​A couple of interesting firsts for Easton. Did you know the paper towel originated in Easton? Maybe. Wikipedia will tell you they were invented in 1907 by Arthur Scott, who was looking for a more hygienic way to dry hands. They were made of crepe paper and first used in restrooms and medical facilities.

When F.S. Pope was Superintendent of Schools in Easton he despised the roller towel and personally protested against its use. About the turn of the century A.A. Gilmore, native of Easton who dealt in paper articles, solved Mr. Pope’s problem. Wood fixtures were created in the carpentry shop at the school and tissue paper was attached to them, creating a ‘paper towel’. The first mass production of paper towels was in 1931 by the Scott Company, but perhaps they were already in use in Easton? Initially the buying public was skeptical of the new product, but it didn’t take long for the more sanitary towels to catch on, especially in the kitchen. Whichever happened first, A.A. Gilmore and Mr. Pope must be awarded some credit.

​Another first. The first airmail flight from North Easton took off from Ames Flying Field on May 19, 1938. A large crowd of more than 500 people had gathered to watch this ‘first’. The mail was picked up from the Post Office and driven in a special car decorated with American flags to the airfield. Town officials followed in more flag-bedecked cars. Greeting them was a squad from the George S. Shepard Post, American Legion. Postmaster Clement J. Coughlin carried the mail to the plane. The mail included 1800 letters, two parcels and three miniature shovels. The plane traveled to the airport in East Boston where letters were dispatched to Sweden, France, Italy, Chile, and Korea, among other countries.

​The plane took off at 2:35. By 5:17 one of the miniature shovels- addressed to the Postmaster’s wife, Mrs. Clement J. Coughlin-, arrived back in Easton. It had arrived so quickly the Postmaster was afraid he had failed to send it! Kudos to Ames Airfield!

Anne Wooster Drury

Ethel “Ettie” Anderson was the daughter of Swedish immigrants. One of three sisters, she graduated from OAHS in 1933 and went on to study nursing at Goddard Hospital School of Nursing from which she graduated in 1938. In 1942 she was working at Massachusetts General Hospital from where she was recruited into the Army Nursing Corps. Her unit served in North Africa and Italy. In 1944 Ethel was promoted to First Lieutenant before returning home in 1946.

Anne Wooster Drury

​As Women’s History Month draws to a close, we remember three Easton women who were very involved in preserving green space for our community, in particular, Wheaton Farm and Sheep Pasture.

​The first Conservation Commission was established in 1962, and many citizens are to be applauded for their hard work in this area. Three women deserve special notice. Ginny Reusch and Lyn White first became involved in the Wheaton Farm Project, the fight to save Wheaton Farm and establish it as a public nature reserve, in 1966. At the time the farm was owned by a speculative land trust and was up for sale. The project began after 1965 when Clifford Grant, Conservation Committee member, convinced the other board members “to undertake the project, because of the beauty of the land, the abundant wildlife, and its unspoiled natural and historic value.” (Easton Town Report, 1967) At town meeting in March of 1966 it was unanimously voted to purchase Wheaton Farm. A special town meeting was held in October to pass an article that would allow Easton to comply with regulations necessary. After a quorum failed to be met, Virginia Reusch and Lyn White agreed to help the campaign by creating a committee of private citizens who would conduct fundraising. They began giving tours of Wheaton Farm and after only the first tour had pledges totaling $15,000. Legal problems arose and were eventually resolved. Letters were written, brochures were mailed, local publicity was sought, civic organizations donated, and young people’s groups contributed. After a difficult fight, they succeeded. Wheaton Farm, then numbering 278 acres, was acquired. The taxpayers of Easton paid ¼ the cost, the state paid ½, and ¼ was raised privately by the Citizens Committee for Wheaton Farm. Today Wheaton Farm has grown to over 1200 acres as more land has been acquired. This movement began with the Wheaton Farm Project. As stated on the Conservation Commission website today, “Beginning with a small group of citizens who recognized the importance of preserving open space and forested areas, the Town acquired approximately 250 acres of land in an area called Wheaton Farm. The town has annually increased its conservation land holdings to over 3,000 acres, including 1,000 acres around the original acquisition.” 

