Cape Cod History

January 31 - 2007: NH to Cape ferry service proposed; 1798: Native American writer William Apess born; 1988: The Breakthrough claims a dozen homes; 1999: Death of National Seashore visionary

1988: Chatham homes are doomed by breakthrough
Homeowners on Cape Cod Battle Sea and Town

Pointing to a spot on his map where Holway Street reaches Chatham's eastern shoreline, Doug Wells, chairman of this town's conservation commission, said that the sea had come up to that point before, in 1875.

Sea threatens Holway Street house.

''Now it's back again,'' he said, ''and so is the bitter argument over what, if anything, should be done to stop it and who should do it.''

The spot he marked was half a block inland, well behind a line of Cape-style houses that are now in danger of toppling into the sea. #9 Houses Threatened A week ago Thursday one of those houses did slide down the six-foot-high bank between it and the sea, and had to be destroyed. At high tide, water has already swept under the front porch of the house on one side of where the first house stood and is cutting away at the small concrete patio of the one on the other side.

1798: William Apess born
Helped free Cape Cod Mashpees

On this day in 1798, a Pequot Indian named William Apess was born in Colrain, a village in western Massachusetts. Although his childhood was marked by poverty and abuse, he did learn to read and write.
     After converting to Christianity, he became a traveling preacher. He sought to convert other Indians to Christianity and wanted white people to recognize Indians as equal members of the family of God. In his 30s, he moved to Cape Cod, where he helped the Mashpee Indians regain a measure of self-government.
     William Apess published five books, including an autobiography. In 1837, he disappeared from the historical record. Like most native people of the time, he became invisible. Fortunately, his published words survive.

The threatened loss of these homes and at least seven others nearby has started a new round in the conflict between beachfront property owners all along the Atlantic Seaboard and the Federal, state and local officials responsible for shoreline protection.

Here in Chatham, 10 owners of houses between Andrew Hardings Lane and Watch Hill Road have formed a group, the Beach Reclamation Enactment Association of Chatham Harbor.

On Wednesday, the group filed a $10 million damage suit in Barnstable Superior Court. The owners assert that officials in charge of state coastal management did not plan adequately for the protection of their shoreline and knowingly hindered them in their efforts to do it themselves.

On Thursday, members of the group appeared before the Chatham Conservation Commission asking to build a much more elaborate sea wall below their property. The commissioners, in turn, asked for further details on the design and for a determination of what part of the beach was classified as dune and what was considered a bank. If a new wall is finally approved by the town and state, it will cost the group at least $250,000 to build.

In mid-December, the commission, with support of state environmental and coastal zone management officials, denied the group permission to dump boulders along the water line in front of their houses. The commissioners said that might damage the shoreline to the north and south.

Two weeks later the group went to court and won permission to dump the boulders if its members posted a $100,000 bond to insure removing the boulders if they could not work out a permanent plan with the state and town officials.

Immediately afterward, a construction company began dropping the boulders about 10 yards in front of the bank on which the houses are perched. Additional boulders have been emplaced since, and the owners have now spent an estimated $145,000 in this desperate effort to stabilize their property.

The trouble in Chatham began 13 months ago when a wild storm and high tides broke through North Beach opposite Water Street and Chatham Light. Two weeks later, a subsequent storm had widened this beach and scooped out a channel 20 feet deep... NY Times.

1999: The day Paul Mellon died

Billionaire philanthropist, art collector and thoroughbred racer

Mellon foresaw that they had a last chance to protect and preserve for the future one of the most significant natural and cultural resources in the US here on Cape Cod.

On this day in 1999, Paul Mellon, son of financier Andrew W. Mellon, died at his residence in Oak Spring, Va., at age 91. Remembered mainly as a billionaire philanthropist, art collector and thoroughbred racer - his "Mill Reef" won the Kentucky Derby in 1971 - Mellon's legacy extends further and closer to home. As reported by The Boston Globe on Feb. 13, 1999 -

"The story goes that Paul Mellon was dismayed to discover that his Oyster Harbors home was lacking in what he considered a sufficient number of sand dunes. So he brought in 2,000 tons of sand from the north shore of Cape Cod and built his own dunes.

