Needham Town (part 10 of 12)

Questions Of Domicile Or Settlement

The legal domicile of persons receiving, or asking, aid from a town was a fertile source of controversies and litigation two centuries ago, as it is to-day, and Needham had its share, sometimes involving considerable expense, and giving the selectmen an opportunity to see something of the world. In 1742 a widow living in Needham, and who had been married there In 1728, petitioned the General Court for leave to sell one third of her late husband's real estate, which had been set off to her by the Judge of Probate, although the deceased had left all of his property to Jonathan Townsend and Samuel Smith. She was ordered to serve notice on a man who was an heir-at-law of the testator. General Court Records, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 380 and 410. From 1769 to 1771 Needham had a contest with Southborough as to the settlement of this woman, who had apparently deeded some land to the Town of Needham, presumably as part payment for aid. The case was heard in the Court at Worcester, and in 1771 Southborough was ordered to pay to Needham £19, 9s., 4d., which sum must have been largely expended in travelling, as Capt. Eleazer Kingsbery, Lieutenant Mackintafh and William Smith, the special committee on behalf of Needham, were not the only citizens whose presence was required at Worcester. Lieutenant Day had investigated the matter at Southborough, and "the Lawer in the affair" was paid twelve shlHIngs, exactly the amount that Benjamin Mills charged for a horse "to Worcefter Laft march". Captain Kingsbery, who presumably had oxen only, obtained William Fuller's horse in order to attend court. The year 1787 saw a controversy with Framingham as to the domicile of two families, one of which, consisting of a man, his wife and five children, had been assisted by Needham.

During 1793 and 1794 a similar difficulty required journeys to Worcester and Boston, and the payment of £1, los. to "Esq. Ward", the town counsel. In addition to visiting other towns to obtain facts it was often necessary to remove poor persons from one town to another.

As early as 1744 the selectmen occasionally secured a bond to protect, or Indemnify, the town on account of a poor person, or family, within its borders, and for more than a century Instances will be found in the Acts and Resolves of reimbursement by the State, when it was legally

The War of the Revolution brought upon the town the care of the soldiers, and of those they left at home; moreover, the years following the war were not prosperous, and Needham had many inhabitants who received aid between 1 78 1 and 1800. The writer has before him the long list of the poor of our town from its incorporation to the close of 185 1, and there were very respectable people among them, some of whom had themselves been overseers of the poor when in their prime. In our cemetery there are at least one handsome monument and several gravestones, placed by descendants or relatives, above the remains of persons who died at the Town Farm. In 1789 Robert Fuller was paid for "writing Seven Indentures to bind out poor Children". By these indentures girls remained in the control of the town until they were eighteen years of age. For many years the town had to pay money on account of its citizens who were prisoners in the "Goal" at Dedham, or in the House of Correction in Boston, especially when the imprisonment was for debt, and the man's release was necessary to keep his family "off the town".

From 1803 to 1807 the town had an undesirable family occupying George Newell's house, and their foraging was expensive, as they did much damage to Philip Floyd and others, besides burning Nathaniel BuUard's posts and rails; for all of which the town paid.

The Poor-Farm

On May 19, 1773, the town rejected a proposition to obtain "a work Houfe for the Poor of the Town", and in 1778 twice declined to have "a Houfe for Such of the poor as have no house to live in". Subsequent to 1800 the subject was repeatedly before the town, and on April 7, 1828, Moses Garfield, Major Mcintosh, General Rice, Benjamin Slack, Esq., Artemas Newell, Esq., Elisha Lyon, Esq., and Capt.

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George Smith were appointed a committee "to see how they can purches a farm for a Poor house and report at the adjournment of this meeting". Later in the day the town voted to buy the Emily Kingsbury farm, then owned by John Welles of Boston, and directed Captain Gay, Aaron Smith, Esq., and Artemas Newell, Esq., to receive the deed from Mr. Welles. Thus fifty-five years after the first consideration of the matter, and after several committees had reported upon it, a poor-house was obtained, and the annual placing out of the poor to the lowest bidder ceased in Needham. A committee was named to prescribe rules and regulations for the government of the poor-house, and supplies were purchased for it, and for the farm, during the summer and autumn of 1828; Mrs. Kingsbury was paid $170 for carts and farm implements. At the annual meeting in 1830 a committee was appointed to consider buying four acres of land adjoining the poor-farm, and in April Artemas Newell, Esq., Amraphel Smith and Aaron Smith were to report on the cost of the "paupers" for two years. This was the first appearance of the annual committee, consisting of three men, appointed to investigate the condition of affairs at the almshouse, and the committee reported in print from 1853 to 1858 inclusive.

In 1830 the town voted to insure its buildings, and William Flagg as agent obtained a policy on the almshouse for which the town paid a premium of $38.38. At the annual meeting in 1832 the town voted to buy a bathing tub "for the use of the town". It was to be kept at the almshouse, and to be under the control of the selectmen, who in January, 1834, <irew an order for $10 to pay for it. In 1830 "Almshouse Cells" had been constructed, and iron work was purchased for them. The house was damaged by lightning in 1833.

On April 3, 1838, a large committee was chosen to consider building a town house, and to estimate the cost, and on May 7 the town voted to proceed to build, choosing Jabez Smith, Dexter Ware and Spencer Fuller a building committee with instructions to consult with the selectmen as to the plan and the location. On November 12 the town met in its new hall, and appointed a large committee to take down the old house, and to remove the outbuildings. The town borrowed $500 to pay for a new piggery and other outbuildings, and the masons, Charles Wilson and Charles Underwood, as well as some of the carpenters, stayed at the house of John Kingsbury, whose bill amounted to $167.03. The new barn was built in 1857 by Timothy N. Smith, who was paid $1047, and in 1874 the town hall was much enlarged by Oliver Pickering, contractor, at a cost of upward of $9000. The first town hall was a part of the almshouse, and can hardly be considered a separate building. When it was completed in 1838 it was placed in the custody of the keeper of the almshouse, subject to the authority of the selectmen, and it was voted that "it may be occupied for public political, and other Civil meetings, that the town provide lamps for the town hall, and those that appoint meetings in said hall are to furnish oil". A year or two later a charge was made for the use of the hall for certain purposes. As late as 1852 there were no settees, or clock, in this hall.

Large committees were chosen from time to time to consider the management of the poor-farm, and in 1842 there was an article in a warrant to see if the town would rent it, but the "noes" prevailed. The question of selling the town farm was referred to a committee in 1872, who were to consider having an asylum instead, but nothing came of their deliberations, unless it was the lock-up, which was built in 1873 at a cost of about $1000. There had been an attempt to establish lock-ups in the basements of some of the school-houses, but the town wisely declined to have them.

The town had early considered buying of Moses Garfield some woodland adjoining the town farm, but apparently purchased neither peat meadow nor woodland till 1845, when

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William Pierce was paid upward of $108.41 for four acres of peat meadow. Later than 1870 peat was more or less used for fuel in Needham, and the peat, cut in long blocks and built up in piles or little towers to dry, was a familiar sight in the meadows.

Rates of interest were high, and until 1851 the town annually paid Mr. Welles $200, some years $300, without reducing the debt. The "Surplus Revenue" had been relied upon to pay for this property, and in 1837 a census was taken in order to show what sum the town might claim from the Federal Government, but there was much delay in getting the money.

At the division of the town in 1881 the average number of regular inmates of the poor-house was about twelve, some of whom lived to great age, and each spring their familiar forms appeared seated under a favorite tree. When a certain man went to the almshouse at the age of seventytwo years, he had an opportunity to associate with his father, who had been there for a long time. Many people remember both father and son, who bore the same name, and were the last representatives in Needham of one of its oldest families. Since 1881 a few individuals, entirely dependent on the town of Needham, have been boarded at this farm, which is the property of the Town of Wellesley.^ In 1899 the question of establishing a poor-farm was dismissed by a town meeting, and the arrangement with Wellesley was approved. The average appropriations for the poor have been : -

The selectmen have been annually elected as overseers of the poor the greater part of the time since 171 2. On March II, 1750/1, three overseers were chosen, and took the money oath, which fact was carefully recorded for years, and applied to the town officers generally. There does not appear to have been any election of overseers of the poor from the spring of 1761 to March 9, 1778, when Timothy Newell, Samuel Ware and Capt. William Smith were chosen. In 1779 they were chosen by "Hand Votes". There had been five of these overseers in 1757 and in other years. On April 8, 1822, Captain Gay, Artemas Newell, Capt. Elisha Lyon, Calvin Gay and William W. Mann were elected overseers of the poor, and were the first for many years, as distinct from the selectmen. In September they were authorized to draw on the town treasurer "for pauper Expenses". The separate board was not continued, but was revived again in 1845 by the choice of Otis Sawyer, Capt. Reuben Ware and Daniel Kurd, who were to serve without pay. Mr. Sawyer declined and Alvin Fuller, 2d, was elected in his place, but this distinct board was shortlived, and no determined effort has been made to restore it. From 1761 to 1789, inclusive, with the exception of 1781, '82, and possibly other years, three wardens were chosen, whose duty it was to care for the poor.^

The title of Warden, which the managers or keepers of the poor-farm bore in later times, was probably derived from these now forgotten wardens of an earlier period.

* In 1769 Capt. Caleb Kingsbery had an order for seven shillings ''that you Paid at Bofton to Git a Sitation for Lii Jonathan Day he not being willing to take the Oath of a Warden".

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The wife of the warden was quite as important as he was, and the salary, which from 1828 to 185 1 was $50 per quarter, was recorded as paid to "Israel Whitney and Wife", and invariably the efficiency of the wife was considered. For some years from 1840 a warden was advertised for when one was wanted.

