One of New England’s familiar sights is a stone wall in a forest, a remnant of land use in days gone by.  Based on what we can see, many of us assume that farmers would have removed the many rocks from their fields and stacked them in two- to three-foot-high walls to delineate their property from their neighbors’ or to serve as a barrier to animals.  The former landscape that we envision would have been open fields and gardens surrounded, if not by wooden fencing, by relatively low stone walls.  Most of us today have had no experiences to challenge that view.

Visitors to our recently refurbished landscape are surprised to discover that above our stone walls at the Hosmer House are crossed, wooden poles.  Why would we ruin the look of “iconic” stone walls?  As it turns out, while our imagined Massachusetts farm landscape is not entirely fictitious, farmers often supplemented their rock walls with wood to make enclosures higher and less likely to let animals escape.  According to Robert Thorson’s Stone by Stone, a hybrid fence of stone on the bottom and wood on the top was very common.  The stone walls, in many cases, were “linear landfills” to give farmers somewhere to put the rocks cluttering their fields, and the wood raised the height of the fences to the 3.5-5 feet considered necessary to block the movement of animals. 

Farmer’s wooden fence extensions have, of course, rotted away, so we have no way of knowing which of the many stone walls in Acton would have been built up with wood.  It is quite possible that Jonathan and Simon Hosmer and those who came after them on our property built mixed, high walls to keep in their livestock.

The Society’s new walls are a reminder that we need to keep our minds open to learn more about the lives of Acton’s former residents.  Even commonly-held ideas of how things were in earlier days may simply reflect the fact that our frame of reference is very different from theirs.

An unusual note appears in Acton’s 1872 death records, stating that on December 6 of that year, Aaron Wood (also known as Woods) was “murdered for his money.”  We have not found any Acton newspapers from that period, but it was such a sensational event that we uncovered plenty of information about it and some misinformation as well.

A recent donation of a box of old diaries showed us that the town’s news traveled fast even in those days.  On December 7, Martha Ball of Acton wrote in her diary that “Old Aaron Wood was murdered in his hut last night  Horace Hosmer found him  Miss Oliver came in to tell us”

The Boston Globe (Dec. 9, 1872, p. 6) reported that Aaron Wood had been killed the previous Friday evening.  Tracks had been found leading south from the “house,” turning toward a pair of shanties in which railroad workers were living, then crossing the railroad, going through a field and some woods to the “highway” at Gallagher’s crossing, and then disappearing.  The theory was that “some straggler who, being found by Mr. Wood searching for the money which the old man was popularly supposed to keep hidden in his house, knocked him down and stamped upon him.”

The story was picked up by newspapers across the country, with different twists, (mis)interpretations, and some creative embellishments.  Several papers reported that Aaron Wood was considered to be a wealthy old miser with money hidden in his home, while others reported that he was actually poor.  Iowa’s Quad-City Times reported (incorrectly) that he had been shot by an unknown assassin. (Dec. 10, p. 3)  Oregon’s State Rights Democrat placed the event in Acton, Pennsylvania, but mentioned that Aaron Woods was highly esteemed. (Dec. 27, p. 2).  In Kansas, the Atchison Daily Patriot reported that he had lived for years in dirt and squalor. (Dec. 11, p1)  The Springfield Republican (Dec. 9, p. 3 ) reported that Aaron Wood, a man of excellent qualities of heart, after having been “disappointed in a love affair, early in life” had lived in seclusion ever since, devoting himself to horticulture.  A Memphis paper’s telegrapher or its reporter clearly missed some details; its Boston news section stated that “Aaron Wood, an actor, who, five years ago, lived alone in one part of the town, was found dead this morning in his dwelling.  He probably had considerable money.” (Commercial Appeal, Dec. 8, p. 2)  Researching the event nearly 150 years later, we were helped by finding so much written about an Acton story.  However, we clearly have to be careful not to believe everything that we read.

Aaron Woods was born in Acton to Revolutionary War veteran Moses Woods and his second wife Hazadiah Spaulding.  (His surname was spelled with an “s” in birth, baptism and some land records.  It was often spelled without the “s” when townspeople were reporting on him, for example, in his death record, Martha Ball’s diary, and many newspaper reports.  Both spellings could be considered correct.)   Aaron grew up in his father’s house in what is now known as North Acton, on the west side of Main Street.  His father Moses was a blacksmith and farmer who owned a fair amount of acreage in North Acton that included a shop and water rights on at least one brook.  Though Aaron was living alone at the end of his life, he actually had fourteen siblings who were mentioned in town records.  Aaron’s mother died in 1817.  Aaron appears in Acton militia lists, serving under neighbor Uriah Foster during (at least) the 1817-1821 period.  His brother Moses Jr. also served during part of that time.  Moses Senior died in 1837.  Late in his life, he had deeded his shop and water rights to Aaron.  He willed his remaining real estate to two of his children, Aaron and Sally.

Aaron never married, and almost all of Aaron’s siblings predeceased him.  Presumably, he lived in his father Moses’ house with Sally until her death, but there is no record of Sally after her appearance in Moses’ probate record.  At some point, Aaron allowed his shop to be used by Ebenezer Wood (no relation) who ran a “round saw” there as part of a pencil manufacturing business.  In 1843, Aaron sold off Moses’ house, barn and 40 acres of land.  It seems likely that Sally had died by that point; the deed does not mention her ownership rights.  Aaron kept land on the east side of Main Street, including the shop.  Aaron grew cash crops such as hay, apples, vegetables, and strawberries.  He cut wood from his forested land, both for sale and for his own use.  For many years, he lived in what had once been the shop, a structure without clapboards or plaster that must have been quite uncomfortable in the winter.  To survive, he would have had his own farm products to eat and whatever animals and fish he hunted or caught on his land.  Cold Spring Brook ran right by his abode.  An 1873 Fitchburg Sentinel article mentioned that “its famous trout are known far and wide.” (July 14, p. 1)  In later years, Aaron did not have a working stove and regularly bought bread and sometimes meat from a neighbor.  It was a spartan, quiet existence until about 1870 when his life changed radically.

