Norfolk County, Massachusetts - Chapter 24: The Town of Needham, 1918

Chapter 24: The Town of Needham

ORIGINALLY PART OF DEDHAM - LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES - SURFACE - INDIAN OCCUPATION - FIRST SETTLEMENT - PETITION TO BE SET OFF AS A TOWN - THE

The territory now comprising the Town of Needham was included in Dedham when the latter was incorporated on September 8, 1636, and remained a part of that town for three-quarters of a century. Needham is situated in the northerly part of the county, in a bend of the Charles River. On the northwest it is bounded by Wellesley ; on the northeast by the Charles River, which separates it from the City of Boston ; and also on the southerly side by the Charles River, which there separates it from the towns of Dedham and Dover. That portion of Dedham known as "Dedham Island," lying on the opposite side of the Charles River from the main part of the town, forms a small part of Needham's boundary line on the southeast. There are several small streams in the town, all tributary to the Charles River. They rise in the central part and flow in nearly all directions, which indicates the general character of the surface.

Indian Occupation

At the time Dedham was incorporated, and for many years afterward, the land in what is now Needham was claimed by the Indians. On April 14, 1680, a deed was executed by William Nahaton (sometimes written Nehoiden) and his brothers and sfsters to "a parcel or tract of land as it lieth towards the northerly side of Dedham, by the Great Falls of the Charles River, to the Natic saw mill brook," etc. About a year later, April 18, 1681, John Magus, a minor chief living at Natick, and his wife, Sara Magus, relinquished all their claims to "the whole parcel or tract of land as it lieth in Dedham bounds," etc. The tract thus deeded to the white inhabitants was known as "Magus Hill" and included the present towns of Needham and Natick and that part of Dedham called Dedham Island. The consideration received by Magus and his wife was five pounds in money and Indian corn to the value of three pounds - a total of about forty dollars. The same lands today are worth several millions of dollars.

First Settlement

It is uncertain just when or by whom the first settlement was made in Needham, but it was no doubt soon after the extinguishment of the Indian title, as mentioned in the foregoing paragraph. The records of a Dedham town meeting held in March, 1694, bear evidence that a settlement of some kind existed in the vicinity of Magus Hill. On July 2, 1705, the Dedham selectmen granted one Benjamin Mills a license "to keep a public house near the Lower Falls," and on March 9, 1709, the settlers living on the opposite side of the Charles River from Dedham Village petitioned the town for a grant of eight pounds to pay a minister for three months, which request the records show was granted. There must have been a considerable number of inhabitants at that time, or the grant would hardly have been made. It is not probable that a meeting house had then been erected, but that the preaching was to be done at a pioneer school house, or in the homes of some of the inhabitants. A little more than a year later the people of what is now Needham took the first steps to have a town of their own established, by petitioning the General Court to that effect.

The Petition

The petition asking for the incorporation, which was presented to the General Court in May, 1710, was signed by Henry Alden, Samuel Bacon, Hezekiah Broad, Edward Cook, Robert Cook, Andrew Dewing, Andrew Dewing, Jr., Jonathan Dewing, John Fisher, John Fisher, Jr., Thomas Fuller, Robert Fuller, John Gill, Joseph Hawes, Stephen Hunting, Eleazer Kingsbury, James Kingsbury, Josiah Kingsbury, Timothy Kingsbury, John Mclntire, Thomas Metcalf, Benjamin Mills, Benjamin Mills, Jr., William Mills, Zechariah Mills, Richard More, Matthias Ockinton, Isaac Parker, Jonathan Parker, John Parker, John Parker, Jr., Samuel Parker, Christopher Smith, John Smith, Joshua Smith, Andrew Wadkins, Ebenezer Ware, Ephraim Ware, Jeremiah Woodcock and John Woodcock.

