Formation of the Buckland Historical Society
Excerpts from The History of Buckland, Volume II 1935-1979
Bicentennial Edition by Beulah Cross, published by the Town of Buckland, 1979
On the evening of April 5th, 1957, Mrs. Mary Griswold and Mrs. Clifford Monahon invited twenty-three residents of Buckland to the Griswold House for the purpose of making preliminary plans for the formation of the Buckland Historical Society. Discussions included articles available to start a collection, suitable places to house them, and what legal arrangements might be required.
On the 31st of May, a meeting was held at the Grange Hall where twenty-eight residents voted to officially form the Buckland Historical Society, Inc. Mr. Clifford Monahon was present that day to share his experiences in the formation of historical societies in the Rhode Island area and gave helpful suggestions about specific items for preservation. A committee was charged with the task of drawing up a constitution and bylaws for incorporation.
Four months later, on September 5th, 1957, Ralph W. Wells hosted a meeting where a favorable vote for incorporation, bylaws, and officers were elected. Charter and legal fees required by the State totaled $100.00. Charter members would be all individuals who joined the Society by the end of the year. The president was to appoint a chairperson for four committees: Membership, Programs, Publicity, and House. The first annual meeting was held a few months later January 13th, 1958. That first year membership totaled 178 individuals.
The old school and Upper Street became the BHS museum. Repairs to its roof, windows, glass, plaster, and woodwork were made. The radiators were removed and a sign was created for the outside of the building. The next year the Society procured brick at a cost of $25 from the old Baptist Church Society in order to build a fireplace on the first floor. The second floor was expanded to include furnishings of a New England bedroom, period costumes, and a hand-hewn loom. A new sign, painted by Mrs. Ruth Roberts, was presented to the members at the 1961 annual meeting. It had a portrait of Mary Lyon on one side and the Buck of Buckland‘s town seal on the other.
After three years of construction, the fireplace on the main floor was completed in 1963 through the efforts of Lewis G. Griswold and Ernest Pike. The former Gould’s store had provided the boards, and three glass showcases to display artifacts.
Each year since its start, BHS has hosted well-attended public programs with guest speakers from throughout the area presenting topics of historical interest to Buckland. The Society hosted members of the Mt Holyoke Alumnae Association of Franklin County at its annual meeting in June 1967.
That year BHS arranged for a gravestone to be placed in Old Cemetery No. 1, located on the east side of the Mary Lyon Church, for Josiah Spaulding Jr. (1786 to 1867) whose grave had gone unmarked for a century. Josiah had spent most of his life locked in a cage, deemed insane and dangerous. He was the son of Rev. Josiah Spaulding (1751 to 1823), the first settled pastor called to First Congregational Church of Buckland.
It was in December 1981 that Loren Griswold Wilder Jr. and his wife, Madeline, gifted the c.1775 Wilder Homestead and its 58.5 acres to the Buckland Historical Society. Through the exhaustive efforts of Muriel Shippee, the Homestead was designated a National Historic Landmark for 2011.
Bicentennial Edition by Beulah Cross, published by the Town of Buckland, 1979
On the evening of April 5th, 1957, Mrs. Mary Griswold and Mrs. Clifford Monahon invited twenty-three residents of Buckland to the Griswold House for the purpose of making preliminary plans for the formation of the Buckland Historical Society. Discussions included articles available to start a collection, suitable places to house them, and what legal arrangements might be required.
On the 31st of May, a meeting was held at the Grange Hall where twenty-eight residents voted to officially form the Buckland Historical Society, Inc. Mr. Clifford Monahon was present that day to share his experiences in the formation of historical societies in the Rhode Island area and gave helpful suggestions about specific items for preservation. A committee was charged with the task of drawing up a constitution and bylaws for incorporation.
Four months later, on September 5th, 1957, Ralph W. Wells hosted a meeting where a favorable vote for incorporation, bylaws, and officers were elected. Charter and legal fees required by the State totaled $100.00. Charter members would be all individuals who joined the Society by the end of the year. The president was to appoint a chairperson for four committees: Membership, Programs, Publicity, and House. The first annual meeting was held a few months later January 13th, 1958. That first year membership totaled 178 individuals.
The old school and Upper Street became the BHS museum. Repairs to its roof, windows, glass, plaster, and woodwork were made. The radiators were removed and a sign was created for the outside of the building. The next year the Society procured brick at a cost of $25 from the old Baptist Church Society in order to build a fireplace on the first floor. The second floor was expanded to include furnishings of a New England bedroom, period costumes, and a hand-hewn loom. A new sign, painted by Mrs. Ruth Roberts, was presented to the members at the 1961 annual meeting. It had a portrait of Mary Lyon on one side and the Buck of Buckland‘s town seal on the other.
After three years of construction, the fireplace on the main floor was completed in 1963 through the efforts of Lewis G. Griswold and Ernest Pike. The former Gould’s store had provided the boards, and three glass showcases to display artifacts.
Each year since its start, BHS has hosted well-attended public programs with guest speakers from throughout the area presenting topics of historical interest to Buckland. The Society hosted members of the Mt Holyoke Alumnae Association of Franklin County at its annual meeting in June 1967.
That year BHS arranged for a gravestone to be placed in Old Cemetery No. 1, located on the east side of the Mary Lyon Church, for Josiah Spaulding Jr. (1786 to 1867) whose grave had gone unmarked for a century. Josiah had spent most of his life locked in a cage, deemed insane and dangerous. He was the son of Rev. Josiah Spaulding (1751 to 1823), the first settled pastor called to First Congregational Church of Buckland.
It was in December 1981 that Loren Griswold Wilder Jr. and his wife, Madeline, gifted the c.1775 Wilder Homestead and its 58.5 acres to the Buckland Historical Society. Through the exhaustive efforts of Muriel Shippee, the Homestead was designated a National Historic Landmark for 2011.
Buckland Historical Society — Box 88 — Buckland, Massachusetts 01338 — (413) 625-9763 — Copyright © 2019