USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Acton > History of the town of Acton > Part 33
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As he approached his ninetieth birthday in a rest home he con- tinued to put out an amazing number of creditable water colors and pencil sketches as a pastime and as a means of taking his mind from the perpetual pains that tortured his frail and wasting body.
His sketch of the second meeting house, done by request, in a matter of a few days, less than four months before his death, is more pleasing and softer in effect than the harsher woodcut used by Fletcher. Moreover it is a treasured sample of the last public effort of Acton's unassuming and loyal artist.
He was one of a small group of painters who restricted their can- vasses to one town or to a single small area. For that reason he is unique and for that reason Mr. David Little has seen fit to stage another Davis exhibit in the Concord library during the past summer.
The changing scene is nowise more vividly emphasized than in the passing of certain interesting characters whose counterparts no longer exist. One who flourished at the turn of the century was Simeon Green, the octogenarian dancing master. He resided in Harvard but at intervals he would conduct, on Saturday afternoons during the winter, a series of twelve lessons in ballroom dancing. The season was topped off with an evening ball with dance orders, a grand march, and an orchestra, and all this for the now unbelieveable stipend of three dollars per pupil.
The clientele was restricted to juveniles and over these the bearded
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but spritely protagonist of Terpsichore ruled with absolute sway as he unveiled the techniques of the waltz, the caprice, the shottische, the Lancer's quadrille, and the minuet. There was never a lost moment and woe betide the young gallant who jay-walked across the floor to make his addresses to a prospective partner. The old maestro would collar him forthwith and in front of all assembled give him a lesson in etiquette that was bound to stick. Under the aegis of Simeon Green the dance was a refined experience in the enjoyment of rythm and polite social intercourse. The grand old dancing master had the good fortune to die before the decline of good taste to the level of the black bottom and the other various off-shoots of jungle voodooism that eventually became popular.
A second bright spot in the Acton picture of the era was the personage of its inimitable auctioneer, Otis H. Forbush, whose dupli- cate could not be found in the whole Commonwealth. Presumably he was a shrewd and successful live stock trader who spent much of his time at the Brighton market. In the spring and fall his droves of cattle, as was the custom in those days, could be seen on the Great Road between Acton and New Hampshire where they went for summer pasturage. In his earlier years he resided with his first wife, the former Nettie Cummings, on the farm for many years owned by Mr. Murray Brown and now the home of Mr. Richard Morrison.
In the general neighborhood of 1900 he moved to the Centre and purchased as a focal point for his enterprises the property now owned by Mrs. Lucy Bean. The barn was small and consequently the cattle went in and out with amazing dispatch. When, as a boy, the author went there for the nightly milk ration, he was forever nonplussed at being unable to get acquainted with the cows as individuals. For an animal to remain any length of time was an event. Sometimes the combination orchard and barnyard at the rear was heavily populated for several days or a fortnight but inevitably the stock moved on northward or to Brighton.
All this, however, is beside the point. Mr. Forbush's avocation was auctioneering, a field in which he was particularly gifted. Pic- ture if you will a tall, lean Yankee with firey red hair and whiskers, immaculately dressed wearing a linen duster and gloves to keep himself so, abounding in energy and possessing a limitless and tumultuous vocabulary, a bubbling sense of humor, and showman- ship par-excellence. Much of this ability was honestly inherited from his father, Luther Forbush, mentioned in the preface. Although lacking some of the rapid fire fluency of his son the sire was a true eccentric of the old school with no inhibitions that were ever discern- able. The son enjoyed every minute of an auction and was proud of the fact that in all his years of officiating throughout the state he never
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missed a sale on the date advertised.
If Forbush's name appeared on an auction bill the people appeared in droves, not only to buy but to attend what was sure to be high grade entertainment. The tension never eased while he was on the podium. If for any reason some untoward incident momentarily distracted the crowd he would emit a piercing tooth whistle that brought the attention back where it belonged. Then, with sly quips, he would once more have the show on the road. The buyers came for miles and brought their lunches in order not to miss any of the fun .. Some- times at a two or three day sale other auctioneers would fill in for a season while he ate or rested. The let down was so terrific that it was pathetic.