The Framingham and Lowell Railroad was incorporated in 1870 to connect those two business centers via South Sudbury, Concord, Acton, Carlisle, Westford and Chelmsford.  The railroad was built right through Aaron Woods’ land.  He became “news” in the summer of 1871 when several papers reported variations of the story that “Aaron Woods who has lived a hermit life for seventy years in the eastern part of Acton, has never seen a train of cars.  His cabin is on the line of the Lowell and Framingham Railroad, and he will soon see them if he don’t move.” (Boston Traveler, July 28, 1871, p. 2)  The railroad began operation later that year.  Aaron Woods’ compensation for the railroad’s “purchase” of a right of way was recorded on March 23, 1872.  

One has to wonder how Aaron felt about the “progress” in North Acton.  The building of the railroad not only brought trains but also many workmen to the area in the early 1870s.  Supposedly, Aaron Woods had issues with theft after they arrived.  Theories about the murder quickly turned to these workers.

Immediately after the discovery of the crime, detectives from Boston were summoned to search for clues and interview witnesses.  The selectmen of Acton offered a $500 reward for the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for Aaron Woods’ murder.  An inquest was held in the town hall.  It was highly attended, because the citizens of Acton were “deeply interested in everything connected with this event, which to them is one of a lifetime.” (Boston Herald, Dec. 21, 1872, p. 1)  Newspaper reports provided an amazing level of detail about the case.  The jury of inquest included W.E. Faulkner (foreman), Henry M. Smith, Moses Taylor, James E. Billings, Charles Hanscom, T. G. F. Jones and E. G. Robbins.

Witnesses were called.  Dr. Harris Cowdrey presented his findings as the medical examiner, and Reverend Franklin P. Wood (no relation to Aaron) testified to having been at the shanty with the doctor while he did his work.  Horace Hosmer, the neighbor who discovered the crime, testified that when Aaron had not shown up to pick up his bread as expected, Mr. Hosmer went to check on him and found the body.  Former neighbor Hugh Cash mentioned that Aaron Woods had said many times that he expected to be murdered and that some years back “that scoundrel” had assaulted him.  The “scoundrel” turned out to be a neighbor with whom Aaron had a land dispute.  That neighbor was called to testify.  He spoke about the land issue, but no one seems to have considered him a real suspect in the murder.

According to news reports, the shanty was on a stretch of track without houses in sight, so there were no eyewitnesses of the crime.  A couple of witnesses saw men in the vicinity around the supposed time of the murder.  A man who was working on the railroad near sundown testified that he saw a young man, about 5’ 8” tall, coming from the direction of Aaron Woods’ shanty, looking backwards and acting suspiciously.  Alice Burnham testified that she saw two men heading from a railroad crossing toward Mr. Woods’ place around 5:15 pm. 

The shanty had been ransacked, giving rise to the theory that the intention of the intruder had been robbery of Aaron Woods’ supposed wealth.  The only real clue to the identity of the perpetrator was the trail of footprints.  Luke Smith testified about finding tracks that had left blood on snow and on the sleepers (railroad ties).  Apparently, the tracks had been made by size 8 boot that did not seem to have been worn much, as the prints were well-defined.  Because railroad workers had been issued boots the previous week and the prints led past the railroad workers’ shanties, suspicion turned to them.  There were 150 men working on the railroad at the time, and despite newspaper reports that two French Canadians were suspects, there was no direct evidence linking any particular worker to the crime.

When reading newspaper reports of the inquest, we were quite surprised that investigators were able to find “bloody tracks for more than a mile.” (Boston Herald, Dec. 9, p. 1)  Allowing for possible exaggeration, the story’s plausibility was bolstered by the diary of the weather-watching Mrs. Ball.  Her decades of diary entries all start with a notation of the weather.  Thanks to her, we know that Thursday, December 5, 1872 started out “pleasant,” but “a snow storm came on,” providing new snow on which tracks and blood evidence would have been obvious.  The investigators had a day to measure and follow the footprints before they would have disappeared on Sunday, December 8, when Mrs. Ball tells us that rain arrived.  Another complication for investigators was that the shanty immediately became a tourist attraction.  On the 8th, Mrs. Ball mentioned that “We all went up to Aaron’s shanty,” presumably before the rain.  Even without precipitation, it would have been impossible to preserve footprint evidence for long with the townspeople traipsing up to view the scene.

Despite the intense interest in the case, the work of investigators, the witnesses, and the reward, at the end of the inquest, the jury’s verdict was that Aaron Wood died December 6, 1872, between four and seven o’clock in the evening from blows received from “some person or persons to the jury unknown.”

Two years later, a crime spree by a local man led townspeople to decide that he must have committed the murder as well.  Acton made the newspapers again.  The perpetrator went to jail for theft and breaking and entry.  Apparently, there was no evidence to pin the murder on him, and he was never charged for it.  The Aaron Woods case was never solved.

Local newspapers have been invaluable in some of our research projects; reporters who were on the scene have provided us with clues about people, places, and events that are not available in any other source.  Sadly, preserving newsprint is a major challenge.  We have been reviewing our collection of local newspapers at Jenks Library with the hope of preserving them and making them more accessible. 

While many of our newspapers are in excellent condition for their age, some of our papers are tattered.  In fact, a few are so incomplete that one’s first impression, aside from recognizing that the papers are old, is that they cannot be of much use.  Objectively, that may be true.  Looking more carefully, however, we were awed to discover that one of our newspaper fragments discussed the state convention held in early 1788 to decide whether Massachusetts would ratify the Federal Constitution. 

To find out more about our paper, we explored online catalogues of historical newspapers.  We were fortunate that a commercial site offered access to digitized issues of the Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser.  The issue dated January 17, 1788 exactly matched the remains of our newspaper and filled in its contents.  A section missing from our copy reported that Acton had sent Asa Parlin to participate in the Convention.

Obviously, the digitized newspaper was much more useful for research purposes than our remnant.  However, despite its condition, there is something about looking at physical evidence of such an important piece of history that stirs the imagination.  It creates a link to an earlier time, helping us to envision the people who once picked up that very sheet of paper to learn how the formation of their new country was progressing.  Even in our digital age, there is a place for things of the past.

