Febrary09newsletter

Lee Historical Society, Inc.

Lee Historical Society

P. O. Box 170

Newsletter

Lee, MA 01238

Vol. 6, No. 2

www.leehistoricsociety.homestead.com February 2009

The February Meeting will be held on Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. promptly at the Senior Center at Crossways Village. It will be strictly a business meeting for board members, officers and interested members.

The next program meeting will be held in March and will feature novelist Marilyn Rothstein, who lives in Saratoga Springs, New York. She writes historical novels set in New England with two nosey Puritans as detectives. She will speak on “Writing the Historical Mystery” and will also talk on “Salem, 1692”.

The 2009 Membership fees are now due.

We wish to congratulate the members of our Board of Directors, who were elected to a three year term at our January meeting. They are; incumbent, Mary Morrissey and three new members, Peg Biron, Josh Hall and Matt Macnayr. Also at our January meeting, Mary Hood was selected as our new Secretary for 2009 and congratulations go out to her.

Along with congratulating our new Board Members, we wish to thank outgoing members Mary and Henry Holt, who have served on the Board since the society was incorporated and are both

founding members of the Lee Historical Society. We thank them for their past years of dedicated service and for all the help they have given us. We remind them that just because they are not on the Board of Directors that they should not forget that we still will need help from them.

The January Program meeting presented by Judith Monachina created an evening long discussion of area paper mills by the group in attendance. Judith is seeking people with stories to tell and anyone who has pictures or items that can be display or filmed for her documentary.

Thank you:

We would like to thank the Computer Science Corporation of Pittsfield for donating a computer to the Society. It is very much appreciated.

When friends, neighbors or relatives move, downsize, or just clean house, please, ask them to think of the LEE HISTORICAL SOCIETY before they discard any old books, pictures, postcards, letters or memorabilia of the TOWN OF LEE. We are also interested in obtaining old Lee High School yearbooks, Town Reports and old advertising from Lee stores.

A Hero Comes Home

Charles T. Noonan

Charles T. Noonan, son of Michael and Mary Jane Noonan of Lee, was born on November 3, 1899. One of eight children, Charles and the Noonan family lived in a house on Main Street in downtown Lee, across from the town Library. Today, the sight is occupied by the Hyde House.

Charles grew up in Lee, a communicant of St. Mary’s Church. As he grew into his teen years, Charles developed a love for motorcycles. When ever possible, Charles worked as a “motor machinist” at the Park Garage. His nickname was “shift”, coming from his love of motorcycles. An engaging young man, he was well liked by all who knew him.

Charles enlisted in the Army in 1918 requesting duty in a motorcycle squad. When shipped out to Europe, he saw action, quite horrific for an eighteen year old to experience.

On October fourteenth, twenty days before his nineteenth birthday while serving in Belleau Wood, France Charles was killed. It was two weeks before the Armistice. An item appeared in the November 29th 1918 Berkshire Gleaner stating that Private Charles T. Noonan of Lee was killed in action on October 14th. Mr. and Mrs. Noonan were notified by telegram. Mrs. Noonan received a letter dated July 20th 1919 from D.E. Thebaud, Company commander, Headquarters Company, 38th Infantry. The letter expressed his deep sorrow for her loss. The letter also detailed his pride in the valiant service and brave deeds rendered by Charles. Enclosed in the letter was a Victory Ribbon awarded to Charles with bronze stars denoting the number of major operations in which he participated.

Charles was not returned to Lee for burial until September 7th 1921. He was the first of the young men from Lee lost in the war to be returned. Chares was buried on September 9th, with a funeral Mass at St. Mary’s Church with full Military honors. The Kelly Funeral Home coordinated the burial. John J. Bossidy of Lee Post #78 American Legion was in charge of the military detail. The Lee Draft Board was represented by its Chairman Judge Bart Bossidy.

I am Charles Thomas Quigley, son of the youngest Noonan, (Marjorie), and proud to have been named in honor of a true hero from Lee, Massachusetts.

Charles T. Noonan

The above article was written by Society Member Charles T. Quigley, of Gurnee, Illinois. He also sent pictures of the funeral procession, the burial and the headstone of Pvt. Noonan. If anyone out there on our electronic mailing list would like the complete article, let me know and I will email it to you. Mr. Quigley is also asking anyone who remembers or knew the Noonan Family, who lived in a house where Hyde Place now stands, please contact him at jcq1938@comcast.net or write him at Charles T. Quigley, 36647 N. Edgewood Drive, Gurnee, IL 60031.

