THE
HARBINGER
Newsletter of the Westport Historical Society, Inc.
Box 3031
www.westporthistory.com
Westport, MA 02790-0700
[email protected]
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
VOLUME 29
SUMMER 2005
NUMBER 3
What’s Inside This Issue
Letter from the President –
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We hope that all our members have had the opportunity to view the Betsy
MacDonald paintings done for the Westport Harvest Festival for the years
1991-2003. They are hanging at Lees Market over the entrance to the liquor
department, and make a fine and lively display. We are grateful to Al Lees III
for allowing us to display the paintings, and are particularly grateful to all
those who contributed to our appeal for funds last year; a full list of donors
appeared in Harbinger 27.1 (Winter, 2005). Major donors are listed under
the paintings, though the assignment of donor
to painting was arbitrary. We thank also Dora
Millikin who not only backed several of the
paintings, but also scrambled onto the display
cases at Lees to hang the paintings. The
paintings will remain there for several
months, probably till about Labor Day.
You will shortly receive – or may already
have received – a notice to a wonderful event
at the restored house on Cornell Rd. Some of
you went through the house with Pete Baker
before any restoration was done, and you will
now be able to view the house after structural
reconstruction has been performed. You will
also view some of the marvelous photographs David Allen did of the house
and artifacts in it. We are still working on details of this, and you will hear
more later.
We are very pleased that the Town Meeting approved the expenditure of
Community Preservation Funds to acquire land around the mill pond on Forge
Rd, this in partnership with the Westport Land Trust. There are old mill sites
in this parcel, and it is wonderful that Westporters were willing to support the
purchase, a purchase that will allow us to preserve some of Westport’s
industrial past. We are anxious about other lands, however. Lees Wharf, we
understand, is for sale, and that has been a part of Westport for a very long
time. The Diocese of Fall River has closed its DePaul Center on Adamsville
Rd., and we wonder what will become of the land there (on the Rhode Island
border). Prior to its being the DePaul Center, the land was used for a camp,
Camp Jennings, run by the Diocese for youths who might not otherwise have
had the opportunity to get out into the country. Some of the buildings are
significant, and we hope that much can be preserved, and there are traces of
the old road also on the property (see Harbinger 26.4 [Fall. 2004]).
William Wyatt
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7
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Letter from the President
Membership/Donations Update
Westport Corners
Upcoming Events
Westport Elementary Students
Visit the Bell School
The Beginnings of the Westport
Cotton Manufacturing Company
An Armchair Discussion of the
Ice Business
Collections Corner
Botany of Plant Life in Westport
OFFICERS
PRESIDENT: William F. Wyatt
VICE-PRESIDENT: (Vacant)
SECRETARY: Jon Alden
TREASURER: Roger Griswold
ACTING
HISTORIAN: Sharon Wypych
MEMBERS AT LARGE
Bette DeVeuve
Thomas R. Flynn
Elliott LaMontagne
Carolyn Cody
COMMITTEE CHAIRS
FINANCE: (Vacant)
BUILDING: C. Edward Jackson
MEMBERSHIP: Fran LaMontagne
COLLECTIONS: Barbara Moss
ORAL HISTORY: Anne Burkholder
PROGRAMS: Anne Burkholder
HARBINGER: Jon Alden
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Sharon L. Wypych
The Harbinger is published by the
Westport Historical Society, a nonprofit organization working to protect
and preserve Westport’s history and
heritage.
Westport Historical Society
at the Bell School
25 Drift Road
Hours:
Monday 9-3 Noon
Wednesday 9-3 Noon
We are grateful to the Grimshaw-Gudewicz Foundation for a grant that makes it possible
for us to publish The Harbinger.
Welcome our new Members!
The following new members have joined the Society since the last
Harbinger issue was published:
Timothy and Mary Ann Bryant Edie Glascock
Richard Kugler
Donald McGovern
Elisabeth Mundel
Elliott and Barbara Schildkrout
Thanks to our Contributing and Sustaining Members – Fall 2004!
