Lee Historical Society
Newsletter
Vol. 4, No. 5
May 2007
The purposes of the Lee Historical Society are to promote and foster a greater knowledge and appreciation of the unique history of the Town of Lee to friends, students and citizens through research, lectures, exhibits, acquisition and preservation of historical material and sites for future generations. We also offer assistance to those in the pursuit of local historical information.
The funding that our society receives is strictly from membership dues and other private sources. There is no financial support received from any governmental source or agency. The Lee Historical Society is a non-profit corporation in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, classified as a 501 (C) (3) charitable organization under the U.S. Revenue Service Code.
WE LOOSE A MEMBER AND FRIEND:
The Society and the Town of Lee have lost a lifelong resident, friend and wonderful lady with the passing of Elizabeth L. Dennis. Known to all by Betty, she was a lifelong resident of Chapel Street in East Lee and was the former Librarian at the Lee Library. Betty graduated from Lee High School in 1935 and soon after starting working at the Lee Library. She became head Librarian in 1942 and continued in that position until she retired in 1987. Betty had a vast knowledge of the history of the Town of Lee and its’ people. She was one of the people that you would want to get in contact with if you had a question about the history of the town. The Society has used copies of her articles entitled “Historical Lee” that she wrote between April 1971 and August 1977 at the request of the Lee Rotary. The funeral was held on Tuesday, May 9 at St. George’s Episcopal Church. Anyone that wishes to make a donation in her memory to either the Betty Dennis Children’s Room at the Lee Library or to St. George’s Episcopal Church may do so in care of the Kelly Funeral Home at 3 Main Street, Lee, MA 01238.
May Meeting:
The May Meeting will be held on Thursday, May 24th in the old courtroom at Memorial Hall. A program featuring Martin Deely will start at 7:00 p.m. Mr. Deely will speak on the history of Lee Lime and Lee Marble. There will also be a program meeting in June.
New Members to Welcome:
Bob Rhoades, 155 Marble St., Lee, MA 01238
Don’t forget the Memorial Day Parade on May 28th.
Thank you:
Thanks and appreciation go out to Louie and Olga Petersoli for the copies of the old Lee High School yearbooks and to Carol LeProvost and Bob Coty for the old Town Reports.
There will be an Italian- American dinner/dance held at St. Mary’s School Auditorium on May 19th from 6:00 – 10:00 p.m. On display will be items from the history of Lee by the G. Marconi Lodge #1620 of the Lee Sons of Italy, the Lee Historical Society and parish members.
MARY NEEDS HELP
Mary McGinnis is seeking any information on Andrew Carnegie, the chief contributor of the building of the Lee Library. The requested information on Mr. Carnegie will be used by Mary for Founders’ Day and should be in the time frame of the construction of the Lee Library. Any information could be helpful in bringing this presentation together. Mary can be reached by email at KevinMcGinnis@Adelphia.net or 413-243-8110.
RECOLLECTIONS II
By Vic Mottarella
(Continued from the April issue)
Another thing Louie and I did was collect scrap metal such as brass, lead and copper as well as rags to sell to the junk man who came around about once a month. We would explore every possible source within a mile of the farm. I remember trying to get a pipe out of the ground on our land which I thought was lead. I figured it had to be lead because it had not rusted and had been there for years. We were unable to get it out so I rested a chisel on the pipe and attempted to cut it out by swinging at it with both arms with a large hammer. Because the chisel was hit with a glancing blow it caused it to flip in the air, spin and strike my lip. It also broke a large piece off one of my front teeth. It was extremely painful for it must have exposed the nerve. It turned out that the pipe was steel and not lead after all. I made an appointment with Doctor O’Malley, the dentist, but while I was under his care he came down with pneumonia and died within a week. I then went to Doctor Hannon who finished the job by cementing in a crown with a steel peg for support.
