Who is CAREY?

I had already done some research on streets named for the Carter family, and was proud of myself to find eleven. It turns out that I was not giving the old man nearly enough credit.

I had a delightful email conversation this week with Andrew Thoreson, about his street, Carey Road. Andrew and I had previous discussions about the history of the Baptist Church in Needham, so I knew that he had a deep interest in (and knowledge of) Needham history.

Andrew’s question – Who was Carey Road named for?

This led us into some deep investigation (mostly on his part) about land owned by the Carter family and the streets that were named for them.

I had already done some research on streets named for the Carter family. Just as every town has streets named after trees – Oak, Maple, Pine, etc – every town names streets after famous people – presidents, nationally-known figures, and those named after people of local importance, long-time families, and civic leaders. Usually these names and references are pretty obvious (Washington, Lincoln…), which is why it took me a while to figure out the many Carter Streets.

There is indeed a Carter Street, way up on the northern border of town, off Reservoir Street. It is named for knitting mill owner William Carter, who settled in Needham in the 1850s.  In the last half of the 1800s, the William Carter Company became the largest and most successful business in town; he was the town’s largest employer, and probably its richest man (or in the top three, anyway).  The company continued to grow, eventually owning seven knitting mills (mostly in the South) in addition to its corporate offices on the corner of Highland Avenue and West Street, the site of Carter’s original mill. The family sold the company in 1990, and its current incarnation, Carter’s, is the largest manufacturer of children’s clothing in the world.  In addition to the company, William Carter served the town in various elected offices, and was a significant benefactor – donating the public library, and land and money for several churches and town organizations. 

Currently, Carter Street is just a stub, with three houses.  It is clear from the map that the street was truncated by the construction of Route 128 in the 1950s, and this short little street is all that was left. It already appears (as Carter Street) as far back as the 1876 map of Needham.  Its original layout ran roughly from its current start at Reservoir Street straight west to the current intersection of Sherman and St Mary Streets. But Carter was never a very big street to begin with, only about twice as long as the current street, and way off at the edge of town. Not a very lavish tribute to such an important figure, you would think.

But I did find ten more Carter-named streets, in addition to Carter Street itself.  Carter was not an ostentatious or self-aggrandizing man; but he was no shrinking violet, either.  As he became wealthy, he invested in real estate in the Heights. At first these were house-lots for himself, his sons and grandchildren; but later (and continued by his sons) he bought larger parcels for development – all opportunities for street-naming.  Alfreton Road, which cuts across from Webster Street to Highland Avenue, was laid out when Carter built himself a new house around 1900; it is named after the village in Derbyshire where he was born.  Then there are the In-Laws streets – Mark Lee Road (formerly Conant Street), renamed for Carter’s brother-in-law and first business partner, Mark Lee. Mark Lee was also postmaster in the Heights for many years, after he left the knitting partnership.  Avery and Greenough Streets were named after the family of this third wife, Jane Greenough Avery Carter, whose father Jonathan Avery was largely responsible for the economic development of the Heights in the mid-1800s. Nearby Manson Street was named in memory of Carter’s grandson, Lieut. Manson H. Carter, who died from injuries incurred during the First World War. That’s five.

The last five are the nest of interconnected streets at the bottom of Webster Street – Frank, William, Horace, Roscoe, and John Streets. These are named for Carter’s five sons – Frank, William H., Horace, Roscoe, and John. The Sons streets were built in the late 1940s; they do not appear on the 1935 Lucas map of Needham, but are shown on the 1951 map.  William Carter himself had passed away in 1918, but his sons William Henry and Horace, who took over management of the company, also took over the real estate investment business.  They were actively building in several areas of the Heights during this period.  So that’s ten, and Carter Street makes eleven. There is also a Lee Road, built in the 1960s, but that is not related (no pun); Lee Road and the adjacent Gary Road were named for the Petrini family. 

Of course, you have to assume that when Carter and his family were still alive and active in town, these names were well-known and people knew that the streets were named for Carter’s family.  William Carter was not the kind of man to show off. To him, civic modesty was a virtue – just as long as everyone knew damn well who was behind it.

But it turns out that I was not giving the old man nearly enough credit. In my conversation with Andrew, we found four more Carter-named streets – Hildreth Place, Dana Place, Trueman Street, and yes, Carey Road.

Dana Place and Carey Road, as well as Trueman Street, were laid out sometime between 1912 and 1919 as short roads leading east and west off Highland Avenue (the west end of Trueman Street is now Masonic Way). Hildreth Place was laid out at the same time, but only on the western side of Highland as an alley alongside the Carter mill. Trueman, Dana, and Hildreth are still in their original layout. But in 1938, Town Meeting voted the funding to buy a parcel of property between Highland Avenue and Webster Street, and to extend Carey Place all the way to Webster, renaming the “Carey Place Extension” as Carey Road. The deeds indicate that most of the land that the town purchased belonged to the Carter family. So it is not surprising that the streets were given Carter family names.

These names took more research, because they are less obvious. It turns out that Manson was Horace Carter’ wife’s maiden name – Bertha Louise Manson Carter. William Carter’s great-grandson Manson, for whom Manson Street is named (as well as the VFW post) was Lt. Manson Hildreth Carter, named for his grandmother’s family (though we haven’t found the source of Hildreth yet). The last family owner of the Carter Company in Needham was Dana Carter, but there was also a Dana in the previous generation, who died as an infant right around the time that the streets were named. And Carter’s oldest son Frank was Frank Carey Carter. Frank was born to Carter’s first wife, Hannah Truman.  When Frank himself had a son, he named him Elmer Carey Carter, so I am assuming that Carey was either Hannah’s mother’s name, or maybe Carter’s mother’s name. Confirmation of this information probably resides somewhere in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England.

Trueman gave us a little more trouble, but Andrew came through once again. Carter’s first wife was Hannah Truman (no E), though the E is included in the street name, and has been for many years. But Andrew found that the records are inconsistent, and that in some cases the spelling was Truman (no E), just like Carter’s first wife. In fact, the 1948 Sanborn Fire Safety map of Needham shows the street as Truman (Trueman) Place. So, although it is now Trueman with an E, it is likely that this was not the original intention, and the street was named for Hannah Truman.

I think that brings my total up to fifteen confirmed Carter-named streets. I am sure that in their day, all of these names were obvious to Needhamites. But fame is truly fleeting, and what was well-known Then took us a considerable amount of research and worm-holing Now. Which is just fine by me.