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There's a story behind the little red building that sits on the land of the Wilder Homestead on Route 112. It’s a shoemaker’s shop and it always wasn’t there. It has been moved twice in its lifetime.
The little building was built sometime before 1820, at the fork of the road just north of Buckland Center where Upper St. and Route 112 intersect. Dan Colton Townsley, born in 1824, was a shoemaker there. Townsley was a man who always took an active part in town affairs, although not as an office holder. On June 1, 1848, he married Eliza Williams. They had seven children, family enough to help keep a shoemaker busy.
Townsley plied his shoe trade in the sturdy, 1½ -story building, 14x20-foot structure. It was constructed with 8x8-inch timbers, hand forged nails, plaster walls and ceilings. The mortise-and-tenon joints certainly helped the building to weather its two truck rides. Unusual details of the building include an 8-foot wide window that must have allowed plenty of daylight to spill over the workbench. Originally, the building had a cellar beneath it.
According to records kept by the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1865, Buckland had four people employed in the manufacture of boots and shoes. Of course, Dan Townsley was one of these. In that year, those four people made a total of 600 pairs of various boots and 120 pairs of shoes. The total of all these in 1865 prices was $2,550. That same year, Buckland had 117 farms, which explains the quantity of boots made.
In 1890, Mrs. Olive Shedd bought the property from Dan Townsley, and it remained in the Shedd family until it was sold to Carrie and Nathaniel Cass. In 1952, the state widened and built a new highway along Route 112. As the shoemaker shop was standing in the path of this new highway and was to be demolished, the Casses sold it to Charles and Imogene Litchfield for $1, who had it moved to their property on Cross Street, Buckland Center in 1958. At the Litchfield’s, the building was moored on piers, had stone steps leading up to the doorway and foundation stones to mask the moorings. The shop was used as a storage area for 40 years. Imogene Litchfield, being a long time member of the Buckland Historical Society donated the shop to the Society. Ernest Pike, a trustee of the Buckland Historical Society arranged for the move. On Nov. 13, 1991, Harris & Gray Contractors of Ashfield loaded the shop on a flatbed and made the one-mile journey to the Wilder preservation site, where it now resides. The building was in good condition except for the roof. William Gray of Ashfield built a slate roof, similar to what was originally on the building.
Gradually, the historic society furnished the building with old wooden shoe lasts and antique shoemaking equipment through the efforts of Ernest Pike and Jean Hosford, a knowledgeable shoemaker herself. Ernest Pike’s wife was related to the Townsleys and had an account book, starting in 1819, from the shoemaker shop that had been repurposed into a scrap book. Ernest had the Williamstown Clark Conservatory restore it and then donated this ledger to the Buckland Historical Society. From the accounts we get a glimpse of life in those times. Here are some examples of the bartering for the cost of shoes and boots:
By a day’s work, by a sheepskin, by a barrel of cider, by 2 bushels of apples, by half a bushel of quinces, by a lb. of tallow, by one day’s work by John’s team, by work digging potatoes, by sugar, by calf skin, by digging a grave, by 1 bushel of wheat, by a washtub, by 1 day chopping wood, by balance in sheep, by 4 lbs. of veal, by 5 fowls, by a rooster, by 10 cord of wood, by earthen ware, by 1 gallon of brandy, put a colt into pasture, put my cow in the pasture, by a journey to Ashfield, by housework, by one hundred and fifty of hay, by a horse and wagon to Hawley, by sawing, by 2 hoes
These accounts were of people we read of in the Buckland History: Josiah Griswold, Samuel Taylor, Elias Carter, Josiah Spaulding, Alpheus Brooks, Silas Trowbridge, and many more.
During our Columbus weekend event, ‘Colonial Day at the Wilder Homestead’, we were fortunate to have Dennis Picard re-enacting an early shoemaker. He also entertained us with a very informative program on the craft of early shoemaking during one of our Pie Socials. So that’s what that little red building at the Wilder Homestead is all about…a building in which a craft was practiced and so much daily commerce took place. Another look into our past.
