The Westford Wardsman, November 30, 1918
Center. Schools closed on Wednesday afternoon for the Thanksgiving vacation, lasting until Monday.
A call has been extended to Rev. O. L. Brownsey, of Northbridge Center, to become pastor of the Congregational church. Mr. Brownsey, who has occupied the pulpit two Sundays as a candidate, has accepted, and expects to get his goods moved next week and to begin his duties at once.
Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Prescott have moved to Lowell, where Mr. Prescott is employed in the cartridge shop.
Mrs. [Isaac] Edmund Day [nee Lucy Maria Whiting] observed her eighty-sixth birthday anniversary on last Saturday, which found her in good health, good spirits and the cheerful, appreciative outlook upon life, which makes the passing years worth while. Relatives came from Groton to spend the day and Mrs. Day was also the recipient of cards, gifts, greetings and good wishes from other friends. A handsome birthday cake, with initial and the dates 1832-1918, helped celebrate the event.
A daughter [Doris Signhild Peterson] was born to Mr. and Mrs. Peterson on Tuesday [Nov. 26]—a very welcome little visitor come to join a family of three sturdy brothers.
Mr. and Mrs. James L. Kimball spent the holiday with relatives in Quincy, and after having spent the autumn months in Westford, will go for the winter to Boston.
Mr. and Mrs. George F. White entertained a large family group at their home on Thanksgiving.
Mr. and Mrs. Abiel J. Abbot go this week to spend the winter months at Hotel Somerset, Boston.
A son [Gordon Hosmer MacDougall] was born to Mr. and Mrs. Allister MacDougall at their home in Northampton this week [Nov. 25, 1918]. Word also comes to the Westford relatives of the birth of a son to Mr. and Mrs. Ray Hamlin.
G. B. Watson is a patient at the Lowell General hospital, where he underwent an operation last Saturday. The operation was a serious and delicate one, caused from diseased conditions from a tooth. Mr. Watson is much better, but while the dressings are necessary will have to remain at the hospital.
Guests of Mr. and Mrs. L. W. Wheeler for over the holiday were Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Manchester, Arthur Manchester, Jr., and Miss Laura E. Manchester, of Newport, R.I.
Members of the Tadmuck club are again reminded of the club’s annual guest night to be held at the Congregational church on Tuesday evening at eight o’clock. Mrs. George F. White is the hostess for the evening and with an efficient committee is making attractive plans. Mrs. Frederick A. Snow has the entertainment in charge and has plans for a pleasant evening of music and readings. With the return to more nearly normal conditions an affair of this kind should be entered into with good spirit, and a good attendance is expected. Members are kindly reminded that annual dues should be paid to Mrs. Perley E. Wright in order to secure the guest tickets, which Mrs. Wright also has in charge.
The regular Red Cross meeting was omitted this week owing to the holiday, but will hold its regular meeting next week, and there is much necessary work on relief work for those in the war countries made so destitute and not yet able to help themselves as they [will] be later. There is to be a collection of clothing for Belgian relief, to be made at once. Please be as prompt in this matter as possible and bring your contributions to Library hall on library days, to be left in the upper rooms. Any clothing that can be mended is also acceptable. There has also come an appeal, this one for hospital furnishings, such as sheets, pillow slips, towels, handkerchiefs and napkins. Anyone wishing to help in this matter please communicate with the Red Cross chairman, Mrs. H. V. Hildreth.
Company L, M.S.G., held its regular weekly drill at the town hall on Tuesday evening.
About Town. The first farmers’ institute of the season, under the auspices of Middlesex-North Agricultural society, will be held at the town hall, Westford on Friday, December 13. The subject for the morning will be “Profitable farming in Eastern Massachusetts—at this time is it profitable to grow more grain?”; for the afternoon, “Fruit growing in Middlesex county, should it be increased and in what lines?” Dinner will be furnished by the ladies of the Union church. Wit and wisdom will be loosed from its bondage at the after-dinner recess. The writer has not been informed yet who will speak on the above topics, but announcement will be made next week.
Most all of us remember Charles W. Decatur, a native of the Lowell road, Westford, and one of the bright boys in the new old Stony Brook school. Here in town he spent his boyhood days, and in early manhood he went to Roseville, Cal., and entered business as carpenter contractor, and as such was successful. News now comes to Westford to his sister, Mrs. Frank C. [Aurilla Mary] Wright, of serious illness in his family from the widespread influenza. Of his three children, Clarence, four years old, has died. His wife and other two children are ill, and Charles is seriously ill, with lungs badly affected. His wife will be remembered as Miss Rose Adams, of Groton. Albert Decatur, long a familiar figure on the Lowell road, who is living in California with his brother, is just recovering from the influenza; also, Mr. Tracy, of Groton.
