Volume 4, Issue 2

Delight In The Wonders of Spring

by Diane Mariani

April-May 2007

It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~Mark Twain At last! The days are longer and hopefully warm, calling each of us to become rejuvenated outdoors in the joys of spring! You know you feel like revelling in the fresh air, but what activities are there for a person like you? Maybe you'd like to try an activity with your horse that is unique? Or, perhaps an adventure with a group, or a guide, without venturing too far from home! The Bay State Trail Riders Association, Inc. (BSTRA welcomes women and men) and Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) are two such opportunities for recreational liberation! Bay State Trail Riders Association, Inc.

Adventures for Novices or Pioneers

Marathon & Beanpot Races

Blood on The Blackstone:

Fishing Derby

continued on page 10

Part Four: The Parley

by Joe Doherty Peirce's Fight was one of the bloodiest and most important battles of King Philip's War, and it was fought right here on our own Blackstone River. This is Part 4 of a series about the battle and its aftermath. You can catch up on earlier chapters at www.blackstonedaily.com/ourriver.htm. Roger Williams was about 73 years old in the spring of 1676. On March 29th of that year, the venerable founder of Providence was confined behind the fortified walls of a garrison house while marauding Indians burned the town he and his friends had built over the past four decades.

All About Coffee & Tea

Williams established the colony of "Providence Plantations" at the age of 33, although contrary to popular belief he was not the first white settler of what would ultimately become the state of Rhode Island. That honor belonged to Williams's longtime friend and neighbor, the Reverend William Blackstone, whose arrival preceded Williams's by two years. Blackstone's house lay in the Attleborough Gore, about five miles north of Providence on a foothill beside the Pawtucket River, close to where Captain Peirce and his troops had been attacked three days earlier. Mercifully Mr. Blackstone never had to suffer the sight of bloodshed on his beloved river, nor glimpse from the top of his hill a spring sky darkened by the smoke of

burning towns. He had died the previous May. Forty years had come and gone since Roger Williams planted his colony. Despite the disdain his religious and political views incurred among Massachusetts officials, his fluency in the native language had earned him a grudging respect. On many occasions he was asked to quench fires between the Indians and the English. In 1636, the same continued on page 13

Journeys

Hardball Paternalism, Hardball Politics

By Doug Reynolds Backstone Valley Baseball, 1925 - 1955
Reflecting on a lifetime in baseball spent as a player, front office executive and part owner, Hall of Fame member Hank Greenberg recalled, "If you could visualize East Douglas, Massachusetts and the East Douglas ball club and the Blackstone Valley League you would understand much of the United States in the 1920s." Before the former first baseman signed a professional contract with the Detroit Tigers, he played for the East Douglas team, hitting a home run his first time at bat. Walter Schuster, who owned the East Douglas team, the woolen mill and just about everything else in town was so impressed with this feat and so desperately wanted to make sure that Greenberg would continue to play for his team that he gave the teenager $175 on the spot, an amount equal to two months' wages for the average working man at the time. This seemingly generous but at the same time calculated act is an example of the paternalism common to the factory towns that to a greater or lesser extent represented the industrial life of this country. By the 1920s baseball had become one of the many paternalistic practices through which business interests attempted to promote "healthier citizenship," increase efficiency, block unions and "suppress Bolshevism." Blackstone Valley League baseball can be seen as a microcosm of the mingling of paternalism, sport and the history of industrial labor in twentieth century America. The Blackstone River Valley, stretching forty-six miles between Worcester, Massachusetts, and Pawtucket, Rhode Island, has received considerable attention as the "Cradle of the American Industrial Revolution." Samuel Slater founded the first mechanized factory in the United States at Pawtucket in 1790, and workmen trained under Slater moved upriver to establish their own factories. By the mid-nineteenth century the movement resulted in the damming of more than 400 feet of the river's 438 foot drop, harnessing power for spinning, cotton, woolen and other textile mills. The agricultural and mercantile nature of rural New England life was forever transformed. A prominent but little-recognized aspect of Samuel Slater's revolution was a philosophy of paternalism, embedded in what became known as the "Rhode Island system" of management. The practice consisted of mill owners' total domination of mill work and mill life. Entire families worked long hours for low wages with employers providing necessities such as housing, utilities, fuel, churches, civic organizations and education. By the start of the twentieth century, a social contract was implicit in Blackstone Valley mill village life. Mill owners established a moral economy in which workers earned only half to three-quarters of the wages paid in similar factories but received considerable benefits in exchange. Some firms, for instance, provided extensive housing in multiple family units at reduced rents and important bread-and-butter benefits for workers. Company hospitals brought workers into the world and company cemeteries bore them out. Workers enjoyed company dances and athletic facilities and concerns.

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Hopedales Draper Baseball League Team in the early 1900s. This story and photos can also be found on Dan Malloys wonderful Hopedale site http://www.geocities.com/daninhopedale/

Immigrant workers participated in company Americanization programs. Workers' children found jobs and security awaiting them in the mills, just as the children of mill owners inherited their parents' good fortunes. The companies offered jobs and community security, if not skilled work at high wages, and the workers provided the loyalty and hard work that mill owners expected in return. According to the corporate biographer of the Whitin Machine Works in Whitinsville, Massachusetts: "By projecting the company into civic affairs [the mill owner]...could visualize reflected benefits in low taxes on the company's property. By providing, through the company, social welfare and security he could envision a stable, loyal, and at the same time efficient force of employees. During the 1920s he invested a few well-placed hundred thousand dollars in community betterment and in return obtained

peaceful, friendly labor relations." Baseball played a leading role in Blackstone Valley paternalism. Mill owners used baseball, like other features of mill village paternalism, to reduce labor turnover. As a recreational activity for participants and spectators, baseball also promoted the values of the business community: team play through individual accomplishment, allegiance to company and community, pride in skill and the belief that individual well-being and success were directly dependent on the success of business. These themes loomed large in mill owners' efforts to "Americanize" Armenian, Polish, Italian and other immigrant workers, inculcating in them what the mill owners considered to be habits of loyalty and good citizenship. The game also allowed mill owners the opportunity to fulfill a sincere sense of continued on page 4

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Wedding Flowers
by Jane Keown Spring is arriving with its usual bluster, and the plastic covering on the greenhouses picks up every breeze and amplifies it to gale proportions. Inside the seeding house, the scented geraniums and rosemary plants have overwintered nicely and are blooming fragrantly. Trays of plugs and rooted cuttings from our suppliers are everywhere, and Andrew and Helene have been doing their best to transplant everything into the correct pots and trays for eventual sale once the stand reopens in April. Boxes containing thousands of plants will be arriving for the next several weeks, and it will be a strain to keep up....and then there will be the usual problem of where to put everything until the weather really becomes springlike. So...we are off and running! Most of our vegetables and cutting flowers are raised from seeds, and I have my work cut out for me getting them started in a timely fashion. Actually, I should already have some ready for transplanting, but I have been buried in paperwork for the last month and the weather in the past couple of weeks has not been conducive for getting me out of my nice warm house and into the warmer greenhouse. But I can't put it off much longer, nor do I want to....my fingers itch to touch the germination mix and start seeding. Soon it will be May, and people are going to want their tomato and basil plants. And I will want my wedding flowers. Most of the cutting flowers we grow are planted right here on the farm, harvested by yours truly and sold at various farmer's markets in Boston and the environs, as well as at the

Journeys
from the country' look and has moved toward the stylized sophisticated look of single variety bouquets and arrangements, mostly consisting of roses, calla lilies, hydrangeas, and even orchids. While there is no such thing as an unattractive flower, I am personally a little bored by that look.' As a musician, I have sung and played at weddings for nearly forty years, and there is less variety in the flowers I see today than there was twenty or thirty years ago. Brides used to carry cascading bouquets of [mostly] white flowers and trailing greens of tremendous variety. Attendants would carry smaller, more colorful versions of the bride's bouquet. If you looked at old wedding pictures from a variety of weddings, I think you would see what I mean. In the past few years, I see one or two different versions of the same bouquet: flat cut on the bottom, the bride still generally carries white [roses, calla lilies, whatever] and the attendants have a more colorful version of the same. On the other hand, the wedding dresses of the brides have become more diverse, often studded with seed pearls, sequins, rhinestones and fancy laces; they must cost a fortune. The bridesmaid dresses have improved, generally more sleek and sophisticated, although there is always one in the party who could have benefitted from a different style altogether, and not just because they are too tall or too short or overweight. Different people look better in one style or another, and I always applaud the bride who picks a color scheme but lets her attendants interpret that for themselves by picking a dress that makes them look their best. [Thirty-five years ago, my one and only attendant made my wedding dress for $35 and wore whatever she wanted to our orchard wedding....which is still going strong!] But I digress...a wedding should be something that the bride and groom plan together and which reflects their personalities, even if that means they conform to everything everyone else is doing. Back in my flower fields, I conform to what I like, which is color, variety and fragrance. Sometimes I receive calls from like-minded brides

roadside stand here on the farm. I always have more than enough of the staples' [zinnia, snap dragon, aster, and a few others] to wholesale through a middleman' as well as directly to florists in the area, and I have enjoyed seeing my' flowers turned into beautiful arrangements by the gifted floral design people in our midst. Sometimes I will get a call from one of the florists to enquire about the availability of certain flowers, or sometimes any flowers in certain colors, to be included in wedding work the following week. Since I grow so many types of flowers...and generally in every possible color....I try to make sure they get what they want. Then I sit back and imagine just exactly what the arrangements will look like when they are completed, although I deliver early in the week and seldom get back to the flower shop in time to see my flowers incorporated into wedding work. It is fun to speculate that I am a part of someone's special day without even knowing their name or face. I guess it is one way we are all part of the family of humankind. A few years back, my flowers were much sought-after in the wedding business. Many bridal couples were choosing the country' look, with large, multi-colored bouquets a la Martha Stewart. Often the foliage from my scented geranium collection would be interspersed with the flowers, giving the arrangements a heavenly scent. Brides were remembering to incorporate rosemary, the herb of remembrance, into their pieces....and sometimes I would be contacted to provide a certain number of small potted rosemary plants as favors for the guests at the reception. I always felt a certain kinship for this sort of bridal couple....they were grounded in the appreciation of tradition and the ordinary beauty of life that I could understand as I hauled my body over the flowering hillside every morning at dawn. There is nothing like a garden of fifty varieties of flowers all sharing their colors and fragrances to start your day off right! The trend in wedding flowers in the past five or so years has been away

who want something more natural by way of flowers at their wedding, and I invite them to come over and walk the fields with me. Often these people have been buying my flower bunches for years at one or another of the farmer's markets, or they have been referred by a florist who knows the type of flowers I grow. Generally they are preparing for small garden weddings, or perhaps they just have a hands-on' approach to their wedding and don't care if every bloom is in the precisely perfect place. I always enjoy watching the couples walking up and down the hillside, searching for what they will see as the perfect choice. I generally ship the flowers on the market truck to their local area in time for them to put them in whatever containers they choose [often they use mason jars, which I think is a great idea] and they sometimes come back weeks later with pictures of the event. As I look at their parties, I smile and think how grateful I am to grow flowers that inspire such beautiful results. And I find myself hoping that their special day grows into a special life together, and that every year they find a way to celebrate their anniversary with a vase of my flowers on their table. So....enough food for thought about wedding flowers. There won't be any if I don't get to work soon. Just one last word: the beauty all around us is what really sustains us. Calla lilies from Argentina or scent-less roses from Mexico may cheer us for one day, but it is the gardens we plant and past which we drive that make the real difference in our lives. Even if you aren't planning a wedding, you can enhance your life by planting a few flowers for cutting, and then bring them inside your home to keep the natural beauty with you. As for me, I've just about inspired myself enough to go plant a few thousand seeds....and wait for summer and all its colors.

