past times - little compton historical society times published by the little compton historical...

Past Times Published by The Little Compton Historical Society ~ Spring 2011

First HistoriesFirst HistoriesFirst HistoriesFirst Histories For centuries before the written word, oral histories were

mankind’s only way to preserve its history. Elders shared

stories with their children and

grandchildren in the hope that the

younger generation would remember

accurately and take their turn in passing

on the story. Written languages and the

greater and greater availability of

documents changed the way that

history was shared forever. Letters,

pamphlets, diaries and books became

almost universally the preferred primary

sources. Today, aided by digital

recorders and other technology,

historians are rediscovering the value of

the spoken word as a historical source.

Oral histories are enjoying a re-birth

and are helping to preserve personal

historical perspectives that might easily

have been lost.

Past ProjectsPast ProjectsPast ProjectsPast Projects Little Compton is no stranger to oral

histories. In 1993 Lucy O’Connor

compiled a fascinating collection of

oral histories in her book Jonnycakes and

Cream. Carlton Brownell’s memories have been recorded

for years by the Historical Society and have helped

document not only local history but also the

preservation of the Wilbor House and other historic

buildings. The Society’s 2007 Terra Nova Vida Nova

exhibition relied heavily on oral histories many of which

can still be seen in the Portuguese Room at the Wilbor

House. We are also discovering more

and more that many local families

have an unofficial historian who has

taken the time to record older relatives

in order to preserve a family history.

Sakonnet Point PerspectivesSakonnet Point PerspectivesSakonnet Point PerspectivesSakonnet Point Perspectives This summer’s Sakonnet Po in t

Perspectives project will also have a very

strong oral history component.

Volunteers from the Historical Society,

T he Sak on ne t Pre se rva ti o n

Association and The Friends of the

Sakonnet Lighthouse have worked

together to collect over 30 oral histories

from local men and women with

Sakonnet stories to tell. Several

excerpts from these histories appear on

pages 5 and 6.

The ProcessThe ProcessThe ProcessThe Process Though oral history specialists bring

a high degree of skill and even

art to collecting oral histories,

newcomers should not be put off from

collecting their own. The process can be as simple as

a conversation.

In This IssueIn This IssueIn This IssueIn This Issue Page 2 Traveling Exhibit Page 3 Stone Walls

Page 4 On-Line Collection Page 5 Sakonnet Stories

Page 6 E-Store Page 7 Amazon.com

Summer on Lloyd’s Beach:

Joan Buhrendorf shared an oral history remembering her childhood

summers at her family’s (Winslow) Sakonnet Point vacation home. The

Winslow house was a safe haven for neighbors during the 1954 hurricane.

Save the DatesSave the DatesSave the DatesSave the Dates

Sakonnet Point Perspectives Sakonnet Point Perspectives Sakonnet Point Perspectives Sakonnet Point Perspectives

Special EventsSpecial EventsSpecial EventsSpecial Events

Fri., July 1 Exhibit Preview Party

Sat., July 2 Annual Family Day Celebration

Wed., August 10 Annual Meeting

It’s Storytime! Oral Histories Help Preserve the Story of Sakonnet Point

Continued on page 4

Corporate MembersCorporate MembersCorporate MembersCorporate Members Local businesses p lay an important role in the preservation and presentation of Little Compton’s

history. Additional Corporate Members are always welcome. Please call 635-4035 or

complete the membership form on page 8.

EVENT SPONSORSEVENT SPONSORSEVENT SPONSORSEVENT SPONSORS Gray’s Ice Cream Katharine H. Leary, CPA Lees Supermarket

Madden Electric Company Manchester Tree & Landscaping, Inc.

Sakonnet Vineyards

SCHOOL PROGRAM SPONSORSSCHOOL PROGRAM SPONSORSSCHOOL PROGRAM SPONSORSSCHOOL PROGRAM SPONSORS Goulart Petroleum, Inc.

Lapointe Insurance Services, Inc. Phil’s Propane

Spinnaker Real Estators

CORPORATE MEMBERSCORPORATE MEMBERSCORPORATE MEMBERSCORPORATE MEMBERS Able Engineering, Inc. American Classic Real Est ate Arkins Construction, Inc.

Cantin Photography Earle’s Service Station

Franlart Nurseries, Inc. Homestead Construction Co. Interstate Insurance and Finance Co.

Lamplighter, Inc. Law Office of Richard S. Humphrey Little Compton Real Estate, LLC

Mataronas Lobster Co., Inc Roger King Fine Arts

Sakonnet Lobster Co. Sisson Lawn & Garden Sparks Company. Inc.

