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.
 
Box and Folder Listing

Scope and Content Note
The Longmeadow Historical Society scrapbook collection contains scrapbooks compiled by various Longmeadow individuals, including Lucy J. Smith, Annie Emerson, and Carrie A. Brewer. The majority of the scrapbooks consist of newspaper clippings, though some include manuscript material, photographs, trade cards, greeting cards, or other ephemera. Newspaper clippings cover a wide range of topics including obituaries, biographies of local citizens, weddings, area history, and other items of local interest.

Scrapbooks of particular interest include: a scrapbook of photographs and clippings documenting the 1938 New England hurricane (#16); several volumes with Paesiello Emerson’s photographs of Longmeadow homes and properties that also illustrate early infrastructure, agricultural activity including haying, as well as other localities (#35 and #37a); scrapbooks related to Longmeadow celebrations including the nation’s Bicentennial (#38 & #42) and the Longmeadow Sesquicentennial (#14); scrapbooks with valentines, Christmas cards, greeting cards, and trade cards from the 1880s (#29 and #37b); Lucy J. Smith’s scrapbooks covering Longmeadow and Springfield from the 1920s; and a scrapbook containing primary source materials including deeds, bills and receipts, passports, and other manuscripts dating from the 18th and 19th centuries related to the Lawton family (#40).

One copy of Annie Emerson’s scrapbook entitled “Longmeadow Historical Society. Memories, Past & Present” (formerly identified as #9a) is located at the Storrs Library.
 
Box and Folder Listing

A listing of the first postmasters of Longmeadow compiled by William Fenton

Biographical Note
William G. Fenton was a resident of East Longmeadow and a member of the Longmeadow Historical Society. Fenton worked for the U.S. Envelope Company for 44 years and retired in 1960.

Scope and Content Note
This collection consists of research notes, rough drafts, and correspondence with people Fenton thought might be able to provide him with information related to his study of the postal history of Longmeadow. Fenton’s research resulted in two artfully arranged scrapbooks containing envelopes with Longmeadow cancellations, letters, several photographs of mail carriers from the early 1900s to 1940, brief histories of postmasters and post office locations, and a list of post office box holders from 1902. The scrapbooks also include a letter written by Mary Reynolds Schauffler, the American wife of the German missionary William Gottlieb Schauffler, while they were living in Turkey. Although Fenton’s interest was primarily in the envelope received by Amelia Reynolds of Longmeadow, Mary’s description of a plague in Turkey and general hardships is also valuable.

The collection also includes a typescript history of the first Longmeadow post office, which was in operation from 1814 to 1902. The history has biographical sketches of each of the eleven postmasters. There are also chapters on related subjects: “Post Riders and Early Colonial Posts,” “Early Roads and Paths,” “Stage Coaches,” “The Railroad,” “Longmeadow Industries,” and “Early Longmeadow History.” There is no evidence that his work was ever published.
 
Box and Folder Listing