Jan09newsletter

Lee Historical Society

Newsletter

Vol. 6, No. 1

January 2009

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 and Town Reports.

The Annual December Meeting that was scheduled for December 11th was postponed because of bad weather. IT HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED FOR THURSDAY, JANUARY 15TH.

The January Meeting will be held on Meeting will be held on Thursday, December 15th at 6:30 p.m. promptly. After the business and elections are over, Judith Monachina will speak on part of the history of the paper mills in Lee. This meeting will also be at Crossway Village

New members to welcome:

Thomas Griffin, 2113 Berea Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37920

Paul Stumbaugh, 108 22nd Street West, Minot, ND 58701 (Lee High School/Class of 1959)

Gil Biron, 25 Housatonic Street, Lee, MA 01238

Chris Collins, P. O. Box 69, Lee, MA 01238

BEST WISHES:

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Society member, Doug Wilcox, who was hit by a car while crossing Main Street, in front of the Salmon Run Fish House and also to Society member Bob Coty who has been ill.

THANKS GO OUT:

The Society thanks Mary Harrison of Stockbridge for the donation in the name of Society members, Mary and Henry Holt and to Pat Davis of Portland, Oregon for the 1871 diary of Mr. Hamblin, the 1887 Report of the Town of Lee, the 1874 Catalogue of books in the Lee Library and the other items of Lee that she donated to the Society. Thank you to Vickie Salvatore of the Lenox Historical Society for the information given us of the Town of Lee’s early postmaster, Hubbard Bartlett.

Many members took advantage of our early sign up special and have saved themselves some money. For those members who did not sign up early, your 2009 membership fees are now due. The Membership application is on the last page.

Recollections V

(Continued from the November issue)

By U. S. Navy Retired Commander Vic Mottarella, a native of Lee

The Fire

Some time during January of 1945 a fire broke out in the operations building. I don’t remember many of the details except that there was a lot of commotion with several fire trucks and numerous cadets in the area. The windows on the first floor were easily accessible and I ended up doing something real stupid. I could not see any fire coming from the windows - only smoke. A thought that crossed my mind was to try to save some of the valuable items on the first floor. I entered a window and tossed out a couple of chairs and suddenly almost passed out from the smoke. I just barely made it to the window when fresh air brought me back to life. I suppose I was trying to be a hero and in some way make up for all the demerits that had been awarded to me. As I look back I am surprised that I wasn’t chewed out and given more demerits for being so stupid.

Flight Checks

At each stage of training a cadet periodically underwent a flight check with an instructor other than his own. The idea was to obtain an independent view of the progress had made in his ability to fly the Stearman and carry out the required acrobatics, maneuvers and landings. If one received a down check by an instructor he was required to fly two up checks. As I recall during the first five and a half months we flew at Bunker Hill we had to pass a total of five flight checks. I was fortunate – Mr. Boston taught me well and I never got a down check at that duty station. As I look back I believe I was a natural pilot but I was too young and inexperienced at the time to realize it. :Perhaps, in each case. I was fortunate enough to have had a Santa Claus for a check pilot. When one flies a series of maneuvers in an airplane for an hour and a half a flight instructor, so inclined, could always find a reason to give a cadet a down check. Almost every cadet received at least one down check and many were washed out for failing two in a row. If a cadet happened to get a down check the pressure was on because he knew he had to fly two up checks with two different check pilots. The cadet knew that the instructors talked to each other and passed on any weakness. Trying too hard in flying is a little like trying too hard in golf – it usually doesn’t work.

The Weather

As mentioned earlier the Indiana winter of 1944/1945 was one of the coldest on record. It was during this period that we read about the German breakout in the Battle of the Bulge around Christmas 1944. Although it was tough for us to fly in that weather we read about the sacrifices being made by the American troops in Europe – apparently it was their coldest winter too. It was not good for our morale and some of us started to wonder if we might lose the war after all but fortunately Patton arrived, the skies cleared and murderous bombing coupled with Patton’s tanks saved the day. I can remember taxing the Stearman on the icy tarmac – in these cases brakes were useless – it was necessary to have two cadets walk while holding each wing to assist the pilot as he did his best to control the plane to the take-off point. Once you got there take-off was no big problem since rudder control became effective as soon as you advanced the throttle and the plane picked up a speed of about 10 miles per hour. Landing, however, could be exciting even with some sand on the tarmac. One of the last flights I made at Bunker Hill was a navigation flight. I remember it being a frigid day with a fairly high overcast. One of the cities on my course was South Bend – it was about sixty miles north of the base. I had never seen Lake Michigan so I decided to fly a little further than was planned – I was delighted when I saw the lake from a distance of about ten miles. After turning south I became concerned that I might have a problem finding the base because it began to snow and it was approaching dusk but after some wandering about I finally found a few familiar landmarks and landed safely back at the base.

