New Salem, Massachusetts

Forgotten Franklin County Town

Map

(The red star is where New Salem lies)

Located in West Central Massachusetts in the County of Franklin, New Salem is bordered by Orange on the north; Athol and Petersham on the northeast; Quabbin Reservoir on the east and south; and Pelham, Quabbin Reservoir, Shutesbury, and Wendall on the west. New Salem is 29 miles southeast of Greenfield, 42 miles west of Worcester, and 84 miles west of Boston.

History

New Salem's history began on December 31, 1734, when the General Court granted a township six miles square to 60 residents of Salem, who then set about recruiting settlers. The first settler is believed to be Jeremiah Meacham, who paid 10 pounds for a lot and came to the area in 1737. The names of other early settlers included Trask, Southwick, Felton, Goodale, Wier, Cary, Childs, Kellogg, Powers and Rugg.

The town was governed by Salem until being incorporated on June 15, 1753. Up until that time, the settlers relied on farming for subsistence. Industries that eventually developed were sawmills, gristmills and tanneries. The town also became well known for the production of palm leaf hats and butter, and for supplying ferns and laurel to florists throughout North America.

The town was on the route taken by Captain Daniel Shays and his men in 1787 during Shays Rebellion. Route 202, which runs the length of New Salem, is named Daniel Shays Highway. Some 10 years before Shays' march, the town was part of the route traveled by 1,000 Hessian captives who were being taken from Saratoga, N. Y. to the Boston area. A road named Hessian Lane and a stone marker commemorate the occasion.

New Salem Academy, which served as both a private preparatory school and the town's high school, was established in 1795 and for many years was the center of educational and cultural life. The school remained in existence until 1968.

The town was impacted greatly by the building of the Quabbin Reservoir during the 1930's. Much of the town is off-limits wilderness controlled by the Metropolitan District Commission, which oversees the Quabbin. Three streets leading from the town common end at Quabbin gates.

Map of New Salem (abt. 1950)

North Quabbin Chamber of Commerce - New Salem

http://www.northquabbinchamber.com/index_page0006.html

Great page with statistics and pics of New Salem landmarks!

Bullard Farm Bed & Breakfast

While visiting New Salem, we stayed at the Bullard Farm Bed & Breakfast in North New Salem.  It is a wonderful place to stay that is centrally located for the genealogical researcher as the Swift River Valley Historical Society is just down the street and just down the road from the New Salem square.  The innkeeper - Janet Kraft - was also a very gracious host and knowledgeable about the town and its inhabitants of the past and present.  I highly recommend that you give it a try!

http://www.bbonline.com/ma/bullardfarm/index.html#contact

Resources

(Click "pdf " file to open - You must have Adobe Acrobat to read files!)

Marriages - Officiated by Ezekiel Kellogg, Jr.  -

First Parish Church Records -   

Congregational Church Records -  

New Salem Public Library -
24 South Main Street, New Salem, MA. 01355 (978) 544-6347

Office of the Town Clerk -
Town Hall, 15 South Main Street, New Salem, MA. 01355-9713
(978) 544-2731 - Town Clerk - Claire McGinnis
Hours - Monday - 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm and Wednesday - 9:00am - 11:00am

(From the fact that in 1855 all the records of births, marriages and deaths of New Salem were destroyed by fire, none of such records are available, save the period of 1843 - 1850, copies of which years are on file at the State House in Boston.)

Franklin County Courthouse -
425 Main Street (POB 1495), Greenfield, MA. 01302-1495  (413) 772-0239

Swift River Valley Historical Society - 
40 Elm Street, New Salem, MA. 01355 (978) 544-6882
Hours: July and August, Wednesday and Sunday 2 - 4 pm; September to mid-October, Sunday 2 - 4 pm.

Cemeteries

(Click "pdf " file to open - You must have Adobe Acrobat to read files!)