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Mill Baseball League,

noblesse oblige toward workers and communities in which they operated. Paternalistic practices, if they appear to be hypocritical and dominating in hindsight, were often pursued with goodwill and the best of intentions. In 1905 when the textile industry was booming and paternalistic activities expanding, the owners first formed and personally funded baseball teams. By the mid-1910s, as textile growth continued, mill owners began hiring professional journeymen players from New England and New York rather than relying on local amateurs. Both mill owners and spectators enjoyed the heightened level of playing expertise. Managers funneled local talent into shop leagues where more people could participate. The early leagues stagnated under the social and economic pressures of World War I. In the ensuing economic depression and social upheaval of 1919-1922, those regional leagues that continued at all reverted to amateur status. By the mid-1920s, however, stabilized economic and social conditions brought the return of professionalism to Blackstone Valley baseball. In 1924, Massachusetts mill owners organized the Blackstone Valley Industrial League to include teams from the Massachusetts mill towns of Whitinsville, Rockdale, Uxbridge, Douglas, Fisherville and Millbury; the Draper Company team from Hopedale joined the league immediately thereafter. E. Kent Swift helped found the league by pulling his Whitin Machine Shop team from the Triangle Industrial League, founded in 1919 and comprised of teams from factories in the Worcester, Massachusetts area. Swift believed that the active recruitment of

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big crowds, lots of enthusiasm." Recruitment was not limited to the region. Some mill owners used contacts from their Southern mills to bolster rosters. Colleges, too, proved a source of good players. Sometimes a mill owner's deep passion for the sport was reason enough for the existence of league baseball in a community and fueled the professional side of the sport. The best example was Schuster, who regularly held Red Sox season tickets and corresponded with professional teams. While his paternalistic practices never reached the levels of those found in the neighboring Massachusetts towns of Hopedale or Whitinsville, he was a baseball enthusiast, establishing a quasi-private player's club and regular social events centered around the games. "Sports for sports sake has been Mr. Schuster's watchword at all times," wrote one local sports columnist. "Money has been no object to him. If any way he could increase the happiness of his fellow townsmen by giving them the recreation they craved, there was no further debate about such things as money. Mr. Schuster immediately dug down into his own pocket and saw to it that his neighbors had the best there was - Mr. Schuster has been the good angel - [in] the Blackstone Valley that has watched some of the best players in the game perform." Schuster early began hiring scouts from the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox to direct players to his team. Other mill owners soon followed Schuster's lead but could never match his enthusiasm or the scale of his influence within professional baseball. Schuster and other owners recruited local ball players and brought in others from outside the region. Future major leaguers included Hank Greenberg, Leo "Gabby" Hartnett, Gene Desautels, Irving "Bump" Hadley and Wes Ferrell. The players received jobs in the mills of their teams as required by the league's rules. The The Late Leo Gabby Hartnett, Hall work seems of Famer from Millville, MA, never to have been demanding, when performed at all, and pay scales remained a closely guarded secret, though ball players seem to have earned wages comparable to those of factory operatives. As one former coach recalled: "No question about it. Wherever they got money, nobody talked about it. They didn't have to work too hard, he made them work, they would paint fences or some damn thing. You'd work in the a.m. then you'd stop in the p.m., but then you'd have to practice. You didn't have to work a full day, then you'd play twice a week anyway." Through the end of the 1920s, the industrial baseball leagues of the Blackstone Valley rose to popularity and success. Games in Douglas and elsewhere regularly drew crowds larger than the town's entire population. The league offered play and players as good as any semi-professional and some professional teams. Dozens of players moved from the Blackstone Valley into the professional ranks and back again. The league also took in professional coaches and managers who already had, or would have professional experience. Some team owners encouraged workers to regularly take up monetary donations to temporarily purchase the talents of professional players, visiting Boston and other New England communities, continued on page 8

semi-professional and professional ball players by the Triangle League's teams had taken the hometown pleasure of baseball out of the game. By contrast, he noted that the Blackstone Valley teams were "located within more convenient distances...and the caliber of the players limited to such an extent that one team will not have any great outstanding advantage." Plant owners intended to move away from the semiprofessional and professional standings of the Triangle League in order to "develop local talent." An underlying motive was to better preserve the isolated nature of mill town life that was compromised in the 1920s by growing consumerism and the advent of the automobile. Tight corporate control was reflected in the composition of the Blackstone League's board of directors. Archie Cooper, head agent of the Rockdale Mills, was named league president and H. S. Crawford of the Whitin Machine Works employment department served as secretary-treasurer. Other board members consisted of two delegates from the management of each mill. League games created immense local popular appeal. Rapidly developing rivalries added to the flavor of the games, and by 1927 fan attendance was usually in the thousands for league games. Soon, however, the Blackstone Valley League proved no less resistant to professionalism than the Triangle League. As one former employee of Walter Schuster noted, "They brought in a lot of passable players that had been either in the big leagues or didn't quite make it, and they had no place else to go but the money was good, the playing time was good...always had

REAL ESTATE

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New Ownership For Oldtime Favorites

Driving along Rt. 140 from Milford to Upton center, you will pass by two long time restaurants, both recently brought under new ownership, the Parlor Restaurant & Lounge At Madames and the Rose Garden Restaurant Bar & Pub. If you're in the mood for music with dinner, you will want to check them out. Formerly known as Madames, The Parlor Restaurant & Lounge At Madames's new proprietors kept part of the old name for nostalgia's sake, but overhauled the venue and the menu to make them more upscale. Now, walking into the restaurant, there is a beautiful new lounge area, with high ceilings, elegant hand-built bar, and a separate small room with leather couches and fireplace, perfect for a casual, relaxing evening. There is a sizable dining room on either side of the lounge, but we chose to sit in one of the comfortable high backed booths in the lounge. The tables were set with white tablecloths and good quality tableware. A server immediately brought us a bowl of warm herb breads with olive oil for dipping, and we had a chance to look over the wine list. The food here is billed as "creative American comfort food," and the wine selection complements that approach with an alldomestic wine list, including one of our local favorites, Sakonnet Vidal Blanc ($19/bottle). We wanted just a glass, however, and picked the Wildhurst Sauvignon Blanc ($7.50). Red wine selections include Joseph Carr Cabernet Sauvignon for $37/bottle, and Rex Goliath Pinot Noir for $22/bottle. The Parlor also prints a spirits menu, and it takes some time to take that in, with a list of 21 vodkas, from Absolut to Vincent Van Gogh, along with selections of small batch bourbons, single malt scotches, and American whiskeys. For food starters, there was a butternutacorn squash bisque with truffle crme fraiche ($6), drunken mussels in chardonnay, fennel and herbs ($8), Yukon Gold nachos ($6.95), and crusted calamari with aioli ($7.50), among others. Salad selections included a mixed green salad ($6), warm Waldorf salad ($7), and spinach salad ($7.50), which we chose. The spinach leaves were artfully stacked and arranged with cranberries, ricotta, sweet potato sticks, and a sweet balsamic maple dressing. For our entrees, we opted for one of the evening's specials, pecan crusted mahi-mahi, served with sweet potato pancakes and stuffed tomatoes ($18). The mahi-mahi was nicely prepared with a red wine butter sauce, very tender and the stuffed tomatoes were excellent as well. The alternative entre special was a prime rib dinner with broccoli and cheese casserole, roasted potatoes and Caesar salad ($23). From the menu we chose the lob-

Journeys

ster pot pie, prepared with winter vegetables, fresh lobster, lobster bisque and homemade pie dough, ($20). This dish, although very tasty, was disappointing in that there was very little lobster in the casserole. Other entre items included a lumberjack's dinner of Nebraska grilled 12 oz sirloin ($21) and a mustard brined Statler chicken breast ($18). One interesting entre item we haven't seen on any other restaurant menu was cheddar raviolis with home made all beef hot dog stuffing ($16). For dessert, we shared a chocolate mousse with cranberry and sparkling wine compote ($7). Other dessert choices were a molten chocolate cake, maple walnut cheese cake, and apple crisp. We chatted with owner/partner Matt Bacoulis, who told us that the menu changes every six weeks, so that frequent diners will have new choices regularly. We also talked with the head chef, who previously worked at the Eldridge Room on the Cape. He told us that everything he prepares is fresh, including the breads. He makes seven different kinds of breads, some the old fashioned way. The molasses bread, for example is baked in a round coffee can. Saturday night is jazz night at The Parlor, with a local jazz group performing from 7-10 p.m. each week. The Parlor is at 250 Milford Street,

phone number 508-473-1713, and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Hours: Dinner Tuesday-Saturday 5-10 p.m., Breakfast & Lunch ThursdaySaturday 8:30 a.m. - 2 p.m., Sunday 7:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. We recommend The Parlor for a quality dining experience.

The Rose Garden

Several miles down the road, at 12 Milford Street, just south of Upton Center, is the Rose Garden Restaurant Bar & Pub, also a familiar eating place, having been at its location since 1986. The Rose Garden is a bit more low-brow than The Parlor, the downstairs pub catering to mostly a locals crowd, and the upstairs dining room a good place for family dining. The pub is a bright, comfortable place, with an attractive bar, booths, tables, and a pool table. The upstairs "Rose Room" dining area is more subdued, with a low paneled ceiling and dark paneled walls decorated with old framed photographs of Upton past. The wood tables had green paper placemats and the kerosene lamps on the table were not lit, which would have cheered the room up a bit. We sat in the dining room. continued on page 16

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Celebrating 50 Years of Valley Artistry

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The Blackstone Valley Art Association

Since its inception in 1957, the Blackstone Valley Art Association has been dedicated to the advancement of the arts and preservation of the finest artistic traditions by means of exhibitions, classes, lectures, and other activities favorable to artistic expression, and to the development of friendly exchanges amongst artists and those interested in the arts. BVAA.org website Though modern times and busy lives have taken a toll on the BVAA whose membership at one time reached 275 artists, the BVAA exhibits offer some of the finest artwork throughout the region. Their shows attract a major following for the quality and range of exhibited work by highly talented artists. One of the major discussions and goals of the members, who meet bi-monthly, is to engage more children, teens and young adults into the creative world, according to Lori Grady, Vice President of the Association. With some newer members joining recently, Lori is looking forward to the new energy that will spark the future efforts of the Association. As the Association turns 50 years old in 2007, the Valley CAST umbrella for the arts will celebrate and honor the BVAA for its inspiration, creativity, quality of artists and longevity as a significant force for the arts throughout the Blackstone Valley from MA to R.I. A gathering of local Cultural Councils, artists and musicians will celebrate this tremendous feat on April 12th with a Gala at the Asa Waters mansion in Millbury. Lets also support this most worthy organization by attending the BVAA Spring Art Festival! www.bvaa.org

Inez Gornall - BVAA President

Inez Gornall in her studio

May 18-20th - Graftons ART Festival. Free CALL TO ARTISTS by 5/14. Free Workshops on Saturday. - Info at www.BlackstoneDaily.com/arts.pdf

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Grafton Fine Arts Festival To Shine

The Grafton Cultural Council announces the 2nd Annual Grafton Fine Arts & Music Festival to be held on May 18-20 at the Grafton Municipal Center. Exhibited will be framed art, photography, fiber art and sculpture by local and regional artists and students. The Arts Festivals purpose is to celebrate the local artists of Grafton and surrounding communities and to inspire artists of all ages to become involved to display their work. There will be cash and other prizes, presented at Friday evenings Awards Ceremony. Last years 1st Festival was extremely successful and this year, the Festival has already grown into a 3 day event. A Call to Artists is out now with deadline for artwork by May 14,2007. The $5 per piece fee will help fund future festivals. For more info, call Tasha at 508-839-0111 or email TashaHal@aol.com

After spending more than 40 years in Uxbridge, Inez Gornall-Cloward still refers to herself as a newcomer to the area. She relocated to town with her husband and setup the horse farm that she still maintains today. Her passion for horses is second only to her passion for the arts; producing and teaching. She continues to offer classes in her home studio to students 18-80 in a variety of mediums, as she has done since leaving Boston. Inez's medium of choice these days includes painted porcelain, watercolor and watercolor stencil although she seems to have dabbled a bit in just about everything throughout her past. She began her career as an artist working in the fashion industry and eventually, with her husband, opened a print shop where she created logos for many area businesses and organizations such as the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Commission. She has received many awards throughout her career and also invented a formula to successfully use watercolor stencils on velvet, as was done in the past. She currently does restoration work for the Historical Society of Early American Decoration and is working on a video demonstrating a number of her techniques. In addition, she was chosen to create a replica of a lion fireboard for the Charlton historical society's Rider Tavern.

May 18-20th - Blackstone Valley Artists Association 2007 BVAA Spring Art Festival Show at Bernat Mills Millworks Gallery, Rte 16, Uxbridge, MA. The Grand Opening: Friday, May 18 7-9 PM, Saturday 10-4, Sunday 12-4. OPEN to all 2D & 3D artist members in good standing with paid membership dues. A $5.00 fee per entry (3 maximum) is due on consignment, sent with pre-registration. For info, www.BVAA.org June 2 - 22nd Annual Valley Friendship Tour. Walk, roll, jog, pedal or paddle along one of six non-competitive routes. Also Tri-River Water Festival with events. Valley Culture -

Arts - Science Together

www.valleycast.org

A variety of performances, directed by musician Rick Schultze and Donna Blanchard, will be presented throughout the weekend, with a special musical program on Friday evening and Sunday afternoon. Opening night reception will include wine, hors doeuvres and music. Food and soft drinks will be available during the Festival. Free workshops will be held on Saturday, but registration is required. For the schedule and form, go to www.BlackstoneDaily.com/arts.pdf Join us for this amazing event that will engage your senses with its audio and visual inspiration!

Classes: Include Drawing/Painting/Arts & Crafts / April VACATION Workshop/Parent Child Tuesdays / Home Schooled/Adult Classes - Candy Making, Art, Mixed Media, Jewelry. Call for info.

