Green School Christmas, 1925

Visit Green School History to read how students at the school celebrated Christmas in 1925.

Charles H. Soule's Valley Farm

Originally I had not intended another post about ducks, but a comment by a reader on the previous post regarding the Sampson duck farm in Lakeville prompted me to consider the history of duck-raising at East Middleborough to which the reader refers.

What the reader describes in his comment are the remains of Valley Farm, the duck farm of Charles H. Soule (1871-1948). In 1963, Soule’s daughter, Alberta N. Soule described the ruins of the farm which even then was returning to forest.

There is a short lane off Cedar street in East Middleborough (between the home of Mrs. William Kelley and that of the late Edwin E. Soule) where there are tumbled down buildings and traces of what at one time was a thriving business. The remains on an incubator cellar would tell one that it was the site of a poultry business perhaps, but it would be difficult for one who didn’t know the history to visualize the large duck farm that was operated on those eight acres of land. It is now all grown up to scrub oak, pine, and maple with a slight clearing through the center part of the acreage.

The duck farm which occupied the site was established in 1899 when Charles H. Soule acquired the former homestead of James Soule on the west side of Cedar Street just north of Soule Street as well as an eight-acre woodlot on the opposite (east) side of the road. Soule had previously engaged in duck-raising at his father Orlando Soule’s home, the distinctive brick house which stands further north on Cedar Street, and it was on the newly-acquired eight-acre woodlot that he chose to establish his own business. To do so, Soule cleared the wood from the lot, and relocated a former blacksmith shop from the James Soule homestead.

[The blacksmith shop] was moved across the street and down the lane to be used for a grain shed and picking house. Later a larger building was added on top of which was a large tank building holding hundreds of gallons of water to be used all through the farm. A windmill arrangement was first used for pumping water, but sometime waster had to be pumped by hand to supplement that amount. Later a gasoline engine and an artesian well were installed.

Water was provided for the ducks through a pipe system laid all through the farm with a faucet arrangement in each pen through which the water was turned on three times each day to fill the troughs. A large horse-drawn low cart was the feeding vehicle. Several hundred pounds of ground grains and meat plus chopped cornstalks or cooked mangle beets were mixed with water and hand-mixed with a shovel and taken in the cart to be shoveled out to each pen three times each day.

Grain was bought by the carload and delivered at the East Middleborough Railroad Station. Grain was also delivered twice a week from local grain merchants in large grain trucks drawn by four horses. Mangle beets were bought by the ton from the Bridgewater State Farm and cooked in a huge iron vat. Field corn, raised on the farm, was cut while young and fed through a corn cutter to cut pieces about an inch long. These two ingredients provided the green in the feed which the ducks needed.

Each summer my father raised and marketed from 12,000 to 15,000 ducks, shipping them by express each day from the East Middleborough Station to Boston. James D. Legg, Thorndike & Gerrish, and Adams & Chapman were some of the markets in Boston with whom he did business.

Three to four pickers were employed all through the picking season. After picking, the ducks were placed in large barrels with plenty of ice, and early the following morning they were packed for market. The poultry arrived in Boston for market the morning after it was dressed.

To perpetuate the stock from year to year, three hundred breeders were kept over through the winter months, from which eggs were hatched in the incubator cellar. At first the hatching was done in small Cyphers machines operated by kerosene. Later two Candee machines were installed, each of ten thousand egg capacity. These were coal operated machines. Custom hatching was done as well as hatching for the farm. [Alberta N. Soule]

Among local farmers for whom custom hatching was done was Horace G. Case of Rock, a farmer who raised turkeys on a small scale for a number of years following 1910. Case reported in 1927: “I hire Charles Soule to hatch the [turkey] eggs for me and this year from 194 eggs he hatched 179 poults. Two years ago he hatched 101 from 105 eggs.” 

The incubator cellar on the Soule farm would have housed the hot water mammoth incubators mentioned by Alberta Soule, although the term "cellar" is somewhat misleading as often incubator cellars were built partially or even wholly above ground.  It is likely that one of the concrete slab foundations mentioned in the reader's comment on the previous post is the incubator cellar foundation, such foundations being typically of poured concrete since great amounts of moisture were employed in incubating the eggs and which would have quickly rotted a wooden floor.  Other buildings on the farm would likely have included brooder houses, fattening houses, a feed storage house or barn, and the picking or killing house previously mentioned where the ducks were prepared for market.  Water, as noted by Alberta Soule, was vital for the farm's operation, required in the incubator cellar and brooder houses for heat, the picking house for processing, and as a water supply for the ducks.

The Soules were the originators of large-scale commercial duck-raising at East Middleborough which grew to be a large enterprise in that area of Middleborough. The Middleboro Gazette in June, 1905 noted the growing business remarking that “Middleboro is coming to the front as a duck farming country, and a profitable business is done by poultrymen in the east part of the town.” At the time, Soule and his father had hatched out some 2,500 ducks while Albert Rolland who occupied the property immediately to the south of Soule had 1,500. “Mr. Whitworth, a recent comer to the eastern village, is another who is starting in the business on a large scale, and he has about 1,000 ducklings out already.” On nearby Fuller Street, Reverend William J. Robinson also was engaged in duck-raising. The ducks most frequently raised were white Pekins “as their flesh is more attractive, and they find a readier sale in consequence.”

The duck-raising business at East Middleborough expanded rapidly. In 1910, “the shipment of dressed poultry from the East Middleboro station .. was about three tons” and was expected to be exceeded the following year. By 1911, Soule was hatching 6,000 ducks per season, and in order to keep pace with his expanding business in 1914 he installed “a mammoth incubator, holding 4,800 eggs.”

The Middleboro Gazette left a record of duck-raising from this era in its pages in 1905 which reinforces the picture provided by Alberta Soule.

The birds are grown to marketable size in about ten weeks, and during that time they are stuffed with a mash made of bran, meal, scraps, and flour. On this they thrive and fatten quickly. To handle the daily sustenance of the quackers is no small task, as may well be imagined when it is stated that at Hall & Ristine’s plant in Lakeville about three tons are fed weekly, and the Messrs. Soule feed nearly that amount to their flocks. The grain trade in these places is cared for by Bryant & Soule, who send heavily loaded teams to the duck farms two or three times a week…. A good future in the duck … business is anticipated, and the men now engaged therein are constantly planning improvements upon their plants. Among those introduced are machines to mix the food for the ducks, while gas or steam engines or windmills are employed to draw the water for the birds. Practically all the hatching is done by incubators.  [Middleboro Gazette, “East Middleboro”, June 9, 1905]

[Charles H. Soule] continued in the duck raising business in a large way until about 1916 or 1917. Around that time prices were not good and the profit was less. He had always raised a few hens, marketed them, and sold eggs for market; he now continued this in a larger way on the farm. He also started experimenting with the raising of turkeys, and he was one of the first to try raising them on wire to avoid the black-head disease which made raising turkey difficult. The turkey raising grew until the early forties when my father retired. He will be remembered by many as supplying the traditional bird for Thanksgiving and Christmas festivities. [Alberta N. Soule]

In 1950, Soule’s daughters, Alberta N. Soule, Marion S. Griffith and Mildred A. Soule sold the former duck farm.