​One of the large donations to the project came from Mrs. Elise Ames Parker and her husband William, who became friendly with Lyn White and Ginny Reusch with whom they shared a love of nature and conservation. The Wheaton Farm project had led to the formation of the Natural Resources Trust of Easton. The Natural Resources Trust was created as a non-profit in 1967 and owns and manages various conservation properties throughout Easton. The core of the land administered by the NRT is Sheep Pasture. Beginning in 1973 Elise Ames Parker allowed her former residence, known as Sheep Pasture, to be used by the organization as a classroom for environmental programs and the study of nature. That year public school children began using Sheep Pasture as an outdoor classroom. This tradition continues today and all elementary school children in Easton visit and enjoy special programs. Through Mrs. Parker’s generous bequest, in 1979 Sheep Pasture was permanently given to the NRT. An additional 40 acres were added 20 years later, purchased from Mrs. Parker’s grandson, completing the 154 acres outdoor classroom. 

It began when friends Ginny Reusch and Lynn White asked Mrs. Parker to give the young NRT a conservation restriction along the brook that flows through Sheep Pasture here and she agreed. Although Mrs. Parker lived at Unity Close, she kept her eye on Sheep Pasture, where she had grown up. Her family home was built in 1891 by her father Oliver Ames II and though it was torn down in 1946 Elise Ames Parker had fond memories of growing up there. When asked by the two women if Sheep Pasture could be an environmental research center she agreed. Eventually Both women volunteered to get the program up and running and in 1978 Ginny Reusch became the first paid executive director of the NRT.  “Elise Ames Parker (1892-1979) is responsible for the NRT's ownership of the iconic Sheep Pasture property. The support of Mrs. Parker and her family have not only provided the NRT with a physical location for the organization to focus on its operations and programs but also saved many acres of land from development in the Easton area. In recognition of Mrs. Parker's commitment to the environment and the community, the NRT developed the Elise Ames Parker Friend of Conservation Award in her memory.

​Three amazing women.
 
Anne Wooster Drury

​An Easton woman you may not know of- Fidelia Reed Heard (August 13, 1822 – February 22, 1895) travelled to Antarctica with her husband on her honeymoon and in the process learned to read maritime measurements. She and her husband, Captain John Jay Heard, were the first to spot Heard Island, an Antarctic Island, and she was the first to describe it in writing and the first to sketch it. The island’s isthmus is named Fidelia isthmus after her. Fidelia’s journal was a key source in documenting the discovery in 1853. The research material she compiled on the voyage is still referenced by scholars. Fidelia was Olive Reed’s granddaughter. Fidelia was the daughter of Olive’s son Daniel Reed and Sally Wild Reed.

​The first written description from Fidelia Heard’s journal:

"At 10 o'clock the Captain was walking on deck and saw what he supposed to be an immense iceberg. … the atmosphere was hazy, and then a heavy snow squall came up which shut it out entirely from our view. Not long after the sun shone again, and I went up again and with the glass, tried to get an outline of it to sketch its form. The sun seemed so dazzling on the water, and the tops of the apparent icebergs covered with snow; the outline was very indistinct. We were all the time nearing the object and on looking again the Captain pronounced it to be land. The Island is not laid down on the chart, neither is it in the Epitome, so we are perhaps the discoverers, … I think it must be a twin to Desolation Island, it is certainly a frigid looking place."

After her husband died in 1862 Fidelia turned to teaching to support herself and her 2 children. She ran a kindergarten in Concord Hall in Concord and in 1895 the Boston Evening Transcript called her a “pioneer” of the kindergarten movement. A strong Easton woman. In honor of Women’s History Month.

Come to our Open House on Sunday, March 22nd to learn about more strong Easton women!
 
