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NOBLE Digital Library >
Wakefield: Lucius Beebe Memorial Library >
Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department Calendars >
| Title: | Cyrus Wakefield [picture] / Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department. |
| Authors: | D'Onofrio, Jayne M.
Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department (Wakefield, Mass.) |
| Issue Date: |
2004 |
| Publisher: | [Wakefield, Mass.] : Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department, |
| Abstract: | "Although not born on South Reading soil, Cyrus Wakefield has become the unofficial 'father' of the town which eventually bore his name. Born in Roxbury, New Hampshire on February 14, 1811, he was descended from prominent families of the First Parish in Old Reading. His great-grandfather, Thomas Wakefield, was the son of Thomas Wakefield who came to Reading in 1730. An eager young man, Cyrus Wakefield gained his knowledge from the common school in Roxbury, New Hampshire, which was held three months each year. At the age of 15, he traveled to Boston and worked as a clerk in a grocery store for three years. He worked as a clerk for several other Boston stores and took advantage of the opportunities around him. He attended evening school, lectures, and private study and at the age of 23 he established the firm of Foster and Wakefield on Commercial Street in Boston. Two years later, in 1836, he formed a partnership with his brother, Wakefield and Company, which lasted until 1844. It was at this time that he recognized the potential in rattan, generally discarded as refuse. The rattan was accidentally purchased and sold at a profit to a few chair makers who, by hand, made the outside of the cane into seating chairs. The business grew rapidly and led to the dissolution of the grocery business and the continuation of his rattan business in a Boston office. Mr. Wakefield soon found that without machinery, the cost for preparing the rattan was too great. Utilizing a brother-in-law in China, he sent a sample of the cane most in demand and soon his Canton Split Rattan was known throughout the world. The supply soon became sporadic, yet the demand increased and in 1856 he resolved to begin the manufacture of cane in the United States using the whole of the rattan - the cane, the pith, and the shavings. He secured two hand machines and later moved to South Reading in 1856. Eventually water replaced hand power and later steam was added as the business increased. The business soon outgrew building after building until at its height, the rattan factory covered an area of ten acres of flooring and employed over 1000 men and women. In 1851, Cyrus Wakefield purchased his homestead in South Reading (at the present site of the Atwell School) and in 1861 erected a magnificent home in place of the mansion that once stood there. He subsequently purchased all the available real estate and land in the surrounding area, often draining and filling the land for suitable building. In 1867 when the townspeople were considering the erection of a monument to the memory of the soldiers who died in the War of the Rebellion, Mr. Wakefield gave the town a cash contribution of $30,000 and a building lot for a soldiers memorial hall. In accepting the offer, the townspeople decided to honor Mr. Wakefield by changing its name to 'Wakefield.' The subsequent building was the old Town Hall (located at the corner of Main and Water Streets) which was officially dedicated on February 22, 1871. Throughout his 22 years as a resident of the town, Cyrus Wakefield was instrumental in the development of Wakefield, specifically in the prosperity of his business and in education. He was not a town officer, but he was actively involved in the community. He was involved in the incorporation of the Wakefield Savings Bank, the Wakefield Real Estate and Building Association, the Quannapowitt Water Company, the National Bank of South Reading, the Citizens' Gas Light Company, the South Reading Ice Company and the Boston & Maine Foundry Company. Cyrus Wakefield died suddenly on October 26, 1873 at the age of 62. Having no children, he left his holdings to his nephew Cyrus Wakefield, 2nd who continued the selfless dedication to the town and her people." -- Text from calendar by Jayne M. D'Onofrio.
Captions: 1. Cyrus Wakefield in a portrait painted in 1873 by Thomas H. Badger. -- 2. The Wakefield Town Hall donated by Cyrus Wakefield as it looked in 1929. |
| Description: | Photos courtesy of the Payro family, Louis Picardi, and the Wakefield Historical Society.
2 pictures : |
| Subject: | Wakefield, Cyrus, 1811-1873.
Town Hall (Wakefield, Mass.) Pictorial works. |
| Appears in Collections: | Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department Calendars
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