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R 6 R ' “'i‘§M" Volume 2 Issue 6 January, 1998

,.-n¢I'—_/ New Year's Thoughts: I1 I l o, "The best preparation for tomorrow is to do today's \;‘, work superbly well." . . ' K -sm WILLIAM osuan

i "The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they 4' get for it, but what they become by it." -'; A -JOHN RUSTON

- - The trustees and officers extend to all members of the Society and their families a wish for a happy, healthy O "’ and prosperous New Year . JANUARY DINNER MEETING lanuary 24th is the date for our annual January dinner meeting. It will be held at the Harbor United Methodist Church at 6:30 p.m. The menu will include roast turkey with all the fixings and pies home made by the ladies of the church. The program this year will be a two character interactive play produced by Plimoth Plantation. The play is titled "I Would Be No Persecutor”. It looks at the oppression of the Quakers in 1660s. What would it be like to lose your daughter to a religious sect you consider a Satanic cult? How would you feel if you lost your child because you accidentally exposed her to ways of thinking you consider dangerous? How would you save her? The price is $11.00 per ticket. Only the rst 200 dinner reservations accompanied by payment will be accepted. Mail the form below to: Scituate Historical Society, P.O. Box 276, Scituate, MA 02066.

. Lecture Series The second lecture will be given by Fred Freitas and David Corbin. They will speak about Maritime industry in New England from the 17th through the l9th centuries and its effect on Scituate. This lecture will be on Wednesday, February llth at 7p.m. at the Laidlaw Center. The charge of two dollars for members and five dollars for non-members is meant to cover the cost of heat and electricity for the building. The third lecture will be on April 8th. Dave Ball will be speaking about his new book "Night of Terror at Buoy No. 4!”- please join us! Enclosed—i—ii-iis my check made payable to the Scituate Historical Society for the dinner meeting on Saturday, January 24, 1998. NAME: NUMBER OF RESERVATIONS: AMOUNT OF CHECK: Scituate Historical Society p. 1 January

H§\ §Q From the Editor As we begin a new year and prepare the January issue of the newsletter, we are reminded of the quote from the first newsletter dated March, I949. |Then it was called the Bulletin.| “ At the Annual Meeting last June it was suggested that the Society publish a letter or bulletin which would contain information as to the doings of the Society and give all of our members more insight into our activities, and which would serve as a connection between them and their Society, and promote the feeling that there was more to membership than the mere payment of dues, after which they were to be forgotten for another year. "A program such as this will be more interesting and helpful if the members themselves will offer suggestions and from time to time write articles on any subject pertaining to our Society or of historical interest in Scituate or elsewhere. We would be particularly glad to hear from those at a distance; these we will be glad to publish and in that way it is felt that a very welcome and important addition to our activities will be made.” Wilmot Brown, editor and president of the Society at that date, went on to thank those members who contributed to the newsletter and asked for more interesting material to "keep alive the history and traditions of Qld Scituate." Last month in the Do You Know section of the newsletter [this section, by the way, was suggested by member Cathy Rust] John Litchfield wrote to us telling about Scituate’s Declaration of Independence which was written one month earlier than the country's. Dorothy Langley was intrigued by the information and went to the town records and found the information (see below). The whole story then appeared in a local newspaper article including a phone interview with John Litchfield. Jarvis Freymann also wrote us a wonderful letter (see below) with more information about this event. This is what Wilmot Brown was talking about almost 50 years ago. The Society's members are fonts of knowledge about Scituate and the people who have lived here. Please share with us any knowledge, stories, anecdotes, etc. that you may have. Finally a special thank you to all of you who have written gracious notes of appreciation concerning the newsletter - we are deeply touched. Thank you.

Do You Know From Jarvis Freymann's letter dated December 6, 1997: Dear Fred, I believe I have an answer to the question posed by John H. Litchfield in the Scituate Historical Society's December issue. The Scituate “Declaration of lndependence" to which he refers is fully recorded in Scituate’s Town Meeting Minutes for June 4th, I776. The full text (exactly as written, without corrections in spelling or punctuation) reads as follows:

“Att a meeting of the Town of Scituate June ye 4th 1776. Said Town chose for a Moderator Nathll. Clap Esqr. It was put Whether the Town would give their Representative any Instructions agreeable to what is set forth in the warrent and it past in the affermative. ' Town voted to chuse a committee to Draw something to Lay before ye town with Respect to giving their Representative Instructions Viz: Willm. Cushing, Esq. Major Willm. Turner Capt. Joseph Tolman Capt. Israel Vinall Jnr. & Mr. Anthony Waterman. ' Town by Vote accepted of a Report of the above committee which is as Follows, -- Instructions to Nathan Cushing Esq. Representative of the Town of Scituate; June the 4th 1776. The inhabitants of this Town being called together on the Recommendation of our General Assembly to signify our minds on the great point of lndependance of great Britain, think fit to Instruct you on that head. -- The ministry of that Kingdom, having formed a Design of Subjecting the Colonies to a distant, external and absolute power in all Cases Scituate I-iiatorical Society p.2 January whatsoever; wherein the colonies have not, nor in the nature of things can have any share by Representation, have, for a course of years past, exerted their utmost Act & Endeavours to put the Same plan, so destructive to both countries, into Execution. But finding it, through the noble & Virtuous opposition of the Sons of freedom, impracticable by means of mear political artifice & corruption; they have at length had a fatal recourse to a Standing Army, so Repugnant to the nature of a free government, to fire and sword, to bloodshed & devastation, calling in the aid of foreign troops being Determined, as well as endeavouring to Stir up ye Savages of the wilderness to exercise their barbarities upon us & by all appearances, if practicable, to exterpate the Americans from the face of the Earth, unless they tamely Resign the rights of Humanity; and to repeople this once Happy country with the ready sons of Vassalge, if such can be found. We therefore, apprehending such ‘a subjection utterly lnconsistant with the just rights and blessings of Society, Unanimously Instruct you to endavour that our Delegates in Congress be informed in case that Representative Body of the Continent Should think fitt to declare the Colonies independant of Great Britain, of our Readiness & determination to assist with our Lives & fortunes in Support of that, we apprehend, necessary Measure. Touching other matters, we trust in your fidelity, discretion, & zeal for the publick welfare to propose & forward all such measures, as you shall apprehend, may tend to our necessary defence in the present threating aspect of affairs, or to the promoting the Internal peace, order and good Government of this Colony."

l am surprised that this courageous statement of commitment and purpose is not better known to the people of Scituate, much less to a citizen of Worthington, Ohio. Perhaps you should make the text available not only to John H. Litchfield, but also to the Historical Society's entire membership. It is a document of which Scituate can justly be proud. Very truly yours, Jarvis Freymann Thanks, Jarvis, we agree. editor. Archives Corner In answer to the "Do You Know" item in the December 1997 newsletter Dorothy Clapp Langley, Former Town Archivist, submitted the same article that Jarvis Freymann did with this additional piece of information -- ". . . I searched at the Scituate Town Archives: Scituate Town Reports 1743-1780 - Vault locked cabinet - top shelf."

Uncle Peakes’ recipe for "How to get along with your wife." Uncle Azar Peakes lived with his wife Celie, short for Cecelia, in the little brown house on the Country Way in North Scituate; Celie's father built it for her. He was Simon Wade. In those days one had an Aunt Mary and an Aunt Kate, an Uncle Job and Uncle Nate, but great uncles and aunts were called by their last names as Aunt Bryant and Aunto Otis and Uncle Peakes and Uncle Tilden. Aunt Peakes must have been very “tryin"’ for every morning dear Uncle Peakes went up into his cow pasture on the hill back of his house and knelt by the side of a big flat rock beneath a protecting cedar tree and prayed for grace to live with Aunt Peakes. edgiunt Peakes died at 96 in 1865, but Uncle Peakes was, fortunately, called to rest in the 1840's, ag 2. The old tree still lives and rock is still there, a memorial to a patient and pious man. Mind those P's, Q's and other things One of the town's elderly matrons happened to be calling on her son's wife on the same Scituate Historical Society p.3 January afternoon that a tall, handsome gentleman of the cloth dropped in. The elderly matron was careful not to usurp the conversation, but she, of course, contributed a little here and there. Out of a clear sky the gentleman said, "You are an old timer, aren't you, Mrs. Doe?" "Well," she replied, “I've been here many years." "1 knew it from the way you said ‘Scitu-ate'." "I what?" "You said ’Scitu-ate’; all newcomers say ’Scitu-it’; I sorted out all my parish by that method." Well, she went home and tried it on her niece, Scituate-born and bred, but world-travelled. Of course she said "Scitu-ate". The niece's husband said "Scitu-it", but the dear man had lived here only thirty years. So, old timer, not only watch your "P’s and Q’s", but your “ates" and "its". Sara Bailey Brown from the Bulletin December, 1962 From the Autobiography of Capt. John Manson This voyage my wages were fifteen dollars per month, and this time I drew, while away, what money I needed and paid my own bills, and when l was paid off, I had fifty dollars in my pocket, quite a sum of money, and following my father's advice, I put forty dollars in the Savings Bank in Scituate. This was in August, 1854. That money remained there until 1873. I never drew any from it nor added to it by any more deposits, but at the last mentioned date, I drew it out because the treasurer of the bank, a young man, was spending much of his time driving fast horses, etc. I did not wish my money in his care. I drew out one hundred seventy dollars. The Bank shortly after was obliged to close, and the depositors lost part of their hard earnings. . . . .Again we took in a load of iron, tin, crockery, etc. with passengers in the between decks. This time we had a larger number, six hundred and ten in all, and sailed for Boston about the first of ]uly, 1854. l do not recollect any particular events » '8 I transpiring during that passage except that the winds were very adverse, and we had rather a long passage, forty-two days, arriving about the middle of August. As I said once before, I thought going to sea was a hard life, and I would make a change. In the fall of 1854 I made arrangements with Manson, Peterson & Co. of East Boston to learn of them a ship-joiner’ s trade. Although I was to work ashore, still I was about ships, and as Father said to me then, “Should you later decide to try the sea again, the knowledge you will get while learning your trade of the construction of ships will be very useful to you,” and so I found it in later years. - For my services while learning the trade, I was to receive forty dollars the first year, fifty dollars the second year, and seventy dollars the third year, an average of a trifle over a dollar per week and my board for three years. Not very extravagent wages, to say the least. One of our near neighbors at home in Scituate, himself quite a shiftless and visionary man, gave me this good piece of advice as I was about to leave, “John, learn your trade, stay your full time out; no matter if they don't give you but one meal a day, you stay, and you will never be sorry.” Such advice from such a man seemed singular; but I always remembered it, not only while I was learning my trade, but all through my life While I learned my trade, ship building was at its height in Boston, and I worked upon and saw many of the noted clippers of that day, 1854 to 1858. I saw, I think it was in the second year of Scituate Historical Society p.4 January l

my apprenticeship, a fine ship built and launched from the adjoining yard in which l was at work. l saw the name carved and gilded on the bow, "Golden Fleece.” Little did l think then, a boy dusty and dirty and shoving a foreplane on some hard piece of oak or pine, that noble ship was to be my home for over six years and that some day l was to command her. More in the months to come. Fred Freitas A Yankee Trader Shipbuilding was a very important industry in Scituate from the mid 1600's until 1871. Did you ever wonder why? If we look at the letter book of one of Boston's young merchants, William H. Bordman ]r., we may get a glimpse as to the reason. In 1824 Bordman ships domestic brown shirtings, Canton goods, soap, ham, and pickled Penobscot salmon, to the value of $1684, in one of his own vessels to South America. The supercargo (was the representative on shipboard of owners and consigners. He took no part in navigation, but handled the business side of the voyage. A captain often acted as supercargo, especially when a relative of the owners; in such cases he generally carried a clerk to keep books) is instructed to use his own judgment as to the port of sale, but is wamed that Montevideo is overstocked with shirtings, and that the ship Romeo has just cleared for Buenos Aires with a similar cargo. The salmon will keep only twelve months, and must be sold before it spoils. Returns are left to the supercargo's judgment; but horsehair is suggested, and s o m e t hi n g must be s h i p p e d home "in time for me t take up my notes for the shirtings." The same year ;_ B o r d m a n

1 consigns __?_:_';--._- C()ClfiSl‘|, cheese, and % '1 S. lard to Havana, in _jI: . ' M -—-;-'_- _' l-T. exchange for

cigars of the . "Dos Amygosor s C a b a n a ‘*1;-'3-I‘—"_";'§:""':“§; “ ~ _ b r a n d s preferably of a light yellow color." Pipe, hogshead and barrel staves . M. are then obtained at ~‘ ‘ . Y; Norfolk, Virginia, -3_:_.._:_::-.= ' g where the cooperage ;_. “#- inspection is more strict “7==~;;_ ' than in New England, for “T " sale at G i b r a l t e r (.1 4._._§\ and Cadiz. On vessels other ' “" " ' ' than his own, h e adventures 429 pairs of shoes, invoiced at $347.05, to New Orleans, where they sell for $850, less freight and expenses; and to Liverpool a consignment of sassafras - Gosnold's export from Cuttyhunk in 1602. ln 1826 Bordman sends his ship Arbel I a to Calcutta, laden with cigars and paint, currant jelly and shaving soap, cider, oakum and ham, Dutch, pineapple, and native cheese -- the latter at three and a half cents a pound. The same year, when spices were scarce, one of his father's vessels enters from Sumatra with a cargo of pepper and Bourbon cloves, giving Bordman family a corner. Part was _shipped to Messrs. Perkins & Saltonstall in Baltimore, and the proceeds invested in “superfine Howard St. flour" at $4.12 1/2 . Part of this, together with more pepper and cloves, is sent to Hayti and Havana, and the proceeds invested in sugar. Three years later Bordman's vessels are taking sugar from Havana to Gothenburg for Swedish iron; and in 1830 he is sending pepper to the Mediterranean. His supercargo will decide the destination, when advised at Gibralter on the state of the pepper market at Antwerp, Leghorn, Genoa, and Trieste; and may invest in a return cargo, or remit balance to London. By 1830 Bordman has added a new arrow to his quiver - the Northwest Coast and Canton trade. The supercargo of his brig Smyrna is ordered to sell Northwest sea-otter at Canton, but to bring his acquisitions of beaver to Boston, where it is selling for eight dollars a pelt. Luckily the letter is not received, for by the time the Smyrna returns, enterprising Yankee hatters have popularized the silk hat, and beaver has fallen to four dollars. In search of the illicit medium for China trading, Bordman in 1832 sends a cargo of sugar from Havana to Smyrna for opium. “lf on arrival the sugars will pay a profit, dispose of them at once, as l make it a rule never to speculate on certain gain." At this point the letter-book ends. From the manuscripts of a Captain john Sutter who took a share in Bordman's vessels Scituate Historical Society p.5 January

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-nr-i‘-— we find that Bordman’s net sales exceeded one hundred per cent on the investment. There were merchants who had even more irons in the fire than Bordman. Ezra Weston built vessels in his own yard in Duxbury opposite his patemal mansion, out of timber brought from Maine and the Merrimac in his schooners, or from Bridgewater and Middleborough on his own ox-teams. He rigged them with the products of his own ropewalk, sparyard, blacksmith shop, and sail loft at Duxbury; loaded them opposite his counting-room on Commercial Wharf, Boston; and sent them under his house flag to the Mediterranean, and all parts of the world. Do you understand now why ships built on the North River and Scituate Harbor were known all the world over.

a Fred Freitas Nantucket Weekend Raffle Nantucket Weekend Raffle tickets are now available for purchase at the Little Red Schoolhouse [Laidlaw Center]. Tickets are $5.00 each. The drawing will be held during Heritage Days Weekend. The winner will receive the following:

' Two round trip Hy-Line ferry tickets to Nantucket - ' A two night weekend stay at the Martin House Inn built in 1803.* It is located in Nantucket's historic district. Breakfast is included. ' 2nd and 3rd prizes to be announced!

‘kl! Last October my wife and I went out to Nantucket during the Island's Cranberry Weekend. As part of the celebration, twelve of the Island's historic bed and breakfast inns were open for tours. We visited all of them and though each inn had its own unique character, we rated the Martin House #1 for its charm and hospitality." Dave Corbin All ticket proceeds to benefit the restoration of the Scituate Grand Army Hall. Perry Post Preservation Fund.

Additional contributions are being gratefully accepted. Please send your contribution to: Perry Post Preservation Fund Scituate Federal Savings Bank 72 Front St. Scituate, MA 02066

For more details please call Dave Corbin at the Laidlaw Center 545-1083.

Thank you for your support. Grand Army Hall Update The GAR Study Committee met on December 17th to discuss fund-raising ideas as well as the availability of Massachusetts Preservation Grants. Present at the meeting was Mr. Douglas Smith, Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations for Stonehill College. Mr. Smith has agreed to assist the committee in applying for available grants for the GAR project. His expertise in his field together with his personal interest in Scituate history is a major plus for the project. On the subject of expertise, the GAR Committee is pleased to have on board Mr. Ed Devine of Scituate. Mr. Devine, an architect, has agreed to assist in the restoration and renovation of the Hall. Ed has long admired the building for its Greek-Revival architecture and its history as a building connected to the Grand Army of the Republic. As his wife and he are avid Civil War buffs, Ed has a special interest in seeing this particular project succeed. On behalf of the GAR Study Committee and the entire Scituate Historical Society l thank them for their time and effort. December also saw the removal of six trees and two truckloads of leaves and brush from the outside property. We still have one full day of outside work to accomplish. Many have noticed and complimented on the work done so far. We owe additional thanks to ]. Michael Landscaping Inc. for his donation of truck and equipment and Shaughnessy & Ahearn Crane for the use of an aerial lift that made the tree removals possible. Many thanks. The GAR Study Committee's next meeting is schedule for December 30th at the Laidlaw Center at 7:00 p.m. Dave Corbin Scituate Hiatorlcal Society p.6 January Your Ad cogd be Here!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT

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Dana J. Richard 545,1 256 Lic.#A1 1929 r;\\AR¢ Liz Crosby Q‘ Lic.#E26267 , X‘‘/ Cottage Farm Studio £5 g A .. YOUR AD couw 0: 00" | I Paintings 8: Antique Frames BE HERE! P.O. Box 156 °TR\° Residential Cleaned 86 Restored Scituate, MA 02066 Industrial Fax: (617) 545-4360 Commercial 617-545-0159

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Mystery Photograph Can you identify this picture? If you can, put the answer on a piece of paper with your name, address and phone number and drop it in the mystery photograph box at the Laidlaw Historical Center. The first correct answer selected wins a sheet of assorted postcards. Good Luck. Jarvis Freymann correctly identified December’ s photograph as the sailor on Scituate’s Civil War monument in Lawson Park. ‘ l <:*

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Volume 2 Issue 7 February, 1998

Happy Valentine's Day . . .

‘P Love doesn't make the world go ‘round. Love is what makes the ride § worthwhile." Franklin P. lones

Love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction." Antoine de Saint Exupery

”Take away love and our earth is a tomb." Robert Browning

"People who are sensible about love are incapable of it.” Douglas Yates

-\*'\.Z . . and Presidents Day!! “Once upon a time my political opponents honored me as possessing the fabulous intellectual and economic power by which I created a world- wide depression all by myself." Herbert Hoover I

"l have been told l was on the road to hell, but I had no idea it was just a '¢' mile down the road with a Dome on it." Abraham Lincoln

"The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government." George Washington

"The office of President is such a bastardized thing, half royalty and half democracy, that nobody knows whether to genuect or spit." Jimmy Breslin

March Dinner Meeting ‘ The March dinner meeting will be held at the First Cong. Church on 381 Country Way on March 28th at 6:30 p.m. Doug Bingham noted lighthouse expert will present a slide lecture on Lighthouses. The cost is $10 per ticket. Only the first 180 dinner reservations accompanied by payment will be accepted. Mail the form in the insert and your check to: Scituate Historical Society, P.O. Box 276, Scituate, MA 02066. Thank you.

Costume Collection Have you ever thought what it might have been like living in Scituate in the 1860’s?

Scituate Historical Society p.1 February A brief examination of the Scituate Historical Society's collection of nineteenth century clothing is a good place to get the feel for daily living at that time. The Society has an abundant collection of articles of clothing and assessories. Many of the items are in need of cleaning, repair, and proper storage. Thanks to Carol Miles and other volunteers the preservation process has begun. Winter temperatures prevent us from continuing our work at the Cudworth House, where most items are stored. Plans are underway for a permanent work-storage area at the Laidlaw Center. We need volunteers to help prepare items for storage and moving to our new location. We also need help to organize an exhibit of seasonal clothing and assessories. We would like to start with an ‘Easter Parade’ exhibit, and work up to a ‘Summer Time’ exhibit in time for Heritage Days. We welcome all ideas and help. Please leave your name and telephone number at

the Laidlaw Center or call me at 545-6987 if you have questions. I Phyllis Ketter

What Was the G.A.R. ? “After Lee had surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865, within the next year weary and bedraggled soldiers were beginning to find their way back home. They came draped in their tattered army regalia with heavy wom out shoes, and knapsacks with rusted bayonets attached to their weighty firearms, and in every respect were a sad sight to behold. In spite of their appearance, however, their heads were often held high, and in most cases, their backs were as straight as ramrods.” KennethsF. Bates No doubt there are some of us today who still remember them. They were always present at town ceremonies where just their very presence brought them attention. Despite their advancing years they stood at attention as they had once been instructed so many years ago. At parades they hobbled as they once marched. In their blue uniforms with a post medal pinned on their chest, they again received the attention and applause of the onlookers who marveled at their ongevity and were reminded of a most tumultuous chapter in our nation's history. As they made their way along the parade route, the applause followed them. Neighbors called out to them, prou that they had such a personal link to the past. As the old veterans passed, they slowly waved 0 and nodded their heads in acknowledgement. At reunions they held captive audiences of adults and children

1 alike as they recounted the harsh weather of forced marches, surviving the epidemics that swept through the i winter camps, and the terror of facing the enemy in battle. With arthritic hands they held imaginary muskets l I of long ago. As the years passed, their ranks thinned until by 1937 all 1 and described the terrain of battleelds 1 were gone - This was the Grand Army of the Republic. In the years following the Civil War our country experienced rapid growth through industrialization, i westward expansion, and immig-ration. The so called Gilded Age created societal changes never experienced before in American history. A emogrzgahic shift from a rural America to an urban America was one of the many changes that occurred as the thir quarter of the 19th century approached. One way that people coped with all this change was with the growing number of social, fraternal and patriotic organizations that were formed during the post-Civil War period. With Lee's surrender in the spring of 1865 came the enormous task of demobilization of what was then known as the Grand Army of the Republic. Up to that point in our nation's history never had so many men been assembled for war. Individuals who had enlisted as mere boys in 1861 were in 1865 aged beyond their years by the sights they had seen in four years of warfare. Suddenly nding themselves back in their ometowns as civilians, many found it difficult to adjust to a life they had known before the war. In 1866 in Decatur, Illinois, the Grand Army of the Republic organization was formed by veterans who had served in the late war. The organization's main objective was to provide camaraderie among those veterans who had fought and suffered during the war. As organizations or posts quickly formed throughout the north, the objectives of the G.A.R.(grew in scope. The organization nancially assisted the wives, orphans, and families of deceased veterans an founded soldier’s homes to care for veterans in need. The GAR soon became active in the post-war political arena, working hard to improve pension legislation. Five presidents of the United States were GAR members. By the end of the 19th century it was considered almost impossible to be nominated by the Republican Party without the support of the Grand Army of the Republic. On July 15, 1875, at Jenkins Hall in Scituate, 120 former veterans from Scituate and surrounding towns Scituate Historical Society p.2 February formed Post #31 and voted to name the post after George Whitmarsh Perry. He was a soldier in the 58th Regiment Mass Vol inf. who was captured at Petersbury, VA, sent to a prison camp at Salisbury, North Carolina, where he later died of disease. George W. Merritt, who served as a 1st lieutenant in Co. C of the 4th Regiment of Mass Heavy Artillery, was named the post's first commander. Merritt would serve two terms and remain an active member up until his death in 1890. Other post commanders who served over thegyears included Benjamin Brown, William Osborne, John W. Bailey, and many others. Each commander had a special story to tell. For example, John W. Bailey, who served in the 32nd Mass and became the Perry Post's rst adjutant in 1875, wished that his funeral be held in the Grand Army Hall and his body wrapped in Old Glory. The Hall had been purchased the year before from the Jenkin's family, so his wish was fullled. ln the spring of 1889 a meeting was held at the Grand Army Hall. Present were the wives and widows of the Perry Post members. Their objective was the formation of a Women's Relief Corps that would assist the GAR in raising funds for veteran affairs. This was fulfilled on April 5, 1889, when the charter was drawn up. In 1896 Relief Corps member Mercy Seavems presented to the GAR a post biographical sketch boo of all Post #31 members. The book was dedicated in memory of her husband Henry Seaverns. (See last month's newsletter about Mr. Seavems). The post sketch book is now in the possession of the Scituate Historical 't Society and has been instrumental in detailing this article. ' As the 19th century passed into the 20th, the Perry Post continued to serve local veteran affairs. On Memorial Day (called then Decoration Day) and on July 4th the agincg veterans would assemble early at the GAR Hall. Armed with service markers and ags they would visit an attend to all veteran grave sites. When the Civic Center (now Lawson Park) was dedicated in 1918, surviving members would march from the hall to the new monument for services. For over fty years the Perry Post sponsored dances, recitals, musicals, fairs, and suppers. The tradition of dedicating street corners and intersections in memory of deceased veterans was made possible by the GAR . Beautification of town crossroads also began with the GAR. These practices have recently experienced a revival in our town. In 1934 the Perry Post's last surviving member Milton G. Litchfield passed away at the age of 90 (Francis Litchfield, the veteran, 1937), the the Scituate l town's last Civil War died in but spirit of GAR in continued with the Women's Relief Corps and the Sons of Union Veterans. I All were strong organizations dedicated to promoting community involvement, espousing patriotism, and r honoring the memory of Scituate's veterans. The men and women who represented the GAR are now a distant memory. Much has come to pass in our country since the last GAR veteran rode along a parade route. l . —-— ——-| However, as Scituate continues to grow into the next l century the necessity of community involvement will hopefully grow with it. Our Grand Army Hall and restoration project now underway, represents, not only the preservation of Scituates past, but a renewal of the community spirit .§§§§§_ that was the GAR. The work continues. #832; gm. David Corbin

*‘ ‘W: Grand Army Hall Update December and January proved to be busy months for the GAR Hall Study Committee. December saw the select ., cutting of trees and removal of leaves and debris from I the property. Neighbors on both sides expressed their I gratitude for the improvements. On the 9th of January the Committee submitted its application for structural funding to the Massachusetts Historical Commission. l The matching grant which is worth $30,500 if approved will go a long way in bringing back this historic building. The Committee wishes to thank Douglas Smith, Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations at Stonehill College, and Joan Francis, who chairs the Grant Committee for the Town of Scituate. Without their guidance and support this effort would never had been possible. On behalf of the Committee and the entire Scituate Historical Society, thank you! On January 11th the much anticipated fmmd raising sign Scituate Historical Society p.3 February was mounted in front of the hall. The Patriot Ledger on January 15th included a story on our project and included a picture of the hall with the fund raising sign. Again thanks are in order to Steve Contos of Contos Signs & Graphics of Greenbush for creating and donating such a beautiful sign for our project. As with all our past endeavors, it's volunteerism that makes it all work. Thank you! At the last trustee's meeting Paul Miles submitted his building assessment on the GAR Hall and other historic sites. His assessment on the hall are favorable and encouraging. Though neglected and in need of much updating, the building is overall sound. The study and assessment of the building will be submitted with every grant that the committee submits. Thanks, Paul! Publicity on the Hall Project so far has been carried by our newsletter, the Scituate Mariner, and the Patriot Led er. The committee also plans on contacts with Yankee Magazine and various magazines that focus on the CiviiWar. Please support our project by purchasing chances on our Nantucket Weekend. The price is $5.00 per chance. A second prize of a Nantucket Basket as been donated by Bobbi and Dave Hall, and a third prize of fresh lobsters has given the project the boost that all projects need. Again many thanks! I have a feeling that the Grand Army Hall update will require more room in this newsletter during 1998!

