Society News Page

Presidents Message

Dear Members & Friends

Please excuse the lapse of Newsletters and Website updates this year. It's been a busy year with both the Society and personally.

We started the Program season with a Q&A session with the Board at the September meeting. This was done to see if the Membership was happy with our performance and what direction you wanted to see the Society take. I'm sad to say that we had a very poor turn out. Hopefully this is a sign that everyone is happy with all aspects of the Society. Our October event was the 2nd Annual Great Pumpkin Give-A-Wey. We were scheduled to have an informational table and the "Magical Madrigals” a renaissance quartet to perform around our exhibit. But the date was moved because of weather and we were unable to attend. Our November meeting was held at the Weymouth Museum featuring John Horrigan as the speaker. John did his "Great American Fires of the 19th Century” and drew a good size crowd. The Christmas Open House was a great success as always bringing about 100 people through the Homestead. The Victorian Carolers were great as always. The Annual Dinner is being held a little later than usual this year. The date this year is May 1st and will be held at the Abington Ale House. Susan B Anthony will be on hand to entertain us.

The Board is looking at some Capital Projects for the Homestead. We are looking into replacing the windows, having the floors redone, and repairing a sagging wall. We added a new Carriage House this fall. The Homestead was also painted inside and out. Please stop by and see the improvements that have taken place.

I would like to introduce our new tour guide for the Weymouth Museum, Michelle Cappellini. Michelle has been a member for the last few years, is a past President of the Abigail Adams Historical Society, a tour guide at the Abigail Adams Birthplace, and manager of their gift shop. Michelle was nice enough to step-up after we lost our tour guide.

I would like to thank Eileen Dumont for the work she did as a helper to Hope Patterson and as the Museum tour guide after Hope’s retirement. Eileen spent numerous hours over the past few years with the 3^rd graders, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, and Brownies. She also designed a new curriculum for the tours. I’m sorry to see Eileen leave and wish her the best luck with her endeavors.

Last but not least, I would like to send birthday wishes to two of our Board Members who are hitting milestones this year. Happy belated 90^th to Jim Palmieri on March 6^th and Happy 80^th to Ed Hines on April 24^th.

Best wishes,

 Herb Caldwell

Jane Holbrook Jewell Scholarship Fund

This year’s recipient of the $500 Jane Holbrook Jewell Scholarship is Valerie Ripley from the Weymouth High School.

Second Place by Keith Spain

Congratulations should be extended to the United States Hockey Team that won the Silver Medal in the recent Olympic Games held in Vancouver, Canada. Unfortunately, as the Games fade further and further into history, eventually only historians and statisticians will remember their feat. It’s easy to remember those that come in first, while second and third place finishers are more quickly forgotten. Any marginal hockey fan could tell you who won the 1980 Olympic Hockey Gold Medal but would be hard pressed to tell you who got the Silver.

The same is true with historical facts. If you were to travel to any random history class in Massachusetts and asked what town was the state’s first, most would remember correctly that it’s Plymouth. It is unlikely that the Town Of Weymouth would even enter the conversation, because we have the forgettable distinction of being the Silver Medalist, as the “second” oldest town. We’re proud of that fact though and it’s important that the Weymouth Historical Society remind citizens of this town’s rich historical significance. Who knows better than historians how events, buildings and people shape who we are? Time has a way of slowly deteriorating the importance of historical matters until they finally and permanently slip away into that black hole of the forgotten.

History will forever remember Weymouth’s First Church in North Weymouth, not only because it was the “first”, but also from its ties to the Smith Family and Abigail Smith Adams; but who will remember Weymouth’s second church? The next time you travel through South Weymouth’s Columbian Square you might take note of the tiny island that stands between the Fogg Library and the Fogg Opera Building. This little patch of grass with the stone marker is called Bayley Green and was once a much grander piece of property than as well as a symbol of Weymouth’s struggles with religious identity

When parishioners of Weymouth’s First Church became disillusioned with their religious teachings, in combination with the church’s distance from the southern end of town, a group decided to form a parish there. The building they eventually took over was known as the Second Parish Meetinghouse and was officially sanctioned by the Commonwealth in 1723. The parish’s first minister was the Reverend James Bayley, who preached and ran the daily operations of the church there for 43 years.

The small parish increased in size and built a church a short way down the street, razing the original. As both the First and Second Parish’s grew in size, several other churches would be formed including the Union Congregational, Pilgrim, Universalist and the Holy Nativity. One of these groups called themselves the Union Society and built a church across the street from the second, Second Meetinghouse in 1853. This church, known as the Old South Church and sometimes called the third meetinghouse stood until 1989 when it was destroyed by fire and a new replica was rebuilt.

The second meetinghouse became a parish house and eventually a parking lot but when the Union Society reunited with the Union Congregational around 1916, it was decided that the parcel of land that housed the original parish would be deeded over to the Town Of Weymouth. By that time the land had already become a victim of “progress” as it was slowly cut into and separated to make way for wider more efficient streets. Part of the agreement with the town was that the property should always be maintained as a “green” and be known as “Bayley Green”, named for its first minister.

Bayley Green was maintained as part of the Weymouth Parks and Recreation Department for many years but the land, once adorned with flower gardens and majestic Elm trees, has slowly been whittled down to a forgotten remnant of its historic past. The only reminder is the stone tablet that is barely noticed by passersby.

The Reverend Bayley, a Harvard graduate, remained in Weymouth his entire life and raised a family of 14 there. When he passed away in 1766, he was originally buried at a burial ground on Pleasant Street but later moved to his present spot in the Highland Cemetery on Main Street.

Hopefully the little island that bears his name will continue to represent Weymouth’s “Second” Meetinghouse and not become a forgotten victim of time, progress and being “second”.

Ballot of Officers  

Elected at the Annual Dinner May 1st 2010

President                                         Herb Caldwell

Vice President                                Ed Hines

Treasurer                                       Bruce Ketchen

Secretary                                       Pat Duffy

Librarian                                      Debbie Sullivan

Directors 2 year term

Bill Sargent

Bill Tormey

Director 1 year term

Michelle Cappellini

Friends of the WHS

The Weymouth Historical Society would like to thank the following friends for their generous donations in 2008: 

Please forgive any omissions.