Autumn Issue - BlackstoneDaily

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Volume 5, Issue 2
www.BlackstoneDaily.com
Autumn 2008
Searching
For Fuels
Progress in discovering suitable
and cost-effective biofuels, including
the dire need for green gasoline, jet
and diesel fuel, seems a long distance
off. Without much visible leadership
from the government and the corporate world, academia, industry and
national labs have quietly been working towards methods to make lignocellulosis biofuels, wind and solar
practical realities. But the race is on
as huge populations from countries
such as India and China will no
longer take a backseat to America's
huge energy demand. In the coming
months and years, the volatile oil
market and unprecedented global
continued on page 5
Waters Farm Fall Days
Tractor Pull Race
Brian’s Butternut Bisque
Our River by Joe Doherty
Happy Halloween, river fans - or
should I say “shiver” fans? Here's a
fearsome foursome of true-life terror
tales that unfolded within screaming
distance of the Blackstone River.
They range from the mysterious to the
macabre. Please hold on to your
sanity as the management is not
responsible for any loss or damage.
(“Blood on the Blackstone” will
return next issue.)
Who Goes
There?
Autumn’s Pleasures
Moments before midnight on May
2, 1854, Mr. Brian Sheridan and his
friend Connor McLaughlin crossed
paths with the Grim Reaper himself.
The two men were walking back to
Woonsocket after enjoying a late supper at the home of Sheridan's sister,
who lived in Blackstone village. It
should have been an easy, uneventful
journey, even at that dark hour. Like
most folks of the time, they were
accustomed to traveling on foot at
night and probably carried a lantern to
light the way. On a balmy spring
eve, the trip should have taken 15 or
20 minutes.
But not that night. The pair
crossed the river at Block
(Monument) Square near the Union
House hotel, then followed the road
towards Waterford village and
Woonsocket beyond. They walked at
an unhurried pace, indifferent to the
shadowy barns and decrepit sheds lining the roadway. The moment they
started past the Norfolk County
Railroad depot, though, something
terrible began to happen.
Sheridan grew visibly agitated,
glancing nervously over his shoulder.
Suddenly he stopped dead. “Look!”
he gasped, clutching his friend's arm.
“What man is that following us?”
McLaughlin whirled, no doubt
expecting a thief or some other rogue.
But the road behind them was deserted. “There is nobody there,”
McLaughlin whispered.
Sheridan's eyes gleamed in the
lantern light. He jabbed a finger at
the darkness. “But there he is!” he
insisted. “Don't you see him?”
“No,” replied McLaughlin, his
voice hollow in the night. “It is your
imagination. Come along.”
continued on page 11
Journeys
Page 2
Nature’s Collectible Pods
As the leaves of wildflowers and weeds begin to
wither and turn brown in our yards or along roadsides, there’s a wonderful project that can enhance
your visual sense, create a delightful dried bouquet
for autumn and offer great family or solo edutainment for many seasons to come. The subtle or vast
changes of some of our most ordinary weed species
can turn to some of the most attractive dried pods to
create dried wreaths or arrangements. These can be
found commonly or in the most unexpected places.
Once you get started by discovering the potential
weeds and species around you, it creates a unique
but ongoing treasure hunt from season to season for
both kids and adults to share.
Nature is always filled with surprises and some
of the most ordinary wild plants become the most
extraordinary dried flowers. Their final beauty can
look very different from what you might expect or
easily pass over when in full blossom.
There are literally scores of grasses, weeds or
blossoms to experiment with, watching as they metamorphisize to unique skeletons and shapes as the
cold air arrives. Let’s take a closer look at a few:
Queen Anne’s Lace - Delicate, white lacey wildflower common from June - September, growing 1 3’ tall. When dried, some curl inward creating a little
bird’s nest appearance. Delicate, so handle with care.
These add light, airy touches to arrangements.
Queen Anne’s Lace legend: Hippocrates wrote
about women using the seeds from Queen Anne's
Lace (aka Daucus carota or the wild carrot ) for centuries as a contraceptive. The earliest written reference dates back to the late 5th or 4th century B.C.
There is no firm documentation on the veracity of
this long-held legend.
Bull Thistle - Growing 2 - 6’ tall, this spiny plant
comes from Europe, is known as a persistent invasive species and can be found along roadsides or in
Top to Bottom (Left to Right):
Queen Anne’s Lace, Bull Thistle, Alsike Clover, Common
Plantain. Many are available to dry that do not have flowers,
so open your eyes to all the possibilities! Kids love to help
find these treasures which they can then track down online.
pastures from June - September. It is part of the sunflower family. Hang flowers upside down to dry.
These rugged pods are great for dried Oriental type
arrangements.
Alsike Clover - Cultivated in Sweden as early as
1750, this clover was introduced into North America
by 1834. Alsike Clover is usually somewhat taller
than White Clover and is an important food for
wildlife, although some animals get sick when they
graze on it when it is wet! Hang to dry with leaves
attached for color contrast. Great for early American
or miniature arrangements.
The Common Plantain - Many adults might
remember husking the tightly packed seeds as kids to
create a bowl of pretend food to play with. Found
from June - September on roadsides, in yards or in
pastures, these mature plants turn deep brown and
are dried to create spikelike appearance in bouquets.
This weed has been called “Soldier's Herb” for its
use on the battlefield as a field dressing as well as
“White Man's Footprint” by Native Americans
because it appeared as an invasive species everywhere colonists traveled.
There are so many species available with varying
shapes and structures, often offering a never before
noticed structure when in blossom. Some of the most
attractive blossoms become useless structures when
dried and others thought less convincing can surprise
us.
Others to look for include: Milkweed pods, asters,
chicory, yellow goat’s beard, purple gerardia, swamp
milkweed, joe pye-weed, wild iris, blue vervain,
angelica, purple loosestrife, cowbane, cat-tail, burweed, thimbleweed, wild cucumber, yellow avens,
alumroot, wild sasparilla and many more. Grasses
such as millet, switch grass, phragmites,
bromesedge, green bulrush, foxtail, nutgrass also
offer delightful choices. Have fun!
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Journeys
Page 3
Advertiser Directory
Faces in the Trees
When I was a child, I used to lay on
my back in the front yard of our
house….usually with my sister and
brother….and find animals and objects
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT: from daily life in the clouds. The reason you like to do this with others is so
Alternatives Valley CAST
that you can compare notes; see if they
Rainbow Palette Café
see what you see and vice versa.
Spaightwood Galleries
Elephants were a common shape, but
we also saw tea kettles with steam
AUTOMOBILES:
coming out of the spouts, lions, race
Harbro
cars, and scores of other things. It was
a fun way to wile away the hours on a
BUSINESS SERVICES:
hot summer day.
Amcomm Verizon
When I sit at my ham radio station,
Brown Painting
I look out the window of the house
Gaudette Insurance
towards the woods north of the house. I
Grenier Electric
see the top of the driveway, the remnants of my old herb garden, trees both
COUPONS:
deciduous and coniferous, ferns and
House and Garden Party
other woodland plants, and the occaSignature Homestyles
sional animal inserting itself into the
landscape. As I listen to KB5YQ in
DINING & DRINK:
Texas calling for check-ins to the
Brian’s Restaurant
Early Morning Warm Up of the YL
Deja Brew
System, I gaze into the woods and look
Lynch’s Wine & Spirits
for faces in the trees. Sometimes I spot
Picket Fence
Mardi Gras masks, sometimes I see litRebecca’s Place, Too
tle cherubs, and I have seen Abe
Lincoln in several different spots. If a
EDUCATION:
New England Business Education breeze stirs the leaves, the faces are
gone in an instant, but sometimes I can
Systems
spot the same face a few minutes later
when everything has calmed down and
EVENTS:
the leaves have resumed their normal
Waters Farm Fall Farm Days
positions. When it is my turn to call for
FARMS:
check-ins, I lose track of the faces, and
there are days when no faces emerge at
Foppema
all. But I like to spot those faces in the
Keown
trees, even though they are really in my
Sweetwilliam Farm
imagination.
FASHION:
Throughout my youth, however, the
faces in the leaves at the farm were real
Peggy’s
faces of real people. We had a large
ADVENTURE & SPORTS:
Blissful Meadows Golf
Great Canadian
FITNESS & HEALTH
Caring for Women
Jazzercise
GIFT SHOPS & Treasures:
Boxwell’s
Country Bumpkins
Douglas Flea Market
Mendon Country Gift Barn
Nana’s Attic
Sweetwilliam Farm
Vaillancourt Folk Art
HOME & GARDEN:
Ace Glass & Decorating
Rebecca LeCouteur Interiors
Robbins Garden Center
PETS & TRAINING:
Paw Planet
TLC Pet Haven
REAL ESTATE:
Alliance Realty
Manchaug Mills
SENIORS & WELLNESS:
Select Mobility Services
Senior Comfort Services
www.BlackstoneDaily.com
www.theBlackstoneValley.com
Your one-stop resource for
the Blackstone Valley!
by Jane Keown
orchard of large, standard apple trees,
and in the fifties, we had pickers who
used 32' ladders to get to the top of
these horticultural giants. I remember
one season in the early 1960s when my
Dad made the decision to use nothing
taller than a 26' ladder. The trees would
have to be pruned into compliance with
this new dictum. Now, of course, the
tall trees are mostly history, and most
all of the trees on the farm can be
picked from the ground or with a 10'
stepladder. I approve of this situation,
although there was some romance in
seeing the pickers carefully placing
their ladders into a tree and scurrying
up it to pick the topmost fruit. I used to
love to wander through the picking lot
and calling up to the pickers, have
them turn and wave and say “hi”,
maybe even tossing an apple down to
me on the ground. I personally don't
like heights much, although I was
known to climb a tall ladder right to the
top, then wait until my father would
come along to rescue me….I never
could accomplish a descent on my
own! I was kind of partial to stepladders, as you could get to the top and sit
down, turned out to the rest of the
orchard and high as a robin or blue jay.
I wasn't afraid of climbing down a
stepladder, either, as the flat steps were
more like a staircase than the rungs of
the big ladders.
