Standish, or "Why don't you speak for yourself, John?"

Have you ever heard of a standish? Besides the Pilgrim story of Miles Standish, I hadn't either. Long before Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote his epic poem about the Pilgrim love triangle between John Alden, Miles Standish, and Priscilla Mullins, the term "standish" meant something else entirely. Maybe you're more familiar with the term inkwell or inkstand? The Longmeadow Historical Society has several inkwells, including this somewhat beat-up pewter one:

Pewter Standish, 19xx-205

This homely, well-used object in the LHS collection was purported to belong to the Reverend Stephen Williams (1693-1782). Williams was Longmeadow's first minister, and served the town for 66 years. The Williams parsonage burned in 1846, and many objects belonging to him were saved and brought to the Storrs House, then the home of his granddaughter Sarah (see the History Note "Fire, Fire!" published on June 16, 2022). The items saved from the conflagration included furniture, diaries, textiles, snowshoes, and this inkstand.

The inkstand has touchmarks--impressed marks that identify the maker. I set out to identify the maker from the mark.

I had no luck with my meager collection of reference books. Next, I consulted the metals expert at a local museum. She was unable to find the mark in her references, and suggested we contact a notable pewter dealer from Connecticut. From there we were directed to the Pewter Society in England. This august organization, which often collaborates with the Pewter Collectors Club of America, promptly identified the mark as a product of Richard Hoare, who worked from Angel Alley, Bishopsgate, London from 1664, and probably died in 1704. They went on to explain that one such as ours with a rectangular box for pens is one of only 3 known to the Society! According to the History of the Worshipful Company of Pewterers of the City of London by Charles Welch, Richard Hoare was fined in 1672 for "makeing standishes 3 1/2 gr. worse than ffyne." Apparently, less than fine was evident from the color of the pewter alloy, which is usually made up of tin, copper, antimony, bismuth and sometimes lead.

Our example was so unusual that it was featured in an article from the Spring 2011 issue of the Journal of the Pewter Society.

The Longmeadow Historical Society example has a pounce pot on one side and a ring to hold an inkpot on the other. The tube in the middle might have been used for a candle, pens (quills), a stick of wax, or a small roll of parchment paper. The pounce pot or sander would have been filled with a finely ground powder made of pumice, gum-sandarac resin, or the crushed bones of cuttlefish. Where would a Longmeadow minister get cuttlefish bones?

"Still Life" by Edward Collier, 1699

Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND

Tate Gallery. photo copyright Tate https://www.tate.org.uk/

A review of one of our account books in the Historical Society collection (Samuel Colton, BV5) revealed multiple purchases of "pennife," ink, and quires of paper (25 sheets).

Asa Colton, to a 1/4 quire paper and ink, and Edward Chandler to a 1/4 quire paper

Rev Mr. Stephen Williams to 1 pennife

Paper was labor-intensive to make, and therefor expensive. Lest you assume that the Reverend Williams was profligate in his use of paper while writing 11 volumes of diaries, look at the size of the writing from a 1714 sermon!

1714 sermon written by Stephen Williams,

Longmeadow Historical Society archives

So now that we had a maker who was working from 1664, could this standish have originally belonged to Stephen, or did it perhaps belong to his father John (1664-1729)? The Longmeadow Historical Society has several other Williams family objects that pre-date Stephen and probably belonged to his father, who was the minister in the town of Deerfield. We can imagine Stephen taking this standish, some quills trimmed with his penknife, and some small sheets of paper when he traveled with the soldiers during the French and Indian Wars. He kept a diary of these times, as well as the complete tenure of his ministry. Quill pens, usually made from the left wing feathers of geese or swans, did not come with sharpened points, or nibs. The users would employ their pen knife to trim the point to a shape and sharpness to their liking. When the point became dull, you could trim it again. And in spite of what we've all seen in old paintings, most of the feather would have been removed before being used as a pen!

“Oh, nature's noblest gift, my grey goose quill, Slave of my thoughts, obedient to my will, Torn from the parent bird to form a pen, That mighty instrument of little men.”

— Lord Byron (1788-1824)

-Contributed by Betsy McKee, Longmeadow Historical Society Board Member

Originally published September 1, 2022

Kenneth B. Page's WWI Service Medals

Service Medals awarded to Pvt. Kenneth Page of Longmeadow during WWI

Kenneth Bausman Page was born in Springfield, Massachusetts on June 11, 1896 to Frank H. and Bertha Bausman Page

Frank Page, Kenneth's father, was the founder and president of the National Equipment Company in Springfield which became the largest manufacturer of candy-making machinery in the world. He eventually built the beautiful estate known as Deep Woods in Longmeadow in 1917 (please see here). Kenneth Page was educated in Springfield and graduated from the Choate School in 1917 and was admitted to the M.I.T. class of 1921, though he never did attend.