French Neutrals

The dark chapter in New England history that tells the story of the forcible expulsion from their homes of the inoffensive French farmers, and their distribution in the British provinces, is reflected in the annals of Needham. The following is quoted from Vol. III., p. 1061 of the Province Laws: - "April 25, 1757. A Petition of Amos Fuller of Needham - Setting forth that there are Twelve of the French Inhabitants of Nova Scotia placed there, and as the Town is very small - Praying that they may be removed elsewhere ". The petition recites that whereas there were five of the "Nova Scotia People placed there by the Government in 1756", " the sheriff had sent twelve and one since". In consequence of this petition of Selectman Fuller the General Court ordered five of the French to be removed to Wrentham at the expense of Needham. See General Court Records, Vol. 22, p. 185; also the Province Laws (printed). Vol. IV, p. 97.

The bill sent to the General Court by the selectmen shows that Needham had provided for "Thirteen of the Familie of the Lebland^" from December 20, 1757 to February 13, 1758, but at the latter date seven of them were removed to Stoughton; the other six were in Needham to March 15, 1758, and in the care of the town. The account further states "we have Provided for Three a Old Man and his wife and One of his Dafters. Being in a ooor State of health to the 20 day day of January 1759".

An account dated March 20, 1760, and signed by all five of the selectmen, amounted to £21, is., 7d., o., and included "To 36 Gallon of milk 19 4". " Six of the Family of the Leblanc Since the 20*^ Day of January 1759: To the 20*^1 Day of March: 1760; of the Family There is an aged man and his wife near Seventy years of age; and has a Daughter Weekly not able to Labour But Little for her Mantainance". Archives, Vol. 24, p. 284.

On January 30, 1761, Samuel Watts of the Committee of the General Court "to alot to every Town in the County of Suffolk There proportion of the late Inhabitants of Nova Scotia Called French Neutures " directed an order to the selectmen of Needham "to take care of" "Francis Liblanc margreet his wife; Peter & Simeon their Sons. & you are hereby directed to Send Sibbel Liblanc to the Selectmen of the Town of Bofton, & Ann Lublanc to the Select men of the Town of Stoughton who are directed to Recive them". On page 459 is another account of the selectmen of Needham, signed by all of them, and dated March 4, 1761, for £20, l6s., 9d. expended for the French Neutrals including "Doc^ William Deming accomp*" £3, 8s., 8d. On March 2, 1762, the selectmen granted Dea. Josiah Newell 6s., 5d. which he had paid "for the Support of the old French woman; And also 13-4 for his Finding Ten Yards of Cloath for a Bed Tick for the old French woman in the year Paft". On June 28, 1762, the selectmen gave Alexander Shephard of Newton an order for £1, 6s., 8d. for his house "that our French Nutrals Live in for one Year Paft Ending April y^ I], 1762", and on December 28, 1764, he was allowed £1, 2s., lod. for the use of his house in 1763 "for the French Nutrals". "To Liut Robert Fuller for the Matiance of the French Nutrells & for paying Abiel Smith for Buring the Old French man June 29, 1761", £8, i6s., 6d., 2f, (town treasurer). On June 28, 1762, the selectmen had granted the sum named to Mr. Fuller "for his Paying for the Support and Maintainance of the French Nutralls in Said Town; For one Year Past which Said year Ended at March Meeting 1762 Exclufive of the houfe Rent for Said year; And alfo for his Paying Abiel Smith his Charge and Coft for his Buring the ded French Man who Deceaft June y« igf'y 1761". In 1763 Capt. Eleazer Kingsbery was reimbursed for money "Paid to Support y« French Neutralls" £6, 3s., 2id., and Alexander Sheppard "for his House for the French to Live in" £2 (treasurer). In 1765 Mr. Shepard received £1, 8s., lod. "for Rent of his Houfe".

> The occasional residence of Maugus and his family at the Upper Falls has been referred to in the opening chapters of this book, but subsequent to the first settlement of the town there appear to have been no Indian inhabitants regularly living within its limits, although there was a colony of negroes, with more or less Indian blood, dwelling along the south shore of Bullard's Pond (Lake Waban), and on what is now the Pond Road. The scanty record of the Indians, who were found from time to time in Needham, is as follows : -

On March 5, 1765, the Widow Rachel Warren was granted £2 "for her providing and taking care of an Indian Squaw which happened to fall Sick and Lame in Said town; Named Deborah Jack". The next year Joseph Mackintier was allowed £4, 7s. for boarding this Deborah Brand alias Deborah Jack seventeen weeks and two days, William Brown 13s., 4d. for boarding her In March, 1766, and Joslah Newell,

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Esq., twelve shillings for clothing for her "y^ winter paft". Lieut, Amos Fuller was paid one shilling for a warrant to take her to Bridgewater, and Robert Smith, one of the constables, £2, 6s., 9d. "for Tranfporting Deborah Jack an Indian woman from Needham to Bridewater". Early in 1766 Capt. John Jones was granted is., 6d. "for his Drawing a petition to the General Court on account of Deborah Brand", and In June, 1767, the town treasurer received £9, 1 8s., 8d. from Josiah Edson "one of the Guardians for y« Indians in Bridgewater", for expenses incurred by the town because of Deborah Brand alias Jack. On March 5, 1766, Joseph Daniell, Jr., was allowed 6s., 8d. "For the Coft and Charge of Buriering an Indian Child which Died at his Father Daniel's in the Year 1765".

In the Journal of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, p. 95, under date of January 5, 1768, is the following: "A Petition of William Deming of Needham, Physician, praying that he may be allowed for Attendance on William Frazer, an Indian, in his last Sickness; and also on his Widow and Children as per Account annexed. Read and committed to the Committee appointed to consider the State of the Indians in the Provence".

In July, 1776, Michael Bacon petitioned the General Court stating "That one Alexander Quapilh a Poor Indian Belonging to this State who was taken Sick in the Army Near Cambridge and was Difmifed Came to the Houfe of your Petitioner in Said Needham in a Suffering Condition on the 15*^ Day of November 1775 And Remained there Sick untill the 23 "^ Day of March 1776 and then Died, and your Petitioner was at Great Trouble & Charge in Boarding Nurfing, and Burying Said Indian". This petition was endorsed by three selectmen, and accompanied by a bill of £6, 8s. of which eight shillings were for a cofhn, and three shillings for "Diging his Grave". Archives, Vol. 214, pp. 57 and 57^.

Warnings Out Of Town

Under the First Charter there was legislation as to the entertainment of strangers, and in 1692 to prevent people from gaining a settlement it was necessary for the selectmen to issue an order to a constable, whose duty it was to warn the intruder out of town within three months of the arrival of such a person, and the service of such warning was required to be recorded with the clerk of the Court of General Sessions of the Peace. In 1701 the time was extended to twelve months, and it was the duty of every householder who harbored a stranger for forty days to notify the selectmen of that fact under a penalty of £5, but in 1726 the time was reduced to twenty days, and the fine for failure to inform the selectmen was made forty shillings. By the law of 173 1 the exact date when the stranger arrived in town, and the name of the place from whence he or she came, were essential to a proper notice to the selectmen. On March 6, 1712/13, the tovv^n voted that no person should entertain any one not an inhabitant of the town without the advice of the selectmen, excepting only able-bodied persons, who were in no danger of becoming public charges.

Every individual locating in a new place expected to be warned out, and it was no personal reflection. When Dr. Joshua Wheat came to Needham in 1729 to practice medicine he was promptly warned out, and in his case the action of the officials was not as absurd as in some other instances, for the Doctor did not prosper. In 1753 Jacob Fullam, the well-known Indian agent, was warned out, and in 1765 Mrs. Eunice Bartlett of Newton, one of our teachers, had a similar experience because she brought her little daughter, Lois, to Needham. In 1766 Ensign Timothy Cheney, a substantial yeoman, who came from Newtown with his family, was warned, and this custom continued to the close of the century. The list of the individuals warned out of town has a value for those interested in family history, as the names of whole families, sometimes their ages, together with other facts, are found In these warnings as recorded by our town clerks, who kept a fairly complete record of them to the time of the Revolution.

In 1743/4 Constable William Chub was allowed twentyfour shillings, old tenor, for "warning Divers perfons out of this town and for his Returning SJ to y^ Clerk of y* Quarter SelTions", and four years later Dea. Eleazer Klngsbery and Henry Dewing were to have £2, 5s. for going to Boston "to git a warrant to Carry NIcholus Mutter out of Town". This expensive Mutter aflfalr Is referred to elsewhere In this book. In 1772 Constable Josiah Ware had £2 for twenty-eight warnings and recording them. In 1774 Constable Ebenezer Fuller charged eight pence each for thirteen warnings, and Lieutenant Alden at the same rate for forty- two warnings In 1776, or early In 1777.

You are In the Name of the Commonwealth of Mafsachufetts Directed to warn and Give Notice unto the Following perfons hereafter Mentioned In this warrant who has lately Come Into Town for the purpofe of abiding therein not haveing obtained the Towns Confent Therefor, that they Depart the Limets thereof, with their Children or others under their Care If Such they have within fifteen Days, Viz."

Then follow the descriptions of eight families, giving the names of the wife and children In each, and stating when and from whence they came to Needham. One of these families was that of ZIbeon Hooker, "Gentleman", who had been an officer In the War of the Revolution, and who was in his old age one of the last survivors of the Battle of Bunker Hill. It Included his wife, Sarah, and five children, all of whom were from " Sherburn", and arrived in Needham in May, 1792. At the other extremity of the social scale was Ceaser Cummlngs, Negro, his wife, "Pafince", and six children, all from Natick in 1789. There was one unattached woman, and four men, including Dr. Ebenezer Star, "Phyfition"; the latter came from Weston in 1791. The warrant concludes: "And of this Precept with Your Doing thereon, you are to make return into the office of the Clerk of the Town within Twenty Days Next Coming, that Such further proceedings may be had in the Premifes as the Law Directs Given under our hands and Seals at Needham aforefaid this Twenty ninth Day of April in the Year of our Lord Seventeen hundred and Ninety three Aaron Smith Ju'

Jonathan Kingsbery Jur Needham" Robert Smith The fact that so many persons were grouped in one warrant, and that some were not recent arrivals, indicates the slackness then attending the enforcement of this law, which formerly had been taken more seriously.

