crated by good acts, and glorified by the patriotism of pious and brave ancestors, as we give up that good old name of Cambridge, with which our village was baptized in blood on the nineteenth of April. Had Mr. Smith lived, the result of the move to change the VIEW OF ARLINGTON CENTER IN 1867 Looking westward from steeple of the First Parish Church name might have been different, for he was a wise and powerful leader of men. But it was easy to show that it was as "Meno- tomy, " and not as West Cambridge, this town won fame at the hands of "pious and brave ancestors" (no record of revolu- tionary events speaks of this territory as the Second Precinct .of Cambridge); the men favoring the change were influential, resourceful. Being in this as in all other things tremendously in earnest, the victory over opposition was signal. At the town meeting held April 1, 1867, a committee was chosen to select from a number proposed by different parties a new name for the town. That committee consisted of Joseph S. Past and Present 125 Potter, William Stowe, George Hill, Warren Rawson, Henry Mott, Addison Gage, Albert Winn, Samuel Butterfield, Moses Hunt.* These men were prominent in local affairs at the time, but all are now dead, the last survivor being Hon. Joseph S. Potter, the prime mover in the scheme and the force in the legis- VIEW OF ARLINGTON CENTER IN 1867 Looking eastward from steeple of First Parish Church lature which secured such prompt action in the enactment of the following bill: Chapter 146 An Act to change the name of the Town of West Cambridge. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled and by authority of the same as follows : — Section 1. The town of West Cambridge in the County of Middlesex shall take the name of Arlington. Section 2. This Act shall take effect from and after the thirtieth day of April, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven. Approved April 13, 1867. * The committee engaged George Y. Wellington as secretary, living and has the old record book in his possession. He is 126 Town of Arlington ce £ Q. p Past and Present 127 May 27, 1867, in executive session, the Selectmen of Arlington voted That Arlington Brass Band be given the free use of Town Hall, two evenings each week, to prepare for the coming cele- bration of change of name. Here we have the first official notice of an important event in the history of the town, — a grand and formal celebration of the change in name from West Cambridge to Arlington. The leg- islature of that year by the "Act" already printed here, had granted the petition of citizens. On May Day the gratification of its citizens found expression in firing a salute of one hundred guns, ringing church bells, a general display of the national colors, a mass meeting in Town Hall in the evening. At this gathering addresses were made by prominent citizens, and a committee chosen to arrange for a "grand formal celebration of the event on the following Bunker Hill Day, June 17th." For nearly twenty-five years there has been in the possession of the writer a copy of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper of the date July 6, 1867, containing an illustrated report of the events connected with the celebration of this change in name, awaiting a fitting occasion for use. Feeling this to be preeminently the time, the entire report, with illustrations reproduced diminished in size to meet the demands of the book page, is here given. THE CELEBRATION IN ARLINGTON, MASS. The joint celebration of the Bunker Hill battle, and the change of the old town of West Cambridge to the new of Arlington, on June 17th, was as complete and successful as the extensive arrangements that had previously been made promised. The novelty of the celebration, the trades' procession, the children's entertainments, and the first-class regatta, added much to the pleasure of those who had a share in it. Very early in the morn- ing — without regard to the threatening clouds that hung over the new town, but happily partially broke away as day advanced — the townspeople began their preparations for the day's enjoy- ment, and put upon the town its holiday rig. From the distant sections of Arlington, and from Belmont, Cambridge, Lexington, Medford, Somerville, and, in fact, from all the towns within a 128 Town of Arlington circuit of a dozen miles, came crowds of people in carriages of every description and character, in wagons, horse and steam cars, and on foot, during the early hours of the forenoon, and by nine o'clock, the time appointed for the exercises of the cele- bration to begin, Arlington was crowded, and yet was in the best of spirits, and offered welcome and hospitality without stint to its guests. To participate in the joys of the occasion, J. S. Potter, Esq., RECEPTION OF GOV. BULLOCK AND ESCORT AT TOWN LINE OF ARLINGTON, JUNE 17, 1867 the chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, under their order, invited quite an array of distinguished gentlemen, includ- ing the Governors of Massachusetts and other New England States, executive officers, and two or three Members of Congress. A greater portion of these signified their intention of being present, and to meet them a small procession went to the Cambridge line soon after nine o'clock. This procession was headed by a caval- cade, and embraced the Selectmen of Arlington and the Committee of Arrangements. Past and Present 129 The invited guests came in barouches, and made quite a respectable procession of themselves. Among them were His Excellency the Governor of Massachusetts, with the members of his staff; Lieutenant-Governor Claflin; Honorable Jacob Loud, Treasurer of the State; Honorable Messrs. Dana, Evans, Rice, Talbot, Brayton and Goodspeed, of the Executive Council; President Pond, of the Senate; Honorable Joseph White, of the Board of Education; Honorable Charles Sumner, Honorable Alexander H. Rice, Honorable George B. Loring, Ex-Governor Hawley, Henry Clay Trumbull of Connecticut; General Burrill and staff; General Gordon and Commodore Rogers, of the Charles- town Navy Yard; and a delegation from the artistic and editorial staff of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. Their arrival was announced by a salute. After a little delay the procession of reception re-formed, and, with the Lancers and guests, marched back to town. The entrance to Arlington from the Cambridge line, was made under a triumphal arch, which bore, upon the Cambridge side, the quotation : " Two centuries, with their snows, have bent The ancient guardians of the land And their broad branches have o'erspanned A nation that came and a race that went." and the words in the center, within a shield, "Arlington, 1867." Also, upon the Arlington side, simply, "West Cambridge, 1807." At the point from which the procession of reception first started, the different sections that were to form the grand procession were met and admitted into line, and then the body, as the grand pro- cession took up the line of march, under the chief-marshalship of Addison Gage, Esq., over the route as laid down in the programme for the day. The procession first marched up the old Lexington road to the junction with Appleton street; then countermarched and returned to Pleasant street, through that street to Lake, around Arlington Lake — once Spy Pond — to Arlington avenue, and up the avenue to the tent on the Common, where it was broken up. On the line of march there was a most liberal display of flags and mottoes. The procession, moving up the Lexington road, passed a modest, old-fashioned, hospitable-looking country- house, before which was an evergreen-trimmed sign, announcing that "On the 19th of April, 1775, Jason Russell and eleven others were killed in this house by British troops." The house is now 130 Town of Arlington occupied by Mr. Russell Teele. At the junction with Apple- ton street, where the procession countermarched, was another triumphal arch, upon the western side of which was this couplet, from Emerson's "Concord Bridge ": "Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard round the world." And on the other, "Menotomy- — 1775." Coming back, upon the Town Hall building, was the inscription: "In front of this spot, on the morning of the 19th of April, 1775, a convoy of pror visions and supplies was captured from the British troops — the first capture made in the war of the Revolution by the Americans." Along the route a number of private residences were exten- sively decorated with bunting, and flags hung across the street in many cases. The flagstaff in the square was also ornamented with a scroll, bearing the words, "Arlington, May 1, 1867." The dinner was served in a mammoth pavilion, erected on the spacious grounds of J. R. Bayley, Esq., on Pleasant street. Plates were set for eight hundred persons by Mr. J. B. Smith, the Boston caterer, who proved himself equal to the exigencies of the occa- sion. The tent was elegantly adorned with flags, streamers, and evergreens. On two of the standards supporting it were placed shields bearing the arms of the United States and Massachusetts, On two other standards were shields bearing the inscriptions: "Menotomy, 1776," and "West Cambridge, 1807." On a banner opposite the guests' table were the mailed hand and sword of the state arms, and the motto: "Massachusetts. Manus hsec inimica tyrannis. Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem." Near by was a banner with this inscription: "New England. And as the ice that leaves our crystal mine Chills the fierce alcohol in the Creole's wine, So may the doctrines of our sober school Keep the hot theories of our neighbors cool." — Holmes. Over the guests' table was a shield bearing the inscription, "Arlington, 1867." At a quarter to three o'clock His Excellency, Governor Bullock, and other invited guests arrived. Accompanying the governor, in addition to the prominent guests already mentioned, were Brevet Major-General John G. Foster, Major-General N. P. Banks, Ex-Adjutant-General Schouler, Brevet Brigadier-General Osborne, Past and Present 131 R. H. Dana, Jr., Esq., and other gentlemen of military and civic distinction. At the banquet, speeches were made by the governor of Massachusetts, General Banks, Hon. Charles Sumner, R. H. Dana, Jr., and others, and then the company adjourned to a regatta upon the lake, and thus ended a day of festivities to cele- brate the new christening of the town of Arlington. The citizens well maintained their reputation for hospitality by keeping open houses and abundant supplies for the entertainment of citizens of other towns. Many students of Harvard, glad of an opportunity to contribute toward the christening, warmly express their thanks to its citizens for the liberal reception at their hands; to Messrs. Harris, Hopkins, and Peck, of the regatta committee, for their full and thorough arrangements, and par- ticularly to Mr. Addison Gage, for the sumptuous and elegant manner in which they were entertained at his house. The ceremonies throughout the day were marked by good taste and decorum, and the whole affair was as enjoyable as it was unique. The local police were aided in the preservation of order by Sergeant Foster and a detachment of police 'from Boston, who returned to the city loaded with honors and bouquets. Selectmen petition the legislature for authority to sell "either by auction or at private sale, the plot of land known as the 'training field,' reserving only a strip on the southeasterly line sufficient for a street." This street was subsequently named "Linwood." April 15, 1867, John T. Trowbridge "gives to the town a strip of land 16 feet wide along the northerly line of his homestead lot, provided the town accept Spring Valley as a town way and secure land for turning teams at the Spy Pond- end of the lane." August 28, 1871, Arlington was for a second time visited by a tornado, less destructive than that of August, 1851, already described with considerable of detail, but a serious affair, espe- cially to two of the churches. The following is the story of that disaster as told in the columns of the issue of Woburn Journal, dated Sept. 2, 1871: The gale which prevailed Sunday night was quite severe. The wind was especially furious in Arlington. The windows of the 132 Town of Arlington residence of Judge William E. Parmenter, on Russell street, were blown in. The rear part of the house of Thomas J. Russell on Main street, was damaged by a large elm tree blown against it. Much damage was done on "High," Grove and Mill streets. Individual losses are not great, but the aggregate is large. The spire of the Orthodox Congregational Church on Pleasant street was blown down. It was about one hundred and thirty feet high. The gust was so sudden and severe that the spire was 'Wf r *"'' fcjjL^^jJ. nJ - ■ ■Hi W*mMS^M^'^~~ ---#! mm,-) ./, • .. MW t|. i t j m 1 ' . ? *•■&*£» EFFECTS OF TORNADO OF AUGUST, 1871, ON THE ORTHODOX CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH turned end for end. The vane and upper part were shattered as they touched the ground, but the timbers were so strong above the bell deck that they did not break, and amid the wreck the bell was bottom side up twenty feet from the ground. The church stands back from the street and none of the neighboring dwellings were reached by the falling spire. The tower of the Unitarian Church at the corner of Main and Pleasant streets, was a beautiful structure one hundred and eighty feet high. It was blown over from level with the ridge- pole of the church. When it fell towards the northeast, the Past and Present 133 neighbors thought some build- ing had been demolished by lightning. The town clock which was in the tower, was thrown down beneath the wreck. Both churches are not injured except in their towers. The spires will be at once rebuilt. The other two churches of the town were not within the range of the tornado. It was twenty years on Tuesday last, the 22d ult., since Arlington, then West RUINED T0WER 0F FIRST PARISH CHURCH Ci • l ■• J _ii August, I 87 1 ambndge, was visited by a destructive tornado which passed through the town about a hundred rods to the east of the path of that of Sunday evening. The foregoing is supplemented with the following from the columns of Arlington Advocate of January, 1897: [Correspondence .] Greenwich, Conn., Jan. 21, 1897. Editor Advocate : Your souvenir number recently came to hand and attracted special attention for the excellence of its composition and illus- trations. It represents quite a complete history of Arlington for twenty-five years, and has been laid away among my val- uable pamphlets. I was particularly interested in your description of the town as you saw it in the summer of 1871, when your mission was to "spy out the land." My first knowledge of the town was obtained that same summer, and as your chronological events begin in 1872, I cannot refrain from alluding to the tornado of August 28, 1871, which will be recalled by many of your readers. Throughout the day a stiff breeze blew from the southwest, which considerably increased at sunset, when the heavens were covered with black, heavy-looking clouds. At 10.50 the wind had increased to a terrible gale. Houses rocked upon their foundations and window-blinds and skylights were wrenched off and hurled into the streets. Immense elm trees were uprooted or 134 Town of Arlington their branches twisted off by the fury of the storm.* The dark- ness was impenetrable and the rain fell in torrents. The rat- tling of falling chimneys and the snapping of limbs from the trees could be heard in all directions. At precisely eleven, as the clock in the Unitarian Church steeple began to strike the hour, the storm doubled its fury. I had crawled to an open window and with my hands tight upon the casement, I listened to the wild clanging of the church bells. The rhythmical strokes of the clock ceased and gave place to an irregular, uncertain stroke that told me that the church spires were swaying in the tornado. Then came a lull as they hung in midair, followed by a terrific crash, and both spires lay a mass of rubbish in the street. It is a curious circumstance that Dr. Adams, of Boston, who preached in the Orthodox church the day before the cyclone, described in his sermon at considerable length a typhoon and its disastrous results. Frederick A. Hubbard. Prior to 1871 several efforts had been made by parties inter- esting themselves, to secure the adoption of a town seal, but without result. At the meet- ing of March 6, 1871, the selectmen and town clerk were constituted a committee to procure a town seal, and the accompanying cut shows the result of their labors. Through the vista of the two immense elms which at that date marked the gateway of the town, is seen Bunker Hill Monument and it is sur- mounted by a plow, symbol of Arlington's chief industry — garden farming. The lettering on the seal is plainly discernible without repetition. * One of these trees was the noble elm which for two centuries sheltered the Adams homestead. Its exact site is marked by the elm tree at the depot park east of Town Hall, procured and planted there by Messrs. Joseph S. Potter and J. Winslow Peirce immediately after the ruins of the old tree had been removed. — [Ed. TOWN SEAL Past and Present 135 Arlington's second water company was started by wealthy residents along the line of Pleasant street, to supply their new and full plumbed dwellings with required water by an easier method than pumping