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Somerville and New England History Collection
 
Over 288 Somerville men served in the military during the Spanish-American
War (1898-1899). Among them was Frederick Watson Pierce of 69
School Street. Pierce was a 2nd Lieutenant in M Company of the
Eighth Regiment of Massachusetts Infantry. Lt. Pierce spent
much of the war in Cuba, where, like any good Somervillian,
he bought a lottery ticket (pictured left). The Somerville Public
Library possesses a number of documents and artifacts related
to Lt. Pierce's military service and subsequent life in Somerville,
including his officer's commission, photos of Cuba, and his
diary.
Regarding the lottery: it is doubtful that Lt. Pierce won
anything. As the New York Times noted in an 1898 article on
the Royal Lottery of Cuba, "the man who has won a capital
prize has yet to be discovered."
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