USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Acton > History of the town of Acton > Part 32
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During this period also the north school was closed and absorbed at the Centre.
The concept of the horseless carriage goes back some four hun- dred and fifty years to that great scientific seer and artist Leonardo da Vinci, whose voluminous notes on numberless devices have astounded engineers for ages. In the United States the steamers and the gas cars emerged almost simultaneously. For a time inventors were nonplussed as to which type was the most hopeful to pursue but eventually the gas engine seemed to best solve the fuel problem. In 1893 the gas car invented by the brothers Charles and Frank Duryea became at least a laboratory fact. Production manufacture was still in the future. The United States records show that there were four cars registered in 1895, sixteen in 1896, ninety in 1897, and eight thousand in 1900.
According to the recollection of Dr. Wendell Davis and Mrs. Charles Smith the first car to be owned by an Actonite was a steamer purchased jointly by Mr. Charles Smith and his brother Albert. Mrs. Smith does not recall the make but it is certain that it was not a Stanley and that the date was not later than 1903.
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In the era marking the close of the nineteenth century Woodlawn Cemetery, although better kept than many rural burying grounds, presented some features which, although picturesque, have been eliminated for the better. The upper entrance, at the junction of Con- cord Road and Hosmer St., consisted of two granite posts with an old fashioned swinging gate. The opening was just wide enough for the carriages of that day. On either side stood several huge white pines. On the little plane just inside the gate there were ancient hem- locks that almost wholly obscured some of the tombstones. At twi- light it was an eerie and somber place. Now and then a lot would have on it a cast iron settee, usually painted white, of elaborate grillwork depicting sheaves of wheat, wreaths, and calla lillies, the function of which was to provide a place where the bereaved could sit and cogitate upon the departed. Rumor has it that upon occasion there were certain maladjusted individuals who indulged in this pastime at least every Sunday, if not oftener, except in the prohibitive weather of mid-winter.
In the old portion of the cemetery, and extending all the way to the present east wall, ground pink and sand violets grew by the acre and lady's slipper thrived among the pines along the bank of the Rocky Guzzle. In the blooming season it was a sight to behold.
Nevertheless, the Acton youngster, while contemplating these beau- ties of nature could not avoid noticing the melancholy epitaphs that thrust themselves upon his consciousness and agitated his night thoughts. Three of these samples of tombstone literature, here given, were not likely to put verve and sparkle into his eye.
Josiah Hayward died May 6, 1783 at the age of seventy six and left this admonition for survivors:
Whoever you be that see my hearse, Take notice of and learn this verse, For by it you may understand, You have not time at your command.
James Fletcher was killed December 9, 1815 by the falling of a tree, and the family felt that the following was apropos:
The rising morning don't assure That we shall end the day, For death stands ready at the door To snatch our lives away.
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Another victim, name undecipherable, has his demise summed up in these words:
I was sore sick, nigh unto death, Physicians were in vain, Until the good Lord pitied me And eased me from my pain.
Concerning its location in Acton the writer is ignorant but surely somewhere the following epitaph should abide. It was popular in the era and has been found in diverse forms in many states.
Pause my friend as you pass by, As you are now so once was I. As I am now so you shall be, Prepare for death and follow me.
Legend has it that some skeptical wag, undoubtedly well acquainted with the deceased, added the following to a monument in one burying ground:
To follow you I'm not content Until I know which way you went.
In some cases it appears certain that the sentiments expressed were prepared in advance by the deceased. One cannot forego the notion, however, that the stonecutters of that bygone age, inspired by the monotonous cadence of the hammer and chisel, permitted their subconscious minds to indulge in flights of rhyme and had in readiness an assortment of drab quatrains to submit upon request.
We must not relinquish the topic of human mortality without point- ing out that while our early forebears knew they could not win against the grim reaper they did have recourse to means of tempering his victory. A representative of one of Acton's most prominent families volunteered the following bill for incidental funeral expenses sub- mitted by the widow after the death of her husband in December of 1803.
10 Gals. Medford Rum L
3 8 . 4 .
2 do Brandy
- 16
-
1 Qt. Gin
-
2
-
2 lumps sugar 151/2 lbs.
