Articles from the History Corner of past newsletters.
The Almshouse
In the early days of Norton’s history, any newcomers that came to the town were warned out regardless of whether he owned property or not. So much for a Welcome Wagon! Warrants were issued and the town relied on the constable to carry the individual out of town. There was a fear that people would come to this town and not be able to provide for themselves thus the town would have to take on the burden of caring for them. This practice of “warning them out” continued until about 1794. Keeping new people out did not mean they did not have people already in town that could not care for themselves. For those individuals, they were auctioned off to the lowest bidder to take care of. As early as 1776, an article appeared on the town meeting warrant to consider whether there should be a building built to house the poor. It wasn’t until 1837 that the town finally voted in favor of buying a farm to house the poor. The first Almshouse was opened in November 1837 after the town bought a 190 acre farm from John Hall II,on what is now Reservoir St. This farm operated until 1895 when the town purchased Charles H. Makepeace’s farm which served as the Almshouse, pictured above, until 1910. The L. G. Nourse School was later built on that site on Plain St.
The Norton Dog Track?
In 1939, during the Great Depression, the Norton Board of Selectmen approved a license for a greyhound racing track with a proposed site in a residential section of Chartley. The Selectman and the proponents of the racing track were looking to bring more revenue and jobs to the town. At the time, citizens were losing their homes due to their inability to pay their taxes,and taxes were projected to increase in the next fiscal year. Opposition to the proposed race track was immense. Not only were local citizens, especially those that lived in the residential area where the proposed track would go, were opposed, but also local businesses such as Defiance Manufacturing Co, Sweet Paper Box Co, and T. J. Holmes Co, local churches, Wheaton College and neighboring towns. An estimated crowd of 500 filled every available space at the Old Town Hall (the building next to the Post Office) on March 8, 1939 to present opinions from both sides. Petitions were presented with 801 signatures opposing the race track, and another with only 150 signatures in favor. A special election was held a week later and the race track was voted down 241 to 87. If this election turned out differently, the race track would have been built on Homer Lane’s farm land, shown above, on West Main Street. This land was previously known as the Leonard Farm but today we know it as the grounds where the Joseph C. Solmonese School stands.
The Center School at 18 West Main St.
The Center School was built in 1902 and was located right in the center of town at 18 West Main St. When it was initially built at a cost of $13,000, it only had 4 rooms, but only 3 were furnished. Grades 1-3 were in one room, 4-6 in another, and 7-9 in another. This was the first school in Norton to have a "High School'', so the 9th graders in 1902 were the first to graduate Norton High School in 1906. Prior to this school being built, the town would pay to send students who wanted a higher education to high schools in other towns. There were 8 districts in the town of Norton, and each district had their own one room schoolhouse that would only teach up to 8th grade. As the years went by, some of the school houses closed and the students were sent to the Center School. By 1914, the high school enrollment was up to 53 and they were all in one classroom, with 185 grammar school students in the other 3. Small rooms that were not designed for classrooms were also used including the corridors where typewriters were set up for the Commercial Department. In 1915, an additional $15,000 was allocated to expand the school by adding wings to both sides of the school. Sadly, this school was abandoned after the new high school was built in the 1950s and the building was razed in 1966. In 1972, the #3 District Schoolhouse was moved to this location from South Worcester St and has served as the home of the Norton Historical Society ever since.
It's a Jungle Out There
Imagine finding out that one of your neighbors was attacked by a leopard in Norton Massachusetts. It sounds unbelievable, but it’s true. A Norton youngster, Michael Sweet, who was about fourteen years old at the time, was indeed attacked by a leopard. No, Norton is not the natural habitat for a leopard, but in 1801, a caged leopard was being transported, most likely by a traveling circus or for some other type of entertainment purpose, and it somehow escaped from its cage. Poor Michael was savagely attacked and suffered severe lacerations in the face. He was saved by an unlikely hero - a pig! The leopard apparently preferred pork over the boy. Luckily the leopard was shot and killed before it could seek out a “Sweet” dessert. The Vital Records of Norton book verifies that Michael was born on October 17, 1787 putting him at about age 14 in 1801. A further mention of Michael’s marriage to Mary S Westcoatt on February 5th 1810 in the Vital Records book lets us know that Michael survived the attack and went on to lead a normal life. He died in 1835 at the age of 48.