San Francisco Relief

Independent of the money raised by the Churches for the relief of the sufferers by the earthquake and fire in San Francisco in April, 1906, and of liberal private contributions, there was a public, or town, subscription amounting to $761.50.

Smallpox And Hospitals

On June 2, 1777, the town refused "to Provide a place or places for a Hofpital or Hofpitals for the Small Pox", and instructed their representative. Deacon Fisher, that he "Should Use his Intrft to put a Stop to all y« Hospitals" but on September 8, 1792, voted "to have a Hospital or Hospitals in said Town for the purpose of persons that are Inclined to have the Small pox to Repair to for that purpose and to be under proper regulations " "each Docter that shall attend said Hofpitals Should give a bond to the Town Treafi of Fifty pounds to be paid by them for each person they Shall Enoculate before each patient Sign a bond of Ten pounds To said TreafF in Case either of them go out of the Limmits Set by the Selectmen and Said Committee round the Hofpitals they Refpectively belong to" "The Doctors Should have liberty to Enoculate till the First monday in October". Nathan Dewing, Moses Fisk, Colonel Alden, Cornet Joseph Mudg (as he wrote his name), Dr. Samuel Gould and Benjamin Slack were chosen to manage the hospitals. In 1806 the town was at some expense on account of the smallpox, and article 3 of the warrant for September 18, 1809, read "to see if the Town would wish to have the Kine Pock go through the Town", the selectmen to "afsist any one if in their judgment they shall think proper". Thanks were voted to the Town of Milton "for their benevolent communication in regard to the Kine Pock", and the following April Drs. Gould and Morrill and David Ayers were chosen to superintend "the inoculation with the Cowe Pox". In 181 1 Dr. Gould charged the town seventy-five cents for "Inonclating three persons with the kine Pock". On May 13, 18 16, a committee, consisting of one from each school district, was chosen "to manage Communication Genf Hospital". At the annual meeting in 1833 the selectmen were chosen a committee "to attend to the Inoculation of the kine pox", and in 1836 Capt. Josiah Newell's old house was wanted as a "Hospital for the small Pox", and Dea. Jonathan Newell was induced to move out of it. This was probably the ancient Newell house that stood in the pasture between Charles H. W. Foster's and Central Avenue. This disease was prevalent in the State in 1872 and in 1873, ^^^ Needham did not escape, which resulted in the building of a pest-house on the poorfarm, and considerable expense in caring for the sick. Since 1874 this structure has been used for various purposes.

Board Of Health

In 1877 the selectmen were chosen as the board of health, but in 1885 a separate board was elected. In 1891 the selectmen again became the board of health, and Albert M. Miller, M.D., was appointed "Health Officer", and served four years. Dr. Miller had been a member of the board of health 1885-90.

The Institution of human slavery never flourished In Needham, but a few blacks were held In bondage here, as the Church records and Inventories of estates testify. At the time of the War of the American Revolution Capt. William Farls, a Loyalist, and William Bowdoin, Esq., were the only slave holders in town, and were each taxed for one slave. In 1775 "two negro Child-? Belonging to Cap? William Paris named Prince & Silvia" were baptized by the minister of the First Church. The late Horace Mann stated that he found the names of four slaves of Capt. Farls (Farrls): - Jack, who went to England in 1779, Sylvia, who was sold to Sir Henry Frankland, Terence, who died of the smallpox, and Phebe. Mr. Mann said that the Phebe Included In his list was supported by the Farrls family in her old age. If so, apparently there were two Phebes. In 1789 Eliab Moor was granted £3, 6s. for "Boarding and Nurfing Phebe Farrls a Black woman", David Hall £1, los. "for a Sheet and hankerchlef that Said Phebe was burled In", David Bacon seven shillings for her coffin, and William Dunton three shillings for digging her grave. She died after a long illness during which she was attended by Dr. Morrill. Her child was also "on the town" in 1789, and in 1792 Phebe's son was boarded with Jethro Cato, a negro. About 1790 a "Malatto Girl" is referred to in the town records. It does not appear whether Elizabeth Zetor, "Mulatoe", had been a slave or not, but in 1771 the town bore the expense of her last illness and burial.

Free Negroes

In 1801 Boston Fude was a conspicuous negro, or halfbreed, whose family is often mentioned in the records, and he ultimately came on the town. His daughter, wife of "prince Cook", got badly burned in 1802, but not fatally, and that year her child died, its coffin costing the town $1.33. Pomp Allen was in Needham as early as 1804, and Cato Boston in 18 16, when the town attempted to rid him of pediculidae. In 1817 "Boston" was "in gaol", but it does not appear whether Boston Fude or Cato Boston was thus imprisoned. Late in 18 16 Luther Smith, 2d, for many years the sexton of the West Precinct, buried "Rebeccah Jahaw who died at Primas Kings", and in 18 17 the Sisco family was on the town, including the "wife of Sisco a person of color". Susan Kitteridge and Jenny Kitteridge were also assisted. Jethro Cato died about 18 17, or 1818, and his widow Dinah, who lived just at the point where Charles River Street and Pine Street come together, was a ward of the town, and such items as $5 for "repairing Mrs. Dinah's house" are among the selectmen's orders. The old South school-house was east of her dwelling and nearer to it than the school building that was burned on August 18, 1899, and which had been used for social gatherings for some years. Owing to its proximity to Dinah's, this school was called the Dinah School, and after the lapse of a century this name is occasionally heard. It is not quite as serious an offence to speak of the Parker School as the Dinah School as it is to refer to Greendale by its ancient name of Pudding Point, a designation discontinued within thirty years. Dinah's little home finally came into the possession of the town, by authority of the General Court, and a part of the place was sold in 183 1, and the remainder a few years later. Royal Woodward paid $15.25 for the "Dinah Barn" in 1835. The property is referred to in town warrants as the "Dinah Farm". The Coffee family long existed in

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Needham, but by July, 1823, both Ishmael and his wife were dead. There was one Newport Green, who boarded colored people, and he may have been of mixed race. The Natick Indians, which included remnants of several tribes, had by 1750 a considerable infusion of negro blood, and it is probable that Oliver Cromwell, Jethro Cato, and others represented both races. The rather notorious Jupiter Coffee, who had been a slave, intermarried with an Indian, and a citizen of our town, than whom no man was better known twenty-five years ago, was said to be of Coffee and Indian descent.

On April 7, 185 1, the town adopted a preamble and resolutions as to the Fugitive Slave Law, which was not acceptable to Needham, and three years later protested against the "admission of Slavery into territory now free".

Dr. Joshua WTieat came to Needham in 1729 and lived nearly opposite the northeast end of Longfellow's Pond, on the comer at the termination of Oakland Street. It does not appear that his practice became lucrative. He died March 2, 1762, at Jonathan Huntting's house. Dr. John Allen of Newton, previously referred to, attended the poor in Needham from about 1745 to 1756. In 1768 Dr. "Downna" when he Broke his Bones the Lait year"; this presumably refers to Dr. Eliphalet Downer of Newton, who practiced here prior to the Revolution, as did Dr. Nathaniel Ames of Dedham and a Dr. Adams, all of whom were employed by the town. In fact the orders given for attendance upon the town's poor are about the only source of information available as to the doctors who had patients in Needham before 1825. Dr. William Deming, who lived on the east side of what is now Washington Street, north of W'ellesley Avenue, in a house which Robert Jennison finished in 1755, was our earhest resident physician with the exception of Dr. \^Tieat. Dr. Deming practiced in town about thirty-five 3*ears, until his death in 1789 at the age of sixty-two years. His gravestone is in Woodlawn Cemetery, Wellesley. He died of the "great cold" or influenza, during an epidemic. It has been said that the old-school doctors left the care of children entirely to the women, and this is true to a great extent, but Dr. Deming was the recipient of quaint orders on account of "Sundr}* \'ifets and Medicens applied" to children who were on the town. Dr. Nathaniel Tolman, whose family were of Needham, ministered to the poor of the town before 1775, and from 1774 to 1792 Dr. Josiah Starr of Weston attended them at times. In 1781 Dr. WilHam Ward, and in 1783 Dr. John King, the latter of "Xewtown," were employed by the town. In ^-lay, 1791, Dr. Isaac Morrill of Natick, who became a citizen of Needham in 1797 by the change in the boundary, had been "Doctering" the town's poor for some years. He was one of our earliest resident doctors, and lived to be ninety-one years old, dying May 5, 1839. He presented to his successor, Dr. Noyes, some ancient and unpleasant-looking surgical instruments, samples of which have been presented to the Dover Historical Society by Mr. Ward N. Hunt. Dr. Morrill lived on Washington Street in a house now owned by the Hunnewell family. Dr. Timothy Fuller was born in East Needham, and lived there, presumably practicing his profession, but he died January 12, 1799, at the early age of thirty-three years. There are selectmen's orders in his favor on account of attendance on the poor. He studied medicine with Dr. Samuel Willard of Uxbridge. In 1792 Dr. Peter Fisk of West Needham, who long practiced in Needham, was employed by the town at £2, 2s. per year to treat the poor, but Daniel Breding, who does not have the title of Doctor in our records, was also paid for medical services. Dr. Fisk removed to Warwick and died there. Dr. Ebenezer Starr, a son of Dr. Josiah Starr, came to town in 1791, but removed to Newton Lower Falls, where he was in practice about forty years to his death August 24, 1830. He occasionally had a bill against the Town of Needham, and presumably had patients there other than the poor. Dr. Samuel Adams, M.B. 1794, M.D. 1802, Harvard, is said to have settled in East Needham, but removed to Boston, and thence to Cincinnati, where he died in 1845, aged seventy-four years. Dr. Samuel Gould came to town about 1800, and lived on the north corner of what is now Highland Avenue and Rosemary Street. He practiced medicine, and his name occurs among those whose sendees were availed of by the town. Until into the nineteenth centun* bleeding was a favorite prescription, and Dr. Gould resorted to it after Dr. Xoyes came to town in 1825. Dr. Gould removed to Dedham between Alay i, 1828, and May, 1832. All of our earlier doctors were more or less in public office. Dr. Morrill ser\*ed as a t}thingman in 181 1, '13, '15, '18, and as fence "viewer in 18 16. Dr. Gould appears to have been more prominent as a school-master and town officer than as a physician.

