mums095 Chickering Family Papers, 1813-1873 Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by Ruth Owen Jones. Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Amherst, MA

2003

Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Eric Cartier. 2003-07-28 Finding aid written in English. 2005-09-23 mu205 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02-5c.xsl (sy2003-10-15). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst Chickering Family Papers, 1813-1873 Finding Aid Manuscript Number 95 Compiled by Ruth Owen Jones October 1985 Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Collection Overview Chickering family Chickering Family Papers1813-1873 MS 95 2 folders (0.25 linear ft.) Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst Nathaniel Chickering was the operator of grist mills in both Belchertown and Enfield, Massachusetts. Includes land and pew deeds of Nathaniel Chickering and Mrs. Otis Chickering's account booklet with C.F. Wood and Co. English. Biographical Note

Nathaniel Chickering came to Enfield, Massachusetts in 1800 with his son Otis and operated a grist mill for twenty years. One of Otis' children, Bertrand, operated the Enfield telephone system in the Howe family store and lived with the Edwin H. Howe family.

Enfield was among the Western Massachusetts towns abolished in 1938 to allow the Swift River Valley to be flooded, thereby creating the Quabbin Reservoir to provide Boston with water.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Collection comprises deeds (land and pew) in Nathaniel Chickering's name and an account booklet of Mrs. Otis Chickering. Nathaniel Chickering's deeds show evidence of mills in Belchertown, Massachusetts in 1813 and Enfield in 1835. He seems to have been on the line between the two towns and may have owned property in both at the same time. In 1843, Nathaniel Chickering bought a horse shed near the church in Enfield. Mrs. Otis Chickering's account booklet consists of six pages of her accounts with C.F. Wood and Co, from the years 1856-1873.

The collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Cite as: Chickering Family Papers (MS 95). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Acquired from Donald W. Howe, 1960

Processed by Ruth Owen Jones, October 1985.

Search Terms Belchertown (Mass.)--History. Enfield (Mass.)--History. Quabbin Reservoir Region (Mass.)--History. Chickering, Otis. Mills and milling--Massachusetts--Enfield. Chickering, Nathaniel. Account books. 1 Deeds (land and pew), Nathaniel Chickering Family, Dover, Belchertown, Enfield 1813-1848 2 Mrs. Otis Chickering account booklet with C.F. Wood and Co. 1856-1873