By Stewart Coffin
When we moved to Lincoln in 1964, there were five farms all in a row on Old Sudbury Road, and that’s not even counting Drumlin Farm nearby and Ellen Raja’s sheep right across the road. First came Boyce Farm, still actively growing vegetables. Next came Van Leer’s, which was no longer an active dairy farm but instead leased to Watertown Dairy for growing sweet corn. Then our nine-acre farm, formerly Arborway Nurseries. Next, Ray Bowles and his sister Bertha were still hanging on to the old family farm.
Finally, Gus Schumacher had many acres under cultivation right up to Lincoln Road. Not much has changed over the years except for the Schumacher land, which is now developed as Longmeadow Road.
Only once did I have a golden opportunity to chat with Gus Schumacher, and oh how I wish that I had taken some notes. He had heard that I repaired canoes and kayaks, and he wanted to know if I would repair his Old Town sailing dinghy, which of course I offered to do. While I worked, he sat close by and chatted. He once had a vegetable farm in Manhattan, of all places, and he relocated to Lincoln in 1938. His specialty was root crops such as beets, carrots, and turnips. The soil was said to be exceptionally favorable, deep, and free of rocks (much the same as ours). He hired immigrant labor, and we could sometimes overhear them talking, probably in Spanish.
And now the story of the sailing dinghy. Although no longer farming in Manhattan, Gus and his family still had a summer place on Long Island that was right next to Sumner Welles’s. At that time in the early 1940s, Welles was Undersecretary of State under Cordell Hull. I remember both names well. As it happens, Welles was in line to be the next Secretary of State but in 1943 he became involved in a sex scandal with other men, possibly while drunk. Nowadays it might not have made a big stir, but back then…! So that promptly ended his career. His third wife ran off with one of their interns, the Welles property (including the dinghy), went up for auction, and that is how Gus acquired the boat.
Quite a story, but I wish I remembered more. I did a good repair job, so I wonder where that dinghy is now and if the present owners realize its history.
And now, for a slight change of subject, with inflation once again in the news because of the upcoming elections, I have updated my statistical study of the subject that readers might find quite interesting. See this and other writings on various topics on my website, stewartcoffin.com.
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