Wellesley Town

Wellesley Town

His children were: Mary Holmes, Luther, Jr., and his twin, David Lewis, Ezra Dwight, Harvey, Leprelette, and Elizabeth Holmes, of whom Luther, Jr., and the last three survived their father.

Mary Holmes died Sept. 6, 1847; married Amos Cheney, of Cambridgeport, and had Mary Elizabeth (died early), Caroline Mason (now Mrs, A.S. Bunker, of Lawrence, Mass.), Artemas Fuller (Boston Highlands), and Amos Parker (South Natick, Mass.).

David Lewis married Meria' Jordan, of Dorchester, and had Luther David, who died at six months ; Ammon Rodgers, now at Elmira, N. Y. Died at Sharon, Oct. 29, 1842.

Chapter, Xxx Vel

THE history of the town of Wellesley is necessarily brief, as the town was incorporated so late as April 6, 1881. It was until that time, from 1711, a part of the town of Needham, and previous to that time its territory was included within the limits of the town of Dedham.

contest about the relocation of the meeting-house, which had been burned in 1773, it was finally voted to allow the people in the westerly part of the town to be free from further support of the church, " provided they do proceed in building a meeting-house and maintain preaching among them."' scription, and a meeting-house was " builded," though not finished for several years, and preaching was "maintained," though a settled ministry was not established for more than twenty years. In 1778 the West Precinct was incorporated by act of General Court.

Freedom in religious matters did not, however, entirely satisfy the inhabitants of the westerly part of the town, as very early efforts were made to obtain separate political rights. A strenuous effort was made in 1801, another in 1820, and other later and well-remembered attempts have been made at short intervals. In 1880 an appeal was made, with almost absolute unanimity, by the inhabitants of the west side, now grown to be a large and wealthy community, to the Legislature, and with so great force of reason and argument that the petition was granted, and the town was incorporated and named Wellesley.

Under the act of incorporation, Solomon Flagg, town clerk of Needham for thirty years, and a warm advocate of incorporation, called a meeting for the organization of the town, and the following officers were chosen (April 18, 1881): Moderator, George K. Daniell; Town Clerk, Solomon Flagg; Town Treasurer, Albert Jennings; Selectmen and Overseers of the Poor, Lyman K. Putney, Walter Hunnewell, John W. Shaw; Assessors, George K. Daniell, Joseph H. Dewing, Dexter Kingsbury ; School Committee, Joseph KH. Fiske (for three years), Benjamin H. Sanborn (for two years), Marshall L. Perrin (for one year).

At a subsequent meeting (April 30th) appropriations were made for expenses, among others, eight thousand dollars for schools, three thousand five hundred dollars for highways and sidewalks, and it voted that no licenses to sell intoxicating liquors should be

"Under the act of incorporation, certain matters were left for adjustment and settlement between the parent town and Wellesley, which have all been satisfactorily arranged, except the provision with regard to the support of schools, which is now in the hands of a commission.

In the autumn of 1882 it was voted by the town to petition the Legislature to pass an act to allow the town to introduce water for domestic and other purposes, and a committee was chosen to examine into the matter of water-supply, and report to the town.

man, reported a plan to the town, advising pumping water from the borders of Charles River, near the northeasterly limit of the town, on or near land of Charles Rice, into a reservoir upon Maugus Hill, and two years, and Walter Hunnewell, for one year. This brings the political: history of the town to the present writing at the close of the year 1883.

Washington Street and Pond road, then within the limits of Natick, possibly as soon as 1750. This place was occupied by him for many years as a farm and summer home. the neighboring towns, and at one time the present town-farm of Wellesley.

was a pioneer in the importation of blooded stock from England, giving attention especially to Durham stock in cattle, being in this and other kindred ways of great value to his neighbors. He is remembered by the older natives of Wellesley and Natick asa very kindly neighbor, loaning them money in their needs, never pressing for payment nor charging them exorbitant interest, and encouraging them in the purchase of property, aiding them by his experience and means, having great resources in both.

gail, whose maternal grandfather was Chief Justice Pratt, of New York, a native of Norfolk County. John Welles was the lineal descendant of Thomas Welles (of royal English descent), who came over with Lord Say and Sele, as private secretary, in 1636, and was afterwards chosen one of the magistrates of the Colony of Connecticut, its treasurer, Deputy Governor, and finally Governor.

a descendant of Governor Welles, married Hannah Arnold, and removed to Boston, where his wife inmost interested, - agriculture. He died at the advanced age of ninety-one, Sept. 21, 1855, surviving his wife

_and cousin eleven years. His son-in-law H. H. Hunnewell, now owning the Welles' place, the son of Dr. Walter Hunnewell, a good and respectable doctor of Watertown, a graduate of Harvard University, 1787, was born in 1810, and very early went to Paris to engage in business in the firm of Welles & Company, of which firm he became a member, remaining in Paris till 1839, when he returned to Massachusetts, making his summer residence at Wellesley, in the '"¢ Morrill House," till 1852, when he erected his present house. His estate is so well known, and has been a prominent object of attraction in the town for so many years, especially with those who take an interest in horticultural matters, that any extended descrip- It consists of over four 'hundred acres of land, of which some thirty acres about the Mansion House, with as many more connected with the cottages, are under a high state of cultivation, and have been laid out and planted by the proprietor with such success as to attion of it would seem unnecessary.

The son of Arnold, Hon. John Welles, of the house of J. and B. Welles, of Boston, and Welles & Company, of Paris, bankers, was well known on both continents as a successful and honest business man, holding in Boston many responsible positions in banking, trust, and insurance organizations. Aside from his purely business pursuits he was interested in scientific farming and stock-raising, and in general agriculture.

large and valuable collection of coniferse from California and Europe, some of which are of large size now and whose future growth will be watched with much interest by those interested in the introduction cessfully in great numbers for many years, and are a marked feature in the place, attracting the attention of visitors, especially in early summer, by their gorgeous flowers.

