Steam Mill, Dedham-Norwood, MA

Date: 1850 to 1865
Location: Dedham, Massachusetts
Surname/tag: Steam_Mill

Contents 1 Steam Mill, Dedham-Norwood, MA 1.1 The Story 1.2 Table 1 1855 Steam Mill Apartment 1.3 South Dedham, Mass. in 1854 1.4 Table 2 1918 Pendergast Name List 1.5 Sources 1.6 Footnotes

Steam Mill, Dedham-Norwood, MA

An ongoing project (of Igor Rowen) to identify and create profiles for people that were in Dedham (later Norwood) Massachusetts during the 1850-1865 time period. Specifically families linked to a tenement referred to as "The Steam Mill."

Contributions WELCOME. GEDCOM is uploaded and profiles cleaned up. Rowen-9 21:01, 14 March 2016 (EDT)

Project Progress

12MAR2016 Profiles created, but not sorted into the table. Coded the #Pendergast sketch.

14MAR2016 Table 1 populated, #Pendergast sketch populated, GEDCOM profiles cleaned up.

30MAR2016 Table 2 created of all 30+ Surnames from #1918 Steam Mill name list.

To Do (in approx sequence of priority)

Still missing 2 maiden names for Roach & Crowley.

Announce project on G2G

Create profiles for remaining surnames and wives when appropriate

Finish writing "The Story" narrative

Find County in Ireland for as many Table 1 & 2 names as possible

The Story

   On a recent genealogy trip to Norwood (Oct 2010) I had a chance to look through some of the manuscripts and information about the Irish who settled in Norwood. These were document collections at the Norwood Historical Society.

   One three ring binder caught my eye. It was labeled as a checklist of early Irish and German families. The binder was compiled by Willard W. Everett, a Norwood Historian. Among the papers he had compiled was a list of “Norwood’s Irish “Steam Mill Apartment” Residents.” Subtitled “Irish immigrants who lived with their families in the old Steam Mill” it was compiled by Patrick J. Pendergast in January, 1918. The list was created at the request of Fred Holland Day, another Norwood Historian. The list may have become part of a newspaper article

   The list was extracted from an informal genealogical sketch titled “SOUTH DEDHAM, MASS. In 1854.” By Patrick J #Pendergast, dated Jan 2nd, 1918. (typed and edited with a date of March 23, 1936.)

   In the book, “Norwood: A History” , the Steam Mill is discussed^[1] as an Irish Tenement converted from a steam powered Playing Card Factory (hence the name Steam Mill) which itself was a converted two story warehouse for wagons and equipment owned by Moses Guild for his freight business.

   Within the narrative of Pendergast’s sketch is the observation: “At that time there were nine families living there. ...” The list, on the other hand, had 30 male names and two widows. So it is probably the case that the turnover of tenants in the nine apartments was quite high.

   I decided that I’d take a look at the 1855 Massachusetts State Census, since Pendergast’s sketch calls out 1854. The Steam Mill should have been in full swing at that time. And, indeed, I got lucky.

   For one thing the census is on-line at FamilySearch.org.^[2] The census taker recorded two important items, in addition to the names and ages, and that was a sequential dwelling number along with a separate sequential family number.

   In the 1855 State Census the following [see Table 1] is a single dwelling (#5) and there are nine families (#5 – #13). [ref 3] Eight of the families listed are on the Steam Mill list. James Crowley (#11) isn’t on the Pendergast list.

   Also note that Mrs. Nugent isn’t a widow in 1855. Her husband, Patrick, heads family #9.

Table 1 1855 Steam Mill Apartment

Line	Dwell	Family	Forename	Surname	Age	Occupation	Birthplace
22	5	5	Thomas	Ford	45	Laborer	Ireland
23			Sally	(Fahy) Ford	35		Ireland
24			Bridget	Ford	11		Ireland
25			Catherine	Ford	9		Ireland
26			Margaret	Ford	6		Massachusetts
27			John	Ford	4		Massachusetts
28			Mary Ann	Ford	2		Massachusetts
29		6	Philip	Daily	30	Laborer	Ireland	(Daley)
30			Mary	(Keyes) Daily	27		Ireland
31			Henry	Daily	5		Massachusetts
32			Mary	Daily	3		Massachusetts
33			David	Daily	3M		Massachusetts
34		7	William	Cuff	30	Laborer	Ireland
35			Margaret	(Welch) Cuff	22		Ireland
36			Bridget	Cuff	5M		Massachusetts
37			John	Cuff	45	Laborer	Massachusetts	(sic)
38		8	Patrick	Roach	40	Laborer	Ireland
39			Mary	(unknown) Roach	35		Ireland
40			Ellen	Roach	13		Ireland
41			Patrick	Roach Jr	7		Ireland
42		9	Patrick	Nugent	40	Laborer	Ireland
1			Mary	(Cuff) Nugent	40		Ireland
2			John	Nugent	16	Laborer	Ireland
3			Catherine	Nugent	14		Ireland
4			Mary	Nugent	12		Ireland
5			Thomas	Nugent	4		Ireland
6		10	John	Dower	36	Laborer	Ireland
7			Mary	(Hogan) Dower	36		Ireland
8			Joanna	Dower	10		Ireland
9			Mary	Dower	7		Ireland
10			Ellen	Dower	4		Massachusetts
11			James	Dower	2M		Massachusetts
12		11	James	Crowley	30	Laborer	Ireland
13			Mary	(unknown) Crowley	22		Ireland
14			James	Crowley Jr	3		Massachusetts
15			Mary	Crowley	2		Massachusetts
16		12	James	Pintergast	34	Laborer	Ireland	(Pendergast)
17			Mary	(Farrell) Pintergast	24		Ireland
18			Patrick	Pintergast	5		Massachusetts
19			Mary	Pintergast	3		Massachusetts
20			Bridget	Pintergast	3M		Massachusetts
21			John	Furrell	32	Laborer	Ireland	(Farrell)
22		13	Margaret	(Griffin) Smeedy	55		Ireland	(Smidy)
23			Ellen	Smeedy	23		Ireland
24			Morris	Smeedy	21	Laborer	Ireland
25			Thomas	Smeedy	16	Laborer	Ireland
26			Margaret	Smeedy	13		Ireland
27			Edward	Smeedy	11		Ireland
28			John	Smeedy	6		Ireland
29			Patrick	Egan	20	Laborer	Ireland