We were alerted recently to a wonderful collection of photos on the website of Brookline, New Hampshire's Historical Society.  One of the pictures was of a truck, fully-loaded with barrels.  The truck’s door identifies it as belonging to Davis King Co., West Acton.

One of our members recognized the house in the background as the James W. Hayward house in West Acton.  The photographer would have been standing in front of the Davis King Garage that stood at approximately today’s #576 Massachusetts Avenue, looking across the street.  At the extreme right of the picture, one can see the West Acton depot.  Neither the Hayward house nor the depot is standing today.

Looking through the Brookline photo database, we discovered several other West Acton pictures.  Some of them are duplicates of photographs in our collection of the devastating West Acton fire of 1913.  Other pictures were completely new to us and are used in this article with the kind permission of Brookline’s Historical Society.  In the process of trying to match places and dates of the Brookline pictures with our own photos and information, we learned a good amount about West Acton village in the years immediately before and after the fire.

Starting from the beginning...

Why had pictures of West Acton buildings, barrels, and firefighting ended up in Brookline, NH?  Thanks to a helpful index to the pictures in the Brookline collection, we quickly discovered the connection.  Orville D. Fessenden of Brookline, New Hampshire invested in a barrel-making enterprise in West Acton.  The pictures of buildings, the loaded truck, and the West Acton fire related to his business.

In the Brookline collection are two pictures taken from current-day Spruce Street (then called School Street):

At first, we thought that both of the pictures were taken at approximately at the same time, because the close-up of the barrel shop seemed to be exactly the same building as the one in the background of the wider Spruce Street picture.  Local sources tell us that the July 1913 fire destroyed the barrel shop.  However, the index from Brookline indicates that the pictures were actually taken before and after the fire.  Obviously, the barrel shop was rebuilt; we investigated newspaper and other sources to learn more.  (Unless otherwise noted, all of the articles referenced were in the Concord Enterprise.)

The earliest mention that we can find of Orville D. Fessenden’s business connections to Acton was a May 25, 1910 news item in the Concord Enterprise announcing that O. D. Fessenden had unloaded a carload of barrel hoops for his barrel shop and would have two men making barrels there soon.  (p. 10)  Work started at the shop on June 6.  (Jun. 8, p. 6)  We had found mentions of a cooper shop in West Acton in the vicinity of the site that was built in  1904, burned, and rebuilt in 1905, but we do not know whose it was and whether O. D. Fessenden took it over or started his business from scratch.

The Fessenden business succeeded.  By August 1910, the Enterprise announced that “barrels at the barrel shop are fast disappearing." (Aug. 24, p. 8)   In the first week of September, George Rockwood and Frank Williams made 800 barrels in six days.  (Acton-Concord Enterprise, Sept. 14, 1910, p.8)  By October, it became apparent that Fessenden’s shop could not keep up with the demand.  “There is a great demand for apple barrels and it is hard for the farmers to get enough barrels to use.  The barrel shop does not begin to supply the trade.  During the week several cars of carrels [sic] were shipped from other places.”  (Oct. 10, 1910, p.8)

Experience showed that more barrels needed to be produced and stored ahead of time to meet peak demand.  In 1912, work started in April when Louis Popple and George Rockwood came down from Brookline, NH to start production.  (April 4, 1912, p. 10)  In August of that year, the Enterprise announced that O. D. Fessenden and George W. Burroughs (of Boxborough) had bought from the estate of O. W. Mead the cold storage property near the barrel shop and two tenement houses.  (Aug. 14, 1912, p. 8)   By that time, the operation was able to accommodate large orders such as the purchase by Charles W. Barnes of 1,000 barrels for his Stow fruit farm (September 18, 1912, p. 10)

The April 30, 1913 Concord Enterprise announced that ”Work at the barrel shop will soon commence, to be ready for the large demands for barrels the coming season.” (p. 8)  It was an optimistic time.  In that same month, the pastor of Maynard's Catholic Church thanked non-Catholics who had donated funds for building a Catholic Church in West Acton, close to the storage facility that Fessenden and Burroughs had purchased the year before.  One of the larger donors mentioned was O. D. Fessenden.  (Apr. 23, p. 10)  Everything was going well.  Then came the fire.

The West Acton Fire of 1913

On July 22, 1913, a fire was first noticed at Luke Blanchard’s barn near the corner of today’s Massachusetts Avenue and Windsor Avenue, just west of the railroad tracks.  Soon, it had “jumped the tracks” and spread to the Hutchins house at 556 Massachusetts Avenue.  From there, the fire spread across Massachusetts Avenue to destroy commercial buildings including an ice house, a grain storage shed, and a milk depot.  The next stage was across today’s Spruce Street where the Fessenden barrel shop and cold storage facilities were.  (What at first seemed to be generic pictures of the West Acton fire in the Brookline, NH collection turn out to have featured destroyed remnants of the Fessenden business.)  The final stage of the fire seems to have been east on Massachusetts Avenue where the barn of Walter Gardner was destroyed and his house damaged.

Fighting the fire was a challenge.  The West Acton company went right to work, but they were hampered by equipment problems.  New hose had recently been purchased but was incompatible with the available nozzles, necessitating that the firefighters work with old hose that lost water pressure through leakage.  According to the July 23 Enterprise, “It was early seen that the local department could not possibly cope with the blaze and calls for help were sent to Maynard, Concord, Fitchburg and Ayer, while the companies from South Acton and Acton Center also responded.”  The Maynard company was given most of the credit for saving the depot and St. Elizabeth’s church, and the Concord Junction department saved the school house and some of the nearby homes.  (p. 8)  Later, Maynard’s fire department refused to accept payment for their efforts, suggesting that someday Acton might need to return the favor. (Aug. 31, p. 2)

One of the fascinating features of researching this particular fire is that amateur photographers were on the scene almost immediately.  Fortunately, many of these pictures were saved, giving us visual evidence of the fire’s progression and its aftermath.  What at first might seem to be blurry or overexposed pictures are in fact photographs of people and structures amidst smoke.

