Hearty thanks to David Collins, a GMG reader and avid genealogist, for sharing his Gloucester history message and personal family photo concerning Cape Pond Ice in response to yesterday’s post!
“As always, I have been enjoying your posts on the Good Morning Gloucester blog, especially those that explore Gloucester’s history.
Remember when I wrote you about my grandfather dying in the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918? I told you he was working at Lepage’s when he took a leave to take care of his brother who had come down with the flu and died first.
Well, before he worked at Lepage’s, my grandfather had worked at Cape Pond Ice. Here is a picture of my grandfather, Millard E. Collins, with his Cape Pond Ice wagon. The toddler on the horse is my father, also named Millard E. Collins.
During the 1950s, my family summer vacationed for a week or so each year at Mastine’s Sunset Cabins on Paugus Bay of Lake Winnipesaukee. The cabins there were very basic. We brought everything we needed with us from Gloucester, including bedding, pots and pans and heavy clothing because even over 4th of July week, it could get cold there. The very first thing we would do once we arrived and unpacked would be to go to the Alton Bay branch of Cape Pond Ice to get a block of ice to put in the ice box in the cabin and then shop and get milk that came in a sort of upside-down megaphone or cone-shaped container.”
David Collins, 2021 January 20
courtesy photo from Dave Collins
photo caption: “Here is a picture of my grandfather, Millard E. Collins, with his Cape Pond Ice wagon. The toddler on the horse is my father, also named Millard E. Collins.”
Dave has generously shared Gloucester history family stories and photographs with GMG before. Check out Stage Fort Park here. Dave shared another family photograph from a different angle in March of 2019 here.
1918 Flu EPIDEMIC – “collins”
“Thank-you for your time in reading this, Catherine, and for continuing to shine such a wonderfully informative light on the history of Gloucester. I forget whether I wrote you about your 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic series of articles. They really hit home to me as my father’s father and uncle both died from that flu within a matter of days of one another in October of 1918, my grandfather having taken care of his brother and then succumbing himself, leaving 2 widows and 7 very young children behind.”
David Collins
I asked Dave if either man had been serving in the military at the time. His thoughtful response incorporates Gloucester surnames, sites and businesses readers may recognize, and he has graciously granted this share:
“As for the Spanish flu and my family, neither my grandfather (I was adopted but he was my sister’s birth-grandfather) nor his brother were in the military when they contracted the flu.
My grandfather, Millard E. Collins, Sr., [1888-1918] lived in Gloucester and worked as a laborer at LePage’s where my father later worked as a purchasing agent when I was young and we, too, lived in Gloucester before we moved to Connecticut after one of the take-overs of Lepage’s.
My grandfather had also worked for Cape Pond Ice as a delivery man.
My father’s brother, Jacob Buswell Collins [1886-1918] lived in North Attleboro MA and I have no idea what he might have done for a living.
The brothers were born in Salisbury MA and my grandfather followed another brother, William Warren Collins [1885-1937], to Gloucester in the very, very early 1900s. I also have no idea why either went there but William ended up living with another Collins family who lived at the foot of Bond’s Hill (on the right). I have never been able to connect them to our Collins family, although the wife was a distant cousin of ours through the Barrett family in the neighborhood (a cousin to Homer Barrett.) There has to have been some sort of a connection but I cannot find it.
William Collins became a postman and married Edna Bray who lived with her aunt and uncle at the foot of Bond’s Hill in the house that was right behind Strong’s gas station (so on the left side of Bond’s Hill) when I was a kid. Edna’s mother and her aunt were both of the Parsons family of Gloucester. I remember going to that house from where we lived on Stage Fort Avenue, probably without my mother’s knowledge of it, to get cookies from Edna back in the early 1950s. That is the house that the Parsons family thinks may have been the original Parsons homestead moved there from Western Avenue when the boulevard was created. Mary Sibbalds once asked me what I remembered of the inside of the place when they were trying to authenticate it but I wasn’t able to help much. And, apparently, carbon-dating of the wood in the house didn’t help with the identification either. I don’t know where the validation stands these several years later. Mary Sibbalds has since passed away but left us two wonderful volumes of Parsons family history.
I have not figured out why my grandfather went to North Attleboro, away from his family (wife and 3 children) in Gloucester, but a cousin of mine says that our grandmother had told her that most of the Collins family had the flu, and by that I assume she meant the 2 brothers and their siblings (and families? They all were adults by 1918 and married.) Also, according to my cousin, my grandmother had begged Millard not to go to help his brother because he would likely “catch it”, too. So, that part of the story is a little confusing – did they all have it after all? Did Millard before going to Attleboro? I also do not know where my grandfather died, although indications are he was back in Gloucester.
William Collins and the sisters, Annette, Flora and Elizabeth, all survived the pandemic and died years later – 1937, 1968, 1972 and 1970…
My grandmother’s father may have died of the Spanish flu, too. He died in January of 1919 but was very much out of the young-men’s age range that was so affected by it. When we lived in Gloucester, my great grandmother lived in our neighborhood, across from the Washington Cemetery. She died in January of 1959 when I was 13. She was very much a part of my younger life and I have often wondered what it would have been like to have had a great-grandfather, too. He was William Simpson Swift ([1856-1919] and, apparently, he was an inventor of sorts, among other things. Mary Palmstrom* unearthed several patents with drawings of inventions he came up with.
David Collins correspondence with Catherine January 2021
I hope to tease out more details surrounding the flu pandemic in Gloucester and perhaps with that more information for Dave.
*Mary Palmstrom is a Shute descendent, retired teacher, history buff and genealogist enthusiast. She created the outstanding Shute and Merchant compilation resource: http://www.shuteandmerchant.com/.
Thank you to GMG reader, Carolyn Rosenfeld, for sharing a Gloucester history message that was featured by Alton Historical Society!
SELLING COLD
Cape Pond Ice headquartered in Gloucester, Massachusetts, established a branch in Alton, New Hampshire, to guarantee demands for ice.
Carolyn writes:
“AMAZING! MY MOTHER AND HER ENTIRE FAMILY WERE FROM WEST ALTON, BUT UP ON THE MOUNTAIN. That’s why I belong to this (Alton Historical Society) group. It’s like I’ve gone back in time. Finding that interconnection is a little eerie. I’m in NH today to give a beautiful portrait of her, taken in 1912 when she was 4 years old, to one of my daughters. And of course it was taken at their farm on Alton Mountain. Anyway, I love a good coincidental jolt in the AM with my coffee.”
Carolyn
“Alton Historical Society, Alton, New Hampshire – This is the Cape Pond Ice Co. of Gloucester, MA ice house at Mt. Major in West Alton. The ice was shipped by train along the Lake Shore Line to Gloucester for use on the fishing boats.” | Facebook
Clarence Manning Falt (1861-1912) was a Gloucester poet and photographer, a son of a Canadian immigrant & fisherman and a Gloucester mother & homemaker (born and raised in a fisherman generations family herself). They had seven children. The Falt family eventually purchased 172 East Main Street; Clarence and his surviving siblings continued to live there as adults. It’s a huge home.
photo caption: 172 East Main Street, Gloucester, Mass. An Edward Hopper drawing of this Gloucester house, which I identified, was gifted to the Minneapolis Art Institute and included in a travel exhibition highlighting major drawings from this famous repository.
Clarence Manning Falt clerked for various businesses on Main Street to support his art practice.
By the 1900 census, clerk was dropped from the “occupation” category, “Author” stood alone.
