Weymouth: New Chronicles and Old Yarns from the South Shore

Since its incorporation under Thomas Weston, a merchant-adventurer by trade, Weymouth has been defined by its lively residents, like celebrated first lady Abigail Adams and Thomas Watson, Alexander Graham Bell’s trusty assistant who also ran the world’s largest shipyard on the Fore River. Many entrepreneurs stand among the ranks of this town’s personalities, from the pioneer of shoe manufacturing, James Tirrell, to E.S. Hunt, successful producer of items like Dragon Wheel fireworks and fashionable ladies’ fans. Local historian Ted Clarke delivers Weymouth’s most unusual stories, with tales of the town’s famous cobblers, veritable walking gossip mills sought out for their skills, as well as their scoops, and the Wide Awakes, a nineteenth-century youth antislavery group demarcated by its white accessories. Weymouth provides the most unforgettable and unexpected vignettes from this South Shore town’s legacy.