Contributing:
Timothy and Mary Ann Bryant
Margaret Huie
Peter and Joan Thompson
Benjamin White
Samuel Niles
Franklin Pond
Richard Kugler
Peter and Catherine Katzenbach
Robert and Louise Coughlin
Margaret McCarter
Davison Paull
Robert and Carol Russell
Stewart and Francis Kirkaldy
James Pano
Roger and Ann Griswold
Thomas and Barbara Slaight
Sustaining:
Thomas and Suzanne Kendig
Kenneth Simon
John and Celeste Penney
Neil and Sylvia Van Sloun
John and Janet Segal
Thanks to our Contributing and Sustaining Members – Summer 2004!
Contributing:
Barbara Hanley & Leo Brooks
Margaret Huie
James and Joan Tewksbury
Elizabeth Coxe,
Gregory and Brenda Stone
Tom and Kate Schmitt
Ward and Lydia Chamberlin
James and Rosalind Weir
Bruce and Elizabeth Derbyshire
Norman and Irene Buck
Sylvia Tompkins
Steven and Dawn Tripp
Nancy Burkholder
Tom Flynn
Terrence and Charlene Connolly
Anthony and Sharon Connors
John and Ruth Mackowski
Charlotte Metcalf
Benjamin Gifford
Russell and Patricia Beede
Joseph and Sara Keith
Charles Costa
David Cole and Betty Slade
Joseph Walsh
Sharon Nolan & James Weiss
Maynard and Andrea Powning
Carl Tripp
Paul and Tina Schmid
Selena Howard
Potter’s Funeral Home
Michael and Carol Corbett
Charles and Elsie Buess
Hugh and Diana Morton
Peter MacDougall
Edward and Louise Devlin
Maurice May and Lisa Arnold
Sustaining:
C. W. and Helga Nichols
William and Sally Wyatt
Donations for Harvest Festival Paintings – Thank You!
Harriet Barker
Neil & Sylvia Van Sloun,
Marie Langlois
Alain & Phoebe Chardon
Ann Hogg
Gregg & Brenda Stone
Charlotte Babbitt Anthony & Sharon Connors
James Panos
William & Shirley Ledbetter
Nancy Thompson Richard Anderson
Paul Tamburello Gerald & Vivian Coutinho
Barbara Koenitzer Owen & Ruth Dexter
Paige Gibbs
Two Black Dogs Studio
Andy & Laurette Shabshelowitz
Page 2
Robert & Patricia Lawrence John & Janet Segal
Jeremy & Hanne Grantham
Douglas Vrona
Ann Wheeler
Norman & Irene Buck
Timothy & Maryann Byrant Nancy Crosby
Benjamin Gifford
Henry & Janet Vaillant
Sumner James Waring Jr,
Johnn & Corbin Harwood
Dora & Trip Millikin
Dr. Robert & Mrs. Sears
John & Carolyn Kaiser
Stewart & Francis Kirkaldy John & Ruth Mackowski
Peter & Joan Thompson
Thomas & Catharine Schmitt Guild Family Foundation
Joseph & Sarah Keith
Carlton & Alice Macomber Ovadia & Evelyn Simha
John & Gertraude Bergland
Grimshaw-Gudewitz
Alan & Ruth Manchester
Maurice May
C. Metcalf Telaka Foundation
Barbara Hanley & Leo Brooks
General and Mrs. Tom Thumb
Dorothy Thayer, Director of the
Middleborough Historical
Museum, presented a spirited slide
presentation about the life of the
world famous “little people”
Charles Sherwood Stratton and
Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump on
November 18th at the Bell School.
What a marvelous time it was
learning about these performers
for P.T. Barnum (pictured on the
left), the greatest showman on
earth during the mid to late 1800s.
Lavinia was born and
raised in Middleborough. After
their marriage, she and Tom built
a mansion in that town. After
Tom’s death in 1883, Lavinia was
married a second time and became
known as Countess Magri. Lavinia Warren Stratton is pictured on the back page of the
Harbinger standing to the left of her sister, Minnie Warren, and to the right of her
husband Charles (Tom).
