VOLUME XXXVIII
Upcoming Events
February 15—Meeting at the Historical Society at 2pm. Three of our members will discuss their work on Stoughton in the 1700’s. Tony Alfano will describe his work cataloguing and organizing our oldest documents; Ruth Fitzpatrick will give a presentation on Native and Colonial money. Roger Hall will discuss music in Stoughton in the 1700’s, (Roger will be presenting a free program a few days later on Feb. 19 at 7:00 p.m. at the Stoughton Public Library on the music of Abraham Lincoln's era, with some Stoughton connections.)
March 22 2 P. M. at the Historical Society We will be hosting colonial re-enactors David Jennings and Hallie Larkin of Southcoast Historical Associates who will give a presentation in period costumes with many accompanying artifacts. Joan and I saw their presentation at the Bridgewater Historical Society last fall and it was very entertaining and informative. Sandy Spector calls them the gold standard of such presenters.
President’s Report
On November 10th, our WWII Veterans Joe DeVito and Jack Sidebottom led a contingent of Veterans to the O’Donnell Middle School, where they gave presentations and answered questions for all of the grades, each of whom were rotated into the audience between 8:00 A.M. and noon, permitting the Vets to be heard by hundreds of students, rather than just the sixty who have come to our building on previous Veterans Day presentations. Other veterans participating included Paul Flynn-Vietnam, Jim Noe- Korea, Tony Novello-WWII, Joe McPherson-WWII, Frank Noe-Vietnam, Charlie Large-WWII, Pat King-Korea, Joe DeVito-WWII, and Mark Hausammann-Vietnam. The Program was set up by David Guglia, Assistant Principal at the O’Donnell.
On the following Saturday a small, but loyal group of Society members braved heavy rain to come to the Library to see the recently purchased (by the Friends of Prowse Farm) Doty Tavern sign and watch the first two installments of the John Adams video. All who saw it were very impressed and wished that more could have seen it. I now own a copy and will be glad to show it again if the opportunity arises, or will lend it to anyone who wishes to make a donation to the Society. Many thanks to The Friends of Prowse Farm, and especially Leo Waters, who delivered it, for the opportunity to display the Doty Tavern sign. We will have it on display again at one of our upcoming meetings. Both tours of the site of the Gay Cotton Manufacturing Co. factory off Mill St had to be canceled because of inclement weather and will be rescheduled for April.
On December 5, we were visited by Stoughton Cub Scouts Pack 8 and a number of parents and siblings. They were an appreciative, well-supervised group who seemed to enjoy their time with us and made a generous donation as well.
On December 14, we were represented in the Holiday Parade by Grand Marshall James Callanan and his wife Evelyn. Rick and Linda Woodward carried our banner; Mark Nickerson and the Civil War re-enactors of the 12th Massachusetts Infantry also marched. Unfortunately, Engine Number Two, which had been tuned up for the event, suffered fuel filter clogging on the way to the parade and had to be returned to storage. Before, during, and after the parade, we had a well-attended open house during which we dedicated a plaque for what is now the Petruzzo balcony, honoring our beloved Past-President and Archivist Alice Petruzzo. Joe and Jeanne DeVito supervised the purchase of the plaque. Also placed near the door to the balcony was a framed photo of Alice reading from the balcony at the 100th Anniversary of our building in 2003. Many members of the Petruzzo family were present for the dedication, and Alice’s daughter, Christina Webb has since joined the Society. We also sold a number of historical and topographical maps, fire engine t-shirts, copies of our recent publications and most importantly, added several new memberships.
One of our new members, J Widrow, who lives in the old Payson house on Bay Road is interested in re-forming a committee to create the small signs with the name of the first family and date of construction for Stoughton’s oldest houses. If you are interested in being part of this Committee, please call or email us.
On December 18, Joe Devito, Brian Daley, Hank Herbowy, and I attended a ceremony at the VFW during which the winners of the Voice of Democracy contest were honored; 1st Place-Michelle Brauneis, 2nd Place – Kellie Carmichael 3rd Place – Rachel Rosen. Stoughton Social Studies Department Head John Gallivan was presented with the VFW Stoughton Teacher-of-the -Year Award and since that time has been designated as Massachusetts Teacher-of the-year. Congratulations to the students and to Mr Gallivan.
