The Hatch Mill restoration project has been funded with the assistance of matching funds from the Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund through the Massachusetts Historical Commission, a division of the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, William Francis Galvin, Secretary pending reauthorization of the capital accounts and the availability of sufficient allocated funds.

Roy Kirby's Home Town Testimonial

Come join us on Feb 26 to
Honor a Great Man:
Roy Kirby
at the K of C Pembroke 8:00 pm  $20.00. 

Hosted By Mr. Michael Moresco
For tickets Email Jgriffin@buythecase.net
Music by Lonesome Jukebox



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 " The Man That Believed In Christmas " by david S
 
      Almost 20 years ago on Furnace Street, Marshfield, an oceanside blue collar town south of Boston lived a man named Roy.  Roy being of possibly the highest quality of man on earth was very talented.  He, being a master carpenter that specialized in creating just about anything a person could ask for made out of wood.  He built his own home a cape cod style set off the road with a rather huge front lawn. The house was built to resemble an antique home possibly built around 1700, with real quaint windows and trim that decorate the house in almost a ginger bread style.  He worked building and doing carpenter jobs and after building a big barn to match his house in the weathered shakes or shingles made from white cedar, he built 4 eloquent entrance ways with the door and headers in place. These doorways were fit for the most beautiful historic homes from colonial days and somewhat of Williamsburg style, that line the back of his driveway.
   I never met this man before but knew of him. Every Christmas he would have a gigantic box on his front lawn a few weeks before Christmas day. On Christmas day he would go out and uncrate the huge box showing what was inside it. Mostly toys in a giant scale. I remember one of the first years he had two toy soldiers that were close to ten feet tall made of wood and painted so perfectly just like the real old toy soldiers with the painted faces and mustaches.
   Next year was an eight foot high rocking horse just like a regular  one that many youngsters would get from Santa on Christmas morning. Another year it was a Jack in The Box. Roy would store these great creations he made during the year and exhibit all of the previous years leading up to the opening of the new Christmas box of that year. Many times I loaded my two daughters in the car to drive down and ride by his house to see the creations he made to share with his communities fellow neighbors and residents.
    This last september, I was flying to Moscow on a two week trip. Just before we left for the airport, I grabbed the daily Quincy Patriot Ledger, the news paper that has been reporting news for the last 200 years.
     Once I started reading it, there was an article about Roy the master carpenter that had lived in Marshfield for almost his whole life and that he had come into hard times. Working for yourself in business is hard for many to afford the new health care and the constant rising property taxes to fund the school teachers raises and town employee pensions and lucrative benefits of health care and other perks. It stated Roy had run into a time that he was hurt unable to work that left him income less. The article went on telling how over the years he was always there to help the community youth groups and all charities when needing help.
    Now, the tables were reversed and the man that always gave to others needed help from the community or else he was going to lose his house and belongings unable to work with the bills piling up higher and higher. The bank gave notice of foreclosure and that sparked the article to be written. Roy was very graceful telling that he has no choice and it would be almost impossible to reverse what was set in motion. The bank through a little pressure held off on the auction giving him a few months to try and raise some money.
  Could his neighbors and town people help? This is a blue collar town with the lower end of wage earners, they are having a tough enough time to make ends meet, its hard to ask them when they too are worried about paying their own bills. 
  When I read this article I told my susie that I would like to have stopped by his house to give a donation towards helping him after the years of fun we had seeing his christmas presents to all of us. Once in Russia seeing some of the most exciting places on earth that man has created, it did not take me long to forget about Roy and his dilemma!
  A few weeks ago, I thought of Roy just before Christmas wondering how he made out with the banks. I then thought he is most deserving of having a story written about him and shared with others. I thought there is only one title fitting for it and decided to name the title "The Man That Believed In Christmas".
  Tonight I happen to ride by his house just after dark. I saw a 4x8 piece of plywood painted white with old english scroll lettering on it. The house was empty and the bank won out auctioning it off just before Christmas. Poor Roy in his late 50's working so hard for years and to have his house taken away, it breaks people's hearts.
  I think after reading the sign on the lawn, that the title was perfect. Below is the message and last word from Roy the master carpenter and the Santa Claus from Marshfield, Massachusetts! 
          
            
                                                                           
I only regret that I did not know Roy personally to possibly have helped him before it was to late!
I hope you enjoyed reading this sad but strong message of Christmas.
 
A man at the pizza shop I ate at told me that he did lose his house just weeks before Christmas, his last gift was the sign quoted above!

  I have never met him before but have enjoyed his Christmas spirit for years and will donate to him $100 cash to use any way he needs!  

