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Vol. 4, No.5 - 1 November 2002. Circulation: 100 and growing!
(C) 1999 Boylston Historical Society and Museum
7 Central St., PO Box 459, Boylston, MA 01505
boyhisoc@rcn.com 508-869-2720
Editors: Betty L. Thomas and Judith Haynes
Boylston Historical Society and Museum Web Page:
http://users.rcn.com/boyhisoc/
To subscribe or unsubscribe to the PotpourrEmail, or
to submit information to be included in the PotpourrEmail,
e-mail info to: boyhisoc@rcn.com
CONTENTS. Welcome; "The History of Boylston 1642-1741";
Tidbits; 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 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@rcn.com

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"The History of Boylston 1642-1741"

The following is from Vol.II of the Historical Series.
This book is no longer available for sale, but there are bound
copies of all the Historical Series books in the Museum's Fuller
Research Library, the Boylston Public Library, and the
Allen County Public Library [Fort Wayne, IN.] There are drawings,
sketches and photos in the book that we cannot include
in this Email.

"The History of Boylston 1642-1741"
A Critical Edition of the Papers of George L. Wright
by William O. Dupuis
Volume II in the Boylston Historical Series
Revised edition 1978

Chapter 2
"Early Indian Settlements In and Around Boylston"
by George L. Wright

After Isaac Temple had settled on his place, at the southwest corner of the present Wachusett Reservoir, his family lived in a rude log cabin, cooked their food in a iron pot suspended from a crew [sic] driven into the rock by the heat of a fire built under the shelter of an overhanging ledge. One day while the dinner was cooking in the pot, rumors came of Indians in the vicinity, and the family hurriedly fled to Marlborough leaving everything as it was. They remained there until the following spring, when they returned, and found everything as they had left it with the pot still hanging undisturbed. [6]
When the soil in the vicinity of Diamond Hill was removed at the time of the construction of the Wachusett Reservoir, many stone arrow heads, knives, and hatchets were found, both in a finished and an unfinished condition, showing that the place had been a great resort of the Indians for their stone implements and weapons; and on and along the intervals of the Nashua River were found many indications and remnants of their granaries and corn mills.
There is upon the Brigham farm on Ball Hill an Indian Corn Mill. [7] It is hollowed out of a flat rock in a circular form to a depth of from eight to twelve inches, and with about the same diameter, and was evidently used with a stone pestle as a mortar to pound and grind the corn into coarse meal.
In the same vicinity there is a large flat stone, four or five feet long, and two or three feet wide with a circular hole roughly drilled through it, and lying upon a platform built up of rough stones two or three feet high, and situated upon a ledge. This is known as the "Indian Stone and Rock," and it is supposed that it was used by the redmen in some of their religious ceremonies[8].
In the same neighborhood is a plot of land, known as the Indian Cornfield [9], and is without doubt, the lot of land referred to in a survey of land made by John Brigham, the surveyor and first settler of Northborough, under a grant of the General Court made to Thomas Eames of Framingham. This grant is described in John Brigham's survey as 200 acres lying in the wilderness north of Rocky Pond and adjoining the Lancaster south line. John Brigham, himself, with his own family afterwards suffered from the hostility and cruelty of the Indians.
Some years ago, the late Leonard S. Stark, who then lived on the farm in the easterly part of Boylston, long known as the David and John Barnes place, and which was first owned by Deacon John Keyes, Sr., one of the earliest settlers of the town, ploughed up a stone axe head that was almost in perfect preservation, and an Indian clay pipe was unearthed by George Flagg, on the farm first settled by the Flaggs in Boylston in 1725. [10]
The tradition is that when the well in the land leading to the James H. Woods place was dug by Lt. Eleazar Taylor, who first settled on that place, men with loaded guns were stationed at the top of the well to watch out for Indians, while the other workmen were digging below the surface of the ground [11].
On the boundary line between Boylston and Shrewsbury and near the Northborough line, there is a hill that was first called in the records by the Indian name of Asharis Hill.
(The reader may recall that in the first volume of the Historical Series, the names of many places in Boylston were obviously of Indian origin. Mount Tom, Malagasco Swamp, Muddy Brook, are all areas that bear the stamp of the early Redmen. Ed.)
It is well known that the Indians were accustomed to assemble in the spring of the year for a general pow wow, to which they came form all directions, and that the Indians in this vicinity often held these gatherings on Ball Hill and around Rocky Pond. This may, in a degree, account for the Indian relics and ceremonial stones found there, and since John Brigham in his survey of the Thomas Eames Rocky Pond Grant refers to an old Indian Field in connection with the boundaries of the Grant, and as there is also a plot of land there, well-defined and known to the various owners as the Indian Cornfield, it seems plausible and likely that at some early period, there was a regular Indian settlement or village on that section of Ball Hill [12].

