Hopedale History
June 2023
No. 416
A Letter from Cyrus
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Twenty-five years ago – June 1998 – Terry Nichols is sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
Walt Disney Pictures‘ 36th feature film, Mulan, is released to very positive reception and commercial success.
Three white supremacists murder James Byrd Jr. in Jasper, Texas.
A jury in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, convicts 17-year-old Luke Woodham of killing two students and wounding seven others at Pearl High School.
Microsoft releases Windows 98
Fifty years ago – June 1973 – Elections are held for the Northern Ireland Assembly, which will lead to power-sharing between unionists and nationalists in Northern Ireland for the first time.
A United States patent for the Docutel automated teller machine is granted to Donald Wetzel, Tom Barnes and George Chastain.
The Supreme Court of the U.S. delivers its decision in the landmark case Miller v. California, establishing the “Miller test” for determining obscenity.
Former White House counsel John Dean begins his testimony before the Senate Watergate Committee.
One hundred years ago – June 1923 – Mount Etna erupts in Italy, making 60,000 homeless.
New York became the first to repeal enforcement of the nationwide prohibition of the sale of alcohol, as Governor Alfred E. Smith signed the Mullen-Gage bill repealing the law.
The Russian Civil War saw its last major battle as the Soviet Army defeated the remnants of the White Army near Okhotsk.
The first commercial recording of a country music ballad with lyrics was made by Fiddlin’ John Carson as he sang “The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane” while playing a fiddle at the studios of Okeh Records.( Click here for the song.)
A rally of the Ku Klux Klan white supremacist group attracted 200,000 people in Kokomo, Indiana
On the first stop of his western tour, President Harding gave a speech in St. Louis reiterating his advocacy for American participation in the World Court but not the League of Nations. The speech was carried live by three radio stations, making Harding the first president to be heard by a million people simultaneously.
News items above are from Wikipedia. For Hopedale news from 25, 50 and 100 years ago, see below this text box.
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A Letter from Cyrus
The following is from an email that I received a couple of months ago, sent by Jennifer Rycenga.
Dear Dan – Greetings. I am an academic and researcher, doing work on the Burleigh Family of Plainfield, CT, who were all Abolitionists in the mid-nineteenth century. I am busy transcribing a sheaf of letters held by the Brown University Archive. This morning I came across one that describes some of the individuals at the Hopedale Community.
I wanted to reach out to ensure that you were aware of this resource; I frankly don’t think this letter has been studied in the past 100 years. It is in the John Hay Library at Brown University, a letter from Cyrus Moses Burleigh to George Shepard Burleigh, dated October 5, 1843. Their internal classification number is HA 1227 in the George Shepard Burleigh Papers.
Here are some of the relevant bits – Charles and John are older brothers to Cyrus and George. I cannot vouch for every word being correct, but at least it gives you a start in ascertaining if this information was already in your database, or if it is new.
“I stopped a while in Worcester, & while there I met with a number of Hopedale people, A. Ballou & others. They had just come from Leominster, where they had held a series of meetings, & from their statements I concluded not to go there. They intended to go to Hopedale that afternoon & invited me to accompany them which I did. We went through Grafton & I stopped & staid all night with John. J. & E. sent their love to all at home. Mary is at “Pama’s”, and Charlie was not well. John is not excessively enamored of G. The people are as bigoted as Mormons & as proud as Lucifer. John has a school of near 30 scholars, & has engaged to teach the town school through the winter. They will get along comfortably, I think.
John went with me to Hopedale Saturday, but he staid there only a short time. I staid over Sunday. I found some things there I did not like & many things (indecipherable) I did. Upon the (indecipherable) I was much pleased with the aspect of things. I should have looked about a good while had I made their purchase, but that I would have found a more pleasant situation. But after all, it isn’t every day that a water privilege can be found where the scene around is beautiful on extension, & they were anxious to possess themselves of water power. There are some lovely spirits there. I was much delighted with Adin Ballou. Mrs. Price is an intelligent woman & a very true good soul. I stopped most of the time with her. I met with a young man from Philadelphia there. His name is Christopher List. He studied law with Th. Earle & is well acquainted with Charles & all the Philad. Abolitionists. He seems to be a pure minded, benevolent man – altogether too good for a lawyer. He is very intelligent – a German by birth & speaks German with ease. I do not often like a man (indecipherable) on so short acquaintance. He is taking a pedestrian tour through New England as a part of it, & contemplates visiting Roxbury community (the Brook Farm commune) when he leaves Hopedale. (Probably he is now in R.) – I think his history must be full of interesting facts, from what little I heard of it.”
Hopedale News – June 1998
Hopedale News – June 1923
Hopedale News – June 1923