Center Cemetery -  
Behind Old Meeting House, New Salem, MA. 01355

Mountain View Cemetery -
New Salem, MA. 01355 (978) 544-2303

North New Salem Cemetery -
New Salem, MA. 01355

Branch Bridge Cemetery -
New Salem, MA. 01355

New Salem Cemetery Department -
15 South Main Street, New Salem, MA. 01355-9713

My "Thanks" to Betty-Sue Pratt,  who made these files for everyone to enjoy!

Prominent Families of New Salem

These families were the first of the settlers of New Salem

Settlers' Families -
Extracted and corrected family information from "Heare Lyes Salim New Grant 1734-1763", by Dr. David K. Wetherbee.

Visit the transcriptions below or see it with Adobe Acrobat above!

A - L

M - W

Kellogg -
This family hailed from Debden, Essex, England, settled in Farmington, Connecticut and then onto Hadley and New Salem, Massachusetts.

Felton -
Take a look at the family who came from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England to Salem and then made their way to New Salem.

Houlton - Holton -
My line of Houlton/Holton, but there are supposed to be two in the area of New Salem.

Ballard -
This is not my own line but many facts about the family. Also includes excerpts from "Heare Lyes Salim New Grant", about the Ballard family in New Salem.

Powers - Descendants of Reuben Powers of Shutesbury -

Meacham -

Trask -

Southwick - Wetherbee's notes and much more -  

My "Thanks" to Betty-Sue Pratt,
 who made these files for everyone to enjoy!

(Click "pdf " file to open - You must have Adobe Acrobat to read files!)

  "Wow!  I just found some of my ancestors which my 95 year old Grandmother has been searching for almost 70 years!  I am a descendent of Eli Perry and Eunice Hunt.  Eunice took her twin boys Sampson and Samuel (born in 1793) on a covered wagon to a little town called Edinboro, PA.  We had lost  our trail with Eli, only knowing that he had come from New Salem and that neither he nor children Susannah and Salmon (Salomon?) traveled to Edinboro.  

My grandmother still lives on the land that Eunice, Sampson and Samuel first farmed upon moving to Edinboro, and if you search carefully, you can still find the remains of the chimney from the old log cabin where they lived.  I am living in Marlborough, Mass now, and plan to make a trip to New Salem to read through "Heare Lyes Salim New Grant".  Thank you, oh thank you for picking up our long lost thread!"  Ann McClaughry

Approximate Order of Arrival of Settlers

1739

John Trask
Elizabeth Reed Trask
John Trask
Mary Trask
Hannah Trask (? Foster)
Lydia Trask Rich
Sarah Trask
Jeremiah Meacham
Rebecca Hawkins Meacham
James Meacham
Elizabeth Meacham Rugg
Jonathan Southwick
Elizabeth Dowty Southwick
Ichabod Southwick
Rebecca Southwick Ballard
Mary Southwick Wheeler
Jesse Southwick
Samuel Southwick
Benjamin Stacy (?)

1740

Ebenezer Felton, Sr.
Jehoadan Ward Felton
Ebenezer Felton, Jr.
Amos Felton
Benjamin Felton
Esther Felton Southwick
Nathaniel Felton
Mehitable Felton *Roberts
Isaac Goodale, Sr.
Deborah Hawkins
Jonathan Goodale
Isaac Goodale, Jr.
James Goodale
Ebenezer Goodale
David Southwick
Hannah Griggs Southwick
Samuel Southwick
Hannah Southwick
James Wier
Izabellah Wier
James Wier, Jr.
Adam Wier
Thomas Stoddard

1741

Stephen Cary, Sr.
Mercy Cary
Jonathan Childs
Rebecca Scott Childs
Jessie Childs
Ezekiel Kellogg, Sr.
Elizabeth Partridge Kellogg
Ezekiel Kellogg, Jr.
Cotton Kellogg
Giles Crouch Kellogg
Samuel Kellogg*
William Partridge Kellogg
Elizabeth Kellogg Foster (birth)
Reuben Powers
Isabel Wheeler Powers

1742

John Woodress
Samuel Kendall
Anna Green Kendall
Sarah Southwick (birth)
William Meacham (birth)
Isaac Southwick
Esther Felton Southwick
Benjamin Southwick, Sr.
Abigail Burt Southwick
Benjamin Southwick, Jr.
Abigail Southwick Cook
Hannah Southwick Kellogg
Samuel Southwick
Sarah Southwick (Wheeler ?)
Rebecca Southwick (Ballard ?)
Simon Southwick
David Felton*
Sarah Houlton Felton*
James Felton*
Ebenezer Felton, "Jr."

