A Newsletter for The Historical Society of Watertown Volume 1 tyf'' U* Shriek "TOWN CRIER GETS NEW LIFE”

It gives us great pleasure to In addition to the new resume the publication of The equipment, we have had an influx of Watertown Historical Society's new members and volunteers who are newsletter, "TOWN CRIER" now working together to produce For those who remember, it has been this publication. a number of years since the last The new Editor is Joyce Kelly issue. and the new Assistant Editor is This lapse was due to the lack Marguerite Norton. Due to their of funds and the necessity of using energy and expertise we believe it outside contractors to typeset and will be successful. print it. If you have any facts of We owe a great deal of thanks general interest or memories of to the Boyajian family, proprietors historic relevance pertaining to of Real Estate 109 in Belmont for Watertown, send your comments to their generous donation of a Joyce or Marguerite at: [personal computer. The Society has purchased a Editor - Town Crier laser printer which gives us the 28 Marshall St ability to produce the newsletter Watertown, MA 02172 ourselves. or call and leave a message at 617-923-6067. WALTHAM/WATERTOWN JOIN FORCES

For the benefit of those members who are unable to attend the public meetings we will be including a summary of their agendas.

The Watertown Historical Society and the Waltham Historical Society jointly sponsored a program at the Gore Estate in Waltham on September 19, 1994. Featured speaker was Robert Charles Anderson, a genealogist and lecturer of national reputation.

Pictured: Robert Charles Andersen Continued on Page 2 W/W JOIN FORCES :ncinued frca Page 1 Robert Anderson, a resident of Derry, New Hampshire, is a Certified Genealogist who includes among his major areas of interest seventeenth century New England. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists (FASG) and a Fellow of the Utah Genealogical Association (FUGA). He is project director of the Great Migration Study Project of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and is Coeditor of The American Genealogist. Mr. Anderson gave a talk subdivided into "The Great "HISTORICAL Migration to New England" and "Watertown Farms". Between 1620 and SOCIETY GETS 1643, about 20,000 men, women and children crossed the Atlantic to AUTOMATED" settle in New England. For a century and a half, genealogists The Watertown Historical have been studying these families. Society is delighted to announce "The Great Migration" was a lecture the receipt of an IBM Personal about all that is in print ibout Computer consisting of an XT the settlers of that period. central processing unit and a The land known as "Watertown display terminal. Farms" is now located in the town This was kindly donated by of Weston and Mr. Anderson Technical Development Corporation^ recounted its history. After the through the Nonprofit Computer^ meeting, all attending had a free Connection (NCC) . NCC is a tour of the first floor of the technical assistance program magnificent Gore Mansion. helping nonprofit organizations use information technology effectively. The Council of the Watertown The Historical Society received Historical Society has taken great this gift by dint of being a pride in bringing to all members of nonprofit organization and meeting the general public a truly several other requirements. educational series of programs Due to the fortuitous donation which are of a very high quality, from the Boyaj ian family of a Q four times a year since our central processing unit, display conception in 1888. monitor and dot matrix printer, we A very small but very have greatly expanded our dedicated group of people capabilities. constantly drive the quality of Since we are strictly a non­ these programs upward. These people profit organization, our existence plan the future agenda and select depends on donations from generous the speakers, meeting places and sources such as these. times. For everyone who attends, These computers will help there is always a most impressive immeasurably in the large amount of selection of sandwiches, desserts record keeping required by and beverages. Recognition for cataloguing membership listing, their efforts comes long overdue. inventory and, of course, our The Watertown Historical newsletter. gm Society gratefully appreciates the All these, many previously efforts of Claudette Brennan, handled manually, can now be Sigrid Reddy Watson and Helene accomplished far more quickly, and Dousa who have made this all- also more legibly than was important difference. heretofore possible. This was an expensive necessity and your response was most generous, however, we still had to draw on the Society's capital for the balance of the endeavor and must replace much needed seed money Consequently, we are still happily accepting any donations Please send your donations to: ROOF APPEAL The 28 Marshall St RAIN ON THE ROOF Watertown, MA 02172

