Dec. 14, 1966

THE KNOLLS BELONGED TO THE TOWN
by Marion H. Norton


For a period of about six years, nearly fifty years ago, the Town of Webster owned what has become some of the most valuable real estate in the community -- a gift which many older residents still claim would have been the ideal location for a hospital and recreation area. The Knolls, then the country home of the Slater mill owners, plus twelve acres of surrounding land was given to the town by Mrs. Mabel Hunt Slater in 1917 -- but voters gave it back to the family of the original owners in 1923.

During the devastating influenza epidemic of 1918, the Knolls was used as an emergency hospital for the brief period of one month. Though the doors were closed again at the end of October that year, local doctors argued for several years thereafter that the town should convert the spacious, well-planned mansion into a hospital. Old-timers still claim that the beautiful structure on East Main street, now the Paradis Funeral Home, is a daily reminder of how short-sighted voters can be in their fear of increasing taxes. Just a glance at the now valuable commercial building surrounding the old Slater home give you some indication of the intrinsic value of the gift.

The fact that the deed stipulated that the property "shall be forever for the use of people of Webster and maintained by the town of Webster" may have been the underlying reason that wishes of doctors of that era did not prevail. A municipally-operated hospital, then as now, was perhaps out of the question, though years afterward, some doctors still maintained that the donor might have agreed to usage as a private hospital, as long as it served the area. Be that as it may, the building and vast acreage were also available to the town with "unlimited discretion for public use as a park, recreation, instruction, amusement and health", according to an article in the July 17, 1917 Webster Times. The gift had been accepted at town meeting the previous March, and transfer of title occurred in July. Only other stipulation was that the gift be known in memory of her son, Morris Hunt Slater.

The beautiful lawns around the house and barn were maintained by the Parks Department, and the rolling hills nearby -- called "The Mountains" -- were used by children for winter sports. On the site today, in addition to the funeral home, are grocery and department stores, service stations, liquor outlet, garage, autombile show room and streets with lovely homes.

But, that's getting ahead of the story. Furnishings had been removed from the house, but fortunately the Parks Department kept a close check on the building so that it would be ready for use at any time. It was offered to the women of the community as a gathering place to do war work. However, only practical usage came in the fall of 1918, when there were several hundred residents ill with Spanish influenza, and 22 deaths occurred in one week.

Some families were so seriously affected that no one was available to take care of those stricken. The Board of Health, in emergency session with doctors, decided the spread of the disease might be curtailed and lives might be saved, if the Knolls was opened temporarily as an emergency hospital for the worst cases, and those who had no one to look after them. Women of the town and local nurses worked like trojans cleaning the rooms, begging and borrowing beds, linens and other necessities, to convert the rooms into hospital wards. On Oct. 3, 1918, the Knolls was opened as an emergency hospital in charge of doctors of the town.

By October 10, twenty-six cases had been transferred to the former Slater estate. Only a few died, although that was the week of 22 deaths in town. All schools, churches, bars, bowling alleys, soda fountains, and gathering places were closed on order of Selectmen in an effort to curb the spread of contagion.

Among the local nurses who supervised the operation were Miss Josephine Simcusky (the late Mrs. George Hart), Miss Alice Hyland, Mrs. Carson of Dudley, Mrs. Frances Babcock, Miss Cecelia Bembenek. Their assistants on the day and night shifts included Mrs. Chester Tirrell, Miss Hortense Genereux, and Miss Nancy Fogarty, together with many women volunteers. Nuns of Sisters of Ste. Anne and Felician Sisters were on duty day and night, 24 hours a day. The kitchen was in charge of Miss Annie Wood (Mrs. Earl England), Miss Beatrice Love (Mrs. John LaBonte), and Mrs. John P. Heald.

A total of 86 deaths from influenza was recorded by the end of October, but the peak had passed and number of new cases decreased rapidly, though there were many deaths attributed to the disease after this date. However, the emergency hospital at the Knolls was closed on October 31, after four weeks of hectic but efficient operation as a local hospital.

