Quincy History

Fifty Cents Quincy Historical Society, Quincy Massachusetts #: 7 Spring, 1982

Brewer's Corner, Quincy, in 1919. Looking west from roof is on the tower of the Casey building at the corner of
Water Street to Copeland Street. Beyond the little boy is Granite Street and Copeland. Photograph from the
the awninged grocery store of M. o 'Keeffe. The conical Warren Parker Collection of the Thomas Crane Public
Library.

Brewer's Corner Formed By Granite Industry

By H. HOBART HOLLY
Society Historian
Brewer's Corner is the center of a
distinctive neighborhood of Quincy, a
part of home to many people for nearly
one hundred years.
From the days of the early settle-
ment, this was Nightingale country.
Many members of that family lived on
farms along the ancient "Road to the
Woods", now Granite Street.
Then in the mid-1800s the granite
industry developed in Quincy. Granite
Street became the main road to the
quarry area of West Quincy, and just
to the north of our subject area was the
North Common quarry area. Near the
quarries and in South Quincy were the
shops where the granite was
fashioned. Most of the granite workers
came from outside of Quincy. .
So it was that the quarrymen, stone-
cutters and blacksmiths, mostly from
northern Europe, came and built their
homes in West Quincy, and on what
had been farms along Granite Street,
Copeland Street, W~ter Street,
Garfield Street, and in other nearby
areas. At first most of the workers in
this area had names of British origin.
Then came people from Sweden and
Finland, and with them characteristics
of the cultures and institutions that
they brought with them to America.
Eventually Brewer's Corner became a
center for these people of Scandina-
vian origin.
It was the developing granite
industry starting in the 1830 period
that created our five-corners area on
old Granite Street. Right at the
junction in 1876 were the homes of
three stonecutters, one blacksmith, a
teamster and a farmer with the names
of Craig, Thompson, Ellis, D. Jones, .
W. Jones and G. W. Brooks
(Continued on Page Two)
Page Two - QUINCY HISTORY
Brewer's Corner, a Scandinavian Neighborhood
(Continued from Page One)
respectively. The corner had no official
name.
The name Brewer's Corner first
appears in a Quincy Directory of 1895.
By that time the old crossroads had
become the center of the community.
" ... a part of home to
many people for
nearly one hundred
years."
At Garfield and Granite Streets was
the establishment of Frank Brewer ;
hence the name . In 1880 he was listed
as a grocer . Over the years between
then and 1905 he had additional
listings of provisions, boots and shoes,
hay and grain , and for a few years
druggist. Next to him on Granite
Street was Frederick J. Pierson , gents
Spire of Methodist Episcopal Church dominates this 1919
photograph of Brewer's Corner, looking south up Granite
Street. Skirts were longer and automobiles breezier then.
furnishings and variety store, a
business that continued for over
twenty-five years . On the corner of
Copeland and Garfield Streets was
Lemuel G. Murray, druggist, from
1896 to 1910.
Across Copeland Street at the corner
of Granite Street, Mrs. Emma Lark
had a variety store , confectionery and
dining room. She operated the
business from 1893 until her death in
1913 after which the store was
continued by Harry Lark until about
1930. Next door on Copeland Street
was the dry and fancy goods store of
Adah A. Bartlett from 1884 to J915. On
Granite Street, a short distance south
of Water Street was the Swedish
Baptist Church . The congregation
moved here from Station Street in
West Quincy in 1896 and remained
until 1921 .
A landmark business of a somewhat
later date was the United Co-operative
From the Warren Parker Collection of the Thomas Crane
Public Library.
Society of Quincy which was located at
32 Copeland Street from the early
1920s until 1945 when it moved to 380
Granite Street. This was a cooperative
grocery and meat market owned and
operated by the Swedish and Finnish
residents of the area. Through the
years other businesses located,
"The name Brewer's
Corner first appeared in
a Quincy Directory of
1895."
especially along Copeland Street. On
nearby streets were the Swedish and
Finnish social organizations and the
Finnish Church , all parts of a distinc-
tive community that grew up around
Brewer's Corner.
(Mr. Holly, author of this article, is historian for
the society and served as its president for two
decades.)