Mrs. Mabel Bayer, of Boston, the daughter of the late Albert E. Jenne [and wife of Charles W. Bayer], who died last week [Nov. 18 in Boston], was brought to town on Wednesday [Nov. 20] of last week and buried in Fairview cemetery. She was forty-seven years [11 months and 23 days] old. On last week Friday the remains of Miss Dorris G. Jenne were brought to town for burial in Fairview cemetery. She was a granddaughter of the late Albert E. Jenne [and daughter of Gardner E. and Eva A. Jenne]. She died in Boston [Nov. 20] at the age of nineteen years.
The Grange was enthusiastically attended at the last meeting, when the third and fourth degrees were conferred. The ladies degree team exemplified the third degree and the regular officers the fourth degree. This was followed by the election of officers, which resulted as follows: Clyde Prescott, m.; Fred A. Hanscom, o.; Fred Smith, lect.; Mrs. Frank C. Wright, sec.; Alonzo H. Sutherland, treas.; Clifford Johnson, stew.; Austin Fletcher, asst. stew.; Marion and Mildred Fletcher, Edna Sargent, Graces; Elvira Judd, l.a.s.; Fred A. Blodgett, member of executive committee. It was voted to send the master-elect and lecturer-elect as delegates to the meeting of the State Grange, which meets in Springfield on next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. A light lunch was served.
The farm and personal property of E. H. Schofield [sic], Main street, was sold at auction on Tuesday. The weather was bracing the ground with frost, so that farming was held up, and a large crowd gathered. The dinner was another incentive to a crowd. There was a tendency to bid as an exercise to keep warm, and prices felt the exercise. There was a great variety of running ware. The farm, consisting of eighty acres, woodland, fruit land, mowing land and trout brooks, house and barn was sold to Oscar R. Spalding for $4800. The Schofields have bought a small village farm in Billerica.
Representative-elect James H. Wilkins, of Carlisle, invited the republican town committees of the towns comprising the eleventh Middlesex district to a supper and social in the vestry of the Unitarian church, Carlisle, last Saturday evening. Among those who responded from Westford were Hon. Herbert E. Fletcher, Alfred W. Hartford and Herbert H. Hildreth. A break-down of automobile machinery prevented others from attending.
The next meeting of Middlesex-North Pomona Grange will be held in Odd Fellows’ hall, Lowell, Friday, December 6. The election of officers will take place in the morning, and interesting lectures are on the program in the afternoon, open to the public.
Mrs. Frank C. Wright, who does unusually well in the poultry line, had city orders for dressed poultry. She had twenty-four fowl for the market, which totaled 145 pounds when dressed, an average of six pounds apiece.
The West Chelmsford Methodist church had a splendid harvest concert last Sunday at six o’clock. Mrs. H. E. Fletcher, the energetic superintendent, had charge. Miss Margaret Reid very capably drilled the children. It was a good concert and the church full of people enjoyed it. Around the pulpit were grouped baskets of potatoes, apples and vegetables, boxes of cereal, etc., which people had brought as a thanksgiving contribution for Miss O’Leary’s home for children in Lowell. This lacks brains to some extent. Any ox that gets the upper hand can gore another. Or shall we try “He that would smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also, of “If a man take away thy coat, give him they cloak also?” These standards are ideal. But we are not squinting that way, for it is a lonesome road and the load is heavy. Whatever we mete out let us not get the worst of the metre by a recoil on the method and severity of vengeance. As far as William H. Kaiser [i.e., Kaiser Wilhelm II] & Company is concerned, it might be well to let the allied armies hang a suitable warning on the Christmas tree or suitably hang him to the tree.
At the meeting of the Grange Thursday evening, December 5, Mr. Trask, of the Middlesex County Farm Bureau, department of canning and food conservation, will be present and address the meeting, which will be open to the public. The prizes offered for canning will be awarded at this time. This address will be illustrated by stereopticon and will be a live affair worth the while to attend.
The electrics to Tyngsboro must continue to run and all other “don’t’ pay” in spots, as per order of the public services commission.
Recent Address. Rev. Louis H. Buckshorn spoke before the Tadmuck club on last week Tuesday afternoon. His informal talk was on “Current events—home and abroad.” At the beginning of his remarks he referred to an article in a recent number of the North American Review. 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":2401,"page":1},"signature":"809f532cc27ef8ee5e85cad0e8dd8957"} } const xhr = new XMLHttpRequest() xhr.open("POST", url, true) xhr.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "application/json;charset=UTF-8") xhr.send(JSON.stringify(body)) }) })();