Dorchester Historical Society

Dorchester Illustration 2266 St. Teresa of Calcutta Church

Posted on September 11, 2016 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration no. 2266 St. Teresa of Calcutta Church, Roman Catholic

Postcard. Caption on front: St. Margaret’s Church, Columbia Road, Dorchester, Mass. Postmarked Aug 13, 1910. Essex Street Station, Boston, Mass. With one cent stamp. On verso: No. B 13537 Published by The New England News Company. Boston, Mass.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta was canonized on Sunday, September 4, 2016, and Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta parish in Dorchester changed its name to to St. Teresa of Calcutta Church. Cardinal Sean O’Malley presided over Mass in the church celebrating the canonization announced by Pope Francis earlier in the morning.

The church was built as St. Margaret’s Church. In 1893 St. Margaret’s Parish was set off as the first large offshoot from St. Peter’s. St. Margaret’s was composed of the north-eastern limits of St. Peter’s Parish, including the portions lying south of Washington Village and along the line of Dochester Bay nearly to Savin Hill, and on the west to the burial-ground at Upham’s Conrer. The first pastor was the Rev. William J. Ryan. The present St. Margaret’s building was built in 1904 to the designs of Keely and Houghton in the Romanesque Revival style. [Note that Dorchester Old and New says the building was built in 1899].

St. Margaret’s became Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta parish when the Archdiocese combined St. William’s and St. Margaret’s parishes in 2004. From the 1990s through 2004 the Archdiocese of Boston endured the consequences of allegations and lawsuits involving misconduct by priests with the result that the Archdiocese paid out large monetary settlements. The Archdiocese studied its parishes and determined that low attendance and large expenses warranted the closing of some. St. William and St. Margaret were the only two parishes, out of 11 Catholic parishes in Dorchester, that felt a direct impact of the Archdiocese’ reconfiguration process of early 2004. On August 31, 2004, these two parishes merged under the name of Blessed Mother Teresa parish, and the new parish would worship at 800 Columbia Road in the building that is now St. Margaret’s Church.

Now the church name is St. Teresa of Calcutta Church

The archive of these historical posts can be viewed on the blog at www.dorchesterhistoricalsocietyblog.org

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Dorchester Illustration 2265 St. Mary’s Church, Episcopal

Posted on September 4, 2016 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration no. 2265 St. Mary’s Church, Episcopal

Photo after fire of June 15, 1887.

The Rev. John P. Robinson, then Rector of Christ Church, Quincy, conducted a service for a group of about 50 in Dorchester on July 16, 1843. This is the first time, so far as is known, that the book of Common Prayer was publicly used in Dorchester. The first service of St. Mary’s as an organized Parish was held in Lyceum Hall on August 23, 1847. Soon after, Catherine Dodge gave land on Bowdoin Street at the corner of Topliff across from Olney for the construction of a church, and the Building Committee approved an architectural plan by Arthur Gilman. The church building was consecrated in September, 1849. St. Mary’s became one of the strongest and most prosperous parishes in the Diocese outside of Boston. The building was enlarged in the 1860s, and in 1869 a tower with a bell was blown down and never rebuilt. The unexpected social results of the annexation of Dorchester to Boston–the centralization of all interests in the city proper, the removal of many wealthy citizens to the city and effects of the financial crisis following the great fire in Boston in 1872 greatly affected the fortunes of the church.

On June 15, 1887, the church building was consumed by fire. St. Mary’s then acquired land on Cushing Avenue and Stoughton Street for the construction of a new church in the English Gothic style of the 15th century. St. Mary’s Church, designed by Henry Vaughan in Jacobethan Revival style and built in 1888, is a prototype of modern gothic. Saint Mary’s was one of his earliest American commissions and his only known example of a building in the City of Boston. The first service in the new church was held on December 25, 1888. The church was enlarged in 1892-93 (transepts by Hartwell and Richardson), and a parish house was dedicated in September, 1907. The church contains an improtant collection of stained glass windows by Tiffany Studios, Wilbur H. Burnham, Harry E. Goodhue, and Charles J. Connick, all completed between 1902 and 1911. The building displays extraordinary exposed timbers on the ceiling. The early 1900s witnessed the exodus of the rich, leisured class from Upham’s Corner and the influx of the working and middle classes. Many of the new residents were Catholics, and membership at Saint Mary’s began to decline. The post-World War II move to the suburbs also hastened the decline. Today low and middle income parishioners from the surrounding neighborhood attend the church. Upham’s Corner is still predominantly Roman Catholic. In 1867 the Rev. William H. Mills began a mission at Milton Lower Mills that later became All Saints, Ashmont. The mission of St. Anne’s on Cottage Street, near Dudley, was begun in a barber shop in 1876 by the Rev. W.W. Silvester. In 1879 it was placed under the control of the parish of St. James, Roxbury, and later became a separate parish. The removal of the church from Bowdoin Street had necessitated services in the area of upper Washington Street, and these efforts were organized as a Mission in September, 1888. In September, 1894, the Rev. Charles E. Barnes was engaged to take charge of what had become known as Grove Hall Mission and is today known as St. Mark’s Episcopal Church.

