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Thursday, December 15, 2011
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Holiday luncheon at the Westport Senior center!
Westport mourns the passing of Anne
“Pete” Watson (Lewis) Baker.
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Holiday
luncheon at the Westport Senior center! EverythingWestport.com Saturday, December 10, 2011
Westport's Gary Mauk with wife Pat at his
side played Santa Claus, and a better Santa Claus you'll never find. COA Director Mary Ellen Gomes and her hard working elves served up a
delicious Ham Dinner, all for just three bucks a head, to the over 60 guests
who dropped by for a good meal with good friends. Be sure to include Westport's fabulous Senior Center on your holiday
shopping list; their food pantry can use the help.
Left: Westport's State Representative Paul
Schmid shown with, from the left, Jack Baughan,
Mary Rousseau, and COA Director Mary Ellen Gomes. Right: COA Director
Mary Ellen Gomes draws the winning tickets for the poinsettias that decorated
each dining table.
Above, from the
left: Beverley and Jack Baughan, Kathy Cardin, Louise Parsons, and Nora Jerome,
all from Westport. Westport mourns the passing of Anne “Pete” Watson (Lewis) Baker. EverythingWestport.com Friday, December 16, 2011 photos/EverythingWestport.com except as noted. Westport mourns
the passing of Anne “Pete” Watson
(Lewis) Baker, 82, a noted architectural
historian who left her thumbprint on, and her soul in, most historical
preservations efforts in Westport. Baker, 82, died Monday, December 12, 2011.
She was wife of the late Robert H. Baker and former wife of Duncan H.
Doolittle. Arrangements will be private.
Above: Pete Baker (center) working in the Handy House
September 26, 201-.submitted photo by Westport Historical Society. Baker most recently participated in the ongoing
effort to restore and preserve the Cadman-White-Handy house, one of
Westport's most significant architectural and archeological treasures that
spans more than two centuries of life in Westport. "She was the driving force behind our decision to preserve this
property," WHS Director Jenny O'Neill said. She was the godmother of Westport's Cemetery
Study project, and was called upon to advise on buildings in the town's
historical inventory before renovation or demolition. Baker was twice nominated for a lifetime
achievement award from the Massachusetts Historical Commission. She was the
recipient of a Westport Historical Society annual award. It was agreed that one of the most
successful and interesting summer exhibitions presented by the Westport Historical
Society was the 2009 exposition “Behind the Shingles.”
Inset: Pete Baker at the
"Behind the Shingles" exhibition. In the words of Baker, curator of this
exhibition: “Every old house has a story - in its cellar, attic, and behind
its walls: imprints from hinges, latches, locks and window catches; the chafe
marks from daily chores and thresholds worn from years of footsteps; a broken
saucer; a pewter spoon, an English coin; and the carpenter’s scribe marks and
Roman numerals that link the house to the day of raising. In each ancient
structure there are clues to the past - if we take the time and concern to
look, to learn, to touch, to document, to preserve. By so doing we will be
able to give our past to the future." - Westport Historical Society. Visitors and historians came from all over
the state to view and learn from Baker's life work, displayed at the historic
Bell School House, site of the exhibition. Baker led the effort to restore the remains
of Westport's earliest known homestead, the Waite-Potter house, and
coordinated an archeological dig within the foundation (pictured below,
right). She also was instrumental in the restoration
of The Cory/Cornell Homestead at 212 Cornell Road, Westport, which was
showcased in an open house through the
generosity of the owners Tim and Maryann Bryant. The house was saved from the
wrecker's ball by Baker. Baker was the guiding light in the handling of artifacts discovered
during the dredging and restoration of Adamsville Pond, and lent her
expertise in helping Ralph Guild restore the many buildings around the site
(pictured bottom, right.) She was a founding committee member of the Westport Historical
Commission in 1974, and advised many home owners throughout the years in the
maintenance and restoration of Westport Point historic properties. Baker was the go-to person for property owners wishing to maintain,
restore or demolish structures listed in Westport's historic inventory. Baker authored Collecting Houses: 17th Century Houses - 20th Century Adventure a story about houses - their cellars,
attics, and everything in between. It's about houses the author has moved,
dismantled, reclaimed, recorded. It's about houses Baker found hidden in the
woods and houses she rescued. Baker was dedicated to historic preservation, and was a staunch
advocate for researching old mill and American Indian sites. Her many remarkable historical preservation projects include: Cory
House, Westport (c. 1750); Tripp-Goddard House, Westport (c. 1720);
Waite-Potter house, Westport (c. early 1600s); Mott House, Portsmouth, RI,
(c. 1680); Vincent House, Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard (c. 1700); Cole House,
Seekonk (c. 1700); Brownell House, Portsmouth, RI (c. 1700); Jerome House,
Tiverton, RI (c. 1700); Hart House, North Dartmouth (c. 1710); Howland House,
South Dartmouth (c. 1740); Captain Jonathon Stoddard House, Newington, CT (c.
1740); Macomber-Sylvia Building, New Bedford (c.
1816); Captain Thomas Paine House, Jamestown, RI (c. 1680); and Akin House,
South Dartmouth (c. 1762).
Left: Pete Baker at a presentation she made for the
Westport Historical Society, January 17, 2008. Right: Pete Baker with Muriel (Potter) Bibeau at the site of the
Waite-Potter homestead. January 17, 2008.
Below: Pete Baker with Ralph Guild on Ralph Guild Day, August
25, 2007.
Born in Providence, RI, she was daughter of
the late Arthur H.W. and Mildred M. (Pennypacker-Francis)
Lewis. Pete Baker was an architectural historian. Survivors include 3 sons: William S.
Doolittle of Eugene, OR, Elisha W. Doolittle of Wakefield, RI and Benjamin C.
Baker of FL; 4 daughters: Harriet S. (Doolittle) Vaughan of Narragansett, RI,
Abby L. Doolittle of Burlington, CT, Nicole G. (Doolittle) Nomer of Wakefield, RI and Sarah H. Baker of Westport,
MA; 7 grandchildren; and 2 great grandchildren. She was sister of the late Nancy J. (Lewis)
Wall. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may
be made to: Westport Historical Commission Trust Fund, Town Hall, 816 Main
Road, Westport, MA 02790, in the name of Anne Baker for her unfinished
projects or to the Environmental Defense Fund, 257 Park Ave. South, New York,
NY 10010 or www.EDF.org. A memorial service to Anne
“Pete” Watson (Lewis) Baker will be announced in the future. - - - - - End - - - - - ©
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