Thank you for your continuing support. ' David Corbin

Archives Corner Recently I was doing some research for a man who was desirous of obtainin any information about a ship named "Nostra Senora de Crisse”, which ran aground off Scituate’s rocky s oreline in July of 1818. I finally found the following article from the Scituate Mariner, dated Thursday, October 23, 1986, entitled "Treasure Ships sunk off Scituate". This is how the article read: "Nearly 20 ships have run aground off Scituate’s rocky coast during its 350 years of history, but one which fuels the hope of many a beachcomber is one which occurred in July 1818. The Spanish schooner "Crisse" was noticed at anchor in Scituate Harbor near the lighthouse. The authorities quickly captured the five-man crew, who were then tried for piracy on the high seas. Three, including one from Scituate, were hanged; the other two turned state's evidence and were released. The five had joined with South American privateers in the revolutions against Spain and had captured the schooner. However, the ve then decided to become pirates and took over the "Crisse" for their own, killing the captain and mate. Before sailing into Scituate Harbor, the strong box of money was buried below Third Cliff. In spite of the many who have searched for the treasure, only two gold coins have ever been found. Today the site can no longer be reached by land." The article goes on to list the schooner "Elsie Fay", grounded at Cedar Point in June 1885 with a cargo of pineapples; in January of 1845, the bark "Rio de Janeiro" wrecked at Cedar Point, spreading her cargo of coffee along the shore; the stranding of the full-rigged ship, "Elizabeth"in a blizzard on Feb. 26, 1859, at the lighthouse. The crew was rescued, the cargo of cotton was removed undamaged, but the vessel was too firmly aground and it was impossible to haul her off. Soon she went to pieces, and when the "Etrusco”, which ran aground in March, 1956, was hauled off, a section of the "Elizabeth" was dug up. The question now comes to mind whether or not the Spanish schooner "Crisse" and its crew, are in any remote way, connected to the three bags of Spanish gold found in the Percy Mann house. Supposedly, a local pirate by the name of Holmes, had buried treasure at Third Cliff, but was caught, brought to Boston, and anged. The name "Holmes" was printed on one of the bags. The Mann family owned property on Third Cliff and perhaps someone found the treasure and brought it back to the house.

1 Dorothy Clapp Langley, Archivist

February Meeting of South Shore and North River Chapters, MA Archaeological Society All members of the Scituate Historical Society are invited to lecture/ slide presentation by Dr. Stephen Mrozowski, professor of Anthropology at UMass, Boston. The title of his talk will be:"Lessons from Magunko: Subtleties of Archaeological Interpretation." He will be discussing his excavations at Ashland, MA, where he discovered a Native American praying villatge. These have been very difcult to locate. Such villages are where Native Americans gathered after groups o them were converted to Christianity by the early pilgrims in the 1600's. The meeting is Tuesday, February 17th at the Laidlaw Center. It begins at 7:30 p.m. with the lecture starting around 7:45. This is free to all members of the Historical Society.

Scituate Historical Society p.4 February Winter Lecture Series Did you know the reason why eight-year-old Scituate boys wanted to be taught cooking by their mothers during the 1800's? Did you know that Scituate residents in the 1800's were very familiar with China, India and the Far East? Did you know that the North River was known all over the world in the 1800's? The second lecture in our winter series will focus on these questions as well as present other information on maritime history. It will be held on Wednesday, February 11th at 7 p.m. at the Laidlaw Center. Fred Freitas and Dave Corbin will be discussing Massachusetts/ Scituate maritime history. The focus will be on the maritime industry during the 1700 and 1800's and its impact on Scituate. Please join us. (The $2 fee for members and $5 for non- members is to defray the cost of heating and lighting the building.) Restoration Work The work to repair the first oor at the Mann I-louse has been completed. The house, which had been closed last summer, will reopen to visitors this year. So be sure to put it on your list of ‘must sees’ for this summer season. I can't think of a better way to spend a spring andl or summer day then strolling through the wildower garden and visiting the Mann House, can you? - Work at the Old Oaken Bucket homestead has also been completed. Repairs to the bulkhead and gutter work were necessary. Thanks to Doug and Glen Fields and a matching grant from Arkwright Mutual Insurance Company work in the upstairs room at the Laidlaw Center is progressing. A partial wall in the main meeting area is being constructed so that the Society's valuable paintings from unheated buildings can be moved to a controlled environment over the cold winter months. Also we are installing files for archive materials moved from Town Hall to the Laidlaw Center. Work downstairs in the basement is also being done. A climate controlled room is being built where the Society's valuable books, documents and other important items can be safely stored. Thanks to the many committees and their members for all their hard work As Phyllis Ketter said at the beginning of this newsletter volunteers are needed, there are many committees where you can help - please consider volunteering. Call and leave your name and in what capacity you could help - please cal 545-1083 today. Thank you.

Scituate High School - 1889-1893 (With work being done at the Laidlaw Center, l thought this article from December, 1958, might be of interest to our readers. ed.) Some one has asked if there were any now living who went to high school in the old Town Hall. ln the words of the old song, ”There are a few, kind Sor, there are a few." We walked to school, so there was no need for a gymnasium, or a playing eld and stadium. The girls athletic field la between the hall and Mr. Abel Sylvester’s stone wall, and we had an excellent baseball team; Nell Stanley, pitching; Sara Bailey, catching; Stella Litchfield on rst base; Annie Murphy, second; and Mary Flaherty, third; these latter also covered the outfield. As to the boys’ activities, we didn't know, as they were on the boys’ side, and that included the outside telephone(?) booths back of the Hall, separated from the girls by a hig board fence. We walked from North Scituate and the beach, and om the ”West part", but Fred Litcheld who lived there had a ”hoss" and picked up several weaklings on his way to school. Mosie Brown had a sister who drove him up from Bulrush Farm on rain days, Chicken! We walked from lst and 3rd Cliffs, Beaver Dam, the Harbor, Egypt and Greenbush; and ifyit rained or snowed the girls, soaked to the skin, dried out their long skirts around the pot-bellied stove at one end of the room. We were careful about that as the boys sat on that side. ' We were all in one big room, entering by the front door which faced the -(page torn) then, and we passed tlhrough a corridor, the Selectmen’s room on the left, and the stairs to the balcony and the recitation room on e right. A lonig row of hooks graced the walls on either side of the door as we entered, and here hung our clothing, epositing our lunch boxes on the bench beneath, and our rubbers or overshoes under it. On the bench near the door sat a large wooden pail full of water from the old "hollow well", and hanging above it a long handled dipper. We assuaged our thirst from this arrangement; what we did if we dipped out more than we could drink, I wouldn't know. Anyway some of us still living at a ripe old a e, including our esteemed President of our Society. He was a softie, walking only from Elm Street, practicly just around the corner.

Scituate Historical Society p.5 February During the years 1889, 1890, and 1891 we had various gentlemen principals. They were no doubt young, year as some were still studying somewhere, but they seemed hoary and erudite, for they even taught fourth Latin to Eddie Manson, who consequently went by the name of Publius Crassius, and subsequently on to fame. Then in our junior year came Mr. Julius N. Mallory; Mrs. Neeley, the only assistant, was with us from the beginning. n Mr. Mallory was a wonderful and delightful person, with methods of teaching far beyond his day and generation; and how he could play tennis; and how it made him puff. Well do we remember his first day at school, his look of unbelief and consternation at the lack of materials and equipment. He had Charlie Dalby and Jesse Litcheld, however, expert carpenters even as young teenagers, t e latter still hale and hearty at his Bayfield Shop, and soon bookcases were made and almost adequate laboratory for chemistry in the balcony. He arranged field trips for studying owers, rocks and trees - astronomy lessons at night, Oh, Boy! We to had a school paper, and Friday afternoon assemblies at which we read our compositions on ”My Walk School," ”My Dog Pizarro" and ”Along the Shore”. And spoke pieces, "The Wreck of the Hesperus," "Horatius at the Bridge," "At Midnight in his Guarded Tent," and -“There was Tumult in the City in That Old Quaker Town," spine tingling as delivered by John Manson, a promising youth who died in his first year at M.I.T. We studied arithmetic, algebra, chemistry, physics, geometry, bookkeeping, Latin, French, History (American, English, and Ancient), trigonometry and surveying, astronomy, Grammar, English and American Literature. Biology was a favorite study with the entire student body, and we had a fine collection of bones, among them the skull of an old horse. And after sixty-ve years one still remembers how neatly arranged were the organs of a cat, when its furry skin gently spread aside, we gazed in wonder at its interior. Mrs. Neeley sometimes gave us a drawing lesson, and we had Emily Merritt and Mabel Taylor at the organ, and could they get music out of that decrepit instrument! So we had chorus singing, no band, no orc estra. The class of 1893 was the last to be graduated from the Town Hall. 1894 saw the wonderful new High School, now relegated to an obscure place on Cudworth Road. The newest High School is big, there are many pupils and many teachers on the sta f, teaching many things; but there is a feeling of nostalgia as we old grey- eaded men and women look back on our happy days in t e old Town Hall. Were they the ”Good Old Days," or were they not.

More School News. . . The Greenbush District School (From Jarvis Freymann's book - Scituate’s Educational Heritage, pp.143-144. ed.) During its long and colorful history, the District #2 School in Greenbush (also known as the South Main Street School) occupied several buildings on at least three different sites near the shores of Old Oaken Bucket Pond. The building that remains today was built in 1852 at a cost of $925.59. Greenbush School was taught for a little over six months during the summer term of 1851-52 by Clara M. Ellms (average attendance 32) and for three months the following winter (average attendance 46) by Daniel U. Johnson. Miss Ellms received $3 per week (including board) for her services, and Mr. Johnson $9.25. In 1860, the School Committee remarked upon the fact that there were more boys in District #2 than in any other school in town: ”We regret to say t ere have been some unpleasant and disordery scenes enacted, but we hope for better things in the future." In 1898-1899 the school was moved from what is now the overpass at the intersection of Stockbridge Road and Country Way to a new location onthe west side of Union Street, a short distance south of what is now Jenkins Place. Although its days as a school came to an end in 1902, the building was appropriated for use as afire-fighters’ hose house in 1903. The structure was later moved to the opposite (east) side of Union Street and in 1929 was sold to John T. Fitts for $500. Since that time it has been used by Fitts Mill as a hay storage shed.

Scituate Historical Society p.6 February ‘E

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NEWSLETTER

Mystery Photograph Can you identify this picture? If you can, put the answer on a piece of paper with your name, address and phone number and drop it in the mystery photograph box at the Laidlaw Historical Center. The first correct answer selected wins a sheet of assorted postcards. Good Luck. Lloyd Marshall correctly identified as Greenbush railroad station and train turnaround ]anuary's mystery photo. The photograph was taken and developed by Society member Will Thomes with his ‘new’ camera. Thanks for that info, Will. '

Scituate Historical Society p.8 February

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MARCH DINNER MEETING Our guest speaker will be Mr. Doug Bingham. He is the co-founder of the New England Lighthouse Foundation. They are active in the restoration and maintenance of several lighthouses throughout New England, including Race Point Light near Provincetown. Mr. Bingham will provide a slide program that shows the progress made and the many problems facing these lights. Many have already sent in their reservations so it is important for those wishing to attend not to delay in responding with ticket requests.The dinner meeting will be held at the First Cong. Church on 381 Country Way on March 28th at 6:30 p.m. The cost is $10 per ticket. Only the first 180 dinner reservations accompanied by payment will be accepted. Mail the form in the insert and your check to: Scituate Historical Society, P.O. Box 276, Scituate, MA 02066. Thank you. i*‘k***i"k'k'k'ki"k'k*'k'k*'ki**iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii**'k'k‘k*‘k*'k*i'*'ki‘l"k'l"k‘k‘k'l‘i"k

O Ireland, isn't it grand you look -- Like a bride in her rich adornin'? And with all the pent-up love of my heart I bid you the lop o’ the mornin'! ]ohn L0d

A LITTLE IRISH HUMOR O'Donnel who kept the corner saloon was in the back room playing pinochle with the boys. Hennessey, his barkeeper, interrupted him with this question: "Is Mahoney good for a drink?" Without looking up from his cards O’Donnel answered: "Has he had it?" ”He has," replied the barkeeper. ” He is," said the boss.

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L8 Passin a cemetery one day, the Irishman paused at a startling inscription on a tombstone. He read the words: "I still live." After scratching his head in bepuzzlement for a moment, the Irishman ejaculated: "Bejabbers, if I was dead I'd be honest enough to own up to it!" Patrick was interviewing St. Peter at the Gates of Paradise. "Sure, it's a phoine sngp ye have here, Saint Payter, holding down this soft job cintury after cintury, niver being turned out by ange of administration or civil sarvice es. It's a phoine snap!" "Ah, but you must bear in mind, Patrick," rejoined the guardian of the gates, "that in paradise a million years are but a moment, and a million dollars are but a cent." "Thin will ye be loaning me a cint?” asked Patrick. "Certainly," assented St. Peter, "in a minute!"

The Wards Come to Scituate . (reprinted from Barbara Murphy's book ed-)

As with thousands of other immigrants, little is known of Daniel Ward's early life. I-le came to the United States when it was still a young country, only about fifty years old. I-Ie was born in 1809 in Colerain, Derry County, in what is today Northern Ireland. The son of Dennis Ward and Mary M. Shafery, he arrived in Boston when he was about twenty years old and began working for the city. Then he and a partner began taking private contracts digging wells, stoning cellars, grading, and hauling various building materials. On their last job together, they stoned three cellars for a builder,-whose business then failed. Daniel and his partner took the houses for their work, and it is said Ward's partner insured the houses in his own name. After a fire, he collected the insurance. Ward then took the horses and carts and continued contracting on his own until he met Miles O'Brien, who was in the fishing business. Daniel Ward sold his horses and carts, he and Miles O'Brien bought a larger fishing schooner, and the fishing partnership which eventually brought them to Scituate began. They would often fish off Scituate, sometimes using the harbor for refuge and selling their catches at Commercial Wharf in Boston. Both men became desirous of bringing their families to Scituate. On August 16, 1835, at the Cathedral of the I-Ioly Cross, then on Franklin Street in Boston, Daniel had married Charlotte McLane (McLean) of Ballymena, County Antrim, also in what is now Northern Ireland. They first lived on Church Street near Shawmut Avenue, but by 1845, they were living on Summer Street in East Boston. They had six children, three sons and three daughters: Catherine born May 9, 1836; John born November 23, 1837; William born January 9, 1840; Daniel bom March 9, 1842; Charlotte bom September 27, 1843; and Mary born November 29, 1846. Later, a daughter, Martha Ann, would be born in Scituate, but she died when only seven months old. According to family tradition, Daniel Ward and Miles O'Brien brought their families to Scituate in 1847 in their own schooner after hiring the Ephraim Young house on Highland Street, now Greenfield Lane. O'Brien's wife was dead, but he had a daughter, Roxanna, and a niece, Betsey Brennan. Ward's children were aged 11, 9, 7, 5, 3, and baby Mary was less than a year. The story goes that when Dan was asked how many children he had, he is supposed to have said, "Three." Later, when the owner of the house saw more than three children about, he inquired saying, "l thought you had only three children?" “That's right," Daniel is said to have replied. "Three boys are mine; the three girls are my wife's." It was while they were here that the Wards bought land at the north end of Third Cliff from Michael Welch, himself an earlier Irish immigrant who had married into a family long established here. Ward and O'Brien built a double house on the property with the north part occupied by the O’Briens and the south part occupied by the Wards. The house is standing today but considerably altered, although it still shows having once been a double house. It is thought that this was the first dwelling constructedgon Third Cliff. Daniel Ward's share of the purchase price for the property was $73.52. During the winter, the families are said to have knit a seine 600 feet long. They bought the rights to seine on the North River, and the herring they netted were sold to fishing vessels headed for the Georges Bank and the Grand Banks. But the O'Brien - Ward partnership was not long to last. On Iuly 3, 1850, Miles O'Brien died at the age of 53. . . . The little house on Third Cliff was full in 1850 according to the census for that year, for besides Daniel, mariner, his wife Charlotte, and his six children, there were Roxanna O'Brien and Betsey Brennan, George McLane, his wife's father, and two other mariners, Ioseph O'Neal and Peter Ellis. In addition to his home and land, Daniel Ward's schooner of twenty-five tons was listed in the 1850 town evaluation. It appears that Daniel Ward wanted to leave no doubt in anyone's mind that he was establishing his family roots here, for in 1853 he registered the births of all his children upon the Scituate records where it was noted that their actual births had taken place in Boston. p.2 The year 1853 brought misfortune to others, but a financial assist to the Wards. The ship "Forest Queen" from London came ashore on what is now Peggotty Beach on February 29. She was carrying forty immigrants plus a cargo of general merchandise. The "Forest Queen" foundered in a thick snow storm, but all the passengers were landed safely during a brief lull in the storm. However, when the storm hit furiously again, much of the cargo came ashore. Liquors, skins, indigo, cases of cochineal bugs, pig iron, lead and steel were cast ashore. Charlotte Ward and the ship's steward cooked a meal for the entire complement of passengers and crew, and later Ward was able to profit from salvage work on the vessel, which was a total loss. [see the display at the Maritime Museum on the Forest Queen. This new information rewrites the whole history of the Wards and First Cliff. ed.] . . . The following year Ward brought his property on First Cliff for $1200 and began his “Big House". It was listed in the assessments as 11 fields, 5 salt marshes, and an unfinished house. . . . By 1865 the original colony of houses was almost complete. In addition to the houses of Daniel Ward and his sons, there was the home of James McDonald (his a . wife was sister of Charlotte Ward), . . and the house of Arthur Ward,. . . . -

King Philip's War - the impact on Scituate & Ireland's Generosity One of the most destructive and little-known wars in American history was King Philip's War of 1675 -1676. Douglas Leach in his classic history of this struggle wrote, " The decisive defeat of Philip and his followers brought to New England a great sense of relief and joy, tempered with anguish at the awful destruction which had been wrought. In proportion to population, King Philip's War inflicted greater casualties upon the people than any other war in our history. Several thousand persons had lost their lives; families were scattered; homes and lifetime savings were gone beyond any hope of redemption. The line of English settlement had been pushed more than twenty miles southward in the Connecticut Valley, and an even greater distance eastward from Brookfield toward the coast. A number of communities which had once been thriving centers of human activity now existed only as jumbles of blackened ruins and weed-choked gardens. Northfield, Deerfield, Brookfield, Quinsigamond (Worcester), Lancaster, Groton, Mendon, Wrentham, Middleborough, Dartmouth, Warwick, Wickford, and Simsbury had been almost totally destroyed. Other towns such as Springfield, Westfield, Marlborough, Scituate, Rehoboth, and Providence were partially burned. . . .|40 out of 90 towns suffered fires and slaughter] “ If the colonists were badly shaken by the effects of King Philip's War, how much greater was the impact of that calamity upon the Indians!" The effect on Scituate was great. The massacre of Captain Michael Pierce's force of 55 English and 11 friendly Indians near Seekonk in March of 1676 hit Plymouth Colony hard but hit Scituate even harder, since, besides Pierce, there were 15 heads of household from Scituate with him. Add to this fact that Scituate was attacked two months later in May with an raid on the Mill in Greenbush (with the destruction of 12 houses and barns) and the impact worsens. Scituate at this time also had 30 men in arms patrolling the Middleborough woods. Ireland's sympathies were so aroused that they sent foreign aid to those who had suffered so much here. In what came to be known as the Irish Donation, Scituate's suffering was so heavy that the town was allotted 12 £ from the Irish bounty. Just some food for thought this St. Paddy's Day. Archives Comer ln researching my archives for material this month for the bulletin, I was drawn to a most fitting article for our serious perusal as we approach the year 2000. It is taken from the General Society of Descendant's Mayflower Quarterly, 1997 and was an address by the Rev. Cecil Plumb at Burial Hill in Plymouth, MA. on Sept. 12, 1954. I quote: “ This representation of Pilgrims who survived the dreadful winter of 1620 is an attempt to honor the memory of the entire company of those immortals whom we hail today. Their endeavors to serve God had large influence in shaping the frame and substance of the America we love. History should make sharper distinction between the fairly tolerant Pilgrim and his more self-righteous Puritan brother. The object of their pilgrimage was to build a better material living in order to glorify God, preserve ideals, and propagate the redemptive gospel of lesus Christ. It was their share of performance in what they regarded as the whole duty of humanity to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. They who had earlier covenanted in a spiritual society to seek God's will and to obey it so far as they saw it, arriving at these ungovemed shores compacted to also form a political society. Through it they planned to choose officers with responsibility to promote the common good. This compact was the earliest written document of constitutional government known to the world. It was an important factor in the establishment of government by and for the people. Pilgrims departing from Plymouth, England, received a letter from their beloved pastor, John Robinson, in Holland. His advice was most practical. Because of their plan for a civil community, he said, they would find certain things necessary, which he urged they never neglect. These were, first, brotherly forebearance; second, placement of the general good above personal advantage; and third, choosing officers who love and promote the general good, yielding p.3 them honor and obedience. The loftiness of their ideal, the completeness of their investment, the persevering devotion to their calling, the penality of their sacrifice, the success of their enterprise, the present challenge of its dream is unmatched in the traditional or written annals of mankind. Our world today is in a sorry state. But we face no greater evil, we have no lesser God, than they did. Each generation must redeem its liberty, make its own pilgrimage. No discouragement is ours that was not theirs! No resource was theirs that is not ours! Need we be reminded that many times the fortunes of this Plymouth were as like to ebb away as the waves of yonder tide? Here is Bradford's estimate of the considered judgment of his fellows; "The dangers were many, but not desperate; the difficulties were many, but not invincible . . . . All of them through the help of God, by fortitude and patience, might either be borne or overcome." What a place is this for enlistment of modern Pilgrims! What a time is this for the practice of a Pilgrim Progress in godly faith! Shall we not this day join ourselves to these people of the past whose faith, labors, and memory have enshrined this Plymouth in the hearts of America and the hopes of the world? Shall we not this day join ourselves in spirit with all people who love truth, seek virtue, treasure liberty, and in lowliness of spirit are willing to be led and taught by God their Maker? This is not a world of chance. This should not be a day of darkness or despair. Men and women who receive God are not victims of circumstance, but children of Providence! The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, from generation to generation. The just shall live by faith." I know there are many people who do not receive Mayflower Society's Quarterlies, but do belong to the Historical Society and may read this in the bulletin. All of the world needs radical changes: let us really ponder the need for global humanity to seek out truth, virtue, humility of spirit, love of neighbor, careful choice of the leaders we elect and constant prayers to the God we believe in. Dorothy Langley Archivist THANK YOU The officers and trustees of the Society wish to publicly thank the many members who have generously responded with tax deductible gifts since November. Thank you for your continuing support.

Volunteers Needed Media One has graciously donated the use of equipment to the Society so that we can put on video all of the Society's photographic holdings. We are looking for volunteers who would be willing to take lessons on the operation of this equipment and who would transfer our collection to video. If you can help, please call us at 545-I 083 and leave your name and phone number. We appreciate your help.

Joseph Clapp, Shipwright

“Those that could stand upon the deck when the props were knocked out and when the wooden bulk began to feel the thrill of life along her keel as she moved over the greasy ways into the bosom of the full tide . . ."

