Dorchester Historical Society

October 14, 2018 Massachusetts in the Woman Suffrage Movement – Dorchester Historical Scoiety

Posted on October 7, 2018 by earltaylor

Dorchester Historical Society, 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125

Sunday, October 14, 2018, 2 pm at the William Clapp House

Massachusetts in the Woman Suffrage Movement. Barbara Berenson has written about the active role that Massachusetts women played in the national struggle for women’s rights. Before the Civil War, Lucy Stone and others opposed women’s exclusion from political life. They organized the first National Woman’s Rights Convention, held in Worcester. After the war state activists founded the Boston-based American Women Suffrage Association and Woman’s Journal. Their activities laid the foundation for the next generation of suffragists to triumph over tradition.

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Dorchester Illustration 2373 Mile Road Dump

Posted on October 7, 2018 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration no. 2373 Mile Road Dump, Columbia Point

Mile Road Dump was located on Columbia Point. Mt. Vernon Street is a mile-long road that runs straight from Kosciuzko Circle to the Calf Pasture Pumping Station, which can be seen in the photograph behind Mile Road Dump. We are not sure when the dump opened, but it was in use by the first decade of the 20th century. It closed in 1962.

The photograph was taken in 1937 by Harold Merrill. It has a pencilled note on the back: The squatters city at Mile Road Dump, Dorchester. Permanent residence is maintained here by men who work the dump. They pay no rent nor taxes and have their own civil code and mayor.

From the beginning the dump was a playground for nearby kids. The dump is only one of many uses of Columbia Point over the centuries. When the Puritans arrived in the 17th century, they used Dorchester Neck (South Boston) as a cow pasture and Columbia Point as a calf pasture. In the 19th century gasometers for the storage of coal gas stood on the point. In the 1880s the Calf Pasture Pumping Station was constructed on the Point to facilitate the journey of Boston’s sewage to the bay. During World War II, there was a prisoner of war camp on the point for captured Italian soldiers. Other uses came along: St. Christopher’s Church, the Columbia Point Housing Project, Boston College High School, the Paul A. Dever School and the Geiger-Gibson Health Center. Then came The Massachusetts Archives, UMass Boston, the John F. Kennedy Library, and the Edmund M. Kennedy Institute among others.

Much of Columbia Point now enjoys a park-like setting. From its original 14-acre area, Columbia Point has grown to 350 acres, with the making of new land. The irregular perimeter of inlets and marshy areas became a hard boundary at the edge of the water. The area is attractive for its walking paths and landscaping.

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Dorchester Illustration 2372 Calf Pasture Pumping Station

Posted on September 30, 2018 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration no. 2372 Calf Pasture Pumping Station

The Calf Pasture Pumping Station on Columbia Point will have a hearing at the Boston Landmarks Commission on Tuesday, October 9th, at 6 pm. It is on the agenda after the Citgo Sign in Kenmore Square. The hearing will be a discussion and vote to accept for further study a petition to designate the Pumping Station as a Boston Landmark.

The Calf Pasture Pumping Station and two associated outbuildings are located on Columbia Point in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston.

The Columbia Point Pumping Station is the visible symbol for one of Boston’s great technological innovations in the field of public utilities — the system of interconnecting sewers that was studied by many other cities in the US and beyond. The Boston Main Drainage system evolved into the Metropolitan Sewer District encompassing The Boston Main Draining System, North Metropolitan Sewer District, the Charles River Valley Sewer System and the South Metropolitan Sewer District. From the date of its construction in 1883 for over a century (until the 1980s), the Columbia Point Pumping Station remained the most visible symbol of an underground system of international renown.

Designed by and partially built by Boston City Architect, Albert George Clough in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, it was part of the first comprehensive sewerage project in Boston, initiated in 1875 and completed in 1884. The three buildings under consideration are the pumping station and two related out buildings: a gate house and the west shaft entrance.

In 1868 the report of the Commissioners who were appointed to consider the annexation of Dorchester to the City of Boston stated that one of the objectives of annexation was to construct a tunnel and sewer from Stony Brook to discharge into Dorchester Bay. Dorchester was annexed Jan. 1, 1870.

In 1875, the City of Boston created a commission of civil engineers, headed by Elis S. Chesbough, to report on the state of the sewage system in the city. The Commission’s report showed the immediate need for a new sanitation system and proposed a plan for the construction of the Main Drainage System, with consolidated drains leading south of the city to the Calf Pasture at Dorchester. The new system was completed in 1884 and included the Calf Pasture Pumping Station Complex, and the Moon Island treatment facility.

