VOLUME XLXIII NO. 4 JUL-AUG-SEPT 2024
Upcoming Events
September 28 Stoughton Day 11:00 A. M.-3:00 P. M. Halloran Park on Pierce
Street. We will have exhibits and some of our classic scrapbooks for viewing plus our
maps and booklets for sale. The fire truck will also be there.
September 30 Harvest Dinner – Chateau Restaurant 6:00 P.M.
To sign up, go to the form at the end of this Newsletter. We will see the presentation on
Stoughton’s history that Dan Mark created for the new teachers in the Stoughton school
system, install our officers for the current year, and see images of significant events in the
past year, which will be assembled by our crack historical photography team.
October 6. A tribute to our Olympian Frederick Richard at Stoughton High
School 12:00-2:00.
October 14, Indigenous Peoples Day. We will help celebrate this event in the
morning at a time and site to be named later, possibly Glen Echo, weather permitting. Our
Town is rich in the history of the Massachusetts Ponkapoags. We hope to have some of
them with us to celebrate.
We need several members to volunteer to serve on our nominating committee,
which nominates the slate of officers and Board of Directors for the upcoming
year.
We also would welcome student volunteers, who could receive credit toward
their community service obligations at the high school. Please spread the word
to the appropriate parties.
President’s Report.
On May 27, Memorial Day, we had an Open House for the dedication of Joe
DeVito’s Square sign. We had refreshments inside and the ceremonies took place on our lawn, where
the sign was erected. Joe’s children and grand-children took care of all the food, drink, and set-up. We
got to see one of Joe’s scrapbooks that I don’t recall ever seeing before. It involved his service on Bikini
Island/Atoll, where their job was to relocate the natives, before the A-Bomb tests took place. We learned
that they had assured the natives that they would be able to return after a few months, even though they
knew that that would never happen. There were many pictures of the natives, often with their names
included. The presentation included words from Joe Mokrisky, Dave Lambert, and me. Joe Mokrisky
told of having a copy of the sign made early for Joe, so he would have it on Christmas! Later he presented
that sign back to Jeanne. Ted Zimmerman played Taps Across America at 3:00, when fortunately, there
were still a number of people left. It was a wonderful day!
Earlier in the month, we had a visit from the 4 th graders of the Dawe School along with a
number of their teachers and chaperoning parents. Driving to the Society that morning, I
suffered rear-end suspension collapse in my 2006 Ford Focus wagon. I managed to drive it in to Packard
Manse, from which it was later towed. On the brighter side, I brought a piece of cedar that I had cut from
a dead stub during our repairs of the bridge in the Morse-Totman Meadow in order show the students an
example of the tree that provided the first reason for folks from Dorchester to travel out here, on the path
that is now the street in front of the Lucius Clapp Memorial. I determined that it was more efficient to
address the outside groups with a bull-horn from the Alice Petruzzo balcony. Inside, the students got the
rest of the tour, which included finding their houses on a large, GIS map of the Town and writing their
name next to their house. Janet Clough got to meet a few people that she knew, back when she taught
there when it was called the North School. For the past several years, we have had good coordination
with the Dawe school for making arrangements to have the students visit on the day when they take their
walking tour of the Town. Our goal for next year is to coordinate with the South, the Gibbons, and the
Wilkins schools to arrange for us to be open when they make their tours. Alas, the Focus wagon met its
demise and is long gone. Most of the rest of us keep on putting one foot ahead of the other.
On June 8, we had our Evelyn Callanan Memorial sunflower sale. Helpers and/or donors of
plants included Stew Sterling, Dan Mark, Ken Beauregard, Janet Clough, Dave Foley, Richard
Fitzpatrick, Rick and Linda Woodward, Ted and Kitty Zimmerman.
We held two walks to visit the Quark Matrick homestead site in Avon on the Saturdays before and after
Juneteenth, and had a table at the high school for the Juneteenth event on the 19 th . We created a special
hand-out that focused on Native and African-American contributions to our Town, including the Moho
brothers, Samson Dunbar, Quark Martrick, and Isaac Williams, all of whom served in the Revolutionary
War.