A E. Victor Bigelow

In the April, I997 newsletter we met Capt. Elisha.Merritt who was one of the many distinguished master mariners and shipwrights whose legacy of shipbuilding placed the local shipyards of Scituate and Cohasset harbor as well as the North River firmly in the annals of New England maritime history. We are fortunate to have such an extensive honor roll of shipwrights and sailing masters. Men that from an early age left the comforts of home and family to brave the cold waters of the North Atlantic, the icy reaches of the Baltic, the tempests around the I-Iom, and

the sultry heat of the topics. ~ From our distinguished roll comes Joseph Clapp (1809-I 878). He was one of ten children bom to Alexander and Bethiah (Litchfield) Clapp. Alexander Clapp was a successful blacksmith who maintained a shop on the west comer of present day Summer St. and Clapp Rd. from which Clapp's Comer derives its name. Alexander found ready business with the various shipyards at the harbor and along the North River. So it should be of little surprise that his son was exposed at an early age to the various trades of the sea. With the end of hostilities between the United States and Great Britain in 1814, local shipyards began to receive agreements for orders to build vessels of various tonnage. Thus began the golden era of local shipbuilding. In 1830 Alexander Clapp died at the age of 63. Alexander Junior would carry on his father’s work by continuing in the blacksmith trade while Ioseph sought to establish himself in the shipbuilding trade as a master carpenter. Only a few short years before had been an apprentice at different North River shipyards. In 1831 Joseph formed a partnership with Turner Foster. The two soon established themselves as "Clapp and Foster" at the old Curtis Yard which was located within the Wanton Yard on the Scituate side of the North River. In

p.4 ______— ——_ —— is ~ »

their two year partnership they built the following vessels: The 167 ton Brig "Water-Witch" for B.C. Clark of Boston; in I832 the 242-ton bark "Madagascar" for Curtis and Hall of Boston; in 1833 the 250-ton brig “Ganges” for Fay and Pierson - she was lost in I848; in I833 the last vessel they built was the 206- ton brig "Attila". In late I833 Joseph Clapp joined the partnership of Samuel Foster 8: Bros. That same year as master carpenter he built the 170-ton brig "Boston" for a Gloucester partnership. In 1857 the Boston would be used as a whaler in the Pacific. The 1830's proved to be a boom decade for the whaling ports of Nantucket and New Bedford. Voyage after voyage brought record barrels of whale oil. Whalers that retumed “well greased" were the talk of New England during the 1830's. All through this decade Foster & Co tumed out vessels for the whaling industry. In 1834 they built the 169-ton brig "Baltimore" for a New Bedford whaling firm. Under Joseph's supervision the 232-ton bark "Niagra" was completed in 1834; the 289-ton bark "Saratoga" in 1835; and what proved to be the final vessel for this partnership the 231-ton bark "Neptune". In four years time Joseph Clapp had built or supervised nine vessels - all by the age of 26! In I835 Joseph became one of twenty-four owners of the 36-ton sloop "Susan", which served as a North River packet. Having established himself as a master shipwright, Joseph found his advice and skill in high demand at the various shipyards along the North River and in Scituate harbor. In I830 Joseph had married his cousin Lydia Clapp. Together they had three children: Bethia in 1830, Joseph Henry in 1833, and William Otis in 1840. With the money he eamed as a shipwright in the 1830's, Joseph invested in real estate during the I840’s. In 1839 Joseph and his brother Allen purchased their father’s house. A half-cape style dwelling with a bam and outbuildings, with an additional 3 acres. In addition they purchased 16 acres of field pasture and wood lot. In I845 Joseph purchased for $250 the easterly half of the dwelling house and the westerly half of the shop. Later he purchased the remaining sections of the building with an additional 9 acres of land for $100. Deeds from this period and before give us a fascinating view of how the people of Old Scituate, not only managed their property, but also of family life itself. By the end of the 1840's Joseph was living in the house his father had built almost fifty years earlier. As middle age approached he continued to work as a shipwright and to deal in real estate transactions - ex. Joseph sold to his brother Job's son Hiram a lot of pasture land lying in Scituate at the southeast comer of Joseph's eld for $30. The following year Hiram and his wife Nancy (Ellms) built a cape-style dwelling that still stands today on present day Summer St. in the west end. When Hiram died in 1851 after a short illness, his father-in-law became administrator of his estate. In 1852 Joseph purchased from his nephew's estate the house and a half acre of land for $246. In I860 he would sell the house and an acre of land to his son William Otis for $400. Hiram's widow Nancy would marry Melvin S. Litchfield in 1856. Melvin and his brother Zenas operated a store that stood at the corner of present day Cedar and Summer St. In the years during and following the Civil War the Litchfield Brothers thrived in the making and selling of shoes, boots and other dry goods. In the years before and after the Civil War, shipbuilding along the North River was in decline. In 1870's Joseph Clapp living at Clapp's Corner was in declining health. On January 3, 1878, Joseph died at the age of 68, his passing coinciding with the passing of local shipbuilding. The children of Joseph and Lydia would also be remembered as a part of Old Scituate. Their daughter Bethia would marry Israel Bamers Jr. in 1883. Recently she was mentioned in an article by Sally Bailey Brown. She recalled Mrs. Barnes living next to Morris Pond in the old Capt. Israel Vinal homestead. Mrs. Barnes was credited with the rescue of many neighborhood children from the waters of Joe Morris’ pond. Joseph CIapp's grandson William Otis Jr. would represent the North Scituate District on the Town's Advisory Council from 1912 to I929. Joseph Clapp shipwright and his accomplishments live not only through his many descendants but through the local history that we work so hard to preserve. A fitting memorial to him and the many mariners that have contributed so much to our local heritage is our Maritime and Irish Mossing Museum which will for many years to come ensure that their memory will never fade. .

~ David Corbin Grand Army Hall Update On February 18th the GAR Study Committee met at the Laidlaw Center with architect Ed Devine to review and discuss drawings that he had completed of the hall as the building exists. The focus of the meeting was to look at the following concems: kitchen and restroom restoration, fire code updating, and the restoration of the balcony. Also discussed were some fund-raising ideas like "selling off" the windows, doors, kitchen, stage, and balcony in memory of a family member or members. Please don't forget that Nantucket Weekend rafe tickets are available at the Red Schoolhouse for $5.00 each. There are many additional prizes. All proceeds to benefit the Grand Army Hall Restoration Project. Additional donations are being gratefully accepted in care of: Perry Post Preservation Fund Scituate Federal Savings Bank 72. Front St. Scituate, MA 02066 p.5 Thank you for your support, David Corbin GAR Study Committee Chm.

President’s Column I am pleased to report that our society and the United States Postal Service are finalizing plans for a special stamp cancellation to commemorate the Great Portland Gale of 1898. The project was first proposed by Joanne McGuinness of the Scituate Post Office and Ed Davis Scituate Postmaster. Since that time several meetings have been held to plan the event. While all details are not complete, we expect local students will design informational posters that will be placed throughout the South Shore and a student's project will be selected for the anniversary cancellation. Stacy I-Iendrickson and Skip Twomey, Gates Intermediate School Art teachers, are working on cachet envelopes that will be available for purchase through the Society. This event is expected to draw attention of Philatelists, the general public and the media throughout New England. Also in the discussion stage are other related events to mark the event. The coming months I'll keep the membership informed of this important historical anniversary.

Pilot Boat Columbia Plaque One of the tragedies of the 1898 storm was the loss of the pilot boat Columbia and her crew at Sandhills. For many years the Columbia sat on the beach and was used as a small maritime museuml tea house. For those that have visited the Maritime and Irish Mossing Museum you know the interesting fireplace/mantelpiece story that links the two. I have long felt that a memorial plaque should be placed at the site in remembrance of the Columbia's crew and all others that lost their lives in Scituate during the storm. I am therefore proposing that small donations ($1.00 or less) be given. In that way the plaque will have been paid for by many individuals in the town. I propose that the following be written on the plaque:

PILOT BOAT COLUMBIA GROUNDED HERE PORTLAND GALE, 1898 ALL HANDS LOST PLACED HERE 1998 BY SCITUATE CITIZENS IN MEMORY OF ALL LOST AT SCITUATE IN THAT GREAT STORM

Thank you for your support. David Ball Volunteers Needed The summer season is rapidly approaching and tourists will be coming to visit our historic sites. This year the Maritime/Irish Mossing museum will be open Saturdays and Sundays from July through Labor Day and all our other sites will be open on a staggered basis throughout the summer, so the need for volunteers is critical. To cover all the sites with volunteers is a major undertaking, just ask Yvonne Twomey. If you can please help us, call 545-1083 and leave your name, telephone number, and state that you would like to be a summer tour site volunteer. (If you also have a preference for a particular site, let us know this, too.) We will get back to you. There will be a training session during April for all volunteers. Please volunteer today!! Thank you!! The Operating Committee for the Maritime and Irish Mossing Museum is looking for someone who will head up the Gift Shop in the museum. If interested please leave your name and phone number in care of Pat Mann at the

Laidlaw Center (545-1083). .

Please Help us é todayl!

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Mystery Photograph Can you identify this picture? If you can, put the answer on a piece of paper with your name, address and phone number and drop it in the mystery photograph box at the Laidlaw Historical Center. The first correct answer selected wins a sheet of assorted postcards. Good Luck. Billy Eaton correctly identified the picture as the former Seaside Chapel in Minot. It was located on the NE corner of Collier and Ocean Avenues. Today it is a dwelling. Billy says that the history of chapel can be found in Old Scituate and Pratt's “History of Cohasset" under St. Stephen's Church.

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Congratulations Quilt Winner Congratulations to Dorothy Barry of Boston who was the winner of quilt drawn at our January 25th dinner meeting. A special thanks to Maurine Upton for her fine work for yet another successful year for the Society. DAR News On Thursday, March 12th, the Chief Justice Cushing Chapter of the DAR held its “Good Citizen Day" meeting at the Little Red Schoolhouse. Vice-Regent Duncan Bates Todd presented a Good Citizen Pin to Nicole Jenkins of Scituate High School and Meghan O'Connor of Norwell. Our third Good Citizen Tim Sullivan of Hanover was receiving a Leadership Award elsewhere; therefore he was unable to attend. The signicance of a DAR Good Citizen Pin represents the qualities of Good character which are Dependability, Service, Leadership, and Patriotism. It was a very pleasant afternoon for guests and members. We were honored this year to have our Good Citizen from Norwell High, Meghan O'Connor, be one of the five finalists in the State Contest. On Saturday, March 14th, Meghan, her special guests, the Chapter Regent, Vice-Regent and Secretary, were honored at a State Conference Meeting held at the Sheraton Tara in Braintree. At this meeting the State Winner was announced and the Chief Justice Cushing Chapter was pleased that Meghan O'Connor was chosen as the ”runner-up". Congratulations to Meghan.

Last Winter Lecture The last speaker in our Winter lecture series will be Dave Ball. He will be speaking about his new book “Night of Terror at Buoy No. 4". Join us Wednesday, April 8th at 7 p.m. at the Laidlaw Center for an interesting evening as the tragic story of the Fairfax and Pinthis unfolds. Admission is 2 dollars for members and 5 dollars for non-members.

The United States Navy vs. Canada (This story comes to us courtesy of Jim Slaby - Steamship Historical Society of America, Inc. ) This is the transcript of an Actual radio conversation of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October, I995. Radio conversation released by the Chief of Naval Operations 10-10-95.

I Americans: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a /‘I \ . . ‘ collision. / \\ \\ ' ‘ I Canadians: Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South \ /Q . . 6 6 ,.., ' " Q; \ 6.» J to avoid a collision _ '»'\ ' ~-Q $4 " -3/‘ Americans: This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert \ /‘ . YOUR course.

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I I ' Canadians: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course.

. Americans: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS LINCOLN, THE ,.- - - ... .___.,. ,_ SECOND LARGESTpl SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES’ ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS, AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH, THAT'S ONE FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP. Canadians: This is a lighthouse. Your call. Operation Daffodil During the month of April, as you drive or walk around Scituate, you will no doubt be impressed by the number of daffodils in bloom - everywhere! About 38,000 bulbs were sold last spring, through the auspices of the Scituate Garden Club. One of our members donated 175 bulbs to be planted around the historic properties, and organized the volunteers effort to get them planted. At the Lighthouse, George Downton planted 50 bulbs; at the Little Red Schoolhouse, Dave Corbin planted 50, and Bob Corbin planted 25 at the GAR Hall. We also have 25 at the James House, in the apple orchard, planted by Garden Club member Donna Curran; and 25 at the Mann House, courtesy of Maureen Sutton (Garden Club member). ' The Scituate Garden Club is again offering bulbs for sale at a cost of $33.00 for 100 bulbs plus 50 free! Anyone can buy them - just send your check, made out to the Scituate Garden Club, to Nancy Turner (Mrs. David W.), 519 First Parish Road, Scituate 02066. Please enclose your name, address and phone number. The bulbs will be shipped here in September for Fall planting, and you will be notified when they arrive. We hope to plant lots more daffodils at our historic sites and further beautify Scituatell Glenn Fields

The Indian Raids on Scituate The property damage, injury and deaths suffered in New England during King Phillip's War (1675-1676) were greater in relation to the population than those experienced in either Georgia or Virginia during the Civil War. Scituate, the second largest town in Plymouth County, experienced more than its share of these losses. Scituate first felt the impact of the war in December, 1675 when four Scituate men were severely wounded at the Great Swamp Fight in Rhode Island. On March 26, 1676, Captain Michael Pierce's company was ambushed at the falls of the Blackstone River in Rhode Island and 15 Scituate men including Pierce were killed. The loss of Pierce's company created a near panic in Plymouth Colony. On April 11, the Colony demanded an additional 50 militiamen from Scituate despite the losses already suffered. Each town feared immediate attack by the Indians and acted to provide its own defense. The Town of Scituate moved quickly to establish four garrison houses to be manned by ten to fifteen men. In the event of an attack, residents were to seek shelter at the nearest garrison. The garrison houses in Scituate were Barstow's (Hanover Four Corners), “The Blockhouse” (On the river above Union Bridge), Stockbridge's (Greenbush), and William's (Scituate Harbor- Barker Tavern). The Stockbridge mansion was typical of the garrison houses. lt was a large sturdy two story house built in the manner of the southeast of England. The heavy timber braced frame was infilled with a mixture of clay and stones called “nogging”. In England the nogging was whitewashed to produce an effect we now call “half-timbered". Nogging did not stand up well to the New England climate so it was soon sheathed with vertical weather boarding. However, it did provide excellent protection against bullets and arrows. English roof thatch had also been found unsuitable and was soon replaced by riven cedarshingles. Windows were tiny and were fitted with heavy wooden shutters. The doors were constructed of thick vertical boards secured on the inside with a stout horizontal wooden bar which could only be opened from the outside if the latchstring was out. The principal risk to the defenders was from fire ignited by burning arrows. Stockbridge's was further protected on three sides by a wooden palisade and on the fourth side by the mill pond. In April, the Wampanoag's assembled an estimated force of 300 warriors under the leadership of Tuspaquin. Tuspaquin, also known as “the black sachem", was the leader of a large band living in the area of Assawampsett Pond in Middleboro. His wife was the sister of Metacom (King Phillip) and he was one of Metacom's most trusted lieutenants. ' On the night of April 19th a small force of Indians came by way of Weymouth. They bumed five houses in South Hingham and killed John Jacob. On the following day they came down along the Plymouth Road (Route 53) and attacked South Scituate. They were quickly driven off before they could do any damage, but not before they fatally wounded William Blackmore. Large numbers of Tuspaquin's warriors attacked Bridgewater on May 8th, Plymouth on May llth and Middleborough on May 13th, burning buildings and killing livestock. Meanwhile, Plymouth troops including John Williams and his 35 Scituate men unsuccessfully hunted for the raiders. They were searching near Middleborough when Scituate was again attacked. On the morning of May 20th, a plume of smoke from Robert Stetson’s mill on Third Herring Brook (behind Hanover Mall), gave waming of the approach of an attacking force. At that moment there was hardly an able-bodied male resident of Scituate between the ages of 16 and 60 left within the town. After determining that there were p.2 sufficient men to defend Barstow's, Cornet Robert Stetson rode home to assure the safety of his family and then rode east to spread the alarm to the rest of the town. Finding Barstow's well defended, the Indians moved east along the road towards Scituate Harbor, burning houses and barns. They bypassed the Blockhouse after fatally wounding John James and moved on to Greenbush. Stetson gathered the few men he could find and arrived at the Stockbridge garrison house shortly after Lieutenant Isaac Buck came up from the harbor with his men. When the indians reached the intersection of the Driftway and the Country Way, they came under fire from the defenders. This intersection controlled access to the harbor and could not be bypassed. The Indians rallied on the south side of the pond (Scituate Water Dept.) and then laid siege to the garrison. The fight continued until dusk before the Indians retreated up the road by which they had come. They had burned 12 houses and seven barns and had killed four people that day in Scituate. Plymouth was raided again on May 30th and on July llth, Taunton was attacked. Finally, on July 24th, Plymouth Colony appointed Captain Benjamin Church to overall command. Church, whose troops included Captain Williams and his Scituate men, relentlessly pursued the Wampanoags. On August 12th, Church cornered Metacom and Tuspaquin at Mount Hope on Narragansett Bay. Metacom was killed in the fight that followed but Tuspaquin escaped. With the death of Metacom, the resistance of the Wampanoags was broken. Church sought out Tuspaquin and the other remaining leaders with a choice of annihilation or amnesty. Tuspaquin accepted Church's word and came to Plymouth in September to surrender. Unfortunately, Church had gone to Boston. By the time he returned two days later, Tuspaquin had been summarily tried and shot. Benjamin Church of Duxbury was respected by the Wampanoags as an able enemy and an honorable man. He had lived with them, spoke their language fluently, understood their customs and beliefs, and respected them in turn. The leaders of Plymouth Colony reluctantly commissioned him to command their soldiers, despite their contempt for a man who lived and fought like an Indian. He was the only person who could find and defeat the Indians. As fighting ended in Plymouth Colony, Scituate added up its losses. Twenty-four men were dead, 17 buildings were burnt, livestock had been destroyed and most of the year’s crops were lost in a town that depended on subsistence agriculture for survival. True, the town had received £12 as their share of a subscription raised in Ireland to relieve the famine in New England. However, the town's share of the war debt was over E 650. Plymouth colony never fully recovered as a viable entity and within 20 years it was absorbed into Massachusetts. The suffering and losses of the Wampanoags were even greater. Many tribal members including all the leaders were dead. 600 of the living including Metacom's wife and son were sold into slavery in the West Indies. As a nation they were destroyed. Charles Sparrell- March 13, 1998 Archives Comer I am re-printing this article for our Historical Bulletin in case people over-looked it in the March 12, 1998 Patriot Le ger. Hull - The Nantucket Lightship, which has been docked at Marina Bay in Quincy since 1992, may be moved to Hull as part of the effort to attract the National Lighthouse Center and Museum. "lt would complement the existing Hull Lifesaving Museum as well as other tourists attractions," said state Senator Robert Hedlund, R - Weymouth. U.S. Coast Guard lightships were once the" beacons that guided ships past hazards to safe harbors. The Metropolitan District Commission bought the 128-foot Nantucket from the federal government and converted the vessel into a floating exhibit. A The diesel-powered ship, which had a capacity for a 20 member crew, is part of a storied history. Lightships were designed to travel from the mainland to a charted position on a map and serve as oating lighthouses. The nation's first lightship was stationed off Norfolk, Va., in 1820. The number of lightships grew worldwide to as many as 800 in 1913. At first, they bumed kerosene or whale oil before converting to electricity. Eventually, huge buoys with electronic signals replaced the more expensive lightships. The 607 ton Nantucket was built in 1959 at a Coast Guard shipyard in Maryland. It was a guiding light for ships on the East and West coasts. “The possibility (of the move) is very exciting," said Town Counsel James Lampke, who is spearheading the effort to bring the museum to I-lull. Town Manager, Philip Lemnios, said there are still a number of issues that need to be resolved, including where the ship would be docked and how much it would cost the town. In December, a coalition of lighthouse groups with tens of thousands of members selected Hull as one of four po§sill1>leRs}tes for the center and museum. The other communities are Staten Island, N.Y.; Mackinaw, Mich.; and Point u it , . . Dorothy Langley, Archivist

p.3 Taxes and Textiles We seldom think of clothing as a major player in the American Revolution until we take a closer view of the textile industry in New England. The years 1620-21 were surely not the year of the ‘El Nino'. It is well documented that the Pilgrims had great difficulties because they lacked proper clothing for the severe climate of New England. The Massachusetts Bay Company recognized this and soon stocked extra supplies with each ship's crossing. They did such a good job that by the late 1630's the Massachusetts General Court, the colonial legislative body, passed laws against the use of lace and fancy textiles. They did this because they felt the common people were too interested in worldly goods. In 1640 the Massachusetts General Court began to study the potential for textile production by counting the numbers of weavers, spinners, and quantity of seed. Flax and hemp were so valuable they could be used as legal tender at that time. The colonists recognized the importance of woolen cloth for their comfort and also how profitable it was as a commodity and in 1645 the court passed the following order: “desired all ye towns in general, and everyone in particular within the jurisdiction, indeavour the preservation and increase of such sheope as they have already, as also to procure more, with all convenient speed, into their several towns by all such lawful ways and means as God shall put into their hands...... It is desired that such as have as opportunity to write to their friends In England who are minded to come to us, to advise them to bring as Many shoepe as conveniently they can, which being carefully lndeavoured we leave the succease to God.” The order surely must have been a success because by 1699 the English passed the Wool Act. It was a law designed to protect their own wool industry. It stated that “No wool or wool products of any of the English Plantations in America shall be laden on any ship or vessel." It was also illegal to transport wool between colonies and the fine for such activities was £ 500. Under the English Mercantile Policy the Colonists were to be the suppliers of raw materials and consumers of British manufactured goods. And because of increased competition from the Dutch traders, the English passed the British Navigation Act in 1660. This stated that no merchandise could be imported into the colonies except by English ships navigated by Englishmen. In spite of all the English restrictions on textile manufacturing, everyone was soon making his own linens and a large part of his woolens. Lord Cornbury was Governor of New York in 1705. I-Iis report to the British Board of Trade seems quite prophetic: ”I am well informed that upon Long Island and Connecticut they are setting upon a woolen manufacture If they begin to make serge, they will in time make coasrse cloth and then fine.....lf once they see they can cloathe themselves, not only comfortably but handsomely too, without the help of England, they who are not fond of submitting to govemment, would soon think of putting in execution designs they had long harboured in their breasts. This will not seem strange when you consider what sort of people this country is inhabited by." Public Funds were being used by 1750 to promote textile manufacturing in Boston and Philadelphia. The Sugar Act of 1764 levied duties on molasses but also included silks, bengals, calicos, cambric, and French lawns, all textiles in great demand and used by the colonists for making their clothing and household linens. In retaliation the men of Philadelphia resolved to wear only American made woolens. The Stamp Act brought about many boycotts including the one by the 1768 senior class at Harvard. They voted to take their degrees only in American made garments. The following year Yale voted to wear Homespun at their commencement. Unfortunately very few colonial textiles have survived. Most ended up in quilts, and large amounts of rags went into making paper, which was always in short supply. A lot of information comes from written records. We do know that a higher portion of income was designated to clothing compared to housing in the 17th and 18th centuries. Fabrics, clothing, and household linens ‘played a large role as status symbols as evidenced by the inventories that accompany 17th and 18th century wills. If one ever stops to think why Massachusetts does not tax clothing, (until a single item exceeds what is considered a "luxury" price) the reason must surely be embedded in our colonial roots. Our forefathers were a patient lot to have tolerated and endured all the taxes and restrictions placed on their lives from the time they arrived until the Revolutionary War. Taxes that were directed at the very clothes on their backs, and the linens they used in everyday life. "Some Threads for thought" I wonder what John and Abigail Adams would have thought about designer blue jeans? Phyllis Ketter P.S. - Coming soon - "A I-Iundred years of hats and other finery” in the Display Case at the Little Red Schoolhouse.

p.4 '-% _. €_ __ , . i____...*___,.-_ . ___;_l;___ h ,_-* Q/_@President’s Report It is with a sense of both great loss and joy that I report the recent announcement by the Massachusetts Historical Commission of their decision to approve our grant application for

, repairs to the GAR Hall. Last summer Joan Francis, a Society member and Assistant Zoning Officer at Town Hall, was named Chairman of the newly formed Scituate Grants Committee. Without her efforts to establish such a committee, and her work on this grant, we would not " have been in a position to submit a comprehensive application. Sadly loan passed away

* unexpectedly on March 24th. Her passing is particularly difficult for me because she was a very 'r- close friend of mine and my family for over thirty years.

‘ Doug Smith was instrumental with the writing of the grant. He is a member of the town grants committee. Doug is a grant writer for Stonehill College and his expertise gave us a huge advantage over competing applications. Doug and Dave Corbin are presently exploring other grant possibilities. The GAR Hall grant will allow us to begin badly needed repairs to the structure. Since this is a 50% matching grant, and much more needs to be done, the Society must redouble its efforts to raise additional monies. David Corbin is spearheading the fund-raising program for the project. He has done extensive research on the building's history. One way you can help us is by purchasing raffle tickets for a "Nantucket Weekend". They are on sale at the Laidlaw Center for $5 per ticket. We also need volunteers who can help in any way with the project. Ed Devine, a talented Scituate architect, has already stepped forward. He has drawn plans of the building and will be working with us as we move forward. Please remember to stop by our headquarters to drop off your donation for the Pilot Boat Columbia plaque that will be placed at the grounding site on the 100th anniversary of the Great l Portland Gale. Small donations by many people is our goal! Dave Ball

Volunteer Meeting There will be a meeting on Sunday, May 3rd at 1:00 p.m. at the Laidlaw Center for all current and prospective volunteers. The meeting will review operating procedures setting schedules for the summer months. If you are interested in helping us out with a few hours of your time, please let us by calling us at 545-1083 and leaving your name and phone number. We need help staffing the maritime museum and our other sites this coming summer. Please help.