When I was a kid, the faces in the
trees were from greater Worcester and
the Blackstone Valley, many appearing
only on weekends or during the two
weeks in the summer when the shops
they worked for were shut down to retool. Apple picking is hard work but
actually one where a good picker could
earn a pretty decent wage on piece
work. If you come into the farm stand
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
The Search for Biofuels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 1
Joe Doherty: Our River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 1
Nature’s Treasures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 2
Jane Keown: Faces in the Trees . . . . . . . . . Page 3
General Lafayette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 4
Writing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 7
Dining Treats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 8 -9
Finding Your Roots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 10
in Sutton, the picking tickets are right
behind the check out counter, numbered 1 to 60. Number 60 was Papa
Black's number. He was our foreman
and told the pickers which trees they
were to pick and could accurately predict how many bushels they would get
off the tree. When he wasn't assigning
trees, he would pick a few boxes himself, just to show he remembered how.
His were always picked flawlessly with
no bruises.
In the 1960's, local help became
more difficult to obtain and we hired
men from Nova Scotia to come down
and pick the fruit. In the early 1970's,
we turned to the H2A program and
began hiring Jamaican workers to pick
our fruit. Today, most of our farm
workers are men who come from
Jamaica, although we have had workers who come from Puerto Rico,
Sweden, England and Africa. We still
have a number of local people who
work the stand, the farmer's markets
and in the fields. The work always gets
done, although the days can be long
and a rainy day is sometimes as welcome to the workers as it is to the trees.
With all the interest in the fate of
Worcester's trees due to the discovery
of the Chinese Long-Horned Beetle in
North Worcester, I have been appreciating all the trees we have on our farm. I
would be devastated due to some natural disaster that they would have to be
cut down and burned. This year they
are carrying a wonderful crop of fruit,
and I'm sure a few will not survive that
burden. But they are hard-working
trees upon which we rest our hopes and
dreams. And in my daydreams, I think
of all the faces I have seen in all the
trees I have examined, and I am grateful for the memories.
The Merci Train. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 15
Waters Farm Fall Farm Days . . . . . . . . . . Page 16
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Journeys
Page 4
The Esteemed General
“Humanity has won its battle,
Liberty now has a country.”
General Lafayette, French soldier and statesman
On August 15, 1824, General Lafayette visited
America for the second time since independence had
been achieved. Responding to a Congressional invitation, Lafayette arrived in New York City and began
his “continuous triumphal procession” with a route
through New Haven, New London and Providence
on his way to Boston.
Lafayette arrived at General William Eustis' home
at 2 AM on August 24th to find that most of the
long-waiting greeters from the numerous party of
admirers had tired of waiting and retired home,
thinking General Lafayette would not arrive so late.
But one young man, Moses Mandell from Hardwick,
had stayed, determined to greet the General. When
Lafayette finally arrived, General Eustis “rushed
around, in his exultation of delight, to find somebody to introduce his distinguished guest to.”
“Come and see the most distinguished man in the
world,” stated Eustis whereupon Mandell went in to
meet the General. Soon after, Lafayette inquired as
to the name of the visitor.
Mandell responded, “Do you remember the officer who dismounted from the horse and served a
gun alone after the enemy had driven us back at the
battle of Brandywine?”
After reflecting slightly, Lafayette responded, “ It
was Mandale!* Major Mandale!
“That was my father” said the young man as they
embraced and congratulated each other.
Lafayette was honored, celebrated and heralded
in Boston until September 3rd before continuing on
towards Worcester where Governor Levi Lincoln and
a Committee of prominent citizens eagerly awaited
his arrival. General Lafayette was escorted by Major
General Ivers Jewett of Fitchburg and his Sixth
Division as well as General Frank Gregory of
Royalston with the cavalry of the First and Second
Regiments. They stopped briefly to gala receptions
with enthusiastic citizens and military honors in
Lexington, Concord, Bolton, Lancaster and Sterling
before parading on the West Boylston Common early
Friday morning.
Lafayette, with his glorious entourage of military
escorts which kept growing, then continued into
Worcester. Brigadier General Nathan Heard and the
staff of the First Brigade met him at the edge of the
city and escorted him with Lieutenant Colonel
Samuel Ward to the awaiting Honorable Judge
Lincoln. Judge Lincoln met Lafayette at about 10:30
AM in a barouche drawn by four beautiful grey horses. When the cheers finally subsided, Lafayette
joined Lincoln in his carriage along with ten marshals and two companies of cavalry who joined the
other cavalcade of military officers and citizens.
They rode towards Lincoln Square before thousands
of people lining the street.
Scores of spontaneous demonstrations of gratitude from many of Lafayette's old white haired soldiers slowed the procession. Wee children whose
parents had not even been born by 1776 also cheered
the revered General Lafayette, whose name was as
prominent as George Washington's in procuring our
Nation's liberty to these adoring crowds.
“Hitherto I have only cherished your cause, now
I go to serve it.” This had been Lafayette's response
back in 1776 when American officers tried to dissuade Lafayette from joining their gloomy situation
The Marquis de Lafayette
SOLDIER & STATESMAN
“He is sensible, discreet in his manners, has made
great proficiency in our language, and from the disposition he discovered at the battle of Brandywine
possesses a large share of bravery and military
ardour.” - George Washington
in the Battle of Brandywine, Jamestown, Valley
Forge, Yorktown.
Words cannot describe the exulted praise that
flowed from teary eyed men and women who gathered by the thousands in and around Judge Lincoln's
home to proclaim a hearty welcome to General
Lafayette. The entire crowd realized that Lafayette
had helped turn the tide of the Revolution for
American independence.
Judge Lincoln spoke with impressive admiration
including “Wherever you go, General, the acclamations of freemen await you - their blessings and
prayers will follow you. May you live many years to
enjoy the fruits of the services and sacrifices, the
gallantry and valor of your earlier days devoted to
the cause of freedom and the rights of man; and may
the bright examples of individual glory and of
national happiness, which the history of America
exhibits, illustrate to the world the moral force of
personal virtue, and the rich blessings of civil liberty
in a republican government.”
Lafayette responded with delight for the adoring
expressions and kind attention received all along the
way. He also praised the apparent proofs of industry,
sobriety and prosperity in the rapid advancement of
farming, the arts and the face of the country since he
had joined these noble Americans in their pursuit of
independence. Lafayette's dress and manners were
plain and simple and he ended his response with a
continued on page 6
Born in 1757 into French nobility, Gilbert du
Motier (Lafayette) was left orphaned as a young
teen. He inherited wealth and studied military
strategies at Versailles before becoming a captain in
the French cavalry at age 16. By age 19, he had
purchased a ship and with a crew of soldiers and
adventurers, he set sail to America to fight for the
principles of freedom with the patriots against the
British.
Congress commissioned him a Major General on
the 31st of July due to his rank of French nobility
and his passionate patriotic motives towards freedom. By summer, he had met General George
Washington who assigned him to his ranks. He
served with distinction by helping to lead several
tactical victories against the British and finally, to
the British surrender at Yorktown.
Lafayette’s life back in France was often filled with
controversy as his unwavering beliefs and efforts
towards the ideals of true liberty as “the fruition of
the enactment of the rights of man” conflicted with
his nobility. Yet, his ideals were never shaken. His
life was an undying, exemplary example of global
citizenship and service to a greater cause.
Lafayette was one of only six foreigners who was
ever granted Honorary Citizenship of the United
States. Others included Winston Churchill; humanitarian Raoul Wallenberg; governor of the American
colony of Pennsylvania, William Penn and his wife;
and Mother Teresa.
Many statues, parks and institutions throughout the
Nation were erected or named in honor of General
Lafayette, including Lafayette Park in Washington,
D.C., a 7 acre park outside of the White House.
(Photo above is Jackson statue in Lafayette Park.)
Journeys
Page 5
Local Energy Initiatives
contineud from page 1
market of demand pushing supply, the
need to consider alternatives becomes
incumbent on each individual, town or
organization as costs rise.
Recently, Governor Deval Patrick
signed three energy-related bills “that
will promote advanced biofuels, support the growth of the clean energy
technology industry, and cut the emissions of greenhouse gases within the
state.” These are the Clean Energy
Biofuels Act, the Global Warming
Solutions Act and the the Green Jobs
Act which funds $68 million over 5
years to support the growth of a clean
energy technology industry within the
state.
Let's take a cursory look at some of
the Massachusetts Energy Collaborative
Renewable Energy Trust feasability
grants for studies or actual construction
of local alternative energy initiatives
pursued recently: (www.masstech.org)
The College of the Holy Cross
received a grant to explore the feasibility of the siting of a wind turbine. The
study will focus primarily on the construction of one 850 kW turbinee.
Douglas High School - A feasibility
study was granted to investigate areas
for improving the energy efficiency of
its new high school and to look at
incorporating renewable energy technologies, such as wind and solar power.
Alternatives Unlimited, Inc.-John
Whitin Mill green bldg, Northbridge,
MA rehabilitated a defunct, on-site
hydropower facility.
Holy Name Central Catholic
Jr./Sr. High School has almost completed its construction of a 600-900kW
wind turbine on the school’s campus
located at 144 Granite St., in Worcester,
MA.
The Town of Mendon requested a
Municipal Wind Turbine Site Survey
but the locations were found to have
insufficient winds to support an economical utility scale wind turbine project.
The Upper Blackstone Water
Polllution Abatement District wastewater treatment facility in Millbury
will evaluate existing technologies
available for the conversion of fats, oils
and grease (FOG) to a biofuel.
Upton’s Blackstone Valley
Regional Vocational High School was
awarded a $650,000 grant to achieve a
number of green construction designs
during its recent expansion and update.
The MTC Design and Installation grant
helped fund energy saving technologies
such as displacement ventilation, highly-efficient lighting, occupancy and
daylight sensors, and energy efficient
boilers and air conditioning equipment.
Natural lighting was enhanced, indoor
air quality was improved and the school
has incorporated a solar thermal domestic water preheating system. An Energy
Management System helps the students
understand this energy savings.
The Town of Uxbridge is exploring
the potential for a municipal wind project at two sites: the Hazel Street
Landfill and the 100 Acre Lot.
Some of these far-ranging studies
and innovative ideas have already been
successfully applied and are in use.
Others are in the planning stages to test
the suitability, the costs vs. benefits and
tackle funding issues if proven worthy
to plan and complete some of these
projects. Others are not workable.
ed the first direct conversion of plant
cellulose into gasoline components.