Anne Wooster Drury

This is the story of a hermit. A “Poor, humble, unfortunate old man”. A man who lived alone for decades in a rude shelter off the highway (Bay Road?) near the Easton/Sharon line. The story is that in his younger days he had fallen in love with a “maiden fair”, but she chose another and he was so despondent that he spent the rest of his days in his hut. According to the account it was like a hen coop with a sod roof and a rough chimney at one end. It’s described as the type of temporary shelter wood choppers or colliers would build for shelter during storms. Not a permanent home. 

He was known as George Washington. It was unsure whether that was his real name. When he ventured into the village, boys would taunt him and hoot at him, but he didn’t respond. It was said that in his home he had a Bible and a cat for companions. Described as “weak in mind and often conjuring up, and believing in vain delusions” perhaps today we would say he was mentally ill?

​Subsisting on money earned from small jobs and charity he was not prepared for storms and would go hungry. Apparently, he attended the Methodist church in town every Sunday, but rushed away afterwards, not speaking to anybody. I wonder if the church attempted to help him, or why he was not at the poor farm? If this isolated life was his choice? I don’t think we will ever know the truth about this “Poor, humble, unfortunate old man”. I hope he has indeed “pass[ed] on to a better world than this.”

Anne Wooster Drury
Sources:
Stoughton Sentinel Newspaper
​ Easton Historical Society and Museum

​News report, Boston Daily Globe, April 2nd, 1909. This is another story of crime, but on a somewhat lighter note as no one was physically hurt. And it all happened in the heart of North Easton village. Two Easton residents, Albert L. Wells, 17, and James McKenna, 18, along with an unnamed older accomplice, believed they had found a clever way to get hold of some money. This was at a time when rumors about the Black Hand Society were circulating. In the early 1900’s the Black Hand Society in the US usually meant Italian American immigrants in New York or nearby running organized extortion rackets. This was in the years prior to the establishment of what we call the Mafia. The two young men, still teenagers really, were apparently inspired by an older man they met at Williams’ pool hall and attempted to extort $10,000 from John Stanley Ames whose home was the Langwater estate.
A letter (mailed in Brockton) was sent to Mr. Ames threatening violence if he did not leave $10,000 in cash in a particular spot outside the Gatehouse on Elm Street. In addition, both of Mr. Ames’ houses, in Easton and Boston, would be dynamited along with his Langwater barn. Also, the life of Mr. Ames’ fiancée, Miss Nancy Filley, was threatened, as was his own, if he did not pay. The letter was signed “Black Hand.” The money was to be put near a sign that banned automobiles from the estate. The sign(s) (there were actually two) were located at the entrance to the estate on Elm Street that passed through the Gatehouse and on to the Langwater mansion.

​In their naivety the ‘boys’ did not anticipate Mr. Ames immediately travelling to Boston to engage the Pinkerton detectives. As directed by the detectives Mr. Ames cut up paper to create fake money and placed the money in an envelope under a piece of slate by the sign. William Craig, Mr. Ames’ grounds superintendent, guided the two Pinkerton detectives through the woods and into the storeroom of the Lodge/Gatehouse from where they could see the street and the ‘pick-up’ spot clearly. Mr. Ames dropped the envelope as planned and almost immediately after he left the two young men arrived, and McKenna picked up the hidden envelope. The detectives in hiding rushed out and caught McKenna as he ran down Elm Street toward the village. Wells temporarily got away.
It didn’t take McKenna long to snitch on Wells and blame the caper on Wells who had apparently offered McKenna fabulous trips to Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, once they had the money in hand. McKenna was turned over to Easton police officer Edward J. Healey and Wells was arrested the next morning at his place of work, a shoe factory in Brockton. Both were charged with threatening violence and attempted blackmail. While Wells had no history with the law, McKenna was well known to them for committing petty crimes. Although the older man from the pool hall was identified and was known to police, he had not been found or named when this article was written.
McKenna’s family was well-respected in town, and they were devastated at the news, while Wells’ single mother struggled with health issues. A very upsetting story for all involved. The young men certainly underestimated the seriousness of what they were doing and John Stanley Ames’ ability to respond quickly. McKenna had perhaps been unfairly taken advantage of, as apparently, he was easily led. The older man at the pool hall? Shame on him.
 