Questions Needed A game about Scituate is in the process of being developed. This will be a fund-raiser for the Gates School PTO. The game should be available around Christmas this year. The game organizers need questions about Scituate. If you can help, write down those questions and mail them to: Scituate Games P.0. Box 103 North Scituate, MA 02060

Volunteer Needed to Convert Our Photographs to Video Volunteers are needed to help convert the Society's photographs to video. Training will be provided, so if you can help please call us at 545-1083. Leave your name and phone number and tell the volunteer you're volunteering for the Video Project. Thank you.

p.5 __ € _ r

Scituate's Squire Bry & Descendants Since its beginning as a settlement in the 1630’s, Scituate has been home for many notable men and women. Some of our more famous such as Abigail and Rebecca Bates became known for their quick response with fife and drum. The result of their impulsive action was the saving of the harbor from destruction from a raiding party of British Marines in 1814. Some of our other notables distinguished themselves over a period of a lifetime. One of these children of the early 19th century was John Bryant Tumer. John B. Turner was born on December 8, 1786 three years after the end of the Revolution. He was the son of Job and Abiah (Bryant) Turner. Job Turner maintained a farm on what was once the Timothy Hatherly tract of land at Farm Neck, which today is the area north of Mushquashicut Pond. Young John would attend local public schools and received a basic education under schoolmaster Eleazar Peaks. John proved an apt pupil. His love of learning and desire to continue his education set him apart from other farm boys, many of whom were needed to work the farms with their families. Under the tutelage of a Mr. Timothy Flint of Cohasset, John began to study the classics, as well as, law and philosophy. Later, for reasons unknown, John decided not to enter college but studied on his own. In the spring of 1813 John married Hannah Nichols of Cohasset. Between 1814 and 1831 they would have eight children. During the summer of 1814 and with a threat of coastal invasion by the British, Scituate mobilized their militia into Coast Guard Companies. There were five militia companies under Captains Bowker, Elmes, Peaks, Tilden and Tolman. As a members of Capt. Bowker’s Company, Job and John Turner volunteered their pasture for drill and their house for meetings. Imagine them dressed in homespun, wide brimmed hats, leather accoutrements, and armed with muskets from the Revolution as they marched in les of two out in the pasture and along the cart path that led to the Glades, then known as Strawberry Head, in the early light of a crisp autumn moming. By November the threat of invasion had subsided and the job of carrying seaweed and salt marsh hay had replaced their military activities. The new year of 1815 brought peace between the United States and Great Britain. John Turner continued his home studies. His congenial manner and reputation as a fair and honest man made him popular and highly regarded throughout Old Scituate. He became known to one and all as "Squire Bry". As his reputation spread, he was approached by a group who asked him to accept the post of Town Moderator. Squire Bry accepted thus beginning a lifelong career in public service. At many a town meeting Squire Bry distinguished himself with his set agenda, ready ear, and his sound judgment that won him many admirers. As he became more involved in what was termed Old Colony Politics his reputation grew. Leaving his position as Town Moderator he went to Boston to represent the district in both the General Court and the Senate. In Plymouth he represented Scituate at the General Court in 1824-1825 and again in 1829-30. During these years he was described by one colleague as "an untiring worker, honest and firm in his convictions and unswerving in his determination to do right.” His strong convictions led him to be a founding member of the local Anti-Slavery Party thus joining ranks with Scituate abolitionist Charles Turner Torrey, who would later give his life in the cause to end slavery. Through the Loring family of Hingham Squire Bry met and became a close friend of then former President John Quincy Adams. Adams no doubt admired Bry's sharp intellect and his ability to converse on a wide range of subjects. Both men shared liberal views toward religion and no probably spent many hours sharing their views on the subject. By faith he was a member of the Unitarian Church. As part of the abolitionist cause Squire Bry was also a supporter of the Temperance movement that found popularity in early 19th century New England. In 1830 he was nominated on the Democratic-Republican ticket as a representative to the 22nd Congress. As he would be opposing his friend John Quincy Adams, he quietly declined the nomination in support of his friend. The 1830's in Massachusetts proved to be a period of rapid growth. In Lowell the Lords of the Loom turned southern cotton into broad cloth. The steam ship began to replace sail. The canal system and road improvements created more mobility. As the newly appointed Commissioner of Plymouth County, Squire Bry directed the construction of public works and was instrumental in the completion of the first railroad in Quincy. Despite a busy agenda Squire Bry always had time for the people of Scituate. Wealthy merchants and common laborers alike all sought his advice and his fair judgment. Disputes over land and livestock ownership as well as family disputes often found the warring factions in front of Squire Bry. His gentle but firm nature and sound judgment made him all the more esteemed by the people of Scituate. No doubt he would have continued well into old age as a champion of causes and a dispenser of wisdom, but his health began to decline. On February 16, 1849 at what many considered the height of his career, he died at the age of 62. Scituate mourned the loss of a dear friend. Eulogies poured in from all over Massachusetts as Scituate prepared to say goodbye to a man who defined the spirit of early 19th century America. His legacy would continue. (See next month Charles Eugene Bates and Ella Turner Bates) David Corbin

Grand Army Hall Update The GAR Hall Study Committee is pleased to announce that the Massachusetts Historical Commission has awarded the Scituate Historical Society a $15,000 matching grant for the restoration of our Grand Army Hall. p.6 The grant will be used for the first phase of the GAR Hall restoration which will address structural issues which consist of the following: A. the "raising up" of the building with jacks, B. replacement of sills, C. replacement of entrance floor and supports, D. installation of rubber vapor barrier under the floors, E. replacing of 14 windows with new sash and tracks, F. restoration of four window locations that will allow more natural lighting in the building. The grant is a major step forward in our restoration project, however, it is only the tip of the iceberg. Costs for the total restoration will most likely exceed our $100,000 goal. We are actively pursuing additional foundation grants and fund-raising ideas. lnterest in our Hall has reached all over the South Shore. We have received numerous calls for requests for use of the hall. Our project will no doubt prove to be a major asset to the Scituate Historical Society and our community as a whole. Please support our project with a donation and/or purchasing a raffle ticket for our Nantucket Weekend. Tickets may be purchased at the Little Red Schoolhouse and at the Scituate Federal Savings Bank at Scituate Harbor. Please send your donation to:

Perry Post Preservation Fund 5 Scituate Federal Savings Bank 72 Front Street Scituate, MA 02066 Thank you for your ongoing support David Corbin, GAR Study Committee Chm.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT

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NEWSLETTER

Mystery Photograph Can you identify this picture? If you can, put the answer on a piece of paper with your name, address and phone number and drop it in the mystery photograph box at the Laidlaw Historical Center. The first correct answer selected wins a sheet of assorted postcards. Good Luck. March's photo winner was Roger Damon who correctly identified the corner of Ford Place and Country Way [Main St.] in Greenbush. Thanks all who participated we had twelve correct responses this month! The background house is the Thomas Clapp house. He married Mercy Bailey and they raised 12 children there. Thanks - Dorothy [Langley] for this information.

p.8 '1 Scituate Historical Society Newsletter

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w I / I 1 Happy ~ I Mother's I ) 3

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”Curacao, April 2nd, 1844

Dear Wife; I arrived here after a rough passage of eighteen days. . . all well. I shall commence dischargen tomorrow and I expect to load here for Boston. Mr. Iesserune in St. Thomas so I don't know what to write you to tell Mr. Allen. . . . Polly I hope that you and ours are in good health tonight as I am which is a great blessing. The older I grow the more love and atachment I have for my family & home. . . I must be content with my lot which is no worse than thousands, but a sailor's life is a hard one at the best Moses R. Colman

Sorry to hear of the death of Capt. Waterman; for he seemed near to me, for I was brought up to sea with him."

Moses Colman was born in 1807 and went to sea in 1816. Little is known about him up to 1842. By 1842 he was the captain of the schooner Manson, 93 tons (she was built for Waterman & Ford of Scituate for George Minot Allen, Thomas Lincoln Manson, Ioel Lincoln Manson, John Manson, p.1

U no “5. Eaton Vinal and Moses Rich Colman) until May of 1848. The Manson was lost at Cuba February 10, 1855.

Capt. Anthony Waterman Jr. was born March 22, 1792 and died August 19, 1857. He married Lydia Colman on October 24, 1816. Lydia was the eldest sister of Captain Moses Rich Colman. Membership Notice All memberships with the exception of Life will be due on July 1, 1998. If you joined after April, 1998, you will be continued through to July, 1999. Dues will remain $10 per individual; $20 per family. Information 1. The Scituate Garden Club provides the flower arrangement for the Cudworth and Mann Houses on House Tour Days. 2. The following persons have offered to be "Mentors" of the following sites: Mann House - John and Yvonne Twomey - 545-5578 Cudworth House and Barn - George Bearce - 545-3293 Lawson Tower - Wm. Krusell - 545-7451 Stockbridge Grist Mill - Eben Bearce - 545-1071 If you wou like to help and be a "Friend" to a site, please call. We always need help. 3. Please take a stroll this spring / summer through the magnificent Wildflower Garden to the rear of the Mann House. In 1980 the Scituate Garden Club carved the gardens’ beginning out of what was an overgrown wilderness. Over the years, Garden Club members have maintained and developed the Garden to its present impressive size. The Garden showcases mostly wild and predominantly native plants, the Garden has been awarded two National awards and several State and District Garden Club awards. So for at pleasant spring or summer afternoon's enjoyment - take a stroll. 4. Please support the GAR fundraising effort by purchasing some tickets for the Nantucket Weekend. Tickets are $5.00 and can be purchased at the Laidlaw Center. Please help us in this endeavor. Archives Corner This month I would like to call your attention to the book, "Old Scituate", second edition, 1970; copyright 1921, by the Chief Justice Cushing Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. I make reference to page 153 on which is a picture of a boat being launched on the North River, and captioned ”Last Launching on the North River". (This was the schooner ”Helen M. Foster," 1871, built at the Chittenden Yard by Joseph Merritt. See same photo opposite page 257 in Briggs’ “Shipbuilding on the North River”. ”Old Scituate" traces history of our -town from about 1623 to about 1914, and should be commended for such. And it well may be that the schooner Helen M. Foster was the last vessel launched during that book's compilation. But how many people know that there was a vessel, christened TORE HUND and launched into the North River in 1986, by her builder/owner, Mr. Lloyd Bergeson. The christening was complete with champagne and with 400 friends and family present. Mr. Bergeson lived on 3.2 acres adjoining the river, in the historic 268 year old Samuel Curtis house in Norwell, MA. (a 2 1/2 story, 1730 Georgian colonial). The ship was built on the second floor of the barn (at ground level), where Mr. Bergeson had a large, heated, office, with a sign on the door saying ”Wind Ship Development Corp." I am hoping that future history books about British and American shipbuilding along the North River will say that a certain Lloyd Bergeson, who lived and worked on the river during p.2 the latter part of the 20th century, was actually the best shipbuilder of them all. Mr. Bergeson has since sold his estate. (Information taken from his beautifully colored ”House for Sale" Brochure advertised in Yankee Magazine.) Dorothy Langley, Archivist Scituate’s Grand Old Man With the approach of Memorial Day observances and our Grand Army Hall Project set to begin this spring. Gur thoughts are with those who gave their lives in the defense of our country. As our Grand Army Hall was the scene of many patriotic events in years past, it is the goal of the GAR Committee that this practice will be revived when the hall restoration is completed. When thinking of Memorial Days gone by in Scituate’s past, one personality among many stands out for his unique individualism and strong convictions that we readily identify with old

New England. ' "Uncle" John Brown was a well known figure in 19th century Scituate. He was one of seven children born to Jonathan and Sarah (Mann) Brown in 1808. At a young age John learned the ship caulking trade and worked at the various shipyards along the North River. In 1832 he married Clarissa Jenkins Cook. The marriage would produce four sons and two daughters. As shipbuilding declined on the North River, John sought work in the shipyards of Boston. How he travelled between Scituate and Boston is to this day a story of physical endurance. Throughout his long life Brown was said to have never owned a horse, and he believed that the stagecoach fare from Scituate to Boston was too expensive. His choice of transportation was his two legs! During those many years that he worked in Boston, rain or shine, cold or heat, John walked to Boston and then back to Scituate. In later years he found lodging in the city and would walk home on the weekends to visit with his family. Whether he was enroute to Boston or to Sunday services at the Baptist Society at Scituate Center, ”Uncle John" was easily identified by his lanky six foot frame and his long strides that was caused by years of long distance walking. By 1860 Uncle John's two oldest sons George and Frank left home to find work outside of Scituate. George moved to East Bridgewater when he found employment in a nail factory. Frank located to Taunton where he entered the watchmaking trade. With his children growing up and out of their Maple Street home Uncle John remained more in Scituate earning a living in the shoemaking trade. . With the secession of the southern states from the Union complete in the spring of 1861, the call for volunteers went throughout Massachusetts. Among the many young men who rushed to join the ranks were George and Frank Brown. George enlisted in the 29th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer infantry. Frank in the 22nd. Experiencing the same patriotic fervor, their father enlisted in the Plymouth County Home Guard. The Home Guard was made up of older men, some of whom were 1812 veterans. They divided their time attending ”union meetings" and drilling on the old training fields. As avowed “unionists” they swore to protect Scituate in case of an attack by the Confederate Navy. Scituate was never directly threatened with attack, but as the casualty lists began to reach home the devastation became evident. Sad news reached the Brown home when on June 15, 1862 George died of wounds received while on picket duty at Fair Oaks, Virginia. Less than two years later came word that Frank had given his life at the Battle of Spotslyvania Court House, Virginia, on May 17th 1864. As both boys were buried on the battlefield, Uncle John erected a stone in their memory at the North Scituate Cemetery (now Groveland). In the years following the war Uncle John continued in his shoemaking and continued his long treks across town. When Scituate veterans formed the George W. Perry Post Grand Army of the Republic at Jenkins Hall on June 15, 1875, Uncle John was made an honorary member of the Post. For almost 30 years and well into his 90's John dressed in union blue and wearing his unique tricorn hat would lead the Perry Post procession in the annual Memorial and p.3 Independence Day parade. He never failed to impress the townspeople with his dignified manner and long strut as he led the much younger veterans from the GAR Hall to Union Cemetery for services. In 1885 Uncle ]ohn’s wife Clarissa died. By years end at the age of 77 he married Sarah Newcomb of Bourne. His later years saw him active with the North Scituate Baptist Church. He was also a benefactor and a founding member of the Union Mission Chapel at Sherman's Corner. In 1903 at the age of 95 he marched with the Perry Post on Memorial Day from the GAR Hall to Union Cemetery. That same year his life story was covered by a local newspaper. The reporter marveled at his energy and longevity. The 1903 article, a copy of which is at the Little Red Schoolhouse, was instrumental in the writing of this article. In 1905 at the age of 97 Uncle Iohn Brown passed away quietly at his home on Maple Street. Family and friends recalled a warm, congenial man with unswerving patriotism and a strong sense of duty. On Memorial Day 1995 a special ceremony was held at Uncle ]ohn’s gravesite at Groveland Cemetery. A wreath was laid at the family plot and a three volley salute was made by Civil War reenactors. As Memorial Day 1998 approaches, we remember Scituate's Grand Old Man, Uncle Iohn Brown. David Corbin

Town of Hull - National Lighthouse Museum Task Force Thank You

April 2, 1998

Mr. and Mrs. George Downton 100 Lighthouse Road Scituate, MA 02066

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Downton:

On behalf of the Town of Hull I would like to extend to you our appreciation for welcoming the members of the National Lighthouse Center and Museum Site Selection Committee to Old Scituate Light on Sunday, March 29, 1998, and for taking them on such an informative tour of the site. The inspiring story of Scituate's "Army of Two”, Rebecca and Abigail Bates, certainly is an intersting piece of lighthouse history.

As you already know, the townsfolk in I-Iull are working hard to make the dream of bringing the proposed National Lighthouse Center and Museum to the South Shore a reality. We thank you for your continuing support, and for helping to let us make this dream come true.

Sincerely,

John D. Reilly, Ir. Chairman Hull Board of Selectmen Early Scituate When Mr. Iohn Lothrop, a minister coming from England with a large group of settlers, arrived in Scituate on 27 September 1634, he noted in his records that there were nine small houses with palisaded fences already there. The owner of one house was the London Adventurer Mr. Timothy Hatherly, who had come over to settle. Another, Anthony Annable, had been in Plymouth Colony for over ten years, arriving on the Anne in 1623, but certainly had not been in

p.4 Scituate that long. Several had been freemen in the colony prior to 1 January 1632/33: Hatherly, Annable, Henry Cobb, William Gilson, and Humphrey Turner. The others had probably been in the colony for a while, but it is doubtful that they had been at Scituate very long. Annable had been chosen by the court to be constable of the ”ward" of Scituate on 1 January 1633/34. James Cudworth, in a letter dated December 1634 to his stepfather Dr. John Stoughton in England, described Scituate as one of the ”plantations that are not yet settled [that is, no church yet], & are newly begun."He mentioned the arrival of Mr. Lothrop, ”a holy, Reverat & hevenly minded man," and he entreated his stepfather that ”if yow doe know eny of youre frendes & acquaintances that come over hether, that youw would derect them to oure Plantation." Apparently they were eager for new settlers, though Cudworth wnet on to caution that they should _be ”such as yow judge to be fite to bee Received into Church fellowshipe." Cudworth said his house, being the largest, was the meeting house, “but wee are but few, as yet, in number - not passing 60 persons." By the time of the 1643 list of men able to bear arms, the number of men age sixteen to sixty at Scituate totaled 100, making Scituate the largest town after Plymouth.

Mr. Lothrop's records show that the Scituate Church was actually organized on 8 January 1634/35, as thirteen initial members joined in covenant together, and it was apparently at that time that Lothrop was ordained their minister. Nataniel Morton commented that, "I Can not say that the maine prte of this [Scituate] Church Came out of the Church of Plym: tho a Considerable prte of them did." Over the next three years forty-six more people became members, the great majority of them new to the colony. Since the new ones became members over rather evenly spaced intervals, it suggests a steady influx into Scituate of new families. Although we know of other families there at the same time who were not church members, including some names of nonchurch members whose marriages or deaths were recorded by Lothrop, it is difficult to estimate the number of inhabitants, or have a reliable idea of the size of the town, until the August 1643 arms list.

In addition to Hatherly; Lothrop; Cudworth, who would become one of the colony's leading military figures, as well as a controversial liberal; Humphrey Turner; and William Gilson, who was an Assistant in 1633, some of the leading men in Scituate in the early years were Nathaniel Tilden; Edward Foster, who married Hatherly's niece; William Vassal, who had earlier been an Assistant in the Bay Colony, and who would also become quite controversial; Thomas Besbeech; and Samuel Hinckley, whose son was to become a governor of the colony. Many of the newcomers were from county Kent in England (with a fair number from the town of Tenterden), and they became know as the "Men of Kent” or ”Kentish Men." Thus, unlike some of the other new towns of the 1630's which were settled almost entirely by non-Plymouth people, Scituate was settled by some who had previously lived in Plymouth town, and some who had not.

Apparently internal stess came early to the Scituate settlers. One Plymouth Colony scholar suggests that there were problems in the Scituate Church as early as 1637, and he notes Lothrop's records show that between 8 January 1634/35 and 25 February 1637/38, 59 persons were admitted to church membership, but between March 1638 and October 1639, only three additional members were admitted. This suggests that membership was virtually closed for a good part of two years. Lothrop records Days of Humiliation observed by the Scituate church, including ones of 7 April 1636 “in respect of present outward Scarcity & in respect of helpes in ministery, as also for the prevention of Enemies." Another Day of Humiliation occurred on 11 November 1636 ”ffor a blessing uppon their consultation aboute the Lawes for Settling the State of this Patten. Some differences arising aboute some particulars in judgement, wee were by the mercye of God reconciled joyntly." On 22 January 1637/38, a Day of Humiliation took place ”especially for our removeall, as alsoe the removeall of these Spreading opinions in the churches at ye Bey, as also p.5 for the preventing of any intended evil against the churches here." Scituate was the closest Plymouth town to the Bay Colony, and it is apparent that there was some rather vocal opposition in Massachusetts churches to Mr. Lothrop's conduct of his religious duties.

By 29 November 1638, Lothrop's congregation was observing a Day of Humiliation ”as alsoe for our further Successe in our Removeall." 0n 3 January 1636/37 Mr. Timothy Hatherly had petitioned the Court “in the behalf of the Church of Scituate. . . That the place [Scituate] is too streate for them to reside comfortably upon and that the lands adjacent are very Stony and not convenient to plant upon," to he requested permission for the "said inhabitants of Scituate” to search for lands to settle elsewhere unless other lands could be given them which would allow more comfortable subsistence at Scituate. The court approved this request on 12 January 1638/39 with a grant of land at a place called Sippican (today Rochester) to Mr. Thomas Besbeech, James Cudworth, William Gilson, Anthony Annable, Henry Rowley, Edward Foster, Henry Cobb, and Robert Linnell as a committee for the seating of a township and congregation. However, no town was founded there at this time, and apparently the grant was revoked by the court, or rejected by the grantees. Probably the court preferred to save the Sippican area for the future expansion of Plymouth town, for on 5 June 1651 the court ordered “For the continuall support of the townshipe of Plymouth, for th place and seat of government, to prevent the despersing of the inhabitants thereof, it is ordered, that Specan bee granted to the towne of Plymouth, to bee a generall healp to the inhabitants thereof, for the keeping of thiere cattell, and to remayne for the common use and good of the said township, and never to bee aleanated by the townshipe from the same to any other use."The change of grant occured between 23 january 1638/39, when another Humiliation Day was observed, ”Wee that were for Sippican devided into 3 companies in this service for preventing of exceptions. Wherein wee petitioned for Direction in Electing of Committyes for the SEtting downe of our towne, for good order in beginning and proceeding, for more Spiritual helpe for us, as alsoe for our Brethren here," and 26 June 1639, when the Day of Humilation was for a new destination, ”ffor the presence of God in mercy to goe with us to Mattakeese." Mattacheese at this time was the area on Cape Cod that became better known as Barnstable (not to be confused with Mattacheeset, which became Yarmouth). As late as 13 June 1639, Lothrop was still noting ”great dissentions in gneral.”

Dissensions continued at Scituate even after the departure of the Lothrop group. In 1641 the Reverend Charles Chauncey came to Scituate from Plymouth to start a new church. He had arrived at Plymouth in 1638 and had become associated with the Reverend John Reyner in the Plymouth Church. Chauncey, acknowledged to be a great scholar, was one of the best educated men in New England, but he had a aw. He was a believer in baptism by total immersion, which the Plymouth townspeople were willing to allow (though with reservations about the cold climate) if Chauncey would not object to Reyner doing baptisms his way, by sprinkling. But Chauncey was adamantly for his way only, and Plymouth, after consulting with the Bay, Connecticut, and New Haven, encouraged,Mr. Chauncey to move on, so that in 1641 he accepted the invitation of people at Scituate to become the minister there. His views on baptism attracted much criticism from Bay churches, and, though he seemed to have the support of the most important Scituate citizen, Mr. Timothy Hatherly, he also had quarrels wit Mr. William Vassall and others in subsequent years, which again seriously divided the Scituate Church.

(The above article on Scituate was from Plymouth Colony by Eugene Aubrey Stratton. editor). Best wishes to our President on his second eye surgery Dave Ball underwent a second operation on his eye this month. It was done at Boston Eye and Ear Hospital. Dave is recovering at home now. p.6 GAR Restoration Fund The recent state grant is a major step forward in our restoration project, however, it is only the tip of the iceberg. Costs for the total restoration will most likely exceed our $100,000 goal. We are actively pursuing additional foundation grants and fund-raising ideas. Interest in our Hall has reached all over the South Shore. Our project will no doubt prove to be a major asset to the Scituate Historical Society and our community as a whole. Please support our project with a donation and/or purchasing a raffle ticket for our Nantucket Weekend. Tickets may be purchased at the Little Red Schoolhouse and at the Scituate Federal Savings Bank at Scituate Harbor. Please send your donation to: Perry Post Preservation Fund Scituate Federal Savings Bank 72 Front Street Scituate, MA 02066 Thank you for your ongoing support David Corbin, GAR Study Committee Chm.

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JOHN NELSON

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The Scituate Historical Society

NEWSLETTER

Mystery Photograph Can you identify this picture? If you can, put the answer on a piece of paper with your name, address and phone number and drop it in the mystery photograph box at the Laidlaw Historical Center. The first correct answer selected wins a sheet of assorted postcards. Good Luck. April's photo winner was Tom Keefe who correctly identified the Reynold's Package Store in Greenbush. Thanks all who participated.

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Q. , .& J " " '-'1} ' ' ‘Z Volume 2 Issue 11 June. 1993 u!.?u‘- f‘ ‘V. - 1 I ." ‘ fl i E-.li.= “lg - } 3*; Summer is Just around the Comer and: . . . * 3 A . 5 t W " . bus .._ . 1 be two events this summer: one is .,> sponsoring . The Society will O 0 O 0 Q‘ "‘~.~ 0' \ ' ' 0 . ”_f“-~’ '1-!;_,:.‘ ~ ~~"~ ~* -’-- tour of Scituate to be held in Iuly if there is enough interest, the _.-W " second will be two Heritage Day cruises on board the Captain Mac.

First the bus tour: If there is enough interest from the membership, we will charter a bus for a narrated historic tour of Scituate (narrators will be Dave Ball and Fred Freitas). We will start where , the Men of Kent settled, visit the areas as the settlement spread, and

... . ~.- 4. -‘ ‘ ' »)‘_-;..~%- :.-.. \ .... Q-' §<;-*5“! ‘..' Y - ' on I-'11‘-.,: ‘»._‘3£F'§"§Z" *' W i‘§‘§§5 at three sites guided tours. The ticket price will depend ~. for ' stop *3f\s‘,¢‘..)-.__*~;.,_‘~‘,;;_,,;,’:-’§_,

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» '- _.,;4 Q . _'_.$7. . S the cost of the bus. We anticipate it to range from 7 - 10 dollars per ticket. If you're interested, fill out the bus trip form (at the back) and

Y? drop it off at the Laidlaw Center.

Second the Ca tain Mac Herita e Da tour; The Society' will' be sponsoring' 2 two-hour cruises' on August 8th. Dave Ball, Fred Freitas, and Dr. David Nellis, professor of geology, will narrate the cruises along Scituate's coast. The first will leave Scituate Harbor at 10 a.m. and journey north to Minot Light. The history of Minot Light, Scituate Light, some shipwrecks that occured along this area, and coastal geology will be discussed. The second cruise will leave at 12 noon and sail south. Among the points of interest in this cruise will be shipbuilding and the North River, the Storm of 1898, Fourth Cliff life-saving and WWII fortifications, etc. KEEP A WATCH FOR THESE SOCIETY SPONSORED FUNDRAISING CRUISES IN THE NEWSPAPER. TICKETS WILL BE HANDLED BY CAPTAIN MAC TOURS. From the President Special Thanks to Bob Belliveau As many members know Bob Belliveau, director of Scituate TV cable has taken a new and challenging position in the communications industry. He will be vice president in charge of marketing at Quality Management Systems. I want to take this opportunity to let the membership know what Bob has accomplished for the Society over the last decade.

Bob has videotaped nearly every important historical event taking place in Scituate. He was also instrumental in the technical planning for our very successful televised auction held a couple of p.1

.4“\. \’ >.~T \ years ago. Shortly after that he produced a half hour documentary of the story of the Etrusco. I-Iis most recent project is the production of videos for each room in the Maritime & Irish Mossing Museum. Even though Bob will no longer be working in Scituate, he assures us he will still be working on our behalf. His next project is to put our collection of still photographs on video tape. Thanks Bob for all you have done for the Society and good luck in your new position!

The new archives room in the basement of the Laidlaw Center is now up and running. Carol Miles and crew are now working to move our valuable research collection there for better preservation and security. When that is complete, the archives will be available to serious researchers. On a related note the first floor meeting room is also complete. This will allow us to better exhibit our art work collection. Dave Ball Second Kathleen Laidlaw Award Given

The recipient of the second Kathleen Laidlaw award for $500 is Richard Tibbetts Ill. Richard developed a computer program that allows the Society to inventory all our holdings. As part of his eagle scout project, Richard, with the assistance of several other scouts that he had organized, visited four historic sites over many days and inventoried them. He then helped input the material into the Society's computer as well as advising us on several computer issues. This inventory is in the process of being inputed into our computer now and will benefit the Society for years to come. Richard will be attending MIT in the fall. Good luck Richard. Archives Corner

Memorial Day or Decoration Day, is a holiday observed in most states of the United States on May 30, originally as an occasion for decorating the graves of soldiers killed in the Civil War, but since World War I, as a day commemorating also those who died in later wars.

The custom of decorating soldiers’ graves with owers

——— ~ A was observed locally after the Civil War, and on May 5, 1868, John A. Logan, then head of the Grand Army of the Republic, issued an order appointing May 30th of that year for "decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion."

Memorial Day is observed in all states except Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, the Canal Zone, and Guam. In Florida, May 30 is Memorial Day for the veterans of all wars, and in Virginia it is Confederate Memorial Day. In North Carolina and

‘ South Carolina only federal government offices are closed, and in Texas it is not a bank holiday. Besides Virginia, various Southern states observe Confederate Memorial Day as follows: April 26 - Alabama, Florida,

P-2 Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 - North Carolina and South Carolina; and lune 3 - Kentucky, Louisiana, and Tennessee.

Let us be proud that Scituate traditionally has a goodly turn-out of grateful citizens on this hallowed day; has a beautiful Thomas Lawson Common, specifically dedicated to honoring all veterans; has traditionally carried on its impressive Memorial Day Parade activities, which set it apart from other, more modern and boisterous, float-laden parades. We should all see to it that in the ensuing years, our Memorial Day remains as a true remembrance and honoring of those who gave their lives for our country. Dorothy Clapp Langley The Society's Fiscal Highlights ERESENI FINANCIAL srgrus First of all, the Society's current financial status. As of April 30, 1998 our total cash assets were about $95,000. Deduct from this a bank loan balance of $36,000 and we show net cash assets currently of about $59,000.