Footnotes
[6] The story concerning the Temple family may be found on Pages 14-15 in The Local Names of Places, Boylston Historical Series.
[7] Located off Green Street in a southwesterly direction in the Ball Hill area.
[8] Was located on a ledge at the southerly side of Green St.; its whereabouts is presently unknown.
[9] Located southerly of the Indian Corn Mill.
[10] John Barnes land now includes 285-369 Cross Street; the David Barnes land now covers 316-330 & 317-367 Linden Street.
[11] Eleazar Taylor's home site was located on Cottonwood Place.
[12] While the Boylston settlers did not experience the horrors of Indian warfare after settling here, many of them had already suffered from such hostilities in the frontier towns they came from. George Ball, the ancestor of the local Ball family, was slain in Lancaster. Elizabeth Howe, wife of Deacon Thomas Keyes and mother of Deacons Cyprian and Jonathan Keyes, prominent Boylston settlers, was captured by the Indians in Lancaster, and spent three years in captivity. In fact, not many of the first Boylston families escaped the fears and bitterness of the Indian raids.

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Tidbits
Town Report 1930
At a meeting of the School committee on January 20, 1931 it was voted that the report of the superintendent be accepted as the report of the school committee.
School Committee
George I. Adams, Chairman - Worcester Rd., Tel. 85
Mrs. Louisa A. Allen - Glazier St. - Tel. 20-12
Owen W. Kennedy - Northboro Rd. - Tel. 67

Superintendent of Schools
Louis J. Peltier, M.A. - Tel. 267

School Physician
Dr. Kenneth I. Balcom - 134 Lincoln St., Worcester - Tel. 2-4323

School Nurse
Mrs. Ruth C. Brown - Morningdale, Mass. - Tel. 29-15

Attendance Supervisor
Raymond B. Lovell - Scar Hill Rd. - Tel. 13-3

Teaching Corps, Fall Term 1930
School Name Education Appointment
Consolidated
Gr. 8[Prin.] Mrs. Clara March Framingham Normal
Gr. 6-7 Frances S. Holmes Keene Normal
Gr. 3-4-5 Marion Clark Worcester Normal
Gr. 1-2 Ruth L. Russell Worcester Normal
Morningdale
Gr. 1-2-3[Prin] Helen L. Wright Fitchburg Normal Oct 1928
Gr. 4-5 Helen Johnson Salem Normal Sept. 1930
Supervisors
Music Grace B. Davis NY University Sept. 1925
Drawing Clair A. Comtois Worcester Art Museum Sept 1929
Man. Tr. Harold A. Friberg Fitchburg Normal Sept. 1930

Changes in Teaching Force
Former New
Morningdale School
Anna M. Almquist Helen Johnson

School Calendar
School Year
Opens Sept. 2nd - Closes June 12th
Fall Term
Opens Sept. 2nd - Closes December 19th
Winter Term
Opens December 29th - Closes February 20th
Spring Term
Opens Mar. 2nd - Closes April 17th
Summer Term
Opens April 27th - Closes June 12th

