USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Acton > History of the town of Acton > Part 37
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For purposes of reference and completeness the graduating class is listed below: Post Graduates
Dorothy Mabel Jones Thomas Joseph Shea
Viola Isabel Merriam Virginia Swift
Seniors
Grace Eleanor Chickering Charles Bradford Howe
John Henry Ingman
Florence Arlene Jones
John Francis Enneguess Richard Joseph O' Neal
Marion Sturtevant Fobes
Sumner Joseph Teele
Ruth Billings Fullonton
Mildred Harris Tuttle
Ethel Olive Granberg
William Davis Tuttle
Albert Thompson Grimes
Ruth Christine Van Winkle
Alberta Augusta Agnes Hodgen
With September came fifteen students from Boxborough, which, together with augmented Acton numbers, brought the opening total to one hundred thirty five.
In 1928 came the test vote concerning the repeal of the eighteenth ammendment. Although acting contrary to nationwide opinion Acton remained consistent with a vote of 331 YES and 517 NO. It is an interesting fact that there were 299 blanks. In other words more than a quarter of the eleven hundred and forty seven persons who turned in ballots on state officers neglected or refused to express an opinion upon this question.
By 1931 the town had an adequate and well functioning fire depart- ment with an alarm system in each village, up-to-date pumps, and a hose and ladder truck which had been built by the South Acton fire company, and a set of fire alarm numbers allocated to the several areas of the town.
Acton has been most fortunate in the generosity of its native sons and daughters through the generations. In 1931 it was the bene- ficiary in two important instances. Mr. Augustine B. Conant was the prime benefactor of a group who donated to the Centre concrete sidewalks along both sides of Main Street.
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The other was a bequest under the will of Miss Susan Noyes Hosmer of some eighty thousand dollars to be known as the Jeremiah Hosmer and Susan Noyes Hosmer Woodlawn Cemetery Fund. Miss Hosmer, daughter of Jeremiah Hosmer and his wife Hannah Noyes, was born in Acton in 1832 and died in Auburndale, Mass. in 1930, and was buried in Woodlawn. She lived with her brother Jeremiah, who was born in Acton in 1825 and died in Boston in 1906, and with him travelled extensively throughout their lives.
Both of these gifts were acknowledged by proper resolutions at the March meeting of 1931.
Once the high school became organized it rapidly took on all the attributes of a modern institution. Under the direction of Messers. Lawrence, Hough and Hall who functioned in that order as Superin- tendents new courses were added, additional faculty employed, and the physical plant and the grounds improved. With the cooperation of Mr. George Greengough the athletic field was cleared of boulders and ledge and various teams began to function. A baseball team was in operation in 1929 and also basketball for both sexes even though a hall in Maynard had to be hired for the purpose. A football team emerged in 1930 that was accorded a banquet in the Universalist vestry at the close of the season. By 1935 the various usual sports were all functioning under hired instructors and the athletic set up had all the earmarks of an urban school.
With the two hundredth birthday of the town in the offing the pressure of modern conditions had rendered the old constable method of police supervision inadequate. Consequently in 1932 Mr. Michael Foley was appointed as full time salaried officer and chief of police. Through the years he has proved to be capable, temperate and judi- cious in the enforcement of the law, and diligent in the interests of the community. In 1948 patrolman Edward J. Collins was added to the salaried staff and in 1951 patrolman Chauncey R. Fenton. Now, with a corps of ten, including one woman, with three on full time duty the town has twenty four hour protection which is rendered particularly efficient since the patrolmen and the central office in the town hall are part of an integrated unit operating in two-way radio contact with the forces in Concord and Maynard.