One of the most novel and interesting features of | the place is probably the Italian garden, a very fine view of which is obtained from the upper terrace as seen in the illustration we give. The mode of treatment here adopted in growing trees is rarely seen to | any extent in this country, though often met with in Europe, and can only be successfully used when circumstances are favorable and appropriate for its in- | troduction in the decoration of gardens or public parks. , Trees formally trained and clipped do not harmonize with those growing naturally,and when they are mingled together on a lawn they most decidedly mar any attempt to enhance the beauty of the landscape, but when seen as planted in the Italian garden at Wellesley, in connection with the grand water view, some most striking and interesting effects - are produced by this style of gardening. Standing on the upper terrace, seventy feet above the lake, the spectator looks down on a sharp sloping piece of ground, of over two acres, thrown into six terraces four hundred feet long, each reaching down to the water's edge and planted with a large number of evergreen

The garden was prepared in 1854, and the planting has been going on ever since, as trees of the required © character cannot be procured at the nurseries, and their | growth is necessarily very slow, being cut back once or twice every season to give them a compact and dense appearance ; but many of them have already attained a height of twenty to thirty feet, and are so high as to excite the interest and admiration of every | visitor. The trees which have been used in this garden consist of white pines, Norway spruces, junipers, retinosporas, larches, hemlocks, and arbor-vitees, and hedges of the two latter, one hundred and fifty feet long and ten to fifteen feet high, have not suffered in our coldest winters, though they have a northern exposure and the full force of our northwest winds over the lake.

The labor in pruning is very great, stagings having to be constructed to reach the tops of the highest trees, and it must necessarily be largely increased when the next generation sees them double their present height.

The kindly generosity which has thrown open for so many years to an admiring and grateful people these beautiful gardens has shown itself in a more marked manner even in the gift to the town of a beau- | tiful park, library building stocked with books, and a town hall by an indenture, of which the striking points may be briefly given, in which Mr. Hunnewell | expresses his desire to " promote the prosperity of the | town of Wellesley and the welfare and happiness of | its inhabitants, and at the same time to advance the cause of sound learning, education, and letters," and therefore conveys to the inhabitants of the town of buildings erected or to be erected thereon, to be used as a town hall and a public library, with the conditions that the grounds may be entered upon and improved by Mr. Hunnewell and the Wellesley Free Library Corporation, that the town shall keep in repair the buildings and the park in order, and that no additions or alterations shall be made without the consent of Mr. Hunneweli or the Wellesley Free Library after his death. 'There is a further provision that the inhabitants of the neighboring town of Needham may have access to the library under certain restrictions.

The town of Wellesley is rectangular in shape, though somewhat irregular, being about four and onehalf miles in length and about two and one-quarter in

The Boston and Albany Railroad runs through the town from east to west, with stations at Rice's Crossing, Wellesley Hills, Wellesley, and Lake Crossing,

Lower Falls. The excellent service of this road, the cheap fares and quick transit, with promised improvements, combined with many natural attractions and

The town, and more particularly the village of Wellesley Hills, has a wide reputation for healthfulness, owing in great measure to its elevation, combined with the dryness of its soil and freedom from all malarial and other unhealthful tendencies, and has been the resort for many years, by the advice of the best physicians, for persons afflicted with pulmonary complaints. The charm of the town of Wellesley consists delightful drives and its beautiful landscape scenery, and no enlarged description of its enchanting outlooks, its elegant residences, its public buildings, its hills and vales, its calm waters and rugged ledges can be otherwise than futile and unsatisfactory. The main strect, named for our first President, and noticed with favor by Washington when he made his tour, in 1789, as a " good road," affords a notable drive, much of the way arched with trees, passing through our three villages, rising first to a view of the valley of the Charles, which all admire and artists love, by churches of various architecture and varied beliefs, with hills near and remote, crowned with villas of the wealthy, and and north, with Nonantum behind and Maugus by our side, to suggest to us romances of Indian life, and excite our sympathy for the sufferings of the red men, by the former home of W. G. T. Morton, the discoverer of that greatest of boons to human sufferers, sulphuric ether, by the colleges the monument more enduring than brass, of Henry F. Durant, by the beautiful Lake Waban, Lake of the Wind, named for Eliot's first convert, by the elegant villas of the Hunnewells to the limits of the busy town of Natick.

Two conduits of the Boston Water-Works mar the landscape in general, but in a few places, as the long viaduct across Waban Brook, the gate-houses at either end of the siphon on the new works, and the bridge across the Charles on the old, add beauties of architecture to the natural scenery.

Maugus Hill, named for an Indian called Magos, of whom but little is known, save that he deeded land about Mauegus Hill to the town of Dedham in 1681. Wellesley Hills for a short time, was also the name of an Indian who transferred his claim to the tract of land of which Wellesley was a part to the inhabitants of the town of Dedham, and many other names preserved in names of organizations and in names of farms and country-seats.

The " Hundreds," already become the fashionable location for residences, was named from the amount of land in the divisions of the country, including the present village of Wellesley Hills, the tract of woodland now known as the Hundreds, the school-farm of Dedham, and Needham Leg, about three thousand five hundred acres in all. What is now the village of Wellesley Hills was included almost wholly in the tract of land assigned to Capt. Daniel Fisher, of Dedham, who took Sir Edmund Andros by the collar and drew him from his place of refuge back to Fort Hill in the Rebellion of 1689. This division of land was made in 1699.

