Revolution Resonates from Graves of Forgotten

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David Schafer, registrar and genealogist from 2016 to 2023 and now chapter of the Cape Cod and Islands of Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), was the speaker at the September 18 meeting of the Rochester Historical Society.

            Schafer began his PowerPoint presentation with the recounting of an event 250 years ago this September when men from Rochester, Wareham, Sandwich and Plymouth converged on the Barnstable Courthouse on September 27, 1774, to prevent the judges from meeting in order to prevent cases to move to courts controlled by Great Britain.

            Schafer then moved on to the heart of his presentation, explaining the steps necessary for locating an ancestor who had fought in the Revolutionary War.

            These searches are dear to the hearts of members of both the Sons and Daughters of the Revolution. He explained that a search often begins with a grave in a cemetery. The gravestone would have name, possibly birth date and death date. If the dates line up with the timeline of the war, there is a series of steps to follow and websites to visit. He left handouts that can be picked up at the RHS Museum.

            One place to start is the listing of Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors. One can then move to websites of the SAR and DAR beginning with the last name and verifying the biographical information. The next step is to look up the Patriot Index Cards. These can be found at MA, Rev War Index Cards to Muster Rolls, 1775-1783 at familysearch.org/search/collection/2548057.

            Theses index cards were created when, in 1891, the Massachusetts General Court directed the State Secretary to compile volumes of Muster/Payroll and various papers (1763-1808) of the Revolutionary War and create index cards (a primary source) with the soldier’s name and a description of service. At the bottom of the card are the page and volume numbers of the Muster/Payroll records from 1763 to 1808. The Massachusetts Archives have about 250 volumes of these.

            Another source of information after service has been identified are the pension records. In 1815, the first Pension Act was passed and then modified in 1820. In 1836, a pension for surviving widows was passed. These records fill in the additional names of family members and the names of those who served, along with the person named on the pension document.

            Schafer then walked us through three searches of names on gravestones in Rochester Center: Jonathan Church, Lemuel Clark and Jonathan King. He also discussed the research done by Bruce Bassett to find and verify the records of his ancestor, Thomas Bassett, also buried in the cemetery. There will be a ceremony on Saturday, October 26, at 11:00 am at the Dexter Lane cemetery to mark Bassett’s grave and all (especially members of the Bassett and Mendall families) are invited.

            Schafer began his presentation saying that cemeteries are actually a community of the 1700s and those in them are removed from today by seven, eight or nine generations. He said that these Revolutionary soldiers are the people who made the war for independence happen, more than all the famous names such as Adams, Washington, Jefferson, etc. that are found in textbooks.

            It was the passion for independence held by these soldiers that powered the fight. While the famous names will be remembered, it is only by finding and marking the graves of the regular soldiers and sailors that we can preserve their memories. The meeting ended with questions, refreshments and conversations.

By Connie Eshbach

Upcoming Events at the Elizabeth Taber Library

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Join Miss Macy for story times every Tuesday and Thursday at 10:30, starting in October.

            Join us at the library for Ghosts and Legends with Jeff Belanger, Friday October 11 at 6:30. For over 20 years, Jeff Belanger has been exploring the unexplained. He seeks out history, folklore, ghosts, monsters, and legends all over the world and in your backyard. His talk presents highlights from his own adventures, a look at the investigation process, and compelling audio and visual paranormal evidence. Not just focused on ghost stories, Belanger’s presentation will delve into the reasons behind the legends. Call the library to register for this free event.

            Support the library by enjoying a delicious dinner and lively book discussion at a Marion neighbor’s home at Tables of Content, a fundraising event for the Elizabeth Taber Library – Sunday, October 20 & Friday, October 25. Go to the library’s website to register, select your book choices and date, get your book assignment & start reading, receive your dinner location and enjoy your evening. Tickets are $75 per person; all proceeds benefit the library. Learn more and view title options by visiting our website.

            For more information on the Elizabeth Taber Library, visit us at www.ElizabethTaberLibrary.org or call us at 508-748-1252.

Mattapoisett Community Preservation

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The Mattapoisett Community Preservation Committee will be accepting project funding applications for Committee consideration and presentation at the Spring 2025 Annual Town Meeting. The Project Application will be available on the Town Website and in Paper form at the Selectmen’s Office on October 4.

            Submit completed applications by November 6 to Mattapoisett Community Preservation Committee, c/o Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen’s Office, PO Box 435, 16 Main Street, Mattapoisett, MA 02739

            Each project request must be submitted to the CPA Committee using the Project Application Form. Nine (9) copies of the application package must be provided to the Committee. For information and questions email cwmccullough@comcast.net. Application submission due date is November 6.

