Wayne H. Johnson's Statement

Marblehead, MA -  The following statement answers many of the questions you have asked about the Massachusetts Land Court Order to remove my home of 14-years along side Seaside Park in the Historic Town of Marblehead, Massachusetts.  Please email your Common Sense opinions to Marblehead Town Administrator Tony Sasso at tonys@marblehead.com.




Download Wayne H. Johnson's Statement 7-15-10 from docstoc.
As well, view my latest video "Court Order to Shatter a Life" by clicking on the title or immediately below this post.  You can download a copy of the video by clicking here.  You can get your own copy of Wayne H. Johnson's Statement 7-15-10 by clicking here.
There will be more to come regarding my unbelievable story of the court order to disrupt my life and remove my home of 14-years.  I appreciate your comments and expressions of concern.  Please make Common Sense comments below and do contact Tony Sasso, Marblehead's Town Administrator by clicking his name.

Court Order to Shatter A Life

A COURT ORDER TO SHATTER A LIFE

This is the second of my videos on the Massachusetts Land Court Order to remove my home of 14-years off Seaside Park in the Historic Town of Marblehead, Massachusetts.  Please watch my short expression and let Marblehead Town Administrator Tony Sasso know your Common Sense opinion by clicking on his name and commenting here.



I would appreciate it if you email your Common Sense opinions to Marblehead Town Administrator Tony Sasso at tonys@marblehead.org.
Thank you for your friendship and support.

News Release from Wayne Johnson

This news release announces the release of the first video on the order to tear down my home in Marblehead, Massachusetts, the historic seaside town where I have lived for 33-years.

Wayne Johnson Video Announcement

View more documents from Wayne Johnson.

See "This Beautiful Home Ordered Torn Down" below.
Download the video to share from this link ttp://www.box.net/shared/flhxfgt6q0.

This Beautiful Home Ordered Torn Down

This long holiday weekend we celebrate the birth of the United States of America and I'm blessed to reside in a historic town that played a role in the independence of this great nation.
The video begins discussion of the court order to tear down my home on the edge of Seaside Park in the Historic Town of Marblehead, Massachusetts.



Provide us with some of your Common Sense thoughts on the video.

Common Sense

These words in the introduction to Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” pamphlet gave me pause:

“…a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom.”

As we prepare for the celebration of the independence of our great country the history of Marblehead, MA has a profound meaning to Americans.  My hometown’s official website presents these words in explaining the quaint and old seaside town - 

“…Marblehead, a town in love with liberty and rugged individualism. Its people and history, its crooked lanes and irregular houses, its customs and humor defy conformity and dullness. The irreligious settlers, the adventurous fishermen, the zealous patriots of 1776, the daring privateers of 1812, the clipper ship captains and yesteryear’s fish peddlers imbued their town with a spirit as hardy as the rocky peninsula itself.”

So in keeping with the spirit of my hometown and my country I offer you a downloadable document listing clickable links to government in Marblehead, MA.

The Marblehead Government List

View more documents from themarblehead.

Download The Marblehead Government List

Makes common sense right?

Wayne H. Johnson

FOWEY, CORNWELL, UK

Fowey, Cornwell in June.

Marblehead heritage.  Home of Marblehead settlers.

PULLING DOWN A HOME

Sometime your can't move a house. It is a tragic waste to see a new or historical house demolished, especially when it is your home.

MOVING A HOUSE

Moving a housing, even under the best of conditions, is no easy task. Imagine what it would take to move a house through a neighborhood with narrow streets. Sometimes its might not be feasible to even try to move the house.

RECKONED ONLY A YEAR AT A TIME

I read an old saying that “Marblehead reckoned only a year at a time.” Exactly what that meant to early Marblehead is retold in many of its historical stories.

Alex de Tocqueville (1805-1859) said the Europeans navigated the oceans with prudence. They would set sail in good weather, put into port if there were any problems, roll-up a portion on canvas at night, and record sightings of land. However the Americans, as typified by the Flying Cloud out of Marblehead, were a different lot. Tocqueville felt that  “the American neglects these precautions and braves these dangers. He weighs anchor in the midst of tempestuous gales; by night and day he spreads his sheet to the winds; he repairs as he goes along such damage as his vessel may have sustained from the storm,.. The Americans are often shipwrecked, but no trader crosses the seas so rapidly.” He regarded the actions of these mariners as “a sort of heroism.” (Lord and Gamage, 1972).