1
.
3
. 3
31/2 lbs Rice
1
.
6
1/4 lb. Hyson Tea, 1 lb. Coffee
4 . 6 .
L 5 .15 . 7
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF ACTON
PART VI
1900 - 1950
Throughout its modern career Acton has been, with rare exceptions, dry on the liquor question. With Maynard so readily available it was considered a good idea to keep the town officially arid. Even the heavy drinkers among the substantial citizens concurred in the opinion. This bent of the public mind resulted in dry majorities previous to 1900. Three times during the 1880's the wet contingent polled not a single vote, the greatest debacle being a defeat of 148 to 0 in 1884.
In 1900, however, those of the wet persuasion did a rare bit of spade work and scored a near miss of 86 to 89. According to the drys the town had lost its self respect if not its soul. In consequence the vote of the next year was a rousing NAY by 186 to 136. Thereafter placidity reigned until 1907 and 1908 when the wets prevailed by squeeky margins and then proceded to score a knockout blow in 1910 by 193 to 174.
Thereafter prohibition became the law of the land and the wet vote failed to recover even after the amendment was repealed. In one election only eleven "YES" votes were cast. With the arrival of the automobile as a common carrier the sale of liquor in Acton became more or less academic. Even the confirmed drinkers preferred to enjoy a sort of pseudo virtue by driving to Maynard or Concord.
With the arrival of the modern package store, however, the town slowly lapsed in its teetotal convictions and now countenances their existence. The 1952 vote was 1323 to 540.
Throughout the era of these battles it must not be assumed, how- ever, that all was harmony and rectitude. It was sometimes inferred among the elite that only the riff-raff, the drummer trade, and the railway laborers patronized the two or three suspected sub-rosa dispenseries, but this view was not one that could be defended with profound conviction. The various town officers, being human, varied in their allegiance to their duties upon occasion and were not above giving warning of an intended swoop by the authorities. Now and then, however, a raid would be staged that was a bonafide surprise, in which event most anything could happen, as for instance the case when the former American House in South Acton was taken com- pletly unawares by an enforcement group sufficiently ardent and so lacking in gallantry as to haul out of bed a decidedly irate and verbose female along with some three dozen bottles of hard liquor.
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Upon another occasion the proprietor of a different hostelry felt grievously abused when the officers, having unearthed a considerable cache in a pile of stable manure, forced him to wash it thoroughly and then polish the bottles in order that the evidence might be presented in its pristine beauty at the district court in Concord.
The next item, although having no connection with the foregoing seems worthy of mention in view of the light it throws upon the changing scene. So long have we lived in a war economy where wages are high and no man who is willing needs to seek a job that the facts of 1900 jar us a bit. In that year four hundred and seventy tramps were housed and fed at the town farm. By securing a permit from the town clerk they could find shelter for the night in a bunk house built for the purpose. The fare was not abundant, it consisted of crackers and water, and in addition they were made to do a modest stint of work on the woodpile before being fed.
In 1901 several firsts were added to Acton's lengthening list of civic responsibilities. Mr. Charles J. Williams was made tree warden and his first annual report states that with the able assistance of W. F. Stevens and Moses A. Reed the beautiful trees on the Common and along the highway by Woodlawn Cemetery had been properly preserved. In closing he made the request that a definite appropri- ation be envisaged in perpetuity in order that one of the town's crowning distinctions be not lost by neglect.
This Mr. Williams was a colorful character who deserves a bit of special mention, particularly since in the same year he was placed on the newly formed Board of Health. He was a bachelor of excellent education, determined mind, and sufficient private income to live in complete independence. For years he served on the school committee and for a time was post master at East Acton where he resided with his mother, likewise a peppery citizen with a local reputation. Mr. Williams was interested in Acton and, situated as he was, filled his several offices with distinction, caring not a whit whose toes were pinched so long as the town business was transacted with economy and dispatch.
