The Westford Wardsman, November, 1907
Saturday, November 2, 1907
Center. The delayed pipe has arrived this week and the last strip of trench digging in the village is going on with the expectation of being finished by Saturday night. This strip extends from a point above H. V. Hildreth’s house to just beyond H. M. Seavey’s. Two big boulders have been encountered and the roar of blasting will still have to be endured.
Saturday, November 9, 1907
Center. Club. There was a good attendance at the Tadmuck club Tuesday afternoon in library hall, both of the members and the invited guests, and this in view of the fact that many had dual engagements between the club and the Sargent-Hildreth wedding. The meeting was in charge of the domestic science committee and was to have been in charge of the late Mrs. W. J. Sleeper, and in loving tribute to the memory of one who would so capably sustained the afternoon’s program a beautiful bunch of chrysanthemums graced the speaker’s table, which were contributed by the members, and as further embodying the sentiment of the club for the memory of Mrs. Sleeper, the president, Miss Loker, read a beautiful poem entitled, “Crossing the river.” Mrs. Sarah J. Drew had charge of current events and gave an interesting and well-prepared resumé of many timely topics.
Miss Mary B. Stocking, an instructor in household economics at Simmons college was the speaker of the afternoon and gave a comprehensive treatment of this interesting and vital subject. While she did not tell of any magic way of eliminating much of the drudgery of “the common round, the daily task,” she did inspire her hearers with an enthusiasm for doing things by the most approved and intelligent method. She made sincere acknowledgement to the splendid work of Mrs. Ellen H. Richards [nee Swallow, 1842-1911, an 1863 graduate of Westford Academy] in the field of domestic science, which met with ready response from Mrs. Richardson’s many friends in the audience. Some of Miss Stocking’s sub-topics were, a knowledge of home-building, the teaching of cooking in the public schools, personal hygiene, cooking, cleaning, and a knowledge of how to procure the helpful literature on these various subjects.
The subject for the next meeting will be “Social settlements,” in charge of Mrs. Wm. A. Perkins.
About Town. Henry A. Fletcher captured a fox by the aid of a gun on the morning of election day, near Nabnassett pond. Several foxes with fewer legs were safely captured the same day and labeled “We also ran.” Mr. Fletcher was circulating a petition in the Brookside voting precinct, asking the state commissioners on fisheries to stock Nabnassett pond with white perch and to close the pond against fishing the legally required time. He had no difficulty in securing signatures.
Hibbard’s orchestra of Lowell at the barn dance next Friday evening.
Some very fine deer were seen last week appropriating nutrition gathered from the sprout land on the margin of Nabnassett st. Civilization is losing its terrors for them.
The next session of the national grange will be held in Hartford, Conn., commencing Wednesday, Nov. 13, and continuing three days. State master Richardson has sent the master of Westford grange application blanks for all who desire to be initiated in the seventh degree. They can be had on application.
Election passed off quietly in Brookside precinct. Only sixty-five names were on the voting list, and forty-six votes cast of which Guild received 25, Whitney 11, Hisgen 6, Bartlett 1, and a few scattering varieties. This precinct, which last year was a tie for representative between Perham and Dunigan, this year gave Perham 29 votes and Dunigan 14. Among the novelties in voting was one vote for Theodore H. Hamblett for councilor, an old-time resident of the town and of precinct three. Tony Capanua [Capuano] found his name stricken from the list. Although a voter last year and assessed this year, his name evidently got confused with another Italian by the board of registrars. The vote of the town was light, but about right. Guild received 183 votes, Whitney 59, Hisgen 40, Bartlett 6. The town gave Perham for representative the largest majority of any town in the district, the vote standing Perham 183, Dunigan 101. It is not officially known at the time of writing whether our aged townsman, Alvin S. Bennett of Forge Village, who was running on the democratic ticket for governor’s council, was elected or not.
Graniteville. Considerable excitement was caused here last Sunday morning when an alarm of fire was given. Columns of smoke that came from the house occupied by the McCarthy family, Broadway, gave people the impression that the building was in flames. The fire, however, was caused by a defective chimney in the ell part of the house. Having had the salt cure administered by R. J. Hemer and J. B. Carmichael, with Victor Pigeon acting as ladder man, the trouble was soon over. A high wind was blowing at the time and but for the early discovery of the fire the result might have been more serious. The new water system is rapidly nearing completion and such affairs as this bring to mind the urgent need of a fire department and a good water supply.
