Turner's Public Spirit, May 9, 1925

A look back in time to a century ago

By Bob Oliphant

Center. On next Tuesday evening the Men’s club of the Congregational church will hold their meeting at eight o’clock. James McManmon, of Lowell [where he was a nurseryman], will be the speaker of the evening, his subject being “Reforesting.” Refreshments will be served.

A large chorus is rehearsing for Memorial day. Miss Daisy Precious, organist, is acting as director.

Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Knight are the guests of Mr. and Mrs. H. E. Whiting.

An open meeting was held by the Grange on Thursday evening. Bird night was observed with a speaker on this subject, and refreshments were served.

The ladies of the Congregational church will hold a supper and entertainment in the lower town hall on Friday evening, May 15. Mrs. Phonsie Isles and Mrs. Mervin Steele are in charge of the supper, and Miss Edith A. Wright the entertainment.

The next meeting of the Legion and Auxiliary will be held on Monday evening. Members of both organizations have been invited to attend the union memorial services to be held at the Congregational church on Sunday, May 24.

Mr. and Mrs. Harry Gumb have returned from Florida, where they have been spending the winter.

The Ladies’ Aid of the Congregational church and the Alliance of the Unitarian church met at the Unitarian church on Thursday for an all-day meeting. In the afternoon Rev. Arthur McGiffert, of All Souls’ church, Lowell, was the speaker.

The firemen held a turkey supper on Tuesday evening which was much enjoyed by those present. The supper was in charge of Mrs. A. B. Hartson.

The new fire apparatus has been ordered and will mean additional protection to local property from fires.

Hon. Herbert E. Fletcher, the regularly elected moderator of town meetings under the by-laws of the town, has appointed the following to act as a finance committee: Capt. Sherman H. Fletcher, Arthur H. Burnham, Henry Harrington, George F. White, Julian A. Cameron and Herbert V. Hildreth.

Mr. and Mrs. Llewellyn Robbins, of Watertown, are week-end visitors of Mr. and Mrs. Fred McCoy.

Mrs. A. J. Abbot has opened her home on Main street after having spent the winter in Boston.

John Perkins, of North Chelmsford, a former resident here, is reported seriously ill at his home.

John Perkins, one of the Legion members, is at the Chelsea naval hospital.

William E. Wright recently picked a spray of white peach blossoms from one of the trees at the William Anderson farm.

Miss Eleanor Colburn, of Concord, N.H., is expected to spend the weekend at the home of her mother, Mrs. Nora Colburn.

About Town. Word has been received of the death of Miss Anna Hamlin in Bermuda. Recently she had been presented at court in England and had been a prominent society woman of ability and charm. She was a great-great-great-granddaughter of Asia Hamlin, great-great-granddaughter of Nathan S. Hamlin and just plain granddaughter of Edward Hamlin and daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Sumner Hamlin; Mr. Hamlin will be remembered as a trustee of Westford Academy and an assistant secretary of the treasury during President Cleveland’s administration.

The annual May breakfast under the supervision of the Benevolent Society of the M.E. church, West Chelmsford, was held in the vestry of the church on last week Friday morning. The vestry was attractively decorated in yellow and white. Many were present from Lowell, Westford, Tewksbury, Chelmsford and other surrounding towns. Mrs. Anthony A. Anderson had general charge, assisted by Mrs. F. A. Snow, Miss Lottie Snow, Mrs. Frank Bale, Mrs. William Taylor, Miss Elsa Abrahamson, Mrs. Luzerne Safford, Mrs. E. A. Carlson, Mrs. John Anderson, [and] Mrs. F. E. Bickford. The May basket table was in charge of Mrs. Jennie Brown and Miss Grace Ellinwood. The waitresses and elderesses were Mrs. Alfred Bedell, Mrs. Oscar Reis, Miss Elizabeth Vinson, Miss Ebba Haberman, Mrs. Archie Cook and Mrs. Adolf Lofstedt. Mrs. Magnus Lofstedt served as cashier. It was an inspiring come-together and renewal of friendship amid the flowery surroundings of new environments.

