1812 Memorial (Eastern Promenade)

A little known cemetery exists on Portland's Eastern Promenade.  It is maintained with care by the City, but the average citizen of Portland has never even heard of it.

The above photo shows the mass grave of 21 American Prisoners of War from the War of 1812.  It's likely that most of these soldiers have no living descendants or anyone who would visit the cemetery to pay familial respect, but this blog post would seek to remedy that, if it can indeed be done.  200 years is a long time to try and trace descendants of young men who died far from home.

Portland didn't directly participate in the War of 1812.  In fact, New England (and especially Maine) was very much against the War, and almost enacted statewide secession proceedings because of the escalation to this war.  The reason being, it interfered with our lucrative timber trade deals (both on record and behind the scenes).  Portland privateering, however, did help to increase tensions with the British, ultimately escalating the conflict. 

Of course Portland did serve a function during the War, as it always had, as a port of entry for ships going to other places for battle.  The Falmouth timber export business was thriving at this time, and such timber was used for building a variety of ships, homes, and other structures, all over the eastern colonies, and in the former motherland in Britain.

But after the Revolution, our obligation to ship timber abroad had ceased, and the new nation could then focus its efforts on building the new Empire.  However, the new United States still participated in timber trade with the English, but now as a financial endeavor.  Several Portland businessmen, like the McLellan brothers, built quite a fortune on the backs of such trade, which dramatically ended when the Embargo Act was passed in 1807, forcing the McLellans and others to close business, sell their properties and default on debts.  The embargo was a response to the British quelling our trade with the French, and a direct influence on the decision of going to war.

Despite the lack of battle seen by Portland during the War, one particular battle still resonates on Portland soil to this day.  The Battle of Queenston Heights, which took place in Canada in October of 1812, was the first major skirmish between the U.S. and the British, and resulted in British victory.  Many American POWs were captured and imprisoned in Quebec.  Upon parole one month later, a group of these soldiers were to be exchanged in Boston, and were placed upon the ship HMS Regulus on November 19th.  Several of the soldiers became very ill with malnutrition, dysentery and fever, likely caused by typhoid, so the ship took anchor in Portland harbor just before Christmas, under a truce flag, whereby the soldiers could receive care at the Town Hospital (then close to the Eastern Promenade) prior to the ship continuing on to Boston.

According to the below "Sick List", there were 20 soldiers from the ship who died in passage, with an assumed quick burial at sea (to avoid further contamination to the remaining soldiers on board) and another 26 soldiers who were cared for at the Town Hospital, beginning on 29 December (see image below, referred to later as the "POW List").  One of the soldiers who had died in passage, Barney Freelove (See #18 on the right below), has record of being buried at the 1812 Monument, so it opened up the questions which I was able to answer:

1.  Were all the soldiers who died on passage buried at sea, or were some actually buried at the Monument?  According to War records, Barney Freelove, William Rice, and Thomas F. Wood, from the 'died on the passage' list, were actually buried in Portland.

2.  Did all the soldiers who were brought in on the sick list die in Portland?  No, actually several soldiers on the left side of this list actually left Portland healthy enough to return back home (typically to NY State) and their War records show that they were later paroled elsewhere.  These would include:  2 (John Harris), 6 (Gabriel Zeilman), 7 (Elias Hews aka "Elisha Hughes"), 8 (James Brower), 13 (Peter Carroll), 14 (William Stewart), 15 (Benjamin Blanchard), 19 (Randall Dean), 22 (Joseph Mills), and 26 (Abner Perry).

SOURCE:  WAR OF 1812:  PRISONER OF WAR RECORDS (NARA)
"THE POW LIST"

21 of these soldiers perished within a month, and were buried at the mass grave on the Promenade (pictured above).

A stone placed in the center of the gravesite in 1887 carries a bronze plaque with the following inscription:

Within this enclosure
were buried 21 soldiers
captured by the English
at the Battle
of Queenston, Canada
in the War of 1812
and died in hospital here
while on their way to
Boston for exchange.

