The View from Church Green

Transcription

1 VOL. XXVIIII No. 1 FALL 2014 The View from Church Green NEWSLETTER of the OLD COLONY HISTORICAL SOCIETY 66 CHURCH GREEN, TAUNTON, MA Tel In thi Iue... A Year of Anniverarie...page 1 FIRSTS: Firt Familie... page 2 From the Proprietor... page 3 Traffic Ticket... page 4 A Seven-Day Stay at Camp Myle Standih... page 5 In The New... page 7 Clue in the Collection... page 8 Meet The Volunteer... page 12 Wih Lit... page 12 Board of Director Preident Cynthia Booth Ricciardi, Ph.D. Vice Preident Suanne Cota Duquette William F. Hanna Maryan L. Nowak Treaurer Charle A. Thayer, M.D. Aitant Treaurer Jordan H.F. Fiore, Eq. Secretary The Hon. Charle E. Crowley Paul Allion Eileen Crochiere Norman R. Dunphe Ethel Fraga Atty. Colleen C. Karner Peter G. Mozzone Kathleen M. Mulhern Richard L. Shafer Deborah Lane Whalon A Year of Anniverarie T he year 2014 i one which mark many hitoric anniverarie. Some are omber and hold global importance the 100 th Anniverary of the tart of the Firt World War, the 70 th anniverary of the D-Day Invaion of Normandy, and, more recently, the 25 th anniverary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Throughout the year there have been other anniverarie of a more entertaining nature 50 year ince The Beatle firt arrived in New York, 25 year ince the debut of Apple Macintoh computer, and it been TEN YEARS ince the Red Sox won the World Serie and broke the Cure of the Bambino. For thoe of u in the buine of local hitory, we take particular note of the major Taunton miletone of Thi year mark 150 year ince being named a city in 1864 and it ha been 375 year ince Taunton wa firt incorporated a a town in Thee event were celebrated thi pat October with a 375 th Anniverary Parade a part of our annual Art and Hitory Fetival during Liberty and Union Weekend. With thi newletter, we offer inight into Taunton earliet day and article on ome of the people, place, and event that make thi city one to celebrate each and every year. We hope you enjoy and alway welcome your feedback. To tay connected with the latet event and activitie we have planned you can: Call u at Viit u at 66 Church Green, Taunton, MA Connect online at Like u on Facebook Staff Katie MacDonald Director & Ruby Winlow Linn Curator Elizabeth M. Bernier Aitant to the Director Andrew D. Boivert Archivit & Library Manager Michael Curran Caretaker

2 Firt Familie: The Founding of Richmondtown by Jim Richmond Straddling the border between Taunton and Middleboro, a family ettled in the late 17th Century, and over the generation grew into an extended family enclave. The family wa the Richmond. Their enclave became known a Richmondtown. Thi article explore the Taunton origin of Richmondtown, born in a property dipute all too common during the early year of ettlement. In 1698 John Richmond, urveyor, town councilman, purchaer of Indian land, repected citizen of Taunton, wa angry. In the concluion of a long letter to the authoritie he could not reit taking a hot at Bridgewater men. I hall hint but nothing more to your honor but end by noting in a book et out by Mr. Cotton Mather concerning the life of Mr. John Elliot, page 130, that the people of New England do not own o much a one foot of land in the country without a fair purchae and conent from the native that laid claim unto it, from whence I conclude good Mr. Mather knew not of Bridgewater men acting about Stoney Ware land, or ele he would have exempted Bridgewater men in aid book. 1 Stoney Ware wa the location of the Calve Pature granted to Henry Andrew in 1646 and located in the northeat region of Taunton. Thi letter wa the final hot in a long running battle concerning ownerhip of land eat of the Taunton River in the area along the border between Bridgewater, Taunton and Middleboro. John point in citing Cotton Mather letter wa that unlike Taunton the Bridgewater men in thi dipute never purchaed the land from the Indian, negating their claim to thi tract. In contrat, John had noted that Taunton ha purchaed thi land everal time, beginning with Elizabeth Poole in the firt day of the ettlement. 2 But any Englih claim of ownerhip need to be examined a little cloer. In 1698 the dipute wa between the Proprietor of Taunton and four men of Bridgewater but the local Indian tribe alo had an interet in thi land. The area known a Titicutt wedged in between Bridgewater, Taunton, and Middleboro had alway been known a Indian land. In 1664 Joia Chickatabut on of the achem of the ame name, tranferred thi land to Owea (Englih Name Thoma Hunter) and Popennohoe (Peter) exprely forbidding them from elling or any manner of making over or conveighing the aid land or any part or parcel thereof unto the Englih forever. 3 With thi aignment, the Titicutt Reervation 11 Ma Archive Collection: Vol. 113, p Ibid, Vol. 113, p Indian Deed, Jeremy Bang, NEHGS, 2002, Deed #146, p Ibid, Deed #321, p Ibid, Deed #381, p Record of the Colony of New Plymouth, Court Order, Vol. III , p. 193 Nathaniel Shurtleff, Ed., Boton Plymouth County Record, Vol. IV, p PCR v 4, p Hitory of Bridgewater, Nahum Mitchell, Boton, 1840, p came into being a protected Indian land, often alluded to in ubequent Plymouth Court order. Of coure thi did not prevent Peter from elling off part of thi property to Contant Southworth and John Thompon on behalf of Middleboro proprietor in 1675, on the eve of King Phillip War. 4 Hunter later diputed thi ale, and the Plymouth court returned the land to him in 1678, which he later conveyed to hi on in hi will. 5 So it i not at all clear that thi wa ever rightfully old to or owned by the Englih. In a ene then, the dipute among the colonit between Taunton and Bridgewater, beg the quetion if either group had a right to thi land. The Plymouth Court may have undertood the weak bai for thi dipute among the Englih, ince they were very heitant to intrude on the Indian land at Titticut. A early a 1660, in one of the Court order held up by the Bridgewater men in their claim to the land at Stoney Ware, the court made thi point: A parcel of land, lying betwixt Tetticutt and Taunton, i to be reviewed by Contant Southworth and William Paybody, and if it hall not bee found within the bound of Taunton, nor too near Tetticutt, that then William Brett, John Willi, Thoma Hayward, Sr, and Arthur Harri have a competency granted and confirmed unto them, if it bee there to bee found; if not they have liberty to look out for further upply with what conveniency they can. 6 In thi court order, the eed of the dipute were own. Similar to many uch order, the Court hedged it bet, being careful to place qualifier on it land grant. In fact, John Richmond argued that thi wa not even a grant, but imply an action to locate land that may be granted later. Hi point i upported by the Court itelf which five year later actually granted thi land to thee four men and two other Richard William and John Carey 60 acre each, with the ame contraint a before. 7 In 1668 thi land wa laid out by William Bradford and Contant Southworth, each lot decribed in detail, running from South Brook near the land of Henry Andrew, northeatward acro Trout Brook to the Teticutt path. 8 Thee Bridgewater men were not jut a random group of colonit thrown together to ecure land. All were originally ettler of Duxbury where they were counted among thoe fit for duty in 1643, and all become proprietor of Bridgewater when that plantation wa firt etablihed in Hayward, Willi and Brett are mentioned in the Plymouth Colony record are early a 1640, when they were granted land along the PAGE 2

