Newspaper reporter, author, teacher, musician and the first woman ever elected to the Board of Selectmen in Southborough, she was a trailblazer in so many fields.
In 2011, she published, after many years of work, a book for the Society, Southborough Memories. In it, she used her considerable skills as a reporter to interview dozens of long-time Southborough residents, weaving together stories of a small farming town that seem almost unbelievable today. True to form, she wisely recognized that these memories were on the cusp of disappearance, and gathered them together to form an invaluable portrait of life in Southborough from the 1920s to the 1960s.
To celebrate her life, we’ve republished the book HERE for all to enjoy. We’ve also spoken with the Select Board, and they have kindly agreed to lower the flag at the Town House on Saturday, August 3rd, the day of Donna’s memorial service. We’ll also be donating a shade tree to be planted in Donna’s memory across the street from the library where a giant beech was lost during the road reconstruction.
I think our gentle, kind, Quaker friend would be pleased. She will be much missed.
The Historical Society is proud to announce its board members for the 2024 and 2025 term.
Michael Weishan, who will continue as president, will also assume the mantel of CEO of Southborough Historical Society, Inc, the business arm of the Society. Michael is the principal of Michael Weishan and Associates, a landscape architecture firm, as well as the founding executive director of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Foundation at Harvard.
Jon Delli Priscoli, who joins the board this year, is the owner of First Colony Development, with over 40 years of construction experience. Jon is also the owner of 84 Main Street, the Burnett House here in Southborough, which is just completing an 8-year multi-million dollar restoration.
Amy Rosenberg, who also is new to the board this year, is a retired Lecturer on Law and Senior Clinical Instructor at Harvard Law School Center for Health Law & Policy Innovation.
Matthew Young, MD, JD, MBA, an attorney at Ross Keller Casey, will continue his service to the SHS as treasurer.
Rebecca Deans-Rowe, board member emerita, will continue as our development coordinator.
We’d also like to thank outgoing secretary Dean Lamsa for his dedicated services over the last five years.
How to begin. Flooding, termites, decay, mold, dust, and totally rotted sills.
And YET!!
We are beyond all of these! Finally progress on stabilizing the structure!
We are heading home, and to that end, we would like to plan for an Annual Meeting of the Southborough Historical Society, potentially in June, and potentially at our new site!
We will want to make this invitation open to ALL Southborough residents, to show the town what we are up to, and encourage new members in our organization!
Stay tuned here over the next couple of weeks for an update
As 2022 fades to gentle whisper, I thought it a good time to give you a quick update on the Society’s progress. In short, our membership numbers continue to rise, our long-term plans remain sound, and our commitment unflagging!
How’s that for good news?
And—as you probably know if you have passed by the Fayville Village Hall lately—we have begun initial work to shore up the structure, and correct pressing water “issues” in the basement of our future home. It’s hard to believe from the photo above that this will shortly be our new classroom space, but it’s true. Once this urgent work has been accomplished, and after a return visit to the Planning Board to present some simplified site plans, we should be able to begin construction in earnest. We are still hoping for a phased opening in the fall of 2023, but that of course is to a large extent in the hands of the weather and supply chain gods!
There is no doubt that work on an historic building like this demands a real leap of faith. It requires trust in the craftsmanship of the past, as well as a real vision of, and a fiduciary investment in, our shared future. Since I came on board at the the Society after the disastrous 2015 flood, I have been reminded again and again of the commitment that you, our members—and of our fellow townsfolk in general—have shown to preserving our past and moving our joint endeavors forward. You have indeed been asked to leap, and you have. As the clock slips towards midnight and 2023 beckons, I want to thank you all again for your faithful and continuing support.
From myself and the entire SHS Board, good health and godspeed in 2023.
The Southborough Historical Society, Inc. is pleased to announce that it has reached a tentative agreement to acquire the former Fayville Village Hall for its new home.
The potential purchase was made possible through a combination of fundraising, sale of targeted assets, and the generosity of the current owner, Mr. Jon Delli Priscoli.
