USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Lakeville > History of the town of Lakeville, Massachusetts, 1852-1952; one hundredth anniversary of the town of Lakeville > Part 6
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JOHN CUDWORTH
John Cudworth was born in 1839 and died in 1921. He married Sarah Rounseville and they had twelve children: Horace, Jesse, Nellie (Cudworth) Parker, Philena (Cudworth) Tallman, Law- rence, Carrie (Cudworth) Dunbar, Emma (Cudworth) Brown, Abbie (Cudworth) Atwood, Fannie (Cudworth) Randall, Myron, Ella (Cudworth) Lawrence, and Arthur. He was well known in town as he had been fish warden from 1869 to 1880 and was constable from 1865 to 1880.
ORRIN E. HASKINS
Orrin E. Haskins, who lived on Precinct Street, was born in 1845 and was the son of Levi and Mary (Sampson) Haskins. He was town clerk of Lakeville for many years and had also held other town offices. He married Emma White, daughter of Robert White of County Road. Mr. Haskins was stricken with a shock while working in the fields of his estate and died in 1922. He was an outstanding citizen.
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PEOPLE
JULIA STAPLES BASSETT
Julia Staples Bassett lived in the Captain Nathaniel Staples homestead on Main Street. She was born January 14, 1846, the only daughter of Harrison and Hannah P. (Morton) Staples. She had an excellent education, having attended Lakeville schools, Peirce Academy, and Wolfeboro Institute, Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. Many of the older residents of Lakeville recall her outstanding ability as a reader.
Mrs. Bassett took an active interest in town affairs, serving as trustee of the Lakeville Public Library from 1916 to 1930 and as an officer and worker in the Sewing Circle. For many years she was actively connected with the Nemasket Grange of Middle- boro, ably performing the duties of chaplain for thirty years. She left a record of faithful and conscientious service in the Grange, which has seldom been equalled.
She married Charles H. Bassett of Sandwich and they had four children: Ralph M., Nathaniel S., Helen P., and Marcus N. Mrs. Bassett died April 5, 1930.
CAPTAIN JOB PEIRCE AND HIS FAMILY
On Main Street (near Stetson Street) in that part of Middle- boro which is now Lakeville lived a man whose existence and generosity vitally affected citizens of both towns. His family name is as familiar today as it was almost two centuries ago when he was still alive. He was generous and foresighted, living in . frugal simplicity that others might benefit from his industry. In the year 1767 this man, Captain Job Peirce, bought the house which stood near the site of the house once owned by Elbridge Cushman and Frank H. Conklin, and now the property of N. Merrill Sampson. Here he cultivated a farm of two hundred acres, where the product of corn alone was, one year, a little over nine hundred bushels.
The farmhouse was a modest one, even after the additions made by the captain. The exact date of its earliest construction
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LAKEVILLE
is not known, but, at the time of its demolition in 1870, it had stood for a century and a half.
When Captain Peirce and his wife moved onto the farm, they already had three children: a son and two daughters. Later the older daughter became the wife of Major Peter Hoar. Other sons were born who in time brought more fame and fortune into the family. Their birthdates, names and achievements follow: December 12, 1767, Job Peirce, Jr., a remarkably successful merchant and ship-builder; October 1, 1773, Levi Peirce, well- known business man, delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1820, postmaster for thirty-two years, influential member of the Pond Meeting - House, and benefactor of the Central Baptist Church in Middleboro; May 26, 1775, Ebenezer Peirce, a man of unusual business capacity, and March 25, 1788, Peter H. Peirce, storekeeper, manufacturer and real estate owner, "whose influ- ence in circles civil and military, mercantile and political was unequaled."
According to a grandson, General Ebenezer W. Peirce, Captain Job was the founder and donor of Peirce Academy and his son, Levi, the distributor of his father's generous gift.
The captain and his wife lived in their modest home to the end of their days and there they died and were carried to their places of burial in the cemetery crowning a hill-top behind the house. Here, too, are the resting places of Major Peter Hoar and General Ephraim Ward.
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CHAPTER VI
INDUSTRIES
THE STEAMER "ASSAWAMPSETT"
HE steamer "Assawampsett" was built in the year 1879 by John Baylies LeBaron. The "Assawampsett" was a sixty-foot boat and could carry one hundred and fifty passengers. The voyage on the river was one of peril and often the skipper and his "settin pole" were required to push the craft off the rocks and shoals, but once in the pond it was plain sailing. The smokestack was hinged to permit its being lowered when passing under bridges.