Sources:Middleboro Gazette, “East Middleboro”, June 9, 1905:1; ibid., October 6, 1911:5; ibid., January 30, 1914:1; “Rock Poultry Farm”, November 11, 1927:3
Plymouth County Registry of Deeds 814:293; 2085:241
Soule, Alberta N. “Three Blacksmith Shops, a Brick Yard and Shoemakers’ Shops in Soule Neighborhood”, The Middleborough Antiquarian, 4:3, June, 1962, 6.
Soule, Alberta N., “Valley Farm – Soule Neighborhood”, The Middleborough Antiquarian, 5:3, June, 1963, 4+

Ducks for the Military, 1944

"Quackalackadingdong", photograph by

Erlend Schei, June 22, 2010, republished

under a Creative Commons license.

During the height of World War II in 1944, Merrill Sampson of Lakeville devoted the production of his Main Street duck farm towards producing both ducks and chickens to ease growing food shortages.  Though considered a luxury food and typically not standard military fare, duck produced on Sampson's farm was sold to for use by both the army and the navy in that year.  The operation of the Sampson farm was documented for posterity just seven weeks after the invasion of Europe by a correspondent for the Brockton Enterprise:

With the memory of the mad scramble of Middleboro folks for food the past few months, the activities of N. Merrill Sampson, South Main street, just over the Lakeville line, to help out the food situation are worthy of note.

Sampson is a duck raiser. It was his custom to grow ducks in the spring, fatten them up, put them in cold storage, and then make plans for another year. This year he is hatching throughout the year, as fast as the duck eggs are available. He plans to raise 23,000 birds this year. The demand for them is so great that so far none has been placed in cold storage. The army is taking vast quantities of them, and the navy is getting many more.

The duck farm has been operated for a great many years, and from the start Mr. Sampson has been connected with it. Recently he took it over from Frank H. Conklin, who operated it for some years.

Mr. Sampson also hatched 150,000 chickens during this spring. One incubator handles 21,000 eggs at a setting. He has many smaller one also, but in spite of the tremendous chicken production he still devotes his attention principally to ducks.

Source:Brockton Enterprise, "Ducks Big Food Item", July 26, 1944

Beaver Dam Sawmill

Waterwheel, Old Sturbridge Village,

Sturbridge, MA, photograph by Mike

Maddigan, August 22, 2004

Rock Village developed as the community of Beaver Dam beginning in the late eighteenth century.  In 1783, a dam and sawmill were constructed on Black Brook just upstream from Highland Street and the mill operated through the mid-nineteenth century.  About 1806, a freshet washed away a portion of the dam, following which both the dam and saw mill were rebuilt.  The mill operated seasonally from October through mid-April when work was discontinued until the following fall.  Milling was generally a winter occupation when little else could be done on the surrounding farms.  In 1826, Henry Bishop brought suit against the mill owners for damages caused by the impounded waters of the dam overflowing his property.  Since its establishment in 1783, the mill had "flowed the water of Black Brook several feet above the banks" of the brook.  The owners of the mill in 1826, however, were unable to prove their case, having "lost by time and accident the privilege" of overflowing the brookside properties, and Bishop was accordingly awarded damages for the flooding of his meadows.  Confronted with their financial obligation to Bishop, and unagreed on whether to reconstruct the mill, the mill owners ceased operations.  The mill subsequently fell into disrepair and was taken down.  The mill was rebuilt in 1835-36 and immediately became the subject of renewed litigation when the owners of the mill sought to clarify their right to impound water and overflow the adjoining properties.  On June 16, 1837, mill owners William Thomas (1/8 share), Henry Thomas (1/8 share), Samuel Rider (1/8 share), Zechariah W. Rider (1/8 share), Asa Benson (1/16 share), Foster A. Keith (1/8 share), Jesse Vaughan, occupant, and William O. Barrows, occupant (1/16 share), Stephen C. Rider (1/8 share) and Samuel P. Keith (1/8 share) made application to establish their right to overflow the adjoining properties and to request that depositions be taken of Martin Keith, Esq., and John Thomas, yeoman, both of Middleborough.

On July 10, 1837, Martin Keith's deposition was taken by Isaac Stevens, "counsellor at law", and Ebenezer Pickens, Esq., justices of the peace.  Notice was given to the interested parties, namely George Williams, 2d; Henry Bishop; Jonathan Cobb; Samuel Cobb; Horatio N. Thomas; Nathan Bennet; Oliver Thomas; Elias Cushman; Abraham M. Cushman; Hiram S. Smith; Joseph Leonard; Stillman Vaughan; William Nelson; William O. Barrows; Samuel Rider; Zachariah W. Rider and Henry Thomas.  All except Samuel Cobb, the Cushmans and Barrows were present at the taking of the deposition.

Documentation from the case and particularly the deposition made by Keith (1771-1854) is invaluable for providing much of what is known about the mill.  Keith's deposition follows in full.

I Martin Keith of Middleborough in the County of Plymouth and Commonwealth of Massachusetts Esq. of lawful age to give evidence in oath depose and say that I shall be sixty six years of age on the twenty second day of the present month of July, that ever since I was ten years old I have lived within about one hundred rods of the place where stands the saw mill called the Beaver Dam saw mill in the Town of Middleborough with the exception of one year that is when I was about twenty six years of age, I removed to Winchester in the state of New Hampshire and after living there one year returned to Middleborough and during the year that I was so absent I was frequently at the place where I formerly resided and have since resided.  My father Joseph Keith was one of the original builders of the saw mill above mentioned.  The said saw mill and dam were built in the year seventeen hundred and eighty three and the said saw mill has been in operation every year since it was built till the present time with the exception of eight or ten years.  These eight or ten years commenced immediately after a reference which the owners of the said mill had with Henry Bishop which I believe took place in the year eighteen hundred and twenty six.  The mill as afterwards rebuilt and commenced operation in the month of February A. D. 1836.  The dam was shut down and the pond flowed from the first of October in each year to the twelfth day of April in the succeeding year during all the time of the operation of the mill.  The dam of said sawmill is generally about the same height at which it was first built but about thirty years ago the dam broke since which time it never has been so high at the Easterly end as it was before that period and could not hold the water so high by from four to six inches since the mill was rebuilt in 1836.  I should think the water in the pond had not generally been kept so high as it was formerly.  I am positive that it has not been kept as high as it was previous to the breaking of the dam before mentioned both before and after rebuilding in 1836 and since the breaking of the dam before mentioned, I have known the water run over the Easterly end of the dam, but this was only in cases of freshets.

