HARBINGER

NE WS L E T T E R OF T HE WE S T P OR T HI S T OR I C AL S OC I E T Y www.wpthistory.org
po box n188, westport, ma 02790-1203, westporthistory@westporthistory.net
Winter 2014, vol.47, no.1 Letter from the Director
The Westport Historical Societys 2014 calendar is chock full of special events,
lectures and outdoor activities for one and all, including the long-awaited
opening of the Handy House in July (look for information on volunteer
opportunities in this issue).
On the books for the summer: A lively Antiques Show n Tell event
headlined by TV appraiser Stephen Fletcher of Skinner, Inc.; a fascinating
lecture about Native American whalemen as well as a biographers fresh take
on Westports most famous resident, Paul Cuffe.
And during River Day, organized by the Westport River Watershed
Alliance, on June 28, WHS president Tony Connors will lead a walking tour
of the Head of Westport.
Plans are also underway to re-trace the Indian path and visit the Forge Road
mill as well as a series of Colonial Conversations about everyday life in 18th
century Westport.
In the fall, well get a peek at the old camp meeting cottages at Cadmans Neck
and watch local artisans showcase their centuries-old crafts inside the Handy
House. Also, at the historic house, the Society will host our second annual
ghouls and goblins event for children at Halloween.
I hope that this exciting schedule provides incentive for you to renew your
membership. The time for membership renewal is fast approaching so please
look out for your reminder in the mail in the spring. Or if you are not yet a
member, please join usand bring a friend!
Jenny ONeill, Executive Director
h
IMAGE COURTESY OF THE NEW BEDFORD WHALING MUSEUM
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
Antiques Show n Tell
Thursday, July 31,
5-7 pm at the Dedee
Shattuck Gallery
Join us for a special
evening of show and
tell with Stephen
Fletcher of Skinner
Inc.
Our first Annual
Traditional Artisan Fair
Saturday, September 27
at the Handy House
FIND US ON FACEBOOK
to share in some of
the interesting and
curious objects from
our collection, to
hear about upcoming
events and to be part
of the conversation
about our local
history.
The Westport Historical Society
BOARD MEMBERS
President: Tony Connors
Vice President: Yvonne Barr
Treasurer: Albert Lees
Clerk: Emily Sutton
Charley Appleton
Nicholas Christ
Carol Coutinho
Laura Raposa
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Jenny ONeill
MANAGER OF EDUCATION
Kathleen McAreavey
BOOK KEEPER
Nancy Andersen
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the Westport Historical Society
is to engage the public in the exploration of
the towns rich history and culture, to inspire a
spirit of discovery through educational programs
and encourage active participation in the
preservation and interpretation of our past.
The Society collects and shares this history.
Its goal is to foster the imaginative process
of connecting to the past, making it relevant
to our present and vital to the future of our
community.
The Harbinger is published by the
Westport Historical Society, a 501(c)(3)
non profit organization.

25 Drift Road, Westport, MA 02790
website www.wpthistory.org
phone 508-636-6011
email westporthistory@westporthistory.net
Find us on Facebook!
2
Before we can finally throw open the doors of the historic house on Hix Bridge
Road in Julyfingers crossedthere are still a few projects to tick off our to-do list.
THEY I NCLUDE:
4 Completion of a visitor parking area, grading and walkways
4 Installation of fire protection and emergency lights
4 Completion of interpretive materials for visitors including an audio visual presentation
4 Recruit and train docents
Do you have enthusiasm for Westport history?
WE NEED YOU AT THE HANDY HOUSE!
Join the Handy House corps of volunteers to greet visitors, provide a brief overview
of the history of the house, sell merchandise and collect donations.
This position will suit anyone who enjoys meeting new people and has an interest in
local history. Volunteers must be available on Saturdays, but the schedule is flexible.
Training will take place in June.
Please contact Jenny ONeill, Director, if you would like to know more about this
opportunity.
C OUNT DOWN T O T HE HANDY HOUS E OP E NI NG!
3
For more serious enthusiasts, the
Society will hold docent training in
the spring for those interested to lead
tours for school groups that partici-
pate in the WHS Heritage Education
Program.
Local third gradersrequired by the
state to take a civics classwill be
the focus for the new docents, but
eventually the program will open
to other grades as well as schools in
neighboring towns.
This docent program is perfect for
local history buffs and raconteurs
who enjoy interacting with children.
Our staff will train docents in two
sessions slated for April and May.
The Spring 2014 tours will take place
in June during the morning hours.
The third graders will have been
given some in-class background be-
fore the tour and will continue with
follow-up lessons when they return
to school.
