Category Archives: Local history

Historical posts about the Connecticut Valley, most likely the Pioneer Valley.

Apr
27
2023

Hinsdale Houses Tell a Story

by Gary Sanderson

Seeking brief respite from a tangled maze of early South Deerfield deeds, I scheduled a short trip to the Granite State last week. There, on a summerlike spring morning, we found warm, welcoming guide Sharron Holmes Smith awaiting our visit at the historic Col. Ebenezer Hinsdale House in Hinsdale, New Hampshire. Friend and neighbor Richard […]

posted in Columns, Genealogy, Indians, Local history, Tavern Tidbits | No Comments

Apr
12
2023

Springtime Flashback Hearkens Back to Youth

by Gary Sanderson

Choosing a column topic, a process I once faced twice a week, is a decision that can be influenced by many different factors and stimuli. Maybe I’ve finished a provocative book, read an interesting magazine article, attended a gripping presentation, seen something on the boob tube, or engaged in impromptu conversation that initiates a strong […]

posted in Columns, Local history, South Deerfield | No Comments

Mar
30
2023

The Monument Church Question Lingers

by Gary Sanderson

I finally bought and read a biography of John Brown (1800-1859) which has been on my radar for a few years. Why the delay? Not due to a shortage of biographies about the radical Connecticut-born abolitionist who attacked the Harpers Ferry, Virginia armory and was hanged for insurrection leading up to the Civil War. In […]

posted in Columns, Genealogy, Local history, South Deerfield | Comments (2)

Mar
16
2023

Eels and Stuff

by Gary Sanderson

The first day of March brought with it an inch of fresh overnight snow, a rarity here this winter, as East Palestine, Ohioans live in fear that each breath inhaled is shaving away hours of their lives. The morning is gray and gloomy, dark, dreary and warming, a light patter of rain detectable even to […]

posted in Columns, Local history, Salmon, Shad | No Comments

Mar
03
2023

A Friend’s Passing

by Gary Sanderson

The day before Valentine’s Day was funeral day for old friend Michael Pasiecnik. The evening service was held in my native town, hosted by a mortician I have known for years. Michael grew up a couple of miles down the road in East Whately, where his family farmed rich river meadows first tilled by Indigenous […]

posted in Columns, Genealogy, Indians, Local history, South Deerfield | Comments (1)

Jan
27
2023

Cheapside Uplands and the Hoit Place

by Gary Sanderson

I took a recent walk around the Cheapside uplands with old buddy Billy Wardwell, a Bingville native I trusted would know all the little nooks and crannies. You’d have to know affable “Wardy.” He grew up there. Highland Park was his playground. We’ve known each other since high school, both from the Class of 1971: […]

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Jan
06
2023

Wenner Book Stirs Memories

by Gary Sanderson

I really enjoy reading a book I connect to – one that, because it spins me into continuous reflection and reminiscence, I can’t put down. Jann Wenner’s memoir, Like a Rolling Stone, is such a read, pulling me back to high school, college, and parts of five decades working for a small-town daily newspaper in […]

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Dec
14
2022

Lost Turkey Day Tradition

by Gary Sanderson

An empty, sun-splashed Veterans Memorial Field unleashed a flood of holiday memories in passing on Thanksgiving morning as I took a spin around Greenfield hunting for a bottle of cognac. No, no, no, I didn’t need a snooty holiday eye-opener. I’m way past that. The impetus was a YouTube turkey-gravy recipe my wife wanted to […]

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Nov
25
2022

The Brooks Brook Conundrum

by Gary Sanderson

A new player recently entered my orbit, temporarily reorienting my focus about 10 miles north. Her name is Andrea Liebenow Varney, daughter of my late neighbor and friend, Sylvia Smead Gallagher. Three years younger than me, Varney grew up and graduated from high school in Greenfield, and has lived for decades in Proctor, Vermont. She […]

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Nov
15
2022

Colonial Roots Are Shallow Indeed

by Gary Sanderson

What does it mean to be connected to a place, to have a sense of a place… and how does it change over time? I pondered that question during a recent daybreak walk along the shoulder of a lonely, gray, Upper Meadows road in Greenfield. Since then the thought has reappeared, darting through my consciousness […]

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