Devoting a chapter to a man who had many and varied trades and accomplishments may seem strange and out of place in a book about the first railway. He was better known as the man who planned and built the Bunker Hill Monument; however, this was only one of his many achievements. His work in the granite industry took place not only during the construction of the monument but for many years after, right up to the time of his death.

During his early years at Quincy he purchased a quarry of his own which is known as the famous Wigwam quarry, and from this quarry the granite for many buildings was taken out by him. Because of his untiring efforts in the granite quarrying business he became known around Quincy as the "Father of the Granite Industry".

If you will recall, earlier in the book I said that the first railroad was built because a monument had to be built, thus the work of Willard in the granite business was very important, and I believe it was through his endeavors along these lines that prompted the Granite Railway Company to cease operations as a common carrier and go into the granite business which they did in 1829. From this it can be seen that he definitely became a part of the railroad from the beginning.

Upon the acceptance of his plans, purchase of the quarry at Quincy and his appointment as superintendent of the building project, he started work at once at the Bunker Hill Ledge in 1825.

In a letter written to the association Willard said; "The preparation at Quincy consisted of clearing and opening the quarry, making roads, erecting a boarding house (this being located near the ledge in order to save the men time getting to work, and the location of this house is believed to have been on the land at what is now 27 Bunker Hill Lane, Dick having located a foundation there), blacksmith shop, stone cutters shed, and other buildings, a timber run and machinery for lowering the stone." By referring to Figure 82, a map drawn by Dick, it shows the ledge area where the above operations were located, and it will be explained in more detail later on. To continue the letter; "There was a large quantity of quarrying apparatus wanted, consisting of jacks, iron bars, sledges, hammers, etc., the greater part of which are now on hand."

For his quarry foreman, Willard selected one Ezra Badger from New Hampshire who was well skilled in this field. He worked for Willard for many years and eventually purchased the Wigwam quarry, from Willard, which in turn was operated by his sons until they invented many tools and machinery for the granite business and built their own shops and plant which were located near the quarry. Figure 83 shows this, and its location today is separated by part of Willard Street.

The remains of some of the articles mentioned in Willard's letter have been uncovered by Dick during his excavations at the ledge. Through his ceaseless and untiring efforts at this original site, he has been able to uncover the evidence and many artifacts which prove without any doubt that this area and the Bunker Hill Ledge, with its two quarry locations, is where most of the granite for the monument was taken from as well as where the first railroad had its beginning. It would be well worth anyone's time to visit the area being worked on by Mr. Muzzrole. Without his efforts Willard's connection with the granite business and the first railroad would be more or less vague.

Quoting further from Willard's report to the association, he states; "At the Bunker Hill Ledge, large quantities of granite have been split in large blocks of dimension stone and delivered in the hammerers shed, (Number 6 in Figure 82) at 300 or 400 feet distant at 7/100 cents per cubic foot. The transportation of these rocks is considered nearly half the labor. There were forty-four blocks of stone of five tons weight each in the first course alone, and it was found that five tons was a little more than the average size of the stones composing this structure." From this it is easy to see that the job of splitting the stones and getting them on a wooden trestle by means of rollers and crowbars, then moving down the trestle to the sheds, the weight of the uncut stones probably six or seven tons in weight, was no small or easy task.

As told earlier, from the time Willard started getting the stones ready in 1825 until the railroad started its first run, he had 3000 tons dressed and ready to ship. This was accomplished in about six months' time. Quite an achievement and much credit to his workmen considering the methods, implements and terrain he had to work with.

The delays of the railroad caused Willard to look into the cost of using oxen teams, and his report states, "I find that the price of a team of four oxen, cart and driver, is $2.50 per day, and that 10½ cents per ton for carting the stone would cover a day's work." From these calculations, Willard arrived at the following estimates:

For quarrying the railstone - 5¢ per foot

Dressing and preparing them for work - 4¢ per foot

Hauling to line of road - 4¢ per foot

Opening quarries and making roads - 1¢ per foot

Everything Willard undertook in connection with the monument was done in this same manner, figured right down to the last penny. Thus it can be seen that he always considered saving money during the entire construction period.

From Willard's quarry, granite was furnished for the construction of many well-known buildings. A few of them were the Town Hall, First Parish Church, Faneuil Hall, State Prison, Custom House, Merchants Exchange and the old Court House.

After many years of work and his many services to Quincy, he finally built a house in West Quincy sometime during the 1850's. He didn't own the house long because, being a bachelor he didn't need a big house and sold it to a John Hussey, a stone cutter. However, he continued to live there until his death, occupying the room over the porch as a room and office. Figure 84 shows this house as it looked in 1883. The young lady in the picture was Mr. Hussey's daughter who was the mother of Miss Callahan, the librarian who loaned me this picture. This house was located very near the original railroad bed. Figure 85 shows the house as it looks today, the two structures at either end having been added at a later date. The house is located at what is now 107 Springfield Avenue.

Figure 86 shows the Willard Memorial erected in the Hall Place Cemetery in West Quincy. This was one of the columns quarried for the Merchants Exchange which was broken and retained by Willard.

An early sketch of the monument during the first stages of construction is shown in Figure 87, while Figures 88 through 90 are sketches of the monument during various stages of construction. Figures 91 and 92 are pictures of the types of jacks used by Willard. All pictures were taken from the Memoir of Solomon Willard and Willard's book, "Plans and Sections of the Obelisk".