                                                                        Sincerely, David Setterland 

Friends of Hatch Mill Letter


Click HERE to Enlarge
Matching Campaign ends 9/30/10

Dan Monney
The Hand of John Adams
Has donated his valuable time to the Campaign.
 Dan played the hand of John Adams using his talents as a scribe,
 in the PBS film / American Experience / John and Abigail Adams.

Any donation of a $100 or more,
Dan will personalize a Thank You addressed to you from, The Hatch Mill Restoration & Preservation Group Inc. and   Scituate Federal Savings Bank, Matching Dollar to Dollar Campaign

Click here to donate                         
Read Boston Globe Article
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Duncan Howard Frazee
Memorial Park and Gardens Projects
We are very honored to have his heartfelt project as our neighbor to the historic Hatch Mill.

The Hatch Mill restoration project has been funded with the assistance of matching funds from the Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund through the Massachusetts Historical Commission, a division of the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, William Francis Galvin, Secretary pending reauthorization of the capital accounts and the availability of sufficient allocated funds.
We are starting the $40,000 matching grant for the Second phase of Emergency Stabilization from the Marshfield Historical Commission.




Award Winning Documentary
by Michael F. DuBois, a senior at Marshfield High School
Recipient of the Plymouth Independent Film Festival's
Best Cinematography and Best Documentary Awards

We are pleased to announce the establishment of the Hatch Mill Restoration & Preservation Group, Inc. created to restore Marshfield's Hatch Mill into a working educational site.

We are looking for volunteers of many talents including those with carpenter / craftsman skills, those with office skills including computer and auto cad competence and those with generous, big hearts to donate time, food and money to this exciting effort.

Currently, we ask all curious and well-wishing visitors to refrain from visiting the site. It is not secure and we wish to be courteous to our neighbors. If you wish to volunteer, please send us an email telling us how you would like to participate. We will keep you informed and notify you when we can take advantage of your offer.

Thanks to the following families for there contributions:
Vercollone Family Trust $10,000
Mr. and Mrs. Weston $1000
A. W. Perry $1000
Weyerhaeuser $1000
Cherbec Advancement Foundation $1000
Mr. and Mrs. George Bennett $1000
Mr. and Mrs. Noonan $1000
George Hatch $550
Mr. and Mrs. Harold $100


Hatch-ing a Plan to Restore the Old Mill
Community Preservation Committee chairman Ed McPherson outlines an item presented for consideration at Town Meeting Monday.
By Kathryn Koch
GateHouse Media
Tues May 01, 2007, 04:33 PM EDT

Marshfield - The Hatch Mill, the only surviving mill left over from the days when 24 mills operated on the South River, will be restored using Community Preservation Act funding, despite calls for a feasibility study before dedicating town money to the project,
A split vote by the Advisory Board, with half of its members not convinced that the project is even viable, did not dissuade voters like Main Street resident Jack Braithwaite, who enthusiastically endorsed approving $120,250 to restore the Hatch Mill and turn it into an operating museum at Town Meeting Monday night.

“Who owns the past?” Braithwaite said. “Who owns local history? You do!”

Braithwaite said the town should support efforts to restore one of the few water-driven sawmills still operable in New England, one that may be the oldest original sawmill in eastern Massachusetts, for educational purposes.

“It promises to be the only mill like it in New England,” he said.

Roy Kirby, president of the Hatch Mill Restoration and Preservation Group, brought an up-and-down saw with him to the front of Town Meeting to make his case for the town to contribute toward the $1 million estimated cost of the project.

However, Advisory Board chairman Keith Polansky said he’s concerned that the project that the project won’t even get past the approval process and doesn't’t want to commit money to the project without the results of a feasibility study that board members said would about $15,000.

“We’re in favor of the project,” he said. “We’re just concerned about permitting.”

Advisory Board member Paul Sullivan, on the other hand, said the historical status of the mill and Kirby’s proven ability to see a project through to the end are reasons he supports the project without a study.

“We don’t see the need to hold him up,” he said.

Cornwell Hill resident Barry Cornwall said he served on the Marshfield Conservation Commission years ago when another proposal to restore the Hatch Mill was before his board and was denied.

“It was the worst decision we ever made,” he said.

The Hatch Mill project wasn't’t the only one of the seven community preservation funding requests approved Monday that proved to be contentious.

Community Preservation Committee chairman Ed McPherson said approximately $5.4 million has been spent on 29 projects since voters passed the CPA in 2001. This year, there is approximately $2 million in the fund, and the approved projects and additional administrative fees total approximately $725,000.

