This time on Monday, February 11, 1895. At a boarding house in Easton.
John Johnson, a 24-year-old Swedish man, was found dead in his bed Monday morning after a day of heavy drinking on Sunday. On the previous day a group of Swedes, of which John was a part, engaged in an altercation with a group of Irishmen in a saloon. (There is no mention of the location of the saloon but apparently it was within walking distance of John’s boarding house.) After leaving the saloon the unrest continued and John was hit on the head with a ‘board’ by an Irishman but was apparently unharmed, as he continued on walking, taking leave of his friends at his boarding house. Sometime during the night, he was discovered unconscious in the outhouse and brought back to bed. At 3 am he was snoring in bed but by 6 am he was dead. John’s body was examined by a Dr. Presbrky of Taunton, the Medical Examiner, who could find no signs of injury to John’s head. The cause of death was ruled as alcohol poisoning and John was buried.

Then it got complicated. Three of John’s friends came forward to argue that witnesses had seen an Irishman take a picket from a fence and hit John over the head with it. The Medical Examiner met with the Swedes along with the Chairman of the Selectmen of Easton and it was decided to complete an autopsy. It was arranged to wait for a Swedish doctor to be present and the body was exhumed. By February 18th when the autopsy was completed, several physicians were interested in the case including a Dr. Richard Hogner of Boston. While the outer surface of the head showed no injury, blood clots were found and the autopsy report stated cause of death was, “pressure of a blood-clot within the head, caused by a ruptured vessel and probably the result of a blow.” An inquest was called for.

The State Detective, Mr. George E. Seaver, arrested Martin J. Conroy and John F. Moynehan on the charge of manslaughter. They went to trial in Taunton on November 26, 1895. The thesis was that a blood clot or clots formed gradually after the injury causing pressure and nausea (hence the trip to the outhouse) and eventually coma and death. A felt hat worn by the victim may have protected John’s head against visual signs of injury. Conroy was found not-guilty as there was not sufficient evidence against him and Moynehan was declared guilty and sentenced to 9 months in the House of Corrections. The trial was fraught by issues such as the need for language interpretation, memories affected by extreme alcohol use, and class prejudice.

This case was of sufficient medical interest that Dr, Presbrky wrote a paper which was read before the Massachusetts Medico-Legal Society in 1896. “Homicide Without External Marks of Violence.” [Vol.CXXXIV, No. 14, Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, April 2, 1896]

Quite an interesting and complicated situation. Lots going on in the Easton of 1895. Swedish and Irish immigrants had arrived in large numbers, most to work in the Shovel Shops or for the Ames family in other capacities. I was also struck by the thoroughness of the autopsy and medical interest in the case. I’ve told the medical part of the story simply without the minute detail of the autopsy results which were difficult for me to understand.

​Anne Wooster Drury

​Anna Coffin Ames was born January 16, 1839, and was the wife of Gov. Oliver Ames. It would be fair to say Anna C. Ames laid the groundwork for the amazing Music Dept. at Oliver Ames HS today. After her husband Oliver’s death in 1895, she gifted money to build the first Oliver Ames High School, replacing the original Easton HS on Lincoln Street. Believing music was a priority, she purchased uniforms and instruments and paid for a music teacher. A summer band, comprised of high school band members and alumni, played summer concerts in North Easton and called themselves the Anna C. Ames Band. In 1902 she funded the building of the HS gym on Barrows Street. “Mrs. Ames's dedication to promoting physical activity and fitness had a significant impact on the success of the OA basketball programs in the early 1900s. Her contributions were instrumental in the school's sustained dominance in both girls' and boys' basketball, which lasted throughout the second and third decades of the century.”  (EHSM) Under her daughter-in-law Blanche Ames’ influence Anna donated $25,000 to the suffragette cause. Anna C. Ames used her good fortune in life to help others in her community.

​What many readers won’t know is that Anna Ames was born poor. She was born Anna Coffin Ray on Nantucket. Her mother taught private school, and her father was a laborer. Her father was Obed S. Ray, her mother Anna Joy. There was a prominent family on Nantucket at the time, and not being blessed with children, they adopted several children, including Anna. Anna took the name Hadwen and received all the advantages a wealthy family could provide. She grew to be a pretty Nantucket belle. On visiting North Easton with her adoptive parents to enjoy ‘winter sports’ Anna met Oliver Ames, future governor and financial giant. Their engagement and marriage- on Nantucket- occurred quickly. Children followed- William Hadwen Ames (note the name of her adoptive parents), Eveline Orville Ames, Anna Lee Ames, Susan Evelyn Ames, Lillian Ames and Oakes Ames. Mrs. Ames split her time between Easton and her mansion on Commonwealth Ave. in Boston. 
After being born into humble circumstances, Anna C. Ames experienced the generosity of the Hadwen family of Nantucket, and after marrying Oliver Ames, grew to a position where she could use her own wealth to help others.