The name of the brook on which the saw mill stands is Black Brook.

Question by the applicants.
Who were in possession of the lands where said saw mill and dam are situated previous to their being built in 1783?
Seth Miller Jr., Esq. who appeared for Jonathan Cobb and George Williams 2d objects to the foregoing question.
Answer by the Deponent.
Joseph Keith was in possession of the land on the east side of the brook and John Swift of that on the west side.

Question by the applicant.
Who were the original builders of the mill and dam aforesaid?
Answer by the Deponent.
Joseph Keith built one fourth part, Moses Thomas one fourth part, Asa Hunt one fourth part, and Elisha Rider and Samuel Rider one fourth part.

Question by the applicants.
Of what other adjoining lands if any was the said John Swift in possession of at the time of the building of said mill, and what if any were flowed by said dam?
S. Miller atty as aforesaid objects to said question.
Answer by Deponent.
The said John Swift was in possession of all the lands that have been flowed by said pond which are situate on the west side of the brook till it comes to the farm then owned by Barzillai Thomas but the said Swift was not in possession of any land lying between said Black Brook and Spring Brook.

Question by the applicants.
In whose possession are the lands now which were formerly in the possession of said Swift as aforesaid and which are flowed by said dam.
Objected to as before.
Answer by the Deponent.
George Williams and Nathan Bennet.  All the lands now in the possession of either the said Williams or Bennet which are flowed by the said dam was formerly in the possession of said Swift as aforesaid.
In further answer to the third question the Deponent says that said Swift before or at the time of the building of said mill was in possession of the lot now called the Saw-mill Hill and also of the lands where the said Williams and Bennet now live.

Question by S. Miller Esqr. attorney as aforesaid.
Are you not and have you not been an owner in said mill and are you not interested in this application?
Answer by Deponent.
About thirty years ago my father Joseph Keith gave me what right he had in the mill and dam, and I rebuilt one fourth part of said mill and I ever after occupied the said mill or my part thereof, till after the reference with Mr. Bishop before mentioned, and I continued to own there till the summer of 1835 when I told my two sons Foster A. Keith and Samuel P. Keith that they might have all my right, and the said Foster & Samuel rebuilt one fourth part of the mill in the years 1835 & 1836 and have ever since improved said mill, and about the fifteenth day of June 1837 I conveyed all my title to said mill and dam to them the said Foster and Samuel by deed of Quitclaim.  This deed is now before me and I find it bears that date on the 14th of June which is the true date - The consideration mentioned in the deed is twenty dollars but I received nothing.  I had no agency in building the mill nor any concern therein.  I know of no interest in this application other than I have above stated.

Question by same.
Was the above deed given to your sons for the purpose of making a witness of you in suits which have arisen or may arise in relation to the subject matter of the application?
Answer by Deponent.
I had no such purpose.  It was my object to convey the property to them according to what I told them before they rebuilt.

Question by the same.
Did any of the mill owners say to you previous to giving the deed to your sons that you could be a witness by giving such a deed or any thing to that effect?
Answer by Deponent.
In conversation among the mill owners last winter I heard it observed that Mr. Henry Thomas and myself not having been concerned in the rebuilding of the mill could be witnesses but nothing was said about a deed.

Question by the same.
Did you know that application to the Justices to take your Deposition was about to be made at the time you signed the deed and did not William Nelson Esq. tell you so?
Answer by Deponent.
I do not recollect of Mr. Nelson saying anything about it, but I had heard some of the mill owners conversing in my shop about taking my deposition.  They were not conversing with me nor do I recollect who were thus conversing.

Question by the same.
What was the situation of the mill in the year 1825?
Answer by Deponent.
I think there was a mill there and that it was in operation.

Question by same.
Was it in good repair and working order?
Answer by Deponent.
It was in working order, but as to the repair I don't know much about it.

Saw Mill, Old Sturbridge Village,

Sturbridge, MA, photograph by Mike

Maddigan, August 22, 2004

Question by same.
Was not the mill abandoned in 1826 because Mr. Bishop recovered damages for flowing?
Answer by Deponent.
Mr. Bishop's recovering damages brought up the Question among the mill owners as to the expediency of working the mill and paying the damages.  The owners were not agreed upon this Question and never came to any agreement upon the subject until the rebuilding above referred to in 1835 & 1836 and the mill was not kept in operation during this period because the owners could not agree to be at the expense of rebuilding and paying the damages.  Some were for rebuilding and others not.  No one was determined to build but some [were] undetermined on the subject.

Question by same.
Did you not say in the presence of Mr. George Williams after the reference that the meadow owners had upset the mill and that you had abandoned the mill, or words to that effect?
Answer by Deponent.
I do not recollect any such thing - I think that I might have said to him that it was probable that the mill would never be rebuilt.

Question by same.
What became of the mill which was standing in the year 1825?
Answer by Deponent.
Three or four years after the saw mill stopped a majority of the owners got together and sold the materials of which the mill was composed and it was taken down.  It was in a dilapidated state at that time.  Some parts of the stone work of the Pillars were taken down and carried away but not one sixteenth part of it, and there were more stone left than were used in the rebuilding.

Question by same.
Were the mill Irons and all the fixtures and implements attached to the mill [removed]?
Answer by Deponent.
Most of the mill Irons were sold, all that could be found.  Some have been since found and are in use now in the mill.  The sale of the Irons was to one mill owner, the wheel and shaft remained there till they rebuilt and they rolled it out.

Question by same.
Was there a new flume put in when the mill was rebuilt about thirty years ago and also in 1836?
Answer by Deponent.
I think there was at both times.  I refer to the mill flume and not the waterway.  The wasteway flume was rebuilt after the dam broke and also when the mill was last rebuilt.

Question by same.
Did you ever measure the height of either of said flumes?
Answer by Deponent.
I do not recollect that I ever did.

Question by same.
Have you any mark by which you know the height of the pond was usually raised after the dam broke and up to 1826?
Answer by Deponent.
Soon after the dam broke as before stated a place across the East end of the dam was left lower than the other parts of it and made hard that the water might find a vent in case of a freshet and that part of the dam remains now as it was fixed at that time.  There has been nothing carried in thence nor taken away - The length of this low place is about two rods and is lowest in the middle.

Question by same.
Does the present mill stand on the same spot as the old one?
Answer by Deponent.
The mill has stood where the present mill stands ever since 1806 but the first mill stood about two rods or twice the width of the mill I should think to the Eastward.  The flume of the first mill took the water through the dam and of the two last around the West end of it.

Question by same.
Who was in possession of the land on the West side of the brook on which the mill was built at the time the first mill was built?
Answer by Deponent.
Asa Hunt.