The little building was built sometime before 1820, at the fork of the road just north of Buckland Center where Upper St. and Route 112 intersect. Dan Colton Townsley, born in 1824, was a shoemaker there. Townsley was a man who always took an active part in town affairs, although not as an office holder. On June 1, 1848, he married Eliza Williams. They had seven children, family enough to help keep a shoemaker busy.
Townsley plied his shoe trade in the sturdy, 1½ -story building, 14x20-foot structure. It was constructed with 8x8-inch timbers, hand forged nails, plaster walls and ceilings. The mortise-and-tenon joints certainly helped the building to weather its two truck rides. Unusual details of the building include an 8-foot wide window that must have allowed plenty of daylight to spill over the workbench. Originally, the building had a cellar beneath it.
According to records kept by the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1865, Buckland had four people employed in the manufacture of boots and shoes. Of course, Dan Townsley was one of these. In that year, those four people made a total of 600 pairs of various boots and 120 pairs of shoes. The total of all these in 1865 prices was $2,550. That same year, Buckland had 117 farms, which explains the quantity of boots made.
In 1890, Mrs. Olive Shedd bought the property from Dan Townsley, and it remained in the Shedd family until it was sold to Carrie and Nathaniel Cass. In 1952, the state widened and built a new highway along Route 112. As the shoemaker shop was standing in the path of this new highway and was to be demolished, the Casses sold it to Charles and Imogene Litchfield for $1, who had it moved to their property on Cross Street, Buckland Center in 1958. At the Litchfield’s, the building was moored on piers, had stone steps leading up to the doorway and foundation stones to mask the moorings. The shop was used as a storage area for 40 years. Imogene Litchfield, being a long time member of the Buckland Historical Society donated the shop to the Society. Ernest Pike, a trustee of the Buckland Historical Society arranged for the move. On Nov. 13, 1991, Harris & Gray Contractors of Ashfield loaded the shop on a flatbed and made the one-mile journey to the Wilder preservation site, where it now resides. The building was in good condition except for the roof. William Gray of Ashfield built a slate roof, similar to what was originally on the building.
Gradually, the historic society furnished the building with old wooden shoe lasts and antique shoemaking equipment through the efforts of Ernest Pike and Jean Hosford, a knowledgeable shoemaker herself. Ernest Pike’s wife was related to the Townsleys and had an account book, starting in 1819, from the shoemaker shop that had been repurposed into a scrap book. Ernest had the Williamstown Clark Conservatory restore it and then donated this ledger to the Buckland Historical Society. From the accounts we get a glimpse of life in those times. Here are some examples of the bartering for the cost of shoes and boots:
By a day’s work, by a sheepskin, by a barrel of cider, by 2 bushels of apples, by half a bushel of quinces, by a lb. of tallow, by one day’s work by John’s team, by work digging potatoes, by sugar, by calf skin, by digging a grave, by 1 bushel of wheat, by a washtub, by 1 day chopping wood, by balance in sheep, by 4 lbs. of veal, by 5 fowls, by a rooster, by 10 cord of wood, by earthen ware, by 1 gallon of brandy, put a colt into pasture, put my cow in the pasture, by a journey to Ashfield, by housework, by one hundred and fifty of hay, by a horse and wagon to Hawley, by sawing, by 2 hoes
These accounts were of people we read of in the Buckland History: Josiah Griswold, Samuel Taylor, Elias Carter, Josiah Spaulding, Alpheus Brooks, Silas Trowbridge, and many more.
During our Columbus weekend event, ‘Colonial Day at the Wilder Homestead’, we were fortunate to have Dennis Picard re-enacting an early shoemaker. He also entertained us with a very informative program on the craft of early shoemaking during one of our Pie Socials. So that’s what that little red building at the Wilder Homestead is all about…a building in which a craft was practiced and so much daily commerce took place. Another look into our past.
Buckland Historical Society — Box 88 — Buckland, Massachusetts 01338 — (413) 625-9763 — Copyright © 2019