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People and Places

82 People

 Pocumtuck Nation

Pocumtuck Nation
The Pocumtucks were the Native American nation inhabiting the middle Connecticut River Valley when European settlement started.


William Pynchon

William Pynchon (1590-1662)
William Pynchon founded Springfield (then part of Connecticut and much larger than present-day Springfield, Massachusetts) and created a lucrative fur trading network.


 Mashalisk the Old Woman, Mother of Wuttawwalun

Mashalisk, a Pocumtuck woman living in what is now Deerfield, Massachusetts, signed land deeds and tried to have productive trade with the English while keeping traditional lifeways and territory.


John Pynchon

John Pynchon (1626-1703)
John Pynchon of Springfield, Massachusetts, inherited his father's business and political positions, making him the wealthiest and most powerful man in 17th century western Massachusetts.


Reverend Edward Taylor

Reverend Edward Taylor (1642-1729)
Edward Taylor, who owned this English tapestry piece, was a Puritan minister in Westfield, Massachusetts, and an accomplished poet whose talents were not made public until 1939.


Reverend Cotton Mather

Reverend Cotton Mather (1662-1727)
Cotton Mather was one of Puritan New England's leading thinkers and ministers.


Reverend John Williams

Reverend John Williams (1664-1729)
Rev. Williams of Deerfield, Massachusetts, was captured with other family members and townspeople in the 1704 Deerfield raid during Queen Anne's War (1701-1713), and wrote "The Redeemed Captive Returning to Zion" upon his return.


Martin Kellogg, Jr.

Martin Kellogg, Jr. (1686-1753)
Martin Kellogg, Jr., of Deerfield, Massachusetts, was captured twice during Queen Anne's War (1701-1713), and after his second return worked for the colony as a messenger, interpreter, and spy.


Stephen Williams

Stephen Williams (1693-1782)
Stephen Williams was taken captive in the 1704 raid on Deerfield, Massachusetts, during Queen Anne's War (1701-1713), was redeemed, and in adulthood served as minister of Longmeadow, Massachusetts, for sixty-six years.


Eunice Kanenstenhawi Williams

Eunice Kanenstenhawi Williams (1696-1785)
Eunice Williams of Deerfield, Massachusetts, sixth child of Reverend John Williams (1664-1729) and Eunice (Mather) Williams (1664-1704), was taken captive in the 1704 Deerfield raid during Queen Anne's War (1701-1713) and remained with her Kanienkehaka (Mo


Reverend Jonathan Ashley

Reverend Jonathan Ashley (1712-1780)
The Reverend Jonathan Ashley came to Deerfield, Massachusetts, in 1732 as the town's second minister.


Joseph Barnard

Joseph Barnard (1717-1785)
Joseph Barnard was a Deerfield, Massachusetts, merchant at the time of the American Revolution (1775-1783), and also a military captain though he was known as "Ensign Barnard."


John Burgoyne

John Burgoyne (1722-1792)
British General Burgoyne's defeat at Saratoga renewed hopes of American independence for colonists like Colonel Hugh Maxwell of Charlemont, Massachusetts, who brought back this remnant of one of Burgoyne's flags.


Lucy Terry Prince

Lucy Terry Prince (1725-1821)
Lucy Terry Prince, brought as an African slave to Deerfield, Massachusetts, at age five, wrote a renowned poem about a Native attack on Deerfield and lived on a Vermont farm after marrying free African American Abijah Prince.


Salah Barnard

Salah Barnard (1725-1795)
Salah Barnard was a soldier, trader, and farmer in 18th century Deerfield, Massachusetts.


Esther (Williams) Williams

Esther (Williams) Williams (1726-1800)
Esther Williams of Weston, Massachusetts, came to Deerfield, Massachusetts, in 1748 as the second wife of her cousin Dr. Thomas Williams (1718-1775).


Horatio Gates

Horatio Gates (1727-1806)
Horatio Gates was a British Army officer in the French and Indian War (1754-1763), and later switched allegiance to fight for independence in the American Revolution (1775-1783).


Daniel Morgan

Daniel Morgan (1736-1802)
During the American Revolution (1775-1783), Daniel Morgan and his elite riflemen, who would have used the type of bullet pouch shown here, played a key role in several American victories.


Samuel Field

Samuel Field (1743-1800)
Samuel Field of Deerfield, Massachusetts, was a lawyer and delegate to the convention to ratify the U.S. Constitution, and also did other work, like many men of his time.