In addition to payments to doctors resident in towns as distant as Boston and Cambridge, for Needham was sometimes responsible for persons who had removed from town, but had not acquired other settlements, there were orders from 1795 to 1820 in favor of the following physicians living in near by towns : - Drs. George Ca.ry\ of Dover, Jesse Wheaton of Dedham, Asa Adams, Aaron (.^) Wight of Medway.' earlier of Medfield, Aaron Hill, Marshall(.') Spring of Watertown.^, Benjamin Waterhouse of Cambridge, John Ball Kitteridge (Kjttredge) of Framingham, William Stone, Daniel Swan of Medford, Alexander Thayer of Boston (.^), Jeremy Stimson of Dedham and Samuel Flanders. From 1 82 1 to 1850 the local doctors, particularly Dr. Noyes, attended the poor, but the names of the following out of town practitioners occur: - Drs. Moore, Stephen H. Spaulding of Newton Upper Falls 1 841-3, Henr}^ Starr, Simeon Burt Carpenter, successor of Dr. Ebenezer Starr at Newton Lower Falls, and later at Dedham many years, Ezra Nichols of Newton, who set a broken leg, E. L. Warren, surgeon, and Tappan Eustis Francis of Brookline, surgeon. Dr. Francis located at Newton Lower Falls in 1848, and was there about three years. Edward Warren was a physician at Newton Lower Falls from 1840 to 1857.

Dr. Josiah Noyes came to Needham in 1825 and practiced there till his death in 1 871. A sketch of his life will be found later in this book.

The History Of Needham 571

Dr. Albert Dexter Kingsbury, M.D. Georgetown University, D. C, 1869, succeeded Dr. Noyes, so far as East Needham was concerned, coming to town about the time of the latter's decease. Dr. Kingsbury has had an extensive practice, and has been prominent in the affairs of the town and of the Evangelical Congregational Church. He has been commander of Galen Orr Post G. A. R. Kingsbury Block bears his name, and he is the owner of other property in the business section. During the years 1894-9 he was away from town, and in 1894 and 1895 Dr. Frank P. Hudnut occupied his house, and in a measure had his practice. Dr. Osman H. Hubbard took Dr. Hudnut's place from 1895 to 1898, and remained in town a year or so after Dr. Kingsbury's return.

Dr. Henry Tucker Mansfield, M.D. Harvard 1869, has been a highly respected citizen of Needham, and an able and faithful physician in that town for nearly forty years. He has been the town doctor for many years, and is esteemed by all for his kindness of heart and genial manners. He also is a veteran of the Civil War, having served in the navy.

Dr. Albert Ebur Miller, M.D. University of Pennsylvania, acquired real estate interests here in the seventies, and became a citizen of this town in 1876, and for considerably more than thirty years has practiced medicine here, at the same time continuing his office in Boston. Dr. Miller is one of the most prominent residents of the town, and his wife, Mrs. Vesta Delphine Miller, was a greatly beloved physician, of whom some account will be found in the chapter devoted to Temperance. Dr. Albert Monroe Miller, M.D. Dartmouth 1882, is a nephew of Dr. A. E. Miller, and has practiced in this town and vicinity since his graduation, also serving as agent of the board of health, as a town physician, and at the present time as a medical inspector of the schools.

to Needham to pass his declining years, but occasionallyattended a patient, some of the older people preferring him. He was a doctor of the old school, a familiar figure on our streets, and recognized as a sturdy champion of good government. He impressed the writer as a rugged character, large in body and mind. He died December 24, 1900.

Dr. William Mitchell of Needham Heights, M.D. McGill College and University, came to town in 1898 or 1899, and is an able and successful physician. Dr. Charles Wood Pease, M.D. Dartmouth 1899, is one of the younger doctors in town, and practiced here for some time before removing to Merrimac. He returned to Needham in 1904, or early in 1905, and resumed his practice in this locality.

Since 1900 Dr. Merton K. Cole has practiced here as an osteopathic physician, and for a number of years lived in town. Dr. J. Walter Schirmer, a young homeopathic practitioner, located in Needham in 1909, or 1910, and is a fine musician in addition to professional accomplishments. He received the degree of M.D. from Boston University in 1908, and did post-graduate work at the University of Vienna in 1909. He is instructor in sanitary science at the Boston University School of Medicine, and assistant orthopaedic surgeon at the Massachusetts Homeopathic Hospital.

Isaac Hills Hazelton, who was born May 17, 1838, appears to have been the only physician resident in what is now Wellesley in the early seventies. He graduated at the Medical School of Harvard University in 1861. Under date of June 7, 1909, Dr. Hazelton wrote: "I came to Grantville (now Wellesley Hills) August, 1872. At that time Dr. Townsend, of South Natick, and Dr. Lord of Newton Lower Falls had the greater part of the practice in these parts. Dr. Townsend had been in S. Natick many years having the best of the work to do. Before Dr. Lord went to Newton Lower Falls there were two physicians there. Dr. Warren and Dr. Perkins, who must have been in practice in 1850." "I was an Assistant Surgeon in the regular Navy 186 1-5: think I served longer than any man in town, full four years." "Am Companion in the Loyal Legion." "The house I now live in was built before the Revolutionary War as two men lived here who went to Concord ". The doctors referred to by Dr. Hazelton were Dr. George J. Townsend, who for years came to West Needham daily, often several times in a day, and Dr. Friend D. Lord, who died December 8, 1883, in his sixty-second year.

Uranus Owen Brackett Wingate, M.D. Dartmouth 1875, located in what is now the Town of Wellesley in 1875, ^^^ practiced there till 1886, when he went to Milwaukee, where he has been a professor in the Wisconsin College of Physicians and Surgeons, and a well-known writer on medical topics. When sixteen years old he entered the Union Army and was with General William T. Sherman. About 1876 Dr. George H. Hackett came to the West part of the town, but does not appear to have remained there more than a year or two.

Doctor Josiah Noyes

Josiah Noyes was born in Acton, Mass., October 8, 1801, and in childhood removed with his family to Westmoreland, N. H. In 1825 he received the degree of M.D. from Dartmouth College, and that year went to Needham to visit his uncle, the Rev. Thomas Noyes, then minister of the West Church there. It was late in the evening when Josiah reached Needham Centre, and he accepted an invitation to pass the night at the house of Major Ebenezer Mcintosh. This house had been built by the Major in 1822, and was purchased by Dr. Noyes in 1835, ^^^ was his home during the rest of his life. The estate consisted of two acres, with barn, ox-shed and other outbuildings, and joins the home of the writer, who was the Doctor's next neighbor on the north. Young Noyes was so favorably impressed with Needham that he decided to remain, teach- ing school and practicing medicine. For some years he boarded at a house that stood close to the Charles River, on the easterly side of South Street, in Charles River Village. On November 12, 1834, he removed to the Centre of the town, and December 19, 1835, he was married to Elizabeth, daughter of David and Nancy (Cutting) Hunt of Boylston. Mrs. Noyes was born in Boylston, September 5, 1815, and died in Needham, September 21, 1902. She came to Needham in 183 1 to attend the private school, or academy, of the Rev. Daniel Kimball, and was highly respected by successive generations. Dr. Noyes was a founder of the Needham Temperance Society, and was active in the temperance cause throughout the County. He was no less prominent in the lyceums, and was well known as a lecturer on scientific topics. For sixteen years, 1828-34, '36-44, inclusive, he was a useful member of the Superintending School Committee. His interest in everything of a scientific character was unfailing, but in botany he excelled, and the manuscript volumes, which contain specimens with his notes, his "herbarium," as he called them, have been consulted in recent years by expert botanists, who say that the books are of great value.

It has been said that Dr. Noyes was invited to give twelve lectures on Comparative Botany in the Lowell Institute courses, and was to receive $1200 as compensation, a large sum in the eyes of a country doctor, but that he was too modest in estimating his own abilities, and declined the tempting offer. He had some skill as a surveyor, and assisted materially in the preparation of the 183 1 map of the town. He played the violoncello in the Church, and had a small organ at his house, which afforded him much pleasure; he was also a singer. His diary, 1825-36, has been of service to local antiquaries, and his note-books show his scholarly interests, as do his astronomical and other charts, which were made with skill and much patient labor. He kept an elaborate record of the weather, of the coming of the birds, of the appearance of the flowers, described his practice, and told of the journeys that he made to Westmoreland, N. H., to visit his relatives. It is to be regretted that his journal subsequent to 1836 has not been preserved. He was prominent in the Masonic fraternity, a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, the Pilgrim Society, and doubtless of other organizations. In 1857 he and his wife were among the original members of the Evangelical Congregational Church in Needham. He was a strong JeflFersonian, and his support of President Jackson was offensive to some persons, including his wife's family. Dr. Noyes had a large practice, and was greatly beloved. He furnished the medicines, and until late in life his fee was fifty cents in the daytime, and seventy-five cents in the night, but his carelessness as a collector was proverbial, and he was sadly imposed upon. In many instances there was no disposition shown to pay him his modest bills, and his administrator could obtain only $1700 out of $7000 charged. Much of it was outlawed, and considerable sums were off"set by fictitious claims; a familiar trick in the older Needham, when the creditor was dead.

