History of Dedham, Massachusetts, 1800–1999

The history of Dedham, Massachusetts, from 1800 to 1999 saw tremendous growth and change come to the town. Having been named Dedham shiretown of the newly formed Norfolk County in 1793, the town got an influx of new residents and visitors. This growth was aided by new turnpikes and railroads. In the 19th century many former farms would become businesses and homes for those who commuted into Boston. The population of the town grew by more than 10 times, and included Horace Mann, Louis Brandeis, and Henry Bradford Endicott.

The Town government expanded dramatically with the institution of the public library, the police department, fire department, department of public works, and others. St. Mary's Church was established, with William B. Gould I doing the plaster work. A number of schools were established, including Dedham High School, Noble and Greenough School, and Ursuline Academy of Dedham. The Town was central to three major court cases, the Fairbanks Case, the Dedham Case, and the world-famous Sacco and Vanzetti Case

The "scenery" of the town was described as "varied and picturesque" with "an appearance of being well kept, and the roads are noticeably good." By the 200th anniversary of the town's incorporation in 1836, Dedham was "a thriving commercial and manufacturing center" and "a town which had long been a focus for the vigorous political activity popularly associated with the Jacksonian era."

Taverns

The Norfolk House was built in 1802 and once hosted a speech by Abraham Lincoln.

Turnpikes, including those linking Boston and Providence and Dedham and Hartford, were laid through town during the first few years of the 19th century. Inns and taverns sprung up along the new roads as more than 600 coaches would pass through Dedham each day on their way to Boston or Providence.[1] The stable behind Gay's Tavern could hold over 100 horses and eight horse teams could be switched within two minutes.[2]

In 1802 a local mason named Martin Marsh built his brick home at what is today 19 Court Street and was then right on one of the new turnpikes. He saw the traffic flowing daily past his house and quickly turned his home into a tavern. His establishment, the Norfolk House, like the other inns and taverns in Dedham at that time, were bustling with the arrival of both the turnpikes and the courts. He maintained the tavern until 1818, and then sold it to Moses Gray and Francis Alden. It was this partnership that hosted President Andrew Jackson for lunch as he and his entourage passed through town in 1832.[2]

The Norfolk House was also a hotbed for Republican politics in its day. It competed with the Democratic Phoenix House, so named because it rebuilt after having been destroyed by arson, which stood at the site of the present day Knights of Columbus building on the corner of Washington and High streets in Dedham Square. The proprietors of the two establishments generally stayed away from each other but "every once in a while they slipped and then there would be a short burst of newspaper venom."[2]

A young Congressman named Abraham Lincoln gave a speech at the Norfolk House[1] on September 20, 1848 while in Massachusetts to campaign for Zachary Taylor.[3] He appeared uncomfortable as he arrived but

His indifferent manner vanished as soon as he opened his mouth. He went right to work. He turned up the cuffs of his shirt. Next, he loosened his necktie, and soon after it he took it off altogether. All the time, he was gaining upon his audience. He soon had it as by a spell. I never saw men more delighted. He began to bubble out with humor. For plain pungency of humor, it would have been difficult to surpass his speech. The speech ended in a half-hour. The bell that called to the steam cars sounded. Mr. Lincoln instantly stopped. ‘I am engaged to speak at Cambridge tonight, and I must leave.’ The whole audience seemed to rise in protest. ‘Go on! Finish it!’ was heard on every hand. One gentleman arose and pledged to take his horse and carry him across country. But Mr. Lincoln was inexorable.[4]

The Norfolk House was also the site where "on June 4, 1810, in an expression of public outrage, a number of Dedham citizens assembled" and founded the Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves. Today the "Society is the oldest continually existing horse thief apprehending organization in the United States, and one of Dedham’s most venerable social organizations."[5]

Court cases

The Fairbanks case

The first major trial to be held at the new courthouse was that of Jason Fairbanks. He lived in the family homestead on East Street and was courting Elizabeth Fales, two years his junior at 18. Jason had told a friend that "planned to meet Betsey, in order to have the matter settled" and that he "either intended to violate her chastity, or carry her to Wrentham, to be married, for he had waited long enough."[6] On May 21, 1801, Fales met Fairbanks in a "birch grove next to 'Mason’s Pasture'" and told him that she could not marry him.[7]

Fales was stabbed 11 times, including once in the back, and her throat was slashed. Fairbanks staggered to her home, covered in blood, and told her family that she had committed suicide. He also told them that he had also attempted to take his own life, but was unable to, and that accounted for his wounds[7] which left him "still alive, but in a most deplorable situation."[8] The editor of the local paper, Herman Mann, was called to the scene and reported the incident in the next edition of his weekly newspaper under the headline "MELANCHOLY CATASTROPHE!"[9]

Fairbanks' murder trial opened on August 5, 1801 at the Courthouse but interest in the case involving two prominent families was so great that the trial was moved to the First Parish Meetinghouse across the street. When that venue proved to still be too small, the trial again moved to the Town Common. Prosecuting the case was the then-Attorney General and later Governor James Sullivan and defending Fairbanks was future Boston mayor and US Senator, Harrison Gray Otis. The trial lasted three days after which Fairbanks was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. He escaped on August 18, at which time a $1,000 bounty offered for his capture and a newspaper implored readers to "Stop the Murderer!"[7]

Fairbanks was captured in Skeensborough, New York as he attempted to escape to Canada. On September 10 he was returned to Dedham from the Boston jail and was hanged. To ensure that he would not escape again two Army Cavalry and one volunteer militia units stood guard. In addition to the military presence, "the 10,000 people who showed up at the Town Common to witness the execution were five times the town’s population at the time."[7]

Within days of the execution the first of four installments of the Report of the Trial of Jason Fairbanks was published by the Boston firm Russell and Cutler. It was 87 pages long and was issued over the course of several months, making it "the first demonstrably popular trial report published in early national New England."[9] A number of books and pamphlets would be written about the case in the months and years to come including "one of the earliest novels based on an actual murder case," the Life of Jason Fairbanks: A Novel Founded on Fact.[10]

The Dedham case

The First Church of Dedham and church green.

Main article: Baker v. Fales

See also: First Church and Parish in Dedham and Allin Congregational Church

In the early 19th century, all Massachusetts towns were Constitutionally required to tax their citizens "for the institution of the public worship of God, and for the support and maintenance of public Protestant teachers of piety."[11] All residents of a town were assessed, as members of the parish, whether or not they were also members of the church. The "previous and long standing practice [was to have] the church vote for the minister and the parish sanction this vote."[12]

In 1818 "Dedham [claimed] rights distinct from the church and against the vote of the church."[12] The town, as the parish, selected a liberal Unitarian minister, Rev. Alvan Lamson, to serve the First Church in Dedham. The members of the church were more traditional and rejected Lamson by a vote of 18–14. When the parish installed and ordained Lamson the majority of the Church left "with Deacon [Samuel] Fales who took parish records, funds and silver with him."[13] The parish, along with the members of the church who remained, installed their own deacons and sued to reclaim the church property.

The case reached the Supreme Judicial Court who ruled that "[w]hatever the usage in settling ministers, the Bill of Rights of 1780 secures to towns, not to churches, the right to elect the minister, in the last resort."[14] The case was a major milestone in the road towards the separation of church and state and led to the Commonwealth formally disestablishing the Congregational Church in 1833.[15]

Government

The Dedham Public Library was established in 1872 and first occupied rented space at the corner of Court Street and Norfolk Street.[16] It built a permanent home in 1886 at the corner of Church and Norfolk Streets using funds left by Hannah Shuttleworth.[16] The building, made of Dedham Granite and trimmed with red sandstone, opened in 1888.[16] The Dedham Infirmary, also known as the Poor Farm, built a home on Elm Street in 1898.[17] It closed in February 1954.[17]

The first police officers were appointed in 1876 and worked each day from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m.[18] The police department was originally housed on the first floor of Memorial Hall.[18] After the department purchased its first police motorcycle in 1923, Abe Rafferty was appointed the first motorcycle officer.[18] By 1936, there were 18 officers.[18]

A bill establishing a representative Town Meeting was established in 1928, and then amended in 1948.[19] It was almost amended again when a resident used a friendly representative in a neighboring community to introduce and pass a bill in the General Court.[19] A Charter was adopted later in the century, and amended again in the 21st century.