This story of the leopard attack was found in George Faber Clark’s A History of the Town of Norton, Bristol County, Massachusetts, From 1669-1859. Mr. Clark (pictured above) was the pastor of the Congregational Church and was asked by his parishioners and others to publish a history of Norton after he had given a series of four sermons on the subject. He gathered data from town records as well as facts and information that Norton residents submitted to him. According to Mr. Clark, this incident happened somewhere around William Lane’s residence. Looking at the 1855 map, Mr. Lane’s house was located on the street that is now known as North Worcester St. This was the main road to Attleboro as Old Colony Road had not yet been built.
Chief of Police Edward Bartley almost a Hostage Too
Remember when Fernandes Supermarket (now Ace Hardware) had a bank attached to the building? In 1957, it was the Machinists’ National Bank of Taunton, and it was a lucky thing that it was part of the Fernandes building. On October 4th, 1957, supermarket employee Donald Becker of Taunton Ave. was in an office that shared a wall with the bank and could hear a bank robber’s demands through the thin wall. He quickly called the police and Chief Edward Bartley who was at the police station at the time (the Old Town Hall near the Post Office) rushed over while the robbery was still in progress. The Chief entered the bank and saw that the bank robber had a gun pointed at Jerome Ainsworth, the bank manager. As Chief Bartley described it, when he entered the bank, the robber pointed the gun in his direction and said “C’mon in and join the party”. The chief declined with a “No, thanks”. then dove back out the door, crawled to his car and drove to the nearby filling station and radioed for Attleboro to get the State Police. He observed the robber leaving the bank taking the manager as hostage. He then followed the bank robber on a chase from West Main St, to Taunton Ave, S. Worcester St to Dean St and then onto Tremont St. in Rehoboth with speeds up to 95 miles per hour. The robber ended up swerving into a sandbank on Tremont St just west of Slater St in North Rehoboth causing the car to come to an abrupt halt. When the robber got out of his car with his gun in his hand, he found himself surrounded by the chief and many State Police so he surrendered peacefully. The robber, identified as a 23 year old John F. Giblin already had a long criminal history. He was charged with armed robbery and kidnapping. Mr. Ainsworth, the manager, suffered a back injury when the robber’s car was wrecked in the chase and ended up at Sturdy Memorial Hospital. Mr. Ainsworth was coming up on a one year anniversary from another robbery in his bank on Oct. 11, 1956. Sounds like the plot of an action movie. Hmm, maybe Mr. Hanks could play Chief Bartley?
Necessity is the Mother of Invention
While automobiles had been around since the late 1800s, they were not as affordable to the average American until the 1920s when Henry Ford invented the assembly line, significantly cutting down the cost of labor. This increase in car ownership had a negative impact on local transportation and soon the trolley cars and trains that were prominent in the first quarter of the 20th century in Norton began disappearing. Early automobiles used a foot starter, and, like cars of today, there were brake and clutch pedals on the floor. How could one get around if they could not operate a vehicle due to physical limitations? Frank E. Foster, who comes from a family of inventors including his grandfather George Foster who patented the Foster rifle in 1858 that was used in the Civil War in 1861, invented a device in an automobile for a person who could not use their legs so that they could drive the car. In the August 30th, 1927 newspaper, there was an article featuring his invention which he demonstrated for the reporter. Using a six-cylinder car, he installed a lever on the dash that made the foot starter unnecessary. A steel lever under the steering wheel controlled the clutch as well as the brake. It took Frank 6 years to perfect the device, and, at the time of the newspaper article, was preparing to ship the automobile out to Cristobal, Panama Canal for a particular individual that required such a device. Frank did not patent his device as he thought it was too complicated for someone else to replicate. In later years, Frank Foster was the proprietor of the “Frank E. Foster MFG. Co - Automobile Controls for Cripples” on Willow St in Mansfield.
This picture shows Frank at his place in Mansfield circa 1943.
Trolley Cars
Starting in 1898, the main roads in Norton heading to Mansfield, Easton, Taunton and Attleboro were shared with Trolley cars. Powered by electric lines, the trolleys were a main source of transportation to not only get around town, but to take individuals into the neighboring towns, as very few people owned automobiles until the 1920s. The trolleys would go as far as the next town, and passengers would have to disembark and take another trolley to go to the next town. Norton had its own power station, a building that was on Powers St. (Can you guess how they came up with that name?) The Norton Historical Society has a number of pictures of trolleys traveling through the center of town, down Mansfield Ave, North Worcester St, or down on Taunton Ave. The trolley cars were housed in the Car Barn, which later became the Norton Center Garage where Walgreens now stands. The Trolleys were originally owned by private businesses, but when they went bankrupt, the towns of Attleboro, Mansfield, Taunton and Norton took them over becoming the N.T. & A. ST. R. R. Finally in 1928, rider-ship was way down, and the company finally folded. The last trolley ride to leave Norton was on July 22, 1928. The cars and equipment were sold off to try to recoup some of the money that the towns put into the business. Two of the trolley cars were sold to Bill Jette which he used for a restaurant called the Polo Diner on Taunton Ave. This picture shows a trolley car coming out of Taunton Avenue with the Wheaton Inn on the left and the Unitarian Church on the right.
