Sep 1, 2025
Recently we came across a flyer advertising a “Mock Court Trial Under the Auspices of Col. E. V. Mitchell Camp Sons of Veterans.” The top of the flyer asks, “Are the Hen Roosts of Medfield To Be Protected?” and promises that “all the facts of this remarkable case will be brought out.” This flyer, still in remarkably good condition with bright red graphics, had been in a thick folder of public entertainments that took place in Medfield’s great auditorium of yesteryear, Chenery Hall, now Medfield Town Hall. Chenery Hall was the gathering place, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, for enjoying plays,operas, piano recitals, debates, choral concerts, lectures, and more.
Imagine Medfield’s citizens of 1909, buying a ticket for 25 or 35 cents at Keyou’s Drug Store, which was in Monk’s Block in Medfield Center, near today’s Juice on Main. From the Salem Witch Trials to Sean “Diddy” Combs, society has always had an interest in court trials and their outcomes. The desire for justice coexists with a less noble desire for entertainment, and trials provided both. Before the eras of electronics and the internet, the only way to experience trials was to go in person. Not only were courtrooms frequently packed with spectators (think of the Lizzie Borden trial), but mock trials were a popular form of entertainment.
At first, I wanted to find out whether Medfield’s hens had actually been in danger; had there been a rash of hen thieves? Alas, my research revealed no news of such heinous occurrences. The mock trial was probably a complete work of fiction, but I did learn that Colonel Edwin V. Mitchell (1850-1917), the great philanthropist, straw hat factory owner, and benefactor of Medfield, was also the owner of a poultry farm on Dale Street (DeSorgher), probably in the area of the DPW garages. Perhaps this farm was the scene of the fictional crime.
Mitchell, who retired around 1910, ran a “Sons of Veterans” Camp. The organization known as Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War existed at that time, but it is not clear that Mitchell’s camp was an official branch. Mitchell may have been running the camp privately, as a service to the young men of Medfield. Anyone with information is invited to share it with us. Mitchell had “served as colonel and aide-de-camp on Governor Brackett’s staff and was a member of the Governor’s Council from 1892-94, (and) received the title of Colonel from his service in these state offices (DeSorgher)
The mock trial seems to have been performed like a play before an audience, and the cast members’ names will be impressive to any student of Medfield history. It appears that the trial was acted out by both younger and older men.
The Dedham Transcript reported on June 5, 1909,
“The mock trial Friday evening at the town hall was an amusing affair and we patronized. The presiding justice was Judge Henry E. Ruggles of Franklin; the clerk, George P. Holbrook of Millis; complainant, Selectman Granville C. Mitchell; defendant, Grocer Clinton M. Clark; attorneys, Col. A. V. Newton and C.E. Perry (both of Worcester); court officer, Louis B. Fairbank; crier, Michael E. Griffin; witnesses, Charles C. Wright, Allison Williams, George Washburn, J. Herbert Baker, L.B. Fairbanks and Donald Wheeler; the members of the jury were Wm. H. Bailey, Edwin B. Snow, Albert Clark, Nelson G. Tibbetts, Alex and McLean, Ellery C. Crocker, Edmund Bullard, Allan A. Kingsbury, Turner R. Bailey, G.Fred Mitchell, Edward M. Bent and Archie L. Crawford. The testimony contained many local hits. The defendant was found not guilty, but was ordered to return the rooster.”
I don’t know why the defendant, who had the rooster in his possession, was found not guilty, but I wonder if the decision was influenced by the actor’s real identity as Granville C. Mitchell, the son of Edwin V. Mitchell. In any case, this was a fun and entertaining night out in Medfield on a Friday evening in June, 1909.