"Then he went one giant step further: He helped to create the Cape Cod National Seashore ... In Massachusetts, his legacy is 44,000 acres of pristine beach, wind-blown dunes, and wild sandy bluffs that literally define a much-loved corner of the state.

"Mellon, along with other key leaders, 'foresaw that they had a last chance to protect and preserve for the future one of the most significant natural and cultural resources in the US,' said Mike Whatley, a supervisory park ranger with the Cape Cod National Seashore in Eastham.

" 'They literally snatched it from the hands of developers,' Whatley said, 'and at the same time left many charming, compatible communities intact' ..."

"The finest victory ever recorded for the cause of conservation in New England."

" ... In 1956, a consortium of foundations supported by Mellon published 'The Vanishing Shoreline,' a report highlighting the significance of coastline territory and detailing runaway development that threatened to change it forever. It also identified key sites that should be included in the national park system.

"At the top of the list was a swath of land from Provincetown to Chatham, then known mainly as 'The Great Beach of Cape Cod' ..."

Other seashore advocates included Congressman Hastings Keith, Senators Leverett Saltonstall and John F. Kennedy and future governor Frank Sargent.

On Aug. 7, 1961, President Kennedy signed the law limiting development on the Outer Cape and creating the Cape Cod National Seashore, the nation's first. An editorial that month in The Berkshire Eagle described the new law as "the finest victory ever recorded for the cause of conservation in New England."   (Portrait of Mellon, www.vahistorical.org)

2007: New Hampshire Rep wants to see a ferry service to Cape Cod

This day in 2007, Foster's Daily Democrat reported that the scrap metal and salt operations at the Port of New Hampshire are not the best use of the property, according to Pease Development Authority Executive Director Dick Green. 

"There are some of us that feel there's a higher and more appropriate use than what it's being used for," Green said Tuesday.

If a majority of the board feels the same way as Green, some combination of container cargo, ferries or cruise ships could replace the industrial uses at the Market Street terminal in the coming years...  (State rep Laura) Pantelakos, a vocal critic of port operations, said she is thrilled by the potential change in direction at the port.

"I think that's certainly going to help a lot of people. It will create jobs," the Portsmouth Democrat said.  She said she would like to see a ferry service started to Cape Cod and said without the salt or scrap there would be a lot of "laydown area" for cargo.

January 30 - 1969: Nantucket clamps down on hippies; 2007: Recession begins here; 2007: Police divers recover body from Lady of Grace

1969: Shoeless on the island no longer

On this day in 1969, as reported by  United Press International -

NANTUCKET, Mass. - Hippies can walk Nantucket beaches barefooted this summer but they may have to wear sandals or shoes to eat.

The Board of Selectmen disclosed Wednesday it has recommended to the forthcoming annual town meeting three bylaws designed to discourage hippies from mixing and mingling on this sedate resort island off Cape Cod.

One recommendation would prohibit bare feet in a restaurant, drug store, public dining room or bar. The penalty would be a $25 fine.

The selectmen would also ban: Sleeping at night in a boat or on a float in Nantucket and Madaket harbors without a permit, and sleeping on beaches or on other certain public and private property between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. without permission of the owner.

2007: Was this the beginning of the "Great Recession" on Cape Cod?
Puritan Clothing closes Orleans store with no warning

Now there are four. Abe Penn began Puritan Clothing Company in Plymouth in 1919 and by 1925 had expanded to Chatham.  Stores in Hyannis, Orleans, Mashpee and Falmouth followed, but last Saturday the third generation started shrinking the clothing company's operations by closing the Orleans location in the Orleans Shopping Mall on Route 6 abruptly and with no notice.

An employee blamed the lack of "walking traffic" in Orleans, but after four decades in town it's more likely there were other factors.

Founder Abe Penn once said, "I'd rather make a friend than a sale." He lost a few of both last Saturday in Orleans.

2007: Police divers recover body from Lady of Grace

On this day in 2007 the  State Police divers recovered one body from a sunken fishing vessel in frigid waters off Nantucket on Monday, after the Coast Guard suspended the search for four crewmen who had been missing for more than two days. Divers found the body at about 2:30 p.m. in the wheelhouse of the Lady of Grace after diving for nearly nine hours, state police said in a statement Monday night.