ONGOING: Rotating Exhibits at National Gallery, 362 Putnam Hill Road, Sutton. M-Sat 9-5. 508-476-4415. Youth

15th c. Masterpieces to Modern Art. Chagall, Miro, Picasso, Etc. @ Spaightwood Galleries, 120 Main St, Upton, MA in beautiful old church setting. 508-5292511 The Rainbow Palette- Murals - Commercial & Residencial. Fine Art, Creative Art Designs Art Classes at The Rainbow Palette. Call Laura at 508-278-7193

Express Yourself.......Share Your Ideas, Events, Exhibits on the http://blog.theblackstonevalley.com

Valley ARTS BLOG

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Americas First Medical School In Leicester

by Bob Haigis
Evidently the stream was the present French river, and the place he holed up in was the actual site where the house was to be built. The area was known as Wolf Pit due to number of the carnivores in the area. His only source of food was fresh milk he was able to obtain from one of his cows. Neighbors discovered his plight, but fearing a contagious disease, perhaps cholera, they refused to move the stricken lad. Rather, they sent for his father, who arrived probably a week to ten days later. The Captain got Thomas on his horse, and led him home on what must have been an agonizing trip. The rescue of this young man was destined to change the history of Central Massachusetts, and most likely resulted in saving many lives. It also led to what can only be described as the first medical school in America: even if an unofficial one. It seems that young Mr. Green became interested in medicine at an early age, perhaps resulting from the trauma experienced from his close encounter with death in 1717. It was due to a chance meeting with two other individuals that he was able to obtain first hand information and experience in the field of medicine. After Thomas' recovery, Captain Green then moved his family to Leicester. It is uncertain if the house had been built by then or not. In addition, the enterprising Captain accumulated around a thousand acres to go with his homestead. The structure was certainly an important addition to the tiny community. It seems that it was constructed not only to serve as a home for the Greens, but also as a garrison. Having adequate shelter was certainly paramount in those early days, but I'm sure (especially after viewing the

Journeys

Back around 1686 a group of citizens from Roxbury Massachusetts purchased land from the Nipmuc Indians, some fifty miles west of the Bay Colony. This tract of wilderness was to become the present town of Leicester, Massachusetts. It was slowly settled as farmers emigrated into the area. Early in the 1700's, Captain Samuel Green decided to move his family to the same area: then probably known as Towtaid (Nipmuc name), or Strawberry Hill. The captain must have been quite prominent in his hometown of Malden, and in addition, it appears his wife was related to the first president of Harvard University. It is reasonable to assume he had considerable wealth to accomplish what he did taking into consideration the hardships of colonial America. In preparation for the move, he and his eighteenyear-old son Thomas, drove the family's cattle holdings to the site selected for the new homestead. The father then returned alone to Malden, intending to collect the rest of his family, and then make the trip back to Leicester. It is unknown at what time of the year this event occurred, but even in the best of weather, it was a trek into nearly total wilderness and must have been arduous. It was necessary for young Thomas to camp out with the herd, to await the return of his family. There were other pioneers in the area, but apparently few and far between; some apparently knew the Green's from back in Malden. Not long after his father departed, Thomas became very ill, and developed a high fever. It is recorded that he found shelter beneath an over crop of rock near a brook.

structure) that the garrison was over built just for security. Access to the secure living quarters was via a ladder to the second floor. Here, local citizens could gather in case of threat from local Indians. British troops were quartered in the building in time of threat, and thus the edifice became known as the "King's The Green Homestead as it stands today Garrison". The owners told professionals who were to follow me that rifle slots in the upper walls him. His son, grandson and greatstill remain. grandson, all named John, became disSome time after the Green family tinguished physicians in Worcester established residence in Leicester, County. there appeared two English ship surAside from Thomas' involvement geons. Records indicate that the pair with the medical professions, he also was either tenants or visitors at the pursued a life in the field of religion. homestead. History records that they He journeyed to Boston in 1731 a were pardoned buccaneers, but profew years after marrying Martha vides no further details. Lynde, and joined the First Baptist They encouraged young Thomas in Church there. However, his purpose his quest for knowledge, providing wasn't to become a steady parishioner medical books and sharing their own but rather to establish a church of the personal experiences. In addition to having first hand information from the same denomination in Leicester. A few years after joining the Boston surgeons, Thomas also befriended Church, Dr. Green helped form and local Indians who educated him in the build a new church in Sutton that was "science" of healing with local herbs. to become the seat of the denomination Thomas became known as Doctor Thomas Green, and established a med- in Worcester County. On September ical practice that extended over a wide 28, 1737 Dr. Green and an associate Benjamin March - were both ordained area, going into Rhode Island and ministers and pastors of the new Connecticut. Imagining what travel church, and Thomas Green now had an must have been like back then, indicates he was certainly a man of unique additional title: Reverend or Elder. devotion and character. Even though continued on page 16 records of the day are sketchy, it is unquestionable that Dr. Thomas Green became the most prominent practitioner in the area in his time. At some point in his ministry he began teaching other would be doctors, and thus began what must be defined as the first medical school in the area, even if it was "unofficial". Of course in those far away days, there were no regulations or laws that I am aware of, governing such establishments. It appears that Dr. Green trained as many as one hundred twenty or so medical students in his career as "professor of medicine". In addition, he was the first in a long line of medical

Journeys

Mill Baseball League,

when available. As one former Fisherville worker recalled: "Schuster had the dough...he had the money to dump in, and he'd bring in the big guys...Well, we gotta do something about this. We can't beat him with local help so we got an organization in the Fisherville mills, and the Farnumsville mills and the Rockdale mills, and them places. [We'd] say well, we've got to take up a collection. We got mad, see, so we said we've got to throw in a half dollar apiece and hire a pitcher and catcher, right?...And the next thing it got growing...so that maybe this week you'd have to throw in a dollar to get a first baseman and an outfielder that could hit." By 1929 mill owners, seeing the community and shop floor benefits of having a winning team hired full time players and managers. They paid for bats, balls, gloves, uniforms and transportation, erected ball parks, sold concessions and expanded the league. Not every ball field, however, had ideal playing conditions. One worker recalled a Grafton, Massachusetts park: "There'd be an open [factory] shed and down in back there was the sorriest sort of ballpark that you'd ever want to see. They had a diamond; the diamond itself was beautiful! But other than that there was a sewer - there was a cesspool running down through left field. And there was a fellow named Ernest Prue got nicknamed "Skipper" because where the cesspool was running down through left field he could tell by the thickness of the grass it was time to jump...He would be running like the dickens and when he got to where the grass was tall, he'd jump...and it'd look like he was flying through the air and he'd catch that ball. They called him Skipper from skipping that cesspool. The name stuck with him." A Worcester newspaper in 1926 gushed that, "When it comes to singling out and naming the hotbed of baseball in these United States, you can cross off your list such cities as New York, Boston, Chicago, and Detroit...The most red blooded baseball center in America...inch for inch, and soul for soul... is in the Blackstone Valley. " Baseball in the Rhode Island portion of the Blackstone Valley stands in a different light than the well-organized and thoroughly dominated system of league play that Massachusetts Blackstone mill communities experienced. Textile work also predominated in Rhode Island, and mill owners in the Blackstone Valley began forming industrial leagues at the same time as their Massachusetts peers. Two semiprofessional leagues operated in the

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lower valley. One was the Manufacturers' League of Pawtucket. The second, covering mill villages and the Woonsocket area, was the District Manufacturers' League. Again the logic was mostly a response to the labor market. Mill owners in Rhode Island, however, tended to be less involved in dayto-day community activities. They were more often absentee owners, and their company's stock was more widely held. They also tended to be more involved in local and regional manufacturing organizations and delegated many of their specific mill tasks to managers and lower level officials. Further, the river's geography fostered larger communities like Pawtucket and Woonsocket, where the mills clustered for water power. Population bases were therefore larger and more ethnically diverse, and mill life was somewhat less cloistered. In Massachusetts towns like Whitinsville and Hopedale, there was never any pretension that employees had a voice in controlling the activities of the firms. The tone of labor relations there reflected the influence of the vocal and sometimes brusque National Association of Manufacturers. By contrast, labor relations in Rhode Island were influenced by the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). For example, Fenno J. Porter, who in 1928 served as head of the service committee at the Sayles Finishing Company in Saylesville, Rhode Island, had formerly served as secretary to the Pawtucket YMCA and came to Sayles to oversee the organization of all leisure time activities for workers. The YMCA sought to impart white, male, Protestant and capitalistic culture to prevent ethnic and "radical" unrest. Quiet mill and factory communities that were already more or less dominated company towns, like Saylesville, were directly tied by Porter and others to the Y's 1920s labor relations movement. The YMCA's apparent influence gave labor relations and mill community life in Rhode Island a more sophisticated tone than those in Massachusetts communities. This atmosphere produced employees' associations modeled after those founded first at General Electric - today commonly referred to as company unions. These existed at Sayles and elsewhere giving workers a sense of participation in corporate decision-making. Nevertheless, in Rhode Island as in Massachusetts, the common objective of employers was to control local labor markets and the social atmosphere of the shop floor. Henry J. Veins, superintendent of the General Fabric Company's central plant, admitted that,

Former Boston Red Sox manager Joe Morgan played "Everything being done shortstop for the here is with the idea of encouraging our people Draper Company to stay with us." One of team in Hopedale, Vein's chief tasks was to Massachusetts, oversee game scheduling during the summers and maintenance of the of 1949 - 1951. ball field across the
street from the mill. Similarly, Fenno Porter explained that, "these new sports are the best thing we have...to bring employees together. They create a spirit of neighborliness and good friendship throughout the plant." And Benjamin Griffith, director of the service program department which sponsored a variety of activities at J.P. Coates Company in Pawtucket, in a rare admittance, explained the bottom line to corporate support of baseball in the Blackstone Valley. "Let the worker get outdoors [either as participant or observer]...and when the whistle blows he will return refreshed both mentally and physically...adding to the life of the worker and to his period of productivity. Both the worker and the company benefit." The contribution baseball made to workers' quality of life cannot be dismissed. Blackstone Valley baseball stood in stark contrast to the often dreary and monotonous village life of the factory operative. In contrast to the darkened and noisy factory with its carefully measured machines, materials and time, baseball is played outside, by task and without a clock. In baseball managers not only sit on the bench with players, but also wear the same work clothes. Without lapsing into the romantic sentimentality that so many intellectuals seem to enjoy in their regard for baseball, it is worthwhile to remember that the sport is essentially pre-industrial and grew in popularity as industrialism grew. Even today baseball conjures images of an idyllic American past more so than an idyllic American present. It is no coincidence the Draper Corporation, the Whitin Machine Works and other industrial firms were experimenting with scientific management programs at the same time they started their league, or simultaneously discontinued the league and scientific management experiments in the Great Depression. There was also a democratic egalitarianism associated with baseball that did not exist in the mill or mill community. Polish, French-Canadian, Armenian and other workers, ethnically segregated on the shop floor, played on integrated teams. A handful of African-Americans, who would not find valley employment available to them until World War II except in metropolitan Pawtucket, were also recruited to play ball. They played on teams in most communities that otherwise remained lily white. One mill worker recalled this experience, couching baseball in the language of the shop. "They had what they called the Philadelphia Colored Giant...Great big tall fellow, and he was a terrific pitcher. So they would pay him a hundred dollars to come down here and pitch...and they'd give him so much per strike-out. He'd be like he was on piecework. He'd probably get twelve or fourteen strike-outs a game, for which they'd give him a hundred and forty dollars." The advent of the Great Depression brought sharp changes in mill-town and shop floor relations. A series of sharp wage cuts in the early 1930s signified the breaking of the moral contract between employers and workers that paternalism had previously signified. Employers, however proved loyal to ball players: "You played ball, Schuster made you work, you had some job in the mill, you didn't kill yourself, but you worked everyday...[And] you practiced everyday. He had a place where you stayed, a rooming house and he made sure you got your meals and so forth, and then you got paid. I would say that they got as much [money as workers] if not more, depending upon if you were a pitcher you would probably get a little more. Everybody [was] quiet about what you were getting and how you were getting it." This favored treatment, however, created animosity both on the shop floor and in the community. "Yes, he'd give them a job, no question about that. Sometimes this created [jealousy]; if you weren't working you're not too fond of someone that is working. Yes, it did cause some problems." For many workers and managers, the sport especially had become a point of potential conflict during the textile industry's slow season, which coincided with the baseball season, because the mill owners showed favoritism by not laying off baseball players. Unemployment in larger Rhode Island mill communities such as Pawtucket and Woonsocket ran as high as fifty percent. Figures for continued on page 18

Journeys is published six times yearly focusing on the areas history, heritage, events, the arts, recreation and small business. Publisher: Ellen Onorato 508-839-8885. Advertise your business effectively with online/print media. www.BlackstoneDaily.com or call 508-839-8885. Our daily partner, www.BlackstoneDaily.com is updated daily to bring you community news, events and insight into community life. Join our interactive forums on news, sports, adventures or issues for the Blackstone Valley, Corridor Nine and Southern Worcester County regions. Click on FORUMS at www.BlackstoneDaily.com starting April 5, 2007!

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Journeys

Community Information

The Best Events Calendar Around! An Emerging Marketplace for locals ~ Daily Local News & Community Updates Shops, antiques, the arts and a oneDiscover the Valley & Corridor GUIDE stop Business & Professional Directory. Discover Guide Local Interactive Forums Dining Guide with Dining Individual Community Pages An online GUIDE to attractions, bike trails, Reviews, Lodging & more. kayaking itineraries, farmstands, the arts, the Special Offer to Advertisers: History & Heritage Planning, School & Regional Issues zoo, hikes, heritage or waterslide, find fun & $99 online ad & hyperlink information on itineraries, strolls, river cruises, Classifieds & Help Wanted for one year. Expires 5-15-07 authentic history & more about our rich heritage & recreational wonderland!
w w w .Bl a ck st o n e D a i l y .co m / sh o p s.h t m

Shops & Services

ADVENTURE
XFire Paintball - 850 Southbridge St., Auburn, MA 01501. 508-721-0003. Paintball tournaments, parties, more. www.xfirepaintball.com. Event details on web. Blissful Meadows - 801 Chockalog Road Uxbridge, MA. 508-278-6110. Beautiful 18 hole course designed by Brian Silva. Great restaurant. www.blissfulmeadows.com Fin & Feather Sports - Canoe & kayak rentals, sales, Fishing, hunting, gear, bait, etc. Rte 140, Upton, MA 508529-3901. www.finandfeathersports.com Great Canadian - Sales, service & rentals of canoes & kayaks. Tours, expert advice, accessories. 1-800-CANOE. www.greatcanadian.com. Rte 146, Sutton, MA. Southwick Zoo - New Englands Largest zoo. Train ride, snack bars, Opening 4/14. 800-258-9182. Mendon, MA. Also Purple Peacock shop. www.southwickszoo.com Trek Stop - Experienced full service sales & repair for Trek & Lemond bikes, accessoires & gear. 156 Main St. S.Grafton, MA 01560. 508-839-9199. www.trekstop.com West End Creamery - New mini-golf course & ice cream stand near Purgatory Chasm off Rte 146. Whitinsville, 508234-2022. www.westendcreamery.com

BUSINESS DIRECTORY
Blackstone Valley Fence - Northbridge, MA. 508- 234-9171. 20 yrs experience, res/ comm. free estimates, competitive pricing, fully insured. www.BlackstoneValleyFence.com. DSS - Computers, printers, monitors, used, new with full service & repair. Rte 16, Douglas, 508-476-9003. www.dssincorp.com Gaudette Insurance - Family owned, independent full service insurance agency. Life - Home - Business - Auto. Grafton - Whitinsville. www.gaudette-insurance.com. 508- 234-6333/ 508-839-6022. High Purity Water Systems - System to remove iron, control Ph, radon, arsenic, etc in your drinking water. Ecowater.com, 1-800-540-6268. The Tent Connection - Your party rental center. Canopies to full function tents, silverware, chairs, tables & more. www.tentconnection.com. 1682 Providence Rd.Northbridge, MA 01534. 1-800-FOR-TENT

Bonardi's Formalwear - 156 Main St., Milford, MA 800752-4036. Men's formalwear specialists, custom fitted tuxedos & acc for any event. 5 locations. www.bonardis.com. Coupon! Vintage Victorian Treasures - 40 Providence Rd. (Rte. 122A); Millbury, MA 508-865-2113. Prom shawls, handbags and accessories, jewelry. Hrs.: W-Sat. 11-5.