One of his tricks at near by auctions never failed to create amuse- ment. In the hinterland near the junction of Acton, Stow, and Box- borough there dwelt in those days the locality's only negro, a character named Jim Chester. He was omnipresent for reasons presently to be made obvious. He was the first on hand in the morn- ing with his hay rigging and the last to leave at night. Often he never bid but nevertheless went home with all the waggon would hold. If any article of questionable value dragged at all it was quickly "sold to Jim Chester for two cents" or some equally ridiculous sum, although the old colored man had not opened his mouth. Upon one ocasion he was present at a sale where two large barns and a house were filled with the accumulations of a life long auction fiend. In mid afternoon of the second day there was put up a barrel filled with heterogenous pills and patent medicines, some of which were fifty years old. When no bid was forthcoming in about ten seconds Chester had the lot knocked off to him for three cents. Heaven only knows what disposal the old boy made of the contents but he acquired a passable barrel anyway.
Mr. Forbush's second wife, and widow, now resident in West Concord where this dynamic gentleman spent his last years, was the attractive and talented soprano soloist, Elizabeth Taylor, daughter of Mr. Silas Hammond Taylor and grand-daughter of Mr. Moses Taylor.
Mention of Mr. Hammond Taylor brings to mind that he lived during his latter years in a house in Acton Centre, no longer in existence, that was interesting in both its architecture and its associ- ations. It stood in the vacant area between the house of Mr. Fred Joyce and the drive leading up to the residence of Mr. Carl Olsen.
Its precise origin seems to be lost in obscurity but from Mr. Horace Tuttle and others the writer has been able to cull the conviction that sometime previous to 1860 it was either built, or more probably moved there, by Mr. Moses Taylor at the same time that the house of
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Mr. Joyce was moved. The names of Thomas Green, Fessenden Jones, Benjamin Skinner, Frank Lund, Orzando Davis, and Reuben Reed are mentioned as one time occupants. In addition Mr. Luke Smith is reported to have had a wheelwright shop there shortly after the Civil War.
The two owners just previous to Mr. Taylor were a Mr. Chamberlin and Mr. Elijah Ball. This latter gentleman operated a large bakery in Cambridge and sought the house as a summer place for his three sons, one of whom, Arthur, now deceased, went to California and became a successful experimenter in connection with technicolor motion pictures.
At some stage in its career the house had a piazza attached, with floor area greater than that of the building proper, part of which had a second story so arranged at the end nearest the street that by going up two steps one emerged upon a railed platform a couple of yards square which perched upon the limbs of a massive red maple. During the Chamberlin regime, presumably, there was built a bowling alley, which was subsequently removed to the approaches of Great Hill and transformed into a dwelling, and also an aviary for rare and colorful birds. The village youth would now and again be invited to view the birds and even glimpse the bowlers but were too awed by all this affluence to even hope for a chance to try their hand at the sport.
Mr. Chamberlin had a relative, a nephew most probably, who, certainly during the months of his summer sojourn, was by long odds the town's biggest man. He stood generously above six feet and seemed almost as broad as he was tall. He was in the five hundred pound class with plenty to spare as he attained full stature and even astonished the local tailor when, emerging into his early teens, he was presented for a suit measurement tipping the scales in the neighborhood of the two hundred and fifty mark. It was an eye-full for the youthful patriots to witness Ralph Perry manhandle the old town house bell in the grey of a Fourth of July dawn. It was upon these occasions, provided the wind had a gentle northward drift, that its booming tones could be heard on Westford common.
It was this same house, previous to the era of the Chamberlins, that was the scene of Acton's last full blown charivari. Just what made this affair very special is confused after the lapse of the years. The two main personalities, together with their eccentricities, if any, are lost in the fog of the past. Concerning the nature of the occasion, however, there is no doubt. In modern argot it was a "wing-ding". This was no coterie of a dozen genteel friends who were shortly to be made welcome and served with previously readied refreshments. This was a contingent of a score or more of stalwarts bent on a ruckus
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and accoutered for the purpose, not only with the customary tin pans and horns, but with diverse items of light artillery among which shot guns were of the lesser sort. The word had been passed about before- hand and half a hundred spectators were present to enjoy the balmy summer moonlight and the attendant bedlam.
Since there was no inclination on the part of the bride or the groom to make an appearance the din waxed long and furious, particularly since during the rare and brief silent intervals the couple could be heard in heated argument.
