STEPHEN ROBERT KATZ
AUTHOR
Ware's historic Aspen Grove Cemetery, which dates from 1852, is not only the final resting place of generations of many of the town's families, but also a spot of great natural beauty.
Among the graves at Aspen Grove are that of “Candy” Cummings, a professional baseball player at the dawn of the major leagues, a Hall of Fame pitcher, and the inventor of the curveball.
This article traces the cemetery's history, and provides insights into the people who were instrumental in its origin and growth.
To view the article, click on its title, above.
Hanging at the Young Men's Library Association in Ware are nineteenth-century portraits of a man and woman. Through a bit of detective work, the author has verified their identities.
This article explains the background to the paintings, and illuminates the lives of the subjects, the artist, and the donor of the portraits to the library.
The article was published in MASSOG, the journal of the Massachusetts Society of Genealogists, in its Spring, 2017, issue, vol. 41, no. 2.
I gave a well-attended talk on the Cummings Portraits at the Ware Historical Society on November 16, 2016.
“The Story of the Cummings Portraits” (2015)
"Elizabeth C. Wetherell" (2017)
Elizabeth C. Wethrell was a nurse during the Civil War who cared for countless sick, wounded and mutilated soldiers on both sides of the conflict. Much lauded for her tireless and heroic service, she gave her life to this noble endeavor, and is buried in Ware's East Church Cemetery. She is among the "Remarkable Women of the Pioneer Valley," a project of the Pioneer Valley History Network. My short biography of this extraordinary woman appears in the project's web pages, at
https://pvhn2.wordpress.com/1800-2/elizabeth-c-wethrell. Click on this web address and you will be taken directly to the biography.
"Ware, Massachusetts, at the Beginning of the American Revolution" (2025)
In this article, I give an account of the events leading to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, and the preparations of the Province of Massachusetts Bay for armed conflict against Great Britain. I then introduce the company of Minute Men from Ware, led by Captain Joseph Foster, in Colonel Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge's regiment. (The appendix to the article gives brief biographical information about several of Ware's Minute Men.) The article then recounts the raising and spreading of the alarm throughout towns, villages, and settlements in the province, the responses of the patriots' militiamen and Minute Men, and the Battles of Lexington and Concord. It culminates with the British retreat back to Boston, and the Siege of Boston by the patriots. Copies of the article may be obtained from the author.
"Vestiges of a Vanished Industry" (2025)
This article highlights the carriage industry in Ware and elsewhere in Central and Western Massachusetts, focusing on a carriage maker from Ware, Charles Sumner Parker (1852-1930). The article includes an overview of the history of carriage-making from the 1700s to the early 1900s. It is illustrated with advertisements by Parker and others in vintage editions of the Ware River News. Copies of the article may be obtained from the author.
Columns in the Ware River News
I've done a series of guest columns in the Ware River News on the history of Ware. The titles and issue dates of those published thus far are:
"The Manour of Peace," October 27, 2016
"Elbow Room: The Founding of Ware River Parish," November 24, 2016
"Ware Becomes a Town," December 29, 2016
"Waterford: 'The Town That Can't Be Licked' -- Huh??" March 30, 2017
"From Ware to Boston, Springfield and Points West by Canal," June 8, 2017
"How Ware Got Its Name," August 17, 2017
"Remembering Elizabeth C. Wethrell," May 24, 2018
"Remembering Red's, a Summer Oasis," August 23, 2018.