3 Namacuet River in the area later to be included in the town of Middleboro. 10 Thee three erved a the earliet repreentative to the general court at Plymouth and both Willi and Brett erved a deacon under the leaderhip of long time miniter Jame Keith. 11 A i often the cae, thee interrelationhip were olidified through family tie. Son of Thoma Hayward, Nathaniel and Thoma, married daughter of both Willi and Brett, jut a daughter Suannah had married John Richmond. John, himelf a well regarded leader in Taunton, wa not afraid to mix it up with hi counterpart acro the Great River, even if they were relative. Why wa John Richmond o upet by thi dipute? For him it wa both profeional and peronal. John knew the nook and crannie of Taunton better than anyone. The on of one of the original Forty-Six Purchaer of Taunton, he had erved a the town urveyor in etting out numerou boundarie within the town and with neighboring communitie. Alo, he led the effort to document the land claim and right of the original proprietor and their decendent. In 1669 he wa commiioned, along with ix other, to unravel thee ownerhip right, thereby reolving the ongoing dipute over land ownerhip among the reident of Taunton. In addition, he wa often aked to equitably divide inheritance among urvivor when will were either unclear or non-exitent. Hi civic reponibilitie and expertie alone could account for hi interet-hi defene of Taunton land come toward the end of a lifetime of ervice to hi community. But for John it wa much more than that. It had become peronal four year before when Joeph Hayward went to court to claim land given to him by hi grandfather, Thoma Hayward, in hi 1678 will. Complicating thi matter wa another peronal connection. Thoma Hayward wa the father-in-law of John through hi firt wife Suannah, making Joeph John nephew by marriage! The will wa clear enough: I give unto my grandon Joeph Hayward ixty acre of land lying upon Tetticutt River below the ware, given to me by the court, lying between the land of William Brett and Arthur Harri. 12 Thi i certainly the 60 acre uppoedly granted by the court back in Bang #22, p Mitchell, p. 35, Extract of Will of Thoma Hayward, Suffolk Court File 3185, Ma Archive 13 Suffolk Court File, 2790, alo quoted in RFR, p Suffolk Court File 3073, alo quoted in RFR, p Britol County Land Record, 2: Suffolk Court File, 3185 But there wa a problem. The land wa already occupied. In 1692, Edward, John firt born on of hi econd wife Abigail Roger, married, and John gave him: for good will and affection that parcel of land, both upland and meadow in Taunton containing ixty acre with a parcel of meadow containing 3 acre lying at a place called Stoney Ware, bounded on the wet by Taunton Great River on the eat by the common, on the north by Trout River, on the outh by the land of Johua Tidale. 13 John clearly believed that thi land belonged to Taunton, who had granted it to him in one of everal land ditribution to the proprietor and their decendent over the year. In 1683, year after the grant to the Bridgewater men, the town of Taunton had granted to John Richmond twenty acre of land on both ide of the brook called Trout Brook on or near the north ide of the town bound. 14 But for Joeph Hayward it wa peronal alo he believed thi land wa rightfully given to him by hi grandfather, and he preed the iue. After filing the complaint he and a friend confronted Edward on hi land and told him that he had built hi houe on land he had inherited. Thi particularly incened father John, who four year later wa till teaming about it, aying that Joeph ha forced into the houe a if he [Edward} had been a criminal and wore till, did it jut when hi wife wa delivered. In repone to Hayward complaint, Edward wa ordered to appear in Superior Court in March, 1694 which decided the cae in favor of Hayward and fined Edward 20 hilling. However, for reaon not clear today, the ame court revered their ruling in July, admitting that the original judgment wa erroneou and contrary to law. A part of the ettlement, Joeph Hayward old 30 acre of thi land to John for 8 pound. 15 So at the end of the day, the Richmond acquired thi land which would become one of the core propertie of Richmondtown. 16 No one eemed to worry that the Englih ownerhip of the land may have been illegitimate. One mall piece of the puzzle wa in place. Another piece wa acro the county line in Middleboro, and again there wa a family connection. Firt: From the Proprietor by Jonathan Green On Augut 3, 1640, the Plymouth Colony Court granted Richard Paul a licene to keep a victualing houe in Cohannet. 1 Thi wa Taunton firt ordinary. In England a well a the North American colonie, ordinarie erved a a place of common entertainment for townpeople and traveler alike. Ordinarie provided victual, liquor, and a venue for colonit to ocialize, exchange new, and even conduct buine. Becaue of their ocial and economic ignificance, local magitrate controlled the etablihment and operation of ordinarie. Plymouth Colony Record from 1638 contain one of the earliet law relating to ordinarie. Thi law order, That none hall dyett in Inn or Alehoue nor haunt them w ch are in the Towne they live in nor make them the ordinary place of their aboade. 2 Another law made ordinarie the ole... continued on page four 1 Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, ed., Record of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, Court Order, Vol. I, (Boton: The Pre of William White, 1855), David Pulifer, ed., Record of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, Law (Boton: The Pre of William White, 1861), 30 PAGE 3

