The Witches Fight Back: Salem’s 300th Anniversary of the Witch Trials

 Alaina Scapicchio, Ph.D. Candidate, University of South Florida

In 1992, a significant anniversary loomed large over the city of Salem, Massachusetts. Three hundred years prior, the infamous months-long witch trials had turned the lives of residents in Salem Village, Salem Town, and the surrounding areas upside down. The commemoration of those events in the late 20th century, for some Salemites, seemed no different.

While on fellowship at the Massachusetts Historical Society, I came across a tantalizing folder tucked in a massive collection of records from the Massachusetts chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). This folder was simply titled “Salem Witches, 1992.” As a Ph.D. candidate working on a dissertation that examines commemoration and memory of witch trials in the US, I could imagine what the file might contain but thought it best to dampen my excitement until it was in my hands.

If you’ve worked in a reading room before, you’ll know that there is a certain level of decorum expected from researchers. So, I’m sure you can imagine the difficulty of stifling a shout of joy and the urge to jump up-and-down at my table upon opening the folder. Those emotions were brought on by the letterhead and the signature on the first page inside.

Photo of the letterhead for the Witches League for Public Awareness P.O. Box 8736 Salem, MA. 01971-8736. Dated April 27, 1992 with the subject line RE: Witchcraft on trial. The emblem of the organization is a five-pointed star pentagram with a quill and sheathed knife crossed in front of it. The quill is tracing another pentagram below and the sheath is adorned with ancient-looking text, two winged creatures and a Bastet-like cat on top.
Close-up photo of the signature of a letter. Reads “Sincerely yours, Rev. HPS. Laurie Cabot, Chairperson W.L.P.A.” Signature includes a pentagram at the end.
Letterhead for the Witches League for Public Awareness and signature of famous Salem witch Laurie Cabot.

Laurie Cabot is a significant figure in Salem history for several reasons, primarily because she was a harbinger of a shift in the city’s population and economic landscape. Cabot moved to Salem in the late 1960s as a practicing Witch and in 1970 opened up The Witch Shoppe, the first occult store in the city. As a spiritual leader, Cabot attracted many Witches, Wiccans, and New Age religious practitioners to the area over the next few decades. Amidst the backdrop of a collapsing industrial economy, many of these new residents followed in Cabot’s footsteps and opened up metaphysical shops in Salem’s historic downtown–a tourist boon. Governor Michael Dukakis even named Cabot the city’s “Official Witch.”

While I was familiar with Cabot’s influence on the city, this was my first time encountering the organization Witches’ League for Public Awareness. Luckily, a brochure in the back of the folder provided their vision statement.

Photo of Vision statement from Witches’ League for Public Awareness brochure which reads “The Witches’ League for Public Awareness is a pro-active educational network dedicated to correcting misinformation about Witches. The work of the League springs from a shared vision of a world free from all religious persecution. The League was founded in Salem, Massachusetts in May1986 by Laurie Cabot, “The Official Witch of Salem, Mass.,” a complimentary title bestowed on her by Gov. Michael Dukakis. The League informs the public and the media about Witchcraft. We answer letters from all over the world. The League publishes a bi-annual newsletter containing news of League activities, as well as articles and advice on correcting misinformation. We are a non-profit organization and accept donations of any amount which are tax-deductible.” Below is a five-pointed star pentagram.
Vision statement from Witches’ League for Public Awareness brochure.

It quickly became clear from the contents of this folder that the Witches’ League was needed more than ever in 1992. Apparently, as the tercentenary anniversary of the witch trials descended upon the city, so too did numerous groups of Christian Fundamentalists to protest any recognition or celebration of Witchcraft. This ACLU file contains a letter from a concerned Salem resident who was surrounded by one of these groups while on a walk with her children and asked about her religious beliefs. In another letter from Cabot to the Civil Rights Division of the Attorney General’s office, she claimed that one specific Methodist organization had “targeted local businesses for coercive treatment aimed at their immediate closure, or to cause the removal of certain items from their business fare.” Letters from the aforementioned office and from the Mayor of Salem confirm Cabot’s claims to be true, as they informed her that they would be prepared to take “immediate action” against the perpetrators should they return.

However, it was not simply these rogue religious agents that the Witches’ League had a problem with. In fact, they often took greater issue with a more legitimate body. The Salem Witch Trials Tercentenary Committee was created by the city’s municipal government to develop educational and commemorative events for 1992 in remembrance of the 300th anniversary of the trials. They estimated that this milestone anniversary could attract nearly one million visitors to the ‘Witch City’ and the committee sought to provide tourists with opportunities to spend their money there all year long. All of these events were to culminate in the dedication of a memorial to the twenty victims killed during the panic.

