Aesop’s Mirror, A Love Story

Maryalice Huggins discusses her newly published book Aesop’s Mirror, A Love Story

4PM, Sunday March 14th 2010 at Macomber Community House
930 Main Road, Westport MA 02790

Aesop’s Mirror is the story about an antique restorer’s obsession with a mirror she bought at a country auction in Rhode Island in 1995. The rococo style of the frame is based on a fable, The Fox and the Grapes. In a search to discover the frame’s maker, and what period it was manufactured, the reader is introduced to players in the high-end world of antiques and decorative arts. In the process of seeking documentation, the narrator traces the mirror back to the original owners, the Woods, a wealthy 19th century family from Providence. There are elements of a love story, of mid-19th century politics, of insider gossip about today’s restoration/antiques business, of curatorial education, of a treasure hunt. The book addresses the mystery of why we are attracted to rare and beautiful things.

Maryalice Huggins is a restorer and gilder of antique mirrors. She has worked for museums, interior decorators, and private collectors. For more information please contact Westport Historical Society 508 636 6011

Westporters and the Civil War

2011 marks the beginning of the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. In preparation for this anniversary Westport Historical Society is undertaking research into Westporters who were involved with the Civil War as soldiers, medical officers and other roles. The historical society seeks photographs, objects, any personal papers, accounts, correspondence and biographical information on Civil War veterans from Westport. Much of this research will build upon the publication “Westporters and the Civil War” by Richard Wertz and Andrew Macomber. The historical society welcomes suggestions from the community on ways to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

For towns in Northern states such as Westport, the impact of the Civil War was felt most keenly through the personal experiences of soldiers and the human cost of lives lost or disabilities sustained by those who survived. The fate of many of Westport’s soldiers is recorded in a resolution at the town meeting in 1866:

“resolved that we still cherish the memory of such brave men who have laid aside their armour and have passed through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Some have fallen on the field and sleep in rebel soil. Some have sickened and died in the camp. Some have returned to their families only to die among their friends. Others have lingered famished in loathsome rebel prisons away from home and friends, denied even a cup of cold water to cool their fevered lips and aching heads.”

One of the grandest testaments to the individual experience of Westporters in the Civil War can be found in Linden Grove cemetery. A verse on the tombstone of Frederick Allen describes his fate:

“Brave soldier who nobly gave himself to the service of his country in the great Southern Rebellion of 1861. Enlisted in the 20th Regt. of MASS. Vol. July 12, 1861, was taken prisoner at the battle of Ball's Bluff Oct. 21 and exchanged Feb. 19, 1862, was wounded and again taken prisoner at the battle of Malvern Hill July 1, 1862 and exchanged Aug. 28. Fought in the sanguinary battle of Antietam Sept. 17, was again wounded from the effects of which he died Oct. 20, 1862. Aged 18 yrs and 10 days.”

As noted in “Westporters and the Civil War”, the grave does not contain all his remains. Allen’s arm was amputated on Oct 12 1862 and was collected by the Army Surgical Corps in an effort to learn how to prevent death from infection. Today this collection is held by the Smithsonian and includes bones identified as the remains of Frederick Allen.

A list of Civil War veterans from Westport is provided below. The historical society welcomes suggestions from the community on ways to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. Anyone with an interest in assisting with research projects and other Civil War related events, should contact Jenny O’Neill at 508 636 6011 or westporthistory@charterinternet.com

Albert M. Allen, Cornelius T. Allen
Frederick S. Allen
Pardon S. Allen
Thomas Andrews
Nicholas B. Anthony
Albert Babbitt
Henry Clay Baker
Jehiel Baker
Adam G. Borden
Isaac S. Borden
Peleg S. Borden
Thomas L. Borden
George E. Bradley
Alexander S. Brightman
John H. Brightman
Nicholas W. Brightman
Jireh F. Brownell
Charles Burt
James E Childs
Solomon Cornell
John P. Dean
Stephen E. Demoranville
George R. Devol
Henry S. Devol
Isaac Dunham
Stephen Dyer
Andrew R. Earl
George H. Enos
William T. Freelove
John Fuller
John G. Gammons
Lemuel T. Gammons
Abram Gifford
Eli M. Gifford
George A. Gifford
Gideon D. Gifford
Isaac Gifford, Junior
James B. Gifford
Thomas J. Gifford
Sidney N. Gray
Dr. James Hervy Handy
Lemuel Mortimer Hedge
John J. Holmes
Daniel Howard
Albert Franklyn Howland
Stephen S. King
George Frederick Lawton
Peleg P. Lawton
James Leary
Thomas Lee
David Macomber
George P. Macomber
Leonard W. Macomber
Richmond Macomber
William R. Macomber
Borden Manchester
Edwin F. Manchester
Allen G. Mayhew
Charles F. Mead
Andrew J. Mosher
Augustus M. Mosher
Benjamin F. Mosher
Edward J. Mosher
Willard B. Mosher
Abner D. Palmer
Israel Peckham
Jacob Peckham
Daniel A. Petty
George A. Petty
Hiram S. Petty
James H. Petty
Pardon Z. Petty
George F. Pierce
Edwin R. Pool
Peleg W.P. Read
Robert S. Reed
Alexander Sanford
Barnabas B. Sanford
Daniel Sanford
John G. Sanford
Uriah Gifford Sanford
Edward Shannon
Charles H. Sherman
Charles Short
Martin Frederick Simpson
Edward Smith
John Smith
William W. Smith
Asa Snider
James H. Soule
Robert F. Soule
Alden W. Tripp
Allen H. Tripp
Almanza Tripp
Augustus G. Tripp
Charles F. Tripp
Charles M. Tripp
Daniel H. Tripp
David R. Tripp
Edwin C. Tripp
Ephraim T. Tripp
James A Tripp
Joseph H. Tripp
Theodore J. Tripp
Eli Wordell
George P. Wood

