Archival resources

Allis Family Memoirs

Two closely-related memoirs about the Allis family and their farm in Whately, Mass., focusing on the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Written by Lucius Howes Allis, the last Allis to own the farm, when he was 72 years old, “The Allis farm and its families” contains a lengthy genealogy, transcriptions of a handful of family deeds and documents, and brief stories about Lucius’ father Irving during his trip to Kansas and on the farm. “Up on the hill” is a lively memoir written by William R. Phinney, an alumnus of Massachusetts Agricultural College and apparently a friend of the Allis family. Phinney’s account contains excellent accounts of the lives of Elliot, Irving, and Lucius Allis, about farm life in the late nineteenth century, dairying, beekeeping, and rural family life. (Description courtesy of Special Collections & University Archives, UMass)

Zebina Bartlett (1780-1862) account book, 1801-1834

Zebina Bartlett was a contractor and bridge builder.

George Washington Crafts (1821-1913) diaries, 1879-1909

17 volumes contain brief entries documenting life and work of George and his brother Asa Jackson Crafts (1829-1910) on their North Street farm.

Mary Persis Crafts/Family Collection, Historic Northampton,  Northampton, Massachusetts

Correspondence and financial records, 1838-1934, include materials documenting the lives of James Monroe (1817-1903), Mary Ann (Jewett) (1822-79), Triphena (1819-42), Martin (1807-80), Elbridge (1814-86), Thomas (1851-1925), and Caleb (1796-1854) Crafts.

Olive K. Damon Papers, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts

The Olive Warner Kellogg Damon Papers consist of 4.75 linear feet of diaries, correspondence, memorabilia, and photographs. Fifty-eight volumes of diaries that she kept beginning in 1930 at the age of 19 and ending in 2002 a year before her death comprise the bulk of the papers. Supplementing the diaries is a self published memoir of her life, correspondence with her son Alan (“Pete”) along with some writings and material documenting her art work.

Sanderson Family Account Books, Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association Library, Deerfield, Massachusetts

3 Account books kept by the families of Eli Sanderson (1795–1823), Elon Chester Sanderson (1825–1884), and Charles Augustus Sanderson (1850-1906), document diversified farming and mill operations in north Whately, 1818-1870s.