LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
, Shelf -..-.Ci-Mr
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Shepard Memorial Church.
, CAMBRIDGE SKETCHES
CAMBRIDGE AUTHORS,
EDITED BY
ESTELLE M. H. Merrill,
"JEAN KINCAID,"
Witli preface by Dr. Alexander McKenzie.
(^E« S4l896i
Pl'IiLISHEU 15 V THl'
Camisridge YoiNG Women's Christian Association.
Copyright 1896,
Cambridge Young Women's
Christian Association.
The Pinkham P
ISOSTON
r74
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Some Thvnges of Yk Olden Tymk.
Dr. Alexander McKenzic 3
Newtowne {sonnet) . . . Sara Ilanunond Talfrey 10
The Oldest Road in Cambridge,
Rev. Theodore !•'. Wrii^ht 13
Tory Row Ideline A. Douglass 25
Waifs {verse) . . Mrs. Ma?y Thacher Higginson 40
Historic Churches and Homes of Cambridge,
Cotistance Grosvenor Alexander 45
Mai'Les in Autumn {verse),
Susan Louisa Higginson 62-
Some Cambridge Schools of the Olden Time,
Miss S. S. Jacobs 65.
Recollections of My Childhood,
Mrs. Joaiina HougJiion Clark jj
A Guide to Harvard College . . cilice M. Jose 87
Some Cambridge Landmarks, Henrietta S. Leavitt
The Peabody Museum 117
The Agassiz Museum 125
Harvard Observatory 133
The Botanic Garden 143
Clark's Observatory 149
The Cragie Y{.o\j%^ {verse) . Charlotte Fiske Bates 156
Sweet Auburn and Mount Auburn,
Mrs. Caroline F. Orne 159
Idlesse {verse) Mrs. Caroline F. Or?te 164
The River Charles, Mrs. Fnima Fndicott Marean 167
viii TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Morning in Venice {7'erse),
MORNING iiN Mrs. yane A'ewc'll Moftre 174
Six O'CLOCK in Harvard Square,
Eleanor Parker tiske 177
The Fairy Coursers (wnv), .
^" Thomas ll'eniiuorth Higginsoji 180
A Chapter of Radcliffe College, ,_,-,,, „
A Lhapter^o^^^^^ ^^^.^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ ofRadchffc College 183
Life at Radcliffe . . Martha Trnnble Bennett 199
Student Life at Radcliffe . • ■Sarah Verxa 205
THE HOME OF RADCLIFFE COLLEGE, ^^^^^^^ ^^,.^^^^^^^^^ ^^^
The Public Library (7.7-.-.') . Charlotte Flske Bates 218
The Line of Light {verse) . Abnira L. Hayioard 218
TOWN AND Gown. . • • Edmund A. Whitman 221
CHOICE i.>erse^ . • Mrs. Emma Endicott Marean 226
Cambridge as a No-License City, Frank Foxeroft 229
THE CHARITIES OF CaMBRIDGE^^^^^^^^^ ^ ^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^
THE THING MOST NEEDED ^^^^^M BRIDGE,^ ^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^
Thf Sisterhood of Women (verse),
1 HE ^ISTEK^^_^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^ ^ ^^^^^^.^^ ^j^^^^ Kincaid) 256
The Cantabrigia Club Grace S. Rice 259
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Shkpard Memorial Church Frontispiece.
Cragie House (from "The Boston Picture Bool<'"), 29
Elauvood (from "The Boston Picture Book") . . 35
The First Church 44
The Old Parsonage of First Church .... 49
Rev. Dr. Holmes' House 53
The Harvard Gate (from " Souvenir of the Hub"), 86
Harvard College Views: John the Orangeman,
College Buildings, Etc. (from " The Boston
Picture Book " ) 90
Gore Hall (Har\ard Lihkarv) 94
Ai'PLETON Chapel 97
Memorial Hall (from "Souvenir of the Hub") . loi
Interior of Memorial Half 105
Dining Room, Memorial Hall 109
The Grave of Agassiz (from the Cambridge Tribune), 124
Harvard Observatory 132
Fay Hoise, Home of Radcliffe College . . . 212
The WASHJX(iTON Elm (fr(jm "The Boston Picture
Book 'â– ) 215
PREFACE.
This is not a guide book in tiie ordinary sense of that
term. But it does take tlie reader into the life of Cambridge
and makes known to him something of the past and the
present of the town. Any one should feel more at home here
after reading these pages, and he can readily find where his
life might be joined to the common life and be enriched by it
wliilc he imparts to it of his own force.