Opposition to the petition developed in the Town of Dedham, which appointed a committee to appear at the October session of the General Court and show why the petition should not be granted. The effect of this move on the part of the mother town was that the General Court declined to grant the prayer of the petitioners at that time, but advised the people of Dedham to exempt them from paying taxes for the support of the minister at Dedham, provided they would undertake to have religious sendees among themselves and to employ a minister to conduct such services. This advice was accepted by a town meeting held in Dedham on November 13, 1710, and on the 19th of March following still further encouragement was given by the proprietors of undivided land in Dedham setting apart two lots of land (about one hundred and thirty-three acres) to be used by the settlers of Needham for the support of the ministry. This placed the inhabitants of Needham in the position of a separate precinct, although such precinct was not organized under the laws of the colony.

The Town Incorporated

The people of the little settlement northwest of the Charles River were not satisfied, however, with their quasi-precinct organization and during the summer and early fall of 171 1 another petition asking the General Court to incorporate "that portion of Dedham lying north of the Charles River as a separate town," was circulated and signed by most of the inhabitants. This petition came before

Piblic Library, Needham Town Hall, Xkkdham

Concerning the name of the town, Rev. Stephen Palmer, in a historical address delivered by him at the centennial celebration of the town in 181 1, said: "I have been informed by one of the descendants of the venerable Timothy Dwight, of Dedham, who was a member of the Legislature when this town was incorporated, that it was named Needham at the request of Governor Dudley after Needham in England, and because that town is near to Dedham, although in a different county."

First Town Meeting

Needham's first town meeting was held on December 4, 171 1, when the following officers were elected : Timothy Kingsbury, John Fisher, Benjamin Mills, John Smith and Robert Cook, selectmen ; Timothy Kingsbury, clerk ; Robert Cook, treasurer. On May 19, 171 2, Robert Cook was elected as the first representative to the General Court. The only other business transacted at the meeting of December 4, 171 1, besides the election of officers, was the appointment of a committee to select a suitable place for a burial ground. The committee was composed of the selectmen, Jonathan Gay, Jeremiah Woodcock, Thomas Metcalf and Eleazer Kingsbury.

Changing The Boundaries

As established in 171 1, Needham included the present Town of Wellesley and a part of Natick. On October 3, 1774, the westerly part was set off as a precinct and about four years later was organized as a separate parish. Natick was set off from Dedham in 1781. By an act of the General Court in 1797, the tract known as the "Needham Leg," containing 1,656 acres, was added to Natick, but Needham received in return 404 acres from Natick in another place, the change making both the towns of better shape. On June 21, 1803, the Turtle Island, at the Upper Falls of the Charles River, was taken from Needham and annexed to Newton. The Town of Wellesley was set off" on April 6, 1881, reducing Needham to its present dimensions.

Town Hall

In the erection of the Town of Wellesley in 1881, the town hall that had served Needham for a number of years went to the new town. Needham received from Wellesley about thirty thousand dollars, which was applied chiefly to the payment of the town debt. Town meetings were held in hired halls for about twenty years, but on November 26, 1901, a committee was appointed to consider the advisability of building a new town hall. The committee made a report in favor of such a movement, and on March 17, 1902, the following building committee was appointed : Rodman P. Snelling, Daniel W. Richards, Emery Grover, John E. Buckley and Harrie S. Whittemore. Plans were made by Winslow & Bigelow, architects, and the contract was awarded to Mead, Mason & Company. The corner-stone was laid by the Masonic fraternity on September 2, 1902, and the building was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies on the evening of December 22, 1903. The cost, including the furnishings, was $57,500. The structure stands on the common, so that nothing was paid for land. It is one of the best appointed town halls in the county. The ceremony of the corner-stone laying was made a part of "Needham Old Home Week" and was attended by a large concourse of people.