the same into tanks, who secured the enactment of the following: Acts of 1855, Chapter 13. An Act to incorporate the Spy Pond Water Company. Section 1. John Schouler, Edward Chapman, Abel G. Peck, their asso- ciates and successors, are hereby made a corporation by the name of the Spy Pond Water Company, in West Cambridge, for the purpose of furnishing the inhabitants of said town an abundant supply of soft water, by raising the water of Spy Pond by steam power into a reservoir and conducting the same by pipes to the residences of the inhabitants in said town and for this purpose they shall have all the powers and privileges, and be subject to all the duties and liabilities and restrictions set forth in the forty-fourth chapter of the Revised Statutes. Section 2. The capital stock of said corporation shall not exceed $50,000 and the same may be invested and held in such real and personal estate as shall be necessary and convenient for carrying on the business of the said corporation; and no shares in the capital stock of. the said company shall be issued for a less sum or amount to be actually paid in on each, than the par value of the shares which shall be first issued. Approved by Governor, Feb. 7, 1855. The plan was to pump water into a standpipe erected on the high land on the westerly side of Pleasant street, but the company acquired no land or other privileges under the act. In 1867 this company, by act of the legislature, changed its name to Arlington Lake Water Company, and the act authorized "completion of organization wherever the same may be now defective," etc. See Chapter 40, Acts 1867. Chapter 245, Acts of 1871, empowered this company to take waters of Sucker Brook and its tributaries, etc., and to sell its rights to the town of Arlington under specified conditions of Chapter 93, Acts of 1870. At a town meeting held Aug. 16, 1871, ninety-six to thirteen, citizens voted to accept the offer of Arlington Lake Water Com- pany to sell all rights, without any conditions annexed, for $388. The motion also included an appropriation of $120,000 to build a reservoir, lay water pipes, etc., and provided for the issue 1 of water bonds. 136 Town of Arlington The sequel of these preliminary steps, extending from 1855 to 1872, was the establishment of public water works in the latter year. The town records contain reports of numerous meetings prior to that of Aug. 16, 1871, when the vote to purchase rights of Arlington Lake Water Company was passed. They show by inference that the taking of the waters of "Sucker Brook" was vigorously opposed by some of the wealthier citizens, also that other sources of supply were suggested. The reservoir created by building a dam to retain the waters of the brook had a storage capacity of 77,000,000 gallons and the normal flow of the stream was 720 gallons per minute. A fatal mistake was made in not removing the soil at the bottom of the inclosed space before the gates were closed and the reservoir filled. When the water was let on it flowed into twelve miles of main pipe, the largest being twelve inches in diameter. During construction complications requiring legislative action occurred; soon after the system was inaugurated suits for dam- ages were instituted, so that in 1878 the sum total of water bonds issued amounted to $300,000. This great increase in cost over estimates presented by original promoters was less an occasion of dissatisfaction than the quality of the water furnished and a scarcity in the dry season when naturally the larger quantity was desired. Again, none of the elevated residential sections could be supplied, as this system relied on gravity for distribution. To meet the first objection, all sorts of devices of filtration and elimination were triedj with but temporary relief. To meet the demands of residents on high land, May 28, 1894, the town voted to establish a high service plant and authorized the issue of bonds to the amount of $92,000 to build standpipe, furnish pumps, etc. The water to supply these pumps was obtained from driven wells in the territory opposite the railroad station at East Lexington. The standpipe was erected at the apex of Arlington Heights. In this enterprise the town was again unfortunate, the water developing an undesirable quantity of iron, and Nov. 2, 1898, the town voted to abandon its local water works and become a part Past and Present 137 of the Metropolitan system. The application was granted by the Commissioners, Jan. 31, 1899. In 1873 Arlington Five Cent Savings Bank purchased the land and buildings on the corner of Pleasant street, and there erected the brick block which is the business place of the three banks — First National, Savings Bank, Arlington Cooperative. In 1874 the building was ready for occupancy. Up to this time the center railroad station, then located east of Town Hall, had furnished its place of business, its officers sharing with the local coal dealer (J. Winslow Peirce, who was also station agent) the single room the depot afforded. Under these conditions it is not strange that the depot became a social and political center, where the visitor was likely to meet citizens interested in town affairs at almost any time during the day and was sure to find a number present each evening. Bethel Lodge No. 12, 1. 0. 0. F., leased the entire third story and fitted it for lodge uses, vacating Menotomy Hall which had been headquarters since being reinstated in 1866. More details regarding this lodge will be found in the section devoted to societies. In 1873 the selectmen commenced operations on a plan to widen, straighten and change the grade of Massachusetts avenue, laid out originally from Alewife Brook to Water street "six rods wide," but which had been encroached upon by abutters almost its entire length. No "grade" had ever been established and from Lake street to the center railroad crossing there were a suc- cession of knolls of considerable size which made surface draining impossible. The highest of these "humps" was in front of the Arlington House, from which the ground fell off nearly to the level of the cellar under Swan's Block and then rose abruptly to the grade of the steam railroad. The work at this point had progressed to the extent of lowering the grade from the junction at Broadway to Medford street, when an injunction from the Superior Court, procured by Nathan Robbins and others, stopped operations. Twenty years later, and at an expense of thousands of dollars more than it would originally have cost, Massachusetts avenue 138 Town of Arlington was relocated by the County Commissioners on practically the line proposed in 1873, and rebuilt on the grade then fixed. So ample vindication of the wisdom of the moving spirit in 1873 became a matter of record. The corner of the fence in front of the Robbins mansion at that time was outside the line of the granite curb of the sidewalk at Robbins Library. March 2, 1874, by a vote of 240 to 2 Arlington voted in favor of a scheme then under discussion in the legislature to annex Arlington, Cambridge and Somerville to Boston to form a Metro- politan District. At the adjourned session of this annual meeting the selectmen were requested to petition the legislature in favor of the measure. This was Hon. Joseph S. Potter's plan for a "Greater Boston" which has been several times revived and is not yet given up by earnest advocates. In November, 1874, the proprietorship of Arlington Advocate (established in 1872 as a supplement to John L. Parker's Woburn Journal) passed into the hands of the people now controlling it, was enlarged to its present form, and has since then been a mirror of local affairs. In assuming control the editor said: In a town like ours there is no room for a party or class or society organ, but there is, we believe, a fine field for a newspaper conducted properly, and it is our purpose to make this a strictly local newspaper; one which will foster and aid any and all enter- prises looking to the welfare of the town and also to report impar- tially all public discussions of the questions which in the past have, and without doubt in the future will, divide equally honest men in regard to the administration of our town affairs. On these lines, with the broadening scope the growth of the town warrants, the Advocate is still continued and in its columns the weekly history of the town is mirrored. At the annual March meeting in 1875, under an article " to see what action the town will take in regard to celebrating the events of April 19, 1775," a committee was chosen to investigate and report to the adjourned meeting. At this session the committee, through its chairman, made the following report: Your committee appointed at the annual town meeting of the 1st inst., to