The archive of these historical posts can be viewed on the blog at www.dorchesterhistoricalsocietyblog.org

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Dorchester Illustration 2264 Dorchester Ice Cream

Posted on August 28, 2016 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration no. 2264 Dorchester Ice Cream

It just seems like the right time of year to think about ice cream, especially ice cream in Dorchester. Dorchester ice cream company provided soda fountain display cards featuring their products.

The Dorchester Ice Cream Company was founded by the Samuelian Brothers – Yeghia and his younger brother Michael – who changed his name to Seymour. The 1916 original manufacturing plant was at 1051 and 1375 Dorchester Avenue, but the company relocated to 12 Ericsson Street in Port Norfolk in 1947. Yeghia’s sons, Albert and Malcolm Samuelian and Michael’s son Charles “Buddy” Seymour expanded the Seymours ice cream brand into supermarkets. The Samuelian family became sole owners in the 1970s, and a third generation of family members managed the business for another 30 years until it closed in 2001.

The Seymours Ice Cream Company had the sole franchise in New England to manufacture the Nutty Buddy product from the Sweetheart Cup Company. Their Dorchester ice cream company provided soda fountain display cards featuring his products, like the one pictured. Buddy was the son of Michael Samuelian, who changed the family name to Seymour after immigrating from Armenia in the early twentieth century.

The company was housed in the three-story brick building on Ericsson Street in Port Norfolk next to the building where the Boston Winery is now located. Just behind the brick building is the building with the monitor top that now houses the Boston Harbor Distillery.

All these buildings were part of the industrial complex at the northern end of Port Norfolk that was developed in the 1850s by the Putnam Horseshoe Nail Company, later taken over by the Lawley Shipyard, manufacturer of luxury sailboats and motor yachts.

Port Norfolk and the rest of the Neponset area of Dorchester saw an increase in development after the construction of the bridge at Granite Avenue. The bridge denied access Lower Mills landing by larger ships, and the port at Port Norfolk began to grow. The introduction of the Old Colony Railroad in the 1840s encouraged further development. Dorchester was part of Norfolk County prior 1870 when it was annexed to the city of Boston, and the name of Port Norfolk came to be used for this area that was now a major port in Norfolk County. In addition to Putnam Nail at the northern of the peninsula, the Port saw the introduction of the Stearns Lumber Yard at the southern and easterly sides of the peninsula and the Frost Coal Company next to the railroad bridge that crossed the river to Quincy.

Note from Paul Samuelian

THE SEYMOUR ICE CREAM STORY

I am Paul Samuelian one of the last owners of Seymours Ice Cream.

It was started in the 1930’s with my Great Grandfather Yeghia Samuelian, and his brother Michael Samuelian (Uncle Mike). Mike wanted a more American sounding name, so he changed it to Seymour. They had a small general store and soda fountain on Dorchester Avenue, and they made their ice cream in the basement. Eventually the property in Port Norfolk area at 12 Ericsson Street was purchased and moved to that location on or about 1947. At that time there were four owners. Michael Seymour, his son Buddy, and Yeghia’s two sons, Albert and Malcolm Samuelian who took over when Yeghia died.

When My father (Malcolm) died in 1959Albert took over for the Samuelian side of the family. Uncle Mike died on 1962 at which time Albert took over as President and Treasurer of the Corporation. Some where in the 1960’s the “Nutty Buddy” was born named after Buddy Seymour who was my Great Uncle Mike’s son.

Contrary to what is on the internet the Seymour family left the ice cream business in 1970 and it was carried on by Albert Y. Samuelian, his three children, Joseph Carole and Dianne. I was also there in 1970 representing my father Malcolm and my sister Vivian. When Albert died in 1980, Seymours ice cream continued in which Dianne became President, Carole Treasurer and Paul and Joseph as Vice Presidents.

Seymours officially closed its doors in 2001 and the buildings were sold to the owners of Vinezia Restaurant.

