VOLUME XLXII NO. 4 JUL-AUG-SEPT 2023 Upcoming Events
September 18, 6:00 pm. Harvest Dinner at the Community Room at the Stoughton Public Library. We will share a semi catered dinner and see images of some events from the past summer, focusing on our explorations and discoveries at the Three Swamps Homestead of Sampson Dunbar and Quark Matrick, just off Page Street in (what is now) Avon. (Order form is on the last page.)
September 30, 11:00am-3:00pm. Stoughton Day at Halloran Park on Pierce St. We will have tables set up under our canopy with exhibits, scrapbooks, and many of our maps and booklets. October 22, 2:00pm at the Lucius Clapp Memorial at 6 Park St. “Punkapoag Land: From Leases to Reclamation The history of the land at Punkapoag 1657 to 2023.” Our Vice President, David Lambert, an honorary member of the tribe will tell us how the Ponkapoag Praying Indian Plantation, which contained 5500 acres of land, most of the Town of the current Canton, was sold off by the Proprietors and how some of it was reclaimed recently.
President’s Report
We have had an active, rich, and productive summer at the Society! The Evelyn Callanan Memorial Sunflower Sale and the Spring Dinner held at the Library were both successful. At the latter, we gave student volunteer Zachary Mandosa a “double” John Flynn Award for his five plus years of volunteering at the Historical Society. Joe Mokrisky gave us a presentation on the F. C. Phillips Company and Joan Bryant supervised providing the food and drink.
Alas, on the same evening as our dinner, Hank Herbowy passed away. Hank, who had been unwell for the past year, was a long-time curator of our Society and had assembled several scrapbooks on Stoughton veterans from WWII and the Korean War, which we put out on display as a memorial to him for Memorial Day. To show how long Hank had been with us, here is an excerpt from a March, 1970, Stoughton Historical Newsletter from Ye Olde Ed; “THE FOLKS to thank for cleaning up and rearranging our rooms include: Hank Herbowy, Clyde Holmes, Esther Hill, Amy Terrell, Ruth Pistor, Gus Winroth, Phyllis Batchelder, Carl Smith and Gertrude Morrill. We are fast acquiring more and more room in which to display some of the long filed-away treasures from the history of our Town and its older families and important landmarks. … THANKS TO Hank Herbowy for the donation of a radio (which WILL play the better music) for our enjoyment during work sessions; and special appreciation to Bob Benson for clearing the steps after the snowfall just prior to the last meeting. DID YOU KNOW. . .that Stoughton had three steam railroads operating in the town during the development of early rai1 transportation? The Stoughton Branch RR was opened from Canton Junction on April 7, 1845. On May 16, 1855 the Easton Branch was opened to North Easton, both branches then being operated by the Boston and Providence Railroad Corporation until 1866. On September 24, 1866, the Dighton and Somerset RR opened from Mayflower Park, Braintree Highlands, to Stoughton Jct. (near the present Fish and Game Club.} where a switchman’s tower was located. Evidences of this junction are to be seen today behind the home of Duncan Fleming. (Remember to use extreme care while on railroad property!) The Easton Branch RR was bought out by the Somerset and Dighton in 1866 and deeded to the Old Colony and Newport RR in 1871. The Stoughton Branch RR Co. merged into the Boston and Providence RR Corp. on March 4,1873; the Easton Branch RR then already being a part of the Old Colony R.R. During these years there were depots at West Stoughton, North Stoughton, South Stoughton and Stoughton Central (the present depot is located, quite near the latter site.) Most of the Old Colony Rai1 road system was made up of merged lines East of Stoughton and operated along the South Shore as far as Provincetown on the Cape and to New Bedford. Old Colony RR mileage in 1892 was 608.5 plus steamboat routes of 418 miles. (This material was compiled by Carl L. Smith, past President of our Society…and edited somewhat to fit our space.) Related to the above is a new book release: “The New Haven Railroad, Its Rise and Fall” by John L. Weller.”
Hank Herbowy made many more contributions to the Historical Society and took hundreds of pictures at our events over the next fifty years and often compiled small scrapbooks on the event. A decade ago, he gave us a presentation of pictures he had put together on the old Town Spa building. Some of the captions he wrote while he was curator still can be found next to items on display. Rest in peace, Hank, and our sincere condolences to Gloria and family.
