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PotpourrEMAIL
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Vol. 2, No. 11 - 1 May 2001. Circulation: 100 and growing!
(C) 1999 Boylston Historical Society and Museum
7 Central St., PO Box 459, Boylston, MA 01505
boyhisoc@ma.ultranet.com 508-869-2720
Editors: Betty L. Thomas and Judith Haynes
Boylston Historical Society and Museum Web Page:
http://www.ultranet.com/~boyhisoc/
To subscribe or unsubscribe to the PotpourrEmail, or
to submit information to be included in the PotpourrEmail,
e-mail info to: boyhisoc@ma.ultranet.com
CONTENTS. Welcome; What's in a name?; Tidbits;
IF I THROW IT AWAY, I'LL NEED IT; Book of the Month;
BHS News; On The Web; Humor
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Welcome to our email newsletter! For those of you who are not
members of BHS and don't receive the snailmail newsletter, it is called
The Potpourri. Sooooo, we thought the appropriate name for this version
would be PotpourrEMAIL. This email version is not meant to repeat or
copy the snailmail version, but to complement it, with the addition of
topics of interest to those with computer and web capabilities. If you
have a story to tell, information to impart, a good genealogy joke, computer
or web genealogy info, a Boylston genealogy query, or anything that would
be of interest to our readers--please email us at:
boyhisoc@ma.ultranet.com
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What's In a Name??
"Names of Places" by G.L. Wright
Volume I in the Historical Series
Some Early Buildings in Boylston Centre
When the Second, or North Precinct of Shrewsbury was Incorporated
in 1745, the first Meeting House was built, and the Old Burial Ground
located on land purchased from Lieut. Eleazar Taylor, who then owned
a large part of the land where the village of Boylston Centre now is; in
fact, Lieut. Taylor and Ensign John Bush were at that time the principal
real estate owners in that immediate vicinity.
The Meeting House stood at the corner of the Cemetery nearly in front
of the present house occupied a few years ago by Mrs. Amy Garfield.
About 1760, David Taylor, a son of Lieut. Eleazar Taylor, built a square
house on the opposite side of the Worcester Road from the Burial Ground,
and he kept a tavern and country store there. In fact, the Garfield house
was then a part of the ell of the Taylor house, and contained the store.
David Taylor carried on business there until 1799, when he disposed of
his property and removed to Berlin where he remained until his death.
He was followed in the Boylston Tavern and store by Colonel Jonathan
Bush, who remained there until after he had relocated the Ensign John
Bush place on the present Clinton Road. This house had been confiscated
at the time of the proscription of the first Jonathan Bush as a Royalist,
and the house he built had been long known as the Col. Bush Mansion.
This mansion was destroyed by fire about 1857. It had been erected
about the same time, or very soon after the erection of the second
Meeting House in Boylston, and is said to have cost as much or more
than the Church edifice. It was considered at that time as one of the
most elegant and expensive private residences in Worcester County.
The first school house erected in the Shrewsbury North Precinct [Boylston]
stood on the easterly side of the present Shrewsbury Road, and opposite
the easterly point of the South, or Old Common, on land belonging to the
Woodhead estate. When this schoolhouse was erected is not known,
but it was probably before the incorporation of the Shrewsbury North Precinct.
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Tidbits
from the BHS scrapbooks -
April 14, 1948
Boylston Grange to Honor Two 60-Year Members
The 65th anniversary of the Grange will be celebrated next
Tuesday, when a dinner and special program will be presented.
The program will open with a dinner, served at 6:30 p.m. in the
vestry of the First Congregational Church by members of the
Ladies Benevolent Society. This will be followed by a general
program of speaking and dancing in the Town House.
The principal speaker will be L. Roy Hawes, state master of
the Grange, who will present 60 year pins to Miss Lizzie Lusk,
and Miss Lydia P. Warner, former Telegram correspondent, as
well as 25 year service certificates to several members of the
local organization.
Persons desiring reservations for the supper are requested to
contact Frederick G. Anderson, Grange lecturer.
Meeting Changed
The meeting of the Morningdale Ladies Aid Society, scheduled for
tomorrow at the home of Mrs. Peter Stewart, will be held instead
at the home of Mrs. George E. Bell of Goldwaite Road, Worcester.