Wedding. A very brilliant November wedding took place at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Grandison Sargent on Main st. [in Graniteville], at three o’clock last Tuesday afternoon, when their daughter, Miss Harriette Craven Sargent, and Henry Willis Hildreth of Cambridge were united in marriage by Rev. Alfred A. Woods of Newburyport, the double ring service being used. Charles L. Hildreth, 2d, of Westford, brother of the bridegroom, was best man, and the maid of honor was Miss Alice Thayer of Worcester, a classmate of the bride. The bride was becomingly attired in a gown of white radium silk, trimmed with princess lace. She wore a tulle veil with orange blossoms, and carried a shower bouquet of roses and lilies of the valley. The maid of honor looked charming in a gown of white net over blue satin, and carried a shower bouquet of pink roses.
Immediately after the ceremony the bridal party, with Mr. and Mrs. Sargent, formed the receiving line for the reception which followed. The ushers were Alfred H. Hildreth of Winchester, cousin of the bridegroom, and Wm. F. Sargent, brother of the bride. The bridegroom’s gift to the bride was a diamond and sapphire ring; the favors for best man and ushers were gold stickpins, and the bride’s favors were gold neck chains with wishbone pendants decorated with baroque pearls.
Those who assisted at the house were Miss Gertrude A. Craven of Lowell, who had charge of the guest book and at the luncheon that was served by the D. L. Page Co. of Lowell; Miss Annie M. Coulter of Clinton and Miss Mary H. Sargent poured.
A large number of invitations had been issued for the reception that took place from three to 4:30, and fully three hundred guests were in attendance. People were present from New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Worcester, Clinton, Lowell, Winchester and Cambridge, as well as a great number from Westford and Graniteville.
The presents were varied and beautiful and included silver, cut glass, pictures, and last but not least a beautiful piano from a fond aunt of the bride in Philadelphia. Mr. and Mrs. Hildreth left for a short trip over the road in an automobile, when a train was taken for New York to connect with the steamer Bermuda, for the Bermuda Islands, where they will spend their honeymoon. On their return they will reside at 14 Garden st., Cambridge, where they will be at home on Tuesdays after Jan. 1.
The Home of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Robinson was the scene of a merry gathering on Saturday evening, when the many young friends of their eldest daughter, Miss Grace [born June 19, 1895], assembled there. The occasion was a very pleasant surprise party planned by Miss Bertha Wilson and other friends from Forge Village. During the evening many pleasant games were enjoyed by all. Refreshments were served by Mrs. Robinson, assisted by Mrs. Maria J. and Julia B. Wall. At the close a delightful entertainment was given, with program as follows:
Piano solo, George Wilson; song, Rachel Wall; piano solos, Agnes Charlton, Ruth Furbush, Leon Holland; vocal solo, Frank Charlton; song, Lizzie Turner; piano solo, Grace Robinson; duet, Rachel Wall and Mildred Lorman; song, “School days,” by the entire company.
After the last number on the program, Miss Bertha Wilson, on behalf of the people in attendance, presented Miss Robinson a beautiful signet bracelet. Miss Robinson responded in a pleasing manner, after which the hours were given to more merry-making. The party broke up at a seasonable hour.
Forge. The supper and sale at the mission house last Saturday afternoon and evening was a success in every way, not withstanding the rain. There were a goodly number present and everything sold well. A very satisfactory sum of money was taken and will be used for a much-needed work at the mission house.
The ladies’ circle met with Mrs. W. E. Parsons on Thursday afternoon last week.
Daniel Hanley is confined to the house with a severe cold and congested condition of one lung. Dr. Blaney attends him.
Eleven of the villagers attended the Wednesday afternoon matinee at the Lowell opera house and enjoyed “The county fair.” A number more went in the evening.
Saturday, November 16, 1907
Westford Grange held its regular meeting last week Friday evening, it being the first meeting for several weeks, owing to repairs and improvements on the hall. This is the first time the hall has been used since the new lighting plant was installed. A small class was initiated in the first and second degrees. It was voted to invite Chelmsford grange to visit Westford grange on Thursday evening, Dec. 12, when the third and fourth degrees will be worked. The ladies’ degree team will assist in their usual effective manner. The parcel post bill came up for a vigorous discussion in favor of the bill, resulting in choosing a committee to secure signatures in favor of the bill to be presented to Congressman Tirrell. 0) { referrer_url = document.referrer; } const params = location.search.slice(1).split('&').reduce((acc, s) => { const [k, v] = s.split('=') return Object.assign(acc, {[k]: v}) }, {}) const url = "https://museum.westford.org/wp-json/iawp/search" const body = { referrer_url, utm_source: params.utm_source, utm_medium: params.utm_medium, utm_campaign: params.utm_campaign, utm_term: params.utm_term, utm_content: params.utm_content, gclid: params.gclid, ...{"payload":{"resource":"singular","singular_id":1823,"page":1},"signature":"2de8fec788406d45d1df3881b0b13aab"} } const xhr = new XMLHttpRequest() xhr.open("POST", url, true) xhr.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "application/json;charset=UTF-8") xhr.send(JSON.stringify(body)) }) })();