JULY-AUG-SEPT – 2016

Upcoming Events

September 11, 7:30 P. M.  Stephen Tapper and friends will present a concert of flute and piano music at the Lucius ClappMemorial: "Honoring Massachusetts Music:  Music by Massachusetts Composers, Arranged for flute."  The repertoire will include pieces by composers such as William Billings, E.A. Jones, and Alan Hovhaness, and also some original compositions by Steve Tapper, arranged either for flute ensemble or for flute and piano. Other musicians include Maria Mandico, Anna Conigliari, and Stacey Chou.

September 12, 6:00 P.M. - Harvest Dinner at the Wales French Room of the Stoughton Public Library.  As usual, the program will include a slide show of the year’s past events at the Society.   Please fill out the form at the end of the Newsletter if you wish to attend. The cost remains $20.

October 16, 2:00 P. M.  – Dedication of the new sign at the Isaac Stearns home-site near 377 West St.  If all goes as planned, we will have the Police block off the street for an hour.

November 13, 2:00 P. M. The Thomas Glover House and family.  David Lambert will lecture and show us pictures of his work in documenting the since-demolished 1744 house.  We will also see some of the pictures taken by our professional documenter Bill Gould and learn of Anna Glover, who compiled, wrote, and had published a 500 page Glover family genealogy.

President’s Report

On May 15, we held a program at the Society to honor the winners of the Forrest Bird Essay contest, for which almost every seventh grader wrote an essay.  The finalists: Will Kent, Oluwole Fabukun, Kaydra Hopkins, Abbe Langmead, Victoria Boyle, and Victoria Silverman.  Dual winners were declared: Victoria Boyle and Abbie Langmead.  Congratulations to them, the other finalists and all the students and teachers, who participated, especially Asst. Principal David Guglia, who was a prime mover in the participation of the Middle School.

This year’s John Flynn Award went to high school seniors Mikayla Williams and Josh Williams.  Despite the dual winners, both received considerably more than the $250, which has been given to past winners, as the Prone Foundation contributed $1500 to be added to the $500 we were supplying, (since we had not had a winner the year before.)  We are exploring ways to motivate more students to become eligible for the award. Ideally, we have a student volunteer who contributes a lot of work to the Society. However, other past models have also had many students participate in writing an essay or an interview.  Both models remain under consideration.

We had a successful  installation dinner at Foley’s Backstreet Grill with more than forty attending.  Thank you’s to Joan Bryant for all the preparations, both culinary and organizational.   Several weeks later we made a good showing at Stoughton Day, which was held at the high school.   Helping out at the latter event were Brian Daley, Lou Poilucci, Janet Clough, Rick and Linda Woodward, Richard and Ruth Fitzpatrick, Joe Mokrisky and Maria Simas.

We were well represented at the 4th of July Parade with an Isaac Stearns float honoring the 300th Anniversary of Isaac Stearns settling in Stoughton.  It was designed by Rick and Linda Woodard  on the back of the Woodward pick-up, driven by Eric VanLaarhoven and Dave Peterson.  Howard Hansen sat in the back and gave us his version of Isaac Stearns.  Josh and Mikayla Williams carried our sign, Rick rode his big-wheeled bicycle, and Linda and I carried signs and a farm tool or two.  Joe DeVito was selected as Grand Marshall of the Parade, and he and Jeanne rode in style.  It was a well-deserved honor for Joe, a WWII Vet, who had served on the parade committee for many years, not to mention all the vital contributions he and Jeanne have made to the Historical Society.  Joe Mokrisky drove our fire truck accompanied by the new Fire Chief Michael Laracy.

The origin of the name “Sumner Street:” I received several phone calls from Paul Yagman of Taunton, who was seeking information regarding the property his grandparents owned for a short time in the early 1920’s at 879 Sumner Street near the site of what became the Goddard Hospital.  It was referred to as “the Robert Sumner farm” on a deed he had found, and it included property on both sides of Sumner St.  He related an interesting story about a still on their property in the 1920’s, possibly blowing up as it was being run by the widow of the family (his grandmother) and the house burning down as a result, after which the family lived in the barn.  In any case, the widowed Yagman family left Stoughton soon thereafter.

