Scope and Content Note
The Longmeadow Historical Society deed collection contains over 700 deeds dating from the late 17th century to the early 20th century. Most of the properties are in and around Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Many of the deeds are associated with prominent Longmeadow families including Colton, Cooley, Burt, Ely, Bliss, Coomes, Williams, and Keep. Collection also includes a photocopy of William Pynchon’s 1636 deed with the Agawam for land that is now the site of Springfield, MA. Deeds are listed at the item-level and are arranged by deed number. Entries include grantor and grantee names, date of deed, date deed was recorded and are often accompanied by a short note on property or properties involved.

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Scope and Content Note
The Longmeadow celebrations collection documents various town celebrations, memorials and events. Materials include: invitation lists and programs for Longmeadow’s 1883 Centennial; the Sesquicentennial Souvenir volume, guest badges and newspaper clippings; Richard Salter Storrs’ 200th Birthday celebration programs, “The Literary Worlds of Richard Salter Storrs” pamphlet, patron list and appeal, buttons, and newspaper clippings; and Memorial Day programs and addresses,1922-1999, including an Omar Bradley address from 1948.

Documentation of the nation’s Bicentennial in 1976 includes: minutes of the Longmeadow Bicentennial Commission, lists of committee members, Commission correspondence, and letters of invitation to town gardeners. There are also flyers, brochures, and programs for Bicentennial events; newspaper clippings; and photographs. This section also includes copies of Longmeadow calendars, 1975-1976; a Longmeadow Maternal Association quilt block booklet; a copy of the Congressional Record with an Edward P. Boland address; buttons; and a Bicentennial-themed needlepoint kit for a glasses case.

Materials relating to Longmeadow’s own Bicentennial in 1983 include house tour pamphlets, a History of Longmeadow coloring book, event flyers, photos, and newspaper clippings.

Rounding out the collection are various programs and ephemera from several Longmeadow events such as concerts, recitals and a local fair, with dates ranging from 1893 to 1968, as well as undated material.
 
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First Church

Background Note
The churches collection documents Longmeadow’s various religious institutions. The bulk of the material is related to the First Church of Christ. Other denominations, including Catholics, Episcopalians, and Jews, are less well represented.

The First Church of Christ, Longmeadow was established in 1713. The first meeting house was built in 1716. In 1767 and 1768 a second meeting house was built to replace the first, and was located on the Green just north of the initial meeting house. A new bell for the church was purchased in 1809 from Paul Revere in Boston. The church was extensively remodeled in 1828 and 1874 when it was moved to its present location at the corner of Longmeadow and Williams streets. The church was a gothic style building from 1874 until 1932 when it was remodeled to its current colonial style.

Reverend Stephen Williams was the first minister, beginning in 1716 and continuing until 1782. Subsequent ministers include: Richard Salter Storrs, 1785-1819; Baxter Dickenson, 1823-1829; Jonathan Bailey Condit, 1831-1865; Hubbard Beebe, 1837-1843; Samuel Wolcott, 1843-1847; John Wheeler Harding, 1850-1891; Stephen Goodyear Barnes, 1892-1901; and Henry Lincoln Bailey, 1901-1916.

Scope and Content Note
Materials related to First Church of Christ include: general histories; weekly bulletins, newsletters, and yearbooks; annual reports and budgets; miscellaneous materials related to a number of Church committees including the Men’s Prayer Group, Music Committee, Sewing Society, Evening Fellowship, and Women’s Committee; menus, reports, and newspaper clippings for the annual May Breakfast. Of particular interest is a volume beginning in 1716 of church records which note church admissions, dismissals, baptisms, deaths, marriages, church meetings and other church related information.

St. Mary’s Catholic Church materials include photos and Seed Sown on Good Ground: a History of St. Mary’s Parish, written in 1977. Material related to St. Andrews Episcopal Church includes newspaper clippings, photos, and an illustration. The collection also contains several photos of Beth Israel Synagogue and Congregation B’nai Jacob and a copy of Declaration of Faith and Covenant of the Baptist Church, Longmeadow, from 1842.
 
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Scope and Content Note
The Longmeadow family history collection contains a wide variety of materials related to local individuals and families. Materials include: correspondence, obituaries, newspaper clippings, genealogies and family histories, financial and legal documents, diaries, and account books. The collection also includes photographs of family members and properties and several published items. While a number of the families or individuals have only a few related documents there are several that are well-represented, including the Colton, Keep, Storrs, and Williams families.

Colton Family materials include: correspondence, bills & receipts, marriage certificates, military commissions, genealogies, and photographs. Additional materials include Colton Family Newsletters, a printed sermon for the interment of Lucretia Colton by Alfred Ely, 1821, and “In Memoriam: Deacon Walter Colton.” by A.M. Colton.

