school

Classical High School - Boys are planting the gardens ...

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Classical High School was completed in 1871 from a design by the firm of Gambrill and Richardson of New York. This grand, soaring structure reflected the vision of H. H. (Henry Hobson) Richardson, whose signature style came to be called "Richardson Romanesque."

The Worcester firm of Norcross Brothers Contractors and Builders was engaged to construct the new school and subsequently worked with Richardson on many other projects throughout New England and beyond. In addition to classrooms, meeting spaces, and offices, it included a gymnasium in the basement and a large hall on the third floor, measuring 76' x 62'.

The building faced east on what is now called Maple Terrace (between Maple and Walnut Streets) but in 1966 was demolished to make way for the new headquarters of Paul Revere Life Insurance Company.

Sent to: Mrs. O. O. Wright
Address: Spencer, West Virginia
Postmark: ??/??/1943 - Dodge, MA
Dear Friend - Nice hearing from you. At last we are having some nice weather. Boys are planting the gardens at last and about time. Am feeling better but can't do much work. Cheerio
From: Mrs. H, Beauregard, Box 48, Dodge, Mass. Collector of miniature dogs & hankies

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THE MYSTERY

  • In 1943, most able-bodied young men in their late teens would have been called up for service in a rapidly escalating war effort. And, at a time when the country was rationing every imaginable product, a source of locally grown food would have been very important. So what led these "boys" to put off their responsibilities? Perhaps, considering the circumstances, the discipline of a senior man in the house was absent. Whatever the reason, Mrs. Beauregard seems none too happy about the delay . . . and rightly so.

THE SENDER

Eudora Hazel Judson Button (Beebe) Beauregard was born on May 22, 1895 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Barely a week after turning 17, on May 31, 1912, she married Reginald Ambrose Judson in Worcester, Massachusetts. However, they were divorced on October 19, 1916 and soon thereafter she married Edwin/Edward H. Button, with whom she had three children, Edward, Lillian and Phyllis. Edward Sr. died on July 18, 1925 and she then married Harry Joseph Beauregard in Boston on May 8, 1926. Eudora died on February 12, 1993 (at age 97) and is buried beside her second and third husbands in Hope Cemetery, Worcester, Massachusetts.

THE RECIPIENT

Onnie O. Wright married Edna McKown in 1916 and at the time of the 1920 census they were recorded as having one son, Herbert. However, the West Virginia Marriages Index shows that on October 29, 1923 he married Anna A. Hawkins and at the time of the 1940 Federal census the two were living in Spencer, West Virginia with their son, 15-year old Olsten. It seems very unlikely that there were two Onnie O. Wrights of the same age at the same time in that area, so one must assume that Anna was the second wife to whom this card was addressed.

REFERENCES

(1) Classical & Worcester High School - WorcesterThen.com
(2) Worcester Illustrated: 1875 - James A. Ambler [ Page 26 - 27 ]
(3) Federal Census & Social Security Records - Ancestry.com
(4) Local Birth, Marriage, Divorce & Death Records - Ancestry.com

THE CARD

Published by A. P. Lundborg, Worcester, Mass.
Valentine & Sons Publishing Company Ltd. New York
Printed in Great Britain
[02,282]

Jonas Clark Hall - I like my work very much.

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The cornerstone of Jonas Clark Hall at Clark University was laid on October 22, 1887. The next day in The New York Times it was reported that "The building ... is 205 feet long by 65 feet deep. It is composed of a central structure five stories high, flanked on either side by four-story wings. The middle section is surmounted by a clock tower which rises to a height of 102 feet, while at the extreme end of the wings are corner towers 76 feet high."

Clark University was the brainchild of Jonas Gilman Clark, who organized a group of prominent local citizens to petition the state legislature and then personally donated $1,000,000 (roughly $25,000,000 in current dollars) to establish the school. This building was the first erected on campus and was designed by architect Stephen C. Earle in the Classical Revival style.

Jonas Clark Hall, Clark University: August 24, 2016

Jonas Clark Hall, Clark University: August 24, 2016

Jonas Clark Hall has today been joined by many other buildings on the expanded campus but is still the centerpiece of the University. Seen from the front gates at 950 Main Street, it announces both the school itself and the year of its founding in bold granite lettering.