In keeping with the vogue of the era it was inevitable that Acton should have a garden club, and that a good one. On June 20th, 1934 the organizing meeting took place at the home of Mrs. Elwin Hollowell and the following charter members were inscribed on the roll: Mrs. Elwin Hollowell, Mrs. Walter Cook, Mrs. Leo Quinn, Mrs. William Tuttle, Mrs. Robert Bond, Mrs. Harold Clapp, Mrs. Oscar Howe, Mrs. George Horton, Mrs. Joseph Gagnon, Miss Lillian Frost, Mrs. Alan B. Frost.
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Mrs. Harold Clapp was elected president, Mrs. Walter Cook vice- president, and Mrs. Allen B. Frost secretary. It was voted to have two meetings a month from April to October and one meeting per month for the remainder of the year. No decision was made with respect to dues.
With the passing of the years the club has thrived until now, limited to one hundred, it has members from West Concord and Concord.
Upon occasion the sons of Acton have returned to serve as orator of the evening at the annual high school commencement. Mr. Carlos Clark, son of the late Herbert T. Clark of West Acton, and brother to Mrs. Andrew Torsleff, journeyd from his home in Grosse Ile, Michigan for that purpose in 1934. His interest, however, did not cease there. He was desirous that the youth of Acton should learn of the town and have pride in its history. Consequently he presented to the high school a silver shield bearing the following inscription:
This Shield has been placed upon these walls in honor of the class of 1889 of the Acton High School in the hope that it may stimulate the study of Acton History in Acton Schools and bring to the citizens of Acton a fuller realization of the Commonwealth and the Nation.
It has been given with the stipulation that each year on Acton Day, the 19th of April, each member of the senior class shall read an original essay on Acton history and romance and that the name of the senior whose essay is adjudged the most worthy contribution to the wonderful story of Acton's men and women shall be inscribed below and the essay filed in the Wilde Memorial Library for future reference.
Mr. Carlos Blanchard Clark was born in December of 1872 and died in December of 1947. He attended Bryant and Stratton Business College, was given an honorary Master's Degree from Trinity College, was offered but did not accept a chair on the faculty of the Harvard Business School, but did return once a year for twenty years to lecture to the graduating class.
He evolved the Clark Plan for department store accounting, was with Filenes of Boston for seven years and was controller of the J. L. Hudson Company of Detroit.
He was known as the dean of the department store controllers and founded the Controllers Congress of the National Dry Goods Associ-
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ation in 1920. In addition he was chairman of the Dry Goods associ- ation for twenty five years and received the first gold medal given the national association for "distinguished service to retail business".
On the national level he was chairman of the tax committee of the National Retail Dry Goods Association and assisted in an advisory capacity in writing some of the tax laws during the Hoover administra- tion. In World War I he was a dollar-a-year advisor to the United States Treasury Department and in World War II it was he who devised the plan whereby department stores could sell bonds, for which service he was cited by the federal government.
In the academic world he was for many years on the advisory com- mittee of Simmons College.
While this volume was in process of being printed Mr. Clark was awarded additional national recognition by being elected, upon the recommendation of members of the Boston Chamber of Commerce, to the Hall of Fame in Distribution.
With the arrival of 1935 two centuries had passed into the maw of time since Acton, in town meeting assembled, chose its first corps of officers. Through the march of the years some of the family names, once so numerous on the town records, have persisted but others have vanished entirely. The names of Barker, Billings, Brooks, Dudley, Fletcher, Harris, Hayward, Jones, Piper, Robbins, Wheeler, and White still claim a place in community affiairs but no voices now make response for Brabrook, Barnes, Cragin, Forbush, Faulkner, Heald, Hunt, Lamson, Parlin, Procter, or Wooley except those that have come down through the female members of the lines.
Diverse causes have brought this about. In the days when medicine was less effective it not infrequently occured that childhood epidemics wiped out all the offspring in a family. Upon occasion all the male children departed for the enticing acres of the western country to there remain. In some instances, due to quirks of mind or lack of social opportunity, a family withered away as a group of spinsters and bachelors. Lastly, some, having married, remained childless or begat solely daughters.