take into consideration the subject matter of Articles Past and Present 139 11 and 17 of the Warrant, in regard to the centennial celebration of the 19th of April, 1775, have attended to that duty and make the following report: Your committee are of the opinion that as the Battle of Con- cord and Lexington, so called, was a continuous one through the precincts of our own town, and in which this town did an impor- tant service, through its Minute-men and reserves, as on the highway in front of our own town house was made the first cap- ture of provisions and stores, and also prisoners, in the American Revolution, and as in this town more men were killed by the British soldiers than in either Lexington or Concord, and as here the first gun was fired that resulted in the independence of this country, we feel that it is incumbent upon the town, out of respect to those who one hundred years ago staked their all for freedom, to take some action in commemoration of deeds done upon this day; and to that end your committee recommend that the 19th of April next be celebrated by the inhabitants of the town as a general holiday; that business be suspended, the schools closed, the selectmen be instructed to have the bells rung for thirty minutes at sunrise, noon, and at sunset, that a salute of fifty guns be fired from some central location at the same time, that the flag be raised and that all places of historical note connected with the events of that day be properly designated. And we would recommend to the citizens generally to decorate their buildings. As the towns of Concord and Lexington have kindly invited the citizens of our town to join them in celebrating the centennial, we would recommend that the town clerk tender the thanks of the town of Arlington for this courtesy; and in case the citizens of this town desire to attend either of the celebrations at Concord or Lexington, or both of them, in an organized body, we recom- mend that a banner and a band of music be furnished for the organization at the expense of the town. We recommend that a committee of three be appointed by the town to represent this town at the celebration at Lexington, in accordance with the invitation sent from that town, as special guests. And as the town of Concord has invited the selectmen, town clerk, and treasurer, with the clergy of the town as its special guests on that occasion to represent the town- at that place, we would recommend that this invitation be accepted. If the town adopts the recommendations of this committee, we would recommend that the selectmen be instructed to petition 140 Town of Arlington the legislature for authority to raise a sum not exceeding [blank] dollars to pay for the same, to be included in the appropriations of the present year. John Schotjler, George Y. Wellington, Charles H. Crane. Voted, That the report of the committee be accepted and adopted. Voted, That the amount to be asked for be two thousand dollars, and that the selectmen be instructed to petition the legislature for authority to raise said sum and to include it in the appropria- tion for the present year. Voted, That the committee appointed to make a report consti- tute a committee to take the whole matter of a celebration of the 19th of April next in charge, with the following additions to said committee: George E. Richardson James A. Bailey- Warren Rawson Charles C. Sawyer Alfred Hobbs George W. Lane George Hill Albert Winn George C. Russell Michael Waugh James Durgin J. Winslow Peirce Francis F. B. Kearn William Stowe Nathan Robbins Nathaniel C. Nash Joseph S. Potter James Gibson Ira O. Carter Matthew Rowe William H. Pattee Samuel D. Hicks John H. Hardy Samuel G. Damon Henry J. Wells John Osborn Cyrus Cutter Richard L. Hodgdon John Field Thomas R. Teel Frank M. Upham Benjamin Poland Horace H. Homer Martin O'Grady Patrick J. Shean At the special town meeting held April 9, 1875, under the special act of the legislature, two thousand dollars was appropriated in due form, according to the wording of the vote already printed above. This action on the part of Arlington citizens well illustrates the unselfish and truly patriotic character of our people*. There was in reality a surplus of historic events transpiring within the borders of Arlington on that eventful day, any one or several of which would be ample warrant for a local celebration, but they realized that Lexington Green was the birthplace of this Repub- lic, and its officials for themselves and the citizens on their behalf accepted the invitation of Lexington to contribute to the success Past and Present 141 of the celebration there, the selectmen and others as special guests, and the citizens by arranging for an addition to the civic and military parade that was worthy the day and the occasion. The report of this committee is not a matter of record, but from the columns of Arlington Advocate ample data are obtainable how the money was spent. An appropriate arch spanned the entrance to the town at the historic old elms, bearing the inscription: "Two centuries with their snows have bent the ancient guard- ians of the land; and their broad branches have o'erspanned a nation that came and a race that went." The town was profusely decorated, at an expense of hundreds of dollars, to greet the thousands thronging the streets on that bright, clear, cold April day, and all places of historic interest were marked with conspicuous signs, many of them reproduced in permanent form on the stone monuments which were erected a few years later and placed where hundreds of thousands have read them in these intervening years. These were prepared by a special committee consisting of Dr. Richard L. Hodgdon, Hon. William E. Parmenter, Samuel G. Damon. In addition to these permanent monuments, there were large signs painted and fastened conspicuously on historic sites as follows : On the Whittemore House, nearly opposite Whittemore street, " In this house lived Solomon Bowman, Lieutenant of the Minute-men April 19, 1775." Near the Center railroad station : " Site of the old Adams house, used as a hospital for the British wounded, April 19, 1775." On the reverse of the monument in front of First Parish Church: " On the 19th of April, 1775, more were killed on both sides, within our limits, than in any other town; at least twenty-two Americans, and probably more than twice that number of British, fell in this town." On the James M. Chase house next Universalist Church, in 1775 occupied by Stephen Cutter, the banner read: " This house was entered, plundered, and set on fire by the British, April 19, 1775." 142 Town of Arlington The Henry Locke house stands on the site, and the rear por- tion 01 the dwelling is a part of the Deacon Joseph Adams house. The legend on it said: " Site of Deacon Joseph Adams' house, from which the British took the church communion service, which was afterwards recovered by purchase and is now used by the Unitarian Society." The old Russell store corner of Water street had a sign reading: " This store was plundered by the British on their retreat." The Abel Locke house bore its appropriate story: " In this house the inmates were engaged in running bullets, when the British passed through on the night of April 18, 1775." The procession formed on Massachusetts avenue early in the morning, and marched in the following order: Chief Marshal. Benjamin Poland ^4. ids to Chief. Warren W. Rawson S. Fred Hicks Augustus Osborne Arthur W. Peirce American Brass Band. Assistant Marshals. James Durgin Warren Rawson Cyrus H. Cutter Charles C. Sawyer James M. Chase Thomas Kenney Standard Bearer. George H. Hutchinson Chaplain. Rev. William F. Potter, of Wakefield Cavalcade, uniformed, numbering two hundred. Three barouches containing venerable citizens — Abel Peirce, Cyrus Cutter, James A. E. Bailey, Timothy Eaton, Capt. Edward Russell, Stephen Wright, Abbott Allen, James Peabody, Albert Winn. Representatives of Hiram Lodge F. and A. M. Representatives of Menotomy Royal Arch Chapter. Representatives of Bethel Lodge No. 12, I. O. O. F. Representatives of Temperance Society. Representatives of Menotomy Council, Soc. of Ind. Past and Present 143 The procession proceeded to East Lexington, and there stood at attention while President Grant and his escort rode by, greet- ing the hero of Appomattox with hearty cheers. Resuming the march the line literally pushed its way to the vicinity of Town Hall, and there came to a permanent halt. Finding it impossible to make progress as an organization, Chief Marshal Poland dis- missed the parade, and as rapidly as possible and by force and persuasion, most of those holding tickets for the banquet pro- vided, reached the tent. This was in charge of Mr. William H. Pattee, who had contracted