The extension of the town has been steady and rapid.
The hamlet which held so large a place in the colonial life
has constantly advanced to the city whose influence is felt
through the land. To those who have watched this growth,
and shared in it, it has been of great interest to mark the
appearance of new institutions, of new forms of work, of new
endeavors for the general advantage. The city must have
been poorer than she knew before the Library and Hospital
were built, and the societies formed which are now so
prominent and so efficient for good.
It is right that here a prominent place should be given to
the organization under whose direction this book has been
prepared, and is now given to the world. The Cambridge
Young Women's Christian Association deserves the place
which it holds in the confidence and esteem of all who know
its work, which would be more widely known and admired
but for the modesty of those who are doing it. The number
of workers is not very large, their rooms are not conspicu-
ous, there is no parade of methods or results, there are few
appeals for money, so that the Association is less before the
eyes and in the minds of the people than it ought to be. It
has all the quietness which marks everything that is done in
Cambridge, and this is naturally enhanced by the womanly
reserve which is content to abide in stillness and work with-
out observation. This is admirable and no one would change
it. But the Association siiould be better known, which is
xii PREFACE.
another way of saying it should have more honor among
men, and should be enabled to enlarge and perfect its work.
It would be difficult to overestimate the importance of the
associations for young men. When these had proved their
efficiency, it was certain that similar organizations for young
women would be formed. The spirit and wisdom which
created the earlier form of service were sure to advance to this
which was equally needed and equally promising. The influ-
ence of the association for young women is manifold and in
every way it is helpful. The young woman who comes to
the city and is a stranger here, can find one place which be-
longs to her. There she will meet others who can direct her
to a home and assist her in beginning her new life. She can
visit the rooms which have been opened for her when she
will, and find there a quiet seat, with books and papers and
friends. She can learn under good teachers that which will
be useful to her. She can study books if she will. She can
learn to sing. She will be taught to cut a dress, to trim a
hat, to make a loaf of bread. She can study the Bible and
receive wise religious counsel. She can find amusement for
a leisure hour. To the many these things are proffered — to
those who have homes and to strangers within the gates.
Younger girls can learn the simple processes of domestic
life for the benefit of their households, and for their furnish-
ing as they go out into the larger world. Indeed, so far as
may be, the Association offers a home with its security, its
refinement, its friendship, its instruction, its mutual assis-
tance. With a liberal constitution, broad enough for all
who call themselves Christians, the women of many churches
of many names join in these labors of love and joy.
I am left free to say what I will in this introduction. But
I am glad to commend this Association to the active and gen-
erous confidence of all who have time which they can use
in its work, or money which they can give for its enlarge-
ment.
The Association should have a house of its own. It
should be a building large enough and good enough for the
admirable work which is to be done. It should have ample
FnEFACE. xiii
rooms and all the appliances which it can use. Happy is that
person who can thus endow an institution of immediate and
increasing beneficence.
While the reader wanders along these waiting pages will
he kindly think upon these things?
Ale.x.andkr McKknzie.
8th October, 1895.
The Book Committee of the Cambridge Young Women's
Christian Association wishes to thank most cordially the
writers who have contributed to this volume, often at great
personal inconvenience to themselves; the publishers of
'•The Boston Picture Book," "Souvenir of the Hub,"
and the Tribune for cuts loaned ; the Cambridge newspapers
for notices so freely given ; the advertisers, and all others
who have aided in the endeavor to make a literary and finan-
cial success of " Cambridge Sketches."
SOME THYNGES OF YE OLDEN
TYME.
Some Thynges of ye Olden
Tyme.
By Dr. ALEXANDER McKENZlE.
"THE ancient records of the First Church in Cam-
bridge are very interesting but are not a com-
l)lcte account of all that was done here in the
early days. The church was founded in 1636 and
the oldest record is very near that date. There are
some items of interest which not only tell us what
was done, but give us a glimpse of some of the meth-
ods of that period.
In 1638 Roger Harlakenden died. The record
spells the name Harlakingdon— tfiey were not very
particular about their spelling in those days. He
left a legacy of £20 to the church. This appears to
have been paid in 1640 by Herbert Pelham, who
married the widow Harlakenden, in a young cow.
For three summers the milk was given "to different
persons— brother Towne, brother John French, sis-
ter Manning; and in 1643 the cow was " yeelded to
Elder Frost for his owne," but her value had shrunk
to is.
This is only one sign of the care which the church
had for the poor, and it illustrates, also, the sim-
plicity of the times.