Many anecdotes are still told of the Doctor, who was of the "old school", although in some respects ahead of his time, and the writer can recall the venerable white horse and the chaise that made their daily rounds. The Doctor died after a brief illness January 6, 1871, and his grave is marked by a monument erected by the people whom he served so faithfully for three generations. The picture of the Doctor's house was contributed by his brother-in-law, Mr. Ward Nicholas Hunt, but lacks the long shed on the east end of the dwelling, and the ox-barn, which was at right angles with the other barn, and between it and the well-curb. Both of these buildings were taken away within a few years of the Doctor's death.

For many decades a fire involved the town in expense for "spirit and Sugar", or for rum, and our records mention the fires, such as that "in Needham woods May y« 5*'' 1826" in connection with Hquor bills, and as incidental to them. In 1829, or early in 1830, there were fires at the Rev. Mr. Ritchie's house, now owned by Augustus W. Newell, at William A. Kingsbury's, at Nathan Macintosh's and at Amraphel Smith's, all in East Needham, and these fires appear to have been quenched, in part, with liquor.

On April 3, 1838, the town voted to "exempt the Engine men from a Poll tax", and late in 1840 to "furnish a hose Carriage for the Use of the Engine Company at the Lower falls", the cost not to exceed $35. In 1843 the town appointed a committee to raise money by subscription for a new engine for the Lower Falls, although the majority of the members of the fire-company there were Newton men, and the apparatus was kept on their side of the river. This committee, which consisted of Colonel Rice, William Flagg, Lyman Greenwood, Galen Orr, Elisha Lyon and Richard Boynton, was also to consider the question of fire protection at the Upper Falls, where there was also an engine-company. They reported, and in 1844 the town appropriated $150 for fire-engines: - Lower Falls $60, East Needham $60 and the Upper Falls $30. The town treasurer paid $35 for the Lower Falls hose-carriage to the "Treasurer of Engine Company Number i ". It had been customary for the town to pay for the refreshments for local and outof-town firemen when doing duty in Needham, and in 1840

The History Of Needham 577

Francis Keyes was paid $1.50 for services in Engine Company Number 2, Upper Falls, and in the forties $25 per year, or more, were regularly paid to Nathaniel Wales, Jr., and other members of Cataract Engine Company Number I, at the Lower Falls. In 185 1 the town paid $70 to E. C. Jenkins, Francis Boyd, J. B. Martin, P. Frost, Jr., G. W. Moulton, Oliver Morse, Nathaniel Wales, Jr., Elijah Simonds, Charles Rice, Jr., WlUard Hurd, George K. Danlell, George Spring, John Appleton and John J. Ware for services In Cataract Engine Company for the year ending April I, 1851. In 1850 $70 had been paid to Nathaniel Wales, Jr., and to others, not naming them, as englnemen of Number i.

In 1849 Joslah Eaton and others were paid $9 for serving a year In Engine Company Number 4, Upper Falls, and in 1850 Henry E. Burton and others had $45 for serving as englnemen in this com^pany for one year. These payments were the result of a vote passed In 1849 to pay the "Engine men" $5 each. In 1857 the selectmen were directed to buy five hundred feet of hose, which was to be kept at the Lower Falls.

By a vote of the town in 1870 the number of "Enginemen" at the Upper and Lower Falls was to be limited to thirty-five, viz., thirty-one firemen and four hosemen; the firemen were to receive $10 per year, each, and the hosemen $15. That year Charles S. Morse was paid $270 for the services of twenty-one firemen and four hosemen of Cataract Engine Number i, and S. H. Potter $80 for five firemen and two hosemen of Mechanics Engine. Exactly the same amount was paid to the same number of men in 1871, and until the close of 1876 these payments were continued, amounting in 1874 to $296.28 for Cataract Engine Company and $123.42 for Mechanics Engine Company, the total expenditure on account of fires exceeding the customary appropriation of $500, which was Increased to $750 In 1875, but again reduced to $500 in 1876. From 1877 to the division of the town in 1881 the engine-companies were paid for special services only, which in some years reduced the cost of extinguishing fires below $100, and in 1880 the grant was decreased from $500 to $200. The payments for the engine-companies were made to W. R. Dimond in 1875.

There were no fire officials In Needham until March 4, ^^833, when the town chose George W. Hoogs, William Flagg, William Pierce, Davis C. Mills, Tyler Pettee and Dea. Elisha Lyon as firewards. Prior to that date the fire department included practically all the men and boys in the town, some of whom were provided with iire-buckets and canvas bags; the latter for the removal of smaller articles, including babies, from burning buildings. In 1880 there were twelve firewards, and of these Bill Burrill, 2d, had served twentysix years, and was a familiar figure at fires, where he sometimes roped off the burning premises, to keep people from danger, which, however, he never shunned himself, and always issued many orders, particularly to the boys. From 1872 to 1884 the firewards were appointed by the selectmen, and in 1885 the latter were authorized to choose a board of five "Fire Engineers", in place of the firewards, and these engineers were also the only forest firewards until 1904, when the selectmen named four of the engineers and two other citizens as "Forest Firewards." In their report for 1874 the selectmen advised the construction of reservoirs at Grantville, Wellesley and Needham, the purchase of hand-engines for the two latter places, and fire-buckets and ladders for all three, and also for Highlandville. The subject was referred to a committee consisting of Edgar H. Bowers, John M. Harris, John Mansfield, Mark Lee, Joseph E. Fiske and the firewards at the Upper and Lower Falls. The town then owned hose at the Lower Falls, perhaps the same that was purchased in 1857, and in 1875 voted $500 to renew it, and provided twelve badges for the firewards at a cost of $21.25. ^^ ^^7^ ^^e special appropriation of $500 had been expended for four hundred feet of number one hose, and fifteen Johnson pumps which were obtained from the National Manufacturing Company for $99.50. In 1877 a hose-carriage with axes was bought from the City of Newton.

For many years the following out-of-town companies did duty in Needham: - Cataract Engine Number i, Eliot Engine Number i, Mechanics Engine, all of Newton, and occasionally one of the Natick companies. At the fire at Eaton & Moulton's machine shop in 1853, besides Cataract Engine Number i, there were present Engine Company Number 5 of Newton Corner, Number 6 of Newton Centre, Number 3 of Waltham, and Number 7 of Brighton.

In 1882 the town chose a committee to consider the whole question of protection from fire, and as a result twenty Johnson pumps, six blankets, one hundred feet of hose, and a hook and ladder truck, the latter costing $760, were purchased. The next year the equipment was increased by two, or more, ladders, and two dozen fire-buckets, and in 1884 the fire-engine Niagara, built in 1843, and still preserved as a curiosity, was bought from the town of Hingham for $250. The engine Independence Number 2 and a hose-wagon were obtained from the town of Randolph for $350. Niagara was a prominent feature in the Bicentennial pageant in 191 1. In 1885 the engine-house at what is now Needham Heights and also the one on Chestnut Street were built by Henry S. Locke, contractor, for $3000, on land acquired for the purpose. On March 4, 1889, $900 were appropriated for a fire-alarm system, and that year the bells of the First Church and of the Methodist Episcopal Church were made alarm-bells, boxes were placed at the engine-houses, and one at the junction of Nehoiden and Rosemary Streets; the latter was box 46. The first fire-alarm was rung on Fast Day 1890, from box 28, the Great Plain engine-house, by Henry Derby Rodgers, who was the first superintendent and organizer of our

Town Water

In 1799 Ephraim Jackson of Needham, "Miller", gave a bond of $200 to Simon Elliot of Boston, Esquire, that in consideration of $50 he would "convey from a certain Spring situate in a meadow, owned by me the said Ephraim, which lies on the south side of Charles River adjoining the Estate of Benjamin Slack & South of the fulling mill in inches, a crofs the River to the Island, now owned by one John Ware". This somewhat lengthy instrument, among other privileges, grants a "perfect right title & enjoyment in & to the said spring with the waters therein to his & their sole use, benefit & behoof forever", and the grantee may enter on the land of the grantor to repair the works which were to be "done & finished" before October i, 1800.

Early in 1887 the question of a water supply was considered important, and in July $500 were voted for the use of a committee, which consisted of Dr. Albert E. Miller, C. Atherton Hicks, Thomas Frederick Peabody, James E. Cahill and William Carter. This committee had been chosen in March to investigate the sources and means of obtaining water. In December Mr. Hicks read an elaborate report on the subject, which was accepted, and Dr. A. E. Miller, T. F. Peabody, William Carter, Everett J. Eaton and Edgar H. Bowers were chosen to petition the General Court for an enabling Act. The Act was approved on March 8, 1888, and Needham was authorized to issue bonds to the amount of $75,000, to meet the expense of the introduction of water. This authority to issue bonds was extended by $30,000 in 1891, and by subsequent Acts to $280,000. By an Act approved on March 24, 1888, the Town of Wellesley had been empowered to furnish Needham with water, and on April 26, 1890, a similar privilege was granted to the City of Newton, but neither of these Acts has been availed of beyond supplying the Hotel Wellesley and estates on Grove Street, through which street Wellesley extended its mains in 1888.

The first attempts to obtain a two thirds vote in favor of town water were failures, although the meetings were largely attended, and there was much excitement, but on November 7, 1889, it was carried by a vote of 322 to 144. The first water commissioners were elected on December 3, 1889, and before the end of 1890 the more densely populated portions of the town were supplied with water of the best quality from the Colburn Spring. The mains were extended until in 1905 practically the entire community had the town water. In October, 1897, the town took action to secure the "permanent preservation of the purity of its water supply", and the following year the water reservation of fifteen acres was increased to seventy-three and one half acres by the purchase of the balance of the Colburn farm. Well Number 2 was made in 1900, and cost over $5000. In 1902 the Hicks Spring was added with seven acres of land at an expense of about $2600. The basin near the pumping station dates from 1903, and covers seven acres. It has a capacity of nine million gallons, and has a core wall, gate-house and two bridges; water was let into it from the Hicks Spring on November 18, 1903. Lewis E. Hawes, who has been the town's engineer from the beginning of the water system, superintended the construction of this basin. About 1825 the land now forming the town's water reservation was owned by Mr. Dunton, who had a narrow strip containing ten acres, and extending from Blind Lane (Green Street) to the Boulevard, and by George Kingsbury, known as "Nighthawk", who lived where the Clancys do, near the Causeway, and who owned the swamp of forty acres.

