Norfolk County, Massachusetts - Chapter 7: Public Buildings of Norfolk County, 1918

Chapter 7: Public Buildings of Norfolk County

THE FIRST COURT-HOUSE - THE SECOND COURT-HOUSE - FATE OF THE OLD COURTHOUSE - COURT-HOUSE OF l86l - THE PRESENT COURT-HOUSE - THE DEDICATION - COURT-HOUSE AT QUINCY - THE COUNTY JAIL - THE REGISTRY BUILDING -

One of the first necessities of a new county is a suitable building in which to hold the sessions of the courts and transact the county business. The first step toward the erection of a court-house in Norfolk County was taken on January 7, 1794, when the Court of General Sessions of the Peace, then in session "in the meeting house at Dedham," on account of cold weather "to adjourn to the Sign of the Law Book" (the Ames Tavern). This brought up the subject of the courthouse, and Thomas Crane, of Canton ; Stephen Penniman.of Braintree ; and Joseph Guild, of Dedham, were appointed a committee "to look for a proper spot of ground and report on what terms the County of Norfolk can be accommodated for their public buildings."

At a subsequent meeting of the court, the committee reported that the Episcopal Church in Dedham offered the house of worship "and the land lying common adjoining," but reserved the right "to worship therein on the Sabbath until such time as they can build another church." This resulted in the appointment of another committee, consisting of Joseph Guild, Dr. Nathaniel Ames and Elijah Adams, to solicit funds to provide the county with a public building. Anticipating that some of the citizens might prefer a new court-house to the old church, the committee was given a twofold authority : First, to raise funds to repair and remodel the church building, and second, to raise funds to build a court-house on the First Church land, near the Episcopal Church.

On June 30, 1794, the First Church of Christ in Dedham made a voluntary grant to the County of Norfolk of "the northeast corner of their lot, near the meeting house of the First Parish of said Dedham, for the situation of their court-house, together with as many suitable trees to be marked by the trustees of said church, as will be sufficient for making all the joists for the proposed court-house on said corner, as a gift to the county," etc.

At the same session of the court the committee appointed to solicit subscriptions for repairing the Episcopal Church or building a court-house reported that it had been unable to raise funds for either project. The court then ordered that the offer of the First Church be accepted and that the court-house be built upon the ground thus donated. In the estimates of public expenditures for the year was included the item of six hundred pounds for a court-house. Joseph Guild,

Thomas Crane, Stephen Badlam, James Endicott and Stephen Penniman were appointed a committee to receive conveyance of the land, and "proceed to contract for and make provision of necessary materials for said court-house, as soon as may be ; that they contract for the frame of said court-house on the most prudent terms for said county, of good timber, well wrought in a workmanlike manner - sills about 35 by 45 (or 50) feet, more or less, as near consistent with due proportion, according to a plan to be obtained from Mr. Bulfinch, of Boston, and other good architects, and approved by the court at their adjournment; and that they proceed to contract by the job with such persons as they, after they have advertised and received proposals of as great a number as will offer in reasonable time prefixed, shall judge and select as for the best interest of said county at large, to perform each a different part of said court-house in a workmanlike manner, according to a plan approved as aforesaid, and that said contracts be made in writing sufficiently secured."

On August 17, 1794, the Court of General Sessions voted to accept a plan - or rather a wooden model - of a court-house submitted by Isaac and Samuel Doggett, contractors of Dedham, which was presented by the committee. The contract for the erection of the building was awarded to Isaac and Samuel Doggett, and on October 28, 1794, the court, then in session in Gay's Hall, ordered : "That the court-house be erected with one end north, fronting the meeting house, the other end south, and that the committee on buildings so far deviate from the plan of the court-house first adopted as to make it nearly conformable with the plan of the Salem Court-House within, with a door at each end without."

The following spring the court made another addition to the original plan. On May 14, 1795, it was ordered: "That Thomas Crane, Hon. James Endicott and Stephen Penniman, Esq., be a committee to proceed with as great economy as may be for the county, and, by complete workmen, so far finish the court chamber that the Supreme Court may hold its next session for this county therein by the 15th of August next; and that they apply to Mr. Bulfinch, architect in Boston, for a plan of a decent cupola, or turret, to such court-house, agreeable to the rules of architecture for a building of such site, use and magnitude, and proceed in stoning, clapboarding and painting the outside, with such cupola complete, and that said committee shall be held responsible for the goodness of workmanship and materials aforesaid."

