THE HARBINGER

Newsletter of the Westport Historical Society, Inc. P. O. Box N 188 Westport, MA 02790-1203 www.westporthistory.com westhist@gis.net ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ VOLUME 38 SPRING 2008 NUMBER 1

In side This Issue

Mercy Etta Baker highlights the pages of the Harbinger with a story by Barbara Moss, and an exhibition. P3. & P4.

Westport Historical Society thanks Annual Appeal donors for their support. P2.

The year was 1894. The Union Street Railway Co. Company decided to build a small park in Dartmouth MA. P3.

In Memoriam: Dorothy Curtis P5.

My first on-site visit this year to the Waite-Potter restoration site was epic. P6.

The Comet’s glory is about to extinguish at Lincoln Park.

7. P

Letter from the Director -

It is not surprising that many artists have found inspiration in the natural beauty of Westport’s landscape. The Historical Society is lucky to have a sizable collection of paintings by local artists many of which are now of interest not only from an artistic perspective, but also an historical viewpoint. The artist Mary Hicks Brown is a prime example - once common sights such as ice houses and haystacks are now archived in her vibrant oil paintings. This March we are pleased to feature an exhibition by a little known artist from the past, Mercy Etta Baker, a resident of Westport Point and New Bedford, whose small watercolor renditions are a charming portrayal of late 19th century Westport and environs. With the recent purchase of four additional watercolors by Mercy Etta Baker (funded in part by the Westport Cultural Council), the Historical Society felt it was time to focus attention on both the paintings and poetry of this somewhat obscure artist. Her personal attachment to Westport, particularly to Horseneck, is powerfully articulated through her art which features dune and river landscapes and evocative portraits of her acquaintances. I hope that many of you will take the opportunity to view her work which will be on display together with her poetry for the month of March. Jenny O’Neill Director

Mercy Etta Baker watercolor

We are grateful to the Grimshaw-Gudewicz Foundation for a grant that makes it possible for us to publish The Harbinger.

The Westport Historical Society BOARD MEMBERS PRESIDENT: Tony Connors VICE-PRESIDENT: Jon W. Alden SECRETARY: Sharon L. Wypych TREASURER: Roger P. Griswold DIRECTOR: Jenny O’Neill MEMBERS AT LARGE Carol Coutinho Sally Sapienza Dr. William F. Wyatt COMMITTEE CHAIRS BUILDING: Timothy H. Gillespie MEMBERSHIP: Vacant COLLECTIONS: Barbara Moss ORAL HISTORY: Betty Slade PROGRAMS: James S. Panos HARBINGER: Jon W. Alden The Harbinger is published by the Westport Historical Society, a non-profit organization working to protect and preserve Westport’s history and heritage. Email us at: westhist@gis.net Westport Historical Society at the Bell School 25 Drift Road P.O. Box N188 Westport, MA 02790 Hours: Mondays 9-3 Wednesday 9-3 (508) 636-6011

Welcome to our New Members!

The following new members have joined the Society since the last Harbinger issue was published:

Mr. Richard Borden Ms. Sybil Burda Mr. Michael Cullen Mr. Dana Denault Ms. Brenda Figeurido Ms. Christina Glaser Mr. Edward Goldberg Mr. Adam Jackson Mr. and Mrs. Richard Macomber Mr. and Mrs. King McCleary Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Panos Ms. Barbara Szaro Mr. and Mrs. Dewey Thompson

Thanks to our Contributing Members – Spring 2008!

Dr. and Mrs. John Bergland Mr. and Mrs. Norman Buck Mrs. Edwin Burkholder Ms. Susan H. Bush Ms. Elizabeth D. Coxe Dr. and Mrs. Bruce Derbyshire Mr. and Mrs. Robert R. Faulkner Mr. T. Lux Feininger Mr. Edward R. Goldberg Mrs. Selena Howard Mrs. Margaret F. Huie Mr. and Mrs. Joseph L. Keith III Ms. Mary Ellen Kennedy Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Kugler Ms. Sally Ann Ledbetter Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Panos

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Rodgers III Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Sears Mr. and Mrs. Dewey Thompson

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Shabshelowitz Mr. and Mrs. Peter L. Thompson Mr. Ralph Voorhees Dr. and Mrs. Joseph B. Walsh Mr. and Mrs. Gurdon B. Wattles Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin V. White Ms. Catherine Williams

Thanks to our Sustaining Members – Spring 2008!