The Department of Public Works was created in 1933.[16] The Recreation Department was begun in the 1930s with an effort to build and staff three playgrounds around town.[17] By the 1960s there were 10 playgrounds.[17] The first Recreation Commission was elected in 1941.[17]

Fire Department

The firehouse in East Dedham was constructed in 1846 on Milton Street near the Old Stone Mill.[20] It was used until 1897, when the firehouse on Bussey Street was constructed.[20] Hose Number 3[lower-alpha 1] was purchased by the town for the Milton Street station in 1891 and then moved to the Bussey Street location.[20] That building also housed a supply wagon.[20] The first fire chief was appointed in 1920.[21] Prior to that there was a four-member Board of Fire Engineers who had charge over fires.[21]

Hurricane Carol knocked down the East Dedham firehouse's 80 foot bell tower on August 31, 1954.[22] It flew across the station and landed on 219 Bussey St, the house next door, where Louise Guerrio was feeding her one-year-old son, Joseph.[22] It also crushed three cars parked on Bussey St.[22]

A firehouse was constructed on Westfield Street, near High Street, in 1906.[23][24] The lower level had horse stalls, a stable room, a hose wago, and engine room, and an opening to the paddock in the rear.[24] The second story had a sleeping room, a company room, a lavatory, a bath, and a hay and grain room.[24] The building housed horse drawn steamer engines.[24] It went out of service sometime in the 20th century, but still exists as a private residence.[23][24]

The central fire house was built at the corner of Washington and Bryant Streets.[24] It housed Steamer Number 1, Hose Number 1, and Hook and Ladder Number 1.[24] Both Hose Number 1, which carried 1,000' of hose, and Hook and Ladder Number 1, were drawn by two horses.[24]

Firefighters began wearing uniforms in 1906.[20]

Town Clerks

Year first elected	Town Clerk[25]	Total years served
1812	Josiah Daniell	3
1815	Richard Ellis	29
1824	John Bullard	1
1845	Jonathan H. Cobb	3

19th century representation in the General Court

Year	Representative	Representative	Representative	Senator	Notes
1800	Isaac Bullard				[26]
1801	Isaac Bullard	Ebenezer Fisher			[26]
1802	Ebenezer Fisher				[26]
1803	Ebenezer Fisher				[26]
1804	Ebenezer Fisher				[26]
1805	Ebenezer Fisher	John Endicott			[26]
1806	Ebenezer Fisher	John Endicott	Isaac Bullard		[26]
1807	John Endicott	Isaac Bullard	Samuel H. Deane		[26]
1808	John Endicott	Samuel H. Deane	Jonathan Richards		[26]
1809	John Endicott	Samuel H. Deane	Jonathan Richards		[26]
1810	John Endicott	Samuel H. Deane	Jonathan Richards		[26]
1811	John Endicott	Samuel H. Deane	Jonathan Richards		[26]
1812	John Endicott	Samuel H. Deane	Jonathan Richards		[26]
1813	John Endicott	Samuel H. Deane	Jonathan Richards		[26]
1814	John Endicott	Erastus Worthington	Abner Ellis		[26]
1815	Erastus Worthington	Samuel H. Deane	Abner Ellis		[26]
1816	John Endicott	William Ellis	Abner Ellis		[26]
1817	Abner Ellis	William Ellis	Timothy Gay, Jr.		[26]
1818	William Ellis				[26]
1819	William Ellis				[26]
1820	William Ellis				[26]
1821	Edward Dowse				[26]
1822	John W. Ames				[26]
1823	William Ellis	Abner Ellis	Pliny Bingham		[26]
1824	William Ellis	Pliny Bingham	Josiah S. Fisher		[26]
1825	Richard Ellis				[26]
1826	Richard Ellis				[26]
1827	Richard Ellis	Horace Mann			[26]
1828	Richard Ellis	Horace Mann			[26]
1829	Richard Ellis	Horace Mann			[26]
1830	Richard Ellis				[26]
1831	Theron Metcalf (in May)	Richard Ellis (in November)	Horace Mann (in November)		[26]
1832	Theron Metcalf	John W. Ames			[26]
1833	Theron Metcalf	Richard Ellis	John Morse		[26]
1834	John Endicott	John Morse	Daniel Covell		[26]
1835	William Ellis	Daniel Marsh	John Dean III		[26]
1836	Joshua Fales	John Morse	Daniel Covell		[26]
1837	Joshua Fales	John Morse	Daniel Covell		[26]
1838	Joshua Fales				[26]
1839	Joshua Fales				[26]
1840	Joshua Fales				[26]
1841	Merrill D. Ellis				[26]
1842	Merrill D. Ellis				[26]
1843	Merrill D. Ellis				[26]
1844	Joseph Day				[26]
1845	Joseph Day				[26]
1846	Edward L. Keyes				[26]
	Edward L. Keyes				[27]
1851				Edward L. Keyes	[27]
1852	Ezra W. Taft			Edward L. Keyes	[28][27]
1859	Ezra W. Taft				[29]

20th century representation in the General Court

Dedham was represented by a number of women and men in the Great and General Court of Massachusetts.

Year	Representative	Senator	Notes
1900	Arthur Clark		[30]
1905	Joseph Soliday		[31]
1906	Joseph Soliday		[31]
1907	Joseph Soliday	William Otis Faxon	[32][33][31]
1908	Joseph Soliday	William Otis Faxon	[32][33][31]
1909	Joseph Soliday		[31]
1910	Joseph Soliday / William G. Moseley	Bradley M. Rockwood	[34][35][31]
1911	William G. Moseley	Bradley M. Rockwood	[34][35]
1916	John A. Hirsch		[36]
1925	John K. Burgess	Samuel H. Wragg	[37][38][39]
1926	John K. Burgess	Samuel H. Wragg	[37][38][39]
1927	John K. Burgess	Samuel H. Wragg	[37][40][39]
1928	John K. Burgess	Samuel H. Wragg	[37][40][39]
1929	John K. Burgess	Samuel H. Wragg	[37][41][39]
1930	John K. Burgess	Samuel H. Wragg	[41][39]
1931	John K. Burgess	Samuel H. Wragg	[42][39]
1932	John K. Burgess	Samuel H. Wragg	[42][39]
1933	James M. McCracken	Samuel H. Wragg	[43][44]
1934	James M. McCracken	Samuel H. Wragg	[43][44]
1935	Mason Sears	Samuel H. Wragg	[39]
1936	Mason Sears	Samuel H. Wragg	[39]
1937	Mason Sears	Samuel H. Wragg	[39]
1938	Mason Sears	Samuel H. Wragg	[39]
1939		Mason Sears	[39]
1940		Mason Sears	[39]
1941		Mason Sears	[39]
1942		Mason Sears	[39]
1947	Francis Appleton Harding	Mason Sears	[45][39]
1948	Francis Appleton Harding	Mason Sears	[45][39]
1949	Francis Appleton Harding		[45]
1950	Francis Appleton Harding		[45]
1951	Francis Appleton Harding		[45]
1952	Francis Appleton Harding		[45]
1953	Francis Appleton Harding		[45]
1954	Francis Appleton Harding		[45]
1955	Francis Appleton Harding		[45]
1956	Harold Rosen
1957	Harold Rosen
1958	Harold Rosen
1959	Harold Rosen
1960	Harold Rosen
1961	Harold Rosen
1962	Harold Rosen
1963	Harold Rosen
1964	Harold Rosen
1965	Harold Rosen
1966	Harold Rosen
1967	Harold Rosen
1968	Harold Rosen
1969	Harold Rosen / Charles M. McGowan
1970	Charles M. McGowan	Robert L. Crawley
1971	Charles M. McGowan	Robert L. Crawley
1972	Charles M. McGowan	Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1973	Charles M. McGowan	Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1974	Charles M. McGowan	Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1975	Charles M. McGowan	Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1976	Charles M. McGowan	Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1977	Charles M. McGowan	Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1978	Charles M. McGowan	Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1979	Charles M. McGowan / Deborah R. Cochran	Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1980	Deborah R. Cochran	Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1981	Deborah R. Cochran	Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1982	Marie-Louise Kehoe	Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1983	Marie-Louise Kehoe	Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1984	Marie-Louise Kehoe	Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1985	Marie-Louise Kehoe	Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1986	Marie-Louise Kehoe	Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1987	Marie-Louise Kehoe	Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1988	Marie-Louise Kehoe	Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1989	Marie-Louise Kehoe	Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1990	Marie-Louise Kehoe	Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1991	Marie-Louise Kehoe	Christopher M. Lane
1992	Marie-Louise Kehoe	Christopher M. Lane
1993	Marie-Louise Kehoe	Marian Walsh
1994	Marie-Louise Kehoe	Marian Walsh
1995	Maryanne Lewis	Marian Walsh
1996	Maryanne Lewis	Marian Walsh
1997	Maryanne Lewis	Marian Walsh
1998	Maryanne Lewis	Marian Walsh
1999	Maryanne Lewis	Marian Walsh

Nineteenth century

Scenic community

The south face of the courthouse in Dedham Square, as it appeared in 1839.

