Article Archives: Articles - Franklin County (MA) News Archive
Revised list of topics
Revised list of topics
Revised Jan. 10, 2009
Welcome to the list of topics. You can call them subject headings or tags - they offer you another method of searching the Franklin County Publication Archive site. Interested in accident victims in Athol? Click on the tag below for Accident Victims and find a list of articles dating from Jan. 1, 1870 to August , 1875. Once on the page of articles, then use your Find command to pull up all articles mentioning Athol.
The search engine is being revamped by the wonderful and highly overworked Mik Muller. Once it is completed, you will be able to search for multiple subjects or terms by simply dividing terms with a comma in the search box. Example: Jones, Deerfield, Births That should give you a nice listing of all Joneses born in Deerfield during the time period mentioned above. Another way to search it will be to choose the terms Deerfield and Births from the drop down box and add Jones to the search box. Voila!
ACCIDENT VICTIMS Here reside the fatalities, not the regular every day deaths. Industrial accidents, drownings, death by fire, train, loose circus animals, accidental shootings, and freak accidents.
ACCIDENTS Much more run of the mill stuff here, and not even fatal, at least in most cases. Many of these articles concern runaway horses, falls and narrow escapes. ADVERTISING One of my favorite sections. Classified ads are also included here. AFRICAN AMERICANS / BLACKS Everything is covered here. Articles deal with slavery, racism, lynchings, and the like, but it is noteworthy to see that many articles are not racist in content.
AMUSEMENTSis kind of a catch-all, but primarily concerns fun stuff done for amusement - picnics, parades, croquet games, tableaux, taffy pulling, sleigh rides, masquerade parties, sociables, shadow pantomimes - you get the idea.
ANIMALS / REPTILES From the barnyard to the circus, to the hunted, to cats and dogs. Horses have their own category. I regret now that I did not create a subject heading for cruelty to animals, but those articles are also included here.
ARABS Exotic stuff here. Turkey, Palestine, harems, whirling dervishes, reflecting the fascination for the Middle East and all its customs and traditions in the 1870s. ARCHAEOLOGY is a mixed bag of accidental findings - like the dinosaur footprints in the Connecticut River bed in Turners Falls, to old burial sites of Native Americans [which were treated with appalling lack of respect]. "Humbugs" like the Cardiff giant are also included here, as well as accidental finding of treasure.
ARCHITECTURE / CONSTRUCTION Styles of buildings, as well as the building of houses, larger buildings, bridges, train tracks, etc.
ART contains the sublime, and the mundane. Famous statues and portraits are always being commissioned. It was also during this time period that art classes began to be required in the schools.
ASTRONOMY Rare astronomical events, aurora borealis, miracles, meteors, solar eclipses - and the more mundane, references to the sun, moon, stars, planets, etc.
ATHOL, MA BARBER / HAIR includes not only the establishment itself, but also all references to hair, wigs, bald heads, medicine to grow hair, hair dyes, etc. BARS (DRINKING ESTABLISHMENTS) Pretty much portrayed as den of iniquities. The Gazette & Courier is very much pro temperance.
BERNARDSTON, MA BEVERAGES Anything drinkable. Includes water, milk, soda, coffee, tea, cider, as well as beer, liquor, etc.
BICYCLES AND BICYCLING - The craze hasn’t hit yet. When it does, though, we’re on top of it!
BIRDS All kinds of birds, many articles related to hunting. Hen stories abound as well, with some hens laying eggs that are 8 inches wide! [I pity the poor bird]. BIRTH CONTROL A really sad section, since birth control in this time period only relates to mothers killing their newborns, to botched illegal abortions, etc. BIRTHS Are prolific. Many names, usually only of the proud father, are repeated each year. Of course the matching obituaries contain many of these infants as well. All cases of multiple births worldwide are listed.
CHILDREN - They’re everywhere of course - families are huge, 15 children being a normal size. But the youth culture has not taken hold - one mostly hears about children having accidents or dying, or around Christmas time, or in school.
CHINA AND CHINESE None locally as yet, but plenty of interest in the national news.
CIRCUS - One of my favorite sections. The hype, the sound, the fun! The ads are exceptional.
CLUBS There are clubs for everything; they serve a major community function. Remember, no TV’s, no radios, etc.
CONNECTICUT RIVER - The important one. All others are in one section entitled RIVERS.
CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES - Hasn’t dawned on them too much, even though they are familiar with Thoreau’s work. CONTESTS Base ball games (we call ’em baseball) becoming popular. Bets and wagers always a part of our society. We’ve got walking contests, horse races, tobacco stripping contests, girls splitting hard wood slabs, which hen can lay the biggest egg, who can grow the tallest corn stalk, etc.
COURTS One of the largest sections. Look here for all criminal activity. COURTSHIP - The path of true love did not run smoothly, even in the old days. Poems and stories abound, even personal ads (very high-toned ones, of course). Murders and scandals are not uncommon, as well. CRIME - Ah crime! There’s some of everything here, some of it salacious, much of it fines for drunkenness. CRIMINALS - Not everyone who commits a crime is a criminal. I reserved this area for people like serial poisoners, bank robbers, desperados, outlaws [like Red-Handed Dick and Henry Berry Lowery].
CULTS - Oh yes, they existed back then, and were just as troublesome. Read about Adventists, proponents of Free Loveism, Millerism, the Shakers, the Christian Israelites, the Nazarites, and the Howling Dervishes [Hmm, great name for a rock band]. CURIOSITIES AND WONDERS is a great catchall section, and one of my favorites [of course]. Here you will read about human and animal abnormalities - a youth with three legs and four feet, a lizard living in a man’s stomach, a three horned and three eyed ox, a living skeleton, a four legged chicken - well, you get the idea ;-). CUTLERY AND CUTLERY TRADE - Very important to Greenfield and Turners Falls history.
DANCE - Many kinds of dancing available for the young and the old. From Balls to Belly Dancers.
DEERFIELD, MA DISASTERS- We always have them. However, they don’t have the immediacy that they do nowadays in today’s news. Read about the great Chicago fire of 1871, the great Boston fire of 1872, shipwrecks, earthquakes, floods and explosions.
DISEASES - We’ve got a million of ’em. DIVORCE - the Court makes you jump through hoops, wait years, etc., but divorces do happen.
DREAMS AND SLEEP - Sleep and sleep disorders also included here. DRUG ABUSE - From sulphuric ether, to tobacco, chloral, opium and laudanum.
ECONOMICS - Not one of my favorite subjects, but you will find here any articles about money, banks, every day economics, etc. EDUCATION - a special place for UMass, then the Agricultural College.
EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION - New England still pretty unhomogenous, but there are sections about German, Chinese and Irish migrations. ENGLISH (AND ENGLAND) - Still a strong connection to the homeland.
EXPLORERS - A great time period for exploration. We have Dr. Livingston, Arctic explorers, and more.
EYE - Blindness, accidents, eyeglasses, sore eyes, etc.
FAIRS - held bout once a week - the favorite moneymaker of the women’s church groups. Then there’s the County Fairs, which are covered as thoroughly as possible.
FAMILY - Family reunions, loving families, insane families, incest, and more. Very useful for genealogists.
FARMERS AND FARMING - A hot topic in the 19th century. Also covers tobacco and fertilizers. FASHION - A fun section. Sunbonnets, French kid gloves, waterproof dress goods, garters, corsets, wigs, demi-trains, false insteps, shawls, plaid poplins, striped stockings, chignons, Chinese grass cloth, kilting, etc.
FIRES - There are so many, and so few ways to put them out, that it’s a wonder that any buildings survived the 19th century at all. I had to be very exclusive, and only cover those fires of local and international interest.
FISHES AND FISHING - You can get a barrel of oysters delivered right to your door, andthey are "the" Sunday breakfast.
FOOD - For the gourmet and the every day eater. This section is large and all inclusive. Includes some recipes and all restaurant ads.
FREEMASONRY - A group deserving of their own section. FRENCH - Many influences here, from the Mansard or "French" roofs, stationary, corsets, pottery, jewelry, the Franco-Prussian War, etc. FURNITURE - Wooden items, [and what wood! Black walnut, solid ash, walnut, chestnut] beds and sofas [occasionally covered with haircloth], and some interesting articles about Gardner, Mass., the "chair capital of the world".
GAMBLING - One of the oldest vices. Chinese gambling houses, dog-pits, bets, every day chance taking.
GANGS - Not the Bloods and the Crips, but the homegrown Tough End boys, roughs and rowdies, brigands and juvenile delinquents.
