history

The Old Town Hall has wandered quite a bit in its 175 years. It was built in 1848 at a time when Lincoln needed a new civic gathering place. Until then, the town had used the original meetinghouse built in 1746 where today’s stone church now stands. The new Town House was built opposite the meetinghouse across Bedford Road, with its classic Greek Revival colonnade facing south over the town common, toward the town well and where the Minute Men had mustered in 1775 (photo #1). There it stood for forty years, witness to the Transcendentalist and Abolitionist movements, the Civil War, industrialization, and the early gentrification of Lincoln. It was a witness as well when the old meetinghouse burned to the ground in 1859.

In 1891, when George Bemis gave the town funds to build a new civic center, the Old Town Hall was put up for purchase. James L. Chapin (1824‑1902) bought the structure, moved it down the hill to a site just north of the today’s white church (photo #2), and put it to good use as a general store, post office and gathering place. Chapin’s son George continued the business until his death in 1918. The building was then purchased by Charles S. Smith. Again, the structure was jacked up and moved to its current site on Lincoln Road. Remarkably, as the building was moved down the hill in stages on rollers and props, the store and post office remained open, with planks set up for customer access during business hours (photo #3).

The Old Town Hall continued as post office and general store for much of the twentieth century (photo #4), operated by Elmer A. and Charles L. Rollins and finally by Alfred M. Davis. In the 1950s there were two gas pumps out front, the post office and post boxes inside on the right, glass candy counter and racks of cigars and bagged snacks with canned goods and necessities on shelves on the left, and a walk-in refrigerated room and meat counter with a hamburger grinder plus an ice cream/popsicle freezer in the back of the building. The second floor was at various times occupied by law and real estate offices and a small publisher. A watering trough outside was a stopover for horses, at least one of which was known to eat popsicles, spitting out the sticks. Needless to say, kids on foot or bicycle found the store a perfect place to spend their weekly allowance.

As the Davis era came to an end, the building was acquired in 1962 by the nonprofit Old Town Hall Corporation. Residents still come by daily to pick up their mail, just as they did in the Chapin era. The Old Town Hall Exchange offers an eclectic collection of interesting items for sale, many on consignment, as well as antiques displayed in the basement.

Around 1990, the original glass display cases so memorably used for candy and cigars in the Chapin/Davis era were moved to the library for use. A decade later, they were judged unsafe for the library and were on the verge of being thrown into a dumpster when they were rescued and moved back to the Old Town Hall, where they’re being reutilized by the Exchange in their old location.

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“Lincoln’s History” is an occasional column by members of the Lincoln Historical Society.

By the Lincoln250 Planning Committee

In May 1773, the British Parliament passed the widely unpopular Tea Act, and in December that same year, nearly 100 patriots dumped an entire shipment of East India Company tea into the Boston Harbor.

Four days after the Destruction of the Tea and again a week later, Lincoln’s Town Meeting took up a request from Boston leaders for the town’s support. The town’s own Committee of Correspondence drafted a reply, and Town Meeting members deliberated over the draft text. They were cautious about endorsing the destruction of private property, but they nevertheless approved a stirring response: “We cannot therefor but Commend the Spirited behaviour of the town of Boston in Endeavouring to prevent the sale of the East India Company’s teas by Endeavouring to perswade the Consigners to Resign their office or any other Lawfull means.” In addition, Lincoln residents resolved neither to purchase nor use tea so long as there was a duty on it, and to “hold and esteem such as Do use such tea Enemies to their Country.” ¹

On December 16, 2023, Boston will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Destruction of the Tea (the “Boston Tea Party” phrase was coined in the 1830s). On this day at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston, 46 tons of tea (valued at £9,659 — roughly $2 million today) was dumped over the sides of three British ships. Britain retaliated by passing the Coercive Acts, which were meant to end the rebellion in New England, but the opposite happened. Within months the “shot heard around the world” rang out in Concord. This marked the beginning of the American Revolution.