The Steamer "Assawampsett"
Mr. LeBaron, a moulder by trade, built the boiler for the boat. Old-timers recall a controversy which arose when Mr. LeBaron was informed he would be required to have a fireman's license. He protested strongly that he had built the boat and ought to know how to run it. A compromise was reached whereby he received a special license to navigate the "Assawampsett" up the
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LAKEVILLE
Nemasket River to the ponds. When the City of Taunton placed the gates across the mouth of the river, the "Assawampsett" went out of business.
In 1876, three years before the days of the steamer "Assa- wampsett," Mr. LeBaron had built the first steamboat for nav- igating the Nemasket River to the ponds. It was named "The Pioneer" and was a forty-foot, coal burning, side wheeler which would accommodate forty passengers.
A third steamboat, built by William Young for the Nemasket River, was a forty-foot stern wheeler. After two trips up the river, it was taken into Long Pond and used for excursion trips.
Another ferry, operated on Long Pond in 1880, was used for the sole purpose of carrying men from the mainland to Lewis Island where cranberries were cultivated.
STON
ROY
WESTERN SHORE OF
Assawampsett Lake, Lakeville, Mass. SPECIAL ATTENTION GIVEN TO SUNDAY SCHOOL, LODGE, & FAMILY PICNICS AND CLAMBAKES. A PLEASANT RESORT FOR CAMPING AND FISHING PARTIES.
The Grove is furnished with Seats and Tables, and accommodations for Cooking and Camp- ing, Swings and Croquet. Good Shore for Fishing and Bathing.
The Grove is 3 miles from Middleboro' and i miles from Lakeville stations on the O. C. R R. Steamer Pioneer stops on each trip. Can also be easily reached by carriage.
Regular Trips, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays,
Returning to connect with trains. Ice furnished. Sail and Row Boats ic Let. Terms Reasonable. Good order required.
J. H. NELSON, Box 179, Middleboro', Mass.
The above industry explains itself. It is a reproduction of a card pre- pared by the late John Hiram Nelson, when the lake country was a popular resort for picnic parties and excursions. There were two groves on the western shore of Assawompsett at that time, Nelson's or Stony Point and Sampson's or Green Point. "The Pioneer" stopped at both places and a day at the lakes was enjoyed by many in those days.
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INDUSTRIES
THE TACK FACTORY
Back in 1700 Major Thomas Leonard operated a forge at the site of the Tack Factory located on Barny Brook in North Lake- ville. This forge was used for about eighty years. Later a saw- mill was in operation at the same place. Then, sometime before 1868, it became a tack factory built by Albert Mason of Bridge- water. It was from this enterprise that the neighborhood obtained its name and has since been known as the Tack Factory. Under the management of Mr. Mason this factory was not suc- cessful and soon was abandoned.
The Tack Factory
Sometime later, George Osborne purchased and operated this industry, doing a flourishing business. It was this same Mr. Osborne who made the pattern for the tacks and had it cast at the LeBaron Foundry in Middleboro, but he neglected to have it patented and it was stolen. At the death of George Osborne in 1878 his son, Willard, succeeded him. Willard died in 1919 and about 1920 the Tack Factory burned.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LAKEVILLE THE OLD TACK FACTORY
May 1866
It stands here black with smoke and time, The creeping rust around. While striking on the soft May air Comes forth its busy sound.
The stanch machines rattle away, Working like things of life, Seeming only intent to say Who first shall win the strife.
Who first shall pile the cask on high With nails all silver bright, Repeating each the same refrain, "Our work is our delight".
The rafters bare stretch overhead, Looking so brown and old
They say as plain as words can speak, We could a tale unfold.
A fascination seems to lurk Within its old black walls, For oft its grim and shadowy form The strolling footstep calls.
And children pause as they from school Go when their tasks are o'er And curious eyes and glances bright Shine through the magic door.
Near by the brook sings babbling on, Its spring, robed banks amid Green gemmed with dandelions gold, And violets blue half hid.
The old mill pond a picture fair In sunshine or in calm Having for all who seek therefor A lesson and a charm.
In each soft sunny summer morn A mirror clear it lies, Reflecting in its liquid calm A dream of paradise.
And o'er its surface bends serene The blue sky from above, Directing thoughts to heavenly things And to the God of love.
And Pisgah, rears its sheltering dome, Not Nebo's mount of old, A lesser height of modern day Whose fame is yet untold.
