Treasures and traditions: Historical Society exhibition
portrays life in old Westport
By
Editor – Courtesy of the Dartmouth
Chronicle Back To
Community Events of Westport
July 25, 2007 6:00 AM
WESTPORT — The title of the fascinating
exhibition of local history currently filling the ground floor of the Westport
Historical Society's museum at the Bell Schoolhouse says it all— Treasures and
Traditions: A Portrait of Westport's Past.
Grouped into individual displays addressing
summer visitors, old schools, early agriculture and dairy farming, the
extensive fishing industry, old mills, and general everyday family life, the
artifacts, photographs and documents on display through Sept. 4 truly do paint
a collective portrait of life in Westport in days past.
At the same time, the historical record
assembled by the Historical Society with the help of dozens of loaned items
from local residents also illustrates the many forces that combined to help
make contemporary Westport what it is today.
"It's not intended to be a scholarly
exhibition, but more of an interesting look at life in
Westport over the years," said Westport Historical Society director Jenny
O'Neill. "It's designed for people who know virtually nothing about
Westport... to give a sense of how people lived" from the town's earliest days right up to a generation ago, she suggests.
The materials on display range from Native
American artifacts to photos and printed materials from the 1940s and 1950s—
everything from stone projectile points to a collection of milk bottles
produced and used for home delivery by the dozens of dairy farms that once
dotted Westport's bucolic landscape.
"It's the first time we've had a
long-term exhibition open to the public," noted Ms. O'Neill. "We've
had extremely good feedback from the visitors who have come through" since
the June 30 opening, she reported. "Everyone seems to find something to
connect to; and it's always fun to see what it is."
For some visitors, that special interest
might be that corner exhibit tracing the history of famous Westport businessman
and mariner Paul Cuffee (1759-1817), the son of a
slave and a native Wampanoag who championed minority rights long before it
became politically correct to do so.
Others may be fascinated by the eight-year
indenture agreement signed by one of his contemporaries in 1800, detailing how
the bound servant was to be fed, housed and trained in a trade; taught to read
while in the tradesman's service; and be supplied with a Bible and two good
suits of clothes suitable for Sunday worship.
Many of the early visitors to the exhibition
have been history buffs looking for some connection to family members who once
lived and worked here in the farming, fishing and hospitality industries,
delighting in ephemera such as the 1889 map published by the Hotel Westport on
Main Road to help the hordes of summer visitors flocking to the Point and
Horseneck Beach.
"The most convenient, comfortable and
substantial summer hotel in Massachusetts," the advertising flyer boasts
as it sits next to a stock certificate issued to an investor in a proposed rail
line from East Beach to Lincoln Park that was never built.
For Chris McKeon, visiting his parents'
summer home in neighboring Dartmouth, the comprehensive display of materials
dealing with North Westport's old mills was of special interest. The family is
descended from the founders of one of the biggest of the mills in what was once
known as the "Westport Factory" up along the Dartmouth line near the
former Lincoln Park.
A history buff who has researched the family
history, Chris recently returned to the Bell School on a rainy Wednesday
afternoon for a second visit, "and I brought my parents this time,"
he told Ms. O'Neill as soon as he arrived with his father James and mother
Jacquelyn (Lewis) McKeon in tow.
He headed straight for the mills exhibit to
show his mother the extensive factory complex known as Westport Manufacturing
Company that her great grandfather, George Washington Lewis, and his brother
had established in 1854 at the headwaters of the East Branch of the Westport
River.
Looking at an aerial map of the
neighborhood, Chris pointed out the still-standing homes just over the
Dartmouth line from Westport Factory where his forebears once lived. Another
photograph showed the stately home of the half brother of the Lewises, William Trafford, who was the company's primary
"agent" or business manager.
Still another image shows the manager's
stately mansion towering over the small company houses that once housed some
300 employees at the mill, and some of the 40 buildings where workers
manufactured carpet thread, cotton batting and mop heads and other products.
While the McKeons
were touring the exhibition, Ms. O'Neill checked the society's extensive
computer database for specific information on other Lewis and Trafford family
artifacts that might be in the museum collection, coming up with a short list
of possible relations the visitors might research for more information on other
possible early descendants.
It's not been uncommon for those viewing the
exhibition to return a second or third time with other, often older, family
members they think might be interested in some portion of the collection of
artifacts of Westport's "good old days—" searching the old
photographs of early schoolhouses for a glimpse of grandma or Aunt Ellie, or a
grandfather or uncle leading a team of oxen down a country lane for a day's work.
Enhancing the display of pieces from the
society's collection are the loaned materials from more than 20 residents who
contributed some piece of local history to the exhibition.
Visitors in the first few weeks have also
offered a few new donations and loans to the society, once they've seen what is
on display, Ms. O'Neill noted.
"Lots of people don't really know what
we collect, so the exhibition is a good way of showing people what our
collection contains," she explained. If you haven't visited yet, there's
plenty of time to check out Westport's rich history. The exhibition at the Bell
School, 25 Drift Rd. is open Mondays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.,
Saturdays from 1-4 p.m., and by special appointment through Sept. 4.
For more information, you can contact the
Westport Historical Society at (508) 636-6011 or visit www.westporthistory.com.
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