Sutton Historical Society Inc. - Sutton, Massachusetts

Potluck Supper
Eight Lots School House
54 Eight Lots Road

Friday, August 6, 6:30 pm

Members and General Public are Invited

Bring your favorite main dish or dessert, a chair or blanket, and your love of Sutton history.

The school house was built before 1773 on land that was deeded to the town in 1799 by Timothy Sibley. It is believed to be one of the oldest one-room school houses in the United States still standing on its original foundation. Deeded to the Sutton Historical Society by the Eight Lots School Association in 1990, the building underwent a 3-year extensive restoration which was completed in 2015. This building is a treasure to the Sutton community.

So, mark your calendars and join us for a summer evening at an historically significant venue.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Dates and Times may be Subject to Change

August 6                     6:30 pm          Annual Potluck Supper Eight Lots School House
54 Eight Lots Road

September 7              7:00 pm Robert Hubbard, Author Location TBD
                                                            General Rufus Putnam: George Washington’s
                                                            Chief Military Engineer and the “Father of Ohio”
                                                            Presentation about the life of General Rufus
                                                            Putnam. Born in Sutton, American soldier,
                                                            and pioneer settler of Ohio

October 5                   7:00 pm          Annual Meeting First Congregational Church
307 Boston Road

October 30                 7:00 pm Cemetery Ghost Walk Sutton Center Cemetery
                                                            Re-enactors will tell the tale of early 4 Uxbridge Road
                                                            Sutton settlers buried in the Sutton
                                                            Center Cemetery

November 2               7:00 pm William Reid, Chief Ranger First Congregational Church
                                                            The Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor 307 Boston Road
                                                            Presentation about the history of bald eagles
                                                            In the country and a description of the unique
                                                            characteristics of these amazing birds

December 4               Various Chain of Lights Eight Lots School House
                                                            Annual Town-wide Christmas Event General Rufus Putnam Museum
M. M. Sherman Blacksmith Shop

December 7               6:30 pm          Christmas Potluck First Congregational Church
307 Boston Road

December 31             Midnight         Last Night Cannon Firing M. M. Sherman Blacksmith Shop
Cannon Club 6 Singletary Avenue

Thank you to member, Malcolm Ketchum, for sharing his images of Sutton

2021 Membership Drive

Membership Renewals Due March 1, 2021

CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR 2021 HAS NOT BEEN COMPLETED TO DATE GIVEN THE CONTINUED SOCIAL DISTANCING GUIDELINES MANDATED DUE TO THE CONTINUED COVID-19 PANDEMIC

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS CONTINUES TO MONITOR CURRENT GATHERING RESTRICTIONS
CALENDAR OF EVENTS WILL BE UPDATED AS EVENTS ARE ADDED

Members are available for research questions.
Reach us via our contact page above.

Cemetery headstone cleaning continues using social distance rules.
Reach us through the contact page above

Continue to practice Social Distancing
Stay Safe!

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CANNON SHOOT - FIRST NIGHT - 12-31-2020

Thank you to Linda Carlson for sharing these great images of our First Night Cannon Shoot.

Annual Meeting Update

- Donation by Mike and Sheila Moss to the General Rufus Putnam
  Museum of a framed 1915 Boston Herald photo spread of
  Purgatory Chasm prior to its being established as a State Park in 1919

- Election of 6 non-officer Board positions for a 2-year term

- Presentation of work completed on the Sutton Center Meeting
House and tour of the inside

- Update on status of Cemetery cleaning/repair at Sutton Center
and Dodge Cemetery. Almost complete. Committee will continue
work in other town cemeteries. Thank you to the countless
volunteers. This group is definitely "Quietly making noise!"
Volunteers always needed.

- Update on progress of organizing General Rufus Putnam
  Museum. Grant received through the Massachusetts Board of
  Library Commissioners to help move forward with cataloguing
  and digitizing collection. Thank you to Joyce Smith, Curator, and
Betsy Perry, Sutton Librarian, for this great effort.

- Sutton Cultural Council grant received and utilized for the
creation and production of a brochure on Society holdings to
be distributed at events. Thank you to member, Dave Pizzi, for
his efforts.