The body, which has not been identified, was taken to the State Medical Examiner's Office in Boston... Coast Guard investigators said the Lady of Grace maintained a current safety registration and was certified at a Fishing Vessel Safety program in New Bedford last year. Inspectors from a Coast Guard cutter boarded the boat on Jan. 8 and found no violations, Petty Officer Luke Penneo said.

January 29 - 1853: The day Brewster got a Ladies' Library; 2007: Army Sgt. Alexander Henry Fuller dies in Iraq; 2007: 57% in state residents back casino

1853: A dozen women start the Brewster Ladies' (subscription) Library

On this day in 1853, the Brewster Ladies' Library opened to the public with 200 books in its collection.

Originally a subscription library situated at a home now at 1772 Main St., the library was the brainchild of young Brewster residents Sarah Augusto Mayo and Mary Louise Cobb. The pair persuaded 10 other Brewster women to join them in their endeavor - hence the library's name.

According to the library's website, "men were allowed to borrow books, but they had to pay more than the ladies. That rule was dropped in time."

As the library collection grew, space became limited and Captain Joseph Nickerson donated $1,000 to start a library building fund. In 1868, a new library at the site of the present-day structure opened on Main Street with two comfortable parlors lined with bookshelves, each of the parlors warmed by a fireplace. In 1877, another room was added to the rear.

In the Bicentennial year of 1976, the library was expanded with another addition and in 1985, the basement became the children's library. Further expansion in 1997 doubled the floor space, created an auditorium and two meeting rooms and allowed for more than 50,000 books.

 Thirty years ago, "an objection was raised" to the library's name "because of the possibility of misinterpretation - that men were not allowed," states the library website. "However, in an overwhelming vote at the annual library meeting, the decision was made to go with history and keep the name. In 1999, 'Your Community Library' was added to the name to avoid confusion."

2007: Fallen U.S. soldier left New Bedford as a baby, lived in Centerville

On this day in 2007 the relatives of Army Sgt. Alexander Henry Fuller were trying to refreash their memories of baby Alex, who left New Bedford in the mid-1980s to live on Cape Cod.  Sgt. Fuller, 21, who died in Iraq Thursday when a bomb exploded near his convoy, had no real memories of the Whaling City, his widow said last night.  Anastacia Fuller, 19, is pregnant and due in April with their baby girl, Aleahcia.

Sgt. Fuller spent his youth living in Centerville on the Cape with Anastacia's family, the Zinovs, and in Florida with his mother.  He joined the Army in 2004 and had been in Iraq since October. He was due to come home on leave in April for the birth of his daughter and was going to get out of the Army in October, Mrs. Fuller said.

2007: Most back casinos for Massachusetts

Southeastern Mass., Cape Cod also in favor

More than half of Massachusetts residents support casino gambling in the Bay State, according to a poll and behavioral survey released today by the Center for Policy Analysis at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.  The poll and survey of 1,041 state residents, conducted from Sept. 29 to Nov. 2, is the most extensive yet undertaken to determine residents' attitudes toward casino gambling and its effects, center director Dr. Clyde W. Barrow said.

A clear majority of residents in every region, except the Cape and Islands, support establishing casino gambling in Massachusetts as an alternative to casinos in Connecticut and slot parlors in Rhode Island, Barrow said.  About 57 percent of those surveyed support resort casino authorization, the survey showed, with another 30 percent opposed and 14 percent undecided.

Cape Cod; 43% for, 41% against

The regional breakdown in favor of authorizing casinos includes 57 percent in favor to 31 percent opposed in southeastern Massachusetts.  There is also 58 percent in favor to 30 percent opposed in Greater Boston and its suburbs; 61 percent to 28 percent in northeastern Massachusetts; Worcester County, 58 percent to 32 percent; and 53 percent to 25 percent in Western Massachusetts.

Cape Cod residents, the survey indicated, were statistically tied, with 43 percent in favor and 41 percent opposed.

January 28 - 1814: British warship shells the town of Falmouth; 2006: Man uses MySpace to buy his Cape Cod home

1814: HMS Nimrod bombards Falmouth

    
   The HMS Nimrod from a painting in the Falmouth Historical Society.