At the end of December, Warren West appeared at the Society with a new American flag to replace our flag, which had taken a beating in recent heavy winds. Thank you, Warren. We also thank Forrest Bird and his wife, Pam, for mailing us a very generous contribution, a few weeks after their visit to Stoughton.
The historical signs for the Bird St Conservation area, which were paid for by a Grant from the Stoughton Cultural Council have been completed. Two of the signs will be placed near Myron Gilbert’s Quarry, two will be placed along the Twelve Division stone wall which runs intermittently from the Bird St entrance across West Street to the upper reaches of Ames Pond. A fifth sign will mark the entrance to the Roy Robinson Loop-Trail off Palisades Circle. The signs will be installed in the Spring and will be accompanied by a dedication at a yet-to-be-determined date, possibly this year’s celebration of Earth Day. When we were discussing the last sign one Thursday at the Society, I learned that Joe DeVito in his youth would bicycle up to visit his Uncle Eddie DeLuca and his friend Paul Trotta at their camp site next to Ames Pond during the summertime. They would stop and eat their lunch at the corner of West and Plain Streets at the Smith School. From Joe’s account of following a path to a cliff, I believe that the campsite was on top of a rock ledge, which now has the house at 319 Palisades Circle directly behind it. The owner has described to me how the rock formation creates its own separate mini-climate for their yard. In the summers before WWII, Paul Trotta would swim down to the southern end of Ames Pond, which is in Easton, and back every day. At that time, there was no causeway running to Lake Street and one could swim from that rock to the Easton end, without leaving the water. During the War, Paul had to stay afloat for hours, after the USS Wasp sank in the Coral Sea, and he attributed his survival to his many days of swimming on Ames Pond.
I have received word that we were awarded a Cultural Council grant to work with the schools on “Stoughton in the 1700’s” and the publication of Ezra Tilden’s diaries of his service in the Revolutionary War. However the grant is contingent on the final dispersal of funds by the State, and in this economy, that is obviously not a sure thing. We are moving towards the purchase of a new computer, scanner, and printer for the Society. We hope to be using it by the time the next Newsletter goes out. We are also communicating with the Canton Historical Society, as they are in the process of purchasing a new computer for their work. We hope to combine with them for two future meetings, one which would be held in Stoughton, possibly one of the two announced above, and then one meeting in the future at the Canton Historical Society.
Stoughton in the 1700’s The Tories It is interesting to imagine the conversations-arguments, which Stoughton residents had among themselves in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War. Since the residents of outlying towns like Stoughton tended to be less radical than the residents of Boston, where the Sons of Liberty exerted great influence, one would assume that it was easier, for those so inclined, to maintain loyalty to the Crown and the Mother Country longer in our area. Huntoon writes that Elijah Dunbar, (see pages of his almanac-journal displayed in our exhibit) who eventually became an apparently patriotic pillar of the community, Town Treasurer, paying the soldiers’ salaries etc. was at one time suspected of holding Loyalist sympathies, despite the fact that his father, Rev. Samuel Dunbar, was an ardent patriot of Doty Tavern renown.
One of our new exhibits at the Society shows a copy of the Town’s instructions in October of 1766 (more than six months after the Stamp Act has been repealed) to Rep. Hezekiah Gay, concerning the payment of reparations for damages incurred in the “Stamp riots” of the previous year.: “We Abhor & Destest all Mobbs in general and…none of Us had any hand in Those in particular. And We are of the opinion that not ones Tousand part of ye Provinces in General, Exclusive of ye Town of Boston had any hand in them directly or Indirectly. Therefore We Would Recommend it to you by no means to Vote for Recompense (for damages caused in the Stamp riots) to Be Made by ye Province…” Despite these explicit instructions to Rep Gay NOT to vote for the recompense, the second half of the “instructions” implies that such an “Act of Generosity” may, indeed be necessary. The document apparently reflects a difference of opinion on the Committee.
Here is an excerpt from a recent MassMoments, which I have found to be very helpful in describing the Tory “problem:”
“Not everyone in Revolutionary Massachusetts wanted to break with the Mother Country. At the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, the American colonists celebrated their place in the triumphant British empire. But dissatisfaction grew when Parliament began to pass unpopular laws, such as the Revenue Acts. Colonists took to debating the system that gave the crown power over colonial trade and government. The citizenry was divided into those who supported the status quo, those who favored independence, and the moderate majority who sought compromise. Initially, there was more contention in urban areas than in the countryside, where farming took precedence over politics.