In the following photograph of the fire (from our own collection), the Fessenden barrel shop is still standing, while the cold storage facility (on the right) had clearly already been reduced to its brick foundation.  The fire was still being worked on at the time.  Note the railroad crossing sign where a siding went next to the cold storage building and the stone work at the extreme right by the front steps of St. Elizabeth Church:

We might have thought, based upon that picture, that the barrel shop survived the fire.  Written accounts said it was lost, however, and a photo in our collection confirmed it:

Another view of the same scene taken only a few feet away confirms the identification of this building; the wall of what was obviously the barrel shop was still standing, while the rest had been destroyed: 

The damage to Fessenden & Burroughs was obviously large.  They not only lost the shop and storage buildings but also the barrel inventory that had been created in anticipation of the 1913 apple season. 

After the Fire

Rebuilding West Acton started right away.  In the words of the Concord Enterprise, “Already plans are being made by the several losers to rebuild at once.” (July 30, 1913, p. 8)  Fessenden and Burroughs had sustained a huge loss that apparently was not insured.  They probably had to raise cash quickly, because the same Enterprise reported that “C. H. Mead has bought a piece of land of Fessenden Burroughs in front of the big cold storage building just burned, where he will build a large storehouse for grain, hay and flour.”  This news item confirms that the C.H. Mead building in the Brookline, NH picture was newly built after the fire, not a replacement of a building previously on that spot. 

By August 11, George Rockwood was back in town, presumably to get the barrel business restarted, although the paper was silent about how and when the barrel shop was rebuilt.  (Aug. 13, p. 8)  Work clearly proceeded, because the November 5 Enterprise reported that barrel shop workers Popple and Rockwood were returning to their homes in Brookline, N. H. and that barrel shop had done “a rushing business all season.” (p. 10)

In the spring of 1914, the cold storage building was rebuilt.  On June 10, the Enterprise reported that O. D. Fessenden “of Townsend” had several carpenters working on a new structure over the “cold storage brick wal[l], where the fire was last summer.  The building will be used to store barrels which are made here.” (June 10, 1914 p. 7).  It seems to have been a good investment.  In October, the paper reported that George Rockwood, foreman, said that he had already sold 10,000 barrels, with more to come.  Several men were working to fill waiting wagons with barrels. (Oct. 14, 1914, p. 10)  The 1915 and 1916 seasons were also described as “rushing,” “prosperous,” and “booming.” (Oct. 20, 1915, p1, Oct. 18, 1916, p. 4)

The aftermath of the fire continued, however.  In January, 1914, Orville D. Fessenden and George W. Burroughs both sued the Boston & Maine Railroad for allegedly setting the fire with sparks from a passing train.  The causes of the fire probably had been debated endlessly in town.  However, despite early rumors of arson, over the following months, the Enterprise was silent about investigative conclusions.  The related lawsuits were for damages from the burning of buildings, (presumably the cold storage building and the barrel shop), barrels, coopers’ supplies and tools.  (Boston Herald, Jan. 8, 1914, p. 12)  The triple-action tort case took three years to come to trial.  Finally, the case was heard at the Superior Court in Lowell.  The Concord Enterprise reported in October 1917 that the jurors had come from Lowell in four autos to view the site where the fire had been and that witnesses from West Acton had been called to testify for both sides of the dispute.  (Oct. 17, p. 8)  On October 23, the Lowell Sun reported that jury found in favor of the railroad; Fessenden and Burroughs must not have been able to provide adequate evidence that a train caused the fire. (p. 3)

Despite the legal setback, the barrel business continued in West Acton for a few more years.  The barrel shop was still in business in the summer of 1919, but the cold storage building was being used for apple storage that year.  (July 23, p. 8; Feb. 5, p. 9)  Apparently the business was wound down in or around 1920.  The cold storage building was sold to A. W. Davis, owner of the truck stacked with barrels pictured above, and C. D. Fletcher in April 1920. (Apr. 14, p. 8)  After the sale by O. D. Fessenden, the cold storage building was renovated in order actually to be used for “cold storage.”  An “elevator” and electric lights were installed.  In the fall of that year, train carloads of apples were arriving for that purpose. (Acton Enterprise, Oct. 13, 1920, p. 6)

Two years later, barrel shop land was also sold to A. W. Davis who built a cement block garage there. (Sept. 27, 1922, p. 7)  The Davis King Garage on Massachusetts Avenue had recently burned down in another West Acton fire.  Though the barrel shop building was not mentioned in the news report, it seems to have been "history" already.  On May 16, 1923, H. S. MacGregor and J. J. Chesbrough ran an ad in the Enterprise for Acton Motor Co.'s “new garage now open on School Street, West Acton Repairing of all kinds at reasonable prices.” (p. 2)

Businesses have come and gone in West Acton.  The O. D. Fessenden barrel shop was only in West Acton for a few years, but it was there during a momentous time in the history of the village.  We are very grateful to the Brookline NH Historical Society for sharing photographs that shed light on that time and place.   

Researching Acton’s July 4th celebrations, we discovered the surprising fact that Acton once had a yacht club.  It is hard for us to imagine, for yacht clubs bring to mind ocean sailing and large vessels owned by wealthy individuals such as Acton descendant Francis Skinner.  However, at the turn of the twentieth century, local enthusiasts brought their sailing excitement to Acton.
 
By the late 1800s, Lake Nagog had become a destination for summer recreation.  Though Acton residents traveled to the ocean and the mountains for vacations, they also spent time at camps on the shores of their local pond.  It is not surprising that they would want to spend time on the water, and races would have provided entertainment for their friends and relatives.
 
The West Acton Yacht Club first shows up in the local paper on August 17, 1899 as the sponsor of a race between the yachts of brothers Frank and Octavus Knowlton, the Evadne and the Wawanda, respectively. (Concord Enterprise, Aug. 17, p. 8)  According to the Sept. 14 Enterprise (p. 8), the West Acton Yacht Club was officially organized on August 24, with officers Delette H. Hall (Commodore), Charles J. Holton (Vice-Commodore), and E. C. Stevens (Treasurer and Secretary).  On the Regatta Committee were Frank R. Knowlton, Frank A. Patch, and Edgar H. Hall.  The Enterprise helpfully listed the other members of the club, many of whom were West Acton businessmen: D. Adelbert Cutler, Sidney Durkee, Fred W. Green, James A. Grimes, Henry L. Haynes, Octavus A. and Roscoe Knowlton, Hanson A. Littlefield, Charles H. Mead, Richard Nichols, E. Wellington Rich, J. Linwood Richardson, Frank H. Stevens, and Arthur, Frank H. and Waldo E. Whitcomb.
 
