Fugitives, Rebels, Preachers, you may even find a Witch in ...

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY, MA

The early days of Hampshire County, MA, and its various towns and townships are recalled through a mixture of colorful tales and factual data in this NEW 68 Page Book, reprinted primarily from two hard-to-find books: the 1839 edition of Historical Collections of Massachusetts by John Warner Barber, and Massachusetts, a Guide to its Places and People, a WPA project. The spiral-bound book is printed on 60# paper, with the print enlarged for easier reading. Clear vinyl sheets have been added to protect the covers.

Inserted in the book is a copy of the Map of Massachusetts which accompanied the Barber book. The map is printed in black ink on natural parchtex paper. Illustrations  include: Amherst College, Belchertown, Hadley Street in Hadley, Northhamptn (full view), Round Hill in Northhampton, Holyoke Female Seminary, View from Mt. Holyoke, Ware village, and Williamsburg. Most are about 1/3 page.

The communities mentioned include: Amherst, Belchertown, Chesterfield, Cummington, Easthampton, Enfield, Granby, Goshen, Greenwich, Hadley, Hatfield, Haydenville, Holyoke, Lithia, Middlefield, Northampton, Norwich, Pelham, Plainfield, Prescott, Searsville, Shutesbury, South Hadley, Southampton, Swift River, Ware, Ware Center, West Hatfield, West Worthington, Westhampton, Williamsburg, Worthington, and Worthington Corners.

The Barber history covers the development of this area until about 1839, while excerpts from the WPA book, give a nostalgic glimpse from a 1940 vantage point, including interesting historical notes, especially as they relate to sightseeing possibilities.

The many and diverse topics in the book include: Early Settlers and Industries; Amherst College, Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary and other Schools; Tombstone Inscriptions; a "Deer Ride"; William Cullen Bryant, poet, a native of Cummington; Indian Encounters; Escape of "the Regicides" Edmund Whalley and William Goffe and a tale of a Broomstick Fight; Famous Preachers: Jonathan Edwards, Solomon Stoddard, David Brainerd and Joseph Beals; an Indian tale of White Dove and Gray Eagle (overtones of Romeo and Juliet?); Floods, Dams, Reservoirs and the Towns they Inundated; an Accused Witch who Survived Hanging; Daniel Shays Rebellion Against Mortgage Foreclosures; Hatfield's Notable Educators; and other bits of history and trivia.

The book has no index, but surnames mentioned in the 1839 section include:  ASHLEY, ADAM, ADAMS, ALLEN, ATHERTON, APPLETON, ABERCROMBIE, BRECK, BACKUS, BENT, BELCHER, BILLINGS, BRIDGMAN, BROWN, BARDWELL, BRIGGS, BRYANT, BEMENT, BLODGET, BISBEE, BRAINERD, BAILY, BEALS, BALLANTINE, BOIES, BUTLER, CLARK, CHAPIN, COWLES, COLEMAN, CUMMINGS, CROSBY, CLAPP, CHAPMAN, CUTLER, CHAUNCEY, CHAUNCY, CHEVERUS, CAZIER, CABOT, CUSHMAN, CONDIT, COOKE, DANA, DRAPER, DWIGHT, DALEY, DRURY, EDWARDS, ELLIOT, FORWARD, FAIRFIELD, GRAVES, GRIDLEY, GOODMAN, GAYLORD, GRAHAM, GRISWOLD, GOULD, HUBBARD, HOPKINS, HANNUN, HAWKES, HUTCHINSON, HOLMES, HOLYOKE, HALLIGAN, HOOKER, HALLOCK, HAYS, HALE, HUNTINGTON, JANES, JONES, JENNINGS, JUDD, KILBOURN, KENTFIELD, KIMBALL, LYMAN, LATHROP, LORD, LUSK, MOORE, MORGAN, MILLS, McINTIRE, MASON, MARSH MOSELY, MATHER, MERRILL, MOSS, NASH, NEWTON, OLIVER, PARSONS, PERKINS, PEMBERTON, PHELPS, PORTER, PATRICK, PRATT, POOLE, PARKER, PAGE, PIXLEY, POMEROY, ROOT, REED, REID, ROSE, RUSSELL, RICHARDS, RAWSON, SMITH, SALTONSTALL, STODDARD, STEBBINS, STEARNS, SEARLS, STRONG, SPAULDING, TAYLOR, TYLER, TURNER, TILTON, THAYER, TRACY, VANCE, WASHBURN, WARNER, WATERS, WILLISTON, WEBB, WHITON, WHITMAN, WRIGHT, WHITE, WARE, WAIT, WALKER, WATERBURY, WILLIAMS, WOODBRIDGE, WEBSTER, WRIGHT and YALE.

Famous and not-so-famous names in the 1940 section include:  Harold Pease, Capt. Jacob Cummings, Isaac Damon, John Webster, John Russell, Deacon Philip Smith, Levi Dickinson, Major Gen. Joe Hooker, Bishop Frederick Dan Huntington, Ethan Allen, Sylvester Judd, Rev. Enoch Hale, Gen. Hayden, Stephen Meekins, Dr. Daniel Collins, Rhena Meekins, Silas Snow, Samuel Barber, the Putney family, Arthur Warner, Katherine Frazier, Rev. Russell H. Conwell, John Morton Greene, Laura Scales, Rev. Abraham Hill, Samuel Shute, Granther Pratt (1686-1800), James Wood, J.G. Holland, John Francis Clapp, Dr. George E. McPherson, Benjamin Waite, Sophia Smith, Ephraim Williams, Rev. Jonathan Dickinson, Elisha Williams, Rev. Moses Hallock, Charles Dudley Warner, Samuel Williston, Benjamin James, Henry Ward Beecher, Calvin Coolidge, Noah Webster, Helen Hunt Jackson, Emily Dickinson, Eugene Field, Professor Burlingham Schurr, Ray Stannard Baker ('David Grayson'), Robert Frost, Frank Newhall Look, Clyde Fitch, William Butler, Sam Ely, George Cable, and E.H.R. Lyman.

Wouldn't this make a unique gift?

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