GARBAGE - Remember that this is pre-plastic (in most respects) and that the necessity for community trash dumps is not an issue yet. Most, or all farmers, keep an iron and glass scrap heap somewhere in the back forty - a practice which still occurs today. Some articles do concern garbage - rubbish littering the streets, a city without sewers, ash barrels, etc.
GAYS - ah, this is a tough but rewarding section, where I’ve had to "read between the lines" quite a bit. Included here are men who dressed as women, and women who dressed as men [with the understanding that, especially in women’s cases, this could have been done for economic and other reasons]. Famous figures like Oscar Wilde, Susan B. Anthony and Anna Dickinson are the meat and potatoes of this section. GEOGRAPHY - one of the more recent additions, includes topographical surveys, maps, tourist type articles, etc.
GERMANS - Nice to see this ethnic group portrayed in such a positive light. Local Germans are hard working, athletic, happy, beer drinkers who do not get drunk, like to compete in gymnastic contests, love to dance, etc.
GLASS - a particular favorite of mine, since I dig for, and collect old glass embossed bottles. Bottles, window glass, demi-johns, looking glasses, etc. As time allows, I will scan in some of my "dug" antique bottles for your viewing pleasure. GOVERNMENT - usually Presidents, Congress, and taxes, new states and territories. Many other government related articles will be found under POLITICS.
GYPSIES - always a few passing through, telling fortunes, trading horses, stealing chickens, and kidnapping local children.
HAMPSHIRE & HAMPDEN COUNTIES (MA) A catch all section for all those towns not privileged to be in Franklin County, and yet covered fairly thoroughly here. So look for articles on Amherst, Northampton, and the Massachusetts Agricultural College (the earlier name of the University of Massachusetts).
HANDICAPPED - the blind, the deaf, the lame, the insane - all find a home here. Cork legs, poor houses and alms-houses, deformed infants, hunchbacks, etc. HAWLEY (MA)
HERITAGE ACTIVITIES - will come into their own a little later. For now, centennial celebrations are included here.
HISPANICS - another catchall heading. Latin American activities, as well as Spanish Peninsular items. This subject heading will probably be combined with LATIN AMERICA eventually.
HISTORY - well, it’s all history to us, right? But included here are items which were of historic interest to the inhabitants of the 1870’s - the early days of Greenfield, Deerfield, and Montague; the founding of historical organizations, like the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, and genealogical family histories.
HOLIDAYS - not much different from today’s celebrations. Of course the 4th of July was a maelstrom of fireworks and severed limbs, and Christmas advertising did not occur untilthe two issues before Dec. 25th. Sabbath Schools all had their holiday celebrations, complete with Christmas trees and a song fest, and Valentine’s Day had already started its decline into ignorant and joke cards. Washington’s birthday, All Fool’s Day, May Day, Thanksgiving, New Year’s Day, and Memorial Day are all represented. No sign of Halloween yet. HOOSAC TUNNEL (MA) is rapidly nearing completion. Read about the 19th century version of the "Big Dig". HORSES - I find this section absolutely fascinating. The vital importance of horses for all transportation needs is clearly shown, especially during the "Horse Disease"(Epizootic) of 1872. You either rassled up an oxen or goat, or you walked - in those places not accessible by train, of course.
HOTELS - There’s not that many of them, but they know how to do it up in style, and are a vital part of the town’s culture. This is the era when enormous resort hotels are springing up, and the concept of vacations are taking hold in the middle and upper classes. HOUSEHOLDS is a broad subject; I mainly went by the rule of thumb of what occurred inside a dwelling. Houses were the domain of women, and so items made specifically for women, like sewing machines, find a home here. Hints on cookery and thrift, as well as kitchen appliances also find a home here ;-). Ah yes, the world of washing, ironing, canning, and child rearing.
HUNGARIANS - Why the Hungarians, you say? Well, this is one of those personal interest type headings, since I am half Hungarian.
ICE - a big business, back in the days of pre-refrigeration. Ice was "harvested" from local lakes, and kept cool in warehouses, to be sold in blocks throughout the warm months. Also included here are frozen over rivers and ponds, ice skating, and ice used for drinks and preserving food.
To search for a particular subject term, click on the highlighted link containing that term at the bottom of the article. For example, if you are seeking more articles about animals, click on the highlighted link which says Animals/Reptiles/Amphibians.
