North Westford was her home for all her life!
By James VanBever
It is believed that Bernice Gould’s family farm was built on land that was granted by the King of England. As each of the original owner’s offspring married, sections of the land were given to each family member. One portion of land was given to the Wright family, Bernice’s mother was a Wright. Just before the American Civil War the Wright property was purchased by Edwin Gould who was Bernice Gould’s great grandfather. As Bernice once recalled, “The farm was built by a Wright, one of my mother’s ancestors, and it was purchased by my great grandfather, Edwin Gould. So you see, I inherited the farm from both sides of the family.”
She would later recollect that her farm was like a miniature Sturbridge Village “because it contained the following: a working farmhouse and barn, apple orchard and a cider mill, a forge, clay for brick making, and two one-room schoolhouses”. Bernice went on to proudly say that “The farm has been in my family for approximately 200 years, and I venture to say that at the present time I’m probably the only person in town or at least one of the very few people in town living on the family homestead.”
Bernice Gould was born on the family farm in 1915, daughter of Edwin and Luella (Wright_) Gould. She attended Sargent School in Graniteville, and graduated from Westford Academy in 1932 where she was a member of the Pro Merito Society. After graduating from Westford Academy, Miss Gould entered Simmons College and graduated from Simmons with a degree in English and Journalism in 1936. She would continue her studies with a six-week course at Harvard University. Bernice would then work at Cherry and Webb Department Store in Lowell and would teach at Lowell Trade, Tyngsboro, and Westford. In 1941, she married longtime Westford resident Albert Picking who resided on Keyes Road. Albert was a graduate of Lowell Textile and was an overseer for the Abbot Worsted Company in Westford.
As mentioned, Bernice’s family roots began with the founding of the country. Her love of America and sense of history carried on to her lifetime association with the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mrs. Picking qualified for membership in the DAR through Pri. and ser. Jonathan Woodward of Dunstable since “she was a great-granddaughter of a daughter of the American Revolution and eligible for membership through both branches of her parent’s families.” Bernice would later call on her education from Simmons College when she authored a book on this organization entitled You Named It.
Mrs. Picking was responsible for founding the Colonel John Robinson DAR Chapter of Westford. Forming the chapter was not an easy task. It took quite a bit of work on Bernice’s part to accomplish this goal. The first step was to get approval from the National Society of the DAR. This was accomplished by Picking’s being selected by the state branch of the Daughters of the American Revolution and being referred to the national chapter. In the meantime, the local chapter had to develop its own rules and bylaws. It took ten years for the Colonel John Robinson Chapter of the DAR to get approved, mostly through the efforts of Mrs. Picking.
In the fall of 1947, Bernice held the first meeting of the Colonel John Robinson Chapter of the Daughters of the
American Revolution. She would become the chapter’s first regent or president. From 1980 to 1983, Mrs. Picking served as Secretary of State for the Massachusetts DAR. By the year 2000 the Colonel John Robinson DAR Chapter had forty-eight members and was still growing.
Aside from her association with the DAR, Bernice was also involved in a number of other civic and charitable organizations. She was a member of an ecumenical women’s church group, the Book and Thimble Club, Westford Academy Alumni Association, the Tadmuck Club, and a member of the Westford Historical Commission. She also served as president of the Merrimack Valley Simmons College Club.
During W.W.II, Mrs. Gould organized the “Tadmucks Observe Finnish Relief Day” which raised funds to purchase warm clothing and bedding for the people of war-torn Finland. In 1943, Bernice helped to coordinate a door to door fundraiser for the American Red Cross in Westford to help raise funds for the American war effort.
Bernice was also known for her love of animals. On one occasion, a family of baby hawks was found in an old tree that had been brought to a local landfill. Two of the young hawks were brought to the Gould’s home. Bernice did her best to care for the young raptors and one of them did survive. Bernice and Albert also raised St. Bernard dogs, and one of their dogs was a sister to a national champion. What’s more the couple was kept company in their kitchen by a talkative macaw named Dolly.
Today, Bernice and Albert’s farm, which was formerly known as Forest View Farm became the Meadowbrook Farm through the private/public partnership between the town of Westford and Bob Waskiewicz and the late Bob Webb. It has been preserved as a working farm.