Prior to discovering this folder, I had seen references in newspaper articles about local Witches in Salem who were unhappy with some of the language included in the Salem Witch Trials Memorial and who felt the city was purposefully leaving them out of events during the tercentennial year. These sentiments are made crystal clear by Cabot in a few of the letters she copied the ACLU in on. She even blamed the city outright for some of the incidents mentioned above, arguing “Because of the misuse of the term “Witch” and “Witchcraft” by this City, it’s [sic] agencies, and these out-of-state organizations, a substantial number of Salem’s citizenry, businesses, and tourists are being placed at risk.” Cabot had chastised the city just two months prior for their linking of Puritanical understandings of witchcraft with the Devil. She was not the only one either. In a printed copy of the “North Shore Sunday Feedback” included in the folder, another Salem Witch accused the committee of adopting “the Puritans’ superstitious and half-demented definition of Witchdom as its own…”

In 1992, Salem’s modern-day Witches were not going to let the delirium that had overtaken hundreds in 1692 repeat itself. They organized and wrote to their local government officials and the ACLU to ensure that their religious rights were protected. Since Witchcraft had been recognized by the federal government as a valid religion, officials had to respond to their statements of distress. The Salem Tercentenary Committee, however, did not. The Witches’ League may have been able to protect their practitioners, but they could not salvage their image in the eyes of many Salemites— a struggle that continues today.

Materials Referenced:

Emerson Baker, “Witch City?” in A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015), 256-286.

Alaina Scapicchio, ““Memories Rescued from the Mire of Oblivion”: The 1885 Rebecca Nurse Monument and Salem Witch Trials Commemoration,” USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations, 2022. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/10354

Lynn Smith, “Official Witch is Haunting Dukakis– By Accident,” Los Angeles Times, Aug. 8, 1988. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-08-me-97-story.html.

Mary B. W. Tabor, “‘The Witch City’ Dusts Off Its Past,” New York Times, Sept. 9, 1991.

Christopher White, “Salem as Religious Proving Ground,” in Salem: Place, Myth, and Memory, eds. Dane Anthony Morrison and Nancy Lusignan Schultz (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2004), 43-61.

Hilda Chase Foster’s War

by Anastacia Markoe, Library Assistant

The life experiences of Hilda Chase Foster (1891-1974) ran the gamut—from the social minefield that was Boston high society to service as a Red Cross Nurse in the European theater during both World Wars. The Hilda Chase Foster Papers, held as a collection by the Massachusetts Historical Society, are comprised primarily of Hilda’s extensive correspondence with various family members. They are supplemented by photographs and film records of her family’s homes and her own global travel during the 1920s–1950s and ephemera related to her personal experience of the defining geopolitical events of the first half of the twentieth century.

It is a remarkable collection, both in terms of its content and, in a more metatextual sense, its insight into the role of the MHS as a repository of historical records.

The wealth of the collection’s contents is relatively self-evident. The photographs and ephemera range from Hilda Chase Foster’s formal portrait in Court Dress (worn for her presentation to George V and Queen Mary at Buckingham Palace) to her Massachusetts-issued ration card from World War II. The breadth of the material, chronologically and geographically, creates an extraordinarily comprehensive portrait of the privileged lifestyle enjoyed by a particular portion of Boston society.

Black and white photo of a woman posed standing sideways wearing a ballgown
Hilda’s presentation at Buckingham Palace May 11, 1932

What excited my particular interest, though, is this collection’s demonstration of the intersection between that very rarified societal existence and the great socio-political upheavals of the era. In an account of her experiences in “the Great War,” Hilda writes:

“So many girls were going overseas and were not sticking to their jobs or were hunting up their husbands that the Red Cross wanted me to go before a Notary Public to promise three things: that I was not married (I couldn’t go if I was married); that if I married over there I would come straight home; that if I had a brother over there in the service I would not hunt him up. (At first no girls could go over that had brothers in Europe, but they had to rescind that because practically everybody had a brother in the service.)”

Foster’s description of evolving bureaucratic regulations might have been written by any of the thousands of young women who served as Red Cross nurses during the War. Less universal, perhaps, is her recollection of how she and her family navigated them:

“Father always made a fuss. . . .Finally Father said, ‘You’ve got to go see Dr. Edsell. I don’t think you’re strong enough. You’re too thin!’ Dr. Edsel was the top man at Massachusetts General, and Father was a trustee.”

Hilda’s tone is casual and familiar, but to pass off her writings as insignificant would be a disservice to the material.  In just a few sentences of personal reminiscence, Hilda provides us with information that may be conceived of as equally fascinating to those with an interest in social, medical, or military history, to say nothing of chroniclers of local Bostonian institutional history. This collection serves as a reminder that insightful sources are to be found in what may usually be relegated to the margins of the historical record, and that to adhere too firmly to a rigid division between historical subfields is to miss out on a wealth of material.

Hilda and her brother, Reginald, in Paris in 1918/1919
Hilda in a gas mask as an ambulance nurse in Cambridge, UK in 1941

Acknowledgements:

The materials that comprise the Hilda Chase Foster Papers were given to the Massachusetts Historical Society by Anne Farlow Morris (grandniece of Hilda Chase Foster) in 2001, with an addition given in 2014. Anne Farlow Morris compiled the materials during her research in the late 1970s for a book entitled The Memoirs of Hilda Chase Foster. The memoir was privately printed by the MHS in 1982, and a copy is held in the MHS print collection. 

