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Massachusetts Antique History Cities Townships Counties State Local W/map 1st For Sale
Massachusetts Historical Collections,
Being a General Collection of Interesting Facts, Traditions,
Biographical Sketches,
Anecdotes, etc. Relating to the History and Antiquities
of
Every Town in Massachusetts,
with
Geographical Descriptions
Illustrated by 200 Engravings
by
John Warner Barber
1839
This book is a 174 year-old FIRST EDITION!
If you've never
read a book by Barber, you're missing a treat. His knowledge of people
is evident and the text is dripping with facts, anecdotes and history.
This book includes
information similar to gazetteers with additional descriptions varying
from a
couple of sentences to several pages, depending on the importance and
size of the location. He also includes true stories that at one time
were local knowledge but have long been forgotten about - topics such
as
Revolutionary War incidents, Indians,
fires and heroism are all laced with history, facts, anecdotes,
intrigue, and humor. If you're from the areas in this book, a
genealogist or historian,
you're
in for a treat! The book contains a lot of genealogy! Many
of the towns include a list of the original land purchasers.
Since 1839, this book has been a main information book for many
historians who have written about Massachusetts history. 'John Barber'
books are referred to time-and-time again and have became the part of
the standard
history reference books of Massachusetts!
From Wiki:
John Warner Barber (1798-1885), was an
American engraver whose books of state, national, and local history
featured his vivid illustrations, said to have caught the flavor and
appearance of city, town, and countryside scenes in his day. "He talked
with townspeople, gathered local documents and made quick sketches
everywhere he went," according to a New York Times article from
December 10, 1989. His illustrations depict town centers, with its
homes and churches, academies and courthouses sailboats plying a river
or harbor, an occasional factory belching puffs of smoke and always a
tiny figure or two. Barber started with rough pencil sketches and
developed them into more detailed wash drawings. He then transferred
the drawings directly to small blocks of boxwood on which he engraved
the designs.
This book contains 100's of Barber's famous woodcut engravings
(all
listed below for you).
In 1840, Henry Howe, joined with John Warner Barber to produce a
history of
New York state; they journeyed from county to county collecting data
for the book and Barber made sketches for illustrations. Histories of
New Jersey and Virginia followed, 1842 and 1845.
A couple of text samples:
Fall River:
During the revolutionary war about 200 of the
enemy
landed in the south
part of where the present village is built; they were opposed by about
fifteen of our people, under the command of Col. Joseph Durfee, who
from behind the stone walls fired on the British troops and killed two
soldiers; upon this, they rapidly retreated to their barges. The two
soldiers were buried south of the river, where the Pocasset factory now
stands. At the erection of this factory their remains were taken up and
buried in the town graveyard.
Dighton Rock:
"After viewing the rock and its sculptures, which
last are sufficiently
conspicuous to attract notice from the deck of a vessel sailing in the
channel of the river, we demand, if not the meaning of the sculptures,
at least the history of their formation; but, upon the second subject,
there is very little to be said, and upon the first, absolutely
nothing. The only solid history is, that the rock, with its sculptures,
was found in its present place, and apparently in its present
condition, by the earliest colonists.
" But, in the absence of history, there has been an abundance of
conjecture. Two opinions, though with some subordinate varieties,
chiefly divide the learned and unlearned. The unlearned believe that
the rock was sculptured by the order of a pirate, either Captain Kyd or
Captain Blackboard, in order to mark the site of buried treasure ; and
the shore, for more than a hundred fathom on a side, has been dug, in
the hope of a discovery. The learned are more attached to a Phoenician
origin, and suspect that the Writing Rock may be a monument of the
first navigators that passed the Pillars of Hercules; indeed, they find
the Pillars of Hercules among the sculptures.
The following circumstance is related by Dr. Dwight as having
occurred
at the great bridge in this town:
"A Mr. Van Rensselaer, a young gentleman from
Albany, came one evening
into an inn, kept by a Mr. Root, just at the Eastern end of the bridge.
The inn-keeper, who knew him, asked him where he had crossed the river.