The yacht club’s first big event seems to have been a race between three boats, Evadne, Alice and Madcap.  The prize was a silk pennant (and bragging rights), won by the Frank R. Knowlton’s Evadne.  After the race, a clambake was held “on the grounds of F. R. Knowlton and Hall Bros.”  The menu consisted of “baked clams, baked stuffed cod, green corn, sweet and Irish potatoes, melons, coffee, lemonade, bread and cake; a bountiful spread, cooked and served a la sea shore.”   (Enterprise, Sept. 14, 1899, p. 8)
 
The Society owns a print of a collage made from a series of glass plate photographs taken by Eugene L. Hall.  It includes scenes from Lake Nagog, including “Know-Hall Grove” where the clambake must have been held.  A boat was moored nearby.  There are a couple of pictures of boats with sails up, but they were tucked under other images in the collage.  Only a partial picture of the Madcap survives, and the other boat picture was only labelled “Wharf Lake Nagog.”  Because the images are very small and come from a photograph of printed photographs, their quality is not ideal.  If anyone has prints of the full images (or the original glass plates), we would be very grateful for copies or scans.

The summer of 1900 saw a series of Acton yacht races.  More boats participated; one race reportedly had six entrants, O. A. Knowlton’s, F. R. Knowlton’s, D. H. Hall's, E. C. Stevens’, Jas. Grimes’ and S. T. Blood’s (Enterprise, Aug. 16, 1900, p.8 )  However, sailing on Lake Nagog seems not to have been as simple as one might expect.  The July 4th race saw various mishaps, and only the Hall boat reached the finish line.  (Enterprise, July 12, 1900 p. 8)  In September, a good race was held in which the two Knowltons’ boats and others survived, but the Hall brothers’ boat had to withdraw, completely disabled.  (Enterprise, Sept. 6, 1900 p. 8)  In the only 1901 mention of local yachting that we could find, on September 4, the Enterprise reported “The yacht race at Nagog Monday was not a success, the wind not being favorable.  But the dinner was all that could be desired.  Steamed clams, corn and all the accessories ...  About one hundred enjoyed this feature.”  (p. 8)
 
We found no reports of the West Acton Yacht Club after 1901.  Perhaps the dispiriting winds of that Labor Day race cooled enthusiasm for the venture.  Sailors presumably found other sites for their boats.  A few years later, Nagog water would be piped to Concord, and recreational use of the pond would eventually cease.

When one is trying to understand Acton's history, a large challenge is envisioning what the town looked like in different eras.  Often, one is imagining a mill complex in a spot that has now reverted to nature.  The challenge is different in Acton center.  Today, it is almost entirely residential, but in the nineteenth century, it had a shoe factory, a hotel, a blacksmith, and a number of other businesses.  It is tempting to picture the center “village” at that time as a commercial/residential center with businesses and houses close together.  However, reading through land transactions for our blog post on John Fletcher, we discovered that until relatively recently, even in the "Centre village," there were farms, orchards, and pastures.  We found a picture in our collection that, though not very sharp, shows how rural Acton Center was.

This "Bird's Eye View" of Acton Center was taken from behind Main Street.  Fortunately, some landmarks are obvious: the town hall, the monument, and the Congregational Church after its steeple was rebuilt in 1898.  Where today we would expect to see houses, the picture shows trees, fields, and numerous stone walls.

We have many photos and postcards of Acton Center landmarks, but pictures taken from the back, away from the usual sights, are few and far between.  We're lucky that someone thought to record a different view.

Recently, the Society received the generous donation of a remarkably well-preserved pair of boots from the factory of John Fletcher and Sons.  John Fletcher’s name was very well-known in Acton in the 1800s, and his “Boot and Shoe Manufactory” was a town-center landmark that employed a significant number of townspeople.  He left many traces in the written records of the era, some of which gave contradictory impressions of who he was as a person.  We set out to learn more about him.

Early Life

John Fletcher was born in Acton to James (a young Revolutionary War soldier) and Lydia (White) Fletcher on July 21, 1790.  In Acton’s vital records, we found siblings Betsy (b.1786), James (b. 1788), Daniel (1797-1799), Lydia (b. 1800), and several who died young and whose names were not recorded.  James (the father) was involved in the business of Acton and donated a piece of his land in 1806 to be part of the Town Common.  The family first lived on what is now Hammond Street but then moved to a farm near the first meeting house (off of Nagog Hill Road near what was then the Brooks Tavern).  John’s son, (Rev. James), later wrote about their home site, “Here stood for many years, from 1794 on, the Fletcher homestead, where James Fletcher, the father of Deacon John Fletcher, and his brother James and Betsey, the sister, lived during childhood up to the years of maturity.  A few feet from this ancient cellar hole to the west is the site of the first Fletcher russet apple-tree.  Childhood’s memories easily recall the ancient unpainted cottage, the quaint old chimney with the brick-oven on the side, and the fire-place large enough for the burning of logs of size and length, and in front to the southeast a vegetable garden unmatched at the time for its culture and richness, and a large chestnut-tree to the south, planted by Deacon John, in early life.”  (Acton in History, p. 247) 

Though records of John Fletcher’s youth are hard to come by, we do have a physical description (from much later military pension records) that he had fair skin, black hair, and brown eyes.  He no doubt attended the school nearby and would have helped on his father’s farm.  As he got older, records show that he and his brother James Jr. served in the local militia.  In April, 1808, John was already serving as a corporal in Capt. Simon Hosmer’s Company that became known as the Davis Blues.  In 1810, John was chosen to be sergeant, and in 1813, he became the company clerk.  By that time the country was at war.  When the governor of Massachusetts called for troops to defend Boston in the fall of 1814, John Fletcher served as sergeant and clerk of what was by then Capt. Silas Jones’ Company.  Brother James Fletcher was a corporal.  According to Fletcher’s History, (p. 277-278) the company was first to report to headquarters and met with an enthusiastic reception as it marched through the streets of Boston.  The British never attacked, however, and the company saw no action.  The War of 1812 concluded soon thereafter.  John continued to serve in the militia and eventually was made captain.  Town meeting records refer to him as Captain John Fletcher in the years 1821 and 1822.