In 1993, the Historical Society launched an appeal to the citizens of our community for help in preserving the roof at the Edmund Fowle House. Due to many spring storms, the leaks were endangering the structure of the house itself NEW MEMBERS as well as our collections of papers, paintings and furnishings. This past year has brought Due to our lapse in many new members to the Historical publication of this newsletter, we Society: would like to extend a late thank you to all who reached out to help Pauline Alane US : Greg Sc Becky Aylaian Diana Baccari Ruth Arena Philip H. Boyajian Jr. Gertrude L. Barker Sonia V. Boyajian Harold & Evelyn Bejcek Janet D. Bunbury Scientific Corp. Marie K. Driscoll Claudette L. Brennan Jim & Mary Fahey Gurdon S . Buck Peter Fleming Sally Dias Allen F. Gallagher Helene Dousa Zevart M. Hollisian Florence Gannam Lillian Katsikas Joseph E. Hyde Eleanor R. Keiger Florence Jones Joyce M. Kelly Marguerite Jones Sesha Konda Mrs M. G. Knowles Mr Sc Mrs John Lund Douglas Locke Bill McCarthy Mr Donald MacDonald Jr. Lucy Nargozian Mrs Donald MacDonald Jr. Marguerite I. Norton Dolores McCall Louise & Robert Pickett Evelyn McGowan John Paul Pirolli E. Joyce Munger Kenneth S . Rand Harold N. Murphy Ruth M. Roche Charles W. Neuhauser Alice Rowan Foster M. Palmer Joan P. Sama Leota Pitman Rep. Warren Tolman Robert P. Quinn Helene Tuchman Barbara Roscoe Irene Tuttle Sigrid Reddy Watson Theodora E . Waring J. Malcolm Whitney Katherine M. Wolff We welcome them all and hope Jack Sc Ida Zollo they will derive much pleasure from Barbara J. Zade their association with us. MARRIAGE CLAIMS CARETAKER

The Watertown Historical Society bids farewell to the caretaker of the Edmund Fowle House, James J. Lee III. James recently announced his plans uu i^e married in iVi*5 ana decided to relocate sometime before the event. 899-3180 The Society chose Mr. Lee for the • position of caretaker in September of 1993 after reviewing a WE RE PLANNING A YARD SALE! large number of resumes and interviewing many candidates. We all have old things lying The many duties of the around in the basement collecting caretaker included monitoring dust: dishes, discarded lamps, conditions of the building small furniture and appliances, structure, maintaining the property unused Christmas gifts, etc. both inside and outside and opening Here is your chance to discard and/or closing the house for those superfluous items and help special events or meetings. your Society at the same time. James was chosen for his The Watertown Historical extensive education and experience. Society is planning to have a yard He is a graduate of Boston sale sometime this fall (contingent University with a Master of Arts in on the response) and would greatly Preservation Studies. His focus was appreciate anything you could on Building Conservation and donate for this event. Preservation Planning. He nlso has We have volunteers willing t ^ a Bachelor of Arts in History from come to your house to pick up an^P Hobart College. items you cannot bring here to the Edmund Fowle House yourself. He has done work for the Because of the large amount of Building work involved in organizing this Conservation Branch in the sale, such as categorizing, Charlestown Navy Yard working on pricing, storage of items, etc., we various preservation and ask that all products are clean and restoration projects. in working order. James monitored interior and All proceeds will go to the exterior areas of the Edmund Fowle Historical Society. House and did surveys of existing We will notify you later as to conditions which helped in our long the date and time of the sale. term understanding of the Please call Joyce Kelly at structure. 923 -9318 to arrange a date and His presence and knowledge time for the transfer of your will be sorely missed. donations.

PERKINS TOUR

On March 22, 1995 at 10:30 A.M. the Senior Center will turn their shuttle into the driveway of the Perkins School for the Blind. Research Librarian Kenneth Stuckey will give a full tour Watertown's most dignified institution. Don ' t miss i t ! . Call 923-6067 today! HISTORICAL SOCIETY AWARDS The Historical Society Award and $100.00 was awarded to Each year the Watertown Watertown High senior, Thomas Lee. Historical Society presents awards to students who show outstanding abilities in the study of history. The Charles T. Burke Award is named for a former v o^e^ident of our Society. Mr. Burke donated time and money generously to the support of child development programs: the Free Public Library, the church, and the Boy Scouts of America just to name a few. The Historical Society Award is awarded to students outstanding in the study of history. Our society has been giving this award for many years and relies heavily on the recommendation of Mr. Richard Nadjarian who ^s the Director of the Department of History at Watertown High School. The Charles T. Burke Awaro and $100.00 was awarded to Brian Leblanc. In 1993 Brian approached the Historical society for information about the "old burial grounds". His Thomas was the best of his goal was to get the "old" Arlington class of 1994 in the study of Street Cemetery recognized as an history. He has been described as historic landmark by having it an exceptional student. He was a listed on the National Register of Pulitzer Prize recipient in the Historic Places. University of Massachusetts High Brian was an Eagle Scout School Journalism program for candidate and was required to earn minority students. In the Student his merits through community Advanced Placement program his top service. This was his chosen score of #5 allows him to skip some proj ect. grades in college. On his S.A.T.s he scored 750 out of a possible 800 in United States History. When presented with the check and a copy of Puritans at Bay, he was asked what he is considering pursuing in college. He simply responded "Journalism". We congratulate both of these people and wish them much luck in the future.