During the summer I pitched some hay at the Wellington Smith farm as well as at the farm owned by Dr. Charles Stratton Sr. The Stratton farm was managed by Louie Minor. I was the smallest of the help and not very productive. Later, while in high school, Louie Minor hired me to help him milk cows each Sunday evening. I would normally milk about four or five cows and was paid exactly one dollar. I would use the dollar to buy gas for my 1932 Chevrolet which I purchased for twenty five dollars when I was a Junior in high school. In those days one dollar would buy enough gas to run back and forth to school for a week.
When I was in the eighth grade I started trapping muskrats. I would skin the animals and stretch /dry the pelts for about three weeks. I would then ship them off to Sears Roebuck and would be paid in accordance with the size and overall worth as determined by the company representative. It was quite a profitable venture for each pelt averaged about one dollar and fifty cents—a lot of money during the depression! I made great use of the Model A Ford for my trapping trips. The trap line consisted of about five traps that were set in muskrat runs that entered a stream about a mile from our property. I had to transit the Valenti property to get to the stream. Each morning I would get up at about five thirty, fill the Model A radiator with water, retard the spark, crank the engine by hand and take off to check the traps. The battery was so old that it would not maintain a charge necessitating hand cranking. The reason I had to fill the radiator was because there was a leak in the system so it was useless to fill it with antifreeze. It had to be drained at each use because the trapping season was in the middle of winter and I didn’t want to end up with a cracked block. Most of the time there was nothing in the traps but occasionally the trip would be productive. After I got back I would get washed up and dress for school. Needless to say I didn’t get much sleep during this period and my marks except for math and chemistry were nothing to brag about.
When I was about 12 years old Joe Valenti hired me to plow a field using the Fordson tractor which he owned. The tractor was hooked up to a double plow which resulted in finishing the project all too soon. He agreed to pay me fifty cents an hour—good pay for depression years. I was disappointed when the field was completed.
I worked for about two days on a weekend when I was about eight doing odd chores for one of the two druggists in town. The druggist name was Joe Sakow. He made me do all kinds of odd jobs such as carry heavy boxes and scrub floors on my knees. When Sunday came I expected to get paid with money but instead he paid me with a couple of candy bars even though I told him I preferred money. He wanted me to come back but I never did. I still remember him bragging about how smart his daughter Virginia was.
I tried caddying at the Cranwell Country Club in Lenox as well as the Greenock Country Club in Lee. At the time D. Allan Fraser ran the Cranwell Country Club. He seemed to be all business. Because of his initials the boys called him the D.A. I was the smallest boy of the group and as a result only got out a few times.
When I entered high school I got a part time job at Nicks Restaurant which some people called the Greasy Spoon. I could never understand why! Here my job was bus boy. I would work a few hours each evening after school and several hours on Saturday and Sunday collecting and washing dishes. I worked at Nicks for a couple of years.
(Continued to the June issue)
Soldiers of Lee in the Civil War:
CLARK D. BLOOD – Company K, 8th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment
Company I, 31st Massachusetts Infantry Regiment
Company I, 1st Massachusetts Cavalry Regiment
Found in the American Civil War Soldiers Records:
Name: Clark D. Blood
Residence: Lee, Massachusetts
Occupation: Clerk
Enlistment Date: 18 April 1861
Distinguished Service
Side Served: Union
State Served: Massachusetts
Unit Numbers:
Service Record: Enlisted as a Private on 18 April 1861 at the age of 20. Enlisted in Company K, 8th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment on 30 April 1861. Mustered out at Boston, Mass. on 01 August 1861. Re-enlisted and promoted to Full Sergeant on 14 November 1861. Enlisted in Company I, 31st Massachusetts Infantry Regiment on 28 January 1862. Received a disability discharge on 20 June 1862 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Enlisted in Company I, 1st Massachusetts Cavalry Regiment on 05 December 1862 and promoted to Full Corporal on 05 April 1865. Mustered out on 29 June 1865.