4 Firt [ continued from page 3 ] retailer of liquor, and required that all ordinary keeper, or victualler, acquire a licene for the ale of liquor. In 1646, the Court at Plymouth paed a law tating That none do keepe victualling or an ordinary or draw wyne by Retayle w th in thi Govment but uch a are allowed by the genall Court. 3 What punihment wa meted out for diobeying thi law? The Court at Plymouth fined lawbreaker five hilling for providing victual without expre approval of the government. Politically, ocially, and even economically, ordinarie operated at the center of Puritan life in Cohannet. 3 Ibid, 50 [ pictured at left ] Alcohol played a ignificant role in the daily live of colonit. Lack of clean drinking water and a belief in the medicinal benefit of alcohol made teady drinker out of everyone, even children. Thi document from 1713 i a licene awarded to Joeph Tidale o that he may legally ell all ort of trong drink. Firt: Traffic Ticket by William F. Hanna When George J. Donahue left hi Brockton home on the afternoon of Sunday, April 30, 1905, little did he think that he wa about to ride into Taunton hitory. On that day the thirty-year old automobile aleman had invited everal friend to join him for an excurion along the bank of the Taunton River in one of the latet touring car being offered for ale at hi dealerhip. A good time wa guaranteed for all. In thoe day, before the contruction of Route 24, the preferred coure of travel would have been outh on Route 138, through Eaton, Raynham, Taunton and into Dighton and then Someret. With automobile till a rarity at that time, the only competition for the roadway would have come from hore, bicycle and pedetrian, and a large touring car would certainly take precedence and attract a good deal of attention. The latter, regrettably, would prove to be Donahue undoing. That Sunday afternoon in the early pring brought ideal weather for outide activity, and o large crowd warmed throughout downtown Taunton. A Donahue and friend made their way outh from Brockton, local reident looking to pa a quiet Sunday gathered on treet corner and inide ice cream parlor in eager anticipation of the coming ummer. Although the pace of life would oon change forever, thi wa till a quieter, more genteel era. In 1903, City Square which i what Taunton Green wa called in thoe day wa till placed firmly in the nineteenth century, and that included the haphazard, leiurely pace of travel. The city wa till more than a decade away from intituting the now-familiar rotary traffic pattern around the Common, o driver could teer their vehicle in any direction that pleaed them (or their hore). When the Donahue touring car reached the corner of Broadway and the Taunton Green, it ailed directly outh, toward Weir Street. Perhap the occupant noticed the Common a it whizzed by on the right hand ide of the Thi photograph of an automobile outing, taken in 1905, date to the time when the firt traffic ticket wa iued in Taunton. automobile, but if they did ee it, it wa a fleeting glance becaue they were moving very quickly. Citation for peeding were not uncommon in thoe day, but they had alway been iued for over driving hore. Thi wa neceary becaue not only were peeding hore dangerou to pedetrian, they were alo a danger to themelve. Cruelty to animal wa not tolerated, and o driver who puhed the hore too far were hauled into court and fined. While the law covered hore, there wa no precedent in Taunton for proecuting peeding automobile driver. That changed, however, when Officer George E. Cawell, on duty in Central Square, pied Donahue and hi crew peeding toward the corner of Weir Street. In a flah the lawman wa in the road waving over the urpried driver, and after a tern peech on the need for afety he iued a ummon ordering Donahue to appear in ditrict court three day later. There, after pleading guilty and apologizing, Donahue like a common hore botherer wa fined $10 and ent on hi way. Although he i lot to hitory from that point onward he doe go down a the firt peron in the city ever to be cited for driving an automobile too fat. PAGE 4

5 A Seven-Day Stay at Camp Myle Standih Earlier thi year, a part of the Society veteran oral hitory project, Mr. Clyde Solmon, of Someret, Maachuett, remembered hi ervice a a ergeant in the 89 th Infantry Diviion during World War II. Among hi experience wa a even-day tay at Camp Myle Standih, in Taunton. The following i taken from hi interview. It eemed to Sergeant Clyde Solmon that he had been itting on the cold, hard ground for hour. A member of Headquarter Company, 355 th Regiment, 89 th Infantry Diviion, Solmon and approximately 15,000 comrade were waiting to board train that would take them from Camp Butner, North Carolina to an a yet unknown military port of embarkation. From there they would et ail to fight in either Europe or the Pacific. Butner, located in north central North Carolina about thirty mile from Raleigh, eemed like the middle of nowhere to the oldier, and it location gave them no hint of whether they would ee battle againt the German or the Japanee. In thi lat week of 1944, a the GI prepared to leave the State, both of the remaining Axi power had plenty of fight left in them. Sergeant Solmon wa a native of Maachuett, born in the town of Salibury, near the New Hamphire border. At age twenty-even he wa one of the oldet men in hi company, and o to the younger oldier he wa known a Pop, or imply the Old Man. Although he had enlited only four month after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Solmon had remained tateide for the firt two and a half year of war. A part of the preparation for D-Day and the race to the Rhine River, however, many oldier who had previouly been held out of combat were needed quickly to fill the rank of infantry diviion in the European Theater of Operation. Likewie, with the Allied advance toward the Japanee iland in full wing, infantry ground pounder were alway in great demand in the Pacific. Thu Sergeant Solmon and the other member of the 89 th Diviion were et to depart Camp Butner. It took everal hour for the diviion men and equipment to be loaded onto the waiting train. At one point Solmon approached a nearby officer and aked where the men of the 89 th would be headed. I can t tell you, he replied, but you re going north. That bit of information made him believe that he would oon be headed for Europe, and ure enough, once underway the long train that carried the diviion made their way lowly into Virginia and toward the Atlantic coat. Seventy year later, Sergeant Solomon recalled that on about the econd day of the journey he began to recognize a few familiar landmark and then, he aid, he realized that they were headed for New England. The only hipping bae I knew wa Camp Myle Standih in Taunton, Maachuett... I wa betting on Myle Standih, for I knew the area like the back of my hand, he aid. Indeed he hould have, becaue hi wife wa living in Tiverton, Rhode Iland, an eay ride from Taunton. Almot 700 mile after leaving Camp Butner, the ergeant hope were realized when the train were witched onto the pur leading into Standih. The weather during that firt week in January 1945 wa cold and windy, and there were ix inche of now on the ground. Solmon immediately made plan to ecure a pa and find a ride to Tiverton, which wa only about eighteen mile from the camp. It unlikely that the men of the 89 th Diviion even Bay Stater uch a Sergeant Solmon knew much about Camp Myle Standih when they arrived. Opened in October 1942, it wa the main taging area for the Boton Port of Embarkation. One of ten embarkation facilitie nationwide and one of ix on the Atlantic eaboard, the BPOE would rank third by war end in the amount of men and materiel hipped to upport the war againt the Axi. Only the port of New York and San Francico would urpa it. A the Boton port principal taging area, it wa the