How To Build A Castle

by Brandon McGrath-Neely, Library Assistant

In the early 20th century, Aroline C. Gove traveled to the French city of Carcassonne. While exploring the medieval city, she was amazed by a stunning castle, complete with towers, a moat, and a drawbridge. Surrounded by beautiful arches, soaring vaults, and gorgeous stained glass, perhaps she thought, “I wish I had this back home.” But while others simply dreamed of living in their own fortress, Aroline decided she would make it a reality: she would build a castle of her own.

Gove was president and general manager of the Lydia E. Pinkham Medicine Company, founded by her mother, who was a businesswoman and inventor. She was also a successful real estate investor with an excellent oceanside property in Marblehead, Massachusetts. She decided that she would build her castle here, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

Black and white photo shows large building with seawall in front of it.
Carcassonne viewed from the shore during construction, 1935

Gove hired the architectural firm Smith & Walker to design the building. The group had worked on various projects around New England, including churches, post offices, and dozens of private residences. They had already worked closely with Gove on several real estate projects. Smith & Walker’s design was heavily inspired by the French castle Gove had explored during her travels. In its center was a three-story round tower with a cone-shaped roof. Four wings extended from this center tower. This layout was described as “cruciform,” because it formed the shape of a cross. From the sea, the home’s stone walls and dark roof contrasted against the crashing waves. From land, stone gateways led to the fairy-tale tower in the center of the structure.

To build the castle, Smith & Walker hired over 35 different building contractors. These contractors brought and installed materials like cut stone, white marble, and “exotic wood.” They even installed a state-of-the-art sound system: “The house is equipped throughout with victrola and radio with a large control loudspeaker concealed in the apex of the tower.” Supposedly, President Franklin D. Roosevelt personally wrote Gove a letter thanking her for hiring so many workers during the Great Depression. All told, Aroline C. Gove’s castle cost her about $500,000.

Black and white photograph of a gate and turreted building behind it
Entrance to Carcassonne during construction, 1935

Many of Smith & Walker’s records are available at the MHS. Exploring the Philip Horton Smith Architectural Papers offers a unique opportunity to see behind the scenes of the construction process. Architects and contractors can use detailed correspondence, ledgers, and receipts to see how the various pieces literally came together.  Local historians can see how Marblehead Neck changed over time. If you’re like me, and you just like looking at interesting buildings, you can look through the scrapbooks kept by Philip Horton Smith, including progress photos and a stunning watercolor Christmas card of Carcassonne.

Watercolor painting of open gate with pathway leading to grand house with turret. A painted scroll gives Christmas greetings.
Carcassonne Christmas card, 1935-1939

Sadly, Gove passed away in 1939, only four years after her beautiful home was built. The building has since passed hands a number of times, but continues to stand as a beautiful work of art. Want to build a castle of your own? Dig into the Philip Horton Smith Architectural Papers and see how they did it 90 years ago.

Clara E. Currier’s Diary, May 1925

by Hannah Elder, Associate Reference Librarian for Rights & Reproductions

Welcome back to the transcription of Clara E. Currier’s 1925 diary. Currier was a working-class woman who lived in or near Haverhill, MA. Her diary records her daily activities – from fiber arts to paid employment to observations of the natural world – providing insight into daily life a century ago. You can find entries for January, February, March, and April in past blog posts.

When we last heard from Clara, she was recovering from a bout of measles. In May, we continue to follow her path to recovery, as she ventures further out of the house, returns to work, and has a follow-up with her doctor. She also returns to work, resumes her sewing and crocheting, and socializes with family and friends. In the second half of the month, she begins to record a time, almost always 6 p.m., on the first line of her daily entry. I haven’t found explanation of it and it does not continue into May. Perhaps that is the time she wrote the entries, or the time she took the tonic from the doctor. If I ever find out, I will be sure to let the blog know.

May 1, Fri. Fair, Blanche called, Mary and Charles came down and done some things for me, went out of doors for a few min. Mr. + Mrs. SeeGro called with fruit from the Grange.

May 2, Sat. Fair, went out to Vigeant’s store Wrote my pledge card .50[¢] for current expenses and .35[¢] for benevolences. Sizzie went home.

May 3, Sun. Fair, Thomas came down and took me home.

May 4, Mon. Showers (thunder).

May 5, Tues. Dull, went out a little ways with Charles for a ride.

May 6, Wed. Fair, went out for a walk.

May 7, Thurs. Fair, went out to walk. sewed on dress,

May 8, Fri. Fair, went out for a walk, crocheted and worked on my dress.

May 9, Sat. Fair, went for a walk and a ride with Charles, sewed and crocheted, legs still weak.

May 10, Sun. Fair, Gertie came up with our dowry, rode back with them and called on Uncle Will, has been sick but better.

May 11, Mon. Rainy, started in to work after being out 3 ½ weeks, pretty tired.

May 12, Tues. Fair.

May 13, Wed. Fair, walked over to Blache’s.

May 14, Thurs. Dull and chilly, went over to the Dr’s and he gave me a tonic, paid $14.