PROM & FASHION

PETS & SUPPLIES

Greyhound Friends, Inc. - 167 Saddle Hill Rd.; Hopkinton, MA 01748. 508-435-5969. Adopt a greyhound and make a fast friend. Become a member or volunteer. www.greyhound.org. Pawtraits - Custom portraits of your pet by a highly acclaimed, award-winning artist. Your support helps save lives. See ad - p.6. www. guardianpaw-traits.com. Coupon TLC Pet Haven - 68 US Rte. 146; Sutton, MA 01590. 508865-3180. Pet grooming, mobile groom-in-vans, boarding kennels, CATtery, doggie day camp, pet sitting and supplies. ww.tlcpethaven.com.

ANTIQUES
See Page 12 for listing and map placement.

ART & CULTURE

Foothills Theatre - 100 Front St.; Worcester, MA. Box Office: 508-754-4018. Intimate 340 seat setting, great ticket prices. www.foothillstheatre.com. Gigi Global Village Art - Unique, delightful global to local art from jewelry to paintings and more. ww.globalvillageart.com, 12 Main St, Woonsocket, RI 401765-4422 National Gallery - Workshops, classes, small gallery. Adults - children. Also largest Dept 56 shop in region. 508-4761900. Regional Exhibitors. Seagrave Caricatures - Liven up your event or create a keepsake with a high-quality caricature. Free estimates. 978562-1158, www.caricaturesnow.com Spaightwood Galleries - 15th century to modern masterpieces. Gorgeous high end gallery. 120 Main Street, Upton MA. 800-809-3343 ww.spaightwoodgalleries.com Valley CAST -Valley Culture, Arts, Science Together. An arts collaborative sponsoring and hosting one-act plays, partnerships, events and more. www.altrntvs.org Vaillancourt Folk Art - Nationally renown gallery of collectibles manufactured in lovely old mill. Gallery, tours. 9 Main St, Manchaug, MA. www.vaillancourtfolkart.com

Harbro Auto - Complete satisfaction for your auto sales and service. 30 Day buy/trade back policy. Webster & Linwood. www.harbroauto.com 1-800-339-4511

CARS

To find a service or shop, go to www.BlackstoneDaily.com/shops.htm

Armeno Coffee Roasters Ltd. - 75 Otis St.; Northboro, MA 800-ARMENO1. Freshly roasted, award winning single estate coffees, premium teas, fine wines, tours and tastings. www.armeno.com. Belfry Restaurant - 59 Blackstone River Rd.; Worcester, MA 508-751-5040. Homemade Greek/American cuisine in quaint, renovated church building. Full bar, special functions, gift certificates. www.belfryrestaurant.net. Brian's Restaurant - 92 Providence Rd. (Rte. 122); Linwood, MA. 508-234-9256. Great food, daily specials, family style chicken on Sunday, function room, Open 7 days. www.briansrestaurant.com Cocke n Kettle - A Dining Experience youll remember! All functions, casual fine dining, wkend entertainment, Rte 122, Uxbridge. www.cockenkettle.com 508-278-5517. Deja Brew - Brew Your own beer or wine in our unique environment. Tons of recipes - come join the fun. 508-842-8991. Rte 9, Shrewsbury, MA. www.deja-brew.com Fresco's Italian Cuisine - 95 Uxbridge Rd., Mendon, MA. 508-473-2369. Early bird specials, great specials, delicious catering. Hrs.: T-Th 4-9, Fr-Sat. 4-10, Sun. 4-8. Global to Local Coffee - Worcester Crowne Plaza, 10 Lincoln Sq. 508-245-6490. Custom roasts, demos, cuppings w/organic & shade grown coffees, Wholesale, bulk, retail. Mrs. Mack's Bakery - 1393 Grafton St.; Worcester, MA 01604. 508-753-0610. Homemade cakes, pies, pastries and bread. Special orders welcome. Serving breakfast and lunch. NE Steak & Seafood - A dependable Valley Favorite of fine dining. Family Dinners, Functions, dates, Early Bird. Rt 16, Mendon 508-478-0871,www.nesteakandseafood.com Picket Fence - Great breakfasts and lunches with superb, friendly service in old Elmwood baseball club. 508-476-7990. Menu at www.BlackstoneDaily.com/menu2007.pdf Sir Loin's Butchery & Deli - 8 Williams St., N. Grafton, MA . 508-887-9401. Daily specials, all occasion catering, reserve for graduation parties, summer BBQs and pig roasts.

DINING & SPECIALTY

Blackstone Valley Soaps - Millbury, MA 01527. 508-8654117. Email: ccasella923@charter.net. Specialty soaps, etc. Now booking home parties. www.blackstonevalleysoaps.com. Fitness First - Free First Class with Ad. A Womens Only Exercise & Fitness Studio, Rte 102, Slatersville, RI 401-7660082. Weight Loss, Nutrition, Elliptical Training, etc. Harmony Wellness - Yoga, Tai Chi, Pilates, Workshops, Massage & Spa Therapies to rejuvenate you! 9 North Main St, Uxbridge. www.harmony-wellness-center.com 508-2783553. Spirit of Wellness - 202 Worcester St., N. Grafton, MA 01536. 508-839-6466. Massages, organic facials and skin care, waxing, gift certificates. By appointment only. Uxbridge Ortho - Complete pain management, orthopedic, neurological, speech services. 508-278-7810. Rte 146A, Lydia Taft facility, Uxbridge,MA. www.rehabassociates.com Whitin Community Center - 60 Main St., Whitinsville, MA 01588. 508-234-8184. Family fitness and recreation center. Gym, 2 pools, seniors, camps, child care. www.ourgym.org.

FITNESS & HEALTH

Alternatives - Vocational, residential, transportational services to people with developmental & psychiatric disabilities. 508-234-6232 www.altrntvs.org . Volunteers/workers. Select Medical Services -Regain your mobility. Stairlifts ramps - vehicle lifts, more. 1-888-855-5553/508-839-7150. Local expert service, installation. Affordable pricing. www.stairlifts-ramps.com Senior Comfort Services - Support services for seniors at home. Transportation, home help, much more. www.seniorcomfortservices.com 508- 865-2170. Call Elaine.

SPECIALTY, GIFTS, CRAFT

See page 9 for map and other specialty shops. Madonnas Fabric - Hundreds of fabrics, great advice, classes and workshops. Quality quilting supplies, notions. Come by for weekly specials! Bernat Mill, 19 Depot Street, Uxbridge, MA 508-278-5838. madonnaterlizzi@charter.net Mendon Country Gift Barn - An ever-changing selection of decorative country home accessories, quality furniture, Victorian Christmas barn, giftware, foods & crafts.1- 888473-1820 www.mendongiftbarn.com, Rte 16, Mendon.

HOME & GARDEN

Ace Glass Lighting and Decorating Center - 240 Church St.; Whitinsville, MA 01588. 508-234-7063. Personal, professional service from consultation to installation. Blackstone Valley Paint & Decorating - Complete solution to your home decorating needs -Rte 146, Sutton 508-8658989 or www.blackstonedecorating.com Charlton Furniture - Worth the ride to get the furniture or right piece you want for your home. Route 31 Dresser Hill Road, Charlton, MA . 508-248-5566. Hardwicke Gardens - 254A Turnpike Rd. (Rte. 9); Westboro, MA 01581. 508-366-5478. Statuary, fountains, planters, benches, water garden supplies and plants to make your garden a beauty! New England Shade & Blind - 545 Southwest Cutoff (Rte. 20); Worcester, MA 508-752-0110. Save on Custom window fashions. Free measuring, installation. www.sewland-usa.com. Rebecca LeCouteur Interior Design - Customize your look with Rebeccas expertise or browse our shop. 456 Manchaug Road, Manchaug. Near Vaillancourt Folk Art. 508-476-4415 Schotanus Kitchens & Bath - Family owned and operated kitchen and bath center, layout, design, hardware, etc. South Grafton, 508-877-8777 www.schotanusdesigncenter.com Wild About Birds - 151 Main St, S. Grafton, MA 508-8393584. Wide selection of preferred & unique blends of feed. Bird houses, art, more. www.wildaboutbirdsstore.com

REAL ESTATE
Alliance Realty, Inc., David Kmetz, SRES - Charlton, MA. 508-248-6966. Specializing in Seniors Real Estate Services throughout the region. www.alliancerealtyinc.com. Bernat Mill - Space for Lease in 19th c. mill. Light Industrial, retail, call 508-278-9191. Depot St., Uxbridge. C. M. Allaire & Sons, Inc. - 105 Uxbridge Rd. (Rte. 16); Mendon, MA 800-634-4838. Designing and building real log homes since 1971. www.cmallaire.com. Manchaug Mills - Centrally Located space for Lease. Off Rte 146 in lovely setting. High tech, office, industrial, dock access. 1-877-476-1048. www.manchaugmills.com Prudential Prime Properties - 971 Providence Rd.; Whitinsville, MA. 508-8867-5136. Award-winning real estate services throughout Worcester County.

To Advertise your shop/service, go to www.BlackstoneDaily.com/advertise.htm

Journeys

Great Canadian
Canoe & Kayak Co.
Friendly expert advice from people who care. Hundreds of kayaks and canoes in stock, as low as $299.
H ug e Sav i ng s no

Family Owned since 1969 Sal es Ren t al s Tou r s In st r u ct i on

DEM O S & CLO SE-O UTS!

w on

Route 146 South Sutton, MA 508.865.0010 www.greatcanadian.com

is an equestrian organization formed in 1972 and servicing New England horseowners through its trail advocacy and riding events, while promoting good horsemanship. People join BSTRA for various reasons: to participate in riding events, to keep abreast of what is going on in their area, to get involved in trail work, or to support BSTRA's work. Although BSTRA is an equestrian organization, their trail work/maintenance benefits hikers and mountain bikers, too. A full calendar of riding events is planned for this spring and summer, including pleasure rides. There are also hunter paces, scavenger hunts and poker rides. Camp outs and trail work days are also scheduled for this year. BSTRA is currently in partnership with the town of Mendon, MA working to establish a trails system in the Inman Hill Wildlife Conservation Area. The project started approximately three years ago. The connector trail from the parking area has been flagged and opened up. Work on other trails within the conservation area is still in progress. Another special project is to "Bridge the Gap". This is a movement to improve the Southern New England Trunkline Trail. "BSTRA is committed to completing the final gap in the SNETT by constructing a bridge over Route 146A in Uxbridge, MA. Upon completion, BSTRA will donate the bridge to the State." BSTRA has received grants from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and, also, from the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Commission. BSTRA hopes to gain the support of government agencies, local businesses and private citizens to secure funding to complete the bridge. So, you're looking for local adventure, with a group and a guide! Why not add to that - variety? Basic fishing, kayaking, map & compass, pond and stream adventures, some, if not all of these and more, are offered to you at Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW). BOW offers outdoor skills workshops to women throughout North America. Locally, it is listed as a MassWildLife Education program, co-sponsored by the Massachusetts Sportsmen's Council, and others. It is designed primarily for adult women, eighteen years of age or older, who may have never tried specific outdoor activities, but would like an opportunity to learn. "BOW welcomes women from all backgrounds to enjoy camaraderie with other women in a supportive, non-competitive learning environment." Linda Konvalinka, of Massachusetts, has participated in the MA BOW program and recommends "Becoming an Outdoors-Woman to anyone." She stated how BOW is "a great way to learn something new. The teachers are all very good, supportive and fun. People will be there for you to learn and to help you in a growth experience. Anyone can be an outdoors person, but going to BOW is a good start for women!" Linda has taken what she has learned through BOW and utilized her skills independently and with other groups, such as The Blackstone Valley Paddle Club in locations throughout the Blackstone River Valley. The Mass WildLife website lists various BOW work-

Spring Treasures Bring P

shops, but you may want to be a little selfish and indulge in the upcoming 2-day event! The 12th Annual MA Becoming an Outdoors-Woman Weekend will take place from June 8 through June 10 2007 in Lenox, Massachusetts. The weekend will offer over twenty-five separate workshop options. In addition, there will be activities and fun for the whole group. BOW encourages everyone to bring a friend or relative to a fantastic weekend at "Camp for Women"! The Blackstone River Valley has a multitude of opportunities for women and men to delight in the fresh air, land and water of our region. Trails aren't the only way to go! Canoeing and kayaking along the Blackstone River is a great approach to enjoying the outdoors that opens up the valley from a unique perspective. The Blackstone River Watershed Association (BRWA) will be hosting The 31st Annual Canoe/Kayak Race on the Blackstone River on Saturday, May 12, 2007. This wonderful event promotes the recreational opportunities of the Blackstone River and allows the public to experience the beauty of the River. It also raises awareness of the ongoing problems that need to be resolved to make the River fishable and swimmable by 2015. This could be the springtime adventure the outdoor person in you has been waiting for! Follow that call of spring and the spirit within you! Open the door and step outside. An outdoor person is inside there, waiting for you to experience biking, paddling, hiking or riding throughout the plethora of trails and adventures in the Blackstone River Valley! There are small businesses with local experts available to affordably direct or guide you to all types of adventures as a solo or in a group. A Day In The Forest The Douglas State Forest, Douglas, MA has trails that will surround you with natures beauty, wildlife and even remnants of history. Hikers, mountain bikers, and horseback riders can enjoy these wondrous trails. Their individual distinctions will offer something for everyone! Becky Kalagher, President of the Bay State Trail Riders Association, Inc., shared this springtime day adventure, with special notations for horseowners. Douglas State Forest "Douglas State Forest offers a variety of trails from single tracks to a nice wide rail trail on 4,594 acres of land. Riding through the forest proper, you will discover mostly hardwoods with stands of hemlocks and pines interspersed.

