History of Pelham, Massachusetts from 1738 to 1898

“There is no town so poor that its past hasn’t furnished something worth embalming for posterity.” – Boston Transcript, February 23, 1898

This quote stands as the leading page to Chapter1 of a History of Pelham, Massachusetts from 1738 to 1898, Including the Early History of Prescott. The book was originally publishing in 1898, serving as a 158 year history to Pelham and, was reprinted by Heritage Books in 2011. This book tells the local history of a town first settled by immigrant, Presbyterian Scots. The volume cover, among other items, the following:

• Early Settlement of the Town
• Establishment of Schools
• The French and Indian Wars
• The Revolutionary War
• Shays Rebellion
• Sketch of Capt. Daniel Shays
• Church History
• The Rebellion of 1861-5
• Sketches of Notable Men
• Natives of the Town
• Etc. Etc.

According to the author of this work, C. O. Parmenter, records collected in preparing this history mostly include town and parish record books. Unfortuneately, old Presbyterian church records were lost prior to this history’s writing. Such records may have provided greater detail to the personal lives, especially social and family details. Records of marriage intentions, marriages, births, and deaths are the only sources of information for women and daughters. No record of their work was left behind.

Records regarding major events, which involved action by the town, show the results of decision but little of the overall public awareness and thinking behind the decisions. In preparing this history, every town record was read repeatedly in an effort to gleam every possible detail of value. One thing this book does offer is names. There are hundreds of names from the lists of farmers, businessmen, innkeepers, laborers, soldiers and town officers.

The book is large at 531 pages. There are details a plenty and a lot of local historical interest in the stories centered around major events. Massachusetts, as one of the original 13 defecting colonies, played a major part in the French-Indian War, The Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and so on. Add to that the birth of a nation and a religious people and there is plenty here to learn about the birth of a nation, along with genealogical facts about hundreds of people.

History of Pelham, Massachusetts from 1738 to 1898, Including the Early History of Prescott is available from Family Roots Publishing; Item #: HBP1845, Price: $45.08.

Table of Contents

Settlement of Pelham

• North of Ireland Scotchment learn of America
• Memorial to governor Shute of Massachusetts sent by Rev. Mr. Boyd in 1718
• One Hundred families sail for Massachusetts and land in Boston August 4, 1718
• From Boston to Worcester
• Then to Pelham in 1738
• Description of Equivalent Lands purchased
• North of Ireland Scochmen in 1738

Proprietors’ Records 1738 to 1743

• First meeting of Proprietors held at Worcester February 26, 1738/9
• Articles of Agreement for purchase of land made and indented October 20, 1738
• Survey of the tract purchased with plan of the same and names of those who drew Home Lots
• First meeting of Proprietors held on the newly purchased tract first called Lisburn, August 6, 1740
• Various meetings of Proprietors previous to the Incorporation of the Town 1743
• Meetings of Proprietors’ organization until 1767

The Communion Token

• Distributed to Members on Lecture Days
• Gathered Again After Communion Service

Incorporation of the Town of Pelham—Town Meeting Records, From 1743 to 1763

• First Town Meeting held April 19, 1743, at the call of Robert Peibols
• Full list of Officers Chosen
• Voted to Establish Schools in 1744
• Annual Town Meeting Records
• Petition to General Court to Legalize Acts of Town Officers in 1753
• Invoices Given in for Taxation in 1760
• The Town Presented at Court in 1762 for “Voluntarily Omitting and Neglecting to Provide Themselves with a Learned and Able Orthodox Minister”
• Illegal killing of Deer in 1763, and Penalty therefor,

From 1763 to 1776

• Call of Rev. Richard Crouch Graham to Settle in 1763
• Objectors Thereto
• Warning of Objectionable Families to Leave Town
• Pewing the Metting house in 1766
• Allotment of Pews
• Disagreement with the Shutesbury Selectmen About Town Lines in 1769
• Town Vendue in 1769
• Death of Rev. Mr. Graham in 1771
• Rev. Andrew Bay Supplies the Pulpit in 1772
• Patriotic Response to the Boston Committee of Correspondence, 1773
• Call to Rev. Nathaniel Merrill in November, 1774
• Letter of a Pelham Man in the Army at Charlestown, 1775
• Committee of Safety Chosen 1776
• Handbill from the Court of Independency 1776

