What was in the 1876 Centennial Box
- Robert Thomson
- Nov 20
- 11 min read
When Russell A. Lovell Jr. first saw the contents of the newly opened Sandwich time capsule on July 4, 1976, he berated its chief packer, Charles C.P. Waterman. Then the Sandwich historian spent the rest of the year studying, displaying and writing about Waterman's century-old selections.
The more Lovell looked into the Centennial Box, the more he saw. Though he still had complaints, Lovell's Dec. 30 wrap-up article in the Village Broadsider newspaper included this phrase: "Mr. Waterman, that was a splendid Centennial Box and we thank you."
This inventory consolidates Lovell's listings and gradings of the box contents. It follows the three-category ranking system he used in an early, typed-up inventory dated July 20, 1976. It adds elaborations and assessments that appeared in Lovell's other 1976 inventories for the Village Broadsider and The Acorn magazine of the Sandwich Historical Society, and in Lovell's correspondence. Unless otherwise noted, the contents of the Centennial Box are at the Town Archives in the Sandwich Public Library, as is the box itself.
- Robert Thomson
Completely Unexpected Items
Description by C.C.P. Waterman of lightning striking Nathan Nye's barn in Sandwich on Aug. 8, 1873, and a container of burned earth and nails from the spot.
A blank license for the year 1875-76 to sell beer and wine in Sandwich.
A copy of the Rockport (Texas) Transcript dated Nov. 7, 1869. "Rockport is on the inland waterway north of Corpus Christi and we have no idea how its paper got here, or why," Lovell wrote. [Despite a later exchange of information with the newspaper staff, Lovell didn't discover why the paper was included or how it got to Sandwich.]
Items of Good Value About Town History
Seven photographs of local people, scenes and shipwrecks. "Two are well known but are valuable because they provide the date for the scene'" Lovell wrote. This listing included four stereoscope views presented by Charles B. Hall, all dated 1875 and taken by C.H. Nickerson of Provincetown: Wreck of Grenada, Wreck of John Rommel, Moonlight View # 4 (from a ship), Sandwich from Academy Hill. [Each stereoscope view presents twin black-and-white photos, meant to be viewed through an optical device that creates the illusion of depth in the image.]
[Another image, a carte de visite, shows C.C.P. Waterman in 1875. Another, packed inside an envelope addressed to the editor of the Seaside Press "or his successor," is a photo of U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes.]
[An index-card-size note, probably typed by Lovell for the 1976 display of Centennial Box items at the Deacon Eldred House in Sandwich, describes yet another photo in the box: "The Parade of July 4, 1876; this famous photo shows the ladder cart and buckets, the band and the Horribles Parade." In a separate note, Lovell wrote that the "Fireladder picture, July 4, 1876," with comments, was placed in the Bicentennial Box time capsule for opening on July 4, 2076. As of July 2025, that box was in the Sandwich Recreation Department office at Oak Crest Cove.]
A list of town voters made and signed by Selectmen H.G.O. Ellis and Isaiah Fish - Feb. 18, 1875. Shows checked names, removals and additions possibly for the election of March 6, 1876. [The list was given to the Town Clerk's Office.]
A covering letter from the Centennial Box Committee to the Selectmen of the Town (or Mayor) in 1976 saying that the country had passed through stirring and confusing times [the Civil War and the financial panic of 1873] and wishing the town well for its future.
46 handwritten pages [by C.C.P. Waterman] about the Boston and Sandwich Glass Co., the town's biggest industry. "Sandwich glass was not then as famous as it is now," Lovell wrote. "These notes are being studied intensively to find things not previously known." [Later, Lovell wrote that the reviews revealed nothing of substance that wasn't already known.]
Description [by C.C.P. Waterman] of a rock with inscribed letters; a rubbing of the letters was sent to Harvard about 1830 and the rock broken up for a wall. "Can we find the rubbing and the fragments?" [No luck on that, according to Lovell's later correspondence.]
Description of a magic spring of mineral water that was a sure cure for boils; still in use in 1876; description of the hollow in the woods where Quakers met in 1657 to avoid fines for illegal meetings in houses; description of the building of an early cotton factory in 1811 by Quakers; mention of the original millstones from the gristmill build around 1638.