Cemetery Project Update - June 2020

During the period of higher COVID-19 restrictions, members of our Restoration Committee cut and burned a lot of brush and wood debris while maintaining the individual "social distancing" guidelines in this open area.
Still more to do, but the difference is very noticeable in the Sutton Center Cemetery.

More recently, some stones have been reset, including repaired stones, and others cleaned. A few photos are below.

As we have now reached the second round of re-openings, we are going to proceed with our original planned workdays at Sutton Center Cemetery on the second Saturday of each month.

Weather permitting, start day will be Saturday, June 13. We will be on-site starting at 9:00 am

Come with a mask or face shield.

PROGRESS PHOTOS - SUTTON CENTER CEMETERY (behind Town Hall)

BEFORE AFTER

Image above is Elliot stone reset and cleaned. GREAT JOB - Restoration Committee!!!

1816 - The Year without a Summer

Our ancestors weathered crazy times before us.
See a few events noted below

The year 1816 was known as ‘The Year Without a Summer’ in New England because six inches of snow fell in June and every month of the year had a hard frost.

Temperatures dropped to as low as 40 degrees in July and August as far south as Connecticut. People also called it ‘Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death’ and the ‘Poverty Year.’

The Year Without A Summer had a far-reaching impact. Crop failures caused hoarding and big price increases for agricultural commodities. People went hungry. Farmers gave up trying to make a living in New England and started heading west. Politicians who ignored the melancholy plight of their constituents found themselves out of office.

Flurries fell in Boston on June 7. The snow was 18" deep in Cabot, VT, on June 8. One June 11, a temperature of 30.5 degrees was recorded in Williamstown, MA. Frozen birds dropped dead in the fields. Some Vermont farmers who had already shorn their sheep tried to tie their fleeces back on, but many froze to death anyway.

Many people believe the Year Without a Summer was caused by a massive volcanic explosion on Mt. Tambora in Indonesia, killing 15,000 instantly. Soon after, another 65,000 perished of disease and starvation. The volcanic ash and debris thrown up into the stratosphere is thought to have blocked the sun and caused a gradual lowering of temperatures.

The Influenza Epidemic of 1918
Sutton

The great Influenza Epidemic of 1918 appeared in the Blackstone Valley in September 1918. It is believed that Patient 0 was a soldier from Company D 75th Infantry from Camp Devens, who came to Whitinsville to visit. He died in Whitinsville on September 19, 1918. By September 1918, Fort Devens had 9,000 dead, dying and sick.

Sutton's first death came on September 30, 1918. The individual was employed by Whitin Machine Works.

Between September 30, 1918 and December 30, 1918, Sutton lost 19 of its approximately 2,800 residents, including the renowned Manchaug physician,
Dr. Pierre Couilliard.

For more information about the
1918 Influenza Epidemic
Click on Image below
to view film
pbs.org

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All events open to both Society members and the general public

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GRAVESTONE MAINTENANCE WORKSHOP
GREAT SUCCESS!!!
August 25, 2019

Thanks to all who joined in the workshop on Sunday, August 25, 2019 and those restoring the Reverend Hall memorial crypt.
Special thanks to Betty & Carlo Mencucci for sharing their vast knowledge, demonstrating proper methods and giving us opportunities to learn hands-on

Plans are in the works for a workday in September at the Town Center Cemetery. The exact day and time will be determined soon.
The notice will be emailed to those who signed up at the previous event, will be passed out at the Labor Day breakfast, will be published in the
Millbury-Sutton Chronicle and posted on the Sutton Historical Society website and Facebook.

The focus that day will be on resetting the front or back leaning gravestones - which are the most prone to breaking - and honing the skills that Betty & Carlo have taught us. Also, if your preference is to put your effort into cleaning of the gravestones and memorial stones, please join in. And, if you have friends who have expressed interest in - or curiosity about - restoration, please bring them along!

SPECIAL THANKS TO
Tiny Leaf Designs Photography, April Eaton Brown
for the amazing images below from the April 25 event!!!

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STOLEN PUMP UPDATE!!!
Thank you to the Moss Family for their generous donation of a replacement pump for the Eight Lots School House!! Thank you also to the several other families who offered pump replacements.

HELP US RECOVER THIS SPECIAL ITEM

The well pump (pictured below) was stolen from the
Eight Lots School House Property!!
If you have any information about this incident, please reach out to us at the above "contact" tab.

Local police have been notified.