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

James S. Dwight’s Voyage on the Kate Hastings

Last week's History Note shared the detective work that went into identifying the author and origins of a Seaman's Journal found in our archives at the Longmeadow Historical Society. This edition follows up on what our intrepid History Detective, Beth Hoff, has learned about that sailor, including the unfortunate circumstance of his death at sea.

Have you ever wanted to have adventures by sailing the seas on a tall ship? James S. Dwight of Springfield, Massachusetts did. His father, George, a prominent merchant in Springfield who likely had connections to the shipping community in Boston, agreed and he apprenticed the 16-year old James to the barque Kate Hastings.

James kept a journal of his first thirteen months aboard the Kate Hastings. The journal, which is in the archives of the Storrs House Museum, documents three periods of time that the vessel was at sea:

- May 21, 1852 through October 17, 1852 traveling from Boston to San Francisco

- November 2, 1852 through January 18, 1852 traveling from San Francisco to Calcutta

- March 3, 1853 through June 10, 1853 traveling from Calcutta to Boston

In addition to the record of wind, weather, and speed which are standard in a seagoing journal, James wrote remarks in his journal. Many of the comments are addressed to his mother who he expected to read it when he returned. Reading through the journal provides a glimpse of life aboard a commercial sailing vessel through the eyes of a novice sailor.

As an apprentice, James learned to watch the weather, steer the ship, fly the sails, and keep a journal. On June 6, 1852, he wrote, “This is my third Sunday on the ocean. And as it is the commencement of a week I intend to commence making records of my own instead of copying them from the log. On Sunday we do no work except what is necessary for working ship. So far, I have not been sea sick and I am commence to think that I am to be one of the lucky ones. I have learned nearly all the names of the ropes and hope to be able to say, that I have learned all by next Sunday. I can take the weather wheel now, and when I have had a little more practice shall be able to take my regular turn.”

June 6, 1852, Seaman’s Journal

Most days at sea were mundane: “Today we have had the usual quantity of squaring and washing down decks and the other duties which make up the routine of duty aboard ship. I am afraid if you would see me all dirta I am that you would hardly know me.”

June 9, 1852, Seaman’s Journal

But others were filled with weather-related challenges: “Today we are having a decidedly wet day of it. It is nothing but one steady drenching rain all the while. Oil clothes are not of much use, especially such oil clothes as mine. All hands have taken off their shoes and are wading round the decks bare footed.”

June 11, 1852, Seaman’s Journal

The ship often encountered squalls which challenged him: “You have no idea what uncomfortable things these squall are. The first you see of them is a black cloud rising to windward, next it commences blowing so that the lighter sails are clewed up, then in commences raining, and how it rains, suffice it to say that in two minutes you are completely soaked through, and are obliged to remain so for the rest of your watch on deck.”

June 30, 1852, Seaman's Journal

James analyzed his shortcomings and sought to overcome them: “I find that my two greatest drawbacks against making a good sailor is carelessness and forgetfulness, and you have no idea what a quantity of trouble they cause me. But I am determined to conquer them both and I think I have already made some progress towards it.”

June 23, 1852, Seaman’s Journal

And he foresaw his future as a sailor: “I think if you could see all the dirty jobs I have every day you would be apt to wonder at my liking the sea. I being the smallest boy am nothing more than the ships scavenger. I think that my love for the sea is now steadily on the increase, and as I have overcome that heaviness of body that I complained of sometime ago I think that I stand something of a chance of making a sailor.”

June 22, 1852, Seaman’s Journal

He noted Sunday observances onboard the ship: “The day opened as all Sundays ought to, with a clear sky and a fair breeze. After the decks were washed down, the men changed their clothes and came out in their Sunday rig. After breakfast was over the men commenced smoking reading loafing minding etc. You would be surprised to see some of the sailors who are very profane come out of a Sunday morning and read their bibles with as much seriousness as a minister.”

June 20, 1852, Seaman’s Journal

Although he doubtlessly met with exciting and novel experiences and people during his time in San Francisco and Calcutta, he does not mention them in the journal. San Francisco would have been a rough and bustling town only three years after the discovery of gold in 1849 and Calcutta would have been full of new sights, smells, and sounds to a lad from Springfield. James also does not mention passengers on the ship, though we know that the Kate Hastings carried passengers.

The only entry which discusses non-shipmates occurred on Christmas day when the ship stopped in Singapore for repairs: “MHPM came to an anchor in the harbor of Singapore about two miles from the shore, furled the sails, coiled up the ropes, and turned in. Early the next morning the natives were along side in their canoes with all sorts of shells, coral, fruit, bread etc. for sale. In a little while the vessel was full of natives, and such a quantity of bargaining talking cheating and etc. I never saw. I bought nothing except fruit.”