Consequently when he and Dr. Frank Barker and Dr. Frank Tasker became Acton's first Board of Health no great time elapsed before the fur began to fly. First off 277 school children were vac- cinated for small pox. Immediately thereafter certain more or less nonchalant citizens began to find that their elementary notions of refuse disposal were about to get them into trouble. Dr. Barker was an up and coming physician and surgeon with small time or patience for the unsick hypochondriac. In a poor laborer's home, on a kitchen table by the light of a small kerosene lamp at midnight, he once performed an emergency operation for gall stones on an
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eighty year old woman with such success that she enjoyed several years of good health. Courage and energy were characteristic of the man. Hence it is not surprising to record that certain townspeople not overly concerned about the personal cleanliness of their offspring were one day amazed to see them arrive home with heads shaved as smooth as the proverbial billiard ball in consequence of the good doctor's vendetta against head lice.
Still another innovation was the passing of an ordinance making official the practice of perpetual care in the town cemeteries. This idea was first begun in a desultory way in 1890. Simultaneously it was decided that in addition to the markers identifying the soldiers of the War of the Revolution and the War of the Rebellion additional distinctive markers should be set for those who participated in the War of 1812, the Seminole War and the Mexican War.
Lastly, in this year of many innovations, the town took over the street lighting and hired lamplighters for the several villages.1 Each was supplied with a fifty gallon tank for the storage of kerosene, two sets of lamps (of copper or tin) in order that they might be alternated from night to night, and a charge account at the local stores for wicks and chimneys. The empties were filled with sufficient oil, depending upon the season of the year, so that the light would burn out just before dawn. On the naive basis that half the nights of each month were moonlight the lamplighter was engaged to supply illumination only for the sixteen nights during the "dark of the moon". If rains prevailed in the off period and it was dark as pitch those who ventured out had to make the best of it. If the lamplighter had no horse he used a hand cart or a sled according to the season and carried a six foot ladder to reach the taller lamps. Now and then the glass of the outside casings would crack or work loose so that in rainy, blustery weather the hot chimneys would break and the burning lamp would soot up the interior to the thickness of half an inch in the course of a night. In the winter washing with water was out of the question. If the reader thinks ice is difficult to handle let him try manipulat- ing barehanded a wet kerosene rag at twenty below zero in a gale. The remuneration was between fifty cents and a dollar per night depending upon the number of lamps. The author, speaking from several years experience, can assert with feeling that the job was no sinecure from November to April.
Early in 1902 Mr. Alvin Lothrop, a native of South Acton who had become successful as a merchant in the nation's capitol, noticed on one of his visits to the old home the almost primitive way in which the
1 The first corps of lamplighters consisted of Fred Green at West Acton, Charles Brodeur at South Acton, Benjamin Ineson at the Centre and Michael Hayes at East Acton. In the case of eight outlying citizens the town made: reimbursement at the rate of $3.50 per year.
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local roads were being built and as a result offered to contribute immediately a thousand dollars towards a stone crusher. As a con- sequence of this gift and others which supplemented it Acton installed the crusher on the site of the present home of Mr. Robert Stow and purchased a steam roller in addition. With this machinery, an un- limited supply of old stone walls and loose boulders that could be obtained gratis, together with the integrity, know-how, and industry of its three road commissioners, Mr. William H. Kingsley, Mr. Anson C. Piper, and Mr. Albert H. Perkins, the town soon had excellent water bound macadam highways long before any neighboring com- munities of comparable size.
Mr. Lothrop was born July 3, 1847 in the old homestead now occupied by his niece, Miss Mary Lothrop. It is a point to be noted that he was one of four in his school class who made for themselves a place in the world, namely, Sophia Faulkner, Corinna Shattuck, and George White, all of whom are mentioned in detail elsewhere.
Mr. Lothrop began his mature career under the tutelage of Mr. J. K. W. Wetherbee in the store of Tuttle, Jones and Wetherbee. In due course he went to Boston where he met S. Walter Woodward and established both a freindship and a partnership that lasted throughout his life. The company of Woodward and Lothrop had several locations in and about Boston, the last being in Chelsea whence it moved to Washington D. C. in 1880. The business grew apace and expanded into its present huge quarters at 10th, 11th, F and G Streets. Mr. Lothrop died in 1912 but the grandchildren have established their competence to successfully conduct the large enterprise. There are several large branches, the latest addition having been opened in Alexandria in 1952.
