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April 2004 Will Ertman Tradition Continues with Grade 5 School Tours at the Old Ordinary June 1 - Plymouth River School On the day of the tour all schools will visit the Old Ship Church and Hingham Cemetery as well as the
Old Ordinary. When one class is at the Old Ordinary, the other class will be at the Old Ship - they will then switch places. The tours start at 9:15 and 10:30 and are scheduled to last one hour and 15 minutes. There
will be a live demonstration of wood chopping to highlight the upcoming exhibit, "Tools of the Trade from Hingham's Past." Much to the delight of the OO House Committee, former docent Lillian Colbeck will return to assist
with the tours. The committee needs two guides and two volunteers for each class - a total of 48 volunteer slots to fill (12 classes x four volunteers each). Interested volunteers are encouraged to
contact Penni Hughes, 781-749-0499. Where Can You Find . . . . .
At the 80th Annual Tour of Historic Homes and Buildings, of course! Descriptions of the above locations and ticket information will appear in the next issue of News and Notes. Just Some Ordinary News The tool collection of the Old Ordinary was compiled by Adm. Henry Travis Smith, director of the Hingham Historical Society from 1950 to 1956. He
devoted the last five years of his life to this endeavor, restoring and repairing approximately 900 tools. To identify the tools he consulted books and traveled to other museums. He also designed and installed the display in the
Tool Room. Adm. Smith died in 1956, two weeks before his work was finished. Lt. Col. Ernest Higgins, of Hingham, took over the job and completed the work. The Exhibit Committee is interested in gathering additional
information about Adm. Smith. If you have information or personal memories of him, please contact Lisa Hemphill, 781-749-8229, or Nancy Tiffin, 781-749-1230.
Lisa Hemphill Tool Trivia The most valuable tools tend to be those that are the most complex; for example, planes and drills are more valuable than hammers and chisels. Often, the ownership of the tool can add to the
value, especially if it is marked on the tool. People collect tools for different reasons: some to use them; some for an appreciation of the objects made by the tool, such as furniture, buckets or clocks; and some for the
decorative and aesthetic elements of the tool itself, which can range from a simple but beautiful design to detailed brass fittings or exotic woods. Some tips on collecting tools:
Those who are interested in collecting antique tools won't want to miss this summer's exhibit at the Old Ordinary, "Tools of the Trade from Hingham's Past," open from June 13 to September 4, 2004.
From Antiques Roadshow/Tips of the Trade, February 5, 2004, Briefly Told Limited quantities of three scenes of the Hosea Sprague woodcut tiles are available
from the Old Ordinary. Please contact Susan Achille, 781-749-0706, or any Old Ordinary House Committee member. The renovation of the Old Derby restrooms is now complete. The beautiful paint job was done by Susan Zugar,
ably assisted by Ellen Harvey, both members of the Old Ordinary House Committee. Stop by and see the changes! In Her Own Words . . I'm originally from Charleston, South Carolina, where I grew up in my family's hotel, the St. John's Hotel, now called the
Mills House. My father and grandfather had been hotel and restaurant men, once running a summer resort in Myrtle Beach and also railroad restaurants where train passengers could stop for a meal. Though it was the Depression, my
parents valued education, sending me to Ashley Hall Prep School in Charleston, Randolph-Macon Women's College in Lynchburg, VA and Simmons College in Boston. I returned to the south working as a department store training director
in Richmond, using valuable personnel experience gained working for my father in a summer resort organizing entertainment programs for our guests guests. In Charleston I met and was engaged to my future husband, Addison, an MIT
graduate and engineer from western Massachusetts. I was happy to return north with Addison because my brother lived in Boston and the city reminded me of Charleston. In January 1938 we came to live in Hingham, a town familiar to
me because a classmate from Simmons grew up here. Frances, our daughter, now a professor at Boston University Law School, was born on Christmas Day. Charles, professor of environmental sciences at the State University of New York
at Syracuse, followed 4-1/2 years later. Addison, a Navy lieutenant, was called to duty a year later and was gone for two years. Hingham grew from a country village to a burgeoning ship building center during the war, housing large
numbers of Navy personnel. In the movie, "Remembering the Shipyard," Addison is featured as the returning naval officer with me and our daughter. In the years after WW II, I stayed home raising our children but was active as the
president of the local Girl Scout Council, Mother's Club and Florence Crittenden League. When the children started college in 1956 and 1961, I returned to work as a teacher and girl's tennis coach at Hingham High School. After I
left teaching in 1971, Addison and I enjoyed our retirement and traveled. After retirement, I started getting interested in the Old Ordinary and was invited to join the House Committee. My
first job was Tour Book chairman and I took a different approach by researching the home's history rather than describing the interior. The books also included write-ups about historical sites which a friend encouraged me to
publish in the book By the Wayside for the 350th town celebration. More of my writings were published in the book Hingham's Portrait Gallery. Writing is rewarding, but I treasure my signed copy of Not All Is Changed
by the Harts which includes the inscription "To Winston - The Originator" as thanks for my inspiration in starting the process updating Hingham's history. I've talked with homeowners for the annual House Tour for more than 30 years because it's a wonderful way to allow public appreciation of historic architecture while raising much needed funds for the Old Ordinary.