Article Archives: Articles: Curiosities and Wonders
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 20, 1875
Foreign
The oldest tree in the world is said to be a bo tree at Anuradhapura in Ceylon, which was planted b.c. 288. It is so decrepid [sic] with age that it would have blown down long ago were it not for a strong wall encircling the trunk and pillars supporting all the main branches. Every leaf that falls from the tree is picked up with pious care by the Buddhist priests and preserved in a holy part of their temple. The leaves are thence sold to the people as a souvereign panacea for their sins.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 13, 1875
News about home: Greenfield items
Greenfield - The bricklayers have finished their work at the Reservoir dam, and there is now only a little cleaning up to do before filling the pond. That was a bad break in the main pipe a week ago yesterday. It was right in the Barton brook, and those who saw it say that a large volume of water was thrown into the air, 25 or 30 ft., making a fountain on a grand and magnificent scale.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 6, 1875
News about home: Greenfield items
(Greenfield) The biggest thing in the way of cucumbers has been raised by John Holton of Gill. He brought two into town Sat., one measuring 5 ft. and the other 5 ft. and 8 inches in length. They grew in coils, like snakes. The shorter one can be seen in Moody’s window.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 30, 1875
What savages think of twins
In Africa according to Dr. Robert Brown ("Races of Mankind") the birth of twins is commonly regarded as an evil omen. No one, except the twins themselves and their nearest relatives, is allowed to enter the hut in which they first saw light. The children are not to play with other children, and even the utensils of the hut are not permitted to be used by any one else.
The mother is not allowed to talk to any one not belonging to her own family. If the children both live till the end of the 6th year, it is supposed that Nature has accommodated herself to their existence, and they are thenceforth admitted to association with their fellows. Nor is this abomination of twin births restricted to Africa.
In the island of Bali, near Java, a woman who is so unfortunate as to bear twins is obliged, along with her husband, to live for a month at the sea shore or among the tombs, until she is purified. The Khasias of Hindostan consider that to have twins assimilates the mother to the lower animals, and one of them is frequently put to death.
An exactly similar belief prevails among some of the native tribes of Vancouver Island. Among the Ainos, one of the twins is always killed, and in Arebo in Guinea, both the twins and the mother are put to death (Popular Science Monthly).
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 30, 1875
Northfield
W.J. Beaman, an artist from Westminster, is painting fine pictures from the natural scenery, which is so largely at command of an artist's eye.
[It appears that a relation of W.J., named Gamaliel Waldo Beaman, also an artist, so loved the Northfield countryside, that he took up residence with a mountain hermit there. See http://whitemountain...graphies/bio_gwb.htm ].
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 30, 1875
News of the week
Elopement runs in the Wilhite family of Texas County, Mo. Sallie Wilhite ran away some years ago with her brother-in-law, Aaron Davis; he, however, returned to his wife, and she married a Mr. Neely, who eloped and left her. Two years ago, her cousin Ezekiel, ran away with a Mrs. Winland, both parties leaving families. Last month Aaron Davis's son Marion, a boy of 19, ran away with his brother's sister, a woman of 30, and to complete matters, his father has again eloped with his sister-in-law Sallie.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 30, 1875
News of the week
Tom Thumb has a rival in Admiral Tom Trump, a Dutchman of 26, who is 6 inches shorter than the American dwarf and weighs but 26 pounds. He is very intelligent, and speaks 5 languages fluently, English, French, Dutch, German and Italian.
[See more in the Aug. 23, 1875 article entitled "A rival of Tom Thumb" in the New York Times Online Archives].
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 16, 1875
News about home: Greenfield items
This must certainly be a year of plenty. Patrick Kelliher has shown us an ear of corn - or rather ears, for there are 7 of them enclosed in one husk - that is quite a curiosity.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 16, 1875
A servant girl
A servant girl at Owosco, Mich. was surprised and not at all pleased the other day on breaking an egg for some culinary purposes, to discover within a live snake about the length of one of the fingers. It adhered to the shell but was quick and lively. The shell was without flaw.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 16, 1875
A frog
A frog, nearly as large as a cow’s head has made its appearance near Montreal, Canada. Its croaking is as loud as the bark of a dog, and when pursued it makes for deep water and remains perfectly quiet for a few days and nights. It is probably a remote relative of the sea serpent.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 16, 1875
Find in Greece
In clearing away the refuse from the ancient silver mines of Laurium, in Greece, a large number of seeds were found, unknown to modern science, but described in the writings of Pliny. The seeds took root, budded and blossomed, bearing beautiful yellow flowers, after a burial of at least 1500 years.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 9, 1875
Northfield Farms
Samuel Alexander, who died here on Wed, aged 88 years, lived throughout his long life in the same house in which he was born, and was in the habit of eating his Thanksgiving dinner in the same room. His father, who lived to be 92 years of age, also dwelt before him in the same house from the time of his marriage, a century ago. Mr. Alexander was a soldier of the war of 1812, and the oldest member of Harmony Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons. He retained his faculties till the last, and ate dinner at the table with the family the day of his death.