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Dorchester Illustration 2263 I-CAR-DE Mayonnaise

Posted on August 21, 2016 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration no. 2263 I-CAR-DE Mayonnaise

I-CAR-DE trucks sporting Lee Puncture Proof tires were pictured in a 1922 advertisement for the Lee Tire & Rubber Company. I-CAR-DE produced a number of cards using movie stars to promote their products.

Kathleen Aicardi wrote:

Aicardi mayonnaise (spelled phonetically, I CAR DE) was started in the early 1900’s by my great grandfather James A. Aicardi. He began making mayonnaise and selling it door to door. Then eventually the company grew, and they sold mayonnaise, picallili and one other item which I forget right now. Anyway….it was the top mayonnaise in Boston.

The Aicardi Food Products Co., located at 93 Stoughton Street, Dorchester, from at least the 1920s to the 1940s made products for grocery stores. The location was the corner of Stoughton Street and Windermere Road. Their brand was I-CAR-DE, and one of their popular products was mayonnaise. They used photos of movie stars on advertising cards. The founder was James A. Aicardi, who lived at 91 Stoughton Street (same building. His son James Jr., who lived at 15 Sumner Street, was also part of the company.

From building permit applications, the food production operation seems to have ended in 1944, and the family converted the building to a grocery store. The grocery store operation seems to have ended in 1968.

The 1925 Boston Directory has the following entries:

Aicardi Food Products Co grocer’s sundries 93 Stoughton Dor

Aicardi James A pres and treas Aicardi Food Products Co 93 Stoughton Dor h 91 do

Aicardi James A jr sec Aicardi Food Products Co 93 Stoughton Do h 15 Sumner do

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Dorchester Illustration 2262 Wrought at Mrs Saunders and Miss Beach’s Academy Dorchester

Posted on August 14, 2016 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration no. 2262 Wrought at Mrs. Saunders and Miss Beach’s Academy

Eunice Bent made this piece of needlework at the school for young ladies operated in the first half of the 19th century by Judith Foster Saunders and Clementina Beach. The scan is from Betty Ring’s book Girlhood Embroidery, 1993). There is a verse from the Bible about Hagar on the piece itself (Genesis XII:17 … and the angel of God called unto Hagar out of Heaven…), and a statement on the matte: Wrought by Eunice Bent at Mrs. Saunders & Miss Beach’s Academy, Dorchester.

Of the many schools for young women that sprang up in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the Saunders and Beach Academy in Dorchester emerged as one of the most respectable–(Betty Ring. “Mrs. Saunders’ and Miss Beach’s Academy, Dorchester.” in The Magazine Antiques, August 1976). Today the school is especially remembered for the noteworthy silk embroideries created by the students under the supervision of the proprietors whose goal was to prepare the daughters of well-to-do families to attract an appropriate husband and to take their place in society.

The women purchased the house for their school on Meeting House Hill from William and Frederick Pope, lumber merchants based in Dorchester. Saunders had already operated a school in her hometown of Gloucester and was known for her exceptional skillful teaching of needlework as early as 1802. She had no children, and little is known of her husband Thomas Bradbury Saunders who died in 1810. Her well-known cousin Judith Sargent Murray helped Saunders and Beach with the description of their new venture

“I drew up the following preamble, and subjoined terms … Informed that the Town of Dorchester is destitute of a Seminary for Young Ladies, and impressed with reports of a high idea of the salubrity of the air, eligibility of the situation, and liberal urbanity of the inhabitants—two ladies, the one a native of America and the other born and educated in England …propose forming an academy in that place, where they will receive young Ladies as boarders upon terms hereafter to be committed …”— (Letter dated November 29, 1802: Judith Sargent Murray to Judith F. Saunders).

In March, 1809, the following subjects available at the Academy appeared in an advertisement published in the Columbia Sentinel:

Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Letter Writing, Geography and the use of the Terrestrial and Celestial Globes, French Language, Embroidery, Drawing and Painting, in oil, water colors, crayons, &c., tambour, plain, and ornamental Needle Work, drawing and coloring Maps and Mercator’s Charts.

No other school in the vicinity advertised its facilities more profusely or consistently. The census of 1810 shows an astonishing total of forty people were then residing in this house: one young male, thirty-six young ladies, and three women. It is difficult to imagine how so many could have been adequately lodged in a house which had about nine rooms. The house was enlarged by the addition of a long ell at the rear in 1817. From 1822 to 1824 they conducted their school at other locations, but in May, 1825, they returned to their house in Dorchester, where they continued teaching at least until 1834 –(Betty Ring).

