Hello, I thought I'd let you know about for lack of a better term, "a thought process" I went through this week: First of all someone got me thinking of a KIDDER born in Cambridge in 1721 who seems to have moved to Nova Scotia ~1750 ! I had done a mini-research on the family a few years ago and found out that he married (probably) a Mary BAKER in N.S. in 1758. I tried to find more information on the BAKER men / families who also arrived in Nova Scotia early on, and found an old posting in the archives of the N.S. List on the "Banishment Act of Massachusetts." Of the list of men "banished from MA," there was a BAKER. I posted a query on the N.S. List, and someone e-mailed to tell me about the LECHMERE man on the List. Since I grew up in Winchester and Arlington, of course, I knew about "Lechmere Square" in Cambridge. I figured it was named after someone, but had never investigated who it might have been ! The person who had e-mailed me mentioned that there were LECHMERE men in the 1700's in MA ! (There was a hint that there might have been a LECHMERE in the 1600's, but I couldn't find any information !) Some on-line investigating shows that "East Cambridge" used to be "LECHMERE's Point" (aka "PHIP's Farm"). And, important events took place there in the 1770's ! And, I'm told the "Richard LECHMERE house" still stands in Harvard Square. When I did more Googling for information on "Lechmere, Cambridge," I came across a newspaper article about the long-running store in Lechmere Square, which was named "Lechmere Sales." As with so many other people my age and older, I used to shop at Lechmere Sales, but I never thought too much about "who" started the business. The article I found said it was begun by a COHEN family ! * Next I found a web site offering a history of the NECCO Company. In the "history timeline" of candy-making in the U.S., you can read that "conversation candies" are now ..140 years old ! On that note, I hope everyone is enjoying their ... Valentine's Day ! Betty (near Lowell, MA) *I can also offer a little story from my childhood ! When my father came home after fighting in WW II, one of his first jobs was to work for a small "appliance sales & service" store in Cambridge. Probably in the 1940's, "Lechmere Sales," I'm told, was on one side of First St. (or was it Second St.?), and "WALCOTT Sales" was on the other side. At some point, Lechmere Sales decided to expand and become a much bigger store. Mr. WALCOTT decided to stay small, eventually moving his business to Somerville. Lechmere Sales much later got bought out by Montgomery-Ward, and in 1997, they both went out of business. The small Walcott Sales store .. is still in business ! The Walcott family used to have a "summer camp" on the Concord River in Billerica, and my siblings and I used to swim there ! Oh for the time in generations to come .. when the River will become "swimmable" again ! P.S. Reading up on the history of Nova Scotia - as it existed before 1784, you will see that families who settled there around 1750 were only just beginning the immigration to that "14th Colony" ... They went there some 20 years before the Loyalists, etc. went to live there ! (See recent postings on the Nova Scotia List !)

Betty, I also remember that 'Lechmere Sales' only sold to certain Company employees who had a card to allow them access. I believe that it had to be a 'Union' card. That changed after a little while and everyone was welcome. I do miss that store. Irene >From: "Betty" <bbffrrpp@comcast.net> >To: MAMIDDLE-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: [MAMiddle] LECHMERE, Cambridge, NECCO, BAKER, etc. >Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006 11:45:37 -0500 > >Hello, > >I thought I'd let you know about for lack of a better term, "a thought >process" I went through this week: > >First of all someone got me thinking of a KIDDER born in Cambridge in 1721 >who seems to have moved to Nova Scotia ~1750 ! I had done a >mini-research on the family a few years ago and found out that he married >(probably) a Mary BAKER in N.S. in 1758. > >I tried to find more information on the BAKER men / families who also >arrived in Nova Scotia early on, and found an old posting in the archives >of the N.S. List on the "Banishment Act of Massachusetts." Of the list >of men "banished from MA," there was a BAKER. > >I posted a query on the N.S. List, and someone e-mailed to tell me about >the LECHMERE man on the List. > >Since I grew up in Winchester and Arlington, of course, I knew about >"Lechmere Square" in Cambridge. I figured it was named after someone, >but had never investigated who it might have been ! > >The person who had e-mailed me mentioned that there were LECHMERE men in >the 1700's in MA ! (There was a hint that there might have been a >LECHMERE in the 1600's, but I couldn't find any information !) > >Some on-line investigating shows that "East Cambridge" used to be >"LECHMERE's Point" (aka "PHIP's Farm"). And, important events took >place there in the 1770's ! And, I'm told the "Richard LECHMERE house" >still stands in Harvard Square. > >When I did more Googling for information on "Lechmere, Cambridge," I came >across a newspaper article about the long-running store in Lechmere Square, >which was named "Lechmere Sales." As with so many other people my age >and older, I used to shop at Lechmere Sales, but I never thought too much >about "who" started the business. The article I found said it was begun >by a COHEN family ! * > >Next I found a web site offering a history of the NECCO Company. In the >"history timeline" of candy-making in the U.S., you can read that >"conversation candies" are now ..140 years old ! > >On that note, I hope everyone is enjoying their ... Valentine's Day ! > >Betty (near Lowell, MA) > > >*I can also offer a little story from my childhood ! When my father >came home after fighting in WW II, one of his first jobs was to work for a >small "appliance sales & service" store in Cambridge. Probably in the >1940's, "Lechmere Sales," I'm told, was on one side of First St. (or was >it Second St.?), and "WALCOTT Sales" was on the other side. At some >point, Lechmere Sales decided to expand and become a much bigger store. Mr. >WALCOTT decided to stay small, eventually moving his business to >Somerville. Lechmere Sales much later got bought out by >Montgomery-Ward, and in 1997, they both went out of business. The small >Walcott Sales store .. is still in business ! > >The Walcott family used to have a "summer camp" on the Concord River in >Billerica, and my siblings and I used to swim there ! >Oh for the time in generations to come .. when the River will become >"swimmable" again ! > >P.S. Reading up on the history of Nova Scotia - as it existed before >1784, you will see that families who settled there around 1750 were only >just beginning the immigration to that "14th Colony" ... They went there >some 20 years before the Loyalists, etc. went to live there ! >(See recent postings on the Nova Scotia List !) > > > > >============================== >Find your ancestors in the Birth, Marriage and Death Records. >New content added every business day. Learn more: >http://www.ancestry.com/s13964/rd.ashx >