Socialist A. H. Dennett

At the turn of the last century, Middleborough resident A. H. Dennett looked to awaken the community’s social and political conscience. Concerned about the conditions of the working class, Dennett, a market gardener who resided on Summer Street, was active in social democratic circles in the years immediately following 1900. In October, 1900, he was a keynote speaker at a social democratic rally in Cushing’s Hall in Middleborough, along with Isaac W. Skinner of Brockton. At the time, Dennett was running for the office of Massachusetts Representative for Plymouth District No. 7 (Halifax, Middleborough and Plympton). While his opponent Judge George D. Alden of Middleborough initially agreed to debate Dennett, Alden probably realized that such an act might provide Dennett with too much credibility as a candidate and he quickly rescinded his acceptance. The debate never came off.

The following year, in 1901, Dennett again ran for Representative, finishing third behind William Perkins, Jr., of Plympton (Republican), and Dr. T. S. Hodgson of Middleborough (Democrat). Undeterred, Dennett ran on the Social Democratic ticket for Massachusetts Secretary of State in 1902, again finishing third behind Republican William M. Olin of Boston and Democrat W. B. Stone, but ahead of candidates from the Socialist Labor and Prohibition parties.

Locally, Dennett proved the nemesis of more conservative-minded individuals in Middleborough, and in 1901 grocer Matthew H. Cushing appears to have been a particular antagonist. The 69-year-old Cushing was an astute politician, having served as a state representative, himself, as well as a member of the Governor's Council, and since 1867 he had operated a grocery store at the Four Corners.

For the town meeting of March, 1901, Dennett proposed by popular petition a number of warrant articles, moving that street laborers be paid $2 a day, that town employees be given an 8-hour work day and be paid 25¢ an hour, that the local street railway companies provide shelters for passengers along the line of their route, that future franchises for street railways make provision for the free transportation of public school children, that the town obviate future conflicts of interest by barring town officials from holding office with or receiving “emolument” from corporations holding or securing a franchise with the town, that the town provide caps and gowns for high school and grammar school graduates and that Middleborough Town Hall be “given free to the different political parties for the discussion of public questions.”

While, today, none of these proposals appear strikingly radical, at the time they were depicted as the vanguard of a larger socialist movement which threatened to overwhelm conservative Middleborough and they accordingly received great attention, eliciting considerable debate at the town meeting of March. And while the initial meeting passed several of Dennett’s motions, protracted proceedings forced its adjournment and the re-adjourned meeting ultimately overturned most of the previous meeting's actions. “The triumph of the followers of A. H. Dennett at the first meeting was short-lived, as the citizens were in an antagonistic mood and undid about all that the Dennetites accomplished” previously.

In response to Dennett’s proposal that day laborers working for the town (primarily in the street department) be paid $2 a day, grocer Matthew H. Cushing argued against the article, dismissing it as a “cranky socialistic idea.”

I will yield to no one in consideration for the laboring man, but I do not believe in favoritism. Let the pay be as before. The superintendent of streets can now hire at different prices and pay what a man is worth, while with this scheme all get $2 whether worth it or not. Why adopt class legislation? Is it for individual popularity? The town has run to my knowledge for 50 years without the intervention of these cranky socialistic ideas.

Dennett disputed Cushing’s characterization of the matter, stressing that the issue was strictly one of social justice, and he took umbrage of the depiction of socialism as cranky, making note of the strong social imperative within Christianity:

That’s right, gentlemen, but the Encyclopedia Britannica says that “the ethics of socialism and the ethics of Jesus Christ are identical.” “Woe unto ye, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, that devour widows’ houses and for a pretence make long prayers, for yours is the greater damnation.” Aren’t the town’s laborers entitled to a good living? Those who championed other appropriations, why don’t they support these? Could they live on $2?

Dennett’s last question was particularly pointed, given the fact that Cushing owned nearly $20,000 in property at the time, a considerable sum and one which would take a lifetime for a working man to accrue at the pay rate of $2 a day. When Dennett emphasized that he had witnessed first hand children employed in mines for meager pay, Cushing retorted, “That isn’t in Middleboro.” Dennett’s response was that “Middleboro does not constitute all the known world to others, even if it does to you.” The motion, nonetheless, was lost.

Dennett had equally poor luck with defending his effort to prevent conflicts of interest, though the warrant article, itself, appeared unimpeachable: “To see if the town will vote to amend the by laws of the town so as to forbid any official of the town holding any office of trust or emolument in any corporation holding or securing a franchise from this town.”

The ultimate failure of this article, however, had less to do with the result it sought to bring about and more with the fact that it was seen as being directed at one individual in particular who apparently held both a town office as well as a position of trust with an enfranchised company. Leading the opposition was Middleborough postmaster Augustus M. Bearse.

