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When the MBTA recently made an announcement that it would be closing the Quill Rotary in downtown Winchester to make repairs to the station, our readers couldn’t get over the fact that the town landmark had a name.
“Living in town and in the area for almost 65 years, I never knew that the rotary downtown had a name!!!” one resident posted on the Winchester Residents Facebook Page.
Well, it does. And we’re here to tell you who that person is.
The rotary in downtown Winchester, where Main, Mount Vernon and Church streets and Shore Road intersect is named after Henry F. Quill Jr., a native of the town.
And the rotary is actually named Henry F. Quill Jr. Circle.
According to “Winchester’s Historic, Commemorative and Memorial Signs & Markers” by Eagle Scout Benjamin Eid — written in August 2013 and posted at Winchester History Online — Henry Francis Quill Jr. was born to Henry Sr. and Margaret Quill in Winchester on Aug. 10, 1937.
A member of the Winchester High School’s Class of 1956, Quill attended Winchester Public Schools. Quill played guard on the undefeated 1955 Winchester High School football team and third base on the baseball team that won the Middlesex League championship.
Quill attended Boston College and later Suffolk University Law School, graduating in 1961 and 1967, respectively.
After law school, Quill went to work for the Cohen and Galvin law firm, where he specialized in probate affairs. After several years, Quinn came back to Winchester where he started Murray & Quill, P.C., with Lawrence Murray in 1971.
Quill and his wife, Elinor (Doherty), had seven children and were involved heavily in the community.
Quill served on the Park Board, as president of the Winchester Business Association (the Winchester Chamber of Commerce) and the Kiwanis Club, and as a director of the Baybank Winchester Trust Company. He also coached Little League baseball and girls soccer.
In 1972, Quill won the Outstanding Young Men of America Award, which was given each year to 8,000 men in America for outstanding service to their town and community.
Quill died on July 27, 1992, after suffering a heart attack while on vacation at Seabrook Beach in New Hampshire. He was 54.
In 1993, Spring Town Meeting voted to name the downtown rotary after Quill.
— Information courtesy of the Winchester Archival Center.
