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HARBINGER
NE WS L E T T E R OF T HE WE S T P OR T HI S T OR I C AL S OC I E T Y www.wpthistory.org
po box n188, westport, ma 02790-1203, westporthistory@westporthistory.net
Fall 2012, vol.45, no.3 Letter from the Director
I am delighted to announce that, after many months of planning, Phase I of
stabilization work has commenced at the Handy House. This phase will address issues
of foundations, sills, re-shingling, and window repair. I anticipate that this work will
reveal more about the 300-year history of the house and I hope to be able to share
these discoveries with you during the next few months. It has been wonderful to
see our vision for the Handy House begin to take shape this summer and to welcome
traditional craftspeople and the community to the property. Archaeology at the
Handy House continues to uncover some fascinating features, and to provide some
extraordinary hands-on learning experiences for some budding or would-be archaeol-
ogists in the community. We are especially grateful to Historic New England for a
grant to support archaeology at the Handy House.
Over the summer many of you were able to visit our exhibition Room to Learn:
Westports One-Room School houses, which certainly provoked some interesting
reminiscences. The exhibition is ongoing and is open Monday and Wednesday 10 to 4.
Please look out for our annual appeal letter. Our annual appeal has particular urgency
this year, and our goal to raise $20,000 is both realistic and necessary to meet our
operating budget. The annual operating budget of the Society has grown with our
increased responsibilities and the continued expansion of our role in the community
including Second Saturdays at the Handy House, public archaeology days,
education programs and caring for our growing collection. As with all non-profits,
funds for operations must be raised largely from memberships and from our Annual
Appeal. Thank you in advance for your support!
Jenny ONeill
1
THE

IMAGE COURTESY OF THE NEW BEDFORD WHALING MUSEUM


The Westport Historical Society
gratefully acknowledges the special
contribution and support by:
EVEN KEEL REALTY, INC.
A full service real estate office
803 Main Road, Westport
508-636-0099
www.evenkeelrealty.com

GRAYS DAILY GRIND &
GRAYS GRIST MILL
638 Adamsville Road, Westport
508-636-6075
www.graysdailygrind.com
www.graysgristmill.com
These two Westport businesses
have underwritten the printing
costs of the upcoming Westport
Historical Society brochure.
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Room to Learn:
Westports One-room Schoolhouses
on exhibit now
Al Smith demonstrated Native American
corn grinding at a recent WHS event.
The Westport Historical Society
BOARD MEMBERS
President: Tony Connors
Vice President: Betty Slade
Second Vice President: Yvonne Barr
Treasurer: Betty Slade
Assistant Treasurer: Albert Lees III
Clerk: Charley Appleton
Nicholas Christ
Carol Coutinho
Ed Howe
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Jenny ONeill
BOOK KEEPER
Nancy Andersen
The Harbinger is published by the Westport
Historical Society, a 501(c)(3) non profit
organization. Founded in 1964, its mission
is to collect, preserve and document
the material culture of Westport; and to
educate and connect the residents of the area
to their heritage through public programs,
exhibits, publications and research.
25 Drift Road, Westport, MA
website www.wpthistory.org
phone 508-636-6011
email westporthistory@westporthistory.net
Find us on Facebook!
2
Our Second Saturdays at the Handy
House brought traditional craftsmen
to the property, including Michael
Burrey who demonstrated pit sawing,
Michael Dyer, shingle making, and
Tony Millham, blacksmith.
To celebrate the Towns 225th anniver-
sary, Tony Connors, President of the
Historical Society, presented a framed
copy of the 1787 charter of incorporation
of Westport to the selectmen.
Ruth and Abby, the 1850s ladies,
enjoyed a picnic at the Handy House
and entertained visitors with their stories
about life in the 19th century.
In June Paul Pannoni recounted the
stories of a number of Civil War veterans
from Westport, and presented some of the
research that he and Dawn Manchester
have completed to date on Westports
Civil War veterans.
Cukie Macomber demonstrated the
mysterious technique of dowsing.
Visitors admire a model of the Handy
House made by Armand Lavoie.
