Abington Town

A. I. Randall. Printer

ABINGTON, Massachusetts, which celebrates the Two Hundredth Anniversary of its corporate existence June 9-15, 1912, is located on the highest lands between Boston Harbor and Narragansett Bay in the County of Plymouth. The center of the town is nearly equi-distant from Boston and Plymouth, about 19 miles from each, on the Plymouth Division of the X. V., X. H. & H. R. R.

In Council. - Upon reading a petition of several of the inhabitants of the easterly part of the town of Bridgewater, and several proprietors of land adjoining, praying to be made a township, the whole of the said tract of land containing about six miles in length and about live miles and a half in breadth - bounded on the north with the line of the late Colonies of Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth, and upon the town of Scituate, south with the line that is the southerly bounds of the lands of John Cushing Sen'r and Jun'r Esqrs - and from thence on the south-westerly side by certain bounds which the town of Bridgewater have set up and prefixed to Beaver Brook - and on the west with the said brook until it comes to the extent of the township of Bridgewater northward - together with a small gore of land lying between the said town of Bridgewater and the line of the aforesaid colonies. The town of Bridgewater having signified their consent thereto, and a plat of the said land being now presented, and the petitioners having set forth that they have settled a learned orthodox minister -

Ordered, That the prayer of the petitioners be granted. The tract of land within mentioned to be erected into a town, and that the town be named Abingdon.

The Indian name for the town of Abington was Manamooskeagin, which signifies many beavers. The first settlements were made about 1668 and until the time of the first division it was the largest and most important town in the County.

The first division was in 1*74 when the town of Rockland was set off, the date of incorporation being- March '-> of that year. March 4, 1S7.">, another portion with a small part of East Bridgewater was incorporated as the town of South Abington, now Whitman.

At the time of its incorporation Abington had less than 300 inhabitants: at the present time the population of the old town as given by the town assessors is 19637, divided as follows: Abington 5336, Rockland 6928, Whitman 7373.

the principal business. Saw mills were established as early as 1698 and timber and plank for ship building" was sold in large quantities along the North river, in Hanover and Scituate and also in Duxbury, Plymouth, Hingham, Weymouth and Boston. Capt. Obadiah Hersey of wSouth Abington furnished a lot of white oak planks for the celebrated frigate "Constitution." These planks were very heavy, three of them making a team load and two days being required for a trip to Boston and return. Wooden boxes were manufactured at an early date and still continue one of the important industries of the town. In the early days important iron industries were located in the town and cannon and shot was made for use in the war of the Revolution. Church bells were also made, the first two used in the first church and the only ones used up to 1850 being cast in the town by a bell-founder employed by Col. Aaron Hobart. The manufacture of tacks and brads was early established and residents of this vicinity are closely identified with the evolution of this industry from the time tacks were cut from iron hoops and headed up with a hammer one by one, to the present method of machine manufacture. The manufacture of boots and shoes was begun at an early date and with the making of lasts, heels and other leather working soon became and is today the leading industry. Abington, Rockland and Whitman, located as they are in the heart of the shoe manufacturing district, and peopled by a class of boot and shoe operatives second to none in ability and efficiency, present most favorable conditions and offer exceptional advantages for the establishment and up-building of shoe manufacture and kindred industries.

The district is well served by banks, there being a National Bank in Abington and one in Whitman and a Trust Company in Rockland; also a Saving's Bank and Co-operative Bank in each of the three towns. In addition to this the Whitman Savings Bank has also a Savings Bank Life Insurance Department.

In 17o2 the first school house was built, and ever since the school question has been an important one in the towns. Every effort is made to provide the best possible public school education and with the liberal appropriation voted by the citizens the schools are second to none in efficient teaching, equipment, and, as a rule, are located in the best of modern school buildings.

In common with other old towns of this state the church was established before the town. In 1710 the first meeting house was erected, and on the 8th of December, 1711, the first minister came to Abington to settle by unanimous call of the people. There was only one parish until 1808 and all parish business was done at town meetings. The original first parish is now the First Congregational Church and

Parish in Abington Center where are also located the New Jerusalem Church, the First Universalist Church, the Catholic Church and the General Church of the New Jerusalem. In North Abington is the Fourth Congregational Church, the First Baptist, and in the West part, the Methodist. At Rockland is the First Congregational Church, setoff from the First Parish in 1812, the First Baptist Church, Methodist Church, Unitarian Church, Catholic Church and Christian Science Church. At Whitman is the First Congregational Church, set off from the First Parish in 1807, the First Baptist Church, the Methodist Church, the Unitarian Church, the Catholic Church, the Advent Christian Church and the Episcopal Church.