Question by the same.
Did your father devise or give you any estate, if you state what.
The applicants object to this question as irrelevant and as not being the best evidence of the fact.
Answer by Deponent.
My father made a deed to me of his farm.  It is partly as a gift, and pay for services.  He died in the year 1814.

Question by same.
Have the mill owners old papers in their possession relating to the mill privilege not recorded?
Answer by Deponent.
Yes.

Martin Keith.

Source:
Plymouth County Registry of Deeds 188:167

Martin Keith House (1807)

Martin Keith House, Ipswich, MA, photograph

courtesy of Richard B. Hall

One of Middleborough’s most architecturally distinguished structures no longer stands in Middleborough, but rather is located in Ipswich, Massachusetts. The Martin Keith House (1807) stood at the crest of a small hill on the south side of Highland Street near Rock Village where 33 Highland Street now stands for nearly two centuries and it was undoubtedly the finest architectural specimen ever built at Rock, the two later Atwood houses on Miller Street notwithstanding. In October, 1990, through the timely intervention of Richard B. Hall who had a long affection for the Keith House and its architecture, as well as connections to it through both his mother’s and father’s families, the house was saved from destruction. “It's a great source of pride to me that I was able, in the name of ancestors on both sides of my family, to secure its salvation”, says Hall. Given Hall’s long family connection with and emotional attachment to the house which was reassembled in Ipswich in 1995, it’s not surprising that he has called the Martin Keith House his “favorite house in all of New England.”

The Keiths came to Middleborough from Bridgewater where they were among the earliest settlers, being descendants of Reverend James Keith of Aberdeen, Scotland, who was the first (1664) ordained minister in Bridgewater. Reverend Keith’s grandson, Captain Joseph Keith (1738-1814), with his family removed from Bridgewater to Rock Village (then known as Beaver Dam) near the close of the eighteenth century. The Keiths apparently had some financial means as indicated both by the house which Martin Keith later built as well as the deference with which they were treated in the community. Joseph Keith seems always to have been referred to by his title of "Captain", while his son Martin appears in records as “Esquire”.

Martin Keith House restored interior,

Ipswich, MA, photograph courtesy of

Richard B. Hall

Arriving in Middleborough sometime about 1781, Captain Keith became involved in the early industrial development of Beaver Dam. He was one of the original builders of the Beaver Dam sawmill which was constructed in 1783 on Black Brook just upstream from Highland Street and which operated through the mid-nineteenth century.

Keith’s son Martin (1771-1854) became prominent in local politics, serving as a Middleborough selectman (1808-09), justice of the peace (appointed September 3, 1810) and representative to the Massachusetts legislature (1811-12 and 1821). During this period, the younger Keith maintained the family’s interest in the nearby saw mill, and it was likely there that lumber for the house Keith would erect in 1807 was milled. Additionally, Keith may have been engaged in iron-working. Hall notes that Martin Keith “was called the ‘rake baron’ since he apparently produced rakes nearby”.

While the house was long known for its association with the Keith family, the 1807 date of construction was unknown until it was disassembled in 1990 at which time Hall made a fortunate discovery.

When I removed the plaster about one third of the way up the stairs behind the lath, on a partion board was written in chalk "M Keith 1807". It appears Mr. Keith was perusing his new house as it was going together and wanted some mark of his association to it! My paternal great-great-great grandmother was born Arbella Keith. She was Martin Keith's sister. There's no question that she watched that house go up and spent many hours there visiting with her brother.

Thomas Ruggles House, Columbia Falls, ME,

photograph, 1920s, Ruggles House Society

Not only was Hall able to determine the date of the house’s construction, but through another connection to the home, this time on the maternal side of his family, he was able to confirm the home’s builder as Aaron Simmons Sherman of Marshfield, Massachusetts, a housewright perhaps best known for the impeccable Thomas Ruggles House (1818-20) at Columbia Falls, Maine, which bears a remarkable resemblance to the Keith House.

As I child (I grew up in Bridgewater) my maternal aunt Elizabeth Perkins would often take me by the old place expressing her great dismay that the house would obviously be lost to history. Her quote: “this lovely old house has a connection to my father's family. He'd take us down here as children often to see it. But I was never sure just how he was connected to it.” It was all very cryptic.

So my affection for the Martin Keith House began when I was no more than eight years old. Subsequently as the years went by, I'd make intentional detours to drive by it to make sure it was still standing. To my great delight it always was … but the story of the association with my maternal side haunted me.

It was not until 1982 when a first cousin once removed directed me to go into her attic and bring down a small trunk of papers and photos. (She knew I was very interested in genealogy and old houses). I had never known much about my great grandmother (born Amelia Bartlett Sherman). I only knew that her father was Aaron Simmons Sherman from Marshfield, Massachusetts, and her mother Lydia Sherman (neé Whitney) of Machias, Maine.

Aaron Simmons Sherman, carte

de visite photograph, mid-19th

century, courtesy of Richard B.

Hall

Well that small trunk turned out to be a Godsend of information. In it was the entire handwritten genealogy of the Sherman family, Aaron's removal to Machias, Maine, where he built the famous Thomas Ruggles House. Ruggles was from here in Plymouth County (Rochester) and since my great-great-great-grandfather appeared to show early promise as a draftsman and architect he commissioned him to build his own residence in Columbia Falls, Maine. A placard in front of the Ruggles House commemorates Aaron S. Sherman and his building of that wonderful house.

During my aunt Elizabeth's last year of life (1988), she asked if I'd take her to Washington County, Maine. I willingly agreed. As we headed toward Machias she said "turn off the main road here and go into Columbia Falls". I did as she said. As we drove down the main street of that rural town the Thomas Ruggles house immediately showed its beautiful countenance and my aunt said "remind you of anything?" I said "YES! It's very similar to the old abandoned house in Rock Village."

She said "yes. That's why I brought you here. (So bits and pieces remained of what her father had told her). Look at the sign on the house and you'll see my great-great-grandfather's name. I'm quite sure he built the house on Highland Street too. I think that's why my father always referred to the family connection".

Well the trunk from 1982 confirmed that Aaron S. Sherman did, in fact, build the Keith House and many others in and about the greater Boston area with a focus on southeastern Massachusetts. His last great commission was for Daniel Webster when he designed an addition to Webster's house in the new "Gothic Style". The house no longer exists but postcards of it do.

