Forgotten Women: Biographical Sketches of Worcester Free Public Library's First Assistant Librarians

We have previously written about the founding and early years of the Worcester Free Public Library and recently introduced readers to the life of its first head librarian, Zephaniah Baker. Now is the time to highlight the lives of the first two assistant librarians who helped organize and maintain the library. These forgotten women, known during their tenure at the library as Miss Callina Barnes and Mrs. Z. Baker (hereafter known by her given name, "Frances," because we're focusing on her, not Zephaniah), deserve not only recognition for their work in our library's history but also for their lives beyond the library. Therefore, in honor of National Library Week, we invite you to enjoy the following post. 

Miss Callina Barnes

Callina "Calla" Barnes with her husband, Rowland Parker Pollard, June 16, 1874

Callina and her twin brother, Moses Barnes Jr., were born on December 7, 1831 in Dudley, Massachusetts to Eliza (Larned) Barnes and her husband Moses. Moses was previously married to a woman named Callina Ammidown Barnes, who died at the age of 30 in 1827, leaving Moses with an infant son, George. 

Callina Barnes was listed as being a pupil at the Nichols Academy in Dudley in 1850 and 1852, where Zephaniah Baker also attended school several years prior. By the 1855 Massachusetts state census, 23-year old Callina was listed as living with her parents, while her brother Moses was living in Worcester and working as a clerk. Callina's mother died in 1856 and her father Moses remarried (again) in 1858 to Aurelia M. Barber Rice, the widow of Erastus Rice. 

In early 1860, the Worcester Free Public Library board of directors first approved Zephaniah Baker as the head librarian of the newly established library, and then later approved Miss C. Barnes as assistant librarian, with a salary in the first year of $250 (half the salary of Zephaniah). The 1860 federal census lists Callina's occupation as librarian, and she is listed as living in a Worcester residence with several other people. She would be listed as a boarder at 15 Portland Street in 1861. Both Zephaniah and his assistant were credited by the Library Board of Directors in the First Annual Report of the Directors of the Free Public Library as having "discharged their duties with approved assiduity and fidelity" (1861, p. 5).

1860 Federal Census

The Worcester Almanac, Directory, and Business Advertiser for 1861, 1861

Callina's salary increased to $300 by the second year of her employment at the library (compared to Zephaniah's salary raise to $800). By the third year, it seems one of her primary responsibilities was assisting in the Circulating Department, because the second assistant librarian was responsible for working with the Green Library's collection. Callina would continue to serve as first assistant librarian until April 1866, when she resigned her position. It is not known what Callina immediately did after she left the library but the 1870 federal census lists Callina as having no occupation and living in Dudley with her father, Moses, and step-mother, Aurelia Barnes. As far as we can tell, Callina never worked again outside of her household responsibilities.

Callina Barnes married Rowland Parker Pollard on June 16, 1874 at the age of 42 in Chester, Vermont. Rowland was a 59-year-old farmer and widower of Mary Ann Shedd Pollard, who died in October 1873 of consumption. Incidentally, Mary Ann Shedd was the younger sister of Frances Maria Shedd (Baker), the former wife of Zephaniah Baker. Frances, of course, was also one of the Worcester Free Public Library's original assistant librarians. Small world, right?!

Marriage Record of Callina Barnes and Rowland Parker Pollard, June 16, 1874

Rowland had two adult children from his first marriage but Callina and Rowland had a son, Arthur, in November 1875. The 1880 federal census lists Callina's occupation as "keeping house," while Rowland is listed as being a farmer. 

Rowland died in 1899, at the age of 84 years. Callina and Arthur would continue to live together after selling the family farm and moving to several properties within Chester throughout the years as evidenced by the 1900, 1910, and 1920 federal censuses. By the 1920 census, 44-year-old Arthur was a postmaster who lived with his 88-year-old mother and a housekeeper. Arthur would eventually marry 29-year-old schoolteacher Cola M. Martin in July of that year. Callina Barnes Pollard died of valvular heart disease, with a contributing disease of senile degeneration, on December 28, 1920 at the age of 89 years. She was buried in the family plot at the North Street Cemetery in Chester.

Death Record for Callina Barnes Pollard, December 28, 1920

Mrs. Z. Baker, a.k.a. Mrs. Frances M. Baker, a.k.a. F. M. Baker, a.k.a. Frances Maria Shedd

Frances M. Baker - Mrs. Zephiniah [sic]: President 1880-1881, Officers of the Worcester Woman's Club, photo from circa 1880s 

Frances Maria Shedd was born on November 22, 1812 in Reading, Vermont, to Sally Mann Shedd and William P. Shedd. She was the oldest of seven children (including the aforementioned Mary Ann Shedd) but not much is known about her early life prior to her marriage. As we mentioned in our biographical blog post about Zephaniah Baker, Frances and Zephaniah married on June 1, 1840 in Chester, Vermont and eventually moved around the Northeast and later Ohio as Zephaniah ministered to different Universalist congregations.

