Adventures in History: Saving What Could be Lost

Walter has written a number of short stories on historical topics pertaining to family and friends.  His latest book, Looking East, is a compilation of several of these stories.  In this presentation, Walter shared what he terms “history adventures” based on, among other things, the birth of a grandchild, the purchase of an antique house, and the discovery of a ribbon-tied packet of letters in a trunk.  In Walter’s words, “Each one is its own tale, but each is equally important as an example of good ways to approach “saving history” for future generations. He hopes the audience takes away a new enthusiasm for recording the many personal family and local histories that surround all of us.”  

(Above: Walter reading a passage from his book during his presentation)  

Above. This is a sketch of the house, once owned by the Fiske family, that Walter and his wife bought when they moved to Holliston.  Owning an antique home led Walter to much research into its past, including many hours in the library at the Historical Society.

The ribbon-tied packet turned out to be letters to and from Hannah Smith and her family in Medfield in the 1810s and 20s.  Walter enjoyed reading about the daily lives of these ordinary people so much that he transcribed each letter and published a book, Hannah Smith A Medfield Girl.  Hannah and her sisters were employed in the straw-hat business as many families were in this area, including here in Holliston.  Straw hats were all the rage back then. They were imported from Europe and very expensive.  A 12-year-old girl from Rhode Island, Betsy Metcalf, reverse-engineered a hat, taking it down to its basic straw components, and realized that she could use locally-grown rye straw to make hats at a considerable savings.  Betsy later lived in Westwood, MA.  The cottage industry of braiding rye straw and making bonnets exploded in the next dozen and more years.  Hannah Smith got well involved in it by 1810, working in the towns near her home in Medfield.  Her mother, sisters, and friends wrote to her as she was doing this labor intensive work from 1810-1825.  Above is a photo of a plait (braid) of straw that would be used to make a hat.

Copies of Looking East are available for purchase at Aesop’s Fable and Fiske’s.  Copies of Hannah Smith A Medfield Girl are available from Mr. McClennen.  Text him at 508-782-3939.

Walter will be speaking again on May 8 at the Sherborn Public Library.

The Holliston Historical Society is a non-profit group whose mission is to preserve Holliston’s history and share it with our community.  Programs are open to the public and are generally followed by a social hour and refreshments.  We hope you will see something of interest and join us!  Our website is Hollistonhistoricalsociety.org.