To learn more about the history of the Boston Tea Party or see upcoming events to celebrate the 250th, please click on the links below:

• Revolution250
• Minute Man National Historical Park
• National Park Service

Thank you to the Lincoln Library for recently hosting two events to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party! To learn more about Lincoln250 or watch for upcoming events in or around Lincoln to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the historic battles of Lexington and Concord, see the Lincoln250 website.
 
¹ MacLean, John C. (1987). A Rich Harvest: The History, Buildings, and People of Lincoln, Massachusetts (Lincoln Historical Society).

For years, Lincolites have known the field at the corner of Sandy Pond and Baker Bridge Roads as the Muster Field. But now, thanks to some historical correction, it’s been officially renamed Dakin Field.

Almost a dozen Dakins from all over gathered at the field on October 13 to witness the installation of a new sign above the wooden “Lincoln Conservation Land” sign. Lincoln’s Betsy Dakin and others in her clan wielded a power screwdriver to tighten the last couple of bolts.

The etched rock a few feet away says “Here men from the western part of town joined the Minute Men and militia marching from the town center” and quotes from an 1850 affidavit by Amos Baker, then a 94-year-old veteran of the Revolutionary War’s opening battle. So far, so good — Baker and several others — did indeed meet other Lincoln soldiers on that spot, according to local historian Rick Wiggin, a guest at the Dakin Field dedication and author of a 2021 Lincoln Squirrel article on this topic.

There were seven members of the Baker family who were in arms at Concord the morning of April 19, 1775: brothers Amos, Jacob, James, Nathaniel, and Samuel; their father, Jacob Sr.; and their brother-in-law, Daniel Hosmer. Jacob Sr. was probably there as a private citizen (probably too old to have been in the militia) to look out for the well-being of his sons and son-in-law. Three of their neighbors (Daniel, Nathan, and Timothy Billing) were also in arms at Concord as members of the Minute Man company, so it’s likely that they were with the Bakers as they rendezvoused with the two companies at Dakin’s Field. The Bakers and Billings all lived more or less along what is today Route 126 and Old Concord Road and Baker Bridge Road.

When the alarm rose, it wouldn’t have made sense for them to go to the Lincoln’s actual muster (gathering of troops) in the town center, where they drilled and where Bemis Hall now stands, and then pass to the field near their home again on the way to fight the British in Concord, Wiggin explained.

The field didn’t actually get its erroneous name until the early 1980s, when Sumner Smith was offering to sell several parcels of land to the town, Wiggin said. His ancestors had bought the land from the Dakins and some years earlier, had given another large parcel to the town for the schools (hence Smith School, the name of the southern end of the Lincoln School when it was treated as a separate middle school).

The town couldn’t afford all the land being offered in 1983; “they were about to let this field go for development,” Wiggin said, until the late Henry Rugo (a charter member of the modern Lincoln Minute Men) stood up at Town Meeting and protested, saying, “This is where the Lincoln Minute Men mustered!” or words to that effect. Given the parcel’s apparently valuable historical significance, the town went ahead and bought it.

The story became local lore and the boulder dedicating the “Muster Field” was dedicated on the 225th anniversary of the battle in 2000. (The erroneous history can also be found on page 151 of the A Guide to Conservation Land in Lincoln.) It was another example of a misstatement inadvertently becoming received knowledge, “but it saved the land, and that’s the important thing,” Dakin said.

The Dakin family has not been continuous in Lincoln since the Revolution. Betsy Dakin moved here to Ryan Estate from Plainville several years ago. She had an idea of the family’s earlier connection to Lincoln and she was curious to find the site of the old homestead, “so I did some detective work,” she said. “I was delighted that it was conservation land — I was afraid I’d have to knock on the door” of a newer house standing on the spot.The Dakin name lives on in the area — the LEAP School, a Sudbury preschool, moved into the former Dakin Homestead at 123 Dakin Road in 1998.