Concomitant with the procession of the years came alterations in the structure of the town government. New England has been particu- larly tenacious of the outward forms of community action but minor changes could not be stayed. New agencies had to come into being with a dynamic society. In this connection it seems desirable to list the more important town officers as they were at the conclusion of two hundred years.
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Moderator
Albert P. Durkee
Selectmen
Ralph W. Piper, Waldo E. Whitcomb, George S. Braman
Town Clerk Horace F. Tuttle
Town Treasurer
William Henry Soar
Assessors
Albert P. Durkee, Henry L. Haynes, Warren H. Jones Collector of Taxes,
Charles A. Durkee
Tree Warden
James J. Knight
Board of Welfare
Carl E. Backman, Bertram D. Hall, Frank S. Braman
Cemetery Commissioners
Fred W. Green, Wendell F. Davis, H. F. Tuttle
School Committee
Samuel E. Knowlton, Lulu H. Clark, Randall N. Woodworth,
Louisa N. Wood, Albertie M. Mead, Everett N. Montague
Trustees of Memorial Library
J. Sidney White, Frank A. Merriam, Horace F. Tuttle Board of Health
Raymond F. Durkee, Frank E. Tasker, George H. Tuttle Trustees of Elizabeth White Fund
Warren H. Jones, Waldo E. Whitcomb, Charlotte Conant
Trustees of West Acton Firemen's Relief Fund
Arnold H. Perkins, H. Stuart MacGregor, A. N. Hederstedt Trustees of Goodnow Fund
Charles E. Smith, Charlotte Conant, Horace F. Tuttle Finance Committee
Murray Brown, Wiliam T. Merriam, Alfred W. Davis, Webster S. Blanchard, Albert P. Durkee, Howard J. Billings
Superintendent of Streets Albert S. Perkins
Town Accountant Howard L. Jones
Registrars of Voters
Daniel W. Sheehan, Edwin A. Phalen, Clarence D. Pickering, Horace F. Tuttle
Fire Engineers
H. Stuart MacGregor, chief; Alan B. Frost, David C. Clayton, A. Haselton Perkins
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Cattle Inspector Fred S. Whitcomb Forest Warden Alan B. Frost
Dog Officer Arthur Fraser Sealer of Weights and Measures Clare Milbery Superintendent of Town Forest Charles A. Durkee
Surveyors of Wood and Lumber Bertram D. Hall, Charles E. Smith, George H. Reed Field Drivers
Michael Foley, Alan B. Frost, George H. Braman Superintendent of Moth Work James J. Knight
Police Officers
Michael Foley, chief; George A. Braman, Alan B. Frost, Charles A. Durkee
The town expenses in the two hundred year interim had grown beyond recognition. Whereas Acton's first school appropriation was about the equivalent of one hundred dollars that for 1935 was forty three thousand five hundred. Other considerable items among a long list were as follows: roads $12,000, street lighting $3500, general government $5500, public welfare $7000, old age assistance $8000, snow removal $8000, police $2500, fire department $2800, and public health nurse $2200.
Just previous to the annual meeting of 1935 an event took place that was unique in the annals of the town. Mr. Howard Billings was concluding nine years of exceptionally adequate service as selectman and eight years as a member of the Board of Public Welfare. In recognition of his outstanding conduct in these offices the Edwards- Quimby Post, the Women's Auxiliary, and the town officials assembled in a packed town hall on the evening of February 11th to do him honor.
The 13th U. S. Infantry Band from Fort Devens gave an hour's concert after which Commander T. Charles Gallagher opened the meeting and Rev. A. E. Becket of the South Acton Congregational church offered the prayer.
Thereupon Sgt. at Arms Harry Croft escorted Mr. Billings to the platform and presented to him the first American Legion Medal of Honor for meritorious service to Community, State, or Nation to be awarded in Massachusetts.
