Gloucester Poems: Nugents of Rockport 

The Nugent family settled in Rockport, Mass on Beaver Dam Farm where my great grandparents raised a family of thirteen. They owned Good Harbor Beach and a deep wedge of land in Dogtown Common.  The beach was seized by eminent domain. The family abandoned the leased Beaver Dam Farm and George Nugent became the eminence grise of Gloucester politics. His property has been developed as Nugent Farms. My mother, Josephine R, Flynn, was the daughter of a saloon keeper and bootlegger who paid to put her through medical school. During an annual commute from Palm Beach I recorded six hours of colorful family history with her. That was augmented by other family interviews. My uncle Arthur Flynn was a Kennedy appointment to the Federal bench. Another uncle, Jimmy Sullivan was a war hero who grew up with Tip O’Neill in Cambridge. My uncle “Brother” Flynn was an air traffic controller and the last to speak with Joe Kennedy who crashed after a mission over Germany. The book includes Gloucester Poems inspired by Charles Olson.

Patrick Nugent, the scion of the clan

Nugent reunion in Atlantic City

The Nugent clan with my mom as a child

Mary and Patrick Nugent settled in Rockport

Young farmer George Nugent of Rockport

The Nugent farmhouse was torched in the 1920s

My grandfather and saloon keeper, James Flynn

Mom as a flapper

Mom dressed for the prom

Uncle Brother Flynn landed planes in England during WWII

The Nugent family crest

A formal portrait of my family in the 1950s

George Nugent, whose farm included Good Harbor Beach

My great grandmother Mary Nugent

Mom rode the ambulance as an intern

My uncle Arthur Flynn was appointed to the Federal bench by President Kennedy

Uncle Arthur Flynn set up nightclubs for officers during WWII

What's left of the family homestead Beaver Dam Farm in Rockport

The Nugent/Flynn team set a world record

Introduction

The salt air and briny deep of Gloucester, Massachusetts, are in my DNA.

My great-grandparents, Patrick and are Nugent, emigrated from Ireland.  In 1876, they leased Beaver Dam Farm in Rockport, Massachusetts, from the Hawkes family.  Widowed in 1900, Mary abandoned the farm in the 1920s when she retired and moved to an apartment in Gloucester.

Patrick and Mary raised nine boys and four girls, three of whom died in 1913.  Ten of their children had families.  Most left Gloucester, starting with Henry, who relocated to Vancouver around 1910, where he founded a canvas and awning business.  Others left in search of jobs and opportunities.

Today, branches of the family are located from coast-to-coast, north-to-south, and offshore in such disparate localities as Hawaii and Bermuda.  There are now six going on seven, generations since the iconic photo (cover), circa 1910, when all but Henry gathered to pose in front of the stone wall of the farm’s summer kitchen.  My mother, the firstborn of the next generation, is shown in front of her grandmother.

 Originally farmers, they went forth and multiplied.  To a large extent, the ever-expanding family has prospered.  They were a part of the Greatest Generation.  Nugent descendants struggled through the Depression, fought in World War II, attended college on the GI Bill, started families.  They became doctors and veterinarians, a federal judge, businessmen and women, contractors, teachers, housewives, lawyers, farmers, fishermen, and laborers.

Overview & Preview

48 Poems, Six Chapters

375 Pages

There was an annual ritual for Charles Giuliano to drive his mother, Dr. Josephine Rita Flynn, from a condominium in Palm Beach, Florida, to her summer home in Annisquam, Massachusetts.

During one such trip, on May 5, 1986, Giuliano turned on a tape recorder.  Over the next few days, he created six hours of interviews.

Interviews with his mother form the spine of this book.  The story of Dr. Josephine Rita Flynn’s career as a family doctor has been extended to include stories of her siblings, one a federal judge, another an administrator at Harvard Business School, and a third a pharmaceuticals company executive.

The book also includes sections of Nugent and Gloucester Poems which extend a collection of his work from previous books.

The heart and soul of an American family, depicted by a gifted son.

October 2017 Amazon Reader Review

Giuliano explores his deep-rooted historical connection to Cape Ann as a descendant of Irish immigrants Patrick and Mary Nugent.

August 20, 2017  Gloucester Daily Times

Get it Now!

Poet Charles Giuliano, a descendant of Cape Ann’s founding families, presents you with poems and his family’s legacy that lives on along Nugent Stretch in Rockport, MA