Auburn Historical Museum

05/30/2026

What in Auburn History would you like to know about?

The Auburn Historical Society & Museum would welcome suggestions about future articles that readers would like the volunteer staff to research about Auburn, or an exhibit that could be highlighted at the museum. Is there a particular person, place, item or event that should be brought to light? Might you have pictures or documents sitting in your attic or basement that may need more details as to their family or community significance?
While you’re doing spring cleaning or downsizing, think about the possible historical value to Auburn before tossing aside those items. Perhaps a visit to the Auburn Historical Society & Museum might be useful.
The Auburn Historical Society & Museum is at 41 South Street and is open Tuesday and Saturday mornings 9:30-12:30. It can also be reached at [email protected] or 508-832-6856, www.auburnhistoricalmuseum.org or follow us on Facebook at Auburn Historical.
May 2026
Helen Poirier

41 South Street, Auburn, Massachusetts

05/23/2026

Kiwanis Club of Auburn

Auburn has been blessed with many civic organizations that do volunteer service to improve the community. This was shown by a sign that was between the library and fire station at Drury Square. There were 9 metal discs that showed logos of those organizations until recently when the sign was replaced by a Scout’s Eagle project that welcomes people to Auburn. The organizations that were on the sign include: The Exchange Club, P. H. Grange, Kiwanis International, Knights of Columbus, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Auburn Chamber of Commerce, Joel H. Prouty Lodge Masons, and the Women’s Club. The former sign was donated to the Auburn Historical Society & Museum, who is very grateful to have that piece of Auburn history. Plans are in the works for an exhibit and, perhaps, restoration of the discs which show wear after being in the elements for so many years.
A new series that will highlight the historic background of each of these organizations will begin with this article about the Kiwanis Club International. Why start here? This was the organization that helped the Auburn Historical Society & Museum get a storage shed and it also started the same year as the Historical Society.
The Kiwanis Club started in 1915 in Detroit Michigan by Allen Browne as a business network. It was originally named, Supreme Lodge Benevolent Order of Brothers”. In 1916 the name was changed to Kiwanis, which in the Algonquian Native American language means, “we trade.” In 1920, the motto was to “we build” until 2005 when the motto changed to “serving the children of the world.” In 1916 it also became an international organization when a chapter opened in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. At the 1919 national convention in Birmingham Alabama, money was raised to buy the organization from the founder and create an independent Kiwanis which evolved into doing community service and improving lives of children. In 1987 the organization dropped its gender qualification of men only and allowed women to join. Kiwanis International has over 600,00 members in more than 80 countries. It supports literacy programs, health service and disaster relief. In local communities it promotes service projects and fundraising efforts.
The Auburn Kiwanis Club was started in 1967 and Theodore E. Cory of Oxford, sales manager of the former Yankee Drummer Inn, was elected president. VP was Edward A. Coomey of Worcester, secretary H Charles Jones of Auburn, treasurer Frank Marron of Auburn, and the Board of Directors included: Edward J. Dickinson Jr., Donald P. Garnache, Samuel A. May, Samuel Hougasian, Floyd E. Holstrom, John L, McCarthy, Rev. Ernest A. Bergeson, David A. Sibley and Robert Hunter. It received its charter in September. One of the earliest things they did was to honor a 15-year-old Gary Pike with the “Outstanding Heroism Award” for saving his younger stepbrother from drowning on May 14, 1968, after the car he was in rolled into Rotary Beach Pond. That year they also sponsored a scholarship dinner dance on New Year’s Eve to provide scholarships for Auburn High School seniors.
Through the years they’ve sponsored a cookout for students from Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland who were visiting for three weeks during the summer and were guests of 28 Auburn families. There was a 4th of July go cart derby for children from grade 5 through grade 8. There was a gift of a manually operated outdoor scoreboard for high school football and baseball games in 1970. They were instrumental in the cleaning up of the brook off Henshaw St. that went by the old dump.
There were a variety of fundraisers that included a yearly charity golf tournament, “Bucks for Cancer Night” with a buffet and entertainment, and the Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament for the benefit Auburn Scholarships in 2005. The 2006 scholarship award was the last one found in local newspapers. The Auburn Kiwanis Club is not active at this time. The closest clubs listed are in Allston, Revere, and Wilmington MA.
This article is part of the “Civic Organizations of Auburn, Past and Present” and made possible by the Auburn Historical Society & Museum, 41 South Street. The museum is open Tuesday and Saturday mornings 9:30-12:30 and may be reached at [email protected] or 508-832-6856, www.auburnhistoricalmuseum.org or follow us on Facebook at Auburn Historical.
Helen Poirier
May 2026