From 1777 to 1786

• Valuation of Property for Taxation Established 1777
• Rev. Mr. Merrill’s Appeal 1779
• Large Increase of Salary 1780
• Measures Taken to Secure Men for the Army 1781
• Bounties Offered
• Action Taken to Procure Beef for the Army
• Daniel Shays on Committee of Safety 1781
• Selectmen Refuse to Call a Town Meeting 1782
• Trying to Settle with the Three and Six Months Men 1783
• Allowance to Soldiers in the Late War 1785
• The Town Votes to Have a Bank of Paper Money Made 1786

From 1786 to 1797

• Petition of certain inhabitants of Belchertown in 1786 Convention at Bruce’s Tavern, July 31, 1786
• Mutterings about “Grievances” in Town Meeting
• Delegates to Convention at Hatfield in August, 1786
• Second Parish Organized 1786
• Choice of Delegates to Attend Constitutional Convention, 1787
• First Justice of the Peace Appointed, 1788
• Families Warned to Leave Town in 1790-91
• First General Appropriation for the Poor, 1790
• Support of the Poor First Sold to Lowest Bidder 1794
• Laying Out Road to the Valley, 1795
• Stipulation Concerning the Poor, 1797

From 1797 to 1809

• Transfer of Pews in the Old Meeting-house, 1798
• Permission Voted to build “Horse Shades,” 1799
• Sale of Town Lands at Vendue, 1801
• Opposition to the Building of Turnpike, 1802
• A Town Pound Established, 1804
• Robert Lotheridge Sells His Pew in the Old Meeting-house
• voted to hold one-third of the Town Meeting in the Second Parish, 1805
• Attempts to have the Toll-gate Abolished, 1806
• Samuel and Andrew Hyde Petition to have their Lands Set Off to Amherst, 1807

From 1809 to 1815

• Two Candidates for Representative to the General court, 1809
• Taxes Upon the People, 1809
• The Abercrombit Brothers, Isaac and James, Candidates for Representative, 1810
• The 6th Mass. Turnpike Corporation Tries to Discontinue Their Road Through Town, 1810
• County Road to Enfield Laid Out, 1811
• Governor Petitioned to Restore the Two Military Companies to their Former Regiments, 1812
• Fear of a Draft for the War of 1812
• Wages of Detached Soldiers Raised, 1814
• The East Parish asks to be Set Off as a Town by Itself, 1815

From 1815 to 1824

• New Pelham
• Order of Notice from the General Court to Show Why the Prayer of the Second Parish Should Not be Granted, 1819
• The Town votes Against Revising the Constitution, 1820
• The Last Act of Opposition to Setting Off the Second Parish
• The Town Rejects All of the Eleven Amendment to the Constitution, 1821
• Large Number Supported by the Town in 1822
• Sale of Common Lands and Proceeds go for Repairs on the Meeting House, 1823

From 1824 to 1861

• Council Called to Dismiss Rev. Winthrop Bailey in 1825
• Great Flood of 1828 Does Damage
• Ziba Cook Elected Representative by One Majority in 1829
• Stove Used in Meeting House for the First Time in 1831
• New Town Hall Wanted in 1835
• Money Secured from the United States Treasury in 1837
• Wanted to Change the Name of the Town in 1840
• Libraries Established in 1842
• Scheme for Two Town Halls in 1842
• Old Meeting House Changed for Town Hall in 1844
• Old Meeting House Rented in 1846
• Many Candidates for Representative in 1850-51
• Voted to Surrender the Charter in 1854-56
• Enrolled Men in 1861