Later, pond lilies pure and fair, With fragrant petals white, Will on its bosom glow like stars In the sky of a cloudless night.
Seven gilead trees the portal keep: Is balm in gilead? Then so long The healing stream shall flow For lost and erring men.
And when King Frost resumes his sway,
As changing seasons roll And binds its waves in fetters strong Brought from the icy pole.
Of then, how merry the girls and boys Will o'er its surface glide, Imbibing draughts of you and health As they skate and shout and slide.
The hair is gray and bowed the form Beneath the weight of time, Who forty years ago or more Wrought here in manhood's prime.
And since through all the changing years He labored with good will With honest heart and honest hands, His duties to fulfill.
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INDUSTRIES
Of future years that will come and go, Not one can we forecast:
But when forty more have rolled away To join the mighty past.
Where then, will be the mill and stream
Where pond and lily sweet?
And where O where will wander then All these busy feet?
Matter may change and time succeed, But ever firm will stand, The word of God and a home for all Who choose, in the better land.
- E. J. O.
THE BLACKSMITH SHOPS
The old blacksmith shops of yester-years have vanished long ago. Many of us as children can remember the ancient anvil, the bellows and the heat from the forge. The oxen as well as the horses were driven to the blacksmith shop to be shod. The horse-shoeing business began to decline and by 1925 it had nearly disappeared, because the "horseless carriage" was here to stay. But in recent years, horse-back riding, as a sport, has made a re- newed demand for blacksmiths.
One of the old blacksmith shops, in use for many years, stood just beyond the Sampson Tavern, at the corner of Highland Road and the Turnpike. It was operated by Calvin Southworth.
Long ago blacksmith shops were operated by Levi Chase, on Hunt Road, which is now Pickens Street; by Alvanus South- worth, at the corner of Rhode Island Road and the Turnpike; by William Strobridge, in the Strobridge neighborhood; by Lou (Lewis) Parris on Sullivan Road, now Kingman Street; by Job . Peirce on Peirce Avenue, and by a Mr. Richmond at North Lake- ville for about a year. Records show that Job Peirce was an apprentice to Mr. Strobridge.
Will Hoard operated the last shop in Lakeville, and the one which can be recalled by some of the older residents. It was situated at the corner of Precinct and Pickens Streets.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LAKEVILLE
SHOE MAKING IN THE OLDEN DAYS
In the olden days every family was on its own as far as the making of shoes was concerned. A shoemaker would travel from house-to-house making shoes for each member of the family. It was the custom in early winter for each family, if it did not raise cattle and tan its own leather, to purchase a calf skin, a side of upper leather, and a side of sole leather to have the stock on hand.
Calvin Dunham is listed as one of the skilled shoemakers who traveled from house-to-house making regular visits. He would bring his work bench and tools with him. The family for whom he was working would have the shoe thread on hand, from some which had been spun during the year. Then, seated by the open fire in the kitchen, Mr. Dunham would make new shoes for each member of the family and also repair their old shoes.
An old cobbler's bench with the seat at the right. The knives, punches, and awls can be seen in the slots at the back and, at the front, the trays where the wooden pegs were kept. The shoes were made on wood n lasts of various sizes and shapes.
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INDUSTRIES
Another traveling shoeworker was Hannah Reed, who was noted for her energy and great strength. It is related that she would walk to Boston one day and return the next day, bringing leather and supplies to be used for shoes. She made good sub- stantial shoes that fitted the feet well.
Later, little shops were built. Nearly every home had a cobbler's shop, or a room in the house where shoes were made. Many of these buildings are still in existence, not as cobblers' shops, but as work shops, or tool houses.
One of the old shoe shops, that is still standing, was owned by Agustus Andrews about 1885. It is located on Taunton Street in North Lakeville, now owned and used as a tool shed by Arthur Coffin. Another shop, which is still being used today, is the one on the old Tobey place on the Turnpike. It is an antique shop, owned and operated by Mrs. Alton Cudworth.
Years ago one of these stood on the Charles Peirce farm on Lakeside Avenue. The Tom Spooner place and the Nellie Horr place on Bedford Street, which was the Turnpike years ago, each had family shoe shops.
At Precinct the Dean brothers operated a shoe factory. It is said that they did an extensive business employing several hands.
Some of the family shops that can be remembered were at Austin Haskins', at the corner of the Turnpike and Rhode Island Road; at Herbert Brown's father's, at the corner of Precinct and Pickens Streets; at Martin Caswell's, on Precinct Street, and at Paul Jones', who was Fanny McDonald Kelly's grandfather, on Rhode Island Road.
