HAMPSHIRE COUNTY

ILLUSTRATED BOOKLET with COLORED MAP

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 Booklet, 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 booklet, sold exclusively on eBay, is printed one-sided on 60# paper, with the print enlarged for easier reading. Clear vinyl sheets have been added to protect the covers.

INSERTED IN THE BOOKLET is a color copy of the 1939 Map of Massachusetts.  Originally published by Dorr.Howland & Co. to accompanied the Barber book, the reprint is on a parchment-like paper to simulate the original and could be removed and trimmed for framing, if desired.

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 booklet 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 booklet 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 mentioned 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.

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 in size.