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History The Portuguese in Hudson and the Hudson Portuguese Club
The first Portuguese arrived in Boston on July, 1886 on the
bark “Sarah” and went to live in Hudson. The immigrant was Jose Maria
Tavares, from the island of Santa Maria in the Azores. Young Tavares, still
in his teens went to work for Mr. Stow in his farms. Stow is now a town
adjacent to Hudson. In 1887 he sent for his brothers Manuel and Joao who
arrived in May of that year. The Garcias were the first immigrants from the
island of S. Miguel, settling in 1889. Before the turn of the century others
came, mostly from Santa Maria. They were Chaves, Braga, Bairos, Correia, Luz
and Camara. During the next ten years the small colony was further
diversified with immigrants from Madeira as well as others from the Azores.
Couto, Furtado, Sousa, Pimentel, Araujo, Pestana and Grillo were the new
surnames in this town on the Assabet River.
In 1908 the Lodge #19 of the Portuguese Fraternity of the USA
was formed, having as its first president Jose Grillo.
The first Portuguese grocery store was opened to the public
in 1913 by Victorino Bairos and Antonio J. Chaves, with Jose M. Chaves as
Clerk.
In the winter of 1914 a group of 20 Portuguese formed a brass
Band that played for the first time in 1915 with the name Hudson Portuguese
band. This band joined the Portuguese Club in the middle 1920s changing the
name to Hudson Portuguese Club Band. In 1915 a group of immigrants from the island of S. Miguel formed the Holy Ghost Brotherhood.
In 1917 when America went to war, and with a relatively small
number of Portuguese immigrants, Hudson sent 19 Luso-boys to the Armed
Forces in World War I. Of those only one did not come back. Domingos Fortes
was killed in action in the battle of Argonne, France. Fortes had been in
the US less than two years and could barely speak any English.
The first Portuguese Club under the name of Hudson Sport Club
was formed in 1919, with headquarters at 86 Apsley Street. Joao Rio was its
first president. This organization closed its doors in 1922, and joined
another group forming the ‘Clube Portugues de Hudson”, with its
headquarters at 49 Main Street, where it stayed until 1933 when it moved to
the existing facilities at Port Street.
The Club was incorporated in 1928, when late in the year the
land was purchased for the Port Street facility (then at Riverview Road).
The Feast of Our Lady of Fatima started in 1939, when the
Ladies Auxiliary adopted the Virgin Mary as their patron Saint. There has
been a feast in her honor every year since that time. The first chapel was
built by John P. Rio in 1951.
The first soccer teams were established in 1923 known as the
Hudson Portuguese Club and the Madeirense Soccer Ball Team. Faustino Mendes
was the most famous player, to the point of playing on the US National Team.
The first Portuguese immigrant ever elected in the Town of
Hudson was Antonio D. Chaves to the Board of Selectmen in 1977. He was the
second statewide, after Manuel Fernando Neto, in New Bedford. *The research was done by the late Jose M. Chaves In 1939, the Ladies Auxiliary of the Hudson Portuguese Club adopted as their patron saint, Our Lady of Rosary of Fatima, and decided in conjunction with the Club to have an annual feast in Her Honor. The weekend closest to July 13 was, in the beginning, the designated date for such Holy event. It initially consisted of a Sunday procession from the Portuguese Club to the Church. The Club and the neighbors were then participants in Christ the King Parish. A High Mass was celebrated, and the congregants returned in procession to the Portuguese Club grounds. The procession was followed by lunch and a band concert. On Saturday evening there was a musical concert and display of fireworks that attracted thousands of people. In 1951 a chapel was erected by the late John P. Rio, the Club paying only for the materials used in the construction. Near the chapel and the Club, a monument to Peter Francisco, a Portuguese-American revolutionary war hero, was erected and dedicated during Our Lady of Fatima Feast in 1971, with the presence of then Archbishop of Boston Cardinal Humberto Sousa Medeiros. In early 1980’s this chapel suffered extensive fire damage, when the Town’s Light and Power were making improvements to the electric systems in the area. A new and slightly larger chapel was constructed. In 2001 the feast of Our Lady of Fatima was celebrated in a special way, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the erection of the first chapel, and with a special tribute to the memory of John P. Rio António J. Chaves and his wife Margarida, who lived in a house adjacent to the Club, had been for many decades the caretakers of the chapel for which we are all deeply indebted. Today the caretakers of Our Lady’s Chapel are Joaquim and Zaira Pires of Hudson. The Feast of Our Lady of Fatima has been celebrated at different times during the year to maximize the participation of all residents. Since 1998 the date for the feast has been established as the first weekend after Labor Day. The Bands at the Hudson Portuguese Club Our first Brass Band was organized in Hudson by a group of 22 Portuguese individuals in the winter