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Alfred T. Lilly was not originally from Florence. A Connecticut man, Lilly moved to Florence, Massachusetts in 1853 at the age of 40 to become the superintendent of the Nonotuck Silk Company — where he went on to serve as the company’s treasurer and general manager, eventually being made partner. Twenty years later, Lilly became a stockholder and director of the Florence Furniture Company and a founding director and the first president of the Florence Savings Bank.
In 1888, Alfred T. Lilly formed a Library Association along with nine of his friends. He deeded to the Association a piece of land in the center of Florence; Lilly also donated $5,000 for books and $12,500 to build the two-story stone-and-brick building modeled in the Richardson Romanesque style. Construction began in 1889, and library opened, with more than 5,000 books on its shelves, on May 7, 1890.
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Unfortunately, Alfred Lilly died on January 2, 1890, before seeing his project completed.
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