DOCSLIB.ORG

Contents Officers

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Contents Officers The Proceedings of the Cambridge Historical Society, Volume 40, 1964-1966 Contents Officers 5 PAPERS The Devil and Daniel Shays BY ROBERT A. FREER 7 Boston Woven Hose and Rubber Company: Eighty-Four Years In Cambridge BY ALDEN S. FOSS 23 The Middlesex Canal BY BRENTON H. DICKSON 43 Lydia's Conversion: An issue in Hooker's Departures BY NORMAN PETIT 59 Robert Frost of Brewster Village BY ERASTUS H. HEWITT 84 The Discovery of the Charles River by the Vikings According to the Book of Horsford BY WENDELL D. GARRETT 94 Behind the Scenes at 47 Workshop BY ELIZABETH W. BOLSTER 110 Jonathan Sewall: A Lawyer in Conflict BY HILLER B. ZOBEL 123 Seventy-Five Years of Continuing Education: The Prospect Union Association BY ZELDA LIONS AND GORDON W. ALLPORT 137 A Historical Perspective BY DAVID B. POTTS 159 Annual Reports 162 Members 167 The Cambridge Historical Society LIST OF OFFICERS FOR 1964-1966 1964 President Mr. William L. Payson Honorary Vice-President Miss Lois Lilley Howe Vice-Presidents Mr. Richard C. Evarts Mr. Richard W. Hall Mrs. Robert W. Harwood Secretary Mrs. Charles S. Jeffrey Treasurer Mr. Alden S. Foss Honorary Curator Mrs. Henry H. Saunderson Curator Mrs. George W. Howe Editor Mr. Wendell D. Garrett 1965 President Mr. Richard C. Evarts Vice Presidents Mr. Charles Conrad Wright Mr. Hollis G. Gerrish Mrs. Robert W. Harwood Secretary Mrs. Charles S. Jeffrey Treasurer Mr. Alden S. Foss Honorary Curator Mrs. Henry H. Saunderson Curator Mrs. George W. Howe Editor Mr. Wendell D. Garrett 5 1966 President Mr. Richard C. Evarts Vice-Presidents Mr. Charles Conrad Wright Mr. Foster McC. Palmer Mrs. Robert W. Harwood Secretary Mrs. Charles S. Jeffreyy Treasurer Mr. Alden S. Foss Honorary Curator Mrs. Henry H. Saunderson Curator Mrs. George W. Howe Editor Mr. Wendell D. Garrett MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL 1964 Mrs. Charles S. Bolster Mr. Robert G. Henderson Mr. Hollis G. Gerrish Miss Penelope B. Noyes Mrs. Charles Chauncey Gray Mr. Charles Conrad Wright 1965 Mrs. Charles S. Bolster Miss Penelope B. Noyes Mrs. Richard W. Hall Mr. Foster McC. Palmer Mrs. Charles Chauncey Gray Mr. Hartwell Pond 1966 Mr. Oakes I. Ames Mrs. Richard W. Hall Miss Eleanor R. Appel Mrs. Ralph May Mrs. Charles Chauncey Gray Mr. Hartwell Pond 6 The Devil and Daniel Shays BY ROBERT A. PEER S children grow up, they change in many ways. But one important characteristic of A ​ childhood​ is never lost. Most people, of whatever age, sex, or description, retain one childish trait throughout their lives: the tendency to look for scapegoats, the effort to blame everything which goes wrong on someone else, the desire, the desperate desire, to find simple explanations for complex happenings — in short, to believe in the devil theory of history. When a child is doing badly in his school work, the explanation may be a combination of several factors —he may be physically unwell; he may be distracted because his parents are constantly quarreling; he may be insecure and intensely jealous of his brothers and sisters. But the child will have one very simple explanation for his poor showing in school: "Mommy, the teacher doesn't like me." And so, the child explains history in terms of the devil, the devil in this case having taken the shape of the teacher. And so it is with adults. In the late 1940's and early 1950's, it was fashionable in some circles to blame the Communist triumph in China on Harry Truman. Never mind the corruption of Chiang Kai-shek and the unwillingness of Chinese peasants to fight for a government which was doing nothing for them; never mind the military strength of the Communists or the hopes of a better future which the Communists held out to the Chinese. Never mind these and many other factors which account for the Communist victory; blame it all on Harry Truman. 