Taste of Our Towns Event

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To the Editor,

            The Taste of Our Towns Event on September 16, benefiting Turning Point, was a huge success. We want to thank all of the sponsors, donors, volunteers and food vendors who participated and made this a night to remember.

            A variety of local restaurants and food vendors provided absolutely amazingly delicious dishes. Other southcoast establishments provided financial contributions, and Wareham/New Bedford Elks Lodge #73 provided our event venue, as well as continued support to Turning Point throughout the year. Many, many local merchants and volunteers donated gift cards and baskets for our raffle. In addition, participants enjoyed fabulous music from Frank Noonan/The Southcoast Musicians. We are so grateful for all of the amazing community support. The funds raised at this event will go directly to helping the homeless and housing insecure in our area. We hope to see you all again at next year’s Taste of Our Towns.

            Sincerely,

Chuck McCullough, President, Board of Directors, WACH/Turning Point

The views expressed in the “Letters to the Editor” column are not necessarily those of The Wanderer, its staff or advertisers. The Wanderer will gladly accept any and all correspondence relating to timely and pertinent issues in the great Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester area, provided they include the author’s name, address and phone number for verification. We cannot publish anonymous, unsigned or unconfirmed submissions. The Wanderer reserves the right to edit, condense and otherwise alter submissions for purposes of clarity and/or spacing considerations. The Wanderer may choose to not run letters that thank businesses, and The Wanderer has the right to edit letters to omit business names. The Wanderer also reserves the right to deny publication of any submitted correspondence. All letters must be typed and submitted directly to: news@wanderer.com.

New Faces Kick-Start New Year

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The Marion School Committee on September 19 made Sippican Elementary School the last of the district’s six schools to approve its own 2024-2025 School Improvement Plan.

            “This is our last stop,” Superintendent Michael Nelson said as he led the Marion committee to the approval vote. He noted that five of the six schools in the district have accepted their own improvement plan, and the Sippican School plan was now ready to follow along.

            Sippican’s new principal, Lynn Dessert, said the school shares five strategic objectives with the other district schools’ plans and the district’s Vision 2028 New Strategic Plan. One important aspect of the improvement plan, she said, is a focus on cultivating student success. Another is Climate and Culture, which, she said, quoting from the plan itself, provides “an inclusive, equitable and positive climate and culture in all schools that promotes sense of belonging for all school community members.”

            Nelson explained in a meeting last year that all the of the district’s local schools will have a one-year improvement plan, then go back to two-year models to be in sync with ORR’s five-year plan. The categories of Mission, Vision and Core Values are the same across the district, especially in terms of literacy and curriculum.

            The committee on September 19 also approved the Sippican School’s Student Handbook for 2024-2025, with notable changes.

            Sippican’s new assistant principal, Gregory Thomas, said the biggest changes beyond the listing of new staff include the bus arrival and departure times that students should note. Also, there is a new policy banning the wearing of decorative footwear or flip-flops for safety reasons, and a change to the policy banning cellular telephones. Smart watches have been added to that ban, he said, because their use is the current trend.

            In other action, the committee accepted additional grant funding from the Civics Teaching and Learning grant program in the amount of $32,000 and a grant from the Tri-Town Education Foundation totaling $689.47.

            Nelson reported the total amount of cafeteria meals served in 2023-2024 were 12,000 breakfasts and 39,000 lunches.

            The committee reappointed April Nye as chairperson and Nichole Daniel as vice chair.

            Nelson reported a Joint School Committee meeting has been scheduled for Thursday, September 26, in the ORR Junior High media room at 133 Marion Road, Mattapoisett. But that date, he said, is subject to change based on people’s availability.

            The Marion School Committee will next meet on Thursday, October 24, at 6:00 pm at Sippican School, 16 Spring Street.

Marion School Committee

By Michael J. DeCicco

Mattapoisett Sustainability Partnership’s First Fall Cleanup

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Picture this: a serene beach at sunrise, waves gently lapping the shore, and seagulls doing their best impression of a morning choir. But wait—what’s that? A plastic bottle half-buried in the sand, like an unwelcome guest at a beach party. Earth cleanups are our chance to kick out those uninvited guests—litter, trash, and waste—and restore our natural spaces.

            Join the Mattapoisett Sustainability Partnership for our First Fall Cleanup on Saturday, October 26, from 9 am to noon at the Mattapoisett Free Public Library, 7 Barstow Street. Get an area assignment or choose a site. Supplies are provided.