Martin Keith House entry, Ipswich,

MA, photograph courtesy of Richard B.
Hall

The beautiful Adamesque house which Martin Keith raised on Highland Street in 1807 was unlike anything previously (or later) seen at Rock Village, and despite its architectural refinement, some residents no doubt perceived it as overly ostentatious in a neighborhood dominated by modest cape and half-cape style homes. Local folklore indicates that the pretensions of the family ultimately led to tragedy. Mrs. Ernest Thomas of Middleborough wrote in the mid-1940s of a burial in the Rock Cemetery on Highland Street: "One of the earliest graves in the old cemetery was that of another young girl who used to live in that rather striking looking white house you may have noticed about one quarter mile down the road on the right.... The story goes that in the early 1800s a wealthy family lived there with an only daughter whom they worshipped. But as she grew up she fell in love with a very poor young man who lived in the modest little farm house right across the road [Gunstock Farm]. The girl's people were furious and determined not to let her have anything to do with him. Of course she was quite upset. Then one day she disappeared. They hunted and hunted and finally found her body down in the cellar where she had drowned herself in a huge hogshead of brine kept for pickling the winter meat." The supposition is that the girl may have been Deborah Keith, the sister of Martin and daughter of Captain Joseph. Although Deborah Keith is buried in the Rock Cemetery, she was 27 at the time of her death and not an only daughter (she had four sisters). Alternatively, Lurana Keith who was born in 1795 and was the only daughter of Martin Keith would seem to better fit the tale. She is however identical with the Lurany Keith who married Branch Harlow in 1815. Lurany Keith Harlow died in 1878. Not surprisingly, skepticism surrounds this tale since there is no documentation to support it.

Pretentious or not, Martin Keith was an extensive landowner at Rock. In 1812, he purchased his father’s homestead farm, and seven years later in 1819, acquired an additional 123 acres from Nathaniel Tinkham near the Rock Burying Ground on Highland Street. The 1820 Federal census taken on August 7 of that year indicates that Martin, Hope, and sons John, Samuel P. and probably Foster were residing in the Keith House. Interestingly, only one member was recorded as being engaged in agriculture, indicating that the family’s interests lay elsewhere. The 1840 census records Martin as being engaged in agriculture though, given his age, this was likely in the role of master farmer.

Martin Keith death notice, Namasket Gazette,

November 24, 1854

On March 25, 1844, Martin Keith sold his entire estate to his youngest surviving son, Samuel P. Keith (1801-81), who granted his father a life estate in the property permitting him to live “in the same manner as if his deed to me had never been made during the period of his natural life.” Martin Keith continued to reside in the home until his death in 1854. Following that time, it was occupied by his widow, Hope (Sturtevant) Keith, with her son Samuel and his family. In 1856 Hope Keith was noted as being likely the oldest living Middleborough resident. (Moses Thompson, in fact, was three years older). She later moved to Oakham where she died in 1858 though her remains were brought back to Middleborough for burial in the Rock Cemetery.

Samuel P. Keith resided in the Keith House and farmed the property for several years while his aged father was still alive. Yet he may have been less successful financially than his father. Hall writes, “My sense is Samuel Keith didn't have his father's business acumen and the house went downhill from there. In fact Martin himself never finished the interior of the house. The only reason can be that he ran out of funds. One of the two main bedrooms in the house (as you face it upstairs left) was always an attic room and never finished.”

"Farm for Sale" notice, Namasket

Gazette, August 1, 1856

Perhaps tiring of Rock Village, just a year following his father’s death, Keith purchased a house lot on the west side of Forest Street in Middleborough and began the construction of a house there. “Mr. Samuel P. Keith, has commenced operation in good earnest, for erecting a house on a new street, running from the house of Mr. J. A. Leonard, towards Muttock,” reported the Namasket Gazette on August 3, 1855. The following year, 1856, Samuel advertised the Highland Street property for sale, disposing of the farm for $2500 to Charles Marchant, a mariner from Edgartown, Massachusetts.

"Auction Notice", Middleborough Gazette

and Old Colony Advertiser, January 18, 1868

Marchant retired from seafaring in order to farm the property, though he remained at the occupation in Middleborough for just ten years. In February, 1868, he sold the former Keith farm to Francis B. Gibbs (1833-1926) of Middleborough for $3200. Gibbs was described as “a strong character of the old New England type” and during his lifetime engaged in a number of occupations including farmer, shoemaker, manager of a hotel at Middleborough center, yard foreman of the Tremont Iron Works. In 1884, while living in the Keith House, Gibbs was the operator of the Rock general grocery store at Miller and Smith Streets. Gibbs was deeply interested in religious matters and “his interest and loyalty in all things pertaining to his church and his God were deep and abiding.”

Francis B. Gibbs advertisement, Resident and

Business Directory of Middleboro', Mass.

(Needham, MA: Local Directory and

Publishing Company, 1884).

Gibbs sold the property to Annie W. and Elizabeth A. Sumner in August, 1889, and C. A. Sumner is recorded in the Middleborough directory of that year as farming the property. The Sumners sold the property just a few years later in March, 1892, to George T. M. Gammons (1838-1924) of Rock.

Gammons, like Francis B. Gibbs before him, was characterized as “a typical, old-fashioned New Englander.” Gammons farmed the former Keith property and engaged in lumbering during the winter as did many local farmers, and he sold charcoal, fuel wood and lumber.

"Auction Sale" notice,

Middleboro Gazette,

March 19, 1909

In 1908, Albert E. Wilkinson of Dorchester purchased the former Keith House and surrounding land, described at the time as “30 acres of land, a woodlot, two-story house of eleven rooms, stable, 36 x 30 feet, with carriage, tool, poultry, wood and ice houses.” Wilkinson took up residency with his family about the end of March but did not remain long, defaulting on the $1500 mortgage he had taken with Gammons. The property was subsequently sold at public auction on March 29, 1909, and was reacquired by Gammons, the mortgagee, Wilkinson the previous week having sold his personal property at auction before departing Middleborough.

Gammons resold the Keith property to dairyman John M. Cushman of Middleborough who seemingly sold a portion of his North Street farm to Robert Fickert in order to finance purchase of the Highland Street property. Cushman (who maintained his residence on North Street) would own the property until August, 1918, during which period he rented the Keith House. The first occupants were the La Flamine family of Fall River who rented the house beginning in April, 1909. About 1915, Frank Maddigan who was a dairyman rented the property and operated his milk route from there. Although the family lived there only for a few years, until October, 1917, when Frank Maddigan relocated to Middleborough, a photograph on the Middleborough Public Library's website is captioned "Former Maddigan House".

J. Frank Maddigan Milk Dealer,

advertisement, Resident and Business

Directory of Middleboro, Massachusetts:

1916-1917 (Boston, MA: Union Publishing Co.

[Inc.], 1916).

On August 26, 1918, Cushman sold the Keith House to Joachim P. and Alfred Baptista or Baptiste of Somerville. Alfred shortly afterwards disposed of his interest to Joachim who in January, 1920, through the agency of the P. F. Leland Company of Boston sold the property to Helen L. and Swift N. Long of Middleborough. Long (1853-1938) was a “retired building contracting superintendent, prominent in this trade in Connecticut” where he was involved in the construction of the Windham County Courthouse, the American Thread Company buildings at Willimantic, and numerous public buildings in Hartford. Long retired from this work in 1925, but remained occupied as a carpenter after he came to Middleborough and (like many families at the time) engaged in poultry-raising.