For more details please contact
Kathleen McAreavey, WHS
Manager of Education Programs,
at education@westporthistory.net.
Or call 508-636-6011.
FOR OUR NEW CHILDRENS
HERITAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM!
ROOM TO LEARN: WESTPORT S ONE ROOM
SCHOOLHOUSES
Wednesdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
At the Bell Schoolhouse
This exhibition is open year round.
WESTPORT HI STORY 101
PRESENTED BY TONY CONNORS
Tuesday, March 4, 11, 18 at 10 a.m.
At the Paquachuck Inn, 2056 Main Road,
Westport Point
These programs are SOLD OUT!
If you missed out this time, dont worry!
We hope to repeat this series sometime
in the future!
THE MI LLS OF WESTPORT
PRESENTED BY TONY CONNORS
At Mill No. 2, 251 Forge Road
Saturday, May 17, 2 p.m.
Mill No. 2, now owned by Steel Dog,
was built in 1872 on the site of an earlier
water powered mill. Connors, president
of the Westport Historical Society, will
provide an overview of the development
of the Westport Manufacturing Company.
There will be an opportunity to view
the turbine at Mill No. 2. A walk around
Forge Pond Conservation area, guided
by a Westport Conservation Land Trust
staffer, will follow this program. Walkers
can follow trails on the property as it
rises to give a beautiful view of the pond
below. Co-sponsored by Westport
Land Trust.
Suggested donation $5
As space is limited for this program, please
pre-register in order to ensure that you have
a seat!
NATI VE AMERI CAN WHALEMEN
I N ANTEBELLUM NEW ENGLAND
PRESENTED BY PROF. NANCY SHOEMAKER
Thursday, June 19, 7 p.m.
At the Westport Library
Nancy Shoemaker, professor of history
at the University of Connecticut, presents
her research into the involvement of
Native Americans in the whaling industry.
Among the many individuals that she has
researched are a number from Westport
including members of the Wainer family.
Many Native Americans in this region
voluntarily went whaling and took pride
in their ability to succeed in this industry.
Her research highlights the whaling in-
dustry as one of the few arenas in which
Native Americans could enjoy a high
status and in which racial limitations
widened to allow for skill and hard work
to count for something.
Suggested donation $5
RI VER DAY (organized by the Westport River
Watershed Alliance)
EXPLORE THE HEAD OF WESTPORT
Saturday, June 28, 10 a.m.
In conjunction with River Day, we invite
you to join us on a walking tour of the
Head of Westport. This tour departs from
the Bell School at 10 a.m. Our exhibition
Room to Learn: Westports One Room
Schoolhouses will be open throughout
River Day.
Suggested donation $5
CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS
continued on page 5
Call for docents
4
In October 1919, our federal government
passed the Volstead Act that began an era
called Prohibition. This law, which
lasted 14 years, prohibited the manufac-
ture, sale and possession of liquor. It also
helped a new Westport business to flour-
ish: rum-running.
Rumrunners included local fishermen,
boat owners and other local lawbreakers
who transported whiskey and rum from
large ships anchored in Rum Row, an
area outside territorial waters located
3 miles from shore at first, but then
increased to 11 miles.
Small powerboats loaded up the cargo
and proceeded to rush to shore without
meeting up with a Coast Guard ship. Most
of the locals small boats were faster than
the Coast Guard vessels so many, many
of the rumrunners avoided arrest.
I knew a pair of rumrunners, one of
whom became very famous.
Charlie Travers was a young, intelligent
man who saw rum running as an oppor-
tunity to get rich. And he did.
Charlie had a boat called Black Duck
built at Casey Boatyard. It was 50-feet
long and powered by two airplane
engines. Aircraft engines were made for
high RPMsperfect for a rum-running
vessel. Black Duck was capable of doing
30 knots that was unheard of for a
smallish boat.
One night, the Duck entered Narra-
gansett Bay when it came upon a Coast
Guard cutter moored to a bell buoy. The
ships searchlight illuminated Travers
boat and her crew.
After some crazy maneuvering by
Charlies helmsman, the Coast Guard
opened fire with a machine gun. The
gunner had orders to shoot into the stern
of the Duck but instead got carried away
and swept the pilothouse killing a trio
of crewmembers.
When word got out, angry crowds pro-
tested outside government buildings all
over the United States. Their cry was that
the countrys military killed unarmed ci-
vilians. Investigations were launched and
finally the Secretary of the Treasury
who was also head of the Coast Guard
stated that the killings were justified.
