…It Actually Happened HERE! Everything that happened in Wellesley before 1881 actually happened in Needham. That includes some pretty notable events, events that have become world-famous. Surprisingly, sometimes they just forget to mention that they were still Needhamites then.
Our friend and neighbor Wellesley has a rich history – but it only starts in 1881. That is the year that West Needham voted in Town Meeting to separate from Needham and became an independent town. There had been friction between the two halves of town for more than 150 years, but until it occurred to them to cheat and pack the TM with partisans (well, maybe they don’t see it that way…), they were repeatedly voted down. That is a long story in itself, which I will save for a future post.
So anyway, everything that happened in Wellesley before 1881 actually happened in Needham. Sometimes they forget to mention that.
1846 – Needham resident Dr. William Thomas Green Morton successfully demonstrates the use of ether as a surgical anesthetic. WTG Morton (1819-1868) was born in Charleton, MA, and obtained his degree as a dental surgeon in Baltimore in 1840. His prospective in-laws, however, did not think that dentistry was a fitting career, so in 1844 he entered Harvard Medical School. At Harvard, he learned about the anesthetic properties of ether, which were known, but had not yet been put to the test.
Morton did not complete his medical degree and went back to dental surgery. On September 30, 1846, Morton demonstrated the use of ether for the first time in surgery, painlessly extracting the tooth of Ebenezer Hopkins Frost.
Although the successful demonstration led rapidly to the widespread adoption of ether in surgery, Morton did not make himself many friends in the medical profession. He tried to patent ether as a new substance called “Letheon.” His efforts were unsuccessful, and were considered by colleagues to be a deceptive and inhumane attempt to unjustly profit from a substance that was regarded as a boon to mankind. Nevertheless, he continued to practice medicine, and in 1862 joined the Army of the Potomac as a volunteer surgeon, using ether to ease the pain of battlefield amputations.
Although Morton’s greatest success took place in Boston, he was in fact a resident of West Needham. Nor did he live long enough to see it become Wellesley, although Wellesley does have a memorial to him in front of the town hall. After the successful Frost surgery, his reputation and income grew, enabling him to buy property in Needham. The 1856 Walling Map shows that he owned an extensive property along what is now Brook Street and Benvenue Street, as well as at the junction of State and Smith Streets, and at the end of Francis Road where it runs into Sprague Park. His home, called Etherton Cottage (get it?), was on the site of the current Town Hall/Morton Park. The Etherton property also had a factory for manufacturing false teeth and other dental aids. Over time, however, both his fortune and his health faded, before his early death at the age of 49.
1870 – The Wellesley Female Seminary is founded by Pauline and Henry Fowle Durant. The school was renamed Wellesley College in 1873, and it opened for classes in 1875. The Durants believed that women should have the same educational opportunities as men, and should be similarly prepared for the challenges of life. Or as he put it, “Women can do the work. I give them the chance.” They contributed between $1M and $2M to found the college (the equivalent of more than $30M today).
Henry Fowle Durant was a lawyer in Boston, graduating from Harvard Law School in 1841. He was also a friend of Horatio Hollis Hunnewell. Hunnewell had moved to West Needham around 1840s to built his estate and gardens. Durant, along with Hunnewell and Joseph Fiske, were the folks who engineered the sneaky and underhanded strategy to split from Needham. Which, as I said, I will discuss at another time. The Durants had two children, but both died very young. After the death of his second child, Henry Durant saw the light of religion and became a lay minister. Without children to inherit, the Durants dedicated their fortune to the college.
And while we’re on the topic – H. H. Hunnewell’s estate on the shore of Lake Waban is also a significant landmark. Though he made his money in railroads and banking, HHH was a botanist at heart, and established gardens on his estate that still amaze. He is credited with creating the first topiary garden in the US, as well as introducing the rhododendron and numerous other evergreen species. The estate is still owned and cared for by the sixth generation of Hunnewells (but sadly, not open to the public). Welles, his wife’s maiden name, is the source for “Wellesley.”
1871 – Alexander Graham Bell works on his telephone experiments. Alexander Graham Bell was briefly a resident. Bell was born in Edinburgh, and later moved with his family to London. In 1870, the family emigrated to Canada, settling in Brantford, Ontario. Over the next few years, Bell moved between Brantford and the Boston area, where he began to work with deaf students, including Helen Keller. It was around this time that Bell also started working on the mechanics of transmission and receiving systems – experiments that would ultimately result in the telegraph (1875) and the telephone (1876).
Bell was diabetic and also suffered from anemia, and the travel and teaching took their toll on his health. In 1871, he moved for a while to West Needham to rest and recover, though during that time he did continue with his transmitter experiments. He lived in a house at 27 Washington Street, a spot that is now the driveway into Waterstone Senior Living in Lower Falls.
Bell’s story is obviously a large one – we are all familiar with the telephone, but he had numerous patents on machines and devices that revolutionized communication. A brief stay in Needham may not be a watershed moment in his life, but it is important to us. He had many long stays in Cambridge and Boston. He also had recurring health issues, so a brief rest stint in the country was not a one-time thing. So why did decide on one such occasion to rusticate in Needham? The Library of Congress has a large collection of Bell’s papers, so maybe the answer lies there – but as yet, we don’t know it.
1789 – And of course, there was George Washington’s visit in November 1789. There is a memorial to that visit on Washington Street at Lower Falls. But I wrote about that already, so I will link the story here.
So there you have it. Four iconic American events, happening in Needham. Or should I say, four MORE iconic events? Because as you know, All Roads…
Gloria Polizzotti Greis, Executive Director, Needham History Center & Museum