With the arrival of the automobile and the cinema the charivari as a means of entertainment passed into gradual oblivion but none of the few later ones ever approached this in scope and virtuosity.
During the year 1903 the town began to bestir itself in the long overdue matter of fire protection by purchasing a hand drawn chemical for West Acton and erecting an adequate building for housing it and the accessories. Before the purchase was made the youth of the village were hugely entertained by the tests that were made on hastily erected shacks well covered with kerosene. The old firehouse is still in service although the modern fire truck which came in with the installation of town water is a far cry from the initial occupant.1
Although of minor historical import it is a fact that in 1903 the high school had its first uniformed baseball team. Previously there were games upon rare occasions but there were no uniforms and no schedule.
It happened in 1903 that although the school had less than a score of boys enrolled several of them were outstanding ball players, in- cluding a battery par excellence in the persons of Clayton Beach and Harold Littlefield, each of whom were of professional league calibre. With this nucleus the boys bustled about town and raised a complete outfit by public subscription. The suits were navy blue with heavily padded pants, as were then the style, and zebra stockings ringed navy and white.
The whole younger generation waited with interest and trepidation for the report of the first game, played at Lexington, and learned with amazement and joy that the local team had been victorious by a score of 8 to 6.2 Through that year and the next Littlefield pitched himself to renown, and, by the aid of the mighty bats of Beach, Bixby, Norris, and Stillman, continued to defeat the opposition with
1 For a picture of the original building see page 32 of the town report of March 1904.
2 A photograph of the team of 1903, in the possession of Mrs. Charles Smith, shows the following players: Harold Norris, 3rd base; George Stillman, outfield; Carl Hoar, outfield; Edward Bixby, short-stop; Ralph Piper, 2nd base; William Edwards, Ist base; Clayton Beach, catcher; Harold Littlefield, pitcher; Richard Kinsley, outfield.
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surprising regularity. If the modern generation desires two records to emulate let them regard the following with proper respect. On Aprill 22, 1905 Littlefield pitched a 6 - 0 shut out against Littleton at the old trotting park grounds in Littleton and in the process racked up twenty two strikeouts. On May 10th following, at Hudson, Littlefield and Ralph Piper pitched a 26-4 victory which was called at the seventh inning by mutual agreement.
During this period Old Home Weeks became fashionable, one day of which was set apart for the climactic celebration. Acton chose July 21, 1905, the one hundred and seventieth anniversary of the first town meeting at which the first selectmen and other officers were chosen.2 Since all such affairs follow a pattern it will be sufficient to note only that there was a huge collation at which 1800 were seated; the Acton Cadet Band under the direction of Mr. Frank Merriam performed with its usual ability ; the invocation was made by Rev. Frederick Brooks Noyes of Scituate who was born and reared in the house now owned by Howard Billings; and the oration of the day was made by Hon. Luther Conant. Mr. Conant was at that time seventy four and this was his last public address of consequence.
As the horse-and-buggy age drew to its close - while the auto- mobile was still a novelty - New England went through the electric car era. Rural hamlets that never had heard a locomotive whistle resounded twenty four hours a day to the clanking of gongs and the screaming of brakes. Lines by the dozen were incorporated and streamed all over eastern Massachusetts. Among these was one that came to Concord via Arlington Heights, Lexington and Bedford and gave rise to Lexington Park, an amusement Mecca that thrived for upwards of two decades.
The nature of man is such that Concord could not long remain a terminus and in consequence the Concord, Maynard and Hudson line began operations in September of 1901. Acton minds thereupon set to work with the result that on March 31, 1902 the selectmen signed the franchise for the Lowell, Acton and Maynard Street Rail- way with the written understanding that the work would be com- pleted by September of 1903. The plan envisioned a route through the three Acton villages and thence via Carlisle to the already esta- blished line to Chelmsford Centre. Things did not develop as ex- pected and as a result it was finally agreed that the dead line should be extended to December 1, 1904.
In those days the old highway crossed Fort Pond Brook right at
1 The author takes issue with the commonly accepted idea that Acton was incorporated July 21, 1735. The petition for incorporation was presented to the General Court on June 30, 1735. On July 3, 1735 the act of incorporation was passed and signed by Governor Belcher. It is the author's contention that the town was incorporated on July 3rd and that the formal organization of the government took place on July 21st.