Clark D. Blood is a man of mystery. Nothing is found of him before his enlistment date of 18 April1861. He is listed as entering as a Private in the 8th Massachusetts and being discharged as a Private. He joined the 31st as a Full Sergeant and was discharged as a Private. He then enlisted in the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry as a Sergeant and was mustered out as a Corporal. He served almost the entire war. Clark D. Blood put in an application for a Civil War Pension while living in the state of Colorado. He is found in the 1920 Federal Census as a 79 year old widower living in the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Washington, Tennessee. He died on March 15, 1920 and is buried in Section A, Row 12, Site 8 of the Mount Home National Cemetery in Johnson City, Tennessee.
Officers of the Lee Historical Society for 2007:
President – Stephen A. Cozzaglio, 413-243-3204 or scozzaglio@rcn.com
Vice-President – Gary Allen. 413-243-2140 or GaryWAllen@Earthlink.net
Secretary – Position open
Treasurer – Mal Eckert 413-243-1797 or Lee_Hist_Soc@msn.com
Board of Directors:
Marion Leach/2007 Mary Holt/2008 Ethel Noonan/2009
William Clarke/2007 Henry Holt/2008 James DiMario/2009
Cindy Packard/2007 Mary Morrissey/2008 Mary McGinnis/2009
Society Historian: Charlotte Davis, 413-243-1092
Newsletter Editor: Mal Eckert, 413-243-1797 or Lee_Hist_Soc@msn.com
The Lee Historical Society is continuously looking for articles and stories of Lee and its people to include in our newsletters. If anyone has an article or story, or is looking for an ancestor, please contact one of our officers or board members or send me an email.
The following article was copied from the Penny Saver of August 5, 1975 as written by the late Betty L. Dennis, former Town Librarian, who wrote a series of articles regarding historical events about the Town of Lee for the Lee Rotary Club that were published in the Penny Saver under the column of “Historical Lee.”
It was during perilous times that our forefathers settled in our town. Isaac Davis came over from Tyringham as a young man to become one, if not the one --- of our first settlers in 1760. From then until 1783 when Peace was declared in England, they were in constant war, the second French War having been carried on from 1754 – 1763. Our Cape Cod settlers had played a large part in the Revolutionary War and those early settlers from Connecticut had fought in the French and Indian War, so Lee was organized by stalwart men.
One of the first to preach in Lee, Judge Beacon of Stockbridge, who having come from Boston so thoroughly disliked the British that he roamed the area on the lookout for Redcoats.
With this kind of training our forefathers were not men to shrink from serving their country. One of the first acts of Lee was to vote 7 men to serve in Washington’s Army and in the subsequent meetings during the war. Lee was willing to shoulder her share. The Battle of Lexington, fought on April 19, 1775, took place two years before our incorporation.
By 1780 when money was voted for a bounty for soldiers, Lee intended to have 9 men in the Continental Army, which would be one quarter of our men. Here in a new little town of not more than thirty five families, all poor, sending probably one half of our able bodied men to war, taxing themselves heavily to support the men’s families and supplying the beef to the army, we did our share.
One story tells about Jesse Bradley only fourteen years old, at the time, enlisted and was at the battle of Fort Stanwix. At the conclusion of the defeat an Indian chased Jesse who ran for several miles. Eventually he turned around and shot at the Red Man, who no longer followed him. Poor Jesse spent the rest of his life with his conscience tormenting him for fear he had killed the Indian.
SCHEDULE OF 2007 MEETINGS:
Meetings of the Lee Historical Society will take place on the second Thursday of every month at 7:00 P.M. Business meetings will be held in the old courtroom at Memorial Hall and some of the program meetings may take place on the site of the subject matter of the meeting. We will try to advertise all meetings in various places in town. We will also try to advertise in the local media and TV stations. Our Program Meetings are free and open to the public and people are encouraged to attend. This schedule will be updated as more speakers and locations are confirmed.
