Dorchester Illustration 2578 Gardner Asaph Churchill

Posted on August 7, 2022 by earltaylor

Gardner Asaph Churchill taken from The Churchill Family in America. (1904)

Gardner Asaph Churchill was born May 26, 1839.  On April 16, 1862, he married Helen Brastow Barrett, and he died on August 20, 1896.

Mr. Churchill was educated in the public schools of Dorchester. In his youth he went on several voyages as a sailor, part of the time in a ship engaged in the East Indian trade. He gained experience and studied navigation, so that he was fitted to fill a position of trust. During the Civil War, he enlisted in the Navy and was appointed acting ensign on December 15, 1862. After a period of training in gunnery on board the ship “Macedonian,” he was assigned to duty on board the United States ship “Release,” and served as sailing-master of that vessel. Afterwards, he served in the same capacity, on the United States steamers “Memphis” and “Shawmut,” and (with an interval of a few months’ furlough on account of sickness) he served until the surrender of General Lee, when he resigned.

He was a gallant officer, and on one invasion, by his coolness and prompt action, saved the “Memphis” from destruction by a rebel torpedo ram, in the North Edisto River, March 6, 1864.

After the war, Mr. Churchill engaged in the business of printing with the firm of Rockwell & Rollins, and on the death of Mr. Rollins, in 1869, be became the junior partner of the firm of Rockwell & Churchill, in which progressive and prosperous house be remained till his death. He had excellent taste in all matters pertaining to the business, was of quick perception and good judgment in all matters in which he took an interest.

He served as representative to the Legislature from Dorchester for two years, 1875-1876, and was a trustee of the Insane Asylum at Danvers three years.  He was a member of the Masonic fraternity, of the Grand Army of the Republic, and of several patriotic societies, including the Society of Colonial Wars and the Sons of rhe American Revolution.  He was interested in history and genealogy and was an active member of the New England Historical and Genealogical Society.  He had for many years been interested in gathering material for a genealogy of the Churchill family, and in company with Mr. N. W. Churchill had, at the time of his death, nearly completed an account of the Plymouth branch of the family, to which his own line belonged, to the seventh generation.  His family decided to publish the volume which has grown to include the three great branches, and eight or nine, instead of six, generations of one branch.  After his marriage and return from the War, Mr. Churchill lived at Wrentham for some years, and then removed to Milton Lower Mills, in Dorchester, where he lived till 1884, when he removed to Alban Street, Ashmont.

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Dorchester Illustration 2577 James H. Means, 1823-1894

Posted on July 31, 2022 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration 2577 James H. Means, 1823-1894

John Codman served the Second Church from 1808 until his death in 1847.  He was succeeded by James H. Means.

Rev. James Howard Means, D.D., became the second minister of Second Church, a wish of Dr. Codman’s that his student assistant take his place when he died. Dr. Means had a 30 year ministry during which time the Civil War in this country took place.

James H. Means of Dorchester married Charlotte A. Johnson of Boston in Dorchester on May 20, 1849.  In 1880, they lived on Washington Street, near Centre Street.  The household included James, 56, Charlotte, 54, and their children: Miriam, 29; James, 26, a shoe manufacturer; Charles; 21, a clerk in woolens; and Frederick, 14.

The following is from The Clapp Memorial. Record of the Clapp Family in America … Ebenezer Clapp, compiler.  (Boston: David Clapp & Son, 1876) in the entry for Joseph ,1774-1852.

Rev. James H. Means, D.D., was born in Boston, Dec. 13, 1823.  He was the son of James and Joanna Means.  He graduated at Harvard College in 1843 and at Andover Theological Seminary in 1847.  Receiving a call to settle in the ministry at Dorchester, he was ordained July 13, 1848.  Before the death, in 1847, of Rev. Dr. Codman, who had long been the minister of the Second Church there, Mr. Means was the candidate of his choice as successor to him in the pastoral office.  How well he has fulfilled the expectations and made good the place of his predecessor, is attested by his long, harmonious and successful continuance in the office to which he was then unanimously chosen.  In 1873, the church celebrated the 25th anniversary of his settlement, which was an occasion of great interest and the interchange of mutual love and esteem. Dr. Means has twice visited Europe since his ordination.  For several years he was one of the school committee of the town.  A sermon by him, delivered before his  own people, Dec. 26, 1869, was published, and contains much interesting historical matter, more particularly in regard to the churches in Dorchester.

Among other works, Means published two historical discourses providing an overview of the history of the congregation and of Dorchester.