Dedham Village was described at the time as "very pleasant, and possesses every inducement to render it a desirable residence for the mechanic or man of leisure."[46] The "scenery" of the town was described as "varied and picturesque" with "an appearance of being well kept, and the roads are noticeably good."[47]

By the end of the century a gazetteer with entries for each city and town in Massachusetts would describe "the substantial old court house, with its massive columns and yellow dome; the county jail; the house of the boat club on the bank of the Charles; the beautiful building of the Dedham Historical Society; the ample town-hall, erected in 1867 as a memorial of the fallen brave; the old cemetery and the beautiful modern one; and the new library building with its 10,000 volumes,— making a list of attractions such as few towns can show."[47]

Economy

Early in the 19th century Dedham become a transportation hub and the "existence of quick freight service promoted a burst of industrial development."[48] Within 50 years of the railroads' arrival the population would almost double to 6,641.[47]

In 1800, a group of tinsmiths from Connecticut, including Calvin Whiting, Eli Parsons, began a business at the corner of Lowder and High Streets.[49][50] They attracted additional businesses, including a dry good store.[49] The area became known as Connecticut Corner.[49][50][lower-alpha 2] In 1833, the Russel and Baker furniture company moved into the area but, after two bad fires, moved downtown in 1853.[52] It employed 500 people.[52]

By the 200th anniversary of the town's incorporation in 1836, Dedham was "a thriving commercial and manufacturing center" and "a town which had long been a focus for the vigorous political activity popularly associated with the Jacksonian era."[53] In 1837, the year after the first rail line came to town, Dedham had a population of 3,532. By then the mills and factories in town were producing cotton and woolen goods, leather, boots, shoes, paper, marbled paper, iron castings, chairs, cabinet wares, straw bonnets, palm-leaf hats, and silk goods. Together they were worth $510,755 with the silk goods alone worth $10,000.

A silk factory opened on Eastern Ave in 1836.[54] In later years it became a dye house, a laundry, and a playing card factory.[54] By 1880, the site had become home to the C.D. Brooks Chocolate Factory.[54]

The population grew dramatically in the 19th century, largely by immigrants seeking work in the mills along Mother Brook.[55] The largest group, comprising 75% of new arrivals, were the Irish who fled the Potato Famine.[55] The second largest group were Germans who moved to the area in large numbers beginning in the 1850s.[55] Later in the century, large numbers of Italians and Eastern Europeans would move to Dedham.[55] The immigrants were overwhelmingly Catholic.[55]

Neighborhoods were often segregated by national origin.[55] In the area between Bussey and Washington Streets, the Germans congregated on Shiller Road and Goethe Street.[55] Many Irish lived on Maverick, Colburn, and Curve streets.[55] Curve Street also had a number of Canadians.[55] An Irish immigrant, who lived at 27 Myrtle Street from 1872 to 1907, rose from working in the woolen mills to becoming Superintendent of Streets and then eventually a deal estate developer.[55] He both rented and sold many homes in the Hill Avenue area to fellow Irish Immigrants.[55]

In 1888, Dedham's 6,641 residents lived in 1,228 dwellings and had 97 farms.[47] The farms produced a product valued at $5,273,965 and yet was only $192,294 in 1885.[47] The two major banks included the Dedham National Bank, with over $300,000 in capital, and the Dedham Institution for Savings, with more than $2,000,000 in deposits.[47] There were two weekly newspapers, the Dedham Standard and the Dedham Transcript.[47]

In the 1800s many Dedham men, constrained by the growing population and the scarcity of land, would leave Dedham for the Ohio Country.[56] They could thank, in part, Manasseh Cutler, a former Dedham resident and the son-in-law of South Dedham's Minister, Thomas Balch, who convinced Congress to approve a plantation there.[57]

Hugh C. Robertson moved the Dedham Pottery plant from Chelsea to Dedham in 1896.[58][59] The architect of the building, who also served on the company's board, was Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Jr..[60] The plant, which rarely if ever employed more than six people at a time, was located on Pottery Lane, off High Street, where the 2012 Avery School stands.[60] The company closed in 1942 and the building burned to the ground in the 1970s.[60] Maude Davenport, who was raised on Greenlodge Street in Dedham, is regarded as the company's most skilled decorator.[61]

With the Industrial Revolution, Dedham would experience the ups and downs of a national economy.[56]

Railroads

Main article: History of rail in Dedham, Massachusetts

The Dedham Train Station was located in Dedham Square where the parking lot now is.

Sketches of the station

Within a few decades of the turnpikes' arrival, railroad beds were laid through Dedham. The railroad was at first "considered dangerous. It was new fangled. People didn’t trust it, so they wouldn’t ride it. Only a very few brave souls in those opening years" ever boarded one. This fear was short lived, however as the first rail line came in 1836 and by 1842 locomotives had put the stagecoach lines out of business.[2] The first line was a branch connecting Dedham Square to the main Boston-Providence line in Readville. In 1848 the Norfolk County Railroad connected Dedham and Walpole and in 1854 the Boston and New York Central ran through town.[48]

In 1881 the Boston and Providence Railroad company built a station in Dedham Square out of Dedham Granite. There were more than 60 trains a day running to it in its heyday, but it was demolished in 1951 and the stones were used to build the main branch of the Dedham Public Library.[62] In 1886 the railroad built a new bridge over High Street and placed a granite plaque there to commemorate both the new bridge and the 250th anniversary of the town's incorporation. The plaque was removed sometime thereafter and ended up in the woods near railroad tracks in Sharon. It has since been returned to Dedham.[63]

Moses Boyd was the "well-known and gentlemanly" conductor of the Dedham branch of the Providence Railroad. At a party for his 25th wedding anniversary his passengers presented him with gifts of cash that totaled between $600 and $700. In addition to the passengers from Dedham, West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain, the President and Superintendent of the railroad attended the party at his home and presented him with a silver plate.[64]

Subdivisions

In the 19th century many former farms would become businesses and homes for those who commuted into Boston.[56]

Nathaniel Whiting arrived in Dedham in 1641 and over the course of the next 182 years he and his descendants owned mills along Mother Brook and a great swath of farmland. In 1871 William Whiting, the last member of the family to own a mill, sold the remainder of the family farm.[65] Charles Sanderson began laying it out in a subdevelopment to become known as Oakdale.[65] Today, Whiting Ave is home to both the High School and the Middle School, and Sanderson Avenue runs into Oakdale Square.

