Historical Commission’s Monthly Tales of Our Town
Historical Commission’s Monthly Tales of Our Town
West Newbury Town Meeting: Nutcracking, Dogfights, Cuspidors, Fisticuffs, Drama, and Humor
January’s Minute History is about West Newbury town meeting, which, whether intended or not, has been well-documented as a source of amusement in and out of Town. One mid-19th century West Newbury town meeting, fondly remembered decades later in a local newspaper article, was largely derailed by the peanut man, who (along with some fighting dogs) unleashed chaos at that memorable event. In the mid-20th century, a New York Times article provided the nation a window into West Newbury town meetings in that era, when it was said the “hours at Town Meeting on rock-bottomed seats offer drama that dims television or dulls radio into oblivion.” Later, town moderator Julian Steele, who famously asked an excessively expostulating town meeting participant, “Why be so difficult when with a little trying you could be impossible?” explained to the Boston Globe, “There are times when a little humor should be introduced into a meeting, for instance, when there is excessive wrangling over an issue.”
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