​Happy Saturday morning to all!  The weather here in Easton has been excellent all week.  Lots of sun and warmth means the real beginning of yard work.  I have been enjoying the bright yellow daffodils that are in full bloom around town.  April showers are soon to follow though, so it looks like indoor spring cleaning will be the order of business this week.
 
Many of our students are returning back to school full time.  Graduation is in the near future, and with that thought in mind, let’s take a look at a rare example of an early Easton graduation.
 
We have in our collection a small booklet from 1882 titled Easton High School – Program of Graduating Exercises.  You have noticed by now that this does not have “Oliver Ames High School” as the school name.  In 1869 the Ames family built a multi-story wood high school building for the Town of Easton.  The building was Italianate in design and included a clock tower (it was from that tower that many of the photos in our new book Easton In Stereo were taken.) This dominant structure stood on the site now occupied by the 1895 Oliver Ames High School on Lincoln Street opposite the Rockery.  When Governor Oliver Ames offered to build the 1895 school, the old Easton High School building was moved to the southwest corner of the schoolhouse lot, and continued to be used as a primary school until it was torn down around 1930 to make room for the classroom wing and gym added on to the high school.
 
Inside the booklet is the order of exercises for graduation, which took place on Friday, June 30, 1882, at 7:30 p.m.  The event probably took place inside the school building which must have included a small auditorium.  The class motto was “Onward and Upward.”  The program features ten orations, essays, or recitations by graduating seniors, interspersed with five musical performances.  The topics of the talks given by students include “As is Life, so is its End”; “Finding our Place in Life”; “Make Life Worth Living”; “Labor and its Reward”; “The Right Use if Things”; and “Short views we take nor see the lengths behind.”  The Class Prophecies were read by Jennie E. Shepardson, and the Valedictory titled “True Manhood” was presented by Thomas H. McCarthy.  Both male and female students are featured speakers.  The evening wrapped up with the presentation of diplomas by Rev. William L. Chaffin representing the School Committee.
 
Although it is nearly impossible to find a complete list of graduates (whose ages ranged from 17-20), this booklet at least contains the names of those who took part in the graduating ceremony.  Of particular interest to us at the Museum is graduate Heman Howard, who some fifty years later would research and write about old houses in Easton.  We have a copy of his research on these early houses, some of which are no longer extant.  Other familiar names include members of the Buck, Selee, Rankin, Finley, Berry, Toothaker, Wade, Young, and Dickerman families.  Unfortunately, the names of those who provided the music are not noted.
 
I am off to get my first Covid vaccine on Monday, one jab closer to some sense of normalcy.  I hope you all stay well, and until next week,
Frank

​Happy spring!  Today is the first day of spring, and it sure looks like it in Easton.  The sun feels good, flowers are beginning to push up from below after their long winter’s sleep, and maybe, just maybe, we’ve seen the last snow for the season.  Somehow though, I can’t bring myself to put the ice scraper and snow shovel away just yet!
 
I was looking around my yard the other day to see what winter is leaving behind.  Leaves and branches abound, and those branches, once dry, will be collected to get a start on next year’s kindling for the wood stove.  Some of my neighbor’s yards already look pretty good.  Will my yard measure up this year?
 
On the subject of measuring up, today I thought we might take a quick look at one of the most overlooked measuring tools in our collection: the common yardstick.  Do you remember when these ubiquitous items could be found wherever you were?  Each house, basement, sewing room, garage, or workshop always had at least one lurking somewhere.  Many stores and lumber yards kept them handy too.  The three yardsticks I share with you today came from three very different Easton businesses, all of whom chose to use them as advertising giveaways to customers.
 
First up is an old yardstick that was once found at Watt’s Hardware Store, 110 Center Street.  In 1923, Robert G. Watt, a blacksmith and a native of Scotland, purchased the former Wheaton Carriage factory building.  He ran a blacksmith shop there and added the hardware store, which he ran until he sold the building in 1949 to William Ladd.  This yardstick, which probably dates to the early 1940’s, has the store’s phone number, Easton 500, and the store address printed on both sides.
 
Next is a much heavier duty yardstick from William T. Knapp & Sons Fuel Oil.  Knapp had a business for many years at 76 Union Street, on the shores of Knapp’s (sometimes French’s) Pond.  The old familiar CEdar 8 numbers are plainly printed, and the company also reminds the user that they provide burner service.  On the back of the yardstick is a conveniently marked measuring stick used to check the oil level in your tank, as well as a special mark to remind you when to re-order your oil.
 