Thursday, January 11, 2007 --- Business Meeting for all Board of Directors and Officers and all interested members.
Thursday, February 8, 2007 --- Program Meeting for all members and the public. The subject will be “The History of the Lee Fire Department”. To be held at the Lee Fire Department on Main St.
Thursday, March 8, 2007 --- Business Meeting for all Board of Directors and Officers and all interested members at 7:00 p.m. in the old courtroom in Memorial Hall.
****Thursday, April 12, 2007 --- Program Meeting for all members and the public. The program that was scheduled for this date was cancelled and re-scheduled for the June Meeting.
****Thursday, May 24, 2007 --- Program Meeting on “The History of Lee Marble and Lee Lime”
given by Martin Deely at 7:00 p.m. in the old courtroom at Memorial Hall. The public is invited.
Thursday, June 14, 2007 --- Business Meeting at 6:15 p.m. for Board Members, Officers and interested members. Program Meeting for all members and the public at 7:00 p.m. Jack Trowill will speak on the history of Berkshire Railways at 7:00 p.m. in the old courtroom of Memorial Hall.
Thursday, July 12, 2007 --- Business Meeting for all Board of Directors and Officers and all interested members.
Thursday, August 9, 2007 --- Program Meeting for all members and the public. The subject will be the History of the Lee Library and their one hundred year anniversary. The speaker is unknown at this date.
Thursday, September 13, 2007 --- Business Meeting for all Board of Directors and Officers and all interested members.
Thursday, October 11, 2007 --- Program Meeting for all members and the public. The subject will be the History of St. Mary’s Church and presented by Mary Morrissey at 7:00 p.m. at the old courtroom in Memorial Hall. St. Mary’s is celebrating their 150th anniversary.
Thursday, November 8, 2007 --- Business Meeting for all Board of Directors and Officers and all interested members. Nominations for members of the Board of Directors.
Thursday, December 13, 2007 --- Annual Meeting --- Election of members of the Board of Directors and Officers.
When friends, neighbors or relatives move, downsize, move or just clean house, PLEASE, ask them to think of the LEE HISTORIC 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.
BECOME A MEMBER OR ENROLL AN OUT OF TOWN FRIEND OR RELATIVE. HOW ABOUT A PRESENT OF A MEMBERSHIP, COOKBOOK, SET OF REFRIGERATOR MAGNETS OR PICTURE PACKET OF “OLD LEE”?
MEMBERSHIP FORM
Membership fees:
Student Membership --- $5.00 Senior Membership (1 person over age 65) --- $5.00
Business Membership --- $25.00 Individual Membership (1 person under age 65) --- $10.00
Family Membership (all members of a family living at home) --- $15.00
Please circle one: Student Senior Individual Family Business
Name_______________________________________________________
Address_____________________________________________________
City__________________________State____________Zip____________
Telephone__________________Email_____________________________
Is this a renewal?_______or a new membership?________
Would you be interested in serving on a committee?________
Or helping out at one of our fundraisers?___________
The Lee Historical Society has available for sale the following items:
Picture Packets – Six, 8” x 10” colored pictures of “Old Lee” for $10.00 each or 3 for $25.00 plus $2.50 if shipped.
Refrigerator Magnets – (approx. 2” x 3”) street scenes of early Lee for $3.00 each or $7.50 for a set of three different scenes. No shipping charges.
Cookbook, “Boiling Water” – A 400 recipe cookbook put together by the ladies of the Society for the price of $10.00 plus $3.50 if shipped.
Please send me______________Picture Packets
Please send me______________Refrigerator Magnets
Please send me______________cookbooks
Enclosed is my check or money order (NO CASH) for $__________________
NAME___________________________________________________________
ADDRESS________________________________________________________
CITY_________________________STATE_______________ZIP____________
Lee Historical Society
P. O. Box 170
Lee, MA 01238