of 1914. After a year of preparation, the “Hudson Portuguese Band” as it was designated, played for the first time in the streets of Hudson, in May of 1915. Its first instructor and leader was Fred Byron, a well-known coronet soloist from the old “Hudson Military Band”. The military Band was under the leadership of a then well known Hudson musician and composer Peter Morse. The Band took part in 1918 in the 50th anniversary of the Town of Hudson. The Hudson Portuguese Band, joined the Hudson Portuguese Club in the middle 1920s, and changed its name to “Hudson Portuguese Club Band”. After playing for more than four decades, the band ceased its activities. In 1977, after a decade of a great Portuguese immigration to Hudson, José and António Frias Figueiredo, who had played for many years in the Banda Recreio Espirituense, in Santa Maria, Azores, were contacted by someone in Cambridge with the news that the Santo Cristo Band in that city, had ceased its operations, and that all of the instruments and written musical materials were for sale for the amount of $1,500.00. The two contacted various musicians and other individuals in the community, and it was decided to go ahead and organize a new band in Hudson. But getting hold of the amount of money needed was the difficult part. The group approached Antonio Chaves Resendes, then president of the Hudson Portuguese Club, who made the decision on the spot for the Club to give the group the needed loan. An instructor, Maestro José Pontes of Cambridge was hired for $50.00, paid by the above-cited José Frias Figueiredo. An agreement with the Club was made that the Band would be part of the Club, and if it ever ceased to exist all its patrimony would revert to the Hudson Portuguese Club. The Band took the name of “Hudson Portuguese Club Recreation Band”. A Board of Directors was formed with the following individuals: António Edmundo Braga, António Dias Chaves, António Chaves Frias, Claudinor Oliveira Salomão, Humberto Melo, and José de Melo Correia. Under the leadership of this group the Band paid its loan to the Club, and manufactured and paid for the band’s first uniform, an impressive green outfit, with yellow trims, and gold buttons. The Band played
various concerts and accompanies the local Portuguese cortèges,
parades and processions, as well as performing in events in many cities
and towns throughout New England. Sports have always played
an important role in the life of the Portuguese Club’s members. The
Club is the repository of a large collection of trophies and memorabilia,
representing the participation in various sports and other cultural
events. These range from soccer, to bocce, music, float contests,
etc. The oldest trophy in existence at the Club was presented to the
Club’s soccer team and is dated July 23, 1922. Not having an appropriate field available for competing, a committee was appointed to ask Mr. Larkin, the owner of Trotting Park (today’s Morgan Bowl), if they could use it for soccer. Mr. Larkin agreed and the group immediately set to clear the brush and trees, and built the field that later became the principal sports venue for the Hudson Public Schools. The purchase of the property off River Street in 1928 provided the ideal opportunity to build a soccer field next to the soon to be constructed Club. The memorabilia case at the Portuguese Club displays the beautiful 1928 trophy, presented by the ”Ladies of the Club” to the Hudson Portuguese Soccer Team- Inauguration of the Portuguese Athletic Field”. Throughout the years, the Hudson Portuguese Club was well known for its excellent soccer teams, and in the early 70’s they adopted the name of ”Hudson Portuguese Club Benfica”. Many trophies show the success of the Club’s teams during this era. In addition to league games, times were that Hudson was in the international limelight, playing against visiting teams like the H.M.S Royal Navy, or the German Navy. Due to the support and friendship of Tony Frias there were many soccer stars that came in contact with Hudson Benfica and its players. Eusébio, Simões, Calado, Artur, just to name a few were considered part of the family. In the 80’s the Club joined what was considered the best league in New England, and one of the best in the country, the Luso-American Soccer Association (LASA). After advancing from second to first division in 1988, the Portuguese Club team won the 1989 LASA Cup, defeating at Sargent Field in New Bedford, Academica of Fall River by a score of 3-1. The game kick-off was by the former Benfica star António Simões, as the special guest of Tony Frias. The cup was presented to Hudson by then New Bedford Mayor John Bullard. Up until last year, the
Club had a men’s open team. Currently, the Hudson Portuguese Club
fields one open women’s team (The Lady Rebels), and three men’s teams:
over 30, over 40, and over 50. The new facilities being inaugurated
include an indoor sports area (gymnasium) for futsall as well as locker
rooms for men and women. The management and care of the impeccably
groomed turf of the soccer field as well as the coordination of all
sports activities, are under the leadership of João Moura,
António Monteiro and Albertino Sousa. |
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