![]() We all learned to accept the situation…… Especially the radio and the “RED” phone. There were many rewarding, happy, and sad days. It was challenging at times for all of us. These calls were the same as any police department would encounter including a lost child, drugs, break-ins, accidents and suicide. There are many stories of calls that cannot be told here, some intentional in nature, others not. Until a new Police Chief was appointed, the “RED” phone remained at our residence. Buzzy Marion and Sid Wordell followed soon after. These included John Taber, Terry Quick, Charlie Simmons, Bert Chretien, Ronnie Coffey, Barry Wordell, Howard Bradley, and Nick. In time, the town moved the station to the Town Hall, along with the now full-time men in blue. If the call was close by, Nick would handle it himself. If the phone rang at two or three in the morning, Nick would have to dress, get into the police cruiser, drive to the top of Pottersville Hill and call the patrolling officer to inform him of the situation. The biggest problem was communications from our house to the patrol car. He usually had the couple leave under a happier note, with Fred being in tears. Fred Silva was the best under these circumstances. This separation allowed and helped the officer obtain the real story and arrest the proper party. If both husband and wife were brought in, usually the wife was put in our bedroom and the husband stayed in the living room. LITTLE COMPTON DID NOT HAVE A JAIL!ĭomestic disputes were handled a bit differently. After it was signed off by Nick, they drove to the State Police Barracks in Portsmouth to drop off the accused. Strangers, State Police and our own officers were frequent visitors, both day and night.įor those on duty, who had prisoners that were violent or under the influence, their passenger was secured in the patrol car while the officer finished the paperwork. First my housekeeping skills were put to the test. This new arrangement was something to get used to. These orders were not always appreciated or easy to follow! This was so that Nick could follow what was happening. The order to all was “BE QUIET” when it rang. The other attention demur was the police radio, which seemed to go off constantly. If they did, the wrath of Dad would be upon them! Our 3 children, Lisa, Andy and Tracy were given the “TALK”: They were NEVER under any circumstances to go near the “RED” phone, AKA the “BAT” phone, as it was tagged by all three. This old desk, was also the home for Mama Cat’s babies, although not for long. It was placed upon an old desk, dug up from the basement. Nick was appointed acting chief of the department and the “RED” phone was installed in our living room. The new location of the police station was the beginning of an adventure for the Wilbur household! Those part-timers then were Leo Brousseau, Adelbert Gifford, Fred Silva, Herbert Case and Ernie Chretien. Except for Chief Snell, Little Compton only had part-time officers. He became the town’s first full-time policeman. My husband Nick joined the Little Compton police force in 1968 after a 20-year career in the Navy. The station was moved here from Chief Arthur Snell’s house on Maple Avenue in 1975, due to the illness of the chief. However, the best introduction to Little Compton were my years of being a policeman’s wife and housing the Little Compton Police Station in my home on John Dyer Road. This happened by going to church, involvement in Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girls’ Softball League and Republican Party, reporting and writing for two local newspapers, being involved in the PTA, serving as president of the support personnel in the town, and my work days as a Literacy Aide at Wilbur School. If you were not a native, being accepted was sometimes illusive.Įventually I assimilated into town life. I met my first and still my best friend, walking my baby in her carriage on John Dyer Road. Making friends was difficult, to say the least. Houses were not built close to one another in Little Compton. Three kids were piled into a port-a-crib in the back seat of our car, and off we’d go…. I knew noone but my husband’s family.Īs our family grew, I would travel back to my roots quite frequently. My husband was a career Navy man away from home (many times for more than a year). Married woman were not allowed traveling jobs with the company. None that could ever come close to the quaint, quiet, serenity of this land that jetted out into the ocean on three sides. Nothing like the South Shore of Massachusetts, where I went to high school, or Boston, where I worked.įortunate enough to travel throughout New England, as a clerk for New England Telephone &Telegraph Company Yellow Page Division Training Department, I was able to visit many towns and cities. I was 25, in 1963, just married and found myself in a new and different world.
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