Recently, we received a matching grant of $15,000 from the State for use with the work going on at the GAR Hall. We must put up a matching $15,000 in a separate account that can only be used for the GAR Hall. This brings our available net cash assets to about $44,000.

Owned by the Historical Society Own d b the Town 1. Cudworth Bam and Pound 1. Cudworth House

2. GAR Hall - 2. Lawson Tower 3. Stockbridge Grist Mill 3. Scituate Light House 4. Maritime] Irish Mossing Museum 4. Mann House 5. Old Oaken Bucket House 6. Laidlaw Center

The Society is totally responsible for maintaining the six properties owned by the Society. We must provide the funds needed to preserve those buildings.

Regarding the four Town-owned properties, the Town has delegated to the Society the responsibility for determining what has to be done on an on-going basis to maintain these properties and what this program will cost from one year to the next. The Society submits the budget to cover this program to the Selectmen, Advisory Committee and Town Administrator for their consideration and approval, and action is then taken at the Town's Annual Meeting.

REVENUES AND EXPENSES FOR THE 1997-1998 FISCAL PERIOD Rglenueg Expenditures:

Donations 17,400 ~ Repairs and Maintenance 31,500 Sales of merchandise 5,300 Insurance 4,100 Interest earned 5,400 Loan payments 6,000 Dues 4,400 Newsletter & supplies 4,300 Rent 20,000 Other 4,900 Other 3,500

total $56,000 total $50,800 Net: $5,200 The Finance Committee

113 Notice of Annual Meeting

The Scituate Historical Society will hold its Annual Meeting on Saturday, Iune 20, at 2:00 p.m. at the Kathleen Laidlaw Historical Center on Cudworth Road. The Meeting will consist of annual reports from the President, Secretary, and Treasurer, as well as action on the following report of the Nominating Committee:

1. Election of Trustees (for three-year terms): H . E . I. E I

Ruth Downton 2001 Peter A. Whitfield 2001 Other Trustees now serving: Douglas W. Fields 2000 Yvonne G. Twomey 2000 Duncan B. Todd 1999 Frederick C. Freitas 1999

2. Election of Officers (for two-year terms): President - David Ball 2000 Vice-President - Administration - David T. Dixon 2000 Vice-President - Preservation - Paul R. Miles 1999 Treasurer - Adelisa Barbosa 1999 Secretary - Ellen M. Swider 2000

3. Other business that may come before the Meeting.

Please make every effort to attend the Meeting. If you are unable to attend, please fill out the proxy below and return it to the Society before June 20 in the enclosed addressed envelope.

9 Respectfully, Ruth A. Downton Secretary

...... _ . _ . ______. _ . - _ E'9?.5.9P"i °" d°“°d ""9 Proxy for June 20 Annual Meeting

I am a member in good standing of the Scituate Historical Society and hereby vote

|:| For . U Against

the election of the Trustees and Officers shown in the Report of the Nominating Committee.

Date Name of Member

p.4 Membership Renewal Form Membership is the foundation on which any society is built. The interest and work of the members is what allows the Society to continue. Therefore, your membership is very important to us. We ask you to take a few minutes, complete the renewal form, and return it promptly. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, or questions about the Society, please let us know by phone, by visit, or by letter. Scituate Historical Society c/o Membership P.O. Box 276 Scituate, MA 02066

Membership Statement: Please renew me as a member of the Scituate Historical Society. Enclosed is my check to cover membership (s) listed below. '

If you have had a change of address, please check here [ ] PLEASE PRINT

NAME PHONE ______

ADDRESS APT. #

CITY STATE ZIP

TYPE OF MEMBERSHIP

[ ] Single / Over 65 Membership $10.00

[ ] Family Membership $20.00

DONATION: (IN MEMORY OF) A

TOTAL ENCLOSED: DATE: THANK YOU ron voun cnmanous suvronr

PLAQUE cowmnm __,,.. Q. Many have donated a dollar to erect a plaque to 1*‘-',‘§-3' ...-;_,. mark the site of the grounding of the pilot boat " Columbia during the Portland Gale of 1898. With the 100th year of the sinking coming up this November, the Society would like to remember the event by placing a bronze marker at the site. We are asking for small donations for this endeavor. so drop a dollar into the receptacle at the Laidlaw Center for this worthy cause. Thank you!

P5

\t@ Did you ever hear of Rodolphus Village? This is a reprint of an article that appeared in the Society's newsletter in March of 1955. (ed.)

How many residents of modern Scituate ever heard of Rodolphus Village? Probably not very amny, but in the old days it was quite the common practice to name parts of the town after the people who lived in the vicinity. This place was named for Rudolphus Ellms and was near the present corner of Tilden and Turner Roads. The rst house here was built by Thomas Tate previous to 1650. Rudolphus Ellms came from Southwark, England, arriving here on the ship "Planter" in 1635, and in 1644 married Katherine Whitcomb; he was one of the Conihasset Partners, and in 1659 bought the Tate house and lived there the rest of his life, Mr. Tate having removed to Barbadoes.

Mr. Ellms died in 1711 and left many descendants, who for the most part settled on the ancestral lands and built up a sizeable number of families of this name so that eventually by common consent the neighborhood became known as Rodolphus Village in honor of its founder.

The Charity House was a small building approximately twenty feet long and about fifteen feet wide located on the southeasterly end of the Third Cliff. It was built and maintained by the Massachusetts Humane Society as a shelter for sailors shipwrecked along the coast. There were four bunks in two tiers along one end, blankets, stove, firewood, and provisions. The contents were carefully checked each fall and all made ready for the winter ahead.

The building was used also by the farmers from the back country who came to cut salt hay on the New Harbor marshes*. This hay was cut and stacked along the river and creeks heading from it, a process often taking a week or more; when the weather was favorable the hay was loaded on lighters or barges, called in those days “gundalows" and floated on the favoring tides up the river to the inland farms. This salt hay was an excellent food for cattle and at that time the salt marshes were considered the most valuable land a farmer could own.

After the erection of the Life Saving Station on the Fourth Cliff, the Charity House was no longer needed, so it was sold and moved to Greenbush close to Collamores Landing on the First Herring Brook. It was later moved near the highway and remodelled, and still later it was again moved to the highway near the Rotten Marsh“, made into a dwelling house and still stands on Chief Justice Cushing Highway. (Do any members know if this house still exists? ed. If so, let us know.)

You need not go to California to experience an earthquake, for on the morning of November 18, 1755 a tremendous earthquake shook the Town of Scituate. Chimneys were toppled, dishes shaken off shelves, pictures fell from the walls, houses were thrown out of line, and many walls cracked and joints loosened. The quake lasted fifteen minutes or more,and people said that the ground rippled like the waves of the ocean. Many cracks and fissures were opened in the earth from which water spouted; the largest of these was near Sweet Swamp (the small swamp which is the source of Stepping Stone Creek and lies north of Utility Road) where reddish sand flowed out of the water and continued to do so for many years.

*New Harbor Marshes - along Route 3A going toward Little's Bridge; eastward toward the cliffs; source of much salt marsh hay for early settlers. “Rotten Marsh - between Stockbridge Mill and Little's Bridge.

1929 - The First traffic lights were installed at the corner of Gannett and Hatherly Roads and at the corner of Jericho and Beaver Dam Roads. p.6 Scituate Herald Note between January, 1930, and March, 1931 “Seven hundred burlap packages with a dozen quarts of liquor in each package, valued at $150,000, an old touring car, several pairs of shoes, assortments of vests and coats, but no pants, was the haul made by three coastguardsmen on last Saturday morning when they broke up a landing party of bootleggers. This largest single haul in the history of the North Scituate Coast Guard station ws made at 2 o'clock in the morning when the three guardsmen patrolling their beat in an auto, saw a group of about 30 men busily engaged on the shore in the Glades near Minot's Light. . . . the guardsmen drew their service guns and fired into the air. The bootleggers ed, leaving their clothes behind them. A white launch in the bay immediately put out to sea. It is presumed that the bootleggers had been wading, hence the clothes on the beach."

BUS TRIP OF SCITUATE FORM YES, I'M INTERESTED IN THE BUS TRIP. NAME: -

ADDRESS: __PHONE NUMBER

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(611) 545-4599 (600) 6604599 FAX (617) 545-1123 Q59 nusseu. 6.5%!’ CABINET SOURCE Field & SonI Inc. Solid Waste mo unu: EFFORT SHOP Systems Schultz: Fgdozafztgcgg “We went every customer to feel like our only customer. " Tel: 61,7-545-0016 TOM DUNHAM 132 FRONT STREET 5454 °°° ' FAX; 6|7-545.5g|() Kathleen M. Field 21 Owner scrrums, MA 02066 Garden Road Treasurer Scituate, MA 02066

Dana J. Richard 545;] 256 Lic.#A1 1929 Liz Crosby Lic.#E26267 f Cottage Farmi Studio £p,Q_l,gLZ,%.Z%g6 6% 06-‘ Paintings 85 Antique Frames ,°,,,,,,,,°°""”’¢‘,,,,,,,’°'°.,.,,,°»"“f'§"f,,§'§’§Z,,",,,i§f".,,,,,,.,.,,,- - s,,,,,. P.O. Box 756 CTR‘ Residential Cl an red Sdwile. MA 02066 lduslfiil eaned Resto TEL: 701/5452195, Fax; (517) 545.4350 Cgmmgfgial en. 11 MichaelLeeher President B17-545-O159 FAX 191/5456919 use Certied

TOTMAN ENTERPRISES mc. Lltlonwoocl §~>j%:§§f§},i??5 “°"°'7'5"5“°4 ““""°'7'5‘”'°588 YOURAD cor/11> .'£.'?.'is..“§..I.‘l»E !§°s.'f...."§”..Z. BEHERE! Coheuet. MA 02025 Y Hinghem, MA 02043 SCHOOL nmusroannou EXCAVATION (73!) 333-2665 l , . (mu. , , , (73!) 749-2665 Manha S. Totman Russell B. Totmen no. Box 22 no 96». ass The V80, Best Books and Toys N. Mersheld, MA 02059 Scituate, MA 02066

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Mystery Photograph Can you identify this picture? If you can, put the answer on a piece of paper with your name, address and phone number and drop it in the mystery photograph box at the Laidlaw Historical Center. The first correct answer selected wins a sheet of assorted postcards. Good Luck.

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Qgptgin Mag Hgrijggg Day Tggr The Society will be sponsoring 2 two-hour cruises on August 8th. Dave Ball, Fred Freitas, and Dr. David Nellis, professor of geology, will narrate the cruises along Scituate's coast. The first will leave Scituate Harbor at 10 a.m. and journey north to Minot Light. The history of Minot Light, Scituate Light, some shipwrecks that occurred along this area, and coastal geology will be discussed. The second cruise will leave at 12 noon and sail south. Among the points of interest in this cruise will be shipbuilding and the North River, the Storm of 1898, Fourth Cliff life-saving and WWII fortifications, etc. KEEP A WATCH FOR THESE SOCIETY SPONSORED FUNDRAISING CRUISES IN THE NEWSPAPER. TICKETS WILL BE HANDLED BY CAPTAIN MAC TQURS. Scituate Historical Society

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-09’ Ih:_G_m.d_QlsLQa1§ (Reprinted from the December, 1949 newsletter) Great uncle Stephen Litchfield was a very astute young man. Born in 1793, he waits until 1830 before choosing a wife and then he married, possibly with an eye to the future, great aunt Mary Wade, the last unmarried daughter of the “Widder" Margaret Wade, and Mary took him home to the white house at the top of the hill on Country Way, North Scituate. Thus, in addition to a wife he acquired a house, abarn, a garden, a wood lot, a horse, a yoke of oxen, geese, hens, and probably a cat.

To this he added the fruits of his own labors, and when he died in 1890 he was considered to be well xed. This is he how did it - his ledger from 1820 on shows just how. For cutting 4' wood .25 For cutting 3 1/ 2 ’ wood .22 1 day's work picking stones .50 Letting horse to go to Cove (Cohasset) .36 Letting horse to go to Neck (No. Scituate Beach) .36 Horse and "waggon" to go to "Dogister” (Dorchester) $1.80 Helping kill “beaf” .21 “Buchering one pig .33 1 day's work on highway .67 1 day's work gundalowing .50 Oxen and cart, 1/2 day .88 "Halling" stones 1/ 2 day .25

Still and all, his expenses were not too great.

1/ 2 "Sheap" .75 12 lbs. pork .73 7 "lopsters" .42 6 lbs. butter 1.25 1/ 2 Veal .72

The good old days? Well, rather. Europe and Asia and the islands of the seven seas were far away, and if they had their troubles, Great uncle Stephen knew lettle about them and cared less. He worked hard, ate "hearty", slept twelve hours a night, owed no man, put money in the bank and lived to be ninety-seven. What more could a man ask of life? Sally Bailey Brown Arghivgs Qgrngr The famous Boston “Stump”

St. Botolph's Town! Far over leagues of land And leagues of sea looks forth its noble tower, And far around the chiming bells are heard; So may that sacred name forever stand A landmark, and a symbol of the power That lies concentred in a single word. Longfellow

Scituate Historical Society p. 2 July,1998 As early as 654 a wandering Saxon monk called Botolf, the saint of seafaring men, came to an inconspicuous little village in the fens of Lincolnshire called Icanhoe. Here he gathered together a few faithful followers and founded a priory which, as time passed, grew in numbers and strength. Indeed, the town's own identity became so submerged in that of the monastery and its founder, that as early as 1270 it was no longer referred to by its original name, but W88 @1184 “Botofston.” In the fourteenth century it was known~as "Botolestone" and "B0t0lf’S t0I'l"- About 1577 Lombarde states that the place was then called “Bostonstow," though "commonly and corruptly called Boston."

Toward the close of the ninth century the Danes, who invaded that section, ravaged and completely wiped away not only the buildings but the followers of St. Botolph. Tradition tells us that in 1309 the church was rebuilt, largely through the efforts of one Margery Tilney, and a memorial within the edifice bears testimony to this fact. The fervor of the Friars" Revival at the beginning of the fourteenth century furnished the inspiration, and the prosperity which came to Boston, England, about this time from the active wool trade with the Continent supplied the wherewithal to erect this edifice, which the town determined “should be the admiration of all Christendom."

Visitors to Boston, England, never tire of speaking of the charm of the town and of the quaint impressiveness of the old church, which proudly stands on the banks of the river Witham, its high tower rising to a height of 272 feet and overtopping all English cathedral towers, as well as rivaling them all in beauty of architecture.

The tower, the most distinguished feature of this famous old Cathedral, is commonly referred to as the "Boston Stump" from the fact that, when seen from a great distance, it appears to rise like a stump from the smaller buildings that cluster around it. The State Street Trust Company is depository and Allan Forbes is treasurer of a fund that is being raised at the present time by citizens of our Greater Boston to renovate this tower as a tercentenary gift to our mother town. In addition to its tower, St. Botolph's Church has some peculiar and certainly unique architectural features, for its winding stone staircase contains just three hundred and sixty-five steps, the exact number of days in a year; it has seven doors, the number of days in a week; and it is lighted by fifty-two windows, the number of weeks in a year. To carry out more completely the cycle of time, the clerestory roof is supported on twelve stone columns, the number of months in a year; the well-worn steps to the library number just twenty-four, to correspond with the hours in a day, while those leading to the Old Rood Loft contain sixty, the number of minutes in an hour and seconds in a minute.

When Reverend John Cotton, vicar of the Church of St. Botolph, left England to take up his duties as teacher of the Boston Church in New England, there is a story current that: "The lantem of S.t. Botolph's ceased to burn When from the portals of that church he came To be a burning and a shining light I-Iere in the wilderness."

There has always been a strong connecting link between Old Boston and New Boston. Many gifts have been exchanged between the two Bostons. In the collection of the Bostonian Society there is a very interesting wooden model of St. Botolph's Church, as well as many quaint pictures of Old Boston. The reconstruction of the old chapel in St. Botolph's in 1855 was made possible largely through the generosity of George Peabody, Joshua Bates, and Russell Sturgis, three American citizens then residing in London, while the memorial tablet to Reverend John Cotton was placed Scltuate Historical Society p. 3 July, 1998 ,1

there by his American descendants and friends.

(Taken from "Boston, England & Boston, New England, 1630- 1930. Printed for the State Street Trust Co. of Boston, MA. 1930). Dorothy Langley, Archivist

D.A.K_bI.QLs On Thursday, May 14th, members of the Chief Justice Cushing Chapter of the DAR attended the Installation] Dedication of a "DAR Insignia Marker" on the the grave

- site of Dorothy B. Wood. Dorothy was a long-time member and Regent 1973-1977. Carolyn Richardson, Chaplan led us in prayer. Dorothy Keyes initiated the action for permission from the Office of Organizing Secretary General to place the marker on the grave.

The Annual Meeting and Lunch was held at P.].'s Restaurant. The Installation of the newly-elected officers for 1998-2001 took place with Carolyn Richardson, Chaplan presiding. Newly-elected Duncan Bates Todd received the Regent's Pin from Jean Migre. An Ex-Regent's Pin was presented to lean Migre, Regent 1995-1998.

On Saturday, May 16th, Duncan Bates Todd, Regent and loan Powers, Vice-Regent, were installed

at the State Board of Management Meeting held at St. Ann's Church in Wayland.

On lune 12th the Chapter will have a box Lunch and Meeting at the Nantasket Beach Pavilion. The subject for the meeting will be National Defense led by Dorothy Keyes. I 0;. 0-; any up-|_q_ --_| Thanks to Loy Geyer the Scituate Historical Society will soon be on the Internet. Lou has been working diligently in establishing a web page with links to our historical sites. We are hoping to be up and running this summer, but many things still need to be done - particularly checking out the phone line and installing a new up-to-date modem at the Laidlaw Center. Dave Dixon and I have been providing Lou with the necessary information about the Society. But the majority of the work has been done by Lou. When the page is up and running, you'll see Lou's professional work in the flesh. It is great! More information to follow in upcoming newsletters.

111' .1 LII 1' --'1_u '- I‘ Susan Anthony, a professional landscaper, has once again volunteered to maintain the planters at the Maritime/Irish Mossing museum. The plantings that adorned the museum's deck drew many positive comments from the public last year. Already we can tell that her plantings this year will look even better. This is one more reason to come and visit the museum. Susan Scituate Historical Society p. 4 July. 1998 —~ i# — ‘ — purchased all of the plants from Hillbilly Acres which is owned and operated by Doug Litchfield. Hilly Billy Acres is located on Old Oaken Bucket Road. Susan tells us his selection is unusual and intriguing (see ad back page). Thanks again Susan!- Membership is the foundation on which any society is built. The interest and work of the members is what allows theu'Society to continue. Therefore, your membership is very important to us. We ask you to take a few minutes, complete the renewal form, and return it promptly. you have any thoughts, If suggestions, or questions about the Society, please let us know by phone, by visit, or by letter.

a Scituate Historical Society P c/o Membership

P.Q. Box 276 ' Scituate, MA 02066

Membership Statement: Please renew I me as a member of the Scituate > Historical Society. Enclosed is my check to cover membership (s) listed below.

If you have had a change of address, please check here [ ] PLEASE PRINT

1 i NAME V PHONE ______ADDRESS APT. # ______CITY STATE ZIP ______

TYPE OF MEMBERSHIP

[ ] Single / Over 65 Membership $10.00

[ ] Family Membership $20.00

DONATION: (IN MEMORY OF) TOTAL ENCLOSED: ______'______DATE:

' THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT

Irish Mossing is still alive and doing well in Scituate, but few people are left who can remember the Irish moss industry as it was originally carried on for many years in Scituate. All the early accounts give Dame] Ward credit for starting the industry here; eventually, it became business in the town. a major

Dr. John Odin, who had been the Wards’ family doctor in Boston and maintained his summer home where the Clipper Ship is now located, is said to have encouraged Daniel Ward to harvest the moss growing along the coast. Dr. Odin introduced Ward to a Mr. Hunt who had a drug store at the corner of Elliot and Washington Streets in Boston, and Mr. Hunt agreed to buy the moss which Ward had then cured.

It is hard to pin point the exact year when mossing began in Scituate. That it was going on Scituate Historical Society prior p. 5 July. 1998 to the Civil War is certain. ]ohn Barry, one of several Irish lads who enlisted in the war, listed his occupation as Mosser on his enlistment papers dated August, 1862. Likewise did Nicholas Wherity and Thomas O’Neal, but in the census of 1865 few had listed Mossing as their jobs. This changed by 1870. Most Irish men listed mosser as their occupation and around 100 men were so designated. Barbara Murphy in her delightful book on Irish Mossers gives us a well documented history of mossing, but, does anyone know who was the last person to list as their occupation Mossing? U£ZII§.a l. Bobby Corbin planted a red maple tree at the Maritime and Irish Mossing Museum in memory of A.J. McEachern.

2. On June 30th a meeting with post oce personal was held at the Maritime Museum to continue work on the upcoming stamp cancellation for the 100th anniversary of the Portland Gale. Sixth grade students from Gates Intermediate school created artwork for the cancellation and one of the designs was chosen at this meeting. Mark November 27. 1998 on your calendar for this is the day of the cancellation. There will be 3 cancellation sites: Scituate Post Office. Humarock Post Office, and the Maritirne/Irish Mossing Museum. All proceeds (except the .32 stamp) will benefit the Society. Look for more information in the upcoming months.

Join Dave Ball and Fred Freitas for a bus tour of Scituate on ]uly 18th from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. The price is $9.00 per ticket. The school bus, which will be provided by Totman Enterprises from Scituate, can accommodate 50 people. We will start at the Laidlaw Center Parking lot and travel where Scituate's history began along Kent Street. We will then head south just as the new settlement spread. A stop at the Stockbridge Mill will recount the famous attack on the mill during King Philip's War and the importance of a mill to the economic well-being of the town. Our trip will continue around town from the West End to Minot. We'll stretch our legs at our famous lighthouse and recall some famous storms and shipwrecks along Cedar Point. A guided tour of the new Maritime and Irish Mossing Museum will complete our trip. The bus will then drop us of at the Laidlaw Center. Thirty people have already expressed interest. So if you want to join us, please fill out the form below and drop off your check at the Little Red Schoolhouse. Thank you.

NAME: _;

ADDRESS:

PHONE NUMBER: _;

NUMBER OF TICKETS:

AMOUNT ENCLOSED:

DON'T FORGET TO HELP THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE GAR HALL BY PURCHASING TICKETS FOR THE NANTUCKET WEEKEND. TICKETS MAY BE BOUGHT AT THE LAIDLAW CENTER FOR $5.00. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THIS PROJECT. Scituate Historical Society p. 6 July, 1998 The Year 1776:

The British evacuated Boston, and Howe sailed for Nova Scotia.

Nathan Hale was hanged by the British as a spy in New York.

Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress.

January. Twenty-three men were chosen for the Committee of Correspondence and Inspection.

September. The town of Scituate voted 20 shillings per month in addition to the continental pay for each enlistee; as additional bounty, 40 shillings was voted if he were called out of state. The army had been able to muster less than half the men it needed, so the town tried to meet its quota by offering various bounties as inducements to patriots to sacrifice their personal freedom in the greater cause of national freedom.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT

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/NC. Non-Prot Org. 9 U.S. Postage P A I D scrruxm. MA. 02066 PERMIT no. 23

II): Qcituat: bisturical Quiet? NEWSLETTER

Dues expires 6/30/98

Mystery Photograph Can you identify this picture? If you can, put the answer on a piece of paper with your name, address and phone number and drop it in the mystery photograph box at the Laidlaw Historical Center. The first correct answer selected wins a sheet of assorted postcards. Good Luck.

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mmD.@1§Au£n§.t_7;2 August 7, 8, and 9 are Heritage Days. Heritage Days is a town-wide event, and the Historical Society is proud to participate in this annual celebration. Come out and support your Society 8: Town by visiting all the historic sites (All sites will be open on August 8th and 9th from 1:00 to 4:00) and by purchasing a ticket/s from the Capt. Mac for a narrated cruise along Scituate's coast (See ads in local newspapers). 2 cruises will be offered - one north of the harbor from 10 a.m. until noon and one south of the harbor from noon until 2 p.m.. “Q These excursions will be narrated by Dave Ball, Fred Freitas, and Dr. David Nellis.

glt Hay and English Hay

The first settlers of Scituate did not find the uplands completely covered with forest. In addition to the Indian cornfields,there were large areas where fire had cleared the trees. Some of these fires were ignited by lightning and others were set by the Indians to provide open space for game animals and birds. This burnt-over land was covered with scrubby growth resembling the present Eastern Edison transmission line right of way. There were no English meadows to provide pasture and hay for the farmer's livestock. However, the Pilgrims at Plymouth had discovered that the salt marshes along the coast provided excellent hay, and the Scituate settlers immediately laid claim to all the marshes between the “Gulph" River and the North River. In later days almost every farmer in Scituate owned and mowed a few acres of salt marsh. Prior to the 1898 Portland Gale, over 1000 acres of salt marsh were mowed each year in Scituate. That storm opened the new mouth of the North River, and eventually caused the loss of many acres of Scituate Historical Society p. 1 August marsh. In early days, an acre of salt marsh was valued as highly as any acre of upland, and conflicting ownership claims let to bitter disputes. Between 1637 and 1685, the conicting claims of Scituate and Hingham over the ownership of the Gulph River Marshes led to the only really bitter quarrel between the Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth Colonies. Eventually, a commission of representatives from each colony agreed that the center of the Gulph up to the mouth of Bound Brook should be the dividing line but not before the Scituate Town Meeting had voted to place a barricade across the Country Way and to prohibit the inhabitants of Hingham from entering Scituate. The Town of Scituate owned a parcel of salt marsh at the juncture of the Herring River and the North River which was leased to farmers who did not own their own marshland. When South Scituate (Norwell) was set off from Scituate, the division of these marshes was one of the critical matters to be settled. Norwell still retains ownership of that portion of the marsh granted to them.

As noted above, there were no upland grass meadows at the time of settlement. Over time fields were cleared and enclosed with walls built from the stones cleared from the fields. The fields were planted with seed from England and the crop produced was known as “English hay" to distinguish it from salt hay. The imported seed contained not only English (timothy and fescue) grass seeds but other desirable (clover) and undesirable (dandelion) seeds. Our lawns and meadows today are the same grasses (and weeds) that were brought over in Colonial times. Because these grasses developed in a cool moist climate, they turn brown and dry up in Massachusetts in August unless they are vigorously watered.

Both salt hay and English hay were major cash crops for the farmers of Scituate. Before the coming of the railroad, hay was shipped by schooner or hauled by wagon to Boston to be sold at the hay market (now Haymarket Square). Charlie Sparrell - July 1998 Anothgr Exopoolo of Qoljgorgl Borrowing

Caribbean Indians learned about new plants and animals from Columbus's crew, but the Europeans also learned from the islanders. When the sailors saw an Indian product or way of life that would improve their lives, they quickly borrowed the idea.