May 15, Fri. Rainy, read.

May 16, Sat. Fair, Sizzie and I went to Haverhill with our checks, called on Aunt Frannie, did some mending.

May 17, Sun. Fair, went to church and S.S. went over to Blanche’s.

May 18, Mon. Fair.

May 19, Tues. Fair, went to Grange. 6 P.M.

May 20, Wed. 6 P.M. Fair, did some mending.

May 21, Thurs [$]18.62 Fair, Blanche and I went to ‘The Butlers’ at the church.

May 22, Fri. 6 P.M. Fair, went up town.

May 23, Sat. Dull, went up home, made Mary’s hat. Found a $.

May 24, Sun. Fair with some rain at night, William brought me back.

May 25, Mon. 6 P.M. Rainy and cleared at night, went to Corner Class.

May 26, Tues. 6 P.M. Fair, went up to Stephen’s after work.

May 27, Wed. 6 P.M. Fair, Blanche came over to cut out dress.

May 28, Thurs. [$]20.14  6 P.M. Fair, went up town at noon called on Mrs. Dennis for a few minutes.

May 29, Fri. 6 P.M. Fair, went out to store.

May 30, Sat. Dull with thunder showers P.M, went out to see parade and then went up home. Worked on Annah’s hat.

May 31, Sun. Fair, went to church and out in the woods, William brought me home.

handwritten journal lies open in a book cradle
Diary entries for 20 to 31 May

If you are interested in viewing the diary in person in our library or have other questions about the collection, please visit the library or contact a member of the library staff.

*Please note that this diary transcription is a rough-and-ready version, not an authoritative transcript. Researchers wishing to use the diary in the course of their own work should verify the version found here with the manuscript original.

This line-a-day blog series is inspired by and in honor of MHS reference librarian Anna J. Clutterbuck-Cook (1981–2023), whose entertaining and enlightening line-a-day blog series ran from 2015 to 2019. Her generous, humane, and creative approach to both history and librarianship continues to influence the work of the MHS library.

Clara E. Currier’s Diary, April 1925

by Hannah Elder, Associate Reference Librarian for Rights & Reproductions

Today, we return to the transcription of Clara E. Currier’s 1925 diary. Currier was a working-class woman who lived in or near Haverhill, MA. Her diary records her daily activities – from fiber arts to paid employment to observations of the natural world – providing insight into daily life a century ago. You can find entries for January, February, and March in past blog posts.

April has a lovely start for Clara, making a hat, calling on friends and family, and celebrating Easter. In the middle of the month, though, she comes down with measles. For nearly a week, she has daily visits from her doctor, is attended to by Mary, and is bed-bound. Even after her high fever breaks and she starts to receive visits from friends, Clara is weak and has to start easing back into daily life, including sitting up, dressing, and leaving her bed. We will continue to follow her path to recovery in May.

Apr. 1, Wed. Fair, out for the day, went to Newburyport A.M, started to make a hat and went to Haverhill to Rebekah (Kenoya) and saw lovely work, Mae Jenney went with me.

Apr. 2, Thurs. [$]19. Fair, mended.

Apr. 3, Fri. Fair, went up to town.

Apr. 4, Sat. April showers, cooked and sewed, went up town and called on Mrs. Dennis.

Apr. 5, Sun Fair, went to church, Sizzie came over to dinner and we called on Mr. + Mrs. Charles Gould, looked at Uncle Will’s cellar, over to Union Cemetery and called at Delia’s.

Apr. 6, Mon. Fair, sewed.

Apr. 7, Tues. Fair, Mary came down, sewed, went to Grange, degrees.

Apr. 8, Wed. Fair, Mary sewed and went home at night, went up to Stephen’s with her.

Apr. 9, Thurs. [$]15.58 Fair, went up town, finished my hat, Blanche called.

Apr. 10, Fri. Rained in evening.

Apr. 11, Sat. Fair, went down to Grace Nealand’s for afternoon and evening.

Apr. 12, Sun. (Easter) Fair and cool, cloudy at night, went to church, S.S, and vesper service at Market St., and then went to Haverhill to a pageant. Wore my new hat.

Apr. 13, Mon. Snowed during night and in morning cleared away, and soon melted. Went to class meeting and helped serve refreshments.

Apr. 14, Tues. Fair, feeling mean, Blanche came over for the evening.

Apr. 15, Wed. Rainy, then cleared, worked in morning, had Dr. Murphy and went to bed with measles, thunder shower, Mary came down. Blanche came to the door.

Apr. 16, Thurss. [$]19. Fair, having a hot time in bed, no cold things. Dr. came

Apr. 17, Fri. Fair, Still hot and sweating. Dr. came.

Apr. 18, Sat. Fair and warmer, all broken out but still very hot so had Dr. and my temperature was 102°. Etta was over and brought grape juice.

April 19, Sun. Started to snow around 10 o’clock and had a regular N.E. snowstorm. Some better but Dr. found my temperature 100 ¾°. Mrs. Dennis came over.

Apr. 20, Mon. Ground all white with snow, cold and windy. Dr. came and found temperature normal, measles starting to go, have had them very hard.