Designed on the principle of gravity, the system allowed waste to travel from downtown Boston neighborhoods on higher ground, to Dorchester’s Calf Pasture on a lower elevation. The Calf Pasture station had massive pumps designed by Erasmus D. Leavitt that lifted the sewage thirty-five feet to enable its journey away from the heavily populated city, past the oscillating tides, and towards Moon Island. Leavitt’s “body of work includes some of the largest engines of his day, revered for their less-is-more design and game-changing operational efficiency.” An example of his work is the 1894 Leavitt-Riedler Pumping Engine at the Chestnut Hill Pumping Station on display in the Metropolitan Waterworks Museum. His projects included numerous large water or sewage pumping engines for US cities.

The Leavitt Pumps at Calf Pasture were the world’s largest at the time. Their fly wheels each weighed 72.5 tons and measured 50 feet in diameter. The pumps ran continuously throughout the day. Each engine could pump up to 25 million gallons of sewage per day. By the mid-1880s, the two engines pumped an average of just under 37 million gallons each day.

The Boston Main Drainage System was the first extensive and successful sewerage project in the city’s history, and played a vital role in improving the public health in late 19th century Boston. The intercepting sewerage system of Boston was the first great undertaking of its kind in the country, and gave its designers international distinction as sewerage specialists. The station is important as an example of innovative 19^th century engineering and as the keystone of a sewage disposal system that served as a model for the rest of the country.

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October 14, 2018 2 pm Dorchester Hist Soc program Massachusetts in the Woman Suffrage Movement

Posted on September 29, 2018 by earltaylor

October 14, 2018 2 pm

at the William Clapp House, 195 Boston Street

Lucy Stone, who lived on Boutwell Street, was a major voice in the Suffrage Movement.

Posted in Featured Events | Tagged Barbara Berenson, Dorchester, Featured_Events, Massachusetts, Uncategorized, Woman Suffrage | Comments Off

Dorchester Illustration 2371 Walter W. Jollimore

Posted on September 23, 2018 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration no. 2371 Walter W. Jollimore

At the Dorchester Historical Society, we are in the process of a year-long project to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of World War I. Using a collection of photographs we have of World War I Dorchester residents, we will be featuring soldiers in a number of short biographies throughout the year. At the culmination of the project, we hope to produce an online exhibit which highlights these men and their service to our country.

Our next biography features: Walter W. Jollimore

Walter Warren Jollimore was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts to parents William Jollimore and Matilda (Kirby). William and Matilda were both born in Canada and immigrated to the United States around 1883. William worked as a butcher. Walter had nine siblings, but only five of them would live past childhood.

By 1900, the Jollimore family had moved to Boston and were living on Welles Avenue in Dorchester. Walter, now age 7, was living with his parents and his older siblings: Edith (22), Greenwood (18), William (16), Howard (12), and Mabel (10). William was now listed as a garden laborer.

Walter registered for the draft on June 4, 1917 at the age of 25. His address was then listed as Washington Street in Dorchester. Interestingly, his occupation is listed as an actor for Mr. C.W. Levering in New York, although the city directories list him as a chauffeur. He is described as a short, slender man with blue eyes and brown hair. He was inducted at Boston on June 24, 1918. According to his service card, he served in the 151st Depot Brigade until he was discharged on December 11, 1918, from Fort Devens in Massachusetts; he never served overseas.

After the war, it appears as though Walter moved back home to Dorchester; his family then lived on Brent Street. He is listed as a private chauffeur in the 1920 United States Census, the same occupation he held before the war. The city directories show that sometime in the 1920’s, Walter married. His wife’s name was Jeannie and they most likely got married in 1923. It’s unclear what the Jollimores were up to in 1930 – possibly living in Springfield, MA, as one city directory suggests, however, we were not able to confirm. By 1940, the Jollimores were living in Stoughton and Walter was working as an auto mechanic. The census shows that his wife, Jeannie, was born in Scotland. She was also working, as a salesgirl.

Walter died on August 18, 1983, and his obituary lists him as a resident of Stoughton; he was 91 years old.

Do you know more about Walter W. Jollimore? We would love to hear from you! All material has been researched by volunteers at the Dorchester Historical Society, so please let us know if we got something wrong or you think a piece of the story is missing!

Sources

Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.

Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.

Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2012.

Ancestry.com. Massachusetts Birth Records, 1840-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2013.

Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2011.

Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

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Dorchester Illustration 2370 St. Mary’s Infant Asylum

Posted on September 16, 2018 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration no. 2370 St. Mary’s Infant Asylum

The City of Boston’s tax assessing records show that the owner of the former St. Margaret’s Hospital property, now S. Mary’s Center for Women and Children, is St. Mary’s Infant Asylum.

