Manuscripts

Hemenway Farm Cattle Register 1940s-1950s
The book lists the cows and bulls on Hemenway Farm in the 1940s and 1950s.  My father, Carl Hemenway had returned to his hometown of Williamsburg in 1941 and bought the farm shares from his siblings.  He continued the dairy business until 1957.
Each cow was trained to go to her stall when it was milking time.  Above each stall we hung a plaque with the cow’s name and icon which often related to the code for her parents and grandparents.  Other information was entered in the book: her due date if pregnant and information about her death when it happened.
The cattle were born and bred on the farm from Hemenway stock with occasional input from an outside bull (e.g. “Shumway bull”) borrowed from a cousin or neighbor.  Later the cows were artificially inseminated.
The baby bulls were usually sold at the Northampton auction.  We raised the female calves as young stock for our own herd.  They joined their relatives bearing handy names like Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Clove and Ginger.
We spent many winter evenings designing the plaques and inventing icons.
 
Bethany Hemenway Ouimet, August 7, 2019

Paine (Dr. Elijah) Ledger, 1785-1798
Ledger or account book kept by early Williamsburg, Mass., physician, tavern-keeper, and farmer Elijah Paine, recording payment in goods and labor as well as money, chiefly from residents of Williamsburg but also extending into several adjoining towns.

Warner (Rhoda Miller) Death Record Book
A copy of records kept by Rhoda Miller Warner of Williamsburg: A record of deaths in Williamsburg, Mass., from 1814 through 1863.; Note mounted inside front cover: "The following is a copy of records kept by my grandmother, Rhoda Miller Warner, wife of Job Warner of Mountain Street, Williamsburg, Mass. At the time I made the copy, the records were in the possession of my aunt Mrs. Luthera Wait who died in Williamsburg in 1908. My grandmother lived all through her married life at the place now occupied by Charles W. Warner of Mountain Street. Beginning on the second page at the date 1814, the deaths are given in order as recorded and cover a space of about fifty years, those given of [sic] the first page were perhaps an additional list. Elizabeth E. Allen, Amherst, Mass. June 13. 1910."

Account of Deaths From 1835 to 1862 
A record of deaths in Williamsburg, Mass., in a chronological sequence from 1835 through January, 1863.

Collins (Daniel Quartus) Memorandum Book, 1835-1857
Memorandum book, containing both medical records and personal financial records. Contains records of vaccinations, 1835-1836.; Ownership inscriptions on front flyleaf: "D. Collins Graves, Wmsburg Mass, Dec 20 1898" and "J.E. Hayes, 125 Prospect St, Northampton". Daniel Collins Graves (1840-1910) was named after, but not related to, Dr. Collins; Dr. Justin E. Hayes of Northampton was the son of one of Dr. Collins' successors as a village physician in Williamsburg. How Dr. Collins' book came into these men's possession is unknown.

[Merrimack, New Hampshire] General Store Journal, 1851.
The journal appears to have belonged to a grocer and dry goods merchant in or near the village of Reeds Ferry in Merrimack, New Hampshire.

Please credit the Meekins Library, Williamsburg, Mass., or the Williamsburg (Mass.) Historical Society, as noted, as the original source of the item for all use.
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You can reach the Meekins archivist and librarians with questions about Meekins collections at: meekins@cwmars.org or 413-268-7472.