7 Or, to take another example of the devil theory of history, the sit-in demonstrations, which have done so much to help win freedom for the American Negro, developed as a result of many factors ranging all the way from the adoption of the Declaration of Independence a century and three-quarters earlier to the sacrifices which Negro Americans made in World War n to defeat German and Japanese racism. And yet, in 1960, Harry Truman —the same Harry Truman who had himself been the victim of the devil theory of history a few years earlier — explained the sit-in demonstrations by recourse to the devil. The sit-ins, he proclaimed, were engineered by the Communists! Blaming the devil is hardly new, however. Shays's Rebellion, which took place in western Massachusetts shortly after the American Revolution, has frequently been blamed upon the devil. What form did the devil take in Massachusetts during the winter of 1786— 1787 as farmers in western counties attacked the courts and the jails in order to keep from losing their farms to mortgage holders? It all depends upon which devil theory you care to accept, for two different devil theories have been developed to explain Shays's Rebellion. According to one version, Shays's Rebellion was the work of Tories; according to another, it was brought about by conservative Boston businessmen. Soon after Shays's Rebellion broke out late in the summer of 1786, the Boston town meeting adopted a resolution which put the matter simply and directly: "We are convinced that the present disturbances, arise from British Emissaries residing Among us, whose 1 every wish is for our Overthrow and ruin." ​ At about the same time, a newspaper editor ​ commented concerning the armed attacks on courts, "I do seriously believe them to be excited, supported and encouraged by the emissaries of that nation to which we were formerly subject. They could not conquer us in the field, and they mean now to attempt our disturbance and ruin by exciting commotions, which tend to destroy the energy of our 2 government and render it contemptible." And​ so it went, with many ​ 1 ​ Boston Town Records, 1784 to 1796 (Boston, 1903), p. 131. 2 ​ Hampshire Gazette, Sept. 20, 1786. ​ 8 Americans, some of whom should have known better, blaming Shays's Rebellion on agents provocateurs sent into western Massachusetts by the British and by their American allies, the Tories. It is sometimes difficult for the historian to prove that something was not being done. But, in this case, all of the available evidence makes it quite plain that neither Tories nor British agents were plotting or abetting a rebellion in Massachusetts. Thomas Clarke, a local politician and representative to the General Court from Roxbury, wrote to Governor James Bowdoin early in September 1786, telling him about a neighbor in Roxbury who had a friend fifty miles away in Worcester County whose acquaintance had 3 asked him to sign "a petition to the Parliament of Great Britain." ​ This, according to Clarke, ​ proved that British agents were responsible for Shays's Rebellion. Bowdoin asked a confidant in Worcester County whose loyalty he trusted to look into the matter. No evidence of Tory troublemakers was uncovered, and the matter was dropped. This is typical of the flimsy evidence offered by those who argued that British and Tory agents provocateurs had started the Rebellion.4 ​ The letters and diaries of Tories and British officials fail to uncover any plot against the government of Massachusetts. Just the opposite — their writings suggest that they had not heard of any such plot and would not have wanted to become involved even if the suggestion had been made to them. By the mid-1780's, most Tories had already faced up to the fact of American independence and were anxious to resume normal relations with their neighbors. And British diplomatic agents in America were convinced by the winter of 1786-1787 that the United States was here to stay and that it would be more realistic to try to get along with the new government than to hope for its collapse. Phineas Bond, who was appointed British consul for the middle 3 ​ Thomas Clarke to James Bowdoin, Roxbury, Sept. 8, 1786 (Massachusetts Archives, Vol. cxc, fol. 238). 4 ​ For other reports of suspected Tory activity, see the following: Artemus Ward to James Bowdoin, Shrewsbury, Sept. 12, 1786 (Mass. Archives, Vol. CXC, fol. 252); Elbridge Gerry to Rufus King, Cambridge, ​ ​ ​ Oct. 29, 1786 (Rufus King Papers, New-York Historical Society); Hampshire Gazette, Oct. 18, Nov. 8, 1786. 