This post will attempt to assemble some information about these soldiers, in the event that other researchers are looking for them:

This post has now been updated to reflect the work that the City of Portland did on October 2024, to name five of the eight unknown soldiers.  Four of these I had previously named and told the City of this in 2012, but I'm not sure if my research was utilized for the new proceeding.

Sources used in this article:

• Maine, U.S. Veterans Cemetery Records, 1676-1918
• U.S. Army Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914 (the "NARA File")
• War of 1812, Prisoner of War Records, 1812-1815 (the "POW List")
• U.S., War of 1812 Pension Application Files Index, 1812-1815

After going through all records, I feel that I've been able to successfully identify these eight (actually nine) unknown soldiers, and they are listed at the end of this post:

Starting with the 13 marked soldier graves...

John Barrows

PRIVATE

6 US INFANTRY

This soldier appears in the cemetery records, as having been buried at Eastern Promenade, but the name entry on the the POW list appears to read "John Baines" This name also produces no results in a search of the NARA File.

Daniel Curtis

PRIVATE

23 US INFANTRY

Looking closely at the POW List, the only name resembling this would be Daniel Curtis.  This name also produces conflicting results.  I also found his cemetery record, listing him as buried in the 1812 Memorial Cemetery.  I've requested that the City correct the plaque to read Daniel.

James L. Davis

CORPORAL

13 US INFANTRY

This soldier was easily located in the NARA File, with the appropriate data on the Queenston Battle.  However,  he was listed as James L. Davis, here and in the POW List above, yet the City lists him as James P. Davis, because that's what it says on the Cemetery Record.  This soldier is showing on the NARA File as having enlisted in the 13th US Infantry, yet the stone created by the City erroneously lists 23rd.  I've asked the City to consider changing this stone to correct the middle initial and regiment number.

Barney Freelove

(1781-1813) 

PRIVATE

13 US INFANTRY

This soldier was easily located in the NARA File.  This roster has him enlisted in Auburn, Maine as of May 1812 for a period of 18 months in the 13th US Infantry (yet the City has him listed as having been in the 23rd).  He was born in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, and was 5'10 3/4".  He married Sally Pettis in Freetown, Massachusetts in 1802.  He died January 1, 1813, according to the NARA File, but he appears on the POW List above as having died in passage, so he must have died prior to December 29th.  I also found his cemetery record, listing him as buried in the 1812 Memorial Cemetery.

Ezekiel Goodenow

(1774-1813) 

PRIVATE

13 US INFANTRY

This soldier was easily located in the NARA File.  This roster has him enlisted in June of 1812, immediately prior to the Battle of Queenston, for a period of 5 years in the 13th US Infantry.  According to Ancestry records, he was born in 1774, in Princeton, Massachusetts, the third of ten children to Edward Goodnow and Lois Rice.  He married Sophia Harrington in 1801, Salem, Massachusetts.  He died in January of 1813.  I also found his cemetery record, listing him as buried in the 1812 Memorial Cemetery.

Daniel Hewes

PRIVATE

23 US INFANTRY

I found a Daniel Hews in the NARA File, but this one had enlisted in February of 1813, which would be after this veteran's death in December.  I also found an Ancestry Tree which shows a Daniel Hewes born in 1776, married twice in Boston, with four children born by 1809, and no death date or military record yet attached.  This could be a match.  I also found his cemetery record, listing him as buried in the 1812 Memorial Cemetery.

Isaac Hight

PRIVATE

3 US ARTILLERY

I found an Isaac Hight in the NARA File, enlisting for five years in May 1812.   I also found his cemetery record, listing him as buried in the 1812 Memorial Cemetery.

Warner Hull

PRIVATE

13 US INFANTRY

I did find one Warren Hull on the NARA File, who had enlisted in June of 1812, but no further information is attached to him.  Unfortunately, in online searches, this soldier's name has been eclipsed by the more famous Warren Hull who was a young soldier in the Revolution, and fought later in the War of 1812, and died in 1838 at his estate in Western New York.  Now, looking at the POW List, the Nara File, and cemetery records, it appears his name was most certainly WARNER Hull.  This is pretty solid evidence of a typo on the above gravestone.  I've asked the CIty to correct this as well.

