An Independence Day Celebration

As mentioned in a blog post about Acton residents' Fourth of July celebrations in previous years, 1915's event was particularly well-planned and well-documented. There was a a bonfire, fireworks, a dance, and a parade that actually occurred on July 5 because July 4 was a Sunday. There were sporting events as well, including foot races, a shot put competition, a sack race, a potato race, and a tug of war. The Society's collection includes Roland V. G. Johnson's award for the boys' 100-yard dash.

Over the years, photographs and post cards have been donated to our archives of the 1915 festivities in South Acton. Fortunately, there was a very detailed description of the event in a Concord Enterprise article "Parade a Big One" (July 7, p. 1, 3) that has helped us to understand some of our pictures better.

Marching south on Main Street past Exchange Hall (at the right edge of the picture). According to notes at Jenks Library, the leader was Frank Hoit. Behind him were Arthur Tuttle and Theron Fletcher Newton. In the GAR hat behind Arthur Tuttle was Civil War veteran Isaac Ford.

According to the Enterprise, the parade was led by the Chief Marshall E. C. Page and four assistants, all mounted. They were followed by the Boy Scouts, "the band," and L. C. Hastings in a Revolutionary War costume. Thanks to the West Acton Enterprise reporter (p. 10), we know that "the famous old Acton Band" that marched in the parade included West Acton's Dr. Tasker, Fritz Oelschlegal, Bertram E. Hall, Alfred Richardson, Charles Wood and Arthur Whitcomb. There was also a drum corps of a dozen members including Louis Urban and Hiram E. Gates.

Local businesses contributed floats, including A. Merriam Co. (piano stools), South Acton Woolen Co. (illustrating its process from live sheep through wool, rags, and shoddy to cloth). Finney & Hoit’s float showed the audience what was needed in a ‘summer kitchen.' Acton Coal and Lumber was represented by a delivery team, and several Maynard businesses provided decorated delivery wagons. Thanks to the Enterprise, we know that J. S. Moore's float displayed a veal calf, "some dainty little pigs" and a sausage machine, clearly matching the picture below:

J. S. Moore , meat market float, complete with pigs. (A stain on this postcard was digitally removed.)

Local, non-business participants in the parade included a school float with many children, the Camp Fire Girls in a tepee on a car, the town scraper pulled by four horses and driven by Road Commissioner Perkins, the Acton fire engine driven by firemen W. Franklin, J. P. Brown and Anson Piper, and a number of private entries, such as decorated automobiles. 

Political statements were another feature of the parade. Women showed up on several vehicles. The auto below featured signs saying "Equal Rights Nov. 2, 1915" and "A Woman's Vote Means a Clean Town."

Women's Suffrage Float

The Enterprise did not mention the float in the picture below. The group's sign about Uncle Sam is mostly unreadable, but their other sign assured the crowd that "We are NOT Socialists even though we may appear so on this Occasion."

One of the important issues of 1915 was the war in Europe and whether the United States should be involved (or even should be preparing for the possibility of being involved). The Enterprise mentioned that the parade featured a peace float with "about 20 young ladies dressed in white." On the back of this postcard was written "Anne - Angel of Peace."

Peace Float

The picture below had no features that helped us to identify it. The sign was mostly illegible; only "Acton" was apparent, and the woman driving was mostly covered. However, the Enterprise gave us a clue that it may have been the work of local inventor, colorful character, and jokester Nelson Tenney. His entry, driven by a woman, was described as “the most antique, horrible and remarkable production in the parade.  The whole creation seemed to have dropped down from a remote past, so far back that it had the appearance of forest trees having grown from the old wreck of a wonderful ‘one horse shay,’ so old that an inscription had to be placed on it telling that Washington never rode in the rig.”  Given the fact that a postcard was made of this conveyance, we suspect that it was the one described in the Enterprise:

"One-horse shay," apparently at the corner of today's Prospect and Central Streets.

This picture was donated with items dated July 5, 1915 and clearly shows a South Acton parade:

South Acton parade by the bridge railroad bridge, turning up today's School Street.

George Worster was one of the Chief Marshall's assistants in the parade. He ran a livery stable at 27 School Street. The following picture is undated, but it is labeled "George Worster." His horse and conveyance look ready to participate in the patriotic parade:

Flags, Flowers, and Top Hats

In addition to our parade pictures, we are lucky to have a postcard of the preparation for the bonfire that was lit on Sunday night. On June 30, the Enterprise (p. 4) called for volunteers to take loads of railroad ties up the hill (probably Faulkner Hill) to set up "the greatest fire ever held in this section of the state." After the event, the Enterprise deemed t it a "brilliant success" that burned for nearly two hours.

The 1915 Independence Day celebration was long-remembered in Acton. We suspect that there were other photographs taken and postcards made of the July 5 South Acton parade and other events. (The postcard of the J. S. Moore float was donated to the Society quite recently.) If you have other images, we would be very grateful for scans or copies.