Paul Cuffe, Self Made Man

A Self-Made Man, Capt. Paul Cuffee. This small pamphlet was written by the great grandson of Paul Cuffe to mark the dediciation of a monument to Paul Cuffe on June 15th 1913 at the Quaker meeting house in Westport. Available as PDF here.
Download file

History of Westport's villages

Adapted from The Archeological Reconnaissance Survey of Westport, Massachusetts 2004. Please contact Westport Historical Society for further information.

Included here are summary histories of North Westport, Westport Factory, South Westport, Head of Westport, Westport Point, Westport Harbor, and Horseneck.

North Westport

This interior section of Westport did not develop a core area of settlement as early as some of the other sections of town. Instead, this zone is characterized by nineteenth- and twentieth-century residential clusters, and by the corridors surrounding Route 6 and Interstate 195. Three historic period archaeological sites were identified within this zone during the reconnaissance survey.

The construction of the Old Colony railroad across Watuppa Pond spawned the development of a small recreational hamlet in the 1870s. The completion of the railroad bridge divided South Watuppa Pond and created a protected water body that became known as Middle Pond. This area, which became known as “The Narrows,” developed almost immediately with the construction of two boathouses on the east and west sides of Middle Pond. Summer boating and fishing, and winter skating drew many of the town’s residents and people from neighboring communities, and led to the construction of numerous casinos and clubs on the waterfront. In the 1940s the Narrows was a magnet for the town’s nightlife, drawing crowds with professional singers, comedians, and dancers. The construction of Route 195 in the 1960s resulted in the filling of Middle Pond and the end of the Narrows as a thriving social center (Maiocco 1995:73).

Chronology of Westport History 1500 – present

Adapted from The Archeological Reconnaissance Survey of Westport, Massachusetts 2004. Please contact Westport Historical Society for further information.

The historic period in Westport is categorized as beginning with Native/European contact and includes both Native American and Euro-American cultural components through the modern period. Explorations along the Buzzard’s Bay coastline probably occurred over a period of several hundred years, and likely included sporadic contact between the area’s Native population and various non-Native peoples.

Westport’s seventeenth- and eighteenth-century history is linked with neighboring Dartmouth, which encompassed the present-day town through most of the early periods. Prior to that time, Old Dartmouth encompassed portions of Tiverton and Little Compton, Rhode Island as well as the Massachusetts communities of New Bedford, Westport, Acushnet, and Fairhaven. As a result, many of the early historic period population figures and land use patterns for Westport must be inferred from the larger Old Dartmouth parcel.

The town reportedly earned its name as the westernmost point of the early Massachusetts Bay land grant that extended to Eastport, Maine (Macomber 2003). Westport was incorporated as a town in 1787, with periodic land annexes from Dartmouth in 1793, 1795, and 1805. The Westport/Dartmouth town boundary was established in 1828; the western boundary between Westport and Rhode Island was defined in 1861; and the Fall River/Westport town line was defined in 1894 (MHC 1981a).

Paul Cuffe Symposium Papers

Exploring Paul Cuffe: The Man and his Legacy
A Public Symposium Saturday October 3, 2009

Opening keynote by Lamont Thomas

Lamont Thomas is the author of "Rise to be a People: A Biography of Paul Cuffe"

Local Relationships and Cuffe

Paul Cuffe's Social Networks and Entrepreneurial Success by Marion Kilson

Marion Kilson, scholar, Museum of African American History and author of "Kpele Lala:Ga Religious Songs and Symbols"

The Collaboration of Captain Paul Cuffe and Captain Isaac Cory of Westport by Richard Kugler

Richard C. Kugler, former director New Bedford Whaling Museum

In the Time of Cuffe

Thou Art Often the Companion of my Mind: Cuffe, James Forten and the Portrait of a Friendship by Julie Winch

Julie Winch, University of Massachusetts, Boston, author of "A Gentleman of Color: A Biography of James Forten"

Rise to Be a People - Sierra Leone

The Struggle for Respect: Paul Cuffe and his Nova Scotian Friends in Sierra Leone by David C. Cole

David Cole, former lecturer on Economics, Harvard University, author of "Between a Swamp and a Hard Place:Developmental Challenges in Remote Rural Africa"

If Paul Cuffe Had Lived a Few Years Longer: Sierra Leone and Liberia, As they Might Have Been by Kevin Lowther

Kevin Lowther, former director of Africare, author of forthcoming "The African-American Odyssey of John Kizell"

Paul Cuffe 250th celebration

Paul Cuffe at 250 years
http://http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090617/PUB02/906170354