3/20/2016 Prisoners of War in ActonJames Fletcher’s 1890 Acton in History (page 57) lists James Shurland as one of the “Men of Acton in the War of the Revolution.” Taken alone, that would seem to imply that he fought on the side of the colonists. It is possible that he did at some point. However, researching the collections of the Society to find out more about him unearthed a document showing that in 1776, James Sherland and William Haywood were actually taken as prisoners of war. The document, a copy of an order from the Council Chamber, State of Massachusetts Bay, states that from their capture until Feb. 10, 1780, the two men had been residing in Acton. Joseph Robbins, other selectmen, and the Committee of Correspondence for Acton vouched for their "Orderly Behavior,” so they were given permission to live in the town and to practice their occupations until further notice.
Evidently, in the early part of the war, it was not unusual for British prisoners of war to be sent to outlying areas. A letter from George Washington to Lieutenant-General Howe on September 23, 1776 states that British privates were “greatly dispersed through New England Governments, in order to their better accommodation.” (See Jared Sparks’s The Writings of George Washington, Volume IV, New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1847, p 106.) So far, efforts to discover the stories of James Sherland and William Haywood during the Revolutionary War period have been not turned up anything. We do not know where they were captured, whether they were colonial Loyalists or from a British regiment, and why, where and under what circumstances they were held in Acton. (We would welcome new information; please contact us if you can help.) Attempting to trace the later lives of the two prisoners presented opposite research problems. In Acton and its environs, Haywood/Hayward was a common name. Despite that, no trace of William could be found. Aside from the copy of the order held by the Historical Society, he seems to have left no mark on the town of Acton. There are some William Haywoods who appear in records outside of Acton in the post-Revolutionary period, but without further information, it is impossible to know whether it is the same person. Sherland, however, is an unusual name, with many variations. Acton vital records revealed that James Sharland and wife Anna had ten sons in Acton: George (1779), Stephen Randal (1781), James Jr (1784), William (1786), Henery (1786, apparently William’s twin), Edmond (1790), Joseph (1792), Winthrop (1795), Benjamin Hill (1797), and Joseph (1799). All of the births were recorded together, probably well after the fact. In 1790, James “Shareline” was listed in the Acton Census with a household of 1 male aged 16 and above, 6 males under age 16, and 1 female. The family must have been in Cambridge at some point. Probate records and Acton town reports indicate that James had legal involvement with the town of Cambridge in the first decade of the 1800s, but no details of his time actually living in Cambridge have yet emerged. The 1810 Acton Census shows James Sharland as head of a household consisting of 1 male aged 45 or more, 1 male between 10 and 15, and 1 female aged 45 or more. That probably was James and Anna and one of their youngest sons. (Acton records show that James Jr. “of Watertown” married Maria Moore “of Cambridge” and had a son William Henry in 1806. They would have been too young for the 1810 Census listing.) James Senior’s death was recorded in Acton on April 27, 1818. Benjamin Sherland is listed in the 1820 Census in Acton with a female over 45 (possibly his mother Anna). We could find no further mention of Anna in any record. There is no cemetery record or gravestone in Acton for any member of the family. A fascinating research project would be to trace the descendants of the sons of James and Anna Sharland who all seem to have left Acton by 1830. Stephen Randal became a cooper in New Hampshire and died young and unmarried. Winthrop went to Maine. James Jr. went to western New York and later to Indiana. It appears that George and Benjamin also headed west. There were many descendants, although sorting them all out would be a challenge. By the mid-1800s, Sharlands, Sherlands, Shirlands and Shorlands appear in numerous records, including many records of military service. Without documents such as the Council Chamber order in the Society’s collections, there would be no way to know that one's immigrant ancestor was once a P.O.W. in a small Massachusetts town. The Cannon Controversy It started with a fascinating scrapbook article from the Society’s collection: “Ex-Army Officer Raps Women Who Object to Placing War Cannon on Common.” In August, 1936, the townspeople of Acton had voted to obtain a United States army field piece as a World War memorial. A veterans group proceeded as instructed by the town. Soon, however, a furor arose over locating the gun on the Common. The selectmen granted a hearing about the issue, and fifteen people spoke in opposition. They said that Acton had too many war memorials, the gun was too war-like for the Common, and the gun would ruin the view and “would serve to depreciate property in the neighborhood.” Those claims seem a little outrageous today, but the “pro” speakers made the proceedings interesting as well. One accused the opposition of being Tories and threatened to go to court. Another stated that “Acton soldiers are the only ones who have brought glory to this town.” Meanwhile, granite blocks had already been placed on the Common to be ready when the gun arrived from the arsenal in Illinois from which it had been ordered. Another hearing followed, described in a second scrapbook newspaper clipping, this time with about 300 in attendance. “A more lively meeting has not been held in the town hall since the days when the site for the present high school was being discussed.” A special town meeting was held on October 21, 1936. Attempts to stop the gun from arriving were unsuccessful. Through a vote, the townspeople expressed their wish that the gun be placed to the side of the World War Monument (near the Town Hall), rather than on the Common itself. One would have thought from the opposition statements reported in the newspaper clippings that the town Common was a pastoral place suddenly being invaded by military armament. However, pictures in the Historical Society’s collection confirm that there were already cannons on the Common at that point, as well the large Monument to Isaac Davis and others who fell in the Revolution. Evidently the underlying issue, not clear from the articles, was that some of the townsfolk (men included) wanted to change the "atmosphere" of the Town Common. One of the Articles on the agenda at the special town meeting in October