The historical associations with the names of the residents of Wellesley are numerous and interesting, and should they be freely chronicled would embrace in their narration the most important events in American history.

Probably Andrew Dewing was the first settler within the town limits of Wellesley, and erected a garrisonhouse about 1660. This name we find preserved in local and military history, the name is found in the list of Revolutionary soldiers, and one of the family was in the war of the Rebellion, the present assessor of that name.

The Fullers, always one of the most influential families of the place, derive their origin from Thomas Fuller (a member of whose family very early built a house near the town line), a representative to the General Court as early as 1686, whose son was wounded in the Narraganset war, and whose descendants were conspicuous in the earlier and later wars and in civil life as well, - William, Henry A., Warren, and Andrew serving in the war of the Rebellion.

The Wares, another well-known family, have always had their representatives in church, town, and military matters, one of whom has left a very valuable journal of his journey to Quebec under Arnold, in 1776.

The Kingsburys, descendants probably of Joseph Kingsbury, of Dedham, furnished one of their number as captain of a company which fought at the battle of Lexington, and a noble child of the house, William H., died in the last war, while Dexter .has held town offices for many years.

The Mills, one of whom was killed (and the only one living within the limits of Wellesley who was killed) in the Lexington fight, and the Smiths freely represented in the Revolutionary and Rebellion contests; Daniel, the first deacon of the West Needham Church, represented in all places of honor and works, with a female ancestor captured and scalped by the Indians and the last with us well known as legislator, moderator, and assessor; the Flaggs, synonym for town officer; Fiskes, old residents of the Leg, and builders of our best old homes, now represented by the present chairman of the school committee, and a captain of artillery in the late war; the Stevens, faithful and true, one of whom died in the wretched Libby prison, at Richmond; the Jennings, ancestors of our present town treasurer, whose first American ancestor was killed in a Pequot fight, 1633; the Slacks, later but influential through the influence of Squire Benjamin Slack, the last generation represented by Capt. C. B. Slack in the war of the Re- farmers, with two of the family on the muster-roll of the Forty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment ; the Huntings, descendants of John Hunting, the first elder of | the Dedham Church, with three of the last generation in the late war, - Willard dying in prison, all have done their share in honest faithful work to enhance there are several factories of consequence from their antiquity as well as from the amount of business which they do. Aslong ago as 1704 Benjamin Mills located a saw-mill about where the Dudley Hosiery Mill now stands and below a natural dam which was

The Educational Institutions. - The earliest schools for many years were probably taught in private homes whenever it was most convenient, but the first house built for that purpose was probably erected in 1728 by William Chubb, by subscription, costing thirty-one pounds ten shillings, and stood about where built on the same site in the North District. At present there is one high school with forty-eight scholars S. Atwood, settled Oct. 23, 1856, dismissed Sept. 21,

Churches and Parishes. - After the incorporation of the '" West Precinct," already alluded to, the poverty engendered by the war proved a serious impediment in the way of church advancement ; and it was to the parish by the annexation of a part of Natick by act of the Legislature, that the inhabitants felt strong enough to institute a church organization.

The church was formally '" embodied" Sept. 6, 1798, with ten members. Mr. Thomas Noyes, a native of Acton, son of one of the Acton men in the Concord fight, a graduate of Harvard College (1795), was ordained July 10, 1799.

The only descendants of Mr. Noyes living in Wellesley are a granddaughter, Mrs. F. M. E. White, wife of Hon. George White, judge of probate of Norfolk County, with their three children. He was pastor till July 9, 1833. The first deacons His sucecessor was Joseph W. Sessions, ordained Oct. 2, 1833, dismissed May 31, 1842; succeeded, Oct. 6, 1842, by Rev. Harvey Newcomb, dismissed July 1, 1846; Andrew Bigelow, July 7, 1847, to Feb. 2, 1853; A. R. Baker, Jan. 1, 1856, dismissed 1861; George G. Phipps, Jan. 23, 1868, dismissed April 1, 1878; P. D. Cowan, April 9, 1879, the present pastor.

The church building was renewed and dedicated Jan. 1, 1835, and this building was sold and a new one erected in 1868, the old building having been moved and presented by Charles B. Dana to Wellesley College, and named Dana Hall.

The church at Wellesley Hills (Grantville) was built in 1847, and the church was organized Feb. 24, 1847, with thirty members. John Batchelder and Reuel Ware were chosen deacons, and Rey. Harvey Newcomb was installed as pastor Dec. 9, 1847, and dismissed Noy. 8, 1849; Rev. William Barrows, settled Aug. 22,1850, dismissed Jan. 22, 1856; Edward

The Grantville Unitarian Society was gathered in December, 1869, and engaged Rey. A. B. Vorse to preach to them. He has continued as their preacher to the present time.

Archbishop Williams May 8, 1881. Rev. Michael Dolan has been its pastor to the present date. | A Methodist Church was built on Pine Plain, now | known as Unionville, in 1800, and preaching, largely © by circuit ministers, was had for over forty years. George Pickering was the first preacher, a man of | power and fame in his later ministry. There are | many reminiscences of preachers, sermons, and reli-_ gious harmony and quarrels, which can find no room

The first post-office in the town was established in - 1830, with Charles Noyes, son of Parson Noyes, as | postmaster, in a little shop where the postmaster conducted his business, that of an optician. The mail was brought once in two days, by the Uxbridge stage, | and known as West Needham Post-office. It is now | known as Wellesley, and, with W. H. Flagg as _postmaster, has an average of one thousand letters per

- Sincerity Lodge of Odd-Fellows was organized in 1875 in Wellesley, and is now in excellent condition, with (1883) Freeman Phillips as chief officer and sixty-four members.