I do not see why the townspeople should vote to amend the by-laws in such a manner …. I do not believe that any of the town’s officials would use personal office for public gain. Furthermore, the official affected is one who has worked side by side with me, and has been one of the town’s best benefactors.

Bearse’s reasoning displayed a perhaps naïve view of public officialdom, though in his defense, voters during the period in question were less jaundiced regarding the political process. Consequently, the town meeting tabled the article, effectively killing it.

Bearse also opposed Dennett’s motion to require street railways to provide suitable shelters at the intersections of cross streets with the trolley lines outside the center of Middleborough. Bearse (who most likely only rode the trolley infrequently) argued that the company in question – the New Bedford, Middleboro and Brockton Street Railway – “intends to deal with fairness and generosity towards the town”, a sentiment again marked by a degree of naivete. While the original motion by Dennett had passed, Bearse was successful in persuading the town meeting to consider an alternate motion that the street railway “erect one or more booths between here and North Middleborough.”

The 1901 town meeting appears to have been the culmination of Dennett's efforts locally to persuade voters to adopt a social democratic platform. Just a few years later, Dennett would relocated to Virginia where he continued to labor for the Socialist Party.

Illustrations:

Socialist Party of America seal

Sources:
Brockton Times, October 12, 1900; February 15, 1901; February 20, 1901; “Socialists Beaten”, March 18, 1901

International Socialist Review, 8:12, June 1908, pp. 722-24

A Souvenir of Massachusetts Legislators, 1901 (Stoughton, MA: A. M. Bridgman, 1901), p. 175

A Souvenir of Massachusetts Legislators, 1902 (Stoughton, MA: A. M. Bridgman, 1902), p. 129

Indian Hill

This dramatic view of a solitary boy on Indian Hill taken at the turn of the last century well illustrates the coexistence of agriculture and industry at the time in Middleborough. In the distance, across the Nemasket River, the village of Middleboro Four Corners is visible with the steeples of the Central Congregational Church, Middleborough Town Hall, Central Baptist Church and Central Methodist Church, and the Forest Street standpipe interrupting the horizon. Fields, including those sloping down to the river from North Main Street, surround the town and give it a compact yet rural feel. The bright surface of the Star Mill pond is readily visible, as is the Star Mill itself, the large brick building at the far right, which was then operated by the Nemasket Worsted Company. In the center distance is a small house once owned by the Star Mill and after 1928 by the Maddigan family which later farmed the property.

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company

Though Middleborough’s oldest residents might recall the Peirce Block as site of the Middleborough Post Office between 1902 and 1933, the overwhelmingly greater number of memories of the Peirce Block concern one of the block's later tenants - The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, always known familiarly as the A & P. Few other Middleborough businesses seem to be held in as high a collective esteem or remembered with such warm regard as the Four Corners A & P.

Founded in 1859 as a New York-based mail order tea business, the A & P first opened in Middleborough in 1920 in a small ell attached to the Nemasket House hotel on North Main Street. Managed by W. S. Wilder, the store was one of several thousand A & P stores operating nationally.

In late 1920 when Wilder was moved to a new A & P branch on Center Street, he was replaced with William Jacobs in the North Main Street location. The late Lyman Butler fondly recalled one of his earliest jobs as a part-time stock clerk in this first North Main Street A & P under the management of Bill Jacobs, and he described how he was later "eased out" when expanding business warranted a full-time clerk. At the time, the A & P retailed only dry and canned goods and Middleborough customers had to patronize other local markets for perishable items. Despite that fact the A & P store grew rapidly, eventually adding the sale of fresh meat and produce.

In the 1920s, the North Main Street store relocated across the street into the Panesis Block to the store later occupied by Panesis' own market and still later by Cleverly's Market. The A & P paid Panesis $90 a month rent and required Panesis to repaint the store's interior "in accordance with color scheme of Tea Co." with paint provided by the A & P. In 1927, this store began selling fresh food with the addition of a meat market.

Besides the North Main Street location, the A & P also operated a second branch store on Center Street, first in the Atwood Building from about 1920 through 1925 then between 1926 and the early 1930s at Everett Square on the corner of Center and Everett Streets. The Everett Square store was the scene of considerable excitement in 1933 when it was robbed of $396, the robber brandishing a gun and tying up the manager and clerk. The so-called "A & P Bandit" was returned to Middleborough for trial the following year.

In 1932, the North Main Street store moved to larger quarters in the brick Thatcher Block on the corner of Center Street and Thatcher's Row where the rent in that more visible location was a more substantial $275 a month. Lyman Butler described the Center Street A & P as "without question the most modern in town." In contrast to today when the floor areas of supermarkets measure in thousands of square feet, the Center Street A & P occupied about 2,500 square feet of space (nearly twice that of the North Main Street store), with stock areas located in the basement. At the time of its relocation, the A & P added a large concrete medallion depicting the familiar "A & P" monogram logo to the cornice of the building. This reminder of the store's presence survived until the late 1970s when it toppled to the pavement below.