1743

James Wheeler
Arthur Cary
Samuel Wheeler
Ruth Wheeler
Daniel Shaw
Elizabeth Shaw
Abigail Parnal Wier
Robert Fenton
Jemima Fenton
Nathaniel Church
Rachel McCrennen Church
John Ganson
Mary Jacobs Ganson

1744

John Kilburn
John Meacham
John Perry
Rebecca Warner Perry
Richard Rockwood

1746

Samuel Cook
Elizabeth Wilson Cook
Elizabeth Cook
Abigail Cook
Hannah Cook
James Cook
Samuel Cook, Jr.
Joshua Wheeler
Mehitable Wheeler

1747

Titus Black
Jonathan Meacham
Obadiah Townsend
Hannah Trask Townsend
Thomas White (?)

1748

Elizabeth Meacham Perry (?)
Elizabeth Chase Owen (?)
Elisha Chase

1749

Robert Crossett (Crosier)
Mary Savage Crosett
John Rugg
Sarah Wheeler Southwick

1750

John Cheney (?)
William Page, Sr.
Sarah Stevens Page
Sarah Page Pierce
William Page, Jr.
Timothy Page
Hannah Page Felton
Betsy Goodale
Joseph Houlton*
Rebecca Felton Houlton*
Mary Houlton Craig
Sarah Houlton Felton
Ruth Houlton Ballard
James Houlton
Elizabeth Houlton Willson
Nancy Houlton Kellogg
Hebsibah Houlton Osgood
Jonathan Pierce
Jeremiah Ballard, Sr.
Mary Dane Ballard
Jeremiah Ballard, Jr.
Daniel Ballard
Joshua Ballard
Joseph Ballard
Hannah Ballard Shaw

1751

John (?)
Chloe (?)
Abraham Pierce
Mary Proctor Pierce
Samuel Pierce
Mary King Pierce
John Pierce
Eunice MacMillian Pierce
Nathan Powers
Mary Hoar Pierce
Simon Davis
Mary Powers Davis
Susannah Davis
Abigail Davis
Elias Davis

1752

William Holt
Mary Martin Holt
Samuel Owen, Jr.
Mary Owen
Samuel Owen, Sr.
Sarah Owen
Obediah Townsend
Hannah Townsend

1753

Amos Foster, Sr.
Abigail King Foster
Amos Foster, Jr.
Amos Putnam, Jr.
Lydia Trask Putnam
Joshua Putnam
Uzziel Putnam
William Carpenter
Hannah Needham Carpenter
Lydia Stacy Felton
John Giles
Mary Aborn Giles
Josiah Johnson
Hannah Johnson
Ebenezer Lock
Mary Lock

1754

Thomas White
Sarah Broughton White
Copiah White Southwick
Sarah White Meacham
Thomas Osgood
Joseph Perry, Sr.
Lois Gilbert Perry
William Stacy
Saray Day Stacy
Sarah Owen Trask

1755

Isaac Gibbs
Joseph Wheeler
Samuel King
Bethia King King
Joseph Owen
Hannah Browne Pierce
Abishai Rice
Frances Rice Rice
Asa Rice
Micah Rice
Silence Rice
John Victory

1756

Lois Farrar Houlton
Lucy Rugg Meacham
Andrew Powers
Lois Powers
William King
Aaron Osgood

1757

Daniel Foster
Benjamin Goodhue
John Wilder
Thankful Rugg Meacham
John Newhall
Margaret Shaw Newhall
Daniel Owen
Martha Giles Southwick
Joseph Wheeler

