William R. Austin, 1807-1878, and Catherine Downer Austin, d. 1848
no. 23786
Tomb 364
W.R. Austin
Ann Catherine, daughter of Saml. Downer & wife of W. R. Austin, died October 25, 1848, aged 39, removed to this tomb Oct. 26, 1870
Catherine Austin Baxter. Aug. 13, 1832. Feb. 9, 1889
Samuel Downer Autsin, July 14, 1845, Nov. 10, 1898
Wm. R. Austin, born April 6, 1807, died Autust 13, 1878 He giveth his beloved sleep.
Lydia H., widow of Wm R. Austin, November 27, 1815, December 28, 1899
Catherine Austin, July 27, 1892, 4 m., 14 d.
William R. Austin was a “native of Stoughton. In boyhood, went to sea with his uncle, and shared some severe perils of the ocean with him; became master of a ship, and a merchant, when quite young; left the sea, and went into the oil business with his father-in-law, Samuel Downer, where he made his property. William at one time the treasurer of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, had a pear orchard which became celebrated for the size and beauty of its fruits, produced by pruning the trees into the shape of a wine-glass.”
“A mode of training dwarf pear trees, so far as is known unique in itself and peculiar to its inventor, has been adopted by one of the most extensive and most skilful cultivators of them in this vicinity, who, as often as any other grower, has succeeded in bearing away from his competitors the first prizes at our annual exhibitions ; an associate, and long an honored and trusted officer of this Society, in a situation of much responsibility; that, from the success that has attended it, should, as an act of justice to him, and for the benefit of its members, be brought particularly to the notice of the Society. The method referred to being that invented and practised [sic]by Captain William R. Austin of Dorchester. Captain Austin trains his trees, as he calls it himself, in a wine glass form ; they have a naked stem about two feet in length, that then divides into four or five main limbs, also trained uprightly ; from these main limbs, as fast as they appear, all side growth is at once removed, that by this means are converted into fruit spurs, and the fruit being borne on these spurs directly on the main limb, such being upright, easily support the weight, and the necessity of tying up or supporting the limbs to prevent being broken or weighed down by the fruit as when borne on the side shoots, is avoided.” Source: The Magazine of Horticulture, Botany, and All Useful Discoveries and Improvements in Rural Affairs.Volume 30; Volume 1864 (Boston, 1864), 45-46.
William was listed in The Rich Men of Massachusetts: Containing a Statement of the Reputed Wealth of about Fifteen Hundred Persons, with Brief Sketches of More than One Thousand Characters. By A. Forbes and J.W. Greene. (Boston: Published by W.V. Spencer, 1851).
William R. Austin
Worth: $50,000
Native of Stoughton. In boyhood, went to sea with his uncle, and shared some severe perils of the ocean with him; became master of a ship, and a merchant, when quite young; left the sea, and went into the oil business with his father-in-law, Samuel Downer, where he made his property.