Stone House Walker’s Roadside Stand

Waring-Sullivan Funeral Home Wilbur’s General Store, Inc. Wishing Stone Farm

Executive Director Carlton Brownell

President Robert Wolter

Vice President Shelley Bowen

Secretary Diane MacGregor

Treasurer

Jack Angell Directors Claudia Cooley Bell

Fred Bridge

Randy Byers

Piper Hawes

Richard W. Lisle

Richard Menoche

J. William Middendorf, II

Dora Atwater Millikin

Carolyn J. Montgomery

Christopher Rawson

William Richmond

Paul Suttell

Managing Director

Marjory O’Toole

Administrator

Nancy Carignan

Newsletter Designer

Shelley Bowen Little Compton

Historical Society PO Box 577

Little Compton, RI 02837 (401) 635-4035

[email protected]

www.littlecompton.org Wilbor House Museum 548 West Main Road

Little Compton, RI 02837 (401) 635-4035

SPRING HOURSSPRING HOURSSPRING HOURSSPRING HOURS

Wilbor House Tours Educational Programs

Research

by appointment

Office Hours

Tuesday ~ Friday 9 AM ~ 3 PM

Exhibit Wish List Sakonnet Point Images, Documents,

Objects, Written Memories

Antique or Vintage Items

To be sold in our Antique Sale to benefit

the Historical Society.

Antique Items with

Little Compton Histories

For possible inclusion in our permanent

collection. The Collections Committee

will review each item.

Volunteer to Conduct Genealogical

or Historical Research to Answer

Inquiries from the Public

Obituaries, Funeral and Memorial

Service Programs, Copies of Eulogies

Help us document the lives of our 20th

century residents by sharing information

about your loved ones with us.

Wanted as gifts or loans!

New Traveling Exhibition Visits the Brownell Library Last season’s First Light: Sakonnet special exhibition has

transitioned into a traveling exhibit featuring 16 text panels

and 16 reproductions of the artwork displayed last summer.

The exhibit traces the history of Little Compton from the

time of the Sakonnet Indians, through King Philip’s War,

the American Revolution and the Great Gale of 1815.

The exhibit will appear first at the Brownell Library and is

available to other non-profit organizations at no cost. Please

call 401-635-4035 if your organization would like to display it. Peaked Top School by Clair e Bowen

Painting a Picture with Walls Story and Photos by Roger Guillemette

“I’ve often pondered the similarity between a well-

made drystone wall and a well-lived life. Both depend

on a solid foundation.”

This reflection, so fitting Little Compton and

Sakonnet, was written by William Hubbell in his

wonderful 2006 book Good Fences – A Pictorial History of

New England's Stone Walls (which features photos of

several Little Compton walls).

In an era of prefabrication and disposables, Little

Compton’s walls are revered, both as a bond to our

past and a source of pride and continuity in our

present. Stone walls are inextricably linked to the

region’s history, silent sentries to the character and deter-

mination of the earliest settlers.

In his 1803 “Notes on Compton”, Rev. William

Emerson writes of Little Compton’s stone walls. “From

the settlement of the place it has been distinguished in

this respect. The Indians, who were formerly numerous

in the town, and who were remarkable for the

excellence of their stone wall, were much employed in

this kind of labour.”

Thomas Church, representing the town in the

Massachusetts General Court, informed his colleagues

sometime before 1747 that “...there was stone wall

enough in Compton

to reach thence in a

straight line to Boston.”

After returning home

and recalculating,

Mr. Church returned

to the General Court

and, according to Rev.

Emerson, admitted

that “he had indeed

committed an errour

concerning the stone

wall; for he found

there was enough to

reach to Boston on

both sides of the

way” (his emphasis).

Stone walls have been part of the New England

landscape for so long that they have become one with

the environment, a man-made extension of the natural

ecosystem. Chipmunks and field mice, woodchucks and

rabbits, small birds, toads and snakes have adopted

stone walls as their native habitat, a far greater variety of

wildlife than would ever survive and thrive if the walls

were never built. Larger animals and birds then feast on

the wall-dwellers, benefactors of the microclimates

created and sustained by our stone walls.

Instead of dismantling and destroying, the craft of

stone wall building remains alive and well in Sakonnet,

as revitalized walls are regularly rebuilt upon the

foundations of their ancient ancestors and new walls

constructed with the same native materials and

techniques used in colonial times.

Dee Osborne’s home on West Main Road serves

as a fine example of modern Little Compton wall

construction, her family’s 8.5 acre parcel is again

surrounded by magnificent drystone walls crafted by

local artisan John Brousseau.

“I loved the openness of the land,” explained Mrs.

Osborne. “My back parcel was overgrown when I

purchased it. Until I cleared the brush, I didn’t even

know there were walls back there. The walls were being

eaten up by the soil.”