With the arrival of British soldiers in Boston in 1768 and the tumultuous events, such as the Boston Massacre and the Tea Party, that followed, protest against British rule intensified. The punitive measures imposed by Parliament in the spring of 1774 only accelerated the trend. The British decision to shut down town meetings and control the appointment of judges politicized rural folk (like the residents of Stoughton and Stoughtonham) who had previously been uncommitted.
By the summer of 1774, Loyalists were finding life in Massachusetts increasingly dangerous, especially in the countryside. Mobs of angry citizens threatened the homes, families, and even the lives of government officials in rural areas. Dragged from their beds in the middle of the night, Crown appointees were forced to renounce their offices publicly and take oaths of fidelity to the patriot cause. Those who refused were treated harshly. In some cases, they were tarred and feathered; in others they were fired upon or their property was invaded and ransacked.
The action of the rural mobs confirmed the Loyalists' worst fears about democracy: mass participation in government would lead to anarchy. They believed ardently that the British political system was the world's best and that social disintegration would be the result of allowing "common men" an active role in government.
By the autumn, many Massachusetts residents who were still faithful to the king had fled to Boston, where the presence of the British army provided a measure of security. Loyalist refugees swelled the city's population by approximately 1,700. Most were merchants, officeholders, or professional men such as
doctors, lawyers, and Anglican clergy. Almost all had relatives who supported independence, so they were painfully aware of how divided the colony was”.
Direct evidence of Tory flight occurs when local man Asa Waters of Bay Road describes his participation in the placement of the cannons and fortifications on Dorcester Heights in one night on March 3, 1776, (see our display on him at the Society.), He writes: “We were ordered to parade at a place we called the white house in Dorchester, which was the property of a Tory who had gone off to the British and left it.” Tories are later explicitly identified in Stoughton,. On May 26th, 1777 ‘”in compliance with an act of ye Great and General Court, Passed in May 1777 Requiring the Selectmen to lay before the Town a list of those Persons that in their Opinion have endeavored since the 19th of April, 1775 to Counteract ye United Struggles of this and the United States for the Preservation of their Liberties and Priviliges (we) have accordingly made out a List as followeth (viz) William Curtis, Noah Kingsbory, Samuel Capen, Edward Taylor, Henry Crane, and Edmund Shail. Further research is needed to determine if any of these men remained in Stoughton at that time, left and returned later, or left permanently and relocated elsewhere.
Archivists Report
We continue to identify and retrieve documents for use in the Stoughton in the 1700’s exhibit. We received another box of Belcher-Hodges documents from Donna Hodges, which have been sorted and catalogued. We looked up information on three old houses in town for their current owners. Joe DeVito and I repaired and added new locks to the door of the Alice Petruzzo balcony. We found a box of old photos and copies of photos which apparently were collected by Gus Winroth and others for the 275th. Some of the photos were of scenes one hundred years ago. These had to be cross-checked against the photos already in our files and given new numbers or filed as duplicates. I assisted two Boy Scouts, Harrison and John Raciut on a project which would give them merit badges in history and filed away the WWI posters which were returned after having been displayed at the Library. We are currently researching Johnson Tolman for one of his descendants. In the mid-1700’s, Johnson Tolman lived on what is now Park St, near its intersection with Turnpike St. Tony Alfano has created Excel spread sheets identifying the contents of our cabinets which contain catalogued and uncatalogued volumes and documents from the 1700 and 1800’s. He has also studied and recorded a number of important items from Newton Talbott’s copy of Town Records - 1715-1805 and found many sources of Stoughton history on the internet and forwarded them to Dwight. We will hear more about this work at the February meeting.. Richard Fitzpatrick has also been itemizing documents from the 1700’s, including several involving the Tolman family. New volunteer Bob Viola has begun assembling photographs and articles on the railroad station for a display in the railroad station waiting room.
-- Jack Sidebottom
Curator’s Report
We received a stereopticon from Ann Petterson with many accompanying cards. Joan Bryant has the inventory she did with Hank Herbowy on an Excel sheet on her laptop. Our computer will not accept or print an Excel document, so the new computer should greatly assist our work. I have begun research on the history of the Stoughton schools, and also done considerable snow-shoveling of the entrance to the Society after our recent snowstorms.
