Dorchester Historical Society

Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1848

Francis Russell was a Dorchester native who became a published historian.  Here is his obituary published in the NY Times, March 22, 1989 [Photo is courtesy of Bowdoin College Archives, Brunswick, Maine].

Francis Russell, 79, a Historian and a Harding Biographer, Dies 

By Albin Krebs

Francis Russell, a historian and prolific writer whose publication in 1968 of a biography of Warren G. Harding became a cause celebre when relatives of the former President succeeded in preventing Mr. Russell from printing some of Harding’s love letters, died of a heart attack yesterday in Falmouth (Mass.) Hospital, on Cape Cod. He was 79 years old and lived in Sandwich, Mass. 

In addition to the controversy over the Harding biography, ”The Shadow of Blooming Grove,” Mr. Russell was embroiled over a quarter of a century in arguments with other historians over his contention that he had solved the Sacco-Vanzetti case. His first book about the case, ”Tragedy in Dedham,” was published in 1962.

In 1986 he summed up his findings in another book called ”Sacco & Vanzetti: The Case Resolved.” He wrote that of the two anarchists involved in a holdup in Braintree, Mass., in which two men were murdered, only Nicola Sacco was guilty and Bartholomew Vanzetti was innocent. 

Francis Russell was born in Boston on Jan. 12, 1910. He was a graduate of Bowdoin College and received a master’s degree from Harvard in 1937. 

Mr. Russell wrote articles for several magazines in the United States and abroad, before joining the Canadian Army in 1941. He was discharged as a captain in 1946 and published his first book, ”Three Studies in 20th Century Obscurity,” in 1954.

Over the years, Mr. Russell turned out a steady string of books, marked by careful historical research combined with a distinctive and entertaining narrative style. These volumes included ”The American Heritage Book of the Pioneer” (1961), ”Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill” (1963), ”The Making of the Nation” (1968), ”Forty Years Ago” (1970), ”A City in Terror” (1975), ”The President Makers from Mark Hanna to Joseph P. Kennedy” (1976), ”The Secret War” (1981) and ”The Knave of Boston” (1987).

In the early 1960’s, when Mr. Russell was living in Ohio and working on a magazine article and a biography of Harding, he was given access to more than 250 letters written by Harding to Carrie Phillips, the wife of James Phillips, a department store owner in Marion, Ohio.

He realized upon reading the letters, many of them ardent, that they gave conclusive proof that Harding had affairs with not one, but two married women while he was President. Many years before, Nan Britton had published a book maintaining she had been Harding’s mistress from 1916 to 1922 and had borne him a son.

Mr. Russell used the letters in his magazine article and in his Harding biography, ”The Shadow of Blooming Grove,” a reference to Harding’s birthplace in Ohio.

In 1964 Dr. George T. Harding 3d, a nephew of the deceased President, sued, contending that portions of the letters already published had embarrassed Mr. Harding’s descendants and would continue to do so. He won a court order forbidding Mr. Russell to use the letters, and when the book was published in 1968, blank spaces appeared in portions intended to be quotes from the letters.

Mr. Russell is survived by his wife, the former Rosalind Lawson, and by a daughter from a previous marriage, Sara Russell, of Hyde Park, Mass. A funeral service is to be held tomorrow at 11 A.M. at All Saints Church in Dorchester, Mass.

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Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1847

Today we return to the metal plates in the streets of the city.  I believe that the manhole covers with holes are vents, and the ones in today’s illustration are Boston Edison vents for transformers.

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Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1846

I just received an advanced reader’s edition of Live By Night, the new novel by Dorchester author Dennis Lehane.  Although it mentions Dorchester only once or twice, the novel is a real page-turner with gangsters (who sometimes prefer to be called outlaws) and lots of suspense, misplaced love, revenge and more.  The energy of the novel reminds me of Lehane’s earlier books.  This book, however, is from the gangster’s point of view, and we end up rooting for the bad guy.

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Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1845

Comments on the last couple of days images 

Doug Wynne:

Years ago, when I worked for Associated Industries of Massachusetts, someone from AT&T told me that the pattern on these manholes represented a cross-section of telephone cable.  Not sure if he was telling the truth, but it made sense to me at the time.

Judy Neiswander:

Edison Electric Illuminating Company – their building was (& still is) at 25-39 Boylston Street, constructed in 1906 by Winslow & Bigelow and Bigelow & Wadsworth.

Paul Kenney:

EEI does stand for Edison Electric Illuminating Company. However the manhole cover which you show here has the words BELL SYSTEM on the cover which would imply that it is a Telephone Manhole.  The radio station, WEEI, was originally owned by Edison.