Tues. Apr. 21 Fair and 20° above, Frank called, corner class sent a basket of fruit and candy.

handwritten text in a journal
Diary entries for 18 to 21 April, chronicling Clara’s measles

Apr. 22, Wed. Fair and warm, Etta came over, brought ice cream, Delia (ice cream) called in the evening. Blache came to the door, Sizzie came nearly every day.

Thurs. Apr. 23 [$]9.12 Fair and windy, warm, Mary went to the Mason’s Minstrel Show.

Apr. 24, Fri Cloudy, William was down with hay and called, Rebekahs sent bouquet of cut flowers, set up.

Apr. 25, Sat. Fair and warm, Thunder shower at night and rained hard, Mary went up town, Grange dedicated the flag pole at Victoria Park. Set up awhile.

Apr. 26, Sun. Fair, William and mother came down and Mary went home with them, Was dressed for first time. Sizzie came to stay nights with me.

Apr. 27, Mon. Fair, sat up but weak. Blanche came over.

Apr. 28, Tues. Fair, got dinner and read a little.

Apr. 29, Wed. Dull and cold, Feel rather weak and shaky. Mr. Jackson called.

Apr. 30, Thurs. Rainy, Sizzie went to Grange play.

If you are interested in viewing the diary in person in our library or have other questions about the collection, please visit the library or contact a member of the library staff.

*Please note that this diary transcription is a rough-and-ready version, not an authoritative transcript. Researchers wishing to use the diary in the course of their own work should verify the version found here with the manuscript original.

This line-a-day blog series is inspired by and in honor of MHS reference librarian Anna J. Clutterbuck-Cook (1981–2023), whose entertaining and enlightening line-a-day blog series ran from 2015 to 2019. Her generous, humane, and creative approach to both history and librarianship continues to influence the work of the MHS library.

The Tragedy of the Titanic

by Rakashi Chand, Reading Room Supervisor

I simply gasped when one of our researchers called me over to her desk in the reading room to look at a diary entry by a young woman, Amelia Peabody, writing about the sinking of the Titanic—and the darkness that the tragedy spread over the nation.

Amelia Peabody was born in 1890 to Frank Everett Peabody and Gertrude Bayley, a wealthy family that kept a summer house in Marblehead and a winter residence at 120 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. Amelia studied sculpture and became an accomplished artist, horsewoman, farm owner, breeder, and philanthropist. Amelia would go on to inherit both the estate of her father and her stepfather, William Storer Eton.

Amelia Peabody in 1912

Amelia’s world was greatly impacted by the Titanic disaster, with friends and acquaintances on board the ill-fated ship and the unsettling realization that all in Amelia’s circle could well have been on board.   The following transcription is the 23 April 1912 diary entry, part of the Amelia Peabody Papers.

April 23, Tuesday

One of the world’s greatest disasters has happened since I last wrote. On Sunday night at 11:45 April 14th the new steamer Titanic hit an iceberg and two hours later she sank with some 15 hundred on board- almost 7 or 8 hundred were saved, picked up by the Carpathia about 4 hours later from the life-boats. The horrible part about it is that probably all or almost all would have been saved if there were life-boats enough. As it was, every available boat was filled & the men left behind had nothing to do but wait for the end. It was a smooth night so that the berg wasn’t seen until a quarter of a mile away which is only a few minutes for a boat of that size. They were going too fast, but they didn’t think the big bergs were near. Capt. Smith who went down with the ship had been averse & taking it because he thinks such large ones are unwieldy. The women & children were almost all saved & everyone has felt proud of the bravery of all these American & Englishmen. Betty Millets Uncle Frank D. Millet helped, with others, the women & children into the boats and smiled & waved to them as they went off, all the time with that awful knowledge that there was absolutely no hope for themselves. The other Millets were unable to find out for 4 days whether he had been saved or not. There was a name Mile on the saved list which might have meant him or three others. Regular Millet luck. He had just been appointed President of the Am. Academy of Art in Rome & he had been over fixing up the beautiful villa that goes with the position. Everyone was brave. Even the 50 or more little bell boys- They were told to stay in the cabin out of the way & they obeyed quietly & then when the Captain gave the order of all for each man for himself they came out on deck & smoked cigarettes to show that they were really grown up, & waited until the boat went down beneath them. Not one was saved. Only two men who were on the ship as she sank are alive. Both were sucked down and apparently blown up again by the explosion of the boilers, & managed to reach boats that could take them aboard. One half sunk raft held 30 men who had to refuse to let any of the struggling ones in the water come near. Luckily the water was icy and killed most of them quickly.

Pages from Peabody’s 23 April 1912 journal entry

As the week went on, the tragedy of the Titanic continued to loom. On Wednesday, 24 April, Amelia wrote about rehearsals and performances of a show she was part of that was “great fun & quite worth all the trouble. . . . The Titanic however threw a subconscious gloom over it all.” Then, in her next entry on Monday, 29 April, she wrote “Nobody comes to call except Sundays & then I’m usually out. Even Betty isn’t coming in on account of her Uncle, whose body has been recovered, by the way.”