Another order of the same date was to the clerk "to draw orders on the treasury in favor of sai'd committee for sums not exceeding the amount of three hundred pounds, to be advanced to them as they have occasion to purchase for executing the trust in them."

Just when the "last nail was driven" is not certain, but on April 26, 1796, the Court of General Sessions allotted the rooms in the court-house to the several county officers and courts. The building was two stories high, 36 by 50 feet, with a hall eight feet wide running through the center. The exterior was colonial in style, the corners ornamented with quoins and the roof surmounted by a cupola. The interior was finished with paneled wainscoting. The cost of the building cannot be ascertained. It served Norfolk County for about thirty years, when it was replaced by the

Second Court-House

About 1820 some of the lawyers practicing in the Norfolk County courts, and others, realized that the county had outgrown its court-house and began an agitation for a new one. It was urged that the old house was too small for the proper transaction of public business; that, being entirely of wood, it was not a safe place for the public records, and that it was an "undesirable incumbrance upon the church green." Parties interested in litigation soon saw that courts were handicapped by the antiquated appointments of the old house, and the movement in favor of a new court-house gathered momentum as it went along.

On December 26, 1821, the Court of General Sessions appointed as a committee Edward H. Robbins, of Milton; Elijah Crane, of Canton; Ebenezer Seaver, of Roxbury ; Thomas Greenleaf, of Ouincy; and John Bates, of Bellingham, ''to take into consideration, among other things, the subject of erecting a fireproof building for the safe keeping of the records of the county." The committee reported on July 2, 1822, that the members thereof were "unanimously of the opinion that the duty of erecting a fire-proof building for the safe keeping of the records of the county, pursuant to law, is imperious, and that the same should be made of convenient size and construction as soon as practicable."

The committee also reported that two sites had been offered as a site for the new structure, and recommended that one of them be selected. One was an acre of ground adjoining the jail lot, which was offered by John Bullard, and the other was a tract of land belonging to the heirs of Fisher Ames "embracing the whole northeast end of their lot, from Hartford Road to Cross Street, so far as the extreme southeast side of the Mansion House." The Hartford Road is now High Street and the name of Cross Street has been changed to Norfolk. Mr. Milliard asked $800 for his lot and the Ames heirs wanted $1,200 for theirs. The latter was selected by the Court of Sessions and on May 4, 1824, Mrs. Frances Ames executed a deed conveying to Norfolk County "a parcel of land containing about one acre and a half, lying in front of her dwelling-house in Dedham, on the opposite side of the road, as a site on which it is contemplated to erect a courthouse."

The land thus conveyed to the county is the site of the present court-house, and the Court of Sessions agreed that no buildings should ever be erected upon the same except those for county purposes. On the day the deed was executed, the Court of Sessions ordered John Bullard, then treasurer of Norfolk County, to give a note, as treasurer of the county, to Mrs. Ames for $1,000, payable in five annual instalments of $200 each, with interest, "said note being the consideration for a parcel of land conveyed by her to said county," etc.

Solomon Willard, then a resident of Ouincy, was commissioned to prepare plans for a new court-house, and on November 4, 1824, the Court of Sessions ordered Treasurer Bullard to sign and execute contracts with the firm of Damon & Hates for the erection of the building, which was to be 48 by 98 feet, two stories in height, modeled in the form of "an ancient Grecian temple, with columns at both ends." The cost of the court-house and the ground upon which it was to be built was provided for by a levy of about three thousand dollars a year until the whole expense of about thirty thousand dollars was paid.

of the Masonic fraternity. The day being the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a number of militia companies participated in the ceremonies by forming at the Masonic Hall and escorting the Grand Lodge "through a triumphal arch to the site of the new court-house." Under the cornerstone was placed a silver plate, bearing the following inscription, engraved by Hazen Morse :

