USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Acton > History of the town of Acton > Part 38
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In private conversation he was well read, bubbling with humor, and loaded with anecdotes of Acton personnel that while not always complimentary were highly entertaining. Those who knew him well and conversed with him often could not fail to absorb a mass of un- published Actonaria.
He delighted in demonstrations of ready wit and unconscious humor. One specimen that always amused him hugely was the following. It appears that during the time when John MacPherson functioned as the blacksmith at the shop now owned by Mr. Gates, one of the village ne'er-do-wells was loafing as usual when a local farmer renowned for his potent sarcasm, came to have his horses shod. Eventually a funeral passed, having in the procession two carriages heavily loaded with flowers. With every evidence of immense self pity the loafer made the observation that when he died
1 Solomon Smith (1753-1837) begat at the age of sixty Luke Smith (1813-1899) who in turn at the age of fifty six begat Luella Smith Mott (1869-1945). Mr. Otis Mott, the husband, is not a native of Acton, but is, as of the present, a sprightly town character in his late nineties.
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"there wouldn't be any flowers". Thereupon the farmer, in character- istic manner, and without an instant's hesitation came out with the following questionable bit of solace. "I'll promise ye one thing. If I'm alive and thar's any skunk cabbage er piz'n ivy, ye'll git plenty".
He was a combination of surpassing mechanic, able businessman, loyal Actonian and plain boy. He loved a sly prank. In the days when the celebration of the Fourth of July was both unsafe and insane the haggard citizens used to wonder after a night of horrendous din how the gay blades of the town assembled so many potent engines of concussion. Only years later did it leak out that anon diverse lengths of steel shafting went to the Tenny machine shop to be there bored with both his knowledge and his benison. He believed in America and thought its birthday was worth celebrating.1
It was charateristic of him that he should have owned the first phonograph in town. In those days only a consummate mechanic could make one behave. Even so the little demonstration that he gave one evening in the town hall had to be interrupted a couple of times while he cured the contraption of balky spells.
Likewise was it typical that he should have bought the site of the old Robbins saw mill and erected a trim little building in the hope that thereby he could use the water power to provide for Acton cheap electricity. The present residence of Mr. Stuart Allen is the metamor- phosed Tenny mill.
He had for years as his most treasured workman an individual almost his equal as a mechanical wizard. This man, George Daniels by name, came from Peterborough, New Hampshire, and so much resembled the then renowned financier Jay Gould that the nickname was immediately clapped upon him with such effect that he well nigh lost his identity. Many in town knew him by no other name. Even mail came to him so addressed. He lived a sort of hermit's existence in a wee shanty on River Street which he built just large enough to shelter his bed and his unique self-made automobile. The story of this temperamental vehicle is a saga in itself but space will not permit. The curious reader is referred to Mr. Benjamin Sawyer who as an old time Tenny workman must have been around for the conception and birth of that amazing product of the mechanic's art.
Eventually there was erected in South Acton by a large and some- what pontifical gentleman an imposing residence bearing over the entrance the sign "SUNSHINE VILLA". Not long thereafter there appeared over Jay's front and only door the legend "MOONSHINE VILLA". Although Mr. Tenny would never admit any complicity in this bit of foolery nevertheless he did not deny it and very few felt that Jay had the turn of mind to devise any such satirical trick alone.
1 Now the SIR STEAK plant on Massachusetts Ave.
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It had too much of the touch of the master jester in it.
As we come to the consideration of the years intervening since 1935 it becomes increasingly difficult to select the topics for consideration. Acton began its third century much in the frame of mind of a lusty country youth just outgrowing all his clothes, and amazed at the sight of his burgeoning stature and at the unfamiliar urges stirring within him. The town had begun to attract new residents in numbers. Hence the story must deal with growing pains and with readjustments to new civic outlooks.
All this means trouble for the author. It is difficult to put period to the biography of an atomb bomb while it is in the process of exploding. Modern society has become so complex that events that would have supplied the writer with pages of copy a century ago now merely bore the reader. From the time one of Acton's commuter citizens rises in the morning to the sound of his electric alarm clock until he leaves for work in his modern car he has performed a score of miracles unheard of by his great grandfather. He who would be a scribe must perforce choose those topics that appear to have some bearing on the future shape of events, with now and then a bit of spicing in the form of routine matters that although unimportant in themselves throw light on the local temper and attitudes.