One Copeland Street, Brewer's Corner, was the site of the
J. W. Fletcher Pharmacy in 1919, and a pharmacy still
Three Exhibits At Quincy Historical Society
. An Extension of the Hand:
The exhibit includes the tools of several local
craftsmen who practiced their trades in and close
to Quincy nearly a century ago. In the words of
Eric S~oan~, "When we muse on is crfic tools -as
symbols, we are always analyzing the romance of
human progress. " Tools "reflect the conscience
and personality of their users."
The exhibition looks at old tools as objects of art,
in many cases lovingly constructed by their
owners to last for generations. Through them we
sense the values of quality, durability, and
integrity which characterized the work of so
many of our ancestors.
Images of the Past: Quincy 1877
E. Whitefield's 1877 pictorial map of Quincy is the
centerpiece for a photographic essay of Quincy in
the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
QUINCY HISTORY - Page Three
occupies that corner. From the Warren Parker Collection
of the Thomas Crane Public Library.
Remembrance of the Just: Early New -.
England Gravestones
The exhibit will give an overview of New England
gra~estone _folk art ..in th~ ~e~eenth_and: _ f- ~
elgnteenth centunes using tFie photographs of
Daniel and Jessie Lie Farber. Mr. Farber's 2500
gravestone photographs are part of the
collections of the American Antiquarian Society
and the Yale University Art Library, and his
nature photographs appear in the collections of
109 museums, including the Smithsonian
Institution and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Jessie Lie Farber is Professor Emeritus at Mount
Holyoke College and was a founder of the
Association for Gravestone Studies.
The exhibit will include photographs of stones
from the Hancock Cemetery and will include
areas on iconography, stonecutters, epitaphs,
and conservation and care of ancient
gravestones.
Page Four - QUINCY HISTORY
A Presidential Retrospect & Prospect
Dr. James R. Cameron
Society President
As my term of office as president of
the Quincy Historical Society draws to
a close, the editor of "Quincy History",
Richard W. Carlisle, asked me to reflect
on the development of the Society
during my administration and to offer
suggestions for the immediate future.
After many years as an active member
of the Society, it has been a privilege for
me to serve the organization as its
president.
The achievements of recent years
result from the cooperative efforts of
the Society's many members, its
elected leaders, and its staff. I would
express the appreciation of the Society
to Mayors Arthur H. Tobin and Francis
X. McCauley, both of whom have taken
an active interest in the work of the
Society and have supported its
community services. The City of
Quincy made CETA trainees available
to the Society as long as that program
was in operation. This is only one of the
many ways in which the City of Quincy
has actively supported our efforts.
We have a small but very talented
and efficient staff which carryon the
operations of the Society: Lawrence J.
Yerdon, Executive Director; William N.
Twombly, Museum Technician; Ann J.
Howley and Priscilla M. Chartier,
Secretaries. The corps of volunteers
has been retained and even expanded.
These men and women work in the
library, work with our collections, help
stage our Christmas exhibit, run our
auction, provide greeters and serve
refreshments at regular and special
meetings and perform countless other
tasks. During the past year, under the
leadership of Linda Day, ' the Society
Goal: "Establishment
of a core exhibit
which depicts the
history of Quincy."
has established a very successful
Museum Shop.
Through the skill of Larry Yerdon,
our Executive Director, in writing grant
proposals, the Society has been the
recipient of several grants from public
and private foundations. Funds for the
"Quincy Remembers" Public Program
Series in each of the past two years
". . . we have not yet
achieved our potential on
the history of Quincy."
came in part from the Institute of
Museum Services. These grants also
enable us to secure the services of a
Museum Technician, William
Twombly, who has arranged several
series of programs, staged exhibits,
provided more adequate facilities for
storing our collections as well as
restoring many of our important
holdings, bicycles for example. One of
our current exhibits, "An Extension of
the Hand: Tools of the New England
Craftsman" was arranged by Will.
We are prolid of our Leonard C.
Wirtanen Research Library. Our
Executive Director, has recently
completed editing the Richard Cranch
Papers, one of our treasures. At a
recent meeting of the Society, John C.
Swanson presented an address based
upon research which he did in the
library for his baccalaureate thesis at
Eastern Nazarene College. To promote
further research and writing of local
history, the Society has established the
Richard T. LaBrecque Historical Essay
Contest for local high school students.
These items simply highlight the
faithful work of our historian, H. Hobart
Holly, our librarian, Mary J. Clark, and
the library committee. The essay
contest has been inaugurated by the
Education Committee, under the
leadership of Nancy Santry.
Over the past two years a successful
effort has been made to provide a
strong committee structure headed by
members of the Board of Directors to
offer guidance to the Board and
assistance to the Executive Director.
Most committees are composed of
both Board members and other
members of the Society. This provides
a practical method for training future
Board Members as well as actively
. involving members of the Society.
One of the goals which we have failed
to achieve must remain at a very high
priority - the establishment of a core
e~hibit which depicts the history of
Quincy. In spite of the growth which the
Society has achieved in many areas in
recent years, there will remain a basic
dissatisfaction until a core exhibit has
been staged in which we can all take
pride! A second goal that I would desire
is the development of educational
programs on the history of Quincy
which would appeal to all age levels, not
simply to public school children. We
have provided programs on many
topics for all age groups but we have not
yet achieved our potential on the
history of Quincy. The Society must
continue to work with community
organizations in promoting historical
and cultural interests. The Adams
Academy Building was recently the site
of a program and exhibits on scouting
on the South Shore in celebration of the
seventy-fifth anniversary of the Boy
Scouts of America. With the support of
a grant from the Fred E. Bergfors Fund,
the Society is presenting a series of
Sunday afternoon lectures on
Contemporary Art in America. The
Quincy Historical Society has many
achievements for which it can justly be
proud, but there remain enough unmet
goals to keep us humble.
Quincy History
Published by the Quincy Historical
Society at Adams Academy, 8 Adams
Street, Quincy, Massachusetts, 02169.
This is the seventh bulletin published
under this name. Previous issues were
Spring, 1980; Fall, 1980; Winter, 1981;
Spring, 1981 ; Fall, 1981; Winter, 1982.
Dr. James R. Cameron
President
Richard W . Carlisle
Editor
Lawrence J. Yerdon
Executive Director
The Quincy Historical Society ,
incorporated Nove mber 16, 1893 ,
maintains the Adams Academy Building as
a museum, library, visitor information
center and place of meeting. The purposes
of the Society are: to represent historical
interests in the community, to preserve
materials and information related to
Quincy history through exhibits,
programs and educational activities, and
to publish materials of historical
significance.
 QUINCY HISTORY - Page Five