Leave

It was during the second week of April 1944 when we were surprised to learn that we would be given a week of leave from April 8th to April 15th to do as we wished. We were nearing the end of the syllabus but were told that the classes at advanced training at Pensacola and Corpus Christi were choked up with an excess of cadets due to bad weather, which had hampered flight operations. I immediately made arrangements to ride a train back to Pittsfield and from there found my way back to Lee. My old girlfriend, Jackie, was married and had moved from town. I looked up one of my old school friends by the name of Mary Porrini (mentioned earlier). I spent some time with her and her family – we also went to a couple of movies in Pittsfield. We had always been close friends in high school so it was good to be reacquainted. It must have been during the Easter season because I got together with a couple of my former male classmates who happened to be home at the same time. Their names were Bob Gibbs (mentioned earlier) and Leslie Toon. Leslie was in the Navy V – 12 program undergoing the normal undergraduate work at Yale University leading to an Engineering Degree. The week passed all too quickly and I rode the train back to Bunker Hill. When I arrived there I was to find out that we were given an additional week off. I wanted to go back to Lee but had spent all of my money during the previous week so I decided to take a chance on hitch hiking, which for cadets, was frowned upon by the Navy. During the war days one was certain to be picked up if was wearing a uniform. Wearing my dress blue cadet uniform gave me a little something extra. I had a couple of relatively short rides in cars bit was eventually was picked up by a big semi truck on route 20 somewhere in eastern Indiana. That ride took me all the way to Buffalo, New York where I was picked up by another truck that took me all the way to Lee (also on route 20). I visited the Porrini family again on Fairview Street and saw another movie with Mary. When the week was over my father gave me enough money to ride the train back to Bunker Hill. My logbook shows that I flew my last flight at Bunker Hill on 6 April 1945 and at that point had accumulated a total of 93.1 hours in the Stearman. Of the total 54.2 hours were solo while 33.3 were dual with the instructor and 5.6 hours were consumed in flight tests with a check pilot. Most of our class had successfully completed the Primary Flight phase of training. I was with a group assigned to Corpus Christi, Texas. About half of the class was assigned to Pensacola, Florida. My group was now prepared to pack our clothes and travel a thousand miles to the Gulf Coast – not far from the Mexican border.

(Continued to the February issue)

SOLDIERS OF LEE IN THE CIVIL WAR:

ROLL OF HONOR SOLDIER: Private Hugh Dolan, Company E, 27th Massachusetts Infantry

Found in the U. S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861 – 1865

Name:

Hugh Dolan

Side:

Union

Regiment:

Massachusetts

Regiment Name: 27th Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry

Company:

Rank In:

Private

Rank Out:

Private

Film Number:

M544 roll 11

Found in U. S. Veterans Gravesites

Name:

Hugh Dolan

Death Date:

1 December 1864

Cemetery:

Annapolis National Cemetery

Cemetery Address:

800 West Street, Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Burial At:

Section K Site 1036

Found in American Civil War Soldiers

Name:

Hugh Dolan

Residence:

Lee, Massachusetts

Occupation:

Laborer

Enlistment Date:

17 September 1861

Side Served:

Union

State Served:

Massachusetts

Service Record:

Enlisted as a Private on 17 September 1861. Enlisted in Company E,

27th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment on 20 September 1861

Died of disease on 1 December 1864 at Annapolis, Maryland.

