DECEMBER 1
1834 The
whaleship Isabella, Capt. Frederick C. Taber, departs on a voyage to the
Pacific.
1913 Thomas W. Whitfield opens a new
stable accommodating ten horses at 74 Main Street in order to run a cab service
with both taxis and horses.
2011 Superior court judge Rene Dupuis rules that a group of residents may not reopen a previously dismissed lawsuit to stop the construction of two 1.5 megawatt wind turbines on town property near Arsene Street.
DECEMBER 2
1834 Emily
Howland, daughter of Capt. John and Mercy (Nye) Howland, married Jonathan Bourne
Jr., who will become one of the most prominent men in the New Bedford whaling
industry.
1889 At 3:30
p.m. a switch is thrown in the office of the Fairhaven Star, turning on the
first electric lights in the town.
1987 A Sister City agreement is established between Fairhaven, New Bedford and Tosashimizu, Japan, to promote friendship and cultural exchange. Tosashimizu is the city in Japan that includes the village where Manjiro Nakahama grew up.
DECEMBER 3
1881 The Fairhaven Star reports that
Charles E. Hammond slaughtered a hog weighing 580 lbs. the previous week.
1960 A “Tag Day” is held by the Fairhaven
High School band to raise funds to purchase uniforms, music, and other
necessities. Band director J. Leo Balandyk is in charge.
1965 Friendly Ice Cream opens a shop on Huttleston Avenue in Fairhaven with Raymond G. Bodge as manager.
DECEMBER 4
1882 A group of
prominent citizens meets to discuss the formation of a rural improvement
society. The result will be the organization of the Fairhaven Improvement
Association. (1882)
1998 Lori and
Christopher Richard buy the house at 441 Main Street. (1998)
2004 USA Track and Field presents Joseph Fernandez with an award as male Outstanding Athlete in long distance running in the Masters 75 to 79-year-old division. (2004)
DECEMBER 5
1813 Capt. Calvin Delano dies at the age of 77. A veteran of the American Revolution, his house at the corner of Center and Water streets was set afire when the British landed at Fairhaven Village in 1778.
1947 Guy's Pharmacy opens at 69 Main Street, operated by pharmacist Barney Guy.
DECEMBER 6
1795 Rhoda
Merrihew, daughter of Ruby (Eldredge) Merrihew Allen and the late Stephen
Merrihew, marries businessman Henry Huttleston.
1951 FHS
sophomore Randolph Mortensen, 15, dies when the car he is a passenger in
collides with a pickup truck driven by 17 year old William Q. "Biff"
MacLean Jr., also a student at FHS. Two other students, George Harrington,
driver of the car, and Cecil Foote, passenger of the truck, are injured.
1965 Col. Eugene S. Clark gives a presentation on “The Scallop and Its Influence on Mankind” at a meeting of the Fairhaven Colonial Club.
DECEMBER 7
2000 Eric Dawicki and Angela Dawicki purchase the former Fairhaven Boy’s Club building and property at 32 Washington Street.
DECEMBER 8
1859 Capt.
Alexander Winsor commands the clipper Flying Cloud on a record-setting 18-day
voyage from New York to London.
1911 Walter P.
Winsor dies at the age of 65. Winsor was president of the First National Bank
of New Bedford, a Fairhaven Selectman, treasurer of the Millicent Library and
on the boards of directors of many corporations.
1952 A new
$32,000 aerial ladder truck is put into service by the Fairhaven Fire
Department. (1952)
2006 Daniel Green stages an event at 11 Cherry Street to announce his plans to renovate the Capt. William Whitfield house.
DECEMBER 9
1827 William
Proctor Jenney and Eliza Gibbs are married by the Rev. William Gould.
1972 Fort Phoenix is added to the National Register of Historic Places.
DECEMBER 10
1834 The bark Arab, Capt. Samuel Bunker, returns to port after a whaling voyage to the Pacific of more than three years.
1959 A groundbreaking ceremony marks the beginning of construction of the Rectory of St. Mary's Church on Harding Road.
DECEMBER 11
1993 A plaque in
memory of retired fire chief and avid historian Donald R. Bernard is dedicated
at Fort Phoenix.
1998 A three-day Very Victorian Holiday Weekend is held in Fairhaven for the first time, organized by the Office of Tourism with participation by about thirty non-profit and church groups.
DECEMBER 12
1760 William
Wood sells six acres of his homestead to Elnathan Eldredge for £96.6.8. This
land, west of Cherry Street became the nucleus of Oxford Village.
1872 The
Concordia Lodge of Freemasons is formed with Job A.T. Eddy serving as its first
Master.
1901 Capt.
George H. Taber, president of the Fairhaven Institution for Savings and
namesake of the George H. Taber Masonic Lodge, dies at the age of 93.
1930 Myra D. Crowell, the longest reigning principal at Oxford School with 33 years at the job, dies at the age of 63.
DECEMBER 13
1827 Eliza
LeBaron Gibbs marries William Proctor Jenney.
1907 Henry H. Rogers deeds the property containing the new Fairhaven High School and the old Fairhaven Academy building to the Town of Fairhaven.
