Today’s top image is a photo by Leslie Jones of the “100 Steps,” leading from Hancock Street to Downer Avenue on Jones Hill.
The bottom image is a sketch drawn by Jack Frost, the Boston Herald’s columnist in his Fancy This. This series on April 29, 1936. The hundred steps, rising from Hancock Street up the side of Jones Hill, the longest wooden stairway in Boston.
The building halfway up the hill was the Jacqueminot Bungalow, a function hall from the 19-teens to the 1930s.
Note: I counted the steps in 2015. There are a total of 103.
Dorchester Illustration 2722 portrait of Isaac Withington
The burnt poker portrait of Dorchester resident Isaac Withington was created by the artist Robert Ball Hughes. Isaac Withington was born in Dorchester in 1802 and died here in 1877. Ball Hughes was first a sculptor whose subjects were usually famous men and/or literary and artistic scenes. In this case he created a portrait of a nearby neighbor, Withington lived on Harvard Street, only a few blocks away from Ball Hughes’ home at 3 School St., so perhaps they were friends.
Robert Ball Hughes was an artist, born in London in 1804, who immigrated to America in 1829. He and his wife, Eliza, went first to Washington, D.C. In 1842, they moved to Dorchester, where Ball Hughes was commissioned to produce a bronze statue of mathematician and astronomer Nathaniel Bowditch. This statue was the first large bronze to be cast in the United States.
They lived on Adams Street opposite the site that would later become the Cedar Grove Cemetery. Then in 1851 they moved to 3 School St. at the corner of Washington and School streets. The house is still there, though quite altered. They entertained a number of celebrities including Charles Dickens and Jane Stuart, the artist.
Pyrography is the art of burning sketches into wood using a hot poker. A late 19th-century publication, “Wide Awake,” a serial miscellany of topics from art and literature, described the technique in 1885: [Regarding] “the drawing on wood with a hot iron (otherwise known as “poker-pictures”). The lines are burnt upon the wood and produce the effect when varnished, of a painting in glazed oils . . . . . the color of the burnt line being a rich brown upon the soft creamy tone of the wood.”
William Dana Orcutt said in “Good Old Dorchester” (Cambridge 1893), 385-386.
“Mr. Hughes manifested his artistic nature in more ways than one. He excelled, among other things, in executing what are known as “poker sketches.” These are pictures made on whitewood, the only tools used being pieces of iron, which were heated to a white heat. Every touch of the hot iron leaves a mark which cannot be effaced, and the work is so trying to the nerves that only a short time each day can be devoted to it. The effects of color can only be appreciated when seen. It seems incredible that such artistic results could have been produced in this way.”
There are a few examples of Ball Hughes’ other burnt poker drawings at these links:
Dorchester Illustration 2721 Saint Ann’s Roman Catholic Church
Today’s illustration, the building in the foreground is the first rectory of St. Ann’s Church. The building farther away is the parish’s first church building.
Father Fitzpatrick of St. Gregory’s Catholic Church in 1880 bought a lot of land on Minot Street in Neponset, and by December 1881, a new wooden church was ready.
A story published in The Boston Globe, Nov. 22, 1880, stated that “St. Anne’s [sic] Roman Catholic Church, Neponset, will be ready for occupancy on Christmas Day. It is a neat wooden structure, seating about 400 persons.” The church remained a ward of St. Gregory’s until 1889 when it became St. Ann’s Parish.
In 1915, Father John S. McKone began the construction of a new church on a new site, on Neponset Avenue. The new church building in the style of a Roman basilica with a campanile (freestanding bell tower) in the rear was finished in 1920.
In the edition of July 23, 2020, the Dorchester Reporter newspaper stated that on July 1, 2020, the parishes of St. Brendan and St. Ann had been consolidated. Later in 2020, the new parish was named St. Martin de Porres.
Dorchester established its first high school in 1852.
“In 1850 the subject of a high school was again agitated — this time with more success. One hundred and eighty-three tax-payers of the town signed a petition asking the school committee ‘to recommend to the town the immediate establishment of a high school.’ This petition was discussed and reflected upon for two years, when action was finally taken. The sum of six thousand dollars was appropriated with which to erect a building, the location selected being on the School Pasture property, on the westerly side of South Boston and Dorchester turnpike, a little north of Centre Street. This spot was selected as being the most central position.