From 1862-1897

• Action for the Relief of Soldiers’ Families, 1862
• Draft for Men in 1863
• Heavy Taxes After the War
• Number of Schools Reduced from Eight to Four in 1874
• Few Town Meetings Annually After That
• Blizzard of 1888
• Death of Sylvester Jewett, 1892
• History of the Old Meeting House

Schools—From 1744 to 1897

• Establishment of Schools in 1744
• School committees
• Appropriations of Schools for Each Year from 1744 to 1897

Mills, Manufacturies, Etc

• Lands for Mills, 1739
• Corn Mill, 1735
• Stinson’s Sawmill, 1760
• Hamilton’s Sawmill, 1785
• Barlow’s Sawmill, 1787
• Town Takes Action, 1791
• Mills Built on Home Lot 56, 1803-4
• Many Owners of Mills in the Hollow
• Stephen Fairbank’s Carding Machine, 1815
• Shoe Peg Business on Pergy Brook
• Land for Mill at West Pelham, 1739
• Scythe Shop and Foundry
• Carding Machine, 1808
• Jillson’s Mills, 1820
• Various Owners of Mills
• Fishing Rod Business, 1858
• Montague City Rod Co
• Brown’s Turning Shop
• Charcoal
• Stone Quarries
• Miscellaneous Manufacturing
• Innkeepers and Retailers
• Merchants
• Justices of the Peace
• Physicians
• Blacksmiths

Religious Societies

• The First Presbyterian Church History gathered from the town and parish records, the old church records having been lost or destroyed
• From the Records of the Second Presbyterian Church and Parish of Pelham from 1786 to 1822
• Confessions of Faith
• Records of Church at Pelham Center from 1822 to 1897
• Quakers or Friends
• Baptists at Packardville
• The Methodists, Beginning with the Labors of Rev. Isaac Stoddard in 1831
• Union Society at Packardville Organized 1869

Rev. Robert Abercrombie and the Church at Pelham

• Stephen Burroughs, The Suppliers
• Obtained a Situation as Supplier in Spring of 1784
• Preached Acceptably Four Sundays
• Reengaged for Four Months
• Read an Old Sermon at a Funeral
• Given a Text from which to Preach with Little Time for Preparation
• Proved his Ability to Preach Extempore
• With One Sunday More to Preach was Found to be and Imposter
• Fled in the Night
• Pursued by the Indignant People
• Fracas at Rutland
• Came Back to Pelham in the Night to His Friend Lysander
• Passed Counterfeit Dollars in Springfield and was Imprissoned
• The Hay Mow Sermon

Pelham in the Wars

• French War
• Revolutionary War
• War of 1812
• Mexican War
• The Great Rebellion
• A Full Company of Men in teh French and Indian War, 1757
• Opening of War of Revolution
• Ironclad Oath of Pelham Men
• Capt. David Cowden’s Company of Minute Men April 19, 1775
• Old Muster Rolls
• Names of Men
• The March to Cambridge in the War of 1812
• Pelham Men in the Great Rebillion
• Sketches of the Men and the Regiments in which they Served

The Shays Rebellion of 1786-87

• Capt. Daniel Shays, a Pelham Man
• Gathering of Debt Burdened Men in Conventions
• Lists of Grievances Formulated
• Opposition to Lawyers in General Court
• Opposition to Sittings of the Courts
• Terms of Court Prevented by Armed Men
• Court Houses in Possession of Armed Insurgents
• Gov. Bowdoin Calls Out the Militia
• Warrants Issued for Arrest of Insurgent Leaders
• Gen. B. Lincoln Given Command of Militia
• Gen. Shepherd’s Detachment Guarding the Arsenal at Springfield
• Shays Marches to the Attack
• Repulsed
• Several Men Killed
• Flight of Capt. Shays and Men to Pelham
• Gen. Lincoln Pursues
• Shays’ Men Dispersed at Petersham

