Biographical and Scope & Content Notes

Robert Abercrombie (1), born 1712, probably in Scotland. He came to Pelham, Mass., in about 1742 and became the minister in 1744. After 10 years he was dismissed when some townspeople opposed his becoming the settled minister Robert married Margaret Stevenson (1712 – 1765) of Deerfield in c. 1743. The couple had 11 children. Robert died in 1786 in Pelham. His papers consist of a genealogical note, a book owned by Robert recording religious thoughts, and a letter.

Andrew Abercrombie, son of Robert and Margaret Stevenson Abercrombie, was born c. 1750 in Pelham, Mass. He married Mary Conkey of Pelham in 1773; they had two children. His papers consist of 2 deeds and a certificate.

Isaac Abercrombie (2), son of Robert and Margaret Stevenson, was born 1759 in Pelham, Mass. He was a Justice of the Peace, coroner, selectman and representative. Isaac served as a captain in the militia during the 1790s. He moved to the Cheapside area of Deerfield, Mass., c. 1830, where he married Martha McCullock (b. 1768) in 1790. She died in 1837, he in 1847. They had nine children, two of whom died in infancy. Three children are mentioned below. His papers consist of letters, military commissions, a 1787 Oath of Allegiance, town appointments, and a folder of deeds and financial documents. A folder of Post Way Bills, which presumably belonged to him and not his son, Isaac Junior, are also among his papers.

Isaac Abercrombie, Jr., son of Isaac and Martha McCullock Abercrombie, was born 1793 probably in Pelham, Mass. As a merchant, farmer, deputy sheriff, coroner, and Justice of the Peace, Isaac became a wealthy landowner and successful businessman. In 1872, he died unmarried in Deerfield. His papers consist of several folders containing a will, map, letters, appointments, deeds, financial documents, stock market transactions, etc. Isaac was the trustee of the William Ackers estate for his heirs Hannah, Mehitable, and John. William Ackers (1765 – c. 1838), married Mehitable Abercrombie (1767 – 1843), the eleventh child of Robert (see above). She was adopted by William Hyslop (possibly a family friend) of Brookline, Mass. and married Ackers in 1798. The Ackers papers include letters, deeds, financial statements, bills, and promissory notes. Isaac purchased and sold some of the Acker property, possibly during a period of financial duress due to medical bills.

Ira Abercrombie, son of Isaac and Martha McCullock Abercrombie, was born in Deerfield in 1805 and died in 1870. He was a merchant, banker (eventually serving as President and Director of Franklin County Bank), representative, selectman, and prominent in town affairs. He never married. Ira and his brother Asiel (see below) moved to Greenfield, Mass., with their father in about 1830. The three of them purchased the Houghton store and the old River Tavern at Cheapside where they did business as freighters, farmers and speculators. In 1834 they bought a boat, The Voyager, which they renamed Free Trade. They made many trips to Hartford, Ct., with cargos of wood, brooms, cider brandy, boxes of hats, cranberries, etc., returning with West India and English goods of rum, flour, and cotton. In 1839, they bought another boat, The Donner, which they used as a freighter. The railroad put an end to their successful business when Cheapside ceased to be the commercial center of Greenfield. Ira’s papers consist of several folders of letters, will, invitations, insurance papers, deeds, financial papers, bills and receipts and stock certificates. There are joint folders of receipts and bills he shared with his brother Isaac, Jr. in Box 2.

Asiel Abercrombie (3), son of Isaac2 and Martha McCullock, was born in 1807 and died 1874. He was a farmer and tavern keeper at Cheapside. He married Elizabeth Fuller in 1845; the couple had 4 children, three of whom are mentioned below. His papers consist of paid bills and deeds.

Robert Abercrombie (4), son of Asiel and Elizabeth Fuller Abercrombie, was born in 1846 and died 1925. He was a farmer at Cheapside and Trustee of Greenfield Savings Bank and Deerfield Academy. He married Ellen M. Crawford, (born 1854), daughter of the Rev. Robert Crawford of Deerfield, in 1873. The couple had six children; she died in 1892. Two children are mentioned below. Robert and his second wife, Matilda Ulrich, were married in 1893. She died in 1941. His papers consist of deeds (including railroad deeds), estate documents (includes an inventory and property description), and an invitation to an execution.

Elizabeth Abercrombie, daughter of Asiel and Elizabeth Fuller Abercrombie, was born in 1848, one of four children. She lived in Brookline, Mass., possibly with her sister, Hattie. She died in 1910. Her papers consist of clippings, letters, and pension bureau information.

Hattie F. Abercrombie, daughter of Asiel and Elizabeth Fuller Abercrombie, was born in 1860. Little is known about Hattie; she resided in Brookline, Mass., and may never have married. Her correspondence ceased around 1941, possibly around her probable death. Her papers include genealogical letters from William Abercrombie, a relative in London.

Elizabeth Brooks Abercrombie, daughter of Robert and Ellen Crawford, was born in 1876 and died in 1890. She never married. Her papers consist of three compositions, one titled “The Indian and the White Man.”

James Douglas Abercrombie, son of Robert and Ellen Crawford, was born in 1878, died in 1946. He was a wholesaler and community leader. He started working in a bank, and in 1898 formed a wholesale food and beverage business with Lester Luey whom he bought out in 1918. Jam e s was chairman of the Greenfield P ark Commission for 15 years, chairman of the town’s finance committee, president of the Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis Club, trustee of Smith Charities, and incorporator of Franklin Savings Institution. He married Ella Bingham of Bennington, VT, in 1908; they had two children. The couple lived on Highland Avenue in Greenfield, Mass. His papers consist of two letters and his estate inventory typescript.

Ella Bingham Abercrombie, wife of James Douglas Abercrombie, was born in 1882 in VT. She was the daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Henry Stephen Bingham. She married James in 1908 and they had two sons, one of whom is mentioned below. Her papers consist of a Bingham account booklet, address book, travel journal, and two letters, one a copy and one re: Bingham Bible. A joint folder for Ella and James D. Abercrombie contains a letter and their wedding invitation.

James Douglas Abercrombie, Jr., son of James Douglas and Ella Bingham Abercrombie, was born 1913 in Greenfield, Mass., and died in 1978. He married Emily Carter (1915 – 1994) in 1941 in Alabama; they had two daughters and two sons. Jam e s was a graduate of the first class from Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, and later became a trustee and chairman of their Alumni Association. He graduated from Deerfield Academy and attended Colgate University from which he graduated in 1936. He was employed by the Greenfield Tap & Die Co. in New York and Alabama. Later he assumed control of Luey and Abercrombie from his father, and was the business’ president and treasurer at the time of his death. He was a member of the First Church of Deerfield, the Kiwanis, Moose, Elks, and Rotary clubs, American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Deerfield Finance board. James served as director of the Greenfield Chamber of Commerce, treasurer of the Indian House Memorial, and trustee of the Greenfield Savings Bank. He is buried in Green River Cemetery, Greenfield, Mass. His papers consist of obituary clippings, 2 church memorial pamphlets and party invitation.

Emily Carter Abercrombie was born 1915 in Alabama and died in Deerfield in 1994. She was the wife of James Douglas Jr., whom she married in 1941. They had four children together. She is buried in the Green River Cemetery in Greenfield, Mass. Her papers consist of an In Memory church flyer and party invitation.

The Abercrombie Bible is located in the PVMA library, Bible and psalm case.

Information taken from George Sheldon’s A History of Deerfield (1985) and genealogy typescripts included in the Abercrombie papers. Numbers refer to numbers assigned by Sheldon in his genealogy section.

Box and Folder Listing