Anne Wooster Drury

February's Open House, scheduled for Sunday, February 22, will feature a presentation on Anna Coffin Ames. Mrs. Ames was a benefactor to Easton in many ways. One of Mrs. Ames’s gifts to Easton was the Ames Gymnasium on Barrows Street. Now known as Frothingham Hall, the building was built in1902 as a gymnasium for the first Oliver Ames High School on Lincoln Street. For some time, annual exhibitions were held at the Hall to highlight the students’ accomplishments. Adults responsible for preparing for the event were Henry S. Pratt, the boys’ coach, Mrs. Maude Scanlon, who prepped the girls for their dances, and Mrs. Oliver Ames (Anna Coffin Ames), who provided costumes- interestingly the boys wore black and red, not black and orange, like today.  
​

A Boston Globe article dated May 10, 1912, describes that year’s production. Events included a ‘silver wand drill’ performed by boys aged 9 to 13, stunts on the horizontal and parallel bars, and a pyramid formation on the parallel bars. The girls performed an array of traditional dances from England, Sweden, Ireland, Spain, and Russia in authentic costumes. A final event, including both boys and girls, was an ‘Indian pantomime and dance’ which included students playing the following characters: Chief Keneu the War Eagle, his daughter White Dove, Osseo- Worker of Magic, Chief Menaow- Rushing River, Spirit of the Waters, and various braves, maidens, and nymphs.
​

Although at this event the girls were in very traditional roles the high school did have women’s sports teams and in 1908 the girls’ basketball team was undefeated. The highest game score record was set that year (62 points) against East Bridgewater and an individual scoring record was set by Anna Kelley. The same Mrs. Maude Scanlon was their coach, and Mrs. Ames attended all the home games which were of course held in the Ames gymnasium. Girls on the team were Miss Mary Thompson, Miss Anna Kelley, Miss Mildred Spooner, Miss Grace Roche, Miss Alice McGlincey, and Miss Hannah Sullivan, who was the team’s captain. The Ames Gymnasium, renovated by Mary (Ames) Frothingham and renamed the Louis Frothingham Memorial Hall, is used today by the Council on Aging and the Recreation Department.

For more about Anna C. Ames come to our Open House!

Anne Wooster Drury

Sources - Links:
boston_globe_-_may_10_1912.pdf
Easton Historical Society and Museum

​This is a follow up on the John Johnson incident in the last newsletter. Member Steven Arnoe, who is in the process of translating those articles that mention Easton from Swedish language newspapers to English, has kindly shared some information. There was quite a lot of drinking going on. On the day in question, “Johnson, together with Mauritz Björklund, had hired a horse and sleigh and driven to Brockton, Campello, and South Easton. They were followed by Charles Anderson and Andrew Bengtson who were in another sleigh. The four men had a quart of whiskey with them, which they shared during the journey, as well as stopping for four drinks along the way. Upon their return to North Easton, they visited an unlicensed saloon, Fergus Conn’s, where Moynihan, Conroy, as well as William Derby were present.” (Skandinavia, 06 March 1895, p. 5.) Fergus Conn, who had emigrated with his family from South Africa in 1884, worked as a grinder (sharpening knives and tools) and in 1889 was living in Easton on Picker Lane. He was a renter and it is possible that he boarded in one of the two houses #9 & #11, owned by the Ames family. Or he could have been boarding somewhere else in Easton by 1895. In 1888, prior to the report of the illegal saloon, he had been charged with assault with a deadly weapon on one Irving Johnson. Conn was held on $1000 bail and was committed when he defaulted. (Easton Bulletin, Fri. Sept. 14, 1888) By 1900 Fergus Conn was living in Brockton, later he moved to Plymouth, although he is buried in the South Easton Cemetery. Needless to say, he was not an admirable character.
 

Anne Wooster Drury

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
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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
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​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