was that “the town will remove all objects, monuments, and other impediments, from the Town Common…” (The Davis monument was excluded from the Article.) Nothing happened; the cannons already on the Common stayed. Don't believe everything you read, online or elsewhere - No one is perfect. At this point, it seemed a good idea to research exactly when the Town Common's cannons arrived and where they came from. Searching old local newspapers online for articles about the installation of the cannons produced nothing. One internet site said that "The Town Green area includes: cannons (installed 1812)..." That unfortunate wording led to a fruitless research project. In an effort to learn about the installation of the cannons, Acton Memorial Library’s online transcriptions of Early Town Records were consulted. Searching the early 1800s through 1829 revealed that the townspeople of Acton were mainly concerned during that period with whether or not they could let their cows, cattle, horse kind and swine roam the Common in any given year. It is very safe to say that installing memorials on that land was not a high priority for them. Eventually, an article was discovered about the Town of Concord’s gift to Acton of the Davis Stone (upon which, supposedly, Isaac Davis fell). It gave an approximate date of 1900 for their installation. Searching town reports confirmed that on August 21, 1900, the town appointed a committee of three to "procure two cannon to place on the Common" (Town Report for the year ending March 12, 1901, page 10). A later report (for the year ending March 12, 1902, page 33) showed that the cannons were shipped by railroad and then "teamed" to the Common where they were installed on bases, most likely granite. There was no description of where or what era the cannons came from. Phalen’s history of Acton (1954, page 284) stated that they were from the War of 1812, but no documentation was given. The Davis Stone article mentioned in passing that the cannons were from the Civil War, not 1812. When all else fails... get out of the carBecause a good picture of the cannons would be useful when asking for identification help, a visit was made to the Town Common. Today, no one is concerned with pastoral views of the Common; a much bigger concern is safely crossing the street to get there. Doing so, however, yielded much more useful information than extensive online research. The result is shown in the pictures below. Each cannon has foundry markings. Acton’s were marked RPP (evidently the initials of Robert Parker Parrott, 1804-1877, whose gun designs were commonly used during the Civil War). They were 30-pounder guns, one produced in 1863 and the other in 1864. One question answered - they are Civil War guns. ... or ask someone who knows At this point, all of the online and written sources we could think of had been exhausted. But then a simple question to a Board member confirmed that the cannons on the Common were, in fact, Civil War cannons that are officially on loan to the town from the Department of Defense. Solving the mystery of the cannons would have been made considerably easier simply by asking the right person in the first place!
And what about the World War I field piece that started this research project? For many years, no one seemed to know where it went. See our blog post for the answer.
During the early 1880s, the School Committee started advocating for a high school in Acton. People of means were sending their teenagers to other towns to get a high school education, but for the majority, the cost of tuition, books, and transportation made that option impossible. Acton’s teachers, even those from Acton, had been sent out of town to finish their education while, as pointed out in the 1882-3 report: “Among us are many young ladies, not attending school, earning little or nothing, who, if we give them a good high school education, will be able to take the places of these teachers when needed.” Men had more employment opportunities, but they, too, were often constrained in the level of education they could hope for and the professions that they could enter.
Around 1883, a high school was launched in Acton. Today, the term “high school” brings to mind a building. Many would be surprised to know that in its first years, Acton’s high school students and their teacher moved to different locations each term, temporarily housed in a school room in Acton Center, South Acton, and West Acton. This was easier for townspeople to support than constructing a “needless building.” (1883-4) Transportation was not provided, and fairly soon, School Committee reports were asking that the town pay for students to be transported to the high school. “This will equalize the advantages of the High school to all. At the present quite a number who are unable to bear the expense of transportation are cut off from the education offered in the High school. This ought not to be.” (1885-6) A recent project at the Historical Society has been to index a large number of letters and documents relating to Horace F. Tuttle (1864-1955). Researching his life led to an eye-opening record of service to the Town of Acton. Acton’s 1956 Annual Town Report paid tribute to Horace’s family upon the retirement on December 31, 1956 of Harlan Emery Tuttle from his position as town clerk. He had served for 15 years, following his father Horace Frederick Tuttle who served for 45 years (1896-1941) and his grandfather William Davis Tuttle who served for 41 years (1855-1896). Set against 101 years of Tuttle service to the town of Acton, our “large” collection of documents now seems like a tiny portion of the work done by the three generations of Tuttle town clerks.
Of the items indexed so far, there are personal letters from family members, documents relating Horace Tuttle’s apple-growing and surveying businesses and his administration of estates, and documents relating to a few of his years as town clerk; genealogical inquiries, a request for help from a serviceman’s wife during World War 1, a list of Acton servicemen during that war, a draft of a letter written on surplus 1907 ballots, inquiries about cemetery plots, a request to open the library during the town fair, and much more. Sorting through them, one couldn’t help but wonder if there was anything Horace Tuttle didn’t do! |
Acton Historical Society
Discoveries, stories, and a few mysteries from our society's archives. CategoriesAll Acton Town History Arts Business & Industry Family History Items In Collection Military & Veteran Photographs Recreation & Clubs Schools |
Quick Links
|
Open Hours
Jenks Library:
Please contact us for an appointment or to ask your research questions. Hosmer House Museum: Open for special events. |
Contact
|
Copyright © 2024 Acton Historical Society, All Rights Reserved