​Anne Wooster Drury

​Update: Shout out to Wayne Southworth and Skip Howard for letting me know. The mile marker at Easton Center is still there! I looked but not well enough. I am a bit ashamed as I do go out and about to look for things. Both sent photos. The left-hand photograph is from Skip Howard, the right-hand photograph by Wayne Southworth. Thank you both!

​However humans have transported themselves throughout history, there’s has always been the possibility of an accident. While the lifespan of the trolley car wasn’t long, there were of course accidents. One such accident took place on Belmont Street in South Easton on October 27, 1921, at 7:20 am. There was one fatality, and 5 others were hospitalized. The trolley cars belonged to the Eastern Street Railway Company. One car was heading to Brockton from Eastondale and the other was heading from Brockton to Taunton. They crashed head on.
Sadly, Mrs. Orrick Higgins of Turnpike Street suffered a fractured skull and later died at Brockton Hospital. Five others were also taken to the hospital while eleven more with less serious injuries were taken to their homes.

 Headline from the Brockton Daily Evening Enterprise

​An investigation found that Operator George H.B. Dunn, an experienced driver from Taunton, misunderstood his orders. Allen E. Hazard, the other driver, had left Eastondale at 7:00 and had just left Morse’s corner for Brockton when the accident occurred. A bend in the road blocked the two drivers from seeing each other so they collided at full speed. The trolleys were scheduled to meet at Turnout #2 as there was only one line, but Dunn, who was himself hurt, failed to interpret the dispatcher’s orders correctly. Investigators later concluded it was human error, one of those unfortunate mistakes. Officer Edward J. Healey of North Easton and two members of the Board of Selectmen visited the scene and conducted the investigation. The accident occurred about one-half mile from the Brockton line. Many South Easton and Brockton residents heard the crash and subsequent screams and hurried to help. A previous accident had occurred here 5 years previous.
“The escape of most of the passengers from death is considered miraculous, the cars being badly smashed and the entire front section of the Brockton bound car resembled a vehicle damaged by an explosion….” Brockton sent both of their ambulances to the scene. “The front end of the Brockton bound car was ripped wide open, the seats of the front section torn from their base, windows completely destroyed and glass strewn all over the road and inside of the car.”

Type of Trolley involved in the accident  

Except for poor Mrs. Higgins, other riders recovered from their injuries. She was the wife of a retired Brockton police officer. They resided on Turnpike Street.
 

Anne Wooster Drury
 
Source:
Brockton Daily Evening Enterprise/Quotes from the Enterprise

​Two men in a “murder car” intersected with a man from Easton, MA, at 10:30 pm on a night in April of 1920. Frank McKenna, foreman at Daley’s Corner Garage on Washington Street, was working when two well-dressed men in their twenties walked into the garage to purchase gas. Their car had stalled a short distance away. McKenna, as he helped the men add 3 gallons of gas to their car, failed to notice the bloody handprints on the car windows, the clots of blood in the car and on the running board, or the blood-soaked felt hat under the seat. Although he did comment later that one of the men looked nervous.

Weirdly, the men asked Mr. McKenna if he wanted to purchase their car for $800. McKenna replied that he didn’t even have 800 cents and the next morning relayed the exchange to his boss, Lawrence Donlan, of Easton, who in turn called the Fields Corner Police Station with the information, as that morning he had happened to read a story in the newspaper about a missing man from Providence RI. The missing man’s car’s license plate was RI 8843, the same number McKenna had noticed on the vehicle he’d serviced the night before and relayed to Donlan.
The vehicle, RI 8843, had been found abandoned in Dorchester in the early hours and was covered in blood. The car belonged to the missing man’s brother, Irving Eklund, who owned the taxi business for whom Oliver Eklund drove two evenings a week. Oliver was the foreman of a jewelry establishment and engaged to be married. A search for the missing man was conducted along Washington Street in Easton, including Ames’ estates and woods, as it was the main road from Providence to Boston and the “murder car” had briefly stopped there.
Long story short, it’s thought that perhaps the brother Irving Eklund was the intended victim as he often carried large sums of money on him. The actual victim, Oliver, is thought to have been killed by a sharp instrument to the head and was likely attacked somewhere early in the drive between Providence and Taunton. He’d been hired to drive the two men (who stated they were from New York) to Taunton. Possibly the motive was robbery, or they argued over possession of the car. In an odd turn of events, the vehicle, RI 8843, had gone off the road as early as Wade’s Corner in RI and two nearby men who worked for the railway had offered their help. On hearing groans from an impaired man in the backseat of the car, they asked if he was alright and were told the man was drunk. The railway crew members and a motor truck driver helped the car out of the ditch, not realizing the man in the backseat was a victim and the two in the front were crooks.
Mr. Eklund’s body was found days later by two boys searching in a rowboat, lying in a small pond on Highland Street in Taunton. Eklund was fully clothed with his pockets turned inside out. It’s thought he was probably thrown out of the murder car sometime after Wade’s Corner and staggered to his death.
The two crooks were arrested but later released. There is no follow-up information available.
Evil passed through Easton that Sunday night, stopping briefly at Daley’s Corner.
 