RECENT WHS EVENTS
3
The Westport Historical Society has created
the quintessential Westport perpetual
calendar to mark the 225th anniversary of
the incorporation of the Town. Filled with
significant and unusual historical facts
and beautifully illustrated with objects and
images from the collection of the Westport
Historical Society, this calendar is designed
to be used over multiple years to record
important anniversaries.
The calendar includes the curious as well
as the beautiful. It includes images of milk
bottles from Tripps Dairy, a bottle of sand
from Horseneck Beach before the 1938
hurricane, paintings of Westport scenes
by Mary Hicks Brown and Clifford Ashley
and a carving by Helen E. Ellis. Every
object is linked to Westport.
The calendar is a special keepsake which
reflects the significant role that the
Westport Historical Society plays
in the preservation of our history.
It is the perfect way to celebrate
225 years and to help the Society
raise funds so that we can
continue to fulfill our mission.
The calendar is on sale for $15.00
at the Westport Historical Society,
Lees Market, Partners Village Store
and A.S. Deams. All proceeds benefit the
Westport Historical Society.
This project is supported by the Westport
Cultural Council through a grant from the
Helen E. Ellis Charitable Trust administered
by Bank of America.
The Holidays are almost upon us!
The Handy House Cookbook and the
perpetual calendar make wonderful gifts!
Look for us at Lees Market on Saturdays
10 -2. Both the Handy House Cookbook
and perpetual calendar will be available
for purchase.
perpetual calendar

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Westports 225th anniversary
1787-2012
RECENT WHS EVENTS
Glenda Taber Broadbent, a lifetime
resident of Westport Point, daughter
of the late Andrew Taber, and wife of
Walter Broadbent from Sanford Road,
was honored with a lifetime achievement
award for her extensive work in record-
ing the history of Westport Point and
the Methodist Church. Senator Michael
Rodrigues presented her with a citation
from the Massachusetts Senate. Over 80
people attended the award ceremony and
applauded her contribution to the history
of Westport.
Archaeology day in October provided
many opportunities to learn about and
experience hands-on archaeology.
Secession in Westport!
4
We all learned the word secession in
school, and probably associated it with
South Carolinas departure from the
Union in late 1860. But the concept is
not just about civil war, or specifically
related to states. To secede is to with-
draw formally from membership in
an organization, association, or alliance.
And in the 1920s, the Westport Harbor
section made two serious attempts to
separate from the rest of the town, and
form a new town called Acoaxet.
Geography played a big part in this
affair. Back when Westport was part of
Dartmouth, the land in question had
been claimed by Plymouth Colony, but
Rhode Islands 1663 royal charter speci-
fied its eastern border as three English
miles to the east and north-east of the
most eastern and north-eastern parts of
Narragansett Bay. Since no one could
agree whether the Sakonnet River was
part of Narragansett Bay, both Massa-
chusetts and Rhode Island contested
the border. In the 1740s Rhode Island
appealed to the kingand the king
agreed. The newly drawn line separating
the two colonies ran through Adamsville
and straight to the sea, isolating a part of
Dartmouth from Little Compton and Ti-
verton, and resulting in the odd fact that
Acoaxet could only be reached by going
through Rhode Island. Although the
state borders were again revised in 1861,
well after Westport had separated from
Dartmouth, the geographical peculiarity
remained.
Westport Harbor developed in the late
19th century as a summer colony.
By 1920, when Westports population
exceeded 3,000, the Harbor could claim
only 127 year-round residents and 33
registered voters, although the Harbor
population more than doubled in the
summer, as wealthy Fall River families
filled the hotels and seaside cottages. The
best known of the summer residents was
Earl P. Charlton who had made a fortune
by merging his five and dime stores with
the F. W. Woolworth chain. Charltons
Pond Meadowstill an elegant mansion
at the mouth of the Westport River
generated more tax revenue than the
Westport Manufacturing Company, the
largest employer in town. Charlton and
a number of other Harbor residents felt
that they were paying too much in taxes
for the paltry town services they received.