The following year the Farrington farm was laid out into house plots and became the Endicott neighborhood, and in 1873 the Whiting/ Turner tract of land was developed into Ashcroft. By 1910 the area on the opposite side of the Charles River began to be developed. It was once known as Dedham Island or Cow Island, as the Long Ditch connected the river in two spots and bypassed the 'great bend.' Today, the neighborhood is known as Riverdale. The Sprauge farm by the Neponset River became known as the Manor and in the last major development of town, the Smith Farm became the neighborhood of Greenlodge.[48]

New Dedhamites

In 1800[66] Colburn Gay of Dedham wished to marry Sarah Ellis of Walpole. The laws at the time said that a wedding must take place in the town of the bride, however Gay insisted that Rev. Thomas Thatcher preside. Thatcher was the minister in Dedham's third parish, however, and could not officiate outside of the town's borders. To resolve this dilemma the couple stood on the Walpole side of Bubbling Brook, and Thatcher stood on the Dedham side. They were married across the stream[67] and had two children before Sarah died in 1810.[66]

Albert W. Nickerson first arrived in Dedham in 1877. He was the president of Arlington Mills in Lawrence and director of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and built a home near Connecticut Corner where he "took an active part in community affairs and made generous donations to charitable causes."[68] He sold the house to his brother George[69] when he had a dispute with the town over taxes and improvements he wished to make to the property a few years later and moved to an estate on Buzzards Bay. Nickerson entertained President Grover Cleveland here and helped convince him to purchase the adjoining estate Grey Gables.[68]

Several years later he bought another parcel in Dedham, this time a 600-acre (2.4 km²) estate on the Charles known as Riverdale. The estate was the boyhood home of ambassador and historian John Lothrop Motley.[68][70] In 1886, he commission the architectural firm of Henry Hobson Richardson to build him a castle on the estate and hired Frederick Law Olmsted's firm to do the landscaping.[71] The castle has a number of interesting architectural elements but its most famous is by far its numerous secret passages[72] and "legendary underground mazes and hallways."[73] It was built on top of a rocky hill "so that the Castle and the River appeared magically to carriages or cars arriving through the forested Pine Street entrance."[74]

Among the other noted men who spoke in Temperance Hall were Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., Horace Mann, Abraham Lincoln, William R. Alger, and John Boyle O'Reilly.[75] During the 1800s Dedham became the summer home of many wealthy Bostonians and, with the Industrial Revolution, many immigrants to the United States.[56]

Churches

Beginning in 1818, itinerant Methodist ministers held services in private homes in Dedham.[76] The first resident pastor, Rev. Joseph Pond, arrived in 1842 and a church was completed in 1843 on Milton Street near the intersection with Walnut Street.[76][lower-alpha 3]

The first Baptist church was opened in 1843 near Maverick Street, but meetings had been held for years prior beginning in 1822.[77] A new church was built at the corner of Milton and Myrtle Streets in 1852.[77]

Episcopal churches

The 1798 Episcopal church in Franklin Square was replaced by a new building at the corner of Court Street and Village Ave.[78] It was 90' long and had a bell tower in front that was 100' high.[78] The builders, Thomas and Nathan Phillips, were from Dedham.[78] Designed by Arthur Gilman after Magdalen College, Oxford, it was consecrated in 1845 but burned down in 1856.[78]

The fourth church was completed in 1858 with a bell tower added in 1869.[79] The bell was donated by Ira Cleveland.[79] One minister, Rev. Samuel B. Babcock, served as rector in three buildings from 1834 to 1873.[79] A chapel was added later, built with a bequest from George E. Hutton.[79]

Lay readers from the church began ministering to Episcopalians in the Oakdale section of town in 1873 who could not get to the church easily.[80] Out of their efforts grew the Church of the Good Shepard, which was dedicated in 1876.[80] One of the early members was William B. Gould I.[81]

Split at First Church

The First Church and Parish in Dedham split in 1818 over a dispute about who should become the next minister. With the Congregational Church established in Massachusetts at the time, the dispute eventually reached the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. As a result of the dispute, a majority of members broke away and formed the Allin Congregational Church.

The remaining members of First Church renovated their meetinghouse and moved the front door to face the church green, and away from the dissenting Allin Church across the street, in 1820.[82] In 1888, on the 250th anniversary of the church, a joint service was held in First Church in the afternoon, followed by a social reunion, and then a second service at the Allin church.[76]

St. Mary's

Main article: St. Mary's Church (Dedham, Massachusetts)

In 1843, 85 years after the Acadians arrived, the first Catholic Mass was said in Daniel Slattery's home where the police station now stands in Dedham Square. For the next three years after that first Mass with eight Catholics present, John Dagget, Slattery's brother in law, would drive to Waltham each Sunday and bring Father James Strain to Dedham to say Mass. In 1846 Dedham became part of the mission of St. Jospeph's Church in Roxbury and Father Patrick O'Beirne would celebrate Mass in Temperance Hall.[2][83]

Large number of Irish immigrants fled the potato famine a few years later and many of them settled in Dedham.[84] By 1857 so many had settled that Father O'Beirne built the first Catholic church in Dedham, St Mary's Parish. When the Civil War broke out in 1861 Dedham men from all religious persuasions responded to the call but "no church in Dedham lost so many men in proportion to their numbers" as St. Mary's did.[83] In 1880 the current church was built on High Street, next to the rectory that had been purchased three years earlier. Thousands attend the laying of the cornerstone by Archbishop John J. Williams and a special train was run from Boston to accommodate all those who wished to be present. The master of ceremonies was Fr. Theodore A. Metcalf, a descendant of Michaell Metcalfe, the teacher.[83] Theodore Metcalf may also have been a descendant of Jonathon Fairbanks.[85] At the time St. Mary's, "a fine stone church at a cost of about $125,000" was completed there was a Methodist, two Baptist, two Congregationalist, two Unitarian, and two Episcopal churches in Dedham.[47]

It was also in 1880 that the Town Meeting set aside of the town cemetery, Brookdale, for Catholics to be buried in. The following year two Protestant businessmen gave great financial support to the fledgling parish. John R. Bullard contributed the Dedham granite used to construct the great upper church. Albert W. Nickerson paid off the debt still remaining on the old church and contributed $10,000 to help complete the new one.[83]

William Gould

Main article: William B. Gould I

William and Cornelia Gould with their children.

On September 21, 1862, a slave plasterer working on an antebellum mansion in Wilmington, North Carolina named William B. Gould I escaped with seven other slaves. They rowed a small boat 28 nautical miles (52 km) down the Cape Fear River and out into the Atlantic Ocean where the USS Cambridge of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron picked them up as contraband. Gould joined the U.S. Navy and believed he was "defending the holiest of all causes, Liberty and Union."[81] Beginning with his time on the Cambridge and continuing through his discharge at the end of the war he kept a diary of his day-to-day activities. In it he chronicles his trips to the northeastern U.S. to Holland, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and England.[86]

After he was discharged from the Navy at the Charlestown Navy Yard he married Cornelia Read[81] in November 1865.[87] Cornelia was a former slave who was then living on Nantucket and they corresponded throughout the war. The Goulds moved to Milton Street and together they would have two daughters and six sons. In Dedham Gould "became a building contractor and community pillar."[88]

William Gould with the GAR on Dedham's 250th anniversary.

Gould "took great pride in his work" when he resumed work as a plasterer and helped to build the new St. Mary's Church.[81] One of his employees improperly mixed the plaster and even though it was not visible by looking at it, Gould insisted that it be removed and reapplied correctly.[81] Gould helped to build the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepard in Oakdale Square, though as a parishioner and not as a contractor. It may have been the Episcopal church he attended in Wilmington as a slave that taught him to read and write, and thus to be able to keep his diary.[81]

Gould was extremely active in the Grand Army of the Republic's Charles W. Carroll Post 144. He "held virtually every position that it was possible to hold in the GAR from the time he joined [in 1882] until his death in 1923, including the highest post, commander, in 1900 and 1901." Five of his sons would fight in the First World War and one in the Spanish–American War. A photo of the six sons and their father, all in military uniform, would appear in the NAACP's magazine, The Crisis, in December 1917.[87] Gould's great-grandson would describe them as "a family of fighters."[81]

When he died in 1923 at the age of 85 he was interred at Brookdale Cemetery. The Dedham Transcript reported his death under the headline “East Dedham Mourns Faithful Soldier and Always Loyal Citizen: Death Came Very Suddenly to William B. Gould, Veteran of the Civil War.”[81]

Trees

In 1832, a tree in West Dedham, today Westwood, was named for the fortuneteller Moll Pitcher, who enjoyed the shade beneath the tree during her travels to the area.[89] On a hot summer day, she once asked a workman for a sip of his cider. When he refused, the broke her clay pipe in two and told the worker that the same thing would happen to his neck. She also said that the Nanhattan Street house he was working on would burn to the ground, which it did years later.[90]

In 1865, the first notice of Abraham Lincoln's death was posted on a buttonwood tree in front of the home of Jeremiah Shuttleworth, today the Dedham Historical Society.[91] Several years earlier, a young recruit to the Union Army opened an umbrella when it began to sprinkle during a training session on the Town Common. An effigy of the "man with the umbrella" appeared hanging from a noose several days later, and the young man quickly left town.[92] For many years many important notices were tacked to the tree, and it eventually was toppled during Hurricane Gloria in 1985.[91]