Dorothy Thayer is a past president of the Middleborough Historical
Association, and was formerly a social studies teacher at Middleborough High School.
Ms. Thayer was treated to a surprise as Barbara Moss,
Collections Chairperson and Bill Wyatt, President
presented a pair of
Lavinia’s shoes, that
were donated to the
Westport Historical
Society, to the
Middleborough
Historical Museum.
The presentation
was in keeping with
the WHS policy of
redirecting items not
associated with
Westport to their
proper homes. Our thanks to Sue Smith of Noquochoke
Orchards for providing refreshments.
For reservations to future WHS programs, please call the Society at (508) 636-6011.
Upcoming Events
Fate of our Cemeteries,
presented by special guests
to be announced.
Location: Council on Aging
February 2 7:30 pm
-TENTATIVEMeeting of the Local
History Research Guild,
presided over by Mike Dyer.
Open to the public.
Location: Bell School
February 28 7:00pm
The Life of Paul Cuffe,
presented by: Carl Cruz,
Director of the New Bedford
Historical Society.
Location: Bell School
March 17 7:30 pm
“An Armchair Discussion
of the Macomber Farm, the
Macomber Turnip, and the
Ice House”, presented by:
Howard Gifford.
Location: Bell School
April 21 7:30 pm
“Flowers in Westport –
Then and Now”, presented
by: Lorraine Kohorn.
Location: Bell School
May 19 7:30 pm
If there are any subjects or
current events that you may
wish to see presented in a
WHS Program, contact:
Anne Burkholder at the
WHS, or Email her at:
[email protected]
Charles Stratton (General Tom Thumb) was 25” tall in his teens and weighed just 25
pounds. He later grew to 40” and 70 pounds. He died July 15, 1883 in Middleborough at
the age of 45.
We are grateful to Dorothy Thayer, Director of the Middleborough Historical Museum,
for so generously sharing her time and energy with us.
Page 3
Whalers into and out of Westport By Bill Wyatt
Fate of the Kate Cory
There are references to sailing into and out of Westport in several whaling
logs. We print here – with a few comments – selections from some of
them. We are grateful to Michael Dyer, Librarian of the New Bedford
Whaling Museum Research Library to print these extracts. The first is an
entry in the log of the bark Solon’s 1854 voyage, and contains very early
sailing directions to the wharves at the Point:
The whaler Kate Cory, the last to be built
in Westport (1856), was named after the
six year old daughter of Alexander Cory.
The schooner turned brig was no stranger
to the waters of the Westport River; she
sailed out of The Point.
Directions for sailing in & up West Port river bound up from wharf steer
to hide a peeked rock just in from the hous of Grinell on the east side then
keep that course untill the crack rock comes in range with Leander
Brightman hous & that will carry you over the shoal then steer to go round
the turn of chanell & up to the wharf at W. Pt.
Reproduced from Recollections of a Naval
Life: Including the Cruises of the
Confederate States Steamers (raiders),
"Sumter" and "Alabama", by John
McIntosh Kell, Executive Officer.
These are the earliest known sailing directions to the Point, and are
interesting as well in that they indicate that whaling ships did stop at
Westport (as well as at other places) upon completion of a voyage.
Interesting, too, is the fact that only a local person would be able to
understand the directions. The channel cannot have been marked in those
days, though there were buoys shown on a map of 1860. Getting out of the
river was also hazardous, as we learn from an entry in the log of the
Westport whaler Greyhound for June 21st, 1862:
“It took us some time to coal, and while we
were lying in port with the Louisa Hatch
beside us, two ships (evidently whalers)
came in, hove to, and lowered boats. Their
object was to barter sperm oil for supplies.
As we had no flag in sight they could not
know our nationality. They innocently
inquired, and our prize master told them
"we were a Brazilian steamer bringing
convicts." They seemed suspicious of us.