41 South Street, Auburn, Massachusetts

05/10/2026

Auburn Historical Society & Museum Offers Summer Internship Program
For the sixth year, the Auburn Historical Society and Museum will off a summer internship program at their museum at 41 South Street on Tuesday and Saturday mornings from 9:30 to 12:30.
The program will offer interns experience in photo and document organizing/categorizing, researching Auburn’s past and data input for the Holstrom Digital Archives. There will be the development and implementing of children’s programs. Interns will also learn how to create and maintain historical exhibits. The will gain practical experience of museum operations.
Each unpaid internship can be tailored to students in grade 8 through college, scouts, youth groups, and those looking for community service hours as well as work experience. The museum is handicap accessible. You do not need to be a resident of Auburn to be part of this program.
This article is made possible by the Auburn Historical Society & Museum, 41 South Street. The museum is open Tuesday and Saturday mornings 9:30-12:30 and may be reached at [email protected] or 508-832-6856, www.auburnhistoricalmuseum.org or follow us on Facebook at Auburn Historical.
Helen Poirier

41 South Street, Auburn, Massachusetts

05/09/2026

THANK YOU TOWN MEETING MEMBERS

The Auburn Historical Society & Museum would like to thank the town meeting representatives for their support for the new roof at the historical museum. We would like to invite everyone for a free guided tour of the building that was voted on to see the historic artifacts of Auburn’s history that we are caring for. The museum is open Tuesday and Saturday mornings 9:30-12:30 or by appointment. We may be reached at [email protected] or 508-832-6856, www.auburnhistoricalmuseum.org or follow us on Facebook at Auburn Historical.

41 South Street, Auburn, Massachusetts

05/02/2026

April 2026
Developer, Loring Stone, Creates a Neighborhood.

When driving around Auburn, a person may wonder how a street got its name. Streets like Albert Street, Arnold Drive, and Francis Street sound like first names. Could these names have been real people with a connection to their area?
In the area of South St. and Rt. 20 there seems to be a few “first names” for streets. This area was developed in the 1950s by Loring W. Stone a local builder who lived at 11 Paul St. In an advertisement from September 1955 a “choice development of custom-built homes” was being offered in the Greenbriar area of Auburn. The area was “convenient to buses, schools, stores and churches. They were large, wooded lots on approved streets.”
Loring’s family was originally from Great Bromley, England. They immigrated to Watertown MA in 1635; sometime after 1745 [Deacon] Jonathan Stone III moved to Worcester and was one of the larger landowners of Worcester. He married Ruth Livermore of Watertown in1747 and purchased land from Gamaliel Wallis of Boston. It was ten acres of land and a house in Worcester near the Leicester town line and 130 acres in what was then Leicester. He was active in town government and at the age of 50, marched in Timothy Bigelow’s Company as a Minute Man.
Loring enlisted in the Navy October 1942 and served on the USS Baltimore from 1943-1945 in the Pacific Theater. After his military service was over, he and his wife, Maybelle stayed connected to the military by being members of the civilian Coast Guard Auxiliary where they taught sailing and patrolled Lake Quinsigamond. He was past commander of Flotilla 1301 USCG. This also allowed them to be Lighthouse Keepers in Boston in 1993 for nine days. Loring was also a member of the Rhode Island Yacht Club.
Loring was the fifth great grandson of Deacon Jonathan Stone III. He was born and raised in Auburn, graduating from Auburn High School in 1939. He graduated from Worcester Academy in 1940 then attended WPI. The 1930 tax records show Ralph and Alta Gilson Stone, Loring’s parents, owning a farm at 128 South St. It had 30 acres with a house, barn, and henhouse, 1 horse, 6 cows, 2 yearlings and 10 fowls. There was also another 130 acres listed on South St. with a log cabin and a shed. He married Maybelle Masterson in 1943 and had three children, Paula A., Barbara Diane, and Andrea M. He also had a brother Paul and sister Janice. In 1945 Ralph’s property was listed under his heirs, Alta, and children with 59 3/2-acres on South St., two acres on Elm Street, 33 2/3 acres on Cedar Street, 13.5 acres South St. and Washington St. on the south side, and South St. and 26 acres on Washington St. on the north side. Loring himself had a small lot on Paul St. with an unfinished house. As the years went on, more of the land on South St. was being redefined with new streets and neighborhoods, and Loring was the builder and designer of the homes and street layouts. Maybelle Street was in the 1953 tax records, and by 1957 there were lots and homes for sale in the South Street to Washington Street area where you can find Loring St, Maybelle Ave., Barbara Ave., Diane Ave., Andrea Ave, Paul St. and across route 20, Stone St. It would seem that this area does have a Stone family connection.
This article is part of the “History of Street Names” series made possible by the Auburn Historical Society & Museum, 41 South Street. The museum is open Tuesday and Saturday mornings 9:30-12:30 and may be reached at [email protected] or 508-832-6856, www.auburnhistoricalmuseum.org or follow us on Facebook at Auburn Historical.
Helen Poirier