A cannonball hole from the bombardment is still visible in a wall at the Nimrod, but only to half the restaurant's visitors - it's in the men's room, as shown in this photo. (photo credit, www.travel-watch.com)

On this day in 1814, the British warship Nimrod shelled the town of Falmouth for several hours during the War of 1812 for refusing to surrender two cannons and a sloop.

The 18-gun Nimrod had arrived in American waters the year before and quickly established herself as a menace, capturing the 20-gun privateer Yorktown in July 1813 with the aid of two other British vessels.

That autumn, the Nimrod was assigned to patrol along with the coast of New England with a squadron of British warships. The squad established itself at Tarpaulin Cove on Naushon Island, a site well-known to sailors because of an inn situated there. The innkeeper, a man remembered as Mr. Slocum, is said to have overheard the Nimrod's crew discussing their plans to attack Falmouth, and he alerted the town.

On Jan. 28, the captain of the Nimrod warned Falmouth of his plans to bombard the  town unless its residents surrendered its two cannon and the sloop docked at present-day Surf Drive. The response - If you want our cannons, you can come and get them, but we'll give you what's in them first.

Falmouth resident John Crocker, whose Shore Street home is now the central building of Shoreway Acres, described what happened in a Feb. 1 account published in the New England Palladium:

During the interim the flag frequently passed; the militia was fast collecting; the town was in utmost confusion; the inhabitants removing the sick, the women, children and furniture.

About the time set the cannonading began, and continued with very little intermission until night, and several guns in the night, making in all about three hundred from their thirty-two pounders, besides their smaller ones.

This morning (Jan. 29) at sunrise, she sailed westward, supposed to join a ship of war said to be in Tarpaulin Cove. Fortunately no lives were lost and no person hurt.

The damage done to houses, outbuildings and salt-works has been considerable, the amount of which is now not known. The greatest sufferer was myself, having eight thirty-two pound shot through my house, some through my outbuildings, and many through my salt-works. The greatest part of the furniture in the house was destroyed. The other principal sufferers were Elijah Swift, Silas Jones, Thomas Bourne, Jehabad Hatch, Rev. Henry Lincoln, Shubael Hatch Jr., etc., etc. in damage done houses, salt-works, etc.

Among the other buildings hit were the present-day Elm Arch Inn, then the home of Silas Jones, and the Nimrod Restaurant, both of which have been moved from where they were during the war.

2006: The house on Memory Lane

A Cape Cod native wants to buy back his childhood home, and is seeking $1 donations on his MySpace site to help him pull it off

On this day in 2006 the Boston Globe reported that before the Internet made everyone an author, writers recalled their early lives in memoirs and autobiographies thinly disguised as novels.

But when Brad Ford decided it was time to backtrack to the comfort zone of his childhood, he logged onto MySpace.com and created the Homeward Bound Project. 

The 26-year-old Cape Cod native wants to buy back his childhood home (on right) in South Harwich that is for sale -- again. But as a liquor store clerk , Ford can't afford the $1,795,000 asking price. So electronic bulletin board that it is, Ford is using his MySpace page to solicit donations, at $1 a piece, to help him.

As Ford writes, the house's monetary cost is nothing compared to its emotional wealth. "My grandmother was the person who raised me," he said on the site, "and it was a sad day for me when we sold the house, because that's the home I grew up in." His grandmother died in 1992 after a five-month battle with bladder cancer. It was a rude end to a happy childhood spent there.

The three-bedroom cedar-shingled Cape-style house is on Uncle Venies Road, just a quarter mile from Red River Beach. It has been sold four times since the family was forced to give it up in 1993 for $385,000, Ford said.

January 27 - 2007: Search begins for fishing boat Lady of Grace; 2000: Belichick named Patriots coach

Coast Guard launches a massive search for the missing 75-foot dragger

O

n this day in 2007, the Coast Guard launched a massive search for the fishing boat Lady of Grace after the 75-foot dragger failed to return as scheduled to New Bedford.

The four-man crew of the boat was last heard from the night before, struggling to cross Nantucket Sound in a winter gale with 6- to 9-foot seas buffeting the Sound.

