by Rita P. Kelleher (1908-2009)

When I was growing up in Hingham, Otis Hill was a magic playground for me. I had only to cross the street and climb over a split-rail fence and I was there. Peter Bradley, whose family owned most of the hill, kept a string of polo ponies there. They would start running from where the Foster School is now and gallop over to rub their skin against an old apple tree. They were magnificent beasts, well cared for, with wild eyes and foaming mouths. While my friends and I were playing on the hill, someone would suddenly shout, “Horses are coming,” and we would all quickly climb back over the fence to safety.

There were large areas of the hill of close cropped grass, wild strawberries, and in fall after a period of rain, mushrooms. I learned early to tell the difference between mushrooms and toadstools and delights in picking small white mushrooms to take to my mother, who cooked them on the surface of the cast iron stove, which always seems to be on. There were clumps of blackberry and raspberry bushes with sharp thorns and seedy, fragrant berries. In summer, black-eyed Susans and pink rugosa rose, with its apple shaped hips, good for jelly making, greeted me; in fall, golden rod prevailed. Although often alone and some distance from home, I was never afraid or lonesome.

Rita P. Kelleher, 1908-2009
Life-long Hingham Resident
Boston College School of Nursing:
1947-1978 Faculty Member
1948-1968: Dean of School of Nursing

by Daniel Lenehan
September 1, 2010

It has been quite a while since I lived in Hingham, but I grew up on Central Street and my mother was a Hawkes, so I guess my roots go pretty deep. I would like to add an event that occurred in 1981 when Kate Mahony ran for Selectman. It was election night and my wife and I, along with a lot of other people, had gone over to Kate and Frank’s to wait for the results. At some point, we all knew she had won. I cannot recall if it was official or not, but we all knew it. Everyone was celebrating and partying, when who shows up but John Cafferty. John was one of the people who had run against Kate. It had been a long campaign but now it was over, and he came to offer his congratulations, immediately and in person. He stayed and was welcomed. John's personal appearance and Kate's gracious welcome said a lot about the way the town was.

by Ellen Sutherland Sidor
September 26, 2008

After the Second World War, our government became increasingly nervous about the Russians, fearing an invasion by sea or air. Being a coastal community, Hingham was an ideal place to have an observation post. When the Ground Observer Corps was formed, our post was on the very top floor of Agricultural Hall in center Hingham.

At age 11 or so, I remember biking to the nearby fire station on Saturday mornings to get the key, buying a cup of coffee with plenty of milk and sugar and feeling very grown up. We always worked in pairs. Once we had unlocked the hall, we had to climb several sets of stairs and then go hand over hand up a ladder to the tower room & shut the trap door behind us. Agricultural Hall was the tallest building in town. Our post was in that unheated tower. We had to keep all four windows open so that we could hear and see all possible aircraft. It was sometimes freezing up there, but it was all part of the glory of being observers, possibly giving our town its earliest warning of a Russian attack.

There was one little table, several chairs, two sets of powerful binoculars, and a telephone linked to the FAA radar station in Nashua NH so we could report our sightings. When we saw anything that looked like a Russian aircraft, we picked up the phone, said "Aircraft Flash, this is Echo Nectar Zero One Black" and described the craft. We had been given training in identifying Russian aircraft by the use of silhouettes. Unfortunately, one of the main Russian bombers looked just like an American airliner and also one of the military airplanes that regularly flew out of South Weymouth Naval Air Station just a few miles away. We were not supposed to report our airliners, but who knew what they were really, and it was exciting to think that maybe we were going to be the ones that saved the town from disaster. Besides, the view was terrific from way up there.

One day there was some kind of event down below in the yard in front of the hall. There were lots of folks down there and a few policeman. I had carried a bag of jellybeans to the tower for our weekly assignment. There wasn't much going on in the air that day, so gradually our attention became more focused on the crowds below. In my impish way I thought it would be great fun to drop a jellybean or two & see if I could hit anyone. Pretty soon a policeman noticed and he quickly disappeared into the hall. As we heard his angry stomping coming up the stairs & then saw him emerging up through the trapdoor, we cowered in well-deserved fear. But he was one of the juvenile officers and knew how to handle the situation. He chided us for our dangerous behavior. made us solemnly promise never to do such a thing again, and then he demanded the bag of jellybeans. I handed the treasure over, my heart sinking. He opened the bag, took out all the black jellybeans, handed the bag back to me, smiled and descended.