Here are a few records of disbursements :
Given to our brother Hall toward the rearing of / s d
his house that was blown down . . .100
For the refreshing of brother Sill in time of faynt-
nes sent him 4 pints of sack . . ' . o -> a
4 CAMBRIDGE SKETCHES.
Paid to my brother Cane for goinge to Salem with £ s. d.
a message to Mr. Philips when he was about to
come to us . . . . . . .500
Payd my brother Towne for paynes taken more
than ordinary in making cleane the meetinge
house in the time of its repayringe . . o 12 o
Payd for 9 times going to call the church together
at 8d. a time 060
Given to our sister Grissell in a hard time . .050
Sent our sister Manning a leg of mutton . .011
Payd Mr. Palsgrave for physic for our sister Albone 026
Payd for a goat for goody Albone to goodman
Prentiss . . . . . . .0110
Payd to John Shepheard for a fower gallon bot-
tell to bring sack for the sacrament . .030
Payd to Mrs. Danforth in her husband's absence,
in silver, the sume of 25 shillings for wine,
sugar and spice at the buriall of Mrs. Chauncy
who deseaced the 24 of the 1 1 .67 . . .150
In 1668 the second minister of the church, the
''matchless Mitchel" died. He had succeeded to the
church and the parsonage and had married the
widow of his predecessor. He died in "an extreme
hot season" and there is the record of the payment
"to goodman Orton of Charlestown for making a
carpakiing to wrap Mr. Mitchell and for doing some-
thing to his coifing that way 4s." This wrapping-
was of cloth covered with tar. When the grave was
opened a few years ago some remains of the shroud
were found, and a quantity of tansy which had been
used as a disinfectant. Thus the work of goodman
Orton again saw the light.
One of the delicate matters in those days was the
arranging of people and their names in the proper
order. Not until 1773 were the names in the Har-
vard Catalogue placed in alphabetical order. The
rank of the family to which the student belonged
determined his place in the list. The first class starts
in this way : —
"Benjamin Woodbridge, A. M. Oxford 1648;
S. T. D. Oxford.
SOME TiiyyaEs of ye olden tyme. 5
"George Downing, Knight 1660, Baronet 1663;
Anibass. to Netherlands from Cromwell to Charles
II; M. P."
Here we have the honors acquired by the sons
added to those which they had inherited.
In tlie meeting house, when the town was estah-
lished in an orderly way, a proper regard was had
to the position of the families and individuals.
Often the house was finished by degrees. At first
benches would be put in. Then some one who
wished a place of his own would procure the deed
of a space on the floor, some six feet square, and
on this he would erect a pit or pew. He was re-
(|uired to keep this in repair and also "all the glass
against it."
When there was no such private arrangement a
conmiittee assigned the seats after their own discre-
tion and according to the rank of the fanu'ly, or their
age or property. This was called "dignifying" the
house. There is the record in 1658, "That the
elders, deacons and selectmen for the time being
sliall be a constant and settled power for regulating
the sitting of persons in the meeting house from
time to time as need shall require." In 1662 we
come upon the \vork of the committee in such direc-
tions as these:—
"Bro. Ri. Jackson's wife to sit there where sister
Kempster was wont to sit.
"Mrs. Upham with her mother. Ester Sparhawke,
in the place where Mrs. Upham is removed from.
"Joanna Winship in the place where Ester Spar-
hawke was wont to sit" — and so on.
The people had great respect for the meeting
h.ouse and its services, and gave to these their best
thought. The first buildings were rude, but so were
the houses of the people. Though the buildings
G CAMBEIDGE SKETCHES.
were rude, the preachers were scholars of (hgnity
and learning. The first meeting house in Boston
had mud walls and a thatched roof, but there John
Cotton preached who had come from St. Botolph's
in old Boston, one of the most stately churches in
England and large enough to hold five thousand
people. There was a difference in the two houses,
but it was the same minister, only he was larger
grown by coming into this wilderness.
Probably the first meeting house here in New-
towne — for that was the original and appropriate
name, — was built of logs. There was an order that
no man should build his chimney of wood nor cover
his house with thatch. This was for protection
against fire. Afterwards there was an order that the
meeting house should be repaired "with a four
square roofe, and covered with shingle."
The name "meeting" house was appropriate, for
the house was used for the general gathering of the
people. An early writer who visited the Colony
says, "The public worship is in as fair a meeting
house as they can provide, wherein, in most places,
they have been at great charges."