The excerpt from “Ye Olde Ed’s Newletter above resonates with me in a number of ways. We now continue the work that those volunteers did. I continue Ed Meserve’s Newsletter; mine is much longer, but comes only four times a year. Our current crew putters, schmoozes, as they did, but also gets, at least I would like to think, dare I say, more purely historical work done. Phyllis Batchelder, Gus Winroth and Carl Smith established their own legends at the Society, Phyllis with her appreciation of local nature and Native-American lore, Gus by being the keeper of much of our stuff” at his Antiques Emporium, before we had our current building to put them in, and Carl, who knew more about the railroads than all the rest of us put together, except maybe Richard Fitzpatrick. We still “relearn/re-share some of the same information on the railroads as presented in that excerpt, some of which I used in this summer’s work on next year’s Community Calendar, which will feature Stoughton Junction and other parts of our now-abandoned railroad tracks.
Finally, the name Gertrude Morrill, as one of the volunteers listed above connects us to another element of our past. Gertrude was named after the “Ruey” often mentioned in her father Edward Marden’s Diaries, from which I have quoted liberally over the years since the diaries were passed along
to us from the estate of Robert Morrill, “the man with the cats and guns” on Old Page St. The elder Ruey was one of the children who was sent off to live with relatives after the death of her mother. She was also a younger sister of Ray Marden, the young man who was killed in WWI on the LAST DAY, just a few hours before the Armistice. The bad news is that Ray was killed in that fashion. The good news is that the family was able to eventually be re-united. See past newsletters for more details. We received a variety of valuable and meaningful donations of pictures, documents, and even a Mortimer Lamb chalk drawing from Lin Southworth, Rad Williams, Gyneth McGarvey, and Donna Hodges. Lin Southworth sent along more letters from the Eaton family collection, including one in which a sixteen-year-old (or less) Charles Eaton complains about having to work all day, inside in an oppressive mill. Soon after that he enlists in the Mass. 4th Regiment and ends up being a captive at Port Hudson. We are still searching for the letters which will reveal more about his physical condition in the one year he had left to live, after he returned to Stoughton. Rad Williams brought us the record books kept by his grandfather, Jimmy Williams Sr who supervised the Stoughton DPW seventy five years ago. In 1948-1949. 95 cents/hr seemed to be the wage most of these workers were receiving. In May, we received a visit from Selectperson Debrah Roberts, her daughter, Erin, and Dr. Patricia Randolph who asked us to prepare an exhibit for Juneteenth, which was a welcome request. We looked for materials which were expanded to include Native-Americans, and “allies.” Our working list included Susan Clapp, who taught freed slaves after the Civil War, the Ponkapoag Native-American patriarch Samuel Moho and his three sons who served in the Revolutionary War as did African Americans Sampson Dunbar and Quark Matrick, about whom we will hear much more later in the newsletter. Also included: Tuskeegee airman, James Fischer, Scipio Lock, an African American whose name has cropped up in relation to Dr Ralph Pope and who may have run his own saw-mill, somewhere in Stoughton. Josephine Crawford, an African American woman, who after being bequeathed substantial property by Dr Packard, began Whispering Willows, a camp/orphanage for African American children. In this task, she was greatly assisted by Dr Willis Pits, who taught speech and drama at Stoughton High School for many years. He and his wife took over the leadership at Whispering Willows after Janie Crawford’s death. Post Civil War Stoughton had two residents who had served the Black Regiment, the 55th Mass, William Burns and Samuel Sharp. Both men were long-time members of the G. A. R and Sharp was an honorary flag-bearer at many events, including one of which we have a photograph on display as part of our Juneteenth exhibit. Our Juneteenth exhibit is still on display at the Society, and has been expanded because of the following. On May 23, we received a letter from Nancy Draper of upper New York state, informing us that her family were descendants of Samson Dunbar, via his son Joshua. They had heard that Samson was buried in the family homestead in what is now Avon and that they would like to come this summer to visit his grave. This letter set off a series of events that culminated two months later with our taking the Drapers and another set of descendants, the Harrises in to the site, which consists of four cellar holes in the middle of woods and wetlands east of Page Street in Avon.