Remember your grandfather telling of his grandfather sitting at the old cobbler's bench making shoes for the entire family? Some of these benches are still in existence today, as antiques, rather than necessities.
John R. Aldrich of North Lakeville, about 1880, built a shoe factory and carried on an extensive shoe business. The fac- tory was located on what is now the Godfrey Robinson farm, on Taunton Street. When it opened there were six workmen,
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LAKEVILLE
and when it closed in 1900 there were thirty-five employed, making three hundred pairs of shoes a day. Later the factory was known as the "Aldrich and Haskins Shoe Shop". The build- ing, after being closed for a while, was removed and made into a dwelling house. The machinery was sold and moved to New Jersey.
EEE
EEEN
This is the John Aldrich Shoe Factory at North Lakeville taken years ago. Mrs. Godfrey Robinson, a daughter of Mr. Aldrich, is in the door- way. Others in the picture are John Aldrich, William Aldrich, Charles Wood, Abiatha Reed, Bradford Leonard, Henry Pratt, Daniel Aldrich. Edward Copeland, Charles Ashley, Augustus Andrews, Herbert Haskins and George Aldrich.
HOME-MADE SOAP
The making or using of soft soap would not appeal to us today, though it was quite a necessary industry in years gone by. All surplus fat was carefully stored, as were the wood ashes from the fireplace, till enough of both had been secured. The ashes were placed in barrels and water added which made the lye. This lye was boiled with the grease in proper proportions in huge kettles over the fire. It took twenty-four pounds of grease and six bushels of ashes to make one barrel of soft soap. This was used for house- hold purposes. A toilet soap was sometimes made with the bay- berry tallow.
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INDUSTRIES
IRON ORE
In the latter part of the eighteenth century, iron ore of superior quality was found in large quantities in Assawompsett Lake, and was a source of much income. For a long time, as much as five hundred tons were taken yearly, before the supply was exhausted. An able-bodied man could secure two tons in a day.
Iron was also abundant in Long Pond, or Apponequett as the Indians called it. This ore was taken and melted at the blast furnace in East Freetown. The water in Long Pond was too deep to gather the ore, and the undertaking was more or less dangerous, several persons having lost their lives while engaged in this work. The ore was raised from the bottom of the pond by long tongs, placed in rough scows, and towed ashore. It was then taken to the blast furnaces where it was converted into andirons, kettles, spiders, and other articles known as hollow- ware for domestic use. Some pieces of this hollow-ware, which have been used for generations, are still preserved as relics. This iron also made fine cannon and ball during the Revolutionary War. In some cases, the workmen in the blast furnaces received part of their wages in the hollow-ware manufactured there. They were often obliged to turn peddler in order to convert their wages into cash.
Some of the iron was taken from the blast furnaces to the forges about town, where it was made into bars of the desired thickness and length. These pieces were then taken to the various slitting mills, cut up and rolled into nail rods. These rods were bound into bundles of fifty and the farmers took them to their shops to be hammered into hand-wrought iron nails. There was one of these forges by the road, between the old Bowen place and the farm occupied by Dr. Swan, which is now (1952) L. G. Wilkie's farm. Another in North Lakeville, used for 80 years, stood on the site of the Tack Factory. Major Thomas Leonard, of Taunton, was the promoter of that enterprise.
One of the small nail mills stood on the right of the highway, not far from the Assawompsett School.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LAKEVILLE
STRAW HATS
The straw business, which was so extensively and successfully conducted in Middleboro in the nineteenth century, had its origin in that part of the town that has since become Lakeville. To Ebenezer Briggs, Jr., who resided upon the southerly shore of the great Assawompsett Pond in what was then West Middleboro, is due the honor of having introduced this business. Mr. Briggs commenced the bonnet business in or near the year 1828 and continued the manufacture of hats in Lakeville about seven years. In 1835, Mr. Briggs moved his straw hat business to the Four Corners and carried on this business there for about nine years.
In 1844, Andrew and James Pickens, twin brothers, and Wil- liam A. King purchased the straw works from Ebenezer Briggs.
It is said that the straw works at one time were conducted in a building which stood on the corner of the old Turnpike (now Bedford Street) and Long Point Road. Part of that building was moved about one-quarter of a mile north on the Turnpike and made into a dwelling house. The latter was called the Nellie Horr place.
