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==History== {{see also|Deerfield embroidery movement}} ===Pre-colonial history=== For several decades during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, Deerfield was the northwesternmost outpost of New England settlement. It occupies a fertile portion of the upper [[Connecticut River Valley]] now known as the [[Pioneer Valley]]. It was vulnerable to attack because of its position near [[the Berkshires]] highlands. For these reasons it was the site of intertribal warfare and several Anglo-French and Indian skirmishes during its early history.<ref name="quote">{{cite book |title=Exploring America's Historic Places |last=National Geographic Society |publisher=National Geographic Society |year=1997}}</ref> At the time of the English colonists' arrival, the Deerfield area was inhabited by the [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]]-speaking [[Pocomtuc|Pocumtuck]] nation, who settled a major village by the same name.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Coleman |first1=Emma Lewis |title=A Historic and Present Day Guide to Old Deerfield |date=1907 |publisher=Plimpton Press |location=Norwood, MA |page=15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3j1Y_wW6y_QC&q=pocumtuck |language=en}}</ref> ===Settlement and incorporation=== After the [[History of Dedham, Massachusetts, 1635β1699#Praying Indians|"Praying Indians"]] were given {{convert|8000|acres|km2}} in what is today [[Natick, Massachusetts|Natick]], the General Court gave the Dedham proprietors {{convert|8000|acres|km2}} in compensation.{{sfn|Lockridge|1985|p=84}}{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=63}} The question of how to handle the additional grant puzzled the town for some time.{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=75}} There were those who wanted to sell the rights to the land and take the money, while others wanted to find a suitable location and take possession.{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=75}} The Town sent Anthony Fisher, Jr., Nathaniel Fisher, and Sgt. Fuller to explore an area known as "Chestnut Country" in 1663.{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=74}} They reported back two weeks later that the area was hilly, with few meadows, and was generally unsuitable for their purposes.{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=74}} After a potential location was claimed by others before Dedham could do so, a report was received about land at a place known as [[Pocomtuck]], about 12 or 14 miles from [[Hadley, Massachusetts|Hadley]].{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=75}} It was decided to claim the land before others could do so.{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=75}} [[Joshua Fisher (Massachusetts politician)|Joshua Fisher]], Ensign John Euerard, and Jonathan Danforth were assigned by the selectmen to go and map the land in return for 150 acres.{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=75}}<ref>{{cite book |title=The Fisher Genealogy: A Record of the Descendants of Joshua, Anthony, and Cornelius Fisher, of Dedham, Mass., 1630-1640 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8kNMAAAAMAAJ |access-date=April 18, 2021 |year=1898 |publisher=Massachusetts Publishing Company |isbn=978-0-608-32125-7 |page=12 |archive-date=February 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229073637/https://books.google.com/books?id=8kNMAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> Two weeks later he appeared before the board, demanding 300 acres instead.{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=75}} The selectmen agreed, provided that he provide a plot map of the land.{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=75}} Fisher's map and report were submitted to the General Court, and they agreed to give the land to Dedham provided that they settle the land and "maintain the ordinances of Christ there" within five years.{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=75}}{{sfn|Lockridge|1985|p=84}}{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=63}} [[Daniel Fisher (Massachusetts politician)|Daniel Fisher]] and [[Eleazer Lusher]] were sent to purchase the land from the [[Pocomtuc]] Indians who lived there.{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=75}} They contracted with John Pynchon, who had a relationship with the native peoples there, and he obtained a quitclaim deed from them.{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=75}} Pynchon signed a treaty with the Pocumtuck, including a man named Chaulk. But Chaulk had no authority to deed the land to the colonists and appeared to have only a rough idea of what he was signing. Native Americans and the English had different ideas about property and land use; this, along with competition for resources, contributed to conflicts between them. Pynchon submitted a bill for Β£40 in 1666 but a tax on the cow commons to pay it was not imposed until 1669.{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=75-76}} By that time the bill had risen to over Β£96, and he was not paid in full until 1674.{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=76}} The drawing of lots took place on May 23, 1670, by which time many rights had been sold to people from outside of Dedham or one of her daughter towns.{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=76}} Before that even happened, [[Robert Hinsdale]]'s son Samuel moved into the area and began squatting on the land.{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=76}} He was eventually joined by his father and brothers.{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=77}} Hard feelings arose at the distance of the new settlement from Dedham and the fact that the proprietors were not strictly "a Dedham company."{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=76}} On May 7, 1673, the General Court separated the town of Deerfield, with additional lands, provided they establish a church and settle a minister within three years.