Chelsea City

Chelsea City

Chehsea, then comprising Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop, was set off from Boston in 1739. The Post-Office at Chelsea was established July 0, 1833. In 1846 North Chelsea, comprising Revere and Winthrop, was set off. In 1857 Chelsea became a City. It covers about 1,440 acres, has about 30,000 inhabitants (August 1, 1893), 5,000 houses, fifty miles of streets, and the highest point rises two hundred and twenty feet above sea level.

The first Postmaster at Chelsea was Horatio Alger (the Otffcial Registers call him Algier), father of the story teller. He served until March 31, 1843. His successor was Abel Bowen. From 1844 to 1850 Benjamin Dodge served. Mrs. Sarah A. Newell was Postmaster from 1850 to 1854; Gideon W. Young from 1854 to 1861; Hadley P. Burrill from 1861 to 1869; Clifton A. Blanchard from 1869 to June 30, 1873, when the independent Post-Otficc ceased, being changed to a Station of the Boston Post-OiSce.

Mr. Blanchard continued as vSuperintcndent until his death in 1879. His successor was Mrs. Mary A. Crowell (now Mrs. William G. Wheeler), appointed October 17, 1879, who continued until 1887. William H. Cate, Jr., served from 1887 imtil October, 1889; Ezra O. Winsor from November 1, 1889. The .Station at Chelsea is thought a model establishment. It employs four Clerks, eighteen Letter-Carriers, and lias daily more than twelve arrivals and despatches of mails.

The Post-Office at Dorchester was established April 3, 1830. Previously the town was supplied from Boston, and from 1833 to 1836 from Roxbury.

The first Postmaster was Jesse Bradshaw, whose salary in 1839 was $98.05. His successor was Robert Vose, Sr. , whose salary in 1839 was $318.38. Joseph Marshall and James Thorndike served next. Marshall's salary from July 1, 1841, to June 30, 1843, was $383.78, besides a surplus of $851.71 paid to the Department. Robert Vose, Jr., appears to have served from 1844 to 1873. In 1870 his salary was $350. But there were three additional Post-Offices in Dorchester: Harrison Square, Mattapan, and Neponset Village. So it happened that Dorchester never

The Postal Service. 40.1

Dorchester became a Station July 1, 1873. George H. Rexford was Superintendent from September, 187o, until he was succeeded, on August 1, 1882, by Wendell Jones, the present incumbent.

Harrison vSquare was named after the elder President Harrison. The Post-Office at Harrison Scjuare was establi.shed July 10, 184'.t. Abraham Noyes appears to have been the first Postmaster; Isaac Field the second; Jeremiah Sanborn, Jr., the third and last, under Republican rule. The Post-Office at Harrison Square ceased on June 30, 1873. For a short time a .Station was maintained, but it was soon merged in the Dorchester Station.

The Post-Office at Nepon.set Village was established March 2, 183!). The first Postmaster appears to have been O. P. Bacon, who served until Feb. IS, 1851. The next was Daniel Spear; then Charles Hunt, Jabez Howland, and Aniory C. Southworth, who served when the Post- Office at Neponset Village ceased, on June 30, 1873, to be continued for a short time as a Station called Nepon.set. Though the largest of the four Dorchester offices, Neponset was merged in the Dorchester

East Boston

East Boston includes Breed's Island and all the smaller islands in the harbor, but only East Boston proper, with Breed's Island, are served by the East-Boston Station. The area is about 1,635 acres, the population about 37,600.

Though East Boston was never an independent town, it was given an independent Post-Office on May 15, 1860. On May 1, 1800, it was made the first Station under the Boston Post-Office.