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Wecarry over 40,000 items from morethan 500 specialty manufacturersand craftsmen.
mendongiftbarn.com

Gi fts

1-888-473-1820 Route 16, Mendon, MA Fur ni ture Accessori es Chri stmas

Pleasure,

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of Filius ante patrem implies. Very early in the spring, coltsfoot develops flat orange (or yellow) flower heads, but only after they eventually wither do the broad, hoofshaped, sea-green leaves develop. Coltsfoot likes growing in the worst of places. Maps of the Douglas State Forest can be downloaded at www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/central/doug.htm. If you don't know the forest, one should definitely get a map. The trails are not marked, but the map is accurate." Trails for Hiking and/or Biking (Gathered from an interview with Val Stegemoen) Douglas, MA - Douglas State Forest -The Mid-State Trail (for long distance hiking, runs through MA from the R.I. state line, north to N.H.), The Coffee House Loop, The Schmidt Trail and the Cedar Swamp Trail. The Cedar Swamp Trail is particularly nice for solitude. Mendon, MA -Inman Hill Wildlife Conservation Area Watch for Baltimore Orioles. There are quite a few in the area. (Horseback riders could easily spend two hours enjoying the area) Millbury, MA - A 2.5-mile open segment, of the proposed bike path from Millbury, MA into Worcester, MA. Millville, MA-Hike along the SNETT to the Millville Lock (best preserved of all the locks), and The Triad Bridge where three railroad lines connect across the Blackstone River. Northbridge, MA -Lookout Rock has one of the most scenic views of the Blackstone River Valley! From Uxbridge, MA to Northbridge, MA in the Blackstone River & Canal Heritage State Park is the King Philip Trail. This trail takes you to Lookout Rock in Northbridge, MA. Purgatory Chasm State Reservation, Sutton, MA -The main trail is through the chasm and Charley's Loop Trial is around the chasm. Southern New England Trunkline Trail, (SNETT) - This long distance trail extends from the Connecticut state line to the Douglas State Forest, Douglas, MA to the Franklin State Forest, Franklin, MA. Upton State Forest, Upton, MA Experience trails along Park Road and Loop Road; constructed by the CCC in the 1930's and other side trails. Contact The Friends of the Upton State Forest at fusf@charter.net. Blackstone River & Canal Heritage State Park/River Bend Farm, Uxbridge, MA -Hiking and mountain biking. The Lady Carrington Trail- this towpath is great for beginner hikers. It is well defined. The Lady Carrington Trail is named after the flagship of the Blackstone Canal. It was the first canal barge, passenger "packet", to make a complete trip on the canal from Providence, Rhode Island to Worcester, Massachusetts (departed from Providence on October 6th 1828 and arrived in Worcester on October 7th 1828). For womens golfing classes or other options, go to www.Blissfulmeadows.com or to the womens forum at www.BlackstoneDaily.com. Photo credits: Front Page Horse Riders: Rebecca Kalagher & friends by Cheryl Cameron This page: Kayaker Linda Konvalinka Horse Rider Rebecca Kalagher

On the north section, one trail can lead you around a section of Whitin Reservoir and over Coopertown Brook. Another trail will lead you over to Wallis Pond where one can view a beaver dam that's probably 150 feet plus and you can check out the spillway from the dam end of the pond. To access the trails on the North side, park at the trail head on Wallis Street. There is room for eight horse and trailer rigs. On this side of the forest, horseback riders can do the big loops in 1 hours. The South side of the forest between Rt. 16 and the Southern New England Trunkline Trail (SNETT) has some interesting features remaining from 1934-39 when the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was building roads and clearing for scenic views. As one rides along, you may notice some rock cisterns approximately 15 in diameter filled with water. These were also built by the CCC and are still in great shape. One note of caution though, do not try to water your horse out of these cisterns. They are deep and do not offer easy access by your horse to get at the water. Running through the South section of the forest is the SNETT. The SNETT land meandering through the Douglas State Forest was acquired by the state in 1978. The rest of it was acquired in 1984. The Massachusetts section of this fairly wide and passable trail is 22 miles long and runs from the Connecticut line to the Franklin State Forest. Parking access for the SNETT and the South side of the forest trails is right on Rt. 96. The trail head area is big enough for five truck and trailer rigs. Horseback riders could spend as little as an hour, or up to three hours on the South side. The section of the SNETT from Rt. 96 south will bring you past Aldrich Pond and some other swampy areas on either side. There is always something to see in this area. Wild ducks, geese, turtles sunning themselves on rocks or logs, beavers, the occasional deer crossing the rail bed, and if you are lucky enough you might see some otters playing in the in the water. Wallum Lake Road crosses over the SNETT. This crossing is a stone arch bridge built in the 1850's. Definitely a neat place to stop and have your picture taken with the stone arch bridge framing you/you and your horse. Also in this area by the stone arch bridge, in the springtime, you might notice some yellow flowers blooming that you might think are dandelions. Stop and take a closer look. They are in fact a wild flower called coltsfoot. And of course being a horse person, I thought that was pretty neat!" (Coltsfoot - "is one of those quirky creations of nature which involves putting the cart before the horse. Or, in this instance, "the son before the father" as its Old Latin name

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A Day Filled With Delights

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Go to our marketplace and service directory online at www.BlackstoneDaily.com

Antique Shops: 1. Brickyard Place 2. Jefferson Antiques 3. Douglas Flea Market 4. Trudel Auctions 5. Old Stone Mill 6. Farmstand Antiques Specialty Shops: A. Generations Gift Shop B. Vintage Victorian Treasures C. Sweetwilliam Farm D. Earth Songs E. Country Bumpkins F. Pepperberries G. Victorias Barn

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Blood On The Blackstone,

year he was banished from the Bay colony, Williams received an urgent request from Massachusetts magistrates that he go as an ambassador to the Narragansett and Mohegan sachems, to persuade them not to join a dangerous Pequot uprising. Massachusetts sent him on a similar mission to the Narragansetts in 1675, just before the outbreak of King Philip's War. In the first instance Williams succeeded, preventing a full-scale war between the English and the united Indian tribes of southern New England. But his more recent pleas to the Narragansetts had been in vain. Outside the garrison, an Indian horde roamed the streets, looting and burning at will. The few souls remaining at Providence had seen the smoke rising from Rehoboth the day before, yet deluded themselves that the Indians might spare their town and go elsewhere. So misplaced was their confidence that they reportedly made little effort to protect their valuables. "Providence though they saw us in a flame incouraged themselves the enemy would steer some other Course & by that means exposed a 100 bushells of Corn & meal much goods & mony to ye enemys wch was all taken away," wrote Reverend Noah Newman of Rehoboth. To better picture what transpired that day, it helps to know something about how the town was laid out. In the time of King Philip's War, the heart of Providence was the neighborhood now known as College Hill. The main artery was called Towne Street today's North/South Main Street. "A straggling village of some two score houses was set upon the east side of this street, extending along a tract about two miles in length," Richard Bayles wrote in 1891. The west side of Towne Street "lay by the water-side" - that is, it verged on the Providence River and Great Salt Cove (filled in long ago). "It followed the curves of the shore at a proper distance to secure solid ground," states Bayles. Towards the north end of Towne Street, past the Cove, were the lower falls of the Moshassuck River (which flowed into the Cove) and John Smith's grist mill. The mill, which the Indians burned, is said to have been located near the present intersection of Mill and North Main streets. Smith himself lived in a house across the river, "near the later site of the first stone lock on the Blackstone canal." Bayles observed. It was here, near the mill, that Towne Street abruptly departed from the water's edge and started up a long, steep slope once known as "Stamper's Hill" (or possibly the Mill Hill) until leveling off at a height of about 80 feet above the river, becoming what we know as upper North Main Street. From this northern extremity of Towne Street, a "narrow lane" ran east along the present path of Olney Street to connect to a thoroughfare then known only as "the Highway," which later became Hope Street. "The home lots extended from Towne Street up and over Prospect or College hill and back to the road then known as 'the highway' now Hope Street," states a 1937 WPA study on Rhode Island. "In 1664 there were about fifty of these homesteads extending along Towne Street from present Olney Street to Fox Point." As of 1676, Providence had expanded to about 75 houses -- but it was a ghost town that greeted the Indian invaders. Most homes were empty, their owners and families having fled to the secured island of Aquidneck to wait out the war. Throughout summer and autumn, Rhode Islanders had listened with mounting concern to reports of Wampanoag and Nipmuck hostilities in Massachusetts, but since no Rhode Island settlements had been attacked it was thought that the Indians' dispute was strictly with Massachusetts and Plymouth. Then in December came word that the Narragansetts had joined

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the war, and a hasty exodus from Providence began. "The towns of the mainland were now thoroughly filled with alarm, and petitioned the assembly for help, but with little good result. The assembly could do little to help them," Bayles explains "But Newport and Portsmouth generously invited the people of Providence and Warwick to come to the Island and make their homes temporarily. A large portion of the inhabitants of Providence availed themselves of this offer and removed with their families to the Island." Of Providence's five hundred citizens, "considerably less than fifty" remained. Roger Williams was one of those who refused to abandon the colony. His name and twenty-six others are listed in the early records as those "that staid and went not away." Several other men, including Captain Arthur Fenner, miller John Smith, and Williams' adult sons, Providence, Daniel, and Joseph, are not named on the list; nevertheless, they too appear to have been at Providence during the attack. The Indians surged into town sometime on the morning of the 29th. Fresh from ravaging Rehoboth with flames and chaos, native warriors fanned out across the north end of Providence "and theire did likewise." Any English person not already safely inside a garrison was as good as dead, as the bodies of Henry Wright and Elizabeth Suckling later attested. The former had adamantly refused to go to a garrison; the latter simply tarried too long. "All that were in Forts Men, Women and Children, were Saved," Roger Williams wrote in a letter to his brother Robert dated April 1, three days

later. "H. Wright would trust God in his own Hous. There they Killed Him with his own Hammer. Elizabeth Sucklin was preparing to goe from Her own Hous to A Fort but delaying they Killed her." The Indians pressed the attack for hours. Williams, his sons, and many of his longtime neighbors waited inside the garrison. For a time it may have seemed that they had little choice but to remain there until either the attack subsided or the Indians tried to bang down the door. We can only imagine Williams's ruminations as he listened to the mayhem outside. He had spent the best years of his life befriending the Indians of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, learning their language and ways. He had known the great sachems, Massasoit of the Wampanoags Miantonomi and Canonicus of the Narragansett they had welcomed him into their homes and treated him like family. Williams had returned their kindness by opening his own house in Providence to Indians passing through town It is said there were occasions when he had as many as fifty Indians under his roof, sometimes for days at a stretch. continued on page 14