Very much matter which would naturally be looked for in a work like this respecting early history will be found in the history of the town of Needham, while numberless historical memoranda of great local interest and of great interest to families and individuals are necessarily shut out from want of space and the general character of the work.

By Rev. D. S. Rodman

As an illustration of one of the developments in the intellectual life of our country Wellesley College stands pre-eminent and worthy of note. It was

College

It is in a location which, for suitableness and influence, it would be difficult to surpass; has buildings unexcelled for convenience and beauty; a body of trustees composed of some of the most prominent friends of education in the land; libraries containing more than twenty-five thousand volumes, to which large additions are constantly made; scientific apparatus and other appliances of most approved construction ; and what is far more important, an able corps of professors and teachers; class-rooms affording illustrations of great principles and methods in education, such business connections as might afford him means for beneficent objects, confronting the question, '' How can I best serve God in my day and generation ?"

In his wife he had a noble Christian inspirer, helper, and friend. Their wealth was consecrated to How best to use it in his service was the He now carefully studied the various forms of benevolent efforts, and moved among men an observer of society and its many needs.

The decision was finally made to found an institu- With this new purpose Mr. Durant's native gifts, intense nature, energy of will, sound judgment, keen perception, persistency of purpose, his executive ability, law, he was admitted to the bar in 1843. Eminently gifted with the talents that insure success, he soon became a lawyer of lucrative practice and fame. In 1854 he was united in marriage to Pauline Adeline Fowle, daughter of Col. John Fowle, late of the United States Army.

While in the prime of life and in a career of brilliant achievement, his son, a boy eight years old, of fine promise and beautiful character, suddenly died (1863). This event, under the influence of God's Holy Spirit, changed the governing purpose and direction of his life. With characteristic decision he became the man of Christian spirit and endeavor. He relinquished his practice at the bar, and retained only literary and cultivated taste, all were brought into requisition, and indicated the man for the work, the work for the man. The magnificent institution at Wellesley is the result.

'" Never," says Dr. Howard Crosby, '" was any great institution more completely the work of one man. To Mr. Durant belongs the credit of the plan and the execution, as well as the pecuniary gift."

Location. - Wellesley College is situated on the banks of Lake Waban, in Wellesley, about one mile from the railway station. The grounds comprise three hundred and thirty-one acres of meadow and wood land, of lawn and glade, with a mile of frontage on the lake.

Music, and soon reach the main building on a rising knoll, overlooking the waters of the lake. On the 18th of August, 1871, the first stone of west corner. This was done without public ceremonial, but in a manner characteristic of the spirit of the founders, and significant of the principles that actuated them and of the designs that were to be carried out.

tion, is in the form of a double Latin cross. The leneth is four hundred and seventy-four feet. To this is added a building containing gymnasium, laundries, and kitchens, extending one hundred and twentyfive feet. The width of the wings is one hundred and seventy feet. points extending into five, the whole crowned with a mansard roof, and set off with spires, towers, bays, porches, and pavilions. The architecture is in the style of the Renaissance.

place of intersection, opens loftily up seventy feet to a glass roof that surmounts this central space, thus distributing the cheery light through all the corridors. Around this space at every story run galleries polished Hallowell granite columns, which are surmounted by foliated marble capitals, and on the floors above by fluted iron columns with Corinthian capitals.

Around this area at the several stories are balustrades of different ornamented patterns, and finished in a varied and attractive style. From above the ob-

Nova Scotia freestone trimmings. The main partition walls throughout the building are of brick, with fire-proof floors in the library and chapel. dows are varied in size and form; the window-heads lowest floor that rises from a mosaic of marble tilings. This is of graceful, irregular outline, filled with earth and planted with palms, tree-ferns, and tropical flora in rich luxuriance.

This entrance hall and the many corridors to the topmost story are enriched with paintings, engravings, sketches, casts, and statuary. Among these are the famous "Gibraltar" of R. Swain Gifford, a marine painting by Arthur Quartley, a flower piece by Mario Nuzzi (1603-1673), "The Cumeean Sybil" by Vedder, and other paintings and sketches by Kennett, Bellows, Parsons, Magrath, Ellen Robbins, Edward Frere, Otto Gunther, Zangower, Keith, Bristol, Head, Smiley, Hart, Lambinet, and others.

The broad and central stairways with their carved balustrades of ash and treads of oak, the floors of oiled cherry, are examples of the thoroughness of the construction of the whole building. The stairways in the east and west wings are similar to the central.

with French roofs, the whole producing an irregular but harmonious exterior finical, substantial but not unwieldy. Dignity, grace, and repose are the general effect.

The main entrance is through a porte-cochere, or portico of Nova Scotia freestone. This is supported by twelve massive pillars of the same material. Over the portal is the monogram, "I. H.S."

The central hall is one hundred and seventy feet in length and sixty feet in width. This is crossed at right angles by a corridor that extends a distance of four hundred and seventy-four feet, meeting a like corridor and opening in each wing.

The interior wood-finish is of western ash. The students' rooms are in suites of a bedroom and parlor, occupying a space about twenty by fourteen feet, and intended for two. They vary in form and size, are cheerful and pleasant, more than half looking out upon the lake and having a southern exposure, the others fronting the avenue that approaches the college. A few larger parlors with two bedrooms accommodate three or four pupils. There are also a few and the general office. first floor, is the library. seventy-seven feet in size. beauty of proportions, convenience for study, and wealth of material. tractive room for treasures "' both new and old."

The lower alcoves are furnished with chairs and tables, Those above are reached by The entire finish is in black This room is intended to be fire-proof, and

The chapel is a fine audience-room, directly over the library. There is seating capacity for six hundred and fifty. A gallery extending the width of the room is entered from third floor. This room is finished in black walnut, and richly frescoed. Ornamental trusses interlaced over the chancel support the roof. Transverse beams divide the ceiling into panels, which are handsomely frescoed.