All three towns have an excellent water supply, Abington and Rockland operating joint water works with pumping station located at and water taken from Big Sandy Pond, in Pembroke, Mass. Whitman is supplied with water from Silver Lake in Kingston in connection with the city of Brockton water system.

The streets are finely lighted by electricity, which is also furnished for power, illumination and other domestic uses by the Electric Light & Powrer Co. of Abington and Rockland and the Edison Company in Whitman. The Old Colony Gas Company supplies gas for all mechanical and domestic uses to all three towns.

There are two railroad stations in Abington, one at the Center and one at the North, one in Rockland and two in Whitman. From Abington there are 14 trains to Boston each day, the average running time being 43 minutes; and 7 to Plymouth, and on Sundays 4 trains. North Abington and Whitman have in addition one express train each way. Rockland has 12 trains a day the average runningtime being 44 minutes. In addition to the above there are additional trains on Saturdays and during the summer. Electric cars run to all adjoining towns and give half -hourly connection with the City of Brockton, and in the summer time with Nantasket Beach and other summer resorts.

Abington, Rockland and Whitman are to quite an extent residential towns with well kept places and shaded streets, the beautiful elms being a great attraction. They have public libraries, Y. M. C. A., boys' organizations, G. A. R. and kindred organizations, a variety of well established secret societies, woman's clubs and an active Board of Trade in each town.

WTith natural beauty and convenience of location, hi.y'h standards of municipal and individual life, Abington, Rockland and Whitman possess all the characteristics of the ideal New England town.

As the result of considerable thought and discussion regarding- a proper observance of 200 years of existence as a corporate community at the annual meeting of the town of Abington held March 14th, 1910, it was

Voted, That the selectmen, town treasurer and town clerk be chosen a committee to act jointly with a like committee to be chosen by the towns of Rockland and Whitman in makingarrangements for the celebration in 1912 of the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Abington, and that the committee be authorized and directed, acting jointly with like committees of the other towns which comprise the old town of Abington, to formulate such plans for the celebration as may be deemed advisable; and that the joint committee be requested to make, and the selectmen to publish in the next annual town report, a general report of the arrangements proposed for the celebration.

Like votes were passed at the annual town meetings of Rockland and Whitman in March of the same year, with the addition to the committee of the representatives to the general court; and, after organizing, the general committee voted that all selectmen, town treasurers, town clerks and representatives to the general court of the towns of Abington, Rockland and Whitman for the years 1!>K>, 1911 and 1912 should constitute the general committee.

Under these votes, the individuals whose names follow constitute the general committee having full charge and oversight of every event in connection with the celebration. The different lines of work have been assigned to the sub-committees whose names and pictures appear on the succeeding pages.

Voted, That entire responsibility and authority for the placing of all contracts in the name of the towns of Abington, Rockland and Whitman, exceeding twenty-five dollars in amount, be given to the committee on expenditures; and that, in passing any vote approving or accepting the report of any special committee, the recommendations of a special committee that a contract be made at a specified price with any person, organization or company named therein be deemed an approval of the recommendation only to the extent that a contract for a price not exceeding the amount named in the recommendation is authorized; and that all special committees furnish to the committee on expenditures upon request of that committee all information concerning the contract recommended in their possession.

TI I E inhabitants of Abington have always taken a deep interest in all important local, state, and national questions. In every war in which our country has been engaged a full quota of soldiers has been furnished and in the call of Massachusetts for volunteers at the opening of the Civil War, the company from old Abington was the first to respond. Previous to the Civil War, Abington was in the forefront in the discussion of the slavery question, and meetings in the cause of abolition of slavery were held in Island Grove from 1846 to L865, at which all the leaders of that movement were speakers, and which were attended by crowds of sympathizers from far and near. Nothing had ever been done to suitably mark this historic spot except to acquire the land for a public park, which was done some years ago, until 1909 when Capt. Moses N. Arnold of the 12th Massachusetts Volunteers, a native of Abington, erected a boulder bearing a bronze plate with this inscription:

"Meetings in the cause of abolition of slavery were held in this Grove yearly from 1846 to 1865. On this spot William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Edmund Quincy, Theodore Parker, Francis Jackson, Parker Pillsbury, George Thompson, Abby Kelley Foster, Lucy Stone, and others addressed the people, suffering all manner of abuse the abolitionists stood steadfast until the slave was made free. Reader take heed! Stand for the right though power and wealth and all your fellows turn against you and persecute you. "I am in earnest - I will not equivocate - I will not excuse - I will not retreat a single inch - and I will be heard". Erected by an Abington Soldier who served and was wounded in the war which ended slavery.