Keep family materials include over 100 letters, largely from the 1820s, many of them addressed to Nathan Cooley Keep (1800–1875), who was founding Dean of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Letters discuss visits with various family members and friends, news of the family farm, business matters, education, and religion.

Materials related to the Williams family include: anagrams by Abigail Williams, 1718; the will of Reverend Stephen Williams, 1771; the letters and diaries of Jerusha Williams (with typed transcriptions), 1801-1824; John Williams’ Deerfield sermons, 1713 and undated; and correspondence, newspaper clippings, and articles related to Eleazer Williams, the “Lost Dauphin.” Items of more recent vintage include photos of Williams family descendants who visited the Historical Society in 1992.

Richard Salter Storrs (1763-1819) materials include a letter to Rev. Bezaleel Howards of Springfield from the Longmeadow Church Committee announcing the invitation to Mr. Richard Salter Storrs to preach in 1785 and an estate inventory from 1820. Richard Salter Storrs (1787-1873) materials include a letter to Ebenezer Bliss, 1849, and copies of his obituary.

Related collections: The Sermon Collection includes sermons by Stephen Williams and all three of the men named Richard Salter Storrs. The Account Book Collection includes a number of account books kept by various members of the Colton family.
 
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Background Note
The first organizational meeting of the Longmeadow Historical Society was held June 3, 1899. Supper was prepared by the Ladies Sewing Society, and afterwards they gathered with interested friends around an old oak “study table” that had belonged to the first minister of First Church, Reverend Stephen Williams. A display of town artifacts inspired interest as a proposed constitution and bylaws were presented. In November of that year the Society had secured papers of incorporation and had elected its first officers. The stated purpose of the society was to encourage an interest in the history of the town by providing lectures, and collecting papers, furniture, and articles illustrating town life in past times. Dues were 50 cents per year.

The first exhibition sponsored by the Society took place in October of 1899. Besides special Longmeadow artifacts, it included a reproduction of an old kitchen with fireplace and spinning wheel. At its first annual meeting on October 31st, three ladies presented papers on historical subjects: Mrs. McQueen spoke on “Longmeadow of the Past;” Mrs. S.E. Meacham on “Old Home Life in New England;” and Mrs. C.S. Gates on “Legendry, Lore, and Superstition.” Members voted at that meeting to lend the society’s support to Memorial Day observances. In 1907 Miss Sarah Storrs, a descendent of Longmeadow’s second minister, the Rev. Richard Salter Storrs, died and left all her real estate and some money to be used to establish a library. The real estate included the historic Storrs homestead, which was built in about 1786.

In 1932 when the Storrs Library Association decided to build a new library, it offered the use of Storrs House to the Historical Society on the condition that the society restore, repair, and maintain it. The house was moved twelve feet to the south and about thirty feet back to make room for the library. In the process it was provided with a new foundation but lost its front porch, a glassed porch on the south side and two additions.

Since that time the Society has continued to encourage an interest in Longmeadow’s past through a variety of programs, events, and exhibits. Long Meddowe Days, a community fair focusing on history first held in 1979, is the primary fundraising event for the Society. Rooms and exhibits at Storrs House draw from the Society’s holdings to shed light on various periods of Longmeadow’s past. The Society also gives tours of the house, sponsors talks, and hosts “Ghosts in the Graveyard,” an evening tour of Longmeadow’s old burying ground at First Church, which includes dramatizations of former citizens. In addition to assisting those with inquiries about people or events associated with Longmeadow’s history, the Society also provides additional resources through its website with links to digitized materials including the Reverend Stephen Williams diaries; Town Reports; past copies of the “Town Crier,” the Society’s newsletter; Paesiello Emerson photographs; and genealogies.

Scope and Content Note
The Longmeadow Historical Society’s institutional archives document the Society’s efforts in preservation and outreach. Materials include minutes, guest books, Treasurer’s reports and records, papers relating to several past Presidents of the Society, Historian’s Reports, publications, and photographs. Papers related to Long Meddowe Days include: programs, committee lists, minutes, bills and expense information, and newspaper clippings. Of particular interest are the yearly Historian’s Reports (1908-1959), which include not only information on past Longmeadow families and homes, but also touch upon significant events of the preceding year. These include recent deaths, the 1938 hurricane, World War II, local real estate developments and public works. The Society’s newsletters and publications provide insight into the various programs and outreach undertaken by the Society.
 
