Everything was calm in town on the evening of Feb. 28, 1919, but behind the Ray Mill of the American Woolen Company at 301 Union St., something sinister was afoot. In the silence of night 100 years ago, four Italian-American anarchists’ plan went horribly wrong when they found themselves the victims of their own plot to blow up the wool and fabric mill in their effort to stick it to "The Man."

Oddly, the attack was not given much attention. Aside from a few obscure newspaper clippings, it seems to have slipped into the depths of the town’s long history. Resident and town historian Alan Earls recounted the incident through the thorough research he conducted for a Sunday Speaker Series event late last year at the Franklin Museum.