In January 1919, asserting inadequate
police protection and poor roadsand
after their requests for tax abatements
were denieda group of Harbor residents
appealed to the state Legislature to
separate from Westport and form a new
town called Acoaxet.
The disruptive times of 1919 probably
added to the dissatisfaction of the
petitioners. World War One had just
ended (with 15 million deaths worldwide),
and now an influenza epidemic was
ragingand would eventually claim
100 million casualties. The divisive issues
of Prohibition and womens suffrage
were also decided in 1919. The world,
it seemed, had turned upside down.
The Harbors secession petition was
heard by a state legislative committee
in Boston. One important witness was
District Court Judge James M. Morton
Jr., a summer resident of Acoaxet, who
testified that Harbor taxpayers were
exploited by the town and that having
to pass through Rhode Island posed
problems of legality for the police. The
Harbor petitioners estimated that over
the past ten years they had paid $70,000
in taxes but received only $20,000 in ser-
vices. The one-room Acoaxet schoolhouse
(with 13 students) was woefully inade-
quate. While this was going on, the rest
of Westport had their say: every section
of town complained about taxes and
anyway it was the state that demanded
higher property assessments, mostly on
waterfront property. Furthermore, the
Harbor was simply too under-populated
Secession in Westport!
5
to be a legitimate town. As for the school,
Acoaxets was no worse than the others:
the School committee reported that they
were all deplorable. At a special town
meeting in January 1919, the vote was
139 to zero to oppose the secession. But
the state committee let the matter rest and
Westport Harbor remained in Westport.
From 1920 through 1925 the issue
simmered. Tax abatement requests were
shuffled between town assessors and
Bristol County commissioners, with no
relief. A proposed new road that would
have connected Old Harbor Road and Ad-
amsville Road, entirely within Massachu-
setts (thus obviating the legal issue that
troubled Acoaxet) was not built. And the
surge in Prohibition-era rum running
made the problem of inadequate police
protection more urgent.
In January 1926, the Acoaxet petitioners
again brought their request to the state
Legislature. Coincidently, two secession
petitions in Dartmouthone group
wanted to form a new town, and another
wanted to join New Bedfordwere also
being considered by the Legislature.
In Westport Harbor the grievances were
essentially the same as they had been
seven years before: inadequate roads,
school, and police protection; physically
separated from the rest of Westport; and
a disproportionate share of town taxes.
As the petitioners attorney John W.
Cummings put it: Westport looks
upon Acoaxet as Rome looked upon her
provinces, as a source of revenue.
Westports attorney, Arthur E. Seagrave,
rose to the challenge. Any town might
have a section that pays more in taxes; in
fact, Massachusetts and New York could
secede from the Union for paying more
taxes than poorer states. This is false
logic and one charged with dynamite.
He conceded that Acoaxet did not get its
share of poor relief, because no one there
was on poor relief, or as much in school
expenditures, because they had only
three percent of the total school popula-
tion. Therefore it stood to reason Harbor
would not get back all that it put in.
Furthermore, separation would leave
Westport with more than its share of
public debt: the town tax rate would
climb to $40 per thousand, while Acoaxets
would drop to $10. Attorney Seagrave
concluded with an appeal for Harbor
residents to Remember that Acoaxet
was a part of Westport when Acoaxet
was a howling wildernessand other
portions of Westport made their sacrifices
to provide roads and a school for this
meager settlement. Now, automobiles
have changed all that and a newly
affluent Acoaxet would leave her old
parent with heavy burdens to bear.
While the issues were being hashed out
at the state level, Westport held a special
town meeting on March 9. Over 300
citizens attendedthe largest number
ever seen. The focus was on taxes. As Dr.
Breault put it, Taxation is a worldwide
problem. There isnt a city, a town, or a
hamlet throughout the length and breadth
of this land that hasnt its problems.
Acoaxet has its grievances. So has South
Westport and Central Village and every
other section of the town. There is no
spot on earth where the question of
taxation is not a problem.
