Historical Society

The Hamilton Historical Society was founded in 1961 with the following goals:
1. To arrange stimulating programs relating local history for its membership and friends.
2. To disseminate as widely as possible the history of Hamilton.
3. To serve as a meeting place for those who enjoy local history.
4. To preserve artifacts relating to Hamilton.
5. To support research and publication of books and articles relating to Hamilton.
6. To publish a society bulletin containing news of the society's coming events and material pertinent to the interest of the society.
To become a member or read more about membership click here.

A Brief History of the Town of Hamilton

In June, 1638, John Winthrop, Jr., son of the founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, bought most of present-day Essex County from Masconomet, chief of the Agawam Indians, for the sum of twenty English pounds.  In 1630 Masconomet had paddled out to greet the original Bay Colony ships in peace.  He was eventually given six acres to plant in 1655 and about 1658 he died.  A memorial stone on Sagamore Hill in southeastern Hamilton marks where he was buried with his gun and tomahawk.

Hamilton began as the southern parish of Ipswich and was known as the Hamlet.  The first recorded land grant in the Hamlet was Matthew Whipple's farm, dated 1638.  Three years later the new stagecoach road from Boston to Newburyport (Bay Road) was laid out through the Whipple land.  Other early settlers of the Hamlet, including the Appletons, Winthrops, Lamsons, and Dodges, were attracted by countryside similar to the English farms and estates they had left behind.

The church, with a congregational form of government, formed the center of early village life.  In 1712, forty families of the Hamlet petitioned the Town of Ipswich to allow them to build their own church closer to their homes.  It was built on the site of the present Congregational Church, and Samuel Wigglesworth served as its pastor until 1758.  Other prominent ministers who followed were Manasseh Cutler and Joseph Barlow Felt.

Dr. Cutler made his influence felt beyond Hamilton in a number of ways.  In particular, as negotiator with Congress for the purchase of land in the Northwest Territory in Ohio, and for shaping the Ordinance of 1787 governing that territory to include clauses prohibiting slavery and providing for education.  Dr. Cutler organized a party of forty eight villagers from the Hamlet, including his own son, to travel by covered wagon to Marietta, Ohio, to found the first permanent settlement in Ohio.

In 1793, following a court fight against Ipswich, Hamilton became incorporated as a town.  Dr. Cutler spoke for the petitioners, who objected to paying high taxes to Ipswich.  Dr. Cutler chose the name of Hamilton in honor of Alexander Hamilton.

The town center included the Congregational meetinghouse, the town green, the cemetery (1706), a cobbler's shop (1750), and the homes of some of its prominent citizens.  The post office, the tavern, the store house, and the blacksmith's shop were all added to the center in the early 1800's.

With the arrival of the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1839, the population center moved gradually southward toward the depot.  Depot Square became the home of the American Express Company Office (now Talbot's) which opened in 1891, and Hannah's Store (now Connolly's Pharmacy), which opened in 1898.  In 1897, the new Town Hall on Bay Road was completed, enabling town meetings to be held there instead of in the church vestry.

The farm village proved to be an attractive location for Boston groups seeking land for recreation and renewal.  A Methodist minister's association first held a camp meeting at Asbury Grove in 1859 because it was more accessible than Eastham on Cape Cod.  During the years that followed, thousands came to Asbury Grove in the summer to hear gospel preaching, to play croquet, tennis, and baseball, and to join drama and music groups.

In the 1880's, the Myopia Hunt Club, which had been named in jest for its nearsighted founders, moved from Winchester, Massachusetts to Gibney Farm in Hamilton.  Beginning as a lawn tennis and baseball club, it turned to polo, the hunt, and golf as members built large summer estates in the area.  Myopia donated the site for the General George S. Patton Memorial Park to the town of Hamilton.  The park continues to be a recreation center for the town today.

In 1921 the Mandell family built the Community House in memory of the eight men of both towns who died in military service during World War I, including their son, Sam.  They commissioned Guy Lowell, a respected architect of Boston and New York, to design the building, and gave the Community House in trust for the use of the residents of both towns.  Although in its early days the Community House offered activities such as bowling and a men's smoking room, it now features a wide range of classes and activities for all ages.

Bibliography:
Beattie, Donald W., ed., Hamilton, Massachusetts, Chronicle of a Country Town,
     Hamilton, MA: Town of Hamilton, Massachusetts American Revolution
     Bicentennial Commission, 1976.

Pulsifer, Janice P., Changing Town: Hamilton, Massachusetts 1850-1910,
     Hamilton, MA: Hamilton Historical Society: 1976.

Safford, Daniel E., "Hamilton" in The History of Essex County, Volume II,
      Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis&Company, 1888.

Source:  The 2003-2004 League of Women Voters/Lions Club of Hamilton-Wenham Telephone Directory, "Hamilton History," page 5, copies available at the Town Hall. 

To read about the original settlers of Hamilton, the Agawam Indians click here.
Historial Society Member Arthur "Butch" Crosbie recently gave a talk in Ipswich. Click here to read the article from it.

Photo Gallery of Hamilton through the Years

Contact the Historical Society:

Arthur "Butch" Crosbie
Annette Janes
Linda Coonrod
Connie Cobb
Emily Cook
Mary Ann Burridge
Edna Barney

Office:
Hamilton Town Hall
577 Bay Road
P.O. Box 108
Hamilton, MA 01936
Phone: 978-468-5570
Fax: 978-468-2682
Email:  hhs@hamiltonma.gov

Office Hours:
1pm-3pm Thursdays

Membership checks can be sent to the above address, Attention: Emily Cook.

| Home | About | Contact | © 2004-2007 Town of Hamilton, Massachusetts |