Voters approved $65,000 for the continued funding of a housing coordinator and technical consultant and $219,873 for expenses related to the conversion of existing market rate housing to affordable housing, but not until after hearing criticism of these components of the town’s housing plan.

Central Street resident Steve Lynch said the people of Marshfield have been generous with their funding of the housing plan and have gotten no return on their investment.

“They have not produced, and it’s time to cut them off,” he said.

Robert Carr, chairman of the Marshfield Housing Partnership, opened the discussion about the housing coordinator’s position with a list of accomplishments and demonstrated efforts to increase the town’s affordable housing inventory. The addition of 18 units to the town’s housing inventory was one of his examples.

Voters also approved four other projects. Members of the Ventress Building Committee could not give voters an answer to the question of how much it would cost to rehabilitate the former library/ high school/town hall/police station at 76 South River St., but voters approved $40,000 to hire a project manager and historical architect, anyway.

Town Administrator and committee member John Clifford said the project manager and architect would help determine the feasibility and projected cost.

“The primary goal is to get reliable cost estimates,” he said.

Voters quickly approved $2,400 for the first phase of a trail mapping project proposed by the town’s Trails and Ways Committee; $121,370 for the second phase of the Winslow House rehabilitation project and $180,514 for the Marcia Thomas House museum project.

Funds for Community Preservation Act projects are provided by a 3 percent surcharge on residents’ tax bills. At least 10 percent of all revenues must be devoted to historic preservation, open space and community housing.

Town Meeting continued Tuesday night after the Mariner deadline, and, if needed, will resume May 3 at 7:30 p.m. in the Marshfield High School gymnasium.
The Hatch Mill, built in 1759, is the last remaining water-powered saw mill on the North River. It is a piece of the living history for Marshfield, towns of the South Shore, New England, and America. Today, the North River is filled with recreation boats, but in the 17th and 18th century it was bustling with the industry of boat building and related trades. The North River is the "river that launched a thousand ships." The Columbia was launched on the North River and sailed to the Pacific Northwest under Captain Robert Gray. In 1792, Captain Gray discovered the Columbia River and named it after the ship. In 1790, it became the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe. Today, only plaques remain of the many shipyards that once build the ships that sailed to open the great American west. The wood used by these shipyards was local timer sawn by the many saw mills on both sides of the North River. The Hatch Mill, a water-powered up-and-down sash saw mill, still stands beside its mill pond and represents this glorious New England and American History

There are people all around the country whose roots go back to this history. I know because I live in a house that also has a long history, the Cornet Stetson House, built in 1690 and located directly across the North River from a home built by Walter Hatch in 1647, before the time of the Hatch Mill, as depicted in Sarah Messer's book The Red House: Being a Mostly Accurate Account of New England's Oldest Continuously Lived-in House. The Stetson and Hatch kindred is huge, and their roots go back to both homes along the North River. Cornet Stetson built one of the earliest sash saw mills in America, and many of the boards in our home have the up-and-down saw marks which are specific to that type of saw mill and time. Boards that do not have these marks are replacement boards from a later time. The history of the building of this early American home can be read through the saw marks on the boards.

The significance of early saw mills, such as the Hatch Mill, to the building and growth of America is not fully understood or appreciated. Imagine if we did not have easy access to lumber. Home Depot, Lowe's, the many local lumber yards and saw mills such as Copeland Brothers and Taylor Lumber in Marshfield and the hundreds of homes being built on the South Shore are an everyday testament to the significance of the history of the Hatch Mill saw mill.

It is important to understand our history. We stand on the shoulders of those before us. History helps us to understand who we are, and where we live. It is especially significant to experience history, to be able to touch and see and feel history. Living in a 300 year old home, I experience history every time I walk through my house. I feel generations before me who lived and worked in this same space. I can envisage someone's hands using tools to make the structure. I can sense the smell of food cooking in the large open fireplace. For 300 years, generations of families ate, slept and worked in the place where I now eat, sleep and work. My home is a living history.

The Hatch Mill is also living history. It represents all the stories of the many mills that once lined the NOrth River and all the jobs and people that worked in those mills. Once a building is gone, that living history is lost forever. We must save the Hatch Mill for the future. It is our responsibility to our past. When it is restored it will be a place of living history as well as an educational center and museum for the preservation and teaching of traditional technologies and trades such as timber framing, boat building, and furniture making.

-Laura and Rick Brown
Co-founders of Handhouse Studio, Norwell, MA
For More Information, you may contact Roy Kirby at
781-834-9647 or 781-760-5749
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