After the old roadside drinking-places were destroyed the town apparently did nothing to replace them until 1875, when four watering-troughs were established. In 1 891

In 1 891 less than ten million gallons of water were pumped, but in a dozen years the quantity exceeded one hundred million gallons annually. In 1910 more than one hundred and twenty-one million gallons were pumped. The pumping station is on about an acre of land purchased of Dr. Elbridge G. Leach, and the stand-pipe is on Ryan's Hill, nearly a mile to the northeast of the station.

Street Lights

In 1874 the town expended $150 on account of forty-six street lights maintained by the Grantville Street Light Company, and four lights cared for by residents of East Needham. The next year there was but one, possibly two, street lamps in the latter section, although $450 were appropriated for street lights, and in 1878 most of the one hundred and seventy-nine lamps were in the West. In 1881 the General

The History Of Needham 585

Court authorized the Newton and Watertown Gas Light Company to lay and maintain pipes in Weston and Needham, but East Needham derived no benefit from this Act. The effort to introduce street lights is said to have originated with the Needham Improvement Society, and in 1883 James Mackintosh raised by subscription about $1320, with which eighty-eight street lamps, with posts, were obtained, and the town voted to care for them. In 1888 there were one hundred and eight lamps, and kerosene was used; in 1893 the number of lamps was one hundred and twenty-seven. In 1885 the appropriation for their maintenance was $800. Henry D. Rodgers was active In securing and establishing these lights, and is said to have cared for and lighted some of the earlier lamps for a week, without pay, and In addition to his regular occupation, which required many hours each day.

On March 7, 1892, and again on May 31, of that year, the town accepted by large majorities Chapter 370, of the Acts of 1891, which authorized towns and cities to establish and own lighting plants, and public opinion In Needham was then strongly against contracting with a company or corporation. In furtherance of this view $10,000 were appropriated on June 23, 1893, bonds running for thirty years to be Issued. The selectmen were to be commissioners of the sinking fund, and were to establish an electric lighting system, but on September 15 they were instructed by the town to contract with the Eliot Falls Electric Light Company for the current. At the latter meeting an additional Issue of bonds for thirty years, amounting to $3500, was voted. There were to be three hundred lights, for which the town was to pay $175.85 per month. At the town meeting on March 20, 1893, the selectmen had reported that the cost of nineteen miles of poles and wires would be $11,021, but the actual expense amounted to about $14,000, met by the "Electric Light Loan". The last of these bonds matured In 1924, but were extinguished at a much earlier date, together with the School Fund. The Hawes Electric Company Installed the poles and wires. The Natick Gas and Electric Company succeeded the Eliot Falls Electric Light Company, and In 1898 the contract with the former was renewed for five years, but in 1899 It was sublet to the Greendale Chemical and Electric Lighting Company, which In 1903 transferred Its rights to the Edison Electric Illuminating Company. The price per light was then to be $10 annually. In February, 1908, the selectmen and a committee of the town sold the poles and wires to the last-named company for $11,000, and made a contract with that company for twenty years, current and material to be furnished to the town at $12 for each street light per year, and all of the expense of maintenance to be assumed by the company. This contract went into effect on September i, 1908. The street lighting plant was repeatedly extended prior to 1908, and the annual cost doubled in ten years. In 1910 $8000 were appropriated for lighting the streets. In March, 1902, the town voted to light the dials of the clock on the Baptist Church, and a few years later a light was also established in the cupola of the town hall, which Illuminated the town clock and served as a beacon seen for a long distance. About 1903 a Gas Lighting Company was formed In Needham, but without result.

Telegraph And Telephone Lines

The first reference In the town records to a telegraph line is the vote of March 16, 1868, directing the selectmen to give a hearing on the petition of the Franklin Telegraphic Company, with notice to all persons who may be interested in the kind, height and location of the "Posts".

The later history of the location of hundreds of telegraph and telephone poles In Needham, with the consequent disfigurement of the landscape, roadsides and trees, is similar to that of other towns.

The History Of Needham 587 Parks And Public Grounds

The Common on the Great Plain contains 65,135 square feet of land, and was purchased in 1884 of George P. Davis for $2850. In its eastern corner there was a fine, large natural basin, similar to the one on the estate now owned by Charles D. Burrage. This basin was used as a dump in the eighties, and was finally filled, such features not being appreciated in those days. The town hall covers a portion of the site of it. The Common at Needham Heights contains 18,096 square feet, and was bought in 1884 of Isaac T. Burr for $650. It has been made beautiful by the local Improvement Society, with the assistance of individuals. The triangle known as Dedham Avenue Park was given to the town by individuals, and accepted by vote on March 3, 1890. In 1897 three Custodians of Public Grounds were chosen, and in March, 1898, it was voted to elect three Park Commissioners in 1899. On March 7, 1904, four and one half acres bought in 1871 of James Wallace Black were declared a park. This land is on South Street, near Green Street, and was originally acquired for the gravel. In 1907 the town owned three gravel pits: - Alden, on Webster Street, Richardson, near Rosemary Brook on the east side of Central Avenue, north of West Street, and the Ireland land on the Great Plain, north of the terminus of Pickering Street. The Thorpe Memorial Park was presented to the town by Joseph B. Thorpe in a letter dated February 11, 191 1, and is in memory of his daughter, Sarah Bessie Thorpe, who died in Berlin, Prussia, January 13, 1908, while a student there. The gift was accepted by the town on March 6th. It is bounded by Hunnewell, Webster and West Streets. From 1902 the citizens have annually been assessed on account of the Metropolitan Park system, although they derive but little direct benefit from the reservations. For some years the amount was about $1600, but in 1907 it was $2000, and has since increased. In connection with this park system Needham was assessed $37.78 in 1906 for the Wellington Avenue Bridge, which is north of Boston. The Commonwealth allows $50 per mile each year for the repair of State roads, and the excess of this expended in any town is assessed upon it. Needham has annually had a small sum from this source in its tax levy, but it has never yet exceeded $50 in any one year. In 19 10 $350 were appropriated for the care of the parks.

Masonic

Among Dr. Noyes's papers was an undated list of the Needham Masons, apparently written in the thirties. The Masons then were: - Jonathan Ellis, Jonathan Newell, George W. Johnson, Elisha Lyon, Esq., Lemuel Lyon, Moses Mann, John Tolman, Paul Dewing, Asa Kingsbery, Daniel Kingsbery, Ebenezer Mcintosh, Rufus Mills, Israel Whitney, Jabez Morse, William A. Kingsbury, William Eaton, Jr., Royal M'^Intosh, Charles Rice, Otis Jennings, Leonard Kingsbury, Timothy Bullard, Timothy Woodcock, Luther Smith, James Smith, Luther Ware, Daniel Ware, Alvin Fuller, Peter Lyon, Esq., George W. Hoogs, Stephen Hurd, (illegible) Lyon, Henry Bartlett, Isaac Felton, John M^Farland, Ellis Stedman, Thomas P. Weston, Nathaniel Craft, Tyler Pettee, John Kingsbury, Richard Boynton and Ebenezer Fuller. Most of these men, perhaps all of them, were members of Meridian Lodge, which met in Sargent's Tavern, and which later removed to Natick.

Norfolk Lodge

Norfolk Lodge is named for Thomas Howard, Eighth Duke of Norfolk, who was Grand Master of the English Masons in 1730 and 173 1, and one of the few Masons of this Catholic house. This lodge includes most of the prominent citizens of Needham, and has an important part in the life of the town. The history of its origin is as follows: - On the evening of April 6, 1874, a number of Masons residing in Needham met together to take the necessary steps for the formation of a lodge, and a petition was sent to the Grand Lodge, upon which a dispensation was granted in the organization of a lodge, and officers were appointed, Emery Grover being named as Master. The first regular communication was held in Odd Fellows Hall, in Parker Hall, on Monday evening. May 25, 1874. The lodge continued to hold regular communications for a year, and on July I, 1875, a special communication was called for the purpose of receiving the charter, and in order to be formally constituted. On this occasion Grand Master Percival Lowell Everett and other officers and members of the Grand Lodge were present, and the charter has the date of May 18, 1874, and bears twenty-eight names, headed by that of Emery Grover, the first A faster of this lodge. The lodge has twice lost by fire all of its property, except the charter and records. The first fire was in May, 1882, when Parker Hall was burned, on which occasion Isaac R. Stearns and others risked their lives to save the charter and records of Norfolk Lodge, and the second fire was that which consumed the Odd Fellows Building in May, 18S7. The meetings have since been held in rooms especially fitted for the purpose in Kingsbury Block. In 1908 this lodge numbered nearly two hundred members.

The beautiful seal of this lodge is a reproduction of the coat-of-arms of the Duke of Norfolk in whose honor it was named, and for years attempts have been made to discover some likeness of this duke, but none appears to be in existence. The writer was at one time Interested in this matter and had assistance in England, but no portrait was found in any of the collections, or great libraries, and none of the numerous representatives of the Howards, including five peers, apparently knew of any such portrait.

In December, 1909, Charles Dana Burrage of Needham was chosen Grand High Priest of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter and in December, 191 1, was elected for the third time.

The History Of Needham 591 Independent Order Of Odd Fellows

Eliot Lodge Number 58 was instituted at Newton Upper Falls on January 30, 1845, but on May 22 of that year the charter was surrendered, and there was no serious attempt to revive it till 1869. The charter was again taken up on February 25, 1870, and when first instituted the lodge met every Wednesday evening in the Parker Building, it then met from 1874 to 1887 in the Odd Fellows Building, where it lost all of its property by the burning of the building on the night of May 12 and 13, 1887. After the fire it held its meetings for years in the Masonic Hall, Kingsbury Block, and then removed to Needham Heights, where it meets in Highland Hall. Within two years of the fire the lodge purchased a fine paraphernalia.