“Making green gasoline from cellulose sources such as switchgrass or
poplar trees grown as energy crops, or
forest or agricultural residues such as
wood chips or corn stover, solves the
lifecycle greenhouse gas problem that
has recently surfaced with corn ethanol
and soy biodiesel.” said John
Regalbuto, who directs the Catalysis
and Biocatalysis Program at the
National Science Foundation which
supported this research.
It is expected that these biofuels will
be utilized in gasoline fuel within the
decade and consumers will hardly know
it. (www.sciencedaily.com)
Another concept being explored is
finding a method to clear out the undergrowth of forests which not only provides substantial fuel (wood and biofuels) but also has additional benefits,
such as cutting down on forest fires.
Yet, some of these seemingly simple
ideas are economically unfeasible so
far.
Other breakthroughs have occurred
in Massachusetts with National Science
Foundation (NSF) Career awardee
George Huber of the University of
Massachusetts-Amherst who has creat-
Another resource for ideas on a
broad range of innovative scientific and
technological advancements can be
found at WPI’s Venture Forum.
Recently, the top winner of their second annual Five-Minute Pitch Contest
held in June 2008 was James Peret of
Owl Power Company whose cogeneration system has been developed to
allow restaurants to transform their vegetable oil waste into fuel.
The broad range of ideas for practically every facet of renewable energy
needs are being studied and developed
all around us - by individuals as well as
collaboratively in academia, industry
and government.
Switch Grass
“Innovation is the
ability to see change as
an opportunity - not a
threat” ~ William Pollard
ENERGY SUMMIT 2008
October 9th
7:30 AM - 3 PM
at the DCU Center,
Worcester
Green Building & Leed
Certification - Best Practices
Reducing Energy Consumption
Economic Opportunities
To register, go to:
www.wbjournal.com
Family Forests
Did you know that over 80% of
the forested lands in Massachusetts
and Connecticut are owned by private individuals whose average age
is over 60?
Nationally, private landowners
account for under 50% of total
forests. That is a huge difference
that could forever alter our landscapes while also eliminating the
woods that work quietly to remove
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, absorb air pollutants, filter
water runoff and more. Of course,
that does not reflect the aesthetic,
scenic value, wildlife and bird habitat or watershed protection.
Just recently, a field was cleared
above us and now, almost every
time it rains, our front yard looks
like the Blackstone River with
flooding cascading 100' into our
front yard over the stone walls
before joining an overflowing nearby stream. This runoff is clearly the
result of a modified landscape, so
few, if any of these issues is simple
or isolated.
According to a late summer 2007
AP article, Rhode Island was 2/3
forested in 1963 with 434,000 acres
of forests compared to less than
350,000 acres today - barely 50% of
the state. Massachusetts is expected
to be only 61% forested by 2050 but
Rhode Island could be 70% urbanized. It all depends on the landowners making decisions now or those
inheriting the land deciding “development or preservation” later.
Journeys
Page 6
Executions in Olde Worcester
Although Sutton and Mendon were
larger and more wealthy communities
until the late eighteenth century,
Worcester was always the shire town
where the seat of the Courts of Justice
met for the County. All of the executions of malefactors for high crimes
and misdemeanors, committed within
the county, since its organization in
1731, have taken place in Worcester.
These executions have been as follows, comprising eighteen individuals
at thirteen different times, one of them
female, four of them on one occasion,
and two at a time on two occasions.
Ten were executed for murder, five
for burglary and three for rape.
Different days of the week were selected, the usage of Friday being more
modern.
Tuesday, November 26, 1737, Hugh
Henderson, alias John Hamilton, for
burglary.
On a Thursday in 1745, Jeffrey, a
black man, was executed for the murder of his mistress.
Thursday, October 20, 1768,
Arthur, a black man, was hanged for
rape. The execution sermon was by
Rev. Thaddeus McCarty, upon the
theme, “ The power and grace of
Christ displayed to a dying malefactor.”
Lafayette
On Thursday, October 25, 1770,
William Lindsey was executed for burglary. Before the execution, a sermon
was preached by humanitarian Rev.
Thaddeus McCarty, pastor for nearly
40 years of the Old South Church on
“The power and grace of Christ displayed to a dying malefactor.”
On Thursday, July 2, 1778, William
Brooks, James Buchanan, Ezra Ross
and Bathsheba Spooner were executed
for the well-publicized murder of
Joshua Spooner of Brookfield, husband
of Bathsheba. Bathsheba Spooner was
the daughter of Brigadier Ruggles,
exiled in 1774 from Hardwick due to
his strong loyalties to the Crown.
Bathesheba’s parents, the Brigadier
and his wife barely survived a contentious and hateful marriage which
was ended by an official permanent
separation after Ruggles lost much of
his fortune when he was forced out of
Hardwick.
Bathesheba married two months
after her father’s departure, perhaps for
security or wealth. Though she and
husband Joshua Spooner had three
children, her hatred of her timid and
drunkard husband became very apparent. By January 1778, she was pregnant, most certainly by Ezra Ross, a
soldier whom she had met and re-met
during this tempestuous time. He was
young and starry-eyed, driven by the
rage and expectations of his lover to
murder her husband, especially when
she realized her fate if her affair was
discovered. She would have been
whipped naked and humiliated in public on the Common if found pregnant.
But after some feeble attempts,
Ezra Ross could not bear to take action
by poisoning Spooner. Soon,
Bathsheba lured two wandering British
soldiers (who were awaiting return to
England after defeat) to do the dirty
deed and in early Spring 1778, Joshua
Spooner was murdered!
Bathsheba’s five month old fetus
died along with her and was not reason
enough to keep her alive. All involved
were executed, including young Ross.
She was also a sister of the famed
Dr. John Green's second wife. She was
buried in the garden in back of the old
Green mansion on Green Hill in
Worcester.
On Thursday, November 11, 1779,
Robert Young was executed for the
rape of a young girl named Jane Young
in Brookfield.
On Thursday, June 19, 1783,
Williams Huggins and John Mansfield
were hanged for burglary.
On Wednesday, August 16, 1786,
Johnson Green was executed for burglary.
On Thursday, October 31, 1793,
Samuel Frost was executed for the
murder of Elisha Allen of Princeton.
The execution took place at the site of
the old State Mental (Lunatic) Hospital
which subsequently became known as
“Frost Hill.” Rev. Dr Aaron Bancroft
preached before Frost was executed.
On Wednesday, December 7, 1825,
Horace Carter of Worcester for rape,
the execution taking place upon the
hill on the north corner of Belmont
Street and Lincoln Square.
Friday, January 3, 1845, Thomas
Barrett of Lunenburg for the murder of
Mrs. Ruth Houghton of Lunenburg, the
execution for the first time was a private one at the jail with only 14 persons being admitted.
Friday, September 25, 1868, Silas
and Charles T. James of Rhode Island,
were executed at the jailhouse for the
murder of Joseph G. Clark. They were
attended at the gallows by the jail
chaplain, Rev. R.R. Shippen, who performed a religious service but did not
stay to witness the execution.
Friday, May 25, 1876, Samuel J.
Frost of Petersham, was executed at
the jail for the murder of his wife's
brother, Frank P. Towne. Rev. C.M.
Lamson of the Salem Street
Congregational Church, offered
prayers at the gallows.
continued from page 4
strong French accent “It is homage you
pay to the principles of your government, and not to me.”
He joined many distinguished
Worcester County citizens for a hearty
breakfast at the Lincoln mansion and
mingled with so many who manifested deep affection for him. At about 2
PM, he again thanked the crowd and
praised them for their militia whose
equipment and appearance could not
be excelled by any other. Lafayette
then entered his coach amid the loud
cheers that continued to laud him for
over four miles out of the city.
Large receptions of citizens and
military divisions also greeted General
Lafayette through Rochdale and
Charlton and far beyond as he rode
towards New York City.
A Second Visit 1825
On June 15, 1825, General
Lafayette passed through Worcester on
his way to assist laying the cornerstone
of the Bunker Hill Monument in
Boston on June 17, 1825. He had been
traveling all day and night from
Albany, with horses being changed frequently. He arrived around 2 AM to
take a brief repose at the old Exchange
Hotel, along with his son George
Washington Lafayette and his private
secretary, Levasseur.
Huge celebrations lasted for a week
in Boston for the Nation's most distinguished guest. Lafayette returned to
New York City the following week by
traveling through New Hampshire and
Vermont before reaching Albany on
July 1.
* Mandale was Mandell in French
Quotations from Reminiscences of
Worcester by Caleb Wall, 1877.
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Journeys
Page 7
ART & CULTURE
Alternatives’ Heritage Gallery at
the newly renovated Whitin Mill, 50
Douglas Road, Whitinsville, MA
Monday - Friday, 9:00 to 4:00 or by
special arrangement (508) 234-6232
Writing in the Blackstone Valley
By Trisha J. Wooldridge
Most writers will say they don't
have a choice but to write. They have
written since they were children; they
write whenever they get a spare
Through September 26, 2008 Open
minute; their stories won't let them rest
Vistas: Land & Sea. Recent Works
until they are written. On the other
By Gerard Blouin
hand, where one writes may have some
choice associated with it, and the
Opening Reception Friday, October
Blackstone Valley is a good choice for
3rd. Exhibit though November 28.
a writer to live.
Zentangle, Maria Thomas and
I moved to Auburn, on the
Rick Roberts. 10/22 & 10/29
Worcester border, five years ago with
Zentangle Workshops with Maria
my husband. He had grown up in the
Thomas & Rick Roberts 7-9 PM.
area, so some of the first things he did
Call Maria or Rick at 508-234-6843
was show me favorite hiking and walkfor workshop reservations.
ing trails. We covered Purgatory
Chasm, the Uxbridge Dam, Douglas
Every Wednesday in October Forest, and we continue to explore
Theatre Workshops by Stepping
more natural treasures of inspiration
Stone Community Theatre. Open to
every year. For those times I need to
people of all abilities, the workshop
reach my inner Walt Whitman or
is an opportunity to explore acting
Robert Frost, I never have to drive far.
and other aspects of the theater.