41 South Street, Auburn, Massachusetts

04/25/2026

April 2026
Balloon Warfare and the Army Air Force in the Civil War and WWI

This year, with the anniversary of Dr. Robert Goddard, the Auburn Historical Society & Museum is focusing on aeronautic history pertaining to the town. This month the Historical Society & Museum would like to highlight those who served in the Air Force not only as pilots, but mechanics, navigators, bombardiers, anything to do with airplanes.
The use of balloons in the Civil War could also qualify for this project also. President Lincoln saw the possible benefits of using balloons for map making, reconnaissance, and directing artillery fire using flags so gunners could be more accurate at hitting the targets. They started off as tethered and used by the Union Army’s Corps of Topographical Engineers to make maps about 1850.
Professor Thaddeus S.C. Lowe was the first Chief Aeronaut for the Union Army Balloon Corps. General Irving McDowell, who was the commander of the Army of the Potomac, had Lowe use his personal balloon at the first battle of Bull Run to direct the artillery fire. The Army of the Potomac fought mostly in Eastern Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. There were men from Auburn who were part of the Army of the Potomac, but none as of yet, were found working with the balloon unit. Units of the Massachusetts Infantry Regiment [MIR] that were part of the Army of the Potomac included: Major General Nathaniel P. Band’s Division: 1st Brigade 2nd reg. Colonel George Gordon and Lt. Colonel George Andrews, 3rd Brigade 13th MIR Colonel Samuel H. Leonard,
Dix’s Division Baltimore, Major General John Dix- 17th MIF, Colonel Thomas I. C. Armory,
Couch’s Brigade Brigadier General Darius N. Couch -7th MIR, Colonel Nelson H. Davis
10th MIR, Colonel Henry S. Briggs,
Ho**er’s Brigade Brigadier General Joseph Ho**er -1st MIF, Colonel Robert Cowdin
11th MIR, Colonel George Clark,
Sherman’s Brigade Brigadier General William T. Sherman- 9th MIR, Colonel Thomas Cass,
Stone’s Brigade Brigadier General Charles P. Stone -15th MIR, Colonel Charles P. Devens,
Fort Albany- 14th MIR from defenses Washington.