An Historical Discourse on Occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Gathering of the Second Church, Dorchester, Delivered January 3, 1858.  (Boston, 1858)  https://archive.org/details/historicaldiscou00mean

Dorchester, Past and Present: A Sermon Preached in the Second Church, Dorchester, December 16, 1869. (Boston, 1870)  https://archive.org/details/dorchesterpastpr00mean

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Dorchester Illustration 2576 Tapestry at First Baptist Church

Posted on July 24, 2022 by earltaylor

The Neponset Village Meeting House Tapestry from the 1830s is owned by the First Baptist Church in Dorchester.

The current First Baptist Church in Dorchester on the corner of Ashmont and Adams Streets, was originally known as the Neponset Village Meeting House. It was the sixth church established in Dorchester since the town’s founding in 1630 and the first Dorchester church of the Baptist denomination. In early 1835, Miss Nancy Moore, a school teacher at Dorchester’s Second Parish Church in Codman Square, organized a Sunday school at Neponset Village near the ferry crossing the river to Quincy. In July, they held their first distinctively Baptist service at the Neponset Inn/Holbrook Tavern, which stood until 2013 behind the current health center. By June of 1837, the First Baptist Society in Dorchester was recognized by the Baptist Council. A year later, they erected their first meeting house on Chickatawbut Street near Narraganset Street.

Almost from the beginning, they established a Ladies Guild to promote fellowship, religious education, and support their meeting house. The dues were 25 cents for women and 50 cents for men.  They took turns meeting in each other’s homes to sing hymns, talk about events of the day, and to work on the tapestry that would decorate their meeting house when finished.

The tapestry is an example of embroidery created by pulling hundreds of fine wool yarn threads through a burlap like linen rug warp to create an image of Jesus teaching the women in a garden. For its time, it was rather progressive as higher education, or the teaching of intellectual subject to women, was controversial.

The Neponset Tapestry is about 40” by 36.” It is woven on a stretcher frame similar to that used on oil paintings. It is a classic example of rural folk art and a tribute to the women of Dorchester as most of the women of the church had a hand in making it. On completion, it hung in the Chickatawbut Street meeting house until the church moved to 401 Ashmont Street, where is has been ever since in a place of honor.

Source: First Baptist Church in Dorchester

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Dorchester Illustration 2575 Native American Dwelling

Posted on July 17, 2022 by earltaylor

The book about the Dorchester Day celebration of 1907 included a photo captioned: Last Indian Camp on Savin Hill, on the site of the old fort.  The photo was described as made by James H. Stark in 1884.

When the English settlers arrived in 1630, New England Native Americans did use the conical form as one of their house types, and the outer covering was made of bark.  In the photo, however, the covering appears to be canvas, which was not a traditional material.

The following is from Charles C. Willoughby. “Houses and Gardens of the New England Indians.”  American Anthropologist, Jan. – Mar., 1906, New Series, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Jan. – Mar., 1906), pp. 115-132.

“One of the types of Native American dwellings was the conical house.  The framework was made of straight poles with their lower ends set into the ground enclosing the circular floor space, their upper ends being brought together and fastened. This frame resembled that of the skin tipi of the Plains tribes, and was covered with bark mats or pieces of bark which were sometimes held in by a second series of poles placed over them.”

To learn more about Native American history, consider attending the Native America Blessing Ceremony on July 31st.

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Dorchester Illustration 2574 John S. Davidson

Posted on July 10, 2022 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration 2574 John S. Davidson

Today’s illustration reminds us that contractors often used to work out of their homes.  John S. Davidson is standing behind the fence at 8 Charles Street. The boy is probably John’s son Leonard.

On June 28, 1913, The Dorchester Beacon newspaper ran the following puff piece about John Davidson.

“John S. Davidson

An Expert Painter and Decorator – Does Much Work in Dorchester and Vicinity.—No. 8 Charles Street.

“Few painters and decorators of Dorchester are better prepared to undertake large contracts in their line than is John S. Davidson.  He has been in the business here for a period of eight years but has really been established since 1894.  He was formerly located at 459 Geneva Avenue.  He is thoroughly skilled in both exterior and interior painting and enjoys a splendid reputation for his fine decorative work.  His shop is located in the rear of this residence at 8 Charles Street.  The entire property covers an area of over 5,000 square feet.  The shop is of commodious size and two stories high.  It has a loft with a storing capacity for 1,000 pairs of blinds.  Mr. Davidson employs from ten to twenty-five men, according to the number of contracts in hand.  All work is done under his own personal supervision.  He can be reached on the telephone by calling Dorchester 247.  A specialty is made of residential work.