We quietly got up steam and moved outside
and reconnoitered. They were outside the
marine league. We fired as we drew near,
and they made no resistance. One was the
Bark Lafayette, of New Bedford; we made
short work of her. The other was the Kate
Cory, of Westport. We were going to make
use of the latter to convey our prisoners
(now quite numerous) to be landed, but a
Brazilian schooner that had come to
anchor offered to take the prisoners to
Pernambuco if we would reward them for
their trouble by giving them a few barrels
of flour and pork. This we consented to do,
and so we burned the Cory. We remained
some days after coaling, hoping the
Agrippina would come, but finally giving
her up, we went to sea.”
At three P. M. the tug took us in tow and after ounding a few times on the
bar took us out to Hen & Chickens there made all sail and beat out the bay
with a fresh breeze at sunset Nomans Land bore east three miles
distant had a fine breeze thru the night heading S.S.E. Latter part more
moderate and baffling saw blackfish.
Returning to Westport was not always easy either. The following comes
from the log of the Solon from another voyage, this one ending in March,
1860. The handwriting of the captain, Joseph Smith, is almost illegible, so
we cannot guarantee all the readings in what follows:
3/24 “At 11 PM saw a light apparently a revolving light & supposed it Gay
Head & worked accordingly & soon saw ?? bearing NW supposed it
Cuttyhunk I worked ship accordingly to get into Westport at 12 midnight
[set no?] a thick snow storm lost site of all the lights & at 7 AM cleared off
some land all along to North supposed it mainland & I stood for it but soon
found a mistake & found the ship down off the west end of Nantucket”
The captain made his way to Martha’s Vineyard, where a pilot came out
and took him to Edgartown. On the 26th he worked out of the harbor; on
the 27th he anchored at “Tarpauling Cove, a good harbor.” The final
entry is for the 28th:
The Kate Cory was immortalized in
September, 1998 as a weathervane that
now perches atop Westport's Town Hall.
3/28 “At sunrise in the morning was off Quixos hole started to go through
wind came out north but ship through & then started for New Bedford beat
all the way & came to anchor at Clarkes Pt at 11 1/4 AM furled all sails crew started for shore in sharkes (?) boats I
payed off the Pilot his charge was 15 dollars from Edgartown to Clarkes Pt. so I had 30 dollars pilotage but go along
very well I left the ship at 1 1/2 PM being the last to leave when the ship keeper took charge”
I add from the Atlantic Coast Pilot Atlantic Coast (Department of Commerce and Labor, 3rd. Ed., 1912):
(Continued on Page 5)
Page 4
“Westport River has a narrow and crooked channel, with a depth of 7 feet on the
outer bar and 5 feet on the inner bar below the village of Westport Point, which is
about 1 1/2 miles above its mouth, on the point of land between the two branches.
The channel is well marked by buoys, but is too narrow and crooked to be followed,
except with local knowledge; 9 feet is the deepest draft that can be taken to the
village at high water. There is a depth of 10 feet alongside some of the wharves. In
southerly gales a heavy sea breaks on the bar at the entrance, making it unsafe to
enter the harbor. About 1 mile above its mouth the Westport River divides into two
branches, East Branch and West Branch, which have narrow and shallow channels
and are only navigated by small craft. Vessels should not attempt to enter at night.
On the western side of the entrance is a peculiar, rounded nubble, about 30 feet high,
on which a flagstaff is erected, which serves as a guide to the entrance.
Tides. – The mean rise and fall of tides is 3.1 feet. The tidal currents set in and out of
the entrance with considerable velocity, and should be allowed for.”
William Wyatt
(At Left) "WESTPORT POINT - The Whaling Brig "Kate Cory" at Her
Home Port in 1862" by John Stobart. Courtesty of Maritime Heritage
Prints, Beverly MA. (800) 989-3513.
Tidbits from the Collections Corner
Over the past few months we have received a number of materials of historic note, and I list them here: 1. From Lee
Tripp a tool chest of considerable size and significance; a chest that once was used at the Head of Westport, possibly by
a shipwright. The chest is distinguished by decorative paneling that adds a good deal of interest to what is basically a
utilitarian object. 2. From the estate of Jean Kennison a number of issues of Poor Bill’s Almanac, a paper printed in
Westport in the 1970’s. These numbers will help us fill out our collection of that and other local papers. Ms. Kennison’s
estate also gave us some materials on the history of churches in our town.