The first Postmaster at East Boston was George H. Plummer. In 1853 James B. Allen was appointed. He died, and on March G, 1854, Samuel C. Allen, his father, succeeded. He died April 7, 1860. His allowance in 1857 was $-2,066.85, beside a surplus of $2,067. 23 paid to the Department. He was a member of the Boston School Committee

Cyrus Washburn was appointed Superintendent of the East-Boston Station on May 8, 1800. In 1802 he was succeeded by Ebenezer Atkins, who introduced free delivery in 1803. Ebenezer Atkins had served in the Boston Common Council of 1854, and as Alderman of Boston in 1858, 1859 and 1800. In 1800 Rawlins T. Atkins succeeded, and in December of the same year Charles T. Jenkins. He was succeeded on July 1, 1887, by Benjamin J. Sullivan. George E. Harrington succeeded on September 1, 1891.

East Cambridge

The Post-Office at East Cambridge, the second of five established in Cambridge, was created on March 17, 1828, when John Quincy Adams was President, and John McLean Postmaster-General. The first Postmaster was Eleazer Hooper. The reign of Jackson made vSamuel S. Green Postmaster, who served until April 24, 1841. He was born at Maiden, January 12, 1782; he was Assessor at Cambridge 1824-37 and 1843-40, later on a Custom-House officer, and died September 8, 1872, He was .succeeded b}' John W. Donahan, and in 1845, bv Rufus Shattuck.

The Fillmore succession, with Nathan K. Hall as Postmaster-General, made Eli C. Kin.sley Postmaster, to be replaced, imder Pierce and James Campbell, by L. wS. Parker. Andrew Fogg followed, withan allowance of $1,008.05, in 1855. N. K. Noble served tmder Republicans. His salary rose to $1,900; in 1808 he was succeeded by Martha A. Langley, who served until 1872; but the Post-Office at East Cambridge ceased on June 30, 1873. Rufus R. Wade, the last Postmaster, continued in charge of the Station; in 1879 Miss Ella M. vStevens succeeded; Lsley M. Fogertyin 1883; John A. Collins on November 1, 1887.

Jamaica Plain

Jamaica Plain used to be in Roxbury, but was a part of West Roxbury when that town was set off in 1851. West Roxburv was merged in Boston in 1874.

The Post-Office at Jamaica Plain was established January 12, 1839. The first Postmaster was Joshua Seaver, who served also as Postmaster at Roxbur}-, 1845-49, and was Clerk of the Roxbur}' Common Council for tifteeii years. By lS:i7 Robert Seaver was Postmaster at )aiiiaica Plain, and served to April 14,- 1840. The next Postmaster was Jacob P. Geor;^-e, who was also a member of the Roxbury Common Council in ]S5() and 1851. Then Robert Seaver was reappointed. Mrs. Maria A. Robin.son followed ; then vSilas Poole, who continued also as Superintendent when Jamaica Plain became a Boston Station, June 1, 187"). The salary in 187'U was $1,(K)(), which made Jamaica Plain a Presidential office.

The Superintendent next after Poole was Nelson Hayward Fuller, succeeded in April, 1887, by John Lewis, who had entered the postal service in 1845, and had been Superintendent of Mails at the Boston office from 1853 to 1877.

Boylston .Station, near the Jamaica-Plain Post-Office, was an independent Post-Office from 1871 to Ma}' 31, 1875, with Albert Tower as Postmaster. It appears to have been continued as a vSub-Station, with Edward vS. Fernald in charge, to March lil, 1S7G.

As Neponset, at the mouth of the Neponset river, had a Post-Office, the Upper Falls or Mattapan would not have less. Mattapan is the most southerly village in Dorchester, and retains the Indian name for all Dorchester.

The Post-Office at Mattapan was established August G, 1856, and the first Postmaster was George L. Fisher. His successor was Elisabeth Fisher. On July 1, 1873, Mattapan became a Station of the Boston office, Charles E. Stevenson being the last of the Mattapan Postmasters.

From July 1, 1873, to August 31, 1800, Jonathan B. L. Bartlett had charge of the Station. September 1, 1800, John Henry Cullen succeeded; Andrew J. Holbrook on March 21, 1802.

North Cambridge

D. W. C. Barron was the first Postmaster; then James H. Davis. James B. Nason served from 1850, or earlier, to June 17, 1868. John A. Goodwin was the last. Arthur L. Jordan took charge of the Station in February, 1874.