Ashfield in Franklin County was originally intended as a six-mile-square tract, though its current boundaries do not conform to that shape. If made regular, it would be a square of six and one-fifth miles per side, enclosing 24,601½ acres. Formerly called Huntstown, it was named for Captain Ephraim Hunt of Weymouth, who led a company in the 1690 expedition against French forces in Canada during King William’s War (1690–1697). The war proved disastrous for the colonies, and payment of Hunt’s men was long delayed. In 1736, Massachusetts granted land here to these soldiers or their heirs, with conditions to settle the town, build a meetinghouse, establish a “learned and orthodox minister,” and support common schools. Sixty-three lots, or “rights,” of 50–63 acres each were surveyed. Three were reserved for ministry and schools; the remaining 60 were assigned by lot to the soldiers or their legal representatives.
Although the first proprietors met in Weymouth in 1738 and drew lots in 1739, few of the original grantees settled the land themselves, and many lots were sold to more adventurous buyers. A bounty of £5 was offered in 1741 to the first ten proprietors who would build a house and cultivate six acres. The earliest permanent settler was likely Richard Ellis, an Irish immigrant who first cleared land on White Brook, where he built a partly underground log cabin. Thomas Phillips, related by marriage to Ellis, soon followed and built a nearby log house. Next, Chileab Smith arrived from Hadley, settling near what became his son’s home. Other early families included Ebenezer and Samuel Belding, among others from Connecticut and nearby towns, bringing the population to about ten or fifteen families by 1754.
That year, renewed warfare with the French again unleashed hostile raids by Indigenous groups along the frontier. A deadly attack near Rice’s fort in Charlemont forced Huntstown’s settlers to flee. They abandoned their homes and improvements, taking only what they could carry, and found refuge in Deerfield and elsewhere for two to three years. On returning, they built a fort around Smith’s house, erected upright logs as walls, and added a gate that was barred at night. Later, another similar fort was raised nearby. In 1757, a guard of nine soldiers arrived under Sergeant Allen, defending the settlers as they worked and standing watch at night. Though one scouting Indian was spotted, the settlement escaped attack. When the fall of Quebec in 1759 ended hostilities, the troops disbanded, and peace returned. By 1761, there were 19 families in Huntstown.
The proprietors had held meetings at Weymouth, Hadley, Hatfield, and finally in Huntstown by 1754. They built the first grist mill in 1743 on Pond Brook and added a sawmill in 1753 on Bear River. Committed to supporting a Congregational ministry, they raised funds in 1751 for preaching and, by 1763, had settled their first minister. In 1767, they completed a suitable meetinghouse.
No Shifting Jurisdictions
The Town of Ashfield, Franklin County, was established June 21, 1765, from the new plantation called “Huntstown.” It has remained intact since its establishment.
Ashfield MA Genealogy Records Online
- Ashfield Massachusetts Vital Records
Alphabetical indexes to the vital records of Ashfield, Massachusetts, up to the year 1850, supplemented by information from bible records, church registers, cemetery inscriptions and other sources. PDF file is free to read and download. - Ashfield Annual Reports
Annual Reports of the town officers to the inhabitants of the town of Ashfield Massachusetts
Ashfield MA Genealogy
- Inventory of the town archives of Ashfield, Massachusetts
- John Alden of Ashfield, Mass., and Chautauqua County, New York
His Alden ancestors and his descendants - Biographical sketches of the descendants of Richard Ellis of Ashfield, Massachusetts
Ashfield MA History
- History of the town of Ashfield, Franklin County, Massachusetts
from its settlement in 1742 to 1910 - Historical address read in St. John’s church, Ashfield, Massachusetts
A history of the parish of St. John in Ashfield, MA. - Historical Sketch of the Congregational Church and Society in Ashfield, Massachusetts
Contains an historical sketch of the Congregational Church and Society in Ashfield, Mass. by Rev. Theopholus Packard, Jr. of Shelburne. That sketch includes biographies of previous pastors: Jacob Sherwin, Nehemiah Porter, Alvan Sanderson, Thomas Shepard, Mason Grosvenor, Burr Baldwin, Sereno D. Clark, and William H. Gilbert. Additional brief bigraphical sketches were provided of Congregation ministers who originated from the town of Ashfield: Rufus W. Bement, John Cross, Anson Dyer, Alvah Lilly, John C. Paine, William P. Paine, Melzar Parker, Samuel Parker, Charles S. Porter, Freeman Sears, Oliver M. Sears, Preserved Smith, Preston Taylor, Morris E. White, and Francis Williams. - Historical sketches of the times and men in Ashfield, Mass., during the Revolutionary War
The year 1777 was a peculiarly dark and trying one to that part of the inhabitants of Ashfield who were patriotic. Many of them had been here only a year, while all the settlements in town were quite recent. Prominent men did not disguise their sympathy with the royal government, and the year before three men had fallen in the battle of Long Island, never to return to their friends. The armies of Howe and Burgoyne were driving the Americans before them at almost every point. It is therefore a highly interesting inquiry: what did our fathers do? - Proceedings of town meetings, 1762-1854
Includes some militia rolls.