Tewksbury Gazette Tewksbury Historical Society Newsletter P.O. Box 522 Volume 15, Spring 2015 Tewksbury, MA 01876 EMAIL: tewksburyhistoricalsociety@msn.com Website - www.tewksburyhistoricalsociety.org The Society is located at the Local History Room of the Tewksbury Public Library every 2 nd and 4 th Tuesday of the month. Parchment Document about Tewksbury Revolutionary War Veterans Is Being Preserved in Lowell A lot of Tewksbury, Chelmsford, and Dracut history now belongs to Lowell. The Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust is preserving Tewksbury history because they can with help from those towns! This story really started in 1913 when Sarah Swan Griffin, a noted Lowell historian created a list of people from what is today Lowell, who fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill. The veterans on her Lowell list all lived in those towns during the war. Four parts of Tewksbury voted at Town Meeting to annex itself with the newly incorporated Lowell. First on April 9, 1832, a petition was voted by 132 voters to annex with Lowell. This part was called Tewksbury's Belvidere Village. It was followed by two more votes at Town Meeting in 1874, 1888, and finally in 1906. Lowell grew and Tewksbury shrank. If you look at the 1831 map of Tewksbury, you will see that Belvidere Village was the population center of Tewksbury. Harold S. Patten wrote in his 1964 book that the people from Belvidere took wagons, carts, and any horse they could to go to the Brown Tavern before walking across the street to Town Hall. The Brown Tavern served up some beverages that livened up their spirits and made for a raucous Town Meeting. They packed the meeting with Belvidere people to win annexation of Belvidere to Lowell. They had quite a parade back to their new, larger town of Lowell. The 4th vote included part of Clark Road where a Lt. Thomas Clark lived. He lived near the Powwow Oak and led the 2 nd Tewksbury Southeast Militia Company to Concord on April 19, 1775. Clark did not fight in the Battle of Bunker Hill. Last year a parchment list was found among papers owned by the Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust. Rita O'Brien Dee, through Marie Sweeney, brought the word to a Board meeting that Jane Calvin needed help in conserving this list. I talked with Marie and recognized the list as one done by Sarah Swan Griffin. I met with Jane Calvin and produced an identical list of Tewksbury Veterans from Griffin's 1913 book. Calvin had the author of the parchment list. But another problem surfaced, the parchment list was in need of conservation. The Line-of-March Committee is raising funds for placement of 9 memorial granite stones that mark the way of the Tewksbury Militia and Minutemen Companies march from Tewksbury Common to Concord. With the help of the Greater Lowell Community Foundation's Wish Grant Program, $900.00 was raised from generous donors and the Tewksbury Historical Society. The Tewksbury Library added funding and all goes to conserve the parchment. The Tewksbury Library will receive a framed high quality, digital copy. This will hang proudly in the Tewksbury Library. The Society s L-O-M Program will use the image on a L-O-M stone on Chandler Street. Lt. Clark's role in the Battle of Lexington/Concord will be on a plaque shared with Griffin's list on a
granite stone in today's Lowell Belvidere Village on Clark Road. This proves Tewksbury's history is shared with Concord, Charlestown, Lincoln, Lowell and Lexington. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1:00pm Muster at Tewksbury Library Parking lot. Take the Patriotic Pledge and "March!" Join us on Sunday, APRIL 19, 2015 1:30pm Re-enact the march of 100 Tewksbury Southeast Militias and the West Minuteman Company along the actual route they took out of Tewksbury to the Battle of Lexington-Concord. Walk I mile on Chandler Street and 1 mile back to the Library parking lot and you have done 1/5 of the march our men did that day April 19, 1775! Donations to people marching will put in the L-O-M Trust Fund. The Fund's interest will go to support summer maintenance and insurance for the L-O-M stones. March the real Militia route to honor these men who made world history! Free costumes (optional) loaned to students at Tewksbury Library on April 18 th, 1:00 4:00pm for a refundable deposit. A few costumes for adults. More information at the Enterprise Bank, 1120 Main Street; Lowell Five Bank, 1775 Main Street; Salem Five Bank; 2171 Main Street. Financial donor sheets, costume sheets, and informational flyer available at the Banks. If it rain on April 19 th, 2015? March with your family when it is sunny. Optional - March the Battle Road Trail at the Minuteman National Historic Park in Lincoln, Concord, and Lexington and remember Tewksbury men battled the British with valor on Battle Road. ~~~~~~~~~~~ "Proud Stories about Tewksbury's Revolutionary War Veterans" By David E. Marcus April 22 nd, 2015 7:00pm 8:30pm Tewksbury Library In collaboration with the Tewksbury Public Library Speakers Series / Free Admission - Public Invited Call Robert Hayes (978-640-4490, ext. 205) or email him at the library (rhayes@mvlc.org) to reserve a seat for this informative program
