A Page From North Quabbin History: Living History Candlelight Cemetery Tours

The grave of Caleb Day, who came to South Royalston as a 14-year-old from Warwick with a bandanna full of his belongings and 73 cents. Day went on to own several factories and become successful in the brush wool business. Day will be one of the late South Royalston residents portrayed at the Royalston Historical Society Candlelight Living History Cemetery Tours at Riverside Cemetery in South Royalston.

The grave of Caleb Day, who came to South Royalston as a 14-year-old from Warwick with a bandanna full of his belongings and 73 cents. Day went on to own several factories and become successful in the brush wool business. Day will be one of the late South Royalston residents portrayed at the Royalston Historical Society Candlelight Living History Cemetery Tours at Riverside Cemetery in South Royalston. PHOTO BY BETH GOSPODAREK—

Pictured is an inscription on the grave of Caleb Day, an industrialist from South Royalston and director of the Miller's River Bank in Athol. Day was also active in church and social affairs, serving as Overseer of the Poor in Royalston. Day will be one of the late South Royalston residents portrayed at the Royalston Historical Society Candlelight Living History Cemetery Tours at Riverside Cemetery in South Royalston.

Pictured is an inscription on the grave of Caleb Day, an industrialist from South Royalston and director of the Miller's River Bank in Athol. Day was also active in church and social affairs, serving as Overseer of the Poor in Royalston. Day will be one of the late South Royalston residents portrayed at the Royalston Historical Society Candlelight Living History Cemetery Tours at Riverside Cemetery in South Royalston. PHOTO BY BETH GOSPODAREK

Published: 10-17-2023 3:41 PM

By Carla Charter

This year, the Royalston Historical Society Candlelight Living History Cemetery Tours will be held in a new location, Riverside Cemetery in South Royalston, rather than its usual location of Royalston Center Cemetery.

“The change was decided on, as we wanted to support the work of the South Royalston Revitalization Committee and to be sure people know that the Historical Society includes the whole town, not just up on the common,” said Beth Gospodarek, secretary of Royalston Historical Society.

“There were a lot of interesting stories we knew something about in South Royalston and we wanted to dig deeper into them,” she continued.

Among the interesting stories highlighted by reenactors will be that of Jeremiah Rich and Captain John Whitmore, who were part of a group of Royalston residents who went to the California Gold Rush, said Gospodarek.

“They sailed to Panama, walked across the isthmus to California and lost a friend to yellow fever in San Francisco who contracted the disease while in Panama,” she explained.

Another South Royalston resident portrayed in the walk will be Silas Hale. He and his horse Green Mountain, later known as the Morgan Horse, won the Highest Premium Award at the Kentucky State Fair. However, Hale left the fair after he was warned to get out as people were upset that a New England Horse was winning Kentucky awards. Later, when the horse was in Brattleboro with Hale, an attempt was made to poison Green Mountain. This resulted in Hale sleeping in the stable with Green Mountain, accompanied by his dog Zeke.

Another reenactor will use a script based on letters from the trenches authored by WWI soldier George Duley of South Royalston to Mary Sullivan, a girl he was extremely fond of, Gospodarek said. Sullivan lived with Duley’s family, even after Duley died in the war on July 19, 1918. The Historical Society museum houses Duley’s two letters, as well as his medals and commendations.

Several South Royalston industrialists will be highlighted. These include Solomon Farrar, whose factory made iron and wood products including dry measure wooden boxes. These were flat bottomed and round on the sides, used by general stores to measure dry items such as flour and beans. Farrar measure are still known for their high quality. The museum has a set of Ferrar dry measure wooden boxes at the society.

“South Royalston with the river and train were pretty much set up for industry,” said Gospodarek.

Another business owner who will be portrayed with be Caleb W. Day, who has the most elaborate stone at Riverside Cemetery, Gospodarek said. His rags to riches story in South Royalston began when he arrived with a bandanna full of his belongings and 73 cents at the age of 14 from his family home in Warwick, said Gospodarek.

After coming to South Royalston, Day acquired a job at the Bullock Woolen Mill where he was paid $5 a month, plus board. He worked his way up while working at several factories in the village, eventually purchasing a company he worked for which produced shoe pegs, an item which held the sole of the shoe to the shoe itself. He then bought another company which made pine furniture and eventually became involved in the brush wool business in South Royalston. Day was active in church and social affairs and served as director of the Millers River Bank in Athol.

“He never forgot what it was like living in poverty and served as the Overseer of the Poor in town, for many years,” said Gospodarek.

Stories of growing up during the Great Depression on South Royalston’s Pleasant Street will also be highlighted during the tour. The homes on that street were part of an immigrant community.

“Every house on Pleasant Street spoke a different language,” said Gospodarek.

Among the memories of those times include picking blueberries in the summer for 5 cents a quart to help provide for school shoes and working at a factory putting legs on the toy pool tables, which paid 10-15 cents an hour.

“If there was no work or the machine broke down, you were sent home,” said Gospodarek.

State Rep. and Senator Fred Cross will be among those depicted as well. Along with his career in politics, he was a military archivist who focused on the Civil War and Royalston. He was instrumental in creating the Royalston Civil War Soldiers Monument at Riverside Cemetery, said Gospodarek. While serving as a military archivist for Massachusetts, he wrote 6,500-page history of the men who served in the Civil War from Massachusetts. The museum houses items from Cross’ collection, including his Civil War Research papers.

Those playing the parts of past residents of South Royalston buried at cemetery, include current residents of Royalston, several of which are Historical Society members. Other reenactors are students interested in history who are fulfilling community service requirements for their high school.

“Some of these people have a historical connection to the person whether they knew it or not,” she said.

The event planning, which took about six months off and on, explained Gospodarek, involved five people meeting while working on tasks such as research, writing and giving feedback on the scripts that will be used by the reenactors.

The family-friendly Candlelight Living History Cemetery Tour will be held on Oct. 21 from 7-8 p.m., with tours leaving every 20 minutes from the gates of Riverside Cemetery on River Road. It is suggested people dress warmly as the walk is an outside event, including the refreshments. The event is free, however donations are accepted and will support the society’s museum updates.

Carla Charter is a freelance writer from Phillipston. Her writing focuses on the history of the North Quabbin area. Contact her at cjfreelancewriter@earthlink.net.