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Dorchester Illustration 2261 Dorchester and Milton Bank

Posted on August 7, 2016 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration no. 2261 Dorchester and Milton Bank

The subscribers to the stock of the Dorchester and Milton Bank met in April, 1832, and accepted the Act of Incorporation. John R. Chaffee, Pastor of the First Methodist Church, described some of the buildings in Lower Mills in his history of the church published in 1916. “The house opposite the head of River Street was built in 1822 by Robert P. Tolman, who had a store in the next building. Over this store the Milton bank was organized in 1822.” The Dolan funeral home is the Tolman house, and the bank building, which was located on its right side, was extant until about 1940. The bank building is the house in the center of the photograph.

In Good Old Dorchester, William Dana Orcutt wrote: The town did not enjoy the luxury of a bank until 1832, when the “Dorchester and Milton Bank” was incorporated, with Moses Whitney, for its first president. In 1850 the name of the bank was changed to the “Blue Hill Bank,” owing to the loss of some $32,000 by theft.

The Bankers’ Magazine, and Statistical Register. July, 1850. Vol. V. No. I reported:

The Dorchester and Milton Bank, at Dorchester, Massachusetts, was entered on the night of Saturday, June 1st, and robbed of about thirty thousand dollars, in the circulation of the Bank, together with the specie on hand, about $5,000, and $14,000 in blank notes not filled up. The Bank has issued the following advertisement.

The Vault of the Dorchester and Milton Bank was broken open and robbed on Saturday night last of about Thirty Thousand Dollars of the Notes of said Bank,–a quantity of Specie,–about Seven Hundred Blank Notes of the denomination of $20,– and the Copperplate upon which they were printed. Among the bills taken were a large number which can be identified at the Bank.

The Directors have therefore determined to call in their circulation, and will issue no bills of said Bank. All bills legitimately out will be redeemed at their own counter. All persons are cautioned against receiving any notes of said Bank, unless from persons to them personally know, as the notes stolen will not be redeemed.

The first door of the vault has four locks, which had apparently been opened without force; the second had two locks, with a strong band of iron covering the key-holes, and fastened with a stout padlock. The villains must have opened the padlock with false keys, removed the iron bank, and finding that their instruments were not calculated for the work of opening the door, inserted gunpowder in each of the keyholes, and blew off the locks. The banking room is in the second story of the building, the lower part being occupied as a store, by Mr. J. Brewer. The cashier of the bank, Mr. E. J. Bispham, resides in the same building.

The Bank later denied payment for a bill they determined was stolen, and the court found in their favor, but the plaintiff argued that it is the burden of the Bank to determine that the receiver of the bill knew it was stolen (Wyer vs Dorchester and Milton Bank). In 1853 the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ordered a new trial. We cannot find evidence of a final outcome.

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Dorchester Illustration 2260 Calf Pasture Pumping Station

Posted on July 31, 2016 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration no. 2260 Calf Pasture Pumping Station

Calf Pasture Pumping Station, photo from 2003

This building is located on Columbia Point in Dorchester surrounded by Harbor Point apartments, the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the Study of the United States Senate and UMass Boston.

History

The town of Dorchester was annexed to the City of Boston in 1870 partly due to the city’s desire to obtain a route to the sea for its sewage. “Whereas, in the opinion of the City Council, it has become necessary in order to complete the system of drainage and harbor improvements which have been devised for the benefit of Boston by the various commission which have had, and now have, these subjects in charge, to annex a portion of the whole of the town of Dorchester to the City of Boston.” – Order passed by City Council, Dec. 22, 1868, published in Reports in Relation to the Annexation of Dorchester to Boston, And the Act of the Legislature to Unite Said Town and City. Boston, 1869. Although the necessity for the annexation to make the route of the sewer was denied by some, the sewer was clearly a consideration leading up to the votes in favor of annexation. Indeed, by 1883, the Calf Pasture Pumping Station was a reality.

From the time of Dorchester’s settlement by English Puritans in June, 1630, until the late 18th century or early 19th, Columbia Point, a peninsula reaching into Dorchester Bay, was used as a calf pasture to keep calves separate from the main herd that was driven daily to what is now South Boston, the cow pasture. The land at Columbia Point was largely uninhabited even in the 1880s and was comprised of tidal marshland with an irregular shoreline, deeply cut by inlets. The original size of Columbia Point is estimated to have been about 14 acres. After land-making over many years, the size of Columbia Point is now about 350 acres. At the time of construction, the pumping station was located near the end of the peninsula. Now UMass Boston and the Massachusetts Archives building are situated between the Pumping Station and the end of the peninsula.