He answered, ' On the bridge.' Mr. Root replied, that that was
impossible, because it had been raised that very day, and that not a
plank had been laid on it. Mr. Van Rensselaer said that it could not be
true, because his horse hod come over without any difficulty or
reluctance; that the night was indeed so profoundly dark as to prevent
him from seeing anything distinctly ; but that it was incredible, it
his horse could see sufficiently well to keep his footing anywhere,
that he should not discern the danger, and impossible for him to pass
over the bridge in that condition. Each went to bed dissatisfied,
neither believing the story of the other. In the morning, Mr. Van
Rensselaer went, at the solicitation of his host, to view the bridge,
and, finding it a naked frame, gazed for a moment with astonishment,
and fainted."
COPYRIGHT: 1839 with 1839 on title page
PUBLISHER: Dorr, Howland
PAGES: 624 pgs. measuring 6" x 9"
CONDITION: This old book has some scars from time but is now a
solid, original book. The spine has been recovered with black leather.
The leather
boards have expected wear and corner bumping and have been tinted and
compressed for presentation. The leather
has been conditioned and has no redrot (leather rot). Inside hinges are
in good condition with no
repairs or cracking. Previous owner's nameplate on inside front board:
Asa P French / 1909. Pages have minimal foxing and are not
brittle. The text block
is solid with no loose or missing pages. Pages are not brittle
and the book has no odors. The map is
present and in good condition with no tears or repairs.
Natick • Needham • New Ashford • New Bedford • New Braintree • Newbury
• Newburyport • New Marlborough • New Salem • Newton • Northampton •
Northborough • Northbridge • North Bridgewater • North Brookfield •
Northfield • Norton • Norwich
Wales • Walpole • Waltham • Ware • Wareham • Warren • Warwick •
Washington • Watertown • Wayland • Webster • Wellfleet • Wendell •
Wenham • Wesborough • West Boylston • West Bridgewater • West Cambridge
• Westfield • Westford • Westhampton • Westminster • West Newbury •
Weston • Westport • West Springfield • West Stockbridge • Weymouth •
Whately • Wilbraham • Williamsburg • Williamstown • Wilmington •
Winchendon • Windsor • Woburn • Worcester • Worthingham • Wrentham
Yarmouth
Illustrations:
Full Page Illustrations:
Frontispiece: Boston • Provincetown • Lenox • Pittsfield
•
Bedford • Taunton • Newburyport • Main street view of Salem •
Greenfield • Court Square, Springfield • Northampton • Charleston •
Concord • Lowell • Nantucket • Court House, Dedham • Plymouth (steel
plate engraving) • Worcester
Other Illustrations:
Barnstable Court House • Brewster • Chatham • Apparatus
used
in
making
salt • Ancient pear tree, Eastham • Falmouth Village • Indian Church in
Marshpee • Provincetown • Sandwich • Pond Village, Truro • Ancient
Church, Truro • Wellfleet Harbor • Yarmouth • North Adams • Saddle
Mountain (Adams) • Shaker Village, Hancock • Lanesborough • Lee • Lenox
• Sheffield • West Stockbridge • Williams College • Attleborough •
Dighton Rock • Closeup of Dighton Rock • Fairhaven • Fall River •
Leonard home, Raynham • Annawon's Rock, Rehoboth • Monument of Miss
Pool, Taunton Cemetery • Lighthouse at Gay Head, Chilmark, Martha's
Vineyard • Edgartown (2 views) • Holmes' Hole, East Tisbury • Mills
Village, in Salisbury and Amesbury • Theological Seminary, Andover •
Phillips Academy, Andover • Beverly • Collins House, Danvers • Monument
and Bell Tavern, Danvers • Gloucester • Haverhill • Ipswich • Lynn •
Nahant Hotel, Long Beach, Lynn • Manchester • Marblehead from Fort
Sewall • Methuen Falls • House Mr. Whitefield died, Newburyport •
Whitefield's Monument • Washington Square, Salem • Early home of Dr.