Mr. Lothrop never lost touch with his home town. He loved to return and look over its rolling acres as he sat on a stone wall with some former school mate and chatted of the days gone by. It was ever a joy to him to have Actonites drop in at the Washington store. His sunny disposition was a blessing since his wife's illness and the death of a daughter threw the cares of home, as well as business, upon him with full force.
An article in the warrant for the same year brings back some inter- esting memories for the older generation. It was voted to appropriate one hundred dollars for four band concerts in each village, to be given by the ACTON CADET BAND, a group of some twenty or more musicians of amateur ability but surpassing willingness and vigor. Due to the activities of the Improvement Societies each village already had a band stand as an adjunct to the occasional lawn parties that were held during the summer season. The one at the South Village was much more ornate. It had a fancy roof and was painted tan with
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brown trimmings. It stood at a point almost exactly half way between the present post office and the residence of Mr. George Greenough. The other two were less ambitious and were painted green with a white trim and had no roof. Their positions cannot be mentioned with precision since they might appear almost anywhere on Hallo- ween or the Fourth of July, depending upon the size and maturity of the group engaged in the rollicking. With arrival of the motor car and the radio tastes have changed, the band no longer exists and the bandstands have vanished into the limbo of things that used to be.
When the voters of Acton convened for the annual meeting on March 31, 1902 they made the usual choice of Mr. Luther Conant as moderator, as they had done with very rare exceptions since 1861. Mr. Conant, then seventy one years old, respectfully declined the duty he had performed so long, whereupon the town passed unani- mously the following resolution:
"We, the citizens of Acton, Mass., in town meeting as- sembled this thirty first day of March 1902, do hereby sin- cerely express our regret at the proposed retirement of Mr. Luther Conant from the office of presiding officer of our Town meetings, which office he has so ably held for more than forty years. We fully realize our debt of gratitude to him for his faithful service, and it is with profound regret that we learn of his intention to retire therefrom. We heartily assure him of our esteem and appreciation of his self sacrificing devotion to the town's best interest, also, his ever ready willingness and careful attention to all the mani- fold duties of presiding officer and his fair and impartial decisions. We earnestly request that he reconsider his in- tention and continue to serve us in this capacity. We feel that should he adhere to his present intentions and retire as planned, the Town will be the loser to an extent we cannot at present estimate. With this feeling in mind we again with all the force of entreaty at our command request that he may continue to endow the town with his faithful service. In accord with these wishes we heartily and cordially thank him for the great service rendered the town and assure him of our most heartfelt wishes for a long continuance of his long and successful life. We hereby direct that a copy of
these resolutions be suitably framed and presented to him." In its further deliberations that same day the town passed the following vote:
"Voted, that the town of Acton present to Luther Conant as a token of appreciation of, and in partial payment to him for, his long and faithful service to the town as the Presiding
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Officer of its town meetings, a watch, that said watch be suitably engraved and presented to him by a committee of three selected at its annual meeting March 31, 1902.
"That the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars be here- by appropriated for the payment of the same."
The committee chosen to make the presentation consisted of Charles M. Kimball, Frank C. Hayward, and Jona K. W. Wetherbee. Mr. Kimball also served as moderator for the meeting.
When these events took place Mr. Conant felt that the time had come for a younger man to fill his place. The town's wish that he live much longer was fully realized since he still had some twenty years before him and was privileged to be alert to the end.1
With the cessation of his activities as moderator Mr. Conant became one of the small coterie of men beginning with Jonathan Bil- lings and Francis Faulkner who spent the major portion of a long life in one town office while functioning without stint in numerous other capacities. His unquenchable interest in Acton, together with his sound judgement, commanding presence, and forensic ability, made him a natural choice as the town's spokesman upon public occasions of major import. His terms in the legislature in 1866 and 1886, and his selection as emissary to the statehouse in diverse con- nections were an inevitable consequence of his civic stature.
One industry that thrived for a time and provided employment for a score or more was the morocco shop at South Acton, sometimes dubbed the "skin shop" by the more casual. It was built in 1892 by Elnathan Jones on a site between the now obsolete turntable and round house and the mill pond and was operated by his son-in-law Mr. Charles Kimball. The output consisted largely of high grade soft leathers during the era when such material was in demand for footwear.