In the rear of the platform is a memorial window, consisting of two pictures made by Berkhart, at Munich, and presented to the college by Governor and Mrs. William Claflin, in memory of a daughter who died in Rome.

In the western end, on the first floor, is the dininghall. fifty. eighteen arched windows. domestic hall that is specially fitted to facilitate the

This will accommodate three hundred and It is finished in hard wood, and lighted by It communicates with the domestic work. The appointments in this part of the building are of a complete and finished character. The laundry is furnished for cleansing and drying clothes by steam. Excellent facilities, in a separate room, are provided for young ladies who wish to do their own laundry-work.

The building is warmed by steam. Fresh air is constantly admitted into the basement; heated by contact with steam-radiators, charged with moisture by the addition of a prescribed quantity of steam, it is distributed through the building. Every study-parlor has its separate flue, and the register enables the occupant to regulate the heat at her pleasure. It is generally conceded that there is no public building in the is lighted by gas, manufactured upon the college prem- | tion. Its fine proportions, exquisite symmetry, the ises, and conducted into every room. German student- | response of the interior to the expectations awakened lamps are also furnished for every study-parlor. Water | by the exterior, the excellence of its general plan, the is supplied in great abundance from four artesian wells. refined nicety of its details, the elegance and sim- Hot and cold water is provided in every part of the _ plicity that characterize it throughout the combination building. Bathing-rooms are at convenient points in | of so many fine qualities make the adaptation to its every story. A steam passenger-elevator is in use destined use almost perfect. It is justly considered day and evening. The drainage, natural and arti- | the master-piece of Mr. Hammatt Billings, Boston's ficial, is faultless. ablest architect.

Four years were occupied in the erection of this On Sept. 8, 1875, this building was opened with building. All was done under the constant and three hundred students. This faculty was represented scrutinizing supervision of Mr. Durant. He spared by Miss A. L. Howard as president, associated with neither expense nor effort to secure the utmost pos- twenty-nine professors and teachers.

sible degree of excellence in all its appointments. The A charter had been obtained, in 1870, from the best materials and the most thorough workmanship | State. The establishment of such an institution in were everywhere made a first consideration. this part of the country, unique 10 conception, high in

The fifth year (1879- 80) opened with three hundred and seventyfive students, and the sixth (1880-81) with three hundred and seventy-two. There

Dana Hall, a building in the village that had been presented to the college by C. B. Dana, was filled by members of the teachers' class, and by graduates. Stone Hall. - At this juncture Mrs. Valeria G. Stone, of Malden, Mass., gave one hundred thousand dollars to the college, to be expended in the erection of a building for teachers, to be called ' Stone Hall."

The corner-stone was laid May 27, 1880; and in September, 1881, it was opened '-/ to the reception of students. This building is of three stories, its walls of brick, and orna-

Stone Hall

> mented with terra-cotta. The interior partitions are of brick without wood furrings. The external walls are vaulted with eight-inch spaces; and the corridor walls are built with flues for ventilation and heating ; the latter communicating with hot-air chambers in the basement.

It is arranged for a family of one hundred students, all having separate apartments. There are four dining-rooms, a kitchen, and laundry. It has a parlor and reception-room, and is intended to provide all the requisites of a home. Stone Hall occupies the entire summit of a knoll overlooking the lake.

This year (1881) was rendered painfully memorable in the history of the college by the death of its founder. From the beginning of the undertaking his cares had been unremitting, his labors great and incessant. With untiring energy he had devoted himself night and day to the most minute details incident to the foundation and establishment of a great seat of learning. Not only during all the work of planning and construction, but for the six years between the opening of the college and his death, he gave the whole strength of soul, mind, and body to it. The result was inevitable, that so putting his life into the college, he should lay down his life for it. He died at Wellesley, Oct. 3, 1881, ten years after the laying of the first cornerstone. He had lived to see, if not the full accomplishment of his purpose, yet more than is given to most men to see of the fruit of his labors. He had seen an idea dear to him take root, gather material forces around it, emerge from the darkness, make itself known, recognized, felt, a power in the world for good. His loss was deeply felt in every department. The inspiration of his presence, his unwearied interest, his constant thoughfulness are daily missed.

Cottage System. - It being the aim of the college to provide for its students the best environments as well as the best instruction within its power, two systems, each having peculiar advantages, were selected. The founder erected at great expense one of the most convenient and beautiful buildings for education in the world, within whose walls can be collected three hundred and fifty teachers and students, and as many conveniences for study and improvement as can well be grouped together under one roof. But knowing that some find the strain and tension incident to intercourse with so many too great, cot-

College Of Music

Simpson Cottage was erected on one of the fine sites within the grounds, at a cost of about twentyfive thousand dollars. It was the gift of Mr. M. H. Simpson, in memory of his wife, who was an earnest friend, and one of the trustees, of the college. It was opened in September, 1882; will accommodate twenty-three students and a teacher.

It is the design to group around the main building or in its vicinity - as soon as means are furnished - other similar cottages; each, as far as its home-life is concerned, to be a distinct establishment, with its dining-room, kitchen, and parlors; to be under the care of a lady of refinement and culture; where students will have even more than the quietness of an ordinary home.

The requirements for admission for the next year were greater than in any previous year. The preparation of applicants has been of better quality year by year.

They have been from every State in the Union except one (Nevada), and from Micronesia, Sandwich Islands, India, Turkey, Siam, Japan, Chili, Mexico, Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.

Twenty-four students have entered upon work in the home and foreign mission fields, and many more are engaged in teaching or are holding other positions of influence in various parts of the world.