Sleeping was one unpleasant part of shipboard life. Provided no beds, the sailor slept on the ship's deck. The rolling sea not only kept them tossing about all night, but waves splashing on board soaked them.

On the island of Cuba, Columbus's crew took a special interest in the .islander’s beds. Called hamacas by the Indians, the beds were woven mats tied between two trees or poles. The sailors soon started using hamacas as their shipboard beds.

Abraham Lincoln's lineage ends with the death of his first-born son, Robert Todd Lincoln, in 1926. Robert Todd Lincoln (1843-1926) oldest of our 16th President's four sons, and the only one to reach adulthood - had three children: Mary, Abraham, and Jessie. Mary had a son Lincoln Isham (1892-1973); and Jessie had two children, Mary Lincoln Beckwith (1893-1975) and Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith (1904-1985). All three died without leaving any offspring.

Scituate Historical Society p. 2 August This article came from the Boston Sunday Globe, lune 21, 1998, in the Parade section, specifically Walter Scott's Personality Parade, in answer to Gary Mandigo, Camillus, N.Y.; whose question was “Are there any living Lincoln descendants?" lf you have any questions (facts, opinions, truths), write to Walter Scott, Box 5001, Grand Central Station, New York, N.Y. 10163-5001. Your full name will be used unless otherwise requested. Volume of mail makes personal replies impossible.

Dorothy Clapp Langley, Archivist The Wrggk of the Cyrus

”RoIl on, thou deep and dark blue ocean -- roll! Ten thousand eets sweep over thee in vain; Man marks the earth with ruin His control stops with the shore ” Lord Byron

Early last month I was mowing the grass at the old Clapp Cemetery at Greenbush across from Fitts Mill. As I trimmed around the weathered gravestones my interest was taken by one belonging to Captain Alfred Clapp, who in 1834 was lost at sea off Cape Hatteras at the young age of 31. I brushed away the dirt and grass clippings from the surface of the stone hoping to find an epitaph. Unfortunately when l located one, it was too worn by time and the elements to read. It is amazing where you can find a story!

As l continued my mowing, I began to think of another sea tragedy that befell another member of the Clapp family only four years earlier in 1830. Perkins Clapp was born in Scituate in 1809. As many of his family members had chosen a life with the sea, Perkins soon found steady work as a ship's carpenter on various coastal traders. In 1827 Perkin's sister Rachel married Captain Seth Gardner of Hanover. Gardner came from a long line of mariners and at a young age became r master of the coastal trader Cyrus.

In the summer of 1830 Perkins joined the 32 year old master of the Cyrus and a crew of seven. They were Caleb Nichols age 28, Henry Nichols age 19, Reuben Nichols age 17, James Brown age 27, Thomas Jenkins age 26, George Fuller age 16,9 and a man of African descent known only to us as Prince age 18.

In August of that year the Cyrus was sailing off Cape Cod when a sudden change in the weather occurred. Mariners of the early 1800s depended upon the methods of forecasting much the same way their predecessors had done for centuries: The color of the sky and water, sudden changes in the wind and temperature, or perhaps the behavior of seabirds. Our more complete knowledge of coastal storms, such as hurricanes, has come only in recent years with our advancing technology. That sudden change in weather in August of 1830 would be remembered and talked about for years to come and would only be superseded by the famous Minot Light Gale of 1851.

The Cyrus and her crew were caught off guard that wild Wednesday. The vessel was lost with only George Fuller surviving to tell the tale. The following week the Barnstable Patriot (August, 1830) reported on the storm:

Scituate Historical Society p. 3 August Storm! "On Wednesday last, a violent storm commenced in this vicinity, which lasted until Friday morning, causing considerable damage. The corn has suffered in some places severely, and fruit is also much injured. In Salem, ten vessels were run on shore, two of which bilged. At Marblehead, the sloop Eliza was driven on shore, and one hundred barrels of mackerel washed from her deck. At Newburyport two schooners, the Susan of Kenebunk and the Bangor Packet were driven on Shore."

Days later the remains of Perkins, Clapp, Capt. Gardner, and Caleb Nichols were recovered on a Cape Cod beach. Burial was immediate and at an unknown location. Somewhere, perhaps on some sandy windswept hill overlooking the dark blue ocean leans a weathered slate stone recalling their memory and the ill-fated voyage that stormy day in August of 1830.

David Corbin

Since receiving the matching grant from the Massachusetts Historical Commission four months ago, the Grand Army Hall Committee has been busy working with MHC (Massachusetts Historical Commission) in completing plans to begin Phase 1 of the project. This is the replacement of the building's sills and bringing the hall floor up to modern day building code requirements. I would like to thank Ed Devine once again for his time and patience in producing first rate blueprints of the building and the projected work of Phase 1. Thanks also to structural engineer Bob Adams of Anderson Engineering of Marshfield for his professional input on the project plans and to committee member Tim Fitzgerald for his work on the written proposal for acceptance by the MHC. Thank you!

I am also pleased to announce that at our last committee meeting on July 9th, we adopted our project logo, which will now symbolize our project. The logo design was brought before local artist Carolyn Bearce who agreed to put the idea on ink. Needless to say, Carolyn’s finished work has won rave reviews from all who have seen it. A big special thanks to Carolyn for her time, talent, and support.

Since June, Linda McElroy has been hard at work soliciting donations from local merchants for a Heritage Day Rafe sponsored by Scituate Marketplace. This year it was decided that our Grand Army Hall Restoration Project would benefit from the proceeds of this raffle. The response has been great! We can't thank Linda enough for her hard work and Scituate Marketplace for their sponsorship and community spirit. —

On Heritage Days (Aug. 8 and 9) the Grand Army Hall will be open to the public from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. Only a portion of the building will be open for public viewing. This portion will be a part of the main hall floor where artifacts connected with the history of the building will be on display. Committee members will be on hand to talk about the project and answer questions. The Nantucket Weekend Rafe drawing will be held on Sunday August 9th at 6:oo p.m. at Scituate Marketplace. In addition to the trip to Nantucket, a Nantucket Basket made and donated by Bobbi Hall and other fine prizes donated by our local and supportive merchants will be drawn. Thank you one and all.

As the Grand Army Hall Committee continues to work closely with the MHC, we hope to begin work soon in restoring an important part of Scituate's colorful history.

Thank you for your continued support. David Corbin

Scituate Historical Society p. 4 August uted

Do you remember the Sweet Adeliners? How about the Harborettes Harmony Inc.? The Choresters? Did anyone you know belong to the Sea Explorers, the Grange, New Democratic Club, Girl Scout Troop 326, the Bar Bell Club or the Trail Riders?

These are only a few of the many local civic groups that met at our GAR Hall. The GAR Committee is interested in obtaining photos of any of these and other organizations that met at the hall. This pictures will be used in creating a video showcasing the history of the hall. All photos will be handled with care and will be returned with our deep appreciation. If you, or anyone you know, may have any photographic history of the GAR Hall, please call [(781) 545- 9178] or write (P. O. Box 401, North Scituate,udQMA 02060) Dave Corbin. As our Society undertakes on new challenges and labors on our every day work, the importance of volunteers becomes a priority. We have many committees that need workers. We need hosts at all our historic sites. We need volunteers to help catalog our acquisitions. We need helpers to clean our sites. These are just a few of our present needs - can you help us? If you can, please call us at 545-1083 and leave us your name and phone number.

To our many volunteers - a heartfelt thank you. We could not do it without you. Thank you all for your generous gifts of time, insight, and inspiration. We need you, and grateful to count you as friends.

ELSE! LIST Computer Fax machine cash register file cabinets

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WE WERE SORRY WE HAD TO CANCEL THE BUS TRIP AROUND SCITUATE. IF PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED, WE MAY TRY FOR ONE IN SEPTEMBER OR OCTOBER. LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.

Have you paid your dues for this current year (luly 1, 1998 until lune 30, 1999)? If you haven't, make it your priority this week!! Membership forms have been in the last two newsletters and more forms are available at the Little Red Schoolhouse. If you are not sure if you paid, call and leave a message for Ruth Mullen. She'll get back to you.

Thank you!!

Scituate Historical Society p. 5 August Fggm the [resident

About a week ago, Ioan Haskins and Claudia Smith donated a large number of photographs taken by their father, Dwight Agnew Ir. The photos are of very high quality and show off Scituate at "its best from the 1940s through the early 1980s. Upon opening the first box, I came across a photograph that brought back a rush of memories from my childhood. It was a photo of Jamie Turner standing at the door to the keeper's cottage of the lighthouse. I remember him well; I doubt he ever knew me. I was just another kid who fished off the jetty and hung around the lighthouse, and there were so many of us doing that! All I really knew about him at the time was that he seemed old, oved to feed the ducks that came up on the beach, and revelled in his story telling. I wish I had listened to them more closely!

The one story I would especially like to hear him tell again is how he and his wife, Bessie, saved the lighthouse from the auction block. The year was 1917. They had read in Boston papers that the Federal Government planned to sell the lighthouse! There was no way they were about to let that happen! The Tumers convinced the town treasurer to cut a check for $1000. With that done, Mrs. Turner hopped on the train to Boston and bought the lighthouse. Imagine doing that today!

I hope to have in place an interesting exhibit of photography and text in the lighthouse runway by next summer. Will Iamie Turner's photo be there? You can bet on it! In an upcoming newsletter we will include a short biography of Iamie Turner. Watch for it! ************************ And now another individual determined to save a piece of Scituate's past- can we rise to the occasion again?

When the train station on First Parish Road was about to be demolished, Aldie Finnie ]r. decided to act. In short order he moved the two roofs of the waiting station platforms away from the wrecking ball! They are now stored behind Finnie's Garage. He has offered us one of them for use at the Maritime Museum. We have determined it would provide excellent protection for two unique and valuable boats that are now in storage. Unfortunately the price to move and reconstruct the roof is about $4000. If it is not moved by late this fall, this piece of Scituate's history will be lost. PLEASE, if anyone has any ideas how to fund this project or help in any way, contact me as soon as possible. Time is running out. Feel free to give me a call at home (545-9164). ************************ We are about half way to our goal in donations for the plaque marking the grounding site of the Pilot Boat Columbia. The cost of the plaque is approximately $350.00. If you would like to make a donation, stop by the Little Red Schoolhouse soon. The plague must be ordered no later than September 15. Dave Ball I In order to celebrate the 100 anniversary of the Portland Gale of 1898. the Scituate Historical Society in conjunction with the Scituate Post Office Customer Advisory Council presents a one time special cancellation commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Portland Gale, which occured November 26 & 27th 1898. This storm caused unparalleled destruction and created the present day separation of Scituate and the village of I-Iumarock. Please join us on Friday November 27th 1998. Events include a ceremony and reception at the Maritime Museum and special cancellations also at the Scituate Post Oice and Humarock Post Office. Plus many special events planned by Humarock residents. MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOWII Scituate Historical Society p. 6 August Llu2n§.§_l2u2_azo Aug. 22, 1901. Detroit: Cadillac Co. is founded. named after the 18th c. French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac.

Aug. 23, 1914. Emperor of Japan declares war on Germany. Aug. 30, 1918. Ted Williams is born.

Aug. 21, 1928. Joseph Schenk, president of United Artists, says that “people will not want talking pictures long.” He says he makes such hns only to satisfy the passing interest. Schenk admits that certain sound effects, such as a rapping when an actor knocks on a door. are agreeable. However, his faith in silence is noted in his recent hiring of Sergei Eisenstein, director of the heated. hushed “Potemkin".

Aug. 25, 1949. New York: RCA announces invention of system for broadcasting color television.

Aug. 28, 1963. Martin Luther King Junior gives his famous “I have a dream speech” to over 200. OOO people in Washington, DC.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT

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NEWSLETTER

Dues expires 6/30/98

Mystery Photograph Can you identify this picture? If you can, put the answer on a piece of paper with your name, address and phone number and drop it in the mystery photograph box at the Laidlaw Historical Center. The first correct answer selected wins a sheet of assorted postcards. Good Luck. July's winner was Geoff Gordon from 5 Bound Brook Court.

Scituate I-llctorleal Society p. 8 Augmt i ~>. érituate Zlaisturiral éurietp éetnsletter

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“""‘ Volume 3 Issue 2 September. 1998

Labor Day has come can autumn be far away?

October Dinner Meeting t We have scheduled the fall dinner meeting for 6:30 PM, Saturday, October 17 at Harbor United Methodist Church. The menu is baked beans, ham, cole slaw, corn bread and pies - all home baked as usual. The price will be $10 per ticket. There is a limit of 200 people, so you need to reserve early.

The speaker for the evening will be John Galluzzo, the director of education at the Hull Life- Saving Museum. He will speak about Joshua James and the prelude to the Portland Gale of 1898. Joshua James is considered to be the nation's most successful life-saver. James spent his entire career in Hull. This is very timely topic because of the hundredth anniversary of the Gale coming up in November. See the article about Scituate Historical Society's commemoration of this important event below.

In order to celebrate the 100 anniversary of the Portland Gale of 1898. the Scituate Historical Society in conjunction with the Scituate Post Oice Customer Advisory Council presents a one time special cancellation commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Portland Gale, which occured November 26 8; 27th 1898. This storm caused unparalleled destruction and created the present day separation of Scituate and the village of Humarock. Please join us on Friday November 27th 1998. Events include a ceremony and reception at the Maritime Museum and special cancellations also at the Scituate Post Office and Humarock Post Ofce. Plus many special events planned by Humarock residents. MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOWl!

The cache envelops were created by two art teachers at Gates Intermediate School in Scituate. They are Stacy Henrikson and Skip Toomey. Jake Donohue's design was selected from 43 student entries from Gates School by the Scituate Post Office's Advisory Council. These cache envelops will be collector's items. All proceeds from the cache envelops’ sale will benefit the Society. So be sure to keep Friday November 27th open on your calendar. Maritime & Irish Mossing Museum's Fall and Winter hours The museum's hours will be: Sunday October 4th, November lst, and Friday, Saturday, Sunday November 27, 28, 29th. The museum will probably be closed December through March. Scituate Historical Society p. 1 September ?

Two Stacks, North Scituate Landmark - Gone But Not Forgotten The old colonoial mansion used to be a guide for sailors coming into Scituate Harbor. Among its interesting architectural features was a mysterious whipping post in the attic. An old house once stood upon the highest land in North Scituate, overlooking the town buried in its foliage, and the harbor out to the south and the blue sea beyond. Its shape told at once the time of its origin, somewhere in the colonial period prior to the Revolution, for its mighty framed gambrel roof is of the sort that no modern architect can successfully imitate. It belonged to its own time, it dominated the landscape with a rightful supremacy. Its two great chimneys, whence came its name, are not such as men build today. They group within their massive prism the clustered flues that warmed and ventilated many rooms in the days of old. Their roots are bedded deep in the earth within the half-cellar. “Two Stacks" stood beside the road leading north, up .the hill from the Baptist Church of North Scituate on the way to "No Pork" hill, further south and west. “No Pork" is one of many fascinating names of the Old Scituate days, and refers to a time of scarcity in its colonial history. The house is two and half stories in height, the roof a gambrel, the windows narrow, the front doorway a rather stately affair, and attached to either end is an ample L, or perhaps, rather, a wing. It is remarkable as a specimen of its well preserved with a tragic adventurous history, though its attic contains at least one mystery. It calls and holds the attention of the stranger at once, so obvious a type of building is it. lt beckons to an investigation, and this, if pursued, will yield most satisfactory results. It lies north of Hatchet Rock. In one of the pastures, just south of the Two-Stack boundaries, is a great, squarish boulder, rising oddly from the green herbage nipped by the cattle, and known as I-Iatchet Rock. This is the highest point of land in the township. The old deeds and other papers refer to the house as ‘standing north of Hatchet Rock.’ For about 15 years the place has been unoccupied, the present owner and last occupant, Edgar A. P. Newcomb, paying a hurried visit to it about one year ago. The ends and back are shingled, but the front of the house is covered with narrow boarding, matched and rabbeted. The window openings measure just 20 inches wide, and are five feet high. What is probably the original sash still remains, the upper much shorter than the lower, and containing six panes each. The lower sash has been changed to a single pane, and owing to the peculiar dimensions of the opening this does not seem an anachronism. Elsewhere, on sides and rear, the older paning remains, with nine in each lower sash. The rear wall of the main house was built leaning inward, a method known as “battering,” supposed to deect upward the force of the prevailing winds of the Winter. The rooms are planned after the manner of such houses, with a central hall running clear to the great kitchen at the back of the house, and a large room on each side at the front. Off the kitchen was originally a small bedroom, but this Mr. Newcomb made one with the kitchen, in the course of his rearrangement of the place. Upstairs there are two large front bedrooms and three smaller rear ones. The ells are admirable, the north one especially so. It is a story and a half, connected with the main house by a one story passage containing rooms. It is a pure gable, with the roof at the fine old anle of "half-pitch" or 45 degrees. It carries a single chimney, and within it is divided into no less than seven rooms and passages. It has front and rear doors, with a modern front porch that is hardly in strict architectural keeping. The south ell has two stories and a small attic. It has evidently been much remodeled, and was the library and chamber of the present owner while he lived there. Scituate Historical Society p.2 September L 1; i -i

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The Eight-Foot Fireplace TWO ST-“CK5 A The whole house is 42 feet long and about as wide, and this dining-room is 40 feet by 14 and 7 feet high, with the crossbeams exposed. On the right is a great fireplace, over eight feet long and four feet high, with splendid andirons of wrought metal, each over three feet tall. Here are kettles, trammels, the crane and other letter of a colonial kitchen, and in good harmony is the restored cupboard at the right with glassed doors. Where once was the little bedroom, a smaller fireplace still shows. The front room on the right is known as the "clock room," and contains a good replace, some colonial closets, a buffet and an old piano of very early style. Across the hall this room is duplicated in size, and gives entrance to the north ell, as does the small bedroom space off the big kitchen. The library merits a more than passing mention. During Mr. Newcomb's residence here, he entertained many musical, literary and dramatic lights, and these have literally left their marks in this room. At present concealed by temporary hangins of burlap, are many inscriptions upon the walls. Mr. Newcomb built a large fireplace in this room, and above its front of field stones, upon an oak panel, are painted three coats of arms, tow of them being those of the Little family who built the house. Their heraldic charge is a cross engrailed. Were Slaves Punished There? A stairway with latticed partition leads upward to Mr. Newcomb's sleeping room. This has a hooded and boxed-in porch, fast going to decay. The upper chambers are in fine old style, and that on the left of the upper hall is paneled throughout and finished with moldings and wreath-and-riband ornament. A fine old four-poster bed is still there. About the little replace are Dutch tiles. The front end of the upper hall is curtained off and contains a little sanctuary, the worshipping place of a former devoted woman occupant of the house. It is a perfect little chapel in Gothic style, with an altar and some good minatures in the manner of the Byzantine monks. The one stairway of this old house is unusual in it location. It leads up from the first floor at the rear end of the great hallway, in a very dark corner, and of course, is built winding to gain the desired height. The attic is truly a delight to the architect! The gambrel roof is peculiarly framed, being trussed so that there are no posts in the way. Here the two great “stacks" appear at their best, smoothly coated with plaster. Scituate Historical Society p.8 September

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Q“! At the rear of the attic, or in the northeast comer, is a room perfectly dark, and said to have always been so. Story has it that it was a place where slaves were shut up to reect on their misdemeanors after having been whipped and this leads to a consideration of the mystery of this attic, the so-called whipping post at the other end. This is a slender stick, perhaps three and half inches in diameter, smooth with much usage, and stands in the middle of the attic. Here, it is said, the blacks who had been naughty were led, tied up and whipped. It has excited much interest, and it has been stated that if it is a whipping post, it is one of two remaining in New England. Two-Stacks was built by Capt. David Little, who was born in Scituate or Marshfield in 1681, and married Elizabeth Southworth in 1703. The house was built just before or soon after this marriage, and is therefore about 210 years old. Thomas Little, the firstcomer, arrived in Plymouth in 1630, and married Ann Warren, daughter of Richard Warren, who came in 1620. Of his sons, Ephraim married Mary Sturtevant in 1672 and Capt. David, their son, was the David that built Two-Stacks. His sons were Ephraim, David, Nathaniel, and Barnabas, the old house descending to the latter. Barnabas was born in 1717, and became a wealthy and inuential man, loaning his country large sums of money for the needs of the Revolution. He died unmarried, but a sister (Mercy or Mary) who inherited the house, married an Otis, perhaps a Joshua, who is mentioned, and so the old house came to be known as the Otis place. One of the family was an expert cabinet maker, which may account for some of the beautiful interior finish of the house. In the old family cradle it is said that the slave children were rocked like those of the family. During repairs a little shoe was found in a cranny above a fireplace, and a piece of the Otis family ware, with thier "O" upon it, is still cherished, together with a silver porridge spoon, much wom from scraping and stirring. A whipping post might have served for the punishment of other than black folk. The old Boston newspapers are more or less given to advertising runaway white boys, "indentured" who had got sick of their slavery, in no wise differing from that of their black brothers and sisters in the North. Until some explanation is offered for this peculiar post, it will doubtless be accepted for what it has always been called. Two-Stacks no longer acts as a guide for hundreds of sailors, for they no longer steer into Scituate or Cohasset by its looming form on the hill, but its hospitable chimneys still invite the passerby to stop and think upon the virtue and virility of a day that is past.

Thanks to Beverly Colton for this article circa 1910. Bev is descended from the Little Family. ed. From the President In the August newsletter I reported that the daughters of Dwight Agnew Jr. donated to us a large number of photographs including one of Jamie Turner who saved Scituate Lighthouse from the auction block. Carol Vollmer has provided the following fascinating information about Jamie and his wife Jessie.

The couple who purchased Scituate Lighthouse Jamie and Jessie Turner

Jamie Turner was born in Scituate in 1875. In his youth he helped his father work the family farm that was located in Sandhills in the general area where Turner Road and Wampatuck Avenue are now.

In 1898 Jamie was struck by the "gold fever" and went to the Klondike to seek his fortune. Like so Scituate I-llltorlcal Society p.4 September I I many others he didn t! However, his experiences there provided him with a plethora of information to spin a lifetime worth of intriguing stories on his return to Scituate. In 1900 he married Jessie Ferguson and soon after he built his first "stone house" for his new wife. Jamie hauled all the stones to the site from local beaches. The couple named their new home Cobblehurst. It still exists today and is located at the corner of Turner and Hatherly Roads. Eventually Jamie built four such houses in the Sandhills. He built his last stone house in 1924 on Curtis Ave. Carol Vollmer now resides there. Carol is particularly interested in this story since her father, George Vollmer and the Turners were close friends.

Jamie was first elected to the Scituate Board of Selectmen in 1904 at age 29. A check of town r records will probably show he served as a selectman for more terms than any other individual since the town's incorporation. Selectman Turner was highly respected, an eloquent speaker at town, and often served as Chairman of the Board. I

One day in early 1917, while Jamie was at town hall, he got a call from his wife. She informed him Scituate lighthouse, the third oldest in New England, was to be auctioned off by the Federal government that very day! Jessie was determined to stop the sale to private investors. Jamie immediately went to the town treasurer, explained the situation, and told him to cut a check for one thousand dollars. Jamie then called Jessie and told her to meet him at the train station. Soon Jessie was headed for Boston with the check in hand. Later that afternoon she returned with the precious deed! We are indebted to this couple for saving this jewel.

In 1924 the Turners left for Florida. The 1926 Miami hurricane and a longing for Scituate were all it took to convince them they had made a wrong move. In 1930 they returned to Scituate. Again he ran for selectman and served in that post until the early 1940's. Throughout the 1950's the couple resided at the lighthouse. Certainly their most memorable experience in those years was the grounding of the Etrusco in 1956. Imagine watching that spectacle from the lantern room! Jamie died at the age of 91 in 1965, just a couple of years before town meeting appropriated funds for major repairs to his beloved light. Selectman Turner would have been very proud of that vote!

Dave Ball A Very Great Thank You to All! It is always dangerous mentioning individuals when thanking people for their help. If I forget to mention someone, please let me know so that I can correct it in time for the October newsletter. 1. Thank you to all the volunteers who manned the historic sites over Heritage Days. There was a heavy turnout at most sites. Thank you also to all the volunteers who have manned the sites over the whole summer. The. Society could not do it without you. 2. To Linda McElroy, Duncan Bates Todd's daughter, thank you. Linda raised $2700 by a raffle at Scituate Market Place. Thank you also goes to Scituate Market Place for their continued support and help. 3. To David Corbin and his GAR committee for the Nantucket Rafe and all the other things you have done - Thank you. 4. To Maurine Upton and her volunteers who manned the Society's table during Heritage Days - and to Maurine and her work throughout the year - Thank you. 5. To John and Yvonne Twomey and to Paul and Carol Miles and to the other volunteers who cleaned the Mann House - Thank you. 6. To Captain Mac Inc. whose cruises netted the Society $892 - Thank you. 7. To all the building mentors - Thank you for all your work this year. Scituate Historical Society p.s September 8. To all the volunteers who have faithfully contributed their time and hard work at the Maritime & Irish Mossing museum - Thank you. Grand Army Hall Update Heritage Days weekend proved to be a busy one for our Grand Army Hall Committee. Prior to the opening tour on August 8th, members were busy cleaning up the site. Inside, displays were set up detailing 173 years of the building's role in Scituate's history. Outside, the grounds were spruced up with mulch donated by I. Michael Landscapping Inc. Thanks Mike! On Saturday and Sunday committee members were on hand to answer questions about our hall and the restoration project. Visitors included folks who shared their own personal memories of events as well as newcomers to town who had no idea that this building contained so much history. Support for the restoration project was unanimous by all who came out for the tour. A big thanks to the Satuit Masonic Lodge for their support in allowing us to use their parking lot. ' Fundraising for the GAR Hall Restoration Project was also a huge success. The Nantucket Weekend Rafe combined with the Scituate Marketplace Rafe raised $5,000. We cannot thank Linda McElroy and Mike Smith of Scituate Marketplace and to Ianet Corbin, who sold Nantucket Weekend chances throughout the weekend on Front Street. Thanks to all our merchants who donated items and checks to our project. To print all their names would take up two complete newsletters! We couldn't have done all this without your wonderful support. Many thanks! The drawing for the Nantucket Weekend was held at Scituate Marketplace on Sunday evening. The lucky number belonged to Doretta Martin of Scituate. Doretta and a guest will enjoy a weekend stay at the 1803 Martin House Inn located in Nantucket's historic district. Congratulations Doretta! The second prize drawing of a handmade Nantasket Basket donated by Bobbi Hall was won by Judy MacDonald of Scituate. ]udy tells me she is absolutely thrilled with her beautiful prize. Many thanks to Bobbi for her time and support for our project. Third prize of fresh lobsters went to Mike Lesher of I. Michael Landscaping Inc. Mike has been a constant supporter of the GAR Project donating equipment and materials for the improvement of the hall grounds. With all the work and effort that has gone into our project it’ s hard to believe that the actual restoration has yet to begin. On that subject, revised plans for Phase 1, which deals with the structural (sills, oor supports) aspect of the project, have been submitted to the Massachusetts Historical Commission for approval. Upon approval we can begin posting the project to local contractors for bids. As you can imagine, we are all anxious to begin work on Scituate's oldest surviving civic building (1825). The GAR Committee plans to have the building open for tours throughout the autumn months as work at the site will permit. Open tour dates will be announced in future newsletters and we are still interested in photos and information regarding past organizations that met at the hall. Thank you for your continuing support.

