Community Corner
Twenty-sixth Week, Wednesday's "Medfield Historical Minute"
A little something to read and learn to give you a little break during this time of boredom during isolation due to the Coronavirus Crisis.
A Medfield Historical Minute...
This "Medfield Historical Minute" is brought to you by town historian Richard DeSorgher.
A little something to read and learn to give you a little break during this time of boredom during isolation due to the Coronavirus Crisis. A different "Medfield Historical Minute" will appear each day during the Crisis.
"Starting in the mid-1800s, an Irish immigration began to filter from Boston out to Medfield. While the Irish faced severe discrimination and prejudice, some of the families began to gain respectability due to serving in the Civil War. One such example was Michael Griffin, whose father served in the Civil War. He was later elected commander of the Edwin V. Mitchell Camp 131, Sons of Veterans, was member and clerk of the Medfield Excelsior Hook and Ladder Company, No 1, was elected to the Board of Water Commissioners, was appointed to the town’s first warrant committee and was on the committee formed to save the Peak House. Griffin also served on the town committee appointed for the building of the new high school. (today’s Pfaff Center) He acted as a bank to other Medfield Irish families, issuing mortgages and loaning them money, which otherwise they were unable to get."
