NEW BOOK RECALLS REMARKABLE STORIES OF MIDDLEBOROUGH AND LAKEVILLE'S PAST

Middleborough and Lakeville are filled with remarkable stories and since 1997 many have been retold by historian Michael J. Maddigan in the Middleboro Gazette’s popular column “Recollecting Nemasket”.

To celebrate two decades as a newspaper column as well as five years as Middleborough’s local history press, Recollecting Nemasket is pleased to announce the publication of Recollecting Nemasket: Twenty Years of Historical Writing. This engaging anthology is due for release on August 4 as part of Middleborough’s Krazy Days celebration where copies may be purchased from the Recollecting Nemasket shop and signed by the author.

Recollecting Nemasket: Twenty Years of Historical Writing includes some of the most compelling yet forgotten tales of Middleborough and Lakeville’s past. The spell of the Nemasket River steamboats, the struggle of Middleborough’s women to achieve the vote, a 1920s-era sex scandal at East Middleborough, the travails of Middleborough’s early Irish and Chinese immigrants, a tragic boating accident on Long Pond, the early police department’s obsession with liquor laws, the majestic animals of the Nemasket Elk Range and the excitement of Victorian-era roller polo and baseball are all here. Learn of the brave men who went to war against Spain in 1898, experience the excitement of the communities’ first automobile and airplane, and step into the shoes of Middleborough’s elementary schoolchildren who supported military efforts during World War II by gathering milkweed from local fields. Enjoy stories ranging from heart-rending and tragic to humorous and hopeful that recall the fascinating people and events that have shaped two southeastern Massachusetts communities.

Together these stories tell a tale that is meaningful and celebratory of the rich historical legacy of two uniquely New England towns. In them may be seen a glimmer of present-day as well as future Nemasket.

Recollecting Nemasket: Twenty Years of Historical Writing is Michael J. Maddigan’s twelfth book of local history. Mike’s other books include Images of America: Middleborough; Spiritualist Onset: Talking with the Dead by the Sea; Nemasket River Herring: A History and Representatives of the Great Cause: Middleborough Soldiers and Their Letters from the First World War.

The book is the sixth volume published by Recollecting Nemasket which was established as a local history press in 2012 and is dedicated to the collection, preservation, interpretation, publication and promotion of the historical heritage of southeastern Massachusetts. Recollecting Nemasket books may be purchased any time on-line at www.recollectingnemasket.com, Ebay and Amazon, and will be available on August 4 and 5 at Krazy Days in downtown Middleborough.