Tick Tock -- Story of Time

Sometimes an object you have walked past a thousand times without a second glance suddenly takes on new meaning because of a chance encounter. This homely, somewhat battered patent timepiece (commonly called a “banjo clock”) is such an example.

This clock (19xx-11), which has been in the Storrs House Museum for decades, came from the Storrs family. This type of clock was made famous by Simon Willard of Roxbury and Grafton, MA, but was widely copied by other clockmakers. Called Banjo clocks because of the resemblance to the shape of a banjo, the design was patented in 1802 by Simon Willard. The glass panel was often decorated by an eglomise design, or reverse painting. While many of these paintings are completely imaginary scenes, occasionally the painting represented a real place.

The clock in the Longmeadow Historical Society’s collection has had a troubled past—it is currently not in running condition, and it was reportedly damaged in a break-in in 1970 (see History Note about the recovered Goldthwait gun). The Historical Society was fortunate to have a visiting curator from Historic Deerfield visit the museum recently. The goal of the visit was to obtain some information about several pieces of furniture in the collection. He walked into the south parlor, and immediately recognized the eglomise painting in the banjo clock! He pulled out his phone, and instantly located a photo of a Staffordshire plate with the same design!

The image on the clock’s glass panel turned out to represent the Mount Pleasant Institute, a school for boys once located in Amherst, MA. The school was founded in 1827 by an 1826 Amherst College graduate and Longmeadow native Chauncey Colton (1800-1876), along with his brother-in-law Francis Fellowes. The school was only in operation from 1827 to 1832, and had as its second enrollee, none other than Henry Ward Beecher!

The building depicted on the clock no longer exists in its entirety, but parts of the building still stand in Amherst.

-Contributed by Betsy McKee, Longmeadow Historical Society Board Member

Sources:

Carpenter, Edward Wilton and Charles Frederick Morehouse. History of the Town of Amherst, Massachusetts.Amherst, Mass.: Press of Carpenter & Morehouse, 1896. 271.

"Mount Pleasant Classical Institute" from Digital Amherst. https://www.digitalamherst.org/exhibits/show/teaching/mount-pleasant-institute

Sousa, Dan, "The Mount Pleasant Classical Institution: A Rarity of American Historical Staffordshire." TCC Bulletin, 2021 Vol. XXII No. 1,7. https://www.transferwarecollectorsclub.org/sites/default/files/bulletins/21_tccxxii_no1-feature.pdf

Cats of Longmeadow

perhaps Tommy Cordis (b.1884) Cordis Family Collection

Upon hearing that the Dogs of Longmeadow were highlighted in a recent History Note, the cats of Longmeadow took umbrage, as they are inclined to do. So in an effort to be fair and just, this week the Longmeadow Historical Society brings you… The Cats of Old Longmeadow. Unlike their canine counterparts, cats are notoriously more private, and thus there are far fewer images of them in our archives. After all, it seems one can never find a cat that does not wish to be found. Make no mistake, though. Cats have been welcome and helpful members of Longmeadow households for generations.

"Mr. Comstock and cat" December 1913 Emerson Collection/ Longmeadow Historical Society

The Longmeadow Historical Society also has several 19th century children’s books in our collection, and within their pages are charming stories and illustrations of children and their cats. Cats have always made wonderful subjects for children’s books. The word “C-A-T” is a friendly one to an early reader, and the antics they can get into often spell humorous “T-R-O-U-B-L-E.” One charming little book titled “Ann and Ellen and the Little Kitten” tells a tale of the woe that falls upon little Ann who doesn’t heed her mother’s instructions to admire, but not pick up, the kitten. Inevitably, the girl disobeys her mother’s command. The kitten scratches the young Ann's face, and when she cries to her mother she is reminded that had she obeyed her mother in the first place the injury never would have happened. Exactly the moral lesson these books were made to impart.

A popular moral: Obey your parents or pay the price. Longmeadow Historical Society Collection

Grandmamma's Book of Rhymes, 1848

Longmeadow Historical Society Collection

The Child's Guide, 1849 Longmeadow Historical Society Collection

No doubt, the many farms in Longmeadow would have had cats around to keep the mice at bay, rather than for the companionship they are so prized for today. The Storrs House Museum could certainly benefit from a good cat or two these days to handle the mice. Alas, that task has fallen to our board president, Al McKee, who comes to check the traps on a regular basis. A fine mouser indeed!

Booth Family Photo Album

Longmeadow Historical Society Collection

Booth Family Photo Album

Longmeadow Historical Society Collection

Contributed by Melissa M. Cybulski, Board member, Longmeadow Historical Society

Originally published February 11, 2021

Dogs of Longmeadow

Any morning and any late afternoon in Longmeadow you are sure to see promenading down the sidewalks and side streets of our town the proud dogs of Longmeadow out for their walks, accompanied by their faithful owners. All shapes, all sizes. Some shaggy, fluffy, and straining against leashes to chase a scampering squirrel. Others are sleek, dignified, and clearly pleased by their own elegance and good training. No matter the weather, out they come!

This week, we’d like to share images of some dogs of Longmeadow from days of yore. It is striking how even more than a hundred years ago, these dogs seem so much a part of the families with which they pose.

Unidentified Man and 2 dogs, Longmeadow Green

Cordis Family Collection

Unidentified Woman and Pug Cordis Family Collection

Kempton Family, 1909

Emerson Collection

"P.M. Taylor Back Piazza" 1910 Emerson Collection

Did you know that dog licensing money was integral to the town’s school and library funding for many years? In 1880, the town appropriated $139.50 of “Dog Money” for the schools. In 1895, the first year the town supported an official town library (which occupied a modest spare room in the rear of the town office building), the Annual Report mentions the amount appropriated for the library as “$25 + dog money.” That remained the case for decades to follow. Every town meeting warrant featured an article asking voting residents to “decide what use shall be made of the dog money... “. From 1895-1974, it appears that this money was specifically used to supplement whatever the town budgeted for library funding. What a great trade-off - register your dog AND support your town library!

"Mrs. Craig's South Park Avenue, 1915

Emerson Collection

"Carl Withe, 41 Longmeadow Street" undated

Emerson Collection

"P.M. Taylor, girls and front door" 1910 Emerson Collection

All images here are courtesy of the Emerson Collection at the Longmeadow Historical Society and the Cordis Family Collection.

Contributed by Melissa M. Cybulski, Board member, Longmeadow Historical Society

Originally published January 21, 2021