On May 26, the Mattapoisett Museum hosted a presentation featuring two dedicated researchers who have studied the lives of several important persons who had lived in Mattapoisett. The lecture title was “Notable Women of Mattapoisett.”
It is the second time Carole Clifford and Jennifer McIntire have offered the presentation focused on Elizabeth Barstow Stoddard (1823-1902), Huybertie Lansing Pruyn Hamlin (1873-1964), Minerva Miller Sparrow (1882-1968) and Florence Eastman (1894-1918.) Different this time was the deeper dive they have taken in researching their lives.
Returning to documents of every conceivable variety, most of which has been found in papers gifted to the museum, Clifford and McIntire have found those sometimes-rare bits of data that help to breathe new life into the stories and histories of four women who once called Mattapoisett home.
McIntire began her introductions by setting the stage from the perspective of women who lived prior to the modern era, some of whom could not vote and were not expected to be educated or have careers outside the home. Yet these were women who managed to use their intelligence and talents in spite of societal norms during the eras in which they lived. These women were far ahead of their time and wholly unique – Clifford and McIntire made that perfectly clear this time.
Stoddard comes through in McIntire’s presentation as a strong, rather single-minded woman who believed herself to be “an author” and therefore, shunned doing housework. Her writings were compared to Balsac and the Bronte sisters.
Her novel “The Morgansons” sets Stoddard apart from many of her contemporaries in that not only did she write in a less cumbersome Victorian manner, her female lead is not a victim but a victor. The story allows the character to explore social norms of the time including sexuality, and she is successful in breaking economic chains. The leading lady gets to keep her family property. The story is centered in a New England seaside town believed to be Mattapoisett. It is also believed the story is largely autobiographical.
Although she possessed what we would call today strong feminist views, Stoddard did not subscribe nor was she sympathetic to the suffrage movement. McIntire said, “Stoddard was ambitious, not a demure Victorian woman, direct and opinionated.” One could say Stoddard was an enigma, especially given that “motherhood was central to her life.” At a time when women’s roles were almost exclusively domestic, Stoddard gave her female characters multi-faceted personalities.
McIntire also explored the life of Minerva Miller Sparrow, who grew up on Church Street. Sparrow received an education at Mt. Holyoke College and other universities and later earned a master’s degree in English. In her later years, she was instrumental in the development of the Mattapoisett Historical Society and the society’s acquisition of the former Baptist Church, which is today that jewel in the crown, the Mattapoisett Museum. She was involved with the society throughout her retirement until her passing. In addition, speaking of her retirement from education, McIntire reported that nearly all of her work on behalf of the society and the greater community took place when she was in her 70s and 80s.
But it was her early years that one could say through the lens of time sets Sparrow apart. She spent many years as an educator to the underserved, former slaves and the poor. She began her career teaching in a one-room schoolhouse in Acushnet, then for reasons lost to time, she taught in Jacksonville, Florida. Sparrow then surfaces as a teacher at Rust College (1909-1920), a black institution of higher education followed by 15 years teaching at Straight College, founded by freed slaves, in New Orleans. The children of Eastern Kentucky and the southern Appalachians also received instruction from Sparrow between 1943 and 1949.
“She was described as the best teacher by her students,” McIntire said of Sparrow. “She took great interest in the whole student, setting high standards for them.”
Clifford explored the long life and achievements of Huybertie Lansing Pruyn Hamlin. Unlike the other women’s background, Hamlin’s pedigree is that of rich Dutch founders and long political connections. She married Charles Hamlin, who summered in Marion, and later the couple purchased many acres of a former farm in what is now known as Ned’s Point. Mr. Hamlin was the first chairman of the Federal Reserve, bringing his wife into political and social contact with such American royalty as the Roosevelts.
Hamlin documented her 50 years of life in Mattapoisett in layered detail through letters and diaries by the droves. She would also produce short stories, primarily of her experiences in the seaside town. Clifford said that the Hamlins were lifelong members of the Grange and that Mrs. Hamlin was instrumental in leading the charge for improvement projects throughout the town.
In 1904, Hamlin became a founding member of the Mattapoisett Improvement Association, a group of like-minded people, mostly women, whose works included rubbish collection, beach bathhouses, tree plantings, cemetery care, bringing entertainment to town, establishment of the visiting nurse, dental treatment and through the group’s garden committee held annual contests for the best vegetables and flowers grown from seed packets distributed to children.
One of Hamlin’s more ambitious efforts was raising money to save Shipyard Park. At the time, the property had seen many decades of commercial use from shipbuilding to various shops of commerce. Today that space commands an unobstructed spectacular view of the harbor. All who enjoy the seaside park have Hamlin to thank.
Hamlin lived a long and very productive life, and her writings capture bygone moments in time such as the hurricane of 1938 in which she wrote the seas were “…an angry mountain range coming towards our home.” So close were the Hamlins to the Roosevelts that F.D.R. dispatched the Coast Guard to see if they were safe during the aftermath of the storm.
Hamlin enjoyed having company, was known not only for her civic-minded pursuits but for having fun by way of practical joke, and hosting lavish parties in her seaside home. On the civic-side of things, Hamlin was a lifelong Democrat and member of the Democratic Women of New Bedford.
Clifford concluded, “She was a driving force in the town.”
It is sad to note that at the end of her life, in spite of all the wealth she once possessed through her family and her husband, her generosity would prove her downfall, she was basically impoverished, Clifford noted.
Possibly one of the more famous woman to have come from or been associated with Mattapoisett is Florence Eastman. While her life was brief, she has lived on in the hearts and minds of the community in no small part due to the recognition she received from the American Legion Post.
Clifford said Eastman clearly had a humble beginning compared to the others; her father was the last lighthouse keeper at Ned’s Point light. Clifford said that Eastman was known for her deep convictions and self-discipline. She wanted to be useful to help others and so embarked on a career as a nurse. Eastman joined the Red Cross in 1918. “All she ever wanted was to become a Red Cross nurse,” Clifford said.
When WWI broke out, Eastman was the only woman in Mattapoisett and possibly the surrounding area to volunteer and soon found herself in charge of a military hospital in Long Island, taking care of men who had contracted what was then called the Spanish Flu.
The end of her story is abrupt; Eastman came down with the illness and died. She would be one of 500,000,000 souls who would succumb to this flu. She was buried with full military honors in Pine Island Cemetery. She was only 24 years of age.
Eastman’s drive and desire to make a difference lives on; her cheerful and complete devotion to caring for others has earned her a permanent place in Mattapoisett’s history – the American Legion Post is named after this brave young soul.
Hamlin was living in Mattapoisett when the burial took place and chronicled the moment, writing that only approximately 20 people were in attendance. Clifford said that when Eastman’s body arrived for burial it was Hamlin who provided their transportation to the cemetery.
McIntire and Clifford touched on the fact that each of the featured women lived at a time when many women were lobbying for the right to vote. However, with the exception of Stoddard, very little if anything at all defines where this group stood on the topic.
The full presentation can be viewed at mattapoisettmuseum.org.
Mattapoisett Museum
By Marilou Newell