In its new personality the town has made and will make mistakes both of commission and omission but these will be recognized and corrected. Some of the old and desirable customs will fade but never, may we pray, shall Acton become so involved in the present that it will, as happened in the case of a certain Connecticut community of the same age as venerable Sudbury, by-pass its three hundredth anni- versary by several weeks before anyone awoke to the fact.
For decades the woodlot facing Concord Street just north of Wood- lawn Cemetery stood as an untouched forest. Frequently the remark was made that in due course it might well become a convenient adjunct when Woodlawn needed to expand, but in those days the reality seemed to be something far in the future. No one could then see how Acton was to expand or envision how popular Woodlawn was to become as a place of interment for out of town persons who were attracted by its natural beauty and efficient maintenance.
All of a sudden events transpired rapidly. At a special town meet- ing convened August 17, 1936 a series of associated articles came before the citizens for consideration. The first was to see if the town would accept from Mrs. Sarah Albertine Watson, as of her offer of the June previous, a conveyance of the aforementioned woodlot with the stipulation that it be forever used as an addition to Woodlawn subject to certain other conditions, namely, that there be built upon the lot a mortuary chapel in pursuance of clause C of item twenty six of the
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will of Mrs. Georgia E. Whitney and that the town accept the balance, if any, as a trust fund the income of which was to be used to beautify the cemetery.
The town accepted unanimously all the conditions and empowered the Cemetery Commissioners to represent the town in all matters pertaining to the conveyance and to the erection of the chapel.
At the same meeting there was also accepted from Mrs. Whitney an additional fund of ten thousand dolars the interest of which was to be used for the relief of needy poor of South Acton, preferably elderly persons, with the proviso that the distribution be made unostentatious- ly so that the names of the beneficiaries might not become known. Pursuant of the foregoing acts the following was passed:
Voted: That the town of Acton place on record its ap- preciation and thanks for the generous gifts under the will of the late Georgia E. Whitney and her sister, Mrs. Sarah A. Watson, for the rare public spirit in providing benefits to the town and its citizens. Also to recognize the unselfish interest shown by Mrs. Watson and her sister for the wel- fare of their native town for many years past, and the pro- visions for the future.
These two women who were so generous and thoughtful were the daughters of Mr. Varnum Tuttle, one of the prominent partners of the merchandizing concern of Tuttle, Jones and Wetherbee of South Acton. Mr. Tuttle was born in Acton in 1823 and married Sarah L. Kieth, also a native, on May 6, 1849. Georgia Tuttle, the elder sister, was born December 9, 1854, married Walter H. Whitney, spent all her married life in Somerville, and died June 17, 1925. Sarah Albertine Tuttle, the younger sister, was born March 19, 1864, married Oliver Watson, who also lived in Somerville, died in 1931, and was buried in Woodlawn. Mrs. Watson, now in the late eighties, lives in Harvard and has taken an active interest in the preparation of the portion of the manuscript relating to the erection of the chapel.
The edifice itself, built of Chelmsford granite by D. F. and W. G. Burns under the direction of architect H. Thaxter Underwood, was formally dedicated on the afternoon of June 19th, 1938. With Mr. William E. Zeuch at the organ, assisted by the Temple Quartette, the ceremonies were simple but impressive. Rev. Arthur H. Wilde of the Baptist Church offered the invocation. Mr. Amos L. Taylor presented the chapel to the town on behalf of the trustees of the Whitney estate. Mr. Horace F. Tuttle accepted on behalf of the Cemetery Commissioners. There were two addresses, one by Rev. Amel W. Whitwer of the South Acton Congregational Church and another by Rev. Glenn W. Douglas of the Centre Congregational Church. Rev. Norman L. Kellert of the South Acton Universalist Church pronounced the benediction.
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The printed program of the exercises states specifically that the "Acton Memorial Chapel is erected in appreciation of the comfort of the Gospel, and in the faith of life after death, and the glorious hope of immortality, a chapel for the free use of all who may desire it, for the observance of burial rites for those whose bodies are to be interred in Woodlawn".