In June 1812, John’s brother James was initiated into the Masonic Lodge in Concord, and John followed in June 1813.  Both men were proposed for membership by Simon Hosmer.  In 1814, father James and James Jr. bought a farm from neighbor Paul Brooks, including a house, barn and cooper shop.  Presumably, the intention was to expand the father’s farming operation and/or to establish James on a farm of his own.  Unfortunately, James Sr. died on Dec. 9, 1815 by the falling of a tree (according to his tombstone and Fletcher’s History, p. 246), an event that must have shocked and greatly changed life for the family.

By 1814, we know that John Fletcher was already in the shoe business, as he listed his occupation as shoemaker when called up to serve in the War.  In 1815, the town of Acton paid him $4.67 for providing shoes for the poor.  We have not yet discovered details of the early years of his shoe enterprise, such as how he learned the trade, his sources of materials, and when he started hiring outside labor.

In March 1819, James Fletcher Jr. sold to his brother John for $250 a half of his share of the land he held, including his father’s two farms, a woodlot, and “all other lots of every kind which I am now in posion [possession] of”.  The records of the brothers’ buying, borrowing, and selling of property are voluminous and hard to pin down completely, but the impression one gets is that John managed to pay off his debts but James may have had more trouble and needed cash infusions at times. 

John and his brother James established a store together.  Its exact beginnings are a little unclear from the records, but it was definitely operating before 1822 and probably by 1820 when James Fletcher’s census listing included two household members engaged in commerce.  According to John’s son Rev. James Fletcher’s History (p. 272), the brothers’ first store was on the site of the present-day Memorial Library.  We found from a deed dated Sept. 28, 1820 that James and John Fletcher, traders, bought a store near the meetinghouse from Francis Tuttle for $325.  It was apparently quitclaimed by Widow Dorothy Jones on Dec. 7, 1821. (Land Records, Vol. 308, p. 232 & 233)

In January 1822, Worcester’s Massachusetts Spy ran an ad offering a reward to be paid by James and John Fletcher to help track down the criminal(s) who, on the morning of January 22, burned their store “after having been robbed (as is supposed) of its contents.”  The brothers would pay $100 for “the detection of the Incendiary or Incendiaries, and the recovery of the Property -- or $50 for either.” (Jan. 30, 1822, p. 4)  Surette’s History of Corinthian Lodge noted that on Feb. 4, 1822, “Bros. John & James Fletcher, of Acton, having met with a severe loss by fire, requested assistance from the Lodge, and a subscription paper was opened and signed by the members present.” (p. 128)  Fletcher’s History says specifically that the store was on the library site when it “was burnt.”(p. 267)

Trying to identify a large portrait found in a South Acton barn (see blog post), we thought it might be Henry Barker, a self-made businessman whose his cider mill was well-known and a local employer for many years.  We were surprised that little had been written about Henry himself and that we could not find a photograph of him.  If anyone has any pictures of Henry, his family, and/or the business that could be scanned or otherwise shared, we would be grateful to add them to our collection.

Our first step was to search out Henry Barker’s obituary for the story of his life.  We found a notice of his death in the Concord Enterprise (Aug. 29, 1917, p. 8), but we were disappointed to read that “He was one of the best known business men in this section for nearly 60 years and needs no obituary.”  That was an unusual statement in the local paper; perhaps the editor did not have a lot of column room that day.  We set out to learn what we could from other records.

The Barker name is well-known in Acton.  In fact, there are so many Barkers, it is a challenge to disentangle them.  However, we do know that Henry Barker was an Acton native, born about 1835 to Isaac Barker and Olive Handley.  (The birth was not recorded in Acton, but his death notice in the Enterprise mentioned that he had been born in “the old Gould house on the crossroad to West Acton.”)  Henry had three brothers that we know of, Joseph Edwin b. c. 1831, Herman b. c. 1845, and Charles b. c. 1848.  Henry’s mother Olive and sister Clara Sophia both died in September 1848.  His father married again to Eliza A. G. Bragg on Nov. 8, 1854 in Roxbury.

Henry Barker married Louisa M. Atwood in Cornish, New Hampshire on Dec. 14, 1854.  Children followed; Clara Louisa (probably born March 29, 1855; there was name confusion in the early records), Edson Henry (June 2, 1860- June 4, 1861), Addie Henrietta (b. Feb.4, 1863), Delmon Gustavus (Oct. 18, 1865-Oct. 18, 1869), Idella Josephine (b. May 10, 1869), Medora Carlotta (b. June 11, 1872), and Olive Genevra (b. Sept. 23, 1874).  We do not know exactly where Henry lived in the first years of his marriage, but land records show that in 1860, Henry bought the house at 196 Main Street (on the outskirts of growing South Acton) from James and Susanna Graham.

Henry’s father Isaac was listed in the 1855 census as a Mast Hoop and Truss Hoop manufacturer.  Henry, married and in a separate household, was listed as a Mast Hoop Maker.  In his son’s 1860 birth record, Henry was listed as a “Hoop Shaver.”  By June 1863, Henry was listed in a military service register as a “Market-man.”  (He did not go off to fight in the Civil War; he was apparently deaf in his right ear.)  The Society has H. Barker’s Internal Revenue Service 3rd Class Peddler’s License dated Sept. 1, 1863 that had been saved by Henry’s daughter Addie.  Henry was still listed in the 1865 Massachusetts census as a Marketman.

Thanks to a note in an old scrapbook held in our library, we checked the probate record of farmer John Tenney (a neighbor of Henry’s father Isaac).  We discovered in the November 1864 probate accounting that Henry Barker paid $25 to rent Tenney’s mill.  As the only indications of mill products in Tenney’s estate were cider vinegar and barrels, it seems likely that Henry was already gaining experience operating a rented cider mill at that time.

