Springfield, 1636 - 1886, History of Town and City, Including An Account of the Quarter-Millenial Celebration
Springfield, 1636 - 1886, History of Town and City, Including An Account of the Quarter-Millenial Celebration. Mason A. Green. (1888) 2006. The author covers the first two-and-a-half centuries of the history of Springfield, the first Massachusetts town settled on the Connecticut River.
He utilizes the many sources created mostly by the Pynchon family, such as town records, county court records, private correspondence and account books.Through the inclusion of many extracts from the town records, Green presents many of the grants of land to the earliest settlers. Court records provide details of an early outbreak of witchcraft accusations, and other examples of disruptive behavior.Given the situation of Springfield on the frontier for many decades, close attention is paid to relations with the neighboring Indian tribes, and the many conflicts with these Indians.The volume closes with extensive verbatim transcripts of the speeches and other presentations made at the celebration of the town's 250th anniversary in 1886. Much of this material was historical in nature, and so amounts to a history within the history.