Falt photographed and wrote about Gloucester, where he was born and raised during the late 1800s. His work reflects his own personal experiences including the fishing industry of his parents’ world. The best ones connect readers to this world because of his talents and an insider’s careful observations. Some of the writing relies too much on tropes and can be a chore, though never as difficult as the jobs he portrays, and may stick with you just the same because he is successful in providing such accurate and detailed examples of the business of fishing and the beauty of Gloucester. Some poems rise to evoke a full and cinematic day at the docks and ideas to mull over.
POINTS OF INTEREST: GLOUCESTER IN SONG
Falt’s book of poems and photographs, Points of Interest Gloucester in Song, was published in 1894, the year after his mother died. He dedicated the volume to her. Examples of his original and stunning photographs are from the copy held in the collection of the Library of Congress which was digitized. The pairings aren’t always successful and one might long for more photos, as I have. A few appear to be source photos for vintage postcards.
“To those who have grown up from childhood amid the grandeur and solemnity of these scenes, to the stranger who has become familiar with them, may their hearts be quickened with a keener appreciation for, and a deeper sympathy with, all that has made Gloucester and its suburbs charming and historic.”
THE BLUETSIN mosses greenA charming scene,To me a sweet surprise,In bright arrayThis fair spring dayThe bluets greet my eyes.Each dainty cup,Is lifted upWith tints of heaven’s hue; Each budding gemA diademBespangled with the dew.Like tiny shieldsAmid the fields,On bodies, slim and frail,,They wave and bendAnd sweetly sendThe Welcome Spring’s All hail!Where bright sunshineBy one divineCan reach each fragile heart,They lovely gleamLike some sweet dreamAnd Joy’s sweet pulses start.My better self(The heart’s stored wealth)Enraptured at the sightOn each sweet faceSee’s Heaven’s graceAnd life, immortal, bright.On, tiny blooms,When waking tombsLie buried ‘neath the snow,And Death doth keepGuard o’er thy sleepAnd blust’ring winds they blow,Backward apaceMy heart will trace,And bring, begemmed with dew,‘Mid mosses green The charming sceneOf you, sweet buds of blue.-Clarence Manning Falt, 1894, in Gloucester, Ma.
Bluets, photo courtesy Justine Vitale
WHARF AND FLEET
Falt’s volume of poems and photographs, Wharf and Fleet: Ballads of the fishermen of Gloucester, was published in 1902. A copy of the book held at the University of California was digitized and uploaded in 2006.
“…Ever since 1713 Gloucester has been the peculiar home of the schooner, and this is now and long has been the unvarying rig of her unrivalled fleet of deep-sea fishermen. The first entry of a schooner in Boston’s commerce occurs in 1716, — “Mayflower,” Captain James Manson, from North Carolina. As Captain Andrew Robinson was a direct descendant of John Robinson who preached to the Pilgrims at Leyden, it is conjectured that this “Mayflower” was the fist schooner, the original Gloucester craft. Be this as it may, her useful successors are numbered by the thousands,…”
and re: the 100 days War with Spain:
“At the Gloucester recruiting station, in the early summer of 1898 , 76.5% of the men examined were accepted. At Boston the percent accepted was 14.5; at New York only 6. This means that in physique and intelligence the fishermen of New England are very much superior to the merchant sailors of the great seaports. So valuable a national resource as the deep-sea fisheries cannot be suffered to decline.”
*Winthrop Lippitt Marvin – U.S. journalist, and author; Civil Service Commissioner of Massachusetts; secretary of the Merchant Marine Commission
Back to Falt
Clarence Manning Falt was clearly proud of his parents and hometown and had a linguist’s ear and aptitude for the music of words. He studied public speaking and drama in Boston and New York. This book incorporates strongly stylized dialect deliberately, heavily.
“There is no distinct vernacular used, for the nationalities represented in this fishing port are so complex as to render that impossible, but there are many phrases in general use which I have endeavored to bring forth in these ballads. Born in this seaport city, with blood of seafaring people in my veins, the grandeur and pathos of this variable life have ever enthralled me.”
Clarence Manning Falt
More From his intro
Gloucester’s “population at the writing of this work is about 29,000. As a fishing-port, it is the largest in the world. Here can marine life be studied in all its phases. Here, lying at their moorings, will be found the up-to-date Gloucester fishing vessels, for the modern type of fishing vessel is t he pride and delight of a Gloucester skipper’s heart. He considers his stanch craft his ocean home. Indeed, these handsome vessels are as fine as the stately yachts that daily grace the harbor, for one would immediately note their fine sheer, perfectly fitting sails, clean decks, trim rig, and crews of able-bodied seamen, marking a wonderful and almost magical development from the primitive types of the quaint shallops, pinnaces, and pinkies of the olden days.
Gloucester harbor, like some might arena of old, is terraced with impregnable bastions of rugged hills and seared and time-furrowed cliffs…At night its beauty is unrivalled. Seaward its light-towers flash and gleam…the fleets glowing to port and windward, vying landward with the city’s brilliant reflections, sparkling with the shimmering glows of the wharf lights, the anchored fleets, and the inverted spangles of the stars of heaven… The wharf life has also developed marvelously. Every up-to-date method of prosecuting this industry is employed. This development has brought many new occupations and newer characteristics of the life. ”
Clarence Manning Falt, 1902 excerpt from his introduction Wharves and Fleet
A Matter of the Ear
“Packin’ Mack’r’l” — that does sound musical, and easily missed! How it makes me smile imagining Falt enlivened by the sights and sounds all about, fishing for just the right words and photographs; all the while diligently preserving a specificity of Gloucester’s fishermen’s dialect; a language all its own, encompassing many nationalities; one in which he was fluent and could translate and that he felt through his art. I wish that there was an audio recording of his reading aloud (or under his direction).
reminder comparable- post Civil War there was an uptick of slang dialects expressed in American writing, notably Tom Sawyer published 1876 and Huck Finn 1885(US)
Falt poem & photos- Gloucester sound and “see”scapes
SELECTION OF FALT’S POEMS
Many of the poems from Wharves and Fleet include vivid definitions tagged beneath which are delightful, personal and informative.
In building a wharf, the piles are first inserted into holes made in the dock, then after being carefully inserted and put in shape, they are driven down to a certain point by a heavy iron weight suspended from the top of the scow.
“Fly an’ spider”: figuratively used when the heavy iron weight (“th’ spider”) strikes the top of the pile (“th’ fly”). An old saying, long handed down by the fisher-folk**.
Notes from – Clarence Manning Falt
**have you heard this expression?
Ride stilts- “reflections of the piles at low tide. As the hawser lifts and drips and the crew hauls upon it, the phosper at night gleams most beautifully.
Notes from – Clarence Manning Falt
Dryin’ time after a heavy rain or spell of easterly weather, one of the most picturesque scenes of the harbor is the hanging of hoisted and half-hoisted sails from all sorts of crafts to dry in the coming forth of the sun.
Note about “Drying Time” – Clarence Manning Falt
Some of the poems I like most helped me learn about ancillary jobs and a bigger , tender portrait of this port.
GITTIN’ UNDERWAY
GITTIN’ UNDERWAYIn th’ early dawn ere th’ doors unlock,Then it’s crick, crick, crick, an’ it’s crock, crock, crockAn’ it’s ho an’ hi fer th’ blocks ter talkIn th’ early dawn e’er th’ doors unlock.Then it’s ho na’ hi fer th’ dreams ter die,Fer th’ crews an’ th’ bunks ter say good-by,Fer th’ yawn an gape, fer th’ stretch an’ sigh,In th’ early dawn ere th’ cocks crow highThen it’s ho fer doublin’ th’ Woolsey smocks,An’ twicein’ th’ toes in th’ home-knit socks,An cuddlin’ th’ ears up under th’ locks,An’ haulin’ down tighter th’ souwes’ chocks.Then it’s ho fer housin’ th’ rubber boots,An’ firmin’ th’ heart in th’ stiff oil suits,W’ile the cuddies blaxe, an’ th’ coffee goots,An’ th’ windlass creaks, an’ th’ horn it hoots.Then it’s ho fer grubbin’ an’ hi fer drink,Then shadder th’ gangway an’ meet th’ brinkTer shape out th’ course an ter careful thinkIn th’ early dawn w’ile th’ stars still blink.