Bowditch • Bernardston • Charlemont • Coleraine • Conway • Deerfield •
Monument and Sugar Loaf Mountain, Deerfield • Ancient house, Deerfield
• Turner's Falls, Connecticut River • Montague • Northfield • Orange •
Shelburne Falls • Brimfield • Chester • Congregational Church,
Longmeadow • Monson • Pynchon house, Springfield, built c1660 • Armory
buildings, Springfield • Chicopee Village, Springfield • Cabotville,
Springfield • Westfield • Church, West Springfield • Wesleyan Academy,
Wilbraham • Amherst College • Belchertown • Round Hill, Northampton •
Mount Holyoke Female Seminary • View from summit of Mount Holyoke •
Ware Village • Williamsburg • Billerica • Brighton • East Cambridge •
Harvard University, Cambridge • Washington Elm tree, Cambridge •
Entrance to Mount Auburn Cemetery • Tomb of Spurzheim • McLean Asylum,
Charlestown • State prison, Charlestown • Col. Shattuck home,
Concord • Monument, Concord • Framingham • Congregational Church and
Academy, Groton • Hopkinton • Congregational Church and monument,
Lexington • Lexington Meeting House and Buckman's Tavern in 1775 •
Malden • Marlborough • Medford • Theological Seminary, Newton • South
Reading • Monument of Captain Wadsworth and others • Massasoit Hotel,
Waltham • Watertown • Woburn • Horn Pond, Woburn • Atheneum, Nantucket
• Canton Viaduct • Old oak tree, Dedham • Dorchester • Dr. Emmons home,
Franklin • Factory Village, Medway • Dorchester and Milton Village •
Adams Houses, Quincy • Randolph • Village of Roxbury • Sharon •
Stoughton • Weymouth • Wrentham • Bridgewater • Duxbury • East
Bridgewater • Hingham Church • Kingston • Daniel Webster home,
Marshfield • Four Corners, Middleborough • North Bridgewater • Pilgrim
Hall, Plymouth • Mattapoiset Village, Rochester • Old house, Scituate •
Wareham Village • South Boston • East Boston • State House, Boston •
Faneuil Hall • Quincy Market, Boston • Franklin House, City Hall, State
Street, Bsoston • US Marine Hospital, Chelsea • Athol • Barre • Bolton
• Congregational Church, Brookfield • Charlton • Dudley • Fitchburg •
Grafton • Holden • Hubbardston • Lancaster • Leicester • Leominster •
Mendon • Millbury • Milford • North Brookfield • Site of French fort on
Mayo's Hill, Oxford • Paxton • Petersham • Princeton • Wachusett
Mountain • Rutland • Congregational Church, Shrewsbury • Southbridge •
Speencer • Sturbridge • Congregational Church, Sutton • Templeton •
Upton • Uxbridge • Warren • Webster • Mr. Whitney home, Westborough •
West Boylton • State Lunatic Hospital
Items in the book:
Epitaphs:
Allen, Capt. John • Allen, George • Atherton, H •
Bailey, T
and L
• Bancroft, J • Barnard, Rev. J • Bean,
Rev. J • Bliss, Rev. D • Bordwell, E • Bours. Rev. Peter • Bradford,
Hon. W • Breck, J • Breck, Rev. Robert • Breck, Rev. R • Bridge, Rev. E
• Cargill, Hugh • Cesar, a slave • Chapman, Thomas • Chauncy, Rev. J •
Clark, Rev. T • Coit, I, Dr. • Cornette, L • Cotton, Rev. J • Cushman,
T • Eustiss, William • Fisk, Rev. Moses • Glover, John • Holyoke, Mrs.
Mari • Jack, John • Judson, Rev. E • Leonard, Zephaniah • Lyman, Rev. H
• Mallefuild, J • Mann, Bazaleel and Dr. • Sherman, Rev. J • Stone,
Capt. J • Swift. Rev. J • Tappan, Benj. • Thompson, E • Townsend,
Daniel • Pickering, Timothy • Ward, Artemas, Hon. • Webster, John •
Prentice, Capt. T • Quincy, Josiah • Widlam, Hon. C • Williams, Hon. I
• Williams. Rev.