Mr. Davidson is well known in Masonic circles, and is a member of the Eastern Star Lodge, and of the A. O. U. W. (Ancient Order of United Workmen).”

Note: The Ancient Order of United Workmen was the first of the fraternal beneft societies that offered insurance for their members.

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Dorchester Illustration 2573 Dorchester Boosters Pin

Posted on July 3, 2022 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration 2573 Dorchester Boosters Pin

The Dorchester Boosters promoted Dorchester’s proximity to City Hall.  Does anyone know more about the Dorchester Boosters?

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Dorchester Illustration 2572 Neil McNeil and Sylvester Parshley

Posted on June 26, 2022 by earltaylor

Today’s illustration includes Neil McNeil (left) and Sylvester Parshley (right).  The McNeil Bros. business was one of the largest contracting firms in Boston in the second half of the nineteenth century.

Neil went south during the U.S. Civil War on camp construction work for the Union army.  On his return, he engaged in the building business with his brother Hector.  Parshley joined with Hector and Neil as a junior partner.  In 1871, the McNeil firm acquired land for a saw mill at approximately 96 Freeport Street, Dorchester.  Hector McNeil died in 1886.  Neil lived on Stanley Street, and Sylvester Parshley lived on Cushing Avenue.

The map detail comes from the 1884 atlas of Dorchester.  It shows the location of the McNeil production facility on Dorchester Bay opposite the end of Shamrock Street (now Kimball Street).  The red shading indicates that the building was made mostly of brick.  The construction of the Southeast Expressway included making new land, so that the property no long has water frontage.

The firm is mentioned in A Half Century of Boston Building as the builder of notable homes and commercial buildings.

One of the largest contracting and building firms in the city is that of the McNeil Brothers, who have constructed a very large number of the most elegant and costly buildings in this city, as well as many in other parts of New England and New York.  The business was established in 1868, and the office of the firm is in the Master Builders’ Association building at 166 Devonshire Street.  The following are among the most important buildings erected by this firm: The elegant residences of William D. Sloan, John S. Barnes, Charles Lamier, and George H. Morgan at Lenox, Mass.; residences of Cornelius Vanderbilt, F. W. Vanderbilt, Mrs. H. Mortimer Brooks, J. M. Fiske, H. H. Cook, William Gamewell, G. M. Hutton and A. B. Emmons, at Newport, R. I.; the residences of Charles Francis Adams, H. C. Jackson, Mrs. H. Keyes, C. T. White, J. A. Beebe, Charles Head, H. H. Fay, Miss E. E. Sears, R. H. White and many others, in this city; residences of J. S. Barnes, James A. Garland and Charles Lamier, at New York.  Among the mercantile and public buildings are the Hemenway, Chickering, Potter, Hunnewell, and R. H. White buildings, the Parker House, Boston Post Office and Sub-Treasury, Boston Real Estate Trust building, in this city, and a very large list of notable buildings in other cities.  This firm is widely known as one of the most reliable and trustworthy, and has a very high reputation for the promptness with which all contracts are carried forward.  Their business has very largely increased in the past few years and they are now engaged on several large contracts.

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Dorchester Illustration 2571 Littlefield Grocery Store

Posted on June 19, 2022 by earltaylor

Today’s vintage illustration is from Picturesque Boston Highlands, Jamaica Plain and Dorchester. (1895). The color photograph is from 2003.

In 1883, Arthur Horace Littlefield and Warren Herbert. Littlefield went into business together as grocers in the building at 2286 Dorchester Avenue, also known as 1213-1215 Adams Street, Dorchester, Lower Mills.  They were born to Horace and Eliza Littlefield , Arthur in 1857 and Warren in 1859.  The family lived at 68 River Street, approximately where the Sunoco station is now at the corner of River Street and Central Avenue.

Arthur had been a tin smith, and Warren had started as a clerk in a in the grocery store of Joseph E. Hall.  Hall took an interest in Warrren and sold him the business in 1883.  Arthur and Warren went into business and operated as the Littlefield Brothers in the first floor of the building pictured in today’s illustration. 

Arthur married and had two daughters and a son.  They moved to 1120 Washington Street, Dorchester, where they were tenants.  Warren also married and had two daughters and a son in the same order as his brother. Warren and his family moved to Eliot Street in Milton.

The business seems to have provided a living for the brothers, although Warren must have left the business and come back, because The Dorchester Beacon reported in 1901 that the Littlefield Brothers were making “extensive improvements in their grocery store. Warren H. Littlefield has again become a member of the firm.”