The third yardstick today is from Mitrano Chevrolet Company, which was located at 101 Main Street for many years.  The building no longer stands.  The familiar Chevrolet chevron logo is featured, but surprisingly no telephone number is given.  On the back of the yardstick, in heavy black lettering, are the words “Putting you first in a big way!”  Mitrano Chevrolet, owned by Paul Mitrano, was in business from the 1950’s (perhaps a little earlier) through the 1980’s, although they were located in Mansfield for a few years at the end.  Mitrano also provided school bus service for Easton students, and I can remember Paul’s brother Dan Mitrano filling in as a driver from time to time.
 
At one time, these useful yardsticks were given out as a reminder of who to call when you needed something.  Today, these yardsticks serve as reminders of Easton’s businesses.  By the way, do you know of any business that still offers yardsticks to their customers?  The last ones I can remember are Frugal Fanny’s or Freddy Farkel’s Fabric Warehouse (I am looking at one now!).  I keep that one right here in the Museum office just in case.  It still comes in quite handy!
 
Wishing you all good health and smiles as spring approaches,
Frank

​Hello my fellow history lovers!  I hope today finds you well.  After a stretch of beautiful days, the weather has again turned seasonably cool.  As I drove around yesterday, I noted that the ponds are clear of ice, except for Knapp’s Pond on Union Street, which still had a shimmering coating of thin ice across half the pond.  Here are a few items of interest for you.

 
First, remember to “spring ahead” and set your clocks ahead one hour tonight!
 
Second, I have attached the 2021 dues letter and form if you need it.  Since we use a permit for mailing, the hard copy may not be forwarded if you have a winter address.
 
Third, as we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and all things Irish, I call to your attention a program offered by the Society and the Ames Free Library.  On Tuesday, March 16th from 7-8 p.m. Ed Hands will present, via Zoom, a Master Class program on Easton’s Irish in the mid-19th Century.  Pre-registration is required.  You can follow this link for information on how to register, and further information on the program: https://www.amesfreelibrary.org/events/2021/02/25/master-class-online-irish-immigrants-easton-mid-19th-century-edmund-hands .  
 
The Historical Society now has a Zoom account, so watch out, I’ll be putting something together for an April Zoom meeting!
 
Here’s a few questions for you.  How many post offices are there in Easton today?  How many Zip Codes?  Can you name them all?  It might be tougher than you think.  For a small town, there has always been multiple post offices, and accordingly, multiple Zip Codes.  Compounding this in the old days was the fact that there could be streets in two different sections of town that had the same name!  Of course, in those old days, no one used street addresses anyway.  A letter was simply addressed to a name and town.  Still, it would find its way to the right person.
 
The Israel Alger house, built about 1785, stood near the northeast corner of the intersection of Turnpike and Foundry Street.  Within this house was Easton’s second post office, known as Easton No. 2, with Israel Alger as Postmaster from 1811 until his death in 1825.  He was followed by John Gilmore as postmaster for three and a half years, followed by Matthew Bolles, a Baptist minister.  By 1829, the No. 2 post office had been renamed the Easton Four Corners Post Office.  Bolles was succeeded only a year later by Bernard Alger, who was postmaster until the office was discontinued in 1841.  At that time the post office was relocated and renamed as the South Easton Post Office.  That was located for a time at the Morse factory on Central Street, and then for many years at the Copeland Store on Washington Street across from Central Street.  The South Easton Post Office moved onto its own building in the 1960’s, and in recent years, has been located in a plaza further south on Washington Street across from Simpson Spring, where my friend and OAHS graduate Steven Guthrie is now Postmaster.  The old Israel Alger house was destroyed by fire in the 1960’s.  Attached is a late 19th century photo of the house.
 
Today, there are three post offices in Easton: North Easton (02356), South Easton (02375) and Easton (02334), and a fourth Zip Code is in use by Stonehill College (02357).  At one time, there was an Eastondale Post Office with its own Zip Code (I think that was also 02357?), and there was an Easton Post Office at the railroad station at Easton Centre in the mid to late 1800’s.  There may have been as many as five post offices operating at the same time in Easton during the 19th century!
 
Stay well, and looking forward to many good things,
Frank

​Greetings one and all!  The winter storm that has paralyzed so much of the south and central United States left little more than a mess here in Easton.  Two days of very light snow amounted to not much more than a few inches here, and there is some blue sky above us.  For those of you who choose to spend winter in much warmer climates, I’ve attached a photo taken this morning of Shovel Shop Pond.  The snow on the trees is certainly a pretty sight.  If you look closely, you can see people ice fishing on the snow-covered pond.  During this past week, temps have been cold enough to freeze the ice thick enough for several ice fishermen, and provided skating opportunities for some pond hockey players.
 
Society member and good friend Rich Eastman contacted me following last week’s update, and after he did a little “sleuthing ” was able to track down D. B. White.  Here is what we have found out since.
 
