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08/31/2021 04:17 PMThe first of a series of talks on how the town of Deep River has been shaped by its inhabitants over the years will be held on Thursday, Sept. 23 at the Carriage House, 245 Main Street, Deep River.
The Deep River Historical Society is sponsoring the in-person event, which does not require advance registration and is free to the public. All COVID-19 safety protocols will be followed, allowing for seating that is appropriately socially distanced and a mask requirement.
A major theme of the first two talks in the series is the connection of the town with descendants of the Mayflower.
“I think it was only like 30-some-odd people on the Mayflower and yet how many thousands of people are now living in the United States that can say that they are directly related to someone who sailed on the Mayflower?” asked Rhonda Forristall, curator, Deep River Historical Society.
Simon LaPlace, a lifelong resident of Deep River and Mayflower descendant, will start the series with a talk at 7 p.m. on Sept. 23.
“He will start with a brief overview of the genealogy of his family and the dynamics of that and how that family came, together with their various enterprises that changed the look of Main Street over the last 100-plus years,” said Forristall.
A notable resident, Ada Southworth Munson, who donated the Stone House property to the Deep River Historical Society in 1946, also had familial ties to the Mayflower, said Forristall.
“This is the 75th anniversary of her donating her house to us,” said Forristall. “So, we thought it would be special to focus on the Southworth family periodically throughout the year.”
In November, author and historian Jerry Roberts will lead a talk titled “The Mayflower Factor.” Details on the date and time are being finalized.
The month of November is significant for the society, as it is Southworth Munson’s birthday month. It is also the month during which the pilgrims landed in Provincetown, Cape Cod in 1620.
“So, combining the two together just made a whole lot of sense,” said Forristall. “We’ll do that [talk] right before Thanksgiving and then come January, February, we’ll come back with another topic.”
The mills and factories of Deep River will be among the topics presented early next year, which will be planned in conjunction with the society’s independent publishing of a book, Waterfalls to the Wharf.
Forristall said that the idea for a book took inspiration from the research conducted for the society’s permanent exhibit, From Wharf to Waterfall: Deep River and the Industrial Revolution.
“I kept saying, ‘There is a deeper story here to be told. I want to know more,’” said Forristall. “So, we kept finding this information and now I had this big pile of stuff. And then COVID hit and I said, ‘I’m going to put this into a book.’”
The book, now about 100 pages, will also contain historical photographs of the people that worked in the Pratt, Read & Co. factories, producing items made of ivory including piano keyboards.
“It’s just deeper stories to tell about the men who started these factories,” said Forristall. “How they were all related to one another. They were cousins. They were brothers-in-law. They were family. And you don’t get that when you’re just looking at the exhibit.”
Information on the Deep River Historical Society’s speaker series is available at www.deepriverhistoricalsociety.org.