Editor’s note: Continuing on Little Compton’s 350th birthday celebration, the Town Crier writes of Queens and canes, and their ties to the town’s history.

An article in the July 1975 edition of “The Peaked Top Press,” a newspaper published as part of Little Compton’s 300th anniversary celebration, read “Tercentenary Queen - All female residents of Little Compton between the ages of 16 and 25 are urged to take part in this popularity contest. The winner will be crowned at the Gay Nineties Dance and will reign over the entire celebration period. Long live the Queen!!!”

Penny Passmore won the title of queen, and her court consisted of Debbie Silva, Marisa Parente, Rachel Sisson, Debbie Thurston and Donna Gomez. The queen was crowned by the Rev. and Mrs. David Evans, guests from Little Compton, England. The Gay Nineties dance was held in the Wilbur School Auditorium, with music by the Ed Drew Orchestra, and included a buffet, all for the price of $4 per ticket! The committee for that event comprised Dick and Jean Sisson, Peg and Roy Durfee, and Arnold and Maple Gifford.

The 350th anniversary celebration will also have a queen, albeit chosen quite differently.  On Saturday, August 9 (a very special day in the calendar of events), not only will the Time Capsule from the Tricentennial in 1975 be opened, but other exciting events will be on the program, such as the crowning of the Queen of the 350th. The Queen, this time, will be the oldest female resident of Little Compton, and her court will consist of several 90-year-olds.

The Boston Post Cane

It is particularly fitting that the queen for the 350th anniversary be the oldest woman in Little Compton. New England cities and towns have had a long history of honoring their eldest citizen since 1909 when, as a promotion for his now defunct Boston Post newspaper, Edwin Grazier decided to give a special cane to Boards of Selectman in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire to be presented to the town’s oldest male, which in 1930 was amended to oldest living person. 

The recipient held the cane for as long as they lived, or as long as they resided in that town. No actual information was available from the Boston Post about which 700 towns received the cane, but by July 2016 about 500 had been identified. Many towns across New England still carry on the tradition, although some towns display the original cane in a prominent place and give the recipient a replica.

The canes were made by J.F. Fradley & Company, a New York manufacturer, from ebony shipped in seven-foot lengths from the Congo in Africa. They were cut to cane lengths, seasoned for six months, turned on lathes to the correct thickness, coated and polished. The two-inch head was 14K gold, decorated by hand, and inscribed with the name of each holder. The cane also had a ferruled tip.

Who has held it?

Little Compton has consistently awarded the Boston Post cane since 1909, when it was received from the newspaper. While the original is in safe storage, Little Compton now awards a replica. Little Compton’s 33 recipients include:

Orin W. Simmons (1909-1915)

Borden Wordell (1915-1921)

Otis L. Brown (1921-1929)

John E. Chase (1929-1931)

James P. Simmons (1931-1932)

George H. Brown (1932-1937)

Frank N. Pearce (1937-1938), George F. White (1938-1943)

George F. Bixby (1943-1949)

Gershom Wordell (1949-1952)

Alton B. Wilcox (1952-1963)

Philip W. Almy (1963-1963)

Dr. Arthur W. King (1963-1965)

Edward L. Grinnell (1965-1971)

Isaac C. Bliss (1971-1973)

Atwell F. Carter (1973-1974)

Antone J. Oliveira (1974-1974)

George B. Peckham (1974-1977)

Earl M. Frankland (1978-1983)

Francis Lammer (1983-1988)

Nathaniel B. Davenport (1990-1990)

Kendall S. Reed (1991-1994)

Ruth Strawbridge (1994-1996)

Rose C. Sylvia (1996-1997)

Verena Elizabeth Middleton (1997-2003)

Anne M. Sylvia (2003-2004)

Grace D. Case (2004-2005)

Dorothy T. Almy (2005-2007)

Elsie I.D. Hathaway (2007-2009)

James M. Murphy (2009-2013)

Lois B. Almy (2013-2018)

Helena Brousseau (2019-2022)

Sidney Tynan (2022 to present)