A Horse Founders in Snow, 1886

   Prior to the arrival of the automobile, the arrival of winter snow meant the substitution of sleighs for carriages and the replacement of wheels with runners, with runnered vehicles gliding easily on hard-packed snow. Deep snows however were another matter and were sometimes difficult for horses to negotiate. In certain circumstances the snow could be downright dangerous.  Following a storm in February 1883, the Middleboro Gazette recounted one story - part ghost tale, part animal rescue - that spoke to the dangers heavy snow could present horses.

   Two young men came over from East Taunton, in a sleigh, last Sunday, and left the team standing on Benton street, near Cornelius Murphy's residence. The horse became restive, and finally went off on his own account. It was between nine and ten o'clock that night, when John Driscoll's boys were going to bed., on looking from the window over the meadow between the house and the river they saw some dark object moving, and having read about a 'ghost on School street,' were affrighted, and called for the father. The father advised them to go to bed, and not watch the dogs any longer. But they protested, and said they knew it was not dogs, until finally Mr. Driscoll went out, with stout stick in hand, to drive off the dogs, when behold he found a horse lying upon his side in a snow-bank tangled up in the harness. He sent for help, and the horse and sleigh that belonged to the Taunton boys was rescued from a position in which the horse would have soon died. He ran through Lincoln avenue, and up by Mr. Churchill's residence, and over an embankment of five feet depth, overturning the wall, breaking the sleigh, and tearing off his skin in several places. The only wonder is that he was discovered at all.

Illustration:
Old Sturbridge Village Sleigh Rally by Marcy Reed, 2013 
http://www.centralmass.org/media-center/releases/old-fashioned-horse-drawn-sleigh-rally-old-sturbridge-village-feb-2

Source:
The Middleboro Gazette, "Middleboro", February 13, 1886, page 4.

The Famous Trotting Ground

New Book Recalls Forgotten Aspect of Middleborough’s Sporting and Social History

 

Recollecting Nemasket, Middleborough’s local history press, is pleased to announce the publication of The Famous Trotting Ground: A History of the Fall Brook Driving Park.  Written by historian Michael J. Maddigan, the book richly documents the history of Victorian-era harness racing in Middleborough.

 

In 1878 a group of avid local sportsmen came together to establish a trotting park on Cherry Street in the Fall Brook section of Middleborough where they could race their fast horses. For thirty years harness racing would remain a noted pursuit at Fall Brook, drawing horsemen from throughout the region eager to show the abilities of their liveliest trotters and pacers. Though the Fall Brook track has now largely been forgotten, its story is one of the fascinating aspects of Middleborough’s sporting and social history, recalling a day when Middleborough was “one of the horsiest towns hereabouts.”

The Famous Trotting Ground: A History of the Fall Brook Driving Park takes the reader on a delightfully nostalgic trip back in time to an era before the automobile when speedy horses were the rage, when sleighs were raced on Main Street and when fast driving in Middleborough’s streets had to be prohibited.

 

Michael J. Maddigan is the author of several previous histories including Nemasket River Herring, South Middleborough, Images of America: Middleborough, Star Mill: History  & Architecture and Representatives of the Great Cause: Middleborough Servicemen & Their Letters from World War I.   His work regularly appears on-line and in local publications including the Middleboro Gazette.

Recollecting Nemasket is a local history press dedicated to the collection, preservation, interpretation, publication and promotion of the historical heritage of Middleborough and Lakeville. Its mission is to make local history more accessible by presenting it in a bold, exciting and professional way. 

Recollecting Nemasket wants the community to discover and be fully inspired by its past in order to realize a more meaningful and relevant future.

Recollecting Nemasket books are available at Maria’s in Middleborough as well as other local retailers and on-line at Amazon.com.

Fast Horses

In the late 1800s, the impromptu racing of horses on Middleborough's streets frequently occurred with Main Street becoming the most popular venue. Racing on Main Street, in fact, became so frequent that the Middleboro Gazette felt obliged to comment upon the issue in 1870: “Fast driving in our streets when they are crowded as they were Wednesday night while the band was playing is a little too hazardous to life and limb and should be stopped.” Ultimately, when such speeding continued, section 8 of the Middleborough by-laws was adopted. “No person shall ride, or drive any horse or horses, attached or unattached to any carriage in any of the streets of this town, within one mile of the Town House, at a furious or immoderate rate.” Fines for such violations were set between $5 and $20. Despite the weight of the fines, the by-law was not heeded by all. In April, 1879, one local newspaper was calling upon “our constables to do their duty the next time they see Mr. Andrew Cobb Wood riding through our streets at such a furious rate as he was going on Tuesday last, and arrest him ….”

Illustration:

Horse and Carriage, South Main Street, Middleborough, MA, photograph, c. 1898

The fast driving on Middleborough’s streets of horses and rigs such as the one pictured above about 1898  was so common during the last quarter of the 20^th century, voters felt compelled to approve a by-law banning speeding on public roadways within a mile radius of the Town Hall seen in the right background.  Beside it is Middleborough High School, later the Bates School.