3. From the estate of Eleanor Tripp and through the agency of her niece,
Cathy Swanteson, more materials connected with the Drs. Handy. You
will recall that we earlier were given four volumes of Handy medical
records. These are currently being conserved by Robert Hauser of the
New Bedford Whaling Museum, and will be returned to us by the end
of June. We are grateful to the Town and its Community Preservation
Committee for providing us with the funds to conserve these valuable
documents. We shall report further on progress with these materials.
Please note that we are in a position to accept documents and
records - and even copies of documents – at this time, and we
are eager to have them.
Page 5
History Notes - Westport in the Arctic
Someone left a clipping from the Personals section of a paper, no doubt a New
Bedford one, on the table in the Bell School. When it was left, and why it had
remained on that table, is just another of the mysteries that one encounters in a
society like our own. The paper dates from September, 1916 but we do not know the
day:
“Mrs. A. C. Sherman has announced the engagement of her daughter Helen Herschel
to Russell John Paul of Newport, N.H. It will be remembered that Miss Sherman, the
daughter of the late Captain Albert C. Sherman, was born on the steam whaler
Beluga at Herschel Island, and was the first white child born north of the Arctic
Circle.”
It should be remembered as well that Captain Sherman, a whaling captain who
visited the Arctic frequently, sailing out of San Francisco, was born in Westport June
23, 1849, son of Peleg and Hannah Allen Sherman; he died in New Bedford in 1912.
He was married (to his first wife) in Westport August 5, 1880; she was Mollie Allen,
and she died May 17, 1881. Helen was the product of his second wife, Carolyn L.
Nye Kirschbaum (1858-1896), who died in the Arctic. The Mrs. Sherman of the
notice was his third wife. Helen Herschel did indeed marry Mr. Paul, and lived in
various locations, particularly in Hartford CT.
The steam bark Beluga,
formerly prominent in the
Arctic whaling fleet of the
Pacific Coast was burned
by the raider Wolf on July
9 while on a voyage from
San Francisco for Sydney,
Australia. Gordon Newell,
Maritime events of 1917,
H.W.McCurdy Marine
History of the Pacific
Northwest. Seattle:
Superior, 1966., p. 293.
Citation: Tacoma Public
Library
Helen Herschel Sherman was thus a daughter of Westport, and Herschel Island (in
the Arctic north of Alaska) is just another of the many spots Westporters, or their
descendants, have reached!
William Wyatt
Barns of Westport
The Americanization of the barn is never
more apparent than on the Christmas treedappled property now owned by C. Donald
and Ruth A. Edwards on Pine Hill Road.
The barn and accompanying house were
built by Richard Lawton in 1818 on 80
acres. Trees from the property were cut and
dried, floated down the river to a sawmill
in the area of Hix’s Bridge, and were handhewn and cut into planks, boards and
beams. The lumber was transported back to
the farm by horse and wagon. Construction
was on a stone foundation with woodenpegged beams and hand-forged nails.
The farm remained in the Lawton family
until 1936 when the property was sold to
Percy A. and Ruth V. Woodland (see the letter W on the barn door). Ruth A., the current owner, is a Woodland. Of
historical significance is that the property was the homestead of the Lawton family for nearly 150 years. The barn
supported a diversified farm during that period. Because subsistence farming in the area was on the wane due to the
productive enterprise that slowly turned the Head into a respectable, wealthy community, the barn was probably used
in the earlier days to support farm animals, orchards, some food production, and other income-producing enterprises.
(Continued next page)
Page 6
In recent memory it has supported horses, sheep, goats, rabbits,
chickens, and a small dairy herd that produced four 20-quart jugs
of milk every two days; Donald personally hand-milked those
cows! From 1954 to 1972, the farmstead supported a mink farm.
