Chet with his plow, old harnesses and the prize ribbons
he won with his entry in the "single horse class"
at a Medfield horse show around 1920.
Chet with his plow, old harnesses and the prize ribbons
he won with his entry in the "single horse class"
at a Medfield horse show around 1920.
Chester F. Heinlein, Sr. was a lifelong resident of Dover. He was born in 1894 and was in his 82nd year when I taped these conversations in 1975. He had been active and worked hard all his life and perhaps that was the secret for his superb mental and physical condition when I talked with him.
He lived in Dover from the time he was a young boy, farmed the land and worked teams of horses. As Constable and later as Chief of Police he came to know everyone in town and take note of what went on. His memory was exceptionally clear and accurate.
I talked with Chet about old Dover several times before I started taping our conversations and I always regretted that I didn't have the foresight to tape those conversations too. But as they say... Hindsight is 20/20. Fortunately I did keep detailed written notes of our early visits and summarized everything he told me. Usually I stopped in the car on the way home so I could scribble it all down while everything was fresh in my mind. In retrospect, I guess that was next best to a tape recording..
Our first taping session took place on the side porch at Chet's Shadybrook Farm on Claybrook Road on June 22, 1975, a warm sunny Sunday afternoon. Before we started I took pictures of him in back of the barn with his plows and old "H" harnesses and prize ribbons he won with his entry in the "single horse class" at a Medfield horse show around 1920.
Chet told me he cleared his land with his own horses and pulled stumps and plowed and planted it. At one time he had corn on Main Street and Claybrook Road as far as you could see. He stored the corn in a silo at the side of the barn. The silo is gone now but the foundation is still there.
He showed me the milk house he converted to a tool shop with a little added shed. He still pumpedwater by hand from a well fourteen feet deep. In the early days he used the same pump to fill the watering trough for his cows. He showed me a pipe wrench and vise that had belonged to Ben Sawin. He bought them at an auction.
Chet raised bulbs and propagated his own flowers and vegetables in little greenhouse with a potbellied woodstove that used to heat his house. Flower gardens around the old farmhouse overflowed with masses of brilliant colors. Chet told me the strawberries were getting ripe and the swiss chard and bean and tomatoes were doing fine.
A small American flag fluttered outside his door. It was there every day I called on him.
I'll always treasure my memories of this intelligent and thoughtful man who remembered so much about real life in old Dover days and did so much to pass this gift of understanding on to future generations.
Dick Vara