9 states in April of 1786 and arrived in Philadelphia the following autumn, had no fondness for the United States. He suggested opening a free port in the Bahamas from which the Spanish West Indies could be supplied, thus cutting off American trade and her most important source of specie. He helped smuggle back to England some textile machines which enterprising Americans had sneaked out of that country. And he suggested "very discreet and careful management" to encourage Americans to migrate to Canada. But he never proposed stirring up internal disorders or using secret agents to overturn American governments. Indeed, soon after his arrival in this country, Bond was convinced that Britain should prefer stable governments in America to weak ones.5 ​ Throughout these years, Governor Bowdoin maintained an active correspondence with several British citizens who were sympathetic to the new American governments and who would likely have heard of any schemes of the British government to regain the lost colonies. John Temple, who came to the United States as British consul general, happened to be Bowdoin's son-in-law and was on good terms with the Massachusetts governor.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Merchants and the Origins of Capitalism
    Merchants and the Origins of Capitalism Sophus A. Reinert Robert Fredona Working Paper 18-021 Merchants and the Origins of Capitalism Sophus A. Reinert Harvard Business School Robert Fredona Harvard Business School Working Paper 18-021 Copyright © 2017 by Sophus A. Reinert and Robert Fredona Working papers are in draft form. This working paper is distributed for purposes of comment and discussion only. It may not be reproduced without permission of the copyright holder. Copies of working papers are available from the author. Merchants and the Origins of Capitalism Sophus A. Reinert and Robert Fredona ABSTRACT: N.S.B. Gras, the father of Business History in the United States, argued that the era of mercantile capitalism was defined by the figure of the “sedentary merchant,” who managed his business from home, using correspondence and intermediaries, in contrast to the earlier “traveling merchant,” who accompanied his own goods to trade fairs. Taking this concept as its point of departure, this essay focuses on the predominantly Italian merchants who controlled the long‐distance East‐West trade of the Mediterranean during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Until the opening of the Atlantic trade, the Mediterranean was Europe’s most important commercial zone and its trade enriched European civilization and its merchants developed the most important premodern mercantile innovations, from maritime insurance contracts and partnership agreements to the bill of exchange and double‐entry bookkeeping. Emerging from literate and numerate cultures, these merchants left behind an abundance of records that allows us to understand how their companies, especially the largest of them, were organized and managed.
    [Show full text]
  • Seeking a Forgotten History
    HARVARD AND SLAVERY Seeking a Forgotten History by Sven Beckert, Katherine Stevens and the students of the Harvard and Slavery Research Seminar HARVARD AND SLAVERY Seeking a Forgotten History by Sven Beckert, Katherine Stevens and the students of the Harvard and Slavery Research Seminar About the Authors Sven Beckert is Laird Bell Professor of history Katherine Stevens is a graduate student in at Harvard University and author of the forth- the History of American Civilization Program coming The Empire of Cotton: A Global History. at Harvard studying the history of the spread of slavery and changes to the environment in the antebellum U.S. South. © 2011 Sven Beckert and Katherine Stevens Cover Image: “Memorial Hall” PHOTOGRAPH BY KARTHIK DONDETI, GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN, HARVARD UNIVERSITY 2 Harvard & Slavery introducTION n the fall of 2007, four Harvard undergradu- surprising: Harvard presidents who brought slaves ate students came together in a seminar room to live with them on campus, significant endow- Ito solve a local but nonetheless significant ments drawn from the exploitation of slave labor, historical mystery: to research the historical con- Harvard’s administration and most of its faculty nections between Harvard University and slavery. favoring the suppression of public debates on Inspired by Ruth Simmon’s path-breaking work slavery. A quest that began with fears of finding at Brown University, the seminar’s goal was nothing ended with a new question —how was it to gain a better understanding of the history of that the university had failed for so long to engage the institution in which we were learning and with this elephantine aspect of its history? teaching, and to bring closer to home one of the The following pages will summarize some of greatest issues of American history: slavery.