Following the death of Long’s wife Helen in February, 1932, Long’s daughter and son-in-law, Helen S. and Ralph E. Creamer came to live with Long. Ralph E. Creamer (1907-88) was engaged in a number of occupations during his residence in Middleborough. The 1939 directory lists him as a “mattress maker”, while his obituary states that he was “self-employed as a well driller until his retirement.”

On October 29, 1941, the Keith House was greatly damaged in “a spectacular fire that sent up a thick column of smoke visible for several miles [and which] destroyed the barn, ruined the kitchen and ell and damaged the house…. The fire worked its way through the ell and finally into the attic of the main building, but was stopped before it had gotten into the front rooms.” Though initial assessment of the fire department upon responding to the alarm was that the building was doomed, Engines 1 and 3 of the Middleborough Fire Department were able to contain the fire and save the main structure. Creamer, who was partially blind, lamented the latest in a string of losses. “This place has been a hoodoo for me ever since I came here. My wife has been in the hospital since February, except for about a week, and my step-daughter left recently. I’ve got my bird dog, Dutchess, left and that’s about all.”

Nonetheless, Creamer owned the Keith House for nearly a half century more. On April 27, 1988, Creamer and his second wife Gladys (Maden) Creamer sold the house to his step-son, John J. Hebert of Middleborough. Ralph Creamer died just two and a half weeks later.

Martin Keith House, Middleborough, MA,

photograph, 1990, courtesy of Richard B. Hall

According to Hall, the house was in a state of dereliction when he visited it again in 1990, with some of the damage resulting from the 1941 fire.

The house was nearly beyond salvation. By the time I got the place it was in truly dreadful condition. Both end chimney stacks had been removed and all sills were rotten beyond reclamation. The fireplace mantel in the dining room (which had been converted to a kitchen) was found rotted under a fir tree close to Highland Street.

Originally I had wanted to restore the house for myself. That was my intent, but when I realized I didn't have sufficient money to do it justice, I persevered knowing someone would one day see the potential in the place.



Martin Keith House, Middleborough, MA,

photograph, October, 1990, courtesy of

Richard B. Hall
Disassembly of the house has gotten underway
with the stripping of the clapboards to expose
the horizontal plank sheathing underneath.
Next comes removal of the decorative trim from
around both the doorway and the distinctive
second floor Palladian window.

We took the entire month of October 1990 to disassemble the place. [The owner of the property] John Hebert was only keeping the house standing because (as he told me) "the electric meter is there and it will cost one thousand dollars to move it …. You pay to have it moved and the house is yours". I paid him the money and the rest is history. John only went through the house once with me. It was interesting to note that as we began to take the house apart Mr. Hebert became more and more interested. Then his son-in-law (a very nice fellow by the name of Teceno) helped us for one full day remove the clapboards from the house.

At the time the house was disassembled, it was extensively documented with both photographs and videos. “They all aided in the resurrection of Martin Keith's beautiful house,” notes Hall.

The house was disassembled in October of 1990 and stored in my barn on Cape Cod until 1995 when I found sympathetic buyers who recognized the architectural significance of the house. I recall that first winter when the house was going back up. At that point the house was not finished inside and the owners were having great trouble with the contractor they'd hired to reassemble and finish the Keith House. I was hired to assist in a good deal of the research for the reconstruction of it. The folks who bought it from me … were able to do all the structural repairs and to replace the back ell which had burned off in a fire years before. I was able, through George Decas, to locate an old postcard of the Martin Keith House taken from near Hope's Rest Cemetery. It showed the original configuration of the kitchen ell and barns. It was used as a prototype to replace it when the house went back together in Ipswich. I feel very fortunate that it came to pass and the house was saved from destruction. Its three key elements are the fanlight doorway, the Palladian window, and that tremendous stairway. It's truly the epitome of high style Federal architecture.

[For a garage] I had suggested another hip-roofed barn/carriage house that exists still in Middleborough that would have been the perfect complement (stylistically and scale-wise) to have copied but they opted to put up that gable end pseudo garage which I feel detracts markedly from the house. I find that existing building they appended to the right as you face the place too small scale and at odds with the main body of the house.

But, in the grander scheme of things, I should be thankful it survived as well as it did.

Martin Keith House, Ipswich, MA, photograph,

c. 1996, Walter Thompson Collection,

Middleborough Public Library

Indeed, thankfully through the efforts of Mr. Hall, the Martin Keith House stands to this day. And while it is important that this one individual house was saved, Mr. Hall’s work also demonstrates that seemingly derelict structures in Middleborough and elsewhere are not beyond salvation despite their outward appearance and structural challenges. Regardless of their condition, these neglected structures are important cultural resources, the loss of which compromises our shared heritage and the reclamation of which is therefore not only desirable but possible.

Sources:
Richard B. Hall, email correspondence, December, 2010
Maddigan, Michael J. Elysian Fields: An Illustrated History of Rock Cemetery. Middleboro, MA: Rock Cemetery Association, 2007.
Middleboro Gazette, “Rock”, February 7, 1908:3; ibid., February 14, 1908:1; ibid., April 3, 1908:2; Mortgagee Sale of Real Estate notice, March 5, 1909:2; “Rock”, March 26, 1909:5; ibid., April 2, 1909:2; “Middleboro”, April 9, 1909:6; “Rock”, April 30, 1909:5; ibid., October 21, 1917:1; “Middleboro”, January 23, 1920:1; “Former Middleboro Man Observes 90th Birthday”, April 6, 1923:2; “Poultry Thefts”, November 21, 1924:1; “Rock”, November 21, 1924:6; ibid., December 19, 1924:4; “Rock”, April 23, 1926:6; “Recent Deaths”, February 12, 1932:1; “Deaths”, February 12, 1932:4; “Recent Deaths”, October 7, 1938:1; “Deaths”, October 7, 1938:7; “Rock”, October 7, 1938:8; “Fire Ruins Old Long Place on Highland St.”, October 31, 1941:1; “Obituaries”, May 19, 1988:20.
Middleborough Gazette and Old Colony Advertiser, “Middleboro”, January 18, 1868:2; Marchant auction notice, ibid.
Namasket Gazette, “Local Improvements”, August 3, 1855:2
The Plymouth County Directory, and Historical Register of the Old Colony. Middleboro, MA: Stillman B. Pratt & Co., 1867.
Plymouth County Registry of Deeds 188:167; 199:126; 235:214; 276:141; 356:204; 531:33; 570:525; 586:230; 645:299; 990;420; 1018:182; 1311:562; 1345:416; 1631:541; 1687:277; 3594:500; 8425:175; 30384:349
Resident and Business Directory of Middleboro’, Mass. Needham, MA: Local Directory and Publishing Company, 1884.
Resident and Business Directory of Middleboro and Lakeville, Mass. Needham, MA: A. E. Foss & Co., 1895.
Resident and Business Directory of Middleboro, Mass. North Cambridge, MA: Edward A. Jones, 1901.
Resident and Business Directory of Middleboro and Lakeville, Mass.: 1904-5. Boston, MA: Edward A. Jones, 1904.
Resident and Business Directory of Middleboro and Lakeville, Massachusetts:1909. Boston, MA: Boston Suburban Book Co., 1908.
Resident and Business Directory of Middleboro, Massachusetts:1916-1917. Boston, MA: Union Publishing Company, (Inc.), 1916.
Resident and Business Directory of Middleboro, Massachusetts: 1921-1923. Boston, MA: Union Publishing Company, 1921.
Crosby’s Middleboro, Massachusetts Directory:1928-29. Wollaston, MA: Crosby Publishing Co., 1928.
Middleboro and Carver, Massachusetts Directory: 1934. North Hampton, NH: Crosby Publishing Co., Inc., 1934.
Fourth Census of the United States, 1820. Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29, National Archives Microfilm Publication M33, Roll M33-50, Page 413, Image 345. Washington, D. C.: National Archives.
Fifth Census of the United States, 1840. Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29, National Archives Microfilm Publication M19, Roll M19-64, Page 264. Washington, D. C.: National Archives.
Sixth Census of the United States, 1840. Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29, National Archives Microfilm Publication M704, Roll M704-76, Page 194, Image 652. Washington, D. C.: National Archives.
Seventh Census of the United States, 1850. Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29, National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, Roll M432-333, Page 249B, Image 503. Washington, D. C.: National Archives.