Persis (Hoyt) Sheldon

Persis (Hoyt) Sheldon (1747-1830)
Persis (Hoyt) Sheldon of Deerfield, Massachusetts, grew up with her nine brothers and sisters in Deerfield's 1699 "Old Indian House" where her father, David Hoyt (1722-1814), kept tavern.


Joseph Stebbins, Jr.

Joseph Stebbins, Jr. (1749-1816)
Joseph Stebbins, owner of this tricorn hat, was a Deerfield, Massachusetts, farmer whose service in the American Revolution (1775-1783) made him a local symbol of revolutionary valor and zeal.


Dr. Elihu Ashley

Dr. Elihu Ashley (1750-1817)
Elihu Ashley was a medical doctor in Deerfield, Massachusetts, in the early years of the American Republic.


John Williams, Esq.

John Williams, Esq. (1751-1816)
John Williams, Esq., graduated from Harvard College, practiced law, and helped his sister Eunice run a general store in Deerfield, Massachusetts.


Justin Hitchcock

Justin Hitchcock (1752-1822)
Justin Hitchcock was a fifer and soldier in the American Revolution (1775-1783) and later made a living as a hatter in Deerfield, Massachusetts.


Timothy Dwight

Timothy Dwight (1752-1817)
Timothy Dwight, grandson of Northampton, Massachusetts, minister Jonathan Edwards, was an educator, an author, and President of Yale College for twenty-two years.


William Dorrell

William Dorrell (1752-1846)
At the turn of the 19th century in the Leyden, Massachusetts, area, William Dorrell and his followers held unconventional beliefs, including not eating or using animal products.


Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784)
Boston slave Phillis Wheatley was the first African American published poet, whose poems often spoke of Christian salvation or commemorated someone who had died.


Zur Hawks

Zur Hawks (1760-1844)
Zur Hawks was a tanner and a shoemaker in Deerfield, Massachusetts.


Consider Dickinson

Consider Dickinson (1761-1854)
Consider Dickinson of Deerfield, Massachusetts, was a soldier in the American Revolution (1775-1783), a trader, and a farmer.


Dr. Joseph Goodhue

Dr. Joseph Goodhue (1762-1849)
Dr. Joseph Goodhue from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, lived during retirement with his wife in Deerfield, Massachusetts, the hometown of son-in-law Dr. Stephen West Williams (1790-1855).


William Stoddard Williams, M.D.

William Stoddard Williams, M.D. (1762-1829)
William Stoddard Williams of Deerfield, Massachusetts, was one of several generations of Deerfield physicians in the Williams family.


Epaphras Hoyt

Epaphras Hoyt (1765-1850)
Epaphras Hoyt of Deerfield, Massachusetts, was a surveyor, postmaster, justice of the peace, register of deeds, High Sheriff, and member of the 1820 constitutional convention.


Elihu Hoyt

Elihu Hoyt (1771-1833)
Elihu Hoyt of Deerfield, Massachusetts, held military, county, and state offices, and wrote a sketch of Deerfield's first English settlement to help preserve the town's history.


Ruth Henshaw Bascom

Ruth Henshaw Bascom (1772-1848)
Between 1819 and 1848, Ruth Bascom traveled through New England creating over one thousand life-size profile portraits using scissors, pastels, and watercolors.


Samuel Wells

Samuel Wells (1772-1816)
Samuel Wells lived and farmed in Deerfield in western Massachusetts, and corresponded about state politics and agricultural markets with friend and Deerfield General Court representative Elihu Hoyt (1771-1833).


Asher Benjamin

Asher Benjamin (1773-1845)
Asher Benjamin, the first American-born and American-trained architect, designed some of the buildings in Deerfield and Greenfield, Massachusetts, including a house that became Greenfield's library.


Hannah Westcarr Beamon

Hannah Westcarr Beamon
Hannah Westcarr Beamon (also spelled Beaman) was the first known schooldame of Deerfield, Massachusetts.


Dennis Stebbins

Dennis Stebbins (1778-1842)
Dennis Stebbins of Deerfield, Massachusetts, followed the model set by his father, Joseph (1749-1816), serving his town as a selectman and member of the militia.


Orlando Ware

Orlando Ware (1779-1860)
Orlando Ware owned a general store in Deerfield, Massachusetts, in the early 19th century.


