Lodge Annex
New Ipswich Historical Society
Marion Davis Audio-Tape Transcriptions
Sometime before her death in 1986, Marion Davis recorded her memories at the encouragement of her brother, Walter Buck. The recordings were transcribed by a secretary.
The Friends of Wapack have made these available to the Historical Society. Marion was born on February 8, 1894 in Fitchburg, MA.
Needed more room
We had quite a bit of business there at the Lodge and needed more room for guests to stay overnight so we started to build what we called The Annex. l had to make a plan for that and we got to work on it. We can remember the first winter when we had to prop up some doors, French doors that went out onto the piazza, with cleats. Of course I wasn't staying there in the wintertime anyway. For 8 years I went to the farm after we built the Lodge during the winter months.
Once we had a telephone call; someone had been into the Annex; The doors had fallen in. It was Johnny Hill who had been going by and he saw those doors had fallen down; he went in and braced then up and called us up to let us know they'd better be taken care of a little stronger
Photo Archives
Wapack Lodge
James Roger diary entry - Pullets 15
6th January 1913
Dull and mild, wind west, thawing, roads getting muddy. David helping Henry Royce to cut up some tree blown down at Barretts’. Mother and I packed the barrel going to May with things from Alice and some apples, etc. I took leaves to the henhouse and walked round the cemetery this morning. The Mansfield boys passed in their auto this afternoon. Got letter from Hamish, who has been sick yesterday but was better when he wrote. Got Scottish American from Sandy with a poem of his on Burns. Pullets 15.
I have great admiration for Marion. Her relationship with Frank is interesting. She and Frank worked as a team. She lived at Robbinhurst in the winter with the Robbins and at the lodge in the summer. Her parents' home was in Rindge. There was a Mrs. Frank Robbins which I know nothing about. In 1946 Marion marries Frank and in 1947 marries Lawrence Davis. I think Marion was born in 1907 and thus would have been around 40 at the time of her marriages. I'm surprised that she waited so long to get married.
It seems like Marion was the brains behind this project, or at least the general contractor.