1897 map

This morning I found online images of an 1897 folding map of Salem, Danvers and nearby towns.  I like this closeup view showing parts of Danvers where I grew up:   

    View of Danvers portion of 1897 folding map

 On it, I can clearly see Nichols Street running past "Dales Hill" and continuing straight across the north-south route labelled "Newbury" (Newburyport turnpike). In my earliest years, Nichols Street did continue that way, going straight beyond our house, which was at 120 Nichols Street, at the corner with Preston Street. My grandparents lived behind us, with their driveway and address on Preston. My father's business started up in their garage, adjacent to our backyard. And we played, climbed trees, sledded and skied on Dales Hill (though I didn't then know it by that name). 

Portions of these roads were re-named after the 1950 reconstruction and widening of the Newburyport turnpike (Route1) cut Preston Street into two segments. The segment near us was re-named Nichols Street, and the older northern portion of Nichols Street, still a dirt road, was given a new name (Speedwell Place) and abandoned. It no longer continued over the hill to the old ice pond at Ferncroft.

My grandparents joked about having to MOVE from 123 Preston Street to 124 Nichols Street, but in reality only their mailing address and house number needed updating.

Below is an image of the whole folding map, unfolded: 

     A Map of City of Salem and towns of Marblehead, Peabody and Danvers

This map shows the train routes and stations as of 1897.  

Onye Kamanu

This week I will be attending a memorial service in honor of Onye Kamanu. The Kamanu family invited me and my sister Jean to attend and to share remembrances of Onye, our "African brother."  Jean isn't able to come, but I will represent our family. I've been reviewing old photos, to jog my memories. I've selected some to share here.

Onye arrived from Nigeria in August 1962 with a scholarship to attend Bowdoin College and lived with our family in Danvers for a month-long "homestay" before his college term began. Here's photo that came with his initial letter of introduction: 

Onye Kamanu, 1962

Onye by our front door,
121 Nichols Street, Danvers, MA

Onye dressed in Nigerian outfit
L to R: Sandy, Mommy, Onye, and Jean

Onye posing in our front yard, Thanksgiving 1962.
I had just finishing knitting this sweater for him. 

Sandy, Onye, friend Bob P., Jean

Onye at my wedding reception in June 1965.
Onye had just graduated from Bowdoin College, and I from Mt. Holyoke College. 

Onye and Lillie in Danvers

On September 3, 1966, Onye married Lillie White of Boston, and we attended the wedding  ceremony. My parents were honored to stand in as Parents of the Groom. (Onye's parents were no longer living.) Here is a photo of the bride and groom with both sets of parents:

Wedding photo, September 3, 1966

Onye and Jean, Spring 1976. We had all returned
 to Danvers for Mommy's memorial service. 
I flew in from California; Jean from New Mexico.  

Onye in August 2001 revisiting Star Island, where
he and I had worked in 1960's at the Oceanic Hotel

Aug 1, 2004. a brief visit in Dorchester, MA.

In August 2006, Jean and I flew to Holland for
the wedding of Nnemdi, Onye's eldest daughter 

Ken and I visited Onye & Lillie in Washington DC in January 2017

On February 19, 2020, Ken and I visited Lillie & Onye again in DC.

For more about my recollections Onye, see my Blog entry of August 17, 2019 titled, African Guest . It includes a copy of my article that had been published in the Danvers Herald that month. I titled it, "A guest from Africa becomes family." It is similar to what I've written this week to share at the upcoming Service of Remembrance  honoring the life of Dr. Onyeonoro Kamanu.

Eating grapefruit

As I ate a grapefruit today,  I recalled childhood experiences with grapefruits. I wondered if I had already written about those experiences.  Indeed I had.  I found a copy of an article I'd submitted to the Danvers Herald in 2014. It remained online via "Wicked Local" for years. 

Remembering Danvers: Eating grapefruit with a spoon

Staff Writer

Wicked Local

April 6, 2014, 10:40 a.m. ET

By Sandy Nichols Ward

Large family dinners at the Nichols homestead in Danvers often started with grapefruit. The long dining-room table (composed of a row of shorter tables covered with white tablecloths to resemble a banquet table) was set with silverware, glassware, and traditional blue and white china. At each place setting, centered on a small plate, was a golden half of grapefruit. We ate it with silver spoons that were about the size of teaspoons, but more pointy on the end. We called them "grapefruit spoons." Those spoons fit well into the triangular wedges of juicy fruit.

My earliest memories of grapefruit involve gift baskets of citrus fruit that arrived from Florida. My mother’s Aunt Catherine used to send us a basket each winter. I was confused about whether she lived in Florida; I thought she lived in New York. (I hadn’t yet learned about mail-order catalogs.) My mother was always delighted to receive this southern fruit, though it wasn’t exactly my idea of a Christmas present.

We ate the oranges and the grapefruit in the same manner: cut in half, and then each triangular section scooped out with a pointed spoon. My mother even had a set of spoons she called "orange spoons." Each spoon had her maiden initials, JNC, engraved on the handle, in various styles of lettering. She explained that as a child she had received one monogrammed spoon each year from an elderly relative; the style of the spoons matched, but sometimes the engravings didn’t match. No matter. We used her orange spoons for both the sweet oranges and the sour grapefruit.

I remember resisting the grapefruit one day, fearful that it would be too sour. My mother cheerfully encouraged me, saying, "Only the first three bites will taste sour." I immediately pushed my grapefruit towards her, asking her to eat those first three bites. I was very serious about this, taking her statement literally. She and my father laughed heartily, but I didn’t get the joke. I was upset that she wouldn’t help me by taking those first three bites!

Now as an adult I love the taste of grapefruit. Except for the danger of squirting juice onto my glasses or clothes, I enjoy digging out the grapefruit segments with a pointed spoon. My stainless steel serrated grapefruit spoons, however, are in sad condition. The plastic handles are mostly broken. The tip of one spoon was mauled years ago by falling in an automatic disposal unit in a sink. The handles of others were bent by a young guest who misused these spoons to dig hard-frozen ice cream from its container. Honestly, I ought to throw these worn-out spoons away and buy myself some better ones. That’s what I muttered to myself last month, between bites of succulent grapefruit.

Throwing anything away, however, is hard for an old New Englander, especially if you can continue to "make do" with the worn-out item. (I’ve been using these battered spoons for at least 40 years, so replacing them clearly isn’t high priority.)

Instead of shopping for new grapefruit spoons, I pursued other tasks on my "to do" list. I drove to a community where I used to live and stopped at the bank to investigate my safe deposit box. Since the fee for that box was about to increase, I wondered what was still in there and whether I’d need to renew the box rental. I hadn’t looked in years. To my surprise, I discovered a green cloth package enclosing various old silver spoons inherited by my father from that Danvers homestead. A scribbled note said "Pine Knoll items: save for Sandra and Tonya." Inside were six matching spoons with the monogram E.P.S. on the backside of the handles. Lovely pointed grapefruit spoons! I recognized the initials: Elizabeth Perkins Stanley, of Salem, known as "Lizzy" within her family. The spoons were made by "J.J. Rider" and stamped "Salem." It is likely that these were wedding gifts to Lizzy as she married Andrew Nichols of Danvers in 1861. He built their home at Pine Knoll (98 Preston St., Danvers) and they raised eight children there. I have now brought her spoons to my house and will think of my great grandmother Lizzy as I enjoy eating grapefruit with my "new" spoons.