Table 1. Nine families same building, the Steam Mill^[3]

South Dedham, Mass. in 1854

March 23, 1936. A.B.U.

SOUTH DEDHAM, MASS. in 1854. By PATRICK J. PENDERGAST Jan. 2nd, 1918.

     The spot now occupied by the Band Stand was then covered by a large building. It was called the Steam Mill. It used to be a Card Factory. When I lived there, I can remember seeing cards pasted in the cellar overhead, - Kings, Queens, Jacks and Aces covered the boards.

     At the time there were nine families living there:

Mrs. (Griffin) Smidy, widow, three sons and one daughter.

William Launders, married the daughter Ellen (Smidy). William Launders worked in the old cemetery. Otis Morse was the undertaker and had the care of the cemetery. The sons of Mrs. Smidy worked for Captain Guild.

James Pendergast, the father of twelve children, six boys and six girls:

Patrick	Edward	Mary	Bridget
William	James	Ellen	Catherine
Thomas	John	Alice	Elizabeth

Patrick Roach worked for Otis Morse. He had two sons and three daughters: Patrick and John, Mary, Ellen and Bridget. Ellen married Daniel Lee.

Mrs. (Cuff) Nugent), widow, had two sons & two daughters: John and Thomas, Catherine and Mary. Mary married John Leonard.

Philip Daley had two sons and (a) daughter: Henry and Horace and Mary. He worker for Tyler Thayer.

William Cuff had one son William and daughter Mary who married John Bell. He (William Sr.) worked for Spencer(?) Fuller.

Bartholomew Cuff had one son William and two daughters Ellen and Catherine. Catherine married Sumner Ellis. Bartholomew Cuff, (a)Tailor, worked for Oliver Morse. Note: John Cuff's brother William lived in Steam Mill) per Fred H. Day.

John Dower had one son Thomas and two daughters Mary and Helen. He worked at the ink mill.

Patrick Higgins worked for the Railroad Company.

Patrick Higgins 2nd worked for the Fisher Talbot Carpet Shop. He had two sons, Dennis and John and one daughter, Anna, who married John Coughlin, the Priest Father.

John Coughlin's son: James Coughlin lived there a short time. They moved to Mylod Street.

     Captain Guild owned a great deal of the land in Norwood (South Dedham). There was a great deal of woodland along Winter Street. One time he cut a very large oak. It was so heavy, they got stuck bringing it home. Then one moonlight night, all the men with yokes of oxen, helped him bring it home. He made them a present of it. They rolled it in front of the Steam Mill for a settee and every night they sat on it and told stories. Happy days!

Table 2 1918 Pendergast Name List

Norwood's Irish "Steam Mill Apartment" Residents
Irish immigrants who lived with their families in the old Steam Mill
compiled by Patrick J Pendergast in January, 1918
at the request of Fred Holland Day

Forename	Surname	notes	1855 family#
Thomas	Casey		35
Patrick	Collier
James	Coughlin		135
James	Crowley		11
Bartholomew	Cuff
John	Cuff		7
William	Cuff		7
Stephen	Curran
Philip	Daley		6
John	Dower		10
Daniel	Dyer
Luke	Dyer		136
Thomas	Ford		5
John	Hennessey
Michael	Hennessey
Pat	Higgins
Patrick	Higgins (2nd)
Daniel	Horrigan
William	Launders
Dennis	McCarty		169
William	Morrissey		169
Mary	Nugent		9
Richard	Oldham		36
Robert	Oldham		146
James	Pendergast		12
Reardon	Reardon
Roach	Roach		8
John	Scannell
Margaret	Smeedy		13
John	Sullivan
John	Tobin
Michael	Tobin
William	Tobin		115

Sources

• Source: FANN2002 Fanning, Patricia. Norwood: A History, The Making of America Series. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2002
• Source: MA1855C "Massachusetts State Census, 1855," database with images, accessed via FamilySearch, Massachusetts, Secretary of the Commonwealth, State Archives, Boston,

Footnotes

1. ↑ Source: #FANN2002 Fanning, Patricia; see pages 63 & 64.
2. ↑ Source: #MA1855C Year=1855; Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts
3. ↑ Source: #MA1855C Year=1855; Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States, GS film: 000953954, DF: 004279372, image= 00065, Dwell=5