Park at Oak and Center Streets

Sometimes the smallest or most innocuous parcels of property have a rich history. Such is the case with the small triangular piece of paved ground at the corner of Center and Oak Streets opposite the Sacred Heart Church in Middleborough.

On July 5, 1856, a group of 21 neighborhood residents purchased the sliver of land for $150 from Leander Mayhew of Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Their intention was to construct a water cistern on (or more likely below) the property for use during fires. At the time, Middleborough did not have a public waterworks system, nor did it provide for public cisterns. The neighbors, headed by hardware dealer George H. Doane, who resided on Oak Street, accordingly took safety matters into their own hands and purchased the property as a cistern site. Mayhew, probably at the request of the grantees, stipulated that the premises were “to be used and occupied only for a public street, as a highway, and for no other purposes except for such other purposes as shall not be objected to by Jacob B. Shaw, his heirs and assigns.”

The purchasers resided on Oak, Center, High and South Main Streets and each contributed to the $150 acquisition cost according to their own means as follows: George H. Doane ($25), George B. Washburn ($15), William Washburn ($10), George Soule ($12.50), Charles C. Burnett ($5), Isaiah S. Swift ($5), Reverend I. C. Thatcher ($15), Enoch Tinkham ($1), Freelove Rounseville ($5), Abiel Wood ($7), Andrew J. Pickens ($4), James M. Pickens ($4), James A. Leonard ($5), George Vaughan ($5), Joshua Sherman ($12.50), Lothrop Thomas ($5), Milton Alden ($5), Jane King ($5), Peter Washburn ($2), George F. Hartwell ($1) and George W. Johnson ($1).

While the property was intended for a cistern, there is no record of one having been constructed on the property, however, until November, 1872, when a 600-barrel (18,900 gallon) cistern was built underneath the park. “More wise than the property owners at the [Four] corners” sniffed the Gazette at the time, critical of the failure of other residents to properly provide for their own protection from fire.

In the meantime, the surface had been landscaped to create a small park, the first recorded efforts at doing so being noted in 1869. With the advent of municipal water in 1885, the cistern was abandoned and filled, and the park was recreated on the surface: “At one time the area was a sort of little park with maple trees growing at its edges, and was a really attractive site,” noted one account from 1948. The home of Josiah H. Cushing which was later built on Center Street adjoining the park, in fact took its name, “The Maples”, from these trees. Eventually, a gravelled walk was constructed along the eastern edge of the property, creating a more direct pedestrian path between Oak and Center Streets. This walk was reported in 1948 as having “been used for many long years” and it may have been laid out at the time the cistern was filled in the 1880s.

Eventually, however, this sidewalk created problems. By 1942, the Middleboro Chamber of Commerce (which had occupied “The Maples” for several years) was having an on-going problem with the poorly-maintained condition of the sidewalk which had been concreted in the meantime. The walk was impassable in wet weather and water seeped from it into the chamber’s basement. The question arose as to whether the walk was on private or public property and, if on private, whether it had been illegally laid out. It was an important question, for at the time, the lot was being used for parking by Sacred Heart Church parishioners on Sundays, by Plymouth Shoe Company workers during weekdays, and by the Chamber of Commerce and the Knights of Columbus (which occupied the second floor of the chamber building) on weeknights. “So it is a busy little spot and a handy one.”

Given the uncertainty regarding title to the property, the suggestion was made that the town to assess the taxes upon the heirs of the original 21 grantees and if these were not paid the town then could properly take possession of the land. The town did so, but no decision was made regarding a use for the land and concerns were raised regarding the limitation placed on the land’s use by Mayhew in 1856.

Though discussed periodically by the Middleborough Selectmen, the matter was not definitely resolved until 1948. “It looks as though the status of the triangle of land on Oak street at Center street … which has been mulled over by boards of selectmen from time to time, might now be settled permanently,” reported the Middleboro Gazette in April of that year. Town Counsel, Judge L. Francis Callan, Jr., offered a report and opinion that the town as the new owner of the property was bound by the original restriction incorporated in the deed. And while the state in 1887 had limited the period of such restrictions to 30 years, the statute did not apply to restrictions which existed at the time the statute was passed, July 16, 1887. “It is apparent that the deed in question, being given in 1856, and the restriction on the use of the land being unlimited as regards time, it is my opinion that the restriction is still in force…”, opined Callan.

Since 1948, the parcel has been limited to “highway use” and has continued to be used for parking.

For a view of the park, including the "maple trees growing at its edges", click here.  The house behind the trees is "The Maples".  Oak Street is just out of view at the far right.

Sources:
Brockton Enterprise, “Middleboro Land Bought By ’22 Neighbors’ is a Problem”, September 15, 1942, and “Ruling on Plot Title”, April 14, 1948.
Middleboro Gazette, “’Triangle’ Can Be Used Only for Highway”, April 16, 1948.
Old Colony Memorial, “The Old Colony”, May 28, 1869, page 2.
Plymouth County Registry of Deeds, 1247:149.