“Block ter talk”: the hoisting of the sails.
“Woolsey smocks”: flannel shirts.
“Souwes’ chocks”: the flannel-line lappets
that are attached to the sou’westers.
“Housin’ th’ rubber boots”: pulling them on.
“Cuddies”: forecastle.
“Windlass”: it is located forward the foremast,
and is used in weighing up the anchor.
“Horn”: the hand foghorn.
“Shape out th’ course”: making the grounds
by chart and compass.
“Sou’wester”: a broad-brimmed oil-cloth hat
with ear-lappets lined with flannel.
-------
Clarence Manning Falt, Wharf and Fleet, 1902, Gittin’ Underway, p. 37-38
TH’ NIPPERWOMANI SEE her black shawl mid th’ buttsClutched tight erpon her breast,I see her black cloud full uv rutsEr shamin’ off its best,I see her pinched an’ wrinkled faceEr quizzing uv th’ crew,An’ this ter-nigh is ole Mart Place,
That once wuz Marthay True.I see her lookin’ down th’ deckTer git some welcome nod,Or still perchance th’ courage beckTer put her feet erboard.I know her arms are tired outEr holdin’ uv th’ string,Fer ev’ry one is knitted stoughtTer pace th’ haddickin’. Oh, Marthay True uv long ergo,Could you have looked ter seeYer rosy cheeks an’ eyes erglow Come cryin’ back ter thee,Could you have looked ter see each braid Thin twisted stran’s uv snow,I know yer would ter God have prayed Fer ankrige long ergo.Oh, Marthay True that bird-like sang,An’ twined th’ red rose high,An bade my boyhood’s heart ter hang Er love-light in thine eye,Could you have known th’ years would flingYer, stranded wreck uv Time, Ter sell with ev’ry knitted ringEr dead heart’s silent chime,Er Nipper woman in th’ cold,Unnoticed an’ forlorn,Mid fisher faces sad an’ bold, With hearts bruised like yer own,I know yer would ter God have prayedFer ankrige long ere this,Than rather been by Fate errayed Er thing fer chance ter kiss.O, Marthay True, we laugh an’ woo, An’ twine th’ red rose high,
An prate, an’ tell what we will do, With laughter in our eye;But way down in our hearts we know Time’s but er fickle thing,An’ ere life’s winds begin ter blow Come grief an’ sufferein’.Oh, Marthay True, we laugh an’ woo,An’ twine th’ red rose high,An prate, an’ tell what we will do,With laughter in our eye;But soon, too soon, our castles fall,Our gay ships drink th’ sea,An’ what should been joy’s merry callJest tears fer memory.Oh, Marthay True, God wot that thouMeet luck with all th’ fleet,An if er kind word will endowI’ll speak it quick an’ neat.I know er fisher’s tender spotIs ankered in his heart,Fer once with Christ they threw th’ lot,An’ hauled er goodly part.Oh, Marthay True, yer tale is told.Th’ hearts are tried an’ staunch,An, they have trawled er sum uv goldTer speed yer in joy’s launch.God wot that thou mayst happy be.Jest keep yer sad heart bright,An’ He will steer yer down Life’s seaTer find Hope’s port erlight.
Nipper woman: one of a class of women who knit
and sell to the crews of the fleet the woolen
nippers worn to prevent chafing of the fishing lines.
It is an industry pursued in the winter
and sold to the firms and the crews in the
early spring, at the fitting out or in the fall
at the “shifting of voyages.”
Nippers: when the trawl gets caught,
--“hung up,” in fishing vernacular,
--mittens are removed and the trawls
are hauled in with a pair of nippers,
bracelets of knitted wool or
cloth held in the palm of the hand,
creased to allow of a better hold of the line.
------Clarence Manning Falt, Wharf and Fleet, 1902 Th’ Nipper woman, p. 37-38
Woolen nippers from Gloucester on view at the Smithsonian were exhibited in the 1883 International Fisheries Exhibition in London. I think of Falt’s poem, Th’ Nipper Woman, above, when I see this display, and find it all the more poignant now picturing the women & men working the dock and sea and seasons at port. Intimate and full. Gentle and rough.
photo caption: Nippers. ca. 1880s. US Fish Commission. National Museum of American History, Smithsonian, Washington, DC
GAFFIN’ FISH
GAFFIN' FISHW’EN th’ tide is out er flirtin’,An’ fergits ter shut its door,An’ th’ happy clams are squirtin,Playin’ injine with the shore, An th’ kids are ripe fer junkin’,An’ fer skippin’ rocks an’ shells,An fer woodin’ an’ fer punkin’Bobbin’ bottles in th’ swells,An’ yer hear th’ rats er squalin’Frum th’ black cracks in th’ walls,An’ yer quiz th’ tomcats stealin’ Nearer, nearer ter th’ calls, An’ yer mark some ole trap histid,Like er giddy thing on cogs,With its body kind uv listidT’ward th’ black spiles an th’ logs,All togged up in robes uv coal tar,Yaller oaker, sash’s an’ bo’s,P’r’aps er crimson-pintid five-starSunburs’in’ its puggy nose,Like some poor, ole primay donnay Thet has wobbled all her say,Now shoved further ter th’ corner W’ile th’ daybute works her lay,P’r’aps er ole T.D. er puffin’ Frum er drollin’ mouth er stern, Use ter bluffin’, use ter cussin’, Use ter words I know yer’v hern,Then yer know time’s ripe fer gaffin’An’ fer puntin’ roun’ th’ docks,Fer it’s then th’ crews git chaffin’An’ er rattlin’ th’ pitchforks,Fer it’s then th’ strays go slippin’Frum th’ ole caps with er thud,An’ th’ guick gaffs raise ‘em drippin’Ter th’ sly punts frum th’ mud.Oh, it’s art ter watch th’ sneakin’Uv th’ puntin’ through th’ spiles,Oh, it’s art ter watch th’ peekin’Uv th’ gaffers an’ th’ wiles,Fer it’s thievin’ pure an simpleAn’ it’s skittish work at bes’,Though th’ cheek may wear th’ dimple,An th’ eye stan’ heaven’s tes’.Oh, it’s risky work er gaffin’, Full uv duckin’s, fights, an’ jaws,Full uv skuddin’, full uv chaffin’,Full uv haul-ups, full uv laws.Fer if caught, as sure as Moses,Yer’ll be chucked deep in th’ dump,W’ile th’ smells uv sweet June roses Won’t c’logne up th’ homeward slump.
When the trips are being taken out,
often many fish slip from the pitchforks
and sink to the docks. A class of young
men and boys then row around in little boats,
called punts, and gaff up the fish beneath
the wharves and sell them. It is an illegal
business, and if caught, they are subjected
to a fine and imprisonment.
It is operated at low tide.
“Ole trap histid”: the old-fashioned shore
boats that haul up on the dock flats for repairs.
"Pintid five-star”: an old-fashioned emblem
For decorating ends of bowsprits.