Designed by Boston City Architect, George Clough, in Romanesque Revival style, the Pumping Station opened in 1883 as Boston’s first sewage pumping station and is now the only remaining building on Columbia Point constructed prior to the 20th century. The facility played a vital role in improving public health beginning in the late 19thcentury. Within 35 years of its construction, the Calf Pasture Pumping Station was the keystone of a sewage disposal system that was a model for the rest of the country. The station was in operation as the Boston sewer system head-works until 1968, when a new treatment facility opened on Deer Island.

The pumping station along with the Gate House and West Shaft building are on the National Register of Historic Places. In recent years invasive vegetation has intruded into these structures. The Massachusetts Historical Commission has recommended that all three need to be secured against the weather – all door and window openings need to be secured; the structures need to be stabilized and mothballed to ensure they do not deteriorate while UMass undertakes a re-use study and develops plans for re-use and rehabilitation.

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Dorchester Illustration 2259 Mattapan Trolley

Posted on July 24, 2016 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration no. 2259 Mattapan Trolley

Mattapan Trolley Type 4 Car 5286 is shown on the loop at the Peabody Square end of Ashmont Station as it looked on October 20, 1936. Photo by James A. Parsons, 4 Westmoreland Street, Dorchester.

The family of James A. Parsons donated his photo albums of the Ashmont-Mattapan line to the Dorchester Historical Society. The following is from notes in his albums.

The Ashmont – Mattapan Line

by James A. Parsons, 4 Westmoreland Street, Dorchester, MA, 1976

The Ashmont-Mattapan line, considered an extension of the Harvard to Ashmont “red Line: Rapid Transit route, is one of America’s most unique trolley car lines. No fare is required if you board a trolley at Ashmont outbound towards Mattapan or an any station inbound from Mattapan to Ashmont Station. However, if you board at any stop on the outbound run or get off at any of the stops before Ashmont after leaving Mattapan, the fare is 25 cents.

Originally the Dorchester and Milton Branch Railroad, the line was acquired by the Old Colony Railroad, later taken over by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. Part of the “Red Line,” this stretch of track opened for trolley travel in 1930 as the “Hi-Speed” Line using heavy Type #4 street cars. In the late 1940s smaller Type #5 cars were put into service for a short time, followed by the earlier types of PCC cars, which ran for several years. Since 1960 the line has been served solely by 1945 vintage double end PCC cars purchased from Dallas, Texas, in 1959.

Another note of interest is that according to “Believe It or Not” Ripley, this is the only street car line in the world that runs directly through a cemetery (Cedar Grove in Dorchester).

While it is only a ten-minute ride, in my estimation this is one of the most interesting and picturesque trolley lines operating in the United States of America.

the following notes are undated

Most of cars are ex-Dallas double ended PCC’s, now operating single ended.

During the spring of 1978 the ex-Dallas cars housed at the Arborway Carhouse were transferred via motor truck trailers to the Mattapan Yard for service on the busy “Mattapan-Ashmont” Line.

These cars were still double enders because they saw most of their service on the Brigham Circle to Park Street via Huntington Avenue or Northeastern to Park Station and return, with the only loop located at Park Street. These lines are part of the “Green Line” Trolley System, and the cars were painted green accordingly. The Mattapan-Ashmont Line is considered an extension of the Red Line, and the cars in service were painted red during the summer of 1977.

The Green Line cars transferred to Mattapan are numbered 332, 3323, 3324, 3325, 3327, 3328 and 3329. Car 3326 is still at the Arborway but painted yellow and black, in use as a Sand Car.

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Dorchester Illustration 2258 Holden House

Posted on July 17, 2016 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration no. 2258 Holden House near Upham’s Corner

The house of the Holden family stood on Columbia Road opposite Albright Ct. (now Annabel Street). Between 1884 and 1889, the house was taken down, and the property was sub-divided to allow construction of Holden Street with house lots on either side.

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Dorchester Illustration 2257 Pierce Building at Upham’s Corner

Posted on July 10, 2016 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration no. 2257 Pierce Building at Upham’s Corner

Anthony Sammarco has pointed out a mistake in last week’s Illustration. The house in the picture was not the Upham house but the Samuel B. Pierce House exactly across Columbia Road from Bellevue Street at the corner of Glendale. The house is on the opposite side of the street than I thought. The house was designed by John A. Fox and built between 1874 and 1879. The family moved from the corner of Columbia Road and Dudley Street, where their former house was demolished in 1898-1899 to make way for the S.B. Pierce Bulding constructed in 1899.

The S.B. Pierce Building appears in the center of today’s illustration. Postcard. Caption on front: Uphams Corner, Dorchester, Mass. 1496 On verso: Pub. by German Novelty Co., Boston, Mass. ca. 1910

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