Other

One of the new residents of Dedham was Horace Mann, who lived for several years at the Norfolk House and opened a law office in December 1823.[93] He soon "became interested in town affairs, was often chosen Moderator of the town meetings, and was an early candidate for office."[93] Mann served as Dedham's Representative in General Court from 1827 to 1832 as well as on the School Committee.[93][94] In only his first year in Dedham he was invited to deliver the Independence Day address. In his speech he "outlined for the first time the basic principles that he would return to in his subsequent public statements, arguing that education, intelligent use of the elective franchise, and religious freedom are the means by which American liberties are preserved."[95] Former President and then Congressman John Quincy Adams later read the address and "expressed great confidence in the future career of Mr. Mann."[93]

Dedham played a role in the development of baseball. On May 13, 1858, members of the various town ball teams in the Boston area met in Dedham to form the Massachusetts Association of Baseball Players. The association developed a set of rules that came to be known as The Massachusetts Game. There were no foul balls, four bases, and games lasted until one team had scored 100 runs.[96]

The first public schoolhouse in the country had by this time grown "complete system of graded schools, which are provided for in thirteen buildings having a value of about $60,000; to which has recently been added a new high school building in a central location in which have been embodied all known improvements."[47] On January 11, 1895, the citizens of the town gathered in Memorial Hall to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the first free, tax supported public school in the nation. A "felicitous" speech was made by Governor Frederic T. Greenhalge and an "historical address" was made by Rev. Carlos Slafter. Lieutenant Governor Roger Wolcott, Judge Ely and the Honorable F. A. Hill also spoke.[97]

For nearly 250 years after it was established, Old Village Cemetery was the only cemetery in Dedham.[98] Seeing a need for greater space, the Annual Town Meeting of 1876 established a committee to look into establishing a new cemetery.[99] Town Meeting accepted the committee's recommendation on October 20, 1877 and appropriated $8,150 to purchase more than 39 acres of land to establish Brookdale Cemetery.[100]

Twentieth century

A postcard of Dedham Square as it appeared in the early 1900s.

Sacco and Vanzetti

The historic Sacco and Vanzetti trial was held in the Dedham Courthouse in 1921 under heavy police guard.[101] The two were Italian-born American anarchists, who were arrested, tried, and executed for the killings of Frederick Parmenter, a shoe factory paymaster, and Alessandro Berardelli, a security guard, and for the robbery of $15,766.51 from the factory's payroll on April 15, 1920.[102] Many believe that they "were the innocent victims of political and economic interests determined to send a message about the rising tide of anarchist violence."[101]

The trial opened on May 31, 1921 with heavy security. Police were stationed at every entrance of the courthouse and all those entering were searched for weapons. The State Constabulary patrolled outside on horseback and motorcycles[101] and the courtroom was retrofitted with bomb shutters and sliding steel doors that could seal off that wing of the courthouse in case of an attack. The cast iron shutters on the windows were designed and painted to match the wooden ones on the rest of the building. The courtroom was so protected that "the trial would be conducted in a far more formidable cage than the simple prisoner's cage that surrounded Sacco and Vanzetti during their trial."[103]

During the trial Supreme Court Justice Brandeis, who was then in Washington, invited Sacco's wife to stay at his home near the courthouse.[104] He was not the only member of the nation's highest court to be involved with the case. Felix Frankfurter, then a law professor at Harvard, "did more than any individual to rally "respectable" opinion behind the two men, saw the case as a test of the rule of law itself."[105] Several years later, in May 1926, Frankfurter would travel to the Dedham courthouse to make a motion for a new trial after another man, also in the Dedham Jail, confessed to the crime.[101]

The motion was denied by Judge Webster Thayer in October and in the next 10 months the Supreme Judicial Court, a federal judge and three Supreme Court Justices, including Brandeis, each denied motions for either a new trial or a stay of execution. On August 23, 1927 the two were electrocuted in the Charlestown jail. The "executions sent hundreds of thousands of protesters into the streets of six continents."[101] The American embassy in Paris was surrounded by tanks to fend of rioting mobs and demonstrations in Germany ended with six deaths. In Geneva "over 5,000 protesters destroyed all things American: cars, goods, even theaters showing American films."[101] Frankfurter would write a scathing critique of the case entitled "The Case of Sacco-Vanzetti: a critical analysis for lawyers and laymen." It would first be published in The Atlantic Monthly and then as a hardcover book.

Endicott Estate

Main articles: Endicott Estate, Henry Bradford Endicott, and Katherine Endicott

In 1904 the home of Henry Bradford Endicott, the founder of the multimillion-dollar Endicott-Johnson Shoe Company[106] had his home on East Street burn to the ground. The fire department was not able to get to the estate in time as they were dealing with three other fires simultaneously,[107] including one at the fire house.[62] Henry cleared the ashes away and built a new homestead on the 15-acre (61,000 m²) parcel.[107] The three story building he constructed has nine bathrooms, eight bedrooms, a library, a music room, a ballroom, a mirrored parlor, a butler's kitchen, a linen room, and servants' quarters.[108]

When he died in 1920 he left the building to his stepdaughter Katherine. She died in 1967 without any children and willed the land and the estate to the town for "education, civic, social and recreational purposes".[107] At the time "town didn't know quite what to do with it" and "Town Meeting voted to offer it to the Commonwealth." Governor John Volpe took the title to the 25 room estate in a ceremony on December 7, 1967 and intended to use it as a governor's mansion. It soon became apparent that it would be cheaper to build a brand new mansion than to remodel the estate to Volpe's wife's "lavish taste" and "crazy notions" than to renovate the Endicott Estate and[109] in 1969 the Commonwealth gave the estate back to the Town.[110] In 1921 Endicott's widow gave $35,000 to the American Legion to build a clubhouse nearby the estate on Whiting Ave.[111]

Private Schools

In 1922 the Noble and Greenough School moved from Boston to Dedham. They purchased the Nickerson Castle and turned the estate into a 187-acre (0.8 km²) campus in Riverdale along the Charles River.[112] In 1957 Ursuline Academy moved from Boston's Back Bay to a 28-acre (110,000 m²) parcel in Upper Dedham.[113] The Ursuline nuns who ran the school purchased the property which included a grand manor house designed by Boston architect Guy Lowell. The house, described as "one of the grandest of grand mansions west of Boston, and comparable to what one would see in Newport," was built by Francis Skinner for his new wife Sarah Carr, in 1906.[114] Today, the mansion once known as the Federal Hill Farm has "the richest and most elaborate residential rooms in Dedham" and serves as a convent for the sisters who run the school.[114]

Fires

Shortly after 2 a.m. on October 19, 1940, a fire at the Log Cafe on Bridge Street was called in.[115][116] The fire destroyed the Cafe and Breed's boathouse.[115] Chief Henry J. Harrigan entered one of the buildings to inspect the progress of the fire when the floor beneath him gave way, causing him to fall 15 feet, stunning him and causing him to become overcome by smoke and heat[115][116][117] Fireman Joseph C. Nagle, "despite the blinding smoke and flames, rushed into the building and carried Chief Harrigan outside," suffering burns and smoke inhalation in the process.[115][116][117]

Nagle was brought to the Dedham Emergency Hospital, and a firefighter worked on Harrigan with a pulmanator before he was taken to the Faulkner Hospital by several police officers in an ambulance.[117] Harrigan, a 47-year veteran of the force, died slightly after 4 a.m., leaving behind a wife and four daughters.[115] A plaque was unveiled in his honor outside the main firehouse on the 75th anniversary of his death, and both Harrigan and Nagle were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.[115][116][117] Harrigan's funeral at St. Mary's Church was attended by 1,500 people, including chiefs from 100 cities and towns.[117]

In 1994, a difficult fire broke out on Rockland Street. A woman was trapped inside, and was rescued by members of Engine Company 3. The Henry J. Harrigan Medal of Honor was established to honor the members of the engine company for their bravery.[118]

Churches

In 1907, the Methodist congregation built a new church in Oakdale Square at the corner of Oakdale Avenue and Fairview Streets.[76] St. Luke's Lutheran Church expanded their chapel in West Roxbury in 1917 before building a new church at 950 East Street, on the site of the former Endicott School,[119] in 1960.[76]

The 1852 Baptist church in East Dedham added a bell tower to the church in 1911.[76] A new church was built on the same site in 1972.[76] In 1994, Roslindale's Grace Baptist Church merged with the Dedham church, and the new congregation became known as Fellowship Bible Church.[76]