No suitable memorial having been erected to the veterans of the Civil War although the local W. R. C. had been at work collecting funds for this purpose for some time, the matter was finally taken up by the town and at the annual meeting of the town of Abington in March, 1910, it was

Voted, That a committee of twelve to consist of the park commissioners, the moderator, and eight other members to be appointed by the moderator, be chosen to serve without pay to investigate the matter of a soldiers' memorial bridge or soldiers' monument and report in writing in the next annual town report.

The moderator appointed the following eight other members of the committee: Mrs. Mary W. Gomley, William B. Arnold, William J. Coughlan, Lewis A. Crossett, Winslow L. Jones, William S. O'Brien, Edward J. Rourke, Frank E. Warren.

At the annual meeting of the inhabitants of the town of Abington, held March 11th, 1912, it was voted that William H. Nash, this year elected park commissioner, and John W. Sproul, who served on the committee after the decease of Park Commissioner Cyrus Nelson, be added to the committee on memorial bridge and arch.

This committee wisely decided that the proper place tor the memorial was on the historic ground of Island Grove Park and recommended to the town that a bridge to stand as a memorial of the 200th Anniversary be built from the end of Wilson Place to the park, at the end of which should be erected the soldiers' memorial in the form of an arch. The town accepted the report, voted the appropriation and with the addition of the funds collected by the Grand Army organizations and substantial private subscriptions, the work is nearing completion in accordance with plans and specifications prepared by J. Williams Beal, architect, and Olmstead Bros., landscape architects. The bronze eagle is the work of Bela Pratt, sculptor. The contract for construction of the arch was secured by Emerson & Norris and the bridge by Wilson & Tomlinson, both Boston firms. The grading and stone work of the Lake street approach is being completed under direction of Supt. of Streets, E. J. Rourke.

The bridge, including the piers, is of cement with iron railing; the arch of hammered cement surmounted by a bronze eagle 11 feet high. On the supporting columns of the arch, facing the water, are life-size bas-relief figures, one representing a soldier and the other a sailor of the Civil War. On the grove side are panels for the inscriptions.

The arch platform is 12 feet above water level; it is 50 feet from buttress of bridge to base of arch horizontally. The base of arch, including parapet walls, is 33 feet wide. The arch proper is 1!) feet wide, 2.") feet high and 5 feet 3 inches thick. It is 50 feet from the water line to the top of the eagle's wing's.

IN the following pages will be found the Announcements of Committees, Order of Church Services and Programs of all events which are an official part of the celebration and approved by the General Committee, arranged in alphabetical order under the day of the week on which each takes place.

Chairman Alfred W. Donovan of the Committee on Civic and Trades Parade, accompanied by his mounted marshals and aids, in the costumes of ancient heralds, after the blare of trumpets has called the people, beginning at Union Square, Rockland, at eight o'clock in the morning, and then proceeding to the corner of Brighton street and North avenue in North Abington, and from thence to the town squares in Abington and Whitman, on Sunday, June 9th, has kindly consented to comply with the request of the General Committee to make proclamation as follows: -

Ye General Committee appointed by ye towns of Abington, Rockland and Whitman for ye celebration of ye two hundredth anniversary of ye incorporation of ye town of Abington send greeting.

Vested with ye sovereign authority of ye will of ye citizens, appreciative of ye honor eonferred upon them, mindful of ye responsibilities entailed in ye worthy performance of ye duties of arranging for and successfully carrying through ye celebration, ye General Committee proclaim ye week beginning ye ninth day of ye June in ye year of ye Lord one thousand nine hundred and twelve, one grand holiday; and ye General Committee further command all ye people - ye men, ye women, ye children - mindful of ye benefits, to give thanks to ye good God for ye many blessings vouchsafed; forgetful of ye sordid cares, to rejoice and be glad; enjoying ye fruit of ye labors of ye hardy men and sturdy women who planted in ye then primeval forests ye seed - ye fruitful seed - of ye Christian civilization, to give honor to their memories; grateful for ye freedom, to pay homage to those who gave their lives for the freedom which ye enjoy; realizing that ye town, ye nation, can rise no higher than its source - ye people, ye individuals, who compose ye town, ye nation, - to pledge anew a solemn vow to greater fealty to ye town, ye nation, and higher devotion to ye duties of eitizenship; knowing that ye continued greatness and glory and advancement of ye town, ye nation, must depend upon ye children and ye children's children, to impress upon ye children of today, ye lesson, ye example of ye heroes, ye patriots, ye statesmen, and ye humble toilers, who have worked for ye greater glory of ye God, ye best interests of ye town and ye advancement and ye prosperity of ye nation.