Here’s your SAT word for the day: “semiquincentennial.” That means 250th anniversary, which is coming up for the United States — and Lincoln and neighboring towns will be deeply involved in the celebration.

The Select Board has established the Lincoln250 Planning Committee to “identify thoughtful, creative, and inclusive opportunities to celebrate Lincoln’s contributions to the American Revolution” starting with the historic battles of Concord and Lexington in April 1775.

“Lincoln250 is committed to engaging our community in a variety of events that will bring together residents of all ages and backgrounds to learn and enjoy our place in history,” said committee chair and Select Board member Kim Bodnar. The group, which held its first meeting on September 25, held a logo contest, which was won by Lincolnite Lis Herbert.

The group envisions events beginning in 2024 and extending through July 2026 and is pursuing grant opportunities to fund some of the events and services for the expected influx of visitors. One of those possibilities is a shuttle service between Concord, Lexington and Lincoln, which was the focus of a 2021 feasibility study.

Although the semiquincentennial is a statewide effort, “there’s no question communities like Lincoln, Lexington and Concord will eventually be at the top of the line to get some serious funding,” State Sen. Michael Barrett said in July, when the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism received a $1 million grant to hire staff and coordinate with cities and towns.

“The objective here in general is to celebrate groups that were marginalized in past celebrations — we’re talking about enslaved people, members of minority groups, women, and Native Americans. We certainly want to include the folks who carried the muskets and who were the demographics majority of the time the American Revolution, too, but the idea is to broaden the lens and widen the celebration,” Barrett said.

Lincoln250 is also collaborating with the Battle Road communities of Arlington, Concord, and Lexington as well as the Minuteman National Historical Park and Hanscom Air Force Base.

To learn more or volunteer at Lincoln250 events or activities, email Bodnar at bodnark@lincolntown.org. Activity and event information will be posted on the town website and will soon have its own web page.

Other members of the Lincoln250 Planning Committee are:

• Chris Bibbo, DPW Superintendent
• Brianna Doo, Parks and Recreation Department
• Amanda Fargo, committee liaison to Lincoln’s businesses
• Donald Hafner, Historical Society and member of Lincoln Minute Men
• Tim Higgins, Town Administrator
• Chief Kevin Kennedy and Lieutenant Sean Kennedy of the Lincoln Police
• Sara Mattes, committee liaison to Lincoln’s nonprofit organizations, Historical Society, and Bemis Trustee
• Kim Rajdev, School Committee
• Rachel Marie Schachter, Bemis Trustee
• Ray Shepard, Lincoln’s representative on Massachusetts Special Commission on the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution and Lincoln Library Trustee
• Rick Wiggin, member of Lincoln Minute Men

Minute Man National Historical Park is in the early stages of getting a $27 million facelift, due to be finished in time for the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution in 2025.

The grant from the Great American Outdoors Act will fund repairs to the park’s buildings, structures, landscape, trails, signage, monuments, and statues. Phase 1 of the project includes interior and exterior rehabilitation and preservation work on 16 historic structures, including the repair or upgrade of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems in buildings including the 1740 Elisha Jones house and the 1692 Capt. William Smith House.

The Battle Road will also be repaired, and the landscaping will also get attention, such as pruning and replanting, repairing stone walls, and improving the “views and vistas,” according to this video about the project that began late last year.

In 2021, the park had 983,000 visitors who spent an estimated $64 million in local communities, according to the National Park Service.

The Lincoln Town Hall is home to plenty of historically valuable documents — but until now, few if any of them were hand-stitched.

The Lincoln Town Archives and Lincoln Historical Society recently put on display a sampler created in 1826 by 13-year-old Sophia Adams. The artifact is in a climate-controlled case just down the hall from the Town Clerk’s office, and former Town Clerk Susan Brooks (one of those who was involved in the project) pulled the string at the official unveiling.

Samplers are pieces of embroidery worked in various types of stitching that were commonly created by girls and young women as a demonstration of their skills and perseverance. Many samplers are family registers, recording the births, marriages, and deaths in the life of a family. The Adams sampler was donated to the town in 2017 by Cynthia Williams, whose husband was a great-grandson of the young seamstress.