Remembering the Wheaton Inn
In 1819, Judge Wheaton, the founder of Wheaton College, purchased a beautiful mansion on the corner of what is now known as East Main Street and Taunton Avenue where he and his family lived. After Judge Wheaton established the Wheaton Seminary in memory of his daughter Eliza Wheaton Strong in 1834, the mansion was used as a dormitory to house students before a permanent boarding house was built for the girls at the seminary. After the Wheatons left this home, the mansion was used as a hotel that was aptly named "The Mansion House", and then later became the Wheaton Inn in 1928. This building had four chimneys, with eight fireplaces, 4 downstairs and 4 upstairs, two dining rooms and a very large kitchen area. It was a wonderful place for families who came to town to visit their daughters at the Wheaton Seminary (which became Wheaton College in 1912), as well as The House in the Pines. A 1930 receipt showed a $5 charge for a night at the inn. The inn was also used by young boys who would come to Norton to court their Wheaton girlfriends, under the supervision, of course, of those running the inn. At one time, the Wheaton Inn also housed the Post Office and the Telephone Exchange.
In the early 1960s, Wheaton College closed the inn down as an eating and lodging establishment, as they wanted to use it once again as a dormitory. In an undated newspaper article regarding the closing, it was stated that the college was going to use the building "one way or another" because of its handsome architectural qualities and "not one of those alternatives includes tearing the building down". After one year of using it as a dormitory, they left it vacant until the trustees of Wheaton College agreed unanimously to do what they said they wouldn't do; tear it down. The Norton Historical Society, as well as alumni, experts on colonial architecture, and others disagreed with their decision. There were several offers of financial assistance to help preserve the building, but, nonetheless, the building was torn down in 1965 due to the "prohibitive" restoration costs of $100,000, to make way for landscaping. Today, while sitting at the center traffic light on Taunton Ave, you can see a stone base with the "Wheaton College" sign on top at the corner near the Post Office that marks the spot where that beautiful mansion, the home of Judge Laban Wheaton, businessman, congressman, and founder of the Wheaton Seminary, once stood.
Who was King Philip of Norton's King Philip's Cave?
Long before Norton became a town, and before the colonists settled in this area, Bristol County was inhabited by the Wampanoag, Massachusetts and Narragansett Tribes. The Wampanoag and Massachusetts were predominantly in the area that later became Norton. Prior to 1620, many of the indigenous Americans were wiped out by disease, most likely smallpox, and their tribes were dwindling. At the time of the Pilgrims' landing, the Wampanoag's sachem, Chief Massasoit, befriended the colonists and he was responsible for helping them survive their first winter. He brought them food and helped them plant crops that would survive in this soil, such as corn, beans and other vegetables. He was always friendly toward the Colonists. Chief Massasoit, who fathered 5 children, had two sons who succeeded him, Wamsutta and Metacomet. When Massasoit died in 1661, Wamsutta became the sachem, although he died only one year later in 1662, and Metacomet took over. Metacomet went by his English name that was given to him by the Plymouth court, "Philip" and when he became the chief of his tribe, he was called "King Philip".
In the summers, King Philip resided in the area that is now Raynham, but he would go on hunting and fishing expeditions near Winnecunnet Pond and stay in what we refer to now as King Philip's cave. His cave, which is still standing today, is in the Winnecunnet section of town off of Plain St. Over the years, many artifacts have been found in the Winnecunnet area including stone hatchets and arrow points. King Philip respected his father’s treaties with the colonists and maintained a friendly and supportive attitude with them. He was good friends with the Leonard family who settled in this area in 1669. The Leonards would repair King Philip's guns and supply him with iron and tools. When King Philip's War broke out in 1675, he gave his tribe strict orders "never to injure a Leonard", and it is believed that this friendship was one of the reasons Taunton (which Norton was a part of at the time) was spared. The war was started in 1675 as tensions between the Native Americans and the Colonists were rising due to the colonists expanding their land use, diminishing the game supply, and other tensions. King Philip was assassinated by John Alderman, a “praying indian”, (an indian who has converted to Christianity) in Bristol, Rhode Island in 1676.
