October Potluck, Meeting, and Show And Tell

Pitt House

A potluck supper, election of officers and an important discussion of the future of the Pitt House will be on the agenda for the final 2017 meeting of the Colrain Historical Society, Thursday, October 12, at the home of Joan McQuade, 7 Main Road.

 The potluck supper will begin at 6 p.m., followed at 7 by the business meeting, and after that a Show and Tell of items in the collection.

 For the potluck, attendees are asked to bring a main dish, vegetable or dessert to share. Cider will be available, BYO wine optional.

The public is welcome to attend. For information, call Belden at 624-3453.

The Greenfield Recorder published an article about the Pitt House on their website on October 1, 2017, and in their print edition on October 2, 2017.
Colrain Pitt House renovations sought
by Diane Broncaccio
http://www.recorder.com/Pitt-House-needs-business-plan-12749405

The History and Unique Joinery of the Christian Hill Church

Second Baptist Church, August 2017

In 1797, when members of the Second Baptist Society on Christian Hill built their church, they used the scribing joinery prevalent in Europe for hundreds of years. But they also employed a unique truss design soon to be adopted in the young country. This church building is the oldest in Colrain, and one of the oldest structures in town.

Lyonsville carpenter Jeremy Topitzer will describe its unique joinery at a meeting there of the Colrain Historical Society Thursday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m. In a reversal of custom, the program will precede the 7:30 business meeting. As the kerosene-lit church is not illuminated outside, attendees are advised to bring flashlights for the walk back to cars after the program.

 The public is welcome to this free program. To reach the Christian Hill church, drive north from Colrain Center on Route 112 (four miles) to Thompson Road on the left just before the iron bridge. At the end of Thompson Road (three miles) turn left. The church is on the right on Christian Hill Road. Get directions from your location with Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/mn9HKpz3AXL2

 For information, call Belden Merims, 624-3453.

This undated photo of the Second Baptist Church shows the long shed in back, where parishioners could hitch their horses and buggies. The shed has been gone for many years. The building to the right of the church, formerly the church parsonage, is now a private residence.

Front of the church, August 2017.
(Click or touch the photos for an enlarged view.)

The Narrow Escape of Angeline Palmer

“The Narrow Escape of Angeline Palmer” will be the topic of a program at the Colrain Historical Society Thursday, August 10, in the Stacy Barn behind the Pitt House on Main Road in Colrain.

In 1840 free African American residents of Amherst rescued a 10-year-old indentured servant who, they learned, was about to be sold into slavery and whisked her off to safety in Colrain, where she lived with a free black family. Shelburne Falls resident author Jackie Walsh will tell the tale.

The program at 7:30 p.m. will follow a 7:00 business meeting. Refreshments will be served, and the public is welcome.

For information call Belden Merims at 624-3453.

Quabbin, Then and Now

Athol photographer Dale Monette will bring historic photos of the five towns flooded to make the Quabbin Reservoir in the 1930s and his own photos, some of matching sites, in a program “Quabbin, Then and Now” at the Colrain Historical Society meeting Thursday, July 13, in the Stacy Barn behind the Pitt House at 8 Main Road in Colrain. The program begins at 7:30 p.m. following a 7:00 p.m. meeting.

Dale Monette

Refreshments will be served and the public is welcome to attend. For more information call Belden at 624-3453.

Mark your calendar for the three remaining programs of the year:

• AUGUST 10, “The Narrow Escape of Angelina Palmer,” author Jackie Walsh 
• SEPTEMBER 14, “The History and Unique Joinery of the Christian Hill Church,” Colrain master joiner Jeremy Topitzer. This meeting will be held in the Second Baptist Church, built in 1797 on Christian Hill. 
• OCTOBER 12, Show and Tell and potluck at the home of Joan McQuade

Elder Edward Davenport: Travels of a Colrain Missionary

Elder Edward Davenport

In 1820, the First Baptist Church of Colrain sent its first and only missionary, Elder Edward Davenport, to “labor in the destitute places in the neighborhood of Smithfield, PA.” He traveled as far as Springfield, Ohio, keeping a diary and returning at the end of that year. He would minister to the Second Baptist Church on Christian Hill in Colrain for some 35 years.

Prentice Crosier will present a program on Elder Davenport for the Colrain Historical Society on Thursday, June 8, at 7:30 p.m. following a business meeting at 7:00 p.m. in the Stacy Barn. The barn is behind the Pitt House, at 8 Main Road. The program is open to the public, and refreshments will be served.

For information call Belden Merims at 624-3453.

Looking ahead to a related program: The September 14 meeting of the Historical Society will take place in the 1797 Christian Hill church, where Jeremy Topizer will discuss the history and unique joinery of that church building.

Pies of New England

“Pies of New England” will be the topic of the program following the meeting of the Colrain Historical Society Thursday, May 11, at 7:30 p.m. in the Stacy Barn behind the Pitt House at 8 Main Road in Colrain.

Robert Cox

The speaker, writer and historian Robert Cox, is head of special collections at UMass Amherst and author of the book “New England Pie: History Under a Crust.”

The business meeting of the Colrain Historical Society begins at 7:00 p.m. Following the program, refreshments will be served: pie, what else? For information call Belden at 624-3453 after May 1.

Refreshments will be served:  pie, what else?

Show and Tell Program

Postcard - Lyonsville Post Office and Red Men's Hall,
with a Shelburne Falls & Colrain Trolley passing in front.

Artifacts from Colrain’s turn-of-the-century Improved Order of Red Men will be part of a Show and Tell program at the first meeting of Colrain Historical Society’s 2017 season on Thursday, April 13, at the home of Joan McQuade, 7 Main Road, Colrain.

According to Lois McClellan Patrie's History of Colrain (page 178), the Sadaga Tribe of Red Men #125 was organized in 1899. Meetings were held in the hall in Lyonsville. Their charter was surrendered in 1928.

 The Show and Tell starts at at 7:30 p.m. It will be preceded by a business meeting at 7:00 p.m. and a potluck supper at 6:00 p.m.

Participants in the potluck are asked to bring a main course, a vegetable, or a dessert. Place settings and cider will be provided.

Historical Notes 2017

The Spring 2017 edition of Historical Notes, the newsletter of the Colrain Historical Society, was mailed in late March. Click here for a PDF version. Click on the photos below to view a larger image.