Mr. and Mrs. Jon Alden Mr. and Mrs. Russell S. Beede Ricky and Barbara Hawes-Caldwell

David C. Cole and Betty F. Slade Mr. and Mrs. Robert Coughlin Mrs. Barbara Koenitzer

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas W. Schmitt

Annual Appeal – Thank you for supporting the Westport Historical Society!

The Misses Atkinson Dr. and Mrs. John Bergland Louise and Edward Bush Mr. and Mrs. Alain J. Chardon Mrs. Carolyn C. Cody Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Connors Ms. Elizabeth D. Coxe Mrs. Ingrid M. Davidge Mrs. Anna S. Duphiney Mr. and Mrs. Jeremy Grantham Mr. and Mrs. James J. Hayes Mr. and Mrs. Peter S. Kastner Dr. Foster Kay Mr. and Mrs. Joseph L. Keith III Mr. and Mrs. Ronald A. Knapp Mrs. Barbara Koenitzer Mr. Albert E. Lees, III Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius Lynch III Mr. Peter MacDougall Mr. and Mrs. Carlton Macomber Mr. and Mrs. Alan T. Manchester Ms. Yvonne Marquis Mr. and Mrs. John McDermott Mr. Christopher J. Mckeon Mr. and Mrs. Sanford Moss Mr. Courtland M. Palmer Mr. James Panos Mrs. Debbie Paulo Potter Funeral Home Mr. and Mrs.William T. Reed, Jr. Mrs. David Rozinha Ms. Sally Sapienza Miss Elvira J. Smith Mr. and Mrs. George E. Smith Mr. Paul A. Tamburello Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Trippe Mrs. Janet Vaillant Mr. Gurdon B. Wattles Mrs. Ann C. Wheeler Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin V. White Mr. and Mrs. William F. Wyatt

Page 2

Exhibit opens at the Bell School March 1st

The “Paintings and Poetry of Mercy Etta Baker” (pictured below right) opened Saturday March 1st and will close March 31st.

Exhibit hours are Monday and Wednesday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday 1 to 4 p.m.

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Westport Arts Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

A special thank you to members of the class of 1955 for funding the purchase of a new computer!

Mr. Joseph Araujo Mr. Richard T. Borden Mrs. Gladys Cory Mr. Michael D. Cullen Mr. Dana K. Denault Mr. Al Dyson Mr. & Mrs. Valerie McCleary Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Sexton Mrs. Barbara Szaro

Railroad historian and enthusiast donates priceless pictures!

The Historical Society recently received several reproductions of c. 1900 photographs of Westport’s railroad stations from Paul Levasseur, a historian and railroad enthusiast from Dartmouth. The Fall River Line (or Watuppa Branch, as it was commonly called) began service between New Bedford and Fall River in 1875. Of the eight stations on this line, three were in Westport: North Westport (called Juniper Station) on Sanford Road; Hemlock (known locally as Hemlock Gutter) on Davis Road; and Westport Factory (on Highland Avenue). It was a 45 minute journey from New Bedford to Fall River. The Watuppa line was a single track railway -- steam engines traveled to Fall River front first and returned in reverse.

The railroad originally provided both freight and passenger service, but a new trolley line, opened in 1894 along what is now Route 6, was much more convenient for passengers – especially when the trolley company created Lincoln Park close to its Westport Factory stop. Editor’s note: The year was 1894. The Union Street Railway Company decided to construct a small park in Dartmouth MA that would connect Fall River and New Bedford. The Rail Company purchased 46 acres of land in North Dartmouth, and Lincoln Park was born!

Due to this competition, the Watuppa Branch closed its passenger service in 1918. Over the years Penn Central, Conrail, and CSX have taken control of the railroad, the stations have been torn down, and the Fall River end is no longer in service. Yet Old Colony trains still run between New Bedford and Mid City Scrap in North Westport. Tony Connors

Hemlock Station on Davis Road Juniper Station on Sanford Road Westport Factory Station on Highland Ave.

Page 3

Tidbits from the Collections Corner

Mercy Etta Baker, Poet, Painter and Philanthropist By Barbara E. Moss Come to our spring exhibit and meet a remarkable woman, Mercy Etta Baker. Westport knows Ms Baker as a watercolorist. The world knew her as a poet and writer. Born in 1876, she was the daughter of Jehiel and Abigail (Gifford) Baker. Both her father Jehiel and her grandfather John Hopkins Baker owned significant portions of Horseneck

and were cranberry growers. She lived during her early years at 1998 Main Road, a grand Greek revival residence at the Point.

