Statue of Historic Figure: John F. Kennedy - Boston, MA

John F. Kennedy

Boston, MA

N 42° 21.478 W 071° 03.846

Short Description: 

A statue of John Fitzgerald Kennedy is located on the south lawn of the State House on 24 Beacon Street, Boston, MA.

Long Description:

An 8' high by 3.5' wide bronze statue of John F. Kennedy is depicted walking on a 3.5' wide by 7' long rectangular base, two-tiered, stone base. Kennedy is wearing a suit with a two button jacket and a thin tie. He is walking with his leg slightly bent and behind his right foot. His left hand is touching the flap of his jacket pocket. Eight maple leaves and 68 seedpods are inscribed on the pedestal. They are meant to represent death and regeneration.

The statue was created by Isabel McIlvain in 1988 and dedicated Isabel dedicated on May Dedicated May 29, 1990, the 73rd anniversary of Kennedy’s birth.

John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, MA on May 29, 1917. He served as the commander of PT 109 during World War II and was subsequently elected to the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate before being the youngest person to be elected President of the United States at age 43 in 1960. He was assassinated while in office on November 22, 1963.

The front of the base is inscribed:

JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY

1917-1963

35TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

The back of the base is inscribed:

A GIFT FROM THE PEOPLE OF

THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

MAY 29, 1990

The left side of the base is inscribed:

UNITED STATES CONGRESSMAN

1947-1953

The right side of the base is inscribed:

UNITED STATES SENATOR

1953-1960 

Grave of a Famous Person: Julia Ward Howe - Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Watertown, MA

Grave of  Julia Ward Howe

Watertown, MA

N42° 22.178 W71° 08.828

Short Description:

The grave of poet, author, abolitionist, and women's rights activist Julia Ward Howe is located along Spruce Avenue opposite Pyrola Path in Mount Auburn Cemetery. 

Long Description:

A simple stone marker facing Spruce Avenue  marks the grave of Julia Ward Howe. The stone is inscribed:

JULIA WARD HOWE

Daughter of

SAMUEL WARD

Wife of 

SAMUEL GRIDLEY HOWE

Born May 27, 1819

Died October 10, 1910

Julia Ward  was born on May 27, 1819 in New York City. She was educated by private tutors and in schools for young ladies until she was sixteen. She married physician and social reformer Gamuel Gridley Howe in 1843. Together the couple had six children.

She wrote essays on Goethe, Schiller and Lamartine which were published in the New York Review and Theological Review. She is most famous for writing the lyrics the the Union Civil War anthem The Battle Hymn of the Republic in 1861.  After the War she became an activist for pacifism and women's suffrage. She helped found the New England Women's Club and the New England Woman Suffrage Association. In 1869, she became co-leader, with Lucy Stone, of the American Woman Suffrage Association. Howe was elected president of the Association for the Advancement of Women in 1881 and founded the Century Club of San Francisco. In 1890, she helped found the General Federation of Women’s Clubs,

Julia Ward Howe was the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, in 1908. She was inducted posthumously into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.

Selected works from Wikipedia:

Poetry:

Passion-Flowers (1854)
Words for the Hour (1857)
The Battle Hymn of the Republic (1861)
From Sunset Ridge: Poems Old and New (1898)
Later Lyrics (1866)
At Sunset. published posthumously, (1910)

Other works

The Hermaphrodite. Incomplete, (1846 to 1847)
A Trip to Cuba (1860)
From the Oak to the Olive (1868)
Modern Society, essays, (1881)
Margaret Fuller (Marchesa Ossoli), a biography, (1883)
Woman's work in America (1891)
Is Polite Society Polite? , essays, (1895)
Reminiscences: 1819–1899, an autobiography, (1899)

Exceptional Tree: Endecott Pear Tree - Danvers. MA

Endecott Pear Tree

Danvers, MA

N 42° 32.897 W 070° 55.807

Quick Description: 

The Endecott (a.k.a. Endicott) Pear Tree is located down slope from the parking area behind the Osram Sylvania building at 104 Endicott Street in Danvers, MA. It is both the oldest cultivated tree in America and the oldest fruit tree in America.

Long Description:

The Endecott Pear Tree is a European Pear (Pyrus communis) tree first planted in its current location by the Governor of the Massachusetts bay Colony, John Endecott, sometime about 1632. The tree was brought over from England on the sailing ship Arbella in June 1630.

In 1964 tree was attacked by vandals. They chopped off all the branches and cut the trunk off 6 feet above the ground. However it re-sprouted. The Endecott Pear Tree is now protected by its sheltered location and surrounded by an iron fence. It is doing quite well in its protected location and still bears fruit. A bronze sign at the edge of the parking lot has the emblem of the Colonial Dames XVII Century and is inscribed:

THE ENDECOTT PEAR TREE

GROWING ON THIS SITE IS THE OLDEST

CULTIVATED TREE IN AMERICA, PLANTED ca. 1632

BY JOHN ENDECOTT, FIRST GOVERNOR OF THE

MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY. THE "ENDECOTT

PEAR TREE" IS A LIVING LINK TO THE EARLIEST

EUROPEAN SETTLERS OF OUR NATION. ENDECOTT

WAS GRANTED 300 ACRES WHERE HE SETTLED

AND FARMED, CALLING THIS PROPERTY "ORCHARD

FARM." THIS ANCIENT TREE LIVES AS A SYMBOL

OF HERITAGE, STRENGTH AND RESILIENCE.