------Clarence Manning Falt, Wharf and Fleet: ballads of the Gloucester Fishermen, 1902
Gaffin’ Fish, p.39-41
For me, this one is a compelling balance: he carries water for the skippers and (less) for the gray market hustlers. It’s messy. His dad’s guiding hand on this one. Scroll back up and look at the “Th’ spider an’ th’ fly” photograph, the pilings and surface of the water. The images and words flow and force, back and forth. The pairings aren’t so cut and dry.
Cpt. Walter M. Falt (b. Canada April 18, 1823- d. Glouc. 1904) emigrated in 1845; fish dealer aka fish merchant 1870 census; skipper; master fisherman 1880 census; day laborer 1900 census misspelled as “Fault”, Cpt and Master Sea Foam 1878
Mother
Mary Carlisle Robinson (b. Glouc. 1826 – d. Glouc. 1893) parents married Nov. 30, 1847 “keeping house”
Resided family home
172 East Main Street, he and his siblings with their parents Edward Hopper drawing of this house in the collection of the Minneapolis Art Inst.
Day job
clerk for downtown businesses (drugstores on Main)
University
studied oration and acting
Occupation
“clerk” and “apothecary clerk” on earlier census “author” on 1900 census
6 siblings
dates on family headstone Marion, (1849 -1931) 1848? Walter P. (1851-1877) laborer 1870 census Julia Procter (1852-1924) Clarence M. (1861-1912) author 1900 census Austin C. (1866-1915) stevedore 1900 census Roland H. (1868-1870) Mary Taylor (1876-1917) 1874?
Published works
1894- Points of Interest: Gloucester in Song 1902- Wharf and Fleet: ballads of the Fishermen of Gloucester
Died
1912
Grave
family plot, Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
Under a Banner of Many Nations
Note from the author: Over the past week, I’ve shared Boston Globe Gloucester stories about immigrants: Swedish, Canadian, Italian, Sicilian, Portuguese , Irish, Scotch and so on. I thought of Falt’s books with each post.
Nations jump from the page when scanning vital stats documents, too- like this one from Gloucester birth registry 1868 – scroll over to the right through Occupation / place of Birth of Father/ place of Birth of Mother.
(To get the full experience, go big! The wordpress format reduces the size, however all photos in this post can be clicked, double clicked through, or pinch & zoomed to enlarge)
Captain Thomas Bohlin #3 “king pin among the halibut fishermen” (born in Sweden)
Captain Charles Harty tie for #2 mackerel “as a seiner his reputation has been made.”
Captain Solomon Jacobs #1 OG “widest known fisherman this country has ever produced…having started out as record beater, has had to live up to his reputation and has succeeded…” codfishery then mackerel seining – global expansion, lost everything & came back again “at the foot of the ladder. His old time luck had not forsaken him…” (born in England, brought to Newfoundland when a baby)
Captain Alex McEachern #7 high lines, particularly Grand bank codfisheries beat all records in 1897 (born Cape Breton)
Captain John W. McFarland tied for #2 “the only one to make two newfoundland herring trips, and marketed them in New York, on one season” (born in Maine)
Captain Andrew McKenzie #8 Iceland halibut and Newfoundland herring (born in PEI)
Captain Lemuel F. Spinney #5 “high line halibut catcher who is in the first flight of the “killers.” (born in Yarmouth, N.S.)
Captain Charles Young #6 halibut fleet -1895 record for most trips in one year (born in Copenhagen)
Captain Richard Wadding #4 halibut (born in England)
A June Morning – arch yes to my ear, and interesting catalogue of flora and fauna then
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Did your family share stories about visiting this elaborate (all?) indoors Christmas display? I’d love to see a photograph(s).
Gloucester, December 23, 1931- The religious fervor combined with the artistry of the Italian race is exemplified in the tableau of the nativity set up in the home of Capt. Joseph Curcurru, 15 Middle St, a leading figure in the Italian group of this city.
It is exciting much admiration not only among the Italian residents but among others of the city hundreds of whom have already viewed it.
Two walls of the reception room have been converted into the tableau background which represents a cyclorama of the country about Bethlehem. In a corner are the central figures, statues representing Mary, Joseph, the manger and the Infant Jesus.
Coming from the East are the three wise men and each day they are moved a day’s journey forward toward their objective until eventually on Jan. 6, which the Italians term the “Little Christmas,” they will arrive in the stable of the inn.
All around the panorama may be seen shepherds tending their sheep, peasants tilling the fields, trees and a running brook produced by an electric engine from a tank of water, in addition to other accessories which go to complete the composition.
The Italian quarter at the Fort is already taking on the signs of festivity incident to the season. They stress the religious note. The majority of their fishing craft are named after saints, whereas the native American fisherman named his clipper schooner for wife or daughter in the majority of instances.
Whittier somewhere in his verses noted this nomenclature custom of Saxon and Latin fisherman.
“TABLEAU OF THE NATIVITY IS SET UP IN HOME OF AN ITALIAN AT GLOUCESTER: Religious Fervor, Combined With Fine Artistry, Is Exemplified in This Unusual Cyclorama of Country Around Bethlehem” Boston Globe, p.2, Dec. 24, 1931
Wonder which Whittier poem?
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A classic Edward Hopper inspired by Gloucester will be sold at Sotheby’s auction this morning*. Architectural and natural elements in the drawing remain recognizable today. The scene overlooks the same house on East Main, Capt. Joe & Sons, and Cripple Cove (see then/now comparison photos below). The Gorton’s factory building there burned down. Cripple Cove playground is the green on the right of the Hopper image.
The drawing last changed hands in 1989 when the Horchows purchased the drawing from Kennedy Galleries in New York. Will it land in another private collection or an institution?
Edward Hopper (1882-1967), Gloucester Factory and House, 1924, watercolor and pencil on paper, 14″ x 20″, from the Carolyn & Roger Horchow collection (Dallas,TX) They purchased the drawing in 1989 from Kennedy Galleries, NYC.
Lot 8 estimate $800,000-$1,200,00 currently at $600,000 bid before the auction opens
*Update- With just 56 lots to sell and two withdrawn ahead of sale, Lot 8 came up quickly with a few competing bids and a hammer price of $700,000 ($867,000 with fees), below estimate.
Many lots before and after were short of estimate or passed (unsold) including a Winslow Homer watercolor which was “reoffered” by pausing the bidding on the final lot #56 to return to Lot #16 (which sold for 2 million hammer price) before moving back to the final lot, an Edward Willis Refield (which sold for $250,000). That whoopsie “reoffer” is highly unusual**. The auction house scrambled to bring that phone bidder forward before the close of the sale. A second Homer watercolor passed at 850,000.
The Sotheby’s December 11, 2020 auction offered a variety of American art from various collections. The sale results were a mixed bag of purchases, passes, and pulled works. Only one work sold far above estimate, thanks to a bidding war, a western scene by John F. Clymer. Scroll below the Hopper and Gloucester images to see the Homer.
above photo: Catherine Ryan
above: page from Edward Hopper all around Gloucester by Catherine Ryan, 2010
above: Sotheby’s catalogue entry page
In 2017, Christies sold a Rockefeller Hopper painting, Cape Ann Granite, also in December, which I wrote about here: Bring it Home.
**December 11, 2020 Winslow Homer Lot 16 sold at Sotheby’s after passing first in the live sale and then “Reoffered” before the close of sale. For both the first and second offer window, the bid opened at 1.8 million. In the first round the bidding went back and forth, but “passed” at 2.2 million, presumably failing to meet reserve or presale estimate (2.5 – 3.5 million). Before the final lot of the sale, the auctioneer annouced a “re-offer” for Lot 16 after the audio went silent for a brief time. The drawing was sold to a buyer placing a phone bid for 2 million hammer price (2,440,000 after fees), less than the “pass” of the first time through. This move is nearly an aftersale during the sale. Perhaps the first time around the buyer was late to the call or there was confusion determining the “up to” amount, factoring in the fees.
