The house now known as 53 Lake Street was once the home of “Squire Holmes” whose father Jonathan Holmes Sr. built it at the time of his marriage to his second wife, Rebecca Tilden in 1752. Although it was a small structure, it was a double house and easily accommodated two families. In 1773, “Squire” Jedediah Holmes, son of Jonathan Sr., married Sarah Adams and they moved into this house with his step-mother. Their descendants lived in the house for many generations. The tale is told that Sarah , the “grandmother” to later generations, had planted a rose at the front doorstep when she came as a bride to live in the house. Later daughters of the house took slips of this “white rose of Savoie” from the original to plant near their marital homes, bringing the familiar to the new.
The view of 53 Lake Street above dates to around 1890; the one below from April 2008. In the newer photograph, despite the additions to both sides and the rear of the house, as well as front and back dormers, the original small structure can still be seen.
In the spring of 1898, noted Kingston ship-builder Edward A. Ransom launched the largest vessel constructed on the Jones River since 1874, the steamer Tiger. She was, in the words of Henry M. Jones, author of Ships of Kingston, “a handsome vessel” of 30 tons with an overall length of 53′, a beam of 14′ and a draft of 6′.
Steamer Tiger, ca. 1898
Here she is moored in front of Ransom’s boathouse, with the Bradford Homestead just up the hill. Ransom and his co-owners, A.J. Hill, C.A. Ransom and H.S. West,* used the Tiger for fishing and lobstering for several years, then sold her to the Churches of Tiverton, R.I., who used her as a porgy steamer.
* A handwritten annotation in the archivist’s copy of Ships of Kingston tells us that West was the father of Kingston Town Historian Margaret Warnsman.
Source: Ships of Kingston, Henry M. Jones (The Memorial Press of Plymouth, Massachusetts: 1926)
The Old Bay Path
Well before the Pilgrims landed, the Native Americans of southeastern Massachusetts had an extensive network of well-worn trails, among them the Old Bay Path shown in these two lantern slides. By 1637, the colonists had adopted the Bay Path as the main highway through Kingston. Eventually the route became a private road for the Bradfords, then reverted back to a foot path between Stony Brook village (today’s Summer Street neighborhood) and the settlement at Island Creek once the Boston Road (now Summer Street, or Route 3A) was laid out in 1708.
The Old Bay Path, ca. 1900
Around 1900, the fields through which the path ran were purchased by private interests, the trees and bushes cut down, and a sand pit opened nearby; soon just a vestige of the old path remained. The lantern slide below shows the handsome Old Shiloh on the path. Old Shiloh lived with his mistress Miss Charlotte Cutts on Brewster Road; the path ran close to their home, from the Stony Brook schoolhouse to Miramar.
Old Shiloh on the Old Bay Path, ca. 1900
Although the Bay Path connected first the numerous Native American villages, then many of today’s South Shore towns, it began in our town, specifically in what was once the village of the Patuxet, near the present Kingston/Plymouth line. From that point, the path divided, with one branch following today’s Main and Crescent Streets and another going along the shore of Rocky Nook via the present Howland’s Lane to the Jones River. Here the water level determined the method of crossing: stepping stones at low tide or skin boat at high tide. As late as 1900, evidence of this branch of the trail was still visible, crossing the Jones River between the Poorhouse and the boat houses on Landing Road , continuing past the Bailey Playground tennis courts and across the ballfields — once a low, wet area now filled in — up the hill to Summer Street , then over to Maple Street, left at Bradford Road, onto Foster’s Lane and finally along Brewster Road. Other paths intersected the Bay Path here, continuing on to Island Creek and other communities. The Bay Path itself continued along Tarkiln Road into Duxbury near the Tree of Knowledge , running past the Twin Schoolhouse and north to other villages.
Little did those Patuxet realize that many years later we would still be using parts of their well worn trail, and even less, perhaps, do today’s travellers realize just how old the roads they follow actually are.
Source: Emily Fuller Drew Manuscript Collection MC- 16 2.1 Early Roads and Trails.
