Mar 01, 2025
The Boston Globe archives contain a treasure trove of interesting articles published by the daily newspaper over more than 100 years.
A recent search of “Medfield women” uncovered a variety of stories, summarized below under each headline as it was written when first published.
In the spirit of Women’s History Month, each story helps to illustrate the variety of defining talents, strengths and attributes that allowed women to prove themselves, advance in society, and in some cases, survive difficult times, over and over again.
Woman’s Club Meets – April 25, 1900
The Boston Globe reported that the Woman’s Club met at Thayer Hall offering a program that featured a piano solo and song by Mrs. Grace Gunnison; the reading of “Old Time Customs in New England” by Miss Katherine Otis; additional readings by Miss Cornelia Ashley, Miss Carrie A. Smith and Miss Rosa S. Allen; and a report of the meeting of the state federation by Mrs. Catherine Pierce.
(The Woman’s Club and federation were focused on expanding women’s rights. Many of the women active in the group would continue on with leading or taking part in historic suffragette gatherings.)
Medfield Woman Seeks Divorce – Sept. 4, 1915
The Boston Globe ran a prominent news article reporting that resident Etta V. Johnson was petitioning the courts for a divorce from her husband. She charged him with cruel and abusive treatment during their three years of marriage.
(It was reported by Glenda Riley, author of “Divorce: American Tradition,” that in 1915 one in seven marriages ended in divorce. This was attributed to a range of factors, including industrialization, World War I and the women’s movement. And while a woman seeking divorce became newspaper fodder, men weren’t subjected to the same treatment.)
Medfield Woman Wills $150 to Medfield Church – March 24, 1916
According to the article, the will of Margaret E. (Wight) Hewins directed $150 of her estate to the First Congregational Parish, which then became the Unitarian church. It was noted that the income from the donation would average about $6 per year at the rate of 4 percent, in payment of the pastor’s salary.
The article also notes that “a number of antique articles” were left to Medfield Historical Society, “and if they feel as though they have no room for them,” the will stipulates they can be “turned over to the old Fairbanks Society for its building in Dedham.”
(Hewins was a descendant of Thomas Wight, one of the first 13 settlers of Medfield. The $150 bequeathed in 1916 amounts to about $4,500 today.)
Horse Rescued in Swamp at Medfield – Oct. 21, 1939
Medfield resident Mrs. Garabedian, 50, was credited with rescuing her husband’s 15-year-old horse that had sunk into a muddy swamp near their Granite Street farm.
As the article notes, “Jimmy,” the old draw horse, had been grazing on a nearby field and wandered into an adjoining “treacherous morass” not too far away. When Mrs. Garabedian spotted the horse from inside the house, she could only see its head, and noticed it was struggling to free itself from the mud.
Mrs. Garabedian ran to scene with a wooden plank in hand, and placed it under the horse’s head to keep the animal from suffocating. She then went back to the house and phoned the fire department, which arrived on the scene not long after. Within about 30 minutes the horse was freed to the relief of the 150 townspeople who watched and cheered when it was rescued.
Medfield Woman, 96, Oldest Resident, Dies – Aug. 12, 1949
In 1949, it was reported that Mrs. Laura (Brown) Smith, 96, of 204 Main St. — the oldest Medfield resident – had died. She was the widow of George H. Smith. Her daughter, Dorothy, married Alaska Territory Governor Ernest Gruening, and both were active in women’s issues. Smith was buried in Medfield Cemetery (as stated in article).
(In 1949, the average life expectancy for a white woman born in 1843 was about 43.)
Medfield Woman Seeks to Prove Richard III was Not a Murderer – March 14, 1979
An extensive, in-depth feature article in The Boston Globe delved into the work of Medfield resident, Sybil Ashe, chair of the King Richard III Society, Inc. The worldwide organization is dedicated to researching the life and times of King Richard III of England (1452-1485), including debunking long-held allegations that he murdered his nephews in the Tower of London.
Medfield Woman Recalls an Ordeal of Sharks, Insanity and Death on High Seas – April 12, 1994
The Boston Globe article reports that in 1982, as a 24-year-old experienced sailor, Deborah Scaling became one of five crew members navigating a 58-foot yacht, “Trashman,” from Maine to Florida. However, off Cape Hatteras, the boat encountered 70-knot winds and massive waves that caused the boat to capsize and sink in shark-infested waters.
By the time a Russian freighter arrived, Scaling was one of two people who had survived the ordeal after clinging to a lifeboat without food and little water for nearly five days. The other three crew members perished at sea.
In the years after the tragedy, Scaling got married (becoming Deborah Scaling Kiley), and wrote a book about her ordeal, “Albatross: The True Story of a Woman’s Survival at Sea,” plus a follow-up book.
Kiley spent roughly a decade in Medfield with her husband, two children, horses, and a menagerie of other animals on a nine-acre property. She also became a motivational speaker, and appeared on talk shows to share her experiences.
Sadly, Kiley’s son drowned in 2009, and she passed away in 2012 at the age of 54 in Mexico, where she had recently moved.
(Beyond The Boston Globe, numerous other articles have been written about Kiley, including this one in Boston Magazine.)