' David Corbin Clarication on the construction work at the Laidlaw Center This new wall that has been constructed at the Laidlaw Center was recommended by a committee who studied the needed space in the first floor for handling the number of people doing archive research and the storage of archive material. At times the present library is overflowing with people. Accordingly, tables were provided at the east side of the wall. In addition, this area can be used for lectures and social functions with limited attendance. The west side of the new wall will contain archival material where necessary storage files have been provided, as well as for displaying some of our various collections in the existing display cases.

Sclt His mu ” an to society P's Doug Fields August’s Mystery Photo Stumps Members The mystery photo for August was Front Street (north side) in Seituate Harbor just after the Portland Gale of 1898. Debris was strewn all over. Better luck with September’s picture.

Enclosed is my check made payable to the Scituate Historical Society for the dinner meeting on October 17, 1998. NAME:_

NUMBER OF RESERVATIONS: i 1 1 1 i 1 AMOUNT or CHECK:

Tel. (781) 545-6400 Fax (781) 545-0644

Harbour Insurance Agency Inc.

All Forms of Insurance - No Fee Registry Service THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT 301A Oriftway P.O. 9611 916 R°°°“ M- 0'“ Scituate, MA 02066

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NEWSLETTER

Dues expired 6/so/ea

Mystery Photograph Can you identify this picture? If you can, put the answer on a piece of paper with your name, address and phone number and drop it in the mystery photograph box at the Laidlaw Historical Center. The first correct answer selected wins a sheet of assorted postcards. Good Luck.

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- I .1 » Volume3 Issue3 October, 1998

October Dinner Meeting We have scheduled the fall dinner meeting for 6:30 PM, Saturday, October 17 at Harbor United Methodist Church. The menu is baked beans, ham, cole slaw, corn bread and pies - all home baked as usual. The price will be $10 per ticket. There is a limit of 200 people, so you need to reserve early.

The speaker for the evening will be John Galluzzo, the director of education at the Hull Life- Saving Museum. I-Ie will speak about Joshua James and the prelude to the Portland Gale of 1898. Joshua James is considered to be the nation's most successful life-saver. James spent his entire career in Hull. This is very timely topic because of the hundredth anniversary of the Gale coming up in November. Tickets are going fast, so reserve now.

Enclosed is my check made payable to the Scituate Historical Society for the dinner meeting on October 17, 1998. NAME:

NUMBER OF RESERVATIONS: I I i i — l, i i AMOUNT OF CHECK: I i _ | 1 I i - I M i 1 I I i

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF EARLY NORTH SCITUATE, OR MINOT by Daniel P. Sylvester (Read at the annual meeting in 1927 by R.W. Slater.) In the year 1837 my father, I-I.I-I. Sylvester settled in this town. The town in those days differed much as we know North Scituate, or Minot today. Starting at a point where the Whiting Milk Company is now situated, the first of fourteen pairs of bars had to be lowered to come down where we are now living. It was a rare treat to see people in this vicinity in those days. Not over a half a dozen people would be seen all summer. There were no roads - just pasture land and over this, one would have to drive to reach the beach or ocean front. My father was the first person on this beach to have the first two boarders, and they were a Mr. and Mrs. Cushing. They paid him $10.00 for their board and room. They stayed with him two weeks, so that rate, they paid $2.50 apiece per week. I-le had a boat, which he rented by the hour, and one never used a boat over two hours at a time, at the rate of 17 cents per hour. I was born in what is known as the Draper House in 1849. The room today is just the same as it was when I was bom. The same doors, latches and furniture still remain intact. I moved into Scituatc Historical Society p. 1 October the house I now live in 1873 and there were no other houses on the beach. All of this land was made land and no claims were ever recorded. Squatter claims are only available. I can remember all of the houses being built from North Scituate to the Glades. What is known as the Glades, was first named Strawberry Head, by a man named Abel Hayden, a Boston pilot, who was becalmed in the bay and came ashore in a dory. He bought a piece of land and built a house on it. He later sold it to John M. Barnard, who later turned it over to Mr. O.A. Taft. Mr. Taft sold to a man named Clark. Mr. Clark was drowned while walking across the ice from Cohasset to Strawberry Head. All the passengers were carried from Cohasset to Strawberry Head by boat. Reed brothers next came in possession and sold it to the Somerset Club of Boston. It was a common occurance to see from 100 to 500 vessels of all shapes and sizes in the harbor. After a heavy storm, 5 or 6 would be ashore. Our house was always full of sailors and passengers from these vessels after the storm. . The government would award us for saving lives with either a medal or $10.00 in gold. We probably collected over $700 rather than the 70 medals as the money was more appreciated at the time. There was quarry located on the Glades, operated by a man named Soloman Tory. Fishing was good. Blue fish, mackerel and bass, weighing twenty pounds was not an unusual catch. We had 28 lobster traps. We made two hauls which netted us 225 lobsters. They were sold at 3 1/ 2 cents apiece. Lobsters with one claw were called culls and sold at 1 cent a piece. Even at that, we would make a good days pay. Today, that same catch would net $200 or more. There were but 500 traps from Boston to Plymouth in those times, and today, there are approximately 5000. We lobstered but three months in the year, as they were not supposed to be good after August. Today, they try for them twelve months, against three. We never bought wood. We could load up a waggon without moving the horse. Today it is hardly possible to gather ve loads a year. The Minot House was built by a John Damon, who sold to a Sam Pratt. Mr. Charles Poole was the next owner, and today it is owned by its present occupant, Mr. Blanchard. The Cliff House was built by Mrs. Cushing. She let it, and it was idle for a long time. It was rebuilt by Mr. Summers, and he made it a great benefit to the Town of Scituate. The storm of November 1898, - I was aroused by the coast guard, that my stable door had blown off. That was at 4 a.m. I got up dressed, and with his assistance, repaired it. It was a terrific gale. The water was running thru past the house two hours before high tide, and the marsh stood three feet under water. The horses in the stable were standing in two feet of water. Eight houses were smashed, or carried away during that time. The town has bought back seventy five feet, twenty five feet each time to preserve and to make new roadways on account of the washing away of the breakwater. A breakwater of plank was first built, jetties were built out into the ocean to check it, but everything failed until the present concrete breakwater was built. The first schoolhouse was built where what is called Mary Ann's corner. The land was given by Iohn Turner, and the school was built by the town. There were 5 or 6 scholars. The schoolhouse burned, the children were carried to Cohasset. The schoolhouse was not rebuilt, and the land was given back to Mr. Turner. Mossing was the big industry on the beach. $12,000-15,000 was made yearly. Some of the mossers huts are still located on the lower part of the beach near the Glades entrance. I am 79 years of age. I have never been away from Minot during the summer months. From the President As many of you know Bob Belliveau former Director of Scituate Community Cable accepted a new position with another firm last spring. His expertise in cable and related communications was sorely missed. I am glad to be able to report that Tom Brillant of Country Way TV and Radio Scitulto I-llltorlcal Society p.2 October has stepped forward to help us in this area. Tom has been working at the Maritime and Irish Mossing Museum, servicing equipment, and completing the AV installation. He also provided free of charge all the VCRs and TVs at the museum. We appreciate his assistance. I would suggest that anyone in the market for a new television or sound system stop by his store in North Scituate.

The Scituate Mariner recently ran a story on the progress at the GAR Hall. David and Bobby Corbin received an excellent write up on the project. I thank them for their continuing efforts to keep this project in the public eye.

Please watch the local papers over the next few weeks for up coming events commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Great Portland Gale of November, 1898. As you will see elsewhere in this newsletter, John Galluzzo, Education Director at Hull Life Saving Station, will be our speaker at the October 17th dinner meeting. His talk will focus on events leading up to that catastrophic storm. Some of the activities that will take place this Thanksgiving weekend include a rededication of the Sea Street Bridge at Humarock. It will be named the Frederick Stanley Bridge in honor of Keeper Stanley of the Fourth Cliff Life Saving Station. Other events will be the U.S. Postal Service special stamp cancellation at the museum, and Humarock and Scituate post offices, and dedication of the Pilot Boat Columbia plaque at Sandhills. Details will be provided in the November newsletter.

Special thanks to new member Warren Reynolds who did the fine job of painting the display cases in the Maritime and Irish Mossing Museum's gift shop. Dave Ball The Historical Society is On-line The Scituate Historical Society now has it own web site. Its mission is twofold: 1. to be a pictorial introduction to the activities and sites of the Society for persons not yet acquainted with us and our programs, and 2. to be a source of current information and news for members. The present status is that we have accomplished more with the first objective than the second. There is a schedule section, but dates for this yea1’s lecture series have not yet been established. As soon as the lecture dates are rm, they will be added. An additional feature, to begin with the first item appearing in October, will be a rotating series of brief articles. Each will be displayed for three months, the oldest then replaced with new material.

The address of our site is : http://www.ziplink.net/~history that squiggle before the ‘h’ in history is a tilde and is necessary. On the home page there is a tag to click on to send a message to the webmaster, and any and all comments will help us fine tune the site to better serve the members.

Let us hear from you! -

' Lou Geyer

Special thanks to Lou Geyer who has made this web page possible. ed. Change in Board of Trustees The Board recently accepted with regret the resignation of Doug Fields as a member of the Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Finance Committee due to illness.

Don Uppendahl has been named to fill Doug's unexpired term as a trustee, and Phil Weeks was named Finance Committee Chairman.

Scituate Hllt0I'l¢Il Society - p.3 October Doug has earned the thanks of the Officers and Trustees for the great amount of work he has done for the Society. Everyone hopes he can return to active service in the near future. Board of Trustees DAR News The Chief Justice Cushing Chapter, DAR, met at the Little Red School House on September 10th. The theme of the meeting was a "Pilgrimage to the Chief Justice Cushing Tomb; the Bronze Plaque on 3A with a biographical sketch of the sculpturer, Cyrus Dallin; the Boulder at the Old Meeting House Cemetery; and the DAR Marker placed on the gravesite of the Founder of the Chapter, Ella Turner Bates".

Frances Johnson introduced Priscilla Hall of Marblehead, a relative of a well-known Scituate artist, Josephine Lewis. An interesting up-date on the life and work of Josephine was given. Two oil paintings of a young girl, Mary Vinal, and a young boy, Frank Vinal, recently donated to the

Historical Society were on display. Josephine painted these portraits in 1934.

On Friday, September 18th, Duncan Bates Todd, Regent and Joan Powers, Vice-Regent attended the Fall State Meeting, MDAR, held at the Sturbridge Center. The guest speaker for the Historic Preservation Banquet was Alberta Sebolt George, President and CEO, Old Sturbridge Village.

Duncan Bates Todd Hats, Hats, and more Hats!! Phyllis Ketter has done a wonderful job of setting up a display of the Society's collection of hats at the Laidlaw Center (Little Red Schoolhouse). Please stop by and check them out. Thank you Phyllis.

Josephine Lewis (1865-1959) Visitors to the Red Schoolhouse will have noticed we have acquired two beautiful children's portraits by the artist Josephine Lewis - a Scituate summer resident for many years. Miss Lewis painted many of the children of Scituate and these portraits are of two local children, Frank and Mary Vinal.

Josephine Miles Lewis was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the daughter of Henry G. Lewis, Mayor of New Haven in the 1860's, and Julia Coley Lewis. She graduated from the Yale School of Fine Arts in 1887 and was the first woman to receive the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Yale University in 1891.

From 1892 to 1897, she studied in Paris at the Julien Academy with Frederick MacMon.ies, painting during the summers in Giverny and living in the same pension as did Cezanne and other French impressionists. Returning to New York, she retained a Carnegie Hall Studio from 1897 to 1943, all the while spending most summers at her home and studio at 81 Greenfield Lane, Scituate.

Her awards include the Julia A. Shaw Memorial Prize in 1916 for "A Rainy Day", presented by the National Academy of Design for "the most meritorious work of art in the exhibition produced by an American woman"; first prize in the annual exhibit of the New Haven Paint and Clay Club, in 1923, for "In a Garden"; Honorable Mention of "Boy in Bathing Suit" (now at Scituate Historical Society) by the New Haven Paint and Clay Club in 1933; and, again, its Elizabeth K. Luquiens Scituate Historical Society p.4 October Prize for the best exhibit for "Barbara" in 1939. In 1941, the New Haven Pain and Clay Club awarded Miss Lewis its Members’ Prize for Artistic Merit for “Isabel”, which the Club purchased for its permanent collection. In 1954, the Boston Arts Festival Committee selected "Boy in Bathing Suit" for exhibit in its annual show.

Paintings by Miss Lewis have been exhibited by such prestigious organizations as the National Academy of Design, the Cleveland Museum of Art, The American Federation of Art; Art Institute of Chicago; Society of American Artists; and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Her paintings found their way to salons in Paris and South America.

Permanent collections which house her paintings are: the Yale University Art Gallery; New Haven Paint and Clay Club; The Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, Connecticut; the William A. Farnsworth Library and Museum, Rockland, Maine; St. Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire; and many private collections.

Miss Lewis continued to paint portraits, even to the third generation of some of her original subjects, up until her death in 1959 at age 94. She is buried in the Hall plot at the top of the hill in Union Cemetery - the pink marble marker having been chosen by her cousin Priscilla Hall.

Carol Miles, Curator

Thanks to 2 Priscilla Hall Fran Johnson Dorothy Langley, former Town Archivist I REMEMBER SCITUATE by Daisy Thompson (“The enclosed is the best I could do with a ninety-year-old memory.") We came to Scituate in 1901 as summer residents and we have been associated with town ever since. At that time it was a quiet town, hardly awakened from its colonial sleep. Some of the residents had never been to Boston. The main industries of the town were mossing and lobster fishing. Front Street was tree-lined with frequent glimpses of the harbor. It was a quiet street. As I recall the only shops were Burke’ s original store, Mrs. Curran’ s, a quaint blacksmith shop, the cobblers, an ice cream shop kept by Doris Stenbeck and her brother and famous for its ice cream made as it was formerly made of real cream and chumed on the back porch, Welch’s hardware shop, Mr. Frye’s general store that included a primitive post office, several lovely old houses and the Stanley House. Often at high tide the water overflowed the causeway and inundated the blacksmith shop. There were few houses on First and Second Cliffs. On Peggotty Beach road there were several quaint cottages, on Peggotty Beach three cottages for rent and some shack-like houses occupied by shennen in the summer. For three summers we rented rst one of these cottages. There were three or four cottages on Second Cliff; one occupied by the Tobin family, the Dorothy house, a quaint Cape Cod that Jacques Futrelle bought and razed to build the house that Mrs. Futrelle still owns, and the house with the water tower that tops the cliff. Soon people began building on Second Cliff. First my brother built an interesting house designed by Gelet Burgess. Later my sister built a house also planned by Gelet Burgess. Life was simple in Scituate in the early part of this century. There were walks to the post office to pick up our mail, and longer ones to the Coleman Hills where we picked blueberries and beach plums. It was a town tragedy when the lovely hills were sold to the Sand and Gravel Company. In the Coleman Hills area was an abandoned summer hotel. I say abandoned because the doors had no locks and the place had been looted of much of its fumishings though beds and bureaus still remained. Ultimately it was bumed to the ground. It was our delight to watch the lobster fishermen row out to their pots, and after baiting them, returning with their catch. We had a standing order with “Ben” Tobin to deliver each Sunday morning two dozen live lobsters. His price was fifty cents a dozen. For Sunday night supper we and our guests had lobster salad garnished with slices of tomatoes, hot biscuits, one of my sister Maud’s fabulous layer cakes and much hot coffee. The mossing industry was a fascinating and picturesque one. At low tide the mossers would shove off in their big dories, empty except for a huge, long-handled wooden rake. They rowed out to the rocks, submerged at high tide, to which the Irish moss clung. They scraped it off and with strong and graceful gestures, like pitching Scituate Historical Society p.5 October hay, tossed it dripping into their boats. They spread it on Peggotty Beach above the tide line. It was carefully teddied that the sun might bleach it. When the moss came out of the water it was liver-colored when wet, but as the days passed it changed colors, from it original shade to purple, to raspberry, red, rose, and oyster white. Each day the moss was teddied and gradually took on the aspect of a huge Persian rug spread out on the sands of Peggotty. The next step, when the moss was properly bleached, was to wash it and free it of shells. Back of the beach the mossers sunk huge but rather shallow barrels in which the moss was washed. The next step was to pack it in similar barrels and send it on its way to be converted into sizing or to clear beer. Two or three years before we came to Scituate a group of women artists became summer residents. They had been studying and painting in France and when they sought summer homes they decided to settle in Scituate. First they hired cottages, later they bought. This group included two sisters, Josephine and Matilda Lewis, Theodora Thayer, Mabel Stuart and Alice Beckington. Mi Josephine Lewis, the most successful of them all, became a portrait painter. In many of the Scituate homes today hang portraits of little boys and girls painted by her. Her work was inuenced by Renoir, the French painter. Miss Thayer and Alice Bcckington specialized in miniatures. . We became intimates of this charming group and our society soon took on a cosmopolitan atmosphere. Other painters and writers were weekend guests -- Dawson Watson, a painter from London, Bliss Carmen and Frederick Hovey, two poets, Gelet Burgess and Beatrice Forbes-Robertson Hale, niece of Forbes-Robertson Hale, the Shakespearean actor, and well known actress and authoress in her own right and married to Swinburne Hale, the poet. We entertained simply and charmingly - garden parties, masquerades for which the painters designed fascinating costumes, beach parties - at that period fteen people on the beach was a mob - tea and tennis parties. In the meantime Harry Haynes and Inez Haynes Irwin had built houses on Second Cliff. Jacques Futrelle and Mrs. Futrelle, bothwriters, built on Second Cliff. And now for name dropping -- the following friends have been entertained in the Irwin household: [Daisy goes on to list a large number of very famous people - ed]. Grand Army Hall Update

On Sunday October 18th the Grand Army Hall Committee will host an open house tour of Grand Army Hall. On display will be numerous artifacts dating from the period 1825-1935, beginning when the building was a Baptist meeting house to the later years when the building became Jenkins and then nally Grand Army Hall.

Artifacts such as family pew doors, a section of the original pulpit, and what are believed to be the original front doors complete with original hardware are only some of the items that will be on display. In addition, Grand Army memorabilia will also be on display such as Civil War muskets, swords, hats, lithographs, and a rare field drum will recall over fifty years that the hall served as the headquarters for Scituate's George W. Perry Post 31. Committee members will be on hand to answer questions about the ongoing project to restore Scituate's oldest surviving civic building. Please come by and learn more about the Scituate Historical Society's latest preservation endeavor. Hours will be from 1 pm - 4 pm. Refreshments will be served.

In other news, the Scituate Historical Society and Grand Army Hall Restoration Committee would like to extend it’s deep appreciation.to Seth Webb, Captain of fishing vessel Mary Jane. Seth donated six fine, fresh lobsters for the Heritage Days Raffle. The lucky winner of the feast was Mike Lesher of I. Michael Landscaping. Seth is a direct descendant of two Scituate Sea Captains, Lemuel and Seth Webb. Talk about a family tradition! Thanks, Seth. Community involvement is what will ensure the success of the Grand Army Hall Project.

David Corbin, Chairman of GAR Restoration Committee

Grand Army Hall Photos Wantedll If you or someone you know have any photographs of our GAR Hall please get in touch with Dave Corbin at PO Box 401, North Scituate, MA 02060 or (781) 545-9178. Photo subject matter Scituate Hbtorlcal Society p.6 October could include the many organizations that met at the hall, family events, exterior or interior shots of the building, holiday and veteran affairs, etc. It is one of goals to put together a video depicting the 173 year history of the hall. PLEASE WE NEED YOU HELP IN MAKING THIS PROJECT POSSIBLE! BE A PART OF THE GAR HALL RESTORATION!

SEPTEMBER MYSTERY PHOTO IDENTIFIED The winning answer was submitted by Ma Jesus Dominguez of Spain who identified it as the Connihasset Hall - Booth Hill and Clapp Road. The following information was added by Roger Damon and Iarvis Freymann: the building was located at Connihasset Corner; for a short time in 1873, Scituate's "West Grammar School" was located in this structure until a new building was built on the west side of Country Way near its junction with Capt. Pierce Road.

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Mystery Photograph Can you identify this picture? If you can, put the answer on a piece of paper with your name, address and phone number and drop it in the mystery photograph box at the Laidlaw Historical Center. The first correct answer selected wins a sheet of assorted postcards. Good Luck.

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100th Anniversary of the Portland Gale One hundred years ago this month, New England, and Scituate particularly, was forever changed. A storm of unprecedented strength struck and, because of the loss of the steamer Portland, has been called the Portland Gale of 1898 ever since. Until the Blizzard of 1978 the Portland Gale was the yardstick by which all storms were measured.The estimated number of ships lost was over 400, the amount of damage to property was incalculable, and the number of lives lost will never be known. Because of the importance of this event to Scituate's history, the Society has planned several events to commemorate it. First, a special stamp cancellation will be done in three places: The Maritime] Irish Mossing Museum, Scituate Post Office, and I-Iumarock POSl0fflC€. 0.-I‘-In-.' v vu'\i' H.|' .'~ ll ‘l" ‘I!’-_l“ -1' '1 'H' . 1 1' '1'!» in ~‘- -uv -ru. l'u'u"-. vu “Q ntu 1' -_' Second, the Maritime] Irish Mossing Museum will be open November 27-29. November 27th for the special stamp cancellation; November 28th for a special Christmas sale (15% Off most items) - come in and pick out those Christmas gifts or gift certificates; and November 29th - open to the general public. (Special group tours may still be arranged just call 545-1083). (The museum will be closed in December; open the last Sunday of each month from Jan. - April.) Finally, there will be a special ceremony at Sandhills where a special plaque will be unveiled commemorating the wreck of the pilot boat Columbia. Other community events are being planned - so be sure to check your newspapers and our web site for a complete list. 4:._'l.:l. ~_ ‘-11; 1'3 3?i"1;aa _a-§..1..s- d.:‘:._l Centennial Postal Cancellation at the Post Offices in Scituatemand Humarock (8 a.m. - 5 p.m.) and the Maritime/ Irish Mossin Museum (10 a.m. - 2 .m.) 8 P - Humarock - 6 p.m. - Bon Fire 81 Memorial Ceremony at Beach Opening Humarock - Historical Humarock Exhibit 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

mm 1 Dedication of plaque in remembrance of the pilot boat Columbia at I a.m. on Rebecca Road (north end)

Humarock - Historical Humarock Exhibit IO a.m. - 6 p.m. - Humarock - Hayride By the Sea (Fourth Cliff) - l p.m. - 3 p.m. Maritime/Irish Mossing Museum Sale - 15 % off most items; l p.m. - 4 p.m. Humarock - Lighting of the Community Christmas Tree - 6 p.m. imdnzezemlmnzsh Maritime/Irish Mossing Museum open from l p.m. - 4 p.m. Humarock - Bridge Dedication - 2 p.m. Humarock - Santa's Arrival - 12 p.m. Humarock - Raffle Party - 4 p.m. at Nautical Mile restaurant Humarock - Historical Humarock Exhibit 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Scituate Historical Society p.1 November Some Scituate News for 1898

- Mr. Seth Vinal is suffering severely from rheumatism. - Mrs. ]ohn Roth, one of our best known summer residents, died very suddenly at her home in Boston on Wednesday. - The schooner Helen from New York is at Mr. Welch's with 300 tons of Anthracite. - The lumber schooner Robert A. Kenner, which went ashore on Stage House Beach, will have to be entirely discharged before she can be floated off. - Walter Newdick, who spent Thanksgiving in Arlington, is now quarantined there because he has been exposed to chicken pox. - One paper stated that one chemical engine saved the village from destruction when Mr. Welch's lime shed caught fire, and another said it was wholly useless. The facts are that the engine broke down, but Mr. Welch himself is authority for the statement that the use of chemicals extinguished the fire without exerting chemical action in the lime, thus preventing a serious conflagration. - Charlie lames, who recently presented his teacher Miss Kellogg with a specimen of his handiwork in the shape of an elegant crocheted tidy, has given Principal Mallory an exact copy of the former one. - We hope the people of Scituate will awake to the fact that some very fine music at a very low price is offered them at the town hall on December 18. - There was a great rush of visitors to this place on Sunday, the morning train from Boston having six or seven overloaded cars, and hundreds of people from surrounding towns coming by teams. We noticed one four-horse sleigh with a large number of passengers. - Most of the cottage owners say that they will repair damages and be on hand at the opening of the summer season. With our hotel closed, the hospitality of the Edson cottage was taxed to the utmost and many of Sunday's visitors must have gone home hungry. - Two additional bodies of drowned sailors have been found on Egypt Beach and are now in charge of Undertaker Prouty. One of them has been partially identified as the boat keeper of the Columbia. - Near Mr. Roland Turner's is the stump of an elm tree that will serve as a reminder of the storm for many years to come. It is almost three feet in diameter and is quite sound, yet is broken completely off. - Turner Litchfield's barn was unroofed and a large quantity of hay exposed to the drenching rain. - On Tueday evening the house on the Melzar Vinal place, between Greenbush and the Center, was totally destroyed by fire. It was occupied by the former Mrs. Vinal, now Mrs. Charles White, with her husband and family. All the people were away from home and a neighbor, Mr. Charles Ellms, passed by about 9 without noticing any light, but the house was soon discovered to be on fire. An organ and a small amount of furniture was saved. Losses estimated at $1,000 with an insurance of $700. - One of the drowned sailors recently found has been identified as Carl Platter of the Columbia. On Thursday Undertaker Prouty buried the three unidentified bodies in Evergreen cemetery. Rev. Joseph Cooper performing brief funeral services. May they rest in peace!

(from the Hull Beacon December 12, 1898 - ed.) Archives Corner

"By 1690, the population of Scituate stood at about 865, making it the largest town in the colony, with nearly 100 more people than Plymouth. Families included the Briggses, Bryants, Baileys,

Scituate Historical Society ~ p.2 ' November Chittendens, Collamores, Clapps, Cushings, Curtises, Cudworths, Churches, Colmans, Hatches, Jameses, Kings, Litchfields, STetsons, Sylvesters, Magouns, Stockbridges, Palmers, Turners, Tildens, Manns, Vinals, Witherells, and Wades. The importance of Scituate in the activities of the colony is indicated by the predominance of Scituate names in the Plymouth Colony records.