The exterior of the 1914 building will be restored to its previous Classical Revival glory. Inside, current plans include mixed gallery/commercial-event/concert space on the first floor, with offices and archival storage on the second. A fully finished basement will provide additional artifact storage, as well a small catering kitchen to service events. And, once renovations are complete, the Society will place a preservation restriction on the property—which currently has no demolition protection—to make sure this remarkable edifice remains standing for future generations to enjoy.
“This will be the beginning of a whole new era for us,” explained Michael Weishan, SHS President. “The town-owned Flagg School building has always been an awkward fit for the Society, and we have long since outgrown its capacities. Further, an architectural assessment report we commissioned in 2021 revealed that the Flagg building is in need of a quarter-million dollars in urgent repairs. Rather than put money into a building we don’t own, we began looking at other options last year, and Jon was kind enough to work with us to make this happen.
“The Fayville Village Hall, which is three times the size of our current building, will allow us to create an entirely new local and regional history teaching center for adults as well as our school children, and equally importantly, will provide income-generating opportunities that will guarantee the financial viability of the Society into future decades.
“We are also hugely pleased to demonstrate our dedication to preserving historic buildings outside of the Main Street Corridor, in acknowledgement that our town of Southborough was, and is, comprised of four distinct villages, all equally in need of preservation attention.”
If all goes to plan, work will begin this fall, with an expected grand opening in early 2023.
In another astounding defeat for historic preservation in Southborough, the Board of Selectmen, now dubbed the “Select Board” voted to renew the contract for Department of Public Works head Karen Galligan.
Readers will remember that this is the same Ms. Galligan who is under investigation by the State Inspector General’s office (along with town Administrator Mark Purple and former BOS chair Martin Francis Healey, who signed the proposal) after accepting funds from a 290K “Shared Streets” grant from the State for a “History Walk”—a plan they never intended to implement, as was later admitted. In the process, Galligan and the BOS came close to destroying, if not destroying, a potential burial site for Native American and early colonial settlers. The State investigation against Ms Galligan, Purple and Co. is seemingly ongoing, along with a stew pot of past allegations against Ms. Galligan, ranging from potential graft to gross mismanagement to spraying illegal pesticides on wetlands.
(You can watch a short video shown at Town Meeting on this HERE. BOS proposals for St. Mark’s site were rejected almost unanimously by the voters with numerous rate payers of all political stripes standing up to call out the BOS for their duplicity.)
Still, it seems from tonight’s performance, that the lessons about the dangers stemming from BOS arrogance were not fully absorbed, especially by Mr. Dennington.
Dozens of people were in fact waiting in the wings to speak against Galligan’s renewal when Dennington, who is a law partner at Conn Kavanaugh, decided to wield his litigation skills to silence his fellow citizens. In particular, one of our most active members, who had spent the better part of two days cataloguing complaints against Ms. Galligan, was completely shut down and no discussion occurred.
Dennington’s abrupt and uncalled for move to cut off debate was legal, but, to use a not so gentle yet accurate term—incredibly sleazy—especially when it violated the rights of so many waiting to weigh in on Galligan’s poor record and the damage she has done to the historic fabric of Southborough.
It’s obvious from Dennington’s demeanor he was very anxious to cut off any further discussion. And in one slice, he kneecapped democracy in Southborough.
So why would Mr. Dennington, along with three other board members, rush to approve the reemployment of a DPW director (with a raise) who is under active investigation by the State for solliciting a “History Walk Grant”, who has been proved to be incompetent on numerous occasions, and who is roundly reviled by a large number of citizens who petitioned to have her replaced? Is there something MORE to hide? Their action defies reason, unless there are other reasons…
There is obviously more to this story to come. Maybe what’s needed is a citizens’ petition to recall Karen Galligan. It would have no binding effect, but perhaps another public humiliation is what’s needed to get the BOS to act in our interests.
In the meantime, shame on you Andrew Dennington for using your legal skills against your fellow citizens, denying them a voice in their government. And woe to the historic fabric of Southborough under your tenure.