Found in Andersonville Prisoners of War Records

Surname:

Hugh Dolan

Rank:

Private

Company:

Regiment:

State:

Massachusetts

Arm of Service:

Infantry

Location of Capture:

Drury’s Bluff. Virginia

Date of Capture:

16 May 1864

The following information was made possible by Mr. George Hunter of Los Angeles, California. Mr. Hunter is the GGGrandnephew of Hugh Dolan and the GGGrandson of Hugh’s brother James, who also enlisted and served at the same time in the 27th Regiment.

Mr. Hunter states that Hugh had re-enlisted in 1864 after coming home in 1863 to bury his wife, Winifred, and much of his family who died while he was away serving the Union. His one surviving son, James H. Dolan, was made a ward of the Catholic Church in Lee and was raised by a priest (George Brennan) Hugh Dolan was released from Andersonville Prison in Georgia in late November of 1864 during a prisoner exchange. He died shortly after of disease in Annapolis, Maryland and is buried there in a military cemetery. The Dolan brothers; Hugh, Patrick and James, emigrated from Cavan Co. Ireland in the late 1840’s. They acquired property near the train depot and the Housatonic River and as you go up Main Street, look at the building now owned by the Zabian family. This building was once known as the Dolan Block and has been standing since before Civil War days. You can probably still find the Dolan nameplate on the building.

James H. Dolan, Hugh’s son, became a blacksmith here in Lee and married Ellen Carney or Carty. They had one daughter, Winifred Dolan, who never married and passed away early in the 1960’s.

Mr. Hunter is interested in any information that anyone is willing share with him on the Dolan family and also any information anyone has on the 27th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment and

its soldiers. He can be reached at hugh65@ix.netcom.com. Any information is appreciated.

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

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

Immediate Past President & Board of Director – Stephen Cozzaglio

B & B Landscaping

and Excavation Board of directors of the Lee Historical Society

475 Pleasant Street

Mary Holt/2008 Ethel Noon/2009 Marion Leach/2010

Lee, MA 01238

Henry Holt/2008 James DiMario/2009 William Clarke/2010

Mary Morrissey/2008

Mary McGinnis

Danna Snow/2010

Bartini Roofing Co.

290 Pleasant Street Society Historian – Charlotte Davis

Lee, MA 01238

Newsletter Editor – Mal Eckert

Ben’s Shop

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

68 Main Street a greater knowledge and appreciation of the unique history of the Town

Lee, MA 01238 of Lee to friends, students and citizens through research, lectures,

exhibits, acquisitions and preservation of the historical material and

Charles Flint Antiques sites for future generations. We also offer assistance to those in pursuit

52 Housatonic Street

of local historical information.

Lenox, MA 01240

The funding that the Lee Historical Society receives is strictly from

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

Country Curtains

financial support received by the Lee Historical Society from the Town

Route 102

of Lee or any governmental source or agency. The Lee Historical

Lee, MA 01238

Society is listed as a non-profit corporation in the Commonwealth of

Massachusetts, classified as a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization

under the United States Revenue Service Code.

Devonfield Inn

85 Stockbridge Road

Our Meetings

Lee, MA 01238

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

Dresser Hull Company

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

60 Railroad Street in the old courtroom at Memorial Hall on Main Street in Lee. Some of

Lee, MA 01238

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

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

Greylock Federal Credit Union town. We will also try to advertise in the local media and on local TV

47 Main Street

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

Lee, MA 012138

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

as more speakers and locations are confirmed.

Judy Turtz

Senior Loan Office

L. V. Toole Insurance Agency

Paperdilly, Inc

Group Poli Mortgage

195 Main Street

74 Main Street

Route 1

Lee, MA 01238

North Norwood, MA 02062

Lee Bank

The Jonathan Foote 1778 House Kelly Funeral Home

75 Park Street

1 East Street 3 Main Street

Lee, MA 01238

Lee, MA 01238 Lee, Ma 01238

Sullivan Station Restaurant

Quality Plus WSCOM

Railroad Street

260 Chestnut Street Robert M. Kelly

Lee, MA 01238

Lee, MA 01238 South Prospect Street

Lee, MA 01238

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

if shipped.

Please send me (amount) ____________of (item) __________________________________

Enclosed is my check for (No cash please) ______________________________________

Name___________________________________________________________________

Address_________________________________________________________________

City_____________________State___________Zip______________________________

LEE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

P. O. BOX 170

LEE, MA 01238