    [Show full text]
  • Concord River Diadromous Fish Restoration FEASIBILITY STUDY
    Concord River Diadromous Fish Restoration FEASIBILITY STUDY Concord River, Massachusetts Talbot Mills Dam Centennial Falls Dam Middlesex Falls DRAFT REPORT FEBRUARY 2016 Prepared for: In partnership with: Prepared by: This page intentionally left blank. Executive Summary Concord River Diadromous Fish Restoration FEASIBILITY STUDY – DRAFT REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Project Purpose The purpose of this project is to evaluate the feasibility of restoring populations of diadromous fish to the Concord, Sudbury, and Assabet Rivers, collectively known as the SuAsCo Watershed. The primary impediment to fish passage in the Concord River is the Talbot Mills Dam in Billerica, Massachusetts. Prior to reaching the dam, fish must first navigate potential obstacles at the Essex Dam (an active hydro dam with a fish elevator and an eel ladder) on the Merrimack River in Lawrence, Middlesex Falls (a natural bedrock falls and remnants of a breached dam) on the Concord River in Lowell, and Centennial Falls Dam (a hydropower dam with a fish ladder), also on the Concord River in Lowell. Blueback herring Alewife American shad American eel Sea lamprey Species targeted for restoration include both species of river herring (blueback herring and alewife), American shad, American eel, and sea lamprey, all of which are diadromous fish that depend upon passage between marine and freshwater habitats to complete their life cycle. Reasons The impact of diadromous fish species extends for pursuing fish passage restoration in the far beyond the scope of a single restoration Concord River watershed include the importance and historical presence of the project, as they have a broad migratory range target species, the connectivity of and along the Atlantic coast and benefit commercial significant potential habitat within the and recreational fisheries of other species.
    [Show full text]
  • Close Reading: Leif Eriksson
    Name: ___________________________________________ Exploring the Oceans Date: __________________________ Period: ___________ Marine Science Close Reading: Leif Eriksson The Viking Explorer Who Beat Columbus to America http://www.history.com/news/the-viking-explorer-who-beat-columbus-to-america As Columbus Day approaches, the United States commemorates the explorer credited with the first European expedition to North America—Leif Eriksson. Nearly 500 years before the birth of Christopher Columbus, a band of European sailors left their homeland behind in search of a new world. Their high-prowed Viking ship sliced through the cobalt waters of the Atlantic Ocean as winds billowed the boat’s enormous single sail. After traversing unfa- miliar waters, the Norsemen aboard the wooden ship spied a new land, dropped anchor and went ashore. Half a millennium before Columbus “discovered” America, those Viking feet may have been the first European ones to ever have touched North American soil. Exploration was a family business for the expedition’s leader, Leif Eriksson (variations of his last name include Erickson, Ericson, Erikson, Ericsson and Eiriksson). His father, Erik the Red, founded the first European settlement of Greenland after being expelled from Iceland around A.D. 985 for killing a neighbor. (Erik the Red’s father, himself, had been banished from Norway for committing manslaughter.) Eriksson, who is believed to have been born in Iceland around A.D. 970, spent his formative years in desolate Greenland. Around A.D. 1000, Eriksson sailed east to his ancestral homeland of Norway. There, King Olaf I Tryggvason converted him to Christianity and charged him with proselytizing the religion to the pagan settlers of Greenland.