Added to the dispute over tax fairness
was an underlying resentment that had
carried over from the World War. It was
exemplified in a poem by Bill Potter,
which he read at the town meeting. It
went, in part:
The boys received a dollar a day
and many lost their health
The rich man stayed at home engaged
in doubling his wealth
And when our lads at last came home
Prepared to settle down
they found the rich men ready
to take part of their town
While it did represent the feelings of
many of the town meeting participants,
the poem did little to raise the level of the
argument. However, it was not up to
town meeting to decide: all waited to hear
the decision of the legislative committee
in Boston, which met on April 1. Again
Judge Morton and Richard Hawes spoke
eloquently for separation, but the com-
mittee reported unanimously against
the separation of Acoaxet from Westport.
The ostensible reason was that Acoaxet
would have too few voters to operate as a
separate town. There may also have been
a general aversion to breaking up estab-
lished towns: the two separation petitions
in Dartmouth were also denied.
The matter quickly faded from town
records (although perhaps more slowly
from the minds of the participants).
Soon enough there were other pressing
issues to worry about: Prohibition and
rum-running, the Great Depression,
the devastating hurricane of 1938, and
World War II.
Almost a century later, how should
we look at the attempted secession
as a historical curiosity, or as an event
that might have some relevance today?
Certainly it reminds us that Westport
has a long history of village loyalty that
is both part of its charm and a potential
source of friction. The end result of
the 1920s dispute is that Westport held
togetherdespite the resentment and
misunderstandingand perhaps reached
a broader perspective across the differ-
ences. Westport is richer economically,
culturally and geographically for having
its diverse villages. And we should all
be happy that Acoaxet is still part of
Westporteven if we have to go through
Rhode Island to get there.
by Tony Connors
6
Handy House News


opening doorways
Dr. Handys
Fundraising
Update
GOAL 1.8 MILLION
RECEIVED AND
PLEDGED $980,000
A grant from Historic New England was a much welcome boost for our Handy House
preservation project. The grant has supported the ongoing archaeology at the property.
Historic New England provides grants to small to mid-sized heritage organization
in each of the six New England states. The Community Preservation grants allow
Historic New England to work with organizations on preservation projects that
benefit the entire region.
WE ARE DEEPLY
GRATEFUL
FOR THE MANY
GENEROUS
CONTRIBUTIONS
TO THE HANDY
HOUSE PROJECT.
PLEASE CONSIDER
MAKING A DONATION
OR PLEDGE TO HELP
US OPEN THE HANDY
HOUSE TO THE COMMUNITY!
One of the features identified during the
archeological survey is a lye leaching
stone or soap making stone. The irregular
shaped stone measured 4.2 feet by 3.4
feet. This was the second largest stone
used in the historic walkway north of the
house. Since a lye leaching stone would
need to be placed on a pile of rocks, this
stone had been moved from its original
location and placed in the walkway.
A lye leaching stone, or soap making
stone, is a large, flat stone with a small
circular groove cut into it. This circular
groove varied in size and had a small
channel cut into it. Often misidentified
(or possibly unidentified) lye leaching
stones were an important part of the
soap making process during the historic
period. The first step in the soap making
process is the making of wood ash lye.
This was done by placing a barrel with
its bottom removed on top of the circular
groove. The lye leaching stone itself was
placed on a small pile of rock. The stone
would be placed at a slight angle, with the
groove facing downward. A layer of straw
and twigs was placed inside the barrel,
which was then filled with potash. Water
was slowly added to the barrel, poured on
top of the ashes, until a brownish liquid
leaked out. This liquid was caught by the
circular grove, ran out the channel, and
fell into a collection vessel. This was the
first in the long and sometimes difficult
process of making soap.
(Extract from An Archaeological Inten-
sive Survey, Cadman-White-Handy
House by Tom Mailhot and Barbara
Donohue)
HISTORIC NEW ENGLAND
COMMUNITY PRESERVATION GRANT
Lye Leaching Stone
LOCAL HISTORY
The Westport Historical Society is supported by donations from individuals, foundations
and businesses who care about preserving the special heritage of Westport. In addition
to joining the Historical Society as a member, please consider these other ways you can
support our mission:
CONTRIBUTIONS IN HONOR OR MEMORIAL GIFTS
Honor a friend or relative, commemorate a special anniversary or mark the passing
of a loved one with a contribution.
