Acquisition of Rare 18th Century Record Book
Despite the pandemic, the Dover Historical Society has been moving forward. Although its two museums, Caryl Farm and the Sawin Museum, are closed, the Society is planning for the day when they can once again be open to visitors. The museums have undergone a reorganization of their collections and new exhibits are being planned. The Society has just announced that it has acquired an extremely rare 18th Century tax record book for the Fourth Precinct of Dedham. The handwritten 150 page record lists real estate, personal property, and poll taxes paid by the residents of what is now Dover during the
Pauper’s Register and the Town Poor
Explorers of town property may have hiked the cart path leading from Strawberry Hill Street to the 66-acre Larrabee-Whiting Estate. While all that remains of Thomas Larrabee’s farmhouse is a cellar hole, our erstwhile Town Historian Frank Smith tells us that it was built by Larrabee’s fellow veterans upon his return from the Revolutionary War in 1778. In 1865 the property was willed by his son Deacon Joseph Larrabee to “to the inhabitants of Dover forever for the relief, comfort, and benefit of the poor persons who have a legal settlement in Dover.” Deacon Larrabee’s language is revealing in its
A Rare and Interesting View: Papers from a Civil War Field Desk
The Winter months of 2020 were busy at the Sawin Museum, preparing for the annual Spring re-opening. We pulled everything out of the Civil War display case, a full floor-to-ceiling cabinet with three shelves, and I painted the interior cobalt blue. I was working with Stuart Swiny, the Curator, and with his knowledge of history and considerable gift (and patience) for teaching, we began cleaning and re-displaying the artifacts. We have a cavalry bridle with a strong bit, and a photograph of an excellent sculpture by Amelia Peabody of the last surviving officer of the USS Monitor, the Union ironclad