The A & P remained in the Thatcher Block for only a short period of time. As the Post Office had vacated the bottom floor of the Peirce Block at the Four Corners a number of years earlier, the A & P was able to rent that space from the Peirce Trustees, and Middleborough’s A & Ps were consolidated there in 1938. For years following the A & P's removal to the Peirce Block, its advertisements emphasized its location as being that of the "Old Post Office," indicating how closely identified the Post Office and Peirce Block were in the public's mind at that time. Ironically, the A & P would later, itself, become so closely identified with the Peirce Block that it would supplant any former associations between the building and its former tenants - even the Post Office whose long term presence in the building has since been somewhat forgotten.

The A & P’s advertising at the time proclaimed the new Peirce Block store which opened for business on March 25, 1938, as the “newest … most modern self-service food store!" Clearly the typesetter exhausted his supply of exclamation points when setting the following piece of enthusiastic copy about Middleborough's latest A & P: "A new type of food store – stripped of frills – stripped for action to give you bigger and better savings. Over a thousand ways to save this modern way – not just a few tempting special[s] – but sensational low Self-Service prices for everyday of the week on every single item. It’s fun, too. No necessary waiting – serve yourself and save! Compare prices – compare quality. You’ll be amazed! Get the Self-Service habit and save! More clerks employed than ever before to make your shopping easier!”

Like Lyman Butler, Clint Clark also wrote warmly of his reminiscences of the A & P, remembering it for its role in introducing self-service shopping locally.

"I don't think the A & P at the Four Corners ever operated as what we called a 'straight' grocery store, clerks waiting on customers, that is. As I recall, it was set up for self-service when it opened. In theory, self-service would make it possible to reduce food prices, as it eliminated maintaining a staff of clerks to wait on customers. On the other hand, self- service required staffing checkouts, and help to keep the shelves stocked and goods priced - plus numerous other chores." Not only were the self-service concept and savings popular with Middleborough shoppers, but brands such as Eight O'Clock and Red Circle coffee, Jane Parker and Ann Page products found a following as well.

At the time the A & P moved into the Peirce Block, it was managed by Elmer "Tubby" Dewhurst, with Andy Pike managing the meat department. Later, James Mooney was named manager of the store.

When the A & P made its move to the Peirce Block over sixty years ago, the grocery trade was far more competitive than today. At the time, Stop & Shop operated a store a short distance away along Center Street while the main A & P rival in Middleborough - the First National - conducted business in the brick block which later was the last home of the Boston Store. Additionally, there were the numerous local stores, including the Homestead grocery, which competed for Middleborough shoppers.

Despite this competitive environment (or, perhaps, because of it), the A & P flourished in the Peirce Block, remaining there until larger quarters were required in 1961, at which time it relocated Everett Square. During its roughly quarter century of Peirce Block tenancy, the A & P attracted thousands of shoppers and, in the process, created what seem to be thousands of affectionate memories. Mention the Peirce Block to any Middleborough resident of the right age and, undoubtedly, they'll share one of these memories with you.

(Of course, still younger readers will recall the A & P from the days following 1961 when it relocated at Everett Square in the building now occupied by the Rockland Trust Company. It remained there until it closed in 1977).

Illustrations:
A & P Logo
The distinctive A & P logo helped brand the store and promote the company as one of the most reliable and recognizable in the country.

Former A & P, Center Street and Thatcher's Row, Middleborough, MA, photograph by Clint Clark, 1975
The A & P occupied a store in the remodelled Thatcher Block on Center Street between 1932 and 1938 before relocating to the Peirce Block and, later, Everett Square. Ironically, the A & P logo which the company erected along the roofline of the Thatcher Block and which is clearly visible in this photograph remained long after the store had relocated elsewhere. It eventually toppled to the pavement.

A & P Advertisement, Saturday Evening Post, c. 1930
The A & P was noted not only for the prices it offered, but for its high quality and frequent advertising as well. This example which depicts an A & P store similar to the one which operated in the Thatcher Block touted the quality and savings offered by the store, as well as its exceptional staff: "And the personnel ... they're out of the ordinary, too! Alert, intelligent and courteous sales people lending every effort to make you feel at home. A cheery 'good morning' when you come and a friendly 'thank you' when you leave. Your visit has been all too short, you say, as you go home, supremely confident you have purchased the utmost in quality and at a substantial saving."

Sources:
This post originally appeared in "Recollecting Nemasket" in the Middleboro Gazette.

For more about the history of the A & P, visit the A & P website or read:
Avis H. Anderson, Images of America: A & P - The Story of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2002).