"The corner-stone of this court-house was laid with Masonic ceremonies by R. W. Thomas Tolman, Esq., acting as grand master, assisted by Constellation Lodge at Dedham, and other lodges of Free and Accepted Masons in the County of Norfolk, July 4, Anno Lucis 5825, and 49 years since the Declaration of American Independence. Norfolk County established June 20th, A. D. 1793. Building Committee : Hon. Jairus Ware, Daniel Adams, Samuel P. Loud, Judges of the Court of Sessions; Elijah Crane, sheriff; John B. Bates, master mason; Isaac Damon, master carpenter; M. W. and Hon. John Abbot, grand master; M. E. and Rev. Paul Deane, grand high priest ; John Ouincy Adams, President of the United States ; Levi Lincoln, Governor of Massachusetts."

Deposited with this plate were, among other things, a small beaver hat of the then prevailing fashion, made by Timothy Phelps of Dedham, the newspapers of the day, Daniel Webster's address, with an account of the battle of Bunker Hill, and specimens of marbled paper manufactured by Herman Mann & Sons of Dedham.

This second court-house in Norfolk County was 48 by 98 feet, two stories in height, with a projection of ten feet at each end resting upon four Doric pillars, three feet and ten inches in diameter at the base and nearly twenty-one feet high. The granite in the walls came from a quarry about eight miles west of Dedham. It was dedicated on February 20, 1827, by Chief Justice Isaac Parker, of the Supreme Judicial Court. In his address Judge Parker gave it as his opinion that the new court-house "excelled the Worcester court-house in its material, and the Suffolk court-house in its architectural beauty."

Fate Of The Old Court-House

On October 19, 1827, the old court-house was sold at public auction by order of the Court of General Sessions. It was purchased by Harris Munroe and Erastus Worthington and removed to the easterly side of Court Street, a short distance south of its original location. The purchasers had a hope that the building would be bought by the Town of Dedham, but in 1828 the people of the town voted to erect a town hall and the old court-house was used as a millinery shop and dwelling. In 1845 Munroe and Worthington sold it to the Temperance Hall Association, which converted the upper story into a hall for public meetings. Among the noted men who spoke in Temperance Hall were : Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Horace Mann, Abraham Lincoln, William R. Alger, Bishop Huntington and John Boyle O'Reilly. On April 28, 1891, the old court-house and some of the adjoining buildings were destroyed by fire. All that is left of Norfolk- County's first temple of justice is the old bell, which is now among the relics preserved by the Dedham Historical Society. It bears the inscription : "Revere, Boston, 1790." The bell was cast by Paul Revere, whose famous ride on the

In i860 it became apparent that Norfolk County was in need of more room in which to transact properly the public business. The board of county commissioners was then composed of Nathaniel F. Safford, of Milton ; Lucas Pond, of Wrentham ; and Charles Endicott, of Canton. These commissioners first considered the erection of a separate building, to be used by the register of deeds and the register of probate and insolvency, and a tract of land across High Street from the court-house, including the site of the old Ames Tavern, was purchased by John Gardner as a location for the new building. At a later meeting of the board it was decided that it would be more convenient to have all the county business under one roof, which could be accomplished by extending the north front and adding wings to the court-house.

This proposition met with some opposition. A remonstrance, signed by about forty representative citizens of the county, was sent in to the commissioners and published in the Dedham Gazette, but it was ignored by the commissioners, who on April 26, i860, voted "to erect a fire-proof structure for the custody of the public records, and additional apartments for the accommodation of citizens in attendance upon the business of the court, by extending this building to meet the existing wants of the county."

The contract for the alterations and additions was awarded to Nelson Curtis and William Huston, who began on June 12, i860. The corner-stone was relaid on September 13, i860, without disturbing in any way the deposit placed in the corner-stone laid on July 4, 1825. By the side of the former deposit were placed the following articles: A photograph of the court-house of 1825; a drawing of the court-house showing the alterations of i860; a list of the officers of the Court of Probate and Insolvency ; a list of the county officers ; the Boston Almanac, all of i860; copies of the county newspapers; a copy of the annual report of the Town of Dedham for i860; newspapers containing the history of the previous court-houses ; a document containing the names of the architects, contractors and others concerned in the alterations then being made, and a steel pen. The first session of the Probate Court in the new office in the north wing was held on November 4, 1861, but the building was not fully completed until the following year. The cost of the alterations was about seventy-five thousand dollars.