Back from Sweden
Carl A. Rylander of 23 Columbus Street arrived in New York today
aboard the Gripsholm after spending four months in Sweden. He
was met by his wife, Mrs. Rylander of Main Street, Boylston, Mrs.
Ernest Garner of Waltham and Carl E. Rylander of Houston, Tex.
1944
Mrs. George B. Tower
Funeral services for Mrs. Laura [Marsh] Tower, 82, wife of George B.
Tower, who died yesterday in Hahnemann Hospital will be at 2pm
Friday at her home, 26 Ashton Street. Rev. Milton Slade, pastor
of Adams Square Baptist Church will officiate. Burial will be in
Pine Grove Cemetery, Boylston. Callling hours are at the home.
Born in Boylston, daughter of Daniel and Mary Ann [Budding] Marsh,
she had lived in Worcester for 50 years. She was a member of
Boylston Congregational Church and Green Hill Circle of the Ladies
Aid Society of Adams Square Baptist Church.
She leaves, beside her husband, a son Harold L. Tower, Hartford,
Conn; a daughter, Marian E., wife of Frank J. Conforti, Oakdale;
eight granchildren and two great-grandchildren.
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IF I THROW IT AWAY, I'LL NEED IT
by Richard A. Pence richardpence@pipeline.com
As every genealogist knows, you can't be too careful when it
comes to throwing things away. No piece of paper, book,
periodical, pamphlet, program, syllabus, clipping, letter, post
card -- whatever -- should be thoughtlessly discarded. You never
know when you might need it.
I sensed trouble when it turned warm the other day. Every spring
the cleaning bug takes a bite of my wife and eventually she
reaches my office. This time, when I saw she had the stepladder
with her, I knew it was big-time trouble!
Over the years I have developed some pretty good defenses to
counter these annual spring cleaning rites. One method has been
the "high-shelf shuffle." Way up high, beyond her reach, is
where I put all the stuff that is beyond verbal justification.
She moved in, quickly got up on the ladder and began calling the
roll: "Program for the 1987 NGS Conference?"
"I was on the program. It's got my name in it."
Plunk.
"1994 Syllabus?"
"There's a great article on finding ancestors in South America."
"You don't have any ancestors in South America."
"You never know."
Plunk.
"What about this pamphlet on GENEALOGY RESEARCH AT THE INDIANA
STATE LIBRARY? It's dated 1986."
"That was the last time I was there. During Indy week."
Plunk.
"Summary of Your 1971 Employee Benefit Plan Options?"
"I was saving it in case I needed the notebook cover."
"For 30 years?"
Plunk.
"Here's a W-2 form for 1984."
"So that's where that went."
"What about these two boxes of genealogy magazines and
journals?"
"There's good stuff in them!"
"When was the last time you looked at one?"
She had me there. "Well," I stalled, "I just can't throw them
away without checking. Someone may need them."
"Who?"
"Maybe the library?"
"Call them. I'll get the number."
Trapped. My only hope was a sympathetic ear. Librarians know
about saving things. If I can't keep all this stuff, at least I
can find a decent home for it.
After pressing a couple of buttons, I got right through to the
librarian in the Genealogy Room.
"Do you need any back issues of the NGS Quarterly?" I asked.
"I've got about 25 years worth."
"Spring cleaning?"
"Yeah. How did you know?"
"Third offer today."
"What about the Quarterlies?"
"Are you kidding? Not only do we get several offers a week,
we're trying to get rid of ours. We have it all on CD-ROM now."
"Come to think of it, so do I," I mumbled.
I was getting desperate. "You've got to help me. My wife is in
my office and she's throwing genealogy stuff away!"
"You could do what I do."
"What's that?"
"Wait until the others are in bed and go out and salvage what
you can."
"Worth a try, but she'll probably check."
"Maybe you could try some of the other libraries near by. You
can see what they might need by checking their online catalogs.
Or I can give you a list of libraries to call."
"Never mind."
"Finding Your Ancestors In the Mississippi State Archives?"
Plunk.
"What about this stack of 'This Month at the Library's Genealogy
Room'? There must be 200 of them."