This occurrence seemed to be the spark which began a campaign by local doctors to have the building converted into a hospital. Presumably, the town wasn't in a mood to put up money for a municipal hospital in those postwar years. Problems of transfer to private ownership are said to have been difficult. Nothing concrete was done to make use of the extensive land or the building. Webster and Dudley residents continued to send their desperately ill to Worcester hospitals, and on occasion this made front page news when several had to be transported in a day, necessitating many trips for the ambulance. (It wasn't until 1929 that a group of local residents formed the Webster District Hospital Corporation, leased the Bates property on Thompson road, and opened the first local hospital.)

Members of the Slater family decided in 1923 that they wanted back the generous gift given to the town by Mabel Hunt Slater, who was still living. They proposed an exchange of deeds, which would give to the town another Morris Hunt Slater Park -- acres of undeveloped land which extended from the dirt road across from Slater baseball field to Lincoln street, bounded on one side by Nelson street and on the other by Ray street, not then laid out to its full length. And so a special town meeting was called. Lawyers for the Slater family painted glowing pictures of the value of the exchange to the town, and implied that the Slaters would develop the brushland into a major recreation center for the community.

Voters bought the idea. Apparently doctors were not vociferous in their opposition. For six years, the town had been paying for upkeep of The Knolls, and had not decided on making use of it. Anyway, the beautiful big house and the valuable East Village acreage went back to the Slater family. The home was decorated and refurnished, and used for less than a dozen years thereafter by Nelson Slater, when he was in Webster on business, and probably also as a place for brief relaxation.

A few years after taking over the Ray street woodland, Park Commissioners sought $10,000 for clearing the land and creating a baseball park. A year or two later, they sought $5000 for construction of suitable covered stands and bleachers. Playground equipment was set up in one area and became the Athletic Field playgrounds, the biggest and most heavily populated in town. All funds were provided by the town, the anticipated help from the land donors never having developed.

Meantime, the Great Depression descended in the 1930's, and with it troubles in the textile world, including the North and East Village mills of Slater Co. First the North Village plant was closed and then in 1935 the East Village finishing mill ended production -- and apparently also ended interest of the Slater family in the town. Soon The Knolls was closed for the last time as a Slater family home. In 1937, the house, barn, and vast acreage were purchased by Clarence A. Paradis to be used as a funeral home.

Few ever referred to the Athletic Field as Morris Hunt Slater Park -- the name under which appropriations appeared in town meeting. It was after World War II that the gift-acres were really developed for the use of the whole community. A field house, football field, and bleachers were added at the upper level as a Memorial to those who served in the war. Later lights were added so that night football could be played. (The town also took from the Slaters by eminent domain land and beach at Second Island, where a bathhouse and other improvements were made and the name changed to Memorial Beach in memory of all from the town who served in all wars. It was Laurence Daly, editor of the TIMES, who sparked this effort because of the many references to Second Island in letters which came from boys in the service.)

The new owner of the Knolls did not need all the land for his purposes, and first sold acreage on the west side, toward Slater street, to various business firms who established dairy bar, grocery store, drug store, garage, automobile showroom, package store. Meanwhile, streets were cut into what had once been meadowland, these connecting eventually with Thompson road. About 1960, most of the land to the east of the home was sold, and the town's first "shopping center" of two stores with great parking space was built.

Many years before, "The Hermitage" at the curved intersection of East Main, Route 16, Worcester road and Pond streets, had been sold as a private dwelling and converted into apartments. Today, the once beautiful home which had been set off with a curving iron fence, is almost obscured by gas station, diner, and other establishments. This house had been the residence of Samuel Slater, founder of the mills here and acknowledged "father of the American Textile industry."

That is the saga of The Knolls -- owned for half a dozen years by the town before it was returned to the donors. Voters probably would never have said "Aye" if they could have looked ahead a quarter century to the heavily populated, extrememly valuable, commercial and residential section which has sprung up in the then-empty "Hollow", surrounding the part-time home of the Slater family. On the other hand, there's now all that tax revenue while the town still has the Memorial Athletic Field and Intermediate School on what was once our fair exchange -- Morris Hunt Slate Park.

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