The Barnett Connection

A month or so ago I posted a request on Front Porch Forum for any old pictures related to Worcester that folks might have in treasure boxes or photo albums. That inquiry led to several interesting adventures, including an unfruitful search of the attic of the Methodist Church in quest of a reported crate of old pictures, specifically looking for a picture showing one of the old water troughs for horses that used to be on Worcester's main street. Another venture yielded a rich and varied collection of dozens of Worcester-related photographs taken between 1877 and 1950.
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Pamela S. Barnett contacted me via social media and indicated she had in her possession a few old pictures of Worcester and Worcester citizens. She explained that her husband had Ordway, Ladd and Abbott families in his family tree. To this day, she has forwarded sixty incredible copies of photos, mainly from the 1920s, of 100+ years ago. With her permission, we will have the entire collection on display at the Worcester Historical Society this summer. She recently wondered if I was getting bored looking at these landscapes and people – because she has more. Pamela, please, please, please keep them coming until there are no more! To see buildings that are no longer standing and people who impacted our community who are long gone absolutely affirms our mission as an organization. Thank you so much for your amazing gift.

I am sharing two photos from the Barnett collection below. 

Henry Abbott's store was located across from the Town Hall. Henry started working at the store when he was 16. He bought the store, probably in the 1890s, from Henry Douglas Vail, an early merchant. Abbott sold the store to T. Earl Doty in 1910, then joined him in partnership in 1916. The Abbott and Doty Store became a local institution, a community center. Henry Abbott died in 1933 and Mr. Doty continued operation of the store until 1945, when he sold it to Earl Maxham.

This portrait of Carrie Templeton is iconic. Our "Cow book" (p. 150) relates that she was blind at 80 years and "washes her own dishes and likes to keep the family laughing over her reminiscences." She was one of those octogenarians whose long life got the attention of the Boston papers in the 1920s.