Sunday, November 23, 2014

World's End

Susan Page Davis here. Are you ready to step back a hundred years?

        In January, 1917, my grandfather, who was 20, left his home in Central Maine and went to work on a farm in Massachusetts. I’m not sure why he went there, except that America was only three months away from entering World War I. Times were tight financially, and rumors of sabotage—some of them true—were rampant.

None of the buildings from this large and prosperous farm survive.
Some of the few things left from the original farm are the stone pillars
 at the entrance and bits of stone walls. This photo was taken on our
Sister Weekend visit in 2007.

         Grandpa, whose name was Oral D. Page, Sr., went alone in January. Perhaps there was a family connection. Perhaps the owner of World’s End had visited Grandpa’s hometown of Belgrade, Maine, where a lot of people from other states had summer lakeside cottages. At any rate, Grandpa’s parents, younger brother, and several cousins soon followed him to World’s End.

         The farm was large and prosperous. It is situated in Hingham, Mass., on the edge of Cape Cod. Some of its fields were on an island, but this had in earlier times been joined to the mainland by a causeway. World’s End sold poultry, fruit, hay, and row crops, presumably to buyers in the nearby towns and Boston.


This barn, like all the other buildings of World's End
Farm, is now gone. Only the stone pillars near the
entrance and remnants of the old pump house can be
seen today. Photo by Oral D. Page Sr., 1918
 
        Grandpa kept a journal for most of his life, from 1915 until his death in 1973. While he was at World’s End, he wrote a line or two nearly every day. With my father’s help, I was able to decipher some of the entries that sounded cryptic at first and identify some of the people Grandpa mentioned. He stayed at World’s End more than fourteen months, until March, 1918, when the entire family went back to Maine.

        My three sisters and I were able to visit World’s End in 2007. The farm is now a 248-acre public park, maintained by the Trustees of Reservations. We took the trustees a copy of Grandpa’s diary from his time there, as well as copies of several photos he took at World’s End in 1917.

My 3 sisters and I got a truck tour of World's End and saw the
beautiful park that was once a farm.

        When he arrived there, Grandpa was put in charge of the poultry barn, but he took part in many other farm chores as well. Here are a few of the many activities he mentions in his journal: cutting ice and storing it in an ice house; feeding the poultry; setting up poultry brooders; cleaning barns and brooders; butchering; candling eggs (testing them by holding them up to a light); sorting apples; digging clams; hauling supplies; planting potatoes, corn, beans; weeding gardens and pulling witch grass; raking leaves; splitting wood; spreading lime; hauling manure; mowing, raking, and harvesting hay; mowing roadsides; hoeing potatoes and cultivating crops; picking strawberries, cherries, beans, plums, and other crops; digging potatoes; filling a silo with corn; shingling roofs.

        But it wasn’t all work and no play. Some of the fun times included: sledding, skating on the meadow, dancing, swimming, going to the movies, listening to a Victrola, playing cards and other games, attending a high school play, going to the beach, riding a roller coaster, attending a camp meeting, and going to a fair. In the winter of 1917-18, Grandpa and some of the other young men made weekly trips to nearby Cohasset to take dancing lessons. Among others, they learned the onestep and the foxtrot.

        What did one give a young man of the farming class for Christmas in 1917? Grandpa’s presents that year included a fountain pen, stationary, necktie, shaving mug, chocolates, garters and arm elastics. Sounds about right.

This photo was probably taken
Oct. 22, 1918. We believe it is the
day Grandpa's cousin Harry Wyman
climbed the flagpole in a cornfield
at World's End. The pole was reportedly
the mast of an old sailing ship. Photo by
Oral D. Page Sr., 1918
        Grandpa wasn’t much for details, and he made few mentions of the war. He does tell about going into town with a coworker to buy Liberty Bonds. On Jan. 12, 1918, he says, “Clarence and Paul went to the armory.” On Feb. 8, “Paul got his card to go to war.” About this time, Grandpa and his parents gave notice at the farm and made plans to return to Maine.

        In March, he and his father went to the shipyard in Portsmouth to work on building ships for the Navy. Grandpa apparently didn’t stay long, but his father
remained at the shipyard for months. In August, Grandpa returned to see a ship launched.

        On Aug. 5, 1918, Grandpa learned that his cousin,  Alvah Wyman, “went to war.” The last entry in his 1918 diary was made on Sept. 6. In the back of the little book are several addresses of soldiers and other friends.

        In front of the next year’s diary, 1919, we find: Oct. 12, 1918. My induction papers were made out today.

        Grandpa was sent for training to Lewiston, Maine, where a girls’ school had been taken over for an army camp. Grandpa never made it to the European theater, as the flu epidemic struck the camp. On Nov. 11, 1918, the war came to an end.

        Many soldiers went overseas to help with peacekeeping chores, but most of those at the camp in Lewiston were sick. Grandpa records:
Dec. 7. Turner was taken with influenza.
Dec. 8. We were all examined for our discharge.
Dec. 9. I was taken sick with influenza. Six of us in the same room.
Dec. 13. I got up and dressed. Am still pretty weak.
Dec. 14. Got my discharge and came home.

        Back at home in Belgrade, all was not well. Grandpa’s younger brother became ill just days later:
Dec. 18. Roscoe was taken with influenza. We had the Dr. He inoculated Ma.
Dec. 19. I was taken sick again. Dr. was afraid of rheumatic fever.
Dec. 20. Ma was taken with influenza. Pa came home (from the shipyard).
       
        All the family members eventually recovered from their bouts with influenza. However, several people in the community died from it, including a cousin, Myron Hersom, who had been with them at World’s End.


