January 1, 2009 Hopedale History No. 123 Questions Hopedale in December             The flood at Mill Street on YouTube Sleepy Little Town (Hopedale, of course) written and performed by Bill Wright, on YouTube, including 53 old Hopedale pictures. There must be a few of you reading this who know something about Draper looms. Here’s a page about a couple who recently bought two of them and need some advice to help in restoring them and putting them to work. Maybe you can help.  Mike Cyr’s memories of working in textile mills, including one that used Draper looms. HHS Class of 1959 – pictures from 1948 and 1952.                                                   <><><><><><><><><><>                                   Questions About Hopedale History A couple of years after I first got involved in Hopedale history, I found that I was being asked a lot of questions on the subject. In 2005 I began writing some of them down. The ones below are certainly not all that I’ve been asked. Just some of the ones I got around to recording. The wording isn’t the exact wording of the people asking. When I wrote them, I tried to recall the gist of the question. I didn’t come up with answers to all of them. If you wonder about the answers to any, you can find most on my website. If you can’t, email me and I’ll answer if I can. I also have these questions, plus a few more, with links to pages with the answer that you can find here. What can you tell me about Gilbert Thompson? He came from your town and he was quite famous my neck of the woods -  the Mt. Shasta area. (This is one case where I learned more than the inquirer did. He told me that Thompson was one of the founders of the National Geographic Society and is also the first American known to have used fingerprints for identification.) I’m writing a fictional account of the railroad accident that killed Butler Wilmarth. What can you tell me about him? My hobby is researching the history of bandstands. Can you tell me anything about the one in the Hopedale town park? I’m a descendant of General Draper, but I know very little about him and the Draper family. What can you tell me about them? Can you tell me the age of the house at 15-17 Dutcher Street? (Questions about houses are fairly common. Others included houses at Greene Street, Prospect Street, Soward Street, and another at Dutcher Street.) Your web site says that Jack Haringa died. He was my favorite teacher. Can you send me the obit? I’m looking for information on Gov. Eben Draper for a historical novel I’m writing. I need information of the landscape architect, Warren Henry Manning, for a book that is being written about him. Is the Harel House still there? When was the Hopedale Housing Authority established? Can houses in the National Register District be altered or razed? Do you have a list of the original members of the Hopedale Community? Can you find information (births, deaths, marriages, place of residence, etc) of my Wentworth ancestors? (This is the most common type of question. I’ve had similar ones on a number of other families.) What can you tell me about the South Hopedale Cemetery? Did Aerosmith really play at the Hopedale town hall? How did the Pest House get that name? What happened to the honor roll that used to be in front of the Legion Home? I’m from the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities. I’m looking for information on the 1913 Draper strike for our radio program. (There have also been requests from others for information and pictures of the strike.) I need information on the Little Red Shop for a paper I’m doing for school. Can you tell me when the Rustic Bridge, the Harrison Block and the bandstand were built? I’d like to know about Bristow Draper and his house near the corner of Adin and Mendon streets. What was the basis or origin of paternalism in Hopedale and Whitinsville? For a college project, I need to know about individualism in the socialist community of Hopedale. How is Lilla Draper Scharnberg’s name spelled? I’m writing a book on American women who married European princes and dukes. Do you have pictures of Princess Boncompagni? We need information on Hopedale abolitionists for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day program. Could the Milford News have been wrong when they printed that the Larches was the home of Gov. Draper? I’m writing a book on Colombian immigrants who work in mills that use Draper looms. Where can I get permission to use some Draper pictures from Cotton Chats. Can you send me a picture of Adin Ballou’s grave? Could you send information on the Midgley family to the author of a book about the USS Gudgeon, on which Donald Midgley died ? When did Princess Boncompagni die? Why isn’t Douglas D’Orsay’s name on the Vietnam Wall? I live in Florida. Can you copy some pages on the history of Milford for me from a book in the Milford Library? How did Saltbox Road get its name? I have a strange looking device manufactured by the Dutcher Temple Company in Hopedale. Can you tell me what it is and something about the company? Where is the howitzer that used to be on the lawn in front of the Legion Home? Do you have information on the plane crash at Hopedale airport in which the pilot and two children died? I’m writing an article and a book about Waldo Story, the sculptor who created the Statue of Hope. What can you tell me about it? We recently bought two Draper looms. Can you give us information that will help us in getting parts, restoring them and setting them up? Click here for a longer list of questions, some of which have links to pages with answers.                                            <><><><><><><><><><> Isabel Rose Kinkela, infant, December 14, 2008 Bino P.G. Carnaroli, 82, December 21, 2008 Robert A. Antonellis, 58, December 22, 2008 Deaths of Hopedale residents, former residents, etc.                                Hopedale History Email Menu                HOME