St. Mary’s Infant Asylum grew out of an effort of St. Vincent de Paul Society to care for foundlings and destitute infants. At first, in 1867, they placed babies at the Home for Destitute Catholic Children, and the following year transferred the work to the old mansion of the Carney Hospital under the care of the Sisters of Charity, then in South Boston. At first this effort was known as St. Ann’s Infant Asylum. Needing larger quarters, in 1874 they purchased the old 13-acre Seaver estate on Bowdoin Street in Dorchester and in 1875 incorporated as St. Mary’s Infant Asylum and Lying-in Hospital.

Soon they found that the acquisition of an unnecessarily large estate with a mansion ill-adapted to their purposes, the Sisters decided to find a smaller and less expensive property. In 1882 Father Peter Ronan of St. Peter’s Church, Patrick A. Collins and John C. Crowley purchased the former Green estate at Cushing and Everett Avenues on Jones Hill on behalf of the Asylum; then the following year they transferred ownership to the St. Mary’s Infant Asylum and Lying-in Hospital. The renovation and addition of a new wing occurred soon thereafter, and today’s illustration shows the enlarged building with its new wing. A new building was added in 1901. In 1911 the St. Margaret’s Hospital was completed.

In 1866 Charles and Mary Green acquired the property on Jones Hill that would later become the Infant Asylum. Charles was a builder, and the couple were extensive property owners. The subject property included what is now Everett Avenue stretching from Stoughton Street up the hill to the location of the hospital. Charles and Mary sub-divided the property, selling some lots along Everett Avenue and keeping some to build houses for later sale. They built their own mansion at the top of the hill. The 1869 tax valuation shows their brick house in process of construction valued at $15,000 as lot 6 with 99,987 square feet of land. They were also taxed on other lots of land along Everett Avenue, some of which had houses on them. Some of these houses were also still in the process of construction. The houses at 15, 17, and 19 Everett Avenue, which were built by Green in the Second Empire style with mansard roofs, still exist.

Green developed heart disease and died in 1881. Charles and Mary had lost the estate house and grounds to foreclosure in 1877, so it may have been Charles’ ill health that led to the foreclosure and the opportunity for the Infant Asylum to acquire the property from the lender who had foreclosed.

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Dorchester Illustration 2369 William Edward Doucette

Posted on September 9, 2018 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration no. 2369 William Edward Doucette

At the Dorchester Historical Society, we are in the process of a year-long project to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of World War I. Using a collection of photographs we have of WWI Dorchester residents, we will be featuring servicemen in a number of short biographies throughout the year. At the culmination of the project, we hope to produce an online exhibit which highlights these men and their service to our country.

Our next biography features: William Edward Doucette and was compiled at the request of John Lyons of the Port Norfolk Civic Association.

William Edward Doucette was born on the 23^rd of February 1895 at 61 Market Street, Boston, to Victor Doucette, a laborer, and Catherine E. Morrison, both born in New Brunswick. By 1900, the family was living at 90 Taylor Street in the Port Norfolk section of Dorchester.

He had two older sisters, Theresa B. born 1889 and Mary born 1893, an older brother John B. born 1892 and a younger brother Joseph born 1902.

The 1910 census showed the family living at 2 Walnut Park, with Victor’s parents. The father was living there with his wife, their daughter Mary, extended family and 1 boarder. Victor was a chipper in the ship-yard. William Edward was not listed.

On June 2, 1917, William registered for the draft at Boston. He was 22 years old and living with his family at 7 Tolman Street, a 3-decker in the Neponset section of Dorchester and working as a rivet heater for Harlan & Hollingsworth, Wilmington, Delaware, a company which produced railroad cars and iron ships. He was described as short with medium build, with brown eyes and dark hair.

He was inducted into the service at Boston on 22 September 1917 as a Private. He served with Company H, 301 Infantry from September 23, 1917, to March 19, 1918; Btry D 304 FA to April 10, 1918; and overseas as of April 13, 1918, with Company C 306 Machine Gun Battalion. He achieved Private 1^st Class rank on July 25, 1918. He was engaged in the offensive at Oise-Aisne where he was sadly killed in action on August 22, 1918. He had previously fought in the defensive sectors at Baccarat (Lorraine) and Vesle (Champagne).

The following notices were found in the Boston Post, September 30, 1918:

“Killed in action, Pt. William E. Doucette, 7 Tolman St., Dorchester, 306 MG Co.” Private William E. Doucette: “Word has been received by Mr. and Mrs. Victor Doucette of the death of their son, Private William E. Doucette, who was killed in action. Private Doucette was 24 years old and enlisted in 1917. He sailed for France last April and after his regiment arrived in France, he became a member of the 306^th Machine Gun Company.”