Daniel Billings White (1828-1920) was the 7th child (out of ten children!) born to Colonel Alanson White (1793-1883) and wife Rebecca (Billings) White (1797-1857).  Colonel (in the Easton Militia records, Lt. Colonel) White was born in Easton and lived for many years in a house near the present 104 Turnpike Street / Marisa Drive area.  Unfortunately, his house and surrounding farm no longer survives.  He fought in the War of 1812, and served as a State Representative in 1850.  He served in the Easton Militia Company for many years, and is one of a handful of Easton men to attain a high rank.  Among the couples large family was Guilford White, who had a very successful Boston legal practice, and Daniel, who must have studied medicine, but where and with whom I have not been able to determine.  By the mid 1800’s Daniel was producing or bottling medicine, probably in a room of his father’s house or in a small building on the property.  He met, and married in 1859 Eliza Hatch (1834-1914) and moved to Marshfield, Ma. where his wife was from.  Rich Eastman found a Marshfield census record for August 1865 that lists Daniel, his wife Eliza, and children Danial (6), Lyman (3), both born in Marshfield, and Ella (1) who was born in Abington, Ma.  In the census Daniel is listed as a “dealer in medicine.”  He appears to continue in that line of work until his retirement.  He died in Braintree, Ma and is buried in Hingham, Ma.
 
I have attached a photo of all three of the D. B. White bottles in the Museum’s collection, all from Easton, and with this new research can be dated to the 1850’s.  Two of the bottles have paper labels, and the third bottle features a beautifully done embossing in the glass, and is probably the earliest of the three bottles.  Thanks Rich, for shedding some light on our Eastondale doctor!
 
Until next week,
Frank

​Hello my fellow history lovers!  Looking back at this weekend in history, we can all remember the great Blizzard of 1978 that covered the area with more snow than I care to see again!  Going back a bit further, another blizzard hit the area in 1940, with snow and near-hurricane force winds.  Eerily similar to the 1978 event, both storms stranded people in their cars, and at Boston Garden too.  Valentine’s Day suffered, for last-minute shoppers were soon snowed out of candy and gift stores for a few days.  Fortunately, we do not see a storm of those proportions bearing down on us this year.
 
This is also flu season, though the pandemic has made it a very quiet one for that illness.  Mask wearing, social distancing, sanitizing and staying close to home has practically stopped the transmission of the flu virus, a welcome side effect of all the precautions we are taking because of Covid.
 
One of the collections at the Museum that receives a lot of interest is our collection of old bottles.  Today we will take a look at three medicine bottles from some years ago. *Note: for historical purposes only - not for medical advice!
 
First, and oldest of the group, is the bottle at the top left in the attached photo.  It contains "Dr. White’s Genuine Essence of Spearmint."  The bottle, which features a pontil on the bottom, dates to the Civil War era (1850 – 1870) and has a paper label.  On the label is the guarantee that the contents are “Made of the best Material” and that it is “Manufactured in the Laboratory of D. B. White & Co., of South Easton, Mass.”  Essence of Spearmint, like other mint oils, was used to treat many symptoms ranging from stomach ills and indigestion, soothing skin irritations, and relieving tension headaches when a few drops were rubbed onto your forehead and temples.  Treatments such as these are still in use and I know a number of people who keep mints in their pocket to soothe an upset stomach.  Mint oils are used in aromatherapy today.  Unfortunately, I have no information on our Dr. White.  I strongly suspect that he lived on Turnpike Street in the area between High and Hill Streets, as the 1855 and 1871 maps show a strong presence of the White family there.  D. B. White (if he was actually a doctor at all) does not show up on these maps, nor does a laboratory or other shop where this could have been produced.  His lab could have been no more than a room in his house.  D. B. White does not appear in any cemetery records that I have, so he remains an enigma.
 
The second bottle is more recent, and appears below the one just mentioned.  This bottle of glycerine was sold by Fred L. Reed, Registered Pharmacist.  His store was located at 55 Main Street, North Easton.  This bottle has a screw on cap made of bakelite, and dates from the early 20th Century.  The paper label does not contain a phone number, a hint of its age.  Glycerine, still widely used today as an ingredient used to keep toothpaste and other topical creams from drying out, is also the main ingredient in nitroglycerine!  Yes, that same nitroglycerine that goes “Bang!” is a drug that is given to many heart patients, which when ingested, opens arteries to relieve angina pain.  In former days, it was used to treat glaucoma, skin irritations, and to relieve constipation.  I could not find out much at all about our friendly pharmacist.  Perhaps one you might know something about him?
 