{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=76}} ===Post-incorporation=== The Pocumtuck were much reduced in number by the time the settlers arrived, as they had been victims of infectious diseases and war with the more powerful [[Mohawk people|Mohawk]]. The settlers forcibly expelled the few Pocumtuck who remained; the Pocumtuck in turn sought [[France|French]] protection in Canada from the English colonists. At the [[Battle of Bloody Brook]], on September 18, 1675, during [[King Philip's War]], the dispossessed [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indians]] destroyed a small force under the command of Captain Thomas Lathrop before being driven off by reinforcements. Colonial casualties numbered about 60. At dawn on May 19, 1676, Captain William Turner led an army of settlers in a surprise retaliatory attack on Peskeompskut, in present-day [[Montague, Massachusetts|Montague]], then a traditional native gathering place. Turner and his men killed 200 natives, mostly women and children. When the men of the tribe returned, they routed Turner's forces; Turner died after being wounded at Green River. In the predawn hours of February 29, 1704, during [[Queen Anne's War]], joint French and Indian forces (including 47 [[Canadiens]] and 200 [[Abenaki people|Abenaki]], along with some [[Mohawk people|Kanienkehaka (Mohawk)]], [[Wyandot people|Wyandot]], and a few Pocumtuck, all under the command of Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville) attacked the town in what became known as the [[Raid on Deerfield]]. They razed much of the settlement and killed 56 colonists, including 22 men, 9 women, and 25 children. The attackers took 112 captives, including women and children, and forced them on a months-long trek to [[Montreal]], nearly 300 miles to the north. Many died along the way; others were killed because they could not keep up. In this period, there was an active trade in ransoming captives among both the English and French. Deerfield and other communities collected funds to ransom the captives, and negotiations were conducted between the colonial governments. When the Massachusetts Bay Colony released the French pirate [[Pierre Maisonnat dit Baptiste]], Canada arranged redemption of numerous Deerfield people, among them the prominent minister [[John Williams (New England minister)|John Williams]]. He wrote a [[captivity narrative]] about his experience, which was published in 1707 and became well known.<ref name="demos">[[John Putnam Demos|John Demos]], ''The Unredeemed Captive: A Family Story from Early America'', New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994</ref> One of those captured and ransomed was Mehuman Kellog, the first white child born in Deerfield and a descendant of [[Robert Hinsdale]].{{Sfn|Hanson|1976|p=97}} In addition to ransoming captives, because of losses to war and disease, families of the Mohawk and other tribes often adopted younger captives into their tribes. Such was the case with Williams's daughter [[Eunice Kanenstenhawi Williams|Eunice]], who was 8 years old when captured. She became thoroughly assimilated and at age 16 married a Mohawk man. They had a family and she stayed with the Mohawk for the rest of her life. Most of the Deerfield captives eventually returned to [[New England]]; others remained by choice in French and Native communities, such as [[Kahnawake]], for the rest of their lives.<ref name="demos"/> As the frontier moved north, Deerfield became another colonial town with an unquiet early history. In 1753 [[Greenfield, Massachusetts|Greenfield]] was set off and incorporated. During the early nineteenth century, Deerfield's role in Northeast agricultural production declined. It was overtaken by the rapid development of the [[Midwestern United States]] as the nation's [[breadbasket]], as transportation to eastern markets and New York City was enhanced by construction of the [[Erie Canal]] and later railroads. [[File:Sheldon Homestead, Deerfield, MA.jpg|thumb|right|Sheldon homestead, {{circa|1912}}]] During the [[Colonial Revival Movement|Colonial Revival movement]] of the late nineteenth century, Deerfield citizens rediscovered the town's past. Residents founded the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association in 1870 and erected monuments to commemorate various events, including the Bloody Brook and 1704 attacks. In 1890 Charlotte Alice Baker returned to Deerfield to restore her family home, the Frary House.<ref>Coleman, Emma Lewis (1912). ''A Historic and Present Day Guide to Old Deerfield'', p. 54. Boston: Emma Lewis Coleman</ref> Baker was assisted by the Boston architectural firm [[Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge|Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge]], and her project was one of the first in [[historic preservation]] in western Massachusetts. Local historian George Sheldon wrote an account of the town's early history that was published in the late nineteenth century.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=W2wWAAAAYAAJ Sheldon, George (1896). ''A History of Deerfield, Massachusetts''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229073532/https://books.google.com/books?id=W2wWAAAAYAAJ |date=February 29, 2024 }}, Greenfield, Massachusetts: E. A. Hall & Co.; full text online</ref> By this time South Deerfield and other New England villages were already absorbing a new wave of [[Eastern Europe]]an immigrants, particularly from [[Poland]]. The new people influenced Deerfield's demographics and culture. They were mostly [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] [[peasant]]s, who built their own churches. Working first as laborers, they formed a community later known as Old Polonia. Twentieth-century immigrants from Poland tended to be more educated but settled in the larger cities. Immigrants in smaller communities followed different paths, and their descendants often moved to cities for more opportunities.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=EpOeEETswywC Elzbieta M. Gozdziak, "Eastern Europeans"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206162648/https://books.google.com/books?id=EpOeEETswywC |date=December 6, 2021 }}, in David W. Haines, (ed.), (1996). ''Refugees in America in the 1990s: A Reference Handbook'', pp. 124-130. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Publishing Group</ref> Today, heritage tourism is Deerfield's principal industry and is important to the Pioneer Valley. "Historic Deerfield" has been designated as a [[National Historic Landmark]] district, containing eleven house museums and a regional museum and visitors' center. It focuses on decorative arts, early American material culture, and history. Its eleven house museums offer interpretation through the late nineteenth century. The Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association operates the Memorial Hall Museum, which opened in 1880; and the Indian House Memorial Children's Museum and Bloody Brook Tavern. Deerfield is a center of [[heritage tourism]] in the [[Pioneer Valley]] near the [[Connecticut River]]. The [[Yankee Candle Company]] is an example of one of many commercial businesses associated with this history. <gallery class="center" widths="200px" heights="130px"> Image:The Frary House, Deerfield, MA.jpg|Frary House {{circa|1905}} Image:Old Main Street Looking North, Deerfield, MA.jpg|Old Main Street {{circa|1910}} Image:Post Office, Old Deerfield, MA.jpg|Post office {{circa|1910}} Image:Mountain Road, Deerfield, MA.jpg|Mountain Road {{circa|1910}} </gallery>
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