In the early 1840s, Frances and Zephaniah lived in Canterbury, Connecticut. In 1842, Frances Baker published a couple of articles in the Samaritan, and Total Abstinence Advocate, a short-lived temperance newspaper based in Providence. Zephaniah was pro-temperance, in part because his father had suffered injuries during an accident caused by a drunk man, but it is not known whether Frances was in favor of temperance before she married Zephaniah. 

During this time, Frances also became the corresponding secretary of the Connecticut Anti-Slavery Society and wrote a letter that was published in the abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator. She also developed a high school for young ladies in Canterbury in 1845.

Select Young Ladies' School, Trumpet and Universalist Magazine, April 19, 1845

Frances wrote two children's books, including one titled Louisa Murray, and Other Stories, published in 1846.

Cover page of Louisa Murray, and Other Tales, 1846

Frances would also continue to write articles and poems for newspapers throughout her life, including a piece called "The Spirit's Mission," published in the Ohio-based The Anti-Slavery Bugle in 1851.

Excerpt from "The Spirit's Mission," The Anti-Slavery Bugle, December 6, 1851

The Second Assistant Librarian

Frances is first mentioned in the context of the library in the Second Annual Report of the Directors of the Free Public Library, when she is acknowledged for creating a Numerical Catalogue with "great care and neatness" for the benefit of the librarians. During the following year, she would commence a detailed cataloging of the Green Library and would finish the catalogue a couple of years later. 

Index to the Catalogue of the Books in the "Green Library" Department of the "Free Public Library, September 1, 1865

In 1867, Frances would be credited with creating the Second Supplement to the Circulating Department's catalogue. Future Head Librarian, Samuel Swett Green, would praise Frances on behalf of the Committee on the Reading Room in the Eighth Annual Report of the Directors of the Free Public Library, stating, "[The Committee] would express its entire satisfaction in regard to the superintendent of this department of the library by Mrs. Z. Baker, our accomplished First-Assistant Librarian, and congratulate the Board on having so able and faithful a servant" (1868, p. 30).  The Ninth Annual Report of the Directors of the Free Public Library would recount the observations by the "very efficient Assistant Librarian" of how the Green Library was used.  

Excerpt from The Ninth Annual Report of the Directors of the Free Public Library, 1869

Other Interests

Of course, Frances had many other interests besides her responsibilities as an Assistant Librarian at the public library. As previously mentioned, she believed in temperance and would speak at a public temperance meeting at Sons of Temperance Hall in 1863. She would also be on a committee of the Freedman's Relief Society to raise funds to support teachers of freed slaves.

Most notably, however, was her groundbreaking accomplishment of being one of the first two women elected to the Worcester school committee in 1868. As we previously noted, Frances was quite interested in education. Alas, she resigned her position in April 1869 due to unknown reasons.

School Committee, Worcester Evening Gazette, December 9, 1868

By September 1869, Frances moved onto the newest stage of her life: leaving the library to pursue other intellectual opportunities. First, Frances opened a new select school in the Insurance Block on Main Street.

Select School, Worcester Daily Spy, September 3, 1869

Then in December 1869, Frances became the secretary of the newly formed Worcester Woman's Suffrage Association. The 1870 federal census has Frances M. Baker living separately from her husband. At some point before 1873, she and Zephaniah divorced and while he eventually remarried, Frances never remarried.

Woman's Suffrage Association, Aegis and Gazette, January 1, 1870

Frances loved to give lectures and read aloud important papers on a variety of topics including biology, botany, and geology at meetings of the Worcester Natural History Society. 

City News, Worcester Daily Spy, February 10, 1874

In late 1872 Frances wrote a 5 1/2 page historical poem that she read at the centennial celebration of the founding of her hometown of Reading, Vermont.

Excerpt from Historical Poem by Frances Maria Shedd Baker from Centennial Celebration Together with a Historical Sketch of Reading, Windsor County, Vermont, 1874

Frances enjoyed traveling all over the world and then recounting her travels to attentive audiences at the Natural History Society and other Worcester organizations. For instance, she shared details of the "Glacier on the Stachine River" as seen during her Summer 1880 trip to Sitka, Alaska during a January 1881 meeting of the Natural History Society. She also talked about her trip to Scandinavia and Eastern Europe to the Young Ladies' Club of the Church of the Unity.

