Marie's Memories Include Cleghorn

Marie Aubin was born in Fitchburg, Ma. in 1915 at her parents' home.
 By 1914 Cleghorn a neighborhood of Fitchburg, boasted that this area furnished a quarter of all the tax revenue for the city of Fitchburg, and that it sustained over 100 places of business, the majority of the businessmen being young and vigorous.' Quotes from Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise.
Our Marie, I always call her, is a woman of strength and substance. She is opinionated and warm hearted. Marie has sustained, hard times and enjoyed fun and fulfilling times. She is talented, but always willing to learn new things. Marie traveled the streets of Cleghorn for many years as a child as well as an adult.

1889

Marie's husband played cribbage here

Cost $38K

 This post is a little bit about that neighborhood and the people in Marie's lives that were a part of it. I am not an Aubin, but a Lizotte only by marriage to Marie's son.  So, if I make mistakes, it is inevitable. Please be kind.
This post was generated by a saved newspaper that I found of Marie's that sparked some memories of her sons, Roger and Francis (Fran). The date of the newspaper was February 20, 2000. Headlines, Cleghorn: Fitchburg's French-flavored former 'capital'. This "strip" was built by Andrew Cleghorn from the river to the now Cleghorn Street, and extended from Oak Hill Road to Daniels Street. There was some noise that it should not have been named Cleghorn because he split after about four years. The Mill gave this area a huge start. It was a cow pasture, timber, and apple orchard that ended up with Cleghorn and other manufacturers like Parkhill into a thriving self-sustaining community. There you have just a bit of history of the neighborhood that Marie Aubin and her family and later her married life was part of. There were woolen mills, grist mills, paper mills, hat factories, scythe factories, harness makers, shoe factories, brickyards, 12 sawmills and a quarry. The Scotsmen's ginghams really put Fitchburg or rather, Cleghorn, on the map. The fabric was touted to be the best in quality and color.

Top=$200+K
Bottom=$1,200K=

Roger and Fran remember their father going to the cafe's on Cleghorn and Daniels Street. I smirk to myself that the owners called them cafe's not bars. I'm sure in those days it was not mannerly to "go to a bar." A cafe' was alright because you could eat there. One cafe that Fran mentioned was the Rendezvous. Roger didn't remember that, but it's difficult to say how many times that the names of those places were changed. I laugh at that name because Rendezvous means to meet, gather, and assemble which they all did; funny.
Another change was education. At one point, education cost the city $26.00 a year for a child. This artlicle was also in the Sentinel in December 1938.
In 1938 education cost one quarter of municipal dollar. It looks like to me that Fitchburg now has 17 different schools of all different age and learning capabilities including a State University.
Along with all the different businesses that I mentioned there were theaters also. The original theater was called the Rambeau Theater which opened in 1914, just a year before Marie was born. It was renamed the Strand in 1922 and was still open in 1950. One of Marie's nieces also mentioned that there was an Estre Theater in Fitchburg that she might have gone to also. I cannot find any archived pictures. She also said that from Marie's family home it was about three or four miles. There were 2 theaters in Fitchburg at that time. Note how much the movie cost when Marie was almost twenty years old. One time she wanted to go to the movie and she was short a nickel. Her father said that instead of being able to keep a dollar out of her paycheck as usual she would only get 95 cents because money did not grow on trees. Going to the "show" as she called it was a passion for her. I found a picture of her and her girlfriends (several) sometime ago. I bet they all went to the show and had a grand time. There is a picture of Marie by herself that is in fact a button. The reason she had it was lost until she was over 102 years old. She said that she and her girlfriends had gone to a carnival and had this made.

The population of Fitchburg in 1913 was approximately 10,000. The French-Canadian folks were about 2500. They were eager to work at the mills and better themselves. A large amount of these immigrants were farmers, and even though the work was not easy, mill work was easier. Many of those men also fought in our Civil War in place of the American men were of the first to find work in the mills.

Housing, however, was not easy to come by. Daniels, ( a member of the board of directors at the Cleghorn Mill, rolled up his sleeves, cleared land, laid out roads and built what they called in those days, "deckers." They were three and four stories high. They later were called tenements and folks were charged $2.00 a room to rent. The article did not say if by the week or month. It would be more interesting if we knew that for sure. I am assuming by the month.
These articles refer to many times that Cleghorn was characterized by "on the hill" "and at the bottom of the hill." The bottom was where the "deckers" were built. If a family built a house and left a "decker" they were referred to as "moving up the hill." Interesting.
There is a reference to Canadian signs above stores stating, "Ici on parle Francais." Those of you that speak French please put in the comment window what that sign said.
I could go on and on with this post, but sometimes shorter is better. Please let me know if you would like more stories out of these two old newspapers. One paper has ink that is almost gone (1938) but I salvaged enough for some very interesting reading I think. Of course, I am a history buff. I just love this kind of thing.