Hopedale History August 15, 2006 No. 66 Milk Wagons Charles Stewart update. Last time, I asked if anyone knew why Charles Stewart, killed in action in 1944, according to a Milford News article at the time, wasn’t listed on the veterans’ monument at Hopedale Village Cemetery. It turns out that the report of Stewart’ s death was greatly exaggerated. After several phone calls, I found out from Tracey Liberatore that Stewart is alive, well and living in Shrewsbury. (Tracey’s mother-in-law is Stewart’s foster sister.) I called him and here’s a bit of what he told me. He was a turret gunner and engineer on a B-24 in September 1944 when his plane was shot down near the border of Germany and Czechoslovakia. He parachuted out and very shortly after landing was taken in by partisans in the area. He was with them during the rest of the war and never ended up in a POW camp. Evidently, lists of prisoners were being exchanged, but since he wasn’t on them, the War Department eventually concluded that he must have been killed and notified his foster parents, the McVittys. I hope to have a bit more on him soon. More on Stewart. Recent deaths of Hopedale and former Hopedale people: Clarence “Kip” Lapworth, 87, Curville Cox, 97, John Donley, 58, and Jack Haringa, 61, (teacher, HHS, 1966 – 1978) Don McGrath’s article about the Freedom Street neighborhood, near the five corners, inspired Al Marzetta to write about the Maple Street area, back in the 1940s and 1950s. It tells of the Curley, Izzo, Marzetta and Scalzi families who lived in that neighborhood. <><><><><><><><><><> Milk Wagons of Mendon, Hopedale and Milford When my father was a kid, back around 1920, he delivered milk in Milford. One thing he told about the job that seems amazing now, is that the customer would leave an open container out on the front steps. The milkman (or, in this case, milkboy) would bring the milk to it and pour in a quart or two or whatever the customer had ordered. Don McGrath has been interested in milk wagons for much of his life. I received the following account of them in the area from him in the mail last week. When we first started going up to Mendon, in the summer of 1931, I think Maple Farm had been recently sold to Arnold VanderSluis, a middle-aged single man from Whitinsville, who had gotten tired of his monotonous job in the Whitin Machine Works, that included watching the clock. VanderSluis had a sister who took care of the house. Arnold was a rather strict Christian, who wouldn’t do haying on Sunday, regardless of the weather forecast. Probably about 1930, Leonard E. Taft had passed away and his widow, Minnie Taft moved up the street two or three houses. Like Walter Beal, they had a similar mild wagon, and sold cream, and, I suppose, milk too, or at least, so I recall. I don’t think Len Taft went on the milk route. Raymond Barrows took care of that chore and they only went about four days a week. I can remember seeing the horse and milk wagon trotting along Dutcher Street and making the turn to Freedom Street, heading back to Mendon when we’d be out at recess at about 10:30 at the Dutcher Street School. The milk wagon was in good repair then and the Tafts had a spare wagon to use if the regular one was in the paint shop. Walter Beal used to hire that wagon if need be. The fee was twenty-five cents a day. That wagon said “Milford Town Farm” on it, and I think Herbert Austin’s name might have been on it as “Farm Mgr.” Mrs. Austin ran a pig farm at the corner of Asylum and West streets. That included a second farm further along Asylum Street, toward the town farm. Long-time game warden, Bill Prentiss had a small house on that section of Asylum Street. But to get back to the milk wagons, Arnold VanderSluis continued to use it for a short while, but he rather soon switched to a truck. Later Tim Cronan had it toward the end of his milk route days and it finally landed with Dan Glennon, the wearer out of so many of the old milk wagons. Don McGrath, August 5, 2006.
milk from A. VanDerSluis on a Sunday, once. Mr. V., true to his convictions, refused to sell it--gave him a quart for free. Cheers, Phil
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