On top of the natural resources, I
also discovered Higgins Armory, the
October 18, 4 PM. Traces of the
American Antiquarian Society as well
Trade. Filmmaker Katrina Browne
as the Ecotarium in Worcester - all of
discovers that her New England
which continue to provide me with
ancestors, Rhode Island’s DeWolfe
easy research for both fiction and nonfamily, were the largest slave trading
fiction writing. A little more travel
family in US history. In this film, she
brings me to multiple other museums
and nine cousins retrace the triangle
or historical sites attached to hiking
Trade and gain a powerful new pertrails. Furthermore, many of these
spective on the black/white divide.
locations host cultural events, from
The film is part of a tour and discusreenactments to pow-wows. For writsion of the early New England econers interested in historical and cultural
omy’s dependence on slavery. This is
research, the resources are not only
in conjunction with the
easy to find, but fun.
Massachusetts Foundation for the
Humanities, the Corridor and
For me, specifically, these resources
Alternatives. Tour of 1826 Cotton
are just what I need. My fiction tends
Mill, Panel Discussion & Exhibits.
to run in the realms of science-fiction
and fantasy, but with a strong backOctober 25 2-7 PM. Pumpkin
ground of natural sciences, history, and
Festival. Pumpkin and scarecrow
anthropology. Social issues, culture,
contest on the Whitin Mill plaza.
and nature are the roots of my poetry.
My non-fiction covers an even broader
range. Food, horses, outdoors, music,
November 8th, 9 to 4. Redefining
and the business of freelance are all
Community through the Arts
Conference. Learn and celebrate art
making projects that successfully
involve people of all abilities in the
visual and performing arts. Learn
how to develop similar opportunities
in your own communities.
November 15th 9 - 3. Whitin Mill
Craft Fair, in time for holiday shopping, Parking $5.00
--------------------------------------------IMPORTANT NOTICE:
Mass Cultural Council is the largest
grassroots cultural funding network
in the nation supporting thousands of
community-based projects in the arts,
humanities, and sciences annually.
Your local community has grants that
serve the arts and humanities for
field trips, programs and projects that
serve the public good. To find out
more, call your local Cultural
Council (Town Hall) or go to:
www.massculturalcouncil.org
Application Deadlines: OCTOBER
15, 2008
For updates or event listings, go
to www.BlackstoneDaily.com
topics easy to cover in the area. I've
also covered local entrepreneurs and
artisans - of which there are plenty.
There are many other resources,
however, suited to a wider range of
writers. For example, a person might
be hard pressed to find a writer who
couldn't make himself or herself at
home in a cute little coffee shop or
café, and the Blackstone Valley is rich
with such places. Independent book
and gift shops also make great
resources in a number of ways. A
writer can do his or her research - and
he or she can also pitch published work
for these places to carry. A book
released from a small press or independently published by an author may
have a hard time getting on to the
shelves of larger chain book stores;
smaller bookstores or specialty shops
tend to be more open to meeting
authors and carrying their books.
Generations Herbal Apothecary & Gift
Shop, for example, in nearby Oxford,
held a grand release party for my first
fiction sale: the short story “Party
Crashers,” in the anthology Bad-Ass
Faeries 2: Just Plain Bad. It was a
great success; a lot of people in the
community came to hear me and two
fellow Massachusetts writers read from
our work - and buy our books.
The community, itself, is another
positive area resource. The Blackstone
Valley is known for supporting the arts
- and the art of writing is no exception.
Contrary to my general observation
earlier about authors having more difficulty in larger chain book stores,
Borders in Shrewsbury created a special Author Extravaganza! The general
manager invited local authors - most
from the Blackstone Valley area - to
read and promote their books on a midAugust Saturday afternoon, and will
repeat an even larger event for local
authors the day after Thanksgiving. In
fact, many
stores,
libraries and organizations in the region
share a similar community mentality;
most are open to working with the
artistic and writing community to host
signings, readings, promotions, and
even courses hosted by local authors.
An author or reader need only ask or
offer.
In addition to community support,
writers in the Blackstone Valley can
also find their own writing communities. With so many writers in the area,
starting or finding a writing group, a
critique group, or even a reading group
is usually easier than many think. A
number of libraries or bookstores have
flyers for open groups. Author!
Author! Writers Guild (www.authorauthorwritersguild.com), which currently meets at the Millbury Barnes &
Noble, is a serious writing, support and
critique group that requests members to
apply with writing samples. Common
Ground-Flatiron Writers
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flatiron
writers), which meets between coffee
shops in Southbridge, Charlton, and
Worcester, is affiliated with local
libraries for readings. For poets, The
Poets' Asylum (www.poetsasylum.org)
meets at The Q café in Worcester and
performs all around the region. Another
excellent community and resource is
the Rhode Island Romance Writers
(RIRW) (www.geocities.com/rhodeislandromancewriters/index.htm), an
active group that supports and promotes published and unpublished writers alike. In fact, they even have a
writing “requirement” for unpublished
members to help them create book proposals and finished manuscripts for
submission.
I continue to learn more about how
how many benefits there are for writers
living in the Blackstone Valley as
continued on page 14
Alternatives’ Whitin Mill
Artisan/ Restaurant Space Available
Seeking tenants for newly renovated Whitin Mill abutting the Mumford River
and Ring Shop Dam in an exciting opportunity to become part of an
important new project in the Blackstone River Valley.
For additional information, call Tom Saupe or
Phil Ingersoll-Mahonet at Alternatives (508) 234-6232.
Journeys
Page 8
Dining Delights and Celebrations
Valley Tech’s Three
Seasons Restaurant
Marks Special Day
“We have been open for a few
weeks, but wanted to celebrate our
updated atmosphere, expanded menu,
and new features in particular fashion,”
said Chef Matthew Williams, lead
instructor in Culinary Arts. “We are
UPTON – For students and the general working on some delectable treats for
public, it’s all about the ambience and
the day, including some tasty compliexperience.
mentary hors d’oeuvres for those who
The Three Seasons Restaurant at
are able to join us. Because so many
Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational people have been supportive of our
Technical
restaurant
High School
and the stuis a memodents, we ask
rable place
that you call
for people to
ahead to take
dine and
part in this
provides the
special day.”
young men
The Three
and women
Seasons,
in the
staffed and
Culinary
operated by
Arts prothe students,
gram with a
is open
valuable,
Tuesday
first-hand
through
Stephanie Smith of Grafton and Jessica McNeill of Upton put the finishing touchlearning
Friday from
es on a table setting at Blackstone Valley Tech’s Three Seasons Restaurant.
environment.
10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. when school is
To mark the many improvements
in session. The restaurant is also availand changes the students and staff have able for group breakfast and lunch
implemented for the 2008-09 school
events, which must be booked in
year as well as celebrate the loyal
advance. Since the school was
patronage of its customers, the Three
expanded in 2006, the Three Seasons
Seasons is hosting a special reopening
also has a patio for outdoor dining if
on Thursday, Sept. 25. As is generally the weather and staffing permits.
the case throughout the school year,
“We are all very excited about our
interested guests are strongly urged to
new menu items and look forward to
make reservations by calling 508-529another terrific year of servicing our
7758, Ext. 3109 to speak with a host or faithful clientele in addition to new
hostess, or leave a message.
customers,” Chef Williams said.
“Everyone is impressed by that fact
this is a student-run establishment.”
The Culinary Arts students fulfill
numerous functionary roles as they
rotate through the program, including
assisting in the school’s cafeteria,
cooking and preparing dishes in the
restaurant kitchen, serving as waiters
and waitresses, and preparing a variety
of delights in the bakery.
The Culinary Arts program prepares
candidates for successful careers as
assistant chefs and management roles
within the food and hospitality industry. The offering is one of 17 consolidated career programs at Valley Tech,
which serves 13 towns throughout the
Blackstone Valley.
All Apples Are Not
Created Equal
Grocery stores don’t begin to offer
the broad gamut of flavors or vast variety of apples! In fact, you could eat an
apple every day for over ten years to
truly experience the expansive range of
cultivars that vary in size, color and
origins because over 10,000 types of
apple cultivars exist.
The Blackstone Valley was the
home of several important advances in
apples, including:
~ The origin of the RI Greening circa 1650 which is harvested in late
October, early November. It is a large,
firm, crisp, juicy, yellow-green fruit
with a tart flavor and was considered
the finest cooking apple for over 200
years (picture seen below left).
~ The origin of the Sutton beauty,
most probably at Waters farm where
Nathan Waters and his father had 1000
apple trees and shipped the apples as
far away as Europe. This farmstead
now offers a family fun weekend, Fall
Farm Days on October 4-5 with all
sorts of delights and the most beautiful
views in the Valley.
The Sutton Beauty is now available
at Sutton’s Keown Orchards which
offers other antique cultivars, including
but not limited to: Rhode Island
Greening, Oliver, Siberian and Hyslop
Crabapples, Red Astrachan, Baldwin,
Northern Spy, Dutch Sweet Apple and
the Hubbardston. Each has a unique
taste and texture such as:
~ Hubbardston Nonesuch - A great
19th century Massachusetts apple,
pomologists love this large, rugged,
mostly red apple with hard, crisp, yet
fine-grained flesh with an October
ripening.
None of these are available at the
continued on page 9
We carry over 40,000 items
from more than 500 specialty
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mendongiftbarn.com
1-888-473-1820 Route 16, Mendon, MA
Gifts • Furniture • Accessories • Christmas
Journeys
Page 9
Brian’s Creamy Butternut Bisque
Brian Snay, chef and owner of Brian’s Restaurant
agreed to share one of his autumn favorites:
Ingredients:
when used in moderation). Whip the thawed frozen
(or cooked fresh squash) into the soup mixture.
Frozen squash will thaw overnight in refrigerator or
thaw in microwave.
1 lb butter
12 oz. diced celery
12 oz diced onion
Lastly, heat the milk until almost scalding and then
add to soup mixture by whipping all ingredients
together thoroughly.
2 cups of flour
12 cups of chicken stock
2 oz brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon MSG (optional)
1 1/2 lbs of fresh or frozen (thawed) butternut
squash
1 quart of milk
The bisque can then be garnished with a little sprinkled nutmeg. It can also become a heartier soup by
adding diced and cooked Red Bliss potatoes. Enjoy!
Saute the diced onion and celery in butter slowly
until vegetables are soft.