At one time the sewing of the straw braid into women's hats was done by the housewives in their own homes. A man would make regular trips in a carriage, distributing the braid and col- lecting the hats when completed. The ladies would make the hats on plaster-of-paris forms of various sizes and shapes.
The straw braid which was first used was all made in this country but later was imported. This change took away the occu- pation of many women, who had braided it by hand. In the carly years of this enterprise all the sewing was done by hand, but as years went by machines were used more and more. In time the business outgrew its first few rooms and buildings were erected on Courtland Street in Middleboro. The straw factory continued to be very successful until 1895, when the owner, Arthur R. Alden, died and the business was not re-established. Thus passed a once-thriving industry, which had its beginning in Lakeville.
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INDUSTRIES
CANDLE MAKING BY OUR GRANDMOTHERS
The making of candles is an industry worthy of mention, for it was a necessity in the early days. The bayberry candle was a luxury and used only on special occasions. As she sat by the fire- place the industrious mother was busily engaged looping six or eight strings of candle wicking, in lengths of about ten inches, over short wooden rods. She did this on fifty or more rods, according to the number of candles she was making.
For wicking she used commercial cotton wick, which was to be found in all country stores, or maybe hemp or coarse linen of her own manufacture. When the wicks were all placed on the rods, she carefully stiffened them with wax or tallow, that they might dip more easily. The next day two large kettles, half-filled with water, were brought in and placed over the fire, and the tallow, which had been carefully saved for the purpose, was put in them. When the tallow boiled, the kettles were removed from the hearth and the rods, with the candle wicks attached, were dipped in turn into the hot tallow. This process was re- peated until the candles were the desired size. Later, itinerant candle-makers relieved the housewife of this portion of her many household duties.
CIDER MILLS
Many of the old-timers had cider presses at their own houses and made their own cider. One of the old cider mills was located on Lang Street at the old Reed place.
Len Canedy had a cider mill and made cider which he sold. He would also press cider for a small fee for the farmers, if they would gather their own apples and bring them to his mill. Frank Orrall, who operates a store in North Lakeville on the Taunton Road, has the last remaining cider press existing in town today, although he discontinued its use a few years ago.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LAKEVILLE
FLAX AND HEMP
Thread was spun at home from hemp and flax raised on the farm. Every spring our forefathers planted hemp and flax as regularly as corn and beans. They were cut and bound in the early summer, cured, and prepared for use.
Miss Hannah K. Nelson has told that, when as a child she questioned the unusual looking bundles that were stored on a high scaffold in the barn, her father told her they were bundles of flax raised on the farm of one of her ancestors. When cut and bundled, the flax was placed under the water in Bates Brook, which ran through the farm, and left there for some time. Then it was aired and dried in the hot sun. This was done to render brittle the stiff outer fibre which covered the soft linen threads inside. After passing through twenty manipulations, the flax was at last ready for spinning on the small wheels.
Today one treasures great-grandmother's spinning wheel as an ornament, but to her it was a practical necessity, as many a fine piece of table and bed linen of her own weaving will testify.
BRICK-YARDS
At an carlier period, a brick-yard did a good business on a lot between Lakeville station and the Town House. This brick- yard was owned and operated by a Mr. Tyler, for whom Tyler Hill was named. Pieces of brick were found, as recently as 1920, in that section.
It is said that a brick-yard, owned and operated by a Harlow, was in operation in North Lakeville. But there is little informa- tion concerning it.
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INDUSTRIES
SAWMILLS
The sawing of box-boards and shingles was carried on quite extensively many years ago.
A shingle mill was owned and operated by Sumner Hinds on Highland Road which was known in years gone by as Shingle Hill Road.
Churchill T. Westgate, who lived on the Old Turnpike, had a box-board mill on Indian Shore Road on Tamett Brook for many years.
In 1913, William S. Eaton of Boston purchased a large tract of land on Long Point Road through to Lake Assawompsett, with Little and Big Pocksha on the east and Cranberry Pond on the west. He located a sawmill in back of Negro Allen's swamp.
From time to time portable sawmills have been set up in vari- ous places all over the town. Today a few small sawmills are left in town but they are only operated a short time each year.
Levi Peirce had a sawmill on Holloway Brook in South Lake- ville. After 1800 it ceased to exist.
TANNERIES
Two successful tanneries were in operation in Lakeville in the earlier days. One, owned and operated by General Ephraim Ward, was on the road leading from Staples Corner to the Ward place. Another was at the right of the highway on the Washburn Farm, in 1911 known as the King Philip Tavern property.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LAKEVILLE
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