Although an amateur painter, her work is highly regarded. She is listed in Mary Jean Blasdale’s Artists of New Bedford. The Historical Society holds nearly 20 of her postcard-sized paintings and the Whaling Museum another 15. It was her poetry, however, that brought her international recognition. She was also very generous to many people, both during her lifetime and through her will.

Mercy’s watercolors are small landscapes, often featuring beach scenes. Her family owned many of the acres that became Horseneck Beach and she loved to walk there, paint and write about the beach. One painting at the museum that I particularly like is of a little sailboat mounded high with harvested salt hay being carried to shore. One of our paintings is of Westport Point in 1916, its boats and buildings rendered in many shades of blue from deep navy to palest sky blue. While she painted landscapes, her sketchbooks, of which the Society possesses many, are chock-full of drawings of people, botanicals and animals. One sketch’s title reflects her humor. It is called City Garden but is a picture of just a single Easter lily in a flower pot on a window ledge. Mercy was skilled at showing tender emotion and sensitive renditions of men and women’s faces. She published two volumes of poetry The “White Elephant Sale - A Collection of Previously Used Verse”, and “Bird Logic and Other Verses”. Many of these poems had been previously published in periodicals such as the Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s, the Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, Cat’s Magazine, Yankee and others. Many of her poems are directly connected to Westport, covering subjects such as Quakers, hurricanes, the Hunt, cats, or commemorate residents of Westport such as her memorial to Reverend Cuthbert Hall.

Her 1924 sonnet “New Bedford” won second prize in an international contest sponsored by Poetry Review and was also published in An Anthology of Cities. It is a tender evocation of New Bedford’s glory days, the whaling days, which Mercy, born in 1876, would have remembered from her childhood:

The Standard Times published many of her poems and also a Christmas story that she wrote for a fiction contest that newspaper had sponsored. She won third prize. Called “The Hall of Records,” it is a tale of Christmas reclamation similar to Ebenezer Scrooge’s experience and may reflect her own philosophy toward giving.

New Bedford Give me to dream, now that those days are past, Of streets elm-shaded and box bordered ways; Of solemn meetings held on bright First-days; Merchants, whose lot beside the sea was cast; Young Quaker boys, who listened half aghast To whaler’s yarns in harsh adventure’s praise Or of dropt anchor in strange foreign bays, Till, lured at length, they shipped before the mast. Let me dream on, or I shall hear, instead Of stir in cooper’s shop and fitter’s store, A million looms that weave with deafening roar; And know that housetop watchers see no more The clouded canvas of square-riggers spread, Homing from voyages round the Cape of dread.

In Mercy’s 69th year Bookfellow Annual published “Old Woman,” her heartrending verse about an old woman living alone in her cottage with no one to talk to but her cat and nobody but strangers coming when she’s dead. Ms Baker lived at 213 Cottage Street, New Bedford. She would live to be 80. Although she had no children, Ms Baker acted upon her concern for young people. Her adoption of an Italian war orphan named Lucia Stocutto through the Foster Parents Plan for War Children was reported in the newspaper. Her will also provided for the education of Shakuntala Joshi, whom she had supported for years through the Christian Children’s Fund.

Page 4

Another act of unusual generosity was her gift in 1940 of a piece of waterfront property at West Beach Horseneck Beach to New York newspaper columnist, Charles B. Driscoll, who had loved New Bedford’s beaches. She simply sent him the deed.

Her will left money to a long list of organizations ranging from several Monthly Meetings of Friends, American Friend’s Service Committee, Seeing Eye, Inc. of New York, the New Bedford Child and Family Service, the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, an endowment for the Neediest Family Fund and several other charities as well as bequests to friends and a cousin. Several of these bequests were for amounts of $2000.00, which in today’s dollars would be over $14,000.

Another poet said: “The quality of mercy is not strained, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath…..” Today we can all enjoy her gentle gifts of poetry and painting.

(I am indebted to Ms Ann Marie Tomascik of The Standard Times for retrieving much of this information from the newspaper’s archives.)

New Acquisitions

Six watercolors by Mary Hicks Brown and Mercy Etta Baker, WHS purchase.

The White Elephant Sale by Mercy Etta Baker, WHS purchase.

Photographs of Westport school students donated by Valerie Gordon.

Copies of photographs of pupils at Stateside school, pupils at Westport Point school 1925, men on fire truck 1932 donated by Carlton and Alice Macomber.

