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"Little Things"

1 pp 1850

When Julia Fletcher composed her little poem, she did not realize how popular it would become. One evening, she wrote the first verse as part of "A Letter to Sabbath School Children" for her editor. Early the next day, she attended a teacher's morning class in Pitman's Phonography at the Tremont Temple in Boston. As part of a 10-minute writing exercise, she dashed off some more verses to add to the one from the previous night. Later, when her editor called for "scraps" to fill corners, she sent the poem to him. Unfortunately, she did not sign it. After years of being attributed to others or listed as "anonymous," the poem was finally credited to Julia.

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"Meeting of the waters"

1 pp 1850

Many of Lancaster's earliest families settled in the fertile "neck" area not far from the "Meeting of the Waters," near the bridge on Center Bridge Road. Here, the north and south branches of the Nashua River converge and flow north. Once considered one of the 10 dirtiest rivers in the country, it has made a remarkable recovery over the last 30 years due, in large measure, to the untiring efforts of Marion R. Stoddart of Groton.

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"That New England school"

1 pp 1882

Originally a carriage house, this was the first building designated a school by Seventh-Day Adventists in South Lancaster. The first term opened on April 19, 1882. At first, it was referred to simply as "that New England school" by church leaders. On December 12, 1883, it was incorporated as South Lancaster Academy. The building (no longer standing) was located off Main Street near the Village Church.

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A Fairlawn wedding

1 pp 1904

Pictured here on the patio of Fairlawn is the wedding party of Eugene V.R. Thayer's eldest daughter, Katherine, who married Howland Russell on June 1, 1904. Lancaster was the setting for no less than six Thayer weddings between 1903 and 1913.

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A George Hill panorama

1 pp 1850

This panoramic view looking northeastward from George Hill shows the Col John E. Thayer estate with buildings along the town's Main Street in the distance.

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photograph

A Memorial Day procession

1 pp 1850

Residents in a traditional Memorial Day procession make their way, with wreaths and flowers, to honor Lancaster's war veterans.

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A bird's-eye view

1 pp 1928

Spectators eagerly scale the trees for a bird's-eye view of the proceedings at the Massachusetts State Ski Jump Championship on George Hill. The 50¢ to $1 entrance fee was more than some kids could afford.

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A camp meeting

1 pp 1850

This scene shows an old-fashioned Seventh-Day Adventist Camp meeting held on the "flats," on the south side of Bolton Road in South Lancaster. The weeklong annual summer gathering, previously held in various locations, is today conducted on the grounds of the Southern New England Conference of SDA on Sawyer Street in South Lancaster.

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A dormitory and sanitarium

1 pp 1895

This imposing Victorian structure, formerly on the north corner of Flagg and Main Streets in the South Village, was built and used as a dormitory for South Lancaster Academy from 1895 to 1899 and then as a sanitarium from 1899 to 1902. Shortly thereafter, Col. John E. Thayer bought the property, the sanitarium was relocated, and the Thayer Bird Museum was built on the site.

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A field of sword lilies

1 pp 1920

Shown is a 20-acre gladiolus field in the northeasternmost part of Lancaster on an intervale bounded on three sides by the Nashua River. The field was cultivated by John E. Farnsworth and his son Custer in the 1920s. In season, two shipments of 200 to 300 dozen gladioluses per day went out to Boston and New York from the Lancaster railroad station. Previously, prisoners of war from World War I had been held at this site.

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A hotel fire

1 pp 1906

Late on the evening of July 18, 1906, a fire that started in the kitchen area spread throughout the Lancaster Hotel. Although there was no loss of life, about 30 guests were routed from their beds in their nightclothes. The combined efforts of the Lancaster and Clinton Fire Companies could not contain the blaze, and the building was a total loss.

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A lawn party

1 pp 1860

A turn-of-the-century afternoon party is in full swing on the back lawn of the Nathaniel Thayer estate, the Homestead, in South Lancaster.

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"Little Things"

"Meeting of the waters"

"That New England school"

A Fairlawn wedding

A George Hill panorama

A Memorial Day procession

A bird's-eye view

A camp meeting

A dormitory and sanitarium

A field of sword lilies

A hotel fire

A lawn party