Property from a Prominent Private Collection
Winslow Homer
1836 – 1910
Two Girls on the Beach, Tynemouth
signed Winslow Homer and dated 1881 (lower left)
watercolor and pencil on paper
14 1/8 by 20 inches
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That’s what’s incredible about Good Morning Gloucester, we have a 12 year archive of over 60,000 posts with just an incredible amount of information all searchable for generations to come!
Read what Mary Palmstrom has to say about her great, great grandfather and his brother-in-law, James L. Shute and William T. Merchant, who started Shute & Merchant back in 1862.
I’ve come across your site off and on for a few years as I did searches related to Gloucester, and some how managed to miss this 2015 item that was related to Shute & Merchant until today– maybe because it lists both names as plurals, but more likely because I just wasn’t doing a search at the right time. As I live in Ohio, wouldn’t have been able to attend an event being held in Gloucester, but might have been able to share some material.
Gloucester History Sharing program Presented By Beth Welin
My great, great grandfather and his brother-in-law, James L. Shute and William T. Merchant, started Shute & Merchant back in 1862. Epes Merchant and several of his sons (Epes W., Addison and Samuel) had run similar fishing businesses, including one operated by Samuel with his son William T., and eventually his son-in-law J. L. Shute. The two younger men opted to recreate the firm after Samuel’s death. Their fish packing firm survived some ups and downs over the years and remained in business until it merged with the Gorton-Pew Fisheries in 1907. Thanks to a find on eBay back about 1999 or 2000, I have been gathering artifacts from that firm and the Merchant Box Company, as well as other pieces of Gloucester history since then.
Won’t give you the full story, but you can learn more on a website I created a number of years ago. http://www.shuteandmerchant.com/ — The first version was created around 2007, then decided to update the look and add more material in 2016 and due to finding some additional images, just updated some sections. Developed a section with slide shows of Cape Ann stereoviews and some sections about other fishing businesses. One item you might find interesting is on this page … the second item down … a link to a 1913 Edison film of Gloucester harbor and the fishing industry. http://www.shuteandmerchant.com/history-2-glou-fishing.html — My real intention was a hope that others that knew something about Shute & Merchant or the Merchant Box Company might contact me with more information than I had. Hasn’t worked that way
Don’t know whether its of interest to you and others or not, but thought I’d at least share the link, and say thanks for your informative site … full of great photos, by the way. I especially liked coming across the finalist images for the 400th Anniversary medals. As a retired art teacher who loves graphic design, was fun to see those three designs. (I’d have to vote for Beth Swan’s.) Hope the winner will be posted at some point. — After finding your site back in 2016, I added it to the links section on my site. Not sure it gets you many hits, but hope others keep finding Good Morning Gloucester.
with regards,
Mary Palmstrom
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Next time you’re heading in the direction of Wolf Hill, Good Harbor Beach or Rockport thank E. Raymond Abbott when you pass Day’s Pond, a historic man made pond in Gloucester about 1 acre in size. In 1978 Abbott wrote about his family’s association with the pond:
2018 new engineered wall, railing (sidewalk pending) – read more about Gloucester DPW work here
“On reading a recent article in the Gloucester Daily Times (July 1979) which made reference to the ‘so-called’ upper Day’s Pond off Eastern Avenue it occurred to me that the people of Gloucester might be interested in a brief history of the pond.
Years ago there were two Day brothers who owned a large tract of land which extended from the beaches and marshes all the way up to the old Rockport Road. This land, including the upper Day’s Pond, was later sold to a lawyer named Webster who lived in and owned a hotel on Pleasant Street. Later on the Webster property which also included land around Cape Pond in Rockport, came up for sale at a public auction. My father, James Abbott, bought it in June of 1905 and went into business which was later known as the Cape Pond Ice Company. In 1922, my father retired and I took over the ice business.
I will always remember a young girl, Harriet Wonson, who lived just above the upper Day’s Pond, coming to me asking if she could beautify the pond by planting water lilies in and around it. Of course, I gave my consent.
In 1943, I decided to sell the Cape Pond Ice Company. However, before doing so, I gave the upper Day’s Pond to the city of Gloucester so that the children always have a place to skate in the winter, in the summertime provide a pond for fishing, as well as a beautiful subject for our local artists to paint. It was during this same period that I was able to acquire most of the land around Cape Pond and later gave my interest to the town of Rockport to be used as a water shed.
It is my sincere hope and desire that the upper Day’s Pond will continue to provide as much enjoyment for the children of the future as it has in the past.
E. Raymond Abbott, Gloucester Daily Times Letter to the Editor, July 16, 1979
Twenty years later, Gloucester dredged Day’s Pond “as part of a watershed management plan to stabilize the pond’s ecosystem.” Massachusetts Department of Environmental Mangement awarded $2500 for the project in 1998. Marilyn Myett wrote a persuasive My View column about the pond’s vital impact in the neighborhood.
Gloucester Historical Commission annual awards ceremony takes place at Cape Ann Museum
The 2019 Gloucester Preservation Awards Press Release from the Gloucester Historical Commission
The Gloucester Historical Commission invites the public to attend the annual 2019 Preservation Awards ceremony on Sunday, May 19, 2 to 4 pm at the Cape Ann Museum, 27 Pleasant St. in Gloucester. The event features a slide show of winning projects and comments by recipients.
May is National Historic Preservation Month, and each year the Historical Commission recognizes outstanding cultural heritage preservation, restoration, and education projects.
This year’s award recipients are:
Bryan Melanson – Restoration & Rehabilitation, for his cooperation and responsiveness as a developer to historic preservation on the Back Shore.
Lillian Olmsted – Stewardship, for her research and vigilance as a citizen seeking to preserve the historic character of her neighborhood.
Magnolia Historical Society – Adaptive Reuse, for the rehabilitation of the Blynman School as their headquarters and a local history museum.
Bernadette Fendrock & Alan D’Andrea– Restoration & Rehabilitation, for restoration of an architecturally significant house at 24 Beach Rd.
1623 Studios – Education & Outreach, for their programming on the history and historic preservation of Gloucester and Cape Ann.
Manship Artists Residency + Studios – Adaptive Reuse, for their rehabilitation of the Paul Manship estate as working space for artists and sculptors.
James Ryan – Preserving Gloucester History, for his annotated hand-drawn maps of Cape Ann’s granite quarries and neighborhoods.
Richard & Kathy Clark – Stewardship, for their faithful volunteer efforts on the restoration of the Civil War-era Clark Cemetery.
Annisquam Yacht Club – Restoration and Rehabilitation, for their extensive rehabilitation of a historically significant recreational facility.
Meetinghouse Foundation – Education and Outreach, for its cultural programs and collaborative preservation of a historic church building.
Appreciation Award for Individual Lifetime Achievement– To be announced.
Certificates are awarded based on the following criteria:
Preserved neighborhood history through research, writing, or art
Preserved a property that is historically significant in age, style, or use.
Restored using traditional materials or methods.
Preserved historical integrity or appearance.
Protected from present threat or future harm.
Completed project within the past two years.
Accomplished by individual, family, group, or company, or through community advocacy or fundraising
Award categories include the following.
Archaeology
Adaptive reuse
Stewardship
Education and outreach
Landscape preservation
Restoration and rehabilitation
Local preservationist
Individual lifetime achievement
Documentation of Gloucester’s history
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Gloucester, Mass. A great teacher at Gloucester High School, Shaun Goulart, creates a local history scavenger hunt/trivia game for his 9th grade students that takes place weekly for 6 weeks.