Anne Wooster Drury

 
Sources:
> Member Paul Berry provided research for this story.
> Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922) ProQuest Historical Newspapers, April 27, April 28, May 1, May 10.

Missing!

It’s cranberry season. Wild cranberries have long been harvested in Easton, beginning with Indigenous people well before the first colonists arrived. Among the areas in town where cranberries were harvested were the Little Cedar Swamp (near Pine Grove Cemetery off Foundry Street) and along Whitman’s Brook not far from the Town Hall on Elm Street. Cranberries like to grow in wet boggy areas. At the turn of the century cranberries were dry harvested, not wet harvested- (by flooding bogs with water). By the early 20th century cranberries were more commonly harvested by machines, whereas before the picking was done by hand.

In the late 19th century Easton school children were hired to pick cranberries during the autumn harvest season. To do so, they often missed school to work an 8-hour day, but they could make up to a dollar a day, so this was incentive enough. The children were watched by adults who oversaw that they picked thoroughly as many cranberries hid beneath the thick-growing vines. Apparently, children’s nimble fingers were superior to adults’, although mothers often picked with their children. According to an article in the Boston Globe, published Sept. 23, 1895, the area known as North Easton Meadows was where the mothers, children- and the occasional tramp in need of tobacco money-, picked. The pickers were noticed by passengers on the Old Colony Railroad traveling through Easton. The cranberry fields were on the western side of the track and near what would today be Stoughton conservation land. The berries would go from children’s buckets into bushel containers. A pail holding 6 quarts of berries would fetch 9 cents. Then the bushel containers were stored away to be winnowed, sorted, and put into barrels to go to market. Below is an easy cranberry sauce recipe from an 1845 cookbook. 

CRANBERRY SAUCE
Wash and stew your cranberries in water; add almost their weight in clean sugar, just before you take them from the fire. The New England Economical Housekeeper, 1845

Anne Wooster Drury
​
Sources/Links:
>  Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922), Sept. 23, 1895; ProQuest Historical Newspapers : The Boston Globe, p.5
> Easton Historical Society and Museum

​Late August- the water in Cape Cod Bay is at its warmest, garden tomatoes are in abundance- there might come a perfect summer day- hot but not too hot, clear, dry air- and memories seep in so I go looking to remember. There’s a place I haven’t been to in decades, mostly because I wasn’t sure how to get there and concerned that it was now private property, but after looking at a Natural Resources Trust easement map kindly provided by EHS member Paul Berry, I set out believing I was permitted to be there. Basically, I was along the Queset as it runs west of Main Street, between Main Street and the Town Pool. I remember being a kid riding my bike to the library and heading into the meadow behind Queset House, back where Hobart Ames’s house once was, and exploring along the banks of the brook with siblings and cousins looking for crayfish and turtles. One time bringing home a small snapping turtle. I remember just sitting in the grass with the silence- but for the buzzing of the bees. This place- a hidden treasure.

​There are still hidden treasures, and sometimes you can still get to them. Off Elm Street in North Easton new homes are currently being built. Not too far beyond the construction tape at the very rear of the site is Wayside’s old root cellar. Still there. A year and a half ago there was a sign on a tree near the wooden bridge over the brook, that read “Louis Frothingham’s Goldfish Pond.” The sign is now gone. Change is inevitable but I’m glad the root cellar still stands.

​Curious stonework still hides away off South Street near where it meets Highland. Many industries thrived at least temporarily at this location, beginning as early as 1742 when members of the Keith and Williams families built a sawmill on the Mulberry Brook. Later the site hosted a gristmill, linseed oil mill, shingle mill, and several other industries, all relatively modest enterprises. Prior to his death in 1927 Eleazer Keith used the building as a duck house. Thereafter it was abandoned. The area is overgrown and difficult to access but interesting. The little Mulberry Brook was quite useful in its day.

Easton, like all places will continue to transform and change. Although this sometimes feels unfortunate it is the way life is. Once Indigenous people traveled the Old Bay Road and farmed near Easton green. We must look hard to find evidence of them. The same will be true of us someday.
 
Anne Wooster Drury

 
Easton Historical Society and Museum
Easton’s Neighborhoods, by Ed Hands

Fanny Holt Ames (1888-1986) was the second wife of William Hadwen Ames, son of Oliver Ames, and he built his residence, Spring Hill, on Elm Street. The house still stands today. Young Fanny, born in Natick, MA, attended business school, went on to work as a secretary, and that is how she met William Hadwen Ames- in his Boston office. They married in 1916. Mr. Ames’s first wife, Daisy, had died in 1914. Unfortunately, Fanny had little time with her new husband, he died in 1920 when she was quite young- only 30 years old. In memory of her husband Fanny gifted the Children’s Wing at Ames Free Library in 1931 and her portrait hangs near the children’s room today. In addition, Mrs. Ames served on the Board of Trustees of the library for 40 years.