Using side scan sonar, Coast Guard personnel located the sunken vessel 12 miles south of Hyannis one day after the search began. The bodies of Lady of Grace captain Antonio Barroqueiro and crew member Mario Farinhas were recovered, but two other crew members,  Rogerio Ventura and Joao Silva - were never found.

A Coast Guard report issued concluded that a buildup of ice on the superstructure and lines of the Lady of Grace rendered the vessel top-heavy and most likely caused it to capsize.

Read the stories about this tragedy starting with previous problem with the boat:

• CG tows disable fishing boat
• Coast Guard finds sunken boat, suspends search for four crew members
• Coast Guard re-enters salvaged Lady of Grace
• Lady of Grace fatalities caused by ice build-up; Coast Guard assists disabled scallop boat south of Nantucket

2000: Belichick named head coach of New England Patriots

On this day in 2000, Bill Belichick was named head coach of the New England Patriots.

Belichick had already earned a reputation as a brilliant defensive strategist in his years with the Giants and the Jets.

In his second season with the Patriots, Belichick made a controversial move, replacing starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe with the unknown backup.

January 26 - 2006: Record cold today on Cape. 1934: Movie queen Pickford gets police guard here

1934: Police guard Mary Pickford en route to Falmouth

Married to Douglas Fairbanks and the most popular actress of the era

On this day in 1934, as reported by the Centralia (Wash.) Daily Chronicle under the headline:

"Actress Guarded" - FALMOUTH, Mass. (AP) - Mary Pickford, motion picture actress, was under guard today at the home of Fulton Oursler, playwright and magazine editor, to which she fled from Boston last night after telling police a man and a woman had trailed her for two days.

A Falmouth policeman patrolled the Oursler estate and ordered all visitors from the property. He declined to explain what orders he had received other than to say that no one other than members of the Oursler family or those with known business were to be permitted to enter the grounds.

Miss Pickford, who had appeared on a Boston stage, sped to Cape Cod last night under "movie" conditions. She traveled in her own automobile with a police cruising car trailing behind. The Boston officers accompanied her as far as Buzzards Bay, where a state trooper took over the escort duty to the Oursler home.

The actress refused last night to give any explanation for her actions, but the Boston police said they had received a complaint from Miss Pickford that she had been trailed by a man and a woman for two days

The butler was the only person who would answer the telephone at the Ousler home, and he said he had been told to give no information.

Read about Mary Pickford here.

On this day in 2006 it began snowing on the Outer Cape from Provincetown to Chatham around 6am and was expected to continue off and on all day with a total accumulation of 1 to 2 inches. It would remain partly sunny over the Upper Cape but continue blustery and much colder with highs around 14. Northwest winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 40 mph.

Wind chill values will be as low as 16 below, but it was 10 degrees COLDER in Boston.

January 25 - 1934: Provincetown in danger of becoming an island; 2006: Insurance policies pulled on Cape Cod

1934: The day we almost lost the Cape's Tip

   The older map above was sent in by a loyal commenter named "balognasamich", and we thank him.

On this day in 1934, as reported by The Daily Courier of Connellsville, Pa., under the headline, "Atlantic Waves May Create New Island" -

PROVINCETOWN, Mass. - Encroaching waters of the restless Atlantic may create a new island off the Massachusetts coast during the next 10 years.

Last spring a three-day storm ate away several feet of embankment and inundated the Pamet River coast guard station, and now 13 miles of Cape Cod between Truro and Provincetown is in danger of being sliced from the rest of the cape.

The ocean has only to advance a stone's throw at the point in question to connect with the terminus of Pamet River, a small stream which crosses the cape and joins Cape Cod Bay at Truro.

As of this writing, Provincetown remains affixed to the Outer Cape, albeit as a world unto itself.

2006: Insurance policies pulled on Cape Cod
Homeowners Face Financial Storm

On this day in 2006 the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the growing concerns about global warming were having a life-changing impact on coastal communities in Massachusetts.  NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that home insurance companies are pulling policies, saying places such as Cape Cod are too high of a risk.

Built in 1840, the Aschettinos' house in Eastham, Mass., has withstood many storms. Michael Aschettino and his wife bought the property eight years ago and have never filed an insurance claim. One day, they got a letter from their insurer, the Hingham Mutual Group, informing them their policy was not being renewed.

