"Prepare- for follow me you must"
A simple gravestone in Longmeadow Cemetery from 1720, with a classic inscription, warns passersby to consider their own fates. It marks...
top of page
Want to have the latest History Notes delivered right to your inbox weekly? Head over to Sign Up for Our Newsletter to get History Notes sent to your email every Thursday morning!
Betsy McKee
- Dec 5, 2022
- 2 min
For the Birds!
"With Best Wishes" Postcard from the Longmeadow Historical Society Archives It's For the Birds! Did you know that there used to be a crow...
0 views0 comments
Betsy McKee
- Nov 21, 2022
- 3 min
Standish, or "Why don't you speak for yourself, John?"
Have you ever heard of a standish? Besides the Pilgrim story of Miles Standish, I hadn't either. Long before Henry Wadsworth Longfellow...
3 views0 comments
Betsy McKee
- Nov 21, 2022
- 3 min
Fire! Fire!
If you were one of the many people who voted at the Community House this week, then you were visiting the site of a significant mid-19th...
2 views0 comments
Tim Casey
- Nov 20, 2022
- 4 min
Diggin' in The Meadows
The Silvio O. Conte National Wildlife Refuge, colloquially known as “The Meadows,” is a stretch of meadows and wetlands that dominate the...
2 views0 comments
Betsy McKee
- Nov 19, 2022
- 2 min
Memorial Day
This coming Monday, May 30th, is Memorial Day. Although the exact origin of the holiday is unclear, it was widely celebrated beginning...
0 views0 comments
Melissa M. Cybulski
- Nov 19, 2022
- 2 min
Say Their Names
Anyone who knows and loves the soundtrack from the musical Hamilton knows how haunting the final verse of the final song is, “who lives,...
2 views0 comments
Melissa M. Cybulski
- Nov 19, 2022
- 3 min
April 1775: Longmeadow Reports
Battle of Lexington 1775 by Amos Doolittle Next week Massachusetts will celebrate Patriots’ Day, a holiday commemorating the Battles of...
0 views0 comments
Christopher Cummings LHS '22
- Nov 17, 2022
- 7 min
Deerfield Sculpture
Hello, everyone. I’m Christopher Cummings and I’m a senior at Longmeadow High School. I’ve been interning at the Longmeadow Historical...
2 views0 comments
Becky Vitkauskas
- Nov 16, 2022
- 3 min
The White Tavern
766 Longmeadow Street- c. 1982 via MACRIS Longmeadow was home to multiple taverns in earlier centuries. One well known tavern in town...
1 view0 comments
Beth Hoff
- Nov 13, 2022
- 3 min
Designing To Get An Apprentice Boy
On October 31, 1774, Rev. Stephen Williams of Longmeadow wrote in his diary, “this day, my son Samuel set out on a journey for Boston...
2 views0 comments
Betsy McKee
- Nov 13, 2022
- 2 min
Thanksgiving Proclamation!
We may think that the holiday of Thanksgiving has always been celebrated like we do it now--with big meals featuring turkey, and family...
1 view0 comments
Beth Hoff
- Nov 13, 2022
- 7 min
John Ackley and Sarah Forbus
Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze Who were John Akley and Sarah Forbus? They are pauper children from Boston whom Ensign...
4 views0 comments
Al McKee
- Nov 12, 2022
- 4 min
William Holland, Longmeadow's First Stone Carver
When people ask what the oldest gravestone in the Longmeadow Cemetery is, the answer is the stone for Mary Drake Colton. She died in...
4 views0 comments
Betsy McKee
- Nov 12, 2022
- 2 min
Tales from the Cemetery
Longmeadow Cemetery We have often admired the skillfully carved gravestones in the Longmeadow Cemetery. Most made from locally quarried...
0 views0 comments
Betsy McKee
- Nov 12, 2022
- 2 min
Granny Note- 'The Pistol'
One of the most intriguing objects in the Longmeadow Historical Society collection is an ancient pistol. Measuring almost two feet long,...
2 views0 comments
Beth Hoff
- Nov 11, 2022
- 4 min
Peter Pease- "... if he should be living..."
Indenture of Peter Pease to Noah Ashley “…if he should be living…” Sometimes, research leads you to more questions than answers, and this...
2 views0 comments
Melissa M. Cybulski
- Nov 11, 2022
- 7 min
Searching for Susan Freedom
Susan Freedom d.1803, Springfield Cemetery (image courtesy of Betsy McKee) Under the shade of evergreen trees in a section of Springfield...
2 views0 comments
Betsy McKee
- Nov 11, 2022
- 3 min
Granny Tales- Part II
"The Granny Tale: The Process of Discovering the Truth Behind the Note" As some of our readers will recall, we recently discussed so...
1 view0 comments
Betsy McKee
- Nov 4, 2022
- 3 min
Granny Notes and Bough Pots
Have you ever heard of a granny note? This is what historical societies and museums call the little slips of paper that come with...
1 view0 comments
bottom of page