At about the same time, we had an extended discussion on Facebook, sharing pictures
of some mystery steps that were (re)discovered by Debra Zebrowski in the stone wall on the
west side of Mill St. We have a number of great old photographs of the Gay Cotton Manufacturing
company factory and the land surrounding it. After extended discussions, we concluded that the stone
steps formerly took one up to the land of Nathan Drake’s farm, a site which resonates historically with the
letters that we published which had been gathered by Sandee LeMasters, which detailed events in
Stoughton, as they were written by Nathan Drake and others to Nathan’s son Asa Drake, who had
emigrated to Strongsville, Ohio. Years later that farm was owned by the Guscioras, who maintained the
historical character of the place and shared their knowledge with others via articles in the local
newspapers. These kinds of “historical” conversations with an eclectic group of individuals are a new way
of sharing our history. Richard Pratt volunteered that one of the pictures we were discussing was taken by
Mary Capen Reynolds. We have had other extensive conversations on the wonderfully restored fire truck,
Stoughton Engine 2, the big accident at the train station in 1924, Denneno’s Pizza, and, of course, our
recently departed Howard Hansen and Joe Devito. Obviously, Facebook is not for everyone, but we do
have some good sharing there, facilitated by pictures that David Lambert shares from “The Stoughton
Time Machine” and John Carabatsos from “Stoughton Massachusetts Scrapbook-Photos & Memories.”
Near the end of May, I picked up at Town Hall, 15 copies of the newly redone large (30×50) Map of the
land and trails at the Bird St. Conservation Area. It contains the two-foot topo lines and stone walls from
our earlier map with the additions of the new house and new trails, which have come into being since the
original was done, now almost two decades ago. Our thanks to Town GIS specialist Larry Langlois, who
took supplementary information from Jim Conlan, Gerry MacDonald, and your President and
incorporated them into the new map. They are the only maps, which show the stone walls and are
available at the Historical Society; the large size is $10 for members, $15 for non-members; the 8×11 maps
are $1 for members, $2 for non-members.
On June 17 th , Town historical stalwart and friend to many of us, Howard Hansen, passed
away. As most of you know, Howard had been suffering the debilitating effects of several strokes and we
had already contributed some memorials for him in the tribute essays that David Lambert and I wrote for
him in the recently republished edition of the Expanded Stoughton Historical Sampler, one of Howard’s
masterpieces, as well as holding a memorial program at the Society. Here are lines from Howard’s
obituary: “Howard N. "Howie" Hansen of Stoughton passed away peacefully in his sleep on June 17, 2024
at the Life Care Center in West Bridgewater under the care of Accent Care Hospice.
He was a beloved son of the late Orrin H. Hansen and Ruth I. (Bettencourt) Hansen of Stoughton, and a
loving brother to the late Arthur H. Hansen of Gulfport, MS.
He leaves behind his brothers George R. Hansen and Elliot W. Hansen both of Stoughton and Harvey B.
Hansen of Arlington, as well as many nieces, nephews, great- nieces, great-nephews and a great great
nephew.
Howard was very active in town politics, serving as an elected Town Meeting representative and as the
elected Town Meeting Moderator for many years. He was the first appointed town historian. Howard was
past president and curator of the Stoughton Historical Society, as well as an author of many books
including A Stoughton Historical Sampler.
Howard was educated in Stoughton Public schools, attended and graduated from Rochester Institute for
Technology with a Bachelor of Arts. He was a local business owner, proprietor of Hansen Brothers
Printing for 59 years, and served his country as a member of the Massachusetts Army National Guard.
As a loyal member of the Massachusetts Freemasons Rising Star Lodge A.F. & A.M for 38 years he served
as historian and was a Joseph Warren medal recipient. He was also a member of both the Mt. Zion and
York Rite Lodges.
His kindness and sense of humor will be missed by all. May he rest in Peace.”
We, at the Stoughton Historical Society will continue to feel his loss, every time we have
a question posed, and we know that Howard would have been able to answer the question.
It is likely that we will continue to mention his name in many future issues of the Newsletter, as so much of
what we learn relates to contributions Howard made or questins that he posed, years ago. The memorial
essays mentioned earlier are included in the Expanded Sampler and have been reproduced in this
Newsletter within the last year. We also appreciate the donations that several people have made to the
Society in Howard’s name.