December 25, 1852, Seaman’s Journal

On the last page of the journal, dated June 10, 1853, James expressed his hope that, while he was not yet at port, he would be home to celebrate Independence Day. The Kate Hastings arrived in Boston on June 28, 1853, so perhaps he got his wish.

Boston Daily Bee, June 29, 1853

What happened to James after his apprenticeship on the Kate Hastings? We know that he continued his career as a sailor, improving his skills and rising in his profession to captain. He never married and kept his home base in Springfield, appearing on the censuses as a resident of the city until his death.

A history by Charles W. Chapin provided the following biography of James: “In 1853 at the age of seventeen he went to sea, sailing from Boston in the barque ‘Kate Hastings’...Before he was twenty-five years of age he was master of a vessel. He took command of the ship ‘Cutwater,’ after the captain had been swept overboard during a heavy sea. He was master of the ships ‘Charger’ and ‘Springfield,’ the latter having been named in honor of his native town...His voyages were made principally to China, Australia, California, and European ports. Among the sons of Springfield who have gone forth to win fame and fortune, none had brighter prospects, or was more highly esteemed, than Captain Dwight. Accomplished and of noble bearing, he was the beau ideal of an American sailor.”

Sailing was a dangerous business and James S. Dwight had several close calls with death during his career, including one while he was aboard the Cutwater.

Springfield Republican, December 19, 1861

Unfortunately, his luck did not hold. When he was only 46, Capt. James S. Dwight came to a violent end when he was murdered by a crew member of his ship, the Freeman Clark, in 1882. According to the report of his death, the provocation for his murder was believed to have been his order forbidding some of the crew to smoke opium. The day before the murder, he had their room searched and the opium found in it thrown overboard. The crew retaliated by mutiny and by the murder of their captain.

We are thankful to have his journal in our archives as a chronicle of the earliest days of his remarkable career at sea. - Contributed by Beth Hoff, Board Member, Longmeadow Historical Society

Originally published August 11, 2022 Sources: Archives of the Longmeadow Historical Society Charles W. Chapin, History of the “old high school” on School Street, Springfield, Massachusetts, from 128 to 1840, Springfield, 1890 Boston Daily Bee, June 29, 1853 Springfield Republican, December 19, 1861 Boston Journal, June 19, 1882

"View of the Connecticut River from Pecousic Brook" Revisited

This painting of the Connecticut River looking north across present-day Forest Park has been a treasured item of the Longmeadow Historical Society for many years. Enjoying pride of place over the mantel in the parlor, the front hall and other locations, it was painted by Joseph Antonio Hekking, circa 1876.

Hekking portrait as seen in the Storrs House c. 1910

Joseph Hekking was born in the Netherlands in 1830, studied in Paris, and died in New York in 1903. He lived in Cherry Valley, NY in 1859, and taught painting at the Cherry Valley Female Academy. Hekking served in the Civil War with a New York regiment. He lived in Hartford, CT from 1873-1878, where he met Professor Richard Salter Storrs of Longmeadow. Professor Storrs was a teacher, along with his sister Sarah, at the formerly named American Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, now The American School for the Deaf. The vista that Hekking painted--a view of the Connecticut River Valley looking north toward Mt. Tom--was still largely private land. In 1884, Orick H. Greenleaf offered 65 acres for a park to be named Forest Park. Businessman Everett H. Barney donated another 178 acres. They convinced others to donate more land, until the park ultimately measured 735 acres. Much of this land was located in the nearby town of Longmeadow, just to the south. I can picture Hekking setting up his easel on the hill near the Picknelly Baseball field just at the entrance to Forest Park and Interstate 91. You can see what looks like bucolic farmland stretching out toward the city of Springfield, and you can just make out a train emerging from the trees. A covered bridge is visible in the distance, and to the far right, Mt. Tom.

A book created in 1930 detailing the original items in the Storrs House Museum collections describes the painting like this:"Large painting in gilt frame, stationary, over the fireplace in the south front room of the Storrs House. The artist painted this picture from the elevation above the Connecticut River now known as Long Hill Street and the particular spot was known as the Storrs Lot. Now occupied by the buildings of the Paulist Fathers. The painting shows a section of the river with the railroad bridge in the distance, also the irregular land between the River and Hill. Mt. Tom is seen in the distance. This was a favorite place for people to drive for the view, particularly at sunset."

-Contributed by Betsy McKee, Longmeadow Historical Society Board Member

Originally published July 28, 2022