General Collections

• Records of the Northampton Bridge, Inc.
• Free Congregational Society/Free Congregational Society of Florence
• The E. J. Gare Collection- Archival Documents
• Diaries and Journals
• Burleigh Family Collection
• Stetson Family/Northampton Association of Education and Industry

Records of the Northampton Bridge, Inc.

Documents relating to the Bridge over the Connecticut River at Northampton and Hadley, known as the "Records of the Northampton Bridge, Inc.," 1803-1874

Record Book, Proprietors of the Bridge Corporation, 1803-1874 Stockholders' Book of the Northampton Bridge, Inc., 1844-1860 Official Actions of Northampton Bridge, Inc., 14 documents, 1826-1859 and undated Letters, re: Northampton Bridge, 14 documents, 1827-1861 and undated Estimates, contracts, lists, on costs of bridges, 1825-1875, 14 documents Toll Schedules, 5 documents, 1803-24 and undated Invoices and receipts, 1827-1841 and undated Annual Audits, Treasurer's books, 1844-1861 Lists of Stockholders of corporation, 6 lists, 1851-1855 and undated Proxies to Stockholders' meetings, 5, 1859, 1861 and undated Sketches of bridge details, 4, undated and hand-drawn map, 1 Stock Certificates, 18 documents

Free Congregational Society/Free Congregational Society of Florence

Historic Northampton has acquired several documents from The Free Congregational Society (the business organization) or the Free Congregational Society of Florence (the parent organization and controller of the religious aspects of the Society).

Record Book, Free Congregational Society, 1873 to 1975 Contains a copy of the "articles of agreement" of the Incorporation, and the Secretary's report of the first meeting with 67 charter members (04/17/1872) and its vote to build a new building in Florence, later known as Cosmian Hall. Record Book, Free Congregational Society of Florence, 1918 to 1970 The secretary's minutes book of the Free Congregational Society of Florence, which record the installation of and resignations/deaths of ministers of the society, maintenance or sales of properties and 100th Anniversary Celebration. Letters, or copies of letters, from the two societies. The dates range from 1926 to 1948 and from 1950 to 1964. Miscellaneous Documents of the two societies: summary of history and financial matters. Documents relating to the Women's Alliance of the Free Congregational Society Secretary's Minutes Books, 1906-1913 and 1913-1921, and letters, programs (1955-1965), treasurer's cash book and poems.

The E. J. Gare Collection- Archival Documents

From 1785 to 1994, a silversmithing and jewelry store operated continuously in Northampton, changing name and ownership nine times. In 1994, silversmithing tools and archival documents from the business were donated to Historic Northampton. The archival documents of the E. J. Gare Collection consist of 101 financial books, dating from 1831 to 1946. Included are account books (15), day books (53), check books (9), ledgers of watch repair records (19), sales books (5) and an inventory book (1). The records in the collection cover the ownership of Benjamin E. Cook (1833-1858) 3 items, Benjamin E. Cook & Son (1858-1900) 11 items, Phelps and Gare (1900-1919) 46 items, and E. J. Gare & Son (1919-1994) 41 items.

Diaries and Journals

There are approximately 87 diaries and journals, ranging in date from 1733 to 1982.

18th century
Clarke, Joseph, Sep, 1772 (described as journal/letter|)
Williams, John, 1784-1791

19th century
Bingham, Wm. Henry Harrison, 1865
Bliss, Theodore, 1874-1888
Bliss, Arthur A., Dr., 1884-1885
Brewster, Harold S. (high school student), 1896-1898
Cowles, Moses (Amherst), 1857
Clark, Christopher, 1830s-1840s
Clark (?), Mrs. I. D., 1864 & 1862 & 1871
Dickinson (?), Elbridge, 1862
French, Frances Ann (Trefathan), 1850-1853
French, Frances Ann (Trefathan), 1854-1855
Hillman, Charles Taylor, 1860
Lacore, Ella, 1882
Lacore, Sarah, 1885-1887
Parsons, Henry, 1859
Parsons, Henry, 1860
Parsons, Henry, 1862
Parsons, Josiah W., 1895, 1896, 1898, 1899, 1901
Parsons, Julia, 1826
Pomeroy, Edward S., age 10-12, 1889
Raynor, Edward H., 1857-1858
Shepherd, Mary Pomeroy, 1803-1809
Shepherd, Susan B. Munroe, 1845-1846
Shepherd, Susan B. Munroe, 1850-1851 & 1854-1855
Shepherd, Susan B. Munroe, 1851 & 1852
Shepherd, Susan B. Munroe, 1863
Smith, Frederick Leland, 1874-1887
Spaulding, Anne, 1871 & 1872
Stoddard, Solomon, 1814 & 1831 & 1832
Strong, Edward B., age c.10, 1856-1858
Tyler, Mrs. Henry M., 1899-1900
Wade, Edward H., Sgt., 5 diaries dates range from 1862-1865
Watson, Henry, 1860-1870
Webster, J. J., 1864
Williams, John, 1805-1825 (some entries early as 1733)
Wright, Ansel, 1859
Wright, Fannie, 1848 - 1859
Farm stock and products (South Hadley), 1850-1851, 1864
District Attorney testimony, 1861
Itinerant minister, 1838-1839

20th Century
Ames, Harold L., 1934, 1938, 1939, 1946, 1951
Atkins, William G., printer, 1904
Brewster, Mary, 1940-1941
Bliss, Anna Catherine, 11 pocket diaries, 1910 - 1941
Chapman, Vera, teacher, 1904-1905
Hammond, Capt., 1917-1918
Holden, Isabel, 1981-1982
Hudson Sr., Eramus Darwin, undated
Stone, Lilla, 1901 & 1902
Shepherd, Edith Carpenter, 1923
Shepherd, Thomas Munroe, 1906-1922
Shepherd, Thomas Munroe, 1907-1915
Tyler, Donald W., 1899-1990 & 1906 &1907 & 1909
European travel
Westfield Normal School, 1905-1906

Burleigh Family Collection

Charles C. Burleigh, Jr. (1848-1882) moved to Florence in 1861 with his parents, Charles C. and Gertrude Burleigh. The elder Burleigh was the first speaker of the Free Congregational Society. Burleigh studied art in Boston and Philadelphia from 1866 to 1868 and returned to Florence to work as an artist. Ten years later, in 1878, Burleigh and his wife, Ida Aldrich Burleigh, left for Europe, where Burleigh was to paint copies of Old Master paintings for the president of Cornell University. They remained in Germany for five years. In 1882, Burleigh became ill and died in Cologne. In addition, to a collection of paintings by Charles Burleigh, Historic Northampton recently acquired archival documents including a diary of Charles C. Burleigh, Jr., 1866-69 and a diary of Ida Aldrich Burleigh, 1879 and approximately 150 letter and poems written by Burleigh and family members.

Stetson Family/Northampton Association of Education and Industry

The Stetson Family from Brooklyn, Connecticut were members of the Northampton Association of Northampton Education and Industry, a utopian, abolitionist community organized around a silk mill. Dolly Witter Stetson and her children resided at the association in Northampton while her husband, James Stetson, served as the silk agent for the association, generally in Boston. Historic Northampton has a collection of 76 letters between family members, relatives and acquaintances which range in date from 1843-1846. Subjects include Sojourner Truth, David Ruggles, Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison.

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