In 1867, Henry Barker bought about a quarter of an acre of land at approximately 150 Main Street (bordered on the other side by today’s Central Street) and built his own cider mill.  The 1870 census lists him as a cider manufacturer with real estate of $5000 and personal possessions worth $4000.  His household included his wife Louise M., daughters Clara L., Addie H. and Idella J., and brothers Herman and Charles, both listed as cider makers.  (The brothers later moved closer to Boston.  Herman eventually went into other ventures, but Charles remained in the business.)  The 1872 town valuation shows that Barker’s operation included a cider mill with presses, an apple house, a bottling house, and $4000 stock in trade.

Bill Klauer wrote about “Cider Production in Acton” in the Society’s Acton Revisited, Fall 2003.  He noted that the Barker mill’s scales were located close to Main Street and their foundation can still be seen from the sidewalk.  Farmers would have had their loads weighed, then apples were stored until they could be processed.  The apples were sent to a grinding machine, and then the resulting pulp was squeezed in a strong press.  The cider was collected in a large vat.  The left-over pressed pulp was piled outside the mill, ready for farmers to haul away to be used as cattle feed.

In modern times, preservatives allow sweet cider to be bottled and kept for long periods.  Without preservatives, cider fermented.  Hard cider was a common beverage in Massachusetts’ early days, but by the time Henry Barker was in business, it was a target of the temperance movement and was beginning to lose ground to beer as the alcoholic beverage of choice.  Another cider product, vinegar, required additional aging (with exposure to oxygen and bacteria) beyond the first stage of fermentation.  The Boston Daily Advertiser, (Saturday June 26, 1875, p. 1) reported that “The cider mills of Mr. Henry Barker at South Acton are in successful operation.  About 1000 barrels of rectified vinegar are on hand, and a large amount of cider has been bottled.  The mills are run by steam.”  In that year, Briggs & Co.’s Middlesex County Directory, ran an ad for Henry Barker, “Manufacturer, and Wholesale Dealer in Crude and Refined Cider and Cider Vinegar, South Acton, Mass.” (p. 92)

The business was clearly a success.  Land purchases, a map dated 1889, and the 1890 Acton valuation show that Henry Barker enlarged his cider and vinegar operation over time, purchasing additional property on both sides of Central Street.  In November, 1888, the Concord Enterprise reported that Henry Barker had put up the largest tank in the vicinity, 18 feet in diameter and 16 feet high.  (Nov. 17, 1888, p. 2)  Nearby, according to Mill Corner (Nylander and Forbes, p. 9), there was a spring (and a stone spring-house as early as 1875) on the opposite side of today’s Central Street from the mill that provided a water source.  Next to the mill, the South Acton Universalist Church was built in 1878.

By 1887, Henry had built an impressive home on the hill at 167 Main Street from which he could overlook the cider mill.  The family seems to have owned a camera by that time and documented local scenes and some people, including this photo of “Stella” (probably Stella Heath, whose mother was a Barker) with the newly-constructed Henry Barker house in the background.

In October 1888, daughter Addie married Frederick L. Burke whose occupation was “Traveling Agent.”  Henry had a home built for them just down the hill at 177 Main Street (now the home of the Discovery Museum).  Fred Burke worked in the cider business and eventually became the manager of the cider mill.  The couple named their son Henry Barker Burke.

Unusually for a man of such local success, Henry Barker did not show up much in the local newspaper except in the context of the cider mill.  However, it was probably Henry who, as noted in our blog post on early Acton baseball, provided a field for the local team to play: “The Actons can boast of one of the finest ball grounds in the state, and all through the kindness of Mr. Barker who gives them the use of the ground and also keeps it in first-class shape.  But it must be distinctly understood that his apples are not free, and the acts of last Saturday must not be repeated.”  (Concord Enterprise, Aug. 18, 1888, p. 2)  In town reports, we also found that Henry Barker was paid during the 1890s for maintaining two street lamps (a private duty in those days).

Henry Barker established a Boston store/office at 88 Commercial Street, a location not far from the waterfront, sometime between 1875 and 1878 when he was listed in Sampson, Davenport, and Company’s Boston Directory in the business of “vinegar, &c.”(p. 81).  He was listed in 1883 as an agent for an industry newspaper at the same address (Geo. P. Rowell and Co.'s American Newspaper Directory, 1883, p. 610) and appeared there in Boston directories for the rest of his life.  Brother Charles was listed in the 1880 Boston City Directory as a salesman at 88 Commercial St., living in South Acton. (p. 83)  By 1882, the Malden directory showed him as a resident, working in “cider vinegar (88 Commercial, B.)” (p. 37) and Boston directories showed him in the business there in later years, including 1900 and 1915.

In the late 1880s, temperance agitation started to lead to legislative bans on the sale of “intoxicating liquors.”  There was much uncertainty about whether cider, which was ”sweet” for only a short period before it fermented, would also be banned.  The farmers of Acton, Boxborough and Stow were concerned about the effect of bans on their apple business, and confusion could not have been good for the Barker operation, either.  Probably as a result, Henry Barker of South Acton was elected as a director of the Fruit Growers, Cider and Cider Vinegar Makers’ Association of Massachusetts. (Boston Journal, Jan. 8, 1890, p. 4)

Apple production and the cider vinegar industry made it through that period.  1896 saw a particularly large crop of apples.  The Enterprise reported on October 1 that “Henry Barker received 1800 barrels of cider apples at his mill in three days last week.  He is running his mill night and day.” (p. 8).  On November 19, the Enterprise reported “Henry Barker is building another large tank for cider; he has already ground over 20,000 barrels and still they come.” (p. 8)  During the autumn, the pressure to process all of the apples must have been intense.  According to Phelan’s History of the Town of Acton, the Barker mill “ turned out thousands of barrels of cider which was stored in huge tanks and eventually shipped to the vinegar dispensing companies.... In a season when the fruitage was heavy, a combination of wind and rain could mean thousands of bushels arriving at the mill.... Wagons loaded to the limit would now and again form a queue a hundred yards long at the Barker mill.”(p. 263)  Apples would also come in by rail from farmers farther afield.  The Concord Enterprise of Oct. 21, 1897 mentioned apples being received by train from New Hampshire.  (p.8)

The Society has one picture of the Barker Cider Mill, date unknown but probably before 1900; see blog post on photographer F. J. Taylor for an idea of the date.