We had been aware of this site, ever since Rick Mansur visited the Society on a Sunday afternoon, now more than a decade ago, inquiring about a series of walls and cellar-holes that were out behind his property. He and I managed to come across a map that listed the name Martrick at the location he indicated, which was, indeed, fortuitous, since most maps do NOT show that site. Subsequent research indicated that one Quock Martrick (spelled with many variations) lived there, an African-American, whose descendants, the Campbells lived there for much of the middle of the Nineteenth Century and the site, according to William Hanna’s History of Avon, came to be referred to as “Campbell’s Campsite.” We have mentioned this site several times in our newsletter in the last decade, but never had gotten in to see the site. The Draper letter inspired me, and fortunately a number of colleagues, to make a full court press to explore and learn about the site.
Bruce Lane of the Avon Historical Society had found references in the records of the Avon Baptist Church (formerly East Stoughton Baptist Church) to quite a few infant deaths registered as having occurred at “Martricks.” He began to accumulate information on the site and had visited it once or twice. He also received a letter from Nancy Draper and we agreed that we would work together to get the Drapers in to visit their ancestors’ homestead and cemetery.
I received rough instructions on how to get in to the site and on June 2, exploring historians, Dwight Mac Kerron, Stew Sterling, and Ken Beauregard headed into the thorny wetlands of the “Three Swamp” Area. We missed the trail, which went directly through the wetlands and we came into the site from the north. The difficult and circuitous route made our finding that first cellar hole even more exhilirating! We soon found more cellar holes and an old road right through the site, and more conveniently for us, found the lightly marked trail, which from then on, provided a much shorter and easier means of access.
Simultaneous with our explorations of the physical site, a team of researchers coalesced and began to share what they already knew and what they were learning. David Lambert supplied an article from the NEHGS on Sampson Dunbar, another African-American, half a generation older, whose daughter married Quark Martrick, and who was the first to purchase land at “Three Swamps.” Dave Foley found deeds of early purchases of land and later development plans on the site, but could not find the first Sampson deed online, as the land was still in Suffolk County, and therefore not available through the Norfolk County online services. Steve Merrill of Avon, who is also a member of our Society had visited the site once or twice. Steve had done considerable internet research and had already begun a genealogy on the Dunbars and Martricks. Dave Foley gave a slide presentation at the Society one Tuesday morning, consolidating what we knew at that time at which many of us, including Steve were present. Since then, our knowledge of the people and land involved has expanded exponentially. We started an email thread, which was soon joined by Carol Hector Harris of Ohio. She and her older sister Beverly Hector Smith are also descendants of Quark Matrick (via daughter Lavina) and had done considerable research tracing Quark back to his roots in Ghana. Carol made a commitment to drive from Ohio to be part of the pilgrimage to the site, still a month ahead. Debra Zebrowski, who lives on Springwood Street near Harris Pond saw a posting we made on Facebook regarding our explorations and immediately applied her skills to genealogical work on the Dunbars, Matricks, Campbells, and other names which emerged, such as a family of Talboots, who the census of 1850 revealed to be living at the Three Swamp compound.
Stew, Ken, and I continued our forays onto the site, on different occasions being alternately accompanied by Dan Mark, Richard Fitzpatrick or David Lambert. We found a 16’ by 16’ plot, which had a granite post in each corner and appeared to have sunken ground inside it. Records indicated that as many as twenty individuals, including Samson Dunbar and Quark Matrick were buried on the site, and this appeared to be the cemetery, despite the fact that that there were no marked headstones. The ancient book of Stoughton Streets, which we had rediscovered, as mentioned in recent newsletters, again proved invaluable, indicating that Sampson Dunbar was first listed on what was then Pigwacket Road in1779, with sons Samuel and Joshua living nearby. Steven Merrill went in to Boston, and found in the Suffolk records a deed of Samson Dunbar buying 34 acres of land on or near the Braintree line from Theophilus Curtis in 1781! Quark Matrick first appeared in the listings in 1790. By 1804, Samson had died and disappeared from the street listings.