Paul Cass:

I remember when I attended Boston Tech High School in the Back Bay in the late 50’s the clocks were AC because it was hard to keep accurate time with DC. The rest of the school was DC including the belt driven machine shop where all the lathes were driven by one large DC motor with a large belt loop system. With DC it is a lot easier to control the speed of motors but DC required carbon brushes which had a lot of maintenance and put a lot of carbon dust in the air. I do believe DC is used on the high transmission lines ( envision the electrons going back and forth with Alternating Current or flowing one way only with Direct Current) because their is less resistance to the flow.  With all the electronics today DC is changed to AC with a inverter. The most efficient systems have a inverter which changes AC to DC and the speed can be controlled totally and thus be more efficient. Batteries are DC but you can change it to AC  by plugging the inverter into the cigarette lighter. This day and age we use both AC and DC with ease depending on the use. 

For today we have a photo of a medallion in a set of concrete stairs, showing the pride of the company that installed them: Hind of 19 Milk Street, Boston.

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Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1843

Yesterday I asked:   Does anyone know what EEI stands for?  There were lots of responses including a reference to this site:

http://forgotten-boston.com/lights%26utilities/boston.electric/utilities.html

and another reply from Doug Wynne:

Good morning, Earl.

My memory is a little fuzzy, but I think this hatch bears the initials of the Edison Electric Illuminating Company.  Not sure if it dates to the struggle between Thomas Edison (locally-generated Direct Current) and Nikola Tesla (regionally-generated Alternating Current), which Tesla obviously won.  Edison held patents dealing with the commercial-scale generation of DC, but once the ability of AC to be transmitted over longer distances was proven, DC faded and Edison adapted.  However, I did read somewhere recently that as late as the 1940’s there were still small urban pockets served by DC.  But I digress.  My interest in such matters stems from the fact that my siblings and I owe our existence to Boston Edison.  Our eventual mother was the secretary to the contracts manager at the Edison when one of their contractors, Thomas Wynne Cox of Cox Electric (corner of Broadway and L Street in Southie) introduced her to his “English cousin” who had immigrated to apprentice to him.  Charlotte and Ed hit it off, to put it mildly, and the rest is history.  Pretty good for the days before eHarmony.  Heck, almost the days before radio!

Today’s illustration is self-explanatory.

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Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1843

And here is one response from many regarding the BWWstreet covers.

Good morning, Earl.

Assuming these are a foot or so square, I think they are street shutoff valve access hatches for water service to either individual customers or neighborhood mains.  The “B.W.W.” stands for “Boston Water Works,” but I have no idea what the other letters mean.  Perhaps they are clues to what types or sizes of valves lie hidden beneath the hatches.  Maybe one of the old-line plumbing companies (e.g., Trethewey Brothers) still operating in Boston might know the full story.  Does the Boston Sewer and Water Commission still exist, or has it been absorbed by the MWRA?  One or the other of those agencies should know.  These legacy covers are sort of a municipal utility history course.  I can remember seeing round ones marked “BEICo” for Boston Edison Illuminating Company, and a variety of names on the hatches for the downtown Boston steam power loop.  As recently as the last time I worked downtown (ending 1998), several buildings were heated (and cooled – go figure) by high-pressure steam generated by what I think had started out as a division of the Edison.  I seem to remember they sold it off during the period immediately following dereg.  I’m a little fuzzy there, but someone is sure to know all about all kinds of covers and educate us all.

Regards,

Douglas R. Wynne

Today’s illustration is another mystery.  Does anyone know what EEI stands for?

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 If you value receiving the DIOTD, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1842

A friend encouraged me to look down to see what’s under my feet.  Today we have four metal covers embedded in the pavement.  Does anyone know what the letters stand for?  These have been grouped together due to their similar design.

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Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1841

Back cover from Oliver Optic’s Annual 1895

Oliver Optic was the pseudonym for William T. Adams, an author of over 100 books for young men and women.

He was born in Medway, Norfolk County, July 30, 1822, then educated in the public and private schools of Boston and vicinity, and when a mere lad displayed a talent for writing, his first article being published in the “Social Monitor.”

For three years Mr. Adams was the master of the “Lower Road” school in Dorchester.  In 1846 he resigned his position to assist his father and brother in the management of the Adams House, Boston. Mr. Adams resumed teaching in 1848, in the Boylston School, Boston, becoming the master in 1860, and on the establishment of the Bowditch School, he was transferred and held the post of master of that school till he resigned in 1865.  He then went abroad and traveled throughout Europe, dating his career as an author from this period.

Mr. Adams’s nom de plume, “Oliver Optic,” originated from his having written a poem in 1851 which was published under the heading of “A Poem Delivered Before the Mutual Admiration Society, by Oliver Optic, M.D.”  The name “Optic” was suggested by a character in a drama at the Boston Museum, called “Dr. Optic.”  To this Mr. Adams prefixed “Oliver,” with no thought of ever using it again.  But soon after two essays appeared in the “Waverly Magazine,” “by Oliver Optic,” which were so well received that he continued to write under this pseudonym until it became impracticable to abandon it. His books, numbering over a hundred volumes, are widely and deservedly known.

