Mary Baker Eddy House

Mary Baker Eddy was born in 1866. Her family rented an apartment on the second floor of this home. Mary was an author and journalist in Lynn. On an icy morning Mary fell on a sidewalk. The fall caused severe internal injuries that would last throughout her life if she survived. One night she prayed and recited versus from her Bible and asked to be able to walk again. As soon as she was done praying she supposedly pulled herself up and walked across the room with out any help. After her amazing recovery they sold the house. During ther recovery her husband left her alone. Even though she was sad and alone, she was alive. Mary Baker Eddy referred to this house as the “birthplace of Christian Science.”

William G. Shoemaker

Captain William G. Shoemaker  Lynn’s Most Honored Veteran

Captain William G. Shoemaker, born 1920, the son of Mr. and Mrs. John A. Shoemaker,  is one of Lynn’s most honored, and admired veteran officers in the Third Marine Division.   He was 24 years old when he was killed during World War II on August, 3rd, 1944, during the invasion of Guam on the South Pacific.   For Shoemaker’s extraordinary heroism he was awarded a Silver Star, a Gold Star in lieu of a second Silver Star, a Navy Cross, another Gold Star in lieu of a second Navy Cross, and three Purple Hearts. 'Shoemaker grew up right here in Lynn, Massachusetts, where he attended Lynn English High School and played on the football team, then after graduation he was accepted to Boston University, where he played hockey and graduated in May, 1942.    Shortly after his graduation, he enlisted as a private in the Marine Corps Reserve in June, 1942.'  

From Nov. 9th to December 21, 1943, Shoemaker led his platoon to safety by risking his own, on three different occasions during the Empress Augusta Bay operations on Bougainville,  British Solomon Islands.  First, despite wounds from previous encounters, Shoemaker, platoon leader, aided his men against a strongly organized enemy position of Japanese forces, where his platoon was endangered to an intense machine gun and grenade, by locating the enemy.  By locating the position, his men were able to take down the machine gun nest.

On the following day, while in attack he was able to attract enemy fire, therefore he found the location, and coordinated his men to a safe withdrawal while staying behind with three other men and preventing the enemy from following the withdrawal.

Finally, on December 18, after his men were relieved, he remained behind again voluntarily with the relief unit, worked his way toward the enemy’s fire port where the machine gun was located, and killed the gunman with carbine fire.  “In the final phase of the attack, Lt. Shoemaker directed and led six flamethrowers in the destruction of several machine gun positions.  Thereafter, although wounded again, he refused to be evacuated, led a rifle platoon in the final assault, and captured another enemy position. (Lynn Item, Admiral Presents Medal to Parents of Late Capt. Shoemaker, Lynn Hero)”.  These victories awarded Shoemaker the Navy Cross forwarded by Lt. Gen. A. A. Vandegrift, U.S.M.C., commandant of the Marine Corps, and Rear Admiral Gygax read a beautiful cited tribute to his parents stating, “His outstanding courage, aggressive leadership and unselfish devotion to duty constantly inspired his men, and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.”(Lynn Item, Admiral Presents Medal to Parents of Late Capt. Shoemaker, Lynn Hero).   This medal was notably named after President Roosevelt, and presented to his parents in the front of the Marine Barracks at Boston Navy Yard.  

Shoemaker Elementary School

Shoemaker’s victories, heroism, and unselfish courage during the Invasion of Guam on the South Pacific during World War II,  does tremendous honor to the city of Lynn, and his memory lives on to this day.  Our Lynn public elementary school, Shoemaker, is named after Lynn’s most decorated war veteran and his memory is being kept alive by the scrapbook of newspaper clippings and photos from his life at the Peabody Essex Museum, pieced together by Walter and Hazel Deland.

(findagrave.com)

Burial: Pine Grove Cemetery Lynn Essex County Massachusetts, USA Plot: Plot-M,Lot-435,Grave-2

(www.findagrave.com)

Bibliography

Gibney, John. LT William G. Shoemaker grave. Digital image. Find a Grave. N.p., 26 Apr. 2008. Web. 10 May 2017. <https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Shoemaker&GSfn=william&GSmn=G+&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=21&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=26402073&df=all&>.

"Admiral Present Medal to Parents Of Late Capt. Shoemaker, Lynn Hero. Ceremony Held At Navy Yard" Lynn Item [Lynn] 18 Nov. 1944: 1-2. Print.

 Lynn Item writes article on the Navy Cross awarded to Shoemaker's parents, Mr. and Mrs. John A Shoemaker.  Unknown Authors write award was named after President Roosevelt.  This article quotes Rear Admiral Gygax's citation read at the ceremony to his parents regarding his heroism in the Bougainville operations.  Also, it quotes part of the letter of appreciation for Shoemaker's heroism against Japanese forces in the Empress Augusta Bay operations on Bougaineville, British Solomon Islands,  written to his parents from Lt. General Vedegrift.  The article summarizes Shoemaker's life in Lynn before the military along with a list of the other medals he received for his heroic duty as a Platoon leader.