With all the emphasis on safety first it doesn’t seem to have done much to reduce the universal tendency to speed beyond all reasonable necessity for business or pleasure, whereby 19,000 were killed and 450,000 injured in this land of liberty in 1924; or to reduce it to daily average that means 52 a day were killed and 5650 a day injured. What can we expect when daily there is a dash to death speed on all of our roads? Too much of the Paul Revere speed without the Paul Revere necessity.

Amos Polley has planted the second acre of sweet corn, leaving six more acres to plant. The Old Oaken Bucket farm is speeding in the rear with the first acre of corn, but then there are peas six inches high and twelve bushels of potatoes that are cracking the ground.

Nashoba says, “The poor apples this year will bring less than ever.” As of old we inquire, “Whence hath this man this wisdom?”[1] that he is so cocksure what the price of apples are going to be.

We acknowledge with thanks and interest compounded of receiving a copy of the report of the New Hampshire state board of health, division of chemistry and sanitation for 1924, from Charles D. Howard, of Concord, N.H., who made and signed the report. He will be remembered as Westford born, raised and schooled, son of Mr. and Mrs. Calvin L. Howard near the Littleton town line.

The Lybeck family, of New York city, have arrived at their summer home and small farm on the Lowell road.

The Morning Glory farm planted an acre of sweet corn last week Friday.  What do you think of that, you folks who haven’t found out yet that spring has arrived? Potatoes are cracking the ground at the Old Oaken Bucket farm.

Fiske Warren, the millionaire single tax authority, and head of the single tax enclave in the town of Harvard, has been secured as speaker at the meeting of the Laymen’s league to be held in the vestry of the Unitarian church on Sunday evening. Mr. Warren will speak on the single tax and will answer any questions concerning the single tax plan or any on the general subject of taxation. Any men of the community are welcome to attend the address.

At the annual meeting of the Y.P.R.U. on last Sunday in the vestry of the Unitarian church, following the service, officers were elected for the ensuing year as follows: Fred Robinson, pres.; Miss Alice Haywood, vice pres.; Miss Angie Parfitt, sec.-treas. It was voted to send Fisher Buckshorn and Fred Robinson as delegates to the young people’s meetings at Star Island, Isle of Shoals, held from June 27 to July 11. Gordon B. Seavey and Gustaf Peterson were elected alternates. Morton Seavey and Fisher Buckshorn were elected delegates to the twenty-ninth annual meeting of the National Y. P. R. U. to be held in Boston on May 15 and 16. It was announced that three one-act plays will be given in the near future in Lowell, Chelmsford and Westford by three groups of young people, one group from the chapter in each of these places. Refreshments were served by the hosts. This is the last meeting before the summer vacation period.

Now that the gardening season has arrived the books on flower and vegetable gardening and outdoor life have been placed on the table in the congregation room at the library where they will be easy of access. The new books purchased are “Winged seeds” by Bertha Oppenheim; “Beach grass”, C. W. Townsend and Kerley’s “Rural guide.” There are also many attractive books on birds and flowers and other forms of nature. Colored illustrations of modern paintings by artists of seven of the allied nations are on exhibition at the J. V. Fletcher library. These are loaned by the Library Art club and will remain until May 25.

Pomona Meeting.  Middlesex North Pomona Grange held an open and inspiring meeting on last week Friday at Lowell to all visiting Grangers, with Chebacco Pomona of Essex county as special guest. Odd Fellows hall on Gorham street was filled to the point of entertaining comfort. Among the other honored guests were Burton T. Mowrey, lecturer of the State Grange, and George Preston, gatekeeper of the State Grange.

At the morning session there was a general discussion on the question, “What constitutes a good neighbor?” Among the visiting members who took part in the discussion were lecturer Rina Hodsdon, Edward K. Burnham of Riverdale Grange, George Preston of Hamilton and Deputy Johnson of Leominster. Among the members of Middlesex Pomona who sailed into the subject were Mrs. Francena L. Sherburne, of Tyngsboro, Mrs. Grace Dawson, of West Chelmsford and Tewksbury, and Samuel L. Taylor, of Westford. Besides this discussion there were songs by Mrs. Harland Green.

Dinner was provided by Burlington Grange to a whole hall full of willing workers at this easiest part of the itemized program.