The Confederate Army did not have quality balloons due to supply issues with the embargoes the Union army had on the south and the infrequent supply of gas that came from Richmond VA. Edward Porter Alexander was their first balloon pilot for the Confederate “air force”. The use of balloons stopped altogether in 1863.
According to an article by Hannah Chan, FAA history intern, “In 1898 when the Spanish-American War started a balloon section within the U.S. Signal Corps, the Army’s communication branch, was created. This section contained only one balloon, but it successfully made several flights and even went to Cuba. However, the Army dissolved the section after the war in 1898, allowing the possibility of military aeronautics advancement to fade into the background.”
The main aviation training place for WWI was Kelly Air Force Base in San Antionio Texas. It was names after George Edward Maurice Kelly who was the first military pilot killed in a plane crash in 1911. This school trained pilots, mechanics and the support personnel for war duty. Some Auburn men who went to Kelly Field included Sargent Albert H. Bonbard, Sargent 1st Class Herbert N. Eaton, and chauffer 1st Class Ernest N. Lagesse. There was a U.S. transport note that stated Joseph A. Berthiaume was attached to the 13th Balloon Company Aviation Section Signal Corps.
Sargent Bonbard enlisted in the Army in March of 1918 and was sent to the aviation school until Apr. 1918 at which time he was assigned to the Aerial Squadron Mechanic Training Depot in St. Paul MN. He was eventually assigned to the Detachment 1 Branch of Aerial Photography in Washington D.C. He was honorably discharged February 1919.
The military record for Ernest Lagesse stated that he enlisted in the Reserve Army in March 1918 and was sent to the US Aviation School at Kelly Field. He was assigned to the 36th Battalion Company until Oct 1918, then the 55th Battalion Co., 67th Battalion Co., 40th Battalion Co. and finally the 94th Battalion Co. He was honorably discharged in January 1919. His military headstone application stated he was US Army 9th Ballon Co. USMC Headquarters. Eastern Procurement Division.
David Jamieson enlisted in the Reserve Army Aug. 1917 and was assigned to the 96th Aeriel Squadron. A US transport service document has him leaving for Liverpool England as a private with the 96th Aeriel Squadron in Oct 1917. He returned on Apr 1919 to Brooklyn NY where his sister, Jessie Daly, greeted him. He was honorably discharged May 1919.
Joseph a. Berthiaume enlisted in the Reserve Army in January 1918 and was assigned to the 13th battalion Company. A US Miliary Transport document has Joseph returning from Marseille France on May 31, 1919, arriving in New York and was in the13th Balloon Company Aviation Section Signal Corps, which was organized under the Aviation Section U.S. Signal Corps. It was used in conjunction with the U.S. Army Air Service overseas. Joseph was honorably discharged on Jun 30, 1919.

Herbert Nelson Eaton was inducted in February 1918 and was assigned to School Aerial Photography unit until Apr 1918, then 66th Aerial Squadron to 10 July 1918, 8098 Depot Aerial Squadron until Sept. 1918. From there he went to the Detachment 1Branch of Aerial Photography Washington DC. He was honorably discharged in February 1919 as a Sargent 1st Class.
The staff at the Auburn Historical Society & Museum have been diligently working to find the draft cards and military service records for those who were listed on the World War II Honor Roll in the 1942 town report as well as others who entered the military after the Honor Roll was created. Those who had relatives or friends who dealt with planes in the military, as well as those that were in other military branches, are encouraged to have their information recorded in the Auburn Veteran’s Project which honors all veterans with some connection to Auburn.
This article is part of the Veterans of Auburn series and is made possible by the Auburn Historical Society & Museum, 41 South Street. The museum is open Tuesday and Saturday mornings 9:30-12:30 and may be reached at [email protected] or 508-832-6856, www.auburnhistoricalmuseum.org or follow us on Facebook at Auburn Historical.
Helen Poirier