(Full disclosure: I ran against Andrew Dennington two years ago, and was one of several whistleblowers in the recent disclosures about the St. Mark’s Triangle.)
** This post has been edited from the original to further detail Galligan’s role in harming historical assets & and SHS response, in answer to a private letter sent to the SHS Board from Andrew Dennington claiming: ‘Frankly, I think that topic [Galligan] has only a tangential relationship to an actual historical preservation topic.”
It hasn’t been a good month for historical preservation in Southborough. Earlier this year, the Historical Commission was notified that the Fay School, which owns the 1840s home at 42 Main Street, wants to tear it down to build “an appropriately historical structure.” The school is claiming that the building is unsound even though it was continually inhabited until a few years back, when Fay purchased it for roughly 350K.
Personally, I and others will go picket at the Fay entrance if they try to tear down this historic gem. (I already have my placard picked out: Teach History! Don’t Destroy It!) This house was home to the town’s physician, Dr. Stone, for decades and has served a number of other important roles over the years. With its rambling structure and attached barn it is an amazing example of the Greek Revival farmhouse style, and occupies a crucial plot of land directly across from the Town House.
If the Fay school no longer wishes to preserve the property, it should simply put it back on the market, sell it for a healthy profit, and let some young couple rehabilitate the structure and make it a thriving home again.
Unfortunately, I will have to follow the demolition permit process from afar, as last week the Board of Selectman forced me to resign from the Southborough Historical Commission after 21 years of service. It’s a long sordid story which you can read here in MySouthborough, but essentially the BOS got tired of my harassing them about their abject mishandling of the St. Mark’s Triangle project, and invented an excuse to get rid of me. However, as you read the article, I think you will agree the matter is far from closed. As a final volley before I was forced off the decks, the Commission did send a letter to St. Mark’s School, essentially reminding them that as the owner of the St. Mark’s Triangle, it was their responsibility, or rather their duty, to ensure that there were no burials within the proposed construction sites before another spade of dirt is lifted—that is if we wish to continue to believe their claims of valuing diversity and Native American cultural heritage.
Finally, we received back the long awaited architects’ report on the Museum building funded through CPC monies. The story is bleak: the building requires 180K in essential repairs, mostly in long deferred maintenance.
To quote a favorite line from the Philadelphia Story, “this is one of those days that the pages of history teach us are best spent lying in bed.”
Would that the anti-preservation forces felt the same!
(On a personal note, I know all our hearts go out to the valiant, heroic, courageous people of Ukraine. Their horrific struggles set our first-world problems in true context, and we wish them godspeed in their valiant quest to save their homeland. Slava Ukraini!)
The occupants of the Old Burial Ground have seen their share of conflict and dissent, and it looks like a new round is about to open above them.
Over the last several weeks, the Southborough Historical Commission (which I head) has received a number of complaints about the flags flying in the old burial ground.
A little background: at some point in the 1990’s, a group of veterans decided it would be appropriate to commemorate those who had served the fledgling United States with a special memorial. Later in 2002, a large plaque was added marking the death of the three men who died during combat. And at some point after that (the timeline is very unclear) six revolutionary-era battle flags were placed in a semi-circle at the entrance to the Old Burial Ground.
And that’s pretty much how it stood until recently when a number of residents contacted the Commission objecting to the fact that one of the flags flying was the Gadsden Flag, which over the last decade has recently been co-opted by various White Supremacists groups (You can read more about that HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE. The trigger, I am guessing, was the very prominent and disgraceful role that the Gadsden flag played in the recent Capital Hill riots.
In response to these complaints the SHC decided to do a little investigating in preparation for a report to the Board of Selectmen, who have ultimate say in this matter.
The flags currently flying are these:
The Culpepper Minuteman flag from Virginia
The Gadston Flag from SC; with another a similar variant
The Bunker Hill Flag (with the tree)
The Moultrie flag, again from SC
The Bedford Flag
Of these, only two have anything vaguely to do with the veterans buried there, and the most relevant flag, the Continental Colors flag hoisted by George Washington in Cambridge 1775 , is not flying at all.
