Welcome to what will be a monthly column about the history of Dover.  This month will be an introduction to me, to the Dover Historical Society, and to the little museum that is our base of operations.  In the months ahead I hope to present a variety of locally oriented historical matters, focusing upon the organizations and people that have made the town what it is today, and the roles played by Dover residents in national and world events.

My name is Elisha Lee and I first came to Dover with my parents in 1959.  I grew up on Powissett Street, and spent my childhood exploring the large tract of land that we called “Miss Peabody’s Woods” and is known today as Noanet Woodlands.  In 1985 my wife Molly, a native of Dedham, and I returned to Dover, and I have lived here and been involved with the Historical Society in one form or another ever since, serving as President from 2008 to 2021.

The Dover Historical Society was organized in 1895 “to collect, preserve, and exhibit such artifacts, information, and documents as will throw light upon our local history.”  Unlike the Dover Historical Commission, which is an official branch of town government, the Society is a private organization managed and staffed by volunteers and funded almost entirely by membership dues.  We own and operate the Sawin Museum at 80 Dedham Street and are the designated stewards for the Benjamin Caryl House at 107 Dedham Street. The latter property, built in 1774 for the town’s first minister and later the home of his son, the town’s first doctor, is owned by the town and operated by the Society as a house museum.  Both properties are typically open to the public on Saturday afternoons in the fall and spring from 1:00 to 4:00 PM.  In addition, the Society sponsors a number of speakers during the year, conducts tours of its properties for elementary school students, and maintains a presence at local events such as Dover Days.

Many readers will have noticed the Sawin Memorial Building, situated on a knoll above the intersection of Dedham, Centre, and Haven Streets.  Constructed in 1907, our little museum owes its existence to a prominent local farmer and businessman, Ben Sawin (1823-1905) and his wife Eudora (1841-1900), whose bequest provided both the funding for its construction and the triangular lot upon which it sits. Having no surviving children, Ben Sawin’s will left “all the residue of my money and estate of every description to said Dover Historical Society, provided it erects a building which is named “Sawin Memorial Building” and the name to be placed on the front of said building in an attractive and enduring manner.”  Should the Society have failed to comply with these conditions within a two-year period following Sawin’s death, the property would have reverted to the town to be held in trust for the “worthy” poor.  Sawin’s will further stipulated those individuals whom he wished to oversee his memorial, a Building Committee consisting of Eben Higgins, George E. Chickering, and George L. Howe.

The Building Committee selected two architects, both Dover residents, Philip B. Howard and Walter P. Henderson.  Howard was born in Roxbury in 1870 and graduated from Harvard College in 1893. He went into partnership with a classmate, Charles K. Cummings, and is best known for Codman House at McLean Hospital in Belmont.  Cummings & Howard were also responsible for the Caryl School on Springdale Avenue, constructed in 1910. The school was heavily damaged by fire in 1970 and survives today in a much-altered form as what may be Philip Howard’s final work. He died of ulcerative endocarditis in the same year that it was completed.  Walter P. Henderson was born to British parents in Lima, Peru in 1869 and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1891.  A lifelong bachelor, his best-known work is the Union Boat Club on Chestnut Street in Boston, which he designed in association with the firm of Parker, Rice & Stearns. For the Sawin Memorial Howard and Henderson chose a classic Federal style with low pitched roof, central entrance, and one-story portico. While not a large structure, the quality of its construction is unusually high.  Red slate is noted for being difficult both to quarry and to work by virtue of its extreme hardness. It is produced today in only two locations, Washington County, NY and Poultney, VT and was probably, even in 1906, the most expensive selection that the Building Committee could have made. White marble accents highlight the “attractive and enduring” memorial inscription which is carved in relief rather than incised in what would surely have been a less costly fashion. Completed in 1906, the Sawin Memorial Building was opened with considerable ceremony on May 14, 1907.

Over the past five or six years our Curator, Stuart Swiny, has been reimagining the contents of the museum so as to illustrate the history of Dover in a meaningful and relevant fashion.  The first floor is structured in a chronological fashion that takes the viewer from prehistoric times through the 20^th Century and recognizes our two local industries, the Hodgson Portable House Company and Dover Instrument Company, as well as the Norfolk Hunt Club.  The second floor focuses upon different aspects of life in Dover, the town’s role in the American Civil War, First, and Second World Wars, along with an exhibit honoring beloved Dover resident, artist, and philanthropist Amelia Peabody.  The lower level is a “hands on” environment especially for younger visitors, containing representations of a 19^th Century kitchen, a one-room schoolhouse, a cobbler’s bench, and an extensive collection of woodworking tools.  The Sawin Museum showcases its interesting and eclectic collections, offering something of interest to people of all ages, and I urge readers to stop by on a Saturday afternoon.

By Elisha Lee