to cater for the party, and it was pitched on the green in front of the railroad station in Lexington. It had been planned to make this a grand feature of the day, with speeches, music, and usual accompaniments of a banquet, but the speeches were doubtless frozen in the throats of those who had prepared themselves for the occasion, for the tempera- ture had fallen below freezing, and ticket holders hurried through the meal. But if the weather was cold and the food also, they got hot enough not very long afterwards in frantic endeavors to make their way homeward through a crowd of vehicles, organ- izations, sight-seers, peddlers, and fakirs, making the center of Lexington an almost solid mass of humanity, a hundred thousand people pouring into that town on that day. How Arlington officials and paraders reached home is a matter of personal record with each individual or small squad. It is presumable that many, like the writer and his group of guests, walked home, as the street was full of people. In closing his report of the day's doings the editor of the Advocate says: It was the intention of the celebration committee to have had photographs taken of the principal decorations, but the high winds of Tuesday [the celebration was on Monday] necessi- tated the removal of all loose display. Those not taken down carefully by hand were removed without care by the fierce gale which prevailed during the day. There was a pleasant aftermath connected with this centennial celebration that should not be overlooked. J. B. Smith was the caterer for the town of Lexington, and a company of Arlington 144 Town of Arlington young ladies volunteered to join with others in waiting on the tables. Owing to lack of railroad facilities on that day — worse than anything before and happily since — they were unable to reach Lexington. As a mark of appreciation of their courtesy, the next week Mr. Smith gave them a grand banquet, the late Samuel D. Hicks opening his spacious home on Pleasant street for the purpose and personally aiding in making this one of the most pleasing and enjoyable social events of the season. In 1876 the recent change wrought in the general appearance of Arlington Center was still further improved by the removal of the old Swan homestead and erecting on a portion of the lot the westerly half of Swan's Block by Henry and Harrison Swan, owners of the property. Two years later another and larger section was added, the upper part of this being finished off as a public hall. For some reason it was never popular, and within a short time was leased to the trustees of Robbins Library that here found most convenient quarters, and it was used for library purposes and also as a reading room until the library was removed to the new building of which Arlington is so justly proud. It is singular as well as remarkable that each and every political upheaval in the country, from colonial days until the very near present, has been foreshadowed or plainly indicated by the ver- dict rendered at the polls by voters of Arlington. Several of these drastic and dramatic overturns have been already alluded to. Another occurred in 1874, when the "P. L. L." (Personal Liberty League) combination of members of all parties to secure repeal of prohibition and substitute license, culminated in the election of William Gaston as governor and a legislature pledged to the repeal of the prohibitory law, passed many years previ- ously. The prohibitory law was promptly repealed by the incoming legislature and a license law enacted. Under the pro- visions of this law s the licensing authority reposed entirely with the selectmen of towns, and there remained for several years. Arlington's selectmen issued licenses to Charles L. Steinkrauss, Charles S. Jacobs, George Russell, M. A. Richardson & Co., Thomas E. Rowe, Mrs. Terrance Owens, Mrs. Margaret Mahoney, Mrs. Eliza Nickola. Deferring to the vote of the town, no licenses Past and Present 145 were issued in 1876, but the next year licenses were issued to the entire list of the previous year. What naturally and inevitably followed this change in the methods of dealing with the liquor traffic (it was practically a removal of all restraint) brought about a reactionary wave of public sentiment, aroused and led by men of whom Dr. Henry A. Reynolds was a representative. This enthusiastic reformer, with his motto "Dare to do Right," came to Arlington on invita- tion of Rev. Dr. Daniel R. Cady and Rev. Charles H. Spalding, and held meetings in Town Hall March 27 and 28, 1876, the result being the formation of Reynolds Red Ribbon Reform Club, with one hundred thirty-five members, and the organization of the Women's Christian Temperance Union two weeks later. The Reform Club went out of existence with the abandoning of its club rooms after the men it had reached had made for them- selves homes more attractive than it was possible to make the meeting place. It then seemed unwise to those sustaining it financially and giving to the work the moral support of their social standing, to continue the expense when so small measure of help was called for. This point in the history of Reynolds Red Ribbon Reform Club was not obtained for several years, however. It was only after a long period of education that present conditions were reached. The licensing power remained in the hands of the selectmen of towns for several years, with no appreciable gain in the pro- fessed object of regulation, lack of means and inclination among citizens making negative the improvement hoped for when a board was chosen that refused to grant licenses, in spite of enforcement committees and other means used. In 1881 "local option" was adopted by the legislature, this law giving each town and city the right to determine by its votes at the annual election of officers whether or no liquor licenses should be granted. The town's action under this law, at the" meeting, March 7, 1881, was as follows: Resolved, That at the adjourned town meeting a vote be taken by ballot, yes or no, on the "Local Option Law," so 146 Town of Arlington called; and that the selectmen be requested to give public notice of the same, and to provide ballots, and that the moderator be requested to appoint a committee of three to supervise the check list. March 17. Voted to proceed to ballot. Result: yes, 93; no, 31. Then followed a few years of "yes" one year and "no" the next, until, in 1888, Hon. John Q. A. Brackett, then lieutenant- governor of the state and recently become a citizen of Arlington, accepted an invitation from the Women's Christian Temperance "Union to preside at the annual No-License meeting in Town Hall. A large and influential class in town had for all the years since a license law was substituted for the prohibitory policy of former years, voted "yes" because they were neither prohibitionists nor total abstainers. To that class Governor Brackett devoted himself in his brief opening address, as follows: This gathering, and those of a like character which have preceded and which are to follow it, while having one general purpose in view, have also a special object at this time. They have reference to the action of the people at the coming town meeting upon the question of granting licenses for the sale of intoxicating liquors in Arlington the ensuing year The present local option law of the state imposes upon the people of each municipality the duty of annually deciding this matter for themselves. It is a plain, prac- tical, local issue, and one not excelled in importance by any other which the people, in discharge of their duties as citizens, are called on to decide. The issue is not whether a prohibitory law, applicable to all parts of the state alike, would be preferable to the existing local option law. That is a sub- ject for the representatives of the people in the legislature to act upon. It is not a question as to the necessity of total abstinence as a rule of individual conduct. That is something which every man must determine for himself. Neither of these questions is to be acted upon at our coming town meeting. The simple issue then and there to be decided is, whether the sale of liquors shall be authorized in Arlington. And upon this issue it seems to me that whatever our views may be upon the two questions alluded to, we can all stand together, and that waiving for the time being any differences of opinion we may have upon those other questions, we ought to stand together and decide that question in the negative. During the past year licenses have not been allowed in Arlington. Has anybody suffered from this ? Have any of the great interests of the town been injured by it ? It is a principle of law that the presumption is in favor Past and Present 147 of existing