Within the building two tablets bear the following inscriptions:
This chapel given to town of Acton by Georgia Etta Whitney erected under direction of trustees S. Alberte Watson & Amos L. Taylor
This chapel
erected in memory of Varnum Tuttle 1823 - 1904 & Walter H. Whitney 1849 - 1906
At the March meeting of 1937 one of the town's growing pains began to become acute when the question of a consolidated elementary school at Kelley's Corner came before the electorate. The net result of the discussion was that the moderator appointed Harold Clapp, Walter M. Cook, and Edward L. Pendergast as a committee to confer with the school committee upon the matter.
In October a special town meeting voted to borrow the necessary money by 128 to 98. It was also decided to draw up a set of building laws. This action stirred up interest to such an extent that at a meet- ing on November 1 a motion to raise and borrow $100,000 for a consolidated school, although it failed to be backed by the necessary two thirds, did obtain a very favorable consideration of 339 to 192, thereby falling short by only fifteen votes. Another try on August 1, 1938 brought out a much smaller percentage of the citizenry and was far less successful, the vote being 168 to 167. The closeness of this vote showed that Acton "was at it again"on a major issue.
Thereafter the project lay fallow and before it was resurrected the war years were upon the nation. It was not until 1946 that a three line paragraph in the report of the chairman of the school committee
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expressed the hope that the citizens would keep in mind the need for a consolidated elementary school.
In 1950 a special board, known as the regional school district planning board, consisting of Charles V. Sturdevant, Orwald E. Kienow, and Alden C. Flagg, was created and instructed to report at a special town meeting to be held not later than December of 1950. At the same time Charles A. Christofferson, Marion C. Reed, Porter Jenks, Thomas Motley 2nd., and Burton C. Jones, Jr. were put on a special school building committee to investigate the design, construc- tion, site, costs, et cetera and report not later than December 1950.
Pursuant of the above outlined plans the two committees worked diligently and reported at a special town meeting convened on Decem- ber 18, 1950. Although no action was taken in either case the reports were of major importance and are given in outline below since they must of necessity form the nucleus of any further progress in the matter.
The special building committee presented the following findings:
1. The existing school buildings, including the present High School, will provide adequate space and facili- ties for grades 1 to 8 until sometime subsequent to 1960.
2. The enrollment in grades 9 to 12 will be in excess of 325 by 1960.
3. That a high school having an enrollment in excess of three hundred can be operated at a reasonable cost and provide a good high school curriculum.
4. That a new high school building containing ade- quate educational and athletic facilities can be con- structed at a reasonable cost to the town; provided that the State Aid will be granted for a local High School.
In view of the above facts the committee recommended that the town engage the services of a person or persons experienced in making school population studies to make a survey to determine the probable enrollment in grades 9 to 12 inclusive for the years 1959 to 1964 and that the sum of two thousand dollars be appropriated for the purpose; that the committee submit the results of the survey to the State School Building Assistance Commission to obtain approval and State Aid for erecting a suitable high school building; and that a special town meeting be called, as soon as such approval is obtained, for the purpose of authorizing the construction of a new high school building.
The Regional School District Planning Board above mentioned consisted of members from the towns of Acton, Bolton, Boxborough, Harvard, Lancaster, and Stow. Mr. Charles V. Sturdevant, originally
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appointed as a member of the school committee resigned and Eleanore H. Hollis served in his place.
The report of the complete committee, dated from Harvard, Mass. as of January 17, 1951 is fulsome, ten pages in all, and can be found on page 173 of the 1950 town report. It is needless to give it here in detail.
It will be sufficient to state that the eleven sections of the report cover the items of the selection of the regional district school com- mittee, the location of the school building, the type of building, the method of apportioning costs, transportation, admission and with- drawal from the district, ammendments, budgets, admission of students, organization of the regional school commitee, and the organization of the regional school district.
