Turner's Public Spirit, July 16, 1921
A look back in time to a century ago
By Bob Oliphant
“Center. One of the best programs of the year was given at the open meeting of the Grange
on last week Thursday evening. After several delightful cornet solos by Gordon Seavey, Miss
Gertrude Crosby, a well-known reader, of Boston, entertained during the rest of the evening….
“About Town. The first sweet corn that we noticed had got into tassel stage was on July 6 at
the Banister farm…. The earliest field of yellow corn is close by on the Whitten farm. We
haven’t seen anything so early in seventy-five years.
“Edward H. Keyes has bought the vacant chapel on the Groton road and razed it to the ground
and moved it to the lot at the corner of Main street and Providence road where it is expected it
will be raised again into a house.
“The railroad wreck last Saturday afternoon at Forge Village is considered the worst since the
Stony Brook railroad was opened on July 5, 1848. Ralph Cutting, who lives near Fairview
cemetery, came very near being the engineer assigned to the second engine of the train.
“A Pleasant Trip. Charles Decatur is having the time of his life, surprising his old friends in
the Stony Brook valley by calling upon them…. On June 13 he left the Pacific coast in his
Overland car. With him were his wife, a native of Groton, and their three boys … and his
brother, Albert. The Overland carried tenting outfit, the baggage, ice box, oil stove, and
everything needed for camping out on the way….
“On July 13, one month to the day from the time of starting, Charles and his brother arrived in
their native town. They made the long trip without any trouble except the changing of tires, and
they stopped along the way to take in the sights….
“Charles and Albert belong to the circle of Stony Brook scholars. Charles left here for
California twenty-five years ago, and has made good out there….
“Show Place of New England. The recent death of Edmund C. Converse, of Greenwich,
Conn., is of interest locally as one of our native sons, George Albert Drew, was the
superintendent of Mr. Converse’s wonderful estate. Mr. Drew graduated from Westford academy
and then entered the Massachusetts Agricultural college at Amherst. Soon after his graduation
from the state college he was chosen by Mr. Converse to develop his big tract of land in
Greenwich. Mr. Drew was a young man for such an undertaking as he was assigned, but he was
fully equal to it and has made Conyers Manor, as it became known, one of the show places of this
country….
“The estate of Mr. Converse contains about 145 acres devoted to the cultivation of vegetables,
apples and peaches….
“Mr. Drew and family live in a pretty home at Conyers Manor. Mrs. Drew is the daughter of
Prof. William Brooks of the state college at Amherst. There are three sturdy sons—William,
Benjamin [who ran Drew Farms and served as Town Moderator for 25 years] and George A.
Drew, Jr.
“Visit Boyhood Home. Quite recently Joseph H. Richardson, of Ayer, his sister and his
daughter, Mrs. White, … in two autos journeyed to Westford to visit Mr. Richardson’s early
home, where he was born eighty-six years ago. It is about one mile east of Westford Center, at
the corner of Main street and Tadmuck road, near Fairview cemetery….
“Graniteville. The big railroad wreck in Forge Village attracted large crowds last Saturday
night and all day Sunday.
“Forge Village. One man was almost instantly killed and four others injured, one of whom
has since died, when a Boston and Maine double-header freight train, bound from Salem to East
Deerfield, jumped the rails near the station shortly after five o’clock last Saturday afternoon and
crashed into a brick storehouse owned by the Abbot Worsted Co. Both locomotives and ten of
the freight cars were derailed. One of the locomotives was overturned. Brakeman Ernest
Leighton of Greenfield was … crushed and burned to death beneath the fire box of the overturned
engine.
“John H. Burns, of Lowell, fireman of the second engine, was scalded and burned severely by
escaping steam. He was taken to the Lowell General hospital, suffering from burns all over the
body. His name was placed on the danger list, and it has since been reported that he died.
“As a precaution against fire among the freight cars the Westford fire department was called
out. The exact cause of the train leaving the track is not known, but it is supposed that it jumped
a frog [the central part of a railroad switch].”
Residents watch workmen clear wreckage from the July 9, 1921, fatal B&M Railroad wreck in
Forge Village. Courtesy Photo / Westford Historical Society.