At the 4 th of July Parade, we were well represented by Joe and Maria Mokrisky in the newly restored
and gleaming Stoughton Engine Number 2, David Lambert, dressed in a Stoughton Grenadiers outfit,
complete with musket and his wife Anne-Marie and daughter Hannah carrying our banner. Bob Benson
drove the classic Woody Wagon, which has now made more appearances in the parade than any other
vehicle, save possibly our fire truck. Bob says that he believes that it first appeared in 1963. There were
MANY people sitting on our lawn during the parade.
In June, Richard Pratt was checking the contents of Cabinet 81 and reported that he
could not find several volumes that were supposed to be there, including “Town
Treasurer’s Book 1776-1785.” A subsequent search located the book in my office, which was not a
surprise, but what was surprising was the content, which I don’t recall ever having seen before. There are
227 hand-written pages, written in the neat (Thank the Lord of legible cursive!) script of Elijah Dunbar,
who we know well from having published his 1762-63 and 1806 diaries several years ago in conjunction
with the Canton Historical Society. In 1762, Elijah Dunbar was fresh out of Harvard, teaching school in
various sections of Old Stoughton, and attending sings with George Talbot and others. By 1806, he was
an established Canton patriarch, head Deacon of the church, and directing his sons in major farming and
lumbering operations. From 1776 to 1785, he was serving as the Treasurer of the Town of Stoughton.
The figures were in Old Currency up to page 143, March 1, 1782. After that, the entries are in Hard
currency. Both are in pounds, shillings and pence.
I believe that this is the volume that Howard Hansen and I could NOT find more than a decade ago,
when he was searching for references to Ezra Tilden’s having been paid many different times by the Town
of Stoughton for his services in eight different campaigns with the local militia, two of which are described
in the volume that we published, which contains the Fort Ticonderoga campaign of 1776, and the
Saratoga campaign of 1777. Ezra Tilden is also re-imbursed for teaching school and taking care of
Elizabeth Spur. This book is a treasure trove of rich historical information including the page that shows
the specific payments of a bounty to the men who served on Ezra Tilden’s campaign to Claverick, New
York. Ezra Tilden, Samuel Capen Jr. and seven others receive 129L 12s. Five others, including Native-
Americans Asa, Samuel, and George Moho receive 10-13L less. More points of interest from this Account
Book will be included in future Newsletters and at some time in the future, we hope that the images of
each page may be available on our website.
We have received scores of hand-written receipts from the Canton Historical Society.
Most of them are in the early 1800’s. Among them we found Isaac Williams, one of at least three African
American men from Stoughton to serve in the Revolutionary War, was being-reimbursed every several
months for taking care of his son, Isaac. Why would he be paid for taking care of his own son? David
Lambert explained that since Isaac Williams has married Elizabeth Will, a Ponkapoag Native-American,
he would receive payment from the State for raising a Ponkapoag child, who also happened to be blind.
The son, Daniel Williams, who wrote the letter from Washington D. C., asking for someone to
acknowledge that he was not a runaway slave, would have been a brother to this Isaac Jr., but we cannot
find his name listed anywhere else in Town records. The census of 1820 does list three males under 45 in
the Williams household. A third son will be referenced later in the this newsletter. There were also items
for Ezra Tilden and William Merion being paid for teaching school at York and Dry Pond, respectively
and both also supported widows. There was also a notice for Samuel Hodges being appointed postmaster
of Taunton in 1803, before he bought the Tavern on Bay Road and before his son Samuel Hodges Jr
became involved in recruiting for the War of 1812, taking on a position as clerk in the Gay Cotton
Manufacturing Company, and getting the appointment to represent our country in Cape Verde.
Several weeks before the Summer Olympics began, David and Elizabeth Griffin
conceived the idea of creating signs celebrating Stoughton’s young Olympian gymnast,
Fredrick Richard, that could be displayed in our yards. They checked with his family, who had
no objections to the signs being made and the Historical Society receiving a percent of the profits. David
and Liz did a beautiful job designing the signs, which proved extremely popular and sold out in less than
two weeks. Many people visited the Society to pick up their signs, most of them taking home a copy of our
newsletter and a few touring the Society and/or joining. Great job, Dave and Liz!