He was survived by his parents, 2 brothers and 2 sisters.

In the 1920 census, the parents were living alone at 7 Tolman Street. Victor was a riveter at the shipyard. Many others in the area worked in the shipyard, probably Lawley’s of Port Norfolk.

On September 20, 1920, a Hero Square was named in William Edward Doucette’s honor at the corner of Redfield and Walnut Street in the Port Norfolk section of Dorchester.

Do you know more about William Edward Doucette or have a picture? We would love to hear from you! All material has been researched by volunteers at the Dorchester Historical Society, so please let us know if we got something wrong or you think a piece of the story is missing!

REFERENCES:

Birth Records, FamilySearch.org

Census Records, Federal, 1900, FamilySearch.org

Census Records, Federal, 1910, 1920, Ancestry.com

Death Record, Vital Statistics, Mt. Vernon St., Dorchester

Death notice, Boston Post

Draft registration card, FamilySearch.org

Hero Square record, City Archives

Service Record; The Adjutant General Office, Archives-Museum Branch, Concord, MA

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Dorchester Illusration 2368 Stearns Lumber

Posted on September 2, 2018 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration no. 2368 Stearns Lumber

Stearns Lumber Company 75th anniversary medal

The Stearns Lumber Company, which eventually covered forty acres, was opened by A. T. Stearns in 1849 at Port Norfolk where wood could arrived by ship or by rail. Born in Billerica in 1821, Albert T. Stearns established a retail lumber yard in Waltham in 1843. He sold that yard in 1849 and moved to Neponset, where the new yard grew to mammoth size. One of the specialties of the company was the production of wooden gutters, used extensively throughout New England in the construction of houses during the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th. By the early 20th century the wood used for this purpose was cypress. Introduced to cypress in 1871, Stearns became enamored of the wood, and in 1881 he contracted for a quantity of it near Mobile, Alabama. During the next two years he had 5,000,000 feet afloat at one time on its way to Boston. In 1883 he organized the Cypress Lumber Company and erected a big saw mill at Apalachicola, Florida, which became a model for cypress plants. In the early 20th century, the plant produced 20,000,000 each year. A. T. Stearns became known as the Apostle of Cypress. Stearns was the pioneer of ready-made houses in the United States, shipping portable houses to California via Cape Horn in 1851. His sons Frederick, Albert H. and Waldo H. joined him in the company. The company lasted until the 1930s.

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Dorchester Illustration 2367 Charles Manoog Samuelian

Posted on August 26, 2018 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration no. 2367 Charles Manoog Samuelian

Vivian Portner has been following our World War I servicemen blog posts and contacted us about her great uncle, Charles, who was a Dorchester resident and veteran of World War I. Charles’s brothers, Yeghia and Michael, were founders of Dorchester’s Seymours Ice Cream Company which produced ice cream and novelties for corner stores and supermarkets – including Popsicles, Dixie cups and Nutty Buddies. We are honored to have another serviceman to feature in our exhibit with a connection to such a treasured part of Dorchester’s history.

CHARLES SAMUELIAN

Charles Manoog Samuelian was born in Mezereh, Armenia, on June 15, 1886 to parents Almas and Manoog Samuelian. According to his naturalization papers, Charles immigrated to the United States in 1907 and arrived in New York City sometime in November 1907 aboard the ship “La Lorraine,” which had set sail from Havre, France. Charles was naturalized on October 29, 1913.

The Samuelian brothers got involved in the retail business when they came to the United States. Their business card states, “Samuelian Brothers, manufacturers of ice cream and fancy ices, dealers in fruit, confectionary, cigars, tobacco, and stationary.” Their stores were located at 1051 and 1375 Dorchester Avenue – both in the Fields Corner neighborhood of Dorchester. Charles and his brothers, Yeghia, Avedis, and Michael, all lived together near their stores on Dorchester Avenue. By 1913, their mother, Almas, was also living with them.

Charles registered for the draft on June 5, 1917. He was still living in Dorchester and his occupation wais listed as “fruit dealer.” His draft card described him as a single, thirty year old man of 5’ 11”, stout, with brown eyes and black hair. He was inducted into the United States Army on April 28, 1918 in Boston. He first served as a private in the 25th Company, 7th Battalion, 151st Depot Brigade at Fort Devens until May 1918. Subsequently, he was transferred to Company E, 301st Infantry until July of 1918 during which time he was deployed overseas. While overseas, he was transferred to Company C, 163rd Infantry until August 1918 and then finally transferred to Company D, 168th Infantry which he served in until his discharge. While in Europe, Charles was a part of several engagements, including the offensive at St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne and the defensive sectors at Essey-Pannes. His service card indicates that he was “slightly” injured in October of 1918. He returned from Europe in January 1919 and was honorably discharged from Camp Devens on February 13, 1919.

