Early History of West Springfield
In 1774, as the citizens of the thirteen colonies thought about declaring their independence from their mother country, England, the people of West Springfield were celebrating their independence from their mother town of Springfield. They requested incorporation of their town from the General Court for two reasons: a growing discontent with the representation that Springfield chose to send to the General Court and with the difficulties of geography. What was then called the Great River Connecticut separated the parish of West Springfield from Springfield making voting and attending town meetings difficult. On February 23rd, 1774, the Act of Incorporation was approved and West Springfield became a town.
On April 19, 1775, British soldiers attacked the towns of Lexington and Concord. When the news reached West Springfield a company of minutemen composed of West Springfield’s citizens began the nearly one hundred mile march to the west on April 20th. Captain Enoch Chapin, First Lieutenant Samuel Fowler and Second Lieutenant Luke Day led fifty men westward to aid their fellow colonists. They were part of a larger regiment led by Colonel Patterson. At the end of their month long service, the minutemen returned home. A majority of the men would later re-enlist.
In 1776, in response to the call for the creation of a Continental Army, Massachusetts raised over five thousand men. Of them, West Springfield contributed forty-eight, the largest total of any western Massachusetts town.
Many of West Springfield’s men would fight for the freedom of America. James Wade (1750-1826) fought at the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill before being captured and spent the remainder of the ...
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... were marked with heroism and sacrifice as a young nation and her people struggled to become the great nation we are today.
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West Springfield: 1874.
Lockwood, Rev. John, Ernest Newton Bagg, Walter Carson, Herbert Riley, Edward
Boltwood and Will Clark, eds. Western Massachusetts: A History 1636-1925.
New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1926.
Massachusetts Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Soldiers and Sailors
Whose Graves Have Been Designated by the Marker of the Society. Boston: MA
Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, 1901.
Frothingham, Jr, Richard (1851). History of the Siege of Boston and of the Battles of Lexington,
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...ing to survive. Their militant demeanor and strong willed nature foreshadowed the coming modern civil rights movement. They realized the importance of education and utilized it to change the climate of their time. I think these to women defined the term "ordinary to extraordinary". They had both broke through color and gender barriers and earned the respect and admiration of colleagues, politicians the African American people. Who knows what would have happened if these two brave women did not stand up and accomplish what they had done. Would "White Supremacy" prevail in a post WWII society. It is hard to quantify the contribution of these women to the civil rights movement but I think it is safe to say that we were fortunate as a nation to have these great crusaders, as well as many other notable figures, to educate us and force us to see change in the United States.
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...a out into the harbor. Then a few years later in 1775 soldiers were told there was an armory in concord and marched to it. While marching they came across minute men who are not soldiers but will fight to protect their homes.
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In the fall of 1777, Martin’s division was one of those called to Pennsylvania, where British forces led by General William Howe had managed to take the rebel capital ...
They were truly a remarkable testament to the hard work and ingenuity of the time that even the men of the time could have learned from.