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the dam of Faulkner's Mills, passed the old saw mill and the bicycle shop of Harry Clough, and made a crossing of the tracks of the Marlboro Branch all within a distance of a dozen rods. It was here that the South Acton terminus of the line was located for several years.
In 1906 the present bridge was built to eliminate the wide and dangerous grade crossing and with that change the rails of the electric line were laid up the bridge approach to a point just short of the smaller bridge over the tracks of the Branch.
During the next three years work progressed slowly on the link to West Acton which had its terminus at the junction of Kinsley Road and Massachusetts Ave. In September of 1909 that segment of the line opened for regular traffic but still the rails did not cross the main bridge at South Acton. Passengers had to travel the fifty yard gap on foot until its eventual closure on June 23, 1910.
All this while Acton Centre remained a sort of oasis of static life, surrounded at discrete distances by raucus railroads and clanking electric lines. Beauty, cleanliness, and a sense of historical propriety are indubitable virtues but there were times when it seemed to the scholars who had to walk to high school through winter slush and chill as if the march of progress had a devilish aversion for the quiet little village.
By 1911 it became apparent that the completion of the line to Lowell was a vain hope and the selectmen signed an approval for the consolidation of the Concord, Maynard and Hudson and the Lowell, Acton and Maynard.
As the years went by the automobile became the major method of conveyance. The electric lines hung on for a while but finally went into receivership and formally gave up the ghost after a devastat- ing sleet storm in the latter part of November 1921. The track and road bed were dismantled in 1923.
Aside from its various industries Acton has been through the years a busy dairy and fruit farm town. A natural outgrowth of that fact was the organization of a local branch of the Grange. This movement was led by Mr. James B. Tuttle, son of Capt. Daniel Tuttle of Civil War fame, and owner of the farm now operated by Mr. Liebfried. Mr. Tuttle's activities came to fruition with the organizing of Acton Grange No. 259 on March 15, 1906 with himself as Worthy Master and seventy eight charter members. Mr. Tuttle deservedly retained the position of Master for several years due to the fact that he was tremendously interested, had a powerful voice and a good presence, was a capable parliamen- tarian, and was a tireless worker for correct ritual.
For reasons not now known the list of the original officers has dis-
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appeared. Fortunately, with the assistance of several of the charter members, the complete staff has been recalled and is given herewith.
Worthy Master James B. Tuttle
Worthy Overseer
Edwin A. Phalen
Worthy Secretary
Mrs. Louisa N. Wood
Worthy Treasurer
Lyman C. Taylor
Worthy Lecturer
Mrs. Josie Pinkham
Worthy Chaplain
Rev. Thomas Miles
Worthy Steward
Ormond Greenwood
Worthy Asst. Steward Oliver D. Wood
Worthy Lady Asst. Steward
Ella L. Miller
Worthy Flora Ethel Thompson (Mrs. Benjamin King)
Worthy Pomona Una Holden (Mrs. Leonard White)
Worthy Ceres Marion Taylor (Mrs. William Trefren)
Executive Committee J. Sidney White
Leonard Pinkham
Rev. Franklin P. Wood
In February of 1907 there was in the state house at Boston a presentation of historical canes to Governor Curtis Guild and Col. J. Payson Bradley, Dept. Commander of the Massachusetts G. A. R. Upon this occasion Capt. Charles T. Ripley, Chief of Police of the Boston Navy Yard made a valuable contribution to the patriotic record of Acton by presenting a poem highly eulogistic of the services of Capt. Isaac Davis on April 19th, 1775.
In recognition of this event a resolution presented by Mr. Reuben Law Reed, as given below, was passed at the annual town meeting of March 25, 1907.
"Resolved by the citizens of Acton, in town meeting as- sembled, on this, the twenty fifth day of March, 1907, that we put on record our appreciation of Capt. Ripley's senti- ments contributed upon the above mentioned occasion, and that they are especially appreciated by us as coming from the pen of one who did signal service on land and sea in the war for the preservation of the Union, for the establishment of which Capt. Isaac Davis was the first officer to lay down his life.
Resolved that a copy of this resolution be sent to Capt. Charles T. Ripley as an expression of our appreciation and regard."
