Long before the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry and even earlier than the infamous trade that took Babe Ruth from Fenway to the Bronx, a profound difference split the game we know as America’s past-time. There were actually two kinds of baseball – the Massachusetts Game and the New York Game. Derived from an earlier version called Town Ball, itself a descendant of the English game of rounders, the Massachusetts Game was not formalized until 1858 (see the rule book here ), while the New York variety followed the rules of the Knickerbocker Club, dated 1845.

The New England version was, in its time considered the rougher, less civilized game, in no small part because the fielders got the baserunner (called a striker) out by hitting him with the ball, a task so difficult that innings ended after only one out and games concluded as soon as one side scored 100 runs, no matter the number of innings completed. After the Civil War, the New York Game surged in popularity and crowded out the Massachusetts style.

Kingston Town Base Ball Team, around 1900

Kingston had a town team by the last years of the 19th century, but very little information, beyond the names added to this photograph, can be found in the Local History Room. We do know that Bob Ford graduated from Kingston High School in 1898 (a classmate of Emily Fuller Drew), while Tick Ford (real name Winthrop) crewed on Henry Jones’ sail boat Kittiwake V and later served as a Kingston Water Commissioner. Based on their equipment, it seems that Carl Faunce pitched while Russel Soule caught. Otherwise, the exploits of the Kingston Town Team remain a mystery to us today.

Players: (standing left to right) John Gaegon, Fred Cooke, Bob. Faulkner, Bob. Ford, Tick Ford. (seated left to right) Ralph Seamore, Carl Faunce, Russel Soule, Jack Drew

So said the Old Colony Memorial newspaper on July 9, 1910.

The Jones River Village Club (now the Jones River Village Historical Society) had discussed for several months how to promote the state’s new restrictions on fireworks, which limited the use of blank cartridges, cannon rockets and other explosive means of celebration.  The grand result: a Fourth of July parade for the whole town that the paper reported as “a great success in every way.”

Police Chief Ephraim Pratt served as Marshall.   Houses along the parade route sported “handsome decorations.” The procession included riders, floats, automobiles and bicyclists.

Dirigible float, Fourth of July parade, 1910

Most of the floats were pulled by teams of oxen or horses.  Above, what looks like a dirigible graces one gaily decorated wagon, while below, riders include a knight from the King Arthur Flour Company, a rough-ridin’ Teddy Roosevelt look-alike, a dude and a clown.  Festive!

Riders in costume, Fourth of July parade, 1910

Many of the floats bore advertising, like the wagon of grocer E.S. Wright which pitched Sherwin Williams Paint, or the cart below, unfortunately not listed in the paper, which apparently touted somebody’s clams!

Clam float, Fourth of July parade, 1910

Source: The Old Colony Memorial, July 9, 1910; minutes of the Jones River Village Club, 1910.

This is Emily Burt Bradford, grandmother and namesake of Emily Burt Holmes Marvin, from whose family papers it comes.

Emily Burt Bradford, no date

It is a tintype, an early form of photography.  The images on tintypes, like daguerrotypes and ambrotypes, were unique photographs captured directly, meaning there was no intervening negative. The underlying support for the image is also different: tintypes were “printed” on thin pieces of iron or steel, darkened by paint, enamel or lacquer. Also called ferrotypes or melainotypes, they were more durable than other early photographic images, which were produced on glass.

This particular image has no date, but tintypes were common from the1850s into the 1930s.  And this one is small.  How small exactly?

Emily Burt Bradford, with stamp, no date

This small.

Students on the steps of the old Kingston High School, May 6, 1892

The spring is sweet for many reasons, not least of which is the end of the school year. These Kingston High School students, posed on the steps of that august institute of learning, probably looked forward to three months off as much as their counterparts today.