“The school was organized in December, 1852, with a membership of fifty-nine pupils of both sexes, representing the Everett, Mather, Adams, Gibson, Winthrop, Norfolk, and private schools. The first principal was William J. Rolfe, the present Shakespearian authority, who held the position for four years.”
The school building occupied the lot that is today a small shopping plaza at the corner of Dorchester Avenue and Gibson Street. The school pasture property encompassed what is now Town Field and extended across Dorchester Avenue to the east.
Source: William Dana Orcutt. Good old Dorchester. (Cambridge, 1893)
“Andrew J. Vose (1833-1912) was brought up and educated in his native town of Dorchester. In 1849 he became associated with R. Gleason & Sons as clerk in the silver-plating business, and he continued to act in that capacity for twenty-five years. Since then he has given his attention to looking after his estate.
“He was married December 29, 1870, to Miss Abbie T. Buzzell, of West Newfield, Me., daughter of Jacob and Catherine (Rogers) Buzzell, and a representative of an old Maine family. His only child, Sadie Lizzie, born March 26, 1873, died May 2, 1896, at the age of twenty-three years. Mr. and Mrs. Vose are still living at the old homestead, enjoying the fruits of a well-spent and busy life. They attend the Unitarian church. Andrew died in 1912.”
Vose sold much of his inherited estate in 1892, and it became subdivided for houses along Athelwold Street, Merlin Street and Thane Street. He continued to live in a house at 22 School Street (pictured) but that house was later demolished, and the parcel became Champlain Circle.
Source: American Series of Popular Biographies. Massachusetts Edition. (Boston: Graves & Steinbarger, 1891)
“Buddy Clark was a likable, versatile singer whose career was cut short at the age of 37 by an airplane crash on October 2, 1949, at 9 p.m. PST.
“Buddy Clark’s real name was “Samuel Goldberg,” he was born 1912 in Dorchester, Mass., a suburban city of Boston, and grew up in the West end, of Boston. As a youngster, he expressed strong interests in sports, body building, exercising, and one of his big dreams was to become a professional baseball player. Buddy even had plans to become a lawyer. He attended Northeastern Law School, in Boston. A Strong Love For Music However, his love for music was stronger than his dreams of becoming a pro baseball player or an attorney.
“As a young boy Buddy sang as often as he could at gatherings, and in what today’s times would be called ‘joints’ — local pubs, where the floors of the local pubs, and barrooms were covered with sawdust. He often times sang just to earn enough to pay for a square meal. Neighbors, and friends, who heard this young lad sing, were supportive, whether he sang on the streets or in a pub…he was well liked. It wasn’t long before Buddy was appearing with local Boston bands, singing his heart out to supportive loyal Boston Fans.
“At 17 years old the young Sam Goldberg was singing at a local wedding in Boston, when he was heard by David Lilienthal a proprietor of Boston’s leading furriers I. J. FOX, located on Washington St., in Boston. Sam became a protégé of Mr. Lilienthal who arranged music lessons for him and started him off on a professional career as a band vocalist and radio star. He appeared for nine years on a Boston radio show, sponsored by I.J. Fox.
“Sam was now on his way to a new musical career with his own Boston radio show, with a new name, where he was billed as BUDDY CLARK, a name that had more of a show business flair than his own. It wasn’t too long that the Buddy Clark stylish unique baritone voice was catching on to local audiences in his own home state of Massachusetts. In 1934, a few years after his successful Boston radio show, he made his big band singing debut career, in earnest as a vocalist, with the Benny Goodman band on the ‘Let’s Dance’ Radio Show.
“Buddy was billed on several other top radio shows, including the “Hit Parade” from 1936 to 1939. Buddy made scores of hit records, many of them with Xavier Cugat’s orchestra.
“Buddy Clark put his career on hold by enlisting into the U.S. Army for three years during World War II. While serving his country, Buddy sang with many of the military bands until his discharge in 1945, in which he resumed his career. For the last ten years of his singing career as a super star in radio and a top ranking celebrity of the juke boxes.
“Buddy Clark and five other friends rented a small plane to attend a ‘Sanford vs. Michigan’ football game. After the game on the way back to Los Angeles, the plane developed a sputtering engine problem, due to lack of gas, and lost altitude and crashed on Beverly Boulevard, in California. Buddy was thrown from the plane. He did not survive the crash. At that time, he was 37 years old reaching new heights of popularity, when tragedy struck.”