Put out of the rum-running business by
the tragedy at sea, Charlie retired to his
dairy farm where he helped many people
survive the Great Depression.
I remember the Black Duckthe rum-
runner powered by airplane engines
retired to a special dock Charlie had built
in the Westport River. According to other
sources, the Black Duck was retrofitted
by the Coast Guard into a patrol boat
that scoped out rumrunners along the
Westport coast.
The Rum-Running Memoirs of
Cukie Macomber
This recent donation to our collection shows
the Surfside Hotel which was located on
East Beach. Owned by Lydia and John Gifford,
this hotel provided chowder, lunches and
refreshments to visitors from New Bedford
and Fall River for over 50 years.
5
PAUL CUFFE: A YEOMAN I N THE ATLANTI C
WORLD PRESENTED BY JEFF FORTI N
Thursday July 17, 7 p.m.
At the Westport Library
Jeff Fortin, professor of history at
Emmanuel College, Boston, presents a
program on his forthcoming book Paul
Cuffe: A Yeoman in the Atlantic World
(to be published in 2015). The first book-
length biography since 1987, this project
seeks to examine Paul Cuffe and his legacy
in the broader context of the Atlantic
World, revealing not only his influence
in America, but also how he impacted the
abolition movement of England and the
building of a free black nation in Sierra
Leone. Although a positive portrayal of
Cuffe, this biography illuminates the
captains humanity, considering his darker
periods as well as his extensive philan-
thropic and entrepreneurial efforts
throughout the wider Atlantic. This work
considers well-known resources as well
as lesser-discussed documents to create a
well-rounded and comprehensive exami-
nation of perhaps Westports most
famous citizens. Suggested donation $5.
This program is supported in part by a grant
from the Westport Cultural Council, a local
agency supported by the Massachusetts
Cultural Council.
ANTI QUES SHOW N TELL
Thursday, July 31, 5-7 p.m.
At the Dedee Shattuck Gallery
Antiques show and tell with Stephen
Fletcher of Skinner Inc. and frequent
appraiser on WGBHs popular Antiques
Roadshow.
UPCOMING EVENTS continued
Coming up
later in the year
DETAILS TO BE ANNOUNCED
August 13
EXPLORE ECOLOGY AND HI STORY
OF BEACH AVENUE, a walk co-
sponsored by the Westport Land
Trust
September 6
EXPLORE CADMAN S NECK
COTTAGES
September 27
MEET SOME OF OUR LOCAL
ARTI SANS AT THE HANDY HOUSE
October 4
RE- TRACE THE I NDI AN PATH, a walk
co-sponsored by the Westport
Land Trust
October 25
HAUNTED HAPPENI NGS for all the
family at the Handy House
Tuesday mornings in October
join us for COLONI AL
CONVERSATI ONS with Michelle
Coughlinan opportunity to
learn about life in colonial New
England.
6
James and Wendy Dorsey
Bradford and Eileen Faxon
Steve Fletcher
Jan Hall
Hope Hickok
Anne Hopkins
Peter and Caroline Kastner
Foster Kay
John and Colleen Kearney
Martin and Judith Kelly
Mary Ellen Kennedy
Ronald and Susan Knapp
Max Kohlenberg and Rebecca Minard
Carlton and Alice Macomber
Charles and Lynn Merrow
Jim and Fran Mevay
Tony Millham
Hugh and Diana Morton
Elaine Ostroff
Paul Pannoni
Dick and Eleanor Phillips
Tom and Johanna Robinson
Tom and Kate Schmitt
Kendrick and Anne Snyder
Ann Squire
Gregory and Brenda Stone
Emily Sutton
Joan Thompson
Benjamin and Elizabeth White
Bob and Mary Ellen White
Catherine Williams
Kit and Marka Wise
Sally Wyatt
$1000+
Peter and Rosanne Aresty
Russell Beede
Robert and Pamela Faulkner
Ralph and Calla Guild
Jane Loos
Steven Syre and Laura Raposa
$500 - $999
Richard Armstrong
Gary Baker and Martha Sears
Charles and Linda Findlay
Bob Harding
Scott and Barbara Jones
Robert and Naoko Kugler
Leo and Pat Marshall
Chris Mckeon
Andrea Powning
Tom and Barbara Slaight
$100 TO $499
Hope Atkinson
William Barker
Yvonne Barr
Philip Beauregard
Bill Pardee and Lin Beck
Russell Beede
John and Gertraude Bergland
Elizabeth Brinkerhoff
Gioia Browne
Nils Bruzelius and Lynne Weil