The price of board and tuition (including heating and light), at first two hundred and fifty dollars per annum, has been necessarily raised to two hundred and seventy-five dollars. There are twenty-four scholarships of five thousand dollars each, the income from which is appropriated to aid-deserving students, under the direction of the Students' Aid Society. More than ten thousand dollars were thus applied during the past year (1882-83). The library has a fund of fifty thousand dollars. Funds are needed to retain the present low rate of board and tuition, to endow professorships, to purchase apparatus, to erect cottages for homes, a laboratory building, and an observatory.

Rey. Noah Porter, D.D., LL.D., is president of the board of trustees; Rev. Howard Crosby, D.D., LL.D., vice-president ; Mrs. Henry F. Durant, treasurer; Professor EK. N. Horsford is president of the board of visitors. three officers of government and instruction. There are fifty-three resident professors and teachers. Alice E. Freeman, Ph.D., is the president.

have been secured. stone spanning the entrance, and that which rises above the highest pinnacle of the noble pile, are only slight evidences, among many, of this purpose.

Biographical Sketches Emery Fisk

Broad Gates, Loxfield, Framingham, Suffolk County, England, whose son or grandson, David, with two nephews and their mother, came to Watertown about 1636, and there settled. David went to Wenham, and his descendants are to be found in Northeastern Massachusetts and in New Hampshire towns. Nathan, one of the nephews, married Susanna He was one of the selectmen of Watertown in about His fourth son, Nathaniel, was born July 12, 1653, and in 1677 married Mary Childs. Their son Nathaniel was born June 9, 1678, and Their third

Broad, of Needham, April 11, 1745. Their son Moses, born 1746, married (1775) to Sally : settled in Natick (Needham Leg) upon their mar- Their son Moses, the father of Emery, was ton, having purchased the Abijah Fisk farm. After remaining here one year the family removed to Natick, purchasing a farm, bordering upon Dug and Long Ponds, of Calvin Fisk, a cousin of the head of the family. When about eighteen years of age Emery left home to carry on the farm of Chester Adams, and, upon Col. Adams removing to Dedham, tenant of a company, was killed near Menotomy, April 19, 1775, in the battle of Lexington. They removed to Needham (now Wellesley) in May, 1833, having purchased a farm of two hundred acres of

He was greatly respected and his opinions were highly regarded by his neighbors and townsmen. He was selectman and overseer of the poor for several years of the town of Needham, and was representative of the town in the Massachusetts Legislature in the years of 1840 and 1841. served as delegate to the convention for revising the Constitution of Massachusetts in 1853, and the acquaintance he there formed with such men as Choate, Wilson, Morton, Rantoul, Butler, Burlingame, and others was a source of great pleasure to him so long as he lived. He was a Democrat in politics, and always attended the conventions of his party, State and local.

(1862-65), a prisoner of war ten months, and dis-_ of his seventy-fifth birthday, under the auspices of | the musical club of which he was a member.

charged as captain of artillery. He has been for many years a town officer; was a representative in the Legislature in 1874, and a member of the Senate of Massachusetts in 1876-77.

Solomon Flagg

One of the early associates of Mr. Flagg speaks of him "as a spruce young man, full of fun and frolic," and adds, " he still retains these characteristics."

He assisted his father in keeping store and tending bar, but under guidance of friends and their own principles, himself and his brother totally abstained from the use of liquors, and very early joined the temperance movement championed by Hon. William Jackson, of Newton.

The grandfather of Mr. Flagg, also named Solomon, was present in the battle of Lexington, and served at other points during the war of the Reyolution. He held offices in the town of Needham.

It is easy to trace the line of the family to Thomas Flagg, who came over from England before 1643, and settling at Watertown was selectman of that town in 1671, 1674-78, and died in 1697.

Mr. Solomon Flagg having married Eliza Hall, had three children, - Charles Henry, who was killed by a sad accident while very young; Charles Gay, who died, 1860, at the age of twenty-five; and George H. P., born March 12, 1830, who still survives, following the profession of dentistry with such skill and success that he has acquired an enviable reputation in his work, and amassed a fortune which enables him to indulge his father in every want and luxury in his declining years, and to place his familiar features in this history.

In mature life Mr. Flagg united with the church of which for over fifty years he has led the choir with a voice familiar, not to his townspeople only, but to the inhabitants of the neighboring towns, who turned out by hundreds to do him honor on the celebration

He was school-teacher for thirty-eight years in Needham, Dover, Natick, and Sherborn, and there are few of the old natives of these towns who do not know him and respect him.

Probably no person in Norfolk County, possibly in the State, has held public office so many years in the well to put on record the facts of so remarkable a career in this respect.

Mr. Flagg presents in his life the peculiarity of a man always in office, never an office-seeker ; a man of fixed opinions and beliefs, to which he always adhered, native place, and opened a public-house on the spot and | but by so doing never gave offense; religious in his in the house where the subject of this sketch resides. | bearing and habits, yet very fond of fun and good

He was appointed treasurer of the town of Need- - ham May 14, 1859, and elected every year till the incorporation of Wellesley, twenty-one years.

He was elected as representative to the General Court in 1834, and again in 1861, where he assisted in patriotic preparation for resistance to rebellion. He has thus aggregated one hundred and eight years _ of service in public elective office. Besides, he has | for over twenty years been justice of the peace, has | officiated as commissioner in disputed cases, - a record without a parallel, [ believe.

No man will dispute Mr. Flage's word or doubt his friendship, or find him treacherous or unfair. Hven | the bitterness following upon the division of the old | town, and for which Mr. Flagg was an earnest worker, has not strained to the least degree the cords of friendship which had been so strong heretofore.