BEQUESTS
Leave a lasting legacy for the future by naming the Historical Society as a beneficiary
in your will.
CORPORATE MATCHING GIFTS
Please check with your employer to see if they offer a matching gift program.
BUSINESS SPONSORSHIPS
The Historical Society offers local businesses many different levels of sponsorship
and recognition.
. TO THE FOLLOWING LOCAL BUSINESSES FOR THEIR SUPPORT
Tims Lawn Care
Country Woolens
Comfort of Touch
Sisters of Solace
Bradshaw Insurance
Lees Market
7


NEW ACQUISITIONS
The following are some highlights
of recent acquisitions. We are very
grateful to all who have entrusted
us with these gifts.
2012.026 DONATED BY NORMA JUDSON
Letters of Lydia Macomber, daughter
of John Macomber. Lydia was deaf,
and her letters recount her life in
Westport during the 1830s and her
education at the Connecticut Asylum
(at Hartford) for the Education
and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb
Persons, now known as the American
School for the Deaf.
2012.029 DONATED BY SUSANNE AND
RICHARD PECK
Planet Jr. wheel hoe
2012.034 DONATED BY MIKE AND
AMY CLARKE
Chautauqua teaching method desk
(shown below), butter churn
2013.002 DONATED BY JAN PELLETIER
Record book North Westport Parent
Teachers Association 1950-1962
2013.003 ANONYMOUS
Diary of Grace Babcock, 1891
LEAVING A LASTING LEGACY
THE CHARLOTTE FITCH BEQUEST
Charlotte Fitch and her family were
regular visitors to Westport since she
was a baby. She eventually lived to be
over 100 years old and spent her later
years entirely at Westport Point.
Charlotte was an actress and taught
at Smith College. Her booming voice
and theatrical style and fashionable hats
were her trademarks. There are several
interviews with her in the WHS DVD
files. Charlotte kindly remembered the
Historical Society in her will. We hope
that Charlottes example will encourage
others who like her wanted to see the
Societys work flourish into the future.
Jacks Landscaping and Lawn Service
Even Keel Realty
Grays Daily Grind and Grays Gristmill
Geraldine Millham Design
Partners Village Store
This Hillandale milk bottle was found near
the Head of Westport. Can anyone provide
information about this Westport dairy?
w e s t p o r t h i s t o r i c a l s o c i e t y
2 5 d r i f t r o a d , p o b o x n 1 8 8 , w e s t p o r t , m a 0 2 7 9 0
N o n - P r o f i t
U . S . P o s t a g e
P A I D
W e s t p o r t M A
P e r m i t N o . 2 3
membership levels
!"INDIVIDUAL $20
!"FAMILY $35
!"CONTRIBUTING $70
!"SUSTAINING $200
!"SPECIAL GIFT $
Please make check payable to and mail to:
westport historical society
25 drift road, po box n188
westport, ma 02790
NAME
ADDRESS
CITY STATE ZIP
PHONE
EMAIL


.
Handy House opening doorways DONATI ON FORM
Donation $
Please use my/our gift where it is most needed !, or for the following project:
CONTACT INFORMATION
DONOR NAME EMAIL
CONTACT PERSON (IF DONOR IS AN ORGANIZATION) EMAIL
STREET/PO BOX PHONE
CITY STATE ZIP
CHECK ENCLOSED !"(please make checks payable to Westport Historical Society)
OR CHARGE MY !"Visa !"Mastercard !"Amex
CARD NUMBER
EXPIRATION DATE
PRINT NAME OF CARD HOLDER
SIGNATURE
To donate securities or stocks or to make a pledge, please contact Jenny ONeill
at the Westport Historical Society at 508-636-6011.
Please list donation in publications as a gift from:
MAIL TO: Westport Historical Society, PO Box N188, Westport MA 02790
R E T U R N S E R V I C E R E Q U E S T E D
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