Ben Suddard’s family has been oystering in Wareham for more than 100 years, his father and son working the same leases granted to his great-grandfather by Civil War General Stephen Weld.

On Monday night, Suddard shared his family’s story and a bit about Wareham’s oyster past. Suddard spoke in the Old Methodist Meetinghouse during one of the Wareham Historical Society’s monthly programs.

“It was a tough way to make a living,” Suddard said, noting that his family, up until the 1980s, harvested oysters using methods that hadn’t changed much since the early 1900s.

His grandfather, also named Ben, took oysters from Little Harbor and Bourne Cove in boats he built by hand. A pier jutting into Little Harbor was also built by Suddard’s grandfather.

Those leases were given to the family after Weld died in 1920. An oyster lease allows the lease holder the right to raise oysters in the area specified in the lease and are granted by a town or state. Before Weld's death, Suddard’s great-grandfather, Ben Savary, was a boatman for Weld who also worked the leases part-time.

Years later, Rosie Baldwin, Weld’s granddaughter, wrote a book and mentioned Suddard’s grandfather. Suddard read a passage that described his grandfather as “a true, frugal Cape Codder…If we had more industrious, totally honest, live within your income men like Ben, we’d be in good shape.”

In the 1940s, the family had a cottage built near Little Harbor where Suddard learned to oyster as a young man. He went to school to become a teacher and for 15 years taught sixth grade. Eventually, he decided to learn the family business. In 1989,  Suddard took a leave of absence and researched modern oystering practices.

Today, Suddard’s family, including his father and son, both named Ben (though they have different middle names) have 1,200 oyster cages floating in the leases.

Each year, they order 1 million oyster seeds from Maine. Those seeds are grown in upwellers, specially designed devices that provide nutrients and water for the young oysters.

They are then transferred to the cages where they float and grow before the harvest. The family business, B&B Fish Company, then sells the oysters wholesale.

During the talk, Suddard also touched on Wareham’s oyster history. On display was an original map, on loan from the Wareham Free Library, that showed all of the oyster leases on the Wareham River in 1897.

In total, there were 81 leases on the Wareham River alone, said Suddard, including the ones his family still works to this day.