Postcard of Westport Factory donated by M. Claire Guilmette.

Copies of photographs of 1938 and 1954 hurricanes donated by Carolyn Cody.

Postcards of the Narrows and Thomas Lewis homestead donated by Arthur Guilmette.

Photographs of Westport Point School, Milton Earle School donated by Suzanne Palmer.

Materials relating to first meeting of Westports of the World donated by Elaine Stevens.

Lantern slide of Waite-Potter House, WHS purchase.

Timetable for Fall River Railroad and Westport railroad station photographs donated by Paul Levasseur.

Photocopy of the logbook of the Bark Mattapoisett donated by John and Katherine Preston.

Scrapbook of 1936 flood donated by Claude Ledoux.

Souvenir record album of Lincoln Park donated by Tony Connors.

CDs of cemetery study, almshouse ledger and registry, Westport Point genealogy donated by Betty Slade.

We thank you all for your generosity! Due to space limitations, we are unable to list all donations, please contact us if you would like to be mentioned in the next issue of the Harbinger.

In Memoriam: Dorothy Curtis (1923-2008) Dorothy Robbins Gifford Curtis died on January 1, 2008 at the age of 97. Dorothy came to Westport as a child in 1923, residing at 1813 Main Road which initially lacked basic facilities such as running water, electricity and indoor plumbing, but offered a beautiful view over the meadows at that time. Her father was famous for the Robbins Tract which would have divided up the Macomber farm into tiny lots. Dorothy however was opposed to this plan and was happy when the venture was not successful. After attending school in Westport, she went on to major in textile design at Pratt Institute and was an artist most of her life. She also assisted her mother in running a gift shop and tea room at their home on Main Road; many people in Westport remember her mother Minnie who delighted in teaching local ladies how to pour tea. She married Norman Lowe Gifford, and after he died, she married Mahlon George Curtis. She was an active member of the Westport Historical Society, donating many items for the collection, and was a founder and a president of the Westport Art Group. She regularly attended Norma Judson's Westport History Study Group until a year before she died where she told many stories of Westport also with a twist you would not expect. Two years before she died, Dorothy was the first to sign a petition to add her house and thirteen others to the Westport Point Historic District. It is a sad irony that the home of someone who so keenly promoted its protection through the expansion of the historic district at the Point, should now be under threat.

Page 5

The Photo Contest and Exhibition was supported in part by a grant to the Westport Historic Society from the Westport Arts Council. The Helen Ellis Exhibit Space at Lees was developed and is managed by the Arts Council, in cooperation with Lees Market. Both the Photo Contest and Exhibition as well as the Exhibit Space were made possible by funding from the Helen Ellis Charitable Trust, administered by the Bank of America.

“The Waite-Potter Chimney Stands Alone”

Photos by Jon Alden/WHS

Above left: Muriel (Potter) Bibeau. Center: The west exterior wall of the original Waite-Potter house. Right: The restoration efforts revealed the original firebox and beehive oven (seen in the right of the photo). The brick-faced liner (seen in the left of the photo) was added much later for heating efficiency and to accommodate improved cooking methods.

My first on-site visit this year to the Waite-Potter restoration site was monumental. The remains of the original homestead were much more than the small chimney I’d imagined. It was the entire west wall of the house! An enormous structure of field and quarried stone, and mortar. It’s a true memorial to the 1670’s house that may be Westport’s earliest known European-built structure.

“Pete” Baker gave a methodical PowerPoint presentation on the restoration recently at the Lees Community Room to a packed audience. She took us through the time-consuming and sometimes overwhelmingly picky work of preparing the ivy and bittersweet encrusted chimney portion of the remaining wall for masonry restoration. Trees were cut down, and the area was cleared of brush and debris. Stevens Masonry of Cranston, RI dispatched employees Brian Jones and Mike Pierro to the job site to assist Pete in this labor of love. “I first saw the chimney in 1978,” Pete said. It wasn’t until 2007 that I actively took an interest in the chimney’s restoration.” A two week scheduled effort lasted over two months! CPC funding of over $16,000 funded the effort.

Above left: “Pete” Baker taking us through the history of the Waite-Potter house. Center: Audience members review the table full of artifacts uncovered during the restoration. Right: The Waite-Potter house less than two months before the August 31, 1954 devastation of Hurricane Carol.