ANSWERS TO SHAUN GOULART’S LOCAL HISTORY SCAVENGER HUNT TRIVIA WEEK SIX. THIS CHALLENGE IS THE FINAL WEEK IN THE SERIES. GO BACK HERE IF YOU WANT TO SEE WEEK 6 QUESTIONS ONLY.
The challenge Week 6 was to locate the historic map on Cape Ann Museum’s Fitz Henry Lane on Line and study it closely to comb through location prompts. This is a great family activity for all ages. It’s a bit eye spy or Where’s Waldo mixed with atlas map fun. The students were tasked with photographing the same sites as they appear today and creating a labeled presentation.
Visit CAPE ANN MUSEUM FITZ HENRY LANE ON LINE resource and scroll down to the correct map here
Map of the Towns of Gloucester and Rockport (detail of Harbor Village) Henry Francis Walling (F. Walling)
1851
44 x 34 in. Henry Francis Walling, Map of the Towns of Gloucester and Rockport, Essex Co. Massachusetts. Philadelphia, A. Kollner, 1851 Cape Ann Museum Library & Archive “Map of the Towns of Gloucester and Rockport, Massachusetts. H.F. Walling, Civil Engineer. John Hanson, Publisher. 1851. Population of Gloucester in 1850 7,805. Population of Rockport in 1850 3,213.” Map detail = segment of Harbor Village portion of map showing Lane-Winter property on Duncan’s Point.
Question – find on 1851 historic map
ANSWER- NOW (2019)
1
Duncan’s Point
Maritime Gloucester / Railways (former FG Low’s & Eli F. Stacy’s whf)
2
Five Pound Island
State Fish Pier
3
Front Street (present sign must be in picture)
Main and Short
4
Middle Street (present sign must be in picture)
Middle Street
5
High Street
School Street and Proctor
6
Fort Defiance
The Fort
7
Vincent’s Cove
West End Main Street and Rogers section all fill / Gorton’s, Americold, etc
8
Town House
Legion
9
Gloucester House
Brick building corner of Washington and Main (Puritan House)
10
Two cemeteries
1)cemetery next to Amvets on Prospect 2)St. Ann’s
11
Hospital
up Granite Street veers right to Blyman
12
Town Landing
Same (St. Peter’s)
13
Two bowling alleys
1)on Stacy Boulevard (see Cordage manufactury below)
2) on the Fort
14
3 schools
study the map!
1)by Univ Church and Eng H& School on Church off Middle on old map
2)looks like where Central Grammar is
3)Prospect and School where apartments are now
4)corner Washington and Gould Ct.
15
Train station
Roughly train platform now
16
Engine house
Beyond train platform- roughly where Stop & Shop is on RR Ave
17
Canal Street
Stacy Boulevard (Tavern side)
18
Cordage Manufacturing
Ditto
19
Beach Street
Commercial Street (behind Beauport Hotel back to water)
For six weeks I’ve been posting local history trivia questions from Shaun Goulart’s creative weekly scavenger project for his 9th grade history class at Gloucester High School one week behind the students’ pace.
This is the final week! The questions are posted today and answers posted Thursday. Good luck!
Mr. Goulart’s Local History Scavenger Hunt Week 6 (4/14)
Gloucester, Mass. A great teacher at Gloucester High School, Shaun Goulart, creates a local history scavenger hunt/trivia game for his 9th grade students that takes place weekly for 6 weeks. We’re taking the challenge paced one week after the students.
ANSWERS TO SHAUN GOULART’S LOCAL HISTORY SCAVENGER HUNT TRIVIA WEEK FIVE
1)What year was there an ordinance to establish a Police department in Gloucester? ANSWER: 1873 (according to the Gloucester Time Line archives book and the great Gloucester police website here : “In 1799, Isaac Elwell was appointed Inspector of Police. This was a term first used in Boston 14 years earlier to describe the men appointed to keep track of the night watchmen who patrolled the city after dark watching for fires. Constables assisted Elwell and other men who followed him as Inspector of Police until about 1847 when a petition was received by the Selectmen asking for some additional policemen to assist the Inspector of Police. Around 1850 the first night police were used. Only a few of the policemen were paid as the rest either served without compensation or were only paid for working during special occasions. In 1873, a city ordinance establishing a police department was put into effect with nine officers under the leadership of City Marshal William Cronin.”)
Gloucester Massachusetts Historical Time-line 1000-1999 Mary Ray, ed. Sarah Dunlap Gloucester City Archives published in 2002. You can purchase this book from the Archives.
2)The original building used as a jail prior to 1889 was located on Rogers Block, take a picture of this area present day with a member in it. ANSWER: Main Street (harbor side) from Duncan to Porter
Rogers block = Main Street (from Porter to Duncan) detail from 1891 Walker map
3)Where was the first Gloucester police station built in 1889, take a picture with a member in it at the location. ANSWER: corner of Duncan and Roger
former site police station at Duncan & Rogers (now lot)
detail from 1899 Stadley Map
1899 “new” police station from Pringle history
4)Veterans of what war had a hall for them located on the third floor of the building? ANSWER: Spanish American in the police station that was built in 1899. City Hall Read about bronze veteran tribute plaques (including Spanish American) at City Hall here
from Mr. Goulart Old Police station built in 1899 at the corner of Duncan and Roger (2019 = police parking lot)
1971/1973 newspaper clipping from Sawyer Free
5)What year was the present day police station erected? Take a picture of it with a member in it. ANSWER: 1973
6)Go to the exterior of the police station and take a picture with an object that would be personal to Mr. Goulart (keyword: Goulart) ANSWER: Officer Jerome G. Goulart memorial bench
7)Take a picture with a Gloucester Police officer in uniform. Answ. How cool are these officer baseball cards!
8)Ask the cop: What is the code word for “lunch break” over the radio. Submit the answer. ANSWER: 1093
9)For a brief time the “Old Stone Jug” served as a jail, take a picture in front of it with a member in it. What is this building known as? ANSWER: Fitz Henry Lane former house and studio
10) Where does the term cop come from? ANSWER: not definitive though according to snopes meaning “nab” closest: “Instead, the police-specific use of “cop” made its way into the English language in far more languid fashion. “Cop” has long existed as a verb meaning “to take or seize,” but it didn’t begin to make the linguistic shifts necessary to turn it into a casual term for “police officer” until the mid-19th century. The first example of ‘cop’ taking the meaning “to arrest” appeared in print around 1844, and the word then swiftly moved from being solely a verb for “take into police custody” to also encompassing a noun referring to the one doing the detaining. By 1846, policemen were being described as “coppers,” the ‘-er’ ending having been appended to the “arrest” form of the verb, and by 1859 “coppers” were also being called “cops,” the latter word a shortening of the former.”- snopes
Over six weeks I’m posting local history trivia questions from Shaun Goulart’s creative weekly scavenger project for his 9th grade history class at Gloucester High School– except we’ll be one week behind the students’ pace. He explains that the “questions are multi-layered and usually have an image required in the submission. All questions will deal with Gloucester’s local history. I recommended to the students to utilize friends and family so your student may be reaching out to you for help. It is a competition and the prizes will be calculated into the Term 4 grade” for the students.
Mr. Goulart’s Local History Trivia Scavenger Hunt Week 5 – Police week
Local History Scavenger Hunt Week 5 (3/31)
What year was there an ordinance to establish a Police department in Gloucester?
The original building used as a jail prior to 1889 was located on Rogers Block, take a picture of this area present day with a member in it.
Where was the first Gloucester police station built in 1889, take a picture with a member in it at the location.
Veterans of what war had a hall for them located on the third floor of the building?
