The Dorchester Cotton and Iron Company was incorporated July 4, 1811. It purchased a mill privilege from James Boies, who was hired as the company agent. Boies lived near Mattapan Square. He served until 1822, when Enoch Baldwin was appointed.
Enoch Baldwin served as agent for the Dorchester Cotton and Iron Company from 1822 until 1836, when he resigned, and Hananiah Temple became the new agent.
Baldwin built the house at 58 River Street for his own use, probably in 1831. In 1847, Baldwin sold his house to Hananiah Temple, who had replaced him as agent at the cotton company.
Temple was one of the first Directors of the Dorchester and Milton Bank, when it was formed in 1832. He was elected Cashier in 1832 and served in that position until 1836. In 1848 Temple became the President of the bank and served in that position until 1853.[1]
In 1860 Temple sold the house to Spencer Warren Johnson, proprietor of a boot and shoe store in Milton. Johnson’s daughter Lydia was an assistant in the local primary school.
Enoch Baldwin entry 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)
The Boston Directory for 1841 listed Baldwin’s occupation as president of the Shoe & Leather Dealers Bank
Worth: $100,000
Began with small means. Agent for a factory near the Lower Mills in this town, and President of the Shoe and Leather Dealers’ Bank in Boston. Sets a high value on money.
This book purports to include the names of men who were “very wealthy,” defined as a reputed net worth of at least $50,000.
The wealth of the 45 men listed for Dorchester ranges from $50,000 to $500,000 and is distributed as follows:
$50,000 15
$75,000 6
$100,000 14
$150,000 2
$200,000 6
$400,000 1
$500,000 1
The combined worth of all 45 totals $5,000,000
To get a sense of the meaning of this level of wealth, one could look at the life of Marshall P. Wilder on this website. His reputed worth as reported in this book was $100,000.
It is interesting that Dover, a town now considered wealthy, boasted not one entry in 1851, while Medway had one entry and Medfield two entries. Milton, a town next to Dorchester, had 10 men with a total net worth of $1,600,000. Cambridge had 37 men with a total worth of $5,200,000.
From the Introduction: Upon the announcement than an individual is in possession of a large fortune, we naturally inquire, “How did he come by it? Was it by inheritance, or marriage, or both? Or, was the present man of wealth once obliged to toil for his daily bread like the thousands who now marvel at his possessions? If his property came by his own exertions, what is the man? What are his strong traits of character? How did he manage? Did any one great circumstance, aside from his natural abilities, favor him? In what business did he grow rich? Has he done, or is he likely to do, much good in the world in consequence of his riches? These are the questions which naturally suggest themselves to us in reference to the wealthy of any place, and these are questions which we have attempted to answer in reference to a very large number of wealthy men in Massachusetts. Our leading object has been to furnish encouragement to the young, from the contemplation of success resulting from a s suitable combination of those sterling qualities, Perseverance, Energy, Carefulness, Economy, Integrity, Honesty. Another very prominent object with us has been, to excite in the minds of the wealthy, and of all who shall become such, greater attention to the importance of an enlarged system of Benevolence. …
[1] Albert Kendall Teele. The History of Milton, Mass., 1640 to 1887. (1887), 309.