Question for our readers:

Has anyone ever heard of the Central Berkshire Chronicle? This is a newspaper that might have been published here in Lee. It was established by William H. Hill & Co. in 1868 and edited by James Harding. If you have knowledge of this newspaper please contact Barbara Allen, Curator, Stockbridge Library Historical Collection, Main St. Stockbridge, MA 01260 or ballen@cwmars.org

Recollections VI

By U. S. Navy Retired Commander Vic Mottarella,

a native of Lee

(Continued from January – 09)

Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas

We left Bunker Hill on the morning of April 18, 1945. Our train ride to Corpus Christi, Texas took us through the cities of Indianapolis, St. Louis, Memphis, Little Rock, Texarkana and Houston. At Texarkana we were allowed to debark for a period of about three hours while waiting for another train that would take us to Corpus Christi. We were warned to make sure we arrived back on time. At that stage of my life I tended to be more of a follower than a leader. I would usually go along with the big city guys who seemed to be more sophisticated and persuasive – anyway, in this case I got mixed up with two other cadets, one of whom was my buddy Votolato. They enticed me to go along with them – their destination was a bar advertised as the “Longest Bar in Texas”. At that tender age I had never consumed more than one beer at a time and even that would set me spinning. I don’t recall how many drinks I had - probably one or two but they were hard liquor. I remember being deathly sick after finally boarding the train. Getting inebriated was bad enough but all three of us failed to return to our train on time so technically we were now AWOL (Absent without leave). Votolato, being a good talker (and still is!) discussed our predicament with the Texarkana Train Master who was very sympathetic. He took us under his wing and rerouted us on another train so we could catch our missed train. With the Train Master’s help we caught the proper train at the next stop and nothing was ever said – I suspect that whoever was in charge had failed to take a muster so we were completely overlooked. If anything like this had happened at any time while at our previous duty stations it would have been curtains for our short career in Naval Aviation. The rest of the trip was uneventful and we arrived in the city of Corpus Christi on April 21, 1945. We were met by a bus driven by an enlisted man who took us to the Naval Air Station, a distance of about ten miles. Our stay at the Naval Air Station was only for a few days where we occupied transient barracks. They were of the same type of construction as those we had experienced in Pensacola during 1943. Adjacent to our barracks was another similar barracks, which was briefly occupied by recently commissioned naval officers. We would observe these young ensigns with envy as they strutted about in their snazzy new uniforms upon which were pinned shinny wings of gold. After a short stay at the main base we were transported by bus to Cuddihy Field.

Naval Auxiliary Air Station Cuddihy Field

Cuddihy was one of several Auxiliary Air Stations remotely located from what in Navy language we called “Mainside” or the main Naval Air Station. Cuddihy was only about eight miles from Mainside while others such as Kingsville and Beeville were located over forty miles away. I remember it being located close to an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico. The body of water was called Laguna Madre, obviously named during the time when Mexico ruled this area.

The Routine

The routine at Cuddihy wasn’t all that different from what it had been at our previous duty station. The class was divided into two groups with one group flying in the morning and spending the rest of the day in ground school while the other group did the opposite. Ground school was a continuation of most of the subjects to which we had been previously exposed. For a Navy Pilot there were two subjects that you could never learn too much about – (1) during war time being able to immediately and positively identify an enemy fighter and know it’s wingspan – (2) in peace or war, possess a thorough knowledge of navigation so you can find your way back to the ship during inclement weather or with limited fuel. The main subjects I remember at Cuddihy were different forms of navigation such as dead reckoning and celestial navigation, search missions, maximum distance problems - also code and semaphore. In aircraft and ship recognition different views were flashed on a screen at 1/100th of a second. A lot of time was spent in describing the basics of the plane we would eventually get to fly. We spent a considerable amount of time in ground school being briefed on the various instrument flight patterns we would be required to perform after being checked out in the new SNJ Texan. Next to qualifying for solo in the plane the most important mission while at Cuddihy was to learn how to navigate and control the plane while under instrument conditions (without reference to the outside world). Here, while at ground school, we actually got to experiment with a sextant by shooting certain stars and plotting our position on a chart. Of course, we knew where we were – it was only done to prove that the system worked. Learning the locations and shapes of the various constellations such as Orion (the great hunter), Taurus (the bull), Canis Major (the dog), Scorpio (the scorpion) and Ursa Minor (the little dipper) which housed selected navigational stars was interesting and fun. The stars included Capella (and the seven kids), Arcturas, Polaris, Bellatrix, Pollux, Vega and Castor. In the constellation Canis Major was located the brightest star in the heavens (Sirius) and in the Ursa Minor it was easy to locate Polaris (the North Star). Then there were the bright stars Betelgeuse (we called it beetle juice) and Rigel. At the time we knew many more but several stars and constellations have long since faded from memory. Votolato and I did not realize how valuable this knowledge would become at our next duty station when we would try to impress certain girls about how much we knew about astronomy while gazing at the heavens under romantic Texas skies.