North Shore Community College (Lynn Campus)

 North Shore Community College

Lynn Campus

North Shore Community College is a comprehensive community college offering over 80 associate degree and certificate programs to approximately 16,000 students a year from the 26 cities and towns along the coastal region from north metropolitan Boston to Cape Ann. The college has campuses in Danvers, Lynn, and Middleton Massachusetts. It is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

The stairs of knowledge

The hallway of knowledge

The population served by NSCC represents a mix of urban and suburban, a diversity of ethnic and racial groups, white- and blue-collar, middle- and low-income groups, as well as growing numbers of recent immigrants. NSCC has touched the lives of more than a quarter million residents on the North Shore in its half-century of service.

 North Shore Community college was established in 1965.  is one of the oldest of the 15 community colleges in Massachusetts. Operating from campuses in Lynn, Middleton, and Danvers, we serve 26 cities and towns along the coastal region from north metropolitan Boston to Cape Ann. Since its founding, NSCC has grown from a single building to three campuses, and from five to over 80 academic programs.

NSCC delivers post-secondary education to more than 10,500 credit students in an academic year, and an additional 4,000 noncredit students. The College also provides lifelong learning opportunities to area residents through workforce development training to businesses and individuals and community development resources.

Eastern Point Lighthouse

Eastern Point Lighthouse

Gloucester, Massachusetts

      Eastern Point Light is an historic lighthouse on Cape Ann, in northeastern Massachusetts. The lighthouse was originally planned in 1829 and was erected by 1832 on the east side of the Gloucester Harbor entrance. It was first lit on January 1, 1832.

The lighthouse was originally planned in 1829 and was erected by 1832 on the east side of the Gloucester Harbor entrance. It was first lit on January 1, 1832. The tower was rebuilt in 1848 and again in 1890. The third and current conical brick tower stands 36 feet (11 m) tall. The lighthouse has an attached two-story keeper's quarters, built in 1879. The actual light is 57 feet (17 m) above Mean High Water. Its white light is visible for 20 nautical miles (37 km; 23 mi).

This is the view from the Lighthouse. In 1880, the lighthouse was occupied by American landscape painter Winslow Homer.^[4] It was automated by September 1985 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. The lighthouse is currently operated by the United States Coast Guard and is closed to the public.

John Balch House

John Balch House 

 Beverly MA

John Balch was born in Bridgewater, England in 1579. He and his wife, Margaret, came to America as part of a fishing group sent to New England. When the company had to return to England, the Balches stayed in Massachusetts and moved to Salem. On November 11th, 1635 John Balch got his house through the Thousand Acre Grant.  The ancestral home remained in the family until 1916. Hundreds of other homes from the same era have decayed.in 1932 the house was turned over to the Beverly Historic Society. The Balch house is one of the oldest wood framed houses in the United Sates.

Ulmus Americana

The American Elm Tree used to be able to be seen all around Saugus, Massachusetts and many other places in America. Due to the devestation of The Dutch Elm disease which spread from Asia to America in the 1950s and caused for almost all of the Elm trees to be cut down. American Elms were helpful because they had fungi and mushrooms that Were collected from trees and used for cooking.

http://www.mortonarb.org/trees-plants/tree-plant-descriptions/american-elm

North American Osprey

The Osprey is known to be one of the most-studied birds of North America, and is the only raptor that plunge dives to catch live fish as its prey. Osprey inhabit land in Alaska, Florida, California, and New England and the Northern birds migrate to Central/South America during the Winter and return in the Spring.

After the ban of the pesticide DDT, the number of Osprey per year began to rise 2.5% . Osprey's had been an untargeted victim that felt all of DDTs wrath. Being  a raptor bird that feeds off of smaller prey like the North American Osprey or Bald Eagle , they would eat these animals that had ingested DDT and in return would get sicker than the animals that had ingested the poison in the first place, due to the fact they would store the DDT from the animals it had eaten.

This Osprey seen in the pictures lives on the Saugus tracks not far from where Boston Street in Lynn, meet Lincoln Avenue in Saugus. It patrols the Saugus River Estuary, which is where the Lynn Harbor and Saugus river meet with both fresh and salt water.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Osprey/lifehistory

http://www.nhptv.org/wild/silentspring.asp

Elihu Thompson Administration Building - Swampscott Town Hall

Now the Swampscott Administration building, this was once Elihu Thomson's house. Pictured below is Elihu Thomson and his wife, Mary Louise Peck Thomson. 

Designed by James Kelly, in 1887, the Georgian revival is where Elihu Thomson lived from 1889 until his death in 1937, working on many of the 700 patents he held. 

He worked on many inventions in a carriage house that was unfortunately removed, making way for more administration offices. 

There was also an observatory that no longer exists. 