Red Indians and White Invaders

Violence At Wessagussett Trading Post

By Dr. George R. Horner
Society Archaeologist

(Editor's Note: This is the final installment of

Dr. Horner's three-part appraisal of the
European-Native American confrontation
along Massachusetts' South Shore. Here
he tells how the Indians' trust in the Pilgrims
turned to fear.)
After spending the winter of 1622 at
Plymouth and making life miserable
for the Pilgrims and themselves,
Weston and his company moved a few
miles up the coast near the Massa-
chusetts village of Wessagussett at the
confluence of the (now) Town and Fore -
Rivers . The sole purpose for this move
was to encourage the Indians of the
Massachusetts Federation to trade
beaver to them rather than to the
Pilgrims at Plymouth.
The Wessagussett " stragglers", as
Bradford described them , deliberately
provoked and intimidated the Indians
by stealing both corn and beaver from
them: a strange way to encourage
trade! Although it is true that they
were recompensed for the former in
kind and that a young man was hung
for the latter (or perhaps, as some
said , an old man), a Spring raid was
planned by the Massachusetts,
Nausets and a scattering of others, led
by the Massachusetts Sachem
Witawamet, to destroy both the
Wessagussett and Plymouth settle-
ments as "soon as the snow
disappears", in retaliation for the
thievery .
News of the raid came to Bradford at
Plymouth through two different
sources: Because Winslow had Early Americans quarry granite and form stone tools at outcropping near Blue
restored to health a very ill Massasoit Hills, as imagined in painting by Michael McWade. From the collection of
to health , Massasoit warned Winslow William and Margaret O'Connell.
of the planned attack. Massasoit's
faith in the Pilgrims was restored by
this act of mercy. Bradford had no later several of the Wessagussett how happy a thing it would have been
sympathy for the traders at Wessa- soldiers were killed by these warriors. if you had converted some before you
gussett trading post, he sent Captain The post was disbanded, the killed any - You say they deserve it? -
Standish - a " schrymp of a man" - to remaining traders sailed to Maine. but upon what provocations and
destroy them . However, before At Plymouth, the Pilgrims had invitements by those heathenish
Standish sailed, a trader from Wessa- established a good relationship based Christians? ' , The massacre was not
gussett, one Phineas Pratt, warned upon mutual trust: it might be said forgotten for the next fifty years . It
Plymouth of the planned attack. that after the attack at Wessagussett, would be remembered 300 years later.
At Wessagussett Standish ordered the relationship the Pilgrims had with
three of the Massachusetts Indian the Massachusetts Indians was one of Morton At Merrymount
leaders and a boy into a building and, fear. This fear was so great that few What a delightful scoundrel, poet,
at a signal his men killed them. The Indians planted corn that Spring. geographer and sometimes anthro-
boy escaped to tell the gathering Commenting upon the massacre, pologist was this one-time lawyer,
warriors of the massacre. Several days Pilqrim John Robinson wrote: "Oh, (Continued on Page Six)
Page Six· QUINCY HISTORY
Violence At Wessagussett Trading Post
(Continued from Page Five)
Thomas Morton. Why can't we
remember him for writing the NEW
ENGLISH CANAAN rather than the
escapades atop Mare-Mount and his
selling guns to the Massachusetts
Indian nation?
In the Spring of 1625, with thirty
gentlemen adventurers, he moved into
Captain Richard Wollaston's trading
post near the Indian village of Pesson-
agisett, at the foot of (now) Mt.
Wollaston.
With knowledge of what had
happened at Wessagussett, Morton
shrewdly determined that the Massa-
chusetts Indians had to be bought to
become his allies by offering them
guns in exchange for beaver. The
May-pole was included to show
compatability" fraternity , friendship
and contempt _for Cromwell's Blue
Laws. Had his plan succeeded, he
would certainly cornered the beaver
market and would have found himself
in a corner as well. It is true that the
Pilgrims would have suffered from the
loss of the beaver pelts in the trade