Visit the Library to learn more and make your own discoveries while exploring the words and worlds of people like Amelia Peabody.

Further Reading:

Amelia Peabody by Linda Smith Rhoads (Boston, 1998).

Archivist as Detective: Finding Sarah

by Susan Martin, Senior Processing Archivist

Close-up color photograph of the last line of a handwritten letter, reading “In the bonds of friendship yours Sarah.” The text is written in dark ink on yellowed paper, and the name Sarah is underlined.
Detail of letter from Sarah to her cousin, March 1: “In the bonds of friendship yours Sarah”

In my last post, I introduced you to a woman named Sarah, of New Braintree, Massachusetts, and a letter here at the MHS that she wrote to a cousin, probably in 1874. Thankfully she’d mentioned a few friends or relatives in the letter, and I could identify them using digitized copies of published genealogies. But who was Sarah?

Some of the people she mentioned in her letter were Lucius Prouty, the Peppers, Miss Wood, Dwight, Hattie Prouty, Lizzie Whipple, and Frank. I’d zeroed in on the children of Homer R. Prouty of North Brookfield, Massachusetts, for three reasons: many of these names appear in that branch of the family, North Brookfield is right next to New Braintree, and the time period was right.

But I didn’t know Sarah’s connection to the Proutys. (I should note that it was common at the time for people to refer to relatives by their full names, when so many names were reused. For example, if you had a sister Mary and a cousin Mary, you’d likely refer to your cousin by her full name to distinguish her.)

I searched the Prouty genealogy for Sarahs (79 results), backed out a generation to expand my search to cousins and aunts, and even clicked through Prouty and Pepper plots at Walnut Grove Cemetery, but I couldn’t turn up anyone that seemed likely to be our correspondent. When I’m stuck, I find it usually helps to go back to the original letter for more clues.

I was confident I had the right family. Brothers Lucius, Charles, and Dwight were all mentioned in the letter. Lucius married Miss Pepper, and Dwight and Charles both married Misses Wood. Hattie (Harriet) was the wife of another brother. Lizzie Whipple baffled me at first, until I stumbled on Elizabeth Quimby (Allen) Whipple, buried in New Braintree. This name stood out to me because the mother of Lucius, et al., was none other than Nancy (née Allen) Prouty. So I dove into the Allen genealogy.

Lizzie was, in fact, a first cousin of the Proutys in Sarah’s letter. She also had a 17-year-old son Frank, who turned out to be the linchpin of my investigation. Sarah had written, “Frank is at Poughkeepsie and hopes to recieve [sic] his diploma about the first of April.” Frank Herbert Whipple was indeed attending Eastman Business College in 1874.

Lo and behold, Lizzie had a sister Sarah. I initially discounted her because she was married, and our correspondent wasn’t. Then I saw that she didn’t marry until 1877. I’d finally found the woman who wrote the letter.

Sarah E. Allen was born in 1831 and died in 1906. Census records confirm she worked as a dressmaker before her marriage at the age of 45 to Charles Curtis Rice, a telegraph lineman. I couldn’t identify the letter’s recipient, her “dear Cousin,” but was glad I could at least give Sarah her due and add her to the MHS catalog.

Alt text: Color screenshot of an online library catalog record describing a letter written by Sarah E. Allen Rice to her cousin on March 1, 1874.
Catalog record for Sarah’s letter in MHS catalog ABIGAIL

Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women

by Hilde Perrin, Library Assistant

While March’s Women’s History Month has just concluded, women’s history is still present in our collections here at the MHS. Our collections are full of inspiring women, many of whom advanced and advocated for women’s rights through their lives and work. But the complexity of history also means that many women worked against women’s rights, and their material has also been preserved. Through working on a project to create a subject guide of women’s suffrage materials held by the MHS, I discovered that we own a large collection of anti-suffrage material from the debate around women’s right to vote and the passage of the 19th amendment. Among this material are the records of the Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women. Established in 1895, this association worked to combat the rise of feminist suffragists and argued that the vote should not be extended to women. While it is often assumed that women’s suffrage was hampered by men, these records show that there were also women who felt strongly opposed to suffrage and organized against it.

Donated to the MHS by the estate of Mrs. Randolph Frothingham in 1946, the records contain several copies of bylaws and overviews of the work of the association, which detail the belief held by these women, and the pattern of work they took part in to share their views. Women over the age of 21 who were “interested in the welfare of their state” were encouraged to become members, with no membership fee limiting their participation. The association advanced its cause through three branches of work: legislative, educational, and constructive. The legislative work included contacting and informing members of the legislature about their opposition to women’s political rights. The educational branch promoted print material, including pamphlets and magazines, and organized public audiences to increase the general knowledge of their cause. The constructive work focused on building the membership of the association, mainly working through members and local community organizations to build relationships and encourage the spread of anti-suffrage ideals.