What year was the present day police station erected? Take a picture of it with a member in it.
Go to the exterior of the police station and take a picture with an object that would be personal to Mr. Goulart (keyword: Goulart)
Take a picture with a Gloucester Police officer in uniform.
Ask the cop: What is the code word for “lunch break” over the radio. Submit the answer.
For a brief time the “Old Stone Jug” served as a jail, take a picture in front of it with a member in it. What is this building known as?
Gloucester, Mass. Great teacher at Gloucester High School, Shaun Goulart, creates a local history scavenger hunt trivia game for his 9th grade students that takes place weekly for 6 weeks. We’re taking the challenge paced one week after the students.
ANSWERS TO SHAUN GOULART’S LOCAL HISTORY TRIVIA WEEK FOUR
How did you do? Week two delved into Gloucester’s famous inventors. Stop here if you prefer to go back to see Week 4 questions only
Mr. Goulart’s Local History Trivia Scavenger Hunt Week 4 Inventors
1.John Hays Hammond Jr. “Jack”
Go to the location of his home and take a picture with a member in it.
What did he invent?
Answer: “Over the course of his professional career, he was awarded over 800 foreign and domestic patents resulting from over 400 of his inventions. Many of these began in radio control before extending to electronics, naval weapons, national defense, as well as various consumer products.” – Hammond Castle
“In connection with his radio researches Jack obtained most important patents for receiving and broadcasting and these he sold to RCA…” John Hays Hammond, Sr
Hammond Castle – I hope that one day the Trustees and Historic New England add this as a shared property among their preservation jewels, along with the Natalie Hammond property and much of the parents’ estate, Lookout Hill, with some portion of admission for the City. At one point Hammond Castle was one of the top attractions in Massachusetts.
2.Clarence Birdseye
Go to the location where his company was and take a picture with a member in it.
Go to the location of his grave and take a picture with a member in it.
Answer: Mt. Pleasant cemetery
What did he invent?
Answer: Augustus S Wonson invented antifouling copper paint to protect boats. Tarr & Wonson’s was established in 1863. The former factory and harbor icon is now Ocean Alliance.
Over six weeks I’m posting local history trivia questions from Shaun Goulart’s creative weekly scavenger project for his 9th grade history class at Gloucester High School– except we’ll be one week behind the students’ pace. He explains that the “questions are multi-layered and usually have an image required in the submission. All questions will deal with Gloucester’s local history. I recommended to the students to utilize friends and family so your student may be reaching out to you for help. It is a competition and the prizes will be calculated into the Term 4 grade” for the students.
Mr. Goulart’s Local History Trivia Scavenger Hunt Week 4 Inventors
1.John Hays Hammond Jr.
Go to the location of his home and take a picture with a member in it.
What did he invent?
2.Clarence Birdseye
Go to the location where his company was and take a picture with a member in it.
What did he invent?
3.Augustus H. Wonson
Go to the location of his grave and take a picture with a member in it.
What did he invent?
4.William Nelson Le Page
Go to the location where his company was after it moved from Rockport and take a picture with a member in it.
What did he invent?
Go to the location of Le Page’s company co-founder Ruben Brooks’ manor and take a picture with a member in it.
Gloucester, Mass.- Great teacher at Gloucester High School, Shaun Goulart, creates a local history scavenger hunt trivia game for his 9th grade students that takes place weekly for 6 weeks. We’re taking the challenge one week after the students. Good luck!
ANSWERS TO SHAUN GOULART’S LOCAL HISTORY TRIVIA WEEK THREE
How did you do? Week three was all about some famous Gloucester FIRSTS and there were many locations. Stop here if you prefer to go back to see Week 3 questions only.
1)The location of Gloucester’s first “Four Year High School”
Principal Albert Bacheler CENTRAL GRAMMAR
2)The location of Gloucester’s first Brick Building?
PURITAN HOUSE built in 1810by Col. James Tappan* is a historic house at 3 Washington Street and 2 Main Street. Also known as: Tappan’s Hotel, Gloucester Hotel (“Tappan’s Folly”), Atlantic House, Mason House, Community House, Capt Bills (1960s-70s), Puritan House & Pub (1977), Blackburn Tavern (1978-00s) *Tappan was taught by Daniel Webster
Excerpt from prior GMG post (read it here) about scenic tours by bike 1885: “And now let’s take our wheel for a short run along our harbor road to East Gloucester, and note the many points of interest on the way. The start is made at the Gloucester Hotel–the headquarters of all visiting wheelmen in the city–at the corner of Main and Washington streets; from thence the journey takes us over the rather uneven surface of Main street, going directly toward the east. In a few minutes we pass the Post Office on the left, and soon leave the noisy business portion of the street behind us, then, e’re we are aware of it, we reach and quickly climb the slight eminence known as Union Hill…” This brick building at Main and Washington now features Tonno Restaurant. Notice the chimneys and same stairs as when it was the Gloucester Hotel. The Blackburn Tavern sign was just marketing; this building has no connection. Blackburn’s Tavern is now Halibut Point restaurant at the other end of Main Street.
3)The first schoolmaster and town clerk’s house. (private property do not trespass)
“RIGG’S HOUSE” 27 Vine Street (Annisquam) Thomas Riggs House purchased in 1661
oldest house on Cape Ann, Gloucester, MA
4)A list of the first recorded Gloucester fishermen lost at sea. (Hint: 1716)
Look under the year on cenotaph surrounding Man At Wheel
Mayor Romeo Theken, annual Fisherman’s Memorial Service, 2016
5)The location of the first carillon built in America.
Over six weeks I’m posting local history trivia questions from Shaun Goulart’s creative weekly scavenger project for his 9th grade history class at Gloucester High School– except we’ll be one week behind the students’ pace. He explains that the “questions are multi-layered and usually have an image required in the submission. All questions will deal with Gloucester’s local history. I recommended to the students to utilize friends and family so your student may be reaching out to you for help. It is a competition and the prizes will be calculated into the Term 4 grade” for the students.
Mr. Goulart’s LOCAL HISTORY TRIVIA WEEK THREE
WEEK 3 of 6: FIRSTS
Below is a list of 15 locations. Each one requires an image with a group member in it.
The location of Gloucester’s first“Four Year High School”
The location of Gloucester’s first Brick Building?
The first schoolmaster and town clerk’s house. (private property do not trespass).
A list of the first recorded Gloucester fishermen lost at sea. (Hint: 1716)
The location of the first carillon built in America.
The location of Gloucester’s oldest surviving burial ground for the First Parish.
The location of Gloucester’s first town hall.
The location named after the first settled minister on Cape Ann.
An example of a First Period house. (include the year of the house)
Mural depicting the “Founding of Gloucester”. (the first pioneers) Hint: Build not for today alone, build for tomorrow as well.
The house that was the first location of a library in Gloucester.
The location of the first city owned bridge. It was a drawbridge moved by a hand-cranked winch.
The first statue formerly atop the Our Lady of Good Voyage Church.
The plaque for the first meeting house green. (a.k.a Meeting House Plain)
The first location for the YMCA in Gloucester Mass.
Gloucester, Mass.- Great teacher at Gloucester High School, Shaun Goulart, creates a local history scavenger hunt trivia game for his 9th grade students that takes place weekly for 6 weeks. We’re taking the challenge one week after the students. Good luck!