About 100 local newspapers dating from 1870 to 1877 when the box was closed. "Some copies are probably unique," Lovell wrote. In a Village Broadsider article, Lovell said they included: Large collection of The Seaside Press, published in Sandwich from 1873 to 1884. The July 8 , 1876, issue describes the parade and the evening meeting that voted to create the [Centennial] box on July 4, 1876. The [Sandwich] Historical Society has a complete set of these to Dec. 25, 1880. Another collection of the Cape Cod Gazette. "These are of high interest because published in Sandwich between 1870 and 1873, and only one issue has been preserved at the Historical Society." [For details on the newspaper collection, see the list below.]
Notes by town residents about a silver wedding anniversary, a village area, and original settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts. The notes included a four-page essay by Ebenezer Nye of Pocasset entitled "Statistics of Pocasset, ETC." [At the time the Centennial Box was sealed, Pocasset was part of Sandwich.]
In another article, Lovell added more details about the contents under this category, writing that they included an envelope "To the descendants of Samuel Chipman of Sandwich, Mass." containing an eight-page letter about the family, dated Aug. 20, 1877; a page showing signatures and ages of the people then living in the family house on Main Street. (I.K. Chipman and wife, son Edmond K. Chipman and wife, and daughter Carrie, age 7); a letterhead of Henry L. Fish an in-law, who was in 1877 county assessor o f Washoe County, Nevada; a poem by D.F. Chessman read at the Chipman's silver wedding anniversary, Nov. 26, 1874; a booklet made and written by Henry Russell, Grove Street, Sandwich, titled "Selections from History for the Centennial Box" - items from early U.S. history, not Sandwich.
Items of Little Value As Already Saved Elsewhere
Town reports for 1874 and 1876.
Property map of 1857 Sandwich. [The map, known as Walling's Map, was in good condition. It was framed for the Board o f Selectmen, but later disappeared, Lovell wrote.]
A book of hymns 1849 ["The Antiquarian," a collection of church music published in Boston, owned by Elijah Hancock later superintendent of the Poor Farm on Charles Street.]
A school geography, 1876 [Harper's School Geography, published in New York, presented by Charles Dillingham, superintendent of Sandwich schools and, along with Waterman and Ellis, a member of the Centennial Box Committee.]
Newspapers from London, Boston, New York, etc. [See newspaper list below.]
Booklets, handbills, programs, business cards, notices.
[This category included: two notices of the "Great Concert - March 9 and 10, 1876"; business cards of Charles W. Spurr of Boston, maker of special wood-pattern wallpaper and veneer, who was related to a Sandwich family and later operated a veneer plant here on the site of the Cape Cod Glass Works; a business letterhead and card of the Boot & Shoe Co., Main Street, Sandwich; and advertisements for Paris Green, a 19th century product used as a pigment for paintings and also - because it contained arsenic - as an insecticide.]
[The 1976 display of time capsule contents at the Eldred House included a "railroad poster" from 1870. An accompanying note, probably typed by Lovell, reads: "This rare advertising flier shows the rail lines on Cape Cod before the Woods Hole Branch (1872), the Provincetown line (1873) and the Chatham Branch (1887)."]
Freeman's History
"Annals o f the Town of Sandwich" by Frederick Freeman, 170 pages, part of History of Cape Cod Vol. 11, 1862, contributed by Freeman. [This did not appear on Lovell's ranked list, the one dated July 20, 1976. It does appear in the inventory Lovell wrote for the July 22, 1976, edition of the Village Broadsider, and it is part of the Centennial Box collection.]
List of Newspapers
"Newspapers" was by far the biggest category of box contents. In an undated document, Lovell typed up a list of the papers. He occasionally noted a characteristic, such as "back page only," or referred to a story that caught his eye. However, there does not appear to be any pattern to the collection and the box committee left no information about its choices.
Cape Cod Gazette
Published by John R . Nickles Jr. in Sandwich to Feb. 22, 1872, then by William C . Spring.