reponibility of Standih to prepare GI for immediate hipment to Europe. A prawling camp of 1,620 acre, the facility had a tation complement of 2,500 military peronnel, including nure, and approximately 750 civilian worker. Sergeant Solmon and the 89 th Diviion would tay at the camp for even day, lightly longer than the four or five-day average. Mot likely the added time wa needed in order to arrange for enough hip to tranport an entire infantry diviion acro the Atlantic in mid-winter. A part of the taging proce, the diviion men and equipment were given one lat check before heading overea. Soldier were given dental and medical exam, including inoculation, and there wa ome lat minute training a well. Among the latter wa the abandon hip drill that wa conducted on nearby Waton Pond, where intructor in life jacket crawled over the ide of a mock tranport hip that had uppoedly been torpedoed in the North Atlantic. Many GI, including Solmon, had vivid memorie of that in later year. While it oldier were going through their final preparation, the diviion equipment everything from ide arm to jeep to office upplie wa checked for effectivene and if found wanting wa repaired or replaced. Four large maintenance hop worked around the clock to enure that all wa in readine when the... continued on page ix PAGE 5

6 A Seven-Day Stay at Camp Myle Standih [ continued from page 5 ] order came down through the chain of command to move out. Soldier being oldier, a robut ocial life wa the order of the day (and night) when off-bae pae were iued. Many GI caught bue or train to Boton while the le fortunate ettled for the nightlife of Providence or even Taunton. Not among them, however, wa Sergeant Solmon, who in even day managed to ecure two overnight pae back to hi young wife in Tiverton, Rhode Iland. There, for a few hour, the loneline and anxiety of eparation could be forgotten. What could not be forgotten, however, wa the ironclad regulation that required pa holder to be back at Standih in time for roll call at 7 A.M. Thi proved problematic at the end of Solmon econd viit to Tiverton, for when he aroe before dawn he wa greeted by what he remember a a roaring nowtorm. The blowing, drifting now forced the cancelation of all public tranportation and there were few vehicle of any type on the road. After bidding a final good-bye to hi wife, Sergeant Solmon et out at 5 A.M. intending to hitchhike back to Standih in time for roll call. A friendly driver picked him up almot immediately and gave him a ride into downtown Fall River, which wa practically deerted becaue of the bad weather. Keeping a cloe eye on hi watch, Solmon entered a diner to ee if there wa ome way to continue hi journey. Finally realizing that he could never make it back to Standih on time, the young oldier ordered coffee and began telling the diner owner about the punihment for being counted A.W.O.L. Jut then, a man entered and proclaimed that thi wa no day to be driving a taxicab. The diner man uggeted that Solmon approach the newcomer and explain hi problem. The cab driver, upon finihing hi breakfat, told the young oldier that he d help him get back to the pot and then, after picking up two more deperate GI, they made the low, dangerou trip back to Taunton. Seventy year later Solmon remembered that the cab driver refued to accept payment for the ride o the oldier gratefully threw tip money into the car open window before running off. Meanwhile, inide the camp, Solmon captain had the good ene to extend the curfew for everal hour o that returning oldier would receive no punihment for their late arrival. The 89 th Infantry Diviion left Camp Myle Standih on January 10, For reaon of ecurity, the curtain on the railway car were drawn throughout the thirty-fivemile trip to Boton. Sergeant Solmon remembered that upon arriving at the BPOE, the train pulled into a long warehoue that wa adjacent to a docking pier. We left the train and lined up by companie and tood there waiting, he recalled. Outide, he could ee a large, dark gray hip tied up to the dock. A line formed at the gang plank, he remembered, and all too oon our company joined the line. Then it wa my turn to give the officer [my] name, rank, erial number and company, and [then] tart that long walk up the gang plank. A he boarded the hip, Solmon, never one to pa up a laugh, aked the captain if he wa holding a round trip ticket. If the officer found that funny, he diguied it well and barked at the ergeant to move along quickly. Solmon troop hip, one of everal carrying 89 th Diviion peronnel, left Boton at 11 P.M., and the men were allowed to go on deck to ee the departure. Standing at the rail in the darkne with a light now falling, Solmon realized that he wa haking. I don t know if it wa the cold or the event taking place that caued me to hake, he remembered, poibly a little of both. With the war in Europe raging, it wa a obering epiode for all thoe preent a the hip made it way out of the harbor and out toward the convoy waiting off the coat. The ergeant remembered that With the now falling, it didn t take too long before the hore diappeared and they announced all peronnel pleae leave the top deck. A I went below I wondered if I would ee thee hore again. And with that, the 89 th Diviion paed beyond the juridiction of the Boton Port of Embarkation. Sergeant Solmon and the men of hi diviion landed at the port of Le Havre, France on January 21, 1945, and after a period of training were ent eat to enter combat near Echternach, Luxembourg on March eleventh. From there they moved quickly, croing the Moelle River on the eventeenth of that month. They croed the Rhine River under withering enemy fire on March 26 and hortly thereafter took the city of Eienach, Germany. Two week later the diviion liberated Ohrdruf, a ub-camp of Buchenwald, and the firt Nazi concentration camp freed by American force. They finihed the war in the vicinity of the Zwickau, Germany, near the Czech border and returned to the U.S. when the war ended. Mr. Solmon, who wa 97-year-old when he viited the Society in June 2014, remain an avid tudent of World War II. Both hi memory and hi wit are a harp a ever, and he delight in recounting hi wartime ervice. The old oldier wa generou not only with hi time but alo with the written record of hi experience that he ha compiled in the year ince the war. Member, taff and friend of the Society are addened by the paing of Charle E. Crowley, who died on Thurday, November 20, Charlie joined the OCHS in 1976 and wa elected to the Board of Director in In recent year, he wa a member of the Executive Committee and erved a Secretary of the Society. A lifelong tudent of Taunton hitory, Charlie took pecial interet in the city photographic hitory. Among the everal book he authored or co-authored wa a picture potcard hitory of Taunton that wa publihed by the Society in Over the year Charlie generouly hared both hi photograph and hi love of hitory with Society member, and hi lo i keenly felt. PAGE 6 We Remember Our Friend, Our Colleague...

