Frances Florindo of the Rochester Historical Society doesn't just study the local history: She's a part of it.

"I was born right up the road in my grandmother's living room," said Florindo.

Florindo was on hand at the Wednesday, April 17 meeting of the Historical Society to read from the papers of Lawrence Clifton (L.C. for short) Humphrey. Humphrey, born October 6, 1864, was the Rochester town assessor for many years as well as a successful farmer.

His farmland, where he raised sheep as well as dairy cows, now serves as the Rochester Golf Course.

The papers were compiled from interviews conducted with Humphrey by Judy Gurney and Marty Gifford in the 1950s, but Florindo and other audience members - including Humphrey's great-granddaughter Karen Chase - were there to provide firsthand accounts of the man who is remembered well in Rochester.

"Mr. Humphrey, every Sunday he would come to town in his fancy buggy," said Florindo. "They say men can't talk like ladies, but I got news for you!"

Florindo went on to tell an anecdote of the time her grandfather and Mr. Humphrey were having a chat and her grandmother was attempting to call her grandfather in for supper. But he wasn't done with his story.

"Sam (her grandfather) had his foot on the little [buggy] paddle, because he was determined to finish his story," and hopped along as the buggy pulled away Florindo said, eliciting a chorus of laughs from the local history buffs crammed into the tight quarters of the East Rochester Church/Museum basement.

The papers detail his memories of Rochester, from the annual sheering of the sheep, to the roosters he swears folks all the way over on Cape Cod could hear.

Humphrey's great-granddaughter Karen Chase was very young when he passed away, but remembers him fondly.

"He was the kind of person who knew everybody, and everybody knew him," said Chase. "Loved to talk, loved company."

According to Chase, the dairy farm was sold around World War II when her great-grandfather was too advanced in years to be able to operate it. He sold it to Raymond White, and it still (sort of) exists in the form of White's Farm Dairy in Acushnet.