Shrewsbury
Historical Society
Established 1898
Mario - Fats - Caruso
1928 - 1993
Mario - Fats - Caruso
1928 - 1993
Robert Joseph Cormier
1941 - 2003
“Studying the history of Shrewsbury is like a window to American history. It’s amazing how many grand events you read about as you explore the official histories of the time and the histories of the families that were a part of it. I was taking a graduate course at Assumption University in Worcester many years ago on the history of communities and decided to look into the history of Shrewsbury…
I researched the genealogy of everyone who lived in Shrewsbury in the eighteenth century - where they came from and where they went.
I started with Andrew Ward and the genealogical work he had done. I created a sheet for every family and pursued it from there. People like Alden Stone and Henry Harlow shared with me their family copies of Ward’s genealogy with all the handwritten annotations.
And I started… with the A’s. I began by looking up all the wills, administrations and guardianships. I quickly came across a fascinating name, Jolley Allen. He was a merchant in Boston, who escaped with the fleet, was shipwrecked on Provincetown, and ended up as a prisoner in Shrewsbury during the American Revolution. It’s stories like this one, that few people have heard, that make this research so much fun. As I delve into the history, I’m not just in Shrewsbury watching cows being milked and sheep shorn, I’m exploring Boston and the American Revolution and the merchants and what they did.
As you read through the stories, the history of the town starts coming together. Reviewing these documents about people who are faceless to us, you get to experience a part of their lives, the people they loved, the people they quarreled with, the people who were glad to see them go, the people who would miss them for the rest of their lives and the people who learned from them and passed the stories on to us.”
Quotes from Robert Cormier's lecture series "History of Shrewsbury" which he offered for the community.
About Robert
Robert Cormier was Director of Social Sciences at Shrewsbury High School starting in 1991. Prior to that he taught at Grafton High School for 21 years and at Assumption Preparatory School for seven years. He was the coach of several winning track and cross-country teams. A life-long learner and scholar, Robert held a B.A. in History and an M.A. and C.A.G.S. in American History from Assumption College. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1959 to 1963 and was an avid runner completing the Boston Marathon in 1983 and 1984.
Teaching was a true calling for him, and he was admired by colleagues and students alike. His continuing correspondence and contact with many former students indicated his influence on their lives. In 1991 he was awarded a John F. Kennedy Teaching Award for excellence in teaching and curriculum development. Robert served four consecutive terms on the Shrewsbury School Committee from 1971 to 1983 and was Chairman for several years. He also served on the Executive Committee of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC).
Robert devoted a great deal of time to researching primary source documents from American history and he shared this interest and research with his students. In 1984 he was selected from among national candidates to participate in the Virginia Commonwealth University’s Stratford Seminar, and in 1999 he participated in the New York Historical Society’s program for teaching from historical artifacts. In 1994 he was the first public school teacher to be elected as a member in the American Antiquarian Society.
Robert was an elected member of The Colonial Society of Massachusetts and a member of the Worcester History Group and the Shrewsbury Historical Society. He did extensive research in local history, including documenting the original land grants for Shrewsbury and Boylston and the genealogies and everyday lives of local figures of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
After his death, Robert’s widow, Carol Cormier generously donated the Robert Cormier Research files, approximately 32 binders worth of meticulously organized original research, to the Shrewsbury Historical Society Archives. Anyone interested in learning more about Robert’s work can schedule an appointment with the Society Curator.