eventsatfmpl

Chief Justice (1972-1984) Allan M. Hale, the first chief justice of the Appeals Court, was born in Plymouth in 1914 and lived in Middleborough for almost his entire life. He graduated from Northeastern University School of Law in 1939; he attended law school in the evenings while working days for the New Haven Railroad and the Curtis Publishing Company. For many years, Justice Hall practiced law in the Col Peter H. Peirce House. Chief Justice Hale practiced law in Middleborough until 1942,...

In 1968, Attorney George Decas purchased the historic Colonel Peter H. Peirce House at 132 North Main Street in Middleborough, Massachusetts. Decas was not only a respected lawyer, being a partner in the firm Decas, Murray, and Decas, but also a passionate local historian. He authored a book on the Peirce family and avidly collected artifacts connected to Middleborough’s rich past. One of Attorney George Decas’s greatest interests was the work of Cephas Thompson. Cephas Thompson (July 1, 1775...

In 1901, Thomas S. Peirce, the last surviving heir of Peter H. Peirce, made a lasting gift to Middleborough by including funds to build the Middleborough Public Library in his will. With the assistance of local historian Michael Maddigan, the Friends of the Middleborough Public Library learned of an interesting detail about the library’s location: the building actually sits on land that was once part of Peter Peirce’s property, specifically where Peirce’s squash patch grew. This...