James Francis Clark Hyde (July 26, 1825 – May 2, 1898) was a
politician who was the first
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
of
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...
, USA.
Born in 1825, James Francis Clark Hyde was the seventh in line of descent from Newton's fifth permanent settler, Jonathan Hyde (whose first wife Mary died in 1672, marked by the oldest grave-marker in the old burying ground on Centre Street in Newton).
Hyde was mayor for two terms and was selectman for sixteen years, as well as a member of the school committee, a trial judge and a justice of the peace. He was a founding member in 1872 of the
Newton Highlands Congregational Society and was a deacon for 25 years.
He was a director of the Newton National Bank.
In order to bring public transport options to the growing suburbs, he was an active proponent of the
Highland branch
The Highland branch, also known as the Newton Highlands branch, was a suburban railway line in Boston, Massachusetts. It was opened by the Boston and Albany Railroad in 1886 to serve the growing community of Newton, Massachusetts. The line was ...
of the Circuit Railway which opened in Newton Highlands in 1886.
While his professional interests were mainly in banking and insurance, Hyde was also intrigued by botany. He demonstrated an avid interest in experiments in cultivation at the Walnut Grove Nursery, which had been started by his father James at their property at the corner of Centre and Cushing Streets, between Newton Highlands and Newton Centre. He chaired the Fruit Committee of the
Massachusetts Horticultural Society
The Massachusetts Horticultural Society, sometimes abbreviated to MassHort, is an American horticultural society based in Massachusetts. It describes itself as the oldest formally organized horticultural institution in the United States. In its m ...
and was president of that society for several years.
In 1857, he published a paper on growing, harvesting and distilling
sorghum
''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...
, a gluten-free grain. This crop became popular for cultivation by abolitionists and free state farmers as an alternative sugar source without relying on plantation methods.
A few years before his death, a school named in his honor was built on Lincoln Street, in Newton Highlands, opening in 1895, and designed by architects
Hartwell and Richardson
Hartwell and Richardson was a Boston, Massachusetts architectural firm established in 1881, by Henry Walker Hartwell (1833–1919) and William Cummings Richardson (1854–1935). The firm contributed significantly to the current building stock and ...
. The Hyde Grammar School was in a distinctly
Romanesque style, with a broad slate hipped roof, projecting pavilions and round arched entrances. Texture was added through the decoration of bold patterns in red and buff brickwork on the front façade. A second substantial school building, the Hyde School Annex, was added in 1907 designed in a neo-classical style by the architects Coolidge & Carlson.
Following a fire in April 1981 which destroyed the distinctive roof of the original school, the building was substantially renovated and converted to housing. The gymnasium built in 1967 is now called the Hyde Community Center.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hyde, James F. C.
1825 births
Mayors of Newton, Massachusetts
1898 deaths
19th-century American politicians