things and the burden of proof is upon those who demand a, change. It is incumbent upon those who advocate a change in the policy of the town upon this subject to prove its expediency. Have they done it, or can they do it ? Will the granting of licenses be a help to the town ? Will the introduction of liquor saloons be a local improvement ? Will they add to the attractions of Arlington ? Will they make us a more orderly community ? Will they lead us to feel more secure in our homes or when we walk the streets ? Will they lighten the labors of our police force ? Will they improve our schools and have an elevating influence upon our children ? Will they enhance the products of our farms and gardens ? Will they increase the savings of the people, enable them to have larger deposits in the Savings Bank, to have more money for improving their dwellings and adding to their home comforts ? Will they make our social or moral atmosphere any purer or better ? Will they furnish inducements to people from other places to come to Arlington to reside ? Can any possible point be suggested as to which they will make life in Arlington any better, any happier, any safer, any more prosperous ? If not, THEN LET WELL ENOUGH ALONE. Let us keep things as they are. Let us not go to experimenting in a field so unpromising. Let us, at our town meeting, act upon this matter as upon all others, — guided solely by what our' judgments and our consciences assure us will be most for the benefit of the town; and if we do this, there can be no doubt as to the result. This argument was not only so convincing to Arlington citizens that not since then has the town voted other than against license, but the speech was an important, perhaps a deciding, factor in securing the speaker's promotion to the office of gov- ernor. That address was scattered broadcast through the state influencing thousands of temperance men in the state to cast their votes for him who otherwise would have voted against him. These facts have taken the narrative a long step beyond the limit set in the matter of dates, but their contributing force on the growth of the town is too important to be omitted, and by the natural sequence the seed planting of 1876 and the fruitage of these later years should not be separated. A generation has been born and come to be voters that has never seen a licensed liquor saloon in Arlington. It was during this decade (1867-1877) that the town of Arling- ton adopted a new plan of street building and the selectmen strongly advocated a regrading and straightening of some of the principal streets. April 5, 1869, the town appropriated money 148 Town of Arlington for a stone crusher and in 1870 added to this essential in building macadamized roads a twenty-ton stone roller. A new crusher bought in 1884 was abandoned for the up-to-date machine installed in 1903. In 1894 this system of street building was made complete by the addition of the steam roller. CHAPTER VI 1877 — 1887 Population in 1875, 3,906. Population in 1880, 4,100. Population in 1885, 4,673. Diminishing historical items. — Shrinkage in real estate valuation. — Cambridge seeks a piece of Arlington territory. — Pollution of Alewife Brook. — Charlestown street named Broadway. — Old elm cut down. — First Union Thanksgiving service. — Arlington Improvement Association. — Catholic Cemetery established. — Telephones introduced. — Apart- ment houses started. — Free text-books for schools. — Soldiers' monu- ment built and dedicated. — Change in leadership caused by death. IT would be natural to expect that with increasing population, enlarging business enterprises, more systematically kept, and always accessible records at the Town Hall, matter for this narra- tive would be found in correspondingly increasing quantity as the period covering the closing decades is reached. The reverse of this, however, is true and for a sufficient reason. Each decade considered to this point has added some impor- tant equipment or improvement that is permanent. In this respect the town is like the individual householder — new things required decrease in number. The story of increased facilities of travel, the introduction of water, disposal of sewage, and other large town enterprises has already been told. Providing for maintenance and natural increase in scope is now all these demand at town meetings and are, therefore, a mere matter of detail. Naturally there is little to add in way of description after the story of opening a building section has been told, though the few houses then standing may have been increased by the score or the hundred. A further curtailment of matter available comes because of the arrangement which assigns churches, schools, library, fire depart- 149 150 Town of Arlington ment, fraternal societies, etc., to sections where they are dealt with in a fullness of detail not otherwise possible, and in recent years these departments and the town finances have been the principal matters presented at town meetings. The result is that the writer finds a restricted field of research as the closing third of the town's century of corporate life is entered upon. The shrinkage in real estate valuation in consequence of the years of depression following the panic of 1873, had a striking- illustration in the figures presented by the assessors in 1877, showing as they did a loss in that year of $230,909 as compared with 1876, although several new dwellings had been erected. In 1878 the city of Cambridge sought authority to annex to that city an easterly corner of Arlington. Nov. 18, 1879, the Board of Selectmen was authorized to employ counsel to assist in resisting this action on the part of Cambridge. In this effort they were successful. The incident is mentioned because it has connection with the pollution of Alewife Brook. At a special town meeting held Nov. 18, 1879, at which the only business proposed in the warrant was "To see what action the town will take relative to the increasing pollution of Alewife Brook by the city of Cambridge," it was Voted — That the selectmen be and hereby are authorized and requested to take immediate and active measures to prevent the further pollution of Alewife Brook by the sewage of the city of Cambridge; and said Board are authorized to employ counsel and to unite with the town of Medford in any legitimate course looking to the abolition of this threatening nuisance and the preservation of the public health. This vote was reenforced at a meeting held Dec. 30, 1880, when Messrs. William G. Peck, Richard L. Hodgdon, Henry L. Law- rence, were chosen a committee to secure legislation to protect the public health, by stopping emptying sewage into Alewife Brook and also Mystic River. In a sense the above is a sequel to a story, rather than a story itself. In 1874 the Cambridge authorities were able to convince the selectmen of Arlington that the emptying of sewage into Alewife Brook could be controlled by tide gates put in near the line of Past and Present 151 Broadway, and the legislature of that year (1874) passed an act authorizing the building of the gates. On the plea that it was necessary to protect Fresh Pond water from contamination by salt water, these gates were renewed in 1880, but under press- ure of the action taken by Arlington, the gates were soon trussed open. The damage to Arlington was permanent, however, and will not be removed until the broad scheme now under consid- eration by the towns and cities menaced by this malaria breed- ing place is an accomplished fact. The removal of the gate house and its foundation when Broadway was reconstructed in 1900, brought all the relief possible at present. Cambridge surface drains for North Cambridge, however, still have an outlet into Alewife Brook, and in times of heavy rainfall send a lot of unde- sirable matter into the brook. March 4, 1878, Charlestown street as it had been called for many years (it was built in 1793 to induce travel to Boston over the old Warren Bridge in Charlestown) was renamed Broadway. In July of that year the long-pending suits of the mill owners growing out 'of the taking of the waters of Sucker Brook and its sources, were settled by compromise, and bonds issued to pay the bill. In November of this year, because it had become a menace to travel, the gigantic elm on the south side of Massa- chusetts avenue at Arlington "gateway," was cut down. A picture of that tree as it appeared in 1867 is given in connection with the report of the celebration of the change of name from West Cambridge to Arlington in that year, on page 128. In 1880 the first Union Thanksgiving Service by all the Protes- tant churches was held in the Universalist Church, growing into a custom which is still maintained, though the time has been changed to the evening preceding instead of the day named by President and Governor. It was a natural outcome of the draw- ing together of the pastors of the several churches in the tem- perance crusade then in active operation, and is entitled to be considered one of its many good fruits. It was at the annual March meeting of 1880 that Arlington women voters first participated in the election of members of the School Committee. 