 
 
Lastly, I call your attention to the large brown bottle on the right.  Ernest L. Spooner (1868-1951) is someone we are more familiar with.  As a young man, he clerked for George G. Withington who ran a pharmacy on Center Street for many years.  When Withington retired, Spooner bought the business.  Similar to Withington, the store supplied medicines for prescriptions, commercially produced home remedies, and sundries (everything from note paper and cards to gifts for all occasions) as do today’s drug stores.  This brown bottle (whose coloring may have protected the contents from the effects of sunlight) has a metal screw cap and dates to the early 20th century.  The paper label reads “Spirit of Turpentine” and “Ernest L. Spooner, Pharmacist, 7 Centre Street, North Easton, Mass.”  It does not contain a telephone number.  Spirit of Turpentine was used as a liniment for burns and other skin issues.  The dosing directions are printed on the label, are as follows: “Five to twenty drops on sugar.  When employed as a liniment, it should be used with care and followed by a soothing application.”  The “drops on sugar” got my attention.  It turns out that the same compound used to thin paint (this particular bottle has white paint on it) was once used to treat everything from mood swings to rheumatism, stomach upset, and chronic fatigue.  Thankfully medicine has come a long way!
 
Stay well (especially after reading this!) and until next week,
Frank

​Hello!  For all you fans of winter, it looks like there is something to look forward to!  The recent snow and arctic cold snap brought opportunities for sledding, ice skating, and even a little ice fishing today on Shovel Shop Pond.  As I write this, we are getting ready for another storm Sunday.  Get your snowshoes out, we’re going to need them!
 
Today’s historical item has to do with building a road.  Roads in Easton, like many other towns, came by way of necessity.  The early maps of Easton show the early roads (there are not many) and a close look reveals roads that are no longer in use, or roads whose paths changed over time.
 
Our case in point today is Depot Street.  Running from the Five Corners easterly to Turnpike Street, it was built up in sections as it was needed.  The earliest part of Depot Street was in existence by 1703, running from South Easton Green (where Depot Street intersects Washington Street) east to about where Pine Street begins today.  That makes sense, as that area was the first part of town settled, and would run by the homestead of our first settler Clement Briggs.  As a matter of fact, it probably began as a cart path from the Briggs home near Pine Street to the early mills at the former Dean Pond.  By 1716, the road was extended west to the area of Easton Center where it would intersect with Center Street.  The section of road from the Five Corners as far east as Black Brook was in place by 1752, and by 1838 a connecting cart path completed Depot Street, making it possible to travel a more direct route from Easton Furnace Village, past the Town Hall near Center Street, crossing Washington Street at the Green, and finally ending at Pine Street.
 
By the 1840’s a small mill and a few small shoe shops were built near the Shoddy Mill site on Turnpike Street.  That, coupled with a need to get to North Bridgewater (now Brockton) for business purposes, brought the immediate neighborhood together to try and get a road built that would connect between Pine Street and Turnpike Street.  In 1847 a number of residents began the process of petitioning for the extension of Depot Street to Turnpike Street.  A hand written paper was sent to the Bristol County Commissioners, requesting a hearing on the possible extension of the road.  A newspaper posting was made, as well as a notice of the petition being posted in town, and County Commissioners came to Easton to view the land over which the road would run.  More than likely, there was already a cart path along the same general direction where the new road would run.  Once approved by the County Commissioners, who would also oversee any surveying and laying out of the road way, the Town would be asked to approve the road at Town Meeting and fund its construction.  The new road was completed in 1848, and what we know today as Depot Street was finished.  I do not know the cost to build the road, and the earliest example I could find in a Town Report referred to building part of Williams Street from Main Street to about Reynolds Street at a cost of $500 in 1871.
 
Attached is a scan of the handwritten document to the County Commissioners, as well as the original printed notice.  Note that there were no street names in those days, and the description of the roadway refers to places where the road would run from, go to, and where it would pass by.  This can be pretty confusing to follow!  A list of the signers is included below.  Also attached is a scan of two maps.  The 1825 map details the area around Washington Street and Turnpike Street, showing that Depot Street ended where Pine Street begins today.  Residents would be required to take a more circuitous route to get to Brockton.  The 1855 map details the same area with the addition of the new extension to Depot Street, providing a more direct route to the Turnpike.
 
I hope you all stay well and safe as we prepare for more stormy weather.
 
Until next week, all the best,
Frank
 
Signers:
Barzillai Dean, William Reed, Jacob Williams, Thomas H. Dean, Samuel Simpson, Daniel Randall, Solomon Stone, Silas Phillips, Napoleon B. Dawes(?), James Guild, Samuel Guild, Edwin A. Randall, Lucius Howard, Rotheus Reed, Joshua Littlefield, Abijah Read, Bernard Alger, Cyrus Alger, Nahun Pratt, Leander Ripley, Edward Dean, John Pool, S. W. Morse, B. F. Johnson, Alanson White, Caleb Lothrop, Albert Lothrop, Joseph Lothrop, Caleb S. Lothrop, John B. Lothrop, Martin Guild, Lincoln Drake, Thomas F. Davidson, H. W. Wrightman, Daniel Edson.