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Blood On The Blackstone,

The old sachems were dead many years but Williams had built bonds of friendship and respect with their descendants and successors. He knew the Wampanoag sachem Philip personally, as well as Canonchet, the young Narragansett chieftain who might at that very moment be somewhere close by directing the destruction of Providence. Williams had tried to make them understand the futility of war, to persuade them that it would only lead to the destruction and utter subjugation of their people. There is a story, perhaps apocryphal, that Williams met with Philip shortly after the war started: Williams met with Metacom, riding with the sachem and his family in a canoe not far from Providence. Williams warned Metacom that he was leading his people to extermination. He compared the Wampanoags to a canoe on a stormy sea of English fury. "He answered me in a consenting, considering kind of way," Williams wrote. "My canoe is already overturned." Sometime during the afternoon of that "burning Day of God's Angr," as Williams called it, an Indian approached the garrison house at a safe distance. "An Indian that Knew Vall Called from the other Side of the Mill Hill that they might speak together peaceably without their Guns," Williams wrote in the letter to his brother. "Vall" was Valentine Whitman, a man of about fifty who at various times had served as a surveyor, juryman, commissioner and deputy. He was well known to the Indians and at least once in the past had signed his name as a witness and interpreter in the deeding of Indian lands. The Indian shouted that Whitman should meet him at a "point of Land" at "Throgmortens." Unarmed, and perhaps reluctantly, Whitman started off towards the meeting place. But he no sooner left, it seemed, than he shouted back to the garrison that the Indians were asking for Roger Williams to come outside too. "I hasted out and came up to Vall and heard them ask for me," Williams wrote to his brother. "He is here," Whitman called to the Indians. "They then desired that wee Would come to the poynt without Arms as they would do," Williams wrote. But this proposal alarmed the people in the garrison. "The Town Cried out to us not to Venter [Venture]. My Sonns came crying afftr me." The panic in their voices must have given Valentine Whitman second thoughts. He changed his mind and went back to the garrison. But Roger Williams held firm, even though his sons begged him to come back. Many times over the years he had placed his life in the hands of Indians in the interest of peace. "My Heart to God and the Countrie forced me to go on to Throgmortens poynt," he wrote. John Throckmorton lived in the northern part of the settlement - in fact, he was Roger Williams' next-door neighbor (Williams's house stood near the corner of what is now North Main and Howland streets). Throckmorton's home lot, like Williams' and all the lots on Towne Street, extended across the street to the "water-side" and terminated at the shoreline - in Williams's and Throckmorton's case, at the mouth of the Moshassuck River. "Throckmorton's Point" does not appear on maps or in the early records, but the name may have referred to a rise in the riverbank at the western edge of Throckmorton's property. It would be interesting to retrace Williams's steps from the garrison to the place where he met with the Indians - but the histories are vague on which garrison he used as a refuge, or where it was located. Based on early Providence records and details from the letter Williams wrote to his brother, it seems likely that the garrison stood on Stamper's Hill, behind the grist mill -- a conclusion bolstered by Williams's reference to "the Mill Hill." A fort is said to have been built there in 1656 and was perhaps refortified in 1675 after Williams petitioned the town meeting to "give me leave & so many as shall agree to put up some Defence on ye hill between the Mill & ye Highway for ye like Safetie of ye women & children in that part of Town." The trip from Stamper's Hill down to "Throgmortens poynt" (now the junction of Smith Street and Canal Street) might have taken a younger man about ten minutes on foot. But Roger Williams was aged and infirm. Twelve years earlier, in his sixties, he wrote that he was burdened by "old pains, lameness, so th't sometimes I have not been able to rise, nor goe, or stand." Regardless, he clutched his wooden staff, gathered his cloak about him and slowly made his way to the parley. As he drew near the appointed spot, Williams saw a group of three Indians waiting for him. Unfortunately he did not describe their appearance but they may have been painted for war, or had their faces blackened as at Peirce's Fight. It was a Narragansett custom to blacken the face with soot, sometimes for weeks, when in mourning for a deceased relative. After the massacre at the Great Swamp, every Narragansett had deceased relatives.

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The Indians told him yes. "They owned it," he wrote. The question he did not ask, but for which an answer of sorts would be proffered later: Were they the same Company who met Captain Peirce and his men on the river above Pawtucket Falls? The three Indians volunteered that their force consisted of about 1500 Indians and that they were bound for all the towns around Plymouth colony after spending two more days at Providence. (In his letter to his brother, Williams observed this did not come to pass and that they left on the afternoon of March 30th.) But the mere threat of another two days of destruction must have rattled the old peacemaker. He asked why they assaulted the people at Providence when they always had been kind neighbors to them. Then he turned, directing their attention to his own house, gutted with flames. "This Hous of mine now burning before mine Eyes hath Lodged kindly Some Thousands of You these Ten Years," he reminded them bitterly. The Indians stood their ground. Williams wrote "They answered that we were their Enemies Joyned with Masathusets and Plimouths, Entertaining, Assisting Guideing of them." The accusation was not altogether groundless. While Rhode Island furnished neither men nor arms for the Great Swamp campaign the previous December, the colony had facilitated the importation of Plymouth troops into the Narragansett Country. Providence troops had also participated in the battle at Nipsachuck in August 1675. But Williams cut them short. "I said we had Entertained all Indians being a Thorough-fare town, but nither Wee nor this Colloney had acted Hostilitie against them. I told them they were all this While Killing and burning themselves Who had Forgot they were Mankind, and ran about the Countrie like Wolves tearing, and Devouring the Innocent, and peaceable. I told them they had noe regard for their Wives, Relations nor to God Whome they confessd made them and all things." The three Indians permitted him to him finish, then spoke plainly. "They Confessd they were in a Strang Way," Williams wrote. Secondly, that "we had forced them to it," and thirdly, "that God was [with] them and Had forsaken us for they had so prospered continued on page 17

Williams did not seem to recognize them, but noticed they were unarmed, as promised. "Who are you?" he demanded. Narragansetts, they replied. And Cowesetts and Wampanoags and Nipmucks and Qunticoogs (the latter were Indians from Connecticut). "Is Philip with you?" he asked, for there was a rumor at the garrison that the Wampanoag sachem was among those burning the town. But the Indians told him no, Philip is not here. "I asked Whither he was not in these parts," William wrote. "They said no; I asked where he was; They said on this side of Quniticut," or, east of the Connecticut River. Williams then inquired whether the Narragansett sachems were with them. Again the Indians replied in the negative, saying the sachems were "at their houses at Nahigonset [Narragansett]." Clearly Williams was looking for the Indian or Indians in charge. He wanted a leader, someone with whom he could negotiate. Someone who could stop the assault on his town. "I asked who Commanded here," Williams wrote, "they said many Captains and Inferior Sachims, and Counsellors." Williams may have begun to suspect that this was an advance party and that the real architects of the attack had yet to show themselves. "What are your names?" he asked. "I am Wesauamogue," one of them said loudly. "What Cheere, this is my ground which you have got from me." Williams said nothing. The land Providence was built upon, "the lands and meadows upon the two fresh rivers called Mowshausuck and Wanasquatuckett," had been granted to him in friendship by the old Narragansett sachems Canonicus and Miantonomi. The second Indian identified himself as "Pawatuck, the Old Queens Counseller" who may have been Potucke, a Narragansett counselor from the lands around what is now Point Judith. Pawatuck introduced himself and the remaining member of the Indian threesome. "I am Pawatuck and Sukamog, Captain Vennor's [Fenner's] Great Friend." Captain Arthur Fenner belonged to the local militia and was well-known to Roger Williams. He had charge of the William Field garrison house towards the southern end of Towne Street. The introductions complete, Williams put the Indians' candor to the test. He boldly asked them: were they "the Company that burned Rehoboth and Swansie?"

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Lifes Little Daily Pleasures

Throughout history, from Goethe and Balzac to early America's own symbolic rejection of dumping tea in Boston Harbor, coffee, chocolate and tea have played virtually unrivalled roles in daily life across the globe. Though daily cocoa drinking has long forfeited the "aristocratic" role it played in the 18th century, coffee and tea continue to universally grace nearly all of our lives every day. The cultural influence of these mild stimulants derived from vegetable matter has been profound throughout the centuries. From coffee houses to afternoon teas, from early industrial workers throughout the Blackstone Valley replacing their morning ale mugs for coffee or tea, the path of history has been forever changed with talkative yet reflective coffeedrinkers evolving into the Age of Enlightenment, transacting business or simply becoming more focused with less injuries and more productivity on the factory floor. In fact, coffee became an instant ally to business owners as it increased alertness, ideas, productivity and abetted schedules. Formerly, most workers drank beer or ale concoctions throughout the day limiting their work effort rather than risk drinking bacteria-laden water. "In the twentieth century, the professions transformed themselves accordingly: medicine turned the residency process into an ordeal of sleeplessness, the legal profession borrowed a page from the manufacturing floor and made its practitioners fill out time cards like union men. Intellectual heroics became a matter of endurance." 'A mathematician,' Erds was fond of saying, 'is a machine for turning coffee into theorems.'" Gladwell's Java Man (www.gladwell.com/2001/2001_07_30_a_java.htm) Coffee and tea even have their own gender-based connotations, though those have been less rigid recently. Studies have shown that descriptions such as "male, boisterous, libertarian" relate to coffee drinkers whereas phrases such as "female, decorous, pure or genteel" come to mind for tea drinkers. But what about the drink? Both tea and coffee are very adaptable, generally healthy and dependable allies in our busy lives. Both are stimulants, known to increase concentration, endurance and productivity while providing a broad array of flavors. Though the caffeine from coffee has 100-250 mg of caffeine per cup compared with tea's 40-100 mg per cup, tea drinkers often enjoy several cups each sitting so effects are often similar. The mild caffeine stimulants travel to almost every cell of the body to inhibit adenosine which normally triggers sleepiness, lowers blood pressure and heart rate. Yet, the stimulant is flushed out of the body quickly, easing health concerns. (Note: pregnant woman or women on the "pill" have much slower caffeine processing rates.)

Journeys

Besides water, tea is the most popular beverage in the world. Not so in the U.S where tea consumption slips behind soft drinks, coffee, beer, wine and bottled water. Yet the tea market is changing with sales almost tripling in the last fifteen years to over $5.5 billion in 2004. Surprisingly, coffee consumption is also seeing market increases, after a couple of decades of decline. What has brought about these rising market trends? Researched health benefits and a panoply of new flavors and experiences offered in trendy hotels and upscale restaurants point to increased interest while product variety continues to increase in supermarkets and specialty shops, too. But whats the most flavorful, best value, most healthy? How does processing and roasting affect flavor? Are the higher prices worth it? To answer these questions, it is important to understand how these products differ and/or how they are the same. Let s start with the basics.

instance, boiling water should never be poured over white tea leaves as this extracts a bitter taste. Guidelines range, but these are estimates: Green Tea 160 degrees F 1 - 3 minutes White Tea 180 degrees F 4 - 8 minutes Oolong Tea 190 degrees F 1 - 8 minutes Black Tea Rolling Boil 3 - 5 minutes Herbal (tisanes) Rolling Boil 5 - 8 minutes Ask your local expert to find the best leaves and the best preparation method.

Arabica or Robusta Beans

Most mass marketed coffee found at supermarkets is from the robusta bean, which contains significantly more caffeine and grows in regions that arabica coffee plants cannot grow. Robusta probably originated in Uganda and the superior arabica bean is indigenous to Ethiopia but is now grown in Latin America, East Africa/Arabia and Asia/Pacific. The arabica bean is the original coffee bean to be cultivated and flavors are often named for their locations. The premium valued bean is usually found at high-end roasters, specialty shops, fine restaurants and is considered to have more flavor than the robustas. Robustas are less susceptible to disease, have shorter growing periods, and are more adaptable to environmental variations. Yet, they have a more acidic and bitter taste than the more fragile, slower growing, superior tasting arabica bean. Processors are able to blend robusta beans with arabicas to improve taste and smoothness but 100% arabica coffees are thought to be well worth their premium price tag! Both coffee and tea have undergone major market changes with the introduction of a multitude of herb flavored coffees or teas. Whether these new blends have calming effects, extra energy, added health benefits or merely added flavor...the marketeers have increased the resurgence of these ever-popular stimulant drinks which have continued to offer a social, cultural and historical touch to all of our daily lives. Enjoy!

Camelia Sinensis
All tea types, the popular black, delicate white, green, yellow, oolong and pu-ehr are derived from one plant species - camelia sinesis. It is the micro-climate where grown, the soil, the age and part of the leaf and lastly, the type of processing the leaf undergoes that denotes its final designation, flavor and health benefits. Black tea is Americas favorite (87%), yet it is teas least beneficial healthwise due to its fermentation and oxidization. Most healthy is the delicate white tea whose leaves are picked young, then steamed without going through any oxidation process. Green tea is developed by allowing the fragile tea leaf to oxidize some but not as long as the black tea leaves. Green tea is well known for its health benefits since it contains antioxidants that claim to prevent cancer or lower the bad LDL cholesterol. White tea has even more healthy attributes and has been found to kill bacteria, viruses, and fungi in the body. Most true flavor experts support the premium cost and whole leaf brewing method, especially for white and green tea. They are acutely aware that tea bags contain broken bits of tea leaves, sometimes limiting the full flavor of a whole leaf. Equally important is the brewing time and method for the varieties of tea. For

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Americas First Medical School, continued from page 7

One year later, directly across the French River from the Green homestead, and on land donated by the Reverend/Dr. Green, residents of Leicester erected their own church in what was now known as Greenville. Not only did Thomas give the land for the project, he also contributed signifidren: five sons and two daughters, who amazingly (and perhaps due to the talents of their father) all lived to adulthood, a remarkable triumph for back then. It appears several of them left Leicester and moved to Worcester, where they settled in the area of what is now called Green Hill. At least one however, a grandson called Samuel, returned to operate a tavern in the old place. In yet perhaps another tribute to his talents as a physician, Dr. Green lived to be seventy-four years old. He died in 1773 evidently at his home in Leicester. His wife out lived him to the age of eighty. They both were interred in "their" churchyard at Greenville near where Thomas' father rested and still does. Later, both Thomas' and Martha's remains were moved to the Rural Cemetery in Worcester, by a descendent, Dr. John Green. As part of the research for this article, I went to the place where much of the above transpired. Thanks to the hospitality of Mr. & Mrs. Ron Henry, the current owners of the home, I was able to view the interior. Some sixty by twenty feet, the two-story structure was built to withstand an earthquake. Incredibly, solid square hand hewn timbers over a foot square run the entire width of the building, and show little sagging even after nearly three hundred years. Captain Green, his family, and the neighbors must have felt quite secure. An interesting bit of history was revealed to me by the Henrys in the course of my visit. It seems that in colonial days, any boards that measured twenty inches or more in width were immediately seized by the British and sent to England for use there. This confiscated lumber became known as The King's Pine. This regulation along with many others, finally resulted in the Revolution. Over the sixteen years they have lived there, the Henry's have done a magnificent job "rescuing" this most precious piece of history from well meant but destructive attempts to

