This plaque can be found at the base of the fountain inside Brookdale Cemetery. The memorial fountain was dedicated in May, 1953 four years after Mrs. Marietta Paul passed away. Ebenezer Paul served on the Board of Assessors for many years and owned a large farm off of Cedar Street that was developed as the Farview subdivision beginning in the 1920s. This farm stood where the present Dresser and Taylor (Marietta Paul’s maiden name) Avenues, Beech Street and Kimball Road are located. The Paul family also owned the land where Paul Park was created and named for them in 1952.
The fountain and its reflection in the pond were popular subjects for DHS yearbook title pages, for obvious reasons.
Several people guessed Paul Park, and while there was a plaque honoring the Pauls affixed to a large boulder and dedicated in 1952, that plaque has been missing for many, many years.
The Pauls of Dedham made significant contributions to the town’s agricultural, civic and political life for almost two centuries. The loss of the 172 year old house in which they resided for eight decades is both surprising and disappointing, but the occasion offers an opportunity to shine a light on this old New England family.
The first Massachusetts settler, Richard Paul came from England sometime between 1620-1630 and settled in the Taunton area, where Pauls would reside for the next hundred years. In 1719 Richard’s grandson Samuel purchased about 100 acres situated between the Neponset River and Sprague Pond for his sons Isaac and Samuel. This area quickly became associated with the Paul family, and the bridge over the Neponset acquired the name it retains to this day, Paul’s Bridge.
Paul’s Bridge 2022. This bridge was built in 1849.
By this time this area of Dorchester had been annexed by Dedham and was known as the “Low Plain.” The house and land eventually came into the possession of Ebenezer Paul, (b. 1818) great-great-great-great-great grandson of Richard Paul. Ebenezer was a respected progressive farmer and member of the Allin Congregational Church (despite living on the edges of town some three miles from the town center.)
Farming pursuits were seriously curtailed in July of 1861 when the US government took over the bulk of Paul’s acreage for a training camp for Union soldiers. According to an article written for the Hyde Park Historical Record (Volume VI, 1908):
” …the first that Ebenezer Paul knew of any designs on his land as a camping ground was the sudden discovery one morn of two or three men sitting under one of the long rows of elms, a few of which are now standing, and his cows gazing upon them with interest. Later, it is said, they came and took the land, leaving him to apply to the State for compensation which he did, and I am credibly informed that he received three hundred dollars per year rental.”
The government also took over about 80 acres west of Sprague Pond owned by Isaac Tower (my childhood street was named for him) who after the war submitted a claim for rent and additional funds for damages done to his house and fences. The government paid the rent but denied the claim for damages.
The first two regiments to occupy the land were the Massachusetts 18th and 20th, and the site was known as both Camp Brigham and Camp Massasoit. Later it would come to be known as Camp Meigs and gain historical significance as the training ground for the 54th Massachusetts, the first Massachusetts regiment of African American soldiers who arrived in February 1863. The history of Camp Meigs and its association with the 54th Massachusetts Regiment is a rich and fascinating one that will not be explored here. There is a brief history of the camp in my book Dedham: Historic and Heroic Tales from Shiretown.
The Ebenezer Paul House (underlined in red) stood north of Milton Street (present-day Neponset Valley Parkway). This map shows the extent of the camp at Readville and its close proximity to both the Paul House and the Edson House. In 1868 most of the land east of Sprague Street would become part of the new town of Hyde Park, which was annexed by the City of Boston in 1912.A section of Dedham from an 1858 map of Norfolk County. The red arrow indicates the original Paul house just west of Paul’s Bridge and the Neponset River. The blue arrow indicates the house at 390 Cedar St. where Ebenezer moved with his family in 1867. The house just east of that house (labeled N. Fales and S.F. Alden) was the home of Elizabeth Fales, who was murdered by Jason Fairbanks in 1801. It stood on the southeast side of Cedar St. near present-day Turner St. (See my earlier post “May 18- A Tragic Anniversary” from May 2010).
Ebenezer Paul sold his property and moved to the Cedar Street house in 1867, along with his wife Susan Dresser Paul and five children; Henry, (b.1851), Edward (b.1853), Isaac (b.1856), Ebenezer (b.1858), and Martha (b.1865). Upon his father’s death in 1898, Ebenezer Talbot Paul took ownership of the property and he and his wife Marietta Taylor Paul began the next chapter of the Paul family in Dedham.
So, who DID put the Paul in Paul Park? The quick answer to that question is this man:
Ebenezer Paul bought the house on Cedar Street and surrounding acreage from the Fales estate and moved here with his wife Susan and children in 1867. He farmed the land, and over the years added to his substantial holdings by purchasing adjacent lots. At the time of his death in 1898, Paul’s land holdings extended from Oakdale to Endicott, the Manor and Greenlodge. Upon his death, son Ebenezer Talbot Paul took ownership and management of the property and began subdividing it for housing lots in the 1920s. Here is the 1925 plan for a development which includes the site of my childhood home on Tower Street:
Interestingly, the development was named Ashcroft Wood, but nobody I know ever called it that. Hemlock Street was never built, and Sycamore does not connect with Alden. Neither does Beech connect with Turner, probably due to the huge rock located in what was known as “Ogden’s Woods” back in the 60s.
Here is a plan for another development named “Farview.”.
Mt. Vernon Street was later named Kimball Road, although it is essentially the same street intersected by the railroad tracks. The Cedar Street house can be seen on the left, and although it looks as if old Ebenezer was surrounding himself with a multitude of neighbors on his once quiet farmland, most of the houses on these streets were built in the 50s, long after his death in 1930. As a result of these real estate deals, Paul died a wealthy man, with an estate valued at about $1.3 million in today’s dollars. His wife Marietta passed away in 1949 at age 92. They had no children.
In December, 1951, the Town of Dedham purchased just under 3 acres from the Paul estate for $2,625 (about $30,000 in today’s dollars) for recreational purposes.
Paul Park was dedicated on June 8, 1952 in a ceremony attended by several hundred people. Music was provided by the elementary school orchestra under the direction of Miss Rhona Swarz and the elementary school band under the direction of Robert Shreve. Musical selections included When Johnny Comes Marching Home, And the Band Played On, and The Star-Spangled Banner. Director of Recreation William Ryan described plans for further development of the park including a baseball diamond, bubbler, merry-go-round, swings, slides, fire places, sand-boxes, and picnic tables. Fifteen years later I would sit at one of those picnic tables and make a loop potholder for my mother. Thank you, Ebenezer.
I am James L. Parr. I grew up on Tower St. and went to St. Mary's and Dedham High (Class of 1977). I teach school in Framingham and co-wrote a book of Framingham history, which led me to write a book of weird Dedham history called Dedham: Historic and Heroic Tales from Shiretown. That book led to this blog. To order your own copy of the book, e-mail me at jameslparr@yahoo.com
Jim Parr
Dedham Tales 