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Liz Kendall
May 193 min read
Charity Bush Ely (1836-1867)
Charity Bush Ely Collection of the Longmeadow Historical Society Born in the Connecticut River Valley town of Whately, Massachusetts,...
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Lenny Shaker
Mar 22 min read
Mary Ann Booth: Photomicroscopist
Mary Ann Allard Booth was born on September 8, 1843 to Rhoda and Samuel Colton Booth of Longmeadow. She was a direct descendant of the...
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Betsy McKee
Feb 162 min read
Who is the Mysterious Lady in the Portrait
The portrait, an oil on poplar board, is of an older lady with glasses, identified as "Harriet Ford Bull Lawton, 1700." Seems pretty...
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Betsy McKee
Sep 21, 20233 min read
Can you spell Silhouette?
Silhouette, like daguerreotype, is a word I always pause over when writing. No surprise that both terms were named after...
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Betsy McKee
Aug 17, 20234 min read
Longmeadow Go West! Persis and John Burt
Faithful readers of this blog may recall an article written by Beth Hoff on March 25, 2021 titled "Westward Bound," about the adventurous...
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Betsy McKee
May 18, 20232 min read
Alice F. Willard
Alice F. Willard 1866-1946 Alice Faith Willard, daughter of Mason and Aurelia Coomes Willard, was born in 1866 and was a lifelong...
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Betsy McKee
Mar 30, 20232 min read
Martha Chapin Goldthwait (1863-1934)
Faithful readers will be familiar with the name Goldthwait from previous History Notes, including a recent one about the return of a...
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Melissa M. Cybulski
Jan 5, 20236 min read
"Prepare- for follow me you must"
A simple gravestone in Longmeadow Cemetery from 1720, with a classic inscription, warns passersby to consider their own fates. It marks...
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Melissa M. Cybulski
Dec 21, 20223 min read
Sarah A. Coomes Colton's Paintings
Two charming folk art paintings in the collection of the Longmeadow Historical Society bear the hallmarks of the kind of work educated...
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Melissa M. Cybulski
Nov 21, 20222 min read
Rachel Lawton: Suffragist
Much is written of famous early pioneers of the movement like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Without question, their role...
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Melissa M. Cybulski
Nov 19, 20222 min read
Say Their Names
Anyone who knows and loves the soundtrack from the musical Hamilton knows how haunting the final verse of the final song is, “who lives,...
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Betsy McKee
Nov 18, 20223 min read
"While her fingers o'er this canvas move"
"Jesus Permit the Gracious name to stand As the first efforts of an infant's hand And while her fingers oe'r this canvas move Engage her...
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Melissa M. Cybulski
Nov 13, 20223 min read
A Letter from Mary Lyon....
South Hadley, Aug 26.1847 My dear Miss Bliss, Won’t you be willing to go to Virginia to teach? It’s a place where Miss Moore taught this...
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Betsy McKee
Oct 27, 20222 min read
Jerusha Mather Williams Colton (1783 - 1844)
Jerusha Mather Williams was born in 1783 to Ensign Samuel Williams and Lucy Burt. Jerusha's grandfather was the Reverend Stephen...
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Melissa M. Cybulski
Oct 25, 20222 min read
Grace Trowbridge Smith's Scrapbook
This History Note shares a page or two from a scrapbook in our collection once belonging to Miss Grace Trowbridge Smith. It sheds light...
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Melissa M. Cybulski
Oct 24, 20222 min read
Rachel Lawton: Suffragist
This History Note shares the story of one Longmeadow woman's role in the fight for women's right to vote. Recent reminders that 2020...
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Betsy McKee
Oct 24, 20221 min read
Alice F. Willard 1866-1946
Alice Faith Willard, daughter of Mason and Aurelia Coomes Willard, was born in 1866 and was a lifelong resident of Longmeadow. When she...
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Melissa M. Cybulski
Oct 24, 20222 min read
Sarah Storrs, 1832-1907
Today's History Note tells the story of an unsung hero of Longmeadow's cultural life, Sarah Storrs. The Storrs name is a recognizable one...
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Betsy McKee
Oct 24, 20221 min read
Irinda Colton (1803-1870)
This History Note introduces us to an 1820's shopkeeper, Irinda Colton, of Longmeadow. She operated her own shop on State Street in...
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Beth Hoff
Oct 23, 20222 min read
Boarding House for Newell Button Factory Employees
This History Note shares information about the Boarding House for Newell Button Factory employees. The 1860 census inspired this...
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