152 Town of Arlington In 1883 the first of many spasmodic efforts to maintain here a town or village improvement society was made. The objects aimed at as stated in the "preamble" are worth preserving. They were as follows : The object of this Association is to awaken and encourage in the community a sentiment and a spirit which will act for the common interest ; to create or stimulate in the individual a regard for the elevation and improvement of the community, thereby securing better hygienic conditions in our houses and surroundings ; an improvement of our streets, sidewalks, and public grounds, a protection of natural scenery, and the building up and beautifying of the whole town, and so enhancing the value of its property, and rendering it a still more inviting place of residence. May 20, 1883, the first "Citizens' Law and Order League" was formed, to be succeeded later by that mysterious "Committee of Fifteen" that became the dread of the illegal liquor traffic, and resulted in a reorganization of the police department under Eugene Mead as chief of police. March 2, 1883, the town made its first appropriation to meet the expense of telephones. Today almost every office-room in Town Hall has its instrument, all the fire-engine houses have the same convenience, as do also the school buildings. July 19, 1883, the selectmen ordered the placing of gates at the Center railroad crossing and that flag-men be stationed at other grade crossings in town. The installing of gates proved a difficult problem, but after several changes were made the present effective plan was evolved. Soon after gates were placed at all grade crossings. Many will recall the strong opposition encountered by people who had bargained for the Dickinson farm bordering on Alewife Brook on the south side of Broadway, and who proposed to lay it out as a cemetery. After several defeats the projectors of the scheme persuaded the citizens to abandon opposition, and on August 4, 1884, the transfer was sanctioned. This in brief is the history of St. Paul's Catholic Cemetery. Tn 1884 Arlington caught the roller-skating epidemic, and a great rink was erected on the Swan property in rear of Swan's Past and Present 153 Block. It was not a signal success financially from the outset, and the projectors were soon glad to turn over the lease and abandon the property to the Swan brothers. The opening of Swan Place as a residential section came about in this way. The Messrs. Henry and Harrison Swan cut the rink into sections and reconstructed the same into tenements. Other people bought lots there, a new street was cut through to Pleasant street, and the territory is now well covered with attractive dwellings. In May, 1885, Hon. John H. Hardy, who had served the town in various capacities through several years, particularly on the School Board, and had been a trial justice under the old regime of treating minor court cases, was appointed a judge of the muni- cipal court for Suffolk County. Later he was advanced to the Superior Court, of which bench he is still a member. In the winter of 1886 (Feb. 11), an illustration of what Arling- ton's mill stream could do when on a rampage was illustrated. The retaining wall on the margin of the small pond above Arling- ton Heights station was washed away by high water, and down through the valley poured the flood, which fortunately found in spaces below broadening levels over which the water spread thinly, preventing any other serious damage below the wrecked dam. In April, 1887, Mr. George D. Moore bought the Caldwell estate on Massachusetts avenue, on which he built "The Flor- ence," and other apartment houses, he being the first to erect that class of dwellings in Arlington. Later his example was followed, and there are now many in different sections of the town which, like this, are an ornament. In 1906 Mr. Moore built a stately eight-tenement structure of brick on Pleasant street. In August of this year "Traders' Day" was inaugurated, but it has never secured here among business men the recognition which in other places has made it a general holiday for the store- keepers and clerks. This same month the new station of the Boston and Maine Rail- road at the Center was used for the first time. It stands on fully twenty feet of made land, the ground originally falling off on a steep angle from the avenue to the level of Peirce & Winn Co.'s 154 Town of Arlington coal yard. The foundation of the depot, built of heavy granite blocks, rests on this lower strata. The old depot was moved to Brattle street and finished off to serve as residence of the station agent, as well as for depot purposes. At a town meeting held Oct. 3, 1884, the town appropriated two thousand dollars to supply free text-books for the public schools. In 1886 a telephone system of police calls was installed at the police station. The closing year of this decade witnessed an important event, "~~"~' MONUMENT TO MEMORY OF SOLDIERS AND SAILORS OF THE CIVIL WAR the dedication of the monument at the junction of Broadway and Massachusetts avenue to the memory of the soldiers and sailors killed in the war for the defense of the Union, 1861-65. The movement dates back to the war period. In 1865 the Ladies' Aid Society turned over to the town five hundred dollars to be used towards the erection of a monument. This sum was placed in the hands of a committee of which the late Samuel G. Damon was chairman. In 1869 the town made an appropriation Past and Present 155 of four thousand dollars to build a suitable monument, but diffi- culties in selecting a site developing, this sum reverted to the town treasury. Up to 1885 that committee, through its chairman, had annually reported as follows: "The committee on monument would report progress and ask for further time." In the local paper the-report was dealt with in , a way to arouse the attention of young men of whom Mr. William E. Wood proved a good representative, the result being a concerted effort (after the town had refused to reappropriate four thousand dollars) to raise funds sufficient to secure land and erect thereon a suitable monument. The response of citizens generally was both prompt and hearty, and the monument as it now stands being completed at a cost of over thirteen thousand dollars, it was dedicated with interesting ceremonies June 17, 1887. This celebration was hardly less extensive and elaborate than that of April 19, 1875. The Mozart Regiment Association, made up of the survivors of the Fortieth New York in which Arlington had a company, was a conspicuous figure in the parade; Posts 36 of Arlington; 30, 56, 57, 186 of Cambridge; 119, Lexington; 180, Concord; 66, Medford; 29, Waltham; 62, Newton; 81, Watertown, mustered 582 comrades; Somerville Light Infantry acted as escort; guests in carriages and mounted aids to the chief marshal made an imposing parade. The formal exercises were held on a raised covered platform in front of the monument and were of unusual interest. Mr. Damon, as chairman of the committee, turned the monument over to the town, James A. Bailey, a comrade of Post 36 and chairman of the Board of Selectmen, receiving the same, and introducing Hon. William E. Parmenter as president of the day. His inspiring address was followed with a poem from Mr. John T. Trowbridge, and then came the oration by Ex-Gov. John Q. A. Brackett. These addresses and the poem were published in Arlington Advocate of June 17, 1887, on file at Robbins Library. The main facts utilized by the speakers will be found in the section of this work devoted to Military History. The day closed with a great banquet in a tent erected where 156 Town of Arlington "The Florence" apartment house now stands on Massachusetts avenue. This decade is mainly notable for the change in leadership in town affairs wrought by the hand of death, the list including Deacon John Field (whose subtile plans were so signally successful in the hands of those to whom he intrusted their execution), the venerable Abbott Allen, Captain Reuben Hopkins, Rev. Daniel R. Cady, D.D., Josiah Crosby ("next to Judge Parmenter the best friend of Arlington schools "), George C. Russell, Davies Dodge (the veteran pharmacist), Benjamin Poland, Thomas J. Russell, Abner P. Wyman, J. Winslow Peirce, Hon. John Schouler, Thomas Ramsdell, Ira O. Carter. CHAPTER