Motto and seal from Washburn’s autobiography, ca. 1870
The Ichabod Washburn Benevolent Fund was established over 130 years ago through a bequest to the Town of Kingston. Washburn, who was born and raised in Kingston, made his fortune as a wire manufacturer in Worcester but never forgot his hometown or the struggles of his mother, who raised her family alone after the death of her husband. In 1869, Washburn’s will left $10,000 to the Town for the creation of a fund from which interest would be distributed to “widows and maiden ladies of good character and reputation.” Original account books, receipts and other records of the Fund are now on display in the Local History Room exhibit case.
Among the treasures describing the history of Kingston that Emily Fuller Drew bequeathed to the community is a common ladies shoe box. The box itself probably qualifies as an antique on Ebay, but the real value lies in the contents: hundreds of 3″ X 5″ cards. On each is handwritten information describing the many lantern slides of the JRVHS, as well as the duplicate images in other Local History Room collections.
Here’s why it’s so wonderfully important.
First, take a look at lantern slide #30.
Great Bridge over Jones River, circa 1890
The actual slide itself has no information (the caption is added to the scan), but we have a small notebook called “A Library of Lantern Slides” that provides something more.
Selection from the notebook, ca. 1938
Informative, but very, very basic.
Now, the treasure:
Emily Fuller Drew's notes on Lantern Slide 30, ca. 1935
And to bring this treasure to light, to make it relevant and useful, here’s a transcription, not only because reading Emily’s handwriting can be a challenge but also because the electronic text is searchable.
30. “Great Bridge” over Jones River, 1890. Shows bridge “in transition.” Original bridge had 2 square arches, made of huge stones chinked with smaller stones and cobble. A square arch (shown) farther to the north took care of extra flow water in time of flood or freshet. Later the double arch was rebuilt and gave way to a single round arch shown . See # for the way it looks now.
At the extreme left is the house built by Theophilus Stetson, now owned by Charles McManus.
The picture was taken either in 1866 when they were laying our water mains or in 1890 when the street car system (trolley electric) was being installed. As you see, they are either raising a pole (a trolley pole) or lowering a length of pipe into the trench. It looks like one pole in front of the McManus house.
Now, despite the new questions that spring to mind (what # does she mean? when is “now” given that the cards aren’t dated? 1866 or 1890?), we know a lot more than we did before, not just about this picture but about the bridge itself, and the house, and the projects Emily mentions.
The second major phase of our ongoing project to digitize our local history materials and put them online for everyone to explore is to find as many descriptive sources as possible, like the shoe box, and connect them electronically to scans of the photographs. In the first phase, every one of the more that 7,000 photographs, lantern slides and other pictorial materials was appropriately housed, individually numbered and basically described. Now, however, we need to draw electronic connections among the collections and show this wonderful tangled web of Kingston history online.
One great example is the database of buildings we are creating from the 1998 Kingston Historical Commission House Survey. The information sheets for each house fill nine big notebooks; each record has been annotated and connected to photographs and other collections and resources over the last decade. To this “modern” information, the Local History Room volunteers are transcribing Emily’s notes from the shoe box, along with other historic data, so that for many houses and places and people and events we will have comprehensive, centralized, searchable information to linked to pictures — the whole story of a bridge, a house, a place illustrated. This will be a long journey, but please come along for the ride!
In 1875 Kingston celebrated with a Grand Thanksgiving Ball on November 25.
Cover of dance card, Grand Thanksgiving Ball, November 25, 1875
This dance card tells us that Bowle’s Quadrille Band played 17 numbers, 14 of which were listed as quadrilles. This was not as unvaried as it might sound, as there were lots of types of quadrilles: the Grand Thanksgiving Ball offered three Plain, two Lancers and and two Polkas Redowa, along with a Caledonia, a Schottishe, a Portland Fancy, a Ladies’ Choice and a Waltz.
Inside of dance card, Grand Thanksgiving Ball, November 25, 1875
The quadrille is a dance for four couples arranged in a square, a nice description, but to see one in action, take a look at this video from “An American Ballroom Companion, Dance Instruction Manuals, ca. 1490-1920” on the American Memory website of the Library of Congress. The collection overview details the history of social dancing and the rituals of a ball like Kingston’s extravaganza in the section on “Nineteenth Century Social Dance.” Interested parties may investigate and report back in the comments exactly what the floor directors and aids did at the ball. (If you haven’t had the chance to explore it before, American Memory is exceptional and for the history fan, completely addictive!)
