Page 4, 1914 - 1930
1914
March 9 - Movement started to raise $50,000 to have Hopedale Manufacturing Co, in Milford.
April 16 - Milford Hospital receives $100,000 through the will of former Gov. Eben S. Draper.
(Hospital pictures)
May 9 - A plot of ten acres is bought for $5,000 for the site of the new Hopedale Manufacturing Co. building.
June 15 - Eleven lives were lost and twenty men injured in the worst fire in Milford history. It was at the Armenian boarding house on West street.
December 22 - Announcement by B.H. Bristow Draper and Mrs. Dorothy Gannett, son and daughter of the late ex-Gov. Eben S. Draper, that they will build a home for the nurses of the Hospital as a memorial for their parents. [According to the genealogical book, Drapers, Prestons and Allied Families, the third sibling, Eben S. Draper, Jr., also contributed to the nurses' home.]
1915
May 6 - Milford had its first traffic officer on duty tonight at the junction of Main, Central and Exchange streets.
June 4 - Milford's tuberculosis dispensary, 5 Park Terrace, opened today.
December 8 - Milford Master Barbers effected an organization with Frank H. Thomas, president. "Outlines" of hair, which cost 10 cents, are to be called haircuts, and will be 25 cents; shaves, 15 cents.
December 15 - Commencing January 1, a cut of four cents, from 14 to 10, per kilowatt hour will be given Milford consumers of electricity.
December 22 - Milford Town Farm electrically lighted for first time and a Christmas party held for the inmates.
1916
March 11 - The average cost per pupil in Milford is $29.66. Among the lowest in the state.
April 14 - New nurses' home opened.
June 30 - Three officers and 59 men of Co. M are mustered into the United States regular army.
August 24 - Infantile paralysis cases confront local doctors.
1917
January 5 - School committee receives a petition signed by 16 citizens protesting against military training in Milford schools.
April 6 - News that Congress declares war on Germany arouses area citizens.
April 10 - Officers and members of Co. M left Milford today amid a big demonstration, for war duty.
May 18 - "War gardens" are springing up all over Milford.
June 18 - Death of Private Farrell Lindsay of Hopedale, a member of Co. M, killed by a train at Chester.
June 20 - A meeting was held in Milford town hall tonight in interest of Red Cross work. Draper Corporation will give $10,000.
July 31 - Co. M soldiers entertained by throng of 10,000 at Y.M.C.A. garden party on Town Park tonight.
August 6 - Malcolm W. Burnham, 23, of Hopedale, is the first man in the Milford division to be enrolled in the military service under the selective draft.
November 9 - Milford-Hopedale branch of Red Cross sends 121 Christmas boxes to France for the soldiers of Milford and Hopedale. Previously 174 boxes were sent by the branch.
1918
January 16 - By orders from Washington every industry in Milford will close down tomorrow for five days to conserve fuel. Close to 2,000 workers are affected. Further orders state that for ten successive Mondays after the five day order, business must cease.
January 21 - Milford public schools reopened today after a vacation because of conservation edict.
February 5 - Extreme cold weather, the thermometer registering in places 25 below zero. With the shortage of coal and other fuel, the situation is very uncomfortable. A snowstorm upset all transportation.
February 6 - All Milford schools closed because of coal shortage.
February 26 - Fifteen men left for the front today.
March 19 - Eleven Milford and vicinity young men left this afternoon for war service.
March 29 - Seventeen more men left Milford for Camp Devens, Ayer, today.
April 27 - Milford sent 36 more soldiers to Camp Devens this morning.
May 27 - Twenty-six more men from Milford and vicinity left Milford this morning for military duty at Camp Upton, New York.
June 3 - Milford sent 25 more men for war duty today, leaving for Fort Slocum, N.Y.
July 1 - Joseph M. Coldwell, I.W.W. strike leader, gets sentence of three years at Atlanta penitentiary for sedition.
July 16 - Milford celebrated the successful Yankee and French drive of six miles on the German front tonight. The fire alarm was sounded and the bell on town hall rung. There was an impromptu parade, bonfires built and general rejoicing.
July 20 - Sergt. John W. Powers and Private Charles L. Fuller killed in action.
August 9 - Death of Private Frank Esmond on the French battlefield.
September 20 - Milford schools are closed on account of the Spanish Infulenza epidemic, which to date has taken the lives of six residents.
September 28 - Board of Health establishes an emergency hospital in Y.M.C.A. building for influenza patients.
November 11 - Celebration to commemorate the signing of the armistice and the opening of the week's campaign of the United War Work societies.
1919
April 4 - Milford gives about 50 members of the 26th Division a notable greeting on its return with parade and speeches.
July 15 - Sergeant John W. Powers Post 59, American Legion is officially organized at the Armory.
1920
April 27 - Milford is honored with a concert by John McCormack, the famous tenor, in town hall.
April 28 - Post office robbery is frustrated by telephone girls.
August 30 - Milford holds the first session for women to register for voting. The first name listed was Miss Florence Aldrich.
September 7 - Women of Milford, 156 in number, vote for the first time at the primaries.
September 15 - Franklin D. Roosevelt, Democratic candidate for vice-president, addresses about 600 citizens in Lincoln square. He is now (1930) Governor of New York.
1921
March 5 - Milford Red Cross branch besieged by applicants for assistance in looking up delayed allotments, pensions, etc., due to the drastic cut in war-time wages, lack of employment and industrial depression. The branch has opened rooms in the Grant building and assisted many.