I'm pretty sure the Ground Observer Corps was disbanded soon after that. I'm sure the Nashua FAA station got tired of our constant reports of American airliners and miltary craft. The GOC must have sounded good to somebody higher up at the time. It seems ludicrous now that a 30-second warning from Hingham would have averted a disaster, but so it goes. One of proud highlights of my young life.

by John Brewer
August 18, 2008

I was born in 1935 and spent the first 31 years of my life in Hingham. My dad owned approximately 4 acres of land on Brewer Beach Rd which stretched all the way to the beach. This land was at one time a part of the Foley Farm which was owned by my Great Grandfather Cornelius Foley. Cornelius was an immigrant from Ireland and the farm served many purposes and supported many people. As the story goes he had dairy cows which provided milk to local folks and an ice pond which provided ice to towns people during the summer.

Many members of the family, both Fees and Foleys also used their talents to help build Downer's Landing and Melville Gardens which were favorite vacationing places for the wealthier folks of the area. My paternal grandfather Charles Brewer who moved here from Brewer, ME, also lent his talents as a cabinet maker to this rather large undertaking.

As a child growing up in Hingham in the 1940's and 1950's, I am convinced I experienced the best of all possible worlds. Even though part of my youth was clouded by WW2, I was too young to understand the seriousness of the conflict. I was lucky enough to have a roof over my head, clothes on my back and food in my stomach. My sister and I had an idyllic and carefree existence playing by the seashore on 4 acres of partially wooded land that we had all to ourselves and the friends who lived close by.

One of my early recollections was the Hingham Ship Yard. It was situated on a large piece of land on the Weymouth Back River and not very far from our house. I recall it was a great thrill to watch the ships being launched which, it seemed, was happening almost daily. I'm sure there are others in town with more vivid memories.

When I got old enough, I attended West School (elementary) and Lincoln School (secondary). Because of the innovative ideas of our West School principal, Lucy Norris, we were honored by a visit from Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of the president. She came to present an award to the school and Miss Norris. Upon viewing our Main Street which at that time was lined with 200 year old Elm trees, she called Main Street "the most beautiful Main Street in the country." Sadly those beautiful Elms fell victim to the Dutch Elm Disease. West School has since been torn down and Lincoln School building is no longer being used as a school.

In those early days, we had very good public transportation . The Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway provided bus service all over the South Shore and the Old Colony Railroad provided good passenger service to and from Boston connecting to the New York New Haven and Hartford RR at the South Station to everywhere. Here's a little tid bit concerning how far your money would go in those days. One quarter would buy me a round trip to Hingham by bus, a seat at Loring Hall for the latest movie and a candy bar. What a life!! Even though I have since moved away primarily to work at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida, I will always be a Hinghamite.

by Erdine Daly Schirmer
July 28, 2008

I was born in the big yellow house (#646) on Main Street to William B. and Leona Daly. Almost across the street was the old South School which I attended and three doors away from that house towards Wilder Hall was where my grandparents lived (#654) and I went there to lunch every day and then back to school. My grandfather, James W. Daly, was a teamster and the land he owned behind his house and Wilder Hall as well went all the way over to Lazell Street. He had five horses and two were driven by my uncle, Francis Daly, who did all kinds of work with them including plowing the sidewalks of South Hingham with a wooden plow.

In the 1930's we lived on Hobart Street and my father and a lot of the men in the neighborhood belonged to a club called "Reddog" which met in the backroom of Joyce's Store (now Main Street Market and Deli). For some reason, they named the park adjacent to the store Jackass Park, where each year they put up a Christmas tree and held a neighborhood party. My father was in the trucking business and owned a Diamond T truck with "Miss Hingham" on the front and it was used to carry gifts in the back over to the park for all the children.

These were fun times.