7 IN THE NEWS... Lauren Bacall in Taunton by William F. Hanna The recent death of film tar Lauren Bacall bring to mind an incident that he had urely forgotten but wa long remembered by ome area reident. On October 26, 1952 the country wa in the final day of a preidential campaign pitting former general Dwight D. Eienhower, a Republican, againt the Democratic governor of Illinoi, Adlai Stevenon. Eienhower, on hi way to winning thirtynine of the forty-eight tate, had a commanding lead over hi opponent. Neverthele, Stevenon continued with hi campaign, which included a whitle top tour of New England in the final day of the contet. One of the lat top on the campaign trail found Stevenon and hi entourage in Taunton and, becaue it wa a Sunday, the candidate had announced that he did not wih to make a political peech. While he certainly wanted to meet local party leader and be een by the voter, the Democratic nominee hoped to forgo the uual campaign rhetoric on that day. Coincidentally, Stevenon viit wa cheduled for the very afternoon that the new Myle Standih State School one day to be renamed in honor of Maachuett governor Paul A. Dever wa to be dedicated. Stevenon wa invited to be preent for the purpoe of delivering a few general remark. Jut ix day earlier one of the larget crowd in Taunton hitory had mobbed the Green hoping to get a glimpe of Eienhower a he made a brief peech on the Common. Converely, Stevenon appearance in North Taunton the following Sunday attracted only about 5,000 people. Neverthele, Taunton wa a traditional Democratic Party tronghold, and it likely that the number would have been much higher had the local only known who would be accompanying the candidate. Stevenon and the local politician mounting the peaking platform that Sunday afternoon didn t have a chance once the crowd caught ight of Hollywood upertar Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall and Robert Ryan itting ontage and in the front row. Moreover, depite the fact that Ryan had been a long time creen favorite, it wa Bogie and Bacall who riveted the crowd attention. At age 52, Bogart wa till enjoying the ucce of The African Queen, for which he had won an Academy Award the year before. Bacall, twenty-five year Bogart junior and hi fourth wife, had given birth to the econd of the couple two children only three month earlier. At age 27, and with a tring of hit movie behind her, Bacall repreented the eence of elfaured glamour to her legion of fan. A bit of Hollywood goip had trickled into the campaign becaue Bogart had come to the Stevenon camp rather late, and in fact the actor had worked hard to ecure the Republican nomination for Eienhower. It wa widely conjectured that Bacall, a fierce liberal who had been warned by an influential movie producer to tay out of politic, had convinced her huband to witch hi political allegiance to Stevenon. That and only that had caued the Hollywood tough guy to abandon Ike, or o it wa believed within the entertainment community. A number of local politician in addition to Stevenon made brief peeche that afternoon, and a oon a the fetivitie adjourned thouand in the crowd tried to get a cloer look at Bogart and Bacall. One of the more ucceful wa a reporter for the Taunton Daily Gazette, who wa granted a brief interview with the tar a they igned autograph for thoe lucky enough to get within arm reach. Bogart denied that he had come to Stevenon camp reluctantly, and when he wa aked about a poible role in her huband witch, Bacall gave the legendary tough guy hi due. Nobody way Bogie, he aid, He make up hi own mind. We wanted Ike to get the nomination, he explained, but we have ince dicovered that he doen t tand for the thing that we were led to believe that he did tand for. She didn t elaborate on what thoe thing were. Bacall had certainly pent more time and traveled more mile on the campaign trail, and when he wa aked about her dive into politic, he aid, I love it o much, and am intrigued o much by it, that I might run for public office myelf omeday. After that, and perhap with the newpaper female ubcriber in mind, the reporter found it neceary to decribe what he wa wearing (black dre and hoe), including her jewelry (gold, of coure). The actre wa, he promied hi reader, the very picture of poie and quiet elf-aurance. Bacall never ran for public office, but he remained at the top of her profeion for the ret of her life. Her marriage to Bogart lated jut a little over five year, until he died of throat cancer in January Stevenon lot to Eienhower in a landlide, but not in Taunton, where the Democrat carried the city by a few hundred vote. And thoe crap of paper upon which the actor crawled their autograph on that afternoon more than ixty year ago. How many urvive? and what wonderful artifact from a great actre and a bygone campaign. Democratic preidential candidate Adlai Stevenon and hi famou Hollywood upporter were in Taunton for the dedication of the Myle Standih State School only a few day after Republican candidate Dwight D. Eienhower [pictured at left] poke on Taunton Green in October PAGE 7

8 CLUES IN THE COLLECTION: Redicovering the Legacy of N.H. Skinner & Company, Taunton Firt and Longet Operating Department Store by Renee Walker-Tuttle OVERVIEW Since joining the Old Colony Hitorical Society a a Collection Management intern in May my focu ha been on working to recatalogue, record, and rehoue the wonderful collection of hitoric clothing and textile owned by the mueum. When item are acquired into a mueum collection it i critical to record a much information a poible about the object, and it pat life, for future reearch and tudy. Thi i known a the object provenance, and in a mueum a old a the OCHS, the hitory of recording provenance i often poradic. Working a a Collection Management intern, it ha been my role to erve a a detective of ort and fill in miing piece of information about the object that I can dicover. While reearching ome of the fahion item in the collection the name N.H. Skinner or Skinner wa often lited in the object provenance. Baed on the label in ome of the garment I gathered that N.H. Skinner & Co. wa a department tore, but I wanted to know more. Who wa Skinner? What i the hitory of hi tore? Anwering thee quetion add o much to the torie of many of