Immediately add 2 cups of flour and mix until all
flour is dissolved into vegetables and butter. Then
immediately add 12 cups of chicken stock that is
boiling and has had 2 oz of brown sugar dissolved in
it. Stir vigorously with wire whip until thickened and
remove from burner.
At this time, season with salt, white pepper and
MSG (Optional but makes soup much more flavorful
CONTINUED from page 8~
grocers, so come on out to the farm to taste what
delicious is really about!
~ S. Lothrop Davenport inspired an antique cultivar orchard named after him at Boylston’s Tower
Hill Botanical Gardens because he preserved scores
of apple species in the mid 20th century that would
Serves 8-12.
One of the most well-loved, homey restaurants in
the Blackstone Valley is the thirteen year old Brian’s
Restaurant on Rte 122 in Northbridge. Owner Brian
Snay gained many of his cooking skills and secrets
from working with the former Cocke ‘n Kettle’s late
Nick Sampson where he and his right hand assistant,
Joyce Vario, worked for fourteen years each.
Brian’s Restaurant is like home...his 50+ employees stick around and so do his loyal customers. The
food is consistently tasty, yet affordable. This recipe
is one of his patrons favorites every autumn, so stop
by or make it yourself!
Brian’s Restaurant, 91 Providence Road,
Linwood, MA. (Rte 122, Northbridge)
508-234-9256 www.briansrestaurant.com
have been long lost. His home orchard in North
Grafton, the former Creeper Hill Orchard, also raised
many of these cultivars.
So take a scenic drive to Waters Farm, Keown
Orchards or even Tower Hill Botanical Gardens to
truly enjoy these remarkable tastes. It’s not a New
England autumn without these treats!
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Sales • Rentals • Tours • Instruction
Hundreds of Canoes and Kayaks in Stock!
Close-Outs, Rentals and Demos Now on Sale!
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specialists
Rte. 146 South, Sutton MA
508.865.0010 • www.greatcanadian.com
Journeys
Page 10
A Nod To John Farmer
“It is astonishing how little is preserved of some of our ancestors”
remarked Leverett Saltonstall to his
sister Anna in 1815. Genealogical
sites abound on the internet these days,
but in the early 19th century, it was
almost verboten to speak of past ancestors.
Why would this be, we wonder?
The knowledge of colonial ancestors was a complete contradiction to
the bright future of the new republic post Revolutionary America was all
about cutting or at the very least, loosening the ties to the social status from
the home country of Great Britain.
The pursuit of common good and
equality was no longer determined by
rank or social status, but by character,
ethics and work habits.
Even George Washington affirmed
that “he paid little attention to this subject” when presented with a genealogical sketch from his ancestors in
England. He, in fact, sought to ignore
the pre-eminence of social or professional office by birth.
In 1828, Worcester's prominent
merchant Daniel Waldo stated that
“such inquiries may be deemed vain
and useless in a Country &
Government like our own: where all
distinction among the members of the
Community is derived from personal
worth, and where no man can claim
influence or consequence from the
Wealth or station of Ancestors who
possessed those Advantages.”
The new Republic looked to the
dreams and opportunities of the future,
not the history of the past. Yet in
1791, the Massachusetts Historical
Society evolved followed by the
American Antiquarian Society by
1812. Shortly after, histories of the
American Revolution started to recall
the glorious struggle and emerging
Fourth of July celebrations started to
instill a special pride in the new
Americans.
But Saltonstall wasn't the only
American who started to ask discreet
questions as to his ancestral past in the
first few decades of the 19th century.
By then, the connection of our past to
present in America, post British rule,
now had some history that was allAmerican. Educated writers such as
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,
Emerson and Hawthorne fed the
appeal for eager readers. In fact, it
was primarily the northern states
which produced groups of interested
antiquarians, interested in mostly local
history. Though historical societies
began in southern and mid-west states,
their popularity was inconsistently
scant, especially when compared to
thriving New England societies and
associations.
The first histories of New England
towns also started to be published,
such as John Farmer's Historical
Memoir of Billerica or Saltonstall's
Historical Sketch of Haverhill.
Obsessive pursuits of preserving old
documents and town information
spread in local communities. Rhode
Island and other N.E. states, followed
Massachusett's initiative and started
their own historical societies in the
early 1820s - especially popular as the
first bicentennial of the Revolution
approached.
One of the early and ardent genealogists we can all be grateful to today
was the fragile and reclusive John
Farmer. Though a New Hampshire resident, by 1813, he was a corresponding
member of the Massachusetts
Historical Society. He also published a
Register of the Descendants of
Edward Farmer along with local histories of Amherst and Billerica. By
1824, he had partnered with a printer
to publish a three volume set,
Collections, Historical and
Miscellaneous.
But it was Farmer's 352 page 1829
volume, The Genealogical Register of
the First Settlers of New England,
which immediately thrust Farmer into
the role of pre-eminent genealogist in
America. The Register details every
magistrate, minister and freeman who
came to the colonies before 1643.
It is with great thanks to Farmer
that I finally discovered the multi-generational use of the middle name of
Holden that came down in my family -
yet had long ago lost its meaning to
our bewildered generation. Though
many of my ancestors touched
America's shores in the early 20th century, John Farmer's Register details
the arrival of Justinian Holden by ship
to the Bay Colony in 1632. Another
most patient and noted antiquarian, Dr.
Samuel Green, gives further insight
with his genealogical research on a
broad array of towns, including the
details that the Holden lineage became
one of the original proprietors of
Groton, MA:
“The Groton township was eight
miles square or 40,960 acres. There
were 755 acre rights in total and each
acre right was 54 acres. Some owned
50 acre rights, others 5 acre rights. In
1713, the General Court passed An Act
directing how meetings of proprietors
of lands lying in common may be
called.” No distinction was made until
after the passing of this statute
between the inhabitants and the proprietors of Groton. Their transactions and
records were all considered as those of
the town, and kept in one book. In
1717, the proprietors called a meeting
according to the provision of the
statute, and from that time, separate
records were kept.
Though Green lists all original proprietors of Groton, here are just a few:
Captain James Parker: 50 acre right
William Martin: 20 acre right
Sargeant John Larkin: 20 acre right
Lt. Wm Lakin: 20 acre right
Robert Blood: 20 acre right
Richard Blood: 60 acre right
James Blood: 20 acre right
Joseph Blood: 10 acre right
Timothy Allen: 20 acre right
John Page: 20 acre right
Wm Longley: 30 acre right
John Longley: 10 acre right (later
kidnapped and ransomed)
Richard Holden: 18 acre right
Simon Stone: 18 acre right
About 80 others own land, derived
from the original proprietors
But it is to Dr. Green that perhaps I
owe the greatest debt thus far with his
research in the History of Groton
where he documents sparse anecdotal
genealogical rumors that are actually
fact.
“Cotton Mather says that one man
was killed at Groton, in the year 1697,
and another with two children, carried
into captivity.” (Magnalia, Book VII,
page 91.) He does not state the date
clearly but inferentially it is June. The
prisoner was Stephen Holden, who was
captured with his two oldest sons, John
and Stephen, Jr. John was released in
January, 1699, at which time the father
and the other boy were yet remaining
in the hands of the savages. It was not
long, however, before they too were
freed; for, in the following June, the
House of Representatives voted three
pounds and twelve shillings for the
expenses that had been incurred in
bringing them back.
Holden's petition to the General
Court to be reimbursed for buying his
own freedom is as follows:
To The Honored & Great Assembly
now setting in Boston. The humble
petition and Request of Stephen
Holden of Groton
Honored Srs It having pleased the
Almighty God to order it that myselfe
& my two biggest sons tho small were
taken captiues by the Indian enemyes
from our towne of Groton and being
with the Esterne enemy & my 2 sons
about one year & ten moneth when tho
it was my portion to escape with my
life thro Gods mercy beyond what I did
expect or look for & I think I fared better than some other English yet great
hardship and difficultyes I underwent.
But being very desirous with one of my
sons that was there to gitt home if it
might be fore the English vessels came
I was necessitated to give my promise
to my Indian Pilates whom I satisfied
att Richmans Island by English that I
borrowed of there three pound and
twelue shillings If I might haue ye
boldnesses I would humbly craue That
It might be payd out of Publiq stock I
should take it thankfully att your hands
Thus with my thankefulnesse to God
that both myselfe & both my children
he hath graisously returned to our
continued on page 12
Journeys
Page 11
Our River
Who Goes There
continued from page one
A moment or two crept by, but
finally Sheridan relented. He and
McLaughlin proceeded in uneasy
silence. “Thereupon they walked a
few rods, reported the Woonsocket
Patriot, “when Mr. Sheridan staggered
and fell to the earth. His companion
spoke to him, but there was no answer;
and on stooping to assist him, he discovered that the unfortunate man was
lifeless or nearly so. He gasped only
two or three times and was a corpse!”
No earthly cause for Brian
Sheridan's death was ever reported.
His decease was all the more puzzling
because “before leaving his sister's
house at Blackstone, he partook of a
hearty supper … and was apparently in
robust health.”
Alas, the Patriot's editor was not
fond of mysteries. In the safety of
daylight, he offered this theory to dismiss the weird events of that eerie
night: “He probably died in a fit, and
the imaginary person whom he thought
followed him, was doubtless a fantasm
of the brain.”
Doubtless?
Only midnight knows for sure.
Another
Dead Soldier
On the morning of November 20,
1872, as a late autumn storm rattled
the Blackstone Valley, an open wagon
rumbled into Waterford village. The
somber, horse-drawn conveyance was
a government hire, sent to retrieve the
body of a Civil War veteran.
The corpse was John C. McCann.
He had served his country honorably
as a three-year member of the
Massachusetts regiments. After the
South fell, McCann made his way back
to Waterford, anxious to resume
life along the Blackstone River
with his wife and two daughters.
But peacetime had hardly
been peaceful for John McCann.
The war had ended yet he
seemed tainted by it, his soul
diseased. In the end, he suffered
a more horrible death than any
he might have received on the field of
battle. At first, his family could barely
comprehend his grisly demise, let
alone speak of it.
The storm howled as the wagon
pulled up to the late soldier's residence.
