The Hastings School is on the corner of Beacon Street and Cochituate Road just south of the intersection of Beacon and Hastings Streets in the section of town once known as Hastingsville. Who were the Hastings, and why is a school, a street, and a section of the city named for them?
Thomas Hastings (1780-1864) who was born in Waltham, Massachusetts, moved to Framingham as a young man and settled on the west part of John Pratt’s land. He set up a wheelwright shop, which he operated for the next fifty years.
At the age of twenty-three, Thomas married Nabby Abbott of Framingham. They had nine sons, six of whom settled in Framingham. Hollis, Eliphalet, and Otis Fiske, established businesses near their father’s at 1 Old Connecticut Path. Business boomed! This corner, with the Hastings’ wheelwright, blacksmith, and carriage shops, a busy center of commerce frequented by local farmers, became known as Hastingsville.
Hollis Hastings (1807-1892), the third son, was a carriage dealer and manufacturer as well as a harness maker. Upon the completion of Framingham’s new (i.e. third) Town Hall in Framingham Centre in 1834, Hollis purchased the second Town Hall and had it moved to Hastings Corner. For the next thirty-five years, he operated a very successful business at this location. Hollis married Abigail W. Norton and together they had nine children. Sadly, only four of them lived to adulthood. In retirement, Hollis traveled extensively and lived the life of a gentleman. He was instrumental in the founding of the Home for Aged Men and Women in Framingham Centre, just east of the Baptist Church. The home was chartered in 1886. In his will, Hollis left an endowment of $10,000 to ensure its viability. This institution, now called Vernon House, is located on Vernon Street. On February 13, 1892, Hollis died at his home in Hastingsville, and was buried in Edgell Grove Cemetery.
Eliphalet Hastings (1811-1878) established a blacksmith shop in Hastingsville. On April 2, 1835, he married Mehitable Clayes of Framingham. A year after Mehitable’s death in 1841, he married her younger sister, Eveline. Eliphalet had eight children, only four of them survived to adulthood. Eliphalet is buried in Old Burying Ground Cemetery. Albert Redell Hastings (1854-1923), his sixth child, followed in his footsteps, and became a blacksmith. He set up his shop at the site of his father’s in Hastingsville on present day Cochituate Road (Route 30).
Otis Fiske Hastings (1818-1884) stayed in Hastingsville and worked in his father’s shop as a wheelwright. Otis Fiske married Susan Briggs Brewer of Framingham and they had six children. Of the six children, only three lived to adulthood, Thomas Fiske, Josiah and Alice. The Hastings School (now senior housing) was built on land purchased from Thomas Fiske Hastings (1852-1933) and his wife Ella. The school is named for Otis Fiske’s daughter-in-law, Ella Wing Hastings, who taught public school in Framingham for fifty years. In June 1931, a plaque was erected at this new school in her honor. Thomas Fiske Hastings was known as the mayor of Hastingsville. He ran the general store established by Willard Howe. This store housed the local post office, so Thomas Fiske’s duties also included serving as the assistant postmaster.
Colonel William Hastings (1805-1871) was Thomas and Nabby’s second son. He married Hannah Buckminister of Framingham on September 27, 1827. The newlyweds settled on land owned by Hannah’s father, Joseph Buckminster which was located at the corner of present day Union and Main Street (now Buckminster Square). They had one son, William H. A year after Hannah’s death in 1846, William married Anne E. Phipps, also of Framingham. This marriage produced three children; two daughters, Anna L. and Elizabeth B., and a son, Gardner Phipps. The Colonel was a farmer, and also operated a lumber business. He was very active in town affairs serving as chairman of the Board of Assessors, overseer of the poor, and collector of taxes. He was a Colonel in the Massachusetts Militia. Following in his father’s footsteps, William Harrison Hastings (1840-1910) was also active in town and state affairs. William Harrison served on the town’s Board of Selectmen for four years, 1883-1886, was the Road Commissioner for the years 1884-1886, was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, 1887-1888, and served as the overseer of the poor, 1895-1897.
Thomas Hastings, Jr. (1809-1886) lived on a small farm on what is present day Route 9. In addition to farming, he worked as a carpenter. He married Eliza Ann Parker of Framingham and they had three children, two sons and a daughter. The family worshiped at the Hollis Evangelical Church (Plymouth Church) where Thomas’ deep bass voice was a memorable addition to the choir. Thomas is buried in the Edgell Grove Cemetery.
