Discover Historic Williamstown Week 1!

Discover Historic Williamstown!

We hope you are holding up well and remaining healthy. While we are still encouraged to maintain our “social distancing” status, we encourage you to explore historic Williamstown! Throughout town, nine historic sites are marked with plaques, describing their significance. Eight of the plaques were installed by the Williamstown Bicentennial Committee in commemoration of the 200^thanniversary of the town’s settlement, in 1953, and one was installed by a town resident.

We are currently running a series on our FaceBook page about the town’s historic sites, but we understand that not all of our members and friends use FaceBook, and we want everyone to take part in a “scavenger hunt” for our historic site markers. Each week we will post information about the marker at one of the town’s historic sites. If you wish to drive to find the markers, there is parking near each one, but getting out on foot, if possible, may be a great way to enjoy the spring and capture history at the same time. We encourage you to photograph the historic sites and email us the photo so that we may add it to our collection of current images of the historic sites in town. Please take care and have fun!

Benedict Arnold slept where?!?

Right here in Williamstown at the Nehemiah Smedley House, but where is that?

On May 6, 1775 West Hoosuck (the town was not yet Williamstown) tavern owner Nehemiah Smedley contracted with Benedict Arnold (then a revolutionary war hero, not a traitor) to produce or procure enough biscuits, salted pork, and rum to supply a contingent of men for a few weeks. According to the contract, which still exists, Arnold paid Smedley five pounds for the goods.

Can you locate the former home of Nehemiah Smedley’s tavern and its historical marker?

Captain Nehemiah Smedley was one of the seven sons of Captain Samuel Smedley III and Esther Kilbourne. He was born in Litchfield, CT, in 1732 and died in Williamstown in 1789. One of the notable early residents of our town, he served as a military and civic leader, built a handsome house, owned a fine farm, and ran a tavern.

In 1754 Nehemiah Smedley planted the first orchard in Williamstown, but not at the site of the Smedley house that is still standing. His first property was at intersection of South Street and Field Park, where the Williams College Center for Development Economics (former Delta Psi fraternity, also known as St. Anthony Hall) now sits.

A few facts about Nehemiah Smedley:
1. At 35 years old he was the youngest member of the Building and Seating Committee for the first meetinghouse (First Congregational Church) in 1768, but he never joined the church
2. No portrait or other likeness of this “founding father” of Williamstown is known to exist
3. No headstone was erected over his grave and even the place of his burial within the limits of the graveyard is unknown.

Are you interested in learning more about Nehemiah Smedley? You can watch a WilliNet video of a WHM sponsored lecture, presented in April 2014, by Louise Dudley and Judith Wilson, descendants of Smedley. Here is a link to the video: Smedley Family Video. In 2015, Bruce McDonald, the owner of the home, carried out extensive work on the house and presented a program on the history of the house and its restoration. You can watch the video here: Smedley House Video Enjoy!

How many of you found the historical marker by his home/tavern on Main Street? The privately owned house has recently been beautifully restored and is a real gem of Williamstown architecture. Take a peek next time you are driving or walking past. If you do, we hope you will photograph it and, and send the image to info@williamstownhistoricalmuseum.org.

The Thirteen Galusha Farms: 1798-2020

The Thirteen Galusha Farms Video

Most everybody knows about the Galusha Farm out on Green River Rd., but did you know that there have been thirteen different Galusha Farms in Williamstown since the first one was established in 1798 by the first of many Daniel Galushas? The Williamstown Historical Museum presented a free talk on The Thirteen Galusha Farms with Dusty Griffin on Saturday, February 22 at 11 am in the Community Hall of the First Congregational Church, 906 Main Street (Rt. 2) in Williamstown. The talk was illustrated with more than 50 slides.

In this public lecture, “Thirteen Galusha Farms: 1798-2020” illustrated with photographs, old maps, news clippings, and manuscript materials, Dustin Griffin told the story of that first Galusha farm, which remained in the Galusha family from 1798 until 1940, and the stories of the many other farms set up by descendants of the first Daniel Galusha. The talk also shed some light on the bigger story of the rise and fall of dairy farming in Williamstown. The lecture, free and open to the public, took on Saturday February 22, at 11 am, in the community hall of the First Congregational Church in Williamstown. Dusty Griffin has frequently lectured on topics in local history to local audiences. His most recent talks include “A History of the Hopper” (September 2019) and”A Layman’s History of Williamstown’s Trees” (January 2020). He is the author of Williamstown and Williams College: Explorations in Local History (U. Mass. Press, 2018).

ABOUT DUSTY GRIFFIN
Local historian, Dustin “Dusty” Griffin, Professor of English Emeritus at New York University, has been a Williamstown resident since 2003. A 1965 graduate of Williams College, he is the author of many books on English literature. Griffin is a former board member of the Williamstown Historical Museum, he curated exhibitions on “Williamstown in the Civil War” (2012) and on “Big Days in a Small Town” (2014). His recent talks for WHM audiences covered the writing career of Col. Prentice of Mt. Hope, and introduced his own book, Williamstown and Williams College: Explorations in Local History (University of Massachusetts Press, 2018).

Volunteer Voices Needed

Do you like to read aloud? Perhaps you could lend your voice to our recording project!

In the spring of 2018, the WHM was awarded a grant from the Fund for Williamstown, a fund of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, to support the Williamstown History Accessibility Project and the purchase of recording equipment to create an audio book version of Williamstown’s history book, Williamstown the First 250 Years and to create an audio tour recording of the captions from the permanent orientation exhibit at the WHM.

The Williamstown History Accessibility Project and its resultant audio book and audio tour will enhance the local history resources available to community members who seek to learn more about our town’s past. The Value of History Statement presented by History Relevance states that, “History, saved and preserved, is the foundation for future generations. History is crucial to preserving democracy for the future by explaining our shared past…History lays the groundwork for strong, resilient communities…” This statement underscores the importance of our project which will provide opportunities for all residents to connect with and understand the past and can encourage residents to analyze our ideas and experiences through a broader context, thus making Williamstown a stronger and better community in which to live.

Once the audio book is recorded, the goal is to upload it to multiple online platforms and to provide the audiobook to all listeners for free. The audio tour of the WHM exhibit will be uploaded to the WHM website. Your help in recording would be a great way to give back to your community. Contact the WHM today to learn more: 413-458-2160 or info@williamstownhistoricalmuseum.org.