We agreed that the profits from the sale of the Frederick Richard signs would be
used to publish a history of African-Americans in Stoughton. We have done considerable work
recently on the Samson Dunbar, Quark Martrick site in Avon, but knew that we needed to learn more of
Isaac Williams, mentioned earlier in the newsletter and whose broken headstone from the Pearl St.
Cemetery we have in storage at the Society. David Lambert retrieved an old map that showed the
location of Isaac Williams dwelling in a place that made it seem possible to me that the cellar holes near
Glen Echo, which we recently rediscovered just east of the Stoughton Historical Society marker stone for
the Southeast corner of the Ponkapoag Indian Plantation, COULD BE the site of the house and barn that
Isaac Williams built in 1803. We have shots of the Walling map of 1855, on which Canton historians
Frederick Endicott and Ellis Ames have added their hand-written notes. One of them added a blue line
for a series of roads near York Pond and one of the lines passes near a house, added as a blue square and
on it in pencil is written faintly “Isaac Williams.”
That location is roughly in the vicinity of the two cellar holes.
From Huntoon’s Chapter on Ponkapoag Plantation, available on our website:
“The first colored man in Canton, named Isaac Williams, appears in 1719, His father was imported from
Africa, though he was born in Roxbury, and was a slave of Dr. Williams, whose surname he adopted.
When on Nov. 8, 1775, Isaac Williams married Elizabeth Wills, he hailed from Dedham. She had lived in
the family of Dr. Holden of Dorchester, and is spoken of as a woman of "pure, unmixed Ponkapoag
blood." David Talbot (in a diary that we have transcribed) employed Isaac Williams to assist him on his
farm in 1789; and he (Isaac Williams) was, upon his marriage, admitted as a member of the tribe by its
guardian. He is said to have received a pension for his services in the Revolutionary War. If this is so, the
events of a certain day in December, 1776, when he was arrested as a deserter and sent to jail by the
Committee of Correspondence, must have been forgotten or atoned for. He lies buried in the Stoughton
graveyard [Pearl Street], where a stone marks his last resting-place. His widow lived to be over one
hundred years old, bedridden and blind. She died Feb. 3, 1848.
It would appear that the Indians had some interest in certain lots of land, – possibly of
occupancy or of cutting wood. As early as 1789 a certain piece of woodland containing eighteen acres was
sold for the benefit of the Indians to Jabin Fisher, and was then known as the Williams lot, designated as in
Mount Hunger. It is bounded on the north by Muddy Pond and on the east by land of Seymour Burr.
This land has been owned successively by the Withington and Lewis families; and about twenty years ago
it passed into the possession of Horace Guild. There is a cellar-hole on this lot, by which runs an ancient
driftway, or bridle-path. Isaac Williams purchased the land on which he built his house in 1803; the cellar-
hole of this house, in which he died, is still to be seen on the York Pond road about an eighth of a mile
south of York Pond. In 1813 he added thirty-nine acres adjoining the original purchase.
Amasa Williams was styled during the early part of this century an
Indian mulatto of the Ponkapoag tribe. He was the son of Isaac, and followed the sea. On one of his
voyages he made a miniature man-of-war, rigged and mounted her, took her to York Pond, loaded all her
guns, arranged his slow-match so that they would all go off at once, and touched a match to her; the
annihilation of the craft was complete. He died Feb. 13, 1827. He is buried in the old graveyard at
Stoughton [Pearl Street], and is said to have been a member of the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Masons.
In 1861 Isaac Williams, then over sixty years of age, was living. His wife died April 18, 1849…
'The house of Lewis Elisha stood on what is now the southeastern border of York Pond. As the
road approaches the pond, it is bounded on the easterly side by a wall, which was once the boundary of
the Williams farm, now owned by Hiram Johnson. On the westerly side of the roadway, at about eighty
feet from the pond, stands a large smooth, upright stone with an apple-tree directly in the rear of it, and a
maple-tree a little to the southwest; this stone is the back of the hearth or fireplace of the Lewis Elisha
house. Oct. 10, 1804, there was a terrific storm; the wind howled, and even York Pond showed white caps.
