Medway & Millis localtownpages
Vol. 3 No. 4
Free to Every Home and Business Every Month
Medway Historian Aims to Bring House Histories to Life BY J.D. O’GARA
April, when she was speaking with Grace Hoag, the honorary director for the Medway Historical Society. The meeting turned into an impromptu interview over coffee.
Most dwellings outlive their inhabitants. Although their occupants breathe a unique life into the space inside, they are tenants for only a moment. Nevertheless, the moment is unique to them.
“I happened to have an audio recorder,” says Pierre-Louis. As a genealogist, the researcher often records conversations as an auditory record of oral history. The fourth generation genealogist commonly brings a recorder to family events.
Marianne Pierre-Louis has made it her life’s work to explore the history of those who lived, breathed and worked in the buildings around New England. The Medway resident, house historian and genealogist digs deep into house records to uncover priceless glimpses of the past. In May, she began applying her penchant for historical research to her town of residence, taking oral histories from homeowners. She hopes to compile her findings in a book to celebrate Medway’s 300th year. Although it’s not an official part of Medway’s Tercentennial celebration, Pierre-Louis says, “As a local house historian actively involved in Medway, I wanted to do something to contribute to the 300th. I wanted to do something that fit with old houses.” The house historian says the project fell together one day in
House Historian Marian Pierre-Louis is collecting oral histories from Medway homeowners about their dwellings. She hopes to compile these into a book by Medway’s Tercentennial. Here, she is shown in front of the Fairbanks house, which is the oldest timber-frame house in the United States. Photo courtesy of Pierre-Louis.
“(Hoag) and her husband have lived in their house for 59 years,” says Pierre-Louis. Hoag’s house was built in 1800 by Aaron Wight, a doctor in the revolutionary war. In the hour she spoke with Hoag, the historian learned another previous owner was a Jewish man who’d been among some Eastern European Jews brought by an organization to settle and farm the land. Many of these settlers were actually not farmers at all, but rather city folk, who had to be taught to farm. Pierre-Louis also learned about
HISTORIAN continued on page 2
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June 1, 2012
Millis Residents Give Their 2 Cents on Downtown Development BY J.D. O’GARA The three properties have been sitting, unused, for a long time, and now the town of Millis is looking into what might be done with it, and they want residents’ input. On May 23 at 7:30 p.m., the town held an open community forum to ask for the public’s input on possible uses of the land. The former GAF property on Union Street, the Ann & Hope property on Main Street and the former site of the Herman Shoe property, at the corner of Adams and Union Street are the subject of a marketing feasibility study and analysis and zoning review. The town obtained $40,000 grant to study possibilities for the location,
DEVELOPMENT continued on page 3
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