In 1962 Fanny and her sister Edna Louise Holt (Louise) moved to Grafton, VT where they lived when they were not travelling. Mrs. Ames visited historic sites and enjoyed cruising. Some ports of call were Karnak in Egypt, Vienna, Isfahan, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Naples, and Ceylon. Fanny kept diaries of her travels and photographic plates. Discovered in 2000, the diaries were transcribed and published by the Ames Free Library. The book, The Travel Journals of Fanny Holt Ames 1954-1973, which includes her photos, is available at the Easton Historical Society and Museum or on our website. The Ames Free Library has a copy in the reference section.

Fanny took good care of her inheritance from her husband William and continued endowing her husband’s charities, including Ames Free Library, after his death. In 1983 Fanny and her sister Louise suffered a car accident in Vermont and Fanny was killed. Louise was hospitalized for weeks and was very appreciative of the fact that she could afford excellent health care. Grace Cottage Hospital in Townshend, Vermont became very dear to her. Her doctor, Dr. Bob Backus, made regular house calls and remembered Louise as, “a diminutive, cultured, twinkling-eyed New England lady”. Realizing not everyone was as fortunate as she was, Louise set up a trust which she named The FANNY HOLT AMES and EDNA LOUISE HOLT CHARITABLE FUND. In both sisters’ names, its purpose was to meet the medical needs of the Grafton area community and particularly benefit Cottage Hospital in Townshend VT. In 2000 the trust was worth over $30 million. Louise was 97 when she died.

Fanny Holt Ames and her sister Louise very much enjoyed travelling but are said to have been relatively frugal in their Vermont life. Both were philanthropic, sharing their good fortune. The Grafton area community is still enjoying their generosity today.

 
Anne Wooster Drury
 
Sources/Links:

Grace Cottage Hospital Otis Health Care Center Newsletter, Fall/Winter, 2000
​
Introduction to The Travel Journals of Fanny Holt Ames 1954-1973, by the Directors of Ames Free Library, 2000

Obbatinewat, Shamut Sachem, (circa 1610-1630), subject of bronze bust created by Adelbert Ames. The bust was donated by Virginia L. Fresina and family in honor of Francis Robert Fresina. ​

Recently the museum acquired an interesting gift that is currently on display in the Men’s Waiting Room. It is a replica of a bust sculpted by Adelbert Ames Jr. (1880-1955), the brother of Blanche Ames Ames. Blanche was of course married to Oakes Ames of Easton, and a force in her own right. The original sculpture, completed in 1912, was a bronze bust of Obbatinewat (circa 1610-1630) who was Sachem of the Wampanoag settlement of Shawmut on the Shawmut Peninsula where the city of Boston now lies. The copy shows the signature of the artist Adelbert Ames on the back. The Wampanoag Sachem Obbatinewat signed a treaty of peace with Captain John Smith for mutual defense and befriended the settlers of Plymouth Colony. He was likely present at Wessagusset (Weymouth) in 1623 when Miles Standish ordered the killing of several Massachuset warriors.

Ames’s original sculpture of the Native American was the model for the trademark Shawmut Bank ‘Indian’ bust. There are many of these in different sizes used in various ways by the bank. The logo was also used in coin banks, calendars, and various advertisements up until 1995. Many consider these collectibles today. Adelbert Ames was quite successful in his lifetime, working as a lawyer, then as a painter; he collaborated with his sister Blanche on the System of Color Theory. This led him to an interest in how the human eye perceives color. His research led him to work at Clark University and Dartmouth College where he was made Professor of Physiological Optics. Like Blanche, he excelled at many things.

​It was a perfect summer day, hot but not overwhelmingly so. Spectators arrived early and brought their lawn chairs, strollers, and dogs, congregating on Center Street and Main Street. The parade in honor of Easton’s 300th anniversary went off beautifully; the Tricentennial Committee did themselves proud. As always, the hill in front of NEG was a popular viewing spot. Ice cream and toy vendors were present on Main Street. The Easton Historical Society showed up on a replica trolley car and it was just one of the amazing entries in the parade. 

Today the Queset brook wanders, abandoned, easterly across Washington Street and north of Depot Street pausing at Dean’s Pond on its way to Bridgewater. At one time the Queset was very busy supplying mills with waterpower near the junction of Washington and Depot Streets. This was Easton Green, where the first settlers gathered. And while North Easton has been high on the list for historic preservation, and it should be, the first settlers in Easton were in the part of town we call Eastondale. The first mill in Easton was built here and others followed. The mill site grew to be a larger complex that served many purposes and employed many workers over the years.