Captivated with Little Compton’s beauty since a

visit to her school roommate Elinor Peckham Gavin

during a “couple of blissful days in the summer of 1944,”

Mrs. Osborne was determined to recreate the walls that

partitioned her land since the earliest settlers. She in-

spected many ‘modern’ stone walls to see how they

were constructed and was particularly impressed by the

walls at “Gatherem” on Warren’s Point, another John

Brousseau work, and asked if he would tackle her project.

Continued on page 7

To help project volunteers prepare, Lucy O’Connor shared

her experience and expertise with them during an informal

workshop last fall. The Historical Society prepared a list of

sample questions and organized a lending collection of simple

digital recorders. Volunteer interviewers arranged to meet with

their subjects at their homes or at the Wilbor House and

recorded their Sakonnet Point conversations with audio, video or

both. Subject matters varied widely from devastating hurricanes

to swordfishing to fritter fights at the Fo’c’s’le but all revolved

around Sakonnet Point. Several students from Brown University

are now busy at work transcribing the oral histories—no easy

task. It can take as many as five hours to transcribe a one-hour

interview. As often happens, many of the Sakonnet Point

Perspective oral histories resulted in the sharing of wonderful

photographs, paintings and objects. Historical Society volunteers

are now scanning the images for later use.

Each of the oral histories will be permanently archived at the

Historical Society as both a recording and a transcription. Excerpts

will be used in this summer’s exhibition and publication. Several

examples appear on the facing page. Because of publication

deadlines, the collection of oral histories for this project came to

a close in February but oral or written histories are always

welcome additions to the Historical Society archives. Please

contact Managing Director Marjory O’Toole if you would like

to donate an oral or written history on any Little Compton

subject to the Society or if you would like to borrow a digital

recorder to collect your own oral histories.

Sakonnet Point Perspectives has been generously funded by

The lens from

the Sakonnet Light House is

just one of the 13,000 objects

in our collec-tion that may

be viewed on line.

Nate Atwater and Tony Philippi share swordf ishing stories.

Fisherman Lewis Waite at Sakonnet Point. Photo by Nunnie Byers.

Explore the Collection On-Line Images and information on over 13,000 Little Compton items are

available at your fingertips, 24 hours a day.

Visit littlecompton.orglittlecompton.orglittlecompton.orglittlecompton.org

Select OnOnOnOn----Line CollectionLine CollectionLine CollectionLine Collection

You may browse or conduct a keyword search.

Suggested Keywords:

Postcard, sampler, sword, Civil War, Burleigh, lens, doll

It’s Storytime — Continued from page 1

Sakonnet Stories Coming back from the beach we would run and get dressed

and would be the first one to get up in the back yard and get

the hot water in the hose. That was our quick shower. And

then go over to the farm and watch Dick Davol milk the

cows, and that was our entertainment for the afternoon,

unless we saw this fishing boat, the sword fishing. These

sports fishing boats that Cang Lloyd, Gus Bounakes —

a bunch of them had, and if they were flying their yellow flag, that meant they had a swordfish. And we would

get dressed and run down to The Point because they would weigh the fish and clean it right there on the docks and

people would take bets on how much it weighed. — Joan Winslow Buhrendorf

Mother’s parents spent summers here from about, oh, 1900.

And it was strictly a summer thing. They used to travel from

Paterson, New Jersey by crossing the Hudson on the ferry

to New York. And then they would get on the Priscilla and

go from New York up to Fall River and from Fall River they

would get onto the Awashonks which came down to

Sakonnet Point and they were met there by, I don’t know

whom, but then driven to Warren’s Point on horse and

buggy. — Randy Byers

Eddy came in on a sailboat, catboat, and came over and asked me to dance. That was in ’38. When I came back in

’39, then it was kind of a date, if he came in by boat. If the battery wasn’t dead or something like that because that

was the way it was then. Either the motor ran and the battery wasn’t dead, but he didn’t have a car. — Inger Ormston

When I was a youngster we went out with the fishermen all the time.

It was just a drop-of-the-hat thing. If you were free at 6:00 or 6:30 in the

morning you got down to the dock and said hello to Holder Wilcox and

he said, “Sure. Come on board.” This was in the days where we didn’t

worry so much about liability and people getting hurt or things like

that. There were rules obviously. Stay out of the way. You could be up

in the bow. If you are going to get seasick and you might not like it out

here — he would certainly tell you. — Hilary Woodhouse

This was the wartime in 1943 and there was a big coast artillery emplacement down across the pond where the

Haffenreffer complex now is. Every so often a six-inch cannon would be wheeled out of the concrete bunkers.

