On Monday, May 12 at the Town Meeting, Marionites will vote on whether or not to approve of the proposed historic district in their town. A 2/3 majority vote is necessary for the bylaw to pass. With all the talk of the town’s historic significance and maintained distinctive architecture, the preservation of Marion’s past and present “look” has been a mainstay of numerous town meetings and discussions. With that, it is prudent to discuss history in order to better understand said importance as well as have an informed vote this May.
What we today call “Marion” and the “Tri-Town” was not long ago part of various Wompanoag summer hunting grounds. At the time, the area was referred to as “Sippican,” the name of a local tribe possibly meaning “the land of many waters.” When English colonists arrived in the area in 1678-1679 (about 60 years after the founding of Plymouth), they adopted this name for their settlement. The small village of Sippican was a part of Rochester, as was issued by the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This was the case until 1852, when Mattapoisett, Rochester, and Sippican became separate towns.
Following the separation, in 1852, Sippican was renamed “Marion” after Revolutionary War commander Francis Marion. Francis was from the South and was an officer in the Continental Army’s 2nd South Carolina Regiment, though he would later be promoted to General. Marion specialized and favored asymmetrical warfare and guerilla tactics. This conserved material and personnel while throwing off conventional British strategy. Due to this and the successes garnered, he was promoted to Brigadier General of the South Carolina Militia. Towards the end of the war, Marion would work as a politician in South Carolina’s state government. Following the Treaty of Paris, Marion returned to his plantation, “Pond Bluff,” where he discovered it was destroyed by British troops and his slaves liberated or moved elsewhere. He would continue to run this plantation until his death in 1795 at the age of 63. Currently, there are 16 states with towns named after Francis Marion, with many more counties named for him spread across the country.
For much of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, the town relied on fishing, whaling, and trade. Not unlike other South Coast settlements. While Mattapoisett focused on shipbuilding and repair, Marion’s focus was on producing captains. According to the Sippican Historical Society, 87 captains lived in Marion. The wealth of these captains would translate into larger, more extravagant homes. Prominent whaling/captain families include Luce, Gibbs, Delanos, and Briggs. Captain Bejamin Spooner Briggs of the Mary Celeste was captain when the ship was discovered adrift and abandoned in the Atlantic in 1872 on its voyage from New York to Genoa.
When Rockefeller and others worked to make it easier to pull oil out of the ground than to get it from whale carcasses, the whaling industry on the South Coast died in the mid/late-19th century. Due to this and many other towns failing to diversify their economy away from the industry, the South Coast experienced an economic decline. This decline would persist throughout the century until the normalization of late-Victorian era tourism. Following the Civil War, the town was fairly stagnant with forces of old, that being old ship captains, maintaining the status quo.
The town needed a force of change – that would be Elizabeth Sprague Pitcher. Pitcher was born in 1791 off of Main Street. Pitcher longed to learn and teach and later became a schoolteacher in a schoolhouse in town. In 1862, she married Stephen Tabor, a clockmaker from Acushnet, and moved to New Bedford. Elizabeth Pitcher Taber would have three children, all of whom would die before the age of five. Her five brothers would also die either at sea or of illness. Finally, Stephen Tabor would die in 1862. This would leave Elizabeth without close family, though she still had amassed wealth. She and her husband had keenly invested in the railroads crossing the nation. In 1870, an 80-year-old Tabor would migrate back to Marion.
Funding and supervising various works, Tabor would see the construction of Tabor Library with a museum on the second floor. According to Sippican Historic Society, “Her funds paved roads, built stone walls, and planted trees. After sea captains built the Congregational Church, she donated an organ and constructed a stone chapel across the road for a children’s Sunday School.” She also largely paid for the construction of Town Hall and would pay for the Music Hall post-mortem. She had found purpose in helping uplift her birthplace. Her magnum opus would be the academy. In 1876, Tabor Academy was founded. The school would host its first class the following year. Elizabeth was passionate about education and believed the town’s residents were entitled to easily accessible and free schooling. In 1888, at the age of 97, Elizabeth Pitcher Tabor would die living at the academy. She is buried with her husband and children in Acushnet.
Tabor’s impact would indeed help facilitate the town’s tourism industry. Ironically, the industry that made her her wealth also would bring many to Marion – the railroad. Many would leave Boston or New York and voyage to a small village by the sea. The Century Magazine was first published in 1881 and its editor, artist Richard Watson Gilder, would host musicians, writers, and other prominent American figures at what is today Old Stone Studio. This would bring national fame to the town. Due to this fame, prominent vacationers and “snowbirds” include President Grover Cleavland, Author Henry James, President Franklin Roosevelt, Journalist Geraldo Rivera, and even actor James Spader.
The town of Marion today contains within it 350 years of history standing atop nearly 5000 years of native stories. The area is rich with tales of old and diverse in ideas and profession. The town has had its ups and downs but has stood the test of time, continuing to change and adapt. Even with the change, the town has been able to maintain its heritage and uniqueness, something many regions struggle with or are forced to abandon.
By Sam Bishop