S • Rogers, Rev. E • Russell, Rev. J. and Mrs. • Wood, Capt. David
The book was written with no index but I've listed several names
that
are in the book for genealogists (not a complete list):
Abbot, Abercrombie, Adams, Alby, Alden,
Alexander,
Alin,
Allen,
Allerton, Allin, Alling, Allyn, Allys, Alvord, Ames, Amidowne, Amos,
Amsdel, Andrews, Andrus, Angier, Anthony, Appleton, Armitage, Arnall,
Arnold, Ashley, Aslett, Asten, Atchenson, Atherton, Attucks, Atwater,
Atwell, Austin, Avery, Ayer, Ayres
Other Items:
Adams houses, Quincy • Ashley, Col. John, epitaph
•
Alden,
Lieut.
J,
epitaph • Atheneum, Boston • Atheneum at Nantucket • Ames, Kisher •
Auburn, Mt., cemetery • Ancient church, W. Springfield • Ancient house
in Deerfield • Baptist church, first in Massachusetts • Ancient house
in Stockbridge • Andross, seizure of • Anecdote, revolutionary, New
Salem • Annawon. capture • Battle of Lake George • Annawon's rock, view
• Antiquarian Hall, Worcester • Beers. Capt., surprised and slain •
Arabella, lady • Bell Tavern at Danvers • Ark in Pawtucket river •
Bills of credit, first • Armory buildings, Springfield • Blackstone,
William • Bleeders, notice of persons so called • Blind, institution •
Bloodshed, first in Philip's war • Bloody Brook, attack • Boston,
evacuation • Boston harbor first visited • Boston in 1663 • Boston
massacre, 1770 • Boundary line between Connecticut and Massachusetts •
Bowditch, Hon. Nathaniel • Brainerd, David • Brootfield, attack •
Brown, Capt. J • Bryant, Wm. C • Bug, singular account • Bunker Hill
battle • Burk. Major John, journal • Cabotville, Springfield •
Chabacakonzkomun, Indian town • Cheese, the mammoth • Chicopec village,
Springfield • Church, first Protestant in America • Churches, list of,
Boston • Church, ancient, Hingham • Clams • Coffin, Admiral Sir Isaac •
College commons, ancient • Concord, action at • Congregational church,
first • Convention at Hatfield • Coin, first in New England •
Correction, house • Daggett, Rev. Naphtali, taken prisoner • Danforth,
Capt. J • Day, first printer • Dighton rock, inscriptions • Doolittle's
engravings • Dorrellites, account of • Dummer academy, oldest in NE •
Dustin, Mr. and Mrs., escape • East Cambridge, view • East Boston, view
• Eaton, Gen. • Edwards, Rev. Jonathan • Eels in Merrimac river •
Elizabeth Islands, Martha's Vineyard • Elegy on Rev. Mr. Whitefield •
Eliot's translation, anecdote • Eliot, Rev. John • Epitaphs, Latin,
Cambridge • Execution of Daley and Halligan • Fare, bill of, on Cape
Cod • Fairhaven, attack • Fall fight, Turner's falls • Faneuil Hall,
view • Father's Choice, poetry, by Mrs. Hale • Fearing, Maj. Israel,
bravery • Fire at Newburyport • Fire at Shrewsbury • Folger, Peter •
Four Corners village, Middleborough • Franklin, Benjamin • French
Protestants at Oxford • Gage, Gen., residence, Danvers • Gay Head,
Martha's Vineyard • Gerry, Hon. Elbridge • Gloucester, strange
occurrences • Glover, Brigadier Gen. • Gookin, Maj. Gen. • Gosnold's
discoveries, 1602 • Gray Lock, an Indian • Green, Joseph, Rev.,
inscription • Groton attacked by Indians • Hale, old Mr., singularities
of • Harvard, Rev. John • Harvard University • Heath, Maj. Gen. William
• Hermit, Timothy Leonard • Historical Society, Mass. • Holyoke, Mt.,
view • House, oldest in NE • House on Cape Cod • Horn Pond, Woburn •
Hospital, State Lunatic • Hospital, Mass. General • Howe, L., singular
monument • Howe, Rev. Sir., of Hopkinton • Hubbard's Indian Wars •
Hutchinson, Gov. • Hutchinson, Mrs., account • Indian church in
Marshpee • Indians on Martha's Vineyard • Indians, first church •
Indian traditions, Nantucket • Indian tradition, Dighton • Indians
