History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

246 HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUXTY.
originated in a Methodist class formed in 1S57,
and composed of members previously residing in
Watertown. The question of forming a Methodist
society was first agitated in the spring of 1860.
The first public meeting of the society on the Sab-
bath was held March 24, 1860, in the piano-forte
wareroom of Mr. Amasa Dexter. The public
services were shortly afterwards held in Tremoiit
Hall, and the first pastor of the society appointed
by the conference. Rev. G. W. Mansfield, commenced
his labors April 14, i860. The chapel on
the corner of Washington and Court streets, now
occupied by the Central Congregational Society,
was their first house of worship, dedicated in
April, 1800.
The church was organized May 17, 1860, con-
sisting of twenty-four members. Two of them
were in the Union army in t!ie war of 1861 - 1865.
The Sabbath-school was organized April 21, 1860.
Another society in the village, which had commenced
the brick church near the railroad station,
having become weakened by removals, so that they
were unable to finish the work, desired to sell the
edifice which tliey were unable to hold. It was
purchased by the Methodist Society for about
$6,000, finished, and dedicated in August, 1863.
Tlie following ministers have been stationed
here: G. W. Mansfield, Z. A. Mudge, Henry
Baker, William M. Ayres, T. W. Bishop.
The growth of the North Village of Newton
dates back to a period of more than a century ago,
when David Bemis purchased thirty-nine acres of
land on the Watertown side of Charles River, and
subsequently twenty-five more, — embracing all
the land now covered by the buildings on that side
of the river. In 1778 David Bemis, with Dr.
Enos Sumner, who then owned the land on the
Newton side of the river, constructed the dam
across the river, where it now stands. A paper-
mill was erected here in 1779, and the business of
manufacturing paper was carried on successfully
more than forty years. Many of the workmen
and much of the machinery requisite were im-
ported from Europe. So important was tlie en-
terprise considered in a public ])oint nf view, that
when the establislnnent was burned iIomii, tlie
legislature of Massachusetts made a special grant
to enable the owners of the mill to rebiiild. The
process of paper-making was then slow and tedious,
requiring as many montiis as it, now rc(|iiii-i's days.
Each sheet was made singly by dipping the mould
into the i)iil|i, and tlicii liirinng it over iipcu a
woollen felt, to which the pulp adhered. Upon
this another felt was laid for the reception of an-
other sheet, and thus the process was continued.
Mr. Jacob Mead, an ingenious citizen of Waltham,
subsequently invented a macliine for weaving cop-
per wire for the construction of paper-moulds,
which proved a great convenience to the public,
and highly remunerative to the inventor.
All the land bounded by Charles River on the
southerly, that is, the Newton side, extending from
or near Watertown line to a point on Charles
River, near the north end of Morse Island, fifter-
wards called Fox Island, belonged, during a cen-
tury or more from the first settlement of Newton,
to Richard Park and John Fuller, and their de-
scendants. The former owned six hundred acres
of the easterly portion, and John Fuller the wes-
terly portion, containing seven hundred and fifty
acres. John Fuller had seven sons, whose names
all began with the letter J. This valuable tract of
land was ceded in 1849 to Waltham, and is the
territory now occupied by the Waltham Watch
Factory. For more than a century it bore the
name of Fuller's Corner. The father, with some
or all of his sons, while traversing the then wilder-
ness, refreshed themselves with cake and cheese,
and drank from the brook near which they re-
clined, which hence gained the name of Cheesecake
Brook, by which name it is still known. At a
later hour they cooked some wild game on a small
conical hill, which from tliat time onwards for half
a century was known as Cook Kill ; but the name
has now become obsolete.
Besides the manufacture of paper on the New-
ton side of the river, David Bemis built and car-
ried on a grist-mill and snulf-mill on the Water-
town side until his death in 1790, it being the
first mill on that side at that place. At his decease
the property on the Watertown side was
inherited by his two sons, Luke and Seth, the
latter of whom in 1796 made preparations for the
manufacture of chocolate, dye-woods, and medici-
nal roots and woods for use, and carried on these
branches of business successfully till about the
year 1803. At that lime he commenced spinning
cotton by machinery. At this early day, when
few factories were in operation, it was the custom
to manufacture cotton cloth for domestic use in the
family. All families wore possessed of spinning-
wheels, and nearly all had hiums. Hence there was
a great demand for " liniiis' warp." which was
inucli superior to that si)Uii by hand. The woof