In March, 1887, a committee, consisting of Dr. Albert E. Miller, C. A. Hicks, Thomas F. Peabody, James E. Cahill and William Carter, was appointed to investigate the sources of a water supply and report at a subsequent meeting. The following July an appropriation of $500 was made for the use of the committee, and on March 8, 1888, an act was approved authorizing the town to issue bonds to the amount of $75,000, to establish a system of waterworks. Later acts authorized bond issues aggregating $280,000. One provision of the act of 1888 was that it was not to become effective until approved by a vote of two-thirds of the legal voters of the town. On November 7, 1889, the necessary two-thirds vote was obtained, the proposition having twice been defeated, and on December 3, 1889, the first board of water commissioners was elected, viz. : John Moseley, John M. Hodge and James Mackintosh.

During the summer and fall of 1890 the waterworks were sufficiently completed to furnish water to the more densely populated parts of the town, the supply being taken from Colburn Spring. In October, 1897, a water reservation was established by the purchase of the Colburn farm of seventy-three and a half acres, and the first well was sunk soon afterward. Well No. 2 was added in 1900 and in 1902 the Hicks Spring, with seven acres adjoining, was added to the reservation. By 1905 the water mains were extended to all parts of the town.

Fire Department

The first official mention in the Needham records regarding fire protection is in the minutes of the meeting of March 4, 1833, when George W. Hoogs, William Flagg, William Pierce, David C. Mills, Tyler Pettee and Elisha Lyon were elected firewards. During the next five years volunteer companies were evidently organized, as on April 3, 1838, the town voted to exempt engine men from poll tax. In 1840 the town voted to "furnish a hose carriage for the use of the engine company at the Lower Falls, the cost not to exceed thirty-five dollars." Three years later Colonel Rice, William Flagg, Lyman Greenwood, Galen Orr, Elisha Lyon and Richard Boynton were appointed a committee to raise money by subscription for a new engine for the Lower Falls, notwithstanding a majority of the members of the fire company there were Newton men and the apparatus was kept on their side of the river. The committee was also instructed to consider the question of providing fire protection at the Upper Falls, where an engine company had been organized. No report of this committee can be found.

In 1844 the town appropriated the sum of $150 for the different engine companies, to be distributed as follows: Lower Falls, $60; East Needham, $60;

Upper Falls, $30. Very few changes were made in the department during the next thirty years, further than to replace old apparatus with new as it wore out, and the introduction of new members of the several companies as old ones dropped out of service. The records of the town meeting of 1874 show that the Cataract Engine Company was allowed $296.28 and the Mechanics Engine Company, $123.42, "for services at fires in excess of the $500 appropriated."

New engine houses were erected at Needham Heights and on Chestnut Street in 1885, at a cost of $3,000, and on March 4, 1889, an appropriation of $900 was made for the installation of a fire alarm system, an arrangement being made that the bells of the First Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church should be used as alarm bells. Boxes were placed at the different engine houses and one at the corner of Nehoiden and Rosemary streets. The alarm system was installed by Henry D. Rodgers, who was the first superintendent.

The first hook and ladder truck (purchased in 1882 at a cost of $760) was replaced by a new one in 1890, when a new company was formed, the department then numbering ninety men. In 1901 the Firemen's Relief Association was organized for the purpose of caring for sick or disabled members. A combination chemical and hose wagon was purchased for $1,200 in 1905, and a second was purchased about two years later at a cost of $1,800. Since then the department has been improved along general lines and is now in first class condition, both in organization and equipment.

Electric Light

The first street lights were introduced in 1874, in which year the town paid $150 for maintaining forty-six lights. In 1878 the number of lights had increased to 179 and the cost to the town for their maintenance was $450. An act of the General Court in 1881 authorized the Newton and Watertown Gas Light Company to extend its pipes into Needham, but only a part of the town ever received any benefit. In 1883 James Mackintosh raised $1,320 by subscription for the establishment of eighty-eight street lamps, for which the town agreed to care. Ten years later the number was increased to 127 lamps.