    [Show full text]
  • The Life and Unusual Ideas of Adelbert Ames, Jr
    Leonardo The Life and Unusual Ideas of Adelbert Ames, Jr. Author(s): Roy R. Behrens Reviewed work(s): Source: Leonardo, Vol. 20, No. 3 (1987), pp. 273-279 Published by: The MIT Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1578173 . Accessed: 01/12/2011 07:53 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The MIT Press and Leonardo are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Leonardo. http://www.jstor.org The Life and Unusual Ideas of Adelbert Ames, Jr. Roy R. Behrens Abstract-This paper is a summaryof the life and major achievementsof AdelbertAmes, Jr., an American ophthalmologist and perceptualpsychologist, who had initially wanted to be a visual artist. He is most widely rememberedtoday as the inventor of the Ames Demonstrations in Perception, the most famous of which consists of a distortedroom in whichpeople seem to shrink as they walk from one corner to another. This essay discusses the relationship of the Ames Demonstrations to anamorphicvisual art, and it documents various comments by perceptual psychologists and artists who were directly acquaintedwith Ames. Fig. 1. Inthe Overlay Demonstration (this is a reconstructionof onlyone part of theoriginal version), Ames removed a cornersection of a playingcard so that the card more distant from the viewer (the eight of hearts) appears to be less distant.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report for the As a Result of the National Financial Environment, Throughout 2009, US Congress Calendar Year 2009, Pursuant to Section 43 of the Banking Law
    O R K Y S T W A E T E N 2009 B T A ANNUAL N N E K M REPORT I N T G R D E P A WWW.BANKING.STATE.NY.US 1-877-BANK NYS One State Street Plaza New York, NY 10004 (212) 709-3500 80 South Swan Street Albany, NY 12210 (518) 473-6160 333 East Washington Street Syracuse, NY 13202 (315) 428-4049 September 15, 2010 To the Honorable David A. Paterson and Members of the Legislature: I hereby submit the New York State Banking Department Annual Report for the As a result of the national financial environment, throughout 2009, US Congress calendar year 2009, pursuant to Section 43 of the Banking Law. debated financial regulatory reform legislation. While the regulatory debate developed on the national stage, the Banking Department forged ahead with In 2009, the New York State Banking Department regulated more than 2,700 developing and implementing new state legislation and regulations to address financial entities providing services in New York State, including both depository the immediate crisis and avoid a similar crisis in the future. and non-depository institutions. The total assets of the depository institutions supervised exceeded $2.2 trillion. State Regulation: During 2009, what began as a subprime mortgage crisis led to a global downturn As one of the first states to identify the mortgage crisis, New York was fast in economic activity, leading to decreased employment, decreased borrowing to act on developing solutions. Building on efforts from 2008, in December and spending, and a general contraction in the financial industry as a whole.
    [Show full text]
  • The Scotch-Irish of Provincial New Hampshire
    University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Doctoral Dissertations Student Scholarship Spring 1984 THE SCOTCH-IRISH OF PROVINCIAL NEW HAMPSHIRE RALPH STUART WALLACE University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation Recommended Citation WALLACE, RALPH STUART, "THE SCOTCH-IRISH OF PROVINCIAL NEW HAMPSHIRE" (1984). Doctoral Dissertations. 1432. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/1432 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This reproduction was made from a copy of a document sent to us for microfilming. While the most advanced technology has been used to photograph and reproduce this document, the quality of the reproduction is heavily dependent upon the quality of the material submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help clarify markings or notations which may appear on this reproduction. 1.The sign or “target” for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is “Missing Page(s)”. If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting through an image and duplicating adjacent pages to assure complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a round black mark, it is an indication of either blurred copy because of movement during exposure, duplicate copy, or-copyrighted materials that should not have been filmed.