The meetings have been held on Tuesday evenings for a long time, but at different periods on Thursday evenings. In 1890 there were about fifty members, and on December 31, 1910, there were one hundred and four, which in March, 191 1, had increased to one hundred and fifteen.

Sincerity Lodge Number 173 of W^ellesley and Home Lodge of Newton Upper Falls, both of which are prosperous, were originated by former members of Eliot Lodge. Sincerity Lodge was organized on August 9, 1875, and at first met every Monday evening in Waban Hall. In 1908 it had a membership of upward of one hundred, and had a hall especially adapted to its uses in Shattuck's Building.

Other Societies And Orders

Nehoiden Lodge Number 624 Knights of Honor was opened on May 17, 1877, and in 1889 had over forty members. For years this lodge met in the Odd Fellows Hall on alternate Wednesday evenings. In 1904 the members united with King Philip Lodge at Natick and Nehoiden Lodge ceased to exist.

The Ancient Order of United Workmen, Needham Lodge Number 75, was organized January 3, 1887, and had eighteen members in 1889. The meetings were semi-monthly on Friday evenings in Masonic Hall. The membership reached two hundred on December 29, 1908.

The United Order of the Golden Cross, Needham Commandery Number 327, was organized on November 17, 1887, and in 1908 had ninety-nine members, and met the first and third Mondays of each month in the Masonic Hall, Kingsbury Block.

The Improved Order of Redmen was organized in Needham on March 26, 1892, and lasted about two years, meeting semi-monthly on Wednesday evenings in Masonic Hall. Saint Elmo Council of the Royal Arcanum was instituted on March 4, 1896, and met semi-monthly on Wednesday evenings in Masonic Hall till it removed to Needham Heights, then Highlandville. There were fifty members of this Council in 1908.

The United Order of the Golden Star has been represented in Needham since July 8, 1900, by Rosemary Commandery Number 10, which has met the first and third Tuesdays of each month in the Masonic Hall, Kingsbury Block, and in 1908 had upward of two hundred members.

Within the past twenty years there have been formed in Needham a number of mutual benefit associations, and other orders and societies for the purpose of insurance, or help in times of trouble, but most of them have never obtained a permanent foothold, or a considerable membership. The Anglo-American Lodge Number 75 Sons of Saint George, is composed of Englishmen, and their sons and grandsons, and was organized in Needham on December 14, 1881, and its meetings were held in Highland Hall once or twice a month on Wednesdays. It is a mutual benefit order, and those eligible to election to membership must be between the ages of eighteen and fifty, and are required to recognize the existence of a Supreme Being.

The History Of Needham 593 Ladies' Charitable Society

According to Dr. Noyes's diary the "Ladies' Charitable Society" was organized at the "Point", on July 3, 1833, and another society, with the same name, in East Needham on July 18 which held a meeting at the house of the Rev. Daniel Kimball on the 31st. There seems to be nothing more in the Doctor's diary about the society at the "Point" and no one appears to know of it, but the East Needham Society continued for several years, perhaps more than ten, the members meeting once a month, sometimes oftener, at the homes of the principal citizens. Mrs. Noyes, and others whom the writer has known, were members of the Ladies' Charitable Society, and in 1847-9, when the Rev. Mr. Dall was here, the women of the First Parish had an organization of which Mrs. Noyes was the secretary. Whether this later society was a forerunner of the Ladies' Aid Society, or chiefly charitable, is not clear. It probably was the Ladies' Charitable Society previously referred to.

Needham Women'S Suffrage League

Needham has for years been a stronghold of Woman Suffrage, and as early as June 12, 1873, the "Needham Woman Suffrage Club" was formed at the residence of Mrs. Eliza W. La Croix, and by the end of that year thirtyseven women and thirteen men had signed as members, assenting to its constitution and by-laws. In June, 1874, the first anniversary was celebrated in the grounds of the fine estate of Edward La Croix, which property Mr. La Croix had developed from a tract of woodland, and where he had built a spacious house. The place is now the residence of Charles D. Burrage, and is known as "Twin Oaks". At this picnic of the suffragists there were two hundred guests, and Lucy Stone and other friends of the cause spoke. The writer remembers hearing William Lloyd Garrison, the elder, speak at this picnic, or at another one under the auspices of the suffragists. In 1887 the name was changed to League to conform to that of similar organizations, and has continued active to the present time. This Women's Suffrage League is very dear to some of the best women in Needham, and its foundress, Mrs. La Croix, a bright, cheerful woman, much given to hospitality, is affectionately remembered by many. This League at one time had one hundred members.

Needham Nationalist Club

The Needham Nationalist Club was another advanced organization, which met at a private house, once a month, usually on a Monday evening, from 1891 to 1893, when it was given up. Charles Atherton Hicks was a leader in this club, and it included some of the most intelligent people in Needham, who discussed the great economic and social questions of the day, and listened to papers and addresses by strangers.

Social And Literary Union

The Social and Literary Union was organized by the young people on January 27, 1880, although its first president, Charles Atherton Hicks, does not appear to have been elected until February 10. Early in 1881 this association numbered about seventy, including several from Grantville. It met at the homes of the members at least once a month, sometimes oftener, and the musical and literary programmes were excellent. Several successful entertainments in behalf of good causes were given in Parker Hall, and for two years the Union was most flourishing, and continued till about 1884. George Kuhn Clarke and Isaac R. Stearns were presidents, succeeding Mr. Hicks, and both served two terms. Mr. Stearns was for years a leader in the social life of the town, and was an accomplished stagemanager, whose services were in demand whenever an entertainment was contemplated. Robert E. Denfeld, principal of the East High School, was a prominent member of the Social and Literary Union, and his brother, Louis E. Denfeld, master of the West High School, also contributed to its success. Just before the Civil War there had been a Union Literary Association in East Needham, and this had divided into two distinct societies.

Young Men'S Christian Association Of Highlandville

On November 11, 1880, several active members of the Methodist Church met to form a Young Men's Christian Association; George Clews was chosen to preside, and W. S. Russell acted as secretary. This was not the first meeting, as a committee then reported, but it is the earliest on record. On the 13th the Association was organized by the choice of Joseph B. Thorpe as president, George Clews vice-president, W. S. Russell secretary and Charles Thorpe treasurer, and these officers were continued during the two years that the Association was active, with the exception of Mr. Russell, who was succeeded on October 11, 1 88 1, by Oliver Crisp. At the meeting on November 13, 1880, it was voted to open a reading-room and to keep it open each week day evening. At a meeting on the 23d the membership fee was fixed at a dollar, and a subscription list was started to raise the necessary money, some of the members having loaned enough to obtain supplies. The reading-room was opened at 6.30 P.M., on the 24th, Oliver Crisp in charge, and during the remainder of November fifty-nine persons visited the room, the number increasing the following month to more than sixty in a single week. The reading-room was the same later occupied by the branch of the Needham Free Public Library, and was in Low's Block at the corner of Highland Avenue and West Street.

Nine newspapers, or magazines, had been presented by the members, and twelve more were subscribed for, which number was increased from time to time. Early in i88l the "boy problem" confronted the Association, and in May it was voted to admit none under fifteen years, and in October the number was limited to three each evening, but boys of twelve were then allowed to have admission tickets. In November the age limit was again made fifteen years. On May 27, 1882, the Association voted to accept the Constitution sent by the State Secretary of the Y. M. C. A., but on November 1 1 voted to close the reading-room at the end of the year. The Association was formed with a desire to help the young men and boys, and was continued for two years at much self-sacrifice on the part of the members, who took turns in looking after the reading-room. A strawberry festival was held by the Y. M. C. A. on June 20, 1882, in the vestry of the Methodist Church, and one half of the net proceeds were given to the Church. The numerous meetings of the Association were mostly at private houses, but occasionally at the reading-room, and in the spring of 1881 two, or more, meetings were in Advent Christian Hall. When the Association was first formed there was much consideration of the project to unite with a society, or circulating library then in the village, or to establish a library, and this was not entirely abandoned till it came to an end. From the records it does not appear what was the result of an effort to have a stereopticon, presumably for illustrated lectures. In addition to the officers, already mentioned, George L. Kennedy, William Humberstone and William Scotton were active, and these few men took all of the responsibility and did the work.

Needham Improvement Societies

From 1883 to 1885 there was an Improvement Society, which accomplished something toward making the centre of the town attractive, and a similar organization existed in the late nineties. There is a vigorous society at Needham Heights, until lately Highlandville, dating from 1893, which has done much to promote "Village Improvement".

Chautauqua Literary And Scientific Circle

Vincent Circle of the Chautauqua was formed in Needham on August 18, 1884, and held its last recorded meeting on June 2, 1890. The class was usually about twentyfive, and the courses outlined were faithfully pursued, the members meeting alternate weeks at private houses to answer the roll-calls, and to read choice selections from literature. In 1889 a study of Concord, and of the writers whose residence in that town has made it famous, was a feature. Some persons continued their connection with Vincent Circle for six years, others took only a portion of the subjects, and a number of the students were present at Lake View on July 18, 1888, when they received diplomas.

The Tea And Toast Club

The Tea and Toast Club was formed in 1886 and met at the houses of its members once a month during the entire year. This club was of a literary character, and consisted of sixteen ladies, whose annual party, designated "Gentlemen's Night", was a social event at which on one or more occasions every man entitled to attend was present. This somewhat exclusive club was active till about 1900, and is in existence in 191 1.