The other issue, and to my eyes, equally relevant, is that these six small flags are impaling the unmarked gravesites below. When this monument was conceived in the 1990s, a ground-radar survey hadn’t yet been conducted by the Society, which proved conclusively that this area is full of active burials, whose headstones were shattered or lost during the 1938 hurricane.
>So at this point, it seemed a prudent move to reconsider the whole matter, and the Historical Commission voted 6-0 last week to send the following letter to the Board of Selectmen:
Ladies and Gentlemen, As we have already alerted you, the Historical Commission has received complaints about the choice of flags flying the Old Burial Ground. Particularly egregious to many are the two variants of the Gadsden flag, which was designed by a slave owning South Carolinian and has become linked to white supremacist groups including the Ku Klux Klan. These associations are not new; many date back to the 1960s. You may also wish to read this recent article in the Miami Herald by Harvard Professor Noah Feldman noting that the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has called for “a careful investigation to see whether recent uses of the flag have been sufficiently “racially tinged” that it could count as harassment.”
Last night, the SHC voted 6-0 to urge the BOS to undertake an immediate review of these flags, with an aim to:
1) moving the current semi-circle of flags out of the actual burial area to preserve the integrity of those buried beneath the poles. The current poles are actually piercing the unmarked graves below.
2) removing flags of the South Carolina and Virginia regiments that carry such negative associations to people of color, and replacing them with flags that actually represent the veterans buried there.
The Historical Commission has done considerable research as to which flags would be appropriate for the period and to the individual buried veterans involved, and would be happy to share that guidance with you if requested.
Cordially,
Michael Weishan, Chair
Southborough Historical Commission
It seems this letter, combined with our earlier outreach directly to the veterans responsible for the care and upkeep of the site, sparked some “white hot rhetoric” (to quote BOS Chair Marty Healey) directed at the Board of Selectmen from people who feel that any changes to the flags are akin to desecration and disrespect. Personally, I don’t agree. If this were South Carolina and these flags were actually part of Southborough history, it would be a different story. But we aren’t in South Carolina and these aren’t our banners (and thankfully not our history), and given that these symbols have taken on a very ominous meaning for some of our residents, there his no historically justifiable reason to provoke residents who feel strongly on this matter. (And personally, I would like to see these flags moved to positions that don’t stab into the buried dead regardless.)
So what do you think? Feel free to comment below. (Note, unlike mysouthborough, we don’t allow anonymous postings, so you have to have the public courage of your convictions.) Also, one of our high-school students has started, on her own initiative, a petition directed at the BOS to have the Gadsden flag removed. If you agree, you can sign it HERE. At writing, it was half-way to its 100-person target.
Over the last few months as we have been all hunkered down, I’ve received quite a few inquiries from residents in town asking whether or not we had information on their individual houses. The sad truth is that for most homes we don’t—not because that information doesn’t exist—but simply because individual homeowners, after researching their own properties, never thought to share that information with the Society, and until now, we never thought to ask.
And to start the ball rolling, I thought I would share with you some information about my own home on Cordaville Road. I moved here in 1992 when I was young (27) and foolish, thinking I could easily take on a derelict 150-year-old house. The property had been vacant for 4 years before I moved in, caught in the late 80s real estate bust. It had been under agreement several times, only to have the potential buyers back out at the last minute over one issue or another. With each failed sale, however, the price came down. Finally, I came along, took one look, and jumped. I had no idea what I was in for. Not a single bathroom was fully functional (the sink worked in one, the shower in another, the toilet in the third), the heating system turned out to be shot, and during one memorable diner early on during a wind storm, one of the windows literally blew out of the wall and crashed to the floor, shattering glass all over the dining room. But as I said I was 27 and it all seemed a glorious adventure in old-house living.