The three appended tables show that of the total valuation of the six towns Acton was the largest with 34.29 per cent. It also had the largest net average membership, namely 32.77 per cent. To arrive at the calculation of the share of each town the technique was to double the valuation percentage, add the membership percentage and divide by three. By this means it developed that the percentage shares of the six towns were as follows: Acton 33.78; Bolton 9.79; Boxborough 3.62; Harvard 17.57; Lancaster 22.05; Stow 13.19.
The conclusion of the planning board was summarized below.
The Regional School District Planning Board estab- lished by the towns of Acton, Bolton, Boxborough, Har- vard, Lancaster and Stow in accordance with Chapter 638 of the Acts of 1949 of the General Laws has studied the advisability of establishing a Regional School Dis- trict for all or part of the above towns. The said boards finds it desirable, and in the best interest of the above towns, their taxpayers, and their children of school age, to establish such a Regional School District, and hereby recommends that the above towns forthwith express their wishes in the matter.
The Regional School District Planning Board urgently recommends to the above towns and their Setectmen that a Regional School District be established and herewith submits a copy of the proposed agreement between the member towns. Copies of this agreement have been sub- mitted to the emergency finance board and the depart- ment of education who have indicated their approval of the agreement and the proposed Regional School District by affixing their signatures to the agreement.
We therefore request that in accordance with Chapter 638 of the Acts of 1949 the board of Selectmen ot
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Acton direct the Town Clerk of Acton to cause the follow- ing question to be placed on the official ballot used for the election of town officials for the election to be held Monday, March 5, 1951 :-
"Shall Acton accept the provisions of sections sixteen to sixteen I, inclusive, of chapter seventy-one of the Gen- eral Laws, providing for the establishment of a regional school district, together with the towns of Bolton, and/or Boxborough, and/or Harvard, and/or Lancaster, and/or Stow, and the construction, maintenance and operation of a regional school by the said district in accordance with the provisions of a proposed agreement filed with the Selectmen?"
YES NO
Frank Wigglesworth Chairman, Regional School District Planning Board
Eleanore H. Hollis
Board Member from Acton Orwald E. Kienow Board Member from Acton Alden C. Flagg, Jr. Board Member from Acton
Since 1950 the school situation has been in constant flux due to the interlocking details of the town's needs, the problem of the con- solidated school, the Blanchard Auditorium, and the necessary legal steps involved in financing. The end is not yet, and prophesy is vain so the writer will close the topic by paraphrasing from the statement of Superintendent Whitman Pearson in the last town report.
September of 1952 found the local school system six classrooms short of the number required for its seven hundred students. The two shift plan had been envisioned but was avoided by making use of the following facilities:
West Acton Second Grade Roosevelt School, Maynard
South Acton Second Grade. Coolidge School, Maynard Center First Grade. Center Church Sunday School Room
Center Third Grade. Center Fire House South Acton Fourth Grade Acton Center Women's Club Third Section High School. Converted High School Seventh Grade Library
This arrangement was upset by the fire which destroyed the Wilson
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School in Maynard, necessitating the termination of the two school- room renting agreement with Maynard which now needed all its available space. Improvisation again made it possible to avoid the two shift system for the West and South Grades when through the cooperation of Mr. Porter Jenks, two of his new apartments in West Acton were rushed to completion between Christmas and New Year's Day and were ready for classes on time. Temporary approval from the state building inspector was secured and another rush project carried out by high school students Dexter Loring and James Kazokas, who, working during the vacation period, readied forty two desks by the January 7th deadline. Most of the desks, assembled from parts salvaged from the attics and basements of all the school build- ings, were nicely refinished along with teacher's desks secured as surplus military property from Fort Devens three years ago. Co- operation by officials of the Concord Reformatory allowed the speeding up of delivery on chairs for the new primary school buildings so that the required number were on hand for the dis- placed second grade.
In the high school the two shift plan seems imminent as of Septem- ber 1953. Just what changes this will force upon Principal William O'Connell and his corps of fifteen teachers will emerge only when the system is in actual operation. One thing is certain and all wise administrators have seen it coming for several years. The avalanche of the increased baby crop is upon the country and no short term plans are going to suffice.