    [Show full text]
  • View Strategic Plan
    SURGING TOWARD 2026 A STRATEGIC PLAN Strategic Plan / introduction • 1 One valley… One history… One environment… All powered by the Blackstone River watershed and so remarkably intact it became the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor. SURGING TOWARD 2026 A STRATEGIC PLAN CONTENTS Introduction ............................................................ 2 Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, Inc. (BHC), ................................................ 3 Our Portfolio is the Corridor ............................ 3 We Work With and Through Partners ................ 6 We Imagine the Possibilities .............................. 7 Surging Toward 2026 .............................................. 8 BHC’s Integrated Approach ................................ 8 Assessment: Strengths & Weaknesses, Challenges & Opportunities .............................. 8 The Vision ......................................................... 13 Strategies to Achieve the Vision ................... 14 Board of directorS Action Steps ................................................. 16 Michael d. cassidy, chair Appendices: richard gregory, Vice chair A. Timeline ........................................................ 18 Harry t. Whitin, Vice chair B. List of Planning Documents .......................... 20 todd Helwig, Secretary gary furtado, treasurer C. Comprehensive List of Strategies donna M. Williams, immediate Past chair from Committees ......................................... 20 Joseph Barbato robert Billington Justine Brewer Copyright
    [Show full text]
  • Arctic Journeys, Ancient Memories : Sculpture
    NB 249 .A,75 A4 2012 ANTH ■DLUI|JIUIC by Abraham Anghik Ruben Arctic Journeys Arctic Journeys Ancient Memories The Arctic Studies Center National Museum of Natural History National Museum of the American Indian Smithsonian Institution Kipling Gallery Published by ARCTIC STUDIES CENTER Department of Anthropology National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution PO Box 30712, MRC 1 12 Washington, D.C. 2001 3-7012 www.mnh.si.edu/arctic ISBN- 978-0-9816142-1-2 Copyright © 2012 by Arctic Studies Center Smithsonian Institution Catalogue of an exhibition organized by the Smithsonian's Arctic Studies Center with assistance from Kipling Gallery, Woodbridge, ON and presented October 4, 2012 - January 2,2013 at The National Museum of the American Indian Curated by Bernadette Driscoll Engelstad Arctic Journeys, Ancient Memories: Sculpture by Abraham Anghik Ruben was produced by Perpetua Press, Santa Barbara Edited by Letitia Burns O'Connor Designed by Dana Levy Printed in Canada by Colour Innovations Object photography by Daniel Dabrowski, Silvio Calcagno, Alan Bibby, and Ernest R Mayer Front cover: To Northwestern Shores, 2008 (Detail) Back cover: Far left: Inuvialuit Inuit Way of Life, 201 I Clockwise from top left: Celtic Monk Keeper of Light, 2007 Memories:An Ancient Past, 2010 Sedna: Life Out of Balance, 2006 Odin, 2008 Study for Shaman's Message III, 201 I Migration: Umiak with Spirit Figures, 2008 CONTENTS 7 Preface by Kevin Gover 9 Foreword by William W. Fitzhugh I 2 Artist's Statement by Abraham Anghik Ruben I 5 Arctic Journeys, Ancient Memories by Bernadette Driscoll Engelstad 32 Catalogue 83 Exhibition History 85 Bibliography 87 Acknowledgments 5 PREFACE !\ AS THE DIRECTOR OFTHE NATIONAL MUSEUM OFTHE AMERICAN INDIAN, I frequently watch as exhibitions grow out of good ideas that gather energy as they are researched and discussed, written and organized and installed.
    [Show full text]
  • Towpaths to Oblivion. the Middlesex Canal and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Hass
    DOCUMENT RESUME ID 175 745 SO 011 887 AUTHOR Holmes, Cary W. TITLE Towpaths to Oblivion. The Middlesex Canal and the Coming of the Railroad 1792-1853. INSTITUTION Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Hass.: Northeastern Univ., Boston, Mass. Bureau of Business End Economic Research. PUB DATE 75 VOTE 23p.; For rel., i documents, see SO 011 886 and ED 100 764 AVAILABLE FROM Publication Information Center, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Boston, Massachusetts 02106 (free) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Case Studies; Construction (Process); Decision Making; *Economic Factors; *Political Issues; Problem Solving: Rail Transportation: Secondary Education; *Social Factors: *Transportation; *United States History IDENTIFIERS *New England ABSTRACT This narrative history of the MiddleseL Canal frcm 1792-,-3 is designed to be used with "Canal," a role-playing, decis.o -aaking game found in SO 011 886. Economic, social, and politz.al factors related to planning, building, and implementing the canal are considered. The document is presented in three parts. Part I states reasons for studying the Middlesex Canal. It was the first lengthy canal in the United States and served as a model for other canals. In addition, the problems that arose are typical of those that lust be dealt with in relation to aay type of transportation system. Part II describes events leading up to the canal opening in 1903, including legislative giants, court regulations, surveys, the introduction of the magnetic compass, and actual construction with its concomitant employment and technical problems. Part III outlines events and factors affecting the rise and fall of revenues, and concludes with the canal's demise in 1853 following the growth of railroad systems.
