Petersham High School - Hilltop Yearbook (Petersham, MA)

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Two of these taverns were located near the center of town and the remaining one on North Street. It seems regrettable that, after Petersham had developed into such a thriving and busy town, misfortune, in the form of a great fire, should appear. In 1847 this fire swept the westerly part of the Common, destroying property estimated at fifty- thousand dollars. Among the buildings destroyed was the button factory owned by Mr. Stone. Lost were the engines and machinery necessary for the manufacture of the buttons. Fourteen other buildings were also destroyed, including two hotels, barns, one dwelling-house, one large store, and one large building occupied by various business offices and shops. This disastrous fire in- flicted a permanent injury to the business interest of Petersham Never again did Petersham regain its position of a thriving business center, which even vied with Worcester. It became a small community where the people live a quiet, peaceful life, either working on farms or in business organizations out of town OLD PETERSHAM In years now faded in the past When Petersham was growing fast The Stagecoach swayed across the land Phyllis Harper '44 ff , ff -. ---j. -N And inns ave welcome to each band. M A '-'N' wffsiifgi. g , -,Zfy?NQQbg1?i1AEEE All farms and orchards grew so well fe3,' LH'?5JgiT Their produce fine to use and sell. ' -:gwMr:5gpf,gg?2igtQg The forest thiek with timber tall A prey to industry did fall. p3?.qC?:CAf.,i,yiw w.jw433QgNhX,X . ,'V 'N'te 51.1231 JL Our faithful Mr. Gibbs brought mail f4gLf?.55g55Q54 pr.- vf To tired workers without fail. 6. The factory wheels and saw mills stood .,i.Qg9!?YfgE2qfjfQHys5, i Fast whirring, ever turning wood. ffi 5amgQqHEEQLQffLg5f f of Its treasured charms, its homelife gay 9 Its green, its churches, fields of haykjpb 5g:1'I Present a picture dear to all fMH Who ever heard its beauties call. Ruth Newbury '45

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ish-1 It was also as an outgrowth of the Revolution and to meet a grave need caused by interrupted commerce, that salt was made at Rochester Shore and brought to Petersham. The enterprise proved unsuccessful, however, and was finally discontinued. This same war was, in addition,the cause of the manufacture of powder kegs. For many years this industry was carried on by Elisha Webb,who employed a small corps of workmen. His workshop was situated over in the southern part of town. This eventually became the largest manufacturing interest of Petersham, and this position was maintained for a great many years. It was during the period following the Revolution that the people of Petersham became interested in industries centerirmg around wood as a material. At one time Paul Rickham manufactured ladders and went about the country selling them.He also invented several small machines to help in his work. Mr. Hiram Gibbs car- ried on the making of staves for pail manufacturing for quite a period of time. Then, too, German Legara, who began making arti- cles of fancy wood-work, and later included plates and bowls, commenced selling his wares to the summer boarders and Untourkxs visiting in Petersham. So even in the early days,people realized that profit might be gained by catering to tourists and sum er trade. From here might also have originated Petersham's great interest in handicrafts. Since farming had always been of prime importance, it was natural to expect that industry connected with the farm or dairy should arise in a community such as Petersham. Thus, it seems very logical when we read that a large cheese factory was erected about three-quarters of a mile south of town. This business was carried on for a while, but was finally discontinued. The build- ing was moved to a spot in back of the Unitarian Church, where it was turned into a roller-skating rink, and finally into a tenement house. Mr. Daniel Broderick is now proprietor of a store in that building. There wasalso a large button factory situated on Main Stnwt, owned by Mr. Stone. Here were made exquisite buttons of all shapes and sizes. Mr. Stone used to travel all over the country selling these beautiful buttons. Mrs. Jenny Smith still has some which she sells as antiques. Buttons of many beautiful designs have been made, a few of which are on exhibition in the Memorial Building. As it is customary when factories grow up for travel and commerce to increase,so at this time Petersham became a thoroug- fare and stopping place for merchants with teams of merchandise, and for Stagecoach passengers. The Stagecoach line ran from Boston through Sudbury, Shrewsbury, Holden, Rutland and Barre,to Athol, Orange, Greenfield, Northfield,Warwick, and to the south- ern part of Vermont. There were four taverns in town for the accommodation of this travel. One of these, situated in theeast- ern part of the town, is now the residence of Leslie W. Bassett.

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WEAPONS CSecond Prizel In the old days when the colonies were expanding, when the Indians were resenting the approach of the White Man, and when a feeling of ill will was gradually creeping into our relations with England, we began to realize the importance of firearms. Our first rifles were long and very heavy. A man could stand and rest his chin on the barrel of the gun while the stock was on the ground, and he didn't have to bend over at all. This kind of gun was carried by great explorers like Daniel Boone. The gun was a muzzle loader, that is, the powder was put in the barrel and then packed in by the use of the ramrod which was carried under the barrel of the gun, then the lead shot was put in and a piece of paper was inserted to hold the ShOtIU1th6 barrel. The gun had a hammer which set off the charge of powder and sent the shot forward. The person who was carrying the gun had, hanging down by his side, a powder horn, which was used to carry the powderghe also had a case in which he carried his lead shot. In those days a man had to be a good shot and make every shot count because every time he fired he had to reload his gun. Many of these guns were used to fight the Indians during the French a n d Indian War. Bayonets were placed on the ends of the barrel as an added means of defense. In the second period of our early development, the nMinute- menn used this kind of weapon against the British during the War of Independence. George Washington was one of the great generals during the American Revolution. His men had a difficult time because they were not very well equipped and trained. Many of the men had very poor uniforms,and some of the men had no unihmms at all. The men even went without food and had to travel some- times on foot and sometimes by horseback. There were many battles of importance fought and won,in the American Revolution, even though the weapons used were not very good. In spite of th seemingly inefficient weapons, the colonies finally won their independence. Since the changes in firearms seem to be dependent upon the changes in the growth or development of our country,it is during the Civil War that the next improvements in weapons are noted. At this time the sword and the cannon were introduced to the battle front. The soldiers were now better trained to fight and better equipped than they had been during the preceding war. They now had long guns with a long bayonet on the end. The guns of this time were still very heavy. The soldiers now, as in the Revolutionary War, had to travel on foot3however,they had better uniforms. As there were a number of forts, which were used to