            Earth cleanups are the stitches that mend our wounded Earth, one discarded plastic bottle or wrapper at a time. So Mattapoisett, let’s organize, mobilize, and sanitize. Whether it’s our local park cleanup, neighborhood, or a beach bonanza, every piece of trash you pick up is a love letter to our planet.

            Please go to the Mattapoisett Free Public Library website, October Calendar of Events to register.

Grow Education Farm-to-School Program

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Superintendent Michael S. Nelson is pleased to announce that Sippican Elementary School has partnered with the Marion Institute to participate in the Grow Education Farm-to-School (Grow FTS) program for the second year in a row.

            “We are very happy to partner for another year with the Marion Institute to offer this program to students,” said Superintendent Nelson. “Our students and staff enjoyed the first year, discovering new healthy habits and learning from Grow FTS leaders. They had many fun and hands-on educational experiences while beautifying the Sippican School grounds.”

            The Marion Institute’s Grow FTS program works within school districts to build a more equitable food system that promotes ecological literacy, health and sustainability. It supports teachers, engages families and educates students in creating healthier eating and living habits. This program currently partners with 23 regional elementary schools, serving students and staff in grades three and four in four school districts.

            Grow FTS and the Sippican School are working together to provide another year of positive learning experiences for students.

            Year two consists of much of the same programming as the previous year, including outdoor classroom activities and providing a curriculum that directly correlates with classroom lessons and professional development for staff members. This year, the Grow FTS program will reinforce the importance of nutrition, healthy eating and living habits more intensely. Additionally, the Marion Institute recently partnered with AmeriCorps staff to place a FoodCorps member in the school at least twice a week to directly oversee the lessons embedded into the classroom, the cafeteria and the community.

            During the first Grow FTS, Sippican Elementary School’s third-grade students and teachers were supported by Nate Sander, the Marion Institute’s Grow Education Program Manager, for outdoor garden lessons throughout the school year. Students learned about science while beautifying their school by planting a variety of fast growing crops in Sippican’s newly-built raised gardening beds. They learned how the sun and soil work together to produce an environment conducive for plants to grow and thrive.

            “We are thrilled to be working with the Sippican Elementary School again,” said Marion Institute Executive Director Liz Wiley. “The students, teachers and administration have all been so supportive and welcoming. Sippican was the site of our very first Grow Education garden. Since then, our program has expanded to include year-round farm-to-school lessons that utilize the gardens as outdoor classrooms that excite and engage students to learn more about where their food comes from, how it is grown and why making healthy food choices matter to their bodies and the environments.”

            Throughout the program’s first year, third-graders and staff members attended “virtual field trips” and heard from guest speakers involved in the program during the winter months. Sippican students conducted a butterfly study and spring planting, as well as a harvest workshop and a planting workshop this summer.

MRC Preps to Talk Space with Town Leaders

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The meeting of the Marion Marine Resources Commission originally envisioned with the Select Board will probably take place in November, so its September 17 public meeting became the commission’s forum to prepare to address the Select Board.

            “I told them in general we want to discuss Island Wharf management and that we had many questions,” said MRC Chairman Vin Malkoski. “So they, of course, would just like a little fair warning what the questions are going to be so that they can go find the answers. And some of the answers we know probably don’t exist just yet, we’ve got to work that out. But we just need to get that discussion going.

            “As people have mentioned, if the swales weren’t there, there would be more room for people to park, use the facility, that sort of thing. But changing that, of course, would require talking to the (Conservation Commission) and seeing what, if anything, is possible – if it can be redone. And, of course, there would be costs associated with it if they can be changed. And if they can’t, it is what it is.”

            Amidst growing concerns about limited space, Malkoski mused that a discussion about the location of the bandstand may be worth a try. Boat ramps could be considered for relocation as well.

            MRC member Michael Moore noted ideas that have been floated regarding the future of the former sporting-goods shop across Front Street from Old Landing and whether that land might be considered to park boat trailers.

            “You have to remember that Old Landing is a memorial park, too,” said MRC member Scott Cowell.

            Moore clarified that he was only speaking about the land across the street. Malkoski assured Cowell that no one is proposing a compromise of Old Landing as a memorial park.

            The MRC members agree that the town is running out of space at Island Wharf, and from that emanates a variety of concerns.

            One of the talking points the MRC wants in a discussion with the Select Board is, as Malkoski put it, “on paper we own the place, but we’re the last ones to hear about changes periodically. We want to make sure that doesn’t continue.”

            MRC member Cheryl Souza asked for clarification on whether the Waterways Account would be the hypothetical buyer of the land across from Old Landing or whether the town at large would be the buyer because it might be the collector of any revenues from boat-trailer storage, etc.