After the war, Charles returned home to Dorchester and continued to work with his brothers. According to the 1920 census, he was back living on Dorchester Avenue with his mother, Almas, his brother Michael and his wife, and his brother Yeghia, Yeghia’s wife and their four children. The brothers’ occupations are all listed as “confectioners.”

Sadly, Charles died later that year, at the U.S. Parker Hill Hospital (present day Jamaica Plain VA Hospital), on December 8, 1920; he was only 34 years old. According to his family, Charles suffered the effects of mustard gas attacks during his time in the Army which contributed to his early death. He is buried in the family plot in Cambridge Cemetery. In 1921, the Boston City Council submitted an order, signed by Mayor Andrew Peters, naming a Hero Square in his honor at the corner of Dorchester Avenue and King Street.

Sources:

Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.

Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Death Index, 1901-1980 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2013.

Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Naturalization Records – Originals, 1906-1929 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2011.

Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

“Samuelian” obituary, Boston Globe, 11 Dec 1920.

Military, Compiled Service Records. World War I. Carded Records. Records of the Military Division of the Adjutant General’s Office, Massachusetts National Guard.

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Dorchester Illustration 2366 Elsmere Hotel

Posted on August 19, 2018 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration no. 2366 Elsmere Hotel

On April 19, 2018, Anita Danker shared her memories of the house at 3 Mill Street in an article “My First Home: Life in the Big House.” Her story is about her family’s experience in the 20th century.

http://realestate.boston.com/my-first-home/2018/04/19/my-first-home-life-in-the-big-house/

The property was later sold for re-development; a fire destroyed the house; and now there are townhouses on the site.

Here is the back story:

Luther Briggs Jr. designed the home in the Italianate style with a mansard roof and cupola for Francis J. Humphrey. Francis had purchased the property from Benjamin and Anna Cushing on May 6, 1857 (Norfolk Registry of Deeds Book 255, Page 81). The house was built in the late 1860s; it appears on a list of buildings Brigg published Dec. 31, 1869.

The 1868 Dorchester Directory (available on Ancestry.com) shows Francis J. Humphrey on Mill Street. The 1870 Boston Directory has Francis J. Humphrey with home address Everett, cor. Mill, wd. 16. The Directory does not show a profession for him. The house outline appears on the map of Commercial Point and Neponset in the 1874 atlas. The property ran from Commercial Street (now Freeport) to Everett Street Mill Street, and the house sat in the middle of the property facing Mill Street.

Francis was married to Susan R. D. Charter on May 24, 1852, but she lived in the new home for only a few years. She died July 5, 1875. Susan appears to have been the first woman to operate a commercial photographic studio in Boston and probably in Massachusetts, beginning in 1844 prior to her marriage. Her daguerrian gallery became the seventh operating in the city during that year.

The 1880 census notes that Francis was a retired merchant. He died in 1882.

The property was obtained by the Gleason family, but they owned the property only a short time. The next owner of the house was Esther D. Robbins who appears in the 1889 map. She turned the house into a seaside hotel. The 1894 map shows she was still the owner along with the caption Elsmere House. There was an out-building serving as a meeting hall called Elsmere Hall. The Dorchester Yacht Club was located across Commercial Street next to the bay .

The 1898 map shows the owner at that time was James L. Simonds still with the caption Elsmere House. Simonds was listed in the 1899 Boston Directory as being in real estate on Shawmut Avenue while living on Everett Street, Dorchester. The hotel continued even after Simonds’ death, and the 1910 atlas shows it was owned by his heirs. The 1918 map shows the house was owned by Grazio DePino and others, but the lot had been subdivided for 4 house lots to the right next to Freeport Street and 6 house lots to the left facing Everett and Mill Streets. There is no indication that the house was still a hotel. However the 1933 map shows the house labeled Elsmere House with owner Michael C. Sarnie.

Sources:

Ancestry.com

Polito, Ron. “One and the Same? Miss S.R. Charter, Boston’s First Female Daguerrotypist 1844-1849; & Susan R.D. (Charter) Humphrey, Patrician’s Wife.” The Daguerreian Annual (2005) p. 27-85.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 3 Mill Street, Elsmere Hotel, Francis Humphrey, Luther Birggs Jr, Susan Charter, Uncategorized | Comments Off