A look back at Saugus History

The town’s First Police Chief – Charles O. Thompson – began his duty in the basement of Town Hall

By Janice K. Jarosz

When any longtime Saugonian resident hears the names Mansfield, Joy, Stuart, Forni, Peters or Ricciardelli, the profession of police chief comes to mind. But what about the name Thompson? How many of you are familiar with the first Saugus Police Chief, Charles O. Thompson, hired with nothing more than a small drawer in someone’s desk, somewhere in the basement of our Saugus Town Hall.

I had never heard of him either until George Brown lent me an original Policemen’s Ball Program with Mr. Thompson’s picture in it. The date was 1905 and Thompson was not only the Chief of Police in Saugus, Mass., but also Chairman of the Ball Committee and President of the Police Relief Association.

In 1890, with a population of 3,673, there was no organized police force in Saugus. A constable named Charles Clark was in charge of law and order. In the annual Saugus Town Report, Mr. Clark listed the following arrests for 1890: “A total of 18 consisting of 9 for assault and battery, 6 for drunkenness, 1 for non-support of family, 1 for stealing and 1 for surrendering of his bondsperson.”

With the increase of population to 4,497 in 1894, and after a nationwide search, Mr. Charles Clark appointed his brother Francis F. Clark, a court officer, to add to the “police force.”

The police – otherwise known as the Clark brothers – submitted the following arrest record dated 1894: “Number of arrests eighty-one, with the major portion of thirty-three attributed to drunkenness; riding bicycles on sidewalks fourteen, assault and battery eleven; being present at a cock fight four; present at game cards on the Lord’s Day three; cruelty to animals four; embezzlement one; bastardy one; larceny from a building one; using threatening language one; person arrested on a capias two; and liquor was found in five places.”

The receipts from the court ($509.00) nearly paid for the services of the police, otherwise known as the Clark brothers.

By the following year, and with the population growing, the citizens of Saugus felt that there was now a need to form a more professional commission, such as a police force. According to a newspaper article of that time, several “solid” citizens of Saugus discovered Mr. Charles O. Thompson, of Cliftondale, and felt that he was just the man needed to organize an efficient police department. Mr. Thompson had been serving as a special, temporary assistant police officer for the past four years – helping the Clark brothers maintain the peace.

Charles O. Thompson was born under the shadow of the Bunker Hill Monument, on Pleasant Street, in Charlestown, Mass., on September 12, 1854. After his schooling, he moved to Lynn to work in a shoe factory. Shortly thereafter, he met and married the former Etta I. Rich and then purchased a home in Cliftondale, where the town fathers found him.

On April 17, 1895, after serving for four years as a special officer and at 41 years of age, he was sworn in as Police Chief and began his official duties at once. The Selectmen who appointed him were J. D. Forestall, Charles F. Clark and Charles Florence.

Chief Thompson was given two assistants – Francis Clark, who was assigned to the Saugus Center area, and Frank W. Joy, who performed police duty in East Saugus – while the Chief was to care for the Cliftondale district. This coalition prevailed for two years until Mr. Walter Pratt was added to the force and Chief Thompson was able to cease the travel of a route. He now became the actual and recognized head of the Saugus Police Department, making his headquarters in Saugus Town Hall. At that time, a little drawer in somebody’s desk sufficed for the storing of all police records.

In the early days of his career, as head of the police department, Chief Thompson was also chief of the fire department. In 1896, other provisions were made, and seizing the opportunity, he moved the police department from the basement of the Town Hall to two rear rooms on the first floor of the Town Hall that he now shared with Judge William E. Ludden. One of his first acts as police chief was to petition the Town in the purchase of an ambulance.

Another concern that he addressed was the serious problem of small jail cells. The three wooden cells in the basement of the Town Hall, constituting detention quarters, measured just five feet and four inches. Knowing that there would be trouble if the police took into custody anyone who stood six feet or more in his stocking feet, he scrimped sufficient funds out of his police department appropriation to construct six commodious cells so that the police station became the most modern in the Commonwealth. Strangely enough, the voters of Saugus did not have a chance to debate the matter until after all the work had been completed.

Another “first” under Chief Thompson was the hosting of the first Grand Ball, sponsored by the Saugus Police Relief Association. The ball was held on Wednesday evening, February 15, 1905, on the second floor of the Town Hall. The program states that a concert would be held from 8 to 9 p.m. along with dancing from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. the dance program listed 22 dances, from the waltz, two step and Polka to the Quadrille, Galo and Portland Fancy! Talk about stouthearted men and women!

The selectmen serving at this time were Chair Henry F. Fiske, Frank P. Bennett and Isaac E. Graves. The Town Manager was H. O. Pratt.

In his report of 1897, Chief Thompson submitted the following: “The force is composed of three regulars and ten special officers as follows: Charles O. Thompson, Frank W. Joy and Walter A. Pratt, regulars. They report to the town hall at 6:30 PM, go on duty at 7:30 PM and stay on until 3:30 AM. The special officers listed: P. A. Flaherty, S.F. Kinney, Roland Mansfield, Thomas Newhall, Charles Blakeley, Justin Mansfield, Dana B. Walker, John Townsend, Robert Chisholm, and James Rea.”

There were 150 arrests in 1897: “Drunk forty-one; assault and battery twelve; breaking and entering ten; non-support two; profane language two; disturbing the peace one; default one; for out-of-town officers three; capias one; pool-selling five; fast driving one; track walking two; larceny three; liquor nuisance two; malicious mischief one; tramps sixteen; vagrants two.” (Imagine there were 16 tramps in Saugus 1897!!)

To be continued: Confronting the “Crazy Swede.”