Swinging Our Way to Victory: The Music of the World War II Era featuring Kevin Comtois, May 15, 2015, at 7:00pm Tewksbury Senior Center The "Music of the World War II Era" will focus on individual pieces of music, lyrics & the people who created them and their relationship to World War II. This presentation includes recorded music, film clips and still images. The Society will have a brief social time after the program with refreshments and the Society Store will offer historical books and pictures for sale. Tickets price: $8.00 for non-members, $7.00 for Society members. Tickets are on sale at the Library on the 2 nd and 4 th Tuesday of each month in the Local History Room. Tickets may be reserved by emailing:www.tewksburyhistoricalsociety@msn.com and may be picked up and paid for at the "Will Call" table that night. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Line-of-March Program: Last Spring the Committee working on this historic, memorial and educational program met with the Tewksbury Historic Commission. We presented the progress on the program and explained the goals. We did receive their endorsement. The 9 granite posts will have the same engraved heading with a different theme on each post plus pictures. You will be able to read the various Tewksbury Revolutionary War stories on your smart phone. Those without smart phones will be able to follow the history on this historic walk up East Street to Lee Street and right on Chandler Street to the Billerica with a brochure. The committee walked the route (2.4 miles) to choose sites for the posts. The walk to the end of the sidewalks was 1.5 miles from the center of town. That is followed by.9 mile to the Tewksbury - Billerica Town Line. A visit with the Town Selectmen for permission to put the posts on Town property is to be held later this year. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Archive Committee: Donations of artifacts to date are as follows: Richard Dewing donated numerous town reports and several copies of "Yea Town Book." Louise and David Hunt donated photocopies of the Lowell Currier Citizen, Oct. 1910, Tewksbury Airport and Country Club Postcards, several phone books, a tile hand-painted by Margirie Whitting, several other pamphlets and a cookbook. Hum Neville donated a large collection of pictures from the Anderson Family who owned a dairy farm in West Tewksbury. Tom King donated two pictures of Jackson T. Dawson's gravesite in Andover, a printed picture of Adelbert Ames and some shipping manifests from the Tewksbury Center Station given to him by Barbara Collins. Edward Goddard donated a photograph of the International Harvester building on 933 Andover Street. Edward Collins donated a deed of Jeremiah Patten from 1814. Louise Gearty donated a 1950-1951 Football Team Picture and a 1994 TMHS Athletic Hall of Fame Brochure.
2014-2015 Annual Fund Drive - Memorial donations In Memory of Richard Drew Sr. by Tippy and Maxine Burgess In Memory of Margaret Drew by Tippy and Maxine Burgess In Memory Donna Gardner by Tippy and Maxine Burgess In Memory of Sharon Yest by Tippy and Maxine Burgess In Memory of Glen Roberts by Tippy and Maxine Burgess In Memory of Georgia Ruckledge by Thomas Ruckledge In Memory of Retired Tewksbury Deputy Chief William D. Layne by Cherl Accardi In Memory of Robert Bush by Cherl Accardi In Memory of Louise Hunt by Helen and Robert Hunter In Memory of Louise Hunt by David E. Marcus In Memory of Louise Hunt by Ken and Sandra Mouser In Memory of Louise Hunt by Duncan Hazel In Memory of Evelyn R. Hazel by Duncan Hazel In Memory of Louise Hunt by Jane Beckwith In Memory of Louise Hunt by Thomas King In Memory of Louise Hunt by Alice Golen In Memory of Louise Hunt by Charles and James Fenton In Memory of Louise Hunt by Carole Keenan 2014-2015 Annual Fund Drive Donations Mary and Eleanor Beattie Mary and Ralph Bennett Maxine and Tippy Burgess Harold and Marion Clark John Denehy Karen Favreau William Fullerton Alice Golen Michelle and Dave Jelley John Deputat David E. Marcus Eileen McDonagh Betty and James Miceli James and Jean Miceli Karen Motyka Cynthia Mulno Doug Sears
William Wyatt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Line-of-March Donors Major Donors Enterprise Bank Greater Lowell Community Foundation Lowell 5 Bank Lowell Heritage Partnership David E. Marcus Wamesit Lanes Donors: Demoulas Markets Alice Golen Anonymous Donor Griffin Greenhouse Supplies Thomas King Denise Martin in honor of Dennis Martin O.M.I Noviate Fathers Merrimack Valley Car Club Salem 5 Bank Tauk's World of Giving Matching Grant Benefactors: Stephen DeFrancesco Barbara Chandler Joan Dunlevy Karen Favreau Karin Hadden George Jordan Eileen McDonagh Doris McPhail Thomas Quintilani Martha Spalding The Tewksbury Gazette was the name of the first newspaper in Tewksbury. We have adopted that name for the name of our newsletter.
2014-2015 Tewksbury Historical Society Officers: Interim President David E. Marcus Vice President - Doug Sears Treasurer - Kenneth Mouser Recording Secretary Christina Rohrbacher Interim Corresponding Secretary - Sandra Mouser Executive Board: Barbara Chandler, Bill Daniels, Rita O'Brian Dee, Karen Favreau, Duncan Hazel, Robert Hunter, David E. Marcus, Marti Spalding, and Kim Zunino ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Miscellaneous: Volunteers are always needed from the membership. Email or write us about volunteering. Someone will get back to you. We are looking for a new Treasurer, Corresponding Secretary, President, and one Board Member. It is time to nominate someone from the membership for consideration as a Samuel Hunt Award. This is given to members for their volunteer spirit in line with our mission. Don't forget to renew your membership on the month you originally joined. See the mailing label for your renewal date. The Line-of-March (L-O-M) is still looking for donations to support our new Memorial Stones that will be placed along East Street, Lee Street and Chandler Street to the Billerica Line. Please make check out to L-O-M/Tewksbury Historical Society. Every little bit helps. It is the 100 th Anniversary of World War I. If you personally knew of anyone who served or have any artifacts or photographs, could you contact us? We would like to put together a historical exhibit later this year. Correction: Eileen McDonagh was left off the Life Membership list in the Winter Gazette. Our apologies to our long serving Recording Secretary who recently retired from her post.