Introduction: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry shares photos and stories of life long ago in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.

Today I resume my series “Scrapbook Photos of Provincetown, Massachusetts,” all courtesy of the Provincetown History Preservation Project (PHPP). The photo collage below shows some of the many faces found in the archives of Provincetown.

In this collage we see: (top row, left to right) Keepers of the Light Monomoy Life-Saving Station Captain Marshall W. Eldridge and Captain Elmer Mayo received medals for bravery and the Gold Lifesaving Medal, the highest honor given for their selfless acts of courage; the Lopes family emigrated from Olhao, Portugal – this is possibly J. Arthur, Mildred and Manuel Lopes; Captain Benjamin Higgins, taken by Charles Ashley aboard the Sunbeam in 1904; (middle row, left to right) Selectman Joseph Lema and Wampanoag tribal member Clinton Mye Haynes “Chief Wild Horse” on the arrival of the Mayflower II in 1957; a Pilgrim Art Exhibit; Town Crier George Washington Ready; (bottom row, left to right) unknown whaler and fisherman by Helen Valentine; Dr. Samuel Pitcher, the first maker of Castoria, and wife Hannah Gibbs (Jones) Pitcher aka “Aunty Pitcher” to most; Maria Louise (Rich) Burch (in the center), her uncle Solomon Rich, and sister Betty D. Rich, outside her home on the corner of Johnson Street.

Horse and Buggie Days

A photograph of a Provincetown street scene was preserved in Althea Boxell’s scrapbook. It shows the intersection of Commercial and Standish Streets taken by Barnstable printer Louis Morris Snow (1872-1963). This photo appeared in Yankee Magazine in 1976. The author John Bell asserts that Snow photographed this scene on Sunday, 3 August 1902, at 1:45 PM.

Louis M. Snow is the son of Elijah Olin and Mary Ellen (Morris) Snow. His obituary, along with the following photograph he took in 1890, is also in this scrapbook.

Charles ‘Stormy’ Mayo’s Attic Gems

Charles “Stormy” Mayo, son of Capt. Charles Atkins and Mary (Woods) Mayo, found a scrapbook photo album in the family attic. Below are some pictures from this collection.

Here is a photo of the one-armed whaleman Fred West.

This photo caption reads:

The One-Armed Whaleman

Fred West, mate of a Provincetown vessel whaling in the Arctic, suffered infection of his arm and had to have it sawed off. Had no anesthetic. He took the matter lightly, held a funeral for his arm and buried it in a violin case. Then went on a-whaling.

I found Fred’s story in the Quincy Daily Ledger.

In this article, Fred gives this account:

“My partner and myself went 30 miles from the ship, to procure a supply of fish and game for the ship’s company. Arriving at our destination, we found two other ship’s men out on a hunting expedition, and joined forces. While arranging for fixing camp, I stepped into the boat, which contained a part of our stores and fixtures, and accidentally discharged a gun which had become entangled in a cord attached to a bundle which I attempted to move. The charge entered my arm above the elbow. The accident occurred at 12:30 a.m., July 19, and the sun was above the horizon, shining brightly.

“The men bandaged my arm, harnessed the dog team, and immediately started with me for the ship, 30 miles away. We arrived alongside her at noon on the same day, having traversed snow and ice fields and forded open water by forcing the dogs to swim.

“Upon removing my outer garment it was found that the bone of the arm from the elbow to the shoulder nearly, had been shot to pieces, the flesh blown away, while the arm hung by the main artery and the merest shred of flesh. It was at once apparent that the arm must be amputated, and Captain Leavitt of the Mary D. Hume and Bodfish of the Alexander volunteered to do the job.”

Two precious four-legged friends are also found in Charles Mayo’s family scrapbook. The first is Old Daisy, the horse of the Peak Hill Bar Life Saving Station, which closed in 1913 and moved to a new location. The station was sold in 1919 to playwright Eugene O’Neill, who used it as a summer residence.

The second is Leo, mascot of the Provincetown fishing schooner, the I. J. Merritt.