Mr. Flage's accuracy as a town treasurer has been such that no suspicion of incorrectness has ever been brought against his accounts, and the neatness and | elegance of his records, as town clerk, have excited the attention and admiration of experts and State officials. The hope finally may be expressed: May he live as long as his ancestors, and preserve his youth as long as he lives.

Henry Wood

The first of this branch of the Wood family to settle in America was Ephraim Wood, who was born in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England, Dec. 21, 1783. Ephraim was a tailor, and followed that business all whom was for a period of over thirty years pastor of the Baptist Chapel, Toddington, England, and died in 1864 at the age of eighty-one years. Ephraim married for his first wife, Sophia Ann Whitbread, who bore him three children, - George, Ephraim, Jr., She died In 1814, Ephraim married Jane The children by this marriage were William, Joseph, Thomas, Frederick, Jane, and Charlotte. Ephraim was buried in his family tomb under St. Paul's Church, Boston. Henry Wood was born in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England, Feb. 6,1811. His boyhood was passed at his home in England until His education was chiefly obtained in the common schools of Boston. He was early apprenticed to learn the paper-hanging

Prior to the termination of his apprenticeship he bought his time from his employers and began the same business on his own account, and was successful.

his business and shortly after engaged in Philadelphia in the business of poultry-raising on an extensive scale, and by the use of an artificial incubator hatched This business proved to bea failure, for, while the hatching was a complete success, Mr. Wood returned to Boston, and with characteristic en- He also put to good use his knowledge of chemistry, as applied to the manufacture of colors, and found he could manufacture at a handsome profit. For the second time he sold out his paper-hanging business and commenced to make colorsin a house on Middlesex Street, Boston, doing the work by hand, producing from six About this time he purchased a farm in Grantville, Mass., now Wellesley Hills, the same being a part of the property now owned by Judge Abbott. Here he continued the he found it necessary to procure a place where power could be used, and leased of Charles Rice, of Newton, Lower Falls, a building where there was a water-power, and here enlarged his business, which soon became extensive and profitable.

About this time Mr. Wood had a very severe sickness, but slowly recovered, and while yet hardly convalescent news came of the total destruction of his color-works by fire, and as there was no insurance on the property, in which nearly all of his money was invested, this loss was severely felt by him, bringing privations which were bravely borne by him and his family. It was at this time that the only cow was sold to furnish money to buy bread. once sought the aid of his friend, Curtis Haven, and by his timely assistance was able to establish himself again, by rebuilding on the site of the old works.

his colors, Mr. Wood found it necessary to procure a more extensive place for manufacture, and selling his farm at Grantville, he purchased the water-power and additions to the buildings from time to time. while manufacturing at Lake Crossing that Mr. Wood took into partnership his son, under the firm-name of 'Henry Wood & Son, and the business continued to be profitable and extensive. In 1866, Mr. Wood withdrew from the firm and his son continued, taking for a partner Horace Humphrey, the new firm paying a royalty per pound to Mr. Wood up to the time of his death.

the present condition of a chimney built of this cement mixture by him at Wellesley, in 1857, attests the correctness of his judgment. The value of this material for building has been further developed

He was generous in his donations to charitable objects, even though they were directed by religious societies that did not hold the same views that he did. arly in life Mr. Wood developed a fondness for music, and often amused his schoolmates, and, in later life, his children with songs and stories. He used often to speak of his extravagance in having paid the sum of twelve dollars to hear Jenny Lind sing in the Fitchburg Railroad Hall during her first

Henry Wood married for his first wife Lois B. Rice, who died leaving no children. His second wife was Catharine Frances Jennings, who died Feb. 23, By this marriage there were two children, - Catharine Frances, who died in infancy, and George Henry, who is still living. Aug. 14, 1836, Mr. Wood married Eliza Hanson Comsett, daughter of William and Mehitable Comsett. By this marriage there were born Edmund M. (1), Martial Duroy (2), Ephraim Albert (3), Sophia Ann Whitbread (4), Martial Franklin Horton (5), and Louis Francis (6).

helped him over many a hard spot in his business experiences. While for the early portion of his life he had used liquors and tobacco, on being solicited by a temperance friend to abolish their use he promised to do so, and throwing his tobacco and liquor out of the window, never again used either, and from this time became active in the cause of the Sons of Temperance.

Mr. Wood was generous to the poor and needy, but in a quiet, unostentatious way, as shown by papers found by his executor, which gave evidence of

Mr. Wood was not He was a Republican, and an addid not prove to be a success. active in politics. mirer of William Lloyd Garrison, Charles Sumner, and Wendell Phillips.

Mr. Wood often alluded in a feeling manner to the self-sacrificing character of his beloved wife, Hliza (now living), to whose devotion was due much of the Her gentleness of manner served as a counterpoise to his decided nature, and produced While doing all the household work for the large family, and practicing strict economy in management, still, with a happy heart and a melodious voice, she made many a dark day full of sunshine and happiness, and gave to her husband and children sympathetic and practica] encouragement. Mr. Wood, after a short sickness, died suddenly, of gastritis, at his residence in Boston, May 2, 1881, at the age of seventy years, and was buried in the family lot in Mount Auburn Cemetery.

Judge White, Of Wellesley

Judge White, the subject of this sketch, was born in Quincy. He is a lineal descendant of Thomas White, of Weymouth, who was one of the earliest settlers in that town. This Thomas White was born in 1599. The time of his coming to this country is unknown, and his birthplace also, but probably Weymouth, England. In the allotment of land at Weymouth in 1636 he received twenty-one shares. He was admitted freeman in 1635. He was captain ofa military company, and for several years a representative in the Legislature. He was a member of the memorable court of November, 1637, which voted to banish Mrs. Ann Hutchinson " from out of our jurisdiction as being a woman not fit for our society." He was often an appraiser of estates, and in a case of public interest he was appointed referee by the General Court. His autograph will, now on file in the Suffolk Registry of Wills, attests a legal turn of mind.