Printed document titled "Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Extension of Suffrage to Women" with information about the organization and its members
Document from the Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women records

An example of the educational material circulated by the anti-suffrage association includes a pamphlet addressed to “Mr. Voter.” Printed on red paper, it reminds male voters that women’s suffrage is “an experiment,” and that “the great majority of women do not want the ballot thrust upon them” by what the pamphlet calls a “fanatical minority.” Reminding readers that the “average woman is no better than the average man,” the pamphlet urges the reader to “Vote AGAINST woman suffrage.” The pamphlet typifies the association’s anti-suffragist sentiment, reminding us of the complexity that exists within our collections and history at large.

Printed document on red paper titled "Mr. Voter!"
Mr. Voter! Circular by the Women’s Anti-Suffrage Association of Massachusetts

For more information about the women’s suffrage movement in Massachusetts, visit the digital feature “Massachusetts Debates a Woman’s Right to Vote,” and be on the lookout for a new subject guide coming out in the next few months about our women’s suffrage materials!

What Judges’ Bench Notes Reveal

by Cornelia H. Dayton, University of Connecticut

Stenographers were not present in the early courtrooms of settler New England.  To gain insight into how a particular civil suit or criminal case proceeded, the researcher can examine, first, the folio-sized Record or Minute Book. This typically offers a short paragraph summarizing the case, which was written by the court clerk at the case’s conclusion. Second, the file papers, folded into a bundle, may survive. Minimally, one finds the original writ or indictment and often the bill of costs. If one is lucky, some witness depositions are wrapped in the bundle. However, these two forms of records for any given case do not constitute a complete record, because no one recorded the words of witnesses who testified in person (as most did).

To the rescue come a few eminent judges who kept notes while sitting on the bench.  Our scribbling judges focused on naming the deponents (“Mrs. Scott,” “Dr. Mather,” “Sarah Janes”) and summarizing what they said. The MHS houses the magnificent series created by Increase Sumner, kept from 1782 to 1794 in small, sewn notebooks that he called “Notes of Evidence.” At the time, Sumner sat on the Supreme Judicial Court, prior to becoming governor of Massachusetts. His fellow SJC judge Nathaniel Peaslee Sargent maintained a similar habit from 1777 to 1790.

Image of a page from a thick notebook with handwritten notes
Page from SJC Judge Increase Sumner’s notes on the criminal conversation case, Joseph McCullock v. Abijah Gale, Jr., tried in Worcester in Oct. 1783

Sumner and Sargent tended to write the most copious notes on oral testimony in serious criminal cases. The appellate court had original jurisdiction over felonies and capital cases. The defendant’s life or future freedom from confinement depended on the outcome. Thus Sumner and Sargent wrote two to six pages on testimony in most murder, manslaughter, infanticide, adultery, arson, assault with intent to ravish, riot, and sedition cases. But civil suits too—such as for ejectment, criminal conversation, and defamation—solicited intriguing observations from subpoenaed New Englanders.

For example, many family members and neighbors testified when Ruggles Spooner of Petersham brought a breach of promise case against a former lover, Sarah Peckam. (Most such cases were brought by jilted women.) Sarah reportedly said she withdrew her consent to marry Ruggles because she “was afraid her father would forsake her.” At other times she claimed her parents would not “suffer” the match to happen and, in that case, “they shall maintain me all the days of my life – I will have no other.” She repeatedly told various friends, “a bad promise is better broke than kept.” Some scenes are worthy of soap operas. A Berkshire County resident with the surname Winchell sued “Esq. Goodridge” in 1782 for depriving him of the sexual and emotional company of his wife of seven years. The Winchells had recently separated. Two male witnesses testified to the dramatic scene that unfolded after Mr. Winchell heard from locals that his wife was having an affair.

Winchell desired me to go [with him one night] & see Goodrich abed with his Wife. (from David Pixley’s testimony, according to Increase Sumner’s notes)

[I] went with Winchell who was in great distress . . . Winchell burst into the bed room [and told] Goodrich to go along. She [Mrs. Winchell] told her husband to get out of her bedroom. They scuffled together.  Mrs Ingersoll [who lived in the Winchell house and lodged in an adjacent room, as her husband put it, “3 feet” away] began to read out of the Bible. Goodrich said there was no need of a Sermon. (from Sumner’s notes on Cyrus Papoon’s testimony, with my interpolations and modernized punctuation)

Judges’ bench notes like Increase Sumner’s reveal a lot about the content of courtroom testimony, the social relationships among deponents and the case parties, plus late-eighteenth-century ways of speaking about emotions and household dynamics. We need to remember, however, that they were not full, verbatim transcripts. Starting in about 1800, enterprising publishers began producing a new genre: the criminal trial report. Hawked to the public as cheap pamphlets on selected, sensational trials, these included (to varying degrees of completeness) all parts of the trial—from indictment to ruling or sentence. Court reporters’ use of stenograph machines dates to 1877 in Massachusetts. And yet through all the shifts in note-taking technologies, some judges, including U.S. Supreme Court justices, have found it helpful to keep their own bench notes.

Research Notes

For the emergence of published trial reports, see Daniel A. Cohen’s study of New England crime literature prior to 1860, Pillars of Salt, Monuments of Grace (1993), espec. Chap 7.