Richard Pratt found a copy of Quark Matrick’s 1837 probate, in which he bequeathed three separate house and the lots surrounding them on the property to his three daughters, Lavina, Eleanor, and Louisa and other land to son, Lemuel. From the descriptions given in the probate, I was able to create a map, which showed the outlines of the three different properties, including a barn and the cemetery and place them onto a map of the property which Steven Merrill had found. The Productions of Agriculture, a hand-written record of the farms in Stoughton in 1850 listed the farm as belonging to Henry Harris, who was briefly married to Eleanor. The statistics which seem to include the combined acreage and production of all three of the house lots plus addional acres are
as follows: Acres improved 16, unimproved 6. Value $500, Value of farm implements $30, Horses 1, Milk Cows 2, Sheep 2 (blurred, was it really 2 or crossed out?) Swine 2, Value of livestock $75, Bushels of Rye 3, Bushels of Indian corn 15, Irish Potatoes. 35 bushels. Buckwheat 4 bushels, Value of orchard produce $12, Value of market garden produce $8, Butter 100lbs, Cheese 75 lbs, Hay 4 tons, Value of home made manufactures $10, Value of animals slaughtered $25. This list, combined with the inventory in Quark’s probate 13 years earlier helped to make these abandoned cellar holes and grown-in fields surrounded by stone wall, tell their tales of an active and productive past.
The censuses that David Lambert had posted on our website under “Some African American families in Stoughton” (look it up at Stoughtonhistory.com) gave us good numbers on how many people lived on the site at five or ten-year intervals. The genealogies created by Steven Merrill and Debra Zebrowski, have also been extremely helpful. Quark’s second daughter, Lavina, married Thomas Jacobs, a metal-worker-blacksmith, apparently in Canada, where their first child, Chloe Jacobs was born in 1825. Sometime after that, they moved to the Three Swamp Homestead, where Almira, Thomas, and Frederick were born. Quark bequeathed the two upper acres and the northernmost house to Lavina. Lavina died in 1839 and in 1841, and Thomas Jacobs took a second wife, Rhoda Freeman of Peru, Maine, and they had two children during the next decade, plus a child, Lucy from Rhoda’s first marriage. By 1850, the three of the four Jacobs children of the Thomas Lavina marriage were living with their Aunt Eleanor in another house, nearby on the homestead, while the three “new”children were living with Lavina and Rhoda.
By 1850, and with the three older Jacobs children still listed as living with her, Eleanor was married to the mysterious Henry Harris, who, although he was listed as the main farmer in the 1850 Productions of Agriculture, had disappeared by the 1855 census, and is not mentioned in Eleanor’s will. Nevertheless, she maintained the name Harris for the rest of her life. Although she was the sister who spent the most years at the homestead by a considerable number, she is not buried there but at the Main St Cemetery in Avon
Youngest sister Louisa married Hosea Easton in 1827. Hosea was from the activist Dunbar family, chronicled in The Eastons: Five Generations of Human Rights Activists 1748-1935 by George R. Price. Hosea had considered entering the metal-working business with Thomas Jacobs, as his own family were metal workers, as well as activists. However, Hosea decided to become an Abolitionist minister and Louisa moved with him to Hartford, Connecticut. Rev. Hosea Easton became a speaker and writer of considerable skill and renown, to the extent that he could be considered to be an early, New England version of Frederick Douglas, although Hosea had never been a slave. George Price’s book has a lengthy chapter on Hosea and is well worth reading for those interested in New England abolitionism. In his will, Quark gave Louisa and Hosea one of the houses and half an acre of land, but there is no evidence that they ever lived in that house. Alas, Hosea died in 1837 and Louisa in 1842, leaving three orphan children, whose fate we are still trying to learn.
Around 1845, Chloe Jacobs married Boston Alexander Campbell and they lived at Three Swamps for at least several decades, Chloe bore twelve children, of whom, at least seven died before they were three years old and most, if not all, were buried in the cemetery at Three Swamps. Boston and Chloe’s surviving son, Everett lived in Boston and that is where Boston Alexander died in 1877 and Chloe in 1888. Bruce Lane tells us that the last person to live on the site was an old, female Campbell in the 1880’s before she left to live with her son in Boston. That would appear to be Chloe Jacobs Campbell. Her Aunt Eleanor Harris, who may have raised Chloe for a period, after the death of her sister Lavina, lived at Three Swamps for all her life, some 64 years. As far as we know, she never bore any children. Chloe, who was born in Canada and died in Boston died at 63, having spent many of those years at the family homestead, raising and, alas, burying many children there.