Mr. Adams was married October 7, 1846, to Sarah, daughter of Edward and Martha (Reed) Jenkins. Mrs. Adams died in 1885.  Their children are: Alice Marie, wife of Sol. Smith Russell, and Emma Louise, wife of George W. White, a member of the Suffolk bar.  Mrs. White died in 1884.

In 1867, Mr. Adams was unanimously elected a member of the school committee of Dorchester.  He served until the town was annexed to Boston, and was elected a member of the Boston school committee and served for ten years.  In 1869 he was elected a member of the House of Representatives and served one year, and declined a re-nomination.

In 1870, he went to Europe a second time, and three times recently, traveling through the countries not previously visited, and the books which he has since published show the result of his observations.

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The Dorchester Illustration of the Day (DIOTD) is sent weekdays. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

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Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1840

Second Church. Gilt stamp on cover of Memoir of John Codman, D.D. by William Allen, D.D. late president of Bowdoin College with reminiscences by Joshua Bates, D.D. late president of Middlebury College. Boston: T.R. Marvin and S.K. Whipple & Co., 1853.

The following information is from: Codman Square House Tour Booklet 2000

Year Built: 1806; Architect: Unknown; Style: Federal

Although it now stands but little removed from the commercial bustle of a reviving neighborhood shopping district, Codman Square’s oldest building remains among its most important as well as its most enduring.  Constructed of Maine timber during the administration of Thomas Jefferson, it still enjoys a useful life today nearly 200 years later.  Clearly indebted to the architectural pattern books of the day, its unknown designer composed an exterior of classic Federal form, with projecting vestibule and graceful steeple.  The latter’s belfry houses a bell cast by Paul Revere; the internally illuminated clock dial was added in 1914.   Although the front-facing or west façade of the building remains essentially unchanged from its early nineteenth-century appearance, the church has been enlarged several times toward the rear.  The first visible alteration, the frame ell of 1892, replaced an earlier addition of 1869; the brick wing beyond was added in 1929.

Brightly lit by its many large, plain-glass windows, the interior was remodeled extensively in the 1850s.  At that time, the present slip pews with lithe scroll arms replaced the original pews.  Although it is reasonable to surmise that these may have been the box pews prevalent at the time of the original construction, church records indicate only their paint color, which was green!  A splendid high pulpit of highly figured bookmatched mahogany was also installed at this time.  The displaced original pulpit has been retained as an historical relic under the gallery to the right.  Behind the pulpit is a large reredos whose Ionic columns support a shell enclosed by a heavily molded arch.  More explicitly neoclassical in feeling, this element may represent a still later modification.  Later still, dating from the turn of the twentieth century, is the choir loft’s massive pipe organ with its elaborately carved case.

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If you value receiving the DIOTD, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1839

Sculptor Robert Ball Hughes came with his wife to America from London in 1828 or 1829. Noted for his statues of New York Governor Clinton, of Alexander Hamilton and Nathaniel Bowditch, Ball Hughes also created a large high-relief marble memorial to Bishop John H. Hobart for Trinity Church, New York.

In the 1830s the couple purchased a home on Adams Street in Dorchester opposite what would later become the Cedar Grove Cemetery. In 1851, they moved to a house at the corner of School and Washington Streets that had been owned by Captain Jeremiah Spalding, a ship-master in the East India trade. Here they entertained some of the world’s leading celebrities including Charles Dickens, the author, and Jane Stuart, the artist.

The house on School Street still exists, but it has been modernized to the point that there seems be very little of the original. The Dorchester Historical Society has Ball Hughes’ bust of Washington Irving.

Like other well-known sculptors, Ball Hughes was called upon to design coinage for the United States mint. He modified the design by Christian Gobrecht for the Seated Liberty coins. As re-designed it depicted Liberty seated on a rock, surrounded by thirteen stars and holding the Union shield along with a pole topped by a Liberty cap.

He sculpted a statue of Alexander Hamilton that was placed at the top of the Merchants’ Exchange Building, New York, which was lost to a fire. He produced the seated bronze statue of Dr. Nathaniel Bowditch, the famous mathematician and nautical writer, located in Mount Auburn Cemetery.

He was the first to bring burnt wood picture or “poker” pictures to America (pyroengravings). He produced a poker picture of The Witches from Macbeth and another of the Blind Beggar of Gretna Green.

Samuel Gerry said “Ball Hughes was without controversy a genius, as is evidenced by his well-known group of the Widow Wadman and Uncle Toby, and the fine statue of Bowditch … Many knew him in later years by poker drawings, which he did for small returns … We have never had in Boston natural powers for art superior to his.”

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If you value receiving the DIOTD, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org