Clement Briggs, Easton’s first settler, lived near the head of Pine Street on Depot Street and was part-owner, along with Thomas Randall (his father-in-law), of the first mill, a sawmill, located on the Queset. This first mill, built by Thomas Randall and his son along with Nathanial Packard, was built prior to 1703. Briggs himself built a gristmill nearby. Both of these early mills were later torn down, but the original gristmill was replaced by Robert Ripley and that mill, later significantly changed, milled grain until 1926 and some of the buildings were in use for decades after. Ownership of the grist mill cycled through Easton families with names like Randall, Macomber, Alger, Cooper, Guild, and Keith.

In 1809 Elijah Howard & Co added a forge at the location. Howard & Co manufactured cut nails and during the War of 1812 also manufactured cotton yarn and cloth. Captain Barzilla Dean bought the grist mill and the textile business in 1840 and he, and later his sons, operated the business, eventually discontinuing the manufacturing of cloth but turning to manufacturing shoe heels under the name Ross Heal Co. The gristmill building was altered in 1872 and again ca 1900, creating additional space. After the death of J.O. Dean (Barzilla’s son) his daughter took over the grain business; the Heel Co. was bought out. Mary Dean Howard and her husband added a coal business on site and later home heating oil. In 1926 the mill ceased to run and the building stored bagged grain and animal feed purchased from elsewhere for the J.O. Dean feed business. The next owner, Ross Henderson, ran a nursery and landscaping business. Later that business was bought by Fernando Camara who added a pet supply and a building supply business. This business was known as Fernando’s.
The long history of the grain milling business in Easton reaches back to the town’s origin. Until not that long ago waterpower was essential. Water powered mills were necessary to life in the early towns. In addition to sawmills and grist mills, fulling mills, paper mills, tanning and carding mills were built. “The number of water powered mills actually increased until just before the Civil War and many were still in use in the early 1900s.” Even after new technologies were invented the old ones continued to be serviceable. Here are the names of some of the millers: Solomon Hayward ca. 1821, Jonathan Drake, E. Minot Stone (1865-1905), Denis Brophy (1912-1926). There were fewer millers than owners.
An attempt was made in 2003 to save what was left of the historic buildings at the Dean site and create a mini park in Eastondale. This effort failed at Town Meeting. Today the Queset still carries on flowing here, now unhampered by human efforts. The curious can get a glimpse of Dean’s Pond behind the car wash- Fresh Auto Wash- on the corner of Washington and Depot Street, or after a short walk through the trees from the southernmost end of the Easton Industrial Park. Next time- more pictures of the site at the time the mill was torn down in 2010.

Anne Wooster Drury

 
Sources/Links: 
Town Meeting Presentation- Dean Mill Preservation Project
Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System
Colonial America's Pre-Industrial Age of Wood and Water
Easton Historical Society and Museum
​

​Another piece of the story: There was a hero. It was Ernest Houde, the paymaster’s assistant, who cleverly foiled the attempted robbery. It was Houde who was driving Paymaster Myron L. Williams from the First National Bank at 27 Main Street to the Steadfast Rubber Company on Oliver Street. Imagine the two men driving in Houde’s car. From the bank they turn right onto Elm Street. Here they notice a strange looking man on the sidewalk. From there it was no distance at all to Pleasant Street where they see another strange man standing. Suddenly a black sedan shot out from Pleasant Street, almost hitting the rear of Houde’s car. By the time the car had passed over the railroad tracks Williams and Houde knew something was seriously wrong. Their car was being forced to the curb. Mr. Williams said, “It’s a holdup, Ernest.”
Houde immediately reversed the car and swerved around the aggressive car, driving to the side entrance of the Stedfast plant, and rushing into the building with the money where the police were soon called. Two company employees had seen two masked men jump in the black sedan and speed away. They were unable to see the license plate number.
Another witness saw the sedan turn onto Washington Street at the end of Elm. The witness saw the plate number and soon the information flashed on the short-wave radio of the State Police barracks in West Bridgewater. In less than twelve hours the three men were in custody. 

Approximate route of car chase. Steadfast Company in yellow.

Steadfast Rubber Co. The parcel of land on which the company was originally located belonged to the Ames family, later General Electric, and after GE moved to Lynn, ca 1926, Steadfast. Today the property is a professional building and is occupied by Shovel Town Brewery, ECAT (Easton Community Access Television), and other businesses.
 