1758

Thomas Daggett
Martha Stockwell Daggett
Hannah Trask Foster
Thomas Hulbert (?)
William King, Jr.
Joseph Rugg
Job Smith (?)
Sarah King Stacy
Dorcus Upton Haven

1759

Joseph Slarrow, Sr.
Mary Thomas Slarrow
Thomas Chase
Samuel Duglus
Solomon Gibbs
Sarah Fisk Gibbs
Absolom Harwood
Anna Boyce
Isaac Johnson
Robert Pebles
Martha Forbush Pebles
Israel Richardson
Susanna Forbush Richardson
Glazier Wheeler

1760

Jesse Abbot
John Bixby
Simon Davis, Jr.
Mary Powers Davis
Phinehas Goodale
Jonathan Marsh
Mary Ganson Putnam
Jonas Rich
Elizabeth Trask Rich

1761

Elisha Chase
Mary Wheeler Chase
Joshua Conkey
Dinah Dick Conkey
Sampson Hunt
Eunice Osgood Hunt
Richard Moore
Mercy Eddy Moore
John Slown
Mary Butler Slown
Abigail Warner Southwick

1762

Daniel Curtis
Mary Goodale Curtis
John Hascal
Martha Lawson Hascal
Nathaniel Brown
Violet (?)

1763

Isaac Benson
Alexander Conkey
David Lawson
Hannah Snow Lawson
William Wheeler

Lookups -

New Salem Vital Records to 1850 - by Essex Institute (1927) - includes all birth, marriage and deaths records. Just email me and include NEW SALEM LOOKUPS in the subject line.

Heare Lyes Salim New Grant - 1734-1763 - By David Kenneth Wetherbee - Just email me and include NEW SALEM LOOKUPS in the subject line.

Betty Sue Pratt - soathol@netzero.net

Will do lookups from Swift River Valley Historical Society - materials related to Towns of Quabbin, cemetery information and even pics from the cemeteries of New Salem.

Queries -

Place a query and find those relatives that have been eluding you.

Census Information -

1790 Federal Census of New Salem - Head of household only!

Old Maps of New Salem -

Deane Merrill's Franklin County Maps - http://merrill.olm.net/mafr/index.html

Links -

Whitney Family Of New Salem - 

This page has the listings of all the Whitney family records in New Salem to 1850.

Salem, Mass. -

Many families that migrated to New Salem originally came from Salem.

Southwick - 

Transcription of the book, "Descendants of Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick of Salem, Massachusetts", by Adrianne Hopkins.

If you have something about any of these families listed on this page, I would love to see it! I need bio's on the families listed above, please email me!

Come again soon!

info@yeoldewoburn.net

This site created and maintained by: Toni Lasseter (1999)

|| Ye Olde Woburn || Woburn Families || Butters || Carter || Flagg || Nelson || Richardson || Wyman || Fox ||

|| Johnson || Baldwin || Winn || Cleveland || Account of John Burbeen || Walker || Russell || Kendall || Tidd ||

Woburn Cemeteries

|| First Burial Ground || First Burial Ground A || Second Burial Ground || Second Burial Ground A || 

|| Woodbrook Cemetery || Modern Obits ||

Federal Census's of Woburn, Massachusetts

|| 1790, 1800, 1810, 1820, 1830 1840A 1840B ||

|| 1850A || 1850B || 1850C || 1850D || 1850E || 1850F || 1850G || 1850H ||

|| 1790 Federal Census of Wilmington || Mass. State Census - 1855, 1865 ||

My Families

|| Menchin || Remington || Coney/Cooney || Kirtley || Withers || 

|| Bryant || Quimby || Warren || Moody || Putney || Wilkinson || Dancer ||

New Salem, Massachusetts

|| Kellogg || Felton || Meacham || Southwick || Ballard || Holton || Trask || Queries || 

|| Settler's Families A-L & M-W || Federal Census's of New Salem - 1790 ||

Copyright©2005 New Salem - Forgotten Franklin Town/Toni Lasseter
All Rights Reserved.

Sunday, December 10, 2006 09:51 AM