41 South Street, Auburn, Massachusetts

04/18/2026

As Time Goes On: A Fish and Clock Story

Just inside the door of the main museum room is a 43-inch-high clock with a sign that says: “1930 Original Time Clock. This time clock was made in Gardner Massachusetts and used in the Fish Nursery that was located at 39 School St. Auburn Massachusetts”
This lovely wooden encased clock kept track of the comings and goings of the workers as they punched in to work each day. Blank timecards are on top and in the ready waiting to be used.
It was Edward G. Watkins who invented and patented this kind of clock in 1894. He was working for Heywood Brothers & Wakefield Company in Gardner, MA and in charge of the engineering department. They were the makers of chairs and school furniture. Watkins eventually left the company to start the Simplex Time Recorder Company which made the clocks he had invented. For over 86 years Simplex was the trusted time-recording device on the market. His system was a topic of meetings at the Washburn Mechanical Engineering Society where papers were presented and discussed on “Modern methods of timekeeping in manufacturing” in 1894. When grandson, Edward G. III, took over the company he diversified to fire alarms and security systems. He also was a philanthropist giving to hospitals and sitting on the boards of several different charities. So, how does a clock relate to Fish?
Fish Nursery, the original owner of the time recorder clock, was started by Charles Robinson Fish Sr. about 1900 in Worcester on Hadwen Road near June St. An advertisement showed that the Charles R. Fish & Co. sold a variety of fruit, ornamental and evergreen trees and shrubs, Hardy roses, peonies and phlox, and much more all at producer’s prices and planting at cost.
The 1927 tax records of Auburn had Charles listed as a non-resident paying taxes of $13.92 on property at 39 School Street. The 1930 record showed that Chester B. Fish had 36 acres, house, barn, shed and two horses on the property. By 1945 Fish Nursery owned not only the 36 acres at 39 School Street, but also 22 acres off Washington St. Through the years Fish Nursery would be mentioned in articles like the Westboro Woman’s Club annual event of 1934 at their town hall that referred to “the exhibit of C.R. Fish nursery and landscape gardener of Worcester.” In 1942 the nursery donated a truck to the USO to help them with their fundraising efforts to collect scrape metal to sell to continue their programs. Chester, Charles’s son who took over the business, died in 1967 and his obituary said he had lived in Auburn for 43 years. He was a member of the First Congregational Church, a member of the Joel Prouty Lodge of Masons, and a member of the National, New England and Massachusetts Nurserymen’s Association.
In 1963 about 4 acres of the nursery was sold to the Western Massachusetts Episcopal Diocese to build St. Thomas Episcopal Church and vicarage. At this time there were only 23 acres left of the original acreage. Chester’s brother, H. Judson Fish, sold the Washington St. property to M. Grossman Lumber Co. of Quincy which they wanted to turn into an Auburn Branch of the company. Grossman donated 11 mountain ash trees and 11 cedar trees to the Auburn Tree Planting Committee for the west side of Memorial Field and a maple tree for Auburn in June of 1962. The 1968 tax record book, which is the last one the Auburn Historical Society & Museum has, shows Ada E. Fish, the remaining person living at 39 School Street with only 4 acres.
The museum is happy to be able to be the steward of this time recorder clock that was used at the Fish Nursery, which was not far from where the Auburn Historical Society & Museum is located and may have been part of the nursery. The public is invited to come and see this exhibit and several other vintage clocks that are throughout the museum and are waiting to be seen.
This article is made possible by the Auburn Historical Society & Museum, 41 South Street. The museum is open Tuesday and Saturday mornings 9:30-12:30 free to the public and may be reached at [email protected] or 508-832-6856, www.auburnhistoricalmuseum.org or follow us on Facebook at Auburn Historical.
Helen Poirier

41 South Street, Auburn, Massachusetts

04/04/2026

A Revolutionary Family: The Rice’s of Auburn

When the South Parish of Worcester was formed in 1773 people living in Oxford, Leicester and Worcester, within three miles of where the meeting house was going to be built, were included as were those from Sutton living within a mile and a half. Among the families from Worcester were Gershom Rice Sr, Gershom Jr. and his son, Comfort Rice.
The Rice family goes back to Stanstead, Suffolk England with Deacon Edmund Rice. It was his son, Thomas, who migrated to Sudbury before Gershom Sr. was born in 1696. Gershom was the second settler of Worcester around 1722. He was buried, at the age of 102, in the Old Burial Ground that was under what is now the Worcester Common. He was moved along with 110 other remains to Hope Cemetery in 1968. An article in the Worcester Spy after his death states, “He was naturally of very pleasant disposition, very courteous in his behavior towards all and withal grave and serious.” Gershom Sr. built his house on land in the area of 204 Pakachoag in 1736. It housed five generations of the Rice family through the years with great grandson, Edward, replacing the original building in 1921-22. In the 1890’s the estate was purchased by Frank P. Knowles and renamed “Highlawn Farm.”
The Rice family was very involved with the town participating in town government and military service. Gershom Jr. served as a private in Captain John Crowl’s company, Colonel Ebenezer Learned’s regiment from Oxford, which marched on the alarm of April 19, 1775. He served 6 days. He also held town and church offices from 1775- 1777.
Comfort Rice did military recruitment as a member of the town’s committee of commission in 1775 and purchased beef for troops in 1780 both of which qualify as “Aiding the Cause.” At this time, he had the rank of lieutenant, which was sighted with his name on town records, although no specific documentation for field duty has been found. Other offices he held through the years included assessor, school squadron leader, treasurer, town meeting moderator, highway surveyor, tax inquiry committee, bondsman and fence viewer.

Comfort’s son, Jonathan, was a private in Captain John Cutler’s Company, in Colonel Luke Drury’s regiment from August 28, 1781, to November 28, 1781. He appears with rank of private on Muster & Pay roll of Capt. John Cutler’s Company, Col. Luke Drury’s regiment Time of Marching 20 Aug 1781. He joined regiment at West Point 28 Aug 1781, time of discharge: 28 Nov 1781. He became a deacon later in life. His son, John [1787-1813] became a successful blacksmith in town. At the time of his death, the real estate of John Rice consisted of a very valuable and new blacksmith’s shop, a new and well finished dwelling- house and barn, and ½ acre of land near the meeting house in Ward. It also included 10 acres of valuable mowing and pastureland within ½ mile of the other estate.