"I was furious in regards to money that we had paid in here for the eight years that we've been here. Take the money and run," homeowner Paula Aschettino said... Read the rest of this WCVB story and see the VIDEO here. 

January 24 - 2006: Ptown poker player takes home first place; The epic blizzard of 2005

2005: Cape Codders dig out from epic blizzard

On this day in 2005, Cape and island residents were still recovering from an epic blizzard for the ages that created snow drifts up to six feet high and forced commuters to abandon their cars.

South Dennis resident Bruce MacNayr was trapped in his home for 24 hours before plows reached him on this Monday following the 30-hour long weekend storm.

"This is the most snow I've ever seen in my life," the 46-year-old MacNayr told the Associated Press. "I've seen a couple of blizzards in my life, but this is the worst."

Many residents were stuck in their homes because towns had stopped plowing while the heavy snow piled into huge drifts.

"The snow is so heavy, plows can't push it," George Luna told the AP as he used a front-end loader to dig out a shopping plaza parking lot in Dennis.

It was the second major storm of the winter for Cape Cod, following one in December that dumped 18 inches and left many residents without power for days.

Some areas north and south of metro Boston saw a whopping 38 inches. Residents of coastal Scituate were unable to get to their homes because of shore flooding that turned to ice.

2006: Provincetown poker player takes home first place

Cape Cod resident last lady standing in Atlantic City tournament

ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey -- The poker action was wild at Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa with two final tables taking place on Monday. The morning's action started with the conclusion of the Ladies Event which began with 390 players, the highest attendance of any Ladies Tournament in Atlantic City. The final table was formed around 1:00 AM as these tenacious female players continued to play until a champion was crowned. Emily Flax of Provincetown, MA, was the last lady standing at 4:00 AM, taking home $30,927 in first place.

"I am so excited I won," commented Flax. "I started to believe I had a real chance to win when we made the final table." After picking up her winnings and her engraved champion's watch, Flax's smile brightened up the entire Event Center as she told the crowd: "I'm going to Spa to enjoy my victory before heading home. Borgata is out of this world!"

Read the rest of the story in the Casino City Times here.

1832: The "cranberry king" is born; 2006: Free tourist map sold for $364

1832: "Cranberry King" Abel Denison Makepeace was born on this day

On this day in 1832, in the off-Cape village of Middleboro, Abel Denison Makepeace was born, the son of Alvin and Drusilla Makepeace.

Twenty-two years later, "in the little village of Hyannis," A.D. Makepeace "hung out a sign offering, among strangers, his services as a harness-maker and saddler," according to "History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts," 1890, edited by Simeon L. Deyo. "The only place a poor mechanic could expect in a conservative New England town was such a place as his own inherent ability could create for himself, and so, under stern limitations, Abel Denison Makepeace began his career."

Makepeace soon discovered his affinity for agriculture and purchased a farm in Hyannis.  The first year's produce included 1,000 bushels of potatoes and 200 bushels of strawberries. "Not all his farming was at once successful," Deyo noted, "for he was among the experimenters who, before 1860, lost most of their investments in attempting to produce cranberries."

Experimentation propelled Makepeace to formidable success.

That spirit of experimentation soon propelled Makepeace to formidable success. In 1867 he produced 16,000 barrels of cranberries and his business holdings in Barnstable and Plymouth counties expanded rapidly in the years to come. By the time the 1890 county history was published, Makepeace was "recognized by all New England as the foremost man in the cranberry business, being now the head of a combination of owners, cultivating more acres and producing, by far, larger results than any other firm or combination in the world."

Makepeace was also an officer in the county's agricultural society and served as director of the Hyannis National Bank. In politics he was "an independent democrat since 1872 - a position well known to be far from popular on Cape Cod - yet in the canvas for state senator in 1883, and for representative in 1885, he received a very flattering vote," the county history indicates. 

Not surprising given his success on the bogs, Makepeace came to be known as "the cranberry king" and the family business he created continues to prosper today.

2006: Where did you put that old issue of Best Read Guide?