The Present Court-House

During the year 1890 the board of county commissioners authorized the expenditure of over five thousand dollars in making repairs upon the courthouse. The board was then composed of George W. Wiggin, of Franklin ; John Q. A. Lothrop, of Cohasset ; and Melville P. Morrell, of Hyde Park, which was then one of the towns of Norfolk County. Mr. Morrell advocated another addition to the building, rather than spend any more of the county's money in what he considered "temporary makeshifts." In the fall of 1891 the question of another addition to the court-house became, in a way, a political issue. Mr. Mor- rell, whose attitude on the subject was well known, was reelected by a large majority, indicating that his views had the approbation of the citizens.

Shortly after the election, the commissioners employed the firm of Wait & Cutter, architects of Boston, to make plans for the proposed addition. On April 28, 1892, a contract was made with Lyman D. Willcutt, of Dedham, for the first stone work, and on the 25th of the following July Air. Willcutt was awarded the contract "for the superstructure of the addition on the rear of the old courthouse and changes of the court-room portions." The next day a contract was entered into with B. D. Whitcomb & Company, carpenters and builders, of Boston, to do the finishing on the new addition. Later contracts were made with Keeler & Company, of Boston, for new furniture, and with Hollings & Company, of Boston, for the gas and electric fixtures. On February 6, 1894, another contract was made with Lyman D. Willcutt & Son "for the complete alteration of the front portion of the old court-house and the dome.''

The walls of the new addition were constructed of granite from the same quarry as that used in the former building and addition, that no lack of uniformity might appear. The halls, corridors and lavatories are wainscoted with marble from Tennessee and Italy, and the same kind of marble is used in the stairways. The main floor in the corridors is also of Tennessee marble. Throughout the woodwork, door and window casings, etc., is of polished quartered oak, and the furniture is of the same material. The roof of the building is of slate and that of the dome is of copper. In 1894 the Legislature authorized the county to borrow $125,000, which sum represents approximately the cost of the new addition and the alterations in the old part of the court-house.

The Dedication

On June 20, 1895, just one hundred and two years after Norfolk County was first organized, the remodeled court-house was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies. The first exercises were conducted in the court-room, beginning at 10:30 A. M. Mellville P. Morrell, chairman of the board of county commissioners, called the meeting to order and, after prayer by Rev. Mark B. Taylor of Canton, made a short introductory address. He was followed by Hon. Frederick D. Ely, who delivered the historical address, in which he reviewed the progress of Norfolk County for one hundred and two years and gave a brief history of each of its court-houses. Judge Ely was followed by Chief Justice Albert Mason, of the Superior Court of the Commonwealth, who delivered the dedicatory address. The exercises at the court-house were followed by a banquet in Memorial Hall, which was attended by some four hundred persons. Thomas E. Grover acted as toastmaster, and among the responses were the following:

Court-House At Quincy

Chapter 477 of the Acts of 1910 conferred upon the commissioners of Norfolk County the necessary authority "to purchase land in Quincy and construct a building for the District Court of East Norfolk." The site for the building was purchased at a cost oi $19,000, and the Legislature of 191 1 passed an act "to provide for completing and furnishing the building," etc.

William Chapman, an architect of Boston, was employed to make plans, and on July 8, 191 1, the contract for the erection of the court-house was awarded to William Crane of Cambridge, the contractor who built the new wing of the state house. His bid was $59,471, but these figures did not include the heating plant, plumbing, electric wiring and some minor features. On January 10, 1912, the commissioners reported that the cost of the building up to that time was $71,797.07. The grounds were graded and a few "finishing touches" were added after that report, so that the total cost of court-house and furnishings was about seventy-five thousand dollars.

The Quincy court-house has a granite foundation and the walls of the superstructure are of light-colored brick. At the main entrance are two large granite columns that reach nearly to the top of the second story windows, supporting a pediment of simple yet graceful design. The construction of the building is fireproof throughout and its capacity is ample for the needs of the District Court of East Norfolk for years to come.