Kingston’s Grand Thanksgiving Ball took place at Fuller’s Hall, located on the corner of Main Street and Maple Avenue. Originally built as the first Baptist meeting house in 1806, by 1835 the building housed a foundry. Later the upper gallery was extended to create a full second storey where clothing was manufactured, and by the 1870s this second floor had become a meeting place for groups such as the Temperance Society and a public hall for events like the Grand Thanksgiving Ball.
Fuller’s Hall/First Baptist Meeting House, no date
In this photograph, the belfrey, removed in 1835, has been helpfully penciled back in. Around 1900, Fuller’s Hall burned and within a decade, the residence at 248 Main Street was built.
Sources: Library of Congress, American Memories; Emily Fuller Drew’s notecards on lantern slides.
After the dog photo last week, the cat demanded equal representation. Here is an undated photo of Martha Bradford in costume holding a substantial and apparently contented tabby.
This is one of those pictures that just jumps out at me. I don’t know too much about it, but I really like it. The caption simply reads “Chester Fuller and his dog near Delano’s Wharf, 1890.”
Chester Fuller and his dog near Delano’s Wharf, 1890
I wish my dog would sit up like that, but she’s knock-kneed and goofy so she just falls over.
Over the centuries, Kingston residents have served in the armed forces when necessary, and throughout that time, the town as a whole has honored that service and sacrifice. Here is a brief look at a few of the monuments around town that set in stone the town’s gratitude to its citizen soldiers.
The same spirit that led Kingston to gain independence from Plymouth in 1726 made the town ready to support opposition to British rule fifty years later. In the winter of 1775, Kingston selectmen joined other towns of Plymouth County in signing a remonstrance against the crown, and began to prepare for the crisis soon to come. Men were recruited for a company of “minute men” and when Lexington called, shipbuilders and farmers dropped their tools and marched first to Marshfield, then on to Concord. Kingston sent her full quota to the Continental Army — 61 men, half of the adult male population from a town whose residents numbered just over 900. The town also provided coats for these troops, and sent others to man the fort built in 1777 at the Gurnet alongside men from Duxbury and Plymouth.
Subsequent wars brought equal responses from the town’s citizens. In the War of 1812, 30 Kingston men enlisted, most serving coast guard duty at the Gurnet. With an economy heavily dependent on shipping and ship-building, Kingston’s prosperity was certainly threatened by this war with Britain, and citizen responded once more. In the War of the Rebellion, now more commonly called the Civil War, Kingston sent 189 soldiers to fight, 19 more than the required quota. Of a population of 1626, one in nine served; a total of 14 were casualties of the hostilities. The town treasury paid out more than $11,000 ($5,574 from private donations) in soldier’s relief.
Dedication of the Civil War monument, 11/3/1883
In 1883, a monument was raised on the Town Green, also known as the Training Ground, to honor those Kingstonians who fought for national unity. Mrs. Abigail Adams personally funded the monument, while the Martha Sever Post No. 154 of the Grand Army of the Republic paid for the dedication ceremonies, pictured below.
In 1926, the town honored the 132 doughboys and nurses who fought in World War I with a monument on Patuxet Hill, at the intersection of Green and Summer Streets; the formal dedication took place on Memorial Day, May 30, the following year. The machine guns were donated by the Kingston American Legion.
World War I Memorial, circa 1950
The monument to those who served in the Second World War was erected in 1953 on Main Street near the bypass over Route 3. Another memorial to veterans of foreign wars, specifically Korea and Vietnam, stands in front of the Faunce School on Green Street, while the newest Kingston monument, this one honoring soldiers missing in action, was dedicated at Gray’s Beach on Patriot’s Day, 2005. Life Scout Joe Gibbons spent a year on the project.
Dedication of the MIA monument, 4/29/2005. Kingston Mariner staff photo/Bert Lane.
November’s Local History Room exhibit honors veterans with a display of artifacts and documents that give a small glimpse of the soldier’s life and return home.
Postcard from Captain Joseph Finney, AEF, to Mary Fries, 1919