Arthur died in July 1904 at the age of 47.  Warren bought out Arthur’s interest in the business.  He moved his family into 1120 Washington Street, where Arthur’s wife and children were living.  But it turns out that Warren had been speculating in the stock market.  Warren disappeared in September 28, 1905, and at that time, it was thought that his debts totaled about $40,000.   Warren had been a member of the school committee of Milton and was treasurer of the Frist Methodist Church in Dorchester.  An examination showed that the church’s accounts had not been misappropriated. 

In October, Warren’s creditors attached the profits of the grocery and forced Warren into bankruptcy.  In October, it was thought that his debts amounted to between $50,000 and $75,000.   There is no documentation to suggest that Warren ever returned to Dorchester.  His wife and children also disappeared from public records at that time.  Arthur’s widow Lottie and her children continued as tenants in the house at 1120 Washington Street.

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Dorchester Illustration 2570 Harris School

Posted on June 12, 2022 by earltaylor

In 1861, the Harris School on Adams Street at the corner of Victory Road (formerly Mill Street) was erected and named in honor of the Rev. Thaddeus Mason Harris who was the pastor of the First Parish for many years. The property was sold to the Boston Housing Authority (in the 1970s?) for the construction of apartment buildings.   At times the school was called the School on the Lower Road.  The building was designed by architect Luther Briggs, Jr.

Source: Orcutt, William Dana. Good Old Dorchester: A Narrative History of the Town, 1630-1893. Cambridge: The University Press, 1908 [c1891].

Luther Briggs, Jr., born at Pembroke, Massachusetts, in 1822, worked in the Boston office of the well-known architect and engineer, Captain Alexander Parris, whose wife was Luther’s aunt. Young Briggs left the Parris office about 1842 and went to work as a draftsman for Gridley J. F. Bryant, who would later establish his reputation among Boston’s commercial architects. Briggs lived in Dorchester and his suburban architecture was very influenced by the picturesque styles and ornamental landscape designs featured in the books of Andrew Jackson Downing. He designed a variety of structures, including modest dwellings, business blocks, monuments, and public buildings.

Sources: Cummings, Abbott Lowell and Roger Reed. Drawing Toward Home exhibition catalogue entries; Guide to the Library and Archives, 25.

source: http://www.historicnewengland.org/collections-archives-exhibitions/collections-access/collection-object/capobject?refd=AR002

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Dorchester Illustration 2569 Baker Chocolate Sign Lighting

Posted on June 5, 2022 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration 2569 Baker Chocolate Sign Lighting

The top Photograph from CaugthInDot   at     https://caughtindot.com/dorchester-history-lesson-baker-chocolate-factory/  The bottom photo shows the interior of the Administration building about 1955.

The Lower Mills Civic Association announced the re-lighting of the Walter Baker sign.

You are invited to celebrate the historic lighting of the Walter Baker Factory Sign in Lower Mills Dorchester on Friday June 10th from 6:30 – 8:30 pm at the Walter Baker Artists’ Lofts, 1231 Adams Street, Lower Mills, Dorchester

After 55 years of darkness, we are announcing that the historic Walter Baker sign atop Walter Baker Chocolate Factory Administration building in Dorchester Lower Mills will now be lit each evening.  Once again, it will serve as a visual reference point for the neighborhood, and a reminder of the industrial past of Lower Mills and its thriving present, thanks to a Community Preservation Grant from the City of Boston the tireless work of a community-based partnership, the generous support of donors, local businesses, and neighbors.

The Lighting Celebration

The lighting ceremony will be held on Friday June 10th from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. It will be celebration of the vitality of the Lower Mills community, with food from local restaurants, locally made crafts and Baker chocolate factory memorabilia.

A formal thank you to sponsors and all those who made this possible with a special memoriam for Terry Dolan, without whom this would not have happened, will begin at 8pm. Right at sunset at 8:21pm the lights will be turned on. There will be access to the lobby of the Artist’s Loft Building and a Tour starting at 7pm.

For more information about the event for the media and information about participating in the event contact: Mike Skillin – President, Lower Mills Civic Association, 857.207.9001, Skill143@verizon.net

The Administration Building, which was constructed in 1918-1919, housed the executive offices, exhibition rooms, a small chocolate museum and a large-scale reproduction painting of the Baker trademark, La Belle Chocolatiere, by Jean-Etienne Liotard.  The angle of the Administration Building, its location with the mills, as well as as its large “Walter Baker” neon sign, created a strong impression and focal point within the Baker’s complex. – Sweet History: Dorchester and the Chocolate Factory, (Boston, The Bostonian Society, 2005)

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