A Legacy Forgotten - Editorial
The Enterprise recently received a call about Amrita Island, which prompted one of our reporters to delve into the archives to learn more about the Baxendale family’s legacy. What the reporter discovered, however, left us with more questions than answers.
Thomas A. Baxendale and his wife, Esther M. Baxendale, once owned the land now known as Amrita Island, nestled in Cataumet’s Squeteague Harbor. Mr. Baxendale made his fortune manufacturing the box-toe shoe, and he and his wife, a longtime president of the Brockton Humane Society, purchased the land in the 1890s. They built a home for themselves called Island Haven near the tip of Amrita Island, along with a few other homes, cottages, pavilions and a stone mausoleum. The couple relished in the beauty of their home and worked hard to maintain its many acres as a sanctuary for animals, children and those with curious minds. For the Baxendales, education and welfare for animals and children were paramount concerns.
Ms. Baxendale said as much in a letter to the Enterprise published on December 17, 1910: “It has been our purpose and intention to set apart Amrita Island as a perpetual memorial. It will be in the nature of an educational foundation for the benevolent culture of the heart and mind, as a means of bringing about the enlightenment and ennoblement of humanity, and the highest good of harmless animal life.”
The couple had no children but filled their island with visiting friends and professors, who would often tutor Mr. Baxendale in various subjects. Despite having never received any formal education, Mr. Baxendale and his wife were major proponents of Harvard University—so much so that upon Mr. Baxendale’s death in the early 1910s, his wife organized their will so that Amrita Island, Island Haven and some adjacent properties on the mainland be left in the care of Harvard. The 1914 establishment of the Baxendale Memorial Foundation by Ms. Baxendale was intended to secure their legacy as lovers of all creatures and nature, dedicated to the education of those seeking it.
In giving the land to Harvard, Ms. Baxendale, who died in 1926, stipulated that Harvard preserve the land as a permanent Baxendale memorial and establish a free summer program promoting education in child and animal welfare. It is worth noting that Ms. Baxendale was a close friend and associate of Anne Harris Smith, the founder of the Animal Rescue League of Boston.
Harvard, it turns out, did not think the stipulations of the agreement fit its mission and transferred the trust to the Animal Rescue League of Boston in 1934. According to various articles published by both the Enterprise and Cape Cod Life Publications, the Animal Rescue League, under the terms of the will, established a summer school to train teachers in humane work. The homes were used to house guests who came for conferences and programs, and a summer school/camp for children was established. Animal lovers from near and far flocked to Amrita, and it seemed to be the haven its late owners intended it to be.
That is, until the Animal Rescue League ceased to uphold its end of the bargain. In the 1950s, the children’s school was moved from the island to the mainland, off Megansett Road, before it closed altogether in 2007. Over time the land on the island became too expensive for the Animal Rescue League, so it was divided up and sold. All of the homes, which once housed visiting academics and nature lovers, are now privately owned. The land is still a designated nature sanctuary, with signs posted on poles just before the stone bridge entrance to Amrita, but today’s Amrita Island is likely not what Ms. Baxendale was envisioning when writing her will nearly 100 years ago.
The mausoleum on Amrita Island—the final resting place of Mr. and Ms. Baxendale—is still owned by the trust, but according to documents from Plymouth Probate Court, there is a petition to terminate the trust and transfer its properties to a trust controlled by the adjacent homeowner. One stipulation of Ms. Baxendale’s will required that an annual memorial service be held in her husband’s honor at the mausoleum. It is unclear if any such service has ever been held.
The land that once hosted lectures preaching humanity to animals, housed many a curious guest and taught children about nature is now made up of single-family homes, just like any other neighborhood. Those seeking the beauty of Amrita Island, the same view that Thomas and Esther Baxendale were so determined to maintain for generations of both humans and animals to come, is no longer accessible to those wishing to explore or learn.
It is hard not to feel sorry for the Baxendales, a couple who faithfully willed both their land and their vision to constituents that they hoped would uphold their mission of promoting education, humanity and preservation in perpetuity. And frankly, it is puzzling that this happened at all. Where is the accountability from the involved parties? Why was the Animal Rescue League allowed to sell the land in the first place? And why were the final wishes of the Baxendales so blatantly disregarded?
In 1986, Dianne Y. Rittmuller wrote an article about Amrita Island for the Enterprise; the following excerpt, though a bit melodramatic for today’s tastes, still rings true:
“Instead of an inconsequential six acres of rock, sand and tree,” she wrote, “I see a lady deceived, the promises made to her floating away like flowers cast on Squeteague Harbor, whose quiet waters are her only and perpetual comfort.”