Tim Bryant
Nancy Burkholder
Elizabeth Cady
Maureen Camara
Peter and Gaelen Canning
Nicholas and Meg Christ
Carolyn Cody
David Cole and Betty Slade
James Collins and Genae Johnson
Thomas Connors and Michelle Dolbec
Tony and Sharon Connors
Lois Conway
engage inspire connect
Annual Appeal
The Westport Historical 2013 Society
7
UP TO $100
Sally Aldrich
David and Nancy Andersen
Norman Anderson and Laurie Marinone
Richard Anderson
Charles and Pat Appleton
Anne Barnes
Chris Bosso
Richard and Barbara Brewer
Carroll Brownlee
Edward and Louise Bush
Merlin Camozzi
Whitney Chadwick
Arthur and Grace Cintron
Arlene Cloutier
Charles Deknatel
Carolyn Duby
Jerry and Connie Dyer
Richard and Christine Earle
Kathleen Fair
Elizabeth Flemming
Peter and Joan Fradley
Constance Gee
Howard and Laura Gifford
Chip and Gay Gillespie
Antonio Gracia
June Hebert
Albert Howland
Dale Lavoie
Robert Lawrence
Anne Lowell
Carlton and Alice Macomber
Alan and Ruth Manchester
Laurie Marceau
Maury May
Joyce Micciantuono
Tony and Geraldine Millham
Tony Millham/Star Forge
Jenny ONeill
Paul Pannoni
Jonathan Potter
Alexander Preston
June Roche
Tanja Ryden
Paul and Tina Schmid
Robert and Evelyn Simha
Paul and Elizabeth Sittenfeld
Martha Slaight
David and Doris Sprogis
Quentin and Sacha Sullivan
Jerry Sundheimer and Elizabeth Gelfand
Jeffery and Linda Swope
Donald and Yvonne Taylor
Carlton and Nancy Thompson
Mark Thompson
Arline and Alvin Tripp
Steven and Dawn Tripp
HANDY HOUSE AND OTHER RESTRICTED USES
$25,000+
Albert and Cindy Lees
BayCoast Bank
$10,000 - $24,999
Joel and Lisa Alvord
Anonymous
$1000 -$9999
David Cole and Betty Slade
Tony and Sharon Connors
Grimshaw-Gudewicz Charitable
Foundation
Neil and Sue Van Sloun
Sylvan Endowment
Howard Bayne Fund
MEMORIAL GIFTS
Carlton and Alice Macomber
In memory of Anna Sherman Duphiney

. ,

TO OUR BUSINESSES MEMBERS
FOR THEIR SUPPORT:
Tims Lawn Care
Country Woolens
Comfort of Touch
Sisters of Solace
Bradshaw Insurance
Lees Market
Jacks Landscaping and Lawn Service
Even Keel Realty
Grays Daily Grind and Grays Gristmill
Geraldine Millham Design
Partners Village Store
Bartlett Tree Service
Baycoast Bank
Village Plumbing
T.F. Morra Tree Care
,, LOCAL HISTORY
The Westport Historical Society is
supported by donations from individuals,
foundations and businesses that care
about the preservation of Westports
rich heritage. In addition to joining the
Historical Society as a member, please
consider these other ways you can
support our mission:
CONTRI BUTI ONS I N HONOR OR MEMORI AL
GI FTS
Honor a friend or relative, commemorate
a special anniversary or mark the passing
of a loved one with a contribution.
BEQUESTS
Leave a lasting legacy for the future by
naming the Historical Society as a
beneficiary in your will.
CORPORATE MATCHI NG GI FTS
Please check with your employer to see
if they offer a matching gift program.
BUSI NESS SPONSORSHI PS
The Historical Society offers local
businesses many different levels of
sponsorship and recognition.
thank you
FOR GI FTS RECEI VED NOVEMBER 2013 FEBRUARY 2014
westport historical society
25 drift road, po box n188, westport, ma 02790
Non-Profit
U.S. Postage
PAID
Fall River MA
Permit No.323
RETURN SERVI CE REQUESTED
membership levels
rINDIVIDUAL $20
rFAMILY $35
rCONTRIBUTING $70
rSUSTAINING $200
rSPECIAL GIFT $
Please make check payable to and mail to:
westport historical society
25 drift road, po box n188
westport, ma 02790
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ADDRESS
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. ,
Handy House opening doorways DONATI ON FORM
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To donate securities or stocks or to make a pledge, please contact Jenny ONeill
at the Westport Historical Society at 508-636-6011.
Please list donation in publications as a gift from:
MAIL TO: Westport Historical Society, PO Box N188, Westport MA 02790
"