On August 11, the Drapers, who for the record are Caucasian, and the Harrises, who are African American, along with assorted friends and relatives accompanied Bruce Lane, David Lambert, Stew Sterling, Ken Beauregard, and your intrepid President in to the site, where heart-felt prayers were delivered at the cemetery by descendants, seeing their ancestors’ resting place for the first time. We also
viewed all of the cellar holes and some of the stone walls. I added my piece that what moved me the most at the site was seeing the evidence of all the WORK that had been done there.
When the walk was over, Bruce Lane opened Blanchard’s Tavern for us, the Avon Civic Association supplied the coffee and doughnuts, and we stayed there for several hours sharing our thoughts on that special day.
We have acquired much more information about these families than we can communicate here, and are discovering more each week. Much of the rest of the information will be passed on in an upcoming booklet from the Stoughton Historical Society and an upcoming book by Carol Hector Harris. We will discuss more interesting and relevant details at our Harvest dinner on September 18, where we will also share images of relevant maps, historical documents and pictures from the site. We will explain how a soldier who served for the Mass. 55th Regiment married a Campbell and lived for a time at Three Swamps. Come join us.
A draft of the consultant’s report on the Gay-Hurley-McNamara barn on West St. has been received and the Historical Commission and CPC will be mulling over the various possible repairs to roof, inner beams, and floor, as well as removing all the vegetation, which now envelops the structure and removing much of the material and scrap inside the building. There are complicated determinations and decisions to be made. The Historical Commission will also propose to the CPC and then to Town Meeting an article for 10-15 more historical signs to be created and installed at such places as the railroad station, the Freeman St. fire station, Lipsky Field on Canton St., the Stoughton Little League field (site of the poor farm), Stoughton Junction, the sites of the North and South Stoughton Railroad Stations, North Stoughton, the western end of Ryan Road, Evergreen, Dry Pond, and Holy Sepulchre cemeteries, and the Methodist-Drake Cemetery on Central St.
Around the Lucius Clapp Memorial – On the 4th of July, Zachary and Heather Mendosa carried our banner in the parade, walking ahead of the woody wagon driven by Bob Benson. Dan Mark researched scanners and we have purchased a new Czur Et24 Pro. It is now hooked up and has impressive ease of use and capabilities. Our next challenge is to find the proper place to locate it. We have an active group of volunteers who attend almost every Tuesday: Richard Fitzpatrick, Richard Pratt, Dan Mark, Ken Beauregard, Stew Sterling, Janet Clough, student volunteer Eva Harris and your President. John Carabatsos drops by for several hours in the middle of the day. On Thursday nights Richard Fitzpatrick, Dave Foley and myself are the regulars. On June 6, I was interviewed by Kevin Weldon of SMAC for an upcoming presentation on Stoughton’s railroads. On August 24th we hosted 12 guests from the Sharon Historical Society and appreciated their interest in our exhibits and work. Hana Jenner of Sharon created a video of the visit, which includes many images of our exhibits and should inspire us to create similar videos of our own. We have a custodian, now, Dan Gareri, a town employee who comes over for a few hours on Wednesday and Friday mornings. Our Board of Directors, chaired by Joe Mokrisky, consists of Denise Peterson, Joanne Callanan, Lou Poilluci, Dan Mark, Rick Woodward, Ruthie Fitzpatrick, Joan Bryant, and Dwight Mac Kerron. We have met several times since the last Newsletter. One of our ongoing discussions concerns how we may dispose of some of the old, but not sufficiently valuable to us, furniture, clothing and documents that take up space that we need. We are committed to expanding our website and using more technology to enhance our inter-action with the community. We have made a commitment to expand our work with the schools, replicating the work we did with the Dawe School during the past year. We agreed on a budget for the upcoming year, acknowledging that we are obligated to spend the $2000 grant from the Cultural Council for the publication of some of Howard Hansen’s as-yet-unpublished projects. We approved the motion to increase our dues for the first time in more than twenty years. The new rates for 2024 will be Individual $20/year, Family $30/year, Lifetime Individual $250, Lifetime Family $350.
Joe Mokrisky reported that the rebuilding of the 1928 Maxim fire truck is now progressing apace, paid for with funds from the CPA, as approved by Town Meeting.