John Kittredge Hastings (1816-1857) was Thomas and Nabby’s seventh son. He bought property on Pratt’s Plain (opposite the Musterfields) where he established a shoe making business. On October 11, 1838 at the age of twenty-two, he married Mary Coolidge of Framingham. They had two children, a daughter, Susan Munroe Hastings, and a son Frank Coolidge Hastings (1846-1894). Frank C. chose retail for his career. He started a clothing store called Hastings One Price Clothing House on Concord St. in South Framingham. Frank’s son Harry Payson Hastings (1871-) joined him in the operation of the business, and ran it until 1950. Grandson Julian P. Hastings (1906-1987) took over the store from his father, and managed it until it’s closing in 1965. Julian then went on to work as town assessor. For almost twenty years, he was assistant clerk to the Framingham Court, retiring in 1977. Julian answered the call to duty and served in the Army in Europe during World War II. He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Of the remaining three sons, two married and moved to other towns. The youngest, Dexter (1822-1834), died at the age of eleven. Josiah Hastings (1813-1876), the sixth son, married Sarah Ann Jones of Weston on April 23, 1835. The newly weds settled in Waltham where Josiah made his living as a printer. He was the owner and publisher of the Waltham Sentinel, a weekly newspaper delivering news on agriculture, manufacturing, literature and local people and events. Josiah and Sarah Ann had two daughters, Amanda died before age six, and Elizabeth married Theodore F. Jackson. Samuel A. (1803-1881) , the oldest son, married Olive Nourse from Leominister and settled in Lancaster where he worked as a housewright (carpenter).
The area where so many members of the Hastings family put down roots was aptly called Hastingsville. At the turn of the twentieth century, when the Boston and Worcester Street Railway Company established it headquarters in Hastingsville, the area was renamed Framingham Junction, a nod to the area’s new identity as a transportation hub.
Facts
Hastings Corner or Hastingsville was the area east of Framingham Centre where the road to Saxonville (Concord Street) meets Eastern Avenue (present day Rte. 9).
Thomas Hastings’ house is still standing today at 1 Old Connecticut Path.
Bibliography
Abbott, Lemuel Abijah. Descendants of George Abbott, of Rowley, Mass., of his joint descendants with George Abbott, sr., of Andoer, Mass.; of the descendants of Daniel Abbott, of Providence, R. I.; of some of the descendants of Capt. Thomas Abbott, of Andover, Mass.; of George Abbott, of Norwalk Ct.; of Robert Abbott, of online. (page 43 of 67) http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/lemuel-abijah-abbott/descendants-of-george-abbott-of-rowley-mass-of-his-joint-descendants-with-ge-obb
Buckminister, Lydia Nelson Hastings. The Hastings Memorial: a genealogical account of the descendants of Thomas Hastings of Watertown, Mass. from 1634-1864. Boston : Samuel G. Drake Publisher, 1866. Googlebooks.com pp. 77-79. https://books.google.com/books?id=RFdKAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false Accessed 23 May 2019.
City of Framingham. “Town of Framingham Selectmen (1700-2017) City of Framingham Mayors (2018-present).” Welcome to Framingham, Departments, City Clerk, Historical Records. https://www.framinghamma.gov/2418/Historical-Records Accessed 21 June 2019.
“Death Comes to T. F. Hastings in 81st Year.” Framingham News 30 Jan. 1933. Find a Grave website. Search for surname Hastings, location Framingham. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/search?firstname=&middlename=&lastname=hastings&birthyear=&birthyearfilter=&deathyear=&deathyearfilter=&location=Framingham+Middlesex+County+Massachusetts+United+States+of+America&locationId=city_58586&memorialid=&datefilter=&orderby=Accessed 19 June 2019.
“Framingham loses Three Prominent Citizens.” Concord Enterprise 19 Feb. 1892. https://accessnewspaperarchivecom.ezproxy.bpl.org/us/massachusetts/concord/concord-enterprise/1892/02-19/page-3/hollis-hastings?psb=relevance Accessed 23 May 2019.
Herring, Stephen W. Framingham, An American Town. The Framingham Historical Society, The Framingham Tercentennial Commission, 2000.
“Journeyed to Hastingsville.” Framingham Evening News 26 Sept. 1916. pp. 1+
“Julian P. Hastings, 80, lifelong Framingham resident.” Middlesex News 30 Sept. 1987.
Temple, Josiah H. History of Framingham, Massachusetts, 1640-1885. New England History Press, 1988.