Asa Newton

(1785-1813)

PRIVATE

23 US INFANTRY

This soldier was easily located in the NARA File.  This roster has him enlisted in June of 1812, just  prior to the Battle of Queenston, for a period of 5 years in the 23rd US Infantry.   He is noted to have died 11 Jan 1813 of "St. McCarby's Ditch", whatever that means.  The NARA File makes reference to a pension file for this soldier, in which there may be further detail.  Ancestry Family Trees show that this soldier was born in Barnard, Vermont, and that he had a son named John T. Newton (1810-1873) who was born in Maryland and died in Missouri, and had three children and four stepchildren.  Asa was one of ten children born to John Newton and Lydia Freeman, who settled in Windsor County, Vermont.  Asa's ancestor, Richard Newton, arrived in 1640 from Lincolnsire, England (where Sir Isaac Newton also lived, so there was a likely relation).  The Heirs of Asa Newton were awarded 160 acres of land for bounty (per the Military Bounty Land Warrants), in "SE Section 1, Township 5S, Range 5W," somewhere in Arkansas, Illinois, or Missouri.  It's unclear which Meridian this falls into, though.  So far this is the only soldier profiled here who appears to have likely descendants living today.

Sylvanus Sloan

(1796-1813)

PRIVATE

23 US INFANTRY

This soldier was easily located in the NARA File.  This roster has him enlisted in June of 1812, just  prior to the Battle of Queenston, for a period of 5 years in the 23rd US Infantry.   He is noted to have died 19 Jan 1813, making him one of the last bodies to have been placed in the mass grave.  Reference in the NARA File was made to a pension case.  An Ancestry Family Tree dictates that he was born in 1796 in Rhode Island, and was only 17 when he died.  He likely had no descendants.

Alexander Smith

PRIVATE

13 US INFANTRY

This soldier was easily located in the NARA File, and in cemetery records.  This roster has him enlisted in July of 1812, just  prior to the Battle of Queenston, for a period of 5 years in the 13rd US Infantry.   He is noted to have died 15 Jan 1813.  

 

Benjamin Smith

PRIVATE

23 US INFANTRY

This soldier was easily located in the NARA File, and cemetery records.  This roster has him enlisted in July of 1812, just  prior to the Battle of Queenston, for a period of 5 years in the 23rd US Infantry.   He is noted to have died in Jan 1813.  I'm not certain whether he is related to Alexander Smith above.

Cornelius Vandermark

PRIVATE

23 US INFANTRY

This soldier was located in the NARA File.  Now, in looking at the Cemetery Record, it appears the coronoer mistyped him as Charles Vanderward.  This name produces no results, so I believe the stone above is accurate.

***

In October 2024, the City placed five new stones in place of Unknown Soldier stones:

Joseph Lord
PRIVATE
23 US INFANTRY

This soldier was easily located in the NARA File, the POW list, and in Cemetery Records.  This roster has him enlisted in July of 1812, just  prior to the Battle of Queenston, for a period of 18 months in the 23rd US Infantry.   He is noted to have died in Portland in Jan 1813.  He should be names as one of the former "UNKNOWN".

Ira Witt
PRIVATE
23 US INFANTRY

This soldier was easily located in the NARA File, and in cemetery records which declare him to be buried here.  This roster has him enlisted in July of 1812, just  prior to the Battle of Queenston, for a period of 5 years in the 23rd US Infantry.   He is noted to have died in Portland in Jan 1813.

Anthony Comer

PRIVATE

13TH U.S. INFANTRY

The Cemetery Record misspelled this as Coner, but the stone shows the correct spelling as shown on the NARA File

J. Merrick

6TH US INFANTRY

This soldier appears on the NARA List, but not any other records, not even the POW List.  But the NARA List should be seen as definitive here, so it was an excellent catch by the City.