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The speeches of the evening were given by Major Charles S. Coulter, Representative Edward Cain of Framingham, Representative John Valentine of Chelmsford, and Senator George Moyse of Waltham.
As might be expected Acton celebrated the two hundredth an- niversary of its birth with all proper ceremonies. Plans had been set in motion a year previous by the appointment of a large and able committee,1 and the date had been set for July 20-22.
At sunrise on the morning of Saturday, the first day, the festivities were ushered in with the firing of salutes, ringing of all the town bells, and the announcing by town criers of the program of the day, in particular the big military and civic parade of the afternoon.
Major Charles S. Coulter, United States Army, retired, a resident of Acton, was chief marshal and led the parade on horseback. The procession, in three divisions, marched from South Acton to West Acton and was then transported to the Centre, there to reform and finish the line of march at the school house.
The marshal of the first division was George L. Towne, aged ninety two, commander and last living member of Isaac Davis Post, G. A. R., with T. Charles Gallagher of the local Edwards-Quimby Post of the American Legion as adjutant. There was a detachment of the United States Marines in line together with National Guard outfits from Waltham, Concord, Hudson and Clinton, and eighteen Army trucks from Fort Devens, used in transporting the troops from West Acton to the Centre, bringing up the rear. The 13th United States Infantry Band furnished the music for the division.
The second division was led by Lowell H. Cram of the American Legion Post as Marshal, together with the Watertown American Legion Band. This division included some thirty floats, decorated automobiles, and commercial vehicles.
The third division, with Past Commander O. L. Clark of the Legion Post as marshal, included the local American Legion Post, the veterans of foreign wars, and various animal drawn vehicles. Outstanding among these was a hack of a former era drawn by a pair of horses in tandem.
Subsequent to the completion of the parade there were speeches from a specially erected platform in front of the town hall with Presi- dent of the Day, Howard J. Billings, presiding.
Just preceding the speaking Mr. Billings read the following com- munication from the White House in Washington.
1 Horace F. Tuttle, chairman; Waldo E. Whitcomb, George S. Braman, Ralph W. Piper, Vice-chairman; Webster S. Blanchard, Treasurer; Clara L. Sawyer, Secretary; Mrs. Hobart Mead, Mrs. Stuart Allen and Henry Tolman.
This group was subsequently augmented by more than twenty other sub- committees.
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THE WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON
July 10, 1935
To the People of Acton:
My acquaintance with the town of Acton extends over a considerable portion of my own lifetime, and it was a sense of being honored by an old friend that I reiceived an invitation to address a message to the "Citizens of Acton" on the occasion of the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Founding of the Town.
I am sure that in looking back over those years you have very much in mind just now the gallant services of Captain Isaac Davis and the other men of Acton at the Battle of Concord. The sacrifice which they made is characteristic of the vigor and courage with which the men of the colonies rose to defend their rights.
It is to the particular and everlasting glory of Acton that from her peaceful farms came such early and vital response to the demands for heroic action.
I am sure that the stalwart qualities of that earlier day are still with you, even though our present problems are of a different sort.
I congratulate you upon your past and send you my best wishes for your future.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
Governor James M. Curley of Massachusetts was then introduced. After the Governor's speech, an address was made by Hon. John F. Fitzgerald, ex-mayor of Boston, whose wife was a native of South Acton. Other speakers were Hon. John H. Valentine of Chelmsford, Representative of the eleventh Middlesex District, Rev. Frederick Brooks Noyes of Belmont and an Acton native who was born in the house now owned by Mr. Howard Billings, Mr. Harold R. Phalen, and Mr. Nelson Tenny of Acton. Mr. Leonard D. White, who was also listed to appear as another native son, was obliged to be absent due to illness.
The literary portion of the day's exercises was completed with the presentation of the poem "ACTON SPEAKS" by Miss Florence Piper Tuttle.