Vol. IV, 1870: No. 6, Feb. 10; No. 14, April 7; No. 17, April 28; No. 19, May 12; No. 21, May 26; No. 23, June 9; No. 36, Sept. 8 ; No. 44, Nov. 3; No. 46, Nov. 17; Vol. V, 1871: No. 15, April 13; No. 48, Nov. 30; Vol. VI, 1872: No. 7, Feb. 15; No. 8 , Feb. 22; No. 17, April 25; No. 19, May 9; No. 25, June 20; No. 26, June 27; No. 39, Sept. 26.
Sandwich Observer (early series)
A back page only, dated late May 1847.
The Seaside Press
Sandwich & Falmouth, L.H. Marvel, editor
Vol. I, 1873: No. 6, Nov. 8; No. 7, Nov. 15; No. 8, Nov. 22; No. 9 , Nov. 29; No. 11, Dec. 13; No. 12, Dec. 20; No. 13, Dec. 27; 1874: No. 14, Jan. 3; No. 15, Jan. 10; No. 17, Jan. 24; No. 19, Feb. 7;
John H. Stevens, editor
No. 20, Feb. 14; No. 21, Feb. 21; No. 26, March 28; No. 28, April 11; No. 41, July 11; No. 42, July 18.
[Part of front page gone on all editions from No. 6 to No. 19, except No. 13, which had the front page only. A handwritten note on Lovell's typed inventory reads: "Many articles taken from The Seaside Press Feb. 1977 & filed or sent to interested parties."]
Vol. Il: No. 7, Nov. 14 (portion of front page gone); 1875: No. 22, Feb. 27; No. 35, May 29 (part of front page gone); No. 36, June 5 (most of front page only); No. 38, June 19; No. 43, July 24; Vol. Ill: No. 2, Oct. 9 (extra front page partly torn); No. 3, Oct. 16 (extra back page); No. 4, Oct. 23; No. 11, Dec. 11; No. 13, Dec. 25; 1876: No. 18, Jan. 29; No. 22, Feb. 26; No. 24, March 11; No. 26, March 25; No. 333, May 13; No. 37, June 10; No. 40, July 1; No. 41, July 8 (also two other copies of this issue in original wrapper); No. 42, July 15; No. 50, Sept. 9; Vol. IV: No. 1, Sept 30; No. 10, Dec. 2; No. 11, Dec. 9; No. 13, Dec. 23; 1877: No. 29, April 14.
Yarmouth Register
Vol. XXXV, 1871: No. 46, Oct. 14; Vol. XXXVI, No. 1, Dec. 2; 1872: No. 27, June 1; Vol. XXXVII, 1873: No. 33, April 16; No. 41, Oct. 11; Vol. XXXVIII, 1874: No. 2, Jan. 10; No. 43, Oct. 24; No. 44, Oct. 31; No. 46, Nov. 14; No. 50, Dec. 12; Vol XXXIX, 1875: No. 10, March 6; No. 19, May 8; 1876: Vol. XL: No. 11, March 11; No. 14, April 1; No. 15, April 8; No. 16; April 15; No. 18, April 29; No. 21, May 20; No. 23, June 3; No. 24, June 10; No. 35, Aug. 26; No. 48, Nov. 25.
The Danbury News
Vol. 5, 1874: No. 27, Aug. 29.
The Spencer (MA) Sun
Vol. II, 1874: No. 16, Feb. 13; No. 18, Feb. 27; No. 22, March 27; No. 29, May 15; No. 30, May 22; No. 32, June 5; Vol. III, 1875: No. 11, Jan. 8; No. 15, Feb. 5, 1876.
The Rockport (Texas) Transcript
Vol. I, 1869: No. 12, Nov. 7.
The Railroad Guide (Boston and Barnstable)
Vol. I, 1870: No. 4, October.
The Railroad Advertising Bulletin (Newark, N.J.)
May 1872, July 1872.
