W. Ray Freden

It’s been 85 years since  the Railroad  has passed through Marshfied.

Here is the last  Locomotive to pass through Marshfield, April 1939.

Financial troubles and the Great Depression helped to  folded the Old Colony’s,  Cohasset /Plymouth ,shore line.  This line was built from Cohasset  to Plymouth in 1871.

The wood fired Gov.Bradford engine pulling 3 passenger cars chugged it’ way from Boston to Plymouth carrying mostly Boston & Plymouth dignitary’s and Railroad big whigs.

It stopped at all  five of Marshfields Stations.

The first was at East Marshfield, now known as Marshfield Hills, A large group gathered there that was influential as to the line the Railroad  took through the Town.

The next stop was Littletown, (now Seaview,) the smallest station on the line.      Descendants  of the founders of Littletown (Sea View)  were on hand to cheer the Gov. Bradford on.

Next was the  Marshfield  Centre , the geographical  center of town
To the far right , the  Marshfield Centre  siding sign is prevalent.

Next, location,  South Marshfield,   the Marshfield Station located on Webster St. and  the Neck Rd. now Ocean St. Many of Marshfieds business men were in attendance .

and the last stop was at Webster Place , now Green
Harbor, named after the close-by late resident Daniel Webster.

Each  Station  had a sign attached to one or two sides of the building, the standard colors were a barn red background with white letters. some were gold leaf.

A  “Marshfield” sign still exists.  This type of sign was attached to each Station.

About two  years ago my sister learned  that something “Seaview” was located in the cellar of a home being renovated that once was the residence of  the Sea View Station Master,  Alonzo Stevens.  Alonzo was the Station Master many years, living in the Station as well as his  home  across the street, with his wife Cora,  “Lon” passed in 1932 . Not long after, the  Sea View Station was closed down for lack of patronage .  Lon’s  home was passed on to his  brother Alton.

I n 1934, Alton rented the home to the newly weds Bill & Ruthie Freden where they lived 13 years bringing up their family.

The something “Sea View” turned out to be two Sea View siding signs. These signs were once  posted along the tracks before the Station in both directions, usually within 1/4 of a mile  before, i each direction, to confirm the station stop ahead.   These  newly found signs had been repurposed into  bulkhead stairs in a near by  residences.   This was a surprise to me because I lived in that house 13 years , climbed those stairs many times  and had never seen  the lettering on the sides.

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AS SEEN BEING REMOVED FROM THE LOCATION IT HAS TAKEN FOR MORE THAN 100 YEARS.

The new owner of this residence gave the stairs to my sister, the current resident of  the Cape Cod home built from the Sea View RR Station’s lumber that Bill Freden & son Ray tore down during WW ll.

In 1957, a new foundation was built,    The well known Marshfield  builder August Schatz & crew completed  the building in Oct 1957.

The nearly 140 year old,  vintage  stair parts  (signs) were transported to me here in Maine to be repaired.

The ends could not be salvaged due to rot . The only way to salvage anything, was to make one sign  from the two .

This was achieved by cutting both in half and rejoining with a spline joint and tightly glued.    The black  background paint was restored ,  the letters were re-gold leafed  and clear coated.  The final details were  completed    November 2024,   and installed  on the house built from the former Sea View Railroad Station.

THE ORIGINAL TRACK SIDING SIGN  RESTORED
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In  1945-7 , the Station Was torn down & rebuilt into a Royal Barry Wills designed, Cape Cod style home where my sister Judi Freden, Owner, now resides.

Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.

W.Ray Freden, Sea View,  Marshfield Ma.70 years.  Down East 20 years.

Foraging.

Foraging for edible vegetation began with the first life as we know it.  However, I won’t start there. I can attest to foraging stories told to me that go back a  hundred years or more.  I’ll only touch on a few tasty wild plants that I forage for, as well as other accompanying foods.  My neighbor, a native of my village, who’s family goes back for a number of generations, turned me on to the Dandelions at a young age.  A dish on his mom’s  kitchen table could be found every spring as she  and her ancestors had done. The first tasty plant to appear is the invasive and despised  Dandelion.  The whole plant is edible and my favorite parts are the leaves.  Of the many varieties, I’ve found the rounded tipped plant is the least bitter. The bitterness can be reduced by changing the boiling water once or twice. The younger, the less bitter.  Boiled , drained, buttered, salt & pepper, with a dash of apple vinegar hits the spot for me.

Another early comer is Goose Tongue Green.  I learned about these while visiting a friend on  Islesboro, Maine.  We went clamming with an old-timer native to the Island.  After we got our baskets full, Ole’ Leroy began cutting these bunches of low spiny greens, He said, “just wait ’til you taste these”.  Ya, right I said to myself.  We got a wood fire going, and  a few buckets of boiling salt water.   In went clams, corn & tied-bunches of these Goosey green things.  In just a few minutes of boiling, all got dumped into a big strainer, then spread over the picnic table.  We took our seats & dug in.  Clams & corn didn’t need any scrutinizing.  The Goose Tongue greens were very ocean-side tasting. However, they were too salty for me.  Leroy said:  Next time we’ll boil them in fresh water & change the water once. I later did his recommendation and now that’s my way.  I never could find these along the North or South rivers, but here in Down East,  I have a large crop 200 feet away from my back door. They are cooked and treated the same as dandelion greens.

Fiddlehead ferns, the Ostrich variety, are a treat to behold. When picked young and unopened, boiled in salted water, then buttered with S&P, a shot of apple vinegar doesn’t hurt.  My love for these began when a neighbor dropped off a few to try, after his 200-mile round trip back to his homestead in central Maine. This is an annual trip he & his wife take to see family and stock up on fiddleheads. They have been farmers and foragers for years.
Wild onions, or garlic, called Ramps have a wonderful mild garlic flavor and are found around field edges. I used to pull the whole plant and use same.  Later in life, I found the could not reproduce if pulled, so I resorted to taking one leaf, which worked fine.   My favorite is a ramp pesto, ramps in scrambled eggs, and  ramp butter on my baked potatoes. There are many other ways also.

Wild spinach, known as lambs quarters beats spinach a hundred fold. They can be a gardeners’ nightmare but not so once you have tried them.  Once again, treated like store-bought spinach. I haven’t tried pesto yet. Even though it grows in all my containers, along with my veggies, I cultivate a full container for convenience.

Mushrooms……. I’ll only touch on Chanterelles & the common meadow mushroom.  I have a very large crop growing in my back 40, so-to-speak, and the common field & horse mushroom grows in my front yard.  Many others grow around, but there is way too much information to cover.

The Chanterelles are simply pan fried in butter. The meadow & horse mushroom can be treated the same or as a topping on our Sunday night’s pizza.

My foraging doesn’t stop there.  Fishing is just another term for foraging in the water.   June means catching a half-dozen of fingerling rainbow trout  for a pan-fried Sunday morning’s breakfast, including scrambled eggs, and home fries.

Next comes a mess of Smelt for dinner, with a side of lambs quarters, and a few new baby red potatoes.

A Saturday’s night dinner, with a mess of pan-fried white perch, is the finest fresh-water fish, we think.

Then late June, the tinker mackerel school by at the waterfront docks. They are grilled with onions, accompanied by a garden salad topped with purslane, and few smoked herring to pick on.

Foraging can be a day’s worth of fun if it’s done properly.  You need to know what you’re doing, without trespassing, and following any laws protecting anything endangered.  Here in Down East there are enough woods, fields and streams to wander all day without seeing anything man-made or even another man.  Maine….the way life should be.

The First Blizzard I Remember (1940)