The Riverdale Congregational Church grew out of a Sunday School class held in William Lent's boathouse.[120] Mr. and Mrs. Henry Bingham donated money and land to build the church, which was completed in 1914 and expanded in the 1960s.[120] When the church closed, the church donated their remaining funds in 1992 to be used as a scholarship for a member of the graduating class of Dedham High School who attended the Riverdale School.[121] As of 2001, the building was used by the Calvary Baptist Church.[120]

The Christian Science congregation first held services in the Odd Fellows Hall in 1920 and in 1930 moved to the Masonic Hall.[122] In 1932, they bought Nathaniel Ames' house, moved it to the back of the lot, and built a new church.[122] The cornerstone for the church was laid in December 1938 and a steeple was added after 1940.[122] The first service was held on March 3, 1940.[122]

By the 1930s, St. Mary's was one of the largest parishes in the Archdiocese with over 6,000 parishioners and 1,300 students in Sunday School.[123] During the middle of that decade there were four priests and six nuns ministering to the congregation.[123] In the 1950s, it became clear that a second parish was needed in Dedham, and so St. Susanna's Church was established in 1960 to serve the needs of the Riverdale neighborhood.[124][122] When St. Susanna's opened it had 300 families, while 2,500 stayed at St. Mary's.[125] Before the first mass was said in the new church on February 11, 1962, services were held at Moseley's on the Charles.[122]

Economy

In 1903, there were nine blacksmith shops in Dedham. The last one listed in the town directory, Frank P. Kern of Williams Street, appeared in 1941.[54]

By the early part of the 20th century, East Dedham had become developed as a busy mill village.[55] The neighborhood had schools, churches, and homes, in addition to the commercial district known today as East Dedham Square centered at the intersection of High and Bussey Streets.[55] The textile mills along Mother Brook began closing in the 1910s and 1920s, however, as owenrs sought cheaper labor and more favorable conditions in the south.[55][126]

The Rust Craft Greeting Card Company moved to Dedham in 1954 from Kansas City.[127] In 1958, they built what was at the time the largest greeting card factory in the world on what is today Rustcraft Road.[128] They were the first company to sell greeting cards with a fitted envelope and introduced cards for Easter, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, anniversaries, and more.[128] The building has been used for a variety of other purposes since 1980.[128]

On March 1, 1967, Ma Riva's Sub Shop opened in Dedham, where Emily and Addie's was in 2018.[129] It eventually would become D'Angelos and then bought out by Papa Gino's.[129] Both are still headquartered on the old Route 1 in Dedham.

East Dedham urban renewal project

In 1965, Town Meeting voted to declare East Dedham Square "blighted" and undertake an urban renewal project.[130] The measured passed by a single vote more than was needed to reach the two-thirds majority required.[130] The project was scaled back from 26 to 14 acres, but nine residential properties were taken, forcing the relocation of 42 families.[130]

Much of East Dedham Square was raised.[131] In the 1920s, the neighborhood was home to a haberdashery, an undertaker, stables, a grocery story, a bakery, a pharmacy, a dentist, and more.[131] After the project, a strip mall, public housing, a parking lot, and condo development took their place.[131]

Other

In 1900, the same year St. Mary's was dedicated, a talented young lawyer from Boston bought a home with his new wife at 194 Village Avenue. Sixteen years later Louis D. Brandeis rode the train home from his office and his wife greeted him as "Mr. Justice." While he was at work that day his appointment to the United States Supreme Court had been confirmed that day by the United States Senate. Brandeis was a member of the Dedham Country and Polo Club and the Dedham Historical Society[104] as well as a member of the Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves.[5] He wrote to his brother of the town saying: "Dedham is a spring of eternal youth for me. I feel newly made and ready to deny the existence of these grey hairs."[104]

Around 1900, Dr. Harry K. Shatswell of School Street built and drove a "steam powered horseless carriage" through the streets of town.[132] This was two years after the first automobile went on sale in the United States. That same year, Theodore Burgess purchased three French automobiles for himself and his wife, who is thought to be the first woman to drive in Massachusetts.[132] In 1903, there were 11 cars registered in Dedham.[132]

During World War I, 642 men from Dedham served, and 18 died.[133] The first to enlist was Henry W. Farnsworth who fought with the French Foreign Legion and was killed in action at Tahure, France, in October 1915.[133] Of the 60 soldiers who voluntarily were inoculated with the germs that caused trench fever, two, Joseph Fiola and Norman G. Barrett, were from Dedham.[133] A memorial was erected to those who served in the war at the corner of East Street and Whiting Ave.[133]

In 1920 a man's skeleton was found hanging from a tree in the woods near Wigwam Pond.[89] Another was unearthed on the eastern shore of the Pond in 1923 when workers were digging a foundation for a house.[89]

During the 1936 tercentenary celebrations, Olympians Ellison "Tarzan" Brown and Johnny Kelley ran in a "mug hunt."[134] The roughly 9.5 mile race was the third annual, and was sponsored by the Oakdale Athletic Club and organized by Harold Rosen.[134] The start was in Oakdale Square and the finish was at Stone Park.[134]

In 1957, Joseph Demling, a resident of Macomber Terrace, walked into Town Hall with the carcass of the 35 pound bobcat.[135] He asked for a $20 bounty on the animal, citing a by-law passed by the Town Meeting in 1734.[135] The Town originally balked, suggesting that the animal came from Needham, but eventually paid Demling the money he requested.[135]

The first transatlantic direct dial telephone call was made by Sally Reed in Dedham, Massachusetts to her penpal, Ann Morsley, in Dedham, Essex, in 1957.[136] It was witnessed by Reed's teacher, Grace Hine, Dedham's former chief telephone operator, Margaret Dooley, and several representatives of New England Telephone and Telegraph Company.[136]

The 1960s brought a number of events to Dedham that, like the building of the Fairbanks House, may not have seemed important at the time but have proved to be major events. After an executive order[137] signed by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 allowed federal employees to unionize, the Federal Employees Veterans Association met in an emergency convention in Dedham. They voted to reorganize themselves into the National Association of Government Employees, today a large and powerful public union.[138]

David Stanley Jacubanis robbed a bank in Dedham the following year, after he was paroled in Vermont. He was, for a time, on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's 10 Most Wanted List. In 1967, the Flag Day Parade began, which quickly became one of Dedham's most beloved traditions.[139]

On August 18, 1964, a 17-year-old Dedhamite was driving in the rain and missed a left hand turn from Whiting Avenue onto East Street.[140][141] His car smashed into the east wing of the Fairbanks House with the rear bumper flush with the wall.[141][140] The 1957 sedan remained in the house overnight until it could be removed the next day.[141] The accident prompted a stone wall to be erected which prevented another car from hitting the house in 1973.[140]

In December 1973, the Dedham Police Department investigated the sighting of several unidentified flying objects over town.[142] A young couple on a date had their car followed by UFO while they drove through Dedham.[142]

Population

The population of Dedham has grown more than 10 times since 1793, reaching its peak around the year 1980.

Historical population

Year Pop. 1750 1,500[143] 1800 1,973[55] 1801 2,000[7] 1830 3,057[55] 1837 3,532[46] 1865 7,198[144][55][lower-alpha 4] 1888 6,641[47]

Year Pop. 1892 >7,000[145] 1910 6,641[47] 1915 9,284[70] 1930 11,043[70] 1940 15,136[146] 1950 15,508[147] 1960 18,407[147]

Year Pop. 1970 23,869[147] 1980 26,938[147] 1990 25,298[147] 2000 23,782[147] 2002 23,378[148]

Notes

1. Hose No. 3, which had 300' of house, was built by J.V. Fell, J. Wally & Brother, and J. Lynas.[20]
2. The term Connecticut Corner has generally fallen out of use in Dedham, but it is listed as a historic district in Dedham.[51] The historic district generally runs down High and Bridge Streets from slightly past Lowder Street to slightly past Common Street. It encompasses the Town Common and the houses around it.
3. Membership in the church grew steadily for more than 50 years and in 1907 the congregation opened a new church in Oakdale Square.[76]
4. 27% of the population was foreign born.[55]