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Sent to: Miss Marguerite Taggart
Address: Bartonsville, VT
Postmark: 12/11/1906 - Worcester Mass.
F: Marguerite Nothing else to do so I thought I would send you a picture (of my?) girl. I like my work very much. (Father?) (Fletcher?)

THE MYSTERY

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  • The paucity of letter-forms on any postcard often makes it difficult to tease out some parts of the written content. That is certainly the case here. Is the card signed, "Father" or "Fletcher?" We know from the census that Marguerite's father was living with his family in 1900 and 1920, but was not recorded there in 1910. However, since he was a railroad conductor, he might well have been missed during that particular census and no doubt traveled through Worcester on a regular basis.

THE SENDER

We may speculate that the sender was Marguerite's father, as above, but if that's not the case, then "Fletcher" will, no doubt, forever remain an unknown figure in this context.

THE RECIPIENT

Marguerite Esther Taggart, the daughter of Charles and Jennie Taggart, was born on March 23, 1891 in North Walpole, New Hampshire. She married Frank Snow on August 12, 1913 and at the time of the 1930 Federal census was living with him in Rockingham, Windham, Vermont. He owned a General Store, where she worked as a Sales Clerk, and they had one daughter, Marguerit Virginia Snow, born October 23, 1917.

REFERENCES
(1) (Jonas) Clark Hall - Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System
(2) Jonas Clark's Gift - The New York Times (October 23, 1887) [ Paywall ]
(3) Postcard History - Smithsonian Institute
(4) 1900, 1910, 1920 & 1930 Federal Census Records - Ancestry.com

The Card

The Metropolitan News Co., Boston Mass.
Manufacturers of Souvenir Postal Cards.
Made in Germany.
[5595.]

Worcester Trade School - Some verry pretty places.

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This postcard features the first-built section of the Worcester Boys Trade School, completed in 1910 and, with assistance from students attending the school, greatly expanded in 1916-1917. The building at that time fronted on Grove Street and faced Armory Square, so named because of the Worcester National Guard Armory located diagonally across the square. Milton Higgins, a noted Worcester industrialist, was instrumental in establishing the school, acting as an early advocate, donor, and fundraiser.

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As seen above, the original structure (far left) was incorporated into the new building, which is much grander in scale and more elegant in design. The architects of the expansion also took care to symmetrically match the extension on the right to achieve visual balance. After a new co-ed Technical High School was finished in 2006, this entire suite of buildings was renovated into apartments and is now known as the Voke Lofts.

REFERENCES
(1) Worcester Institutional District - Waymarking.com

Sent to: Mr. Leroy Stalker
Address: [???], NY
Dear Friend your card received and like it very much. I think there must be some verry pretty places there this is not a pretty card but most men are interested in schools and colleges I have quite a collection of them from different [???] Good night and answer soon
Your Friend  Rose L. Ross
66 Madison Street, Worcester Mass

Postmark: 01/31/1912 - Worcester, MA

Postmark: 01/31/1912 - Worcester, MA

THE MYSTERY

  • The sender and recipient of this card were born 22 years apart in different states and lived 300 miles away from each other. Were they simply engaging in a regular exchange of cards, which was a bit of a rage in the early 1900's, or was there something more? It is tempting to read a certain sentiment into Rose's comments, ("Good night and answer soon") but it seems unlikely that tender thoughts would have been shared with a much younger married man in something as public as a postcard sent to his home.

THE SENDER

In the 1900 federal census, Rose L. Ross, is listed as married and head of household, living at the time with her two children and her mother, Elizabeth Smith. Notably, however, her husband does not appear on that record. We also learn that she worked as a "Laundress" and was born in Rhode Island in 1866. Oddly, she is not recorded on the 1910 census, even though she apparently lived at the same address on Madison Street from at least 1900 through 1912.

THE RECIPIENT

Leroy E. Stalker was born in 1888 and, according to the federal census records for both 1910 and 1920, was living in Union, New York. He worked at a shoe factory throughout this period, including time spent as a "Fiber Worker" and "Carton Cutter." Married when this card was sent, he had only recently left his parent's house to live independently with his wife. He died in March 1974 at the age of 86 and is buried at the Riverside Cemetery in Endicott, New York.

REFERENCES
(2) Federal Census Records & Social Security Death Index - Ancestry.com