Polly Davenport Mois was then living in this house. As the storm increased, Polly, alone in the old shanty,
grew more and more frightened, and finally, mustering all the courage she had, left the hut and started up
the pathway toward Berry Miller's, then living in the Williams' house. She had barely strength to reach the
door, and as soon as she had succeeded in opening it, fell headlong into the room; there the neighbors
found her the next morning, cold and dead. Her body was tenderly cared for and carried to her friends in
Dorchester, where it was buried. Her daughters – Persis, Mary, and Betsey- were removed by Joel Holden
to Dorchester in October of the following year….” After David Lambert posted some of
this information on our Facebook site, there were a number of responses including the
location of some specific deeds by Mark Struck. From these deeds, one could determine that Isaac
Williams purchased around ten acres in 1803 and another 39 acres in 1813, both purchased from Joseph
Bemis in his role as Guardian of the Ponkapoag Indians. In March of 1813, Williams signed the land
over to Thomas Waldron Sumner for $360, which apparently was a mortgage of sorts in which Sumner
would hold the deed to the land until Isaac Williams paid the debt. The land is described: “Beginning on
the road from Ezra Tilden’s to Deacon Jonathan Capen’s, at a corner of said Tilden’s land, thence
running Easterly and Southeasterly as the fence row stands bounding in part on said Tilden’s land and
partly on lands of the heirs of the late Christopher Capen dec. until it comes to York Pond so called,
Southerly, Easterly, and Westerly on a part of said Pond, Easterly on a woodland of Deac. Jonathan
Capen, running from a large white pine tree marked near said pond a southwesterly course to another
white pine, marked as a corner bounds, thence running a southwesterly course a straight line on lands of
said Dea. Capen until it comes to the corner of an old hedge fence, thence running a northwesterly course
partly on the line of sd. Dea. Capen, until it comes to the aforementioned road, partly on sd, road until it
comes to the first mentioned bounds.”
The description of the location of this land places it in the general area, of the parking lot at Glen
Echo, west to Indian Lane and south toward Pine Street. It is quite possible, but not certain that the two
substantial cellar holes within a few feet of our stone, which marks the southeast corner of the original
Ponkapoag Indian Plantation, IS site of the house and barn of the Isaac Williams family. More specific
measurements from places on Indian Lane and stone walls will better define the boundaries, but since
many are linked to landmarks and lot lines no longer there, definitive proof will remain elusive.
Last Fall, we had a program presented by
David Lambert and Thomas Green on the process, by which the Ponkapoag Indians “lost” their land.
This particular instance of the Isaac Williams’ purchases shows that process in action in a specific case,
one of the rare ones in which the land ended up again, at least for one generation, in Ponkapoag
ownership. The purchase of land just above this by the Crowds was one other such case.
I feel fortunate in that many of the discoveries and rediscoveries that
we have made this summer appear to tie together in a fulfilling larger whole of Stoughton history from
roughly 1770 to 1850. The names of Elijah Dunbar, Ezra Tilden and Isaac Williams appeared and re-
appeared. The reference to Ezra Tilden’s land in the Isaac Williams deed reminded me of at least one
expedition that Howard Hansen and I took together in search of the site of Ezra Tilden’s house. Others
will now join that search, this time looking for the western boundaries of the land which Isaac Williams
purchased. In other
ways, this has been a less fulfilling/demanding summer for me because for the first time in many years, I
was not creating an illustrated historical essay for the Community Calendar published each year by the
Stoughton Public Library. The calendar is being discontinued. It was a great run, while it lasted, and I
still refer back to the pieces I wrote for those calendars to refresh my knowledge of some aspect of
Stoughton history. I appreciate the support for those many years of former Library Director Pat Basler. It
was a labor of love for both of us. ON a more positive note, we have committed to
creating our own Calendar for 2026 in celebration of the Town’s 300 th Anniversary. Each month will
have its own picture, and each day will have a caption, noting something of significance that happened on
that date. The Historical Commission’s application for more historical signs around Town was
overwhelmingly approved by Town meeting. We have now determined that we have the resources to add
12 signs. Vice President David Lambert has agreed to help create some of the signs and his experience
with finding and captioning the photographs in his three books published by Arcadia will be invaluable.
