Elm Street, 104, Ames, W illiam Hadween, Spring Hill, 104 Elm Street, North Easton, MA, info, Easton Historical Society ,

More information on this image is available at the Easton Historical Society in North Easton, MA
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The development by Oliver Ames and Sons Corporation of the factory and village land use in a rather organic manner with a mix work-related classes created an integrated geographic network. The housing on perimeter edge with factories and business affairs in the center creating the village concept in North Easton. Other important concepts were the Furnace Village Cemetery, Furnace Village Grammar School, and the Furnace Village Store, which explains Furnace Village and other sections of Easton.
source: Massachusetts Historical Commission
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Gene Autry Visits North Easton
One of the last events that occurred at the Rockery bandstand before it was tom down was the special appearance of Gene Autry, November 10, 1941. Approximately three thousand heard the famous cowboy speak and sing his popular song "Sunshine". He indicated that the special shovel he received from Easton would be his first trophy for his new home. His Hollywood mansion had burned the prior week. Early release of Easton and other communities' schools had occurred, so young people could attend. The parade route which was lined with people extended from Dailey's Comer to the Rockery. After speaking at the Rockery, he was the special guest of Mr. and Mrs. John S. Ames, Jr. at their home "Spring Hill" where the famous cowboy met town officials, representatives of the Easton Nursing Association and other prominent Easton residents.
source: Memories of Twentieth Century Easton, Easton Historical Society, 2000
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Cranberries at Springhill
By 1890, growing cranberries had become such a big business that school absences ran as high as 50% during the harvesting season. As can be seen in the image showing the old method of dry harvesting cranberries employed men and women of all ages. In 1900, handpicking cranberries at William H. Ames estate, Springhill.
source: Memories of Twentieth Century Easton, Easton Historical Society, 2000
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History of Elm Street below
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104 ELM STREET
Historically known as the William Hadwen Ames House, at the estate known as "Spring Hill." William Hadwen Ames, (1861-1917) the older son of Governor Oliver and Anna Coffin Ray Ames, was born on March 1, 1861. He was elected as the Lieutenant Governor from 1883 through 1886, followed by his election as the thirty-seventh Governor of the Commonwealth from 1887 through 1890. Shortly after retiring from elected public service, his son, William Hadwen Ames, married Mary Elizabeth Hodges on December 1, 1891.
In the mid 1890's, Governor Oliver and Anna Coffin Ray Ames had the "Spring Hill" mansion built for William Hadwen and Mary Elizabeth Hodges, which was designed by Architect Carl Fehmer. Shortly after building a house on Spring Hill for his son and wife, Governor Oliver Ames died on October 22, 1895. William was Chairman of the Easton School Committee for several years and served as a member of Board of Water Commissioners, prior to the election to the state office. From 1905-1906, he was State Representative from the Second Bristol District. William Hadwen Ames' wife, Mary Elizabeth Hodges Ames died in 1915, and he married his secretary, Fanny Holt, the following year. The wife of Governor Oliver Ames, Anna Coffin Ray Ames, died March 11, 1917. William Hadwen Ames passed away in Boston on March 26, 1918. In 1879-80, William had attended MIT, rather than Harvard, because he believed the mathematics and science offerings would be more advantageous to him. However, due to his only taking these courses and no humanities, he "technically" did not graduate. Therefore, when MIT received from the William Hadwen Ames estate more than ten million dollars in the late 1990's, the college had difficulty determining the identity of William Hadwen Ames. MIT wanted to learn more about this generous benefactor who was not listed in its graduate files. MIT contacted the Ames Free Library for information about William H. Ames, and the person who answered the phone at the Library suggested that Hazel Varella would be able to answer MIT's questions. The children's wing has been remembered as the William Hadwen Ames Memorial Room. Built in 1931, it was the gift of Mrs. William H. Ames (Fanny Holt Ames), a member of the Board of Trustees from 1929 through 1969, in memory of her husband, William Hadwen Ames. The Ames Free Library is a public library for the town of Easton, MA. The building was designed by famed architect Henry Hobson Richardson as a gift to the people of Town from Oliver Ames, (1807-1877). In the early 1930's, when Mrs. William H. Ames decided to return to Grafton, Vermont where her sister lived, she sold "Spring Hill" to John S. Ames, Jr. All four of his children John S., III, Mary known as Heidi, Charlton and Isabel went to Unionville School on Washington Street. In 1959, John S. Ames, Jr., was one of the ten original founders of the Boston Patriots, which was the eighth franchise in the American Football League. In 1969, four members of the Ames family, the late Messrs. John S. Ames Jr., David Ames, Senator Oliver F. Ames and William A. Parker bought the former Old Colony Railroad Station and presented it to the Society to serve as its museum. On November 10, 1981, Mrs. William Hadwen Ames returned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the children's room and left extensive funds for children's services.
source: History of Unionville-North Easton, Massachusetts
source: Easton Historical Society
source; Massachusetts Historical Commission
source: Ancestry
source: History of Easton, William L. Chaffin, 1886
source: Easton’s Neighborhoods, Edmund C. Hands, 1995
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Elm Street
Showing on the 1852, 1855, 1871 and the 1895 maps, Elm Street, starting in North Easton Village going easterly through Unionville, was laid out September 16, 1820, as far as Washington Street. The extension to the North Bridgewater line, now Brockton line, once called the Quaker Leonard Road, was voted in 1822, rejected, and then subsequently adopted as Elm Street. Jonathan Leonard who became known as Quaker Leonard, an acute businessman, built iron steel furnaces in 1787 and 1808 near Marshall place, where he lived, once traveled to Pennsylvania to learn about steel manufacturing.
source: History of Unionville, Carl B. Holmander, 2014
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Elm Street
Elm Street, which runs from the north section of North Easton’s Main Street to Washington Street, or the Stoughton Turnpike (now state route 138) was laid out between those two points in September of 1820. Along its eastern section, roughly east of Stone’s (now Langwater) Pond, the land bordering the street was largely owned by the Ames family, whose North Easton progenitor Oliver Ames Sr. (1779-1863) founded Oliver Ames and Sons, at one time the largest manufacturer of shovels in the world. The western end section of Elm Street, closer to the shovel shops themselves, was largely made up of workers’ cottages, either owned by individuals or by the company; the company owned and rented out the tenements on the south side of Elm Street, from 49 to 77 Elm, for decades. By contrast, the north side of the street east of Langwater Pond was laid out in comparatively large lots, many of them owned and occupied by people associated with Oliver Ames and Sons. West of Langwater Pond, closer to the shovel shops themselves, the street was largely made up of workers’ dwellings, either owned by individuals or by the company; the company owned and rented out the seven identical two-family tenements on the south side of Elm Street, from 45 to 77 Elm, for decades. By contrast, the north side of the street east of Langwater Pond was laid out in comparatively large lots, many of them owned and occupied by people associated with Oliver Ames and Sons.
source: Massachusetts Historical Commission

Taken on: March 8, 2021

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Sets appears in: • Historical Images of Easton, MA, Ames Family in Easton • Historical Images of Easton, MA, 285 Center Street - 247 Elm Street

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