Turner's Public Spirit, September 6, 1924

A look back in time to a century ago

By Bob Oliphant

Center.  The supper given by the Unitarian church on September 19 will be a patriotic supper, as this is national defense day.

William E. Wright and family spent the weekend in Providence, R.I.

Miss Lillian Sutherland assumed her duties as teacher at the Pollard school, Billerica, Wednesday.

The many Westford friends of Miss Lila Fisher [nee Eliza Capen Fisher] will be interested to know that she is at Indian Harbor, Labrador, where the world flyers made a landing.  Miss Fisher, who is a teacher in Boston. has been teaching in Labrador all summer.  The teaching of the inhabitants of this bleak island is one of the many important things accomplished by the Grenfell Mission.

Mrs. Francis Banister has been a recent guest at the home of her son in Center Strafford, N.H.

Mr. and Mrs. Louis Robbins were the guests of the latter’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fred McCoy, over the holiday.

Mr. and Mrs. S. A. Studer and daughter Blanche, Mrs. Blanche Parsons and Master Lawrence Kluge, of Gloucester, were the guests of Mrs. Harry Whiting over the holiday.

Mr. and Mrs. William Roudenbush were at Newfound Lake, N.H., last week.

Master Herbert Ingalls has returned from his vacation which was spent at Whalom Park and with relatives in North Chelmsford.

The annual fair and harvest supper of the Congregational church will be held at the town hall on Friday afternoon and evening, September 19.  It is hoped that the contributions of flowers, vegetables, fruits, etc., for the exhibit will be large.

Mr. and Mrs. William Cunningham and son have been enjoying a week’s vacation, spending much of the time in visiting the beaches.

Mr. and Mrs. Don Judd are the guests of relatives in Northern Vermont.  Howard and Miss Edith Judd, who have also been in Vermont, have returned home.

Capt. Sherman H. Fletcher, Alonzo H. Sutherland, Howard Ferguson and Austin D. Fletcher returned on Monday from an enjoyable auto trip over the Mohawk Trail.

Fred Hanscom recently enjoyed an auto ride to Bass Rocks, East Gloucester.

Miss Lillian Potter, of the Malden hospital, is the guest of her sister, Mrs. William Cunningham.

All the schools in town opened on Wednesday with the exception of the Sargent school in Graniteville, which will reopen on September 15.

[paper torn, line or two missing] broke, badly cutting his left arm.  At last reports the injured member was improving.

Mrs. Grace Millett, who was the guest of her aunts, the Misses Atwood [4 Graniteville Road], for three weeks, has returned to Chelmsford.

Dr. and Mrs. E. C. Atwood, of Daytona, Fla., are the guests of the Misses Lillian, Sarah and May Atwood.

It was with great regret that many of the townspeople learned of the death of Prof. John Adams Taylor, whose body was taken from the Niagara river, near Niagara Falls, N.Y., last week, and the sympathy of the whole community is extended to the bereaved family.

Holiday guests of Mrs. A. H. Sutherland were Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Dunham, of Keene, N.H., Miss May Dunham, of Swanzey, N.H., Mrs. George Cameron, of Somerville, and Mr. and Mrs. David Olsson, of Brookside.

Alfred Tuttle and sister, Miss Ruth, returned last week Friday from an enjoyable auto camping trip to the White Mountains, N.H., and through Vermont.

Miss Mattie A. Crocker, of Brockton, is the guest of Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Knight.

Miss Blanche Lawrence, of the Frost school, is boarding at Mrs. Adeline Buckshorn’s.  Hiram Taylor, Miss Gotberg and Mr. Rowe are taking their meals at Mrs. John K. Felch’s.  Mr. Rowe and Mr. Taylor have rooms at Mrs. Perley Wright’s, and Miss Gotberg has a room at the home of Mrs. William Roudenbush. [These are apparently all teachers from out of town who roomed in Westford Center.]

About Town.  Frederick Whitten, who has been carrying on his father’s farm on the Lowell road, has moved to Chelmsford and become manager for Mr.  Dunsford on his attractive estate at Chelmsford Center.[1]

There was a successful poultry demonstration on last week Friday at the reservation [sic] of Ralph Bridgford on the Providence road.

At the annual reunion of the Decatur family at Nabnassett Frank Decatur, of Dover, N.H., was elected as president and Fred Naylor, of Knopp’s pond, Groton, vice president.

Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Gould and daughter Bernice, and Miss Lillian G. Wright have recently returned from a very interesting motor trip through New York and New Jersey.

Miss Ruth Lawton and two children, Gladys and Paul, have been in town for a few days.

Mr. and Mrs. Fred Tibbetts and daughter Beatrice, of Hartford, Conn., have been recent guests of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Gould.

Mrs. Emma Wright and Miss Stella Chandler have been spending a few days at Hampton Beach.

Mrs. George Chandler has been visiting relatives in Newburyport.

Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Woods are visiting in Hollis, N.H.

The Alliance will hold a patriotic supper in the town hall on Friday evening September 12.  The affair is planned in recognition of Defense Test day and it is expected that official representatives of the G.A.R., Westford Legion and Auxiliary will be guests of honor.  Rev. C. G. Robbins of Lawrence has been invited to give the principal address.  The musical program includes vocal solos by Mrs. Benjamin Derby of Concord Junction and instrumental music by the Precious orchestra.  The minister, Rev. Frank B. Crandall, will speak briefly concerning the patriotic aspect of the day.

Obituary.  The death of Prof. John Adams Taylor, in the prime of young manhood, brings sorrow to a large circle of friends and relatives.  He was the son of Samuel Law Taylor and the late Alta M. Taylor and was born at the Taylor homestead Westford, on April 8, 1883.  He graduated from Westford academy with valedictory rank and entered Amherst college, graduating in the class of 1905 magna cum laude, with final honors in philosophy and special honors in debating and oratory.  He belonged to the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and to the Phi Beta Kappa society, the national honorary society of scholars.  In 1909 he graduated from the Emerson School of Oratory and was the valedictorian of his class.  In the same year he received the degree of Master of Arts from his alma mater for his graduate work.  He was instructor at Ricker Classical Institute, Houlton, Me., instructor in English and oratory at Mercersburg academy, Pennsylvania, and acting professor of public speaking at Miami university, Oxford, Ohio.

Since 1910 he had been a member of the faculty at the University of North Dakota, at the time of his death being associate professor of English and public speaking, with full charge of the work in debating and oratory.  During his service at the university he organized and built up the forensic activities to a high degree of distinction in intercollegiate circles.  During the past year he had a sabbatical leave of absence, spending the year in graduate study at the University of Michigan.  While there he took high honors in his work, completing one year of preparation toward his Ph.D. degree.  He also enjoyed the distinction of being a teaching member of the staff in the department of public speaking.

This summer he spent in travel abroad.  Upon his return he made a short visit at his father’s home.  His death occurred when journeying westward to join his wife in Cincinnati and to resume his work at the University of North Dakota.

During the world war he volunteered for service overseas with [the] Y.M.C.A., and was given [a very] responsible position at Dijon [France in] charge of the education [paper torn].  Later, he was transferred [paper torn] [to the educational] corps [of the United States] army and was [paper torn] inspection [of educational facilities at Army] camps. [two lines missing mentioning his marriage to Almira Jewett daughter] of the late William Cornell Jewett and Mrs. Jewett.  She graduated from the University of Cincinnati and from the Art academy of Cincinnati.

Prof. Taylor belonged to various organizations and had held many positions of honor.  He was a charter member of the Sons of the American Revolution in North Dakota, vice president of the State society, S.A.R., and vice president of the Red River Valley chapter, Sons of the American Revolution in Grand Forks.  He had served as president of the Phi Beta Kappa society of North Dakota.  He was a member of the Masonic lodge at Grand Forks and of the Plymouth Congregational church there.

The deceased is survived by his wife; his father, Samuel L. Taylor, of this town; two sisters, Mrs. George Howard, of Bound Brook, N.J., and Mrs. F. A. Snow, of West Chelmsford, and a brother, William R. Taylor, of this town, and four nephews.

Prof. Taylor was the finest type of a man, friendly and genial, public-spirited, always upholding the highest ideal in life.  Gifted, full of enthusiasm and energy, he made a success of whatever he undertook, whether it was in the line of dramatics, debates, public speaking or teaching.  He won for himself a large place in the hearts of his colleagues and his students.  He was considered one of North Dakota’s most popular speakers, performing a large service for the university in the lecture field, and was widely known throughout the middle west as a brilliant and witty speaker.

Funeral services were held on Wednesday afternoon at three o’clock and were conducted by Rev. Everett E. Jackman of the Highland Union M.E. church of Lowell, and Rev. Edward D. Disbrow of the Union Congregational church, Westford.  Interment was in the family lot at Fairview cemetery.

A descendant of a long line of pioneer settlers of our country, he now rests among the hills of the New England he so devotedly loved.

Church Notes.  First church (Unitarian)—Sunday service at four p.m.  Preacher, Rev. Frank B. Crandall, the minister.  Subject, “The wilderness and the promised land.”

With the coming of next month all the organizations of the church will have begun their programs of activity for the ensuing year.  They will have printed and distributed in advance programs of meetings and work for the year.

On Sunday the preacher will indicate, in outline, the nature of service to the individual and to the community that a modern church has before it as it begins a new season of work.

