HopNews
I had the pleasure of speaking with Hopkinton’s historian Chuck Joseph about his Monday, June 16, presentation at the Hopkinton Center for the Arts (HCA), “In Their Own Words…”
“One of the unique things about Hopkinton is that we have all our town meeting notes from 1720 onward,” said Joseph. On the site of our current town hall on Main Street, there once stood two earlier wooden town halls, both of which were destroyed by fire. It’s truly a miracle that the town meeting notes survived both fires!
In addition to Chuck Joseph, Anne Mattina, Linda Connelly, Aubrey & Julie Doyle, and John Ritz worked on this project, and we all owe them a debt of gratitude for this information.
Town Meeting Notes
According to Joseph, the town meeting notes are challenging to read. However, this year, with help from the Historical Society, the team was able to scan and digitize all the notes up to the American Revolution. They then used an AI program to translate the handwritten script into text.
John Ritz and Aubrey Doyle set up a side-by-side display, showcasing the original penmanship on one side and the AI-generated script on the other. This enabled them to make corrections, and once they fixed errors in the AI’s transcription, those corrections were applied throughout the rest of the notes.
Next, Joseph connected what was happening in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the British colonies, and Europe to what people discussed at the Hopkinton town meetings. That enabled the group to understand not only what the residents of Hopkinton were saying but, more importantly, what they meant by it. Thus, the presentation is titled “In Their Own Words”—it tells the story of Hopkinton from its founding to Lexington and Concord, where the Revolutionary War began.
As the team researched, they routinely stumbled upon interesting side topics—rabbit holes—that could easily have become entire lectures. However, the team consciously kept the larger historical context in mind and stayed out of the weeds.
The existence of preserved notes and the ability to cross-reference them, even using modern tools like AI, has allowed the group to uncover connections within Hopkinton and across Massachusetts. This research has revealed how uncertain the outcome of the American Revolution was at the time.
Tax Money for Ammunition?
Joseph described the 1774 town meeting where serious debates occurred about whether to use tax money to buy ammunition. These debates showed the real and difficult decisions faced by residents, many of whom remained loyal to the British Crown. With only the meeting notes to go by, much of what was discussed or left unsaid in these meetings is still unknown, making the research both challenging and fascinating.
Vision for the Historical Society
The team’s vision is to make the Hopkinton Historical Society a welcoming place—a “living room” for the town—where community members can gather, discuss, and explore history together. He believes history should inform current and future actions, which begs the question: “Are we being good ancestors?”
He is enthusiastic about the upcoming 250th anniversaries of significant events like Lexington, Concord, the beginning of the American Revolution, and the Declaration of Independence, noting how little we know about Hopkinton’s role in these events.
The conversation also touched on the sanitized version of American history taught in schools, omitting the more troubling aspects, such as the treatment of Native Americans. Joseph mentioned that the area now known as Hopkinton was inhabited by the Nipmuc people for centuries (perhaps thousands of years) before European settlers arrived and took the land.
This is a Gift
Joseph and the team want to give the people of Hopkinton a sense of their geographic ancestors’ activities and identities. They want residents to feel a deeper connection to the town, and this shared history creates a sense of unity in the community.
Finally, Joseph promises an engaging and interactive experience on June 16, with opportunities for questions and discussion. The goal is to keep the lecture to about an hour, followed by a Q&A, and serve as an opportunity to build sustained interest in Hopkinton’s past.
Monday, June 16, 6:30 P.M. at the HCA. We’ll see you there!
I thoroughly enjoyed this presentation and hopefully it will be one of many ….thanks to all for your contributions