The old high school stands no more; the site on Main Street is now occupied by the Kingston Police Department.   Dedicated on May 10, 1867, KHS served generations of students until replaced in 1955 by the brand new Silver Lake Regional High School. The school-age population had long outgrown the old building, which according to one newspaper account “was inadequate and unsound…in a state of condemnation by the State building inspector.”  The KHS building stood vacant until October 1962, when it was demolished.

Plymouth & Kingston trolley headed north to Cobb's Store, circa 1896

Kingston, Mass. Oct. 29th, 1896.

To the Selectmen -
Kingston, Mass.
Gentlemen: -

Is it not about time that some attention was given to the operation of the Plymouth & Kingston Street Railway and better accomodations demanded for the use of more than half the main highway in the town?  The cars do not connect with the trains either one way or another and on the so-called local cars running between Cobb’s Store and Jabez Corner they demand two fares (ten cents) to ride the whole distance, about four miles, and give a check allowing you the privilege of waiting three quarters of an hour to take the next car for Kingston, which of course no one wants to do.  If it does not pay to operate this end of the line let us have the rails removed and the street free for driving.  It seems to me if a little severity is shown at first that the company will be more considerate in the future.  I think their mottoes for our town are “Bleed the People” and “The Public Bedammed”.

[signed] Fred B. Cole

Source: Kingston Highway Department Papers, JRVHS Lantern Slides.

The new exhibit is up, and to help celebrate the 4th Annual Library Pet Show, it’s all about the dogs of Kingston. See snapshots of Library staff members’ pooches! Marvel at the hounds and terriers of bygone days! Wonder at the family portrait with the dog front and center! Enjoy the dog days of summer!

Unidentified woman with several dogs, no date

It was the good ship ‘Chesperus’

That sailed the wintry sea,

And Chesper had taken Herbert W. Cobb

To bear him company.

Chester Fuller and dog aboard the ‘Chesperus,’ 1898

The poem above is written on the back of the photograph, and while it is a little cryptic (did Herbert W. Cobb take the picture from his own boat?  is Chesper the name of Chester Fuller’s dog?), it lends a special air of mystery to another great dog portrait from the Local History Room Collections.

In April 2009, Town Meeting approved spending from the Elizabeth B. Sampson Memorial Fund for a number of projects, including one specific to this holiday weekend.  Kingston’s Veterans Agent received $5,000 from the Sampson Fund for “memorial stones and flags at veteran’s graves in local cemeteries,” continuing local observance of a custom that dates back at least 140 years.

Grand Army of the Republic, Martha Sever Post No. 154 marching, circa 1914

This photograph show the Kingston post of the G.A.R. — veterans of the Civil war and their sons — marching on Memorial Day.  At the rear of the group, Lemuel Ford carries a bunch of small flags to be placed in the grave-marker or standards of the deceased comrades.  The photo is undated but must have been taken no later than 1914, as Mr. Ford died in April of 1915.

The 2001 snapshot below shows the Civil War Soldiers Monument, which was placed on the Training Green and dedicated in 1883, with flags in place.  Be sure to take a moment on Monday to remember the sacrifices of America’s veterans.

Civil War Soldiers Monument with flags, 2001

Sources: Emily Fuller Drew lantern slide cardfile; Kingston Reporter April 10, 2009

Memorial Day parade leaving Evergreen Cemetery, 1946

This month’s exhibit highlights photographs, programs and other documents from Kingston’s Memorial Day celebrations.

Originally called Decoration Day, the holiday originated during the Civil War and spread across the country by the end of the 19th century.  After the First World War, Memorial Day expanded to honor the memory of all whose lives were sacrificed in war.

For more information on the history of this solemn holiday, look here and here.  To see how Kingston has celebrated the day, stop by the Library!

Here’s a quick look at one of the first negatives I’ve scanned in the Local History Room. This is Emily Drew’s photograph of Elm Street  at the Jones River.  The Pumping Station is just out of the frame to the right side.

Elm Street Bridge, looking north, circa 1920

Meanwhile, somebody’s best friend is nosing around for a treat.

Detail, Elm Street Bridge, looking north, circa 1920