As an architectural style, “stone enders” were built c. 1640-1700, and incorporated a massive stone chimney for most or the entire north wall. According to American Houses: A Field Guide to the Architecture of the Home by Gerald L. Foster, lime needed to make mortar was scarce in 17th century Massachusetts, and builders were forced to import it from England, making stone and brick masonry work expensive - early masons set their fireplace and chimney bricks in clay, using lime mortar only above the roof where the chimney was exposed to the weather. However, lime did occur naturally around Narragansett Bay, and stone was commonly used for very large fireplaces and chimneys.

The “stone ender” seems to have begun as a typical one-room English cottage with sleeping space upstairs and a massive stone fireplace making up nearly one entire end of the house. The steeply gabled roof reflects the medieval English tradition of thatching (promotes rain run-off). The construction of the stone chimney was commonly embellished with at least a heavy cornice if not multiple pilasters.

Our “stone ender” ended up in Westport because the original owner, Thomas Waite, was from Portsmouth RI, where many “stone enders” had been built. We certainly had lots of stone, and lime was readily available. The year of construction is blurred, somewhere between 1667 and 1677. Robert Kirby added one room on the opposite side of the chimney in 1760.

Page 6

“The Waite-Potter Chimney Stands Alone” – continued from previous page

The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) is the nation's first federal preservation program, begun in 1933 to document America's architectural heritage. HABS photographer Arthur C. Haskell took the picture below left on April, 1934; the drawing on the right was done by Eugene L. Morgan at the same time.

At the recent presentation, Carlton Brownell of Little Compton lamented that preservation efforts after the war were under-funded and drew little interest from everyday folk. After Carol’s destructive rampage, Carlton used some of the floor boards and other salvageable pieces of the ruined Waite-Potter house to help in the restoration of the Wilbur house in Little Compton. Jon Alden

We Seek Donations/Loans of Material for Our Summer Exhibition: Winds of Change - Westporters and The Hurricanes

What was your experience of the hurricanes? We invite you to write it down, send it in or email it to us. We hope to include many of your submissions in the exhibition or on our website. In addition we invite donations of materials, and we would be interested in hearing from anyone who would loan items for the exhibition including:

• First hand accounts, letters, diary entries • Artwork • Newspapers before and after the event • Objects • Scrapbooks • Photographs • Film footage

Upcoming Events

Thursday, March 20th - Bob Kugler presents Kate Cory, the Woman and the Whale Ship. 7:30 p.m. at the Westport Senior Center, 75 Reed Road, Westport

Thursday, April 17th - A History of Westport United Congregational Church with Reverend Sue Moenius 7:30 p.m. at the church on 500 American Legion Highway

Saturday, May 3rd - Genealogy Workshop – details to be announced.

Got an idea for a new program? Share it with us! Contact our Program Committee Chair, James Panos. Email him at: westhist@gis.net

The dried-out, old skeleton of the once thrilling, wooden roller coaster Comet and a few burnt-out, decaying buildings are all that remain of the once popular Lincoln Park Amusement Park on the N. Dartmouth-Westport line off Beeden Road. The Year was 1894.The Union Street Railway Company decided to construct a small park in Dartmouth and a trolley line that would connect Fall River and New Bedford. The Rail Company purchased 46 acres of land in N. Dartmouth, and Lincoln Park was born! Today, gone are the bowling alley, ballroom, beer garden and clambake pavilion. The roller skating rink, round house, and merry-go-round; all gone. Kiddieland, the scooters, tilt-a-whirl, fly-o-plane, and the golf course are now only memories in the older minds of the younger children who looked forward to their weekends at Lincoln Park. It takes a 1950’s album cover to bring back the nostalgia for this popular destination point for thousands of south coast residents. Lincoln Park is now a leveled-out construction site ready for the developer’s scalpel. Learn more about Comet at: www.freewebs.com/lpcomet/index.htm

Above, left and center: paintings by www.junkyardartist.com Right: The Comet on March 1, 2008; and the Comet’s cars (Todd Long) - late 1990’s

Page 7

Membership o Individual - $15.00

o Family - $30.00

o Contributing - $50.00

o Sustaining - $150.00

o Special Gift - ____________

Please make checks payable to: Westport Historical Society P. O. Box N 188 Westport, MA 02790-1203 Name: _________________________________

Address: _______________________________

City: ___________________________________

State: _____________ Zip: _________________

Phone: _ (_______) _________-_____________

Email: __________________________________

Thank you for your generous support!

The once very popular Lincoln Park will be under the developer’s scalpel as condos are scheduled for late spring, this year. Album cover donated by Tony Connors. P7.