Flight Operations

The SNJ Texan

Before getting near an airplane we went through the usual ground school briefings on the new airplane as well as being instructed on the location of the various outlying landing strips. The airplane was bigger and much more complicated and advanced than anything we had flown to date and to us young cadets it really looked like a fighter. In fact it looked so much like a fighter that in the movie “Tora Tora Tora” this same plane took the place of the Japanese Zero. The cockpit contained scores of unfamiliar instruments, knobs, gadgets and controls making it much more complicated than the plane we had flown at Bunker Hill. The entire exterior was polished aluminum – it had a retractable landing gear system with a constant speed propeller. With a constant speed propeller you control the RPM of the engine with the propeller control. In reality it is used like the transmission of an automobile. When starting off with high power such as for take off you put the propeller in low pitch (or maximum RPM) and advance the throttle for maximum power. This more or less corresponds to putting a car in low gear when starting off. When cruising you reduce the throttle setting first and then you adjust the RPM by retarding the propeller control. If you should reverse this order it is possible to over boost and ruin the engine. This would correspond to starting a car out in high gear. While you would probably get away with it in a car it can be disastrous, especially in large two thousand horsepower aircraft engines. We were in the training phase and the Navy was trying to develop and promote good habits that would apply to all aircraft types. The Texan was powered by a nine cylinder five hundred-fifty horsepower Pratt & Whitney Wasp engine and had a rated top speed of 205 miles per hour. With the exception of putting the plane in a dive we never got anywhere near that speed. About one hundred fifty-five miles per hour while in a cruising mode was typical. The landing gear and flaps were activated by hydraulic pressure. It was necessary to activate the hydraulic system by depressing a lever before engaging either the landing gear or the flap handle. North American Aviation Corporation built thousands of these aircraft for the Navy and Army Air Corps for training pilots during World War II. In addition to ground school flight preparation we had to pass a blindfold check in the cockpit of the SNJ before getting to fly. While blindfolded each cadet had to point and touch each of the important instruments, knobs, levers or controls as called out by the instructor and there were many important items. Needless to say it took a considerable amount of study and practice while sitting in the aircraft on our own before we felt ready to take the blindfold check with the instructor pilot. In this airplane, during the check out phase, the instructor sat in the back seat when flying dual and we had real electronic earphones and a real intercom system as well as a radio as opposed to the gosport tube we used at Bunker Hill. During qualification flights and later when flying solo the cadet flew from the front seat.

(Continued to the March issue)

Please support our

Officers of the Lee Historical Society for 2009

“Business Members”

Gary Allen – President - 413-243-2140 or garywallen@earthlink.net

who support us.

Myron Hood – Vice President – 413-243-2470 or MYRONSCALL@verizon.net

Secretary – Mary Hood – 413-243-2470 or mehflowers@msn.com

B & B Landscaping

Mal Eckert – Treasurer – 413-243-1797 or MalEckert@msn.com

and Excavation

475 Pleasant Street

Board of directors of the Lee Historical Society

Lee, MA 01238

Ethel Noon/2009 Marion Leach/2010 Mary Morrissey/2011

James Di Mario/009 Danna Snow/2010 Peg Biron/2011

Bartini Roofing Co. Mary McGinnis/2009 William Clarke/2010 Josh Hall/2011

290 Pleasant Street

Matt MacNayr/2011

Lee, MA 01238

Immediate Past President & Board of Director – Stephen Cozzaglio

Society Historian – Charlotte Davis

Ben’s Shop

Newsletter Editor – Mal Eckert

68 Main Street

Lee, MA 01238

The purposes of the Lee Historical Society are to promote and foster a greater

Charles Flint Antiques knowledge and appreciation of the unique history of the Town of Lee to friends,

52 Housatonic Street

students and citizens through research, lectures, exhibits, acquisitions and

Lenox, MA 01240

preservation of the historical material and sites for future generations. We also offer

assistance to those in pursuit of local historical information.

Country Curtains

Route 102

The funding that the Lee Historical Society receives is strictly from membership

Lee, MA 01238

membership dues, donations and other private sources. There is no financial

support received by the Lee Historical Society from the Town of Lee or any

Devonfield Inn

governmental source or agency. The Lee Historical Society is listed as a

85 Stockbridge Road

non-profit corporation in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, classified as a

Lee, MA 01238

501 (c) (3) charitable organization under the United States Revenue Service Code.