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Background Note
In 1636, William Pynchon led an expedition to Western Massachusetts in hopes of establishing a trading post. Here he purchased land along the Connecticut River from native Pocumtuk or Agawam Indians. Know as “Masacksic” or “the long meddowe” the area was initially a part of Springfield. Up until 1645 the meadow was used as a common pasture, shared by all residents. It was then divided into lots for 25 families from Springfield who were permitted to build homes. These included the Bliss, Burt, Colton, Cooley, and Keep families.

The settlement grew and by the 1690s there was increasing agitation among the residents for an autonomous community. Religiously and politically the people were still part of the Springfield settlement, but they had to travel three to five miles for the frequent religious services, town meetings, and supplies.

A disastrous flood in the meadows in 1695 prompted a movement to become separate from Springfield. The meadow residents successfully petitioned in 1703 for permission to move their settlement out of the meadows and to an upper terrace east of the floodplain away from the river. A road was laid out (the present-day Longmeadow Street), and house lots were assigned. Houses were built over the next few years, and by 1709 the new homes were occupied. The residents then successfully petitioned the Massachusetts General Court to be a separate precinct within Springfield, which would enable Longmeadow residents to have their own meeting house and minister. In 1714 work was begun on a meeting house, in the center of the Green, and in 1716 Rev. Stephen Williams was ordained as the first minister of this new community.

More houses cropped up around the Green and farms were built up and down Longmeadow Street. By the 1750s houses appeared in the eastern part of Longmeadow in the area now known as East Longmeadow. Still predominantly a farming community, small shops and businesses were established around and on the Green. By 1767 the town realized a need for a larger meetinghouse and a “raising” was held to replace the original. Like many communities in the colonies, Longmeadow was touched by the ever-louder calls for Revolution. April 21, 1775 saw farmers from Longmeadow joining with Minutemen from Springfield’s militia to assist fellow colonists in Lexington and Concord. The impending war divided citizens here, as elsewhere, neighbor against neighbor, Patriot against Tory. On October 17, 1783, Longmeadow was incorporated as the first community in the newly formed Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The “East Village” section of Longmeadow split off from the “West Village” in 1894 to form the separate town now called East Longmeadow. At that time the population of East Longmeadow numbered about 1,600, leaving what we now think of as the town of Longmeadow with a population of about 570. East Longmeadow by this time was an economically and ethnically diverse community with many businesses and industries, a busy railroad yard and a dozen operational red sandstone quarries. A map of Longmeadow from that year shows approximately 100 homes, most concentrated up and down Longmeadow Street.

The arrival of the trolley line in 1896 linking Springfield to Connecticut via Longmeadow Street created rapid growth. Longmeadow was now officially a “streetcar suburb.” “South Park Estates” was the first of many new subdivisions to be built within easy access to the trolley. It was soon joined by “The Elms,” Crescent Road, Greenwood Manor, and Colony Hills. By mid-century Longmeadow had become a town with charming town buildings, an elegant Community House, several schools, and a population approaching 15,000.
 
Scope and Content Note
The Longmeadow homes collection contains materials related to a number of Longmeadow properties, many located along the town’s historic Longmeadow Street. The collection is arranged alphabetically by street name and then numerically by house number. The documentation available for each house varies but might include: Town Report covers with illustrations of specific properties, photographs, histories of homeowners, articles on architectural style, newspaper clippings and magazine articles, and typed extracts and photocopies of deeds or other primary sources.

Houses with more extensive documentation include 663 Longmeadow Street, 826 Longmeadow Street (Colton-Buxton House), 906 Longmeadow (James Coomes House), and 1060 Longmeadow Street (Marchant Samuel Colton House). Plans for 5 Laurel Street include a 1935 Olmsted Brothers study for plantings in front of the house.

In addition to information on specific properties there are also materials related to “The Green” and “The Meadows”. The collection also contains a binder with house histories and a list of past owners for a number of historic properties, the majority of which are located on Longmeadow Street. Photographs in the collection range from mounted photographs from the late 1800s to more contemporary snapshots. The collection also includes an interesting group of panoramic shots of “The Green” taken in the 1880s. A number of houses on Longmeadow Street were photographed in 1986 and those images are included here.
 
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Scope and Content Note
The Longmeadow subject files include various materials relating to the town of Longmeadow and the surrounding area. The collection is arranged into several broad categories including businesses, general Longmeadow history, military history, transportation, and nearby towns.

Materials in the collection consist primarily of newspaper clippings, book and magazine articles, pamphlets, ephemera, written histories, and photographs. Primary source documents in the collection include several early 19th century muster rolls; a history of Civilian Defense in Longmeadow during World War II; and materials relating the Enfield Falls Dam, 1854-1856. The collection also includes materials related to Springfield, Deerfield, and Enfield, Connecticut, as well as an unpublished history of Longmeadow written in the 1960s.
 
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