With the United States' entry into World War I, Page enlisted in the medical corps of the 104th Infantry Regiment which was assigned to the 26th Division (nicknamed the Yankee Division). The 104th Infantry Regiment traces its history to November 1639, when it was first mustered as the Springfield Train Band in Springfield, Massachusetts. A Page ancestor, Nathan Woodman, fought in the Revolutionary War including the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Kenneth B. Page, 1917

The 104th served in France during the war. From April 10-13, 1918 they successfully defended the Allied line by counterattacking the German attackers in hand-to-hand combat in the Ardennes. For their exceptional gallantry and bravery in that three-day battle, 116 Western Massachusetts members of the regiment were awarded the French Croix de Guerre medal, the first U.S. unit to receive that award. Fifteen of these men were then presented the Army’s Distinguished Service Cross by General John J. Pershing, the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the Western Front during World War I. Kenneth Page was awarded the medal for conspicuous gallantry in running across a heavily shelled area to rescue a mortally wounded office.

There were four million “Doughboys” in the U.S. Army during World War 1. Half of these soldiers served overseas. Twenty-five percent of males ages 18-31 years served in the military during our involvement in the war from April 6, 1917 to the Armistice on November 11, 1918. There were 53,000 killed in combat, 63,000 non-combat deaths (mainly from the 1918 Influenza Pandemic), and 204,000 wounded. The Distinguished Service Cross was awarded to 6185 men during World War 1. It is the second highest award in the United States military for extreme gallantry and risk of life during combat.

General Pershing awarding the Distinguished Service Cross

Kenneth Page July 12, 1918

On July 20, 1918, Private Page was severely wounded sustaining fractures and shrapnel wounds to his right arm which required months of convalescence. This occurred during the Second Battle of the Marne, one of the more important and vicious battles of the war. During this encounter the 104th was situated in Belleau Wood, experiencing German artillery and gas attacks. At a local Rotary Club meeting at the Hotel Worthy in 1918, he stated that only 10% of the original members of the 104th remained uninjured and he advised new recruits that in battle when you hear a “sound that sounds like a freight train coming in their direction hug the ground and pray.” For his wounds, he was eventually awarded the Purple Heart Medal.

Kenneth Page married Mildred Green from Springfield on January 11,1919. They eventually moved to Farmington Avenue in 1925.

Page's Farmington Ave. home

The couple raised two daughters and Mr. Page remained in Longmeadow until his death in 1973. He was active in the American Legion after its charter in 1919 as well as veteran organizations and the American Red Cross. He was in the insurance business eventually owning the Kenneth B. Page Insurance Company which was sold in 1945. He was president of City Dye Works Custom Laundry in the 1930s, manager of the Atkinson Tavern at Storrowton in the 1940s, and eventually owned and operated the Page Tool Company until his retirement in 1968.

Kenneth Page was a local hero with a life well lived.

-Contributed by Lenny Shaker, Longmeadow Historical Society Board Member

Originally published August 25, 2022

Sources:

Genealogy Bank

Ancestry.com

National Archives

Library of Congress

Rachel Lawton: Suffragist

Much is written of famous early pioneers of the movement like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Without question, their role in the long-fought movement is significant. But seldom told are the stories of the women who fought quietly on the local level for women’s voting rights in small towns like Longmeadow, Massachusetts. One such woman was Rachel Lawton (1885-1983) who lived at 100 Crescent Road.

Prior to suffrage, women were encouraged to use their domestic influence on whichever father, husband, brother or brother-in-law they lived with as a way of expressing their social and political opinions. Rachel Lawton, an unmarried adult woman who lived with her parents, was active in the Springfield Equal Suffrage League, holding several executive board positions, and she was a leading member of a small group of women who made up the Longmeadow Equal Suffrage League and worked to spread the message of the movement to Longmeadow’s citizens. At her Crescent Road home, Rachel Lawton hosted many informational Suffrage Teas in hopes of sharing the movement’s mission and encouraging women to learn more about politics. Springfield newspapers would sometimes publicize the gatherings in advance, and then share reports that had been submitted to their social events column.

In 1914, Rachel and her mother Ruth were two of three women representing Longmeadow in Boston’s suffrage parade where 9000 women marched wearing broad yellow sashes and white hats with brims pinned up on one side with a yellow rose. In 1916, at the very first Eastern States Exposition, Rachel Lawton helped plan, organize and run the booth for the Springfield Equal Suffrage League. It was the commitment to the cause by private citizens like Rachel Lawton who helped to keep the issue in the public eye decades after the fight for equal suffrage had begun and despite countless state and federal defeats.

After women finally won the right to vote in 1920, Rachel Lawton continued her civic and community engagement. She was employed as a secretary for the Red Cross, became a social worker, and was active with the League of Women Voters. In her later years, Lawton lived at 20 Edgewood Avenue and continued to host discussions that mattered in the realm of politics.

-Contributed by Melissa M. Cybulski, Longmeadow Historical Society Board Member

Originally published August 18, 2022