The business had its share of troubles and tragedies.  The Boston Daily Globe reported in 1887 that “an undersized boy of 14” expertly opened the cider mill’s safe (armed with a revolver).  He was caught and fortunately no one was hurt. (Sept. 30, p. 13)  In October, 1896, however, employee John Jackman was found expired in the large tank after having been at work all day.  It was thought that he had been overcome by gasses.  (Concord Enterprise, Oct. 15, 1896, p. 8, Acton death record)  This may have been the reason the new tank was built in November 1896.

In the early morning hours of October 28, 1900, a fire started near the engine room of the Barker cider mill.  A watchman alerted the village, and firemen came from the other Acton villages and Maynard, but their pumping soon overwhelmed the water supply from the spring-fed basin across the street.  Barker’s storage tanks started leaking many gallons of cider, and someone had the idea to pump cider to douse the flames.  It was an unsuccessful attempt, and two large buildings of the cider plant burned to the ground.  The firemen were able to save a large storehouse, the large tank outside the building, and 55,000 gallons of vinegar.  The thirty to forty men who had been working there at the time lost their source of employment, at least temporarily.  (Concord Enterprise, Nov. 1, 1900, p. 8; Boston Herald, Oct. 29, 1900, p. 3)  In the Enterprise, Henry Barker thanked all those who had come to assist in putting out the fire (Nov. 1, 1900, p. 8).  After a period of uncertainty, on December 12, the Enterprise reported that Henry Barker would rebuild his mill on the old site.  (p. 8)  At the March 25, 1901 town meeting, Acton voted to upgrade its fire-fighting capacity immediately, to buy 800 more feet of rubber-lined hose for South Acton, and to purchase “the F. R. R. water supply basin located near the cider mill of Henry Barker [and to] excavate and properly fix said basin for a possible water supply in case of fire.” Also, the town voted to hire “a competent man at each part of the town where fire apparatus is located to properly care for it.”

One might have expected Henry Barker to slow down by the 1900s, but apparently, he did not.  In 1908, the Enterprise reported that after a serious illness, “Henry Barker is able to attend to his business again and goes daily to Boston.”  (Apr. 29, p8)  

On January 22, 1914, Henry’s wife Louisa (Atwood) Barker passed away at the age of 81, after an illness of several months.  Sometime in 1917, Henry moved to Dorchester to stay with his daughter.  He remarried that summer; Acton’s records show that Henry Barker, merchant, age 82 (born in Acton, son of Isaac Barker and Olive Handley) married Emma C. (Sawyer) Gove of Boston, age 53 on July 28, 1917.  Unfortunately, the marriage lasted only a few weeks.

On August 15, 1917, the Concord Enterprise reported that Henry Barker, who had been living in Dorchester for a few months, was suffering from gangrene of the foot.  He had been operated on at the Forest Hills hospital, and there was at first hope for recovery. (p. 8)  Unfortunately, he died in Boston on August 23, 1917.  He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.  His heirs were his daughters, listed in the Concord Enterprise as Clara L. Barker, Addie H. Burke, Della J. Tuttle, all of Acton, and Olive G. B. Hunt and Medora C. Robbins, both of Melrose. (Sept 12, p. 4)

The Barker mill in South Acton operated for many years after Henry’s death.  Owned at first by Addie (Barker) Burke then her husband Fred, it was later bought by J. P. W. von Laer Company of Boston.  Fred Burke became a partner in the enterprise and continued to manage the mill until his death in 1940.  On October 27, 1951, the Barker Mill burned down again.  It was the end of an era.

One of our members recently brought to the Society a huge portrait that had no identification.  It had been used as a backing for a framed map.  At first, it seemed to be a normal photograph, but looking more carefully revealed that someone had enhanced its details by adding black and white highlights.  The size of the portrait and the artist’s additions make us think that the man had some wealth and social standing.

We thought that there was hope of identifying this man; his clothes might make the picture easy to date and Acton's wealthy people were relatively few.  Prominent businessmen were more likely than others to have their photographs published, so we searched local histories and our own photograph collection.  So far, we have not succeeded.  It has been suggested to us that the era of the portrait was the 1880s, but research in guides to men’s fashion has not given us definitive confirmation of the time period. 

Our only clue is that the picture was found in a barn at what is now 184 Main Street.  The Society has been the recipient of other items from that barn, most related to the South Acton cider vinegar business and family of Henry Barker (1835-1917).  The barn was across the street from the house of cider mill manager Frederick Burke and his wife (Henry’s daughter) Addie Barker.  We know that the Burkes gave memorabilia to Harriet Cobleigh, owner of the barn.  It is possible that this picture, perhaps behind a map, was part of the Barker/Burke gifts. 

Could this portrait have been of Henry Barker?  He was the owner of a successful cider mill and old enough to have gray in his beard by the 1880s.  He would best fit our guess that it was someone of local prominence.  (See blog post about Henry Barker.)  Unfortunately, and surprisingly, we have not been able to find an identified picture of Henry Barker for comparison.  At this point, he is only one possibility for the subject of the portrait.

Other possibilities:

• A Barker relative
  • Henry’s father Isaac Barker or a brother (Joseph, Herman or Charles)
  • A relative of Henry Barker’s wife Louisa Atwood
  • A relative of Frederick Burke
• A relative of the occupants of the house at 184 Main
  • Jacob Priest’s family (wife Adeline J. Mansfield, daughter Emma married John J. Fogg)
  • William L. Cobleigh’s family (wife Harriet Fogg)
• Another South Acton relative, picture/map given to the Cobleighs

Identifying unlabeled photographs is almost always a struggle.  Can you help us to identify this man or to confirm the time period in which the portrait would have been done?  Please contact us.