1961 Despite
protests from Delano family heirs, a probate court judge rules that the Town of
Fairhaven may sell land between Main and Middle streets given to the town for
park purposes in 1904 by Frederick A. Delano and Warren Delano Jr. It is sold
for $7,500 to Park Motors.
1989 Miss Elizabeth I. Hastings dies at the age of 91. From 1921 until 1968 she worked for the school department as a teacher, band director and principal, then served twelve years on the school committee.
DECEMBER 14
1799 Former
President George Washington dies, but it will take eight days for the news to
reach New Bedford.
2007 The Fairhaven High
School gymnasium is named in memory of basketball legend Barton B. Leach
(1933-2007).
2015 The Board of Selectmen hires Mark Rees as Fairhaven's first Town Administrator.
DECEMBER 15
1832 The
Washington Street Christian Church is dedicated.
1847 Noted
marine artist William Bradford marries Mary Swett Breed.
1995 Ground is
broken for a new Hampton Inn hotel to be built by LaFrance Hospitality between Alden Road and Route 240.
2005 After twenty years in business, Ruth and Bill Galary end publication of the weekly Free Press.
DECEMBER 16
1912 The first
automatic telephone in North Fairhaven is put into service in the store of
Daniel A. Regan.
1935 The new Post Office on William Street building is opened for business.
DECEMBER 17
1905 The Mission
of the Good Shepherd, a mission of St. James Episcopal Church of New Bedford,
begins meeting in the Oxford Chapel on North Street. The church will later
occupy the Old Stone Schoolhouse.
1992 The non-profit Fairhaven Land Preservation Trust is incorporated. It will later become the Fairhaven-Acushnet Land Preservation Trust.
DECEMBER 18
1815 Seth Spooner becomes
one of many to die during the local Spotted Fever epidemic that began earlier
in the fall want will continue into January. Other to die of the disease in
December are Nancy Spooner and Jacob Taber.
1899 Henry H. Rogers buys the Atlas Tack Co. for $200,900.
DECEMBER 19
1859 The brick depot of the Fairhaven Railroad is completed. It replaces two earlier wooden depots, both of which were destroyed by fire.
DECEMBER 20
1887 The
Fairhaven Protecting Society is formed to provide aid to families suffering
losses from fires.
1952 Daniel A.
Mello begins working as a teller at the National Bank of Fairhaven.
1994 The
Catholic Diocese of Fall River purchases the home at 41 Walnut Street for use
as the rectory of St, Joseph’s Church.
1996 The official groundbreaking ceremony for the Fairhaven High School addition project is held.
DECEMBER 21
1933 Henry Dean
Waldron, publisher of the Fairhaven STAR, announces he is selling the
newspaper to a corporation formed by his employees.
1975 The first “modern” holiday sing-along sponsored by the Fairhaven Improvement Association is held in front of the Town Hall.
DECEMBER 22
1799 Word
reaches New Bedford that George Washington had died eight days earlier.
1966 The Fairhaven Star announces the
newspaper will be sold by John B. DeGraw to George Gray, owner of radio station
WBSM and publisher of the Dartmouth Chronicle.
1996 The Unitarian Memorial Church is added to the National Register of Historic Places.
DECEMBER 23
1912 George B. Luther is named president of the National Bank of Fairhaven. He will serve in that position until his death in 1951.
DECEMBER 24
1887 A Christmas
cantana is held at the First Congregational Church with George H. Tripp
portraying St. Nicholas and Dr. Charles Cundall playing the Storm King.
1921 Leonard E. Pierce is born to Edward T. and Josephine (Philla) Pierce. He will work at the National Bank of Fairhaven from 1940 to 1981, retiring as its president.
DECEMBER 25
1870 An unnamed
infant son of Henry H. and Abby Rogers dies within a day of his birth.
1909 Rufus Allen
Rogers, younger brother of Henry H. Rogers dies.
1962 President John F. Kennedy receives as a gift from Mrs. Kennedy a whale tooth with a scrimshaw engraving of the Presidential Seal created by Fairhaven artist Milton K. Delano.
DECEMBER 26
1771 Rhoda (Merrihew) Huttleston, grandmother of Henry H. Rogers, is born to Ruby and Stephen Merrihew.
DECEMBER 27
1973 The Fairhaven Housing Authority signs the contract for the construction of Oxford Terrace on the former Dana Farm property on Main Street.
DECEMBER 28
1720 Lt.
Jonathan Delano, ancestor of both Ulysses S. Grant and Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, dies at the age of 73.
1784 Ebenezer Akin is born to Bartholomew and Mercy (Delano) Akin. He will become the first tax collector when the Town of Fairhaven is incorporated in 1812,
DECEMBER 29
1824 Capt. John Hawes, a state representative and customs collector, dies at the age of 56.
DECEMBER 30
1840 The new whaleship Acushnet is registered at Fairhaven. It was built in Mattapoisett and is owned by Melvin O. Bradford and Philemon Fuller.
DECEMBER 31
1840 Twenty-one
year old Herman Melville is signed on as a crewman aboard the whaleship Acushnet
and is paid an advance of $84.
1820 Savory Wing
marries Rebecca Taber. (1820)
1965 Peirce & Kilburn Shipyard, Inc. is merged with Fairhaven Marine Inc.
© COPYRIGHT 2021 by Christopher J. Richard. All rights reserved.