Among his posterity are found, Samuel White, of Taunton, who was born in Braintree and graduated from Harvard College in 1731. He was the first barrister-at-law in Taunton. He presided over the House of Representatives during the period of the Stamp Act. He was of his Majesty's (George III.) Council three years, '(and a man of fine personal appearance, of great sagacity, an eloquent speaker, and Francis Baylies, the historian, of Plymouth County, and William Baylies, his brother, an eminent lawyer, the compeer of Webster,

Samuel Sumner Wilde (whose grandfather was born in Braintree), a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of this State, " whose judicial career," says Judge Shaw, "was unexampled by its length, its brillianey, and its purity."

College, Indiana; his son, Charles B. White, the learned sanitarian of New Orleans; and Thomas Crane, the founder of the Crane Memorial Hall and public library in Quincy, were also his descendants.

Dr. Nathaniel White, of Weymouth, was the ereatgrandson of the same Thomas White. He was graduated from Harvard College in 1725, was long a physician and surgeon in South Weymouth, and served as such in the French and Indian war.

great-grandson of Dr. Nathaniel White, and the fourth of that name. He was born in Weymouth. His mother was Mary, daughter of Thomas Hollis, of Braintree. She lived to the great age of one hundred and three years. He married Mehitable Curtis, daughter of Theophilus Curtis, the fourth of that name, a descendant probably of Deodatus Curtis, of Braintree.

In early life Mr. Nathaniel White was engaged in the boot and shoe trade, and acquired a handsome Later he entered the coal and lumber business, and lost heavily. This is mentioned merely for the reason that the cause of his loss The Native American party made its first appearance in our politics in the autumn of 1854, and ran its course in that and the two following years.

During its ascendency it brooked no opposition, and with a bigotry of its own, persecuted what it deemed bigotry Mr. White fell under the ban of this secret organization, to his great pecuniary loss, his usual customers refusing to trade with him, thereby forcing him to carry for years, at constantly depreciating prices, a Mr. White and his three sons, one of them the subject of this sketch, were of the few American-born voters of Quincy who stood up against that racial and religious persecution. In that small company were Charles Francis Adams, Sr., Gideon F. Thayer, Rev. William P. Lunt, Henry Wood, and Benjamin Curtis.

Mr. Nathaniel White was an active member for many years of the Universalist Society of Quincy, and contributed largely to its support, in personal labor and in money.

He was passionately fond of flowers and fruits; and on his few acres he cultivated the choicest species of flowering-plants and many varieties of trees, both fruit and forest.

He was a sportsman, skillful in the use of rod and gun. He knew well the fishing grounds on ponds and in the neighboring bays; he was familiar with

He kept a boat, and in quest of fish and water-fowl frequented the islands and headlands, the nooks and corners in Quincy, Weymouth, and Boston bays, imitating, probably, in these things his ancestor, Thomas White, who more than two centuries before lived for his fine horses, one of which was renowned for his fire and speed. With Deacon George Baxter and Ebenezer Bent, he represented Quincy in the House of Representatives in 1840.

Mr. White was a man of marked individuality, of deep convictions and passions. His natural intelligence was strong and masculine. fearless in expressing his opinions, deferring very little to the opinions of others. He was a Democrat in sentiment and character as well as in a party sense. He voted for Gen. Jackson with all his heart, as his father did for Thomas Jefferson.

Judge White was the son of Nathaniel and Mehitable (Curtis) White. He fitted for college at Phillips' Exeter Academy, then under Dr. Soulé. He was graduated from Yale College in 1848, and from Harvard Law-School in 1850. He studied law with Hon. Robert Rantoul, Jr., and on his motion was admitted to the bar in the fall of 1851, and immediately after became his partner, with the firm-name of Rantoul & White.

In April, 1851, the trial of Thomas Simms, the fugitive slave, occurred in Boston, - a trial memorable for the argument of Mr. Rantoul on the constitutionality of the fugitive slave law, and also as one of the exciting causes of the civil war; and specially notable in the men who appeared in the case and the characteristic parts which each performed.

After the death of Mr. Rantoul, Mr. White formed a connection with Hon. Asa French, subsequently the district attorney for Norfolk and Plymouth Counties, and now one of the judges of the Court of Commis- This partnership continued until 1858.

Mr. White took an active interest in the schools of Quincy, serving on the school committee for several years ; and also in the Unitarian Society of that town, acting on its parochial committees, and serving many ment of fugitive slaves. A hundred police officers guarded it as if it were a Bastile; and Faneuil Hall was occupied for barracks by the police and soldiers, as was the old South Church by British soldiers in the Revolution. The judges and officers of the law, and the persons having business in the courts, were obliged to enter the temple of justice on lowly-bending knees beneath the chains which encompassed it.

Commissioner George Ticknor Curtis sat in the judgment seat. 'To the application of the counsel of Simms for time to examine the papers and prepare the case, the commissioner gave an emphatic refusal ; and to the unanswerable argument of Mr. Rantoul he turned a deaf ear, brandishing in his eyes the Constitution as he understood it. In the mean time, petitions for a writ of habeas corpus were made by Charles Sumner, Richard H. Dana, and Samuel Sewall, and hearings were had on the same by Judges Shaw and Woodbury, but the prayers thereof were denied. Curtis, first delivering an elaborate opinion on the constitutionality of the law, remitted Simms to slavery.

In 1851, with Gideon F. Thayer, founder of the Chauncy Hall School, he purchased and edited the Quincy Patriot. Mr. Thayer retired in less than a year, and Mr. White remained sole proprietor and e