The Charles T. Burke Community Service Award is funded entirely by donors like you. If you would like to sponsor this award, in whole or Brian Leblanc is a graduate of in part, you may make your check The Commonwealth High School in payable to: Boston and is now attending the The Historical Society of Watertown University of Massachusetts. Prior C/0 Jack Zollo to his graduation, Brian was 28 Marshall St. awarded Eagle Scout status. Watertown, MA 02172 HISTORIC HOME TRIANGLE On May 18th the Senior Center invited the President of the Our friends at the Watertown Historical Society, Paul Brennan, Senior Center inspired a special to come and speak about our ancient series of tours throughout 1994. organization and what we do for the Thanks to their interest in community. After a short and historic Watertown, the Historical informative lecture the president! Society arranged to tour three of invited all interested to visit the* Watertown's most historic homes: Edmund Fowle House (c. 1740) conveniently located directly The Abraham Brown House across Marshall Street from the new c.1689! on October 26, 1994 Senior Center. The group was fascinated to The Edmund Fowle House c.1740 learn about Watertown's most on May 18, 1994 and historic home, once used during the Revolutionary War. This Building is The Colonel Thomas Rodman a museum about Watertown and is House c.1865 on July 13,1994. open for tours by appointment. Call 923-6067 today! This special tour series has been dubbed Watertown's Historic Home Triangle and has proven in itself

to be a fantastic education of \ local history through the visitation of three buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Properties. Our Society is very grateful to its new neighbors at the senior center for their suggestions and ideas. Now the general public will be able to visit these same properties simply by contacting our office at 923-6067. Tours can be arranged by groups of ten in advance. The following paragraphs are brief notes about the tours.

L "'JSSSti a very hot July 13th .lorning the senior shuttle turned into the U.S. Army Base known as •the . There are 33 acres left of the camp and it is presently listed as a Super Fund clean-up site preparing for its closure in September of this year. Thte*'group of 22 v;as greeted by the Director of Public Relations, Eric Horowitz and escorted to the commanding officer's magnificent quarters, otherwise listed as Building #111. The brick mansion was built by local mason Thomas L. French in 1865 at a completion cost of $63,500.00! The seniors were given a tour of all 27 rooms, passing 11 marble fireplaces, libraries, ball rooms, master's and servant's wings, along with its 7 The group of 25 tourists were acres of Frederick Law Olmstead warmly welcomed by curator Carol landscape. This building, along Garland, who captivated everyone with the remaininq Watertown with a very educational Arsenal, is a must for everyone presentation of the building's see . architectural and historical Call 923-6067 and mane an importance. appointment today! Descendents of the original owner lived in this building from ♦ 1689 until 1910, at which time the estate was turned over to the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities. The SPNEA used the as its first complete historic home restoration. The Browne House is also Watertown's oldest museum, and tours of the museum are free for the entire community. If you are interested about history in your own back yard, call 923-6067 and make an appointment today!

On the morning of October 26th the senior shuttle turned into the dirt driveway of 562 Main Street otherwise known as the Abraham Browne House. It is one of the ,oldest homes in the country. The back portion of this multi-period building is the original structure (first period c. 1689) erected by building its first owner, Captain Abraham Browne. Wat ^Historical Jiocieiu of platcrtofcm ^ Organize d 1888 ^ 28 Marshall, Street. Watertown. Massachusetts 02172 (617) 923-6067

THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WATERTOWN IS REQUESTING YOUR PARTICIPATION

TO EXPLAIN: We have in our possession a "NATIONALLY REGISTERED HISTORIC HOUSE" That is 250+ years old. In 1980, as part of the 350th celebration of the founding of Watertown, ve were able to open a portion of the house for public viewing.

GOAL: To continue the project of restoring the entire house and to expand our educational services.

BACKGROUND: We are a non-profit corporation, organized in 1888 and throughout its 100+ years has been staffed by people who are committed to preserving Watertown's rich history.

WILL YOU HELP US BY BECOMING A MEMBER?

MEMBERSHIP ENTITLES YOU TO:

**Four public programs per year. (March, May, September, November)

**Access to historical data housed in the library of The Edmund Fowle House. (By appointment only)

**Tours of The Edmund Fowle House. Open the 3rd Sunday of every month Hours: 1 to 4 P.M.

THE SOCIETY LOOKS FORWARD TO WELCOMING YOU AS A NEW MEMBER.

Application

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CLASSIFICATION OF MEMBERSHIP

INDIVIDUAL...... $ 10.00 _SP0NS0R...... $ 50.00 FAMILY...... $ 15.00 JLIFETIME...... $ 100.00 (one time payment) SENIORS/STUDENTS..$ 6.00 TAX DEDUCTIBLE CONTRIBUTION