Daniel Webster

Daniel Webster (1782-1852)
Daniel Webster, a prominent lawyer and U.S. politician, provided engineer Arthur Wellesley Hoyt (1811-1899) of Deerfield, Massachusetts, a powerful business and social tool with this 1837 letter of introduction.


Lucinda Nims

Lucinda Nims (1784-1857)
Lucinda Nims of Deerfield, Massachusetts, inherited her father's house and property "so long as she shall remain unmarried."


Caroline (Stebbins) Sheldon

Caroline (Stebbins) Sheldon (1789-1865)
Caroline Stebbins was born in Deerfield, Massachusetts, attended Deerfield Academy, and married local farmer Seth Sheldon (1787-1860).


Esther (Harding) Dickinson

Esther (Harding) Dickinson (1790-1875)
Esther (Harding) Dickinson of Deerfield, Massachusetts, provided for a town high school and library in her will.


Stephen West Williams, M.D.

Stephen West Williams, M.D. (1790-1855)
Stephen West Williams of Deerfield, Massachusetts, was a medical school graduate (King's College, now Columbia University) and author of numerous medical texts.


Edward Hitchcock

Edward Hitchcock (1793-1864)
Dr. Edward Hitchcock was a scientist and educator at Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts, and later at Amherst College in nearby Amherst.


Sylvester Graham

Sylvester Graham (1794-1851)
Sylvester Graham, who lived his last years in Northampton, Massachusetts, was a minister and social health reformer who is best known today for his Graham cracker.


Orra (White) Hitchcock

Orra (White) Hitchcock (1796-1863)
Orra (White) Hitchcock was an artist who illustrated many scientific publications, including those of her husband, Edward Hitchcock (1793-1864).


William Apes

William Apes (1798-1839)
William Apes, a Pequot, was born in a tent in the woods of Colrain, Massachusetts, and became a Methodist preacher, writer, and orator.


William Holmes McGuffey

William Holmes McGuffey (1800-1873)
William Holmes McGuffey, a professor, minister, and author, is most remembered for his "Readers" that become one of the best-known book series in 19th century America.


Arthur Wellesley Hoyt

Arthur Wellesley Hoyt (1811-1899)
Atrhur Wellesley Hoyt was a civil engineer in 19th century Deerfield, Massachusetts.


Harriet Beecher Stowe

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896)
Harriet Beecher Stowe is best known for the novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" that galvanized Northern public opinion against slavery.


George Sheldon

George Sheldon (1818-1916)
George Sheldon of Deerfield, Massachusetts, was a farmer, an historian, and the primary founder of Deerfield's Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association in 1870.


John Putnam

John Putnam (1818-1895)
Greenfield, Massachusetts, barber John Putnam was a well-known violin player, bandleader, and dance prompter in the Greenfield area.


George Fuller

George Fuller (1822-1884)
George Fuller of Deerfield, Massachusetts, achieved a national reputation as a painter.


Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885)
Ulysses S. Grant was a leading Union general in the Civil War (1861-1865) and the eighteenth U.S. President (1869-1877).


Francis Parkman

Francis Parkman (1823-1893)
Francis Parkman was a preeminent historian and prolific, skilled writer whose works mirrored the prejudices of his times.


John Smith

John Smith (1823-1900)
A man known as "The Hermit" lived in a cave on Northfield Mountain in Erving, Massachusetts, and gave his name as John Smith.


Eliza Allen Starr

Eliza Allen Starr (1824-1901)
Artist and author Eliza Allen Starr, born in Deerfield, Massachusetts, was the first woman to receive the prestigious Laetare Medal, an award given to American Catholics.


C. Alice Baker

C. Alice Baker (1833-1909)
C. Alice Baker, educator and historian, is the author of "True Stories of New England Captives Carried to Canada During the Old French and Indian Wars" (1897).


William Dean Howells

William Dean Howells (1837-1920)
William Dean Howells, author of this tribute to Deerfield, Massachusetts, artist George Fuller (1822-1884), had a prolific writing career that included numerous novels, travel books, poems, and essays.


 Gazette and Courier

Gazette and Courier (1841-1932)
The Greenfield, Massachusetts, "Gazette and Courier" was a principal newspaper for Franklin County for nearly a century, and has existed under other names for much longer.


James Wells Champney

James Wells Champney (1843-1903)
James Wells Champney, a professor of art at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, for seven years, became known as one of the world's best pastel artists.