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cant financial aid for its construction. Rev. Green was elected pastor, and he held that office for thirty-five years, during which time he baptized more than a thousand people. The building still stands, quite visible from the house. Highly admired by his friends and neighbors, Dr. Thomas Green was known as a man who "lived three lives". In addition to his efforts in the medical field, he managed his farming business and personal life, and preached the gospel in his church. Thomas was the father of seven chil-

The Greenville Church

"modernize" it by previous owners. There is little doubt that the Green homestead is one of the oldest structures in the area, and certainly a link with the past. Especially considering what went on there almost three centuries ago. The primary Bibliography: Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County Also, much thanks to Mr. & Mrs. Ron Henry and Ron's brother Roy Henry of Uxbridge for the assistance and information they provided for this article. Comments: grbob@charter.net Photos by: Bob Hagis

Dining Review: The Rose Garden

Our waitress Cara was a delight. She was new, she said, and so missed a beat now and then, but took it all in stride, as did we. She brought us packaged crackers with a container of processed cheese and took our drink orders. Cara informed us that the wine brands available were Woodbridge, Sutter Home and Kendall Jackson. We opted for a glass of Kendall Jackson chardonnay. The bottle had not been cooled, so she brought an extra glass with ice for us to chill the wine. We started our meal with spinach salad again, here prepared with feta cheese, avocado and mandarin orange slices, and served with a raspberry vinaigrette dressing ($5.95). It was fine, though the oranges were canned. The entre specials were a prime rib ($12.99 and $14.99) and baked stuffed haddock (8.99). The standard menu includes beef, pasta and chicken selections at very affordable prices, including a spaghetti dinner with homemade marinara ($5.95), veal parmigiana ($8.95) and chicken parmigiana ($7.95). We chose the haddock and the chicken parmigiana. With an order of two entrees, you get a free appetizer. The haddock was herb-breaded and served over the stuffing, which was rich and flavorful, though somewhat reminiscent of Thanksgiving stuffing. The chicken parmigiana was served on a very full plate with linguini and marinara sauce, also a good choice. For dessert we could pick strawberry cheesecake ($2.95) or an ice cream sundae ($.2.25). The Rose Garden's entire menu of appetizers, salads, entrees, hamburgers, sandwiches and a children's menu are available online at www.uptonrosegarden.com. The Rose Garden's musical menu

includes the Rose Room Revue, a weekly songwriter showcase every Thursday night beginning with an open mike at 7:30. A national, regional or local touring artist then performs an hour-long "feature" set starting around 9 p.m. The Rose Room also hosts house concerts on select Saturdays, as well as live bands in the lounge. Schedule and performance information is available at their website. Hours: the pub is open daily for lunch and dinner, and has a late night menu after 10 p.m. The upstairs Rose Room dining room is open Monday-Thursday 6:009:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 5:009:30 p.m., Sunday 5:00-8:30 p.m. Phone 508-529-7776. We did not have to wait to be seated at either place on a Friday night.

Dont Miss Our World Class Races!

1. The Largest Collegiate Beanpot Bike Competition in the U.S. Trials & Race in Grafton, MA March 30th. Go to www.BlackstoneDaily.com/ beanpot.htm for full course and information. 2.The 111th Boston Marathon on April 16, 2007 starting in Hopkinton, MA. The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon. In 2007 more than 20,000 runners are expected to participate as the Boston Marathon celebrates its 111th anniversary. www.baa.org Looking for other fun or historic events, go to www.BlackstoneDaily.com for walking tours, events, attractions, and so much more available 24/7!

Please support our advertisers by patronizing their shops and services. Thank you.

Page 17

Blood On The Blackstone,

in Killing and Burning far beyond What we did Against them" - almost certainly an allusion to the Great Swamp massacre. Maybe it was the overwhelming sight of all the neatly arranged houses on upper Towne Street being consumed by gouts of orange flame, or the despair of knowing that a vital part of his life's work was being laid to waste right before his eyes. But at that moment it seemed Roger Williams no longer cared about the Indians' grievances or what was right or fair, only which side was stronger. "I answered it was fals [false] for They began with us and God had prospered us so that wee had driven out the Wampanoogs with Phillip out of his Countrie and the Nahigonsiks out of their Countre, and had destroyed Multitudes of them in Fighting and Flying, in Hungr and Cold etc.: and that God would help us to Consume them Except [if] they hearkened to Counsel." Perhaps the shock of hearing himself claim racial superiority on the basis of military actions like the Great Swamp massacre restored his better judgment. "I told them I had Quenched fires between the Bay and them, and Plimoath, Quniticut and them," he wrote. "And now I did not doubt (God assisting me) to Quench this and help to restore Quietnes to the Land againe." The three Indians quietly reflected upon this proposal, then invited him to come "ovr [over] the River to them and Debate matters at larg [large]." Williams probably intuited that they wished him to speak with their superiors. But he declined, saying "it was not Fair without Hostage to desire it." Sukamog, Captain Fenner's friend, asked where the Captain was. "At his garrison," Williams said. "Shall I fetch him, and Vall?" The Indians said yes, they would wait, and and as a show of good faith promised to suspend hostilities immediately. Williams hastened back to his garrison to get Whitman. Presumably the two men would walk down Towne Street to the Field garrison, convince Captain Fenner to accompany them and then return to the waiting Indians. But as before, the people at Williamss garrison vehemently protested. "All ours Diswaded me affirming itt was A plan to shoot us thre [three]," he wrote. Again Williams spurned all warnings. He set out alone for the Field garrison, halting only when "some came running, and affirmed that J. Laphams Hous in the Way was full of Indians." Now he was torn. Wesauamoge, Pawatuck and Sukamog had promised "cessation" yet the hostilities had not abated. Lapham's house, which was "in the Way" between his garrison and Captain Fenner's, was being ransacked by hostile Indians. He had no guarantee they would let him pass unmolested. Frustrated, Williams retreated to his own garrison, but still felt honor-bound "to goe or send word" to the three Indians "of the reason of my not coming with A. Fennor, yet none would goe or suffr me to go." Finally Williams set out alone again, coming once more to Throckmorton's Point where he found the three Indians still waiting. The 73year-old Englishman must have been tired and possibly in pain after so many trips back and forth. "At Last I got to the poynt againe, and told them the truth and how since we parted Divers Houses were fired as J. Mattisons on that side and Ep. Olnys on this." The Indians told him they had tried. "They said they Had sent to all to be quiet but Some would not Stop," he wrote. "They prayed me to come ovr" the river. Williams may have been fatigued, but he would not be gulled. He suggested that one of theirs "come ovr" instead, "Saying they Had bin Buring [Burning] all the Day on this side and were they afraid of an old unarmed Man in the same place." The Indians' hackles must have gone up because suddenly they asked Williams to open his cloak "that they might see I had noe Gun," he wrote. "I did so." Soon thereafter, a new delegation of Indians approached the point, presumably from across the river. These Indians, Williams seemed to know. "Then came one Nawham," he wrote, "Mr R Smith's John Wall Maker, an ingenious Fellow and peaseable." This Indian was better known as "Stonewall John," described by historian Samuel G. Drake as a "by-nomeans-unimportant Narragansett captain." Before the war, he earned a reputation as a talented stone mason and was often hired by English settlers. He performed like services for the Narragansetts, reputedly designing their forts at the Great Swamp and at Wickford. He also had basic metalworking skills, enabling him to repair guns and fashion other weapons. His forge was destroyed in the siege of the Great Swamp fort, but he escaped with his tools. He is said to have aided the attack on Rehoboth. With Stonewall John, Williams wrote, came "Matalog A Neepmuck Sachim." This "Matalog" was probably a Nipmuck chief by the name of Mattaloos, also known as Matoonas, perhaps the most infamous of the Nipmucks who took up Philip's cause. His son was executed by the English in 1671. Four years later, in July of 1765, Mattaloos/Matoonas led an attack on Mendon, Massachusetts, in which four or five settlers were killed. The third member of this triumvirate was "Cuttaqune A Qunniticutt Sachim, A Stout lustie brave Fellow," Williams observed, "and I think the Chief in Command amongst them." Information about this Connecticut chief is scant, but he may have been Kutquen, one of the Indians involved in the capture of Mary Rowlandson and others from Lancaster,

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continued
[an archaic term suggesting cheating or stealth] our [Houses] our Cattle and Selves by Ambushes and Swamps, and Great Advantages, and told them [they] durst not come Near our Forts" but that "We entred theirs." And then, incredibly, Roger Williams challenged Cuttaqueen to face him in battle. He growled that "if Providence Men would yeld [yield] to Me. We would Viset them with an Hundred out of [illegible] by Midnight." "We will meet you an Hundred, to an Hundred," Cuttaqueen countered, "to Morrow upon a Plain." "I said it was not An Hundred, to An Hundred," Williams wrote, "Except we had an armie nigh acquivalent etc: but I told them they Should find many Thousands would be on them, and R.C. [King Charles II] would spend Ten Thousands before he would loos this Countrie." At last, their venom spent, Williams and Cuttaqueen prepared to part company. "I again offered my Ser[vice]," Williams wrote. "In a way of pease Cuttaqueen said a month hence after we have been on the Plimouth side." In other words, they still had more burning to do in Plymouth colony. "[I told] Them God would stop them or plague them Hereafter Except they [that] Repented of these their Robberies and Murthers." But the Indians argued no more. "We parted," Williams wrote, "and they were so Civill that they called after me and bid me not goe near the Burned Houses for their might be Indians [that] might mischief me, but goe by the Water Side." Estimates of how many houses the Indians burned at Providence range between thirty and fifty, with no way of knowing which figure is right. Most historians do agree, however, that the northern part of the settlement bore the brunt. How many days and nights the bodies of Captain Peirce and his men lay unburied and exposed beside the river, none can say with surety either. Rogue bands of Indians made even brief excursions away from the garrisons a mortal risk. More than three weeks after his town was set ablaze by Indians, Reverend Noah Newman of Rehoboth reported that "Yesterday one of our Towne being abroad wth a teame alone was shot at but was not hrt his oxen one was kild & the other wounded, he carelessly went forth both alone 3 mile for ye towne & wthout any gun." The riverside battlefield, what historians would dub "the bed of honor," was about five miles distant from Rehoboth, in a remote and wild landscape. The nearest house, if the Indians hadn't gotten around to burning it yet, was probably that of the late Mr. Blackstone -- his "Study Hall, socalled -- a mile or two upstream from where Peirce and his men fell. Here in early April, continued on page 19

Massachusetts a little more than a month earlier. Of the six Indians gathered on that bluff above the river, at least three would be executed by the English within a matter of months. But for the moment, they had come to discuss peace with Roger Williams. "We had much repetition of the former particulars Which were debated at the Poynt," Williams wrote. "Nawwhun [Stonewall John] Said that we broke Articles and not they (as I alleadged). He said they Heartilie Endeavoured the Surrendr of the Prisoners. They were abroad in Hunting, at Home, and could not Effect it." Exactly which prisoners he meant is unclear. If indeed it was Kutquen with him, Stonewall John may have been referring to Mary Rowlandson and the other captives taken from Lancaster on February 20th. Mrs. Rowlandson was finally ransomed on May 2, 1676. The story of her ordeal in the wilderness became the best known Indian captivity narrative in American history. But there was nothing cryptic about Nawwhun's next remark as recorded by Williams. "He said You have driven us out of our own Countrie and then pursued us to our Great Miserie, and Your Own, and we are Forced to live upon you." Coming from a survivor of the Great Swamp attack, this charge may have had a painful ring of truth. "But there are ways of peace," Williams told them. The Indians asked how. "I told them if their Sachims would propound something and Caus [Cause] a Cessation [of hostilities] I would presently Write if (it were to morrow) by two of theirs to Boston," Williams wrote. "I told them planting time was a coming for them and us." But the Connecticut sachem had tired of this talk of peace and planting. He grew insolent. According to Williams, "Cuttaqueen Said they cared not for Planting these Ten Years. They Would live upon us, and Dear. He said that God was with them for at Quawbaug and Quoneticut (Excepting old Men and Women] we had Killed noe Fighting Men but Wounded some" - and here Cuttaqueen held out his arm so that Williams could see the wound upon it - "but they had Killed of us Scores, and Hundreds." "Go," Cuttaqueen bid him arrogantly. "Look upon thre [three] Score and five now unburied at Blackstones." And there it was. The answer to the question not asked. These Indians, these Narragansetts and Cowesetts and Wampanoags and Nipmucks and Qunticoogs, who burned Providence that day and who had burned Rehoboth the day before, were the same warriors who defeated Captain Michael Peirce and his Plymouth colony troops on a field of battle beside the Pawtucket River, Sunday morning, March 26, 1676. The taunt enraged Williams. "I said they were A Cowardly People and got nothing of ours but by Commuotin