Anne Wooster Drury
 
Sources: March 20, 1937 Brockton Enterprise (as published in Reminiscences Vol. 3, 2012), EHS&M

​On Saturday May 17 a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the planned Tricentennial Garden at the Easton Historical Society and Museum. The new garden, which memorializes Easton’s 300th anniversary, is a community partnership of the Easton Garden Club and the Easton Historical Society and Museum, with additional funding provided by the Easton Cultural Council, the Easton Legacy Fund, the Ames Tool Company, and the Easton community.
The garden designer, Ruth Riske, took her inspiration from H.H. Richardson’s design for the Railroad Station and its Romanesque architectural elements such as arches and symmetry. Native plantings of flowers common 200-300 years ago will be featured. The area, which was originally designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, will include new entrances with a brick walkway and a gathering space in the shape of two arches. A sitting area with symmetrical planting beds will feature seasonal plantings. Additional phases of the project will introduce a pollinator friendly habitat and a new main entrance with a stone arch. Construction is anticipated to begin after Memorial Day. “Our aim is to create a space that weaves and connects the many threads of the garden, the Railroad Station and the Easton Historical District.” (Easton Garden Club)

Current plan for the Tricentennial Garden.

Taking part in the groundbreaking ceremony were Linda Thomson-Clem, Chair of the Tricentennial Garden Committee, Ken Michel, President of the Easton Historical Society, and David Ames, 1st Vice President of the Easton Historical Society and President of the Easton Legacy Fund. Also present were Ruth Riske, Landscape Designer, David Clifton, Chair of the Tricentennial Committee, Craig Barger, Selectboard Representative, and board members of the various organizations involved.

​Pictured: Lyn Feeney, Co-President Easton Garden Club, Ken Michel, President Easton Historical Society and Museum, Linda Thomson-Clem, Chair of the Tricentennial Garden Committee, David Ames, 1st Vice President of the Easton Historical Society and Museum and President of the Easton Legacy Fund, Landscape Designer Ruth Riske, and Cindy Lemish, Co-President Easton Garden Club.
 
The groundbreaking was recorded by ECAT and photographed by Kris Ventresco of Starlight Photography, Easton, MA.
 
Anne Wooster Drury

​In the end they were caught. A revolver and a sawed-off shotgun were recovered. The weapons had been secreted away in a backyard shed and a cellar. The $6000 payroll at Steadfast Rubber was safe. The crime had all the classic elements- conspiracy to steal, attempted armed robbery, stolen weapons, a getaway car, and three not too capable robbers.
It was 1937 and Myron Williams, paymaster at Steadfast Rubber, was taking the payroll from the First National Bank on Main Street in North Easton to the nearby rubber company when he was accosted. The robbers had a loaded revolver and shotgun, both stolen from the home of the night watchman of the Chelsea Building Wrecking Company, where the three of them worked.

It was March 20, 1937, when the attempted holdup took place. The robbery failed and the three crooks made their escape to Brockton where, according to an unnamed witness, they left the getaway car at the place where it had been (reportedly) stolen from earlier and drove off in their own car. Felix Robillard, Roger D’Auteuil, and Authur Andrian, all of Brockton, were quickly found and two of the men signed confessions the next day. The getaway car had allegedly been stolen from a Wilfred C. Pellitier, who was charged as an accessory after the fact, although he denied he had any knowledge of the plan. Felix Robillard, Roger D’Auteuil, and Authur Andrian were charged with conspiracy to steal and attempted armed robbery.
Interestingly, the police wondered if someone on the ‘inside’ could have helped them with the plan. Instrumental in gaining the confessions were Chief Elisha T. Ellis of North Easton and Sergeant John P. Sullivan of the Bridgewater State Police barracks.
 I am left with questions which I will try to answer next time. Why did the robbery fail? Was an insider found to have helped? How much time did each spend in jail? Until next time :)
 
 
 Anne Wooster Drury
[email protected]

Sources:
>Easton Historical Society and Museum Special Dispatch to the Globe, Daily > >Boston Globe (1928-1960), March 21&22, 1937, ProQuest Historical Newspapers, The Boston Globe, p. A12

​The Easton Historical Society and Museum was fortunate to have Fred Ames, (the 4th Fred and the 6th generation of his family to live in Easton), speak at our Open House in January. Mr. Ames spoke primarily about his great-grandfather, Frederick Lothrop Ames, the 1st. Fred was an extremely successful entrepreneur and a great benefactor to Easton who brought many of the great artists of his day to Easton, including Augustus St. Gaudens, John LaFarge, F.L. Olmsted, and H.H. Richardson, and as a result, helped create a town with many unique and distinctive features.