ANSWERS TO SHAUN GOULART’S LOCAL HISTORY TRIVIA WEEK TWO
How did you do? Week two delved into scenes of historic battles. I’ve added some background. Stop here if you prefer to go back to see Week 2 questions only from 3/17/19
WEEK 2: DEFENDING GLOUCESTER Location #1
Who was the first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony? ANSWER – ROGER CONANT
Go to the location of the fort named after him and take a picture with a member in it. *Stage Fort Park “Fisherman’s Field”
Bronze tribute plaques embedded in Tablet Rock at Stage Fort Park detail the site’s history and were commissioned and unveiled at different times. The monumental and stunning Founders plaque from 1907 on Tablet Rock itself is in fantastic condition. Two DAR plaques were inlaid on the glacial outcroppings past half moon beach on the way to the cannons. The Fisherman’s Field (ca.1930) is so worn it’s nearly indecipherable, though that’s part of its charm. The plaque compels close inspection, lingering and discovery. It’s a fun family activity for anyone who likes a challenge. For those who want help reading the content, I transcribed it back in 2010. Scroll down below the “read more” break in this post to open.
Stage Fort Fisherman’s Field plaque honoring all actions. My attribution is Harriet Hyatt_plaque refers to restoration of area 1930 by DAR
Revolutionary War tribute commissioned by DAR and installed 2013
During which war did it receive this name? ANSWER – FORT CONANT during the Civil War
When you zoom in on this 1901 photograph, you can see the big ‘Battery K’- for the Spanish American War (Camp Hobson) Fort conant during Civil War
Scrutiny
1901 before the Tablet
Gloucester vs Plymouth / Captain John Hewes vs Miles Standish
DAR plaques marvelous glacial outcroppings Stage Fort Park
Founders Plaque
Gloucester HarborWalk #32
Location #2
location 2 courtesy photos
Take a picture at Fort Point with the former location of the Coast Guard Aviation Station behind you (must be visible in the picture) ANSWER – TEN POUND ISLAND
What was the fort called on Fort Point? ANSWER – FORT DEFIANCE Fort Point Hill, Fort Lillie (Lily)
Name a war it was utilized in. ANSWER – Efforts to fortify as early as 1703 (see Pringle) ATTACK OF CAPTAIN LINDSAY (OR LINZEE) 1775 –population about 5000 –REVOLUTIONARY WAR, WAR OF 1812, CIVIL WAR
“In 1743, what is known as the old fort on Commercial Street, now encroached upon and surrounded by buildings, was completed. On this point, well selected strategically, is a hill which effectually commands the inner harbor. In 1742 and 1742, the General Court appropriated 527 pounds to defray the cost of fortification. Breastworks were thrown up and eight 12-pounders placed in position in the fort. The immediate cause of its erection was the fear of French incursions, but these fears were never realized. An effort had been made as early as 1703 to fortify the place, but the petition of the selectmen to the General Court for an appropriation for the purpose was refused. The petition shows that he harbor, even at that early date was extensively frequent for shelter, and was “very seldom free from vessels.”
“In order to be better prepared for future assaults breastworks were thrown up at Stage Fort, the Cut, Duncan’s Point and Fort Point. This, however was the last attack by sea or land that the people experienced.”
Location #3
From Fort Point go to the location of the seven-gun earthwork battery and barracks in ramparts field. Take a picture with the old towers in the background (do not go on private property) ANSWER – EASTERN POINT FORT by eminent domain, Ramparts Field Road Fort Hill
Name a war it was utilized in ANSWER – CIVIL WAR
“Immediate action was taken toward the erection of fortifications. Land at Eastern Point, belonging to Thomas Niles was acquired by the government, and earthwork fort erected and manned…”
Screenshot
Screenshot Google Earth with all three above locations in it and circle them. Submit the image.
Over six weeks I’m posting local history trivia questions from Shaun Goulart’s creative weekly scavenger project for his 9th grade history class at Gloucester High School– except we’ll be one week behind the students’ pace. He explains that the “questions are multi-layered and usually have an image required in the submission. All questions will deal with Gloucester’s local history. I recommended to the students to utilize friends and family so your student may be reaching out to you for help. It is a competition and the prizes will be calculated into the Term 4 grade” for the students.
Mr. Goulart’s LOCAL HISTORY TRIVIA WEEK TWO
WEEK 2 of 6: DEFENDING GLOUCESTER
Location #1
Who was the first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony?
Go to the location of the fort named after him and take a picture with a member in it.
During which war did it receive this name?
Location #2
Take a picture at Fort Point with the former location of the Coast Guard Aviation Station behind you (must be visible in the picture)
What was the fort called on Fort Point?
Name a war it was utilized in.
Location #3
From Fort Point go to the location of the seven-gun earthwork battery and barracks in ramparts field. Take a picture with the old towers in the background (do not go on private property)
Name a war it was utilized in?
Screenshot
Screenshot Google Earth with all three above locations in it and circle them. Submit the image.
Gloucester, Mass.- Great teacher at Gloucester High School, Shaun Goulart, creates a local history scavenger hunt trivia game for his 9th grade students that takes place weekly for 6 weeks. We’re taking the challenge one week after the students. Good luck!
ANSWERS TO SHAUN GOULART’S LOCAL HISTORY TRIVIA WEEK ONE
How did you do? Week one delved into the history of Cape Pond Ice. More than one player “had to call a friend”, Scott Memhard, owner of Cape Pond Ice and City Councilor. He kindly shared supplemental archival material included in this post. Stop here if you prefer to go back to see questions only from 3/10/19 Week One trivia questions
Continue to scroll for the answers.
1)In 1848 a blacksmith named Nathaniel R. Webster started a company by damming a local brook. What did the brook become known as? ANSWER. VETERANS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CAMPUS
2)What did Webster’s company become known as? ANSWER. CAPE POND ICE
3)Take a picture at the present day location of the company
4)Take a picture of the street named after him with a member in it. ANSWER. WEBSTER STREET
5)What is in place of the brook today? MATTOS FIELD- ABOVE = FRAT CLUB AND BELOW EVENTUALLY LEADS INTO LITTLE RIVER AT GOOD HARBOR BEACH
6)Take a picture at the location of the old dam with a member in front. ANSWER. THE SCHOOL
PART II
7)A competitor to Webster named Francis W. Homans in 1876 created a 32 acre man-made lake. What is the lake known as? ANSWER. FERNWOOD LAKE
8)Submit a screenshot of a map of the lake (Google Maps or Google Earth)
9)What year did the two companies merge? ANSWER. 1908
Courtesy photos below from Scott Memhard, Cape Pond Ice, Cape Ann Museum
Courtesy photo from David Collins-
“My grandfather, Millard Collins, Sr., worked for one of the ice houses for a while. He died in 1918 at age 29 in the Spanish Flu pandemic. At that time he was working for LePages’s and had taken a leave of absence to care for his brother, Jacob, who had contracted the flu first. Jacob died October 17, 1918, and my grandfather died October 28, 1918…”
“I’m enclosing a picture of my grandfather and his horse-drawn ice wagon. You can see the word “ICE” faintly written on the inside back of the wagon. The youngster atop the horse is my father, who was born in July,1912, so I date the picture to about 1913 or so.”
The stone jug was the historic studio and home of the artist Fitz Henry Lane (1804-1865) located on Harbor Loop in downtown Gloucester, Massachusetts. The city owns the building. Schooner Adventure, one of the city’s national historic landmarks, and fabulous Sail GHS work from here. Both are willing to share limited space with a cultural residency. I hope one day the Lane house may be recreated as an historic artist home and studio celebrating the artist and Gloucester and as such serve as a mini welcome center. Part of the maintenance and operating costs and helping the two organizations on site might be off set by integrating the Lane use back in some capacity. The Winslow Homer property in Portland has done well and is open for guided tours on specific days and times. It does not have staff on site.
Fitz Henry Lane home March 7, 2019 snow
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