William R. Austin
From William Dana Orcutt. Good Old Dorchester. (Cambridge, 1893), 451.
William R. Austin, at one time 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.
From: The Magazine of Horticulture, Botany, and All Useful …, Volume 30; Volume 1864 (Boston, 1864), 45-46.
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 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 con verted 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. Captain Austin is the inventor of this method of training standard dwarf pears, at least no one else is known who pursues it ; it seems to be in principle the same as that known as the Cordon Method, being that adopted and applied by the Rev. T. Collings Brehaut, at the gardens of Richmond House, Guernsey, to peach trees, on walls, and described as follows: — ” The trees have each three leaders laid in at an angle of forty five de grees, the spurs and successive growth on these spurs are slowly pinched in during summer; as soon as six leaves are developed on any shoot, these are pinched down to three; succeeding growth pinched in to two and one leaf respectively, the whole resembling a thick cord of leaves, shoots and fruit, whence the name cordon.” This mode is reported to be so successful, that, with Mr. Brehaut on the trees on the back wall, the peaches average three to each square foot As Capt. Austin adopted his method of training his pear trees without any knowledge of that of Mr. Brehaut, indeed, as is presumed, long prior thereto, he is as justly as any one entitled to the credit of the discovery, and it would be but paying a graceful tribute to his skill to identify him therewith, and thereby perpetuate a remembrance of the fact, by naming it the Austin Method. When Captain Austin first announced his method, and exhibited the trees that had been subjected to the treatment, doubts were expressed as to its value, and misgivings were indulged as to its permanent results ; it has now however stood the test of more than fifteen years’ experience, and whatever doubts may have once existed must have long since vanished in the presence of so brilliant success as has constantly attended its practice.
From the Dorchester section of: 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.
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. …