At the afternoon session, open to the public, there was an address by the lecturer of the State Grange, who also favored with several humorous selections. There was also solo singing by Miss Greenwood, of West Gloucester, and duet singing by Miss Greenwood and Owen Lowe, of Beverly, with George Hodsdon as manager of the piano. All in all it was a day to stock up with inspiration and enlarge the boundaries of our personalities.

Slaughtering of Birds. Dr. T. Gilbert Pearson, president of the National Association of Audubon societies, is in Europe, where at Luxembourg he attended a convention in which fifteen nations are represented of the International Committee for the Protection of Birds. Before leaving this country he said, “Ten and one-half million song and insectivorous birds are killed in Belgium each year. In Italy, one of the most genteel sports of the nobility is the netting in wholesale lots of small birds. A smart house party thinks no more of netting a hundred or more song birds than a similar party in our land would think of a morning’s fishing. This wholesale slaughter of small birds is a serious menace as most of these birds are insect-eaters and their services are needed to combat those pests which continually war on crops [paper torn, word missing] made complaint of the brutal treatment by Germany during the world war, and this wholesale, brutal slaughtering of birds is but a shade less brutal, whether in Belgium or America. It’s an inexcusable brutality, whether war on man or birds, it’s the measure of our boasted civilization and the safety of disarmament. Until we can get far enough advanced in the tenderloins of our civilization so that we can lay down our arms against the cruel and needless slaughtering of our song birds. It’s a silly, senseless waste of time discussing how man can disarm against man.”

Clipping. From the Congregationalist the following is taken:

“There will be widespread rejoicing that Franconia Notch, in the White Mountains, has been saved from ruin as one of the scenic treasures of America. The New Hampshire legislature has voted an appropriation of $200,000 for the purchase of the land which includes the famous rock profile, the Old Man of the Mountains. The hotel people who owned this wonderfully beautiful tract among the mountains wished to sell it, and it was in danger of going into the hands of lumbermen. The Profile House at the head of the Franconia Notch was a part of the property, which became financially unprofitable to the owners when that big hotel burned a few years ago [1923], and the owners did not care to take the heavy financial risk of rebuilding.

“The mountains forming the walls of the Notch include Lafayette, Lincoln and Liberty on the north, and Cannon Mountain on the south. The profile is part of an overhanging cliff on Canon or Profile Mountain. Within the Notch is Profile lake, the Flume and other rocky wonders of nature, while forests add to the beauty of mountain-side, lake shore and all the lower land.”

It is certainly encouraging that amidst the wasteful wreckage of nature in this excessively materialistic age we are not so hopeless but what we can come to the rescue of mountain, forest, lake, river, trout stream, bird, flower and innocent frisking wild life, including the New England crow who has been eating spring wheat at the Old Oaken Bucket farm, and foxes catching the poultry of recent date. “Breathes there a man with soul so dead who never to himself hath said, this is my own, my native land?”[2] If we wish to say this with all of its ideal meaning we will quit our unnecessary assault and battery on nature and save something from the wreckage of this unbalanced cash age.

Church Notes. First Church (Unitarian)—Sunday service at 4 p.m. Preacher, Rev. Frank B. Crandall, the minister. Subject, “God our father and our mother.” Church school at 3.

The May meetings and the celebration of the centenary of the American Unitarian association[3] will be held next week in Boston.

On Sunday the preacher’s discourse will be in recognition of Mothers’ Sunday. He will point out the connection between the cult of goodnesses and virgins in old religions and the idea of the motherhood of God.

Graniteville. Joseph Wall, local fish and game warden, now has some pheasant eggs which he will gladly give to anyone for hatching purposes. All who raise these chicks are requested to liberate them when they mature.

The children of the Sargent school held a cake and candy sale at the school on last Thursday afternoon. The money realized on the affair will be used to purchase material for the field day that will be held at the Whitney playground in Westford on Saturday afternoon, May 23.

The Westford academy baseball team defeated the Lunenburg high school team in Westford on last Tuesday afternoon by the score of 8 to 2.

The Abbot Junior baseball team have open dates for May and June and would like to hear from clubs whose average age is sixteen years. Address Harry Carbo, manager, Graniteville.