Captain Daniel Shays

• Born at Hopkinton
• In the War of the Revolution
• In Pelham After War
• A Friend of Landlord Conkey
• Met Debt Burdened Men at Conkey’s Tavern
• Drilled them in Use of Arms
• Became Rebel Leader
• Fled from the State
• Was Pardoned in 1788
• Removed to State of New York
• Did not Prosper in Business
• Drifted to Livingston County
• Died in 1824 After Living in Extreme Poverty at Sparta

Settlement of Salem, N.Y., by Pelham People in 1764

• James Turner and Joshua Conkey First Settlers of Salem
• Journeyed Through the Forests of Foot in 1761
• Took Up Lands
• Went Back to Pelham for the Winter
• Made Permanent Settlement in 1764
• Hamilton McCollister Joined the Pioneers
• The Settlement Known as New England Colony
• Were Men of Character
• Had Highest Esteem for Religion
• First Sermon Preached was in the Cabin of James Turner

Professional and Business Men, Natives of Pelham

• The Record a Good One
• Have made their mark as Professional and Business Men in Many States
• Wells and Edward Southworth, Business Men
• Daniel, James and Austin W. Thompson, Leading Physicians of Northampton
• Ira P. Rankin, Business Man and Government Officer, San Francisco
• Dr. James Dunlap of Northampton
• Dr. Harvey Wilson Harkness, Scientist, San Francisco
• Judge Ithamar Conkey of Amherst
• Col James N. Smith, Railroad Builder, Brooklyn
• Nathaniel Gray, San Francisco
• Rev. Aldin Grout, Missionary
• William Smith Otis, Inventor, Etc.
• Dr. Israel H. Taylor of Amherst

John Savage and John Stinson

• Prominent Citizens of Pelham in the Middle of the 18th Century, but not Natives of the Town

Concerning the Women of Pelham

• Reputation for Industry
• They Introduced the “Little Wheel” for Spinning Flax
• They Taught Its use
• They Spun and Wove Linen
• Also Wool, and made the Cloth into Garments
• Made Domestic Braid from Rye Straw
• Braided or Platted Palm Leaf into Hats
• Wove Palm Leaf into Webs for Shaker Hoods
• Marriages
• Published Intentions of Marriage
• Births
• Form of Death Record
• Etc.

Mount Lincoln

• Description of the Mountain
• Many Towns Seen from its Summit
• Beacon Fires During the Revolution
• Station for Geodetic Survey
• Heighth Above Tide Water
• Uncle Reuben Allen

Old Burial Places

• A Sketch of each of the Eleven Burial Places of Pelham
• The Old Burial Ground at the Center
• The West Burying Ground
• The Quaker Burying Ground
• The Arnold Burying Ground
• The Johnson Family Burial Places
• The Smith Private Burial Ground
• Burial Ground near George Knight’s
• Packardville Burying Ground
• The Valley Cemetery
• The West Pelham Burying Ground
• The Cemetery on the Prescott side of the East Hollow

Taverns and Landlords

• The Taverns of Thomas dick
• The Conkey Tavern
• Dr. Hind’s Tavern of Pelham East Hill
• Kingman’s Tavern o the West Hill
• Cook’s Tavern
• The Orient House
• Hotel Pelham

Old Advertisements, Etc.

• Stray Cattle and Horses
• Taken in Damage and Otherwise
• Clear Description of Animals
• “Marks for Creaturs,” Posting of Warrants for Town Meetings

Stories—Pleasant and Otherwise

• De Rex vs. Hyde
• Rev. Robert Abercrombie and the Church Committee
• Rev. Dr. Parsons of Amherst and the People of Pelham
• Farmer Harkness and the Traveler
• Crimes
• Prince Dwelly Loses
• His Life
• Charles Stetson Shot April 11, 1881
• Marion Montgomery Kills His Son December 26, 1882

Sketch of Henry Pelham—1969-1754

• From Memoirs of Henry Pelham, by William Coxe, Vol. 2, 301-304

Representatives to the General Court—502-503

Town Officers

• Moderators of Annual Town Meetings
• Town Clerks
• Town Treasurers
• Town Selectmen
• 1763 to 1898 Inclusive