One evening, soon after my conversation with Mr. Yagman, Howard Hansen happened to be at the Society and I suggested that we search our materials to see if this Robert Sumner farm would explain the origin of the name of Sumner Street.  In the 1850 “Productions of Agriculture,” we found two Sumner farms, listed side by side, indicating that they were close to each other.  There are no addresses given in these non-alphabetized, 1850 records in which one finds names by following names down street by un-named (and undifferentiated) street.  When we saw the names of two Glovers, we knew that we were getting warm, and a few names away were Ebenezer and Roger Sumner.  The Roger Sumner farm of 150 acres was one of the more valuable farms in Stoughton in 1850 and Ebenezer’s 80-acre farm was close to the average. By this date, there was no mention of the Popes farming nearby.  In Stoughton’s earliest days the Popes had owned considerable land down that road near the Colony Line, the Bridgewater, later North Bridgewater, later Brockton, boundary, but by 1850, apparently, it had all been sold to Sumners and others.  There were still two Sumner farms in 1877. By 1883 there was only a Robert Sumner farming in Stoughton and by 1891 the only Sumner listed was a shoe-maker, also named Robert.

Subsequent research in town records and censuses reveals a rough progression of Popes and Sumners:  In 1790 there were no Sumners and two Popes as heads of households; in 1800 there was one Sumner (Roger) and four Popes; in 1810 there were two Sumners, Roger and Ebenezer, and three Popes.

While the Sumner family held that land for the better part of a century, by 1919 the property was turning over rapidly.  According to poll tax records, 879 Sumner St. was occupied by Andew Fain in 1919, William Stuper in 1920, Joe Hazulis (possibly Azulis) in 1921, Charles Yagman in 1922, his widow Julia Yagman in 1923, and Liston Hinds in 1925.

From this rudimentary research, it seems very likely that Sumner St was named for the Sumner family, who had two big farms at the end of the Street.  On several of the maps in the 1700’s, the street is called “the road past Thos. Glovers,” but by the time the streets were actually being named “officially” circa 1870, for purposes relating to the post office, “Sumner Street” was the choice.  That date would also make it possible for the street to have been named after Massachusetts Sen. Charles Sumner, who was assaulted in the Senate by Preston Brooks in the late 1850’s, and whose papers were collected by Stoughton native Edward Pierce, but from the evidence we have seen, I suspect that the street was already called Sumner St. locally, well before Senator Sumner became a household word.

The John Flynn Diaries -  We have four boxes of the diaries of former President of the Stoughton Historical Society John Flynn in our archives, but in my decade here, we have never explored them, as we have, for example, the five Capen family boxes, which been opened and used extensively, especially during the time when Karen Dropps was with us.  After the John Flynn Award was increased considerably this year with a much-appreciated boost from the Prone Foundation, it crossed my mind that possibly we should encourage high school students to research the man for whom the award they might receive was named.  Ruthie Fitzpatrick agreed to explore the boxes, and with the help of summer student volunteer Mariah Williams, we discovered that the four boxes were filled with three-ring, loose-leaf notebooks.  There are 31 individual notebooks, beginning in the Fall of 1950 and ending with Flynn’s death in January of 1964.  Each page was written on lined paper in neat cursive with many of the pages having newspaper articles taped to them.  The pages are all easily readable, but the signs of transfer of acid/yellowness from the newsprint to the pages beneath them are unmistakable.  Our current plan is to create an index, which will tell us the date of Flynn’s entries on various topics related to Stoughton history. Other preservation and digitalization efforts will be made as time and resources permit.

John Flynn retired at age 70 from working at the Post Office on Essex St. in Boston in November of 1950.  His first three diaries are in smaller notebooks, which have now been read and roughly indexed.  The following contains a small portion of what we have learned from those notebooks, or related research.  In 1950, John Flynn lived at 289 Morton St., (only a few houses away from where student volunteer Mariah Williams lives on Kenneth Ct.) His mother-in-law and his daughter Mary, who teaches at the high school, live with him and his wife Margaret/Peg, and the whole family are devout Catholics. When John and the family miss a mass because of illness in 1951, he writes that it is the first time that anyone has missed a Sunday Mass in three years.  He is an avid reader of newspapers. On most days he reads the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald, but on days when he is particularly interested in news reports, such as after a damaging, extended storm in November of 1950, he adds the Brockton Enterprise, the Boston American, and the Boston Traveler.  His many years of work in Boston may have made him more likely than the average Stoughton citizen to read the Boston newspapers.  He also includes occasional clippings from the Stoughton News-Sentinel.