William I. Walsh, The Rise and Decline of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (L. Stuart, 1986).

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving at Finn's, 1930s

Finn's Sea Grill operated on East Grove Street, opening in May, 1931 on what previously had been the site of the town dump, a fact which gave the establishment its less formal name of "Finn's on the Dump." Operated by William Finn, the Grill also featured an oyster bar and seafood market and advertisements touted the restaurant as the "finest in New England". A drastic change came to the business with the repeal of Prohibition in December, 1933, and the acquisition of a liquor license in March, 1934. That spring, extensive changes were made to the restaurant, including the creation of a cocktail lounge, certainly one of the first in Middleborough. The lounge was noted for a large mural, "The Face on the Bar-room Floor" painted by Helen Martin of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, an admittedly eyebrow-raising title.

Finn's was operated until the late 1930s, and the site has since been occupied by a succession of restaurants including the Zombie, Eugene's and the Riverside.

Illustration:
Finn's Sea Grill, Thanksgiving menu, H. L. Thatcher & Company, printers, Middleborough, MA, 1930s
This small appropriately pumpkin-colored card detailed the Thanksgiving Dinner special at Finn's Sea Grill. Finn's specialty - oysters - were featured as both an appetizer and a main ingredient in the turkey stuffing. The full course meal cost $1.50.

Source:
Middleboro Gazette

Lake Assawompsett Idyll

The view depicts a young girl looking wistfully over Lake Assawompsett from the Lakeville shore near Bedford Street. In the background, a boating party launches its craft into the waters of the lake which were then not restricted for use as a public water supply. Such idyllic scenes were frequent subjects for stereographic card publishers such as Shaw & Childs, druggists at Middleborough center who sought to supplement their sale goods with souvenir novelties such as this card.

Illustration:
Lake Assawompsett, "Lakeville Scenes", Middleborough, MA: Shaw & Childs, publisher, stereocard, late 19th century

Sovereigns of Industry

The Sovereigns of Industry was a reform movement which sought to encourage consumer cooperatives and "the purchasing of all goods used by families at producers' prices". Established in Massachusetts in 1874, it flourished briefly, principally in New England and the eastern states.

The organization of the Sovereigns of Industry was modeled upon that of the Grange which in 1873 began operating cooperative stores for its members, and it was heavily influenced by the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers in England, as well. At the height of its popularity, the Sovereigns of Industry had over 250 councils in New England, each of which operated a cooperative store. Essentially the stores sold goods at market prices. Profits were returned in the form of dividends to shareholders as well as to purchasers in proportion to the amount of goods which they purchased.

The avowed goal of the Sovereigns was the promotion of "mutual fellowship and cooperative action among the producers and consumers of wealth throughout the earth....We mean to substitute cooperation, production and exchange, for the present competitive system.... We war with the whole wage system and demand for labor the entire result of its beneficial toil." Most at the time found these goals too radical and the organization consequently suffered from this characterization.

Middleboro Council No. 162, Sovereigns of Industry, was formed either in late 1875 or early 1876. In January, 1876, the organization was meeting in the Town Hall and just a month later hired Assawamsett Hall for their headquarters. Unfortunately, little is known of the local organization or its membership. Certainly by 1879 it was defunct along with the national organization whose stores were unable to weather political opposition and the straitened economic circumstances of the mid and late 1870s. "Like many other associations, this of the Sovereigns had grown too fast and been joined by too many ignorant, discordant elements to bear the shock of adversity. The severa and long-continued hard times, from 1874 to 1879, began to tell upon the order" [Bemis:43].

Walter H. Smith whose membership card appears above was a carpenter who, in 1879, was residing on Wood Street in Middleboro. Eugene P. LeBaron, who signed the card as secretary of the local council, was associated with the LeBaron Foundry on Vine Street.

Illustrations:
Sovereigns of Industry membership card, front and reverse, Walter H. Smith, Middleborough, MA

Sources:
Bemis, Edward W. History of Coöperation in New England. Baltimore: Publication Agency of the Johns Hopkins University, 1888.

Curl, John. History of Work Cooperation in America. Berkeley, CA: Homeward Press, 1980.

Leikin, Steve, "The Citizen Producer: The Rise and Fall of Working-Class Cooperatives in the United States" from Ellen Furlough and Carl Strikwerda, eds., Consumers Against Capitalism: Consumer Cooperation in Europe and North America, 1840-1990. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1999.

Middleboro Gazette, "What the Gazette Was Saying Fifty Years Ago", January 8, 1926, p. 3; "What the Gazette Was Saying Fifty-Five Years Ago", January 2, 1931, p. 6, and February 20, 1931, p. 7.

New York Times, "The Sovereigns of Industry", March 6, 1874.