Arrangements have been made to transport all aged and infirm people to their respective churches. Application should be made to members of the Committee on Transportation. (See page twentynine. )

New Ierusalem Church

At the 9.30 sen ice the music will be rendered l>\ tin Junior Choir of 35 voices under the direction ol Miss Agnes G. Carney. Organist, assisted bs Misses Esther McGrath, Marguerite Carne> and Man L. Locke, Violinists

Reading the Lesson Sermon from the Bible and correlative passages from the Christian Science textbook, "Science ami Health with Key to the Scripture-" by Mary Baker Eddy.

Reading from Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health" - "The Scientific Statement of Being" and the correlative Scripture according to 1 John 3 : 1-3.

Sports

At 9.30 A. M. preliminary contests in each town under its local Sports Committee among" pupils of the Public Schools of the following grades:

The parade will start at Grand Army Hall, Abington, at one o'clock in the afternoon and proceed through Washington street to Centre Avenue, Centre Avenue to Lake street, Lake street to the memorial bridge, where the parade will be reviewed by President Taft and invited guests, and over the memorial bridge to Island Grove Park.

( >n arriving at the memorial arch Dr. Frank G. Wheatley, chairman of the committee appointed by the town of Abington for the erection of the bridge and arch, will present the bridge and arch to the town, and Winslow L. Jones, chairman of the selectmen of the town of Abington, will accept it and present it to McPherson Post, No. 73, Grand Army of the Republic, for dedication in accordance with the prescribed services of the Grand Army of the Republic.

After the dedicatory services the invited guests and Grand Army veterans will march to the speakers' stand on Island Grove Park and the dedicatory exercises will be concluded with the following program:

Address

At the close of the speaking all arc invited to take part with the chorus in singing "America" with accompaniment of the consolidated bands.

Home Talent Concert

To be rendered by artists now or formerly of Rockland. Under the direction of the Rockland members of the Music Committee. No admission fee.

The Abington Schools will leave cars on South Avenue at junction of Broad street, form in line on Broad and march to junction of Washington street.

The lines will march through Washington street. Park Avenue, pass the reviewing' stand, thence by Court street, Whitman Avenue, to the Park, arriving at 10.30 A. M.

Flag Salute

Admission by ticket apportioned upon application in accordance with plan and prices adopted by the Committee on Official Ball as explained in circular already issued by them.

Forenoon

Starting from Railroad Station, Whitman, at eight o'clock in the morning" and proceeding through South Avenue to Washington street, thence via Washington street through Abington and North Abington via Washington street and North Avenue to Union street, Rockland, and through Union street to the Rockland Railroad Station where the procession will be dismissed.

The procession will be reviewed in Rockland by His Excellency Governor Foss, Council and Staff, and by the General Committee, invited guests, Chief Marshall and Aids.

So many details must be perfected before a complete order of the formation of the parade can be definitely stated that announcement of formation will be made at a later date.

The Committee on Transportation will provide conveyance for the General Committee, invited guests and Grand Army in the parade. All others who participate must arran.ee their own transportation.

Afternoon

SALUTATION AND GREETINGS from those who were present at the One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Incorporation of the Town - Charles W. Howland.

To be rendered by artists now or formerly of the present town of Abington. Under the direction of the Abington members of the Music Committee. No admission fee.

To all the women of the towns of Abington, Rockland and Whitman, a cordial invitation is extended to attend the reception and bringall women guests.

The following have been invited to be guests on this occasion: Mrs. Poss, wife of Gov. Foss; Mrs. Harris, wife of Congressman Harris; Miss Sarah Louise Arnold, Dean of Simmons College; Miss Gertrude Bigelow of Boston.

There will be a musical and literary entertainment participated in by Miss Arnold, Miss Bigelow, Mrs. Anna Clifford Howard, Miss Mildred S. Bass and others. Also an orchestra of ten pieces.

Special cars will be provided for the accommodation of those who desire to attend from Abington and Whitman, leaving Whitman Railroad Station at 1.45; Post Office, Abington. at 2.10; and Post Office, North Abinqton, at 2.20.