Daniel G. Snow

13TH U.S. INFANTRY

This soldier appears on the NARA List, and the POW List, but doesn't have a cemetery record. 

***

Now, after looking at cemetery records and the NARA List for the remaining men from the POW list, I have some beliefs that the below two are the remainder of the "unknown soldiers".

Thomas F. Wood

PRIVATE

13TH U.S. INFANTRY

This soldier shows on the NARA List as having died in Portland, so he should also get a stone.  The City appears to have missed this one too.

William Rice

PRIVATE

13th US Infantry

The NARA File clearly states he died in Portland in January 1813.  I've asked once again for the City to consider correcting this one.  It was missed in the October 2024 rededication.

**

Special thanks to Margaret Colford, who took the photographs featured on this page.  Also thanks to Wes Brumbaugh at the City of Portland, who helped organize a rededication ceremony to address these Unknown Soldiers!

Anyone is welcome to view my FindAGrave Memorial Page for this cemetery.

The Dressers of Scarborough Maine

WILBUR FISKE DRESSER
(ABOUT 1900)

The Dresser Road in rural western Scarborough is about 8/10 of a mile long, and was home to the historical Dresser family (originally from Rowley, Massachusetts) for over 150 years, from about 1735 to 1891.

The earliest record of the road being named Dresser Road that I have found to date would be a property deed dated July 1875 to Dominicus Libby from the Estate of Silas Harmon (Book 422, Page 233 of Registry of Deeds), where it makes reference to "New Road - called Dresser Road".  The 1871 Town Map of Scarboro hadn't featured this road at all, so I believe the road was created and so named at some point in between these four years.  

A history of the Dressers of Scarborough:

Around 1735, Nathaniel Dresser (1683-1749) migrated north from Rowley, Mass with his wife Elizabeth (1689-1736) and his son Richard Dresser (1713-1783) to the fertile farmlands of Scarborough.  Elizabeth died shortly after arriving.  Nathaniel was killed by an Indian on Scottow's Hill near the home of Leonard Libby.  Neighbor David Libby killed the Indian that did the deed. Nathaniel is reputed by the Scarborough Historical Society to have been the last person killed by Indians in Scarborough (American Indian Wars: A Chronology of Confrontations Between Native Peoples, copyright McFarland, Jun 8, 2015, written by Michael L. Nunnally).

The same year that Nathaniel died, his son Richard married Mindwell Munson of Scarborough.  They had six children, most of whom moved to neighboring Buxton:

-Mary Dresser married neighbor Elijah Libby, but she died young, and had no descendants.

-Mindwell Dresser married neighbor Elijah Libby after her sister died.  No descendants there, either.

-Richard Dresser moved to neighboring Gorham and married Temperance Hamblin.  They settled in Buxton with two sons, Joseph and Richard, Jr.

-Mark Dresser moved to Buxton, married Nancy Holbrook, and had twelve children. 

-Paul Dresser also moved to Buxton, and married Sally Holbrook (sister to Nancy!), and had at least eleven children.  Paul's son, Alfred Metcalfe Dresser (1807-1870) married his first cousin Martha Andrews Dresser (Mark's daughter).  This meant that Martha and Alfred were double cousins.

-Wentworth Dresser (1762-1842) was the only one in his immediate family to remain in Scarborough.  He fought in the Revolution (Private, Captain Roger Libby’s Company; joined 1 October 1779; discharged 23 October 1779; service with detachment of Cumberland County Militia under Nathaniel Jordan, Esq., at the Eastward. (Vol IV, p. 969, Massachusetts Soldiers & Sailors in the War of the Revolution).  He married Sophia Holbrook (sister to Nancy and Sally, mentioned above).  They managed the farm on Dresser Road.  They had eight children, all but one whom relocated to other parts of Maine:

1. Daniel Dresser moved to Saco, and married Sarah Libby of that town.  Their only child, Ira Dresser, relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio.