Thomson was founder of Thomson-Houston Electric, which merged with Thomas Edison's, Edison General Electric, creating, General Electric, or GE. One of two original plants still in operation is the Lynn plant on Western Ave.

 Town hall meetings and other town board meetings take place here.

New Addition

Back of Building

http://essexheritage.org/attractions/elihu-thomson-house

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swampscott_Town_Hall

http://www.town.swampscott.ma.us/Public_Documents/FV1-00011269/FV1-0002A852/S05705B26

http://www.edisontechcenter.org/thomson.html

 A TRIBUTE

 

"A Lynn native, Rev. John Francis. Leonard, V.F., was educated at Sanborn, Lewis, Tracy and Breed schools prior to attending St. Mary’s Boys High School from which he graduated in 1947. His seminary training was at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton. He was ordained a Priest on February 2, 1955 in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Boston.
In June of 1959 he began his Air Force Chaplainry at Lacklad Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. Following assignments were at Patrick AFB, Florida, Hickman Air base, Hawaii, Lackland AFB again, then across the city to Randolph AFB, thence to Vietnam (1965-66) and from there to Oxnard AFB, CA then to Hahn AFB in Germany. Among his service citations are the Air Medal, Bronze Star, AF Commendation Medal with three Oak Clusters, Army and Navy Commendation, Vietnam Service Medal, Outstanding Unit Citations and the American Defense Medal. A life member of the V.F.W. Post 10722 in Pelham, N.H., he was the State Chaplain of the VFW, a position he held on nine different occasions and was the National Chaplain for the V.F.W. in 1976-77 and again in 2000-2001. He also served as Chaplain for the Malden V.F.W. Post 639 and the American Legion Post 69. Additionally, he was a member of the American Legion Post 72 in Alton, NH and the American Legion Post 100 in Pelham, N.H.
After13 years in the Air Force, Fr. Leonard was recalled to the Archdioceses and assigned to Sacred Hearts Church in Malden in January, 1972. In 1977 he went to Immaculate Conception Parish Newburyport, as Administrator for one year and Pastor for nine years. In February of 1987, he came to Lynn as Pastor of St. Mary’s Church. From 1988 to 1992 he was the Pastor at the parishes of St. Patrick and St. Francis in Lynn; 1988 to 1999 was Vicar Forane for the Lynn and Salem vicariates; 1992 to 1999 pastor of St. James Parish in Salem; 1999 to 2005 Pastor at St. Ann’s Parish in West Newbury. In 2005 he became Senior Priest in Retirement continuing to assist with the parishes in West Newbury, Newburyport, Salisbury, Merrimac, Amesbury and wherever needed. In his retirement he was Administrator of the Star of the Sea Parish in Salisbury for a short period and was Co-administrator at the Sacred Hearts parish in Bradford from 2011 to 2012.
Fr. Leonard was the Vicar for the Salem Vicariate, overseeing 33 parishes and was an Advocate for the Diocesan Marriage Tribunal, a speaker for the Diocesan Spiritual Life Program, a confessor/counsellor on Project Rachel, Chaplain for the Lynn Ancient Order of Hibernians, Chaplain for the Infant of Prague Guild, member of the Clergy Assoc. of Greater Lynn, and involved with all aspects of the life in his parishes and a number of civic endeavors. "

Fr. John was a great mentor and an amazing person to look up to while growing up. Above is only a small glimpse of what he had done during his time on earth. His selflessness will always be something I will admire. He had accomplished so much in his life time, it’s almost hard to believe. Yet he stayed humble and always put helping others before his own needs. He saved countless people, both spiritually and physically. The awards and metals he received were meaningless to him , he helped simply because it was the right thing to do; no matter the cost. I remember one story about his time in Vietnam, he risked his life to save a family from the war, granting them the ability to come to the United States unharmed. But by doing so, a bounty of 1million dollars was placed on his head, thus restricting him to return to Vietnam.

 He was a man of his word and a wonderful man of God.  I will hold the memory of his stories and dinner table jokes dear.

 

 

http://obituaries.newburyportnews.com/story/fr-john-francis-leonard-1929-2017-894258882 

Perkins School for the Blind

Founded in 1829 Perkins School for the Blind was the first school in the United States dedicated to helping people with visual impairments the ability to learn the skills needed to live a fuller life. The schools concept came from a man by the name of John Dix Fisher after he had taken a trip to Paris to the National Institute for the Blind. Perkins was home to a few famous people who suffered from either being blind and or deaf. One of these people was Laura Dewey Lynn Bridgman; she was the first blind deaf person to achieve a great education despite being stricken with blindness and deafness after she had battled scarlet fever. Fifty years after Bridgeman, another famous woman by the name of Helen Keller. Helen Keller was also blind and deaf but that did not stop her from achieving a Bachelors degree. Perkins is located in Watertown Ma on a 38 acre plot of land where it continues it on going determination to provide the highest quality of education and training for the visually impaired.

 

 

 

John Dix Fisher

Founder of Perkins School for the Blind