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Journeys

Old Baseball Mill Leagues

Blackstone Valley towns in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island are much lower but misleading because once unemployed, a worker and his family were evicted from company housing and, quite literally, the community as well. In January 1932 workers launched a bitter strike at five mills belonging to the Uxbridge Worsted Company, protesting a reduction in wages. The workers lost their strike when owner Charles Root threatened to close the mills permanently. The industrial leagues virtually disappeared between 1931 and 1935 as worker unrest grew. In 1934 workers at Rockdale, Uxbridge Worsted Company and other Blackstone Valley mills joined a national strike by textile workers from Maine to Georgia for recognition of the Textile Workers Union. Rockdale employees eventually returned to work, but only after the company sold workers' homes to break the union. Similar threats were made by employers elsewhere in a coldly calculated strategy designed to deliver an irrevocable message to workers who might consider further protest. For workers this strike and its results became the symbol of paternalism's end in the Blackstone Valley. Employers throughout the region pointed to it as an example of the evils of unionism and their reaction successfully forestalled union organization for another fifteen years in most Massachusetts Blackstone mills. In northern Rhode Island workers also joined this national movement for recognition of the Textile Workers Union. Anger and desperation turned to looting when several plant managers refused to shut down and local police fired tear gas into crowds. Mill owners in Rhode Island had traditionally maintained closer ties to elected officials at the state level than had the Massachusetts mill owners, and with the full support of Governor T. F. Green, the National Guard intervened. Barricading streets and setting up machine gun nests, the Guard "restored the peace" but not jobs or wage cuts. The strike did prove important to the career of Thomas P. McCoy, a former labor leader with the Transit Workers Union and an Irish Democratic machine politician, cast in the spirit of Tammany Hall in New York City and the Pendergast organization in Kansas City, Missouri. McCoy was elected to the powerful city auditor's position in Pawtucket. From that position he forged ahead with tax restructuring and issued bonds to pay off indebtedness. Elected mayor in 1936, McCoy gained control of police, fire and other services, allowing him to control considerable job patronage, and he instigated a crusade for municipal ownership of utilities. He used public funds and New Deal programs to build new schools, water and filtration systems, a new city hall and a dozen other public facilities. These activities, however, brought sensational but accurate charges of mishandling of finances, corruption, graft and favoritism. McCoy argued that his administration had "helped the needy, saved and expanded industry, increased new private construction by eleven million dollars and instituted the lowest per capita tax rate in New England." No charge against McCoy drew more attention than "McCoy's Folly," the building of the Hammond Pond Stadium on swampland. Using federal and local money, the planning, filling and construction of the stadium was begun in 1939 and completed in 1942; it served as the home of the Pawtucket Slaters, named for industrial pioneer Samuel Slater. As with all of McCoy's public building efforts, this one served several purposes. The project expected to provide jobs, to "eliminate the Malaria swamp" and to "build baseball." According to one recollection, "there were reports of machinery sinking into the mud and disappearing and betting was rampant that [it], once finished, might still sink into the muck." The stadium, however, remains operational to this day. Pawtucket's McCoy Stadium established baseball as a New Deal institution for public good rather than private interest. A columnist for the Pawtucket Evening Times proudly noted that "Baseball and politics, like hot dogs and mustard, go together in this city...McCoy knew that Pawtucket voters loved baseball; his stadium was built and he was re-elected four times." I'm not including photos with this article at this time, but here's a caption from a picture of McCoy Stadium that is in the original article: "McCoy Stadium, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, present home of the Boston Red Sox's top minor league team. Originally known as Hammond Pond Stadium or 'McCoy's Folly,' the building of this ball park signaled the shift of local area baseball from the corporate to the public sphere." In Rhode Island, McCoy shifted big time baseball from the corporate to the public sphere at precisely the same time that mill owners, in the face of New Deal labor legislation and labor upheaval, lost the paternalistic grip they held over textile communities, In 1937 workers had successfully installed the Independent Textile Union in Woonsocket. The same year McCoy supported bringing union organization to Pawtucket's mills. The rise of independent professional and semi-professional community, rather than corporate, teams paralleled the growing force of the industrial labor movement under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. The start of World War II, however, temporarily curtailed the emergence of baseball as controlled by the community. Labor shortages during the war, when millions of workers, including baseball players, went into the armed services, returned the Blackstone League once again to amateur status. But the purpose of baseball and work in a mill community, from employers' viewpoints, remained the same. Baseball and mill work both provided: "The form of unselfishness and devotion to friend and fellow man which makes organization of any sort possible. It is the basis of business success, the foundation of the home, of

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eliminated. Baseball now represented an independence and self-determination which for Whitin's industrial workers, unionism brought to mill life. After the war baseball remained popular with local residents and workers. Officials at the Hayward-Schuster Mill in Douglas recognized that a vigorous contest for control of American labor relations was underway - the largest strike wave in history - and that resurrection of paternalistic policies would mark a strong attempt to beat back a labor movement arriving at the company's door. On September 26, 1946, Haywood Schuster Mills staged an exhibition game between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox in Douglas. Twelve thousand people were in the stands. The game stands firmly and proudly in the memories of Blackstone Valley workers as the last great gasp of paternalism in Douglas. While industrial league baseball in the Blackstone Valley at a semi-professional and professional level continued until the early 1950s, giving career starts to future major league players such as Chet Nichols, Jr., Joe Morgan and others, mill owners could no longer use the game "to keep workers busy." Employers could not manage to bring the Yankees and the Red Sox to the valley every weekend. Workers with more money, automobiles and increased leisure time, as well as greater political and social independence, found other diversions. This was a national trend due in equal parts to the collapse of industrial support of community well-being and the rise of New Deal philosophies that encouraged a role for both workingclass citizens and state and federal government in day-to-day life. Semiprofessional industrial league baseball could not compete with a professional minor league system and televised major league games. Most importantly, mill owners, like industrialists across the nation, found themselves unable to achieve the same, insular flavor and control that the game brought them in the 1920s. Corporate heads could no longer forestall the rise of industrial unionism and the advent of state and federal programs that usurped community roles formerly dominated by individual mill owners. By the late 1940s and early 1950s these owners ceded their paternalistic role and influence over community life. Mill owners discontinued the Blackstone Valley League in 1952. The rest of the industrial leagues of the Blackstone Valley died an almost unnoticed death by 1955.

the church, of the state, and of society itself. Loyalty in business is evidenced by a man's becoming a real part of the organization with which he is connected; by his being fair and square in all dealings with his associates and by his exerting a whole hearted attitude towards success. The loyal worker is...heart and soul with the organization because he knows that his welfare is bound up with the success of the business. The loyal employer is the one who is heart and soul with his workers because he knows that his success depends upon his cooperation." This quote, along with the others, is footnoted but the copy I have doesn't have the footnotes.] For valley residents the world became a smaller place during and after World War II. The decline in immigration following that the national immigrant restriction laws of 1921 and 1924 meant that by the post-war era a second more acculturated, generation worked in the mills. Many had served in the armed forces or in valley defense plants where production became openly tied to the fight for democracy. Because of this experience workers proved less willing to accept full corporate dominance. "And all of a sudden," said one valley resident, "They saw Paree, and that's true, and back they came and it's like it was every place else in the country. It's never going to be the same again, and we had been out there. We'd seen what's out there, and you know, you [the bosses] are not going to oppress us any longer.'" War and related work pressures, including long hours and low wages, brought further efforts to unionize in the valley. In 1945 Whitin Machine Works employees won a thirteen-week union recognition strike and joined the United Steel Workers of America. Richard Malgren, who was Whitin's starting pitcher twenty years earlier but had long retired from regular baseball activities because of his age, not only helped organize the union but was also elected its first president. He and other Whitin workers, like McCoy before them, wrested the social activities of mill town life away from the control of employers and put them into the public sphere. In post-war collective bargaining Whitin workers won the right to purchase their own baseball equipment. John Andonian, a union organizer and foundry worker, recalled this transition: They had what they called a shop league. They supply you the bats and the balls and you could buy spike shoes at a reduced price. Things like that. That was a sort of a fringe benefit you got; who the hell wanted that? We wanted to pay for all these things like normal human beings. We worked on it during negotiations, we don't want any baseball, we don't want any bats, we'll let each team pay for their own. Never mind all this baseball business and the low rents and they give you a plot of land and you can plant vegetables and....They gave you the fertilizer on top of all that... that kind of shit we could get on our own. So that was

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To Read: Remembering the End of an Era: A 12-16-90 Telephone Interview with GM Joe Morgan - go to: Dan Malloys Hopedale site at:

www.geocities.com/daninhopedale/baseballBVLeague.html OR www.BlackstoneDaily.com/baseball.htm

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The Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce is pleased to co-sponsor the Blackstone Valley Youth Fishing Derby to be held on May 5th at the West Hill Park at the recreation area in Uxbridge, MA. The event will take place from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. with prizes awarded for various categories of trout- from largest to smallest. In addition, 60 specially tagged trout will be released before the event, each tag representing an additional prize donated by event sponsors. An awards ceremony and participant cookout will take place at 1:30 in the recreation area pavilion. This Fishing Derby is an opportunity for youngsters and their parents to get outdoors, play, and enjoy a memorable day in a relaxed atmosphere| says BVCC Executive Director Joseph Deliso. We encourage our membership to get involved in the Derby Committee, become a sponsor and take your children to the event. It should be a lot of fun! The excitement is starting to build.

First Annual Valley Fishing Derby for Youth!

Jeff LeClaire of Fin & Feather Sports in Upton is spearheading this event with the Chamber of Commerce and other local businesses. He said "this is a great way for kids, aged 3 - 14, to experience the thrills of trout fishing, whether they are beginners needing help or more skilled in fishing." It's also a great time for parents, grandparents, friends and neighbors to come together to teach kids from throughout the Blackstone Valley how to fish as well as enjoy how lucky we are to live in the Blackstone Valley, filled with stocked trout ponds and rivers and the great outdoors. The Massachusetts Division of Fish and Wildlife will stock West Hill park a few days before the event. The Derby will feature trophies and prizes for many categories, such as the top six largest, first caught, smallest and tagged fish based on age divisions. Even after the event, the 60 tagged trout will be available to be caught for prizes up until October

Journeys

15, 2007. We'll be following those lucky winners throughout the summer on the web at www.BVFishingDerby.org, as well as through local news stories and photographs throughout the Valley. Want to help out? The Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce is looking for sponsors of prizes and committee members to help make this event an annual tradition in the Valley and attract more kids outdoors into a sport that can become a lifelong passion. For more information, please call the Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce at 508-234-9090 or Jeff Leclaire at Fin & Feather Sports - 508-5293901. Visit www.bvfishingderby.org to volunteer, become a sponsor or to register for the event.

Blood On The Blackstone,

little more than a week after "Peirce's Fight," Connecticut soldiers routed a large party of dangerous Narragansetts. That Peirce and his company were interred at all under such circumstances is a testament to the respect and devotion of the people of Plymouth Colony, especially the residents of Rehoboth. How much simpler it would have been to leave the dead in the hands of nature, to let time and scavengers do their work while the living applied themselves to rebuilding their homes and villages. "The buryall of the slaine tooke us 3 days the burden of it lying upon our towne," Reverend Newman wrote in the same April 19th letter wherein he reported his townsman being shot at by Indians. "The 3d day we had some from Dedham & Medfield that afforded their helpe therein " A grim duty it must have been. If there were any incidents of mutilation of the dead, scalping, etc., they do not appear in the records; however, a letter sent from the Council of War to one Major Savage alerting him of the Peirce defeat reports that the Indians spirited away all weapons from the field, along with "two horse loads with provisions." But that's not all the Narragansetts may have carried away. Later that same year, Increase Mather wrote in his book A Brief History of the Warr with the Indians in New-England, "How many of the Enemy fell we know not certainly, only we hear that some Indians, which have since been taken by the English, confess that Captain Pierce, and those with him killed an hundred and forty of them before they lost their own lives." What became of those 140 dead Indians? While it's possible the Indian prisoners may have inflated the number to appease their captors, sixty or more armed soldiers firing at close

continued
Cape Cod Indians, place the complement above 60 men. Reverend Newman noted the discrepancy " search hath been made but no more Can be found," he wrote. "I know not but some might wander & perish in ye woods being strangers." The unaccounted-for soldiers evidently troubled Reverend Newman, but he had done his best under difficult conditions. In the fearful aftermath of Peirce's Fight, as the shadow of the hawk fell upon his own town of Rehoboth, he had dutifully prepared a list of the dead and dispatched it to Plymouth, so that the dead soldiers' relatives could be notified as soon as practical. Two of the names on the list belonged to Samuel Lennet of Barnstable, Massachusetts and John Mathews of Yarmouth. The Lennet and Mathews families were no doubt devastated when informed that their sons had been ambushed and killed by hundreds of Indians. Their bereavement must have lasted right up until the moment the two young men came home alive... NEXT: ESCAPE FROM PEIRCE'S FIGHT 2007 by Joe Doherty PO Box 31 South Salem NY 10590-0031

range must have caused some reduction of the opposing force. And yet, nowhere in the correspondence of Reverend Newman, nor in any of the contemporary accounts of Peirce's Fight, is there a single mention of an "Enemy" body on the battlefield. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, it's not unreasonable to think that the victorious Narragansetts bore the bodies of their fallen brothers off the battlefield, to be buried in some secret place in the woods, ever facing southwest. The remains of the Plymouth soldiers and their "friendly Indian" compatriots were not carried away by loved ones or carted off to church yards or burial grounds; instead, tradition tells us, they were buried on the spot, either in a mass grave or individually. Reverend Newman reported that on the first of the three days, volunteers laid twenty souls to rest - "17 English & 3 Indians buryed." On the second day, "that I might expresse my respect to Capt Peirce & Leift: Fuller, who dyed so honorably," the Reverend himself "went forth & that day we buryed 18 English and one Indian." On the third and last day "they buryed 7 or 8 Eng[lish] and one Indian. A total of 47 or 48 bodies - yet even the most conservative estimates of Peirce's battalion, including the

Journeys

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