Needless to say, major renovations started immediately, (with me as part of the crew) and one day as I went across the street that first summer to get the mail, I saw a white minivan with three people in it, advancing at a snail’s pace down the road, obviously looking at my house. They pulled over. Curious, I went up to them and asked if I could be of service, and rather shyly they told me that they had lived in my house a long time ago. (More than sixty years earlier, as it turned out!) I said: “Do you want to come in? It’s a wreck, but I would be happy to show it to you!” At first they didn’t want to impose, but I insisted it would be a pleasure if they were prepared to wade through the destruction. Finally they agreed, and thus began my wonderful relationship with E. Warren Ward, his wife Edith and their daughter Beverly.
As it happened, I had struck the jackpot, because Mr. Ward wasn’t merely a former resident, but a retired engineer with a prodigious memory—at 88! As we toured the house, recollections flooded back (they literally hadn’t been back to see the place in 60 years) and this chance encounter turned out to be a gratifying, and rather emotional, visit for the Wards. (Mrs. Ward was particularly distressed to note that the huge old elms along what was then a gravel Cordaville Road had disappeared. “We had such lovely Sunday picnics under those trees!” she said, a bit tearily) Warren promised to write if I had any questions, and boy, did I! What follows is the first of many letters we exchanged about life on Cordaville Road at the turn of the 20th century.
Dear Michael:
First, I must apologize for my delay in writing to you about “Bonnie Hurst” and to thank you for taking the time, while you were working, to show my wife, daughter and myself around the house, and the work of restoration! It is hard to describe the feelings after quite a few years since I have stopped into the place – even after the reasonably long time when we lived there, 1913 through 1935, and to see your bringing it (or most of it) back to life! Hope the winter weather didn’t hold you up too much.
I will now ramble on about things I can recall about the place – some of possible interest and probably most just reminiscence!
In 1913, my father moved us out to Southboro from 3 Perthshire Road, in Faneuil Mass (now part of Brighton) from the home he had built around 1900-01, and where all three of us “kids” were born (people used to be born at home, not in the hospital). My sister (Mable – 1903), myself (Ellwood – 1905) and my brother (Albert – 1908).
Our first approach was via the B & W Street Car Line – West on the “Turnpike” (now Route 9), to White’s Corner and then to the Cordaville Road stop – first one West of White’s Corner Junction and Marlboro and Westerly to Worcester, across Cordaville Road, Middle Road, Southville Road to Westboro, Grafton and Worcester. We were greeted by a horse and “buggy” for what I think must have been my first ride in that sort of conveyance (but it was not my last by any means).
My first recollection of “Bonnie Hurst” was the enormous American Chestnut Tree on a mound at the Southwesterly corner – in full working condition! (Like the one the “Village Smithy” stood under.)
My father was an “Interior Decorator” working as a salesman for “Irving & Casson; A.H. Davenport & Company”, with office in Copley Square, Boylston Street, and with very large manufacturing plant in Cambridge. They built nice furniture, including Church work, pews, wood carving, etc. for the “elite” of the time, so he would often go to the clients’ home and spend a week or so as their guest while they determined what furniture would be best! (Things have changed!!) As a fall-out of that, we obtained some nice old pieces of furniture which had outlived their usefulness to them and needed a new home, as they were replaced by new arrivals!
In the “Dining Room” we had a round mahogany table about 5 feet in diameter (I think) with 3 leaves about 16 inches wide – so when fully set up provided planty of dining space! This piece is presently in use by my granddaughter in Canada.
My mother’s half-sister was married to Robert Adams – of “Adams Hardwood Floors” in Boston – and he put in hardwood floors in the “library”, or South room. I remember seeing the workmen placing the individual strips, (about l½” x 6 or 8″) with a mouthful of nails!
I know that my father built (had built) an addition to the West end kitchen area with upstairs bedrooms. When we moved there, we were without electricity and used kerosene lamps for lights, and water was supplied at the kitchen sink by a hand operated ”pitcher pump” connected to the well outside at the rear of the house, near a couple of Russett Apple Trees – which always supplied us with an ample supply of Apple Juice and then Vinegar which we had in two casks in the “Cold Cellar” located in the basement under the “library” with a bulkhead entrance at the West side of that part of the cellar. The house furnace was coal fired at the center of the house – so this part of the basement was a “cold cellar”, shut off from the rest, where we stored potatoes, apples, cider vinegar, eggs in “water glass” in crockery jars. (Things have changed!)
