Genealogy as part of Local History

 I wrote a post for my personal blog a few weeks ago about genealogy as local history, noting that I was involved in various genealogy projects as a result of my volunteering with the Flint Memorial Library in the Local History room.  Whenever my own genealogy research hits too many brick walls, I turn to other families and North Reading has a number of very early families for me to research.  Of course, many of the early families have had genealogies compiled for them, or for some branches of the family.  However,it is also not uncommon for someone to request information about a specific family line from the Library or from the North Reading Historical and Antiquarian Society, which I might then be asked to help research. 

Charles F. Flint

Harriet N. Flint

Almost from the first day I "adopted" the Local History room, I have said (to anyone who was listening or even in the vicinity) that I wanted to do a family tree for the Charles F. and Harriet N. Flint family, since they are the benefactors who made Flint Memorial Hall possible and supported the library in town for years.  Actually, it was Harriet N. Flint who was the longstanding benefactor, since her husband Charles died as a relatively young man.  My goal is to research and produce a chart for both Charles and Harriet, to be available in the Local History room.  

I have made a beginning on this branch of the Flint family tree, having found parents and three out of 4 sets of grandparents.  I would like to have all their grandparents, and also their great grandparents for this project, so I'm not done yet.  The great grandparents date to the early part of the 1700s so this may be a somewhat tricky goal.  The women, in particular are likely to be more difficult to identify, especially by birth family.

Here is the beginning I have made:  Charles Fredrick Flint was born 18 Jan 1808 in what was at the time Reading, Massachusetts to Peter and Molly Burns Flint, although their home was in the North Parish that later was incorporated as the town of North Reading.  Charles was the second son, and second child of seven born to them.  Harriet Newell Evans was born 29 Aug 1815 in Wakefield, Massachusetts to Thomas and Phebe Cummings Evans.  She was the sixth of nine children born to them, and the third daughter. 

Summer Genealogy and Local History Travel

Now that it seems Fall is here, I've been thinking back over some summer visitors to town who came because they were interested in local history with specific questions they wanted to try to answer.

For example, this past Spring I was asked about helping a woman originally from the area to look into some of her family tree.  She was planning an early summer trip back, and wanted to visit the Damon Tavern in particular.  With the aid of the North Reading Historical and Antiquarian Society I was able to say yes.  I knew we had some Damon information in the Local History room, as well as information about the Tavern, and I started looking into it.

As is often the case, it turned out that the question wasn't as simple as it looked at first but we did make some progress.  The woman was looking to see where her Damon family connects with the Ebenezer Damon who built the Tavern in the early 1810s, it is said for his brother a Captain David Damon who was a Revolutionary War veteran.  We didn't find the connection - as is often true in genealogical research (TV shows to the contrary) it isn't a slam-dunk - but we were able to get a special tour of the Damon Tavern guided by one of the men who knows most about it all, Chris Hayden.  He very kindly agreed to meet up with us on a weekend morning, and took us all over the Tavern telling stories as we went.  What a treat!

There is a variety of information about the Tavern and the Damon family in the Local History room at the Library.  If you have any interest in either feel free to come search, or to email me with questions.  

The John S. Coney Civil War Sword: Finds Through the Local History Room

I have been spending time inventorying the contents of the Local History room for awhile now, and I have made several exciting finds in the process.  This is about one of them.

In 1928, the North Reading Annual Report noted the receipt and acceptance of a Civil War sword from Miss A.G. Brooks of Westborough, Massachusetts.  The donation was specifically requested to be put in an appropriate case and displayed in the Flint Memorial Hall.  There are reports in the vertical file in the Local History room about this sword in several places, but there is no mention made of what became of it after it was given.  The sword was described as a ceremonial sword presented by the Town of North Reading to Lt. John S. Coney on 19 Sep 1862 as he went to war for the second time.  He had first enrolled as a private for 3 months, which was pretty common early in the war.  After he was discharged, he later enrolled again, this time as a Lieutenant, and he went off to war again with unit that had a number of North Reading men in it. 

The mystery of the sword and its whereabouts needed solving!  I asked one of the librarians about it, and she knew about its existence and where it was likely to be.  We went searching and sure enough: it is in the Library in a storage closet waiting to be found and appreciated.  It still has a sheath but has lost any straps that would have been used to hang it from a soldier's shoulder.  It also still needs an appropriate case for display, preferably one that would let the sheath and bare sword be seen.  The sword was engraved in two places, one with Lt. John Coney's name and the other saying it was presented by the Town of North Reading and the date of presentation (Sept. 1862).

North Reading’s Medals for World War I Veterans

Did you know that way back when, soon after the end of World War I, the town of North Reading issued medals to the veterans of the town who had participated in the Great War?  And at that point it was called the Great War or the World War - we didn’t know then that there would be another. 

I didn't know about the medals - until this past Fall - when one of the medals showed up in North Reading.  The North Reading Historical and Antiquarian Society had been contacted, and I was asked as the Library’s Local History and Genealogy volunteer to help find out more about it.  As I learned, with a little internet searching, it was pretty common after that War for towns or counties or states or organizations to issue medals in appreciation of the veterans' patriotic service.  I'm sure that in some cases more than one place or organization issued a medal to the same veteran.  People on the homefront were very proud of the locals who served.

There were at least two national companies that made such medals, using blank templates, so many of the ones issued looked pretty similar.  The one in North Reading looked like this on the front

and this on the back.

If you want to know more, or know anything about this kind of medal, I’d be very happy to talk with you.  If you want to see this medal in person, it is currently on display at the Putnam House.  

Introducing Myself

I am Pat Salt, a local retiree who coordinates a genealogy meet-up group at the Library and I have also volunteered to help organize the Local History room a bit.  There is a lot of stuff in there, and it is not easy to know what is there or how to find something in particular.  My goal is to make it easier to know what the Local History room contains and where in the room it is.  More about the Local History room to come!

I have gotten more interested in the town of North Reading's history as I dig into this project, and in the family trees of the first settlers.  I don't know a lot yet, but am learning as I go.  I hope to have some family trees on display in the Library (and maybe some of the historical places in town) this year some time.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Flint Memorial Library Local History Blog! With this blog, we hope to share stories and highlight some of the wonderful history of North Reading (and beyond!) as well as some of the treasures that may be found in our Local History Room. This blog will be maintained mostly by Pat, who coordinates the Genealogy meet-up in our Local History Room each Wednesday morning.