Library Walks: In June we walked in at Glen Echo along a new trail to the south, our first time of taking a large group to the stone placed by our Society in 1896. In July, we walked from the barn on West St. out to Drill Rock and returned through the back pastures with former inhabitants Chuck Hurley and Ed McNamara along with us. On August 2, we toured the trails on the east side of Glen Echo with more than 35 people in the group. More walks are planned for the Fall, but have yet to be scheduled. Archivists Report
May 16 Eva Harris, new volunteer. Gave her the five-cent tour of our facilities and introduced her to other volunteers.
April 25 By an Anon. Donor we were given a framed print, 11 x 8.5 inches containing sketches of the Railroad Station, Town Hall and the Library/Lucius Clapp Building. This frame is labeled as a gift from Wyman Jewelers. We think it may have come from Town Hall.
May 25, Received from Darlene Hayner, Post Card of Porter St., Photo of Doty Tavern-Canton, several photos of the “Pageant Grounds” (Rear of the 1923, Stoughton High School) of the 1926 200th Anniversary. These show some of the physical layout of the property, Sets and bleachers for the pageant.
May 30, Donated from Gyneth McGarvey: A chalk drawing, by Mortimer Lamb, which was passed on to the Public Library for restoration. Three photos of Belcher Factory – Employees Picnic, August 27, 1910. (2 Copies) Field Day, June 17, 1911 (1 Copy). A Belcher Co. Clip Board, with a built in Perpetual Calendar. A Military Photo 1st Corp. Cadets Co. “C” dated, August 18, 1917. Peter McGarvey is in the back row 5th from the Right From Donna Hodges: Chicawtawbut Club souvenir program “Minstrels,” Stoughton 1925 Junior Prom folder, William Hodges estimate to build barn 1895, Freemasons Monitor book 1864, Probate Court Appt of William A. Hodges to administer the estate of Nellie E. Hodges, Stoughton Police announcement of converting patrolmen to police officers. Retirement Testimonials Thomas Smyth and Paul Kono, Nov 1981, Stoughton High School Gridiron Testimonial Jan 15, 1951, Stoughton Sentinels Apr 9, 1987 Apr 16, Apr 23, Stoughton Chronicle Jul 20, 1982, Bay State Railway Company, fold-out map showing 940 miles of lines, Stoughton Police Relief Assoc Annual Ball 1982, A Manual – Instructions of Application for Examination for the police services. From John Fernandez: a large loose-leaf scrapbook with many historical pictures of Stoughton, some of which we had never seen before, Troop 59 letterheads,
From Dave Lambert we received the following: An envelope marked “the papers of Grace Capen.”A paperback book “The Acts and Resolves of the Legislature of Massachusetts – Session of 1890”. A report from the “Committee on Police Facilities – Town of Stoughton” c. 1957, “A Stoughton Sampler” – A Manuscript with notes, Edits etc. A stack of posters from the “Little Theater of Stoughton” These are large enough to present a problem as to how and where to store them. Space is starting to become an issue.