2. Sarah Dresser-Dewey-Smith also moved to Saco, and had four children with two husbands (both from Vermont).

3.  Ira Dresser married Nancy Smart and also moved to Saco, where they had eight children. Ira was a clothier at Saco Clothing Store, according to this ad from 1856.

4.  Robert Dresser married Sophia Rose and moved to Portland, where they had nine children.

5. Lydia Dresser married John Blake and moved to Portland, where they had five children.

6.  Israel Dresser married Elizabeth Banks and moved to Castine, and later Brewer, Maine, and had well over a dozen children.

7. Joseph Wentworth Dresser married Eunice Deering (daughter to Samuel Deering of Gorham).  They had five children and relocated to Kansas around 1855.

8. Josiah C. Dresser (1816-1868) was the youngest child of Wentworth, and the only descendant of the Scarborough Dressers to remain in Scarborough.  He kept the Dresser Road farm going until his death in 1868.  He married Lydia W. Junkins, and had three children in Scarborough:

-Emma Dresser (1853-1872) died young at age 19.

MELVILLE DRESSER

-Melville Dresser (1851-1885) married Ella Smith, and remained in Scarborough, but had no children.

-Wilbur Fiske Dresser (1848-1925), pictured above, kept the Dresser Road farm going after the death of his father.  He married his neighbor Sarah Eliza McLaughlin (part of the Scotch-Irish clan that migrated to Cumberland County and were early county founders).

SARAH MCLAUGHLIN-DRESSER
(abt 1899)

Additional photos of Wilbur and Sarah from around 1912, courtesy of the Dresser Family:

Wilbur expanded the farm's business around 1893, and got into dealing hay, straw, ashes and bale ties.  He kept an office at 12 Moulton Street in Portland for some time, and was also named Postmaster of West Scarborough in 1888.  The following year, his mother Lydia deeded him the entire Dresser properties in Scarborough before she herself passed in 1896.

By 1896, Wilbur expanded his business enterprises into real estate, and became a successful broker in Scarborough and all around Greater Portland.  His company, W.F. Dresser & Sons was then located at 80 Exchange Street.  This company managed the purchase, sale and mortgage of a variety of Cumberland County properties from after the Civil War through to the end of the Depression.

80 EXCHANGE STREET
(OFFICES OF W.F. DRESSER)
BEHIND 'FOX BLOCK' (WHICH IS NOW 'TOMMY'S PARK')
(1924)

80 EXCHANGE STREET
(2012)

In 1896, Wilbur also happened to be the Administrator to the Will of my 2nd great grandmother, Sarah Jane Temm, four years after her death.  In 1920, he also sold some land on Gorham Road to her son, John Henry Temm, who was my great grandfather.

By 1891, Wilbur had started selling off his land assets in Scarborough to others.  That year he deeded the Dresser farm to George Wolfe, and in 1897 he deeded neighboring property to Florence Bennett.  He left Scarborough during that time, but still handled many land deals there for several years.  Wilbur's exodus from Scarborough around 1891 marks the end of a long era of Dressers living in the Town.

By the 1900 Census he and his family were living on Atlantic Street in South Portland, and then he was living on his Payne Road property in South Portland for 1910, when they had a live-in servant, Eugene Foye.  

To be closer to his burgeoning real estate business, Wilbur moved the family to Portland just prior to the 1920 Census, to their new home at 1181 Congress Street in the Libbytown district.  The house was razed many years later to make way for the 295 Overpass and ramps.

1181 CONGRESS STREET
(1924)

Below is a brief account of Wilbur's five children:

IRA DRESSER
(abt 1885)

1.  Ira Hunt Dresser (1879-1957) worked as a farmer, then trucking and moving, and later as a building nurse, was a member of the Stroudwater Grange, and lived on Outer Congress Street in Libbytown, Portland with his wife Mildred Grover.  No children.  I learned from town historians that when they married in 1908, Mildred did NOT want to live in rural Scarborough, so the land that Ira had possession of on Dresser Road he had to sell off, and move to Portland, where his wife would be happier.

