It’s Halloween: An American Witch Bottle

Stories of American witch trials have been very much in the forefront of my mind this month, as I have done several programs on the topic at both of the museums at which I work. So it was especially interesting when  I came across an article written in 1980, but posted by  Archaeology.org today, about [...]

American Myths: The Real Betsy Ross

Betsy Ross made the very first American flag at her home in Philadelphia, at the request of none other than George Washington. Or did she? Here’s the real story

Historical Fiction: The Alchemist’s Daughter, by Katherine McMahon

Butterfly
More a coming of age story than a bodice ripper or genre romance, The Alchemist’s Daughter tells of the early experiences of a sheltered young woman with a remarkable education. Emily is an expert in the science of alchemy, the study of the forces of nature, but knows next to nothing about living [...]

Monday Morning Poem: Daffodils

by William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten [...]

Archaeology News: How they finally found Washington’s boyhood home

George Washington famously owned and lived at the plantation called Mount Vernon, which is located on the banks of the Potomac River, about 16 miles south of the eponymous US capitol. But he resided in many other locations before inheriting that estate from his brother’s widow. Washington was born in 1732, on his father’s tobacco [...]

Unredeemed Captive – Williams House and Gravestones

Williams House in Deerfield, no longer standing.

Rev. Mr. John WILLIAMS, Pastor of this place, d. 12 Jun 1729, in the 65th year of his age

Mrs. Eunice WILLIAMS, wife of Rev. John WILLIAMS, & daughter of Rev. Eleazer & Mrs. Esther MATHER, of Northampton. She was b. 2 Aug 1664, and “fell by the rage [...]

It’s Halloween again: The Real Ghost of Nathan Hale

Nathan Hale is remembered today as the 21 year old volunteer spy who was hanged in New York by the British in 1776. I often used to wonder how someone facing imminent death could come up with such last words as, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” [...]

Constitution Island, West Point, New York- a visit in photographs

The staff of the Webb Deane Stevens museum in Wethersfield, CT, gathered together yesterday for a rare, and most enjoyable, field trip to the scenic Hudson River Valley, a region of outstanding natural beauty and historic significance. Our first stop was Constitution Island, located on the river within view of West Point and part of [...]

Unredeemed Captive

On the bitter cold night of Feb. 29, 1704, the little town of Deerfield, MA, an English outpost on the western fringes of the Bay Colony, once again found itself in the cross-hairs of the imperial feud being waged between France and Great Britain for the dominance of the North American continent. [...]

Unredeemed Captive: follow up

Original story of Eunice Williams and the Deerfield Raid:
Raid

In 1837, an Abenaki descendant of the unredeemed captive, Eunice Williams, Abenaki name Kanenstehawi , visited Deerfield MA and gave this basket to Caroline Williams, descendant of the redeemed captives. Times had changed over the 13o years since the raid on Deerfield. Eunice’s refusal to return to [...]