Willis Seaver Adams

Willis Seaver Adams (1844-1921)
Painter Willis Seaver Adams, whose works were praised in this 1906 report of a Deerfield, Massachusetts, exhibit, is known for his Connecticut River Valley landscapes.


Madeline Yale Wynne

Madeline Yale Wynne (1847-1918)
Madeline Yale Wynne was a central figure among the Deerfield, Massachusetts, residents who embraced the Arts and Crafts Movement at the turn of the 20th century.


Ellen Miller

Ellen Miller (1854-1929)
Ellen Miller was a cofounder of the Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework (1896-1926) in Deerfield, Massachusetts, and was responsible for experiments with the dyes.


Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)
Theodore Roosevelt entered politics soon after graduating from Harvard College in 1880 and in 1901 became the twenty-sixth United States President.


Florence Kelley

Florence Kelley (1859-1932)
A reformer and advocate for the rights of children, Florence Kelley symbolized the increasing power of women in the late 19th century.


Margaret C. Whiting

Margaret C. Whiting (1860-1946)
Margaret Whiting was a cofounder of the Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework (1896-1926), one of several handcraft industries in Deerfield, Massachusetts, during the Arts and Crafts Movement.


 Grand Army of the Republic

Grand Army of the Republic
The Grand Army of the Republic was founded to provide a fraternal organization for Union war veterans after the Civil War (1861-1865), and played a significant role in promoting Memorial Day and Flag Day.


Augustus Vincent Tack

Augustus Vincent Tack (1870-1949)
Augustus Vincent Tack was a nationally acclaimed portrait and mural painter who lived in rural Deerfield, Massachusetts, and New York City.


Lucia Fairchild Fuller

Lucia Fairchild Fuller (1870-1924)
Artist Lucia Fairchild Fuller, wife of Deerfield, Massachusetts, artist Henry Brown Fuller (1867-1934), painted a mural at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and later gained renown for her miniature portraits.


Cornelius Kelley

Cornelius Kelley (1874-1954)
Cornelius Kelley was a Deerfield, Massachusetts, blacksmith who turned his talents to ornamental work after the demand for repairing agricultural equipment declined.


Chauncey Thomas

Chauncey Thomas (1876-1950)
Chauncey Thomas worked as a potter in Deerfield, Massachusetts, from 1908 to 1911, when many of the town's residents were active in the Arts and Crafts Movement.


 Howes Brothers Photographers

Howes Brothers Photographers (1890-1910)
Brothers Alvah, Walter, and George Howes of Ashfield, Massachusetts, specialized in selling affordable, easily produced photographs, and thus created a record of the lives of ordinary people.


Henry Needham Flynt (1893-1970)
Henry Needham Flynt was instrumental in preserving Deerfield, Massachusetts, history through the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association and by founding the Heritage Foundation (now Historic Deerfield) with his wife Helen (Geier) Flynt (1895-1986).


Thomas Williams Ashley

Thomas Williams Ashley (1894-1918)
Marine Second Lieutenant Thomas Ashley was the first young man from Deerfield, Massachusetts, to lose his life in World War I.


 Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework

Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework (1896-1926)
During the Arts and Crafts Movement, this group formed in Deerfield, Massachusetts, to revive the Colonial embroidery tradition and establish a village industry.


Elizabeth Brooks Fuller

Elizabeth Brooks Fuller (1896-1979)
Granddaughter of Deerfield, Massachusetts, painter George Fuller, Elizabeth Brooks Fuller was an artist and active Deerfield community member.


 Deerfield Basket Makers

Deerfield Basket Makers (1899-1916)
During the Arts and Crafts Movement, this group of craftswomen in Deerfield, Massachusetts, worked out of their homes making useful baskets for exhibit and sale.


 Pocumtuck Basketmakers

Pocumtuck Basketmakers (1899-1935)
The Deerfield, Massachusetts, women who made up the Pocumtuck Basket Makers worked primarily in raffia to create imaginative, useful baskets.


 Society of Deerfield Industries

Society of Deerfield Industries (1901-1926)
This group formed in Deerfield, Massachusetts, to supplant "machine made ugliness . . . with good handwork" and thus restore craftsmanship to "its old place of honor".


Frances and Mary Allen

Frances and Mary Allen
In 1901, Frances and Mary Allen of Deerfield, Massachusetts, were praised as being among "the foremost women photographers in America."


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