Originally published in the Spring 1985 Framingham Historical & Natural History Society Newsletter by Steve Herring
This is the earliest known photograph showing Framingham’s Village Hall. This photo shows Miss Lucy Sanderson and her class posing in front of the columns at one end of Village Hall about 1855.
The original of this photo is a daguerreotype, the early photographic method where a negative image on glass is mounted in a case where, when viewed from the proper angle, a positive image can be seen. This is an unusual daguerreotype for its size and subject. It is an outdoor view, rather than the usual studio portrait, and twice the size of most daguerreotypes.
In 1855 the Village Hall was serving many town functions. In addition to the offices of town government, it housed the library, the Centre district school, and its basement was home for the Fire Department’s handtub. The building was 20 years old then. In 2016 we observed its 182nd anniversary.
Miss Sanderson taught in Framingham district schools from 1850 to 1858, and at the Centre District (#1) from 1852 to 1856. She was the adopted daughter of George Bullard (1798-1868) who was Town Treasurer at the time. In 1858 Miss Sanderson married William O. Cogswell of New Salem, N.H. For reasons unknown to us, she died a year later at the age of 26.
The children are not identified. Except for the odd style of their clothes and some extremely close haircuts, they could be children of today. There are probably many residents of Framingham today who great and great-great grandparents are in this picture.