            Cowell recalled the MRC spending money to revamp the Atlantis Drive location to serve as the Harbormaster’s winter storage/maintenance facility until the town sold the property and the Harbormaster Department was left out in the cold where it concerns shelter and storage.

            “We never got a penny out of it, we never were asked,” said Cowell, explaining that it’s in the MRC’s interests to buy the property opposite Old Landing (rather than the town at large) and thereby assume control.

            Even so, said Malkoski, the timeline for such an action is complicated because recent expenditures such as half of the money it took to buy a new patrol boat has (pending an ongoing pursuit of grant funding) diminished the Waterways Account, an enterprise fund derived from harbor-related fees such as moorings and licenses.

            As for speculation regarding the property in question, Malkoski said, “there are a lot of what-if’s here.”

            Grant funding, as attractive as it may be to mitigate the hit from a purchase of land, might leverage a change in access rules, which, Malkoski noted, could defeat the entire purpose of such an acquisition.

            Management and maintenance at the site would “stretch the boundaries of the Waterways (Account),” according to Malkoski. “We have lots of questions; I don’t know that we want to dump all this on (the Select Board) at this next meeting. … Something has to give.”

            Cowell considers adding a new entryway to the water at Old Landing to be problematic in that the new traffic it would invite would cancel the predicated benefits.

            Malkoski said he would contact the Conservation Commission about the swales at Island Wharf. Moore suggested a pervious surface for any work at the site.

            “I think we’ll be fighting a headwind in all of this,” said MRC member Greg Houdelette, alluding to discussion regarding the location of the bandstand, among other things.

            The MRC plans to delegate sections of Harbor Regulations review to individual commissioners with a goal of getting its proposed changes in place by the end of the calendar year.

            The commission discussed moorings, including the possibility of color-coding commercial moorings. The members also talked about floats and appropriate fees per size regulations.

            The MRC yet awaits a new breakdown on the Waterways Account in the wake of staffing changes in the Harbormaster Department and indirect costs.

            Malkoski thinks setting fee increases without all that information would be a mistake, whether it sets the department back or generates an inappropriate surplus. The idea, he said, is to operate on a balanced budget and stay slightly ahead of the challenge of offering services at the most affordable prices.

            In the interest of fairness, Souza suggested a 25-foot minimum as a basis for mooring fees.

            The Marion Marine Resources Commission may flex its next two regular meeting dates that fall on October 14 and November 11 holidays. For now, the next scheduled meeting of the MRC will be held on Monday, October 14, at 7:00 pm at the Police Station on Route 6.

Marion Marine Resources Commission

By Mick Colageo

Before Rochester, There Was … Rochester

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At the beginning of September, we made a trip to England.

            We had moved to Rochester from Plymouth exactly five years ago and thought visiting the town of Rochester, England, would be interesting.

            Rochester, Massachusetts was officially incorporated on June 4, 1686, as Rochester, named for Rochester, England, from which early settlers to the town came.Rochester was founded on lands called “Sippican” by the local Wampanoags.

            The English town is located in the county of Kent, about 20 miles southeast of London. The town is lovely. Rochester is the second-oldest diocese in England, with a medieval castle built during the reign of Henry I in the 1120s along on the River Medway.

            The castle has survived in amazing condition. Consisting of three floors above a basement, the magnificent ruin still stands 113 feet high. The lawns around the castle are used for play and picnicking by local residents and their children.

            Directly across from the castle is Rochester Cathedral, which dates mostly from the 12th and 13th centuries and is said to be the second oldest cathedral in England. It was built at the transition between Norman and early English Gothic architecture, and the cathedral merges both styles. Rochester Cathedral has an active program of concerts, exhibitions and activities throughout the year.

            We spent part of a day taking photos in and around the castle and cathedral and strolling the shops and restaurants in the lovely town. The town holds festivals during the year, including two festivals held in Charles Dickens’ honor, the Dickens and Dickensian Christmas Festival.

            The town boasts connections to Charles Dickens. It’s a lovely place to visit when you are in the south of England.

Dr. and Mrs. Ken Laytin

Machacam Club

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The next meeting of the Machacam Club is scheduled for Wednesday October 2. We meet at the American Legion Hall on Depot Street. Social time begins at 5 pm followed by dinner at 6 pm. Our speaker will be introduced at 6:40 pm. Chef Colby is planning another satisfying meal. Callers, please transmit your counts by 9 pm Monday, September 30. Please submit inquiries to cwmccullough@comcast.net.