However, early Marblehead was not an easy life. It was the ocean that gave it life, and the fishing them their living.  To cut the harshness the “keg’ was too often used for its healing powers.

This “healing” would clash with the public peace. Governor Winthrop would later record, “We kept a court.” And the Puritan tenets of the early court brought a quick and firm response for those who were seen to have abused the use of the “hot water” [beer].

Well, Thomas Gray was caught drinking to excess. The punishment of the court was severe. For his actions the court ordered in 1631 that his “house att Marble Harbor shalbe puld downe, & that noe Englishman shall here after give houseroome to him or entertaine him.”

It is told through town records that Thomas Gray may have been Marblehead’s first welfare recipient. Fortunately for many Marble headers, “empathy for a fellow townsman who was in trouble or wronged was as much a part of them as the swearing and brawling and cussed resistance to outside authority.” (Lord and Gamage, 1972).

WHAT FOR SALE?: Local Farmers Markets

I heard about this poet in Seattle, named Meredith Clark, who writes poems for customers she meets at her local Farmers' Market. My friend thought it was a "nifty" idea [his words not mind], and I agree.

I just happen to live in a community that has one of the best Farmers' Market on the North Shore. Yes, the Marblehead Farmers' Market. You can read about it at http://www.marbleheadfm.com/index.htm.  I noticed that the applications are now on line for this season [June 12 to October 23, 2010] markets.

If you have a chance this season, I highly recommend dropping by the Middle School on a Saturday morning. I can't think of many better ways of starting my day. Until than you just have to be content viewing this video clip of the Marblehead Farmers' Market [courtesy of YouTube and mhlee2020]. Enjoy!

A Brief Tour of MARBLEHEAD, MA

I thought you might like a brief tour of Marblehead, MA. The following video clip, dated in February of 2009, was posted on YouTube courtesy of Coldwell Banker.

HOW I BECAME A MARBLEHEADER

Like many folks before us, how we became Marbleheaders, was a matter of choice.

In 1977, my family included my wife and our two sons ages 6 and 8. We were looking to move to Massachusetts, and as it happen, we were sailors. Naturally, we were attracted to Marblehead, which of course is a beautiful community located on the Atlantic Ocean.

We were delighted to be able to buy a house overlooking the bay from Bubier Road. My family and I moved to Marblehead from Minneapolis in 1977. Our new home was built in 1907 by the developer of the amphibious airplane and we became the third owner. At that time the property provided views of Bakers Island and Manchester by the Sea, to the North East and Boston to the South. We originally had 180-degree views of the harbor and ocean, but because of tree growth in the abutting Seaside Park, and other changes in the neighborhood, our views were altered dramatically since that time.

The neighborhood was a wonderful setting to raise a family. Now, 2010, my family is grown and I am the only one remaining on Bubier road. I now live in a house I built on the adjoining property. That is a story that you may have heard about. In any case, I will tell you more about that in future postings.

For now, enjoy your families and our community.

Welcome to Marvell Head

In a sleepy little ocean port of Fowey in Cornwell, they told the story of a colony in the New World where fish filled the harbor, while dry-footed fishermen walked from one side of the harbor to the other on their large board backs. And later, we have the legend of the “Golden Cod”. The sea has always been an important part of life in Marblehead.

This is part of the early lore of our community, Marblehead. In the 1629, the fishing station, known as Marvell Head, was settled as a plantation of Salem. It was also known as Foy by immigrants from Fowey, Cornwall. These early stories helped attracted the first settlers to Marblehead.

In spite of our early history, and that of “Fowey” immigrants, many Marblehead residents would join the fight of American freedom. You see in the mid-1640s many of the people of Fowey were Royalist. Unlike the Puritans [Parliamentarians], common folks were forced to join a side in the English Civil War based on what army arrived at their town to [forced] recruit them. The result was that Foweys joined the cause of King Charles I.

Many of stories of the strength and resolute of early American women, were told from the experience of Marblehead women. There is the recounting of the capture of Native American prisoner by Marblehead women as retribution for atrocities committed during the King Phillip War, and the stories of fishermen wives’ “vicious and unwavering defense” of their families.

This is our Marblehead, and the folklore and legends that create the lore and legends of our community. Over the next weeks and months, I will share my thoughts about this independent spirit and the strength of the people, past, present, and future, of our communities – Marblehead – and our neighbors.

I invite you to join me by sharing your thoughts, opinions and experiences.

ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE OF MARBLEHEAD