Bernice died at the home she loved in 1996.
Sources:
“ Valley Simmons College Club to Nominate Officers for Next Year at May 27th Meeting,” Lowell Sun, May 11, 1937. P. 9.
Ibid. “Westford,” July 18, 1939, p.20.
Ibid. “Tadmucks Observe Finnish Relief Day,” February 14, 1940, p. 53.
Ibid. “Westford”, October 2, 1940, p. 29.
Ibid. “Picking-Gould Wedding: Academy Alumni Banquet,” June 16, 1941, p. 28.
Ibid. March 5, 1943, p. 34.
Ibid. January 13, 1957, p. 13.
Ibid. “Westford,” June 16, 1996.
“Meet your Neighbor,” Westford Eagle, February 7, 1980.
Kennedy, June W., Westford Recollections of Days Gone By, p. 315.
The Gould Farm
7 Gould Road, Westford
Four generations of the Gould family lived here and three successive Gould family Golden Wedding Anniversaries were celebrated in this house which is well over 200 years old. Former owners and occupants were Mr. and Mrs. Edwin H. Gould (1883-1966), and their son-in-law and daughter, Albert H. and Bernice (Gould) Picking. On the property is the old School House #8 which had been on Tenney Road. In 1941, Albert Picking bought the old school house from George Burke and moved it to the Gould Farm to use as a blacksmith shop and storage shed. The school house was restored in 2011.
In 1998 Bob Webb and Bob Waskiewicz (nicknamed the “Two Bobs”) negotiated with the town to create a unique ownership arrangement. It is now called Meadowbrook Farm. Today there are two rental units in the totally restored house, and the restored barn has horse stalls available for rent. Walking trails on town-owned land nearby are available to the public (Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), Colonel John Robinson Chapter, Old Houses of Westford 1957. Updated 2004-2022 by Harde & Day)
District #9 Schoolhouse
Later called the Lyon Schoolhouse and in 1895 it became,
the Wright Schoolhouse
Located at 125-127 Groton Road
Prepared by Marilyn Day
From June Kennedy’s photograph collection
The schoolhouse was built about 1854 according to the assessor’s database. When the schoolhouse closed in 1901, students then went to the Sargent School. While empty, it was used by the Fortnightly Club. It was auctioned off by the town in 1925 and purchased for $425 by Horace and Edwin Gould who remodeled it into rental property as a two-family residence. In fact, Geoff Hall will tell you he lived here as a young child with his siblings and parents until they built on North Street.
Mary Jane Russell, b. 11 Oct. 1832 at Bow, N.H., d. 26 Feb. 1914 at St. Luke’s Hospital, Denver, Colo. Mary Jane married at Westford, as his 2nd wife, 26 Nov. 1863, Winthrop Faulkner Wheeler of Westford. Her obituary stated, “In 1856 she commenced school teaching in the Lyon schoolhouse in Westford and later taught in Concord, N.H.” Turner’s Public Spirit, 7 March 1914
At the annual town meeting held 15 February 1925, article 53 stated:
Voted that the Selectmen be authorized and empowered in the name and behalf of the Town to sell whatever interest the Town may have in the land and buildings formerly known as No. 9 School House located upon the southerly side of the Groton Road, either at private sale at such price as the Selectmen may deem fair and reasonable, or at public auction, and to execute and deliver to the purchaser a deed of release of the interests of the Town therein. (1925 Annual town report, p. 20)
The Accountant’s Report stated under School Department: (p. 27)
Sale of School House 425.00
Expenditures, Selectmen: (p. 28)
Auction of School House 28.40
The date of the sale was 28 March 1925.
1925 Tax Valuations: Westford Property Exempt from Taxation included the Lyon School, Land ½ acre $100.
1935 Tax Valuations: Gould, E. H. and H. E. … schoolhouse $1000, schoolhouse lot ½ acres $100,
(Edwin H. and Horace E. Gould)
The deed in 1989, bk 4946, p. 124 is for the sale from the estate of Edwin H. Gould and Bernice (Gould) Picking to Bernice and her husband Albert Picking and refers to the property coming from her father, Edwin H. Gould and refers to his probate, 412630.