George Dwight Rice, great grandson of Comfort, enlisted in the Union Army on Aug. 20, 1862, and was mustered in on Sept. 2 to Company C, 51st Regiment M.N.M. The 51st regiment was organized in Worcester between Sept. 25 and Oct. 30, 1862. In Nov. the unit was moved to Boston then New Bern NC. It was assigned to Major Gen. John G. Foster, and took part in the Battles of Kinston, White Hall and Goldsborough Bridge, to name a few. George died in New Bern March 9, 1863.
The service to town and country seems to run deep in the Rice Family of Auburn.
This article is part 8 of the Auburn and the Revolution Series and is made possible by the Auburn Historical Society & Museum, 41 South Street. The museum is open Tuesday and Saturday mornings 9:30-12:30 and may be reached at [email protected] or 508-832-6856, www.auburnhistoricalmuseum.org or follow us on Facebook at Auburn Historical.
Helen Poirier

41 South Street, Auburn, Massachusetts

03/14/2026

41 South Street, Auburn, Massachusetts

03/14/2026

Effie Ward, the other woman behind Dr. Goddard

The month of March has been designated as Women’s History Month, and the Auburn Historical Society & Museum chose to highlight Miss Effie Mary Ward, the other woman in Dr. Robert Goddard’s life. Effie’s grandmother, Climena Goddard, was the sister to Robert’s great-grandmother, Elvira Goddard. This makes Effie and Robert third cousins.
Effie’s parents were Asa William Ward and Mary Elizabeth Alton. Asa’s parents were William Ward and Climena Goddard who were from Royalston MA. William married Ellen Elizabeth Young in 1856 and had 2 children, Luella Climena, Herbert William. Ellen died in 1861, Asa then married Mary Alton in 1863 and had 3 more children, Edward Asa who only lived 5 years, Marcus who lived for 48 years and Effie. The 1870 census showed quite the household with 13 people ranging in age from 3 to 33, by 1889 it was down to 6 and all with the last name Ward.
Asa Ward bought the 13 .89 acres of Pakachoag land from David M. Pitts in 1882. In the 1900 census, besides the brothers working the land, there were a nephew and several boarders helping to work on the land. The Auburn tax records for this time show the family had 7 horses, 2 cows, 123 fowls, carriage, boiler, engine, (windmill) house and 13 acres. The 1915 tax records also show that there were two parcels of land on Thayer St, lots 110-111 which were 5,000 feet, and lots 112-115 which measured 10,000 feet. The main house also listed 2 barns, celery house, windmill and pump shed.
In the list of draft cards of Auburn men in 1918, Irving Leander Acker listed being a farmer on Effie M. Ward’s farm for employment. Effie’s father passed away in 1915 and left the farm to her in his will. It seems that Effie had a green thumb and used some of that land to grow prize winning flowers and vegetables that were shown in many agricultural fairs in the county. She also generously presented flowers at town events and special occasions. Effie was civic minded and gave back to her community. She was a member of the Red Cross Chapter in town and was on the advisory committee. She was a member of the First Congregational Church and worked on the committee that helped raise money for the church budget working alongside Miss Abbie Shute, former town librarian. Effie was even mentioned helping with a Parent Teachers group who was conducting a food sale at the store of Wallace Bulfinch on Maple Ave in 1928.
Effie must have had a great belief in her cousin’s dream of liquid-fueled rockets to let him shoot them off on her property then deal with the local farmers who didn’t like the effect of the noise and debris that occurred with every launch. Newspapers describe how brush fires had to be extinguished, and every single piece of the rocket had to be retrieved. There was a barn or two that may have had embers land on them. It could be said that the commotion caused the cows to give sour milk and the chickens lay scrambled eggs.

This article is made possible by the Auburn Historical Society & Museum, 41 South Street. The museum is open Tuesday and Saturday mornings 9:30-12:30 and may be reached at [email protected] or 508-832-6856, www.auburnhistoricalmuseum.org or follow us on Facebook at Auburn Historical.
Helen Poirier

41 South Street, Auburn, Massachusetts