Concommitant with the agitation relative to the consolidated school project there arose as a natural consequence the whole question of the zoning of the town. At the meeting of March 8, 1937 it was voted to draw up a set of building laws and Robert N. Bowen, Raymond F. Durkee, James Kinsley, Frank Merriam, Webster S. Blanchard, and Howard J. Billings were appointed to prepare a set of laws for the consideration of the town.
Here again, due to the interference of the war, the zoning question did not come before the town for several years. A hearing was held on May 13, 1946 but no action was taken and no mention is made of it in the town reports since it was not a called town meeting. The zoning by-laws as eventually drawn up appear in full in the 1947 town report, pages 64-70. The by-laws appear to be carefully and fairly drawn but, as is not unusual with such a knotty problem, there was much division of opinion. They came before the electorate at the meeting on March 8, 1948 and were defeated by a vote of 275 to 157. Since that time certain events have transpired that have caused some of the opponents to alter their opinion but as of the present the matter still hangs in abeyance.
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At the March meeting of 1938 Acton became the owner of its first municipal ball park when it accepted a deed of gift from the trustees of the Elnathan Jones Community Field in South Acton and appropri- ated three hundred dollars for the upkeep for the current year. Mr. Eden Cahill was hired as caretaker. At that date the supposition was that the field would be used by the town ball club and the high school. Nobody could then envision the present rage of midget teams that has swept the country and made the field an instrument for the entertain- ment of young and old quite beyond the concept of anyone who first laid it out.
Mention has previously been made of the hurricane of 1815 that wrought its havoc in the vicinity of Nehemiah's Hill. In 1938, however, on the night of the autumnal equinox, devastation on a much larger scale hit the whole eastern portion of the state. Heavy rains that had soaked the ground for three days were followed by hurricane winds late in the afternoon. Thousands of trees were broken down but as many more, their roots having but slight traction in the saturated undersoil, merely eased over and lay prone with the whole root structure intact on the surface. By the time darkness had fully settled every street in town was blocked with debris of all sorts including light poles, diverse portions of roofs and fences and assorted ruins. Due to heroic efforts on the part of the street department, however, and the spirited cooperation of the public, every principal street was open to traffic by the next day. Over nine thousand dollars was spent on the clearing project. Many of the fine old trees on the Common were victims as were also the major portion of the beautiful white pines that used to adorn Woodlawn. When the salvaged lumber was finally sawed and stacked on the open field at the junction of Newtown Rd. and Fort Pond Rd. the piles covered the whole area to a height of ten feet.
Several minor items appear in the record of 1938 which, while not important locally, are of passing interest. By a vote of 575 to 360 the town expressed its approval of biennial state elections. On the same ballot were questions relating to pari-mutuel betting. It appears that Acton favors running the horses but turns thumbs down on dogs.
With a thriving high school and a growing population it was a natural consequence that there should evolve in due course a Parent Teachers Association. On November 6, 1939 the organization was effected with Mrs. Edward Schmitz as president, Mrs. Robert Hall, vice-president, Miss Florence Merriam, secretary, and Mrs. Warren Hartwell, treasurer. The meetings were to be held on the first Monday of each month and the dues were twenty five cents. The original call for the first discussion meeting was signed by Mrs. O. S. Creeley, Mrs. Carl Flint, Mrs. Elwin Hollowell, Mrs. William A. Heuss, Mrs. Fred
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Rimbach, and Mr. Walter Hall. An item in the minutes for February 2, 1942 assigns to Mrs. Rimbach the credit for being the founder of the organization. On January 10, 1940 the group voted to join the state association.
After the second and final burning of the Monument House the cellar hole was filled in and the area put into presentable condition. In order that it might so remain Mr. James E. Kinsley, then on the Board of Selectmen, very generously and wisely purchased it and presented it to the town with the restriction that the frontage on Con- . cord Road and Main Street be forever maintained as a part of the town common and that no structure ever be erected thereon other than a marker bearing the inscription,
"This lot of land presented to the town of Acton by James Edward Kinsley, 1940."
The town accepted the gift on March 11, 1940 and appointed Horace F. Tuttle, Webster S. Blanchard, and Wiliam Merriam as a committee to determine what portion of the land should be subject to the con- ditions imposed by the donor.
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