The Flynn family had recently purchased a television and Flynn writes many entries on various programs that they watch.  However, within a few months, he vows to write less about television in his diary.  Many programs fascinate him, but others offend him. He grudgingly acknowledges that television is having the beneficial effect of keeping people home in the evenings, rather than going out at the movies or other such pursuits.  Politically he is disgusted with Roosevelt, the New Deal, Truman, and the debacles taking place in the Korean War. In the first volumes of the diary, many of the attached newspaper clipping are articles on the latest developments in Korea.  He appears to support the impeachment of Truman after Gen. MacArthur is let go.

Flynn is very observant of the weather and other natural phenomena. From his house, he can see the tops of Rattlesnake and Moose Hills in Sharon and often comments on their appearance at sunrise or sunset.  In December, he writes the following lines, which involve the open land near his house.  It extends to Plain St. to the West and Mark’s field to Northwest: (I have bolded certain words and phrases, which may be of more interest)

December 13, 1950 (289 Morton Street)

Up as usual when the dawn train from New Bedford whistles at Plain Street crossing, about 7:50 am. After breakfast and K.P. a little puttering, touched up new window in M's room and a trifle fix it for Mr. Clare. It is a glorious day for any kind of work or play. Temp 30 at 8am- 44 while sun is up, no wind

but gentle zephyrs.  Remarkable for this date. So far 10% (F. uses a % symbol for degrees) above normal for month, says forecast this am. After dinner took to the woods behind the house primarily to look for x mas tree and red berries. Went thro Hooper's field, now partly covered with scrub and white pines, encroaching so far that another ten years and it will all be returned to forest.

Entered the older woods, carpeted with generations of pine needles, moss, checkerberries; no sound to break the stillness at ground level, except the shuff shuff of one's feet, the rustle of oak leaves when they were disturbed, the crack of dead branches as they were stepped upon in buried leaves or moss. But aloft there was the music of the pines as they sang the requiem of vanished days. It was a gentle swish, a cough or sigh, the quietness until the baton of Nature's God again was raised and the symphony of sweetest harmony was wafted over the silent places of the earth. The woods and log land, the gleaming water, the tufted swamp, not yet in the grip of the ice-king though greedy fingers here and there were feeling their way to deeper water.

This region was the far-reaches of adventure for me as a boy, so I set out to find old paths and groves if possible.  In the meantime, a calmness settled on the spirit and I could readily understand the effect of forest life on the Indian the missionary (Franciscan came to mind) and the early settlers.

With the Franciscan in mind I wandered around saying the rosary for Our Lady of Fatima to save this very distressed world, sizing up likely little trees and seeing that the Princess pine had not entirely vanished.

I remembered that I had put this woods into my story of Twenty-Five years of St Mary School in 1908-42 years ago. A sort of atmosphere idea showing background of youth development in the days when we had to organize ourselves.

Here, also, I roamed the day my grandfather died in his 90th year. (1904) A pioneer Catholic and Irishman, a builder of the church, solicitor for the Pilot and admirable citizen. Here is the Catholics Country, that stretched from his acre, with only one field intervening, to West Street 1 ½ miles away and about 1mile wide.

I sort of wanted to look again at this land made sacred by the footsteps of such as he, who came in sadness from the land they loved, in the midst of the awful potato famine, bringing with them a heartwarming Faith in Christ's Church and transplanting it here to bloom forever more, let us hope.

Here, between the Sucker and Mark's brooks we picked blueberries and huckleberries with my grandmother; there in Mark's Field we played baseball and coasted down the hill. The several pine groves of heavy timber are nearly all gone now but there are plenty large trees left and many growing. But 50 years ago, on the forest floor, they were cleaned and clean. Marks, the Devil's Kitchen, Harris, and Pope’s woods. All are gone but the latter which is greatly improved and is now the fine estate of John Woods. The Devils Kitchen was where the boys, grown ups, drank their booze and played cards unless a row developed, which was frequent.