Occasionally they would have firing artillery drills, about which we were well warned

beforehand, so we could get all the glass objects off the window ledges so that they

wouldn’t be shaken down by the report of the cannon. — Caleb Woodhouse

The biggest factor that made the business die out was air-conditioning. In a heat wave

we had weeknights that the Fo’c’s’le would be full. And they would take a ride down

there and you get that breeze and it wasn’t only that but that was a big factor. Then they

got the malls and they were air-conditioned. So you could go to the mall. Why drive

down here? — Dick Rogers

Continued on page 6

Mother’s Day & Mother’s Day & Mother’s Day & Mother’s Day & Father’s Day Father’s Day Father’s Day Father’s Day are right around are right around are right around are right around the corner.the corner.the corner.the corner.

Visit our Visit our Visit our Visit our

E-store For the Perfect Gift!For the Perfect Gift!For the Perfect Gift!For the Perfect Gift!

Archival quality reproductions of over

200 treasured Little Compton artworks

and artifacts are just a click away.

Go to littlecompton.org

and click on E-Store All purchases benefit the Historical Society.

The lighthouse went out of service in ’54.

That’s what finished it off. Those guys that

went out in the Coast Guard, they took a

few beatings on it there that I don’t know

how the hell they made it, but they got off

it all right. I guess there is a crack in the

side of it. They damaged the little life boats. They were washed away. Because we were in the second story of the

house. You could see basically everything, the harbor, you could see the boats going right out of the harbor. Every-

thing was covered with salt. It was hard to see, but I could see big, huge waves breaking over the top of the lighthouse

and flying up in the air over the top of the thing. My father was saying, “Well, I don’t know when she is going to go,

but I guess she is going to go.” But she didn’t. — James Bounakes

Well, I enjoyed it. A lot. Used to fish every morning. Then come home. Open the store. Tend to the garden. Tend to

the chickens. Yeah. Boy what you can do when you’re young. I enjoyed the fishing. I enjoyed the whole works.

Come home sometimes in a fog — thick, thick fog. But I knew the compass reading. Although one time I missed it,

and I wound up near the golf club. The second tee, and I said, “This doesn’t look familiar.” And then I said, “Oh,

that’s right,” so I backed up and went in to the harbor. Yeah, I missed that once. — John Goulart

Stories — Continued from page 5

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TuesdayTuesdayTuesdayTuesday————Friday from 9 Friday from 9 Friday from 9 Friday from 9 to 3.to 3.to 3.to 3.

The History of Little Compton

First Light: Sakonnet

1660-1820

By Janet Lisle

L is for Little Compton

By Piper Hawes

Little Compton Families

By B.F. Wilbour

Terra Nova Vida Nova

The Portuguese in Little Compton

Edited by Juanita Goulart

Time to Play

Edited by Juanita Goulart

The Life and Art of Sydney Burleigh

By Janet Lisle

Portraits in Time

Edited by Piper Hawes

Drystone walls are created without the use of

mortar, gravity holding the stones in place and permitting

the wall to ‘move’ during the annual freezes and thaws.

Most talented drystone wall builders share certain

creative traits, such as the ability to ‘remember a hole’

and then possessing a keen eye for finding stones that

will fit into the remembered spot.

Over a span of three years, Brousseau painstakingly

reconstructed the Osborne walls upon their original

foundations, reusing the existing stones and other native

rocks ‘harvested’ from the property. Unused boulders

were collected in a ‘rock garden’ that is now planted

with wildflowers.

“John (Brousseau) was painting a picture with

walls, he’s an artist” explained Mrs. Osborne. “The

stones were all different colors and types. He takes a

shape and then puts them all together, somewhat like a

jigsaw puzzle. He doesn’t alter the basic stone very

much. He just lets the stones speak…and I know they

speak to me.”

“The stone walls of New England stand guard

against a future that seems to be coming too quickly,”

observed author Robert Thorson in his book Stone By

Stone. “They urge us to slow down and recall the past.”

Walls — Continued from page 3

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Sakonnet Point Perspectives Sakonnet Point Perspectives Sakonnet Point Perspectives Sakonnet Point Perspectives Save the Dates Save the Dates Save the Dates Save the Dates July 1 July 1 July 1 July 1————Exhibit Preview Party Exhibit Preview Party Exhibit Preview Party Exhibit Preview Party

July 2 July 2 July 2 July 2————Family Day Family Day Family Day Family Day

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or Discounted Admission to 250 historic sites

all across the country!

For a complete list of participating sites log onto

www.mohistory.org/content/membershipservices/timetravelers.aspx or call LCHS at 635-4035.

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Members receive $5 off every copy of First Light: Sakonnet

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