Many may not have heard of the town of Hackmatack in Massachusetts. That is because it was a fictional town created by Mary P. Wells Smith in two of her books, “Jolly Good Times at Hackmatack,” published in 1891 and “More Good Times at Hackmatack,” published in 1892. Hackmatack, according to Clare Green of the Warwick Historical Society, was created as a compilation of the hilltowns of Massachusetts including Warwick.
Smith was the wife of Fayette Smith, who was born and had lived in Warwick. She was the daughter-in- law of Preserved Smith, the pastor of the First Church of Warwick from 1814 to 1844 and whose portrait now hangs in the Unitarian Church, Green said. Mary P. Wells Smith lived in Greenfield but visited Warwick.
Smith lived from 1840 to 1930 and was quite a prolific children’s author, according to Green.
“She wrote a number of books intended for young readers,” said Green, noting that many of the topics in the Hackmatack books were set in colonial times. “It’s a children’s book so of course she mixes facts with fiction.”
A number of events in these books were based on actual events in Warwick, according to Green. Among these was the description of a Fast Day, held annually in April as dictated by Massachusetts State Law, until 1894. “It was meant as a day to cleanse, atone, forgive and start again. Fast day coincided with the planting of the crops. It was practiced by a lot of people,” Green said. The earliest documented fast day in the state, Green continued, was in 1670. It was a day of public fasting, prayers and repentance, declared by the Massachusetts governors.
Another Warwick-based event depicted in the Hackmatack books was the taking down of the old meeting house and the moving of Mr. Hopkins, in actuality Preserved Smith’s, house from one end of Hackmatack to the other. Smith’s house in Warwick is today known as Metcalf Chapel.
Prior to the old meeting house being torn down in Hackmatack (Warwick) there was a farewell sermon at the meeting house. Doors and windows were then removed and the children then helped deconstruct the building. In the book, Mr. Hopkins states of the boys who were helping, “These boys are the plague of my life.” The torn down building delighted the boys, according to the book, as the wood fed bonfires.
The books characters were based on actual Warwick residents, too. The characters of Dan and Becky in the stories were really Fayette and Eunice Smith, children of Preserved Smith. Aunt Rhoda, Green said, was fashioned after Rhoda Cook of town, a singer and herb gatherer who lived from 1759 to 1852. Badger Pond was based on Richard’s Pond in Warwick. Green continued that the late Katherine Bass, a Warwick resident, knew which character was based on which real person in town and left a list for the society stating this.
The books also tie in colonial history from outside the area as well. “The farmers of Hackmatak (Warwick) knew the battle of Bunker Hill had begun because they could feel and sense the cannonballs through the ground, they sensed it very strongly.” Green said.
In 2013, Green said, as part of the town’s bicentennial there was a public reading of Smith’s Hackmatack books, with townspeople invited to read portions of the books aloud.
The Warwick Historical Society is currently closed for the season and will reopen again in July 2023. More information about the society can be found at their website www.history.town.warwick.ma.us.
Carla Charter is a freelance writer from Phillipston. Her writing focuses on the history of the North Quabbin area. Contact her at cjfreelancewriter@earthlink.net.