McCann's few friends went out to meet
it but were appalled when they saw it
was an open wagon. They flatly
refused to load the coffin into it,
demanding that a proper hearse be
brought instead. The Army representatives refused the extra expense, despite
pleas from McCann's widow that she
hadn't the money to pay for one herself.
John McCann died bankrupt, you
see. A year earlier, his assets had
totaled at least $900, but by the following November the money was dissipated, much like the man himself. Poor
widow McCann had no alternative but
to settle for a bare-bones government
funeral. Thus, no hearse.
And where had all McCann's money
gone? Permit me to say that it was
spirited away, for spirits were indeed
the cause of John McCann's destruction. Lest I offend noble ghosts everywhere, it should be clarified that these
particular spirits were not of the variety that haunts graveyards. Rather,
they filled graveyards with intemperate
men and women.
Yes, John McCann consigned his
health and wealth to a bottle. In fact,
he was drunk on the night he died.
Drunk when he –
The horrifying details of McCann's
death were general knowledge, but not
fit for general discussion, especially at
his funeral. As rain and snow slicked
the wagon's empty bed, Mrs. McCann
persisted in begging the Army men for
a hearse. But the officers were
unmoved. Finally, a private citizen
ordered that a private hearse by hired,
at his own expense, to bear away the
by Joe Doherty
body of John McCann.
According to the Patriot's
Blackstone correspondent, Dr. William
M. Kimball, “No service was held, no
bearers appointed, and when the undertaker arrived no person was present to
render assistance. A stranger passing
by volunteered his services, and the
remains of the unfortunate man were
driven away, followed by the disconsolate family to their last resting place.”
The “private citizen” who summoned the hearse was never named.
Was it one of the neighbors? Someone
who had close ties with the McCann
family? Or maybe someone who
looked on in horror as John McCann
died. For we do know that at least one
neighbor was present on that frightful
night.
By all accounts, McCann started
raving at 2 a.m. Thanksgiving morning. He leaped from his bed, gibbering
to his wife that “a crowd was coming
to murder him.” Recognizing the paranoiac symptoms of delirium tremens,
or “DT's,” Mrs. McCann tried to
soothe her husband, to make him
understand that it was all an alcoholinduced delusion.
But it was all in vain. He pushed
her away, rifling through the house
until he laid his hands on three very
ominous items: a carving knife, a
pocket knife and a straight-edge steel
razor.
That's when the screaming began.
The neighbors were jolted awake,
scrambling to the windows to see what
was the matter. The more intrepid
ventured outdoors, braving the icy
night and the horrors it bred.
By the time anyone got to the
McCann's house, ol' John had slit his
own throat. Laid it right open, he did,
regardless that his wife struggled desperately to stop him. The life was still
draining out of him when the first
neighbor burst through the blood-spattered door.
“My God, John! What's happened?” the neighbor cried.
And John McCann raised his eyes
as best he could. Maybe he even
smiled some. “I been doing a little
butchering,” he replied.
Those were John McCann's last
words. As the Patriot told it, “He soon
fell dead upon the floor.”
Dr. Kimball, who wrote the Patriot
article (and who may well have been
the anonymous “private citizen”), was
a thoughtful man, and so he included a
kind of epitaph in his account. “Here
is a lesson which the community may
well ponder, They cannot afford to
pass it by unheeded. Mr. McCann was
a man of average intelligence and kind
feelings … He had made an enemy
which was worse than poverty or sickness, and the cause of both – an enemy
which drained him of all he possessed,
and resulted in the destruction of his
life.
“The poor man died,” wrote Dr.
Kimball, “and surely was not responsible for the deed he committed while
insane.”
Cold
Comfort
It's one of life's little ironies that the
most unspeakable crimes are the ones
people most often speak of.
On Tuesday morning, January 24,
1837, some boys were ice-skating a
short distance downstream from
Pawtucket Falls, not far from the old
Slater Mill.
It must have been a devilishly cold
winter for that stretch of river to have
iced over. Once the Blackstone tumbles past the falls, it empties into tidewater, mingling with brine. The constant current and daily tidal action
should have discouraged freezing.
That the surface was thick enough to
skate upon gives some idea of just how
cold it really was.
As the boys fanned out across the
river, one abruptly halted and doubled
back. He had caught a glimpse of
something dark and angular protruding
from the ice. He approached and saw
that it was some kind of wooden box
or crate, partially embedded in the
frozen surface. And, from what he
could determine, still sealed on all
sides.
He hollered for his friends. They
hurried over, intrigued by the excitecontinued on page 12
Journeys
Page 12
Our River
ment in his voice. The boys decided to
pry the box free and carry it back to
shore. They wasted no time on guessing games about its contents. To their
bleary, wind-stung eyes, the real treasure was the box itself. The wood what a merry bonfire it would make!
Immediately they set about liberating it. With a stiff winter breeze
mocking them, they kicked and
chopped at the ice, working so doggedly that an onlooker might have mistaken their steamy breath for pipe smoke.
They tried rocking the box from side
to side, alternately pushing and pulling
whilst haranguing each other to push
or pull harder. Finally, they felt some
give. A minute or two later came a
loud crack, signaling victory. The
river's glacial grip was broken.
Shivering, the boys hauled their
booty onto the riverbank and began
smashing it into kindling. But after a
few solid whacks, the lid of the box
popped open, revealing a sight more
chilling than a dozen Januarys.
“When the cover was knocked off,
they observed the corpse of a little
babe,” reported the Pawtucket
Chronicle.
The terrified lads left the body by
the river and dashed home, spreading
news of their gruesome find.
Spectators rushed to the riverbank, first
a few, then a flock.
“Multitudes hurried in breathless
haste to see it,” the Chronicle noted.
“There were the young and old, male
and female - all animated by an itching
curiosity to see the little child; to lay
their hands on its glossy black hair, its
Genealogy
continued from page 11
marble cheeks and its innocent forehead.”
The sight of the hapless newborn set
off a “righteous indignation” among
the onlookers. Many expressed a conviction that the little sufferer was the
offspring of an illicit union and was
“cruelly murdered by the parents for
the purpose of concealing the only evidence of their guilt. Thus to hide the
proof of lust beneath the most heinous
crime of infanticide!”
The body was handed over to the
proper authorities soon thereafter. No
doubt several theories regarding
motive, means and opportunity - the
very recipe for murder - were privately
aired in the hours that followed.
However, no official word was
released until a jury of inquest held
later in the day completed its investigation.
According to the Chronicle:
“A coroner's inquest was held: the
circumstances of finding the infant in
the river, the appearances in proof of
the child being born alive, and some
trifling et cetera, as for instance, the
testimony of a physician, induced the
Jury to believe, and to declare their
belief, that the infant was hurried out
of existence by violent means.”
But by whom? What human filth
could have administered such an atrocity? Was it the work of one depraved
mind or had there been an accomplice?
Unanswered questions taunted the populace well into the night.
The next morning, an Englishman,
name unknown, came forward to claim
the corpse. He did not confess to mur-
der; by his own account, no murder
had occurred. He revealed that a blasphemous crime had indeed been committed, a crime of almost equal barbarity. But not murder.
The baby, the Englishman
explained, belonged to him. He was
the “lawful father.” According to the
Chronicle, “He states that his wife
gave birth to the child, which lived
about two hours, and, as she was
alarmingly sick, he was obliged to do
the best he could to have the child
buried.”
Unable to leave his wife's side, the
father in his desperation hired two
men, “two cold-hearted brutes,” to
attend to his baby's interment.
But rather than carry out the father's
sad instructions, the derelict pair callously pocketed the money and “threw
the box containing the corpse into the
river.”
The Englishman was evidently
taken at his word.
“The gentleman lives in this town,”
observed the Chronicle, and is represented to be highly respectable.
The final note in this ignominious
episode of Blackstone River history
belonged to the Chronicle's editor.
Overwhelmed with disgust, he wrote:
“They who could thus dishonor the
dead and violate orders of an afflicted
father, cannot possess the ordinary
hearts of men. They are a disgrace to
humanity.”
Siren Song
Does an ancient evil lurk in the
Blackstone River? A sinister presence
that lulls troubled women away from
the safety of land into a fatal, watery
embrace?
Human history is brimming with
legends of fiendish water spirits. In
the Shetlands, for example, a creature
called shoopiltie was said to appear
beside ponds and lakes, often in the
shape of a pony or a handsome young
man. When an unwitting maiden drew
near, the shoopiltie dragged her into
the water and feasted on her blood.
Scandinavian folklore tells of the
necks, supernatural shapeshifters who
could assume the form of boats or
dogs. Some necks had no shape at all,
manifesting only as voices heard calling across the water, demanding that a
human life be sacrificed to them once
every year.
Nymphs were legendary beauties
who lingered beside mountain streams
and pools, hoping to entice human
souls into the dark realms of their
watery domain. Just as dangerous
were the kawoka or “child of the
river.” This Japanese goblin reputedly
haunted rivers and streams, feeding on
the livers of its victims.
In the northern regions of England,
a “green-haired, slack-jawed and
green-toothed” hag named “Peg
Powler” was said to prowl the depths
of the River Tees. Peg had an insatiable appetite for children, greedily
poaching them from the riverbank and
continued on page 13
continued from page 10
home againe commend your honours
and concerments into ye hands &
wishing ye Presence & benediction of
ye soveraine God I take Leaue & subscribe myselfe your humble servant &
suppliant. Stephen Holden
June 6, 1699 one read. & Voted by the
House of Representatives for Peticoner
Stephen Holden of Grotton be paied
out of the publick Treasury Three
pounds & twelve shillings money. Sent
up for Concurrence, Passed July 19,
1699. (Mass Archives, LXX.400)
To confirm this account, another
fine historian labored to document
“Among the names of the captives
received on board the Province Gally,
January 17, 1698-9, at Casco Bay,
were “John Houlding of Grotten” and
“Tamasin Rouce of Grotten.” It is
recorded, a week later, that “Stephen
Houlding of Grotten” and “Steven
Houlding Jun' of ditto” are “yet in the
Indian hands.” (Archives, LXX. 398,
399.)
It is evident that the early settlers
were still having a hard time during
this period. All of the records go to
show that between the assaults of the
savages and the short crops they found
it difficult to obtain a livelihood.