         


I hope you enjoyed our trip to World's End. Leave a comment and enter the drawing for one of my New England books: Maine Brides, White Mountain Brides, or my book set in 1915, The Crimson Cipher.

 
Susan Page Davis is the author of more than fifty published novels. A history major, she’s always interested in the unusual happenings of the past. She’s a two-time winner of the Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award, and also a winner of the Carol Award and the Will Rogers Medallion, and a finalist in the WILLA Awards and the More Than Magic Contest. Visit her website at: www.susanpagedavis.com .

27 comments:

  1. Hi Susan! Thank you for sharing about your grandpa's life & journals - what a blessing to have them all! It's such a shame so many people had to die from the flu when today all we really need to do is run to the corner drugstore, get a flu shot and we're pretty much good to go. World's End Farm sounds like it was a fascinating place to live & work!
    kam110476 at gmail dot com

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    1. Thanks! It's a little scary thinking about those pre-vaccine days, isn't it? So glad you stopped by!

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  2. What an interesting place! I love that barn! My maiden name is Wyman! Maybe we are cousins from way back!!

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    1. It may be, Lisa! Probably most of the Maine Wymans are related somehow. Sorry I didn't answer sooner, but I was with my sisters today. It's sad that that huge barn is completely gone now. I'm so glad Grandpa took a picture of it.

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  3. This was so very interesting. I wish any of my grandparents would've left a diary that I could have seen, or my parents for that matter. As you grow older there are many things you'd love to know but oftentimes you don't realize there are questions to be asked until it is too late!
    bcrug(at)myfairpoint(dot)net
    I am a feedburner subscriber

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    1. We should all take note of how much it means to the later generations--and start journaling!

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  4. How wonderful that you have his diaries! What a treasure trove!

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  5. Susan, thanks so much for sharing this interesting article on your grandfather. Thank you for the wonderful giveaway. I subscribe to this blog.

    psalm103and138[at]gmail[dot]com

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    1. Thank you, Rebecca and Caryl. I was happy to share. I miss my grandpa, but he's been gone since 1973.

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  6. I wish someone in our family had kept a journal to give us a glimpse into our history. Thanks for sharing.
    rdewey17(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  7. Fascinating account! When he wrote taken, I thought he meant died. Thank you for clarifying this and for sharing. Now that I am older, there are things I'd like to ask my Grandma, particularly, why, when her oldest 3 children were only about 18 months apart, was it 9 years before the next one? So sad that so many of the old buildings disappeared.

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    1. Yeah, some words have change in usage, and if you were "taken with pneumonia," it means you caught it. He also said things like "Got my camera," meaning he had bought it. I wondered at first if it meant he received it in the mail or something.

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  8. What a fabulous treasure in your grandfather's journal - and to walk the same grounds as he did. Wonderful post.

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  9. Susan, Thank you for this very interesting post about your grandfather. A real treasure!

    mauback55 at gmail dot com

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  10. How fun to have all this info from your grandpa. It sad that cool barn was torn down. Thanks for sharing your grandpa's story.

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  11. Thank you for sharing a little of your family history. Sad but fascinating... I have some older family members that have done some recording of family events,I just recently found out one of my Uncles helped design a space shuttle I really should read through them! :)

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  12. Your grandpa worked really hard and that barn picture shows a HUGE barn! Love to win and read your books! I have not read any of the three mentioned and I love collections of stories. Thanks for your post. sm wileygreen1(at)yahoo(dot)com

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    1. Thanks for all your kind words, ladies. If you have older family members, talk to them NOW and ask them to write or record some of their memories, if they haven't done so already. It is always amazing what you learn.

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  13. Hi Susan. This was so interesting. How I wish I knew that much about my family Heritage. If there was ever anything on paper don't know what happened to them. I've never heard any stories either except that a great-grandmother on both sides was an Indian. My mother's mom died when mother was only 5. She had several stepmothers. One of the step-mother's died after nursing my grandfather with that flu epidemic which he survived. But she took it and died. Wish my dad had written things down too. And, wish I had known to ask questions when I was in my teens and early 20s. But didn't really think of heritage back then. I never got to know Mother's dad for he died when I was a baby. She had an aunt that I used to visit tho, and never asked questions about her sister, my grandmother. Now my dad and all of their 8 siblings are all gone so no-one to ask.I did get to know Daddy's parents but never heard them mention things that happened in the past. Kids used to be sent out to play when families gathered together. My kids want me to write memories down so guess I should try., but as I said don't know Heritage stuff, and haven't many memories from my childhood, unlike some. I was the 7th of the kids. Now just have 2 brothers left. I would love to win one of your books. Thanks for a good post. Maxie > mac262(at)me(dot)com <

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    1. Maxie, thank you so much for the lovely comment. I hope you do make the effort to preserve your own memories for the younger generations.

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  14. Thank you for sharing about grandpa! When I wss in high school, I interviewed my grandmother for a class assignment. Have her on my tape recorder and my homework.

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    1. That's wonderful, Melody! I'm glad you did that. My mother-in-law wrote down some things later in her life that our kids will cherish.

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  15. So sorry I was traveling while this posted, but I'm home now. The winner will be drawn on Saturday (Nov. 29), so there's still time to enter.

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  16. Very interesting post! I found the information about the flu epidemic especially interesting. I was just talking yesterday with a historian friend who is doing some research into how the flu affected our county during October 1918-January 1919. It was a very fascinating, but little talked about, time in the history of the US.

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  17. Thanks, Mallori. It was a terrible thing at the time. Glad you stopped by.

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  18. And the winner is: Caryl Kane. Congratulations! I will contact you privately.

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  19. I had a relative who was farm manager there at the same time. Any mention of Weston Thayer?

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