When asked how she wishes to see Hingham in the future, Winston thoughtfully replied, "We shouldn't hope to retain a 17th-century landscape, but you can hope the town develops in the 21st century in harmony with
the original landscape by people who appreciate the town's 17th-century origins." Winston has also been active in community service as warden of St. John's Episcopal Church, executive vice president of the Doric Dames and
member of the Historic Commission and the Historic Districts Commission.
Penni Hughes Some Less-Well-Known "Hingham Firsts" Many people are aware of several "firsts" and "oldests" associated with Hingham. A list, hardly exhaustive, would include: the Old Ship Church, the oldest church in America in continuous
use as a house of worship; Derby Academy, America's oldest co-educational school; and Phoebe Hanaford, the first ordained female minister in New England. But a recent perusal of the archives of the Hinghamite
– an occasional newsletter produced by Albert L. Pitcher of Hingham Centre in the early 1940s – has uncovered a couple of additions to the list. Second, there was America's first heavyweight prize fight,
which, for some unlikely reason, took place in Hingham in 1816. According to the Boston Post, one Thomas Beasley, of English birth but
then living in Boston, and Jacob Hyer, a New York bartender, both considered themselves handy with their fists, and having come to blows in a street brawl, decided to fight between the ropes, $150 to a
side, bare knuckles to the finish, London rules. The place was left to Beasley, who chose Hingham. Fear of the law caused the affair to be guarded with the greatest secrecy, but under the caption "Vicious Prize Fight" the Post
reported that "Thomas Beasley of Boston, a former sailor, known as ring champion, and one Jacob Hyer of New York, called the champion of that city, are reported to have
engaged in a brutal prize fight in the village of Hingham, the 15th of October, 1816 … After fighting most viciously and contrary to law for more than an hour, Hyer's arm was broken and he was forced to give up
the encounter." The 1906 Harper's Book of Facts confirms that this was "the first distinct (boxing) match in the United States," with Beasley subsequently claiming the American heavyweight
championship, and assures us that the combatants "parted as friends." |
First, there was the "Old Garrison House," once located on North Street at the foot of Cottage Street, at the site now
occupied by a Mexican restaurant, Casa Del Rey. According to the 1893 History of Hingham, the Old Garrison House was erected by Joseph Andrews, one of the first settlers, in 1638, and three centuries later it was
"supposedly the oldest frame house in the land," with a basement lined with tombstones from the first cemetery, and bricks brought over from England. No matter. In those
days, the local preservation movement was not as strong, and the ancient building, replaced by a commercial development, was "moved away, piece by piece, for restoration in another locality." Where did it go?
That is unclear. According to the May, 1941 Hinghamite, the Old Garrison House was purchased by Dr. Ray Reeves of California, whose plan was to ship it to Los Angeles to present it to the city school
department or to a museum, "if the recipient will take care of the moving problem, and furnish it in the original manner."
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