An Act of Incorporation was sought from the General Court
of Massachusetts, by a group of men, inhabitants of the Town of
Chelsea, wanting to establish an institution of learning for the
first class. Their wish was to give the children an education better
than usually obtained in ordinary schools. On March 12, 1835, the Act
was enacted by the General Court and authority was given to the
Chelsea group to incorporate under the name of the Winnisimmet
Academy.
In 1831, the Winnisimmet Land Company purchased the Williams
Farm and the Ferry. In 1835, the same company purchased the two
hundred and twenty acre Shurtleff farm. On September 14, 1835, Mark
Fealey of Boston, a trustee to the Winnisimmet Company, bought a lot
of land that was formerly part of the Shurtleff Farm. One of the most
beautiful locations and piece of property in the village, it
measured, on Central and Chester Avenue by 318 feet each side, and on
the Westerly or Shawmut Street side by 432 feet, to the hedge
covered, Easterly side, by 429 feet. Mark Fealey acquired this piece
of property for $3,500.00. The Winnisimmet Academy group, on May 1,
1837, purchased the land from Mr. Fealey for $7,345.00.
Plans were made for a building estimated to cost about
$15,000.00. The building was to be fifty feet long by thirty feet
wide, three stories high and made of brick, with a cupola on top.
Between the proposed Academy building and Shawmut Street a pond
existed. The area around the pond was to be landscaped into a grove
with trees and shrubbery. The entire grounds around the school were
to be beautifully landscaped with a vegetable garden in one corner
for the use of the Academy. The school was to have a laboratory for
chemical experiments, a lecture hall and a library among other
advances of that day. If the group was successful with the building
of the Academy, two more buildings were to be erected in the future,
to be used as dormitories, one for male students and one for female
students.
The cellar was partially dug and stone for it’s foundation
had been delivered but hard times had struck. Dreams of building the
ideal institution were suddenly shattered when the financial
“Panic of 1837” engulfed the area. The Academy group was
extremely effected. The “hard cash” rule was applied to
everyone, buyers and suppliers alike. All ordered stock and material
that could not be paid for cash on the line was immediately canceled.
All construction came to a complete halt.
The following year, a change was made in the board of
trustees. A determined effort was then made to revive the
construction. The community had been dealt such a hard financial
blow, that the effort proved futile. The old corporation went so
deeply in debt that the Academy project was abandoned. The next two
years the grounds were used for a flower garden and nursery.
At this time a group of citizens in the village area were
making demands of the Town, for a suitable and convenient location
for a burial place for their dead. The nearest burial grounds was
near the center {Revere}, a far travel from the village. The purchase
of Academy land was proposed to the Town, as a desirable location for
a burial place. At the next Town meeting, eight gentlemen were
appointed to process all cemetary land proposals. After due
consideration, the Winnisimmet Academy land, 3.1 acres, was chosen as
a pleasant and fitting spot for a rural, nonsectarian cemetary