Monday, October 22, 2012

Miss Abby Paulina Simpson

The Dec. 13, 1935 edition of the Somerville Journal ran an article on Miss Simpson. It was part of a series on the oldest living Somerville natives. Abby Paulina Simpson was born in 1846. At this time Somerville had only been a separate town for five short years. She spent her whole life on her family farm. Her father, Jesse, had moved from Belmont in the 1840's to work on the farm he would later purchase. The farm produced fruits, vegetables and cattle.
This farm extended from Broadway to the Cambridge line and from and from the city ledge to Wallace St.. They lived in several house on the property at different times. She was born in an eight room house on Broadway opposite the old Walnut Hill Primary school. Later this house was replaced by a more modern one on the south side of Broadway half way between Powderhouse Sq. and Teele Sq. When the property was sub-divided she moved to a house at 10 Paulina St. on the corner of Holland st. Miss Simpson still lived there at the time of the story. One of the memories she recalled for the Journal was how soldiers at Camp Cameron often made raids on her fathers farm stealing his vegetables.  In her words "The soldiers were raising the old boy all the time." A lot of the stolen squashes would be recovered after the soldiers moved south. 


DAN SULLIVAN

Monday, October 1, 2012

PVT. Joseph W. Welch MA. 38th Regiment

During the stay of Co. A, B & F of the 38th at Camp Day The Cambridge Chronical printed several letters from a "J. W. W." of CO "A". Joseph W. Welch was the only man on the roster with these initials. Like the majority of the men from these three companies he was from Cambridge. He was 29 years old when he enlisted.
His first letter, dated Aug. 13, 1862 and addresed from "Camp Cameron", was printed on Aug. 16. Much more of the letter deals with how the recruits passed their time than with military training.  In it he comments on the daily visits "by fair woman and brave men who bring sundry plethoric packages, the contents which make glad the hearts and tickle the palates of the recipients".  Welch comments on the "fine singers" in his company and how his barrack, number 8, has the "Jolliest men" in the camp. On the previous day they had hired a blind piper and a fiddler and danced.
So far actually drill and guard duty had been very light though they had recently been taught the art of "double quick" marching.  At this time the men of the 38th shared the camp with men who had been recruited to be replacements for regiment already in the field he also mentions that men had left the camp had left camp the day before to join several other regiments.
Letter #2 is addressed from "Camp Day", the camp had been rechristened during the week. It seems that with Simon Cameron's scandals the old name was no longer attractive so it was renamed for the new boss Lt. Col. H. Day.
Time spent in actual drill is still light only 2-3 hours each day. The rest of the day is taken up by many other activities among them "reading, ball playing, and coloring meerchums".
The lack of time training may have been a result of just how crowded the camp was at this time. Many of the men of the 38th needed to be furloughed each night, for lack of enough bunks,  so room on the drill field may have been short for each group. Again, Welch spends a good amount of this letter describing non-military matters. The City of Cambridge had thrown a reception for its home town boys that week. They marched to it, the Mayor made a speech and their friends and families attended to wish them well. Also that week the three Cambridge companies "gave a grand fete champetre". They decorated the parade ground with flags, lanterns and bunting. The invited guests arrived in three trolley cars and where led into the camp by Edmunds' Quadrille Band. Supper was prepared by their cook Emmett Weeks. Dancing both preceded and followed the meal.
At this point in time it was generally believed that the Cambridge companies would join the rest of the regiment in Lynnfield before it left the state.
Before the regiment could be united orders to leave for the front came. On Tuesday Aug.  26, one of the hottest days of the year, the three companies from Cambridge would leave Camp Day. The manner in which this was handled would cause some controversy. In his Sept  16th letter Welch tells how orders to leave arrived with such short notice that the men got no evening meal and no rations for the trip. They boarded a train in Boston at 6:00 PM and received noting to eat until they arrived in Philadelphia at 7:00 PM the next day.
Hosea Jewell, of the Cambridge Recruiting Committee, responded with a letter of his own. When rumors began to spread that the recruits would be called for that day he took it upon himself to find out the details. The State House sent him to Quartermaster McKim. When asked when the Cambridge companies would be
sent for his response was "I don't care a ------ about the three Cambridge companies. They may stay where they are till they rot. I will never send for them. they have no business to be there. They may stay there till they rot....They may all go to the ----."  They soon got word to leave with no help from the Quartermaster.


DAN SULLIVAN