A Garden Club Trip with a Twist

October 23, 1:34 PMAlbany Genealogy ExaminerMeri Rees

Previous

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Albany Genealogy Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts
Meri Rees

I recently went on a bus tour with my District Garden Tour to Longfellow's Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts and then on to the New England Wild Flower Society's Garden in the Woods in Framingham, Massachusetts. It was a delightful trip that I will long remember.

Our first stop [other than a rest stop not worth mentioning] was the National Historic Site of Longfellow's Wayside Inn. As the bus pulled into the property we saw a beautiful old stone gristmill quietly turning the water over and over. We learned later that the gristmill was an early reproduction built by Henry Ford in 1929.

The bus pulled up the entryway of the Inn and let us out. We were welcomed in and ushered upstairs to a large dining hall where tables and tables had been set in our honor. We were then served a buffet lunch consisting of homemade clam chowder, fabulous sandwich fixings, several kinds of salads and breads. For dessert we were served old-fashioned fresh apple cobbler pie with freshly whipped cream. We couldn't help but wonder who had eaten in this grand hall over the years.

As we sat down for lunch a lady handed out brochures that told of the history of the Wayside Inn. David Howe originally opened his home as a Tavern in 1716 after obtaining a license to operate an Inn. The original Inn was an expansion of his two-room home that he had built in 1702. That was a long time ago! Then, it hit me. “We have Howes in our family history and they were from Massachusetts. I wondered if…” I put the brochure in my handbag and didn’t give it another thought until weeks later, while cleaning out my purse, found the brochure again.

I logged on to the computer and was surprised to discover that David How [e] is my husband’s 6th great grandfather! I printed out some history and showed him the pictures I had taken of the Inn and asked if he would like to go there. We set out on a crisp, fall morning and as we approached I pointed out part of the original Old Post Road on the property leading up to the Inn just as in days gone by. Here one can enter the old Bar Room. This is one of the two original building rooms that continue to welcome a weary traveler or offer a welcome to any soul who happens by.

After introducing ourselves to the Innkeeper we were asked to sign a guest book dedicated to descendants of David Howe. They were excited to meet a direct line ancestor of David Howe! We were given permission to explore at will. We took pictures in the old bar room and imagined David Howe smiling down on his descendant. We took pictures of everything in fact. The only rooms we were not able to go into were two bedrooms [they were occupied] that are part of the original Inn. We were invited to come back and stay in one of the rooms adding that maybe the ghost of Jerusha Howe might just make an appearance for our sake.

I was not actively looking for family history the day of that Garden Club trip but because I knew our genealogy I was able to open  up a whole new chapter in our past for posterity.