Report of the School Committee for the Year 1848-1849
The town of Norton was broken down into eight school districts in the 1800s so that students did not have to travel too far to go to school. The school committee was made up of a group of 3 citizens who would visit and write-up a report on each school district yearly, which would then be read in town meetings and be printed in the Town Report. Attendance, tardiness, teacher effectiveness, environment, supplies, and even parents were openly discussed in each district’s report. The following are some of the observations and suggestions that were included in the 1848-1849 Report of the School Committee:
Absenteeism in District Number One (Center) was very high with a number of students missing at least a fifth of the days and some missing as many as 30 to 40 days in a 75 day term. The School Committee remarked that it was difficult for them to make good progress with this irregularity and noted that “the fault is mainly with the parents”. They also felt that the “evil of tardiness” would be resolved if they would accept the Bell that Laban Wheaton had so generously offered them. District Number 3 (Chartley) had a long experienced teacher for the winter session by the name of Mr. Draper Parmenter. Per the committee, “Mr. P. is an excellent specimen of the Old School of Teachers, but does not appear to have kept pace with the progress and improvements made in the mode of teaching and governing during the last fifteen years.” Ouch! In District Number 2, the school committee thought that the “vacation” of several weeks during the haying season should be discontinued. “Though the practice is well calculated to make farmers of the boys, and to fill the barn with hay rather than their heads with knowledge, we would recommend to the District its discontinuance.” Since farming was a common livelihood of many residents of this town, I can imagine THAT recommendation did not go over well. In District Number 6, the winter teacher just happened to also be one of the members of the School Committee. His review was, of course, very favorable, and was described as “one of our most skillful instructors” and stating that “his name is a guarantee for the excellence of his school”. Although, I must say, no details were given about what he had done at the school to warrant such high praise.
If you found these little snippets amusing, we have all the town reports at the schoolhouse dating back to the mid 1800s to the present, and many, like the one highlighted here, are very interesting to read.
District Number 5 Schoolhouse - Newcomb and North Washington St.
Unwanted Visitors
On Oct 3, 1924, the Mansfield news reported that there had been a large gathering near the St. Mary’s Church on Sunday afternoon, September 28th. At that time, St. Mary’s church, pictured here, was a small building at the corner of Taunton Ave and Barrows St. Several Mansfield people stopped to inquire about the gathering and found that it was an open-air meeting of the Ku Klux Klan. The crowd consisted of mostly young men from area towns including Brockton, Raynham, Taunton and Easton. There were no local residents at the gathering but Police Chief Ben Scanlon was there in case of any trouble. Luckily nothing happened. While we tend to associate the KKK with the South, there was a resurgence of this secret group in the 1920s known as the “Second Ku Klux Klan” centered in Worcester, MA. They not only opposed blacks, but also Jews and Southern European immigrants, especially Catholics, and would be known to burn crosses at Catholic churches to make their statements. Growing up in this town, we were told that America was a melting pot where everyone blended together to make our great country. It’s good to know that our Norton ancestors did not participate in this meeting.
A Family Affair
Recently, I was scanning a box of photographs that were on one of the tables in the basement of the schoolhouse as we are trying to digitize as much historical data as possible. I have a process where I scan the photograph, edit it to make it as clear as possible, and then rename the photo with whatever is written on the back. One of the photographs had a large group of people in it and I thought nothing of it until I was typing in the names - Martha, Elizabeth, Agnes, Helen, Hazel…Wait a minute! Those names sound familiar! My grandmother, Martha, had sisters with those names. Sure enough, as I went through the rest of the names, it was indeed members of the Richmond and Farquhar families and that WAS my grandmother in the picture. There was no date on the photograph, but one of my great uncles was wearing a uniform from World War I, or the Great War as it was referred to back then. Andrew Farquhar was in the picture with his wife, Marguerite Richmond Farquahar, and their first born son Donald who was born in July 1917. Andrew died on October 23, 1918 so this picture was taken sometime between July 1917 and October 1918. My grandmother was 17 or 18 years old in the picture, having been born on January 1, 1900, it was always very easy to figure out her age. No math needed. She later married John B. Scott, who was a selectman for the town of Norton for 27 years. John Scott Boulevard was named in his honor for his years of service to the town. One of the perks of working at the Norton Historical Society is having the pleasure of finding unexpected treasures such as a family picture taken over a hundred years ago that I might not have seen otherwise..
Pictured from left to right: Martha (my grandmother), unknown child, Elizabeth, Agnes, Hazel, Helen, and William Richmond along with Andy Farquhar, wife Marguerite, Mother Richmond with baby Donald Farquhar, Nellie, Emily, Jimmie, and George Richmond.