Dorchester Illustration 2717 Dorchester Poor House
The Dorchester Poor House was located on Hancock Street opposite Kane Square and opposite the end of Bowdoin Street. The Dorchester Poor House was one of several almshouses that provided food and shelter to the homeless. It was operated by the town of Dorchester and later by the City of Boston.
The Dorchester Poor House building was built by the town of Dorchester in the 1860s and was taken over by the city when Dorchester was annexed to Boston in 1870. The building appears on the 1866 Map of the City of Boston and Its Environs, created by Henry Francis Walling. The last map in which the building is labeled an almshouse is in the Bromley Atlas of 1884. After that, the building was used by the public works department.
Each year, as part if its annual report, Dorchester listed the number of poor living in the almshouse. During the year the poor house also provided meals and lodging for the transient. In addition, the town reported the expense on behalf of the poor who were placed in institutions such as the Insane Hospital.
Residents of the Almshouse for a few selected years:
February 1, 1863 14 (during the year, 4 were admitted, 2 discharged, 1 ran away, 2 died)
February 1, 1864 13 (11 admitted, 9 discharged)
February 1, 1865 15 (10 admitted, 4 discharged, 1 died)
February 1, 1866 20 (6 admitted, 8 discharged)
The building appears to have been taken down in 1924 or 1925. A building permit states that construction of the new building for the public works department was completed on Oct. 26, 1925.
Frederick J. Brand was born in Plainville, Connecticut, and came to Boston after receiving his education in the schools in Plainville. He started out as a salesman for A. B. Crocker & Co., at that time, the largest felt manufacturer in the country. After the death of the senior member. Brand organized the Boston Felting Company, he led the company until the formation of the American Felting Company, which merged all the major felting companies in the country. Brand became manager of the Boston branch of the company.
Felt is a textile that is produced by matting, condensing, and pressing fibers together. It can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur or from synthetic fibers.
In the 1890s, Brand moved to the house at 4 Melville Ave., at that time, called the handsomest house on the street.
Brand was a member of the Boston Common Council in 1908 and served as chairman of the Board of Aldermen in 1910.
Among many other leisure pursuits, he was a president of the Dorchester Gentlemen’s Driving Club, chartered in 1890 but not officially organized until 1899. The club members organized horse races where the horses pulled the carts driven by their masters. Originally, the weekly races were held on Blue Hill Avenue between Talbot and Callender Streets but as Blue Hill Avenue became more of a major traffic artery, the club petitioned the city of Boston to allow them to grade a portion of Franklin Field for a speedway and grandstand.
In the lower part of today’s illustration, Brand is seen with his pacer Dr. G., in front of the carriage house at 4 Melville Ave.
Sarell James Willis was born in Dorchester on Sept. 11, 1830. He attended public schools in Dorchester. At the age of seventeen, he became an apprentice to a tinsmith, he worked four and a half years in that capacity. Then went into business for himself.
In 1864, he decided to change his life and became a member of the company at the Boston Theatre, where took the stage name of John Scott. Soon he went back to his own name and continued acting until 1870. Then he became bookkeeper for John F. Bispham, a lumber dealer at Harrison Square.
Wills took the position of cashier in 1876 at the Blue Hill National Bank, a job he held for 42 years. His father-in-law, Eleazer Bispham, Jr., was president of the bank. Sarell and his wife, Mary, and their children lived with Eleazer Bispham on Washington Street in Lower Mills, until 1894 when the family moved to Adams Street in Milton. Sarell died on Feb. 28, 1922.
Dorchester Illustration 2714 Scutching Knife and Hackle
Last week, we saw a flax break. This week we have a photo of the Clapp family scutching knife and hackle (sometimes called a heckle).
After the stems were broken with the flax break, the debris on the outside of the stems was scraped off using a wooden knife, called a scutching knife. A bundle of flax was held up against an upright board, the edge of the wooden knife is scraped along the fibers to pull away pieces of the stalk. The action is repeated until all of the stalk has been removed, and the flax is smooth and silky.
The fibers are then drawn through a hackle, which combs the straw and some of the shorter fibers out of the desirable longer fibers.
