By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Sponsored by the Friends of the Walpole Public Library (WPL), and in partnership with the Walpole Historical Society (WHS), the WPL welcomed WHS member Betsey Dexter Dyer on Wednesday, June 5th. Attendees packed into the Community Room to hear all about what happened within the town of Walpole during the Revolutionary War.
Dyer is a retired biologist who enjoys researching and writing about Walpole history. Upon further examination of a gourd dipper located at the WHS, Dyer began looking into whether George Washington himself stopped for a drink of water in Walpole. Through her findings, Dyer is confident in saying that he did in fact stop in town.
Before presenting her evidence on why she believes Washington stopped for water in Walpole, Dyer first discussed Walpole’s role within the Revolutionary War. She mentioned how there were hundreds of minutemen from Walpole, many of whom served during the siege in Boston. She additionally explained how residents within Walpole responded to new laws that were passed during the 1770s.
All of these details lead to her explanation as to why Washington would have stopped in Walpole. Dyer stated that thousands of soldiers passed through Walpole on the post road back and forth from Boston to New York. During this time, there were two distinct post roads in Walpole, one of which the soldiers would travel on frequently to go to and from Boston.
When Washington departed from Boston after the British evacuation, Dyer explained, he would have traveled through Walpole using the post road Route 1A. This would have happened sometime on April 5, 1776 as Washington had stayed in Dedham the night before. Dyer further detailed the 15 mile trip Washington would have made from Dedham through Walpole and into what was then known as North Wrentham (now Norfolk) where he would stay the night.
Within this 15 mile trip, Dyer believes that Washington would have stopped at potentially two Walpole Taverns to grab water and/or food for both him and his horses. His first stop in Walpole would have been Cheney’s Tavern and then he would have stopped at Hidden’s (spelled various ways) Tavern. Hidden’s was located nearby where Zilpha Boyden would have given Washington water using a gourd dipper like the one sitting in the WHS.
Dyer had multiple pieces of evidence to back up this belief, including knowing that Boyden’s relatives and future in-laws were also leaving Boston on the same road and Preston Farrington’s verbal accounts of this day. As Dyer presented on this topic, attendees were utterly fascinated with her findings.
This presentation fit perfectly within the celebration of Walpole’s 300th Anniversary. For more information about upcoming talks like these happening at the WPL, please visit their website at www.walpolelibrary.org.