References

1. "The Tale of the Norfolk Inn". Dedham Historical Society Newsletter (January). 1999. Archived from the original on December 31, 2006.
2. Robert Hanson (2005). "The Inn Thing: Taverns of Dedham" (PDF). Dedham Historical Society Newsletter (March).
3. "Abraham Lincoln's Visit to Chelsea". Chelsea Historical Society. Retrieved 2006-11-29.
4. Herndon, William Henry; Weik, Jesse William (1892). Abraham Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life. D. Appleton. pp. 292–293.
5. Bob Hanson. "Historical Sketch". The Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves. Archived from the original on March 13, 2007. Retrieved 2006-11-29.
6. Report of the Trial of Jason Fairbanks, on an Indictment for the Murder of Miss Elizabeth Fales. Boston, Massachusetts: Russell and Cutler. 1801.
7. Sean Murphy (2006). "Historian recalls the Fairbanks case, Dedham's first big trial". Daily News Transcript. Retrieved 2006-11-30.
8. Herman Mann (1801). "Melancholy Catastrophe!". Columbian Minerva (May 19): 3.
9. Daniel A. Cohen (1993). "The Story of Jason Fairbanks: Trial Reports and the Rise of Sentimental Fiction". Legal Studies Forum. 17 (2). Archived from the original on 2007-02-13.
10. Cohen, Daniel (1993). Pillars of Salt, Monuments of Grace: New England Crime Literature and the Origins of American Popular Culture, 1674-1860. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-19-507584-7.
11. "Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts". Wikisource.com. 1780. Retrieved 2006-11-28. See Part the First, Article III.
12. Ronald Golini. "Taxation for Religion in Early Massachusetts". www.rongolini.com. Archived from the original on 2007-01-08. Retrieved 2006-11-28.
13. Sally Burt (2006). "First Church Papers Inventoried". Dedham Historical Society Newsletter (January). Archived from the original on December 31, 2006.
14. Eliphalet Baker and Another v. Samuel Fales, 16 Mass. 403
15. Johann N. Neem (2003). "Politics and the Origins of the Nonprofit Corporation in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, 1780-1820". Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. 32 (3): 363. doi:10.1177/0899764003254593.
16. Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 12.
17. Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 13.
18. Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 14.
19. "Sleeper Bill, Almost Law, Stirs Dedham". Daily Boston Globe. February 6, 1960. p. 1.
20. Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 15.
21. "States Dedham has no fire engineers". The Boston Globe. April 23, 1923. p. 7. Retrieved November 20, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
22. East Dedham Firehouse, Condon Park, Mother Brook 375th Birthday Party; Dedham Historical Society Archives, May 13, 2017CS1 maint: location (link)
23. @DedhamFire (November 11, 2018). "#TBT In the 1800's the area of High at Westfield St. was known as Connecticut Corner and was the center of business activity in Dedham. This station was built in 1906 on Westfield St. and still exists today as a private residence" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
24. Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 16.
25. Worthington 1827, pp. 79.
26. Worthington 1827, pp. 106-107.
27. Keyes, Asa (1880). Genealogy--Robert Keyes of Watertown, Mass., 1633, Solomon Keyes of Newbury and Chelmsford Mass., 1653 : and their descendants, also, others of the names. Brattleboro, Vt.: G.E. Selleck. OL 24191068M.
28. "Massachusetts House of Representatives". Massachusetts Register. Boston: Adams, Sampson & Co. 1858. p. 11.
29. Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Manual for the Use of the General Court. Boston. 1859. p. 210 – via Internet Archive.
30. "Stimson asked". The Boston Globe. July 31, 1902. p. 5. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
31. "Joseph H. Soliday". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. December 18, 1947. p. 29. Retrieved December 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
32. Secretary of the Commonwealth 1908, p. xciv.
33. Secretary of the Commonwealth 1908, p. lxi.
34. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1910, p. xcv.
35. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1910, p. xi.
36. Bridgman, A.M. A Legislative Souvenir 1916 (PDF). XXV. Stoughton, Mass.: The Pequa Press, Inc. p. 97.
37. "John K. Burgess of Dies at His Dedham Home". The Boston Globe. December 10, 1941. p. 17. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
38. Public officials of Massachusetts (1925-1926). Boston Review. 1925. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
39. Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1947). Public officials of Massachusetts (1947-1948). Boston Review. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
40. Public officials of Massachusetts (1927-1928). Boston Review. 1927. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
41. Public officials of Massachusetts (1929-1930). Boston Review. 1929. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
42. Public officials of Massachusetts (1929-1930). Boston Review. 1929. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
43. Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1931, p. 139.
44. Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1931, p. 309.
45. Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1955). Public officials of Massachusetts (1955-1956). Boston Review. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
46. John Hayward (1839). "Massachusetts towns in 1839". Boyd & White, Concord, N.H. Retrieved 2006-12-10.
47. Rev. Elias Nason, M.A. (1890). "A Gazetteer of the State of Massachusetts". CapeCodHistory.us. Retrieved 2006-12-10.
48. "A Capsule History of Dedham". Dedham Historical Society. 2006. Archived from the original on October 6, 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-10.
49. Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 37.
50. Dedham Historical Society 2010, p. 10. sfn error: no target: CITEREFDedham_Historical_Society2010 (help)
51. Town of Dedham (January 2004). "Map 3 Unique Features and Areas of Concern" (PDF). 2004 Open Space and Recreaction Plan. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-10-08. Retrieved October 8, 2007.
52. Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 39.
53. Lockridge 1985, p. 91.
54. Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 40.
55. Neiswander, Judy (May 15, 2020). "Tales from Mother Brook: Part 5 - Citizens". The Dedham Times. 28 (20). p. 8.
56. Lockridge 1985, p. 163.
57. McCullough, David (May 7, 2019). The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West. Simon & Schuster. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-5011-6869-7. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
58. Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 41.
59. "Real Estate Matters". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. July 31, 1894. p. 5 – via newspapers.com.
60. Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 42.
61. Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 43.
62. Robert Hanson (1999). "Stories Behind the Pictures in the Images of America: Dedham Book". Dedham Historical Society Newsletter (December). Archived from the original on December 31, 2006.
63. Stephen Brayton (2004). "1886 Railroad Commemorative Plaque Returns Home". Dedham Historical Society Newsletter (January). Archived from the original on December 31, 2006.
64. "Christmas, 1864: People in Dedham greet each other and wish each other a "Merry Christmas!" with a smile". The Dedham Times: 21. January 5, 2007.
65. Palma, Eleanor (2005). "The Whiting Family in Dedham". Dedham Historical Society Newsletter (September). Archived from the original on December 31, 2006.
66. "Descendants of John Gay". Retrieved 2007-02-20.
67. Rev. Calvin Stoughton Locke (1890). "West Dedham". Dedham Historical Register. Dedham Historical Society.
68. Guy Altree. "The Castle: A Great House of the Gilded Age". TeachingCompany.com. Archived from the original on 2006-11-19. Retrieved 2006-12-10.
69. "Soiree- Dedham's Social Event of the Season, to be May 19". Dedham Historical Society Newsletter (May). 2000. Archived from the original on December 31, 2006.
70. Guide Book To New England Travel. 1919.
71. John Fiske. "Uses Vary but Castle Remains a Very Sacred Space". Noble and Greenough School. Archived from the original on 2006-09-07. Retrieved 2006-12-10.
72. "The Castle at Nobles". TeachingCompany.com. Archived from the original on 2006-11-19. Retrieved 2006-12-10.
73. "Why Nobles". Nobles and Greenough School. Archived from the original on 2006-09-06. Retrieved 2006-12-10.
74. Joyce Leffler Eldridge (2005). "Head of School Traces Nobles Attention to Aesthetics and Sustainability". Nobles and Greenough School. Archived from the original on 2006-09-11. Retrieved 2006-12-10.
75. Cook, Louis Atwood (1918). History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 1622-1918. S.J. Clarke publishing Company. p. 45.
76. Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 29.
77. Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 30.
78. Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 27.
79. Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 28.
80. Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 32.
81. Stephen K. Brayton (2003). ""Diary of a Contraband" – Professor Gould Relates Story Of Dedham Civil War Veteran Who Escaped Slavery". Dedham Historical Society Newsletter (July). Archived from the original on December 31, 2006.
82. Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 26.
83. "St. Mary's Community Parish History". St. Mary's Parish. 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-09-21. Retrieved 2006-12-10.
84. "A Brief History". St. Catherine of Siena Church. Archived from the original on April 18, 2006. Retrieved 2007-01-16.
85. The possible lineage is as follows: Jonathan to his daughter Mary Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine who married Michael Metcalf Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine. Together they had son Eleazer Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine and it continues to his son Michael Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine to his son Michael Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine to his son Hanan Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine to his son Theron Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine who was the father of an unmarried Theodore Metcalf Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine, born in 1812.
86. William B. Gould IV. "William B. Gould IV -- Diary of a Contraband". Stanford University. Retrieved 2006-12-12.
87. "William B. Gould's Life After the War". Stanford University. Retrieved 2006-12-23.
88. Peter DeMarco (2006-04-23). "Diary of Dedham hero granted to society". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2006-12-23.
89. Parr 2009, p. 14.
90. Parr 2009, p. 15.
91. Parr 2009, pp. 15-16.
92. Parr 2009, p. 16.
93. ), Dedham Historical Society (Mass (1894). "Horace Mann". The Dedham Historical Register. The Society. V: 17.
94. Maria Sacchetti (2005-11-27). "Schools vie for honor of being the oldest". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2006-11-26.
95. Susan Ritchie. "Horace Mann". Unitarian Universalist Association. Retrieved 2006-11-29.
96. Tom Kelleher (1999). "Baseball Before 1860". Old Sturbridge Village. Archived from the original on August 13, 2006. Retrieved 2007-03-19.
97. "Dedham's Day". The Boston Daily Globe: 1. January 12, 1895.
98. Smith 1936, p. 146. sfn error: no target: CITEREFSmith1936 (help)
99. Smith 1936, p. 147. sfn error: no target: CITEREFSmith1936 (help)
100. Smith 1936, pp. 147-148. sfn error: no target: CITEREFSmith1936 (help)
101. Doug Linder (2001). "The Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti". University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Law. Archived from the original on 2007-02-20. Retrieved 2007-01-14.
102. Jean O. Pasco (2005). "Sacco and Vanzetti were guilty said novelist Upton Sinclair in a rediscovered note". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-01-14.
103. Robert D'Attilio. "La Salute é in Voi: the Anarchist Dimension". RecollectionBooks.com. Archived from the original on 2006-09-08. Retrieved 2007-01-15.
104. Hana Janjigian Heald (2005). "Prominent Supreme Court Justice was a Dedham Resident". Dedham Historical Society Newsletter (November). Archived from the original on December 31, 2006.
105. Robert D'Attilio (6 Aug 2004). "Sacco-Vanzetti Case". University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 2007-01-15.
106. "The Endicott Estate". James Joyce Ramble. Archived from the original on 2006-12-31. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
107. "History". The Endicott Estate. Archived from the original on 2006-12-08. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
108. Sandy Coleman (2005-05-12). "Historic mansion opens doors in gala celebration of 100 years". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2006-12-26.
109. Carol Gerwin (1999). "Where the heck is the governor's mansion?". Commonwealth (Fall).
110. Chapter 471 of the Acts of 1969
111. "Open New Clubhouse". Boston Post. February 23, 1921. p. 2. Retrieved April 27, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
112. "The History of Noble and Greenough School". Noble and Greenough School. Archived from the original on 2006-11-30. Retrieved 2007-01-15.
113. "History of Ursuline". Ursuline Academy. Archived from the original on 2006-12-31. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
114. "Historic House Tour Set For Sunday, May 18". Dedham Historical Society Newsletter (April). 2003. Archived from the original on December 31, 2006.
115. "Town to Honor Former Fire Chief at Ceremony This Sunday". The Dedham Times. October 16, 2015. p. 1.
116. Angiolillo, Paul (October 21, 2015). "Firefighters and family unveil plaque to Henry Harrigan". The Dedham Transcript. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
117. Heald, Scott (October 23, 2015). "Fire Department Unveils Plaque Honoring Chief Harrigan". The Dedham Times.
118. Bowen, Max (December 31, 2015). "Dedham's top stories of 2015". The Dedham Transcript. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
119. Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 20.
120. Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 33.
121. Declaration of Trust, Riverdale Congregational Church Scholarship Fund
122. Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 34.
123. Smith 1936, p. 102. sfn error: no target: CITEREFSmith1936 (help)
124. "Saint Susanna". Archdiocese of Boston. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
125. Berry, Jason (2012). Render Unto Rome. Crown Publishers. p. 109.
126. Sconyers, Jake and Stewart, Nikki (December 18, 2017). "Episode 59: Corn, Cotton, and Condos; 378 Years on the Mother Brook". Hub History (Podcast). Retrieved December 26, 2017.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
127. "THE RUST CRAFT GREETING CARD COMPANY" (pdf). Dedham Historical Society News-Letter. Dedham Historical Society and Museum: 2.
128. Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 44.
129. Happening Hoods: Dedham Square. WCVB Chronicle. January 25, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
130. "Dedham Now & Then: East Dedham Square" (PDF). Dedham Historical Society & Museum Newsletter (May 2019): 3.
131. Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 45.
132. "THE INTRODUCTION OF THE "HORSELESS CARRIAGE" IN DEDHAM" (PDF). Dedham Historical Society Newsletter. Dedham Historical Society (May). 2017.
133. "A Look at Dedham in World War I". Wicked Local Swampscott. April 6, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
134. Nason, Jerry (July 17, 1937). "Dedham Run Tonight Features Kelley, Brown and Zamparelli". Daily Boston. p. 7.
135. Parr 2009, p. 11.
136. "375 years of contentment". A special supplement to the Dedham Transcript. September 2011.
137. Executive Order 10988
138. "NAGE - Quick Facts". National Association of Government Employees. Archived from the original on November 29, 2006. Retrieved 2007-01-03.
139. Heald, Hana Janjigian (June 12, 2015). "Dedham's 48th Annual Flag Day Parade Set for Sunday". The Dedham Times. p. 1.
140. Parr 2009, p. 27.
142. "UFO Follows Car in Massachusetts" (PDF). UFO Investigator. National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena (April 1974): 2.
143. Edward M. Cook, Jr. (1970). "Social Behavior and Changing Values in Dedham, Massachusetts, 1700 to 1775". The William and Mary Quarterly: 546–580. JSTOR 00435597.
144. 1865 Massachusetts Census
145. Leahy, William Augustine (1892). The Catholic churches of Boston and its vicinity and St. John's Seminary, Brighton, Mass.: a folio of photo-gravures with notes and historical information. Boston: McClellan, Hearn and Co.
146. "Population of Massachusetts Cities, Towns & Counties: Census Counts and Current Estimates, 1930-1998 with Land Area and Population Density in 1990" (PDF). City of Newton, Massachusetts. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-12-08. Retrieved 2006-12-12.
147. State Data Center/Mass. Inst. for Social & Economic Research. "Population of Massachusetts Cities and Towns, 1940-1990" (PDF). Boston Metropolitan Planning Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 6, 2004. Retrieved 2006-12-10.
148. "Massachusetts Minor Civil Division Population Estimates" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2004-09-08. Retrieved 2006-12-10.