Monday Club

The Monday Club was organized in October, 1899, and has met alternate Mondays from October to May, inclusive, at the homes of the members, no meeting having been postponed, or lacking a quorum, in twelve years. The membership consists of thirty-four ladies, and there has been a waiting list. The purpose of the club was the study of literature, but since joining the State Federation of Women's Clubs in 1904, the scope has been much enlarged, and the consideration of public questions included. One or more essays prepared by members are read at each meeting, usually presenting the result of the writer's study of an author, or of some foreign land, or relating to art, or to an economic or social question. Reports from the State Federation, and extracts from current publications touching matters of public interest are also read.

Unitarian Club

The Unitarian Club was formed in February, 1905, and is connected with the First Parish, meeting in its vestry, and contributing to its expenses. This club had a membership of over sixty in 1908, and meets once a month from October to June. The meetings are given to sociability, and to listening to papers on various themes, as well as to general discussion. The Unitarian Club has a series of dances each winter, and occasionally has a dramatic entertainment. In some particulars this club is the successor of the Unity Club, which was organized about ten years earlier under the auspices of the First Parish, but as a nonsectarian literary society. For some reason the Unity Club barely survived four seasons, although the papers read before it were exceptionally good, and while the Unitarians were in the majority, Deacon Sutton of the First Baptist Church was at one time the president, and the nonsectarian character was carefully preserved. The name, intended to signify brotherhood and fellowship, appears to have been regarded with suspicion in certain quarters. Why the Unity Club failed and the Men's League succeeded is an interesting question, as in a general way the resemblance is marked.

The History Of Needham 599 New Century Club

On May 5, 1909, three hundred ladies met In Bourne Hall to form a New Century Club, and that day one hundred and thirty-five paid the admission fee of two dollars. Mrs. Edith B. Greeley was chosen president, and Isabelle P. Boyd secretary. There had been elaborate preparation for this event, and prominent representatives of the Federation of Women's Clubs were present and made addresses. By the first of December the number of members had increased to two hundred and ten.

Albion Cricket Club

Needham has had good teams that have made creditable records in base ball, foot ball and other sports, but its cricket players have given the town its chief prominence in athletics. The Albion Cricket Club existed from 1867 to 1897, with occasional periods of inactivity, and some of its members were noted wherever there was interest in this game. James Dring had been a skilful player in England, as had William Gorse and Thomas Beach.

Among other players entitled to mention, as prominent more than thirty years ago, are Thomas and Stephen Lester, Robert Bennett, Charles Banner, the latter an expert bowler, now living in California. Many of these men were excellent cricketers when past middle life, and never lost their fondness for this game.

The four Thorpe brothers, John, Thomas, Joseph B, and Charles, were all actively interested in cricket, and played well. Charles was remarkable, considering that he had but one hand, and often made many runs. During two active seasons this club never met defeat. Their grounds were first on the Kimball estate, on the north side of Great Plain Avenue, then they had the field opposite the Avery School, later George Otis Kingsbury's field, and finally land on High Street, where they had a club house. Many seasons have brought laurels to the Needham cricket players, which in some years have been gained in the Dominion of Canada, as well as in the States, and in 1908 with half of the cricket season over the players from Needham Heights were "still in the lead for the season's honors", and at the close ranked as third. This prominence was in spite of the fact that there were one, or more, contesting clubs that contained "imported material". In the latter year the name of Frank W. Gorse appears among the "bowling stars".

Organizations For Amusement

For forty years, or more, Needham has been rich in amateur actors, some of whom excelled, and there have been a succession of dramatic clubs, as well as tennis clubs, a Rod and Gun Club, and various "teams" devoted to sports. The drama received a great impetus during the seventies and early eighties from the presence in town of Isaac R. Stearns, and, before Needham became suburban, a play excited much interest, and a large attendance was assured.

In 1901 a Golf Club was formed, and the grounds of the town water reservation, formerly the Colburn farm, were secured. This attractive territory of about forty acres commands fine distant views, and seemed an ideal place for golf, and for two years the club flourished, although it never had one hundred members, and twice that number were necessary if the grounds were to be kept in good order. During two winters the club had a series of dances, and in the pleasant season many enjoyed the golf. Early in 1903 it became evident that there were not enough persons who had leisure for the game, and were ready to pay assessments sufficient to warrant incurring considerable expense, and consequently the grounds soon became unfit, and the construction of the railroad through this land in 1905 has rendered a revival of this club impracticable.

Temperance And Temperance Societies

On May 4, 1829, which was before the Temperance Society was formed, the town voted "to put the law in force respecting Idlers and tavern hanters", and the next spring decreed that the surveyors of highways "Should provide no Spiritous liquers, at the expense of the town in working out their highway taxes". In 1837 Mr. Kimball, William Flagg, William Clark, Leonard Battle (Battelle) and Josiah B. Lyon were a committee of the town to "put in force the licence law against all those who violate the Same." In 1845 Capt. Reuben Ware made an attempt to have the town "prevent the sale of Intoxicating drink in town, the ensuing year", but the article was dismissed. In 1854 the town instructed its selectmen to enforce the "Liquor Law", but became much dissatisfied with the official "Liquor Agent", and the "adulterated articles" with which he had been supplied.^

In 1870 the town voted that "no person shall be allowed to sell Ale, Porter, Strong beer, or Lager beer in this Town". A similar vote was passed the next year by 48 to 4. In 1882 the town voted 105 to 87 in favor of licensing the sale of intoxicating liquor, and in 1884 by 159 to 108, but for many years the vote has been largely against it.

The first Temperance meeting in Needham was held in the West Meeting-house on January 3, 1828. The Needham Temperance Society was formed on April 8, 1830, as the result of a largely attended meeting held at the almshouse one week before. The ofiicers for 183 1 were the Rev. Daniel Kimball president, Benjamin Slack, Esq., vice-president, Dr. Josiah Noyes secretary, Moses Garfield, Jonathan Ellis, Dea. Hezekiah Fuller, William A. Kingsbury and Isaiah Fisk directors. It was the custom of the society to observe Independence Day, and on July 5, 183O, the Rev. Mr. Kimball gave an address in the First Church. This patriotic meeting was devoted in part to the subject of temperance, and Mr. Kimball's address was printed that year by H. & W. H. Mann, printers of Dedham, and is a pamphlet of sixteen pages. In 183 1 the constitution and names of the members of the society appeared in a pamphlet of seven pages, printed by the Politician & Advocate Press of Dedham. The by-laws consisted of eight articles, and seventy-four men and one hundred and thirty-five women, mostly of the West Parish, belonged to the Temperance Society. Besides the regular quarterly meetings there were temperance lectures, and on January 20, 1834, a Temperance Convention was held at the house of Mr. Kimball. Needham was prominently represented by delegates in the Norfolk County Temperance Society, and Mr. Kimball and Dr. Noyes contended incessantly against the evil which was much in evidence in Needham, as in hundreds of other towns, but the society was several years old before the First Parish ceased to supply its choir with liquor, and no funeral or auction was then complete without it. The expenditures by the town for spirit and sugar when the poor were auctioned off at the tavern each November had ended, as the town had acquired an almshouse, but drink was furnished by the town at the burials of its charges. In 1 8 14 the town could not repair the little Sawmill Bridge, or do any work, without "spirit and Sugar". About 1840 the Washingtonian movement reached Needham, and there were mass meetings, with much enthusiasm, resulting in a great reformation. At a meeting held in the First Church, a banner, the gift of Mr. Moses Kimball, was formally presented to the local Temperance Society by Adelaide Phillips, then a little girl, who stood on one of the window seats, that all might see her. There were picnics and concerts, and Edgar K. Whitaker of Needham and the Rev. Edwin Thompson, a Universalist minister of Walpole, were active in the cause in our town.^ On December 19,

^ While the Washingtonian crusade was at its height a large number signed the pledge, including the late Jeremiah Kingsbury, who lived where Mrs. Arthur

The History Of Needham 603

1857, the Neholden Division Sons of Temperance Number 15 was organized by William N. Eayrs, and is in 191 1 one of the oldest temperance societies in Massachusetts. It originally met in Nehoiden Hall, at the old Centre, and since October 3, 1867, in Highland Hall, above the store at Needham Heights.^

About 1883 the meetings were held in the vestry of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of the twelve charter members but two are now living in Needham: - Cyrus W. Jones and John E. Richards, The Division has had over two thousand members, and they are now scattered through twenty States. Its fiftieth anniversary was appropriately observed, and Messrs. Jones and Richards were present. Early in 1858 Mr. Eayrs formed the juvenile Nehoiden Band of Hope, which had picnics and concerts, besides regular meetings in Nehoiden Hall. The Band flourished for about five years, when Mr. Eayrs left town. In 1866 the Union Temperance Band was organized, and consisted of the Unitarian, Baptist, Orthodox and Methodist Sunday Schools. The Band has met the third Sundays of January,

Whitaker now (191 1) resides. Mr. Kingsbury was brought into the hall to sign by his neighbor "Deacon" Newell Smith. Some will recall the peculiarities of the old blacksmith, Isaac H. Greenwood, who had a defect in his palate, and almost invariably began a remark with the appropriate words "toe te toe". Mr. Kingsbury had a similar eccentricity, and as he left the hall with Mr. Smith he said, "Fact fact Deacon we will have a little toddy in haying time".

1 Nehoiden Hall was built in 1844 by George Revere, who from 1830 to 1870 lived where George Kuhn Clarke does, and it was a large hall with a store, kept by Mr. Revere, beneath it. In this hall many dances and festivals were held, as well as political and Civil War meetings, including those connected with recruiting. Enlistments took place under the old oak to the south, which with its companion tree, the Greenwood oak, antedates the town.

In 1869 Jonathan Avery bought the building and made it into tenements, and in 1906 the estate was purchased by Miss Martha Anna Clarke, and the Nehoiden Block removed by William Carter to the "Sand Hole" on Rosemary Street, where Mr. Carter had other property.

The managers were Edgar K. Whitaker, Galen Orr, Moses Mann, Rufus Mills, Charles Curtis and Josiah H. Carter. Music by Moses Mann, Eben Flagg and Artemas Newell.