A youth walking several miles to a certain place, became wearied while passing across a pasture and seated himself a few moments to rest on a mound, when he fell asleep. He was aroused by something heavy striking his chest, and opened his eyes to see a colt’s hoofs just disappearing over his head. He had not seen the animal who was somewhere quietly feeding, but being suddenly startled ran upon him unawares. He felt the blow quite severely several days.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 9, 1875
A big tree for the Centennial
California papers mention the fact that a Mr. Vivian is preparing a large piece of one of the Tulare County big trees to exhibit at the Centennial next year. The piece of timber selected is 16 ft. long and 21 ft. in diameter at one end and 19 at the other. The heart of this will be taken out, leaving only about one ft. of the body of the tree attached to the shell or bark. It is necessary to divide it into a number of parts in order to allow it to pass through the numerous tunnels between California and Philadelphia.
The 8 parts will weigh between 30,000 and 40,000 pounds, and will require 2 cars for transportation. One solid foot of this tree weighs 72 lbs., being 10 lbs. heavier than so much water. The timber was taken out of the "General Lee", a tree 275 ft. high. It contained over 200,000 ft. of lumber, besides, probably, about 200 cords of wood. The "General Grant", a much larger brother tree than the "General Lee", and the largest int he world growing in the same grove, is left standing.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 2, 1875
Hartford
Hartford is the happy possessor of one of those exceedingly rare natural curiosities - a singing mouse. The little vocalist is located in the pantry of one of Mrs. Colt's houses on Charter Oak Avenue, occupied by George L. Augur, and can be heard almost any eve. It is very tame, will allow a person to approach within a foot of it before ceasing its song, and is scarcely a third larger than the ordinary house mouse.
The music of the little songster is very sweet, at times resembling the soft dripping of water, and again sounding like the twittering of a young bird. Mr. Augur entrapped one of these little musicians while a resident of Springfield, but afterward lost it while exhibiting it one eve. to a party of visitors.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 2, 1875
Curious freak of lightning
During the thunder storm Thurs., the lightning played a queer freak in Clinton, Me. Three ladies sought refuge during the rain in a house. The house was struck, thereupon the bolt stove a chair to pieces, then removed a bonnet from one lady's head, took the shawl from the shoulders of another, then darted to the hand of a third (Mrs. Francis Low), thence to her foot, then passed up her leg, then encircled her body like a hoop, coloring and tearing her clothing, thence shooting into the corner post of the house, shivering it to pieces, then into the cellar and thence out of doors into a hogshead of water, and finally disappeared by passing into the ground.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, July 26, 1875
News about home: Greenfield items
We thought we had chronicled last week, the biggest head of lettuce ever grown, but H.C. Haskell of Great River goes it one better. His single head has a circumference of 5 feet, 10 inches - large enough to have kept John Rogers’ family in salad for a month.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, July 26, 1875
Mrs. Mary Abbott
Mrs. Mary Abbott of Smyrna, Del. has been led a blushing bride to the altar 7 times. She has been Miss Williams, Mrs. Traux, Mrs. Farrow, Mrs. Riggs, Mrs. Wallace, Mrs. Berry, Mrs. Pratt and now Mrs. Abbott, and has married a widower every time but one, and has reared numerous step children for her various husbands, but has never had children of her own.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, July 19, 1875
News of the week
A current of terribly hot air passed over Centralia, Ill. recently, which drove workmen from the fields, and people rushed from their houses, supposing they were on fire. [ I don't know - coal mining since its incorporation as a town, a great disaster in the mines in 1947 when 111 miners died - and of course its counterpart in weirdness, Centralia, PA. Check it out at Wikipedia].