Works cited

• Secretary of the Commonwealth (1908). Election Statistics. Retrieved 27 December 2019.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

• The Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1910). Election Statistics. Retrieved 27 December 2019.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

• Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1931). Election Statistics 1931. Retrieved December 23, 2019.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

• Dedham Historical Society (2001). Images of America: Dedham. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-0944-0. Retrieved August 11, 2019.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

• Lockridge, Kenneth (1985). A New England Town. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-95459-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

• Parr, James L. (2009). Dedham: Historic and Heroic Tales From Shiretown. The History Press. ISBN 978-1-59629-750-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

• Slack, Charles (2015). Liberty's First Crisis: Adams, Jefferson, and the Misfits Who Saved Free Speech. Atlantic Monthly Press. ISBN 978-0802123428.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

• Simon, James F. (2003). What Kind of Nation: Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, and the Epic Struggle to Create a United States. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-84871-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

• Tise, Larry E. (1998). The American counterrevolution: a retreat from liberty, 1783-1800. Stackpole Books. p. 421. ISBN 978-0-8117-0100-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

• Worthington, Erastus (1827). The History of Dedham: From the Beginning of Its Settlement, in September 1635, to May 1827. Dutton and Wentworth. pp. 106–107. Retrieved 14 August 2019.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

• Dedham Historical Society; Dedham Square Circle (2010). "Historic Dedham Village: A Self-guided Walking Tour" (PDF) (1 ed.). Town of Dedham Economic Development Department. p. 12.