Thank you, David!
Correction: In the last Newsletter I identified “Cukie,” who re-appeared in a later life as Alice Benjamin,
whom I mistakenly said married David Benjamin in 1948, five years after her high school sweetheart was
killed. Cukie was Alice Benjamin, but it was Edith Trollope Benjamin, who married David Benjamin. –
Dwight
Around the Lucius Clapp Memorial
We have inherited a large copier to share with the Old Stoughton Musical Society. The late Renee
LeBlanc, RIP, had retrieved this large copier from the office where she worked and used it to produce
programs for the Musical Society. The copier had been stored in the garage of David and Marilyn Dore
on Swanson’s Terrace. The Dores, Ed Quigley, grandson Andrew Bryant, your President and his pick-up
got the copier out of the garage, over to the Society’s back door, and down into the basement, navigating
those challenging stone stairs in the process. Despite the fact that there were a few bops and bangs in
transit, Richard Fitzpatrick later got the copier up and running in a couple hours. Time will tell how
much this helps our printing of our booklets. Several weeks later, we picked up two large horizontal file
cabinets for the OSMS from the Dore garage and with the help of the same crew, minus the grandson, but
adding Dan Mark, Ken Beauregard and Matt Cauchon from the Rec Department next door, we got those
cabinets down those same challenging steps.
We will be purchasing Museum Program software, PastPerfectV to replace our PastPerfectIV. This
version will permit our volunteers to work from home. Rick and Linda Woodward have done their usual
fine job of keeping the flowers and other plants on grounds of the Lucius Clapp flourishing and beautiful.
We purchased by mail from the author, George Price several copies of The Eastons : Five
Generations of of Human Rights Activism – 1749-1935. We gave one copy to the Library, have sold one,
and have a couple more copies available for loan or purchase. Members: $22, Non Members $25. The
chapter, “Further Development in Afro-Native Relations in Eighteenth-Century Massachusetts contains
thoughtful commentary on the phenomenon of widespread intermarriage between the two communities
eg. Isaac Williams and Elizabeth Will. Chapter Four : “Hosea Easton: Forgotten Abolitionist “Giant” is a
detailed account of the life and contributions of Hosea Easton, who married Louisa Martrick of the Three
Swamps homestead.
Over the course of the summer, I led three library-sponsored walks: the new trail at Glen Echo, the large
barn cellar hole at Bird St. Conservation Area, and around Muddy Pond, the Town’s main water supply
between Bay Road and West St.
We received many donations in memory of Joe DeVito and Howard Hansen, too many to include in
this issue of the Newsletter. We will catch up on acknowledging all donations in our next Newsletter.
From Dan Mark: I have been working on two projects; the first was a presentation for the new teacher
orientation about the history of Stoughton, emphasizing famous places in town, significant dates, famous
residents and history of each school. This presentation took place on August 27 th . The second
presentation is for this fall on the West School area, featuring neighborhoods such as Pinecrest,
Presidential Courts, Memorial Drive and the West School itself.
Archivists Report
Alice McGibbon – Donated the remaining records of the Stoughton Women’s Club. They have dis-banded.
Rachel Killion – A member of the Attleboro Historical Society delivered several photos of the August 4, 1924 train
wreck at the Stoughton Railroad Station. In addition to being a member of the Attleboro Historical Society, she
teaches at the Stoughton middle School. I believe two of the photos, are new to Stoughton Historical Society.
Doug Parsons – of Manchester, NH sent us two Post Cards, 1.) Of the Train Station, not new to our collection. 2.)
A view of the West Side of the Square, looking South. This one was new to our collection.
I have spent a lot of time this quarter working on the J. W. Wood Elastic Web Co. collection. Finally finishing
it, at the end of June. I assembled the remaining book boxes for Stew Sterling, who is going through our rare books,
one by one and checking them against the catalogue list on the door of the Cabinet. These books are in widely
varying sizes, and we thought that the boxes would stabilize the smaller ones. The boxes themselves are in odd
shapes, different sizes and a bit of a challenge at assemble, until you have done a few.