ACTON SPEAKS
I am the Acton which your fathers planned with pride,
Those humble folk, who toiled to clear the land, And build their simple homes here, side by side, Living as neighbors should. With willing hand
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They shared their work, their joys, their ills that you Among my peaceful hills might long abide, Doing the work God willed that you should do.
Then hostile whisperings of power and greed, And thought of paying toll to Britian's king, Caused all our patriot hearts to smart and bleed; When Freedom spoke and said, "I am your King". The challenge echoed through the nightly air, Till Davis bravely sensed the hour of need, And led our men in answer to our prayer.
Then everyone of Acton's Minute Men, - Those men who'd never faced a foe before, - Unwavering stood the enemy's fire. 'Twas then That Davis fell, and with him fell two more; Great souls that nobly died that we'd be free, A sacrifice that stirred in hearts of men, Plans for a nation that was yet to be.
A granite pile enshrines their dust today, Lifting its proud head to the azure skies; That God's sweet light of peace may about it play,
Till all the glories of the past shall rise, - Courage and valor, dignity and truth,
Dreams of a nobler and a better day, - A heritage indeed, for Acton's youth.
On Sunday, the second day, the morning hours were set apart for attendance at the several churches of the town according to the wishes of individuals.
From two to six in the afternoon the following old houses were open for inspection.1
Acton Centre
Rev. Frederick Brooks Noyes (1790)
Miss Charlotte Conant (1791) Mrs. Elizabeth Crocker, The old parsonage (1780)
Mohawk Trail Road Mr. and Mrs. Frank Peters (1791) Mr. and Mrs. Chester Robbins (1735) Mrs. Hope Holland (1762)
South Acton
Faulkner House, The old garrison house (previous to 1735) Mr. and Mrs. John Bradley (Sally Bright House, 1775)
1 The above is not a complete list of Acton's old and interesting houses. For additional data one should consult Fletcher and see the book of photographs by by Mr. Ernest H. Washburn in the Memorial Library.
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Dr. and Mrs. Randall M. Woodworth (Winthrop Conant place, 1735) Jones Tavern (1735) Miss Mary Lothrop (1762)
West Acton
Mrs. Sarah French Tavern (1770)
Mrs. Genevieve Creeley (1756)
Mr. and Mrs. Hiram Gates (1790)
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Haynes, (Deacon Benjamin Hayward,1735)
The late afternoon hours were given over to a concert on the Common by the E. R. A. orchestra upon which occasion there were rendered a number of selections by Acton's one musician of national repute, Mr. Lucius Hosmer.
Mr. Hosmer was the son of musical parents, his father being bandmaster of the local band and chorister of the church choir in which the mother also took a prominent part. When he was twelve the family moved to Charlestown whereupon the young Lucius began his studies at the New England Conservatory. There he first studied harmony with J. B. Claus and later took theory, counterpoint, and composition under the renowned George W. Chadwick. His first compositions were for the clarinet, upon which he was proficient but later he turned his attention to the violin and the organ, leading a theatre orchestra in Boston and serving as organist in one of the metropolitan churches.
In his early composing his metier seemed to be in the field of humor since his two comic operas "The Walking Delegate" and "The Rose of Alhambra" were distinct successes, the latter touring the country for two years including a run at the Belasco theatre in New York. His greater fame came, however, from his shorter compositions, which became immensely popular with musicians, particularly with the bands of Sousa and Pryor. Upon one occasion the Edison Symphony Orchestra of Chicago gave an entire program at Orchestra Hall that was broadcast throughout the country.
Mr. Hosmer was denied the privilege of attending the Acton cele- bration since his death occurred just a month and a half previous. His remains were brought to Mt. Hope Cemetery for interment.
The orchestra concert of the second day was followed by evening outdoor worship, the call being made by Rev. G. W. Douglas of the Centre Congregational church. The speaker of the evening, Dr. Ashley Day Leavitt of Brookline, was introduced by Rev. A. E. Beckett of the South Acton Congregational Church.