I am not too clear as to renovations and improvements to the house, but after considerable haggling, etc. at the ”Southboro Town Meeting” (a true representative body where everyone had a chance to speak) we obtained electric power on Cordaville Road, and we had one of the painters and decorators from Irving & Casson working for a while there, commuting from Boston via B & W Street Car! He was scared to death to walk down to the Cordaville Road stop at night – and my brother and I were not very helpful, scaring him whenever we could!
My father commuted to Boston (Copley Square) everyday – taking the B &A Train from Cordaville at 7:30 a.m. – generally walking the mile(+). We had a horse, named Jerry, and a nice rubber tired “buggy” (open), and we (my brother and I or one of us, or my sister) would drive down to meet th 6:00 p.m. return Train from Boston.
With the advent of electricity, we had an electric driven pump and pressure tank for water supply, along with the fixtures – so the hand sink pump was relegated to the past! When we moved in, the house at the kitchen ha 1 area, was connected to the barn, to avoid going outdoors, the toilet (a 3-holer) was halfway out – disposal to the rear at the North end of the ban. Soon after the advent of electricity the shed section and toilets were removed between the barn and the house, a septic tank and drain were installed and a retaining wall built from the kitchen porch to the barn.
The barn was a complete farm operating unit. Two double rolling doors (full size for “buggy and surrey”), basement stalls for the horse “Jerry” and the Jersey cow “Daisy” who supplied milk and butter for quite a few years.
The barn yard was located to the South of the barn (lower area with big doors) fenced in – complete with manure pile, etc.
My mother’s father lived with us and did most of the farming for a number of years before he died. We hayed the field across the street – storing the hay through a dormer type doorway in the upper section of the barn (an itchy operation we did not particularly enjoy!) Hay was fed from there through a chute to the basement and the horse and cow stalls. A retaining wall ran along the driveway and to the barn, and was planted with Lombardi Poplars, for quite a while. The South side sloped down to the barnyard fence. Southwest of the barnyard was the chicken house, pigpen, etc. – we always had chickens, eggs came in a nest (not in a cardboard box). We grew two pigs every summer and ate them during the winter! We also grew all our vegetables and had an asparagus bed – a special soil with rock salt to prevent other growth except the asparagus.
To augment our income, my mother had a canning kitchen – South of the driveway along the stone wall, known as the “Southboro Canning Kitchen” where she put up fruits and vegetables and sold them locally. (Try that nowadays!)
At the North side of the house there was a sort of drive where coal was delivered and block ice for the ice chest, which had a door opening thru the wall so a block of ice could be delivered without entering the house. A metal cage housed the ice so one could not reach the other goods – we had cream from the Jersey cow that ran ½ inch thick in a 2 inch pan, and we always made our own butter in a hand churn. My mother liked buttermilk – but no one else did!
From the doorway on the north side my father built a grape and rose arbor, and a wall with flower beds on each side, always with flowers except in winter.
We had fruit trees galore, 3 or 4 different types of Porter Apples (early) which were grafted on to one tree, at the South side; Russetts, Baldwin, early Sheep Nose, and enormous Northern Spy trees in the Northwest area. At the West side, near a large pine tree, which was a landmark more or less, we had 2 or 3 beehives, which supplied us with honey – and the bees to make things propagate! We were good at beekeeping – my brother the best!
As to the land, there were 2 parcels, the land on Cordaville Road, and a wood lot area (not connected) located on higher land – East of the neighbors land, bounded by stone walls. (Fences of Stone!)
The house lot extended along Cordaville Road with a stone wall – and the open area at the house extended from about 20 feet+/- North of the house to a stone wall at the driveway South – which was marked at the time we lived there with a stone post (marked “Bonnie Hurst”) by which name the place was known to us all. (It was there when we arrived and was there when we left!)