Passport Application for Frances M. Baker, May 28, 1878

Amusements, Meetings, &c., Worcester Daily Spy, January 11, 1883

Natural History Society, Worcester Sunday Telegram, November 23, 1890

In 1880, Frances joined the newly created Worcester Woman's Club, an association that was devoted to "mutual improvement in literary and social matters" (Worcester Daily Spy, March 21, 1881). Early meetings met in member's houses and members would present original papers on topics such as "Enlightened Motherhood" and "Electricity" (Worcester Evening Gazette, March 19, 1881). Frances would serve as the first president of the organization and would be posthumously honored years later at a 75th anniversary celebration of the club. As you can see below, one of the 1955 club members acted as Frances in a commemorative play and the club created a figurine meant to represent Frances as well.

Rehearsing Anniversary Play, Worcester Telegram, April 17, 1955

The Death of Frances M. Baker

Frances M. Baker returned to Worcester on August 10, 1891 but felt under the weather upon her arrival at the house of her friend, Mrs. Charles W. Smith, where she would be staying while in the city. Alas, her illness turned into pneumonia and she died on August 25, 1891 at the age of 78. Her obituary in the Worcester Daily Spy noted that she had last visited the Worcester Free Public Library two weeks prior. Her obituary in the Worcester Evening Gazette paid tribute to her brilliance, stating "if anyone wanted to know a quotation or an historical date, Mrs. Baker was pretty sure to have it at her tongue's end" (Worcester Evening Gazette, August 25, 1891). She was taken to Plymouth, Vermont, where she was buried in the Plymouth Notch Cemetery.

Conclusion

We hope you've enjoyed our post about Callina Barnes and Frances M. Baker - we actually think Frances had a much more fascinating life than Zephaniah Baker! For more information about the history of Worcester Public Library and its first head librarian, visit our previous blog posts.

Acknowledgements

A special thank you to Wendy Essery, the Library and Archives Manager at the Museum of Worcester, for helping us locate a photo of Frances M. Baker! We were positively giddy upon opening the scrapbook of the Officers of the Worcester Woman's Club and seeing the name of Frances M. Baker under the first photograph.

Sources:

"Amusements, Meetings, &c." (1883, January 11). Worcester Daily Spy, p. 1.

Baker, F. M. (1844, May 10). "Anti-Slavery in Canterbury." The Liberator, p. 1.

Baker, F. M. (1851, December 6). "The Spirit's Mission." The Anti-Slavery Bugle, p. 5.

"City News." (1874, February 2). Worcester Daily Spy, p. 1. 

Davis, G. A. (1874). Centennial Celebration Together with a Historical Sketch of Reading, Windsor County, Vermont. Steam Press.

"The Education of Freedmen." (1864, April 14). Worcester Daily Spy, p. 2.

"Frances Shedd Baker." (1891, August 25). Worcester Evening Gazette, p. 5. 

Free Public Library (1861). The First Annual Report of the Directors of the Free Public Library.

Free Public Library (1862). The Second Annual Report of the Directors of the Free Public Library.

Free Public Library (1863). The Third Annual Report of the Directors of the Free Public Library.

Free Public Library (1867). The Seventh Annual Report of the Directors of the Free Public Library.

Free Public Library (1869). The Ninth Annual Report of the Directors of the Free Public Library.

Gallina "Calla" Barnes Pollard. (2017). https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/180827168/gallina-pollard

"Local Notes." (1881, January 8). Worcester Evening Gazette, p. 2. 

Natural History Society (1890, November 23). Worcester Sunday Telegram, p. 4.

"An Old Teacher Gone." (1891. August 26). Worcester Telegram, p. 1.

Rehearsing Anniversary Play (1955, April 17). Worcester Telegram, p. 1D.

"School Committee." (1868, December 9). Worcester Evening Gazette, p. 2.

"School Matters." (1869, April 7). Worcester Daily Spy, p. 3.

"Select School." (1869, September 3). Worcester Daily Spy, p. 1. 

"Select Young Ladies' School." (1845, April 19). Trumpet and Universalist Magazine, p. 2. 

"Temperance Meeting." (1886, September 1). Worcester Daily Spy, p. 3.

"The Women's Club." (1881, March 19). Worcester Evening Gazette, p. 2.

"Women's Suffrage Association." (1870, January 1). Aegis and Gazette, p. 4.

The Worcester Almanac, Directory, and Business Advertiser for 1861. (1861). Henry J. Howland.