Increase Sumner papers, 1769-1798, Ms. N-1642, Boxes 1 and 2, Massachusetts Historical Society.

Nathaniel Peaslee Sargent Papers, Series 1: Court Minutes, MSS 489, Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum.

Charles Chauncey, Superior Court Judge in Connecticut 1789-1793, kept extensive notes on testimony he heard. Chauncey Family Papers, Yale University Manuscript and Archives, Mss. Group No. 135, Series VII: Legal Papers, Box 14.

Lawyers often “minuted” courtroom trials when they represented one of the parties. Good examples in MHS collections include many items in the Legal Papers of John Adams and those of Robert Treat Paine. Here is Paine on grand jury testimony leading to the 1782 trial of Priscilla Woodworth for petit treason (killing her husband).

An internet search reveals that SCOTUS justices Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., and Harry A. Blackmun kept bench notes. Hugo L. Black’s notes occupied over 600 looseleaf binders; he instructed them to be burned after his death.

Clara E. Currier’s Diary, March 1925

by Hannah Elder, Associate Reference Librarian for Rights & Reproductions 

Today, we return to the transcription of Clara E. Currier’s 1925 diary. Currier was a working-class woman who lived in or near Haverhill, MA. Her diary records her daily activities—from fiber arts to paid employment to observations of the natural world—and provides insight into daily life a century ago. You can find entries for January and February in past blog posts. 

March sees Clara further engaged with civic life, with a town meeting, a vote, and multiple class meetings. She makes a number of social calls, both at homes and at hospitals, and goes to the movies twice. March 1925 is filled with many “fair” days. May March 2025 fare the same!

A handwritten page of journal entries from Mar. 8 to Mar. 13
Clara’s diary entries for mid-March 1925

Mar. 1, Sun. Rain and snow with wind in afternoon went up to see Aunt Frannie and Mae Tenney

Mar. 2, Mon. Fair, worked until six, went to town meeting with Mrs. Dennis and Sizzie.

Mar. 3, Tues. Fair, worked until six, went to mock town meeting at the grange.

Mar. 4, Wed. Fair, worked until six.

Mar. 5, Thurs [$] 21.66 Rain, worked until six, went to the pictures with Mrs. Dennis and mother.

Mar. 6, Fri. Fair, worked until six, went up town.

Mar. 7, Sat. Fair, worked until four, cleaned up, went to town and called on John + Mabel.

Mar. 8, Sun. Fair, went to Haverhill to church, called on Bernice and Laura Battis at Gale Hospital, on Mrs. Quimby and Stella Eastman.

Mar. 9, Mon. Fair, went up to vote, worked until six, went to class meeting.

Mar. 10, Tues. Fair, went to pictures and old-fashioned dance with Sizzie, Ada and Bertha were there, worked until six.

Mar. 11, Wed. Fair, worked until six, wrote letters.

Mar. 12, Thurs. [$]22.04 Fair, worked until six, wrote to Mary.

Mar. 13, Fri. Fair, went up town after 6 and got my electric iron (Universal).

Mar. 14, Sat. Rainy, went up town and called on Mrs. Merril. Worked until noon.

Mar. 15, Sun. Fair, went to S.S. and over to see Aunt Abbie.

Mar. 16, Mon. Fair and cooler, Got out at 5 o’clock, cooked, and mended.

Mar. 17, Tues. Rainy, went to Corner class supper and to Grange.

Mar. 18, Wed. Fair, wrote letters and made doughnuts.

Mar. 19, Thurs. [$]20.90 Rain with thunder and lightning. Went over to John’s and they were going to bed.

Mar. 20, Fri. Fair, went to concert at Methodist Church.

Mar. 21, Sat. Fair, went to Haverhill to Fraternal Rebekah Lodge to see the President and Assembly, staid all night with Ada.

Mar. 22, Sun. Fair, called on Mrs. Bagley and Maud and Bert with Ada.

Mar. 23, Mon. Fair, went to class meeting.

Mar. 24, Tues. Fair, spen the evening with Blanche.

Mar. 25, Wed. Showers, called at Dennis’s.

Mar. 26, Thurs. [$]19 Fair, went up town with Sizzie.

Mar. 27, Fri. Fair, went up town.

Mar. 28, Sat. Showery, went up home with Charles.

Mar. 29, Sun. Rain and snow, came back by train.

Mar. 30, Mon. Rain, went up town.

Mar. 31, Tues. Rain, cleared at night, went up to Stephen’s.

If you are interested in viewing the diary in person in our library or have other questions about the collection, please visit the library or contact a member of the library staff.

*Please note that this diary transcription is a rough-and-ready version, not an authoritative transcript. Researchers wishing to use the diary in the course of their own work should verify the version found here with the manuscript original.

This line-a-day blog series is inspired by and in honor of MHS reference librarian Anna J. Clutterbuck-Cook (1981–2023), whose entertaining and enlightening line-a-day blog series ran from 2015 to 2019. Her generous, humane, and creative approach to both history and librarianship continues to influence the work of the MHS library.