Old tourist map of Cape Cod sells for $364 at auction

On this day in 2006 a pocket map, produced for the tourist trade around 1910 and carrying a price tag of 10 cents, sold for $364.

The attractively colored map folded into paper covers and extended from South Bay all the way to Cape Cod and Provincetown.

The edition named 35 landmarks and lighthouses, all keyed to the map. Numerous ferry and ship routes were also shown. 

See similar map on right and auction report  (page 2) here.

Now don't you wish you'd saved all those old Best Read Guides?

1995: Matriarch Rose Kennedy dies; 1910: Six-masted schooner wrecks off Vineyard

1995: Clan matriarch Rose Kennedy dies in Hyannisport at 104

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n this day in 1995, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, matriarch of the Kennedy family, died at home in Hyannisport at age 104.

The eldest child of John F. "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, a Boston mayor who also served in Congress, Rose Fitzgerald married Joseph P. Kennedy in 1914. The marriage produced nine children, including a president, two war heroes, three US Senators, the founder of the Special Olympics and an ambassador to Ireland.

Mrs. Kennedy had been in declining health for a decade before her death after suffering a stroke in 1984.  She was preceded in death by four of her children - Joseph Jr., a naval pilot killed in World War II; John and Robert, assassinated during the 1960s; and Kathleen, who died in a plane crash in France in 1948.

The photo at right shows Mrs. Kennedy with her three oldest children - from left, Joseph, Rosemary and John.

"Rose Kennedy saw her family rise from the insular and provincial Irish wards of Boston to enormous wealth and a place in the highest councils of world affairs," wrote J.Y. Smith of The Washington Post in reporting Kennedy's death. "Great as the family's successes were, they were equaled by its tragedies and failures. The family's story has become one of the great epics of the age."

To Boston Globe columnist David Nyhan, "Rose was the Honey Fitz side and the sunny side. The warmth, culture, poetry and music came from her, not the single-minded hard-charger to whom money and power and winning were all. Look around today and you'd have to suspect old Joe Kennedy would be on the other side from Teddy and Joe the congressman and Patrick and the others."

After her funeral at St. Stephen's in the North End, the same church where she was baptized, Mrs. Kennedy was buried at Holyhood Cemetery in Brookline alongside her husband.

1910: Epic Sea Rescue of the Mertie B. Crowley

Crew lashed to rigging for ten hours are saved

The NY York headline screamed:
10 HOURS IN RIGGING, SAVED FROM WRECK; Captain's Wife and 14 Men Lashed to Crosstrees While Big Schooner Breaks in Two.
RESCUERS FACE WILD SEA Go Out In Fishing Smack -- Wrecked Crowley Mistook Lights Off Martha's Vineyard and Struck Reef.

EDGARTOWN, Mass., Jan. 23, 1910. -- The schooner Mertie B. Crowley, one of the few six-masters flying the American flag, lies to-night a total wreck on the reefs three miles off the southeast end of Martha's Vineyard Island. Already the Crowley has broken in two, and great seas are fast smashing her stout timbers... Below is a postcard of its launch. NY Times.

And the main hero in the story was a bow-legged, steely-eyed Edgartown seaman named Levy Jackson, who did what the Coast Guard and other would-be rescuers could not. With a small crew of four, Captain Jackson steered his 32-foot fishing sloop Priscilla through treacherous swells to rescue Capt. William Haskell, his wife and 13 crewmen who had lashed themselves to the rigging of the rapidly sinking 296-foot six-masted schooner.

The family names of the five heroes on board the Priscilla that day are still well known on the Island: Jackson, Kelly, Doucette and Benefit. The men were later awarded a Carnegie bronze medal...

In its 50th anniversary recollection the Gazette wrote:

"The story of the saving of the lives of Capt. William H. Haskell, his wife and crew of thirteen is one of the most thrilling tales in the history of sea heroism along the section of the Atlantic coast.

Because it is remarkable, that no one was lost, no one injured, and there was little suffering, it is probable the story will not attract the attention that usually accompanies a tale of heroism at sea, but for all that it is a most touching story of the way in which five brave men went out for battle with the seas, and seven hours later returned with one woman and fourteen men all taken out of the rigging of a vessel pounding to pieces on the reef on the south side of the Island"... Vineyard Gazette.