Hopedale History October 1, 2017 No. 333 The Old House Hopedale in September Day in the Park Recent additions to hope1842.com pages include: Milk Wagons (Photos of a Davenport milk truck) Hopedale's Octagon Houses (Finally identified - the location where the octagon house on Hopedale Street stood.) Deaths <><><><><><><><><><> Twenty-five years ago - October 1992 - President George H. W. Bush, Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, and Ross Perot participate in the first of 3 televised debates. The end of the world, predicted by the Dami Mission in South Korea, does not occur. Pope John Paul II issues an apology, and lifts the edict of the Inquisition against Galileo Galilei. Fifty years ago - October 1967 - An X-15 research aircraft with test pilot William J. Knight establishes an unofficial world fixed-wing speed record of Mach 6.7. Guerrilla leader Che Guevara and his men are captured in Bolivia; they are executed the following day. Approximately 70,000 Vietnam War protesters march in Washington, D.C. and rally at the Lincoln Memorial; in a successive march that day, 50,000 people march to the Pentagon. John McCain is shot down over North Vietnam and taken prisoner. His capture is confirmed two days later, and he remains a prisoner of war for more than five years. Expo 67 closes in Montreal, after having attracted more than 50 million visitors in six months. News items above are from Wikipedia. News clippings for 1967 and 1992, below this text box, are from the Milford Daily news and were obtained at the Hopedale and Milford libraries. News from 1917 is from the Milford Gazette. <><><><><><><><><><> The Old House By George Farquhar Jones, 1875 Owing to the great and active interest felt and shown by my sister, Mrs. E. M. Dabney, and her eager wish and generous kindness, we, together, went to Milford, Mass., to visit the place where so many of our family were born, married, lived and died. We arrived there on the 12th of August, (1875) and immediately took a carriage and rode out to the place where our ancestor, Elder John Jones, had made a clearing in the wild forest, with his own hands. The place where his large farm was is now called "Hopedale," it having been purchased by a Community of that name. It had been built upon and improved by roads and streets, and hardly a trace of the old place was left. Our first call was upon the Rev. Adin Ballou, the author of "The History of Milford," and we found the reverend gentleman at his home, not many rods from the spot where "the old Jones House "stood for nearly a century and three-quarters. We had a long and interesting interview, which lasted two hours, learning many little items and matters that were to us very gratifying. On being asked if there were any pictures of the old homestead, he quietly rose and took down from the wall of the room, a daguerreotype and an oil painting, both being faithful representations of the house first erected in 1703, enlarged in 1730 to 1735, and demolished in 1874. He kindly loaned us both pictures to be photographed, and the order was given the next day. They were well done by a photographer in Milford. Expressing a strong desire to see the spot where the old house had stood for so many long years, Mr. Ballou went with us, and we soon were standing on the ground once covered by the venerable building. The space is open and uncovered by buildings, and nearby are three grand old trees. The old well was there, into which a pump had been placed, and we found the large, broad and heavy front door stone, which had lain at the entrance to the house for years upon years. This, to me, was more familiar and well remembered than anything that was seen. How many feet had passed over, or stood on that door- stone! Those of the young, the middle-aged and the old — the toddling baby, the young boy or girl, the full-grown man and woman, the busy, active farmer and his wife; the aged, resting and waiting, father and mother, soon, perhaps, to lay down a wearied life for one "beyond the river;" the gay and happy had stood there, the worn, the tried, the weary, the afflicted, had stepped upon that stone. The gaieties attendant on the wedding, the solemnities of the funeral, had brought many to tread on that stone, on their way into the house of joy or of mourning, as might be the case; and now all had gone and passed away. Only three persons of all the generations who had lived in, or had visited at the venerable mansion, are now alive."So runs the world away." (The door stone is now near the Ballou statue in Adin Ballou Park.) We visited the beautiful river, so clear, and pure and sparkling, as we well remembered it to be, and it is now walled up, where it passed near the old house, and is utilized for manufacturing purposes. It had been fifty-four years since my sister last visited the place, and fifty-nine or sixty years since I was there the last time. Singular sensations were ours as we stood there, and memories of the youthful and happy days passed at "the Farm," and under the old roof-tree, crowded themselves upon us. All our recollections of the scenes we saw and the events we had witnessed came back to us vividly and with remarkable acuteness. They were felt, but cannot be described. "Never parted from our bright, active, venerable companion (he told us that he was in his eighty-second year) with regret, but thanking him (which I repeat here, and again with much pleasure) for his courtesy and kindness to us, who till then had been entire strangers to him. His and his wife's pleasant conversation will long remain in our memory, as interesting and gratifying. Thanks to Peter Metzke of Melbourne, Australia, and Milford historian Giancarlo BonTempo who both sent links to George Farquhar Jones's record of his family, including those who were among the first inhabitants of what would later become known as "The Old House," the original home of the Hopedale Community. I plan to use more from the book in future ezines. Memories of the Old House Ezine Menu HOME |
Hopedale News - October 1992 |
Above - The Old House Below - Location of the Old House |
Hopedale News - October 1967 |
Hopedale News - October 1917 |
This section of an 1854 map of the Hopedale Community shows the location of the Old House. What is now called Hopedale Street goes from the lower right corner to the upper middle. On the left is what was called the Lower Pond. The Old House is called the Com'ty House on the map. It's on Union Street. The parts of Social and Union streets west of Hopedale Street were later discontinued and built over by Draper shops. Water Street, which goes by the Lower Pond up to Freedom Street was also discontinued, and by the 1890s the Lower Pond was drained. |