On March 30th, 1891, an “Important Institution Begins Its Work,” exclaimed the Fall River Daily Evening News: “The Fall River Cooking School … opened in the Vermont Block, Pocasset street last evening with a class of twenty-two young ladies, most of whom are employed in the mills during the day.” An informational circular that was…
“Labore Vincemas.” – You win with hard work. B.M.C. Durfee High School, named in honor of Bradford Mathew Chaloner Durfee (1843-1872), son of Major Bradford Durfee (1788-1843) and Mary Brayton Durfee Young (1814-1891), was erected in 1887 by his mother, at a cost of $1,000,000.00 – a staggering sum at the time. The school, built…
The Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) of Fall River was founded circa 1883. Their pledge, according to their 1885 quarterly convention pamphlet: “I hereby solemnly promise, God helping me, to abstain from all distilled, fermented and malt Liquors, including Wine, Beer, and Cider, as a beverage, and to employ all proper means to discourage the…
American Mourning traditions of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century conjure up feelings of interest, shock, and sometimes disbelief to those living in the twenty-first century. Once commonplace customs that were held near and dear to the hearts of the Victorian’s are now rarely practiced or considered downright macabre. It was considered appropriate etiquette…
David Anthony Brayton (1824-1881) was the second owner of the “Stone Mansion” – that now houses the Fall River Historical Society – after its relocation from Columbia Street to Rock Street in 1870. On February 21, 1868, Mr. Brayton purchased a brand-new Rosewood Overstrung Square Grand Pianoforte from Steinway & Sons, with stool, for the…