Today, three generations of Edwards run a Christmas tree farm;
it’s a safe bet that many Westport families have proudly
displayed Edwards’ trees in their homes.
It has been said that the barn is a “symbol for the agrarian way
of life”, but in truth, they have proved as adaptable and versatile
as Americans themselves in sustaining the activities of the time.
For more information and pictures on Westport’s barns, visit:
Jon Alden
http://aldenhill.com/essay/barns.htm
Books, Photographs, Maps, Videos, and Gift Items for Sale
The Westport Historical Society has many publications and items of historic impact and interest for sale. Use the order
form on our website - www.westporthistory.com - , or call Sharon at the Society – (508) 636-6011, or just stop by during
the week either on Monday or Wednesday. We appreciate and need your support!
A Look at Westport Through Four
Centuries...............................................$19.95
Bell School Notecards with
Envelopes.......................$3 for set of 6, or 50
Bell School Postcards…....................25 cents
Bicentennial Medals - Bronze…............$5.00
Bicentennial Medals - Pewter................$2.00
Traveler...Hurricane of 1938.......... $5.00
Westporters and the Civil War..... $10.00
1831 Map of Westport…………. $50.00
Bicentennial Medals - Silver................$30.00
Caps - red, blue, green, gray................$15.00
Hawes Video - "Westport Harbor before the
Hurricane of 1938" - VHS....................$25.00
DVD....................30.00
Head Scale Maps of 1871 and 1895.......$3.00
Life and Adventures of Paul Cuffe..........$2.00
Lincoln Park Remembered........ ...........$25.00
Man Born on Purpose (Paul Cuffe).........$5.00
Old Home Week.................................... $5.00
Pa and I................................................ $10.00
Painting Historic Exteriors.................. $10.00
Quaker Meetings in Southeastern MA.. $ .20
St. George Church 75th Anniversary... $1.00
The Black Yankee (Paul Cuffe)............. $5.00
Westport Map of 1871 (plain or in tube)... $15.00 Westport Point Bridge.......................... $5.95
Westport Enters its Fifth Century.............. $14.95 Westport Point Guidelines..................... $1.25
1895 Map of Westport…………………… $75.00
Stolen Antiques Sale Foiled – Courtesy of The Herald News
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Hundreds of items on the auction block in upstate New York were in reality the paintings, silver, china, crystal,
Oriental rugs and furniture stolen from eight or more homes in Little Compton and Westport. The majority were
summer homes that were vacant and housed valuable antiques. A Little Compton man was arrested just prior to the
New York auction. Fortunately he is cooperating with police. Other items were auctioned off previously in
Sandwich and Connecticut, leaving owners uncertain if they will ever see their valuables again. Affected residents
are attempting to identify their antiques from hundreds now in the possession of local police. Vigilant authorities
averted a disaster of major proportions. Again, we implore all residents of Westport to be on the lookout for the
potential theft of our irreplaceable heritage.
Page 7
Membership
o
Individual - $10.00
o
Family - $20.00
o
Contributing - $50.00
o
Sustaining - $150.00
o
Special Gift - ____________
Please make checks payable to:
Westport Historical Society
P.O. Box 3031
Westport, MA 02790-6011
Name: _________________________________
Address: _______________________________
City: ___________________________________
State: _____________ Zip: _________________
Phone: _ (_______) _________-_____________
Email: __________________________________
Thank you for your generous support!
Westport Harbor – 1895. Was it difficult to
navigate? See Page 4!
The Society has two wonderful maps of early Westport now
for sale: 1831 and 1895. They are high quality photographic
copies, excellent for framing and displaying in your home or
office (see sample of 1895 map above). Call, or drop in at
the Bell School either Monday of Wednesday for the map of
your choice. Thanks for your support!
Westport Historical Society
Non-Profit
U.S. Postage
25 Drift Road (Bell Schoolhouse)
P.O. Box 3031
Westport, MA 02790-6011
Westport, MA
Permit No. 23
For more on the handsome couples in
this picture, turn to Page 3.
PAID