Jeanne DeVito – donated a very nice Pen & Ink Drawing of the Swan Building, which she and Joe owned until the
fire in 1969, destroyed it. The drawing is the work of Armand Rodriques, (1932-2018) a local artist from Stoughton.
I’m currently looking for a good place to display it.
We received a number of hand-written receipts from the Canton Historical Society, most of them dating within a
couple decades of 1800 with the general understanding that we would sort through them and return any which
related directly to Canton, or people associated with the part of Town that eventually became Canton.
On Thursday August 15, 2024, Rich Pratt and I assisted Dave Lambert, and a couple of people, including Mike
Pazyra from the VFW, move several boxes of framed photos documents etc. from their new building on Seaver
Street, to the Stoughton Historical Society. (We will have a challenge, finding space for these new framed
documents. Since we have run out of space as previously reported. Some of the photos documents will be removed
from the frames an stored in envelope or loose leaf binders.
I have begun working on our F. C. Phillips, Collection. I have discovered some problems with the original file, that
require the re-numbering of the entire original file, before adding in any of the new additions. Also, the re-
numbering of three items or the creation of two new files. Exactly what happens with these items remains to be
determined. The three items did not, and do not belong in the F. C. Phillips file. Richard Fitzpatrick
Curator’s Report
Curator’s Report – Ken Beauregard continues 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. In
addition, Ken continues to log-in and file new donations of artifacts. New Acquisitions: From Gyneth
McGarvey: A chrome emblem from a WWI military vehicle, 26 th Yankee Division A.E.F. (American
Expeditionary Forces), with a 26 th (Yankee) Division Army shoulder patch. Gyneth’s late father-in-law,
Peter McGarvey, the long-time Stoughton Police Chief, served with the A.E.F. in World War I. From
John Walker: Numerous items relating to the J. W. Wood Elastic Web Company, including John W.
Wood’s monogrammed briefcase (which contained numerous documents relating to the company); a
Bronze Plaque presented to John. W. Wood by his employees in 1941 “In grateful recognition of his ever-
present spirit of fairness and consideration to all employees”; a wooden Loom Shuttle, painted silver, with
“J.W. Wood Co. Jan 9, 1906”, which sat on his desk; a metal Standard Thread Gauge; a wood and brass
Stamp, for ink or wax, for the J.W. Wood Elastic Web Company, Stoughton, Mass.; an Elastic Web
Sample; an 18” wooden Ruler with the company’s name and ‘Manufacturers of Woven & Kitted Elastics
– Stoughton & South Easton, Mass, Shelby, N.C.”; a Copper Printer’s Plate for the Wood and Walker
Wedding Announcement – Mr. and Mrs. John William Wood announce the marriage of their daughter
Mildred Martin to Mr. Thomas Simpson Walker on Saturday the twenty first of January nineteen
hundred and thirty three, Stoughton, Massachusetts. From David Denneno, numerous items from
Denneno’s Pizza, 545 Pearl St., which closed on December 31, 2023, after being in business for 68 years:
the famous Pizza Scissors, Pizza Pan, Apron, Commemorative Street Sign – Carmella N. Denneno
“Corner”, and the Denenno’s House of Pizza Sign. (Many thanks to Dan Mark for arranging the
Denneno’s donations.) From Clem Fisher: a Cone of String from Shawmut Mills. From Candice
Dykeman: Ice Tongs from the Cranberry Bog Icehouse, which were discovered in 1953 in the house at
115 Kennedy Road. From Angela Augur: a set of the crayons manufactured by the Brockton Crayon and
Color Company, which produced these crayons for many years in the Atherton Building, just behind the
Lucius Clapp Memorial. From William Hahn: the Bronze Funeral Urn of Dr. Horace Packard, (Packard
Manse) which he purchased from an antique dealer. A more extensive description of the item and the
circumstances involved in this acquisition will be included in the next Newsletter.
We are grateful to all who have donated these
artifacts. -Richard Pratt
Memberships
New members: –Ted Horan and family, Dan Cleary, Larry Van Zandt Sr., Mike
Pazyra, Susan Monk, The Panacy Family