Because of strong religious differences, Scituate had three meetinghouses by 1685. The first meetinghouse stood in its original location on the hill behind the Kent Street lots, overlooking the harbor, the cliffs and the North River. A faction of the First Church congregation had left to found its own church society in 1645 because of a controversy over the method of baptism. This group, which preferred baptism by sprinkling, rather than immersion, built their meetinghouse upriver near the present site of Union Bridge. This church was the first in Plymouth Colony to admit members of the Anglican faith.

A society of Quakers built the third meetinghouse in 1678, at Belle House Neck, a peninsula in the North River near present Little's Bridge (Route 3A). This Quaker Society later moved upriver to the Edward Wanton shipyard and homestead farm. Much later the society moved its meetinghouse to the present location in Pembroke. Edward Wanton, a shipbuilder who became a Quaker, came to Scituate in 1661. He attracted many of this dissident controversial element in the region. They refused to take part in the town and colony governments or to swear an oath of fidelity to the king, would not attend the Congregational churches, did not register their vital statistics and conducted their own marriages. Harsh laws concerning the treatment of Quakers were passed in both Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies in 1658. The Quakers were repeatedly fined, tortured, imprisoned and banished from the colonies for infringements of the social order."

(This information in quotes, was taken from a publication by Cynthia Hagar Krusell; ISBN 0- 940628-43-0; entitled “Plymouth County, 1685")

Dorothy Clapp Langley, Archivist From Prelude to the Portland Gale by john Galluzzo On Wednesdaymorning, February 2, 1898, a lifesaver on patrol from the Point Allerton U.S. Life-Saving Station spotted an old quilt flying in the rigging of the schooner Albert Crandall, owned by Captain Harrison Mitchell of Hull. During the past evening's gale, the ship had apparently dragged her anchor across the bay and was now stranded off Fort Point, Weymouth, just south of Sheep Island. Quickly, Captain Ioshua Iames and his crew launched a lifeboat into the frigid waters toward Quincy Bay, but soon found they could get no closer to the vessel than three quarters of a mile. The Crandall had become locked in ice as the harbor froze. Trapped beside the vessel sat a small canoe. " Captain Iames brought the surfboat around, and headed through Hull Gut into Boston Harbor in search of a tugboat. After a three mile pull, they secured the services of the Peter W. French , which followed the lifesavers to the icebound schooner. The Captain and a volunteer from his crew, Surfman Martin Quinn, then set off by foot across the ice to the Crandall in order to secure a line from the ship to the tug. They did not get far before breaking through the ice and plunging into the bone-chilling waters. Pulling themselves out, the surfmen crawled back to the lifeboat. The captain of the tug tried next to cross the ice, but also quickly plunged through nearly drowning before the lifesavers reached him by crashing their boat through the ice. The rescue team finally reached the schooner by dragging the 600 pound boat onto the ice and letting it crash through, a process that was repeated over and Scituate I-lintorioal Society p.3 November over to cover the last half mile. On board they found Captain Harrison Mitchell, Henry Webster Mitchell, and Louis F. Galiano, all three of whom were volunteers with Hull's Massachusetts Humane Society and the latter one of Keeper ]ames's original Point Allerton surfmen. Having taken part in the rescue of the schooner Clara lane early Tuesday morning, they had paddled out to the Crandall in a canoe, and had been stranded in the schooner for about 36 hours, with nothing but a single can of beans to share. Finally, the tug pulled the schooner out of the ice to safety. As the surfmen dragged their boat ashore in front of the station, they agreed that this trip had been the worst they had undertaken that season. Exhausted, they returned to their duties.

From the President

On October 17th the Harbor Methodist Church once again provided us with a superb meal for our fall dinner meeting. Iohn Galluzzo, education director and historian of the Hull Life-Saving Station presented a fascinating talk on the events leading up to the Great Portland Gale of 1898. Every one attending seemed to have a great time.

We have been working hard for over a year planning for a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Portland Gale. Many interesting events will take place the weekend following Thanksgiving. I hope that our membership will support us by attending the events. The Scituate U.S. Post Office is to commended for helping us bring this all together. Please remember that the special one day stamp cancellation at the Maritime Museum and Scituate Post Offices is a fund- raiser for the Society. It is also an opportunity for you to obtain a very unusual and beautiful cachet envelopes depicting highlights of that storm. On Saturday. November 28th the Maritime Museum will have on sale all items that the Society currently retails. Most books, pamphlets etc., will be reduced 15% and some cup plates are being offered at 50% off the current price. PLEASE STOP BY, SAY HELLO, and HELP OUT YOUR SOCIETY!

In February, 1999 the Norwell Historical Society will present an evening of fun to celebrate the 150th anniversary of their separation from Scituate. They are looking for Scituate volunteers to participate in the program. Let us know if you might be interested. It should be a good time. It will give us a good opportunity to make them realize the folly of their 1849 decision!

Dave Ball I Special Thank You A very special thank you to Al Montanari for painting the new Maritime and Irish Mossing sign. Monty, as he is affectionately known, is a well-known professional sign painter who volunteered his talent and time to produce this great looking sign. Come by and check it out. Special Portland Gale Exhibit November 27th - 29th Only Make sure you stop by the Maritime Museum for our last opening of the year, November 27, 28, and 29. There will be a special exhibit of the pilot boat Columbia including a model of her on loan from Scituate Federal Savings Bank. We are appreciative of Scituate Federal's offer to place their beautiful model of Columbia on exhibit. Also on exhibit will be the funeral home records from McNamara-Sparrell Funeral Homes, Inc. and the guest book from when the wreck of the Columbia was a museum/ tea house owned by Otis Barker. We are grateful to Robert McNamara for the use of his funeral home records.

Scituate Historical Society p.4 November 41.

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“The Columbia had gone on station outside Boston Harbor a few days before the gale hit. At the beginning of her duty, four pilots were on board in addition to her crew of five. On Saturday, only pilot William Abbott, had yet to be placed on an incoming vessel. The Columbia came upon the steamer Ohio which was nearing Massachusetts Bay from England.1 With Abbott aboard the Ohio, the Columbia was now “manned out”. When Abbott left the Columbia, Harry Peterson was in command. Abbott would be the last to see the Columbia crew alive. Being far off shore, the Columbia may not have been fully aware of the approaching disaster, but certainly by midnight Saturday the Columbia’s crew knew they were in trouble. The howling northeast winds demanded that sails be reefed, but soon the wind tore loose the reefing lines and the sails were quickly tom to shreds. When that happened Peterson lost all ability to maneuver the Columbia in the ever building seas. Hour by hour the Columbia was driven closer to the Scituate shore. At some point during the storm the Columbia dropped both anchors hoping the ship could avoid the inevitable. That is a known fact because both chains were found extended after she beached at Cedar Point, but when did she actually smash ashore? Was it during the moming tide, or did she manage to stave off her tragic end until the evening tide?” from Wamings Ignored by Fred Freitas and Dave Ball.

Warnings Ignored - Special 100th Anniversary Edition. A special 100th anniversary edition of Warnings Ignored is now available for purchase at the Laidlaw Center. With a new cover and a new chapter it will make a special gift for those at Christmas. Limited number.available.

Looking for a Great Christmas Gi: Idea - Then Look No Further! The historical Society now has gift certicates available for purchase at the Center. Laidlaw Your loved ones can use them for membership, books, tee shirts. Help totebags. etc. support the Society by giving a gift certicate to a loved one. Thank you for continued support. your

1 The Ohio later grounded at Spectacle Island in Boston Harbor. Soitunto Historical Society - p.5 Nqvernbef Mystery Photograph sloop by Mr. & Qctober’s mystery photo was correctly identified as Scotty Gannett's Friendship Mrs. George P. Kelly. Congratulations. Volunteers Needed a.m. - 2 p.m.) We are in need of volunteers to man the Maritime/lrish Mossing Museum (10 and the Scituate and Humarock Post Offices (8a.m. - 5 p.m.) on November 27th. Volunteers (Laidlaw will sell the cachet envelopes at each site. Please call Dave Ball 545-9164 or 545-1083 Center) if you can help. Thank you. New Historical Society Calendar 0f 1950's Scituate - Now Available! Old Extraordinary pictures of Scituate adorn this special new Historical Society calendar. The retail Town Hall and Old Police Station are just two of these fabulous pictures. The calendars will (see order form for $7.50, but for Society members who order and prepay before Thanksgiving below) the price will be $5.00! rituate iztnnral nrietg 93.6 %M 276, J//aaaaafaaedz 02066‘ ______;,

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“-..__I_._.’.;I. ,-,> Archaeology Group Meets at Laldlaw Center The South Shore and North River Chapters, MAS will hold their annual meeting at the Laidlaw Center at 7:30 p.m. November 19th. All Society members are welcome to this meeting. There is no charge. At this meeting members and the public are asked to bring Native American artifacts and discuss local archaeology, sites, and research with members of the Chapter. Artifacts will be identified. Dr. Curtis Hoffman, a professional archaeologist, will be present to identify any artifacts that you may bring. Several of our members were present last year, and are cordially invited to come again and bring any artifacts with them.

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. BOOKS & TOYS 2 ' 5‘ {(1. ' 4. ._'I‘é‘__. v_- ‘wt ~ |_'k - '1 *7. Shaw's Cushing Plaza 28 South Street .'-",4 :. -- -é 5. ° Cohasset. "I - MA 02025 11155155, MA 5254; SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION "lbw " EXCAVATION , .1 (781) 383-2665 749-2665 = (731) Martha S. Totman Russell B. Totman " 1* '" '-F“ """"' -- P.O. Box 22 no. aox 242 ’ The P0 B°" 355 225 Best N. Marshcld. MA 02059 Scituate. srocxamoee no ran. 517-545-09:11 MA 02066 Sc“-UAI-E’ M‘ 02°“, ' FA; 5|7.545.755g

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MYstery Photograph Can you identify this picture? If you can, put the answer on a piece of paper with your at the name, address and phone number and drop 1t' 111' the mystery photograph box Laidlaw Historical Center. The rst' correct answer selected wins a sheet of assorted postcards. Good Luck.

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H u it 0} Ma M k Volume 3 Issue 5 December. 1993

January Dinner Meeting The January Meeting of the Scituate Historical Society will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 23, 1999. This will be the annual turkey dinner at the Harbor Methodist Church. The price is $10.00. Your reservation needs to be made as soon as possible. We have to give the church a count of people attending. Only the first 200 dinner reservations accompanied by payment will be accepted. Send a check made out to the Scituate Historical Society with your reservation to The Laidlaw Center, P.O. Box 276, Scituate, MA 02066. What discovery on Front Street set the South Shore buzzing in 1938? Where in Scituate did the fate of ve ancient trees divide town opinion? Did Scituate once have its own hospital? Where was George Vinal’s store? Where was Scituate’s Mayower located? How about the Centennial Hotel? Where in 1907 could you take in a minstral show? The topic of the evening will be It will explore our Scituate of yesterday depicting historic old homes and landmarks, some long gone and those that remain with us today. Enjoy a winter evening with Bob and Dave Corbin as we take a.look at a Scituate of long ago. Enclosed is my check made payable to the Scituate Historical Society for the dinner meeting on Saturday, January 23, 1999.

Name‘O Number of reservations: ______Amount of the check:

-‘ii-\\ “Heap on more wood! - the wind is chill; But let it whistle as it will, We'll keep our Christmas merry stilI." Sir Walter Scott [Lochinvar Vl, introduction, st. 1]

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

The officers and trustees would like to thank the many volunteers who devoted their talents, their energy, and their time to the Society this past year. It was a very successful year. As 1998 comes to a close and with 1999 ready to begin, it is important to tell you how much we appreciate all that you have given to make this Society the best one on the South Shore! To all Society members who have supported us time and again - thank you. Finally we wish you and all your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Scituate Historical Society p. l December A REMINDER - SEE INSERT If you itemize expenses on your Federal tax return, you have until December 31st - the end of this month - to make a tax-deductible contribution to the Society. Iust make a check payable to the Scituate Historical Society, and send it to the Society, P.O. Box 276, Scituate, MA 02066. The Mackerel Fishery The founders of Plymouth Colony, including the “Men of Kent" who settled in Scituate, were not fishermen by trade. Generally, they were English village artisans who, by necessity, became subsistence farmers in order to survive. Commercial fishing in Massachusetts Bay started in

Essex County and came later to the South Shore.

About 1645, families from the Devon coast settled at Marblehead. They promptly scandalized their pious neighbors by announcing that they had come to New England "not to praise God, but to catch fish". The Marbleheaders initially fished from small single-masted open boats called shallops (You can see an English shallop alongside Mayflower II at Plymouth). The crew fished with handlines over the side. The catch of cod was split, salted and dried in the sun. Dried salt cod found a ready market in Europe.

The shallop soon evolved in Essex County into a specialized fishing vessel known as a “Marblehead Schooner". The Marblehead Schooner was small and bluff-bowed with two masts, a covered deck and a cuddy cabin. It was seaworthy, reasonably fast and bulky enough to carry a substantial cargo of fish. The crew, who were more interested in fishing than in sailing, handled the fore-and-aft schooner easily from the deck. This vessel was far from elegant Gloucester schooner into which it eventually evolved. However, the design met the needs of the New England fisheries and spread along the coast from Maine to Connecticut as the industry grew.

When commercial fishing began out of Scituate Harbor around 1700, we can assume the vessels used were Marblehead Schooners. However the main catch was not cod. The Scituate fishermen jigged over the side for mackerel. At that time, vast schools of mackerel appeared in Massachusetts Bay in the spring and vanished before fall. By 1770 upwards of thirty vessels fished out of Scituate and it was not uncommon for a single vessel to take 1000 barrels in a season. Deane states that in 1830 about 35 vessels fitted out annually at Scituate ranging in size from 50 to 150 tons and carrying from six to fifteen hands. Mackerel was not dried, but packed in brine in barrels. The industry supported not only the fishermen themselves, but also the building of fishing vessels on the North River and the manufacture of barrels. For example, during the mid 1770's, Noah Nash ran a cooperage at Scituate Harbor. Nash made fish barrels using local oak and ash for staves and hoops.

The market for mackerel was not Europe but the Southern and West Indian Plantations where the fish provided cheap protein for the slaves who worked in the fields. After the end of the fishing season, the larger vessels refitted to carry the year's catch south. Fish was traded in the West Indies for sugar, molasses, tapioca and, if possible, for Spanish silver reales. The Carolina and Georgia plantations returned rice, wheat flour, tobacco and indigo. The small size of the vessels and the lateness of the season made the trade particularly hazardous. Ruth Vina] Jenkins (1746-1811), who lived where the Clipper Ship Motel now stands, lost two husbands and a son at sea.

Fishing was interrupted by British blockades during the Revolution and the War of 1812. By the 1840's the mackerel runs began to diminish and the numbers of vessels began to decrease. The

Scituate Historical Society p.2 December start of the United States Civil War and the abolition of slavery in the West Indies ended the trade. Charlie Sparrell, November 11, 1998 Archives Corner

“Allow my said wife a gentle horse or mare to ride to meeting or any other occasion may have and that Jemmy . . . catch it for her". Walter Briggs of Scituate expressed concern for his wife, Frances, in his will of June 4, 1684. He also left her his bed and furniture "to be att her dispose when she dye, and liberty to make use of the potts, kettles, and other vessels commonly made use of in ye house, that she may use them as she has occasion but not to dispose of them.” It is apparent that Plymouth Colony people cared for their family members. In surviving wills l I there emerges considerable feeling for close relatives. The primary concern of wills was to i provide for the widow and to distribute property among the children. The will of the wealthy Governor Josiah Winslow, recorded in 1681, left his “affectionate and loving wife, Penelope," the major part of his estate and housing in Marshfield with the option of dividing his estate and disposing of his lands at Sakonnet (Little Compton, Rhode Island) and at Marshfield, if needed "for the support and comfort of her selfe and my children." He made provisions for the inheritance of his two children, both minors, when they came of age and "to each . . . . that good education may be given according to their sex." To his son Isaac he gave equal interests with his wife in both his personal and real estate, while to his daughter Elizabeth he left 300 pounds and the estate of house and lands in the event that her brother and mother predeceased her. Winslow appointed three of his own kinsmen, not his wife's, to be Penelope's advisors, “insuch matters of importance as may be too weighty for her." Winslow made provisions for a number of his relatives, a servant and the local minister. He left a cow for the poor of Marshfield. Governor Josiah Winslow's family was small, his children were minors, his wealth significant and his concern for extended family members was unusual."

(The above has been duplicated from Chapter IX entitled FAMILY AND KINSHIP, in the book Plymouth County, 1685 by Cynthia Hagar Krusell of Marshfield; published by the Pilgrim Society and the Plymouth County Development Council, Plymouth, MA. I shall continue this interesting documentation in next month's newsletter.) Dorothy Langley - Archivist

. DAR NEWS Members of the Chief Justice Cushing Chapter of the DAR met on October 8th at Schooner's Restaurant on Nantasket Beach for lunch. The program for the day was a visit to the Hull Life Saving Museum with Mr. John Galluzzo, Education Director, leading us through a very historical tour of the Life Saving Museum.

The next meeting will be held at the Little Red School House (Laidlaw Center) on November 12th with Mr. David Corbin giving an update on the GAR Hall.

Scituate Historical Society p.3 December

ié‘... -l- Special Thank You to Betty Whittaker

We thankfully acknowledge the gift from Betty, a long time volunteer, to the Genealogy Committee this year - a donation to enhance the researching by visitors at the Laidlaw Center.

Doug Fields has given the Center a change in the back room with his renovation idea to provide extra space for visitors to “spread out" and do their research.

It is with this in mind that Betty's contribution has provided a new folding table for this purpose, and any other purpose that comes to mind. For this we are eternally grateful. So, thanks again, Betty, for your long lasting dedication to the Scituate Historical Society.

"Genealogy Committee W.G.C. - 1998

Web Site Announces Page for Member Comments

Starting with the December update, there will be a new page in our web site. It is a place where members can contribute commentary. Perhaps the comment might be something relevant to a recent article, perhaps a question about some aspect of our history that some other member may be able to enlighten, perhaps a query from someone not yet a member to which we may be able to respond (we have had three such queries recently, part of the motivation to try this new page), perhaps, after we get going, a response to some other member's comment.

It is an experiment, if nothing worthwhile occurs we will discontinue this page. Meanwhile, look for the button to access the page on the same menu bar on our home page as gives access to the online newsletter and the articles/stories. v

It is your page, please feel free to use it! It is easy to use, there is a button on the commentary page that initiates an e-mail message to your webmaster, just type in your commentary and press send. Where appropriate I will respond to your message by e-mail as well as putting an item on the commentary page. -

. Lou Gey-er - Webmaster

(Our web site has become a permanent part of the front page. It is: http://www.ziplink.net/~history) |editor.l Seth Webb Junior A person of fine culture and attainments, of amicable and manly character and of superior ability. Boston Journal, lune 25, 1861

All through the spring and summer of 186] the city of Boston's many newspapers competed against each other in reporting the latest in war rumors. Since the outbreak of hostilities with the firing on Fort Sumter, Boston newspapers were filled with reports of southern sabotage and spy rings that were soon to infiltrate northern cities. Aside from these daily reports of intrigue was President Lincoln's appointment of a Boston lawyer and son of Scituate to the post of Commercial Agent to Haiti. With Lincoln's election victory in 1860 came the steady appointments to federal posts. Among the distinguished Republican Party leaders in Massachusetts was the son of a long line of merchants and mariners. Those who knew him

Scituate Historical Society p.4 December described him as hard working and warm hearted, yet unbending in principle and causes he held dear. By profession he practiced law and had soon established a reputation as one of the most sought after advocates in Boston. His appointment, which had been personally recommended to Lincoln by Massachusetts Governor John A. Andrew, marked a crowning achievement for a man who no doubt may have moved on to yet greater things had his life not been cut short at the age of 39. Seth Webb Jr. was born on February 14, 1823. He was one of thirteen (eleven surviving) children born to Captain Seth and Eliza (Dunbar) Webb. Seth Jr. came into the world in an upstairs chamber at the harbor home of his seafaring father. In 1820 Captain Seth had improved on an earlier structure built by his father Captain Lemuel Webb. The dwelling, rebuilt in the classic federal style of the day was later moved back from present day First Parish Rd to make way for St. Mary of the Nativity Catholic Church at the harbor. The mansion as it was known still stands today serving as the parish rectory. . Seth Webb Jr. had been born into a prominent family. Captain Seth Webb (1796-1870) himself was the son of a master mariner.His father Lemuel had married Leah Coleman, who herself was descended from a seafaring family, in 1795. By 1820 Seth Webb Senior had established himself as a master mariner involved in coastal trading. That same year two very successful Scituate families were united when Seth Sr. married Eliza Dunbar, daughter of Squire Jesse Dunbar. Jesse Dunbar, a wealthy merchant and owner of many coastal vessel, lived in his Georgian-style mansion on Front Street. His home was the scene of many entertainments for visiting merchants and mariners, for it was directly across from "Dunbar’s Wharf"the scene of much coastal trading activity. As a successful master mariner Capt Webb was away from home many months of the year. His voyages carried him down the steamy coast of South America and into the icy reaches of the Baltic. ln 1826 his father-in-law and brother-in-law Jesse Jr. became owners of the brig Oregon which had just been completed by Cushing and Henry Briggs at their shipyard. Capt Webb later became the master of the Oregon making many trips throughout the Mediterranean and Baltic seas. The senior Webb was also a shareholder along with his father-in-law in many coastal traders. Their interests ranged from the 23 ton schooner Star to the 130 ton brig Michigan. While his father was away at sea, young Seth Jr attended private schools at Hingham and later at Bridgewater. At the age of fourteen in 1837 he was sent to Phillips Academy at Exeter, New Hampshire, where he excelled in Latin and oratory_. Completing his studies at Phillips he entered Harvard where he excelled. He graduated in 1843. Upon graduation he embarked on an extended vacation that would mold his principles asa successful lawyer and public servant. From November 1843 to June 1844 Seth Jr. traveled throughout the American South into New Orleans where he observed the workings of slavery. He witnessed the human tragedy of slave markets. His travels also carried him to Jamaica and Cuba. He again returned to New Orleans where he embarked by steamboat up the Mississippi where he continued to observe life. Reaching Cincinnati, Ohio, he disembarked and traveled by rail back to Massachusetts arriving in Scituate by mid-June. ‘ . Upon his return Seth Jr. moved to Boston. His experiences from his trip made him a staunch supporter of the anti-slavery movement which was finding growing support throughout New England, as well as in many northern states. In Boston Seth first studied law under John Tyler Bigelow. Later he studied with Manlius Stimson Clark and Charles Greely Loring, all leading Boston lawyers. In 1845 he was admitted to the Suffolk Bar in Boston. That July he was present at the opening term of the Court of Common Pleas. In autumn he went into partnership with O. Z. Chapman Esq. They opened an office in Brighton. The partnership lasted until 1848 when Seth Jr. opened his own office in the city. This lasted until 1851 when he met fellow advocate and abolitionist Charles G. Davis.The two soon became friends and formed the partnership Davis & Webb. This partnership would last ten years, their friendship a lifetime. In 1852 Seth married Scituate Historical Society p.5 December With his practice Helen Gibbons of Quincy. They made their home in both Scituate and Boston. House. Back with Davis prospering he began establishing connections that reached into the State as the fishing and home in Scituate he was praised as a supporter of many local concerns such Bridgewater agricultural industry. In 1859 he was chosen to address a dinner meeting of the his busy law Agricultural Society. He spoke to a full house addressing market concerns. Despite in drawing up practice he found time to serve on the Scituate Town Committee and assisted day Union Cemetery. plans to enlarge and improve the Harbor Burying Ground - now present to hear Seth Ir. give the On May 3, 1860 a crowd of over 300 townspeople packed Union Hall schoolchildren welcoming address for the annual “Festival of May" which included recitals by no doubt felt a local sense of and a traditional maypole. As the crowd listened to his speech, they pride toward one of their own. the Second Months earlier the townspeople of Scituate learned that Seth ]r. was to represent in Chicago. Only District of Massachusetts as a delegate to the Republican National Convention there on May 16, days after his address at Union Hall he boarded a train for Chicago. He arrived in American 1860 for what would prove to be one of the most pivotal political conventions history. lost brother With his many accomplishments came personal loss. In 1857 the Webb family a long illness. Their Iesse to illness. The following year Seth's wife Helen passed away after marriage had produced no children. to secede from the As a result of Lincoln's electoral victory in 1860 southern states began appointments Union. As the new administration addressed this problem, it also filled the many Lincoln to federal posts. Acting on the recommendation of Governor Andrew President independence appointed Seth Webb Ir. as the next Commercial Agent to Haiti. Haiti had won a farewell from France in 1804. Before leaving for Port Au Prince that summer Seth Jr. gave address to his family and friends in Scituate and Boston. Scituate Despite poor health in 1862 he continued to serve as Consul to Haiti. Returning to at Scituate that same year, he found himself in the care of his family at his father's residence that Harbor. As his health continued to decline, he spent many hours writing on subjects at the Scituate Historical interested him -' poetry being one. Many of his writings survive today same room Society's archives. On August 1, 1862 Scituate's celebrated son passed away in the where he came into world 39 years earlier. his decision As Scituate mourned his passing, President Lincoln in Washington labored over boys to emancipate the slaves. As the realities of war gripped the nation, Scituate men and their enlisted to serve in various Massachusetts regiments and aboard warships to contribute share in suppressing the rebellion. on countless Many of the principles that Seth Webb ]r. had espoused were now being decided issues that battlefields. Had he lived he no doubt would have played a contributing role in the of Scituate were to confront our nation following the Civil War. His descendants and the people can be proud of his lifetime of accomplishments. David Corbin ' Mystery Photo from November stumps members Better The mystery photo for November was Turner Road just after the Portland Gale of 1898. luck with December photo. New 1999 Historical Society Calendar example, the Our new is hot off the press and it is beautiful. Never before pictures of Scituate - for Old Town Hall that was where the C wing of Gates School now stands; how about the Old Police perfect Station on First Parish Road across from the Allen Library. Only $7.50 - they'll make the December Scituate Historical Society p.6 Christmas gift. Available at the Laidlaw Center. From the President I am pleased to announce that the Humane Society of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts recently presented us with a grant to assist us with the completion of the narrative and video relating to the Humane exhibit in the Life-Saving room at the Maritime Museum. As you may know. the Humane Society has a long history dating back to 1785 of coming to the aid of people in need. I am appreciative of their generous assistance.

We have just completed an incredible three day commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Great Portland Gale. In the January newsletter you will nd a complete description of events that took place and their linkage to the future. Dave Ball Your Ag gggld be Hergll __ Please support these businesses that support us

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NEWSLETTER

Dues expired 6/30/98

Mystery Photograph Can you identify this picture? If you can, put the answer on a piece of paper with your name, address and phone number and drop it in the mystery photograph box at the Laidlaw Historical Center. The first correct answer selected wins a sheet of assorted postcards. Good Luck.

Scituate Historical Society p.8 December

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