December 24, 2014
………………..Middleboro: - An unusual fund raising venture is being employed by the Friends of
Middleborough Cemeteries, Inc.,, a 501C3 tax exempt organization. The group is attempting to
get citizens of the town to run for the title of Honorary Mayor.
……………….Each honorary mayoral candidate must select a famous or infamous person from the
history of Middleboro as their Deputy Mayor.
…………The candidate must acquire a minimum of 20 signatures from local residents on their
nomination papers. Each dollar a candidate raises campaign funds through events or other
methods will go to the Friends committee. A vote for a candidate will cost one dollar and the
most/votes raised will earn the title as Honorary Mayor.
………….Dick Tinkham, former town water superintendent, has shown an interest. He has selected as
his running mate, Simeon L. Nickerson, the World War One hero, who was Killed In Action on
July 23, 1918 with two others, Corporal Michael J. O’Connell and Private Thomas A. Ryan,
volunteered to deliberately draw machine gun fire to ascertain the location of the gun. Their
heroic actions, according to military records, “saved the lives of a great many others.”
…………The men were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously, the military’s second
highest honor. Middleboro’s Post 64 is named after Nickerson and the members have been
researching military records and are of the opinion that the men should have received the
Medal of Honor. ………………………………………(Posted by Bob Lessard Historian 2014)
View more history for Post 64 in Middleborough, Massachusetts