Eventually the market changed with the public taste so that in 1908 the building was taken over by Mr. Byron Moore and a partner named Burgess for the manufacture of webbing. Mr. Burgess died in 1913 and in 1915 Mr. Lowell Cram assumed his place. In 1917 the business moved to more adequate quarters at West Concord where it now operates successfully with some thirty workers as the Moore and Cram Webbing Company.
Part of the old building in South Acton was sold locally and re- moved. The remainder was torn down and the lumber, bricks and windows were taken by various persons to build new houses.
In 1902 Miss Viola Tuttle, who because of ill health had been assisted by Miss Flora Reed as town librarian, resigned, and Mr. Arthur Davis was selected by the trustees to fill the position. Both
1 He was born in Acton June 4, 1831 and died there November 13, 1922.
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by temperament and ability Mr. Davis was peculiarly qualified for the work and with his installation there began another of those long term public services that are characteristic of the town -for he continued to function until the close of the year 1944, thus completing forty two years as Acton's Librarian.
Some men make contributions to civic life in business, some in politics, some in the clergy, and some as teachers or farmers or musicians. The reputation of Mr. Davis as a painter has been men- tioned in other connections, but quite aside from that phase of his life there is another outstanding feature of the man. Through several decades this unassuming bachelor kept the homestead (now remodel- led and owned by Irving Duren) neat and attractive, did his own housework and maintained a garden that was the envy of his neigh- bors. Notwithstanding his many duties he appeared hither and yon over the countryside putting on canvas the local scenes that appealed to his artistic soul. Until the last months of his life he was still alert and interested in the march of events and in the history of Acton and was kind enough to supply certain obscure data well nigh impossible to obtain from any other source.
Mr. Davis was born in Roxbury, Mass. on March 27, 1863, attended the public schools there and came to Acton with his parents in 1875. During the winter of 1883 he worked in the office of the C. F. Hovey Company in Boston, where, through the influence of their European buyer, Mr. Mandell he joined the Christian Union of Boston. Later he worked with his cousin in Malden and studied painting with Mr. A. H. Bicknell who had a studio there. From this contact he later lived with a relative of the painter, Mr. Frank Bick- nell, on a vacant farm in East Woburn. He returned to Acton in 1887 for a time and then, together with Frank Bicknell, shared a studio on East 14th Street in New York City where for two years he made water colors and etchings for various publishers. Then, as now, the path of the artist was not one of affluence so he returned to Acton and sold water colors through the Walter Kimball Company of Boston.
In his picture of the Davis Company starting for Concord he has successfully attained his objective both historically and emotionally. On the one hand he conveyed the spirit that imbued the marching men and on the other adhered to the tradition that the morning was unusually mild and the trees were in full leaf.
In his larger picture portraying the departure of the Acton men in 1861 he inserted the Fletcher house and barn as they then stood next to the meeting house of 1807. The setting of the vehicles and the arrangement of the other details were the result of continued inter- views with soldiers who were present on that morning.
During his long tenure Mr. Davis was ever gracious and affable
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with a keen sense of humor, and an avid and encyclopedic familiar- ity with Actonaria.
In his early years as librarian he installed a catalog system based upon that in use at the Boston Public Library but in due course this was superseded by the Dewey method as as been previously pointed out. About 1904 he built an extensive shelf system in the attic to accomodate the lesser used books, which were, however, as carefully catalogued as the others. Shortly afterward additional shelves were introduced into the alcoves as at present. Sometime in the discernable future the library must have an addition, particularly as the town shows every evidence of considerable growth within the next gen- eration.
In Arthur Davis the town of Acton has had an example of the impact that can be made upon a community by a man of honesty, simplicity, modesty and industry - even though he may be unaware of the fact that any impact was being made. It was not given to him to be a famous artist, as the term is usually understood, but his Isaac Davis picture is known wherever historians assemble who know the details of Concord Fight and he did have the satisfaction, as has been previously mentioned, of seeing his numerous canvasses exhibited locally in the Concord library.
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