On August 25, 1794, the Court of General Sessions, at a session held at Gay's Tavern in Dedham, ordered : "That the committee on buildings proceed as soon as may be in collecting materials for building the jail, with the necessary irons for plating one room of the same for the security of prisoners, without being restricted to contract by the job, as for the court-house, but according to their best discretion for the benefit of the county."

On the last day of September following this order, the court accepted from Timothy Gay the gift of a lot "Bounding southerly on the Post Road from Boston to Providence, beginning ten feet west of the southwest corner of said Gay's garden near his dwelling house, thence measuring fifty-four feet southwesterly, on said Gay's land 88 feet, two sides in said Gay's land similar, so as to make a parallelogram."

In other words, the jail lot thus donated was situated on what is now Highland Street, not far from the Episcopal Church. The jail erected on that lot was a frame building and the first prisoner was incarcerated within its walls in February, T795. It served the county as a jail until 1817, when a stone jail thirtythree feet square and two stories in height was erected upon the lot occupied by the present jail. The old wooden jail was then used until 1833 as a house of correction. It was torn down in 1833, the year after a brick house of correction was completed on the jail lot on Village Avenue.

The jail built in 1817 was of hammered stone, with walls so massive that, after deducting the space for the rooms assigned to the jailer, there was but little space left for cells and stairways. The cost of this jail was $15,000 - not a profitable investment for the county, owing to the defects in arrangement mentioned above. In 185 1 part of the jail and the brick house of correction were torn down to make way for the main portion of the present structure, which includes the octagon central portion and the east and west wings, in which cells were constructed. The workshop was added to the west wing in 1875, and the sheriff's residence, on the south side of the central portion, facing Village Avenue, was built in 1880.

Around the walls of the octagonal central portion are iron galleries level with the floor of each tier of cells in the wings. The total number of cells is 108. By this arrangement the turnkey, from his desk in the center, commands a view of all the corridors and can detect any mutiny or insubordination on the part of the prisoners. In this high central part two men have been executed. George C. Hersey was hanged here on August 8, 1862, and James H. Costley on June 25, 1875. An account of the crimes for which these men suffered capital punishment is given in another chapter. In scraping off the old paint on the interior of the central portion in May, 1917, preparatory to repainting, the date "1832" was exposed on the wall of the north wing, showing it to be a part of Norfolk County's second jail.

The jail kitchen in the basement is equipped with modern cooking and bread-making apparatus, the oven having a capacity of 500 pounds of bread at one baking. In the basement are also the store room and a large bathroom provided with a dozen porcelain lined bathtubs. Every prisoner is required to take a bath upon entering and at regular stated intervals during his imprisonment. The entire building is heated by steam and special attention is given to the sanitary conditions. In the county treasurer's reportftfor the year 1916 the value of the jail building and lot is given at $333,500.

The Registry Building

Opposite the court-house on High Street stands the Registry Building, which was erected under the provisions of the act of May 12, 1903, authorizing the county commissioners to expend the sum of $280,000 for that purpose. A previous act had authorized the expenditure of $200,000. After the passage of the supplementary act, adding $80,000 to the building fund, the firm of Peabody & Stearns, architects of Boston, were employed to make plans and specifications. Three bids were opened on July 7, 1903, and on the 14th the contract was awarded to McNeil Brothers of Boston, their bid being $256,506.

The main section of the building is 52 by 186 feet, two stories high, and in the rear there is a one-story projection 68 by 80 feet. There is a basement under the entire building, in which is located the heating plant, etc. The front and end walls of the main portion are faced with Deer Isle granite, and the rear part is of gray Pompeian brick. The main entrance is marked by two granite columns of the Corinthian order, extending to the top of the second story windows, surmounted by a pediment of classic proportions. The floors are mosaic, the roof of copper, and the furniture of steel, so that the entire structure is as nearly fireproof as human ingenuity can devise. The building was completed and occupied on September i, 1905. Its total cost was $278,197.97.

On page 34 of the county commissioners' report for the year 1916, the value of the public buildings of Norfolk County, including the grounds is given as follows :

In this table there is a small cash balance included in the value of the Agricultural School. That institution and the Training School at Walpole are educational in their nature and their history is therefore given in the chapter on Education.