New CHS Scans with Volunteers

 Since late May (the past 3 weeks) we have scanned 147 new CHS items.  (new scans of old items).

Colrain Village  #586

The "we" refers to me (Dave) and two new volunteers, Jade Mortimer and Nina Reyes. This brings the total scanned items to 812 out of 2554 items in the database. ( Some items are multi-page, so the actual number of "scans" is much higher, but here the word "scan" refers to one item, whether a single page/sheet  or several. Also, many single sheets are scanned both sides.).

The scanning is done in my office where I have 4 scanning machine setups. Jade and Nina are comfortable with computers so, after some training time, they are now good fits for the task.

This link has all 147 items in Airtable.  To browse through all, select the tiny diagonal lines field on left side of one line.  A larger screen will pop up.  Then use the arrows in upper left.

SOME HIGHLIGHTS:
#586 (above) is a cut-out image of the village in 1839 from the John Warner Barber book. This is the oldest known depiction of Colrain. Our copy may be an original. It is affixed to a patterned piece of heavy chipboard. (see below)

This is a well-known image, but it is nice to know that CHS has an original. We scanned this at both 300 dpi and 1200 dpi. The larger file could be edited and printed  as a large poster for the museum.

#603 "Famous Old Colrain Curtain" 


This undated news clipping is probably from the early 1950s, as it refers to William Pitt producing a performance at Memorial Hall, and we know he was active then.  One paragraph (3rd column) has an intriguing note describing the discovery, in Memorial Hall,  of a pair of Revolutionary War saddlebags owned by a British Officer.  Who has those saddlebags today?
 
# 666 Murder in Griswoldville - Lawyer's notes for the trial.

This notebook belonged to James Davis, a Boston attorney, who was assistant Attorney General of Massachusetts and prosecuted, in 1872, a murder case in Griswoldville. A man named Peck, who was perhaps  insane, had killed Elmira Cheney in 1867.  I'll forego further details here, but this case was big news at the time, and it is nice that CHS has an original document like this. We scanned all 45 pages of the notebook. A narrative about this artifact might be of value to CHS.. Why does CHS have the notebook of the State's prosecuting attorney?  We are not sure, but James Davis was born in Greenfield, and is buried in Green River Cemetery there.

#657   Trolley Car Time Table 1896


The Shelburne Falls-Colrain Street Railway was brand new when this timetable was printed in 1896. Note 12 daily round trips !

On the back of the folded timetable are advertisements from Shelburne Falls Businesses, aimed directly at trolley travelers.  "REMEMBER! All Cars Stop at Jenks Shoe Store"

 #658   Property Tax Valuations 1970


It is interesting to see what properties were worth 50 + years ago. We have scanned this whole multi-page item and it is "downloadable" on the Airtable site.  CHS also has the 1960 valuations (# 2151, #1050).

#770   The Pitt House gets a Stove from CJ Carpenter in 1921.

It looks likes $111 was paid for the stove and the installation.

# 2146 & 1034    Colrain Apple-Growing Documents
In 1907 there was a "Colrain Fruit Growers Association", chartered by the state,  whose members bought shares, such as this five dollar share paid for by F.H. Dodge.

At the time Colrain was perhaps the largest producer of apples in the state (?) . The local apple industry was important enough that in 1903 the Massachusetts Fruit Growers Association met in Colrain at Memorial Hall, with a day long conference featuring speakers from Amherst, Hadley and Connecticut. (below)

CHS #  1034

#1373   Peter Green Veterans Marker Application - African American Soldier
This is a 34-page file of letters and documents supporting the effort to have a gravestone made for Revolutionary Soldier Peter Green of Colrain.


The papers have his dates of service, his obituary, and copies of his US Pension file, including an 1818 affidavit about his service, typsecript shown here.

----- That's all for this summary of the 147 "new" scans.

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