christianized • Inoculation of small-pox • Iron forge, first •
Jerusalem, New, church, tenets • Konkapot, Indian captain • Landing,
first celebration • Lathrop, Rev. Joseph • Law decisions, curious • Le
Baron, Dr. • Leonard house in Raynham • Lexington, views • Lincoln,
Benjamin, Maj. Gen. • Louisburg, capture • Lovell's fight • Lowell,
Chevalier's account of • Lynn, poetic description of settlers • Lyon,
Marcus, murder of • Saddle Mountain, view • Salt, manner of making •
Marine Hospital, Chelsea • Samoset, account of • Marblehead,
description • Scammel, Gen. Alexander • Marriage, first • Sea serpent,
account • Massasoit, sickness • Seal of Massachusetts • Massachusetts,
Fort • Sergeant. Rev. John • Massachusetts patent • Mather, Cotton •
Shaker village in Hancock • Shays' defeat at Springfield • Mattapoisett
village • Sheffield, remarkable occurrences in • Mayhew, Gov. • McLean
Asylum • Monument mountain • Shipwreck of the pirate Bellamy • Skeleton
found at Fall River • Monument at Concord • Monument at Bloody Brook •
South Boston, view • Monument at Bunker Hill • Spurzheim, monument •
Monument at Danvers • Stamp Act • Monis, Rabbi Judah • Standish, Capt •
Mountain Miller, account of • State prison, Charlestown • Mt. Holyoke
Female Seminary • State-house. Boston • Mugford, Capt. James •
Stockbridge Indians, account • Murder of Miss McKinstry • Stoddard.
Rev. Mr., preservation • Nahant, account of • "Striped Pig" • Nashoba,
Indian town • Superstition of an Irishman • Navy yard, Charlestown •
Swamp fight, Narragansetts • Newman, Rev. Mr., remarkable death •
Newspaper, first in America • Nonantum, Indian settlement • Tea,
destruction of • Old colony seal • Thatcher, Col. J • Thompson, E •
Thomas, Isaiah • Ordination at Salem • Tornado at Salisbury • Otis,
James • Treat, Rev. Mr. • Turner's falls • "Old Governor" • Turner,
Capt., killed • Paine, Robert Treat • Tuttle, Mr., killed by mistake •
Paper-mill, first in NE • Parsons, Theophilus • Ursuline convent •
Paskhomuch, Indian attack on • Pear tree, ancient, Eastham • Van
Rensselaer, Mr. remarkable • Perkins, Jacob • Stoddard, Rev.
preservation of • Philip's war • Vale of West Boylston • Philip, King,
draught by • Ward, Judge intrepidity of • Pilgrim Hall • Pilgrim
Fathers, landing of • Wachusett, Mt., view • Pirates at Saugus •
Wadsworth, Capt., killed • Plymouth settlers, names of • Wamesit, an
Indian town • Pool, Miss, monument of • Warren, Gen. • Powder mill
explosion at Lee • Washington elm • Pratt, Mr., great age • Webster,
Hon. Daniel, residence • Punkapoag, Indian town • Wesleyan academy at
Wilbraham • Puritans • Weld, Rev. Mr. • Pynchon house, Springfield •
Wells, J., escape from Indians • Whale fishery • Quakers, laws against
• Whaling song, by Dr. Osborn • Quincy Market, Boston • Whitman, Eliza
• Quinsigamond lake • Whitcfield, notice of, monument • Willet, Capt.
Thomas • Regicides, Goffe and Whalley • Williams, Mrs., killed by
Indians • Robbins, Dr., library • Rock, fractured, Sunderland •
Witchcraft at Andover • Rocks, sacrifice, Plymouth • Witchcraft at
Danvers Rock, writing, at Dighton • Witchcraft • Witchcraft, Cotton
Mather's account • Rolfe, Rev. Mr., killed by Indians • Wood's hole,
Falmonth • Rutland, incursion of Indians • Wood, Capt. David •
Woodcock, John
Feel free to e-mail any questions.
Folks, this is an 1839 original!
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out my other items here!
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me to your Favorite's List here.
Thank
you for your time!
USA
(includes
insurance
and
delivery
confirmation):
• $3.95 media
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