The Abbot Worsted baseball club of the Boston Twilight league opened the season here on last Sunday when they defeated the Boston Checker Taxi team by the score of 7 to 4. Battery for Abbots, Greenhalgh, Boyce and Dee; for Checker Taxi, Mulrenann, Shea and Ashworth.

Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Carr left last Saturday for Ashby, where they will reside in the future.

Abbot “C” soccer team won their eighteenth straight victory of the season by defeating the Norwegian-Americans at the Cooper street grounds in Lynn last Sunday in the semi-final of the Junior Bay State championship series, 7 to 1.

Ayer

Death. Rebecca M. (Woodman) Webber, widow of the late Henry Harrison Webber, passed away this Friday morning at 5:30, aged 75 years, 5 months, 7 days, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. George H. Chandler, where she has been tenderly cared for in these latter days. She was born in Buxton, Me., the daughter of Elisha and Elizabeth (Elwell) Woodman. She married Henry H. Webber in Buxton in 1873. Mr. Webber died December 8, 1913. Of this marriage two sons and two daughters survive the deceased: Mrs. George H. Chandler and Charles H. Webber of this town; Mrs. Joseph Sargent of Providence, R. I., and George S. Webber of West Groton. There are also eight grandchildren. Mrs. Webber leaves three sisters and brothers: Mrs. Ida Whitney of Westford; Mrs. Lizzie Tilton of Biddeford, Me.; Mrs. Myra Harvey of Old Orchard, Me., and Frank Woodman of South Lyndeboro, N. H.

Mrs. Webber has lived here thirty-eight years. She spent the winters in Providence, R. I., with her daughter, Mrs. Sargent, returning here early last month. The general infirmities of old age caused her death.

Funeral services will be held from the home of Mrs. George H. Chandler Sunday afternoon at 2 o’clock. Interment will be at Woodlawn cemetery [in Ayer].

Real Estate Transfers. The following real estate transfers have been recorded from this vicinity recently:

Westford, Joseph T. Brodeaur et al. to Antoine Caza et ux.; Henry L. Williams to M. Rosanna Crosette, land on Groton road.

Harvard

News Items. A most enjoyable evening was given to all who attended the meeting of the Grange on Tuesday evening. Prescott Grange, of Pepperell, to the number of thirty-five, came down to neighbor and to furnish entertainment for the evening. They were a breezy lot of young and older Grangers who came with “pep” and had the faculty of instilling into everyone the same spirit. Their entertainment was given as follows: Piano selection, Alice Powers; reading, Bertha McMahon; piano selection, Helen Gibbons; reading, William Blood; piano selection, Harold Martin; just a few local bits by Rufus Palmer, and then a farce, “A picked-up dinner,” all the numbers being especially well given. A lunch of sandwiches, coffee, cake and cheese was served by the home Grange. Visitors were present from Ayer, Groton and Westford.

Shirley

News Items. G. Walter Dadmun, of Boston, and Miss Eleanor Davis, of Westford, spent the week-end at the home of Mr. Dadmun, Center road.

[1] This is a quote from Matthew 13:54: “And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?”

[2] This quote is from the 1805 poem “The Lay of the Last Minstrel” by the Scottish novelist, poet and historian Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832).

[3] “The American Unitarian Association (AUA) was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it consolidated with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Universalist Association.

“The AUA was formed [May 26,] 1825 in the aftermath of a split within New England’s Congregational churches between those congregations that embraced Unitarian doctrines and those that maintained Calvinist theology.” Quoted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Unitarian_Association.

The First Parish in Westford dismissed its Congregational minister Caleb Blake in 1827 and voted “to let Universalists, Baptists, ‘new’ society use [the] Meeting House.” In 1828 Leonard Luce was called as pastor of the new Union Congregational Church, and Ephraim Randall was called to serve the First Parish Congregational (Unitarian) Church. The Unitarian Church continued to use the First Parish Church building on Main Street, and in 1829 the Congregational Church built a new church on Lincoln Street, now the Parish Center for the Arts (PCA). See George E. Downey, A History of the First Parish of Westford (1975), pp. 94-97.