Again, they were obliged to ask the
General Court for an abatement of
their taxes in a petition. From 1697 to
1702, the inhabitants of New England
had a respite form savage warfare. But
upon the accession of Queen Anne to
the throne of Great Britain, a war with
France ensued, and their colonies in
America were involved in the general
contest between the two nations. In
1704, the frontier towns in MA were
again exposed to tomahawks, scalping
knives, fire and torture.
These crucial histories, developed
by devoting years of untold hours of
painstaking detail not only reflect
insight into personal genealogies but
present a broader gift to all of us to
understanding the flavor of life and its
profound challenges for Indians and
colonists alike.
Thanks to all the John Farmers,
past and present, that have helped us
understand our lineage - regardless of
which century, which country or which
challenges were faced.
John Farmer and The Making of
American Genealogy by Francois Weil,
NE Quarterly, Sept. 2007.
Journeys
Page 13
Our River
and nearby streams.
In Vietnamese folklore, a drowned
man's soul is condemned to the body
of water where he died until he finds
another unfortunate soul to take his
place. Desperate to move on to the
afterlife, these trapped spirits, or ma
qui, would not hesitate to trick a living
person into drowning.
Our world is full of ancient and forgotten beliefs. For more than a millennium, these traditions and folkways
governed the lives of our human predecessors. Yet in a mere twinkling of
years we have cast folklore aside, forsaking our age-old superstitions for the
shiny reassurances of science and technology. Now we view the world from
enlightened and ever-changing perspectives, constantly moving forward,
or so we believe.
But each October, it seems, the
human mind wearies of rationality.
Something in the cool autumn air stirs
old emotions, old doubts. We watch
as the days grow shorter, the shadows
longer. The shadows intimidate us and
we ask ourselves why, while in our
hearts we know the answer. Down
deep, we've always known.
Partake of these five mysterious
drownings. The stories - every one of
them true -- are drawn word-for-word
from the archives of Blackstone Valley
newspapers. In all probability, the
incidents are unrelated and it's only my
affection for legends and folklore that
leads me to see a pattern.
You decide …
WOONSOCKET, July 1840.
“Death by Suicide. - Miss Sarah
Coggshall was found drowned in the
river near Bernon Mills… She was discovered in the water and recognized by
one of the workmen in the mill, who
immediately went to her boarding
house and gave the information.
“On entering her lodging room, it
was found that she was absent, having
continued from page 12
left sometime in the night without
shoes, shawl or bonnet. What cause
operated on her mind to lead her into
the execution of the deed is unknown.
She was 23 years of age and had borne
a good reputation.”
LONSDALE, March 1864. “Death
by Drowning. - On the evening of
Saturday last … a few of our citizens
who live near the 'Mile Pond,' were
startled by the screaming of some persons apparently struggling in the water.
They immediately ran to render assistance, but owing to the darkness of the
night, some time elapsed before they
could find the object of their search.
When the body was taken from the
water, it was … identified as that of
Mrs. John Barrington, whose husband
and son are both in the army.
“How she got so far out of her way
is a mystery to all. She left a friend's
house a few minutes before her death,
and in opposition to all advice, persisted in going home that way. That she
was laboring under some mental aberration is the general belief, as the many
preparations she was making to visit
her son precludes the supposition that
she commited suicide. The verdict of
the coroner's inquest was accidental
drowning.”
WOONSOCKET, March 1871.
(March 17) “Woman Missing. - Mrs.
Nancy Smith, of this town, left her residence, in Social Village, on Saturday
morning last, since which time no tidings have been heard of her. It is
feared that she committed suicide, and
faithful and diligent search has been
made for her body, but without success. It is possible that she may have
wandered off to parts unknown, in
which case her daughters, living here,
will be grateful for any information.”
(March 31) “The Missing Woman. There are yet no tidings of Mrs. Nancy
C. Smith, who left her home so myste-
riously three weeks ago. The reward
of one hundred dollars, offered by the
Social Manufacturing Company, has
failed to elicit anything concerning her.
POSTSCRIPT: Mrs. Smith's body was
found yesterday, in the river, near
Manville.”
PAWTUCKET January 1988 April 1991 “Police still seek leads in
Cole case. - Jan 6., 1988: As chilling
winds whip temperatures to 20 below
zero, Christine Cole leaves her
Pawtucket home in the afternoon to go
to a nearby grocery store to buy milk
for her mother. Christine, who celebrated her 10th birthday two days
before, never returns. On February 28,
her body washes up on the shore of
Conimicut Point in Warwick …
“For weeks after her disappearance,
hundreds of tips poured into the
Pawtucket police station about
Christine's possible whereabouts. Nely
Saraiva, owner of Saint's Market, a
neighborhood corner store where
Christine had stopped to buy a gallon
of milk, told police that the girl
appeared to be worried.
“Christine's body washed up …
downstream from where the
Blackstone and Seekonk Rivers flow
into Narragansett Bay. A man walking
along the beach found the body, fully
clothed with a coat belt still tied
around the waist - the way her mother
saw her when she last left home.
“Police believed Christine's body
was trapped in ice on the Blackstone
River before a current carried it downstream to Conimicut Point. Weeks
before the body was found, a
Narragansett Indian psychic told police
she felt Christine was dead and that
her body could be found 'in the water'
near the Blackstone River …
“The case was ruled an unexplained
death … Although there is still no evidence to indicate foul play, police
believe that Christine did not voluntar-
ily enter the river. She was known to
be afraid of the water and would not
go near it alone … Also, Chistine's
trip to the grocery store would not
have taken her near the river …”
WOONSOCKET
October/November, 1992.
(October 27) “Investigation yields few
clues in death of woman found in
Blackstone River. - The death of a 30year-old woman whose body turned up
in the Blackstone River Saturday has
the medical examiner and the police
baffled. No one knows when Jestine
E. Akriminski left her house Friday,
where she entered the Blackstone
River or how she drowned … Mrs.
Akriminski - a woman police said
'rarely left the apartment' - was last
seen about 6:30 p.m. Friday .l..”
(November 28) “Drowning probe
hits dead end. - Police have all but
closed the books on the drowning of
[Jestine Akriminski] on October 25th.
The woman was last seen by relatives
on the afternoon of Oct. 23. Police
said they believe the woman stopped
by local stores that afternoon. Several
people said they saw a woman matching the victim's description walking
along the riverbank near South Main
Street (almost a mile from her home JD)
“At the state medical examiner's
office, a blood alcohol level reading
was taken, and showed the woman was
intoxicated. [Police] said that was
unusual for her, and that she was not
known for drinking. “Whether the
drowning was accidental or suicide, we
don't really know.”
NEXT: BLOOD ON THE
BLACKSTONE
© 2008 by Joe Doherty
PO Box 31
South Salem NY 10590-0031
riverwritr@aol.com
Journeys
Page 14
Community Bulletin Board
Saving Farms, Reviving Mills
and Building Successful
Coalition WORKSHOPS
Local landowners are encouraged
to attend a series of free public workshops to learn how to craft a successful landscape preservation campaign
and to hear about strategies for saving
two of the most important and most
threatened types of heritage resources
in the Blackstone and QuinebaugShetucket Heritage Corridors – farms
and mills.
All of the workshops will include
hands-on, case-study exercises and
will allow ample time for questions
and answers with the experts.
Workshops are free and open to all
but pre-registration is required. For
more information or to register,
please contact Joanna Doherty,
Blackstone Heritage Corridor (401762-0250 or joanna_doherty
@nps.gov) . Please register at least
one week before each workshop.
Wednesday, 9.24.08 6:30 – 8:30
p.m. “Building Support for
Landscape Preservation”in the
Douglas Municipal Center, 29 Depot
St., Douglas, MA. Experts will
advise you on how to build coalitions,
convey your message, use the media,
and understand town board roles and
responsibilities.
Thursday, October 9, 6:30 – 8:30
p.m. “Keeping Farms in Your
Community”in the Blackstone River
& Canal Heritage State Park/River
Bend Farm Visitor Center, 287 Oak
St., Uxbridge, MA. Participants will
explore the tools available to farmers
and municipalities that can be used to
preserve agricultural landscapes.
Beginner’s Genealogy Workshop
A Beginner’s Genealogy Workshop will be hosted by the Westborough Public Library on Saturday;
October 4, 2008 from 10-3. Free, but
you must register at library. Bring a
brown bag lunch. More info at
http://www.westboroughlib.org.
Go to www.BlackstoneDaily.com
for more information on all these
workshops and other events throughout the region.
BARN PROJECT
Volunteer Opportunity
To All Barn Owners: Journeys
Publisher Ellen Onorato has been working to photograph every barn in
Grafton, Northbridge and Douglas representing a look into our past, present
and future to capture a moment in time
for future historians or interested residents. Surveys have been left at all
barns photographed, so please send
back the survey with SASE envelope as
soon as possible.
Do you have a barn but haven’t yet
received a survey? Do you want your
barn included even if you live in another community?
The Spark! Ezine
Do you enjoy Journeys but wish it came
out more often? Would you like to hear
of the best events before they happen
instead of finding out what you’ve
missed?
For either of the above: Please call
508-839-8885 or email
BlackstoneDaily@aol.com.
The AARP Foundation sponsored tax
preparation program, TaxAide, helps
low- and moderate- income persons prepare their Federal and State income
taxes during the tax season 1 Feb - 15
April. The program is entirely managed
and staffed by volunteers. Volunteer
counselors and client assistors are needed in all parts of Worcester County.
No accounting experience is needed
although basic computer skills and email access are necessary and basic
acquaintance with tax issues is desirable. Training and mentoring will be
provided. One does not need to be a
member of AARP to serve. Go to
AARP.com/tavolunteers and click on
tab for “Leadership Development” and
open pages for Client Facilitator and
Counselor. Please call (508) 753-7905
if interested and for further information.
To find this and much more information
every day, go to
www.BlackstoneDaily.com
Footsteps in History& Heritage Homecoming
Heritage Homecoming
A series of community sponsored events make the
Blackstone Valley even richer with a fabric of history, fun, and learning! Heritage Homecoming is an
annual series of events over several weekends that
occur throughout the MA towns. Visit www.bv-heritage-homecoming.org for details and schedule.