WILLIAM WATSON DRESSER
(abt 1890)

WILLIAM WATSON DRESSER
(about 1915)

WILLIAM WATSON DRESSER
(about 1929)

2.  William Watson Dresser (1881-1946) became president of W.F. Dresser & Sons upon Wilbur's retirement.  In 1915, William was elected as exalted ruler of BPOE Lodge 188 in Portland.  His brother Perley followed him ten years later.  In 1917, William married Edith Skillin of Portland, but she died five years later, bearing him no children.  William kept the business going until his own death, at which time he was merely a lodger and widower living on Neal Street, and running the business out of 22 Monument Square starting in 1940.

PERLEY CHASE DRESSER
(ABOUT 1920)

3.  Perley Chase Dresser (1885-1960) also lived in Portland, and was treasurer of W.F. Dresser & Sons.  He married Alice Barbour, and had no children.  When his brother William died, he ran the family brokerage business until his own death in 1960, which signaled the end of the family real estate business, which had begun around 1895.  In 1925, Perley was elected exalted ruler of BPOE Lodge 188 in Portland, as his brother had before him, but held the post for over 25 years.

LEON WENTWORTH DRESSER
(ABOUT 1930)

4.  Leon Wentworth Dresser (1894-1967) also lived in Portland, and worked as a bank teller at Chapman National Bank.  He later was a partner in Millett Fish & Dresser (later Millett Rittenhouse & Dresser).  He and Phyllis Trefethen of South Portland (pictured below with Helen) married in 1916, just before Leon got drafted into WWI.  When Leon returned from the War, they had only one child, Richard W. Dresser (1924-1973), who married Mary Norbeck Libby (1925-after 1991), was drafted and served in WWII, moved to Boston around 1949 to attend business school at Boston University, but then got drafted into the Korea Conflict, made it to the rank of Captain, and resided in Wenham, MA until his death.  Richard & Mary had two children, Tom and Jane.  Leon & Phyllis lived in South Portland until their deaths.

HELEN MAY McDONALD (nee Dresser)
(about 1929)

HELEN DRESSER & PHYLLIS DRESSER
about 1972

5. Helen May Dresser (1902-1996) married William Rogers McDonald, Jr. and had a daughter named Ruth Ada McDonald Roberts (1932-2009) (who had children and grandchildren of her own).  McDonald's father, William, Sr., ran a successful sardine factory in Ferry Village on the South Portland Waterfront.

Most of the old Scarborough Dresser family is buried in Dunstan Cemetery in Scarborough.  While only two of Wilbur's children (Leon and Helen) bore him any descendants, there are no living Dresser descendants in Scarborough.  Their presence in Scarborough lasted from around 1735-1899, and the road they lived on is still named for them to this day.

Clarke Bars

FRANK CLARKE
HARD AT WORK
about 1960

My grandfather, Frank Clarke, was, among other things, a moonshine dealer in the Greater Portland area during Prohibition and afterwards.  The basement of the old house on Payne Road in Scarborough was a haven for illegal 'white lightning' production.  Many in the family were unaware of this side hustle.  My mother spoke of her father Frank loading up the back of his truck with produce and meat from the family farm, and jars of root beer, all for sale, and underneath the blanket there was always a row of bottles of the Clarke "home brew" for sale to places like the St. Regis Hotel in Portland and some of the merchant seamen houses along the waterfront, which were referred to by my mother as "houses of ill repute".

The tradition of Clarke liquor dealings carried through to three of Frank's children, all siblings to my mother, and all of whom have passed away.  It is no coincidence at all that they were also three of the heaviest drinkers in the family.  They each managed and owned a number of bars throughout their lives.  Each of these bars was successful in its own laid back, neighborly way.  They were not fancy places, but typically very friendly dive bars, sometimes in seedier parts of town.