I found the knoll today, no pines but plenty 30 yr. Hardwood, and speculated on the passage of time. None of its habitats are alive I presume.

The old stream Marks where I fished with my brother P.J. is still running  deeper, dirtier, but no wider. No fish now, as it is polluted by uptown people. Drab, milky looking water where it was crystal clear, except when we slid off the muddy banks. Sucker Brook was running clear and swiftly. A good example of Tennyson's brook, it gabbled at my feet as it lolloped and splashed over some stones; and up-stream a bit there was a shallow, a story bed which made constant music, murmuring and chortling like a group of little children pushing and laughing in riotous play.

As I went by where Harris' Grove used to be, now just a disordered growth of woods and brush, I noticed a stone wall running due East and West and also a three rail fence over it in places and continuing beyond where there was a break. Later I found more stone wall in [the] same line further on. I pondered on who put them there and when this civilization departed, for not in 100 years, at least, could this ground have been tilled field. What a monument to the fortitude and rugged character of the Yankee settlers. I suppose predominantly English but maybe other strains beside.  Stone walls have a story and I would like to find out more about them and make a record.

So I wandered lonely as a cloud here in a woodland familiar to my boyhood and vainly seeking through memory's lane for the face of those who consecrated it by this earthly presence but now remain only a haunting voice to cherish in blessed recollection.

As I came back through the tall pines of Hooper’s grove I heard my name called 2 or 3 times in a child's voice. Thought M. was looking for me and Tommy calling but reflected he wouldn't be in the tall grass and brush of the field, so it must have been wafted on the air from the neighborhood 200 yds away.”

John Flynn’s ruminations on this large tract of land relating to his childhood will continue in future entries.  In the first months of his retirement he apparently walks much more in these woods than when he was working, often when he is returning from commitments in the center, often an early Mass at  Immaculate Conception. When he describes the woods, the weather, or nature in general, his prose tends toward the lyrical, sometimes sentimental, and often religious, as he remembers his childhood days, his immigrant ancestors or the Creator.  His formal education apparently ended after Stoughton High School after going to St. Mary’s in his earlier schooling. Nevertheless he has continued to read, or at least, remembers his Wordsworth (“I wandered lonely as a cloud,”) his Greek mythology, and his Tennyson.

John Flynn writes of the meetings held at the Stoughton Historical Society, which he, as President, is responsible for arranging: 3/19/51  “…At 8 pm had HS meeting at our room in the library.  Alfred F Pyle of Plymouth lectured on the Pilgrims.” Mr. Pyle and others are planning for what turns out to be Plimouth Plantation.  In the same month Flynn also notes that the Boston Museum of Science is opening.  In 1951 the Historical Society faced the challenge of accepting all of the voluminous, but Historically precious material from the GAR Hall, which Flynn now grumbles has been turned into a drinking lounge for the younger veterans, none of whom (to his way of thinking) care about the history.  At that time the Historical Society had only one room in the basement of the library, and it is decided that the GAR materials will be stored at Gus Winroth’s antiques emporium until they can be “winnowed down.”  It is fascinating to read of Flynn, Winroth, and their colleagues working hard to preserve some of the materials, which we now cherish, even as we continue the struggle to preserve, catalogue, and occasionally, display them.

John Flynn’s diary is likely to reveal many more important, fascinating, and mundane things in the years from 1950 to 1964 and we look forward to sharing some of them with you during the next year AND getting our high school students to do the same.

The first ten Historical Commission Historic signs have been a long time in the making, but they are now ready to go to their designated places.  There will be two at Ames Pond, two at Bird St. Conservation Area, and one at each of the following locations: Mill St., Pearl St. Cemetery, Town Hall, First Univ. Church. the Stoughton Historical Society, and the Isaac Stearns home site.  They will be mounted on very sturdy (and heavy) tubular steel bases. We hope to have the DPW and/or Forestry Dept do the installations so that we can use more of the grant to have at least five more signs: two (or three) at Glen Echo, and one each at the RR station. Dry Pond Cemetery, and the Capen-Reynolds farm.  John Carabatsos has been extremely helpful in cleaning up and sharpening many of the historic images we have used in these pictures.