Footsteps in History
Take an adventure through five historic centuries
during the Blackstone River Valley Footsteps in
History Preserve America Weekend on October
October 11, 12, 13, 2008. There are more than 100
experiences throughout the Blackstone River Valley’s
24 communities from Worcester, MA to Providence,
RI.
Some of the compelling events include: Three
Mill Girls, an interpretative presentation of two farm
girls and an Irish immigrant who become female
operatives in a mill. Topics include Victorian manners and fashion, women's history, labor reform,
immigration, prejudice and class attitudes and the
famine in Ireland. Saturday, October 11, 2008 1:00 2:00 PM Free at the Blackstone Historical Museum,
23 Main Street, Blackstone, MA 01504.
Watch history come alive on the Hassanamesit
Reservation, 80 Brigham Hill Rd, Grafton, MA.
Members of the Nipmuc Tribe will portray actual
18th century Nipmuc residents of Hassanamesit.
Help us create household items, sew coverings for
our wetu, and participate in other everyday Native
American activities of the 18th century. Drumming
begins at 1pm. Join Us - Monday, 10/13 only!!
Local Writers Offer Broad Choices
continued from page 7
with so much in this region, a quick
trip on the Interstate or the Internet can
uncover all sorts of treasures. Whether
a writer is looking for a solitary escape
into the wilderness or into research or
looking for support in the community,
there really is something for everyone.
Looking for a good book to read?
Support a local author! These are
books written locally to suit just about
any reader's taste. Take a look and
see:
Barker, M.P. A Difficult Boy. Holiday
House. April 2008. ISBN-10:
0823420868. ISBN-13: 9780823420865. A historical young adult
novel set in 1830s Massachusetts tells
of two indentured servants who must
overcome differences in age, race, and
personality to escape an abusive master.
Blair, Anette. Gone with the Witch.
(Triplet Witch Trilogy: Book 2).
Berkley. May 2008. ISBN-10:
0425221210. ISBN-13: 9780425221211. Paranormal romance and
chick lit turn up the laughs and heat as
a psychic witch's quest to help a child
requires kidnapping a handsome
antiques restorer.
Boutillette, Linda and Marilyn J.
Burdett. Deliver Us From Evil.
Phillip Roy Publishing. July 1997.
ISBN-10: 0965927202. ISBN-13:
978-0965927208 A non-fiction investigation of Spencer's Prouty-Hammond
deaths laced with unusual happenings
and photographs uncovers a potential
upper-class political scandal.
Castle, N.E. Serial. Publish America.
January 2007. ISBN-10: 1604741198,
ISBN-13: 978-1604741193 A savvy
female detective tries to find a serial
killer in Worcester, MA - before she
becomes the next victim.
Cory, Cheryl. Must've Done
Something Good. Thirteen Hundred
Media. January 2008. ISBN-10:
061517065X. ISBN-13: 9780615170657 A Sound of Musicinspired, romantic comedy loosely
based on Pride and Prejudice tells the
tale of a Worcester Parochial school
teacher fulfilling her end of a deal with
God.
Gordon, Dan. Haunted Baseball:
Ghosts, Legends, and Eerie Events.
The Lyons Press. August 2007. ISBN10: 1599210223 Not just for baseball
fans, this collection includes stories
from not only major league teams,
such as the Red Sox, but local teams,
such as the Paw Sox and Tornadoes.
Halpert, Tasha. Heartwings: Love
Notes for a Joyous Life. Galde Press,
Inc. March 2007. ISBN-10:
1931942358. ISBN-13: 9781931942355. An inspirational collection of essays, poems, and exercises
shares a lifetime of love and caring
with readers seeking a heartwarming
journey of self-discovery.
Herholz, Bret M. Diary of the Black
Widow. Alterna Comics. November
2007. ISBN-10: 0979787416. ISBN13: 978-0979787416 A graphic novel
depicts a young woman talented at
seduction and murder who attracts the
wrong kind of attention from an oblivious detective and his assistant.
Mansfield, Monica, DVM. The Black
Panties: Tales of Animal Mischief and
Veterinary Intrigue. BeanPole Books.
January 2007. ISBN-10: 0966735935.
ISBN-13: 978-0966735932. A touching
and humorous memoir depicts a
woman's journey to becoming a veterinarian, the job of her dreams, in a
small New Hampshire town.
McGee, Joseph. The Reaper. Snuff
Books. August 2008. ISBN-10:
0981896707. ISBN-13: 9780981896700. A graphic and chilling
horror story about the creature
believed to be merely a myth living in
the bowels of Hell grips readers
through a deadly, nightmarish ride.
Rahall, Patrick. Cycle of the Hunter.
PublishAmerica. February 2007.
ISBN-10: 1424161673. ISBN-13:
978-1424161676. A Worcester-based
horror novel about six orphans from
all-but-extinct bloodlines who must
unite draws readers through a story of
murder and betrayal.
White, Jennifer Lasker and Colin.
Cool Head Luke and Other Stories.
BookSurge Publishing. March 2007.
ISBN-10: 1419661620. ISBN-13:
978-1419661624. A whimsical collection of humorous poems and artwork
by a mother and son entice even difficult readers to explore the pages.
Wooldridge, Trisha and Christy
Tohara. “Party Crashers.” Bad-Ass
Faeries 2: Just Plain Bad. Marietta
Publishing. May 2008. ISBN-10:
1892669463. A collection of short stories exploring the hidden and horrific
depths of faery lore takes readers on a
tour of nightmares, dark fantasy, and
danger.
Journeys
Page 15
A Salute to the Veterans and American People
During World War II, while soldiers from
America’s “greatest generation” were fighting overseas, an overwhelming movement to raise carloads
of food, fuel and clothing was evolving all throughout America. In 1947, over $40 million dollars in
relief supplies were raised when newspaper columnist Drew Pearson initiated the effort that grew into
more than 100 carloads of goods to donate to warstricken France and other European countries. This
grass-roots, person to person effort known as the
American Friendship Train traveled west to east
across our Nation to collect items and cash.
The French were very grateful and after the war,
Andre Picard, a railway worker and French war veteran led a crusade to fill 48 box cars bearing gifts
such as country wines from Alsace-Lorraine, textiles
from the North, white lace from the BrittanyNormandy hills, perfume and hats from Paris and
clay figures from Provence.
A local veterans group joined the quest and by
February 3, 1949, 49 former civilian and military
train cars, filled with gifts arrived in America. They
were all freshly painted, no longer carrying military
cargo, horses or civilians. Colorful plaques bearing
coats of arms from all 40 regions in France were
attached. The French had planned for each state to
receive a train car, a Merci car, (Hawaii and Alaska
not yet part of the Nation) and the 49th car would be
shared by Washington, D.C. and Hawaii.
These train cars were originally built between
1865 and 1885 and had been used to carry freight
until the war demanded their service. Though
France was still recovering from the devastation on
its shores during the war, six million families gave a
donation ranging from simple drawings to priceless
gifts, such as an original bust of Benjamin Franklin
by the great French sculpture, Jean Antoine Houdon.
Also donated was a jeweled Legion d’Honneur
medal originally presented to Napolean, the first
motorcycle ever built, the bugle signalling the
Armistice from World War I and 50 rare paintings.
Island is also home to the Lt. George Dubois
Veterans Museum featuring one of these significant
box cars, the Merci Train. This box car signifies the
deep gratitude towards our World War II veterans as
well as to the generous spirit of all Americans during
France’s critical time of need.
Both museums are very worthwhile sites to visit.
Rhode Island Historical Society owns and operates
the Musuem of Work & Culture which depicts the
French-Canadian immigration to America to work in
the mills as well as a typical French classroom,
church, and tenement.
Thanks to all our veterans - past and present!
Museums on Us
at the Museum of Work & Culture
Weekends, October 4 & 5,
November 1 & 2, December 6 & 7
As the Magellan ship carrying these box cars was
leaving France, over 9000 gifts were left behind as
the cars were filled to capacity. According to an article by LTC. Manuel Conley, USA, one French
woman had nothing to give yet she rubbed her fingerprints in the freshly painted car to be able to show
her gratitude to the Americans. An American
remarked: “They gave so much from their little,
while we gave little from
our abundance.”
Woonsocket’s charming
Museum of Work & Culture
in Woonsocket, Rhode
Free Admission for
Bank of America Customers!
The Museum of Work & Culture, for the
seventh consecutive year, has been selected
to participate in the Bank of America
Museums on US program. Visitors to the
Museum will receive free admission every
first weekend of the month for the rest of the
year by simply presenting their Bank of
America card. Additionally, participants will
receive 10% off their purchases in the
Museum Store.
Journeys
Page 16
Saturday,
October 4
& Sunday,
October 5
10:00 a.m.
to 4:00 p.m.
WATERS ROAD, WEST SUTTON, MA
With the arrival of the autumn season in New England
comes one of the best fall festivals in the area…..the
29th Annual Fall Farm Days at Waters Farm in historic
West Sutton, Massachusetts.
Join us at the farm and experience everything that a
New England festival has to offer—
•Antique farm equipment, engines and chain
saw exhibits
•Tractor pull both days
•Lumberjack demonstrations
•Hearth cooking at the 1757 main house
•House tours
•Shingle mill demonstrations
•Blacksmith Shop demonstrations
•Horse and tractor drawn wagon rides
•Children’s games and activities including
face painting and pumpkin painting
•Sutton Police Department safety
demonstrations & K-9 demonstrations
•Sugar House demonstrations by the
Blackstone Valley Sugaring Association
•Apple Valley Pony Club pony rides
•Lots of animals
•Sutton Senior Center—programs and activities
and their beautiful hand-made items
•Draft horse demonstrations and obstacle course
•Refreshments, including the famous
Waters Farm Apple Crisp
•And much more!
Old Sturbridge Village Dancers
will perform at Waters Farm
The goodwill
ambassadors of
Old Sturbridge
Village will dance
for farm visitors
and teach the
audience a period
dance or two.
See them on Sunday at the farm at 1:00 p.m.
For full list of activities
call 508-865-0101
Waters Road, West Sutton
www.watersfarm.com
2
$
00
OFF
Regular
Admission*
(up to 5 admissions)
*Regular Admission:
$7.00 – Adults
$5.00 – 65 & over
$1.00 – 3 to 7
Free – 2 & under