It is ironic that while living in Southboro and in Framingham I did some surveying of various properties in Southboro, including most of the Deerfoot Farms properties and buildings, and the Rural Cemetery on Cordaville Road, but I never surveyed our own land! But I will describe the original lots as best I can! You probably have more accurate dimensions and areas as presently divided – but here is a sketch.
The wood lot was east, up on the high ground, all wooded, large boulders etc., but marked at corners by drill holes in the stone walls (5 or six acres) My brother and I used this area for roaming around – hunting red squirrel with a .22 rifle, and always equipped with Boy Scout hatchet and hunting knife! No damage was ever done – to us or anyone else! At the house lot – there were 2 “ironwood” trees and a horse chestnut tree at the North driveway – I can’t remember just when they were removed!
**BACKGROUND INFORMATION**
I attended Peters High School in Southboro – starting at the Third Grade when we moved out from Faneuil, and we were transported via horse drawn barge. (A pair of horses and a barge equipped with 6-foot diameter wheels, since the road was unpaved and the mud in the spring was quite deep.) During the winter when snow was on the road, the barge was a low hung box type – with runners.
The roadway at that time was not plowed out from snow, they put a long pole on the runner and smoothed out the snow and it packed down firm – until the thaw and mud arrived. Later on the roadway was paved and more modern plowing was in vogue – but we still had sleigh rides, etc. before the auto mobile age required the plowing of the roads – and we had lots of fun!
Of course, bicycling was our main means of getting around, and it seemed very reasonable at that time! After High School, Class of 1922, I attended Chauncey Hall School in Copley Square, Boston for 1 year in preparation for M.I.T. to cover some courses not taught at Peters High!
Then I entered M.I.T. – commuting to Boston via B & A Railroad from Cordaville a 1 mile jaunt in a.m., after milking the cow and other early a.m. farm chores – then the last 2 years I lived in Cambridge, except on weekends. (M.I.T. Class of 1927) The day after graduating I went to work for F.A. Barbour, Son & Hydraulic Engineers in Boston, specializing in Water Supply and Waste Water Treatment. Later, upon Mr. Barbours’ death, continued the business in partnership with Mr. Haley as “Haley and Ward, Engineers” in Boston at corner of Tremont Street and Park Street – then moving out to Waltham where the firm continues as Haley and Ward – but with new officers.
In 1930 my father died and later that year I married Edith McMaster of Southboro, whose father and mother lived in Southboro for many years, and her Grandfather McMaster ran the local grocery store and whose Grandmother (Mable Lincoln) known as “Grandma Lincoln” to everyone in town – was so well known and respected and loved in Southboro that on her 80th birthday the whole town turned out with a parade, all in respect and love for her.
My father was very active in the Congregational Church in Faneuil before moving to Southboro, where he continued in the Pilgrim Congregational Church, often preaching the sermon when occasion demanded – and was active in all activities – writing and directing Christmas Cantata’s, etc. He always wore a Derby Hat, fastidious, with a “Boston Bag” (before briefcases)!
Sometime in 1926-27 the MDC installed a pumping station in Cordaville, supplied from the Hopkinton Reservoir with the discharge pipe running Northerly along Cordaville Road and crossing the road about a quarter mile South of our land – then running to the West side of our land and continuing North across Mt. Vickery Road and farm land to discharge into the MDC Reservoir West of Cordaville Road at Route 9. So far as I know this was never put into operation but it caused a bump in the road and a guy riding a motorcycle was thrown by it – and I think seriously hurt.
We were active in Southboro affairs – my wife and I belonged to the “Grange” and I in the Mason’s – where I was Master of the St. Bernard’s Lodge (now in Southville). I was a member of the Water Board when the Town took over the Fayville Water District and extended it through the town.
After a few years we found that “Bonnie Hurst” was too much for us and my mother to handle, so she sold it – and we moved to Framingham. There were many things about “Bonnie Hurst” that were enjoyable – some of which we did not realize until later – and it is pleasing to us to see you bringing it back to life, and I hope we can visit you again soon!