-- Brian Daley
In the past few months, we lost two beloved long-time members of the Stoughton Historical Society; David Benjamin and Mary Daly. Please excuse the unavoidable differences in the formatting of following two tributes:
In Memorium
Mary Daly passed away on December 28. As one of the two organizations named by the family as a recipient of gifts in her honor, we have received several donations in her name. It was only a year ago that Mary donated many of her WAC artifacts and photos to the Society. We remember with admiration and appreciation, when she stood and described in a loud, clear voice, her service in WWII.
Mary’s obituary from The Brockton Enterprise: Mary A. Daly, 90, died Sunday, Dec. 28, 2008, at the Southeast Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, in Easton, after a long period of failing health. Born in Stoughton, she was a lifelong resident of Stoughton and a graduate of Stoughton schools. She also was a graduate of Bridgewater State College. Miss Daly was a World War II veteran of the U.S. Army Women’s Army Corps (WACs), where she achieved the rank of staff sergeant. Miss Daly was a longtime educator and administrator with the Stoughton school department.
She started as a teacher at the Kimball School, moved to the Clapp School and continued her service as the principal of the Central Elementary District and then as the administrative principal of the South, Tolman, and Capen schools. After a career spanning over 37 years, she retired in 1976. She was a member of numerous professional organizations, including the
National Association of Elementary Principals, National Principals Association and the National Educational Association.
She was the past president of the South Shore Elementary Principals Association and the past secretary and treasurer of the Stoughton Teachers Club. Miss Daly was active as a volunteer with the Girl Scouts, at New England Sinai Hospital and at the Immaculate Conception Church, in Stoughton, as a CCD teacher for over 25 years. She was also a docent at the Fuller Art Museum, in Brockton, and a longtime member of the VFW Post 1645 in Stoughton. In her free time, she enjoyed traveling. She was the sister of the late Edward J. Daly, Francis V. Daly, Joseph J. Daly, Elizabeth R. Rhodes and Ann E. Hurley. She is survived by many nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews. A memorial Mass will be held at the Immaculate Conception Church, 122 Canton St., Stoughton, Saturday, Jan. 31, at 10:30 a.m.
Howard Hansen writes: “I first met Mary Daly in September 1949 when my father brought me down to start school. At the time she was Principal of the Clapp School. There was no Central School District and the Jones School had just been converted from a Junior High to a 5th and 6th grade school. Each of the three schools had a Principal and taught a grade. (Helen McCameron, 4th at Kimball and Agnes Murphy 5th at the Jones). Of course I didn't realize why my father seemed to know her, until only a year ago when I learned that her father was Timothy Daly, a well known attorney (and town moderator). Although Mary Daly was 7 years younger than my father, he had stayed back a few times, so that they could have been in the same schools.
But then here was the confusion that blew my very empty mind. My father took me downstairs to the 1st grade classroom to meet Miss Dailey. There were TWO Miss Daly / Daileys in the same school. She was no stranger to my father whatsoever. In 1917-18 Mary Dailey began her 52 years as a teacher with one her students being Orin H. Hansen. Needless to say, I couldn't misbehave in school. I don't ever recall being sent to the Principal's office except to maybe take a note from Miss Dailey the teacher to Miss Daly the Principal. I don't think I'd been to the second floor more than three or four times in the two years at the Clapp School. But one of those times I was delivering a note from Miss Dailey to Miss Daly, I will never forget. I saw the janitor Mr. Daviditis, actually spanking a screaming boy as he was carrying the child down the stairs with one hand. That was a clear message to me as to why I didn't ever want to be sent to the Principal's office.
The last time I went up the stairs of the Clapp School was in 1986, when David Lambert, David Mullen and I had permission to remove artifacts from the school house before it was torn down. We went into Mary Daly's room and stopped to recall my first day of school and was in awe at the size of the classroom she had, with forty students, and then had to be a Principal, too! Then as I left, I took the long stair railing, with anticipation that it would be used at the Lucius Clapp building. The railing is on my stairway and constantly reminds me of the "First Day of School.”
For several years Mary Daly would come to the Historical Society meetings alone. But the last few years, she would come with Helen Hansen. There were two of my teachers, whom I've known for nearly 60 years.”
Welcome to New Members: The Widrow family, Christine Webb, Karen Weeks, Fran McNulty, and a welcome back to Nancy Davis, and Gail and Roger Hall, (all of whom are credited with memberships for 2009)