At the High School Commencement of 1907 Ethel May Griswold, Harold Vernon Symonds, Ethel Elizabeth Thompson, and Ralph
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Waldo Piper comprised the senior class. None of these could have been aware that many years would elapse before another group of graduates would receive diplomas before an Acton audience on Acton soil. The three teachers, Walter B. Pierce, Ethel L. Leighton, and Alice N. McIntyre, although not yet certain of the course of events, were not without some qualms for the future.1
About a quarter of a century had elapsed since the bounty fight of 1882 and Acton, with a regularity comparable to that of Old Faithful in the Yellowstone, was building up stresses for another eruption. The initial gurglings went back over several years during which time the school committee had repeatedly demanded action respecting the high school. The climax arrived, however, when the inspector of public buildings served notice that the hall that had been in use for the South Grammar could no longer be tolerated and was to be vacated at the end of the current spring term.
At that time the High School occupied the rooms in the South schoolhouse now used by the fifth and sixth grades. The school committee therefore, confronted with the dilemma of having to house the grammar school in September without available space, appealed to the town for relief.
To the casual observer it appeared to be a simple open-and-shut case but there was much that did not immediately meet the eye. On June 4th at a special evening town meeting the battle began on a hot night with a room crowded to capacity. Mr. Allen Brooks Parker was chosen moderator and the temper of the crowd was apparent on the first article.
"To see if the town will vote to purchase or take by right of eminent domain a suitable piece of land and build a high school building thereon, or take any action in the matter."
Immediately several persons arose to make and second a motion that the article be stricken from the warrant. This motion failed. Thereupon a motion to support the article, namely to secure land and build a high school thereon was put before the meeting. This also failed.
Having arrived at this impasse action came upon article three which posed the question as to what to do about the schoolhouse at South Acton. A motion to pass over the article failed as did also a motion to build an addition.
This exhausted the articles in the warrant but from the floor came a bombshell in the form of a motion to remove the pupils from the high school rooms at South Acton and send them to Concord.
1 Walter B. Pierce (Bates College) died June 17, 1945; Ethel L. Leighton (Radcliffe College) married Professor Harold B. Stanton of Rutgers and died May 9, 1947; Alice N. McIntyre (Boston University) married Rev. Edgar Crossland of South Acton, and died Nov. 2, 1950.
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This failed of passage after about an hour's debate in which tempers became edgy.
Then some compromiser proposed that the two upper classes be sent to Concord and the remainder allocated to one vacant room at West Acton. This also failed to pass.
By this time all the contestants were exhausted and sleepy and so the only positive vote of the evening came on a motion to refer the whole matter to the school committee.
Thus ended the first round, but the end was nowhere in sight. By petition a second meeting convened on the evening of June 27th when action again came up on the identical articles under debate three weeks earlier.
As soon as a moderator was chosen Mr. Charles Kimball moved that the town erect a high school building at a cost not to exceed fifteen thousand dollars complete; said building to be located on the Ellis Wetherbee lot on Prospect Street in South Acton.1
By common consent it was agreed to split the motion into two parts and after long debate a vote to build prevailed by 142 to 134. After much more wrangling in which it became evident that the south and west villages were determined that neither should have the advantage a motion by Lorenzo Reed of South Acton to the effect that the site be near or at Acton Centre passed by a vote of 185 to 92.
It was during the debate on this question that Mr. F. C. Nash, an alert and experienced attorney of West Acton, occasioned mild hilarity by observing that, "South Acton must not expect to have all the good things", a sly jibe referring to certain goings-on at the old American House.
Thereupon a building committee consisting of two men from each village plus the chairmen of the selectmen and the school committee and the town clerk ex-officio was chosen.2
The opponents of the project, having been defeated in the attempt to prevent the building of a high school, now lay in wait for a chance to throttle any attempt to vote the necessary funds. On the motion of Mr. Luther Conant that the selectmen be empowered to borrow if necessary up to ten thousand dollars they brought up all the heavy artillery and inveighed concerning the terrible debts about to be hung around the necks of future generations. In the light of modern financing the whole argument appears amusing but on that hot June night nobody felt facetious as the hour approached mid- night. Finally the question was put and the tellers, after a double
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