Updated: Leos Club Holding Pajama Drive

The Holliston Leos Club will be having a pajama drive until Feb. 28 to collect pajamas for homeless children ages 0-12. There will be a box in the High School  cafeteria and in front of the Main Office.

Advised by Louise Kirkpatrick and Linda Ahronian and sponsored by the Holliston Lions Club, the Leos meet on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at . Young people who would like more information can contact Kirkpatrick at 508-429-1995.

HISTORICAL SOCIETY HOSTING "AN OLD HOUSE PROGRAM" THURSDAY

The is hosting "An Old House Program," a panel discussion on rehabilitating vintage houses, Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

The panel includes Bill Bernard, John Greendale and Gregg Lewis, all of whom are experienced in refurbishing old homes. They will their experiences and will take questions from the audience.

Refreshments will be served.

LEGION ANNOUNCES "HORNS IN THE HOUSE" VETERANS BENEFIT DANCE

The Holliston American Legion Post 47 and 's Knights of Columbus presents the "Horns In the House" Veterans Benefit Dance Saturday, March 12 from 7 p.m.—12 a.m. at the .

Horns in the House is an eight-piece band with a strong but musically sensitive ensemble sound, energized by punctuating horns and multi-vocal blends.
Tickets cost $20 in advance and $25 at the door. To purchase tickets in advance, contact Steve Napolitano at 508-429-3473 or Tony Alexander at 617-306-4105.

There will be a cash bar, a buffet dinner and raffle prizes. All proceeds will benefit local veterans.

So come on by, relax a little, dance a lot and shake off the winter rust and have some fun.

RELAY FOR LIFE ANNOUNCES UPCOMING EVENTS

American Cancer Society 2011 Relay For Life of Ashland/Holliston recently announced that Team C.L.A.M. is having a Family Style Chicken Dinner with music, and raffles on Feb. 26th at 7 p.m. at the Polish American Club (Ironstone Street, Millville).

The cost is $20 per person and the event will raise money for Relay For Life of Ashland/Holliston. For tickets, call Ginger Baker at (401) 447-9435 or gbaker1087@charter.net.

Another Relay for Life Captain's Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 1 at ’s downstairs hall at 6:30 p.m. All Team Captains should plan to attend or send a team member to gather important Relay For Life information. Anyone who wishes to learn more about how you can be a part of celebrating survivors, remembering those lost to cancer and fighting back to find a cure for a disease that takes too much is welcome.

Relay For Life of Ashland/Holliston is looking for new teams to join as well as survivors for special recognition and activities. For more information, please contact Denise Landry-Horowitz at (508) 954-0508 or visit our website at relayforlife.org/ashlandhollistonma.

A NEW SEASON FOR MUDVILLE BASE BALL CLUB

Pennant-starved residents of Mudville had difficulty containing their excitement this week as the Mudville Base Ball Club equipment car left its Brentwood-based storage compound and was seen traveling on School St. towards , the team’s popular spring training site.

No Punxsutawney cloud or vernal equinox has ever predicted the end of winter and the coming of spring like the annual equipment car odyssey. Carl “Boss” Damigella and Bob “Chalky” Nemet, delighted with their team’s Saturday turn out,  are thus pleased to release the 2011 schedule:

2011 Mudville Base Ball Club Schedule

May 21 — Relay for Life Fundraiser, Holliston, MA 1 p.m.

June 4 — John Clarkson Classic on George’s Island, Boston

                  With Essex Base Ball Club and Saginaw Old Golds

June 5 — John Clarkson Classic  Site TBD

                 With Melrose Pondfeilders and Saginaw Old Golds

July 4 — Vs. Melrose Pondfeilders in Needham 1PM

July 16 — Gettysburg 19th Century Base Ball Tournament, Gettysburg, PA

                  Vs. Saginaw Old Golds

                  Vs. Talbot Fair Play BBC

July 17 — Gettysburg 19th Century Base Ball Tournament

Aug. 6 — Vs. Hamilton Vintage BBC at Upper Canada Village, Cornwall, Ont.

Aug. 13 — Vs. 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings and Ipswich Brewers

                   Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm, Newbury, MA

Aug. 14 — Vs. 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings and Essex Base Ball Club

                   Jim Rice Field, Boston, MA

Sept. 17 — Vintage Base Ball Day

                    Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm, Newbury, MA

ACKNOWLEDGING A DEBT

Sunday’s Patch story on Silas T. Cobb and his link to President Abraham Lincoln is the result of a couple of intersecting facts.

Last November, while researching my first Patch article related to the annual Veteran’s Day Lunch at the , I was considering the possibility of relating the experience of some of the living veterans to those of veterans buried adjacent to the Town Hall in the . As a result, I walked the entire cemetery, and took notes from various headstones of deceased soldiers, thinking their owners might be worthy of additional research. It was during this walk that I noticed the stone for Sgt. Silas T. Cobb.

I had previously read a number of Civil War books, and two in particular, "American Brutus" and "Manhunt," provided the story of John Wilkes Booth and David Herold at the bridge with Sgt. Cobb. However, not until I referenced another book, Joanne Hulbert’s excellent "Holliston, A Good Town," did dawn finally light over this marble head. Joanne had long before made the connection between the Sergeant at the Navy Bridge, and the man buried in Holliston.

