Dedham Tales

June 7, 1935- Irving Millen, Murton Millen, and Abraham Faber are executed in the electric chair at Charlestown State Prison a year after their convictions in the Dedham Court for the murder of a Needham police officer during a robbery at The Needham Trust Company. Faber and the Millen Brothers, all in their early twenties, had begun a short but violent crime spree in the fall of 1933 and winter of 1934, robbing banks and other businesses in the Greater Boston area and leaving four men dead.

The Needham robbery on February 2, 1934 was like a scene right out of a gangster movie, with sub-machine guns blazing and a terrified bank employee hanging on to the running board of the getaway car as it raced through town. Needham police officers Forbes McLeod and Frank Haddock were gunned down by the robbers; McLeood when he responded to the bank alarm and Haddock as he stood with a Needham fireman in front of the Needham firehouse.

After finding the burned out wreckage of the getaway car in a wooded area of Norwood, police were able to trace a battery repair job to Irving and Murton Millen and their friend Abraham Faber. Millen, his 19 year old wife and brother Irving manged to escape to New York, but were captured after a wild gun battle in the lobby of a New York City hotel. Faber was apprehended in Boston. While the brothers and Murton’s young bride rode the famed Yankee Clipper train back to Dedham to face justice, Abraham Faber began to talk. NEXT: The TRIAL

NY Times February 24, 1934

On June 4, 1810, the Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves was founded by group of men in town who were fed up with “the nefarious practice of horse-stealing” in Dedham and the neighboring towns of Norfolk County. Membership gave you the full benefit of the Society’s crime detecting and thief apprehending powers, which consisted mostly of putting up posters and taking out newspaper ads such as this one from 1822:

By the end of the nineteenth century, the usefulness of such a group had lessened considerably, and as other such societies in nearby towns disbanded, Dedham’s began a new life as a social organization. Entertainment was featured at each annual meeting, and charitable donations were made to such groups as the Dedham Emergency Nursing Association. Today the Society is believed to be the oldest such organization still in existence, and will celebrate 200 years of protecting Dedham and Norfolk County at its annual meeting in December. I am proud to be the vice-president of this venerable institution, and invite all of you to join up and do your part to keep our town and county safe from felonious thieves of horse-flesh for the next century.

To read a more detailed history written by Clerk-Treasurer Robert Hanson, and to learn about becoming a member, go to our website: http://www.dedhamhorsethieves.org
Look for more posts about SIDFAHT during this, our bicentennial year!

A member of the 173rd Airborne Infantry Association keeps vigil at the John Barnes Memorial on May 30, 2010.

From Dedham:Historic and Heroic Tales from Shiretown:
John A. Barnes III grew up in the Greenlodge section of Dedham and graduated from Dedham High School in 1964. After graduating, he enlisted in the Army and trained at Fort Benning, Georgia before serving a one year tour of duty in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Bronze star, the Purple Heart and several other medals for valor. Barnes began a second tour of duty in the fall of 1967 in the active central highlands, where he was a grenadier with the 503d Infantry. On November 19, Barnes and his unit came under attack by a battalion of North Vietnamese. When an American machine gun crew was killed, Barnes quickly manned the gun himself, killing nine enemy soldiers while under heavy attack. As he paused to reload, Private Barnes saw a hand grenade land directly in the midst of a group of wounded Americans. In an act of extreme bravery and selflessness, Barnes threw himself on the grenade just before it exploded, saving his fellow soldiers.
Private Barnes was laid to rest in Brookdale Cemetery, and two years later was posthumously awarded the highest military decoration, the Congressional Medal of Honor. A portion of the citation accompanying the medal reads:
Pfc. Barnes’ extraordinary heroism, and intrepidity at the cost of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, are in the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
On April 19, 1970, Memorial Field was rededicated as John A Barnes III Memorial Park. An impressive gathering of dignitaries, V.F.W. members from dozens of towns, and local marching bands processed to the corner of East Street and Eastern Ave., where a marble monument was unveiled. Congressman James A. Burke was one of several speakers who spoke of Barnes’ heroism.

Henry Farnsworth of Westfield St. was one of the first American casualties of World War I, having died in the Battle of Champagne in September, 1915 while fighting with the French Foreign Legion. Farnsworth attended Groton and Harvard, graduating in 1912. He lived a life of adventure in the short time between his graduation in 1912 and his death on the French battlefield, reporting from the Balkan War in 1912 and traveling to Mexico when U.S. troops arrived there in 1914. His exploits in the Balkans were published as “The Log of a Would-be War Correspondent.”

Farnsworth was working in the Boston office of his father, a wool merchant when war broke out in Europe. His need for adventure compelled him to sail to France and enlist in the French Foreign Legion on New Year’s Day, 1915. Soon his unit was on the front lines and in the trenches. He wrote this passage to his mother on March 15: “I long to be with you all again, once the war ends. I think it will be this summer some time; then for the rest and peace of Dedham.”

Farnsworth’s last letter home was dated September 16. On September 28, he was killed while fighting in the trenches outside of Champagne. Many of his fellow Legionnaires spoke of Henry Farnsworth’s remarkable spirit and bravery. His letters were later published by his father and can be found on Googlebooks. In 1920, an elaborate monument was dedicated to the memory of Farnsworth and 130 other foreign Legionnaires killed in the Battle of Champagne. The monument was paid for by the Farnsworth family.

Boston Globe/January 2,1921

Dedham Transcript/May 26, 1960

In the last week in May, 1960, Massachusetts Attorney General Edward McCormack oversaw the removal of an iron “cage” from the courtroom in the Norfolk County Superior courthouse. The cage was actually an enclosure where defendants sat during trial. It was the American version of the British prisoner’s dock, which is still in use in Britain and Canada. The unfortunate design and choice of materials for the prisoner’s dock in Massachusetts gave it the appearance of a cage, and this was frequently observed during the Sacco-Vanzetti trial and appeals in the 1920’s. The cage in the Dedham courthouse looked like an elaborate Victorian ski-lift. It was removed from storage and displayed last year during the 150th anniversary celebration of the Massachusetts Superior Court.

The first picture is a postcard from the early twentieth century; the cage can be seen on the left. The second picture shows Irving Millen, Murton Millen, and Abraham Faber in the cage during their 1934 trial for robbery and murder. The complete tale of their crime is documented in my book.