the garment in the mueum and begin to lay the foundation for new reearch and exhibit to hare with the public. In the 21 t century the big box corporate-owned department tore are often the go-to place for luxury purchae a well a everyday item. Giant department tore can be built and opened in a matter of month. Local department tore like Skinner have difficulty competing with thee retailer and therefore few remain. A a non Taunton native my invetigation of Skinner ha been an eye opening experience. While even corporateowned department tore can rie and fall within a decade, Skinner held trong in Taunton for nearly 100 year. My exploration not only helped me identify an object but gave me a deeper undertanding of the impact and ocial ignificance of Skinner within the community. My hope i not only to preerve the phyical object but alo the hitory of a cultural icon that living reident remember a a ymbol of Taunton. Place of the pat will not be remembered if there i no one left to tell the tory. A a detective of ort I am ure the multitude of wonderful object within the collection of the Old Colony Hitorical Society will oon yield my next cae. You can be ure I will keep you updated in future article a the myterie unfold. NATHAN HACK SKINNER Houed in the archive collection of the OCHS i a mall, nondecript letter. Dated July 6, 1866, the letter i addreed to a Mr. Joeph Crawford of Willimantic, CT. With only the repone to read, it appear that the [ pictured above ] Envelope and letter to Joeph Crawford from NH Skinner dated February 6, 1866 author i replying to Mr. Crawford, who had written about employment in a Taunton department tore. The letter i igned by Nathan Skinner. In the letter Skinner inform Mr. Crawford that he received a letter of interet from him about a poition with hi company. Skinner inform Crawford he doe have a poition available in the tore but not knowing Crawford at all he doe not want to offer him the poition outright. He alo tree concern becaue Crawford experience wa limited to a mall country dry good tore. Skinner write, We have regular department and a regular ytem o you would probably have omething to learn. Depite hi heitation in the firt page of the letter by the lat paragraph Skinner inform Crawford a long a hi reference are olid he i willing to give him a chance. Vowing to do the bet I can by you or give you all I think you are worth. A mall remnant of the pat, nearly 150 year old, thi letter i from one of the bet-known and ucceful buinemen in Taunton hitory: Nathan Hack Skinner. What happed to Mr. Crawford a a reult of hi meeting with Nathan Skinner? Wa he hired? Dicovering Skinner reveal a tory of buine ucce, community engagement, and a legacy of loyalty that can erve a a model for u even today. The fourth of nine children Nathan Hack Skinner wa born in Troy, New York on November 1, While hi parent were both native of Maachuett, Nathan wa born during the family hort time in reidence in Troy. Skinner wa educated in the public chool ytem, and after working in a dry good tore for three year in Fall River he moved to Taunton in 1849 when he wa 21 year old. At the age of 26 Skinner married hi firt wife Lucy P. Brownell (d. Feb. 27, 1882) in The couple raied three children. Cora B. wa born April 1855 but died in infancy in July A on, Nathan L., wa born in 1866 but died while till a toddler Nathan and Lucy raied a third PAGE 8

9 child Addie W., who wa born around It i uncertain if Addie wa the couple biological or adopted daughter a no birth record have been found. Two year after Lucy death, on October 22, 1884, Skinner married Martha T. Rumey of Chicago. Hi daughter Addie lived till adulthood but information on her whereabout after her father death are unclear. Depite the fact that Addie wa till alive at the time of her father death he i not mentioned in hi obituary which imply tate: Mr. Skinner leave a widow and everal brother and iter and many relative in thi city and country (Taunton Daily Gazette May 14, 1897). Another ource mention after Skinner death, Martha T. Rumey, who with an adopted daughter i till living (Old Colony Hitorical Society 1899). The oldet public record found which lit Addie i the 1880 cenu, at which time when he wa 23 year old. In Taunton, Skinner began hi career working a a clerk for Jabez Round, owner of J.S. Round tore in A he began hi buine career in Taunton, Nathan Skinner alo embedded himelf in the fabric of the Taunton community. While there i little record of hi participation in the political arena he wa labeled a Progreive. He wa friendly with African American in the community and wa ympathetic to abolitionit caue during the Civil War. There i alo a record of hi financial contribution to enure the welfare of the oldier Nathan Hack Skinner in hi younger year in the field during thi time. A generou man, an article in the Taunton Daily Gazette from 1897 explain hi heart warmed toward all caue good and hi hand open, erving a evidence that he gave back to the community that provided for him. Skinner erved on the Board of Trutee for Britol Academy a well a an officer for the Firt Congregational Church of Taunton. According to hi obituary, Skinner wa a member and erved a director of The American Unitarian Aociation, erved a a Bank Director for the Taunton National Bank in 1882, and wa elected a life member of the Old Colony Hitorical Society in At ome date that ha ince been lot to hitory, tore owner Jabez Round made Skinner a partner in hi buine. After Round death, Skinner went on to purchae the entirety of the enterprie in either 1863 or Now the ole owner of the department tore, the name wa changed to N.H. Image of Jabez Round, original owner of J.S. Round, which would later become N.H. Skinner & Company. Round wa a mentor and later buine partner to Skinner. Main Street view of N.H. Skinner & Company in 1890 Skinner & Company. Located on the corner of Main and Cedar Street in downtown Taunton, MA, N.H Skinner & Company wa decribed a a department and dry good concern and included everal different department including Suit, Cloak, Wait, Skirt, Wrapper, Silk and Dree. N.H Skinner & Company or Skinner a it wa often referred to by thoe who hopped there, continued to grow to become a fixture in downtown Taunton and one of the bet-known landmark in