​F. L. Ames (1835-1893) built the Langwater Estate on Langwater Pond (also known as “Fred’s Pond) and funded the construction of the beautiful Richardson designed railroad station that now houses the Easton Historical Society and Museum. As a young man F. L. Ames graduated from Harvard College and went on to marry Rebecca Caroline Blair. Together they had six children, one, “Little Henry” sadly passed at age 7 months. A strong supporter of the Arnold Arboretum, F. L. Ames, was very interested in horticulture, keeping in his Langwater greenhouses, at one time, 8,000 plants and 1,700 different varieties of plants. Of course, orchids were a specialty. He shared this interest with the famous botanist Oakes Ames, his nephew. F.L. Ames was a founder of the Trustees of Reservations and an art collector. He owned two Rembrandts and many other fine artistic creations. The Rembrandts are now housed at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
​

Mr. Ames (Fred the 4th) emphasized that his great-grandfather was very competitive and that his favorite number was the Number 1. He only built his Boston home at 306 Dartmouth St. when he could afford to build the largest house in the city. He served as Vice President of the Old Colony Railroad, director of the Union Pacific Railroad, was on the board of over 50 railroads, and worked alongside JP Morgan in the creation of General Electric. At one time F.L. Ames was the largest owner of real estate in the city of Boston. At the time of his death in 1893 he was one of the largest shareholders of Union Pacific stock and there was a fear that his death would adversely affect the stock market as his financial interests were so large and diverse. He died suddenly of a stroke aboard his steamboat Pilgrim sometime early in the morning of September 13, 1893, while traveling to New York. Our speaker, Fred Ames, has generously donated a portrait of his great-grandfather to the museum. Mr. Ames answered audience questions after his presentation. Altogether it was a very informative talk and a lovely afternoon.

Above is the portrait of F.L. Ames painted by Benjamin Constant and donated by Fred Ames. Benjamin Constant also painted the portraits of Queen Alexandra of England and Pope Leo XIII

​Anne Wooster Drury

Did you know that Easton once had banks that issued their own money? In 1863 and 1864 National Banking Acts were enacted that allowed national banks to issue up to $500,000 of notes backed by U.S. Treasury bonds the bank deposited with the Treasury department. It only allowed each national bank to have one location. The First National Bank of Easton was granted a charter in 1864. The charter number was 416. John H. Swain was the first president, followed by Oliver Ames, then F.L. Ames. The First National Bank of Easton was located at 27 Main Street; it is pictured below. ​

Street view of bank showing horse and carriage. House partially seen to the right belonged to Oliver Ames.

The bank was next door to Oliver Ames’s house. Prior to the building of the bank Oliver Ames had a counting house attached to his home. Also located in the same building as the First National Bank of Easton was the North Easton Savings Bank, opened a few months later in 1864. The savings bank was not a national bank so could not issue its own currency. The building seen here remained standing in to the early 1950’s although in 1904 the North Easton Savings Bank moved to 66 Main Street, where it shared space with the Post Office.
A charter number allowed banks to issue their own money and oftentimes it looked different than the bills issued by the US government. The paper currency was also a larger size than it is now. 

​Interesting note: For approximately a hundred years an Ames was always president of the North Easton Savings Bank, and all passed away while employed in that office.
Although this type of ‘hometown’ banknotes were phased out during the Depression, all U.S. currency issued since 1861 remains valid and redeemable at full face value.
 The First National Bank of Easton issued $1 dollar bills along with $5’s, $10’s, $20’s, $50’s, $100’s and in both 1865 and 1875, $2 dollar bills. 

A view inside the National Bank at 27 Main Street. 

Note the shovels on this bank check from The First National Bank.

 
 
Anne Wooster Drury
 
Sources:
Easton Historical Society
The Federal Reserve's History
The History of U.S. Currency

And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
​ (Joni Mitchell, The Circle Game)

Around we go again. Spring is not quite here but there are hints everywhere, snowdrops at Sheep Pasture, crocuses and budding daffodils at Governor Ames, sixty-degree days. The ice on Old Pond and New Pond is melting and this week, all of a sudden, people appeared on the sidewalks.
Spring is when life comes round again. Each new year brings novelty, even though it’s all an approximation of previous years. There will still be cold and blustery days; there might be snow.
But hope has sprung anew and for today that is enough. We go round and round in the circle game of seasons. 

Crocus at Governor Ames

Spring has arrived in what we call the town of Easton for 300 years and though many things have changed, many remain the same. Queset brook, unchecked, was here before 1725, as were the giant glacial boulders at Borderland. I’m guessing lady slippers in the woods were also, along with cranberry meadows, and bog iron. 

Queset in Spring

So enjoy the earth as it warms. Happy (almost) Spring!

At the Same Time

There’s a skunk dead in the road at Old Pond,
at New Pond dozens of red-winged blackbirds
sweep through slender tree branches
wrapped in circles of green and white.

Across town, a mourning dove
mourns in the shagbark tree
at dusk.

Call me a thief of lilacs, defender of
dandelions. Farmer of days, slicer of soil,
walker of the rhododendron path,
but never a deceiver of time.

Once, wild asparagus, rhubarb,
blackberries, huckleberries, lady slippers,
all grew within a half mile of here,
Right here, where it’s beautiful and sad

at exactly the same time.  