The Boston Daily Globe
Vol. VIl, 1875: No. 144, June 18 (eight pages; Anthony Waterman house decorated, Charlestown); Vol. VIll: No. 14, July 17 (first page only); Vol. X, 1876: No. 12, July 15 (railroad ads page 7; ads for hotels in Falmouth, Cotuit, etc.); Vol. XI, 1877: No. 154, June 27, 1877 (President Hayes visit to Boston).
The Boston Herald
March 31, 1876 (Leicester dam lost); June 22, 1877 (St. John fire)
Boston Evening Transcript
Vol. XLVIII, No. 14664, Feb. 11, 1875 (Heavy Winter, Long Island Sound frozen, etc.); No. 14707, April 2, 1875
Boston Weekly Transcript
Vol. XXVI, No. 1247, Feb. 13, 1877.
Boston Daily Advertiser
Vol. 129, 1877: No. 141, June 13; No. 148, June 21.
Boston Journal of Commerce
Vol. 10, No. 12, July 14, 1877.
Boston Morning Journal
Vol. XLI, No. 13713, July 6, 1874.
(Boston) Daily Evening Traveller
Vol XXXII, No. 283, March 2, 1877
New England News Co. Boston
May 27, 1876 (Piper: his life, his crimes and his execution, eight page special, 5 cents).
The New York Herald
Vol. XXVII, No. 181, July 2, 1862.
The Times Weekly Edition (London)
No. 16, April 20, 1877.
The Youth's Companion
Vol. XXXVII, No. 30, July 28, 1864 (Boston).
New York Tribune
Vol. XXII, No. 6629, July 3 , 1862.
New York Trade Journal
Vol. V, No. 25, July 21, 1877.
South Orange Bulletin
Vol. VIII, No. 21, May 17, 1877.
The Independent
Vol. XXII, No. 1101, Jan. 6, 1870 (New York).
The New York Times
Vol. XI, No. 3363, July 3, 1862 (six columns); Dec. 8, 1874 (four pages); Vol. XXV No. 7796, Sept. 8 , 1876 (printed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia); Vol. XXVI, No. 7804, Sept. 18, 1876 (with supplement"25 Years of The New York Times" 1851-1876); No. 7873, Dec. 7, 1876.
The New York Weekly Times
Jan. 26, 1876 (four pages only); Vol. XXV, No. 1273, Feb. 9 , 1876 (four pages only); No. 1279, March 22, 1876 (eight pages); No. 1283, April 18, 1876; Vol. XXVI, No. 1312, Nov. 8, 1876; No. 1317, Dec. 13, 1876.
Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper
Vol XII, 1861: No. 311, Nov. 9; Vol. XIII: No. 314, Nov. 30; 1862: No. 324, Feb. 8; No. 332, March 29; No. 334, April 5 (supplement only); No. 335, April 12; No. 337, April 26 (including 338 supplement); Vol. XIV, No. 339, May 3 (including 340 supplement); No. 341, May 10; No. 356, July 26; No. 357, Aug. 2; Vol. XVI, 1863: No. 416, Sept. 19; Vol. XL, 1875: No. 1031, July 3 (supplement).
Harper's Weekly: A Journal of Civilization
Vol. V, 1861: No. 228, May 11; No. 258, Dec. 7; Vol. VI, 1862: No. 269, Feb. 22; No. 270, March 1; No. 271, March 8; No. 272, March 15; No. 273, March 22; No. 274, March 29; No. 276 April 12; No. 277, April 19; No. 278, April 26; No. 279, May 3; No. 280, May 10; No. 281, May 17; No. 282, May 24; No. 283, May 31; No. 284, June 7 ; No. 285, June 14; No. 286, June 21; No. 287, June 28; No. 289, July 12; No. 290, July 19; No. 291, July 26; No. 308, Nov. 22; Vol. VII, 1863: No. 320, Feb. 14; No. 325, March 21; No. 334, May 23; Vol. VIII, 1874: No. 910, June 6 .
Poster: "Columbia Welcoming the Nations," May 20, 1876.
Bob Thomson is a member of the Friends of the Sandwich Town Archives, a dedicated, all-volunteer, 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to supporting and promoting the archives’ collections and the rich, diverse history of the town of Sandwich.
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