"Wait a second, I'll check with the library."
Plunk.
If we can just get through spring without a flat tire, it may
work out. By then I'll have most of the stuff I salvaged during
the midnight foray back on the high shelves and we'll be able to
find the spare in the car trunk.
As for next year -- the other day I saw an Office Depot ad for
file cabinets with locks on them.
[Richard Pence is retired and up to his eyeballs in his one-name
PENCE family study http://www.pipeline.com/~richardpence/ .
He thinks he should have gotten the big bedroom when the kids
moved out -- not the tiny one he now has to use as a combination
office, library, archives, and computer center. His wife, only
recently retired, divides her attention between creating a
showcase guest room out of the big bedroom and scouting for
fresh territory into which she can introduce those huge trash
bags.]
[LIBRARIANS: Please e-mail your top five "wish list" of
genealogical items to rwr-editors@rootsweb.com . Eds.]
This article was previously published by Julia M. Case and Myra
Vanderpool Gormley, CG, Missing Links, Vol. 6, No. 15,
11 April 2001. RootsWeb: http://www.rootsweb.com/
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Book of the Month
"The Furnace of Affliction" by William O. Dupuis
This third volume in the Gough series, deals with those who
sought to destroy Mr. Gough's character. Mr. Dupuis has
presented an evenhanded analysis and an in-depth
investigation of Mr. Gough's detractors.
91 pages with photos, indexed.
$15 plus shipping [if mailed]
Visit the gift shop for more info:
http://www.ultranet.com/~boyhisoc/gift.htm
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BHS News
ANOTHER PHOTO IDENTIFIED !
Edith Anderson called to identify a photo that was in the
Banner the week of April 18.
The older woman in the portrait pose is Kate Taylor.
Kate Taylor lived on Central St. with her father and her
brother Harry Souci. She bought the Center Store from
Mr. Vinton and she and her brother ran it. She was also
Postmistress. She owned and ran the Red Barn
Restaurant. Edith [when she was in high school] was a
waitress there while Kate Taylor ran it.
"Who Are They - Boylston's Unidentified Citizens"
The photos from this exhibit can be viewed in The Banner
[our local newspaper] and at the Historical Society website.
If you can identify any of the photos, please contact us!
The exhibit runs through September 2001.
This is an interactive exhibit. Each photo has a place for
viewers to leave their comments, ideas, and clues to the identity
of the people in that photo.
Museum admission: $2
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Event - Monday, May 28, 2001, 10am to 2pm
"Memorial Day Open House" Come and visit!!!
Free Museum admission
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If you missed the program on George Wright and you have a
computer, you can purchase the CD of the program for $10
[plus shipping if mailed]. The CD is self contained with the
program and the software to run it.
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Visit the gift shop
http://www.ultranet.com/~boyhisoc/gift.htm
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On The Web
Ships' passenger manifest records of the more than
17 million people who entered the United States
through the Port of New York and Ellis Island
from 1892 to 1924.
http://wwwellisisland.org
American Memories (Library of Congress)
http://memory.loc.gov
Pictures of Castle Garden (New York)
http://members.aol.com/W2837/NYHarbor/CGindex.html
Making of America
http://library5.library.cornell.edu/moa/
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Humor
Two vultures board an airplane, each carrying two dead raccoons.
The stewardess looks at them and says, "I'm sorry, gentlemen,
only one carrion allowed per passenger."
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PERMISSION TO REPRINT articles from PotpourrEMAIL is granted
unless specifically stated otherwise, PROVIDED: (1) the reprint
is used for non-commercial, educational purposes; and (2) the
following notice appears at the end of the article:
Written by
Previously published by PotpourrEMAIL,
PotpourrEmail, Vol. 2, No. 11 - 1 May 2001. Please visit
Boylston Historical Society and Museum's main Web page at
.
This newsletter is distributed monthly, on the first day of the month,
to all Boylston Historical Society members (who have email!), genealogists,
and friends who have a special interest in the history of the town of
Boylston.
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boyhisoc@ma.ultranet.com
508-869-2720
Boylston Historical Society
PO Box 459
Boylston, MA 01505
Web Page: http://www.ultranet.com/~boyhisoc/index.shtml
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