From the Congregational Church we received the following 16 items: Framed Proclamation of 250th Anniversary of the founding, Treasurers book 1917-1932, Membership list 1898, Membership List 1899, Cash Book 1907-1918, Treasurers Book -Junior Society of Christian Endeavor, 1899-1906, Treasurers Book, 1935- 1938, Christian Endeavor April 13, 1916-1923, Constitution & Membership-YPSCE Jan 27, 1909, YPSCE June 1, 1891-Feb. 7, 1916, Roll-Call Record Book, Un-Dated, Secretaries Reports 1890-1904, Men’s Club Records 1919- 1935. Treasurers Book YPSCE 1918-1931
August 8, From the Public Works Department (Found on the Front Steps) All Photos are from Various work sites in the Town of Stoughton: Photo Albums #1 To 1969, #2 1972 to 1974, #3 1975 to 1978, #4 Not received / Missing? Appears to be from the period 1978/9 to 1981, # 5 1982 to _____Blue Loose-Leaf binder, June 1978 to March 1979, Blue Loose-leaf binder, March 1979 to June 1978, Red Loose-Leaf binder September 12, 1970 to November 14, 1970, (Additions to Public Works Garage) Black Loose-Leaf binder, 8131 Contract 1 Starts with Pine Crest Acres Sewer, and ends with Willow St and Turnpike. (Pictures Numbered 1 thru 70 Could be further identified.) Buff colored Folder contains a large assortment of various sized photos, Snap Shots and Polaroids. (Many are Identified as sets.) A Key Ring from MAJOR MUFFLER 550 Washington St. Stoughton, MA 02072
Aug 15 Visitor Edward Rutledge, from Montreal, Canada, was here to do some research on his GG Grandfather, Thomas Rutledge & his brother Francis Rutledge. Both of whom lived in Stoughton c. 1854/5 to 1869. Neither were found in the Annual Report/Tax records for 1854 or in any of the 1935 Street lists of house owners. We did find both brothers listed in the “Soldiers and Sailors of the Civil War”. None of the Civil War records were related to Stoughton. Although, he was happy to find them. We have recently purchased $500+ of archival materials, which will permit us to continue to preserve and protect our documents, maps, photographs and books from the Town’s worthwhile past. -Richard Fitzpatrick
Curator’s Report
Curator’s Report – Ken Beauregard and Stew Sterling have taken on the long-term project to identify, and more completely record, the location and particular attributes of the individual artifacts which have been donated to the Society over the years. Since the beginning of May, Ken and Stew have examined the artifacts and updated the files on more than 150 items. Ken and Stew have also taken in and recorded the following New Acquisitions: From Jan Callanan Byron: A marketing item from Christopher’s Shoes in the form of a 1962D Lincoln Penny in aluminum; a pin in the shape of a football attached to a Stoughton banner; a 10” high x 7” diameter round Railroad Lantern of the NY, NH & Hartford RR, which was used by William (Bill) Byron as a crossing guard at Plain St. From Rad Williams: a 200th Anniversary of Stoughton Watch fob with leather strap and commemorative medal and 10 Commemorative Ceramic Tiles from Stoughton’s 250th Anniversary. From Linda & Rick Woodward: A Norfolk Lumber Inc. Yardstick; From Gyneth McGarvey: A Calendar/Clipboard marking the 100th Anniversary (1850-1950) of the George E. Belcher, Co. From John Fernandez: A postal box from the Wyman Street Post Office with a custom wooden box. From Clem Fisher: 4 Knife Sharpeners patented by Phineas M. Withington (1823-1910) of Stoughton, circa 1900. Eva Harris and I have been going through the document cabinets for the purpose of expanding on, and eventually consolidating, the existing databases. We are grateful to everyone who donated these artifacts and to Ken, Stew and Eva for their valuable assistance in reviewing our artifacts and documents and expanding the databases. In July we were contacted by Stephen Berardi, who stated he had found a gravestone in a pile of debris near Route 138 in Canton. The gentleman contacted our Society because he was familiar with us through our organized walks. He then brought the gravestone to the Society. Upon examination, we saw that it was the gravestone of Loiza W. Smalley, who, our online research revealed, was the child of Captain Thomas & Mrs. Hannah Smalley, who died on April 5, 1807 at the age of 7 months. We then found the Find a Grave website shows Loiza’s gravesite is in the Winthrop Street Cemetery in Provincetown! We contacted the Provincetown Cemetery Commission. Their Chairperson, Robert Sweetman, visited us the following week and retrieved the gravestone. The question remains unanswered: How did a gravestone from an old cemetery in Provincetown happen to be put in a debris pile in Canton? Well, at least it didn’t end up there! -Richard Pratt Clothing Curator’s Report
I am still in the process of trying to organize the contents of the clothing boxes. We have gone through many of the boxes but still have mucho to do. The next step will be to go through each box and determine what item should be kept and what should be sold or just discarded. As I have mentioned in past Newsletters, the whole idea is to try to control our efficient use of space, to group like items together, and to keep and protect items that have a Stoughton connection. Soon I will need several people to work with me to make decisions on what should be kept. If you are willing to do this, please let me know so we can begin to make plans for that part of this task. In addition to clothing, I have been working with Dick Fitzpatrick in organizing the items donated by the First Congregational Church at its closing. -Janet Clough
Memberships
New members: Shana Ditchfield Riley and family, James and Karin Rush, Gyneth McGarvey, Gerry MacDonald and family, and Phil Doherty – Lifetime