**Special Note; After visiting with you our daughter drove us up to my wife’s grandmother’s house located on the North side of Route 9, West of Deerfoot Road and just East of the junction of Flagg Road and Route 9, seemingly abandoned – and we took some pictures. This was the “Lincoln” farm, and the focus at that time, of many family gatherings – a true setting of the song “to Grandmothers house we go – the horse knows the way, etc.” As a young girl my wife visited there often after school – riding the horse drawn barge from Peters High School – a good half-hour jaunt!
Thank You and Good Luck!
Fortunately this was only the first of several long letters Warren sent me about the house, and they proved invaluable in helping me to restore some of the long lost landscape features! (A farmers stone wall once again lines the front, for instance, and next to the well—which still flows into the stream—apple trees again groan with fruit in the orchard.)
I did get to see the Wards once more at a lunch I hosted for them in May of 1993, this time with brother Albert along with his wife Phyllis (another Southborough native.) The house still wasn’t finished, but my office in the old barn was, and we sat around a large table enjoying the food and tales of old Southborough. Later we took another house tour, and the Wards marveled at the slow but continual progress on the house and grounds. As we said our goodbyes in the drive, Warren mentioned that he and Edith hoped to return in the fall. They did return, but not in the way any of us had imagined. Warren died a few months later at their Florida home—still spry—and was buried in the Ward family plot in the Rural Cemetery. Edith joined him there in 2001.
On a crisp day, walking the dog, I will often stop to visit them, pulling the odd bit of grass away from the stone, ever and always so grateful for the kindness of strangers.
It is with a very real sadness that I share the news of the death of Eleanor Hamel, a long-time best friend to the Southborough Historical Society, at age 98. I’ll let you read her obituary here, but I just wanted to share a few personal memories with you.
I met Eleanor back in the early 90s during my first stint on the Historical Commission. I had gotten involved because one of our dismal cast of local developers, always ready to demolish, was planning to tear down the hugely historic Greek Revival house of Mary Finn on Route 9 to build a Wendy’s. (That’s Mary Finn of Mary Finn School, btw, and the current Wendy’s speaks to the result.) As usual, I was full of (then youthful) outraged indignation, and as usual, wise and calm Eleanor, who was an 11th generation Soutborough resident, saw the bigger picture. As she pointed out to me, while we’d lost the skirmish, we could still win the war, and with her guidance we raised enough public awareness to make sure there would be no more fast food restaurants blighting the Southborough streetscape. When I would get discouraged, and not attend meetings for a while, she would call me up with the gentle voice and say, “Now Michael, I know you are busy, but we need your energy and enthusiasm. Please try to come.” And I did, and working together we got the Town to spend 25K to do the 2001 Historical Properties Survey. That was the watershed. Many years later it led to the Demolition Delay By-Law, the preservation of 85 Main Street, and the Historic Adaptive Reuse By-law (which saved Fayville Hall, among others). By then Eleanor had long retired from the Historical Commission, but her imprint echoes through all these achievements.
I’m unclear if Eleanor was one of the founding members of the Historical Society, but if not, she was close. She worked assiduously at the Museum for decades, cataloguing the collections, urging people to contribute, sharing her vast personal knowledge of Southborough, or helping out in any way she could. I wasn’t active in the Society during this period, but it’s not hard to see hints of Eleanor around every corner. Just pick up a record, look at an object, read the caption on a photo. Her distinctive handwriting, which I came to know so well on the Commission, was, and still is, everywhere. Every time I see it, I smile. It’s like meeting a trusted old friend. If that blocky script states: “This the Brewer farm and the girls on ladders are picking cherries after school,” then you can rest assured that’s exactly what you’re looking at, for she was there, or knew someone who was.
Across from my desk at the museum there is a wonderful mid-19th century wooden box with original paper labels advertising Boston Baked Beans. The shipping address is the now long-destroyed Wright’s Store in Fayville. Inside on the cover there is a taped note that simply reads; “This box has been in our home as long as I can remember. E.H.”
Thank you, dear friend, for sharing your memories with us, and for becoming a huge part of ours. You will be sorely missed.