Mar 1, 2024 “Enslaved Girl”“To her private life Only a few were privy.A life lost and found.” The next time you pass by or visit a CVS, think of Nanny. Her feet trod upon the Reverend Joseph Baxter’s land as she went about her work as his enslaved servant. Almost two centuries later the minister’s […]
Nanny “Baxter” of Medfield Read More »
Feb 1, 2024 When they came back from their service in the Revolutionary War, you might have found Warwick Green and Newport Green in their own nailer shop along the Dedham road in Medfield, Massachusetts just south of the eastern end of today’s Vine Lake Cemetery (Callendar). They had finally been paid for their six
Busy As a “Green” Nailer Read More »
Dec 1, 2023 The Boyden Homestead at 120 High Street (Rt. 27), near Plain Street, heading towards Walpole, has a long and varied history. It has significant historical ties to both national and local events starting with the great migration to America, the King Philip War, the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War and
The Jonathan Boyden Jr. Homestead Read More »
Nov 1, 2023 October in Medfield – it’s a magical feeling, somehow comforting and spooky at the same time. This week, my thoughts turn to our own Hannah Adams (1755-1831). I think she would have enjoyed being a contestant in the town’s Scarecrow Spooktacular contest, for it seems that she had a personal connection with
When Spirits Visited Hannah Adams Read More »
Jul 30, 2023 It’s 5:00 pm on a Friday in June and you are in Medfield Center, standing at the corner of North and Main Streets. It’s eerily quiet. There are no cars, no trucks, no cement mixers clogging the intersection. One or two people saunter across the street without looking! You hear the wind
Medfield 1723 to 2023 Read More »
April 1, 2023 Portal readers of a certain vintage will recall 20 or 30 years ago a delightful annual fall fundraiser called the “Emperor Onion Fair” at the venerable Unitarian Universalist church. It begs the question, what or who was the Emperor Onion? It was not a vegetable of the genus Allium. Charles “Emperor” Onion
Feb 1, 2023 On the issue of slavery in America, one usually thinks right away about the Southern States, but as William Tilden reminds us in his “History of Medfield 1650-1886,” that in Medfield’s early history, “slavery was common with most wealthy citizens.” The earliest slaves in the then Massachusetts Bay Colony were Native Americans,
When Slavery Existed in Medfield Read More »
Jan 1, 2023 After the news of the Battles of Lexington and Concord reached Connecticut, and after the British had retreated back into Boston, a patriotic wave of enthusiasm swept over thousands of Connecticut minutemen, inspiring them to go and support their fellow patriots in Massachusetts. With the British penned inside Boston, a siege of
A Piece of Revolutionary War History Returns to Medfield Read More »
Jan 1, 2023 Longtime Medfield resident Tom Connors sat as a judge in three Norfolk Country district courts and then moved up to spend over 16 years in the Dedham Superior Court. At the November 7 meeting of the historical society, he spoke about little-known aspects of the evolution of our court system. Much of
The Curious, Convoluted Story of Norfolk County and Its Courts Read More »
Sept, 2022 This trophy awarded 100 years ago begs the question – what else happened in Medfield 100 years ago? 200 years ago? 300 years ago? 1722 Three hundred years ago, Medfield was a very different place than we see around us today, with acres of undeveloped land, free-flowing streams and rivers, paths that led
Medfield Happenings in ’22 Read More »