Under the act of 1891, Massachusetts towns were authorized to construct their own lighting plants. The provisions of this act were accepted by the people of Needham on March 7, 1892, and at another meeting on June 23, 1893, the selectmen were authorized to issue bonds for $10,000, and to be commissioners of a sinking fund, the money received from the sale of the bonds to be used for the purpose of constructing a municipal lighting plant. Before anything was done under this order, the selectmen were instructed by a meeting held on September 15, 1893, to enter into a contract with the Eliot Falls Electric Light Company to furnish current, and an additional appropriation of $3,500 was made for the erection of poles, etc., the money to be raised by the sale of bonds. Nineteen miles of poles and wires were placed by the Hawes Electric Company, and late in the year the town received its first electric lights. The Eliot Falls Company was succeeded by the Natick Gas and Electric Company, and in 1898 the Needham contract was renewed with the 'latter company for five years. In 1903 the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Boston purchased the holdings of the Natick Company and since then light has been furnished by the Edison Company.

On May 17, 1826, a postoffice was established at Needham - the first in the town - with Rufus Mills as the first postmaster. He first kept the office in his house, using a small trunk as a receptacle for the mail, but later removed it to Daniel Kingsbury's store. A few years ago the little trunk was kept on exhibition for several days at the postoffice, to show the beginning of Needham's mail facilities, and it was viewed by a large number of people with manifest curiosity.

The second postoffice was established at West Needham, with Charles Noyes as postmaster. The exact date when this office was ordered by the postoffice department cannot be ascertained, but it was prior to 1830, as in that year mail was delivered three times a week by the stages running between Boston and Natick. Noyes held the position of postmaster but a short time, when he was succeeded by William Flagg, who served for twenty-five years. The site of this office is now in the Town of Wellesley.

On January 6, 185 1, the third postoffice in the town was established at Charles River Village, with Josiah Newell as postmaster. In November of the same year a postoffice was established at Grantville in charge of William H. Adams as postmaster. Grantville was made a railroad station in 1884. It is now in the Town of Wellesley.

The postoffice at Highlandville (now Needham Heights) was established on December 19, 1871. Jonathan Avery was the first postmaster at this office. Rural free delivery was inaugurated in Needham on June 4, 1900.

A Historic Monument

In 185 1 the town erected a monument upon an elevation in the old cemetery to commemorate the valor of the Needham men who lost their lives in the Revolutionary war. The monument is in the form of a granite obelisk, and upon the side next to the public street is the inscription : "In memory of John Bacon, Amos Mills, Elisha Mills, Jonathan Parker and Nathaniel Chamberlain, who fell at Lexington April 19, 1775. For liberty they died."

John Bacon was first lieutenant in Capt. Caleb Kingsbury's company ; Amos Mills and Nathaniel Chamberlain were privates in the same company ; Elisha Mills was a sergeant and Jonathan Parker a private in Capt. Robert Smith's company. A history of these companies will be found in the chapter on the Revolution.

The Town Seal

The design of the Needham town seal is certainly appropriate and conveys an idea of the town's history. In the center are two white men and an Indian in a circle, representing the purchase of the lands from the natives ; on the left is a wigwam and on the right a large tree, under which the treaty was held, and in the background is a hill, representing Magus Hill. In the circle surrounding this design are the words, "Town of Needham, Incorporated, 171 1."

Modern Needham

Besides the public utilities above enumerated, Needham has a banking institution, a fine public library, a good public school system, excellent highways, a number of manufacturing enterprises, especially in knit goods, mercantile houses in keeping with the demands of the population, churches of the leading denominations, lodges of the principal fraternal organizations, and a number of social and literary clubs. In 1910 the population was 5,026. The town then stood eleventh in population, but the state census of 191 5 raised it to the ninth place, giving it a population of 6,542, a gain of 1,516 in five years. The assessed valuation of property in 191 5 was $8,765,666, only eight of the Norfolk County towns returning a larger valuation.