If we should go into the first meeting house here
we should find rather a rough room, divided by a
central passage and furnished with benches. The
men would be on one side and the women on the
other. Perhaps we should notice that some of the
men had muskets, and that they sat at the end of the
bench — a custom which has been kept up though
the carnal weapons have disappeared. A plain
desk, a stand, within a railing, was the pulpit. After-
wards, when the people were able to arrange things
as they wished, the pulpit was a high, elaborate
structure, with a sounding board.
The ruling elders sat below the pulpit, and the
soyfE rilVNGES OF YE OLDEN TYMK. 7
deacons a little lower still, facinj:;^ the coiiy,rcga-
tion. The boys had a place by themselves in
the gallery, with a tithing- man with a long pole to
keep them in order. In 1668 Thomas h^ox was
"ordered to look to the youth in time of public wor-
ship."
The meeting house which was built here in 1632
had a bell, but there is a town record in 1646 of
"fifty shillings paid unto Thomas Langhorne for his
service to the town in beating the drum these two
years past.'' Perhaps the sound of the bell did not
reach far enough, and the drummer was sent
through the settlement to summon the people. The
congregation came together as early as nine o'clock
on Sunday morning, and about two in the afternoon.
They came on foot or on horseback, for the most
part. The town provided "a convenient horse-
block at the meeting-house, and causeway to the
door."
The service in the church consisted of prayer,
singing, reading and the expounding of the Scrip-
tures. It was generally thought improper to read
the Scriptures without an exposition; they called it
"dumb reading." There was also a sermon by the
pastor or teacher. A minister's authority did not
extend beyond his own congregation, so that when
one was in another man's pulpit it was common for
the ruling elders to say to him, "If this present
brother hath any word of exhortation for the people
at this time, in the name of God let him say on."
This "saying on" was called "prophesying." It
was thought that an hour was the proper length for
the sermon, and an hour-glass stood on the pulpit
to make sure of good measure; but sometimes the
preacher would turn this at the end of his hour.
They facetiously called this "taking another glass.'"
8 CAM n RIDGE SKETCHES.
Every Sabbath afternoon there was a contribution.
One of the deacons stood in his place before the
people and said, "Brethren of the congregation,
now there is time left for contribution; wherefore,
as God hath prospered you, so freely ofTer." Then
the people passed up to the deacons' seat with their
offerings. "The magistrates and chief gentlemen
went first, then the elders, then all the congregation
of men, and most of them that are not of the church,
all single persons, widows, and women in absence
of their husbands." Sometimes they brought money
and sometimes other things.
The singing was without accompaniment. They
adhered to the words of the prophet, "I will not hear
the melody of thy viols," and they rejected the idola-
trous performance with cornet and dulcimer which
Nebuchadnezzar delighted in. In the first century
there were seldom more than five tunes, and the
hymn was read line by line and sung in instalments.
In 1640 the Bay Psalm Book was printed. One
verse will show the character of the poetry: —
" The Lord to mee a Shepheard is,
Want therefore shall not I,
Hee in the folds of tender-grasse.
Doth cause mee down to lie ;
To waters calme me gently leads
Restore my soule doth hee ;
He doth in paths of righteousnes
For his name's sake lead mee."
As we look back to those times it seems as if life
must have been dull and hard. It would be so to us
if we were placed in it, but if we had been born into
it it would not have been so. Those who had come
from England felt the difference between the old
world and the new; but they did not look for much
comfort in the wilderness, and whatever they lacked,
thev had themselves and their books and their own
SOME TJiY.\<;Es or vt: oldkx tyme. o
courag-e and faith. 'J'hey had good books.
Shakespeare died in 1616 and Bacon in 1626; their
works were new and fresh, and there were other
writers of great interest and worth. The Puritans
(hd not spend nuich money on sports, but they spent
money on schools, and they 1)uih a college. We
conmionly see their faces in repose and they look
stern; but they had their glad hours when men
smiled and children played. Home, love, marriage,
and the joys wdiich these terms suggest were here.
'I'he woods and streams gave the best of recreation
to the boys when their tasks were finished. The
girls had their own ways of amusing themselves,
as ingenious as they are now.
It was not a time of devotion to small things.
The men and women who left the land of their birth
to make a new country had a very high intent, with
much wisdom and devotion. They did the work
they came to do, and it has lasted. We smile some-
times at their ways, as at other antiquities.. But we
sliould be able to discern their bravery and patience
and discretion, and to be grateful to them for their
labors into which we have entered. It will be well
for us and for the country if we do our work as
wisely and faithfully as they did theirs.
NEWTOWNE.