I have since conducted independent research — some provided with Joanne’s direct assistance —, which helped me produce the story. The tale is, in some ways, very similar to that contained in Joanne’s book. Until completing my story, I had deliberately avoided reading Joanne’s account since November, so that other than for the Cobb connection mentioned above, I can claim the contents of this week’s story as being the result of my own efforts.

I think that I can speak for all those who are interested in the history of Holliston in acknowledging that the work Joanne has accomplished is truly fascinating and unequalled in its quality and importance. I, more than most, have been the beneficiary of that work, the Mudville Base Ball Club truly being the fruit of a seed first planted by Joanne.

Patch readers should assume the high likelihood that any Holliston historical reference I make is the result of Joanne’s research. No specific citations will be noted, as I am familiar with her works, and as comfortable in using them as I would be in calling Washington our first president.

With this now firmly established ... Joanne, when is that Holliston baseball book coming out?

HOLLISTON'S LINK TO LINCOLN

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

That’s what I found in Saturday’s Metrowest Daily News regarding the 202nd anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. Somewhere, someone determined that the birth of the man who is consistently rated as our nation’s greatest president didn’t deserve mention.

What could possibly have accounted for this slight?  Certainly the absence of the Date Book feature, which earlier in the week had documented the births of such luminaries as Jimmy Durante, Mia Farrow and Travis Tritt, could be blamed. But how could it be, that in the year that our country recognizes the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War, we could so callously ignore a man, who more than any other, deserves credit for ending slavery and preserving our nation?

I confess, I’m a big Lincoln fan and proudly admit my bias in matters relating to his life and accomplishments. Thus, my finger-pointing at the MWDN may be a little unfair, especially when considering the paucity of similar Lincoln-related reporting by Boston’s major dailies. But today, on the 150th anniversary of the day Lincoln was officially declared winner of the 1860 election, I will, with deference, attempt to atone for their omission.

It may be a quirk of my personality that causes me to consider such possibilities, but I truly believe, that if given the opportunity to sit next to anyone who ever lived on a cross-country flight, I would choose Lincoln. The reasons are many.

Lincoln had tremendous insight into the events of his time and the people around him. His letters and speeches reveal a mastery of the written word. He was a man capable of combining historic perspective with emotional depth. He was often self-deprecating, and not afraid to give credit to others. His primary objective was rooted in achievement for the public good, not self-glorification. He was also funny, not adverse to the occasional off-color joke, and a great story teller.

Lincoln’s assassination at the end of the war prevented the recording of what could have been the most revealing and interesting perspective of the war. As the wounded Lincoln was carried across the street from Ford’s Theatre to the Petersen Boarding House, the prospect of any such memoir was lost. Meanwhile, John Wilkes Booth approached the Navy Yard Bridge on horseback, seeking to escape into Southern Maryland. It is there that a Holliston connection begins.

On April 3, 1834, Silas G. Cobb married Sophia King in Holliston. The oldest of their four children, Silas Tower Cobb was born on October 13, 1838. Silas G. was a shoemaker — hardly a novelty in town — who someday would become a farmer.

Years later, Silas Tower Cobb, then a bootmaker in town, would enlist in the Union Army. On July 13, 1863, he joined Company F of the Third Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Heavy Artillery.

The companies of the Third Regiment were originally intended to protect Massachusetts’ harbors, and in 1864, many of them were transferred to Washington, D.C., to protect the capital. It was here, on the night of April 14, 1865, that Cobb was stationed, serving as a sergeant, while guarding the Navy Yard Bridge.

As Cobb would later testify, “On the night of the 14th of April, I was on duty at the Navy Yard Bridge. At about half past 10 or 11 o’clock, a man approached rapidly on horseback. The sentry challenged him, and I advanced to see if he was a proper person to pass.

"I asked him ‘Who are you, sir?’  He said “My name is Booth.’ I asked him where he was from. He made answer, ‘From the city.’ ‘Where are you going?’ I said and he replied, ‘I am going home.’ I asked him where his home was. He said it was in Charles. I understood by that he meant Charles County. I asked him what town. He said he did not live in any town. I said, 'You must live in some town.’ Said he, 'I live close to Beantown, but do not live in the town.’

"I asked him why he was out so late; if he did not know the rule that persons were not allowed to pass after 9 o’clock. He said it was new to him; that he had had somewhere to go in the city, and it was a dark night, and he thought he would have the moon to ride home by. The moon rose that night about that time. I thought he was a proper person to pass, and I passed him.”

Shortly after, Cobb, still not aware of the Lincoln shooting or of the larger conspiracy, let Booth’s accomplice David Herold pass over the bridge. In doing so, Cobb failed to enforce a general order in effect since January 1863 that prohibited the wholesale crossing of Washington bridges between the hours of 9 p.m. and daylight. His error, when considered in light of the celebrations then engulfing Washington due to the anticipated end of the war, can be understood. Yet, as a result, the nation was forced to endure a 12-day manhunt. which ended with the death of Booth, and the capture of Herold.

Cobb was honorably discharged on Sept. 18, 1865. He died on November 9, 1867, and was buried in the next to the .

Today, his grave is marked by a simple granite monument, forever documenting his service to his country. From there, buried deep below winter’s frozen blanket, he stands eternal guard over Washington St., and serves as a link for our community to another man, whose birthday should never be ignored.