the city. After year of growth and expanion, by 1908 the Someret Buine Directory how that N.H Skinner & Company old almot anything in the clothing, linen, and home good area. In the heart of downtown Taunton, N.H. Skinner & Company wa two tore, the one on the corner being one tory and the other, three torie, until 1905 when another tory wa added and an elevator intalled. The econd floor of the tore i ued for women apparel and houehold furnihing, explain an article celebrating the tore 93 rd anniverary, while the treet floor i made up of many different department, (Taunton Daily Gazette, October 8, 1937). Evidence that the tore catered largely toward female clientele can be detected from the item diplayed in the window of an 1890 photo. According to long-time reident and Taunton hitorian Ruth Howland, the tore he knew only a Skinner wa a mut-viit tore for the fahionable women of Taunton. N.H. Skinner & Company, Inc., had wall-to-wall thick green velvet carpet. The firt thing hop goer would ee wa the jewelry diplay, maintained by long-time jewelry buyer Marion Wilmarth. Howland create a decriptive map of the floor plan: A center aile down behind the jewelry counter-right ide lace and ribbon and the left ide of the ame cae wa underwear. To the left of the front door and turn a harp right were glove. The counter on the Cedar Street ide of the tore diplayed fabric for dre making including ilk and atin to the fragile velvet. While the counter on the Union Street ide houed dometic good uch a table and bedroom linen a well a a place where you had button covered. The ewing notion counter wa between the Cedar Street counter and middle counter.... continued on page ten PAGE 9

10 Clue in the Collection [ continued from page 9 ] If not for Howland documentation of the department tore, few detail of the tore interior would remain. Ruth Howland goe on to decribe a vivid account of pending much of her firt paycheck on ready-made fahion at N.H Skinner & Company: Money, not a few mierly pennie which I could exchange dreamed of loveline. No homemade clothe for me now. While item were not overly-priced, the purchae of good from Skinner could compromie the financial reource of a hopper on a budget. Skinner had a reputation for the quality of the good and product old. After being chatied by her mother for pending half of her paycheck on her perfectly tailored wool uite Howland recount the dre wore for year and wore it aritocratic price to it lat thread. Employee of N.H. Skinner were trained on ale trategie a well a uperior cutomer ervice. While department tore were a fairly new concept during the late 19 th and early 20 th centurie, the effort to gain and maintain ale through training exercie peak volume about the level of profeionalim Skinner & Company owner wanted to relay to the public. Floor walker, cah boy, and a tube ytem throughout the tore made payment eay and convenient. Some of the employee of N.H. Skinner are lited in the archive at the OCHS and include Jennie and Bertha Woodward, Bernice Guhee, and George Tew in bookkeeping. Henry McNally erved a Supervior of Tailored Suit. Other employee include Edwin Hill, Joeph Crawford, Cheter Lovell, and Maud Babbit. There i alo a record that in the ummer month, all employee had a horter workday on Friday, a N.H. Skinner cloed at noon (Gay 1999). CONCLUSION: LEGACY One of the mark of true ucce and longevity i a buine ability to continue on beyond the life of their leader. Nathan Hack Skinner died in Taunton on May 13, 1897, about a month after the formal incorporation of N.H. Skinner & Company. After Skinner death the company Vice Preident, Henry G. Brownell aumed control while Brownell on Loui E. and Brenton G. ran the buine, a Preident and Treaurer, repectively. The olid foundation and repect that he had developed in hi tore, allowed it to continue for another generation. Nathan Skinner peronable demeanor and the loyalty he earned from hi employee are jut a important a legacy a the intereting and beautiful good he old at hi tore that are now preerved at the Old Colony Hitorical Society. Thi mutual repect between bo and employee hine through in hi obituary which read, Mr. Skinner had a agaciou manner of urrounding himelf with bright young men of evident buine qualification and retaining them, if poible, in hi ervice. One of the bright young men who worked for Skinner wa Cyreniu Adelbert Newcomb ( ). Newcomb wa educated at the Bridgewater Normal School (now Bridgewater State Univerity) and joined N.H. Skinner a a clerk. Within nine year he had become a partner in the buine, and later moved to Detroit where he became N.H. Skinner & Company from 1890 [ pictured on left ]. While the back of the photo wa labeled around 1900 [ pictured on right ] the preence of a econd floor on the Cedar Street ide confirm the photo had to have been taken following the 1905 renovation. PAGE 10

11 Thi photograph (taken around 1888) of the clerk of N.H. Skinner & Company Inc. on the tep of the original Old Colony Hitorical Society wa taken after the death of Nathan Skinner. Henry G. Brownell, the ucceor to Skinner (labeled #16 in the picture, econd row, center right, itting on the tair.). Joeph Crawford can be found in the firt row, center left. the co-founder of Michigan firt department tore, Newcomb-Endicott Company. Newcomb reaoning for the ucce of Skinner i echoed in the obituary of the man who ran the buine: One of the chief requirement for a ucce that i to endure i reliability. Look around you and ee who the young men are that are making their way in the world. You will find that they are the one whoe word can be relied upon. What ucce I have achieved in a commercial way ha been due largely to my good fortune in being urrounded by men who were dependable. Another of thoe bright young men who worked for Skinner wa Mr. Joeph Crawford of Willimantic, CT, the recipient of the 1866 letter recently dicovered in the archive. Mr. Skinner hired Crawford and he became the ilk buyer for the department tore. According to the 1910 cenu, Joeph Crawford wa till employed with the company at the age of 65. Hi dedication to the company afforded him a izable home with at leat one live-in maid. He alo married Lydia Brownell, the niece of Skinner firt wife, Lucy. One major detail not mentioned in