Fall Brook Chapel

The earliest home of the Methodists in Middleborough was the Fall Brook chapel which was constructed and dedicated in 1831 and which stood on the east side of Cherry Street between Wareham and East Grove Streets. 

Methodism had been formally organized in central Middleborough a decade earlier when on September 15, 1823, articles of association were drafted and the Middleborough Methodist Society formed.  The earliest meetings of the society were held in the Middleborough Town House which stood at the junction of South Main and West Grove Streets with Reverend Asa Kent serving as pastor.

The congregation, however, desired a permanent home of its own.  Consequently, on February 14, 1831, Peter Vaughan, Cushman Vaughan, Nathaniel Thompson, Edward Winslow, Nathan Perkins, William Shurtleff and Perez Thomas acting as trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Middleborough purchased a vacant lot on the east side of Cherry Street for $15 from farmer Davis Thomas who resided at the corner of Cherry and Grove Streets.  The site is stated to have been selected as early as October, 1830, and was so chosen as it was considered a centralized location within Middleborough which at the time still included Lakeville.  The property was to be held "for ever in special trust and confidence, that the said Trustees shall erect or cause to be erected and built upon the lot above described a house or place of public worship for use of the members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.... They shall at all time suffer and permit all regularly authorized Ministers and preachers of the said Methodist Episcopal Church to preach and expound God's holy word therein..."

While later pictures depict the chapel which was built as a rather non-descript building, it featured a number of architectural details which set it apart from other chapel buildings of the era. The west facade had twin entranceways with a classical entablature and diamond-paned lights in the transoms.  Inside, 16 enclosed pews occupied the center of the building with an additional 12 along each wall under a vaulted ceiling.

The chapel became the center of Methodist worship for much of Middleborough during the mid-nineteenth century, as well as a site for many church-related functions.  "The Ladies of the Methodist Sewing Society in this town propose holding a FAIR, in their Church on Thursday Evening, Oct. 25th, for the purpose of raising money to repair their Church", announced on advertisement from 1855 in the pages of the Namasket Gazette.

H. F. Walling, Map of

the Town of

Middleborough,

Plymouth County,

Massachusetts, 1855

(detail)

The location of the

Methodist chapel on

Cherry Street is indicated

by the arrow.  The house

marked "J. King" was

earlier occupied by Davis

Thomas from whom the

church purchased the

chapel site, and later

occupied by the Field

family, the last owners

of the chapel.

Worship was conducted in the chapel on a regular basis for thirty years until 1861 at which time it appears services began being held at Middleborough center to accommodate the growing number of church members who resided there.  An account of the history of the Central Methodist Church carried in the Namasket Gazette of March 24, 1866, indicates that by the early 1860s services at the Cherry Street chapel were conducted only infrequently:

In December, 1863, Rev. J. Q. Adams, a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church, came to the village in the employ of the Star Mills Company, and being a good Methodist, he was anxious to have a Methodist meeting in this place.  On inquiry, he learned that there was a Methodist Meeting House a mile and a half from the village, to which, on the Sabbath he repaired, and found it closed.  He seated himself on the door stone to await the arrival of some one of whom he could learn in regard to the meetings.  Soon a lady accompanied by a little girl came by of whom Mr. Adams inquired about the meetings, and learned that the House had been closed four months.  He went with the lady to see her father and mother, the latter being a member of the church.  The result of the interview was the opening of the house for Divine worship, and Mr. Adams supplied the desk the most of the time for the next four months.  It was then thought best by Mr. Adams and others, to start a meeting in the village.

Initially, the hall over Soule's furniture store on South Main Street was leased by the Methodists who subsequently in 1865 rented Grove Hall (the original Central Baptist Chapel) on School Street as a place of worship.  The Cherry Street chapel, however, was not fully abandoned until 1869 when the Central Methodist Church was constructed on School Street.

Despite the fact that following 1869 the Methodists had their own church, the congregation continued to maintain ownership of the Cherry Street chapel until May 29, 1896, when it was sold to Lysander Field who then resided in the former home of Davis Thomas at the corner of Cherry and Grove Streets.  The deed conveying the property from the church's trustees (Sylvanus Mendall, James L. Jenney, Benjamin F. Jones, Samuel S. Lovell, Martin O. Rounseville, Nathaniel Warren, Granville L. Thayer and Samuel S. Bourne) to Field for $125, however, was careful to stipulate that Field "never sell any intoxicating liquors in said Meeting house or from any other building place on said premises or use or permit said premises to be used for any immoral purpose whatsoever."

The Methodists, however, still maintained a connection with the building (or at least its immediate neighborhood) into the twentieth century.  In September, 1916, the congregation held an open air meeting at Fall Brook "so near the site of the original Methodist church."

It is not clear why Field purchased the building, though it may have simply been for the land as Field property would eventually surround it on three sides.  The Field family appears to have either loaned or leased the building for use by an unidentified neighborhood club composed of young men and in the early 1920s to the Wappanucket Agricultural Society.  Among the events held at the former chapel were the society's annual fairs in 1922 and 1923.  The society, however, was short-lived, it it is not known to what use the structure was put following that time.
 

Fall Brook Methodist Chapel, photograph by Arthur

Haskell, April, 1934, HABS

At the time Haskell documented the Fall Brook Methodist

Chapel, the building remained in good repair with

weathered shingles and "garnet" trim.  In the left

background, the greenhouses of the Leland Carnation

Company are visible.  The barn to the right of the

greenhouses still stands at 72 Cherry Street and helps

place the location of the chapel building in context.

In 1934, the structure was documented as part of the Historic American Buildings Survey with delineations prepared by Tito Cascieri and photographs by Arthur Haskell in April of that year.

The building is stated to have remained in good repair (as indicated by the 1934 photograph) for some time after 1934 until "juvenile depredations resulted in broken window glass and sash."  In 1942, then owner Everett Field "reluctantly decided to have the old chapel razed", possibly believing it remained a target for continued vandalism.  The building was sold to Dr. Daniel D. Holmes who also developed a number of properties locally and who is said to have salvaged the lumber which was reportedly "fashioned into other buildings."

Historic American Buildings Survey, number HABS MA-2-68
"Central Methodist Church", Cherry Street, Middleborough, MA

Sources:
Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress, Prints and Photograph Division, Washington, D. C., Survey number HABS MA-2-68
Middleboro Gazette, "Middleboro", September 15, 1916, p. 1
Middleborough Gazette and Old Colony Advertiser, "History of the Central Methodist Episcopal Church, Middleboro, Mass.", March 24, 1866, p. 2
Namasket Gazette, advertisement for Methodist Church Fair, October 19, 1855, p 2.
Plymouth County Registry of Deeds 169:226, 746:176
Unidentified newspaper clipping, "Old Chapel Razed", November, 1942, James H. Creedon Collection, Middleborough Public Library