VII 1887—1897 Population in 1885, 4,673. Population in 1890, 5,629. Population in 1895, 6,515. Arlington Cooperative Bank. — Fire alarm system. — Schools supplied with flags. — Australian ballot introduced. — Town pump abandoned. — First National Bank chartered. — Building Finance Block. — Patriots' Day inaugurated. — Board of Health chosen for first time. — Elec- tricity in place of gas. — Changing grade of Massachusetts avenue. — Arlington has a state senator. — Two new brick blocks. — Main street renamed Massachusetts avenue. — A new postmaster. — "Advocate's" quarter-centennial. — Sherman Block built. — First electric car to Arlington. — Historical Society organized. — List of prominent people deceased. IN season to secure the entry of his name on the voting list of November, 1887, Hon. J. Q. A. Brackett, then filling the office of lieutenant-governor of the state, applied to the Regis- trars of Voters and became a citizen of the town. Two years later, as a citizen of Arlington, but the candidate of the Republican party, he was promoted to the office of governor. On the even- ing of Nov. 11, 1889, Governor-elect and Mrs. Brackett were tendered a public reception in Town Hall. It was a thoroughly unpartisan demonstration, although the "Brackett Club" of which Mr. Warren W. Rawson was president, took the lead. Representative-elect William H. H. Tuttle presided at the formal exercises concluding the reception, and the speakers were Hon. W. H. Haile, Hon. Frederick T. Greenhalge, Hon. George A. Marden and others of less prominence in state politics. A short poem by Mr. J. Howell Crosby, a salute on Russell Park, and a display of fireworks were features of the pleasant, affair. Ap event of note in this decade was the incorporation of Arlington Cooperative Bank in November, 1889. In this home- 157 158 Town of Arlington making enterprise, Hon. J. Q. A. Braekett, then filling the office of lieutenant-governor, was deeply interested, and Mr. R. Walter Hilliard, who had conceived the idea that Arlington was the place and then the time to establish such an institution, found in him an able and willing assistant. The first meeting held to consider the matter resulted in a sufficient stock subscription to secure incorporation. Starting in a humble way, with most of the officials serving without pay, it has gone on until today it is one of the strong financial factors in the town's life, having been the means by which scores of homes have been secured, and having now 4998 shares valued at $283,146.36. The introduction of the Gamewell Fire Alarm System on Nov. 11, 1889, requires only this mention. Details are to be found in the special section devoted to the fire department. In 1890 the old card mill of William Whittemore & Co., which until then had stood on the old site, was sold at auction and removed to Mystic street by its purchaser, Mr. Warren A. Peirce. A " revival in patriotism," started by the G. A. R. a short time before, led to supplying the public schools with flags, generous citizens and clubs furnishing required funds. This year Postmaster Frederick E. Fowle intro- duced the modern lock boxes to his equipment of the post office. In 1891, at the annual 'March meeting, the town accepted the act of the legislature pro- viding for what is known as the Australian ballot system of voting, which is still in vogue. In May of this year the old "town pump" was removed, the well having been condemned by the Board of Health, and the making of the park east of TOWN PUMP Past and Present 159 Town Hall into its present shape was begun. This old town pump had served the center of the town since the year 1853, when the well was bricked up and cemented to above the street level, a slate-stone cap provided, and a new pump put in. The position of the watering trough illustrates how recent have been the changes in the lines of Massachusetts avenue which would cut it off from use in watering horses, a purpose for which a new stone trough was put there in 1874. In place of the pump a drinking fountain, with a tank under ground to contain ice, was set up in front of Town Hall. When in 1842 Arlington gained a large strip of territory, formerly a part of Charlestown, there was added to her taxable property, the old "Tide-mill " on the south bank of Mystic River. It was used for manufacturing purposes at that time and for many years, and is understood to have been the scene of incidents cleverly told by Mr. John T. Trowbridge in his one of many thrilling stories, entitled " Tinkham Brothers' Tide-mill." It was an interesting old relic of other days. By way of celebrating July 4, 1891, it is presumed, the building was set on fire and entirely destroyed. In the fall of 1891 William D. Higgins came to Arlington and busied himself in interesting those he was able to reach in the project of organizing a national bank. To such good pur- pose did he employ his talents, that on Dec. 11, 1891, "The First National Bank of Arlington" was organized with a capital of $50,000 and on January 4, 1892, the bank was opened for business in rooms on the ground floor of Savings Bank Building, corner of Massachusetts avenue and Pleasant street. E. Nelson Blake, who had recently come to his native town after a successful career in Chicago, accepted the presidency, which he still holds. Mr. Higgins was the first cashier and continued in -that office until 1903, when John A. Easton took his place. For twenty years after Bank Building and Swan's Block were erected, slight changes were made in the real estate holdings on the avenue. These are both on the south side of the main thoroughfare. In 1893 a company of young men organized as a Finance Club, 160 Town of Arlington used their capital and earnings in the purchase of the old Squire Russell estate, then the property of Mrs. George C. Whittemore, and erected what is known as "Finance Block," later adding the row of tenement houses in the rear of this property, the dwell- ings fronting on Russell Park. The legislature of 1894 abolished the old-time Fast Day and in place of it named the 19th of April as "Patriots' Day." Under the auspices of a new "Arlington Improvement Associa- tion," which had Ex-Governor Brackett for its president, this day was quite elaborately celebrated in Arlington, as it has been spasmodically since. At a town meeting held in May of this (1894) year, the town voted to change the name of the main street to Massachusetts avenue to conform to a general change made by Boston, Cam- bridge, Arlington, Lexington, and Concord, this being the route of the British troops on the 19th of April, 1775. Arlington Board of Health came into existence by vote of the meeting held March 15, 1894, the selectmen being designated to serve in this capacity. The unwisdom of this course develop- ing from the situation, other officers have since filled the impor- tant place in guarding the town's interests. The gathering of swill and garbage, oversight of plumbing, etc., brings to the Board duties and responsibilities hardly thought of when the depart- ment was created. The first appropriation to meet the cost of gathering garbage was made Sept. 29, 1892. In 1895 electric lighting was substituted for gas on all public thoroughfares. April 1, 1895, Frederick E. Fowle, who had served the town as postmaster since his appointment by President Abraham Lincoln soon after his inauguration, surrendered the office to Alfred D. Hoitt, who had been given the office by President Cleveland. In 1896 the changing of the grade of Massachusetts avenue and streets entering it was coupled with laying a double track to Arlington Heights by the Boston Elevated Railroad Company. This and a reduction of the fare to Boston to five cents, were highly important gains. Past and Present 161 At the state election in November, Hon. James A. Bailey, Jr., was chosen to represent the district of which Arlington was then a part, in the state Senate, an honor the town had not enjoyed since 1870, when Hon. Joseph S. Potter filled the office. During this year Sherburne Block was completed, Studio Build- ing was started, and Fowle's Block was built. In the summer Town Hall was thoroughly repaired and redecorated, and at the same time extensive altera- tions were made in the rooms used by the several depart- ments on the floors below. In the summer of 1895 the town scales was removed from the Center to Mystic street, and the fine elm tree that for so many years had sheltered the same was inclosed with the ornamental iron fence still standing. On January 1st, 1897, the Arlington Advocate completed twenty-five years of newspaper life and there was a public recognition of the event in the form of a banquet tendered the proprietors and editors in Town Hall. <^£o«vk.t//fe&»1&