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Weekly Update

3/27/2021

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Hello!  What a terrific day here in Easton!  Between rain yesterday and rain forecast for tomorrow, we have a sunny day.  Today, the Easton Baptist Church is having a Covid-style Easter Egg Hunt, and next Saturday, Covenant Congregational Church is sponsoring an Easter Scavenger Hunt!  It is so good to see some community activities after such a long time of not much at all going on.
 
Today I thought I would share with you something really special from our archives.  It is a sample of a bandage made for soldiers during the Civil War.  Women played a prominent role in war efforts, though they do not get the recognition they should.  During times of war, many women and women’s groups got together and made bandages and dressings that would be sent to the field in hopes of keeping our soldiers and sailors alive.  We know that many Easton women were doing this during World War I.  And thanks to this small sample, we can see firsthand the excellent work that was performed by women of an earlier generation.
 
The sample we have is about 5” square, and is made of a very fine linen or cotton fabric.  Its weave resembles the gauze bandaging we are all familiar with today.  This material would be woven into long strips, then rolled, and boxed.  From Easton it was probably sent to Boston, and from there, would be sent along established supply lines to anywhere there was a need – and there was plenty of need!  Our sample was mounted with red, white, and blue ribbon onto an old paper, which was then mounted inside a folded paper with the following information hand-written on it: “Surgical Dressing – A sample of the work for wounded soldiers of the Civil War.”  A note at the bottom simply says “Made by L. F. Chamberlain.”
 
I have not been able to find out who L. F. Chamberlain was.  A few Chamberlains appear on our cemetery database, but none are a match for these initials, and lived at a later date.  A search on Find A Grave did not yield any definitive results either, and a look at online genealogy records was inconclusive.  The “History of Easton” does list a Rev. J. Chamberlain who was involved in the First Methodist Society in Easton during the 1820’s, and later moved to Mansfield.  There are a number of Chamberlains in surrounding towns.  Our L. F. Chamberlain remains a mystery.  Perhaps one of our sleuths out there might be able to identify this person.  Fortunately, an example of her life-saving work has survived.


I wish to express special thanks to member Merrick Sokol who took notice of our need for a good camera, and recently surprised us with a Nikon CoolPix camera!  This should serve us for many years to come.  Thank you, Merrick!
 
Until next week,
Stay well,
Frank

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Weekly Update

3/20/2021

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​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
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Weekly Update

3/13/2021

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​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
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Weekly Update

3/6/2021

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Greetings from beautiful, sunny Easton!  Sunny, but cold, with temperatures only into the low 30’s.  Still, it is refreshing to see the bright sun, and soaking it up for a few minutes reminds us that spring isn’t far off!
 
Today we will take a look at two South Easton businesses that supported the Brockton, Ma. shoe industry.  We recently received from Burt Lewis a book entitled History of the City of Brockton, Massachusetts with the following byline: Showing Its Industrial and Commercial Interests and Opportunities.  It was published in 1904 by the Brockton Trade Board to promote industrial accomplishments and opportunities within the city of Brockton.  It features a number of buildings and street scenes, but focuses on the Brockton shoe industry and supporting businesses.  There are a number of advertisements throughout that helped to defray the cost of printing.  Among those ads are two from South Easton, the F. H. White Machine Company, and the Ross Heel Company.
 
Along the shores of what was once Dean’s Pond, on the northeast corner of Depot Street and Washington Street, a mill complex arose that could trace its ancestry back to the 1690’s.  The mill we all remember best was the former J. O. Dean Grain Mill, where I purchased my grain for the chickens that I raised for 4-H.  Going north along the dam, there were once two other large buildings.  In 1881, brothers John O. Dean (1835-1912) and Thomas H. Dean (1819-1892) erected a building adjacent to the grain mill and began the Ross Heel Company, which made “Artistic Wood Heels” for the Brockton shoe manufacturers.  The “artistic” adjective was used to point out that these heels were finely finished and intended for use with fancy women’s shoes.  Demand for these perfectly crafted heels increased, and the business flourished.  Among the workers there was a man named Frederick H. White, a machinist who could repair the heel making machinery and make jigs and fixtures as needed to support production.
 
Following the death of Thomas Dean in 1892, Amasa Heath became a part owner of the business.  He began at least by 1895 a machine shop in partnership with Frederick White in a new building that stood immediately north of the Ross Heel Company building.  It was once known as the Heath and White Machine Company.  Eventually White became the sole owner, and the company was renamed F. H. White Machine Company by 1915 (John Dean died in 1912).  The company billed itself as “Builders of Experimental Machinery” and was aimed at the shoe industry, manufacturing customized machines including piano string machinery (used for crating), rawhide gears, and heel lift skiver machines.  The skiving machines mentioned would be used to smoothly surface shoe leather and shape leather heels.  This company was successful as well, employing many people, and both companies hired J. E. Goss to pick up workers from across town and bring them to their jobs in South Easton.
 
Around 1927, F. H. White sold his company to Ross Heel, who had plans to expand the business.  However, the expansion did not survive the 1929 stock market crash and the beginning of the Great Depression.  By 1934, both buildings were gone, and only the grain mill remained.  Sadly, that too was torn down just a few years ago.
 
In the attachment, I have included the two ads from the Brockton book.  Also included is a nice image of the factories that once stood along the Dean Pond site, now all entirely gone.  From left to right are the F. H. White Machine Company, in the center is the Ross Heel Company Building, and to the right is the former J. O. Dean grain mill.
 
I worked for the Brockton Tool Company, 7 Central Street, South Easton in the 1970’s and 1980’s.  The company made heel and sole injection molds for the shoe industry.  My foreman was a hale fellow named Arthur Perry.  His father, Quentino Perry, was foreman at Ross Heel prior to its closing.  Quentino was hired as a foreman at Brockton Tool and had a long career there, moving with the company to Easton from Brockton around 1947.  As was so often the custom, Quentino hired his son Arthur to run machinery and trained him up to take over as foreman when he eventually retired.  And as so often happened, when Quentino retired, his son Arthur became foreman.  One day during my time there, a heated discussion arose between a worker and Foreman Perry, which quickly reached the point where the worker began packing his tools to walk off the job.  Trying to get the last word in, the irate worker yelled at Perry, “Who retired and made your foreman anyway?”  to which came the truthful reply, “My father!”  All of the old-timers exploded in laughter, which pushed the worker, now completely embarrassed as well as mad, right out the door.  A few days later, he came back begging for his job, which was granted to him, and he returned to his workbench like nothing ever happened.  Brockton Tool was good that way – they always took their workers back.
 
Until next week, stay well,
Frank


-- 
Frank T. Meninno

Curator, Easton Historical Society and Museum
508-238-7774

www.eastonmahistoricalsociety.org

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  • Home
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