LYNN — For Lynnfield resident Tom Dalton, a former Lynn Historical Society board member and retired reporter for The Daily Item and The Salem News, history is not just about “dates and numbers.” According to Dalton, it is about storytelling, narration, and preservation of people and their legacies.
And through his new book, “The Hutchinsons of High Rock,” he aims to do just that.
The Hutchinson Family Singers, a popular 19th-century group known for its distinctive four-part harmonies, sang a wide-ranging repertoire of political, social, humorous, heartfelt, and theatrical compositions. The family occupied a sprawling 5.5-acre compound in Lynn comprising several cottages nestled on the southern inclines of the High Rock Reservation.
“Lynn just has so much history,” Dalton said. “Some of the history still stands, but some of it has been torn down. It’s forgotten and I guess I wanted to attempt retelling the forgotten story about a very famous family that lived here.”
Dalton said that the task of writing the book spanned three years and involved delving into primary sources such as diaries, letters, and newspapers, some of which he acquired from the public libraries in Lynn and Lynnfield. He also worked with a designer from the Peabody Essex Museum to create the cover of the book.
After retiring as a journalist, Dalton said he turned to authoring books that bring to life events that unfolded in and around Lynn. His first book was titled “Frederick Douglass: The Lynn Years, 1841-1848” and was based on the time abolitionist Frederick Douglass spent in Lynn.
Dalton’s illustrious career is marked by over a dozen awards from prestigious organizations, according to the Lynn Museum/LynnArts website.
“Narration is what makes history interesting, not dates, facts, and other things,” Dalton said. “But if you can make it a narrative story, it works. I tried to do that when I was a reporter: write the facts, but find a way to make it interesting.”
Dalton said he is dedicated to crafting narratives that bridge the past and the present, making history not just informative but engaging and inspirational.
“I love doing research and I don’t know what I am going to work on next,” Dalton said. “But there’s so many great stories here to tell and I don’t know if I will be able to tell them all, but I think it’s important for those stories to live somewhere.”