Newtowne ! The fathers, centuries agone,
Thus called our Cambridge ; and 'tis new to-day
In blossoms, buds and birds, and ah, has grown
To us, the aged, in another way
More sadly new ! " The old familiar faces "
Of poet and philosopher and saint.
We see no more in their accustomed places, —
But memories now, with years to wax more faint. —
Yet, though they go to God, still at our side
Their ways are unforsaken. Up and down.
Of fresh young manhood, surges through a tide
To carry on the honours of the town.
To you we look, to keep it ever new
In fame of noblest deeds that men can do.
Sara Hammond I'alfrpzv.
May 22, 1895.
THE OLDEST ROAD IN CAMBRIDGE.
The Oldest Road in Cambridge.
By Rev. THEODORE F. WRIGHT.
WHEN a visitor to the classic shades stands in
front of the Hemenway Gymnasium and looks
down Kirkland street, bordered with its elms, quiet,
retired, homelike, he little realizes that he is looking
upon the oldest street in Cambridge and upon one
of warlike associations. The spacious houses with
their well shaded lawns, and the extreme beauty of
Divinity avenue, do not suggest this, but it is even
so. The quietest street in Cambridge has longest
felt the movement of busy and even of hurrying feet.
The '"Path from Charlestown to Watertown" was
the first name of this road, and that was in its very
earliest days before Cambridge was founded.
Charlestown was settled in 1628 and Watertown
soon after; thus the connecting path antedates the
planting of Cambridge in 1630, as the date is given
on the city seal, but the first houses seem to have
been built in 1631 in what was then Newetowne.
This Charlestown path came over Washington
street in Somerville and through Union Square,
followed the line of Kirkland street to where the
Common now is, crossed to the line of Brattle street,
and then went on to Watertown in the course of the
present Mount Auburn street. Of course this whole
way was of equal age, but, as only a part of what is
now Brattle street belonged to it, there is reason for
calling Kirkland street the oldest way in Cambridge,
because its whole length lies on the Charlestown
path.
14 CAMBRIDGE SKETCHES.
The original Cambridge lay to the south of Kirk-
land street. When the little hamlet began at the
river and extended northwards to the point now
known as Harvard Square, the districts east, north
and west were wildernesses. The tracts nearest to the
river were known as "marshes" — "Windmill Marsh,
Ox IMarsh, Ship Marsh, Common Marsh, and Long
Marsh," as they were named in order, as we go from
a point near the hospital eastward to the Brookline
bridge. All the lower Port was then known as the
"Great Marsh." The higher ground outside the
"pales" or palisades, with which the settlement was at
first surrounded, was used as pasture-ground, that
to the northwest being known as the "Cow Com-
mon," and that to the northeast being called the "Ox-
Pasture." At first this was south of the Charles-
town Path, but later a tract was added to the north
of it. The "pales" ran along a little north of where
Gore Hall stands, and the ground outside of them
we may think of as covered with forest consisting of
oaks, pines and walnuts, as Dr. Holmes says, with
a narrow wood-road finding its way among them.
This road was first called "The Charlestown
Path," and was variously designated in deeds as "The
Highway from Watertown to Charlestown," "The
Road that leads from Cambridge to Charlestown,"
"The Charlestown Road" and "The Great County
Road"; and it lacked a personal name until the
selectmen, about 1830, gave it that of "Kirkland,"
after the president of the University from 1810 to
1828. Certainly the street was worthy of that noble
name, if the good old "Charlestown Road" must be
given up.
It may be deemed significant that all attempts to
make the old street conform to modern habits have
failed, for the tracks laid down for street-cars be-
THE OLDEST JiOAD IN CAMIililDGE. l^)
came useless after a few years' trial and their removal
has now been ordered by the city government, so
that the avenue may return to its dignified quiet,
reminding us of the remark of Dr. Abiel Holmes,
"It is generally conceded that this town eminently
combines the tranquillity of philosophic solitude
with the choicest pleasures and advantages of
refined society."
This quotation reminds one of the valuable sketch
of Cambridge by his son, Mr. John Holmes, in the
History of Middlesex County. With flashes of wit
which strongly remind his readers of his brother, the
poet, Mr. Holmes gives his own recollections of
Cambridge in the past. He says that the houses on
Kirkland street were erected about 1821, and that
east of the Delta, now occupied by Memorial Hall,
was a swamp extending to the higher ground and
there terminating in the forest. He says that he
himself has seen Indian corn growing where the
Scientific School now stands, and that, in his early
recollections, but one house stood on Kirkland
street, "a dilapidated, untenantable Foxcroft house,"