    [Show full text]
  • Shawsheen Aqueduct, Looking Northeast, Middlesex
    SHAWSHEEN AQUEDUCT, LOOKING NORTHEAST, MIDDLESEX CANAL, WILMINGTON-BILLERICA, MASSACHUSETTS OLD-TIME NEW ENGLAND d ’ Quarter/y magazine Devoted to the cffncient Buildings, Household Furnishings, Domestic A-ts, 5l4anner.s and Customs, and Minor cffntipuities of L?Wqew England Teop/e BULLETIN OFTHE SOCIETYFOR THE PRESERVATIONOF NEW ENGLAND ANTIQUITIES Volume LVIII, No. 4 April-June I 968 Serial No. 212 Comparison of The Blackstone and Middlesex Canals By BRENTON H. DICKSON HREE major canals were com- granting the Blackstone its charter. The pleted in Massachusetts in the idea of a canal connecting Boston with T first twenty-odd years of the the Merrimack River and diverting the nineteenth century : the Middlesex, that great natural resources of New Hamp- went from Boston to Lowell, or more shire away from Newburyport and into correctly, from Charlestown to Middle- Boston met with wholehearted approval sex Village in the outskirts of Lowell; the in the capital city; however, the idea of Blackstone that went from Worcester to the landlocked treasures of Worcester Providence ; and the Hampshire and County making their way to the market Hampden, or Farmington, that went by way of Rhode Island, and seeing Prov- from Northampton to New Haven. To- idence benefit from business that rightly day we will just concern ourselves with belonged to Boston, was unthinkable. the first two of these. When the Blackstone Canal finally got They were both conceived about the its charter in 1823, Bostonians dreaded same time in the early 1790’s. The more than ever the evil effects of such a Middlesex began operating in 1803 but waterway.
    [Show full text]
  • Valuing Immigrant Memories As Common Heritage
    Valuing Immigrant Memories as Common Heritage The Leif Erikson Monument in Boston TORGRIM SNEVE GUTTORMSEN This article examines the history of the monument to the Viking and transatlantic seafarer Leif Erikson (ca. AD 970–1020) that was erected in 1887 on Common- wealth Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts. It analyzes how a Scandinavian-American immigrant culture has influenced America through continued celebration and commemoration of Leif Erikson and considers Leif Erikson monuments as a heritage value for the public good and as a societal resource. Discussing the link between discovery myths, narratives about refugees at sea and immigrant memo- ries, the article suggests how the Leif Erikson monument can be made relevant to present-day society. Keywords: immigrant memories; historical monuments; Leif Erikson; national and urban heritage; Boston INTRODUCTION At the unveiling ceremony of the Leif Erikson monument in Boston on October 29, 1887, the Governor of Massachusetts, Oliver Ames, is reported to have opened his address with the following words: “We are gathered here to do honor to the memory of a man of whom indeed but little is known, but whose fame is that of having being one of those pioneers in the world’s history, whose deeds have been the source of the most important results.”1 Governor Ames was paying tribute to Leif Erikson (ca. AD 970–1020) from Iceland, who, according to the Norse Sagas, was a Viking Age transatlantic seafarer and explorer.2 At the turn History & Memory, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Fall/Winter 2018) 79 DOI: 10.2979/histmemo.30.2.04 79 This content downloaded from 158.36.76.2 on Tue, 28 Aug 2018 11:30:49 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Torgrim Sneve Guttormsen of the nineteenth century, the story about Leif Erikson’s being the first European to land in America achieved popularity in the United States.
    [Show full text]