​
 Anne Wooster Drury

​Biweekly Newsletter    March 1, 2025
 What Richardson Never Built
 
Just a quick follow-up to last week’s newsletter about the new Richardson book, Henry Hobson Richardson: Drawings from the Collection of Houghton Library, Harvard University (Monacelli Press / Phaidon), by Jay Wickersham, Chris Milford, and Hope Mayo.
 
Below is a sketch showing an icehouse designed by H.H. Richardson that F.L. Ames at one time intended to construct on his Langwater property. It would have been at the northern end of the estate off Elm Street. Apparently, Ames, Olmsted, and Richardson all got together, and a sketch was produced. You can see it below. 

​Note the pond in the forefront and the ramp to move the ice up into a storage area. The wing on the right is where carts would drive up to retrieve the ice. Ames decided not to go ahead with the icehouse which would have been near the gate lodge. Perhaps it would have taken away from the landscape design? No one knows.
The fact that there was a plan for an icehouse at Langwater was not discovered until 1976 when Larry J. Homolka, a Ph.D. student at Harvard University, found a reference in a letter that F.L. Ames sent Olmsted and published the information in his dissertation.
In addition, there was a freight house designed by Richardson to sit south of the RR Station, but it was never built. It would have been a one-story building with an attached cylindrical water tower to service steam engines. A freight house was built about 1890, south of the station but it wasn’t Richardson’s design. Again, this information was published in Homolka’s dissertation. 

​Sketch of H.H. Richardson freight house that was never built.
By 1900/1903 the freight house was in a different location on Oliver Street near where the Y is now. Whether it was moved or torn down and another rebuilt is not known. Neither freight house was Richardson’s design. This is according to a Sanborn Fire Insurance map issued 1892 and amended 1900.

In the left rear, behind the rail cars is the top of what is believed to be the freight house (off Oliver St). The roofline looks like the one in a photo of first freight house, making it likely it was moved to the Oliver Street location.

Another view of second freight house location. From 1903 document.
Always something new to learn.
Reminder: There will be a presentation at Oakes Ames Hall, 2-4, on April 6. The new book is the first in-depth publication from the Harvard collection of over 4,000 drawings, made by Richardson and his studio. Hope you can attend.
 
Anne Wooster Drury
With special thanks to Paul Berry for all his research.
 
Source:
Homolka, Larry J. “Henry Hobson Richardson and the ‘Ames Memorial Buildings’.” Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University, 1976.

​Mark your calendars for Sunday, April 6, 2-4 pm and head to Oakes Ames Hall for a special presentation coordinated by Oakes Ames Memorial Hall, the Easton Historical Society, and the Ames family.
Here in Easton, we are very proud of our Richardson buildings. The North Easton collection of five HHR buildings is the largest and most important ensemble of his work anywhere in the US and the world. The buildings are Oakes Ames Memorial Hall, Old Colony Railroad Station, Ames Gate Lodge, Ames Free Library, and the F.L. Ames Gardener’s Cottage.

The book contains 450 full-color reproductions of largely unpublished sketches and renderings by the architect and his design assistants, including Charles McKim and Stanford White. Martin Filler, writing in the New York Review of Books, called this “An instructive, handsomely produced volume. Aided by a wide range of beautifully reproduced renderings, from Richardson’s lightning-bolt conceptual sketches to seductive presentation drawings by his talented assistants, we are led, project by project and step by step, through the prolific master’s output.”
 
Along with the Richardson buildings in North Easton, the book encompasses more than 50 other projects, including such masterpieces as Boston’s Trinity Church; Sever and Austin Halls at Harvard; the Allegheny County Courthouse and Jail in Pittsburgh; and the Marshall Field Store and Glessner House in Chicago. An essay by James F. O’Gorman, the leading scholar of Richardson, surveys his life and career; essays by the authors discuss the organization of Richardson’s studio, his development of a wide client network, and the history of the Harvard archive.

They are one of the many things that make Easton special. So, mark your calendars for Sunday, April 6, 2-4 pm and head to Oakes Ames Hall for a special presentation coordinated by Oakes Ames Memorial Hall, the Easton Historical Society, and the Ames family, introducing a new book that shows in never-before-seen detail how these buildings were designed. Henry Hobson Richardson: Drawings from the Collection of Houghton Library, Harvard University, by Jay Wickersham, Chris Milford, and Hope Mayo, is the first in-depth publication from the Harvard collection of over 4,000 drawings, made by Richardson and his studio.
Authors Jay Wickersham and Chris Milford have been involved in researching and preserving North Easton’s architecture for over fifteen years, including the successful efforts to save and redevelop the Ames Shovel Works. With co-author Hope Mayo, they will be making a presentation at the Oakes Ames Memorial Hall on Sunday, April 6, 2:00 to 4:00. A new glimpse into the architectural genius of H.H. Richardson

Anne Wooster Drury

Mr. Murphy’s store.

Headline from Globe article.

​Two women in front of the store.