PRESENTED BY

GOV. JOHN ENDECOTT CHAPTER, NSCDXVII

16 SEPTEMBER 2011

Roadside Attraction: Salem Witchcraft Victims Memorial - Danvers, MA

Salem Witchcraft Victims Memorial

Danvers, MA

N 42° 33.932 W 070° 57.460

Quick Description: 

America's most famous sociological disaster was caused by mass hysteria. It occurred in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Salem Witchcraft Victims Memorial preserves the memory of the victims. It is located at 176 Hobart Street in Danvers, MA.

Long Description:

Between between February 1692 and May 1693 episodes of mass hysteria swept through the settlements in and around present day city of Salem which resulted in more than 20 women and men being accused of witchcraft, tried, convicted, and executed. The events were centered around the settlement of Salem Village northwest of Salem. The town subsequently changed its name to Danvers.

In 1992, on the 200th anniversary of the Salem Witch Trials, the citizens of Danvers erected a memorial to 24 victims who were killed as a result of the episodes of mass hysteria. A granite memorial consisting of a granite block inscribed with the dedication. On top of the block are a pair of iron shackles, and a sculpture of an open book with the inscription THE BOOK OF LIFE written across the pages. Behind are a series of five upright granite panels which are inscribed with the names, cause of death, and several quotes from the victims.

The dedication reads:

IN MEMORY OF THOSE INNOCENTS

WHO DIED DURING THE

SALEM VILLAGE WITCHCRAFT HYSTERIA

OF 1692

The first granite panel is inscribed:

“I am an innocent person. I never
had to do with witchcraft since I
was born. I am a Gosple woman.”
MARTHA CORY


“The Lord above knows my innocencye
as att the great day will be known
to men and Angells. I Petition to your
honours not for my own life for I know
I must die and my appointed time is
sett but the Lord he knows it is that
if it be possible no more innocent
blood may be shed ...”
MARY ESTY


“If it was the last moment I was to
live, God knows I am innocent ...”
ELIZABETH HOW


“Well! Burn me, or hang me, I will
stand the truth of Christ ...”
GEORGE JACOBS, SR.

The second granite panel is inscribed:

Died in jail May 10, 1692
SARAH OSBURN of Salem Village

Hanged June 10, 1692
BRIDGET BISHOP of Salem

Died in jail June 16, 1692
ROGER TOOTHAKER of Billerica

Died in jail previous to July 19, 1692
INFANT DAUGHTER to Sarah Good
of Salem Village


Hanged July 19, 1692

SARAH GOOD of Salem

ELIZABETH HOW of Topsfield

SUSANNAH MARTIN of Amesbury

REBECCA NURSE of Salem Village

SARAH WILDS of Topsfield

The third granite panel has the image of a trial judge and is inscribed:

Hanged August 19, 1692

REV. GEORGE BURROUGHS of Wells, Maine,
formerly of Salem Village

MARTHA CARRIER of Andover

GEORGE JACOBS, SR. of Salem

JOHN PROCTER, SR. of Salem Farmes

JOHN WILLARD of Salem Village


Died under torture September 19, 1692
GILES CORY of Salem Farmes

The fourth granite panel is inscribed:

Hanged September 22, 1692

MARTHA CORY of Salem Farmes

MARY ESTY of Topsfield

ALICE PARKER of Salem

MARY PARKER of Salem

ANN PUDEATOR of Salem

WILMOT REDD of Marblehead

MARGARET SCOTT of Rowley

SAMUEL WARDWELL of Andover


Died in jail December 3, 1692
ANN FOSTER of Andover


Died in jail March 10, 1693
LYDIA DASTIN of Reading

The fifth granite panel is inscribed:

“Amen. Amen. A false tongue
will never make a guilty person.”
SUSANNAH MARTIN


“I can say before my Eternal
father. I am innocent & God will clear my innocency.”
REBECCA NURSE


“The Magistrates, Ministers, Jewries,
and all the People in general, being
so much inraged and incensed against
us by the Delusion of the Devil,
which we can term no other, by reason
we know in our own Consciences, we
are all innocent Persons.”
JOHN PROCTER SR.


“ ... I fear not but the Lord in his due time
will make me as white as snow.”
JOHN WILLARD

Sponsors Monument

Roadside Attraction: UFO Close Encounter Monument - Sheffield, MA

UFO Close Encounter Monument

Sheffield, MA

N 42° 07.447 W 073° 21.248

Short Description:

 A granite monument, containing an official citation from the Governor of Massachusetts, marks the spot where the Reed Family claims to have had a physical encounter with a UFO. It is located east of the Old Covered Bridge in Sheffield, MA.

Long Description:

The monument is in the area where Thomas Reed and his younger brother saw a UFO in 1966, 1967 and again in 1969.When Thomas Reed was 6 years old he reports being taken aboard a circular looking vessel by extra-terrestrial beings. In the fall of 1969 he and his younger brother Matthew experienced bright bursts of light through their bedroom window. Thomas was engulfed in the light and his brother was now speaking to an empty bed. An odd stillness ensued and their mother, Nancy, and their grandmother, Marian, were experiencing a cataleptic state.

For decades Thomas Reed worked to have his story vindicated. On November 3, 2015 he obtained a "Citation of Recognition" from the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The UFO monument reproduces the citation on the black painted granite monument. The citation is inscribed:

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

{Seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts}

Thomas E. Reed

On behalf of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

I am pleased to confer upon you this Governor's Citation in recognition

of the off-world incident on September 1st, 1969, which engaged the Reed Family, which

has been established. Your dedicated service to the incident was factually upheld,

founded, and deemed historically significant and true by means of Massachusetts

Historians. The records highlighting the historic event are now officially part of the

Great Barrington, MA Historical Society's Collection and your recent induction into

Massachusetts History

This Third Day of November in the year 2015

{signed}                       {signed}

Charles D. Baker          Karyn E. Polito

          Governor                       Lieutenant Governor