Holidays
October 12th - Columbus Day
November 11th - Armistice Day
November 28th and 29th - Thanksgiving and the Day following
January 1st - New Year

Janitors
Myron S. Garfield - Consolidated School, Central St., Tel. 11-11
Alfred Anderson - Morningdale School, Edgewood St., Tel 33-23

Conveyors
S.C. Butterfield - Berlin Rd. Tel. 17-3
Loring G. Fuller - Worcester Rd., Tel . 94
Wor. Con. St. Ry. Co. - 107 Main St., Worc., Tel. 2-4611

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BHS News

"Be Our Valentine" Exhibit -
Extended by Popular Demand !!
This is a display of Victorian Valentines,
Lace from our collection, and wedding dresses
circa 1950 and 1930.

Open during normal open hours and at regular
museum admission.
Members - free Non-Members - $3
-----------------------------------------
NEW HOURS
We are open Tuesday and Thursday - 9 am to noon
AND
The FIRST TUESDAY of each month [year round]- 6-8 pm
Please stop by and visit Al Thomas and Tim Houlihan on Nov. 5
As always ...we are open by appointment for those who can not make any of our open hours.
The first visitor on Nov 5 will receive a gift!
-----------------------------------------
COMING UP THIS FALL
2002 - 2003 PROGRAMS and EVENTS
All Programs open to the public and
held at the Society (unless otherwise noted).
7 Central St., Boylston
Donations at the door are gratefully accepted!
-------------------------------------------

Behind the Scenes Tour of Museum & Welcome Reception
for New Members and the Curious!
Meet the Staff and Board members. FREE
Did you ever wonder what exactly we DO at the museum or how we do it...well then...Get yourself and your family down to the Museum on Saturday, November 9, 2002 from 1 pm to 4 pm
First Tour starts at 1:30 pm
Sponsored in part by James Stanton, Esq.
--------------------------------------------------------

Visit the gift shop
http://www.ultranet.com/~boyhisoc/gift.htm

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On The Web

The Plimoth Plantation Museum Page
http://www.plimoth.org/Museum/museum.htm

Don's Mom and the Turkey - a classic tale!
http://www.petuniapress.com/turkey3.htm

Plymouth: Its History and People
http://pilgrims.net/plymouth/history/

The Mayflower Web pages
http://members.aol.com/calebj/mayflower.html

The Pilgrims' 1621 Thanksgiving
http://members.aol.com/calebj/thanksgiving.html

The Story of John Alden and the Mayflower
http://power.eng.mcmaster.ca/alden/pilgrim/history.htm

Pilgrim Hall Museum
http://www.pilgrimhall.org/museum.htm

Thanksgiving for families
http://www.night.net/thanksgiving/

Thanksgiving for Kids
http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/thanks/

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Humor -

A woman went to doctor's office. She was seen by one of the new doctors, but after about 4 minutes in the examination room, she burst out, screaming as she ran down the hall.
An older doctor stopped and asked her what the problem was, and she explained. He had her sit down and relax in another room.
The older doctor marched back to the first and demanded, "What's the matter with you? Mrs. Terry is 63 years old, she has four grown children and seven grandchildren, and you told her she was pregnant?"
The new doctor continued to write on his clipboard and said, "Does she still have the hiccups?"

PERMISSION TO REPRINT articles from PotpourrEMAIL is granted
unless specifically stated otherwise, PROVIDED: (1) the reprint
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Written by -author's name, e-mail address, and URL, if given-
Previously published by PotpourrEMAIL,
PotpourrEmail, Vol. 4, No.5 - 1 November 2002. Please visit
Boylston Historical Society and Museum's main Web page at
http://users.rcn.com/boyhisoc/
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@rcn.com
508-869-2720
Boylston Historical Society
PO Box 459
Boylston, MA 01505
Web Page: http://users.rcn.com/boyhisoc/