wars of that day, but as Bradford
rightly reasoned in 1628, those guns
would have been a threat to the
survival of all the white settlements
along the New England coast from
Maine to Connecticut: not excluding
Morton himself.
Early in June of 1628, Bradford
again sent Standish, this time to
intercept Morton at Wessagussett
where the latter was visiting. Morton
escaped his captor and made his way
to Mare-Mount overland, on foot. He
crossed the Monatiquot river just
above the present Weymouth Landing,
Braintree, crossed the hills in a severe
thunder shower and accompanied by
the distant presence of howling
wolves, he traveled a very
uncomfortable eight miles, as he
reckoned the distance (more like five
at the most), to his destination, only to
find Standish waiting to successfully
recapture him at Mare-Mount. After
his arrest and trial, Morton was
returned to England.
Conclusions
The Pilgrim's attitudes and behavior
toward the Wampanoaqs was based
upon trust and friendship. They made
no treaties with any other of the Indian
Federations of this type. Through 1676
both the Pilgrims and the Wam-
panoags supported this treaty.
Trading was second to the Pilgrims.
Accompanied by women and children,
"Ultimately, the Native
Americans were the
losers ..."
their first priority was to build homes
and a permanent colony.
Weston, as a transient trader,
introduced to the Indians two new
dimensions of European attitudes and
behavior: exploitation and fear with
theiJ: resultant behavior of distrust and
dissension.
Morton was also a transient trader.
He introduced to the Massachusetts
the idea that "friendship" can be
A Quincy Fades Away,
But There Are Others
In 1853 the first town in Iowa's
Adams County was named Quincy,
and that year may have been the
town 's best.
Four years later the town of
Corning was incorporated and it
becaine the county seat. It also was
on the railroad line, and Quincy
wasn't.
So, as did several others of
America's twenty Quincys, Quincy,
Iowa, began to lose importance, and
then to lose population-.
In 1957 Mrs. Grace Dick of
Quincy, Iowa, wrote to Quincy,
Mass., inquirer about her town's
fate : "I am the very last of QUincy's
'Pioneer Children', -now past 71
years of age. When the Corning
postmaster gets some piece of mail
for Quincy he sends it to our box."
Mrs. Dick's town was named for
John Quincy Adams, the sixth
preSident, as were eight other of
America's twenty Quincys: IllinOis,
Florida, Mississippi, Michigan,
Missouri, Pennsylvania, Ohio and
Tennessee. (Although the town in
achieved by exchanging guns for
beaver and exploiting this "friend-
ship" by introducing the Indian
maidens and others to a pre-
Cromwellian English May-pole dance
in a show of "togetherness". Both
failed.
The conclusions of this paper were
enacted over 300 years ago. They were
f9regone conclusions when the
Pilgrims landed on the Rock in Patuxet
Harbor. -
Ultimately the Native Americans
were the losers: losing both property -
and privacy to these powerful white
invaders and within a few years
submerged in a commonwealth
ironically named Massachusetts.
(Reprinted with the permission of the Pilgrim
Society, Plymouth from PILGRIM SOCIETY
NOTES, No. 29, May, 1981: THE PILGRIMS
AND THE WAMPANOAGS: A SURVEY OF
A TTITUDES AND BEHA VIOR IN THE EARL Y
YEARS, with additional material by the author.)
Tennessee was changed to Alamo.)
The Quincys in California and
Oregon were named for Quincy ,
Illinois, through the influence of
settlers from that state .
The Quincy in West Virginia (now
called Dickinson) was named for
John Quincy Dickinson . It is not
known for whom the Quincys were
named in Washington, Kansas,
Kentucky, Indiana and Minnesota.
New Hampshire's Quincy, a section
of Rumney, was named for Josiah
Quincy, the 19th Century railroad .
enthusiast and public servant.
The only Quincy definitely known
to have been named for the Massa-
chusetts town is Quincy, Wisconsin.
And the Bay State's Quincy came
quite close to being named
Hancock, for the then living patriot,
instead of for Col. John Quincy,
great-grandfather of John Quincy
Adams.
As for the two Quincys in France
and Quinsay in 17th Century China,
further research is needed.
R.W.C.
~