The Lucius Clapp Memorial now has a center railing, which runs all the way from the sidewalk to the base of the steps leading directly to the front door.  This railing replaces and greatly extends the previous small railing, which became detached and eventually disappeared. The new design should be very helpful to those who desire or need a railing.  Town Facilities Manager Paul Giffune was again instrumental in helping make this happen.

This Summer, we had a five-week program for children under the direction of Linda Woodward with assistance from Janet Clough, Rick Woodward, and Ruthie Fitzpatrick.  Our gatherings consisted of a story, a related activity, and an art project, culminating on August 16 in an Open House with bubbles on the lawn, and puzzles and blocks inside.  Dick Fitzpatrick set up trains and let the children try many of the toys on display in our Pierce Room.  The program averaged six children with a total number participating of eleven, a small, but enthusiastic group.  We hope that it made them think it was fun to visit the Historical Society and they will come another year and bring their friends.

-Ruthie Fitzpatrick

Archivist’s Report

Following a phone call from a Mr. Tilton, who claimed his son had a "hardbound copy" (his words) of the history of the Stoughton RR Station and wanted to know what it was worth, I researched and found the paper covered history but none that were hard bound.

• I arranged the purchase of, cleared space for, and set up a new metal storage cabinet.
• Brian and Ruthie brought all the duplicate SHS yearbooks to the archive room for permanent storage. leaving only one copy of each year available for visitor access. The 1949 yearbook is missing.
• Looked for and found information for Dwight, regarding the origin of the name of "Chemung Hill & School" The original research was done by Helen Hansen.
• Worked a couple of different days on the changeover to the new Toy Exhibit. I also set up & demonstrated, some of the toys on two different days.
• Put on display the antique Voting machine, originally at Town Hall, manufactured by the New Haven Car Register Company.  It will remain on display at least for the duration of this year’s presidential campaign. I manufactured a new handle for it and finally determined how to make it work so we can demonstrate it.
• Ruthie filed the 1917 basketball pictures from the Gitto family in the school files by graduation year.
• Carrie Seivers donated a poem by Paul Revere titled "Canton Dale" and a framed " 360 degree panoramic view" of Stoughton square.  I found an original copy of the notice announcing the Stoughton Historical Society’s 1895 dedication ceremony for the placement of the Stone marking one corner of the Ponkapoag Plantation and located an 1830  map for Dwight, which shows where the Sumner families lived on both sides of present day Sumner Street.
• We received several boxes of historical documents and photos from the estate of Charles Leonard, including photos of athletic teams, and various classes when he attended the Stoughton schools.  They were delivered to us by Ann Marie Leonard, his daughter-in-law.

I have recently discovered that in addition to our Congressional Desk(s) being in use during the Civil War it was still in use in 1872 when congress passed the following: On March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed The Act of Dedication the law that created Yellowstone National Park.

AN ACT OF DEDICATION,  AN ACT to set apart a certain tract of land lying near the headwaters of the Yellowstone River as a public park. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that the tract of land in the territories of Montana and Wyoming ... is hereby reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or sale under the laws of the United States, and dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people; and all people; and all persons who shall locate, or settle upon or occupy the same or any part thereof, except as hereinafter provided, shall be considered trespassers and removed there from ...    Approved March 1, 1872

Signed by: James G. Blaine, Speaker of the House. Schuyler Colfax, Vice-President of the United States & President of the Senate.

–Richard Fitzpatrick

Curator’s Report

We brought the old voting machine upstairs and Richard Fitzpatrick finally got it in working order.

Acquisitions:

A yard stick bearing the logo of O’Connors Woodshed, formerly at a location on Sumner St.; two paint stirrers with a logo from Bard’s Hardware on Freeman St, from Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Lyons

–Brian Daley

Clothing Curator’s Report

I have spent my time at the Society reviewing the items that have been posted on the computer.  Many were filed under titles not appropriate for the Period Clothing Collection and so I have made those changes.  I have not been able to go through all of the files yet, but I shall continue each week until I have completed updating those items for which I am responsible.  I have also been working with Linda Woodward and Ruth Fitzpatrick on the Tuesday morning’s children's program. The children have been delightful and very enthusiastic for what had been planned.

-Janet Clough

Membership

New Members:  Nancy Robichaud, Rosemary Gagnon, Daniel Mofford