Graniteville.  Rev. E. C. Mitchell, the pastor of the Sacred Heart and St. James’ churches in Groton, is now planning a big field day that will be held at the Frank Lawrence Blood park, Groton, September 13.  A committee consisting of Joseph Cleary, Mrs. Josephine Gainey Cheasty and Mrs. Mary Sheedy has general charge.  There will be sports of all kinds and one of the principal attractions will be the exhibition of high jumping by horses owned by Peter Roche, of Leominster.  A Clambake will be held in the evening, to be followed by dancing.  The Groton band will furnish music during the day.

The Abbot Worsted team, which lost out for the second half championship in the Boston Twilight league, will start a series of games with the Alesia club of North Chelmsford next week.  This will be a real series, as both clubs are fast and are great rivals.

Owing to repairs being made on the Sargent school building, the fall term will not open until September 15.

The Abbot Worsted Soccer club will open the season at Forge Village on Saturday with the Saylesville, R.I., club as opponents.  Both clubs are members of the National Soccer league.  The Abbots intend to have a strong club this season.

John R. Green spent the weekend with friends at Lake Winnipesaukee.

Mr. and Mrs. John J. Payne and daughter Madeline are now visiting relatives in Moore, Pa.  The trip was made by auto.  Miss Alice Riney returned home with them.

Mr. and Mrs. Mark Flaherty, of Portland, Me., are spending a few days as the guests of Mrs. Caroline Prinn.

The mills of the Abbot Worsted Co., which were closed for the holidays, started up at the usual hour on Tuesday morning.

Martin Frawley, night watchman for the C. S. Sargent Sons Corp., is spending a few days at Hampton Beach.

Dr. and Mrs. Fabyan Packard, with their little daughter Carolyn, motored to Denmark, Me., for the weekend, where they visited their son Edwin at Camp Winona, where he spent the summer.  Edwin will return with them for the opening of school.

Master Justin Layton, who has been stopping with his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. F. L. Furbush these past few days, has returned to his home in Worcester.

Clipping.  The following is taken from the Lowell Courier-Citizen:

Press dispatches last Saturday indicated that the body of a man taken from the Niagara river near Niagara Falls, N.Y., had been identified as that of Prof. John Adams Taylor, instructor of English, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, N.D., a former Westford man.  Prof. Taylor was forty-one years old and married.  Identification of the body was made by W. R. Taylor of Westford, a brother, and Frederick A. Snow of Lowell, a brother-in-law.

Prof. Taylor had been on his way to his wife’s home in Cincinnati.  He had just completed a tour of Europe, and after spending a short time with relatives in Westford, had started west.  Relatives last heard from him from Buffalo.  After waiting a week for further word from him his relatives went to seek him.

Prof. Taylor was a native of Westford and was one of the most prominent men that that town has produced.  A graduate of Amherst college, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and of Emerson College of Oratory, he was at once a brilliant speaker and a learned teacher.

Mrs. W. R. Taylor, of Westford, sister-in-law of Prof. Taylor told a representative of the Courier-Citizen Saturday that the members of his family are at a loss to account for his death.  She said that Mr. Taylor and Mr. Snow had telephoned to her and to Mrs. Snow Friday concerning the identification, which they said had not been established beyond a doubt because of the fact that the body had been taken from the river over a week ago.  They were awaiting further information from Niagara.

Prof. Taylor had been absent from the University of North Dakota for the past year on his sabbatical year.  He had spent most of the time studying English at Ann Arbor, Mich.  This summer he went abroad to travel and study.  His wife, Mrs. Almira Jewett Taylor, of Cincinnati, had been unable to accompany him.  He returned recently and on last Thursday (August 21) left Westford, where he had been paying a visit to his relatives, to rejoin his wife in Cincinnati.  He was in the best of spirits when he left, his relatives say.

Prof. Taylor was a graduate of Westford academy, Amherst college and Emerson College of Oratory.  He had held several instructorships before going to the University of North Dakota.  He was married to Miss Almira Jewett, of Cincinnati, on July 12, 1921.

He is survived, beside his wife, by his father, Samuel L. Taylor, an old and respected resident of Westford; two sisters, Mrs. Frederick A. Snow, of West Chelmsford, and Mrs. George Howard, of Bound Brook, N.J.; one brother, W. R. Taylor of Westford, and four nephews.

Ayer

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

Westford—Claude L. Allen to Adelbert A. Flanders, land on Pine Grove road; Claude L. Allen to Madeline F. Corey, land on Pine Grove road.

District Court.  On Tuesday morning Constantine Kostachka of Westford was before the court for assault and battery on Katherine Brobick of that town.  He was found guilty and fined $10.  On a charge of drunkenness he was found guilty and fined $10 also.

[1] This was probably the Wilson Kimball House at 54 Westford Street, Chelmsford Center, a Colonial Revival style home. Built in 1888, the house was sold to Reuben Dunstan in 1912 and remained in the Dunstan family for 42 years. See https://www.chelmsfordgov.com/CHCwebsite/PDF_files/Westford_54.pdf.