Dresser Hull Company

60 Railroad Street

Our Meetings

Lee, MA 01238

Meetings of the Lee Historical Society will take place on the second

Thursday of every month at 6:30 p.m. Business meetings will be held

Greylock Federal Credit Union in the old courtroom at Memorial Hall on Main Street in Lee. Some of

47 Main Street

our Program Meetings may take place on the site of the subject matter of

Lee, MA 012138

the meeting. We will try to advertise all meetings in various places in

own. We will also try to advertise in the local media and on local TV

Quality Plus

stations. Our Program Meetings are free and open to the public

260 Chestnut Street

and people are encouraged to attend. The schedule will be updated

Lee, MA

01238

as more speakers and locations are confirmed.

Kelly Funeral Home Paperdilly, Inc

The Jonathan Foote 1778 House

3 Main Street

74 Main Street

1 East Street

Lee, Ma 01238

Lee, MA 01238

L. V. Toole Insurance Agency

Sullivan Station Restaurant

Robert M. Kelly Paperhanging

195 Main Street

Railroad Street

South Prospect Street

Lee, MA 01238

Lee Bank

75 Park Street

Lee, MA 01238

The Prez Sez:

Is it Spring yet? In the Winter we tend to hunker down and stay in. Which means we don’t get to see as much of each other. I’m looking forward to getting out and to seeing more of you. But, be warned that there are things that need to get done, so we’ll be looking for members to do them.

The thing that’s probably most important is making lists. We had a number of things that belong to the Society and we have had several people give us more things. To do this right, we have to keep a list of what we have. We just haven’t been good about doing that.

Then, we should work on making the list of things we have available to people. One thing that we’ve been given is a computer. So, we have things to list and something to list them with. Now, we just need to organize a bunch of work parties and get some lists made and some letters sent. Please let me know if you’d like to lead / organize the effort, or if you’d just like to help.

The thing I noticed this past month was what happens once you get started on a historical topic – people get interested and you can never be sure who may have a nugget of information. Judith Monachina presented a program on the mills in town. Josh Hall (a new board member) was there with a student from his history class. A couple of people in the audience had worked in the mills.

Judith started out on a topic – the history of mills. Josh’s student had a timeline of mills in town. I had some mill information from my study of the history of the Fire Department. And people in the audience had good questions to ask. It made for a lively and interesting conversation about which mills were where, and when, and what they made.

The program turned out very well and the good-sized audience that was there seemed to be enjoying themselves.

If you have questions on the Society, or items you’d like to have discussed, please let me know. GaryWAllen@Earthlink.net., or Gary W. Allen. 250 Summer Street, Lee, MA 01238. Telephone 413-243-2140.

Gary

The best vitamin for making friends is…………..B1!

Become a member or enroll an out of town friend or relative to a gift membership. Maybe you or a friend would like one of our cookbooks, picture packets or refrigerator magnets of “Old Lee”, our tribute to Betty Dennis, “Historical Lee” or one of our 2008 commemorative mugs with the image of Memorial Hall on it.

Student Membership - $5.00

Senior Membership (one person over the age of 65) - $5.00

Business Membership - $25.00

Individual Membership (one person under the age of 65) - $10.00

Family Membership (All members of one family living at home) - $15.00

Please circle one:

Student Senior Individual Family Business/Corporate

Name_______________________________________________________________________

Address_____________________________________________________________________

City____________________________State__________________Zip____________________

Telephone____________________Email___________________________________________

Is this a renewal membership?__________

Would you be interested in serving on a committee?__________

Or helping out at one of our fundraisers?____________________

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(1.)

Picture Packet – Six, 8” x 10” colored pictures of “Old Lee” for $10.00 or 3 for $25.00

plus $2.50 if shipped.

(2.)

Refrigerator Magnets – (approx. 2” x 3”) Street scenes of early Lee for $3.00 each or a set of 3 different

scenes for $7.50. No shipping charges.

(3.)

Cookbook “Boiling Water” – A 400 recipe cookbook, put together by the ladies of the Society for a price of

$10.00, plus $3. 50 if shipped.

(4.)

“Historical Lee” – A tribute to the late Betty Dennis. A seventy-three page book containing the articles

written between April 1971 and August 1977 that appeared in the Penny Saver - $10.00 plus $2.50 if

shipped.

(5.) A 2008 Commemorative Mug, first in a series, with an image of Memorial Hall for $10.00, plus

$3.00 if shipped.

Please send me (amount) ____________of (item) __________________________________

Enclosed is my check for (No cash please) ______________________________________

Name___________________________________________________________________

Address_________________________________________________________________

City_____________________State___________Zip______________________________