This photo caption reads:

Lucky Dog

Leo, mascot of the old Provincetown banks fishing schooner, I. J. Merritt. In her first voyage to the Grand Banks the Merritt paid for herself, and for many years she was a “high-liner” of the old fleet.

Town Criers

Several town criers served Provincetown, including Walter Thayer Smith (1849-1932) aka “Hoppy-T,” son of Amasa Thayer and Rebecca (Lurton) Smith.

Smith told the Boston Post that he served as an assistant to town crier George Washington Ready (shown below, and in the photo collage above) before he became the full-time town crier.

Before Ready there was Frankie Atwood, Barney Briggs, Billy Clark, Frank Howard, Archie McCurdy, Barry Turner, and a host of others – “all good Yankees and how they could ring the bell!” Walter told the Boston Post.

When he was at the end of his career, Smith found it difficult to surrender his post. It is clear from all the intel I found on Smith that he was beloved by thousands – not just by locals but the many who summered or just vacationed in Provincetown.

A newspaper clip entitled “Last Town Crier at Provincetown Fails to Retire; Public Wants Him,” gives the skinny. Smith was the town’s tenth crier.

This article reports:

PROVINCETOWN, Mass., Aug. 2. – The last town crier in the land couldn’t retire, after all. His public wouldn’t let him.

It’s only a year since Walter Smith, then 78, tried to quit the game. Local folk read in their town weekly this modest item: “Notice. Walter Smith, Town Crier, has given up Town Crying because of his lameness.”

They refused to believe it. Who was going to tell the town about the Ladies’ Aid socials and the Women’s Auxiliary suppers, and the dances in the town hall? Who was going to bring the news of the bargains in the stores?

But Mr. Smith held firm. His big brass handbell stood on the shelf in his cottage, and grew dusty.

The summer folk arrived and pleaded with him. The girls from the camps up along Cape Cod came down to shop and to chide him.

To all them the Town Crier explained: Commercial Street, Provincetown’s main and almost its only street, is three miles long. His legs would no longer carry him that far.

But finally, he found a way out. Provincetown’s day begins and ends in the early afternoon when the excursion steamer from Boston comes down for a stay of an hour and a half. Half the town gathers near the pier for this event. And here, Mr. Smith does his crying. The friends who hear him carry the news “up along” to the West End and “down along” to the East End of the town.

Walter Smith is the tenth town crier in Provincetown’s 300 years. He inherited the post, indirectly, from an uncle. The job has no official recognition, but it carries with it a badge of office – a sort of yachting cap with the title worked in gold braid – and a fairly reliable income.

Mr. Smith’s rates – before he gave up the long jaunt to the ends of the town – were one dollar [a little over $16 today] for crying in one direction; two dollars for the round trip.

Smith’s One Last Cry

Smith came out of retirement one last time for the total solar eclipse on 31 August 1932. This event brought thousands of eager spectators to the town. It would be his last hurrah before his death on Dec. 4.

Below are photos of Smith and a view of Highland Lighthouse during the solar eclipse, 1932.

By searching U.S. Census records in GenealogyBank, I found Walter in the 1930 census living at the Town Home (alms house) on Alden Street, Provincetown.

Here is a photo of the Town Home on Alden Street, Provincetown, Walter’s final resting place.

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Note on the header image: Provincetown, Massachusetts, town crier Walter Smith. Credit: Provincetown History Preservation Project.

Related Articles:

• Scrapbook Photos of Provincetown, Massachusetts (part 1)
• Scrapbook Photos of Provincetown, Massachusetts (part 2)
• Scrapbook Photos of Provincetown, Massachusetts (part 3)
• Provincetown Pilgrim Monument History (part 1)
• Provincetown Pilgrim Monument History (part 2)
• 1907 Pilgrim Memorial Monument, Laying the Cornerstone
• Pilgrim Monument Dedication, Part I
• Pilgrim Monument Dedication, Part II
• Mayflower Descendants: Who’s Who, Part II