WILLIAM ARTHUR CLARKE
1936-2011

My Uncle Billy, once he finished up with the Navy, settled in Sanford Florida with his family, yet ultimately moved to Meridian Mississippi in the late 60's.  While there, he opened up small and informal local bars around town.  One of his bars caught on fire (need to get this story).  Another of his bars, the "Bar-B-Q Pit" was in Lauderdale, and is now known as "Jimmy's Pub & Grub", but appears to have now closed down.  One thing Uncle Billy always said was "Let's go on down to the bar and tell some lies!"

FORMER BAR-B-Q- PIT
(ABANDONED AS OF 2019 DUE TO FIRE)
LAUDERDALE, MS

BARS ON 8TH AVENUE
MERIDIAN, MS

These two buildings pictured on 8th Avenue in Meridian were both bar businesses owned by my Uncle Billy.  The one on the right was always known as Bill's Lounge.  The one on the left wasn't owned long by Billy, since he sold it to his sister Florence Clarke-Brewer, for $1.00.  This bar (Flo's Lounge) is still in business, with a new name and ownership ("Suga Shak").  It has been cleaned up nicely inside, but still has a decidedly humble feel to it.

FLO'S LOUNGE (NOW 'SUGA SHAK')
MERIDIAN, MS

FLORENCE MAY CLARKE-BREWER
1929-1987

AUNT FLO AT FLO'S LOUNGE
(ABOUT 1980)

POLAROID ON WALL
AUNT FLORENCE AT THE BAR
FLO'S LOUNGE
ON WALL OF FLO'S LOUNGE
ABOUT 1975

My aunt Florence, whom I only met a few times, I really connected with.  She was a fun loving lady, but a big fan of the beer.  As mentioned above, she bought Flo's Lounge (still in business today) from her brother for $1.00, and ran the bar for over fifteen years.  She died in January 1987 in a tragic car accident on Route 39, having been hit by a drunk driver.

The sign above declaring that it's Miller Time at Flo's Lounge, was still up on the wall until at least 2012.  She was a very popular lady, and the patrons of the current bar still remember her when I spoke to them during my visit in September of that year.  As of 2017, the bar is under different ownership and name, but it was fun to meet these new owners during my visit there, and tell them about the history.

BUTCH BENNETT
(ABOUT 1960)

My aunt Marilyn was always known by her very appropriate nickname, "Butch", or if you were my Grammy Clarke, you would call her "Putchy".  She lived in Boston most of her life.  She was a tough character, and was reputed to have beaten up a few cops in her day.  Aside from her rough exterior, she was a sweet lady to her family, and did anything necessary to take care of her own.  Basically, if I were ever in a fight, and Butch were there, I'm certain I wouldn't have to lift a finger, and the other guy would end up in the hospital.

I got to stay with Aunt Butch a couple times when I was in a summer program at Boston University.  I have fond memories of her loving, giving nature, and also of her pirate-like language.  I remember her driving me home to Maine from Boston after one visit, and she sang along with the radio while I slept in the front seat.  Her terrible, off key, singing kept me entertained as I drifted off to sleep.  Looking back on that time, I wonder if she had been driving under the influence of beer...

CLOCK TAVERN
SOUTH BOSTON

CLOCK TAVERN
(INTERIOR)

For many years, she was a regular at Clock Tavern at 345 West Broadway in South Boston, a bar which at the time was owned by Irish nuns, believe it or not.  The Sisters lived upstairs from the bar.  Around 1990, when the sisters were getting on in age, they sold the bar to Butch.  Butch oversaw a massive renovation of the bar, knowing all the while it was a competitor with the very popular, and swankier, Shenanigan's Pub next door.  She opened the pub early, at 8:00 a.m., and stayed open until about 11:30pm, every night, when other bars would close much earlier during those days.

The Clock was her passion, and she was a very popular bar owner and bartender (and frequent bouncer!).  The draw of the Clock was in its simplicity.  It was the quiet, seedier dive bar you went to with your friends to play darts and pool, listen to the jukebox and drink cheap beer.

My Uncle Billy, my Aunt Flo, and my Aunt Butch are very much missed by our family.  If they were still here today, I would definitely be interviewing them for this blog page.