March 14 - Annual meeting of the Ladies' Aid Association of the Hospital shows for this year 251 members in Milford, 195 in Hopedale, 41 in Mendon and 16 in Franklin.
1922
May 3 - Milford celebrated the centennial of the birth of the late Gen. U.S. Grant with a civic and military parade and exercises in Town Hall.
June 22 - John A. Classon, aged 74, Civil War veteran, has smallpox. It is the first case of the dread disease in Milford for years.
1923
April 29 - Rudolph Valentino, famous screen star, visits Milford.
June 26 - Telephone strike starts in Milford, but the exchange service is maintained by non-union girls.
July 26 - Telephone strike ends.
October 2 - Stockholders of Milford Holding Co., owners of Hopedale Mfg. Co.'s plant off Sumner Street, declared a five percent dividend. The new iron foundry is completed.
1924
January 2 - Selectmen unanimously refused to grant Sunday moving picture licenses.
February 4 - Flags on all public buildings in Milford are at half-staff owing to the death of ex-President Woodrow Wilson.
September 9 - Senator Eben S. Draper of Hopedale defeated Elbert Crockett of Milford for the Republican nomination in the Fourth Worcester Senatorial District.
September 19 - W.M. Sherman today bought one of the original stage coaches used 50 years ago on the road between Boston and Providence. It seats 30 people.
November 4 - Eben S. Draper reelected as senator.
December 5 - Princess Margaret Boncompagni today presented the District Nursing Association a check to cover expenses of a supervising nurse. The gift is to be in memory of her father, Gen. W.F. Draper.
December 11 - Princess Boncompagni tendered a reception by Columbia Lodge, Daughters of Italy, and made its honorary president.
December 20 - Princess Boncompagni and her brothers, George Otis and Clare H. Draper tendered a reception at the State Armory tonight by Co. I and prominent Milford and Hopedale residents, in appreciation of her gifts to Co. I.
1925
January 7 - The fiery red cross, emblem of the Ku Klux Klan made its first appearance in Milford at 9:30 tonight on Bear Hill. Hose 3 went to the scene and extinguished the blaze. Fiery crosses were also lighted in Holliston and Upton.
March 6 - Adjourned Milford town meeting ends in a riot. State police from Framingham called to quell the disturbance. Voters accept civil service for the police department, including the chief.
March 9 - Thomas F. Malloy is the third member of the Board of Selectmen, after a recount of the votes.
October 26 - The "Society for the Detection of Horse Thieves," possibly one of the oldest in the country, votes to disband. The society had 40 members from Milford, Mendon, Bellingham and Medway. The society had been in existence 130 years. Its records will be turned over to the Mendon Historical Society.
1926
April 30 - Music Hall stables today closed its doors after 45 years of continuous service. Built by Capt. Nathan Heath, for years were the rendezvous of famous horsemen.
June 28 - Milford physicians today adopted a new schedule of prices to take effect July 1. Office calls will be $2, house calls, $3, and maternity cases, $25.
1926
April 12 - Announcement today by Draper Corporation that it had taken over the plant of Hopedale Mfg. Co., at the foot of Sumner Street. Business will cease at this place.
May 24 - Milford selectmen refused a permit for a Sacco-Vanzetti parade, June 12.
June 3 - Milford's great "White Way" officially opened tonight with a military and civic parade. Exercises followed at Draper Park and which Charles Sheppee spoke on Milford's industrial history.
June 29 - Mass meeting was held in Town Hall tonight by Sacco-Vanzetti sympathizers.
August 8 - Milford public buildings, Boston & Albany Railroad station and granite quarries are being patrolled by armed guards and will continue to be guarded until the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti for fear that sympathizers might do harm to the property.
August 22 - Nicola Sacco, who died in the electric chair at Charlestown State Prison this morning, formerly lived in Milford, being employed in Milford shoe shops. He left here in 1917.
October 27 - Milford's new State Theater opened tonight with a benefit performance for Milford Hospital under the direction of Mrs. B.H. Bristow Draper.
December 12 - Ladies' Aid Society for Milford Hospital, at annual meeting, announced the gift of $1,000 from Princess Margaret Boncompagne toward the benefit concert for the hospital. The net amount raised was $10. 088.26.
1928
March 20 - Miss Fanny Washington, great-great grand niece of President Washington, addresses a joint meeting of Qunishipaug Woman's Club and Teacher's Association on "Washington by a Washington."
May 18 - Fourteen old trolley cars, owned by the street railway company, were burned by Chief Joseph Fahey of fire department for the metals.
August 31 - Last electric passenger car run over the Grafton & Upton line between Milford and North Grafton.
1929
May 13 - Milford Electric Light & Power Co. serves 3,822 customers in Milford, 825 in Hopedale.
September 24 - Milford selectmen voted to have 1,500-watt electric lights for the ?White Way? instead of 1,000 watt, now in use.
1930
January 23 - Draper Corporation, of Hopedale, announced today it had taken over the controlling interest in Milford Water Co.
February 11 - Milford's gasoline trouble ended today, the wholesalers acceding to the dealers' request for a four cent marginal profit on a gallon.
March 14 - By a vote of 1,427 to 809, Milford permitted movies to be shown on Sundays.
Page 1 Milford, Hopedale 1880 - 1899 Page 2 Milford, Hopedale 1900 - 1912 Page 3 Draper Strike of 1913 Newspaper article on 1913 Draper Strike printed in 1963
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