Sophia lived on Route 2A in Lincoln (the Battle Road) on what was then known as Foster’s farm, very close to the Paul Revere capture site. There were two houses on the property: one where the Smiths lived that’s still standing across from the end of Bedford Road; the other was a rental that became the Foster-Winship­-Adams residence where Sophia worked on her sampler, according to research done by Lincoln historians.

The names and dates give insight into the often-too-short lives of people in that era. It begins with the 1759 birth of Joseph Adams, a distant cousin of President John Adams, and lists his first marriage to Betsey Davis, who died at age 34, less than two weeks after her youngest son’s birth. Having five chil­dren to raise, Joseph married Rebecca Patch just over two years later. This was short-lived as Rebecca died within nine months. The sampler records that he then married Mehitable Hildreth, who bore him three children, the youngest being Sophia.

Mehitable died when Sophia was six, and Joseph was married for the last time in 1821 to Lincoln widow Lydia Winship (nee Wheeler), who may have taught So­phia to sew. Lydia owned the Foster property, which had been left to her on the death of her first husband, Benjamin Winship, in 1819. Winship had originally purchased the land from widow Catherine Louisa Smith, whose husband Captain William Smith was a younger brother of Abigail Adams, wife of the second President. Benjamin and Lydia Winship had only one daughter, also named Lydia, who died at age 16. All three of them have their final resting place at Meeting House Burial Ground behind Bemis Hall.

At 31.5 inches by 21.5 inches, the sampler is especially significant because it is quite large compared to other samplers of its time. Sophia’s silk stitching (which includes cross, satin, split stem and French knot stitches) was embroidered onto a particularly fine plain weave fabric with a plain weave cotton backing. Due to the fineness of the backing, unlike the coarser linen backing used on many samplers, this would have been especially chal­lenging for a 13-year-old to stitch.

“I’m rather amazed with the care and protection of this rather important textile, and I commend all of you for doing that. For me, it was a very unique piece,” said Deidre Windsor, who carried out the painstaking preservation. Among her other projects: restoring an 18th-century embroidered silk kerchief owned by the Old State House and Old South Meeting House that was damaged in a water leak.

When she first encountered the sampler, which had been hanging on the wall of the Williams home, “it was quite gray” from soil and dust, had some insect holes, and was attached to an acidic backing, Windsor said. The nearly translucent fabric was too delicate to withstand water, so the cleaning was done using a special type of vacuum cleaner and gentle sponging. Because the fabric was so thin, it was hard to keep in place while Sophia was sewing, “so her lines have a bit of a wiggle.” 

Lincoln voters approved a Community Preser­vation Act grant of $17,675 in 2017 to restore So­phia’s sampler and prepare it for public display at Town Offices, including framing it with mu­seum-quality UV filtering acrylic and building an archival box set into the wall with four preconditioned packets of silica gel to keep the air inside at 45% humidity.

By Sara Mattes

“Did you know…?” that Lincoln had the first bomb shelter in New England and possibly the first in the United States?

The Storrows’ bomb shelter was so newsworthy in 1940 that the Wide World photo service circulated this photo nationally. It even appeared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

The puzzle is: Why did the Storrows think they needed a bomb shelter? Granted, Europe had been at war for over a year, and the United States had started drafting young men into the military. But the U.S. was not yet at war, and the attack on Pearl Harbor was more than a year away. Did Helen and James Storrow really think that Hitler would send bombers across the Atlantic just to attack their home in Lincoln? Tell us what you know about the Storrows’ bomb shelter and help us fill out the story.

Are you curious about other people or places in Lincoln’s history?  Tell us your question, and we will try to respond with another “Did You Know…?” Send your suggestions to president@lincolnhistoricalsociety.org.

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“Lincoln’s History” is an occasional column by members of the Lincoln Historical Society.