On the morning of the third day there was an automobile tour, conducted by Mr. Arthur F. Davis, over the route taken by the Minute Men to Concord. The group met at the high school and then repaired
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via Charter Rd. and Hayward Rd. to the Isaac Davis homestead, thence to the site of the home of Rev. John Swift, along Maple Ave. to the Fair Grounds, to the Centre School and via Brook Street to Strawberry Hill Rd. and the Barrett Mill Rd. to Concord.
At five thirty in the afternoon there was presented on the Fair Grounds the most pretentious pageant ever attempted by Acton residents. It was written by Miss Evelyn A. Knowlton, a descendent of Jonathan Hosmer, selectman, town clerk, assessor, schoolmaster and prominent churchman of the era of the town's inception.1 It was directed by Robert S. Bancroft of the John B. Rogers Producing Company. It consisted of four episodes each consisting of several scenes. The time span extended from the first meeting of the white settlers with the Indians to the Civil War and thereafter. The climactic scene showed the SPIRIT OF ACTON reviewing her past and being inspired by the SPIRIT OF PEACE to look toward the future.
According to the program more than one hundred and fifty persons took part in the pageant in diverse capacities. The major actors, several of whom were descendents of the characters they represented, were as follows:
SPIRIT OF ACTON
Miss Elizabeth R. Hall
Rev. John Eliot
Rev. Arthur J. Jefferies
Harlan Tuttle
Rev. John Swift, as a young man,
Capt. Isaac Davis
Francis Mead
Abner Hosmer
Dr. Roscoe Hosmer Knowlton
James Hayward
George Hayward
Clerk Joseph Piper
Ralph Piper
Luther Blanchard, fifer
Webster S. Blanchard
Rev. John Swift, as an old man
Rev. A. J. Torsleff
Mrs. Isaac Davis
Mrs. Sue Newport
Rev. James Trask Woodbury
Walter Cook
Rev. Robert Stinson
Charles Allen
Capt. Daniel Tuttle
Arthur Tuttle
Col. Winthrop Faulkner
Harold Merriam
Dr. Harris Cowdrey SPIRIT OF PEACE
W. Stuart Allen
Miss Doris Graves
One Acton native and resident who had a most unusual con- nection with the anniversary exercises was Mrs. Luella Smith Mott, whose grandfather, Solomon Smith, was in Davis' company at Con- cord Bridge. Mrs. Mott, aged sixty six at the time of the celebration, was, so far as has ever been discovered, the only person then alive in
1 See Appendices III, IV, V, IX.
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John Heald
Rev. Arthur E. Becket
the United States who could claim a grandfather who was a participant in the Revolution at any stage, to say nothing of one who fought in its first engagement.1
The opportunity must not be neglected to make some comment concerning one of the local speakers at the celebration, namely, Mr. Nelson Tenney. Every rural town has its colorful characters and one such Mr. Tenney was beyond all doubt.
Mention has already been made of Mr. Hoar and his all service vise. Tenney was another of the town's indefatigable inventors - in fact he was the personification of the typical Yankee gadget maker. He was forever experimenting. Before central heating had become at all general locally the Tenney steam boiler was in operation in a number of Acton houses. It was cumbersome and not a thing of beauty, particularly since it required a brick casing, but in the field of coal burning units it was a marvel of efficiency. Operated with hard coal it would warm any respectably tight house in zero weather with nothing more than a faint glow showing on the surface of the fire. Slicker models, promoted by more potent sales agents and advertising, replaced it but at the end of a tough winter none were kindlier on the pocketbook.
Quite apart from this mechanical ability he was a master with the unique idiom and a natural homespun orator of no mean ability. He had a slight speech defect which caused him to haul for breath at amazing places in his remarks. To the uninitiated the effect could be quite surprising. This bothered him not at all, in fact he used it skillfully to give punch to certain pithy asides that caused more than one uproar in the course of his town meeting polemics.
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