Nathan Skinner obituary i the number of women in the Taunton community for whom he provided employment opportunitie. The tore maintained an equal male/female employee ratio. Employee like Mary (Hall) MacKenie worked for N.H. Skinner & Company a a young woman. She left the company to raie her children. Depite a ten year abence from the company, he returned to work at the department tore after her huband death in order to upport her young children. According to Howland, writing in 1959, MacKenie thoroughly enjoyed working at Skinner and continued to work there till retirement. A 1937 article from the Taunton Gazette decribe the N.H. Skinner & Company 93 rd anniverary and a large ale to celebrate. Depite the happy occaion, the executive mut have already been aware of the trouble brewing behind the cene. N.H. Skinner & Company had enjoyed the growth and tyle of the early 20 th century and urvived the Great Depreion. The introduction of ready-made fahion in American department tore reulted in ky rocketing ucce. N.H. Skinner wa a perfect illutration of thi. Depite the uccee of mall department tore during the firt quarter of the 20 th century, the economic downturn caued by the Great Depreion wa a ticking time bomb for many of thee buinee acro the country. By 1940, N.H. Skinner & Company i no longer lited in the Taunton buine directorie and the buine wa likely huttered oon after. Today, though no longer a detination of downtown Taunton, N.H. Skinner & Company continue to live on in the object of the mueum collection. The torie of the men and women who hopped at the tore built by Nathan H. Skinner, and the object that he old, how u jut what a lively and fahionable place Taunton came to be. While many town throughout New England relied motly on mall general tore for the purchae of good the fact that Taunton had not only a department tore but alo one of the mot ucceful in New England i evidence that Taunton wa a properou and progreive community. It i my hope that thi article tree the importance of preerving object from the hitory of Taunton. If the garment labeled N.H. Skinner & Company in the collection of the Old Colony Hitorical Society had not urvived, I would not be writing thi article about thi thriving buine and center of community engagement, where employer and employee who loved their job and their city came together to promote a legacy to be admired, promoted, and replicated in any community. SOURCES: Gay, Ted. Saturday Notebook: Skinner wa city lat true anchor. Taunton Daily Gazette. Saturday, September 25, 1999, p. A6 Howland, Ruth. N.H. Skinner Store Remembered For It Wonderful Clerk, Good. Taunton Daily Gazette. November 12, 1959 N.H. Skinner & Company 93 Year Old. Taunton Daily Gazette. October 8, Collection of the Old Colony Hitorical Society. Volume 2 No No. 6 Pub Necrology. p. 123 Hurd, Duane Hamilton. Hitory of Britol County Maachuett: With Biographical Sketche of Many of it Pioneer and Prominent Men. J.W. Lewi and Company, Britol County, MA. 1883, p. 875 Reident and buine directory of Someret, Dighton and Swanea, MA. Pg 4. Burton, Clarence Monroe, William Stocking and Gordon K. Miller Ed., The City of Detroit and Michigan Vol. 3. The S.J. Clark Publihing Company, Detroit-Chicago. p. 82 PAGE 11

12 Old Colony Hitorical Society 66 Church Green Taunton, MA ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID TAUNTON, MA PERMIT NO. 101 Our miion at the Old Colony Hitorical Society i to collect, care for, and interpret the hitory of the Taunton region, collaborating with the comunity to hare meaningful connection between the pat, the preent, and the future THE VIEW FROM CHURCH GREEN i the newletter of the Old Colony Hitorical Society. Thi newletter may not be old or reproduced without the expre written permiion of the Old Colony Hitorical Society. We are alway looking to add to the holding in The Hurley Library and appreciate the many upporter who make thee addition poible. Current item on our Wih Lit include: Tack Factory Cemetery and the People Burried at the Border of Middleboro and Lakeville, Maachuett by Jean A. Douillette, $19.95 Gravetone Locator for Lakeville, Maachuett by Jean A. Douillette, $9.95 Thoma Roger, Volume 19, 2nd Edition (c19). A Mayflower Familie GSMD Publication, part of the Silver Book. Five generation through the birth of the ixth. Oirginally compiled by Alice Wetgate; revied by Ann T. Reeve in Thi 2nd edition revied in 2013 by Peggy M. Baker. $50 We are alo in need of: a new or gently-ued vacuum cleaner flower/plant for our outdoor container (and any gardener who would like to care for them in the pring!) mannequin or dre form for upcoming textile diplay Thank you for your generoity! MEET THE VOLUNTEERS... Renee Walker-Tuttle RENEE WALKER-TUTTLE, born and raied in Brockton, MA, tudied Anthropology and Fine Art at Franklin Pierce Univerity in Rindge, NH. She received an MS in Textile Conervation at Univerity of Rhode Iland Department of Textile Fahion Merchandiing and Deign. In February of 2012 he uccefully completed the two week intenive Southeatern Mueum Conference Jekyll Iland Mueum Management Intitute (JIMI). Prior to completing her Mater Degree Renee worked for the Colonial Williamburg Foundation a a Tailor creating hitoric cotume reproduction for interpretive taff. She later wa accepted into Colonial Williamburg Dewitt-Wallace Conervation Center Pre-graduate Program in Conervation. While in graduate chool he erved a both Collection Aitant and Textile Conervation Lab Manager for URI Textile and Fahion Collection. She erved a an intern for the New York State Battle Flag Project. Her experience with flag conervation led to a contract poition with the Smithonian National Mueum of American Hitory where he worked on the famou Star Spangled Banner Project. Renee i the current owner of Renaiance Textile Conervation ervice. In addition to working on individual contract he ha done conervation and conulting work for the International Tenni Hall of Fame & Mueum, Newport Retoration Foundation and the Old Colony Hitorical Society. Renee continue to create hitoric cotume reproduction and lecture for group throughout New England on women 18 th century dre. She joined the team of volunteer at the OCHS in April 2014 and i an invaluable member of our curatorial team.