Plainfield Massachusetts Historical Society
History of Plainfield, Massachusetts
  • PHS
    • PHS Mission Statement
    • PHS Charter 1961 & By-Laws
    • PHS Officers and Annual Letters
    • PHS Collection Policy
    • Collection Preservation and Management Plan
    • Local History Links
  • Support
  • People
    • Oral Histories
    • Reverend Moses Hallock 1760 – 1837
    • Lydia Richards 1782 – 1846
    • Dr. Samuel Shaw 1790 – 1870
    • William Cullen Bryant 1794 – 1878
    • John Brown 1800 – 1859
    • Marcus Whitman 1802 – 1847
    • Martha J. Lamb 1826 – 1893
    • Charles Dudley Warner 1829 – 1900
    • Ralph Ellison 1914 – 1994
    • Dr. W. Irving Maurer 1879-1942
    • Arvilla Louise Dyer 1923 – 2004
  • Places
    • Plainfield Historic District
    • Shaw/Hudson House
    • Barns of Plainfield
    • Plainfield Congregational Church
    • Cemeteries
    • Shaw Memorial Library
    • The Mill Site
    • Mill Site Tour Part 1
    • Mill Site Tour Part 2
  • HWHM
  • Oral Histories
  • Resources
  • Collections
    • Photographs of Houses and Landscapes
    • Photographs of Plainfield People
    • Postcards
    • Maps
  • Contact Us
  • Plants on Paper
Rosina Crosby Willcutt in 1907, in the room reserved for her–by deed– when her son took over the property.
Bertha Gurney Packard – mother of William A.
George Dalrymple – ca. 1916 First WWI soldier to be an amputee, lost a leg. Lived in Chedda’s house (1978) PHS#103-35

Thomas Packard and friends on Govenor Hill, building the new barn. ca. 1909 – 1. Cyrus W. Packard 2. ? 3. Tom Packard 4. John Dalrymple 5. Harry Packard 6. ? PHS#103-24
“Ned” Edwin Latham Atkins, son of Edwin A. and Mary E. Latham Atkins; grandson of Elisha and Temperance Atkins PHS#1982.32
The Mathersons

Joseph Beals Jr. and Cyrus Winfield Packard ca. 1892 Camp 55, Sons of Veterans of the Civil War, Plainfield, MA
Ethel (Bird) Billings ca. 1907
Ethel (Bird) Billings at 3 years old. ca. 1890

Bela Dyer and his third wife, Mary (Nash) Dyer PS#103-50B
Laura Wilcutt
Walter Joy Gurney, son of Armelia White Gurney. ca. 1869 PHS#103-50f

Edwin Atkins ca. 1891
Jacob Porter
Albert Birdca. 1925 PHS#1983-34

Charles A. Nash
Harold S Packard and daughter, Mari (Packard) Stevens ca. 1895 PHS#103-38
The Beals Family – Standing Albert Chester Beals,John Chester Beals, Lillian Roche Beals – seated – Lucinda Elizabeth White Beals, Albert Chester Beals, Jr., Lillian Dorothy Beals, Benjamin Enderson White ca. 1900

Center School, Plainfield, MA From left to right: Mary Thorton (May Burt), Earl Dunham, ?, Vern White, Mari Packard (Stevens), Ethel Bird (Billings), ?, Harry Dunham, Roy Bartlett, teacher was Frannie Abbey from Ashfield. Included in photograph are six State boys from Lester Parker’s ca. 1897
Jeannelle Warner, 88 years old, whose father built the Billing’s homestead, currently the Steele’s
Darwin Beals

Tom Lawson’s Family
Anne Sears m. Bob Streeter PHS#1982-30
Elizabeth (Clark), Will, Alice C. and William Gardiner PHS#103-102b

Mary Thorton at 18 years of age. ca. 1905
Amelia White Gurney, daughter of Samuel and Polly White PHS#103-50d
Mr. and Mrs. (Elizabeth Clark) William Gardiner and Mrs. and Reverend Solomon Clark PHS#103-102a

Bela Dyer
Ruth and Hester Sears
South School Left to right: State boy, Leon Burt, State boy, Elisha Kinney, Rob Clark, Etha Clark, teacher, Flora Rice, Mabel Burt (Montgomery), Leo Demers, Ada McCLoud, Ashley Burt, ? Demers ca. 1907

Plainfield boys in front of the Brick Store. Could be a baseball team. c.1915. Courtesy of Mary Connell.

 

  • Our Old House Exhibit Coming May 9, 2026

  • Virtual Tour of the Shaw-Hudson House

  • Plainfield Historical Society
  • Check out our blog posts below!

    • Samuel Streeter and the Centering of Plainfield April 14, 2026
    • The Farm House in Winter February 23, 2026
    • A Winter’s Morning on the Farm 50 Years Ago November 17, 2025
    • Thomas Packard School Days September 2, 2025
    • Stone Walls In Plainfield July 28, 2025
    • THEY CALLED IT PLEASANT STREET July 22, 2025
    • Memories of Plainfield from Thomas Packard July 8, 2025
    • Dog Show June 8, 2025
    • Memorial Day in Plainfield, MA May 8, 2024
    • Ladies Benevolent Society May 9, 2023
    • Memorial Day in Plainfield, Massachusetts: A Celebration to Remember May 26, 2022
    • Blanche Svoboda Cizek September 28, 2021
    • Plainfield Aircraft Spotters July 8, 2021
    • Dedications May 26, 2021
    • Weights and Measures April 27, 2021
    • Demolition By-Law April 2, 2021
    • Plainfield Pound November 30, 2020
    • Potash November 17, 2020
    • Vote October 25, 2020
    • Oxen Demonstration October 14, 2020
  • Old County Road/Allis Cemetery
  • Mills on Mill River
  • Plainfield Aquaduct Company
  • Surveying the School Lot
  • Farming in Stone
  • About HMHW
  • Kay Dilger Metcalfe
  • Kay Dilger Metcalfe: Written Reflections on Aging
  • “I am 90 years old and much is to be said for this age” (August 2003)
  • “Ode to Aging” (2006)
  • “Since the ‘Baby Boomers’ are getting well into their 60’s” (March 25, 2007)
  • “With my interest in writing about Old Age . . .” (April, 25, 2007)
  • MOTION is not Stationary (April 30, 2007)
  • “I must now write about myself” (May 18, 2009)
  • “Today, I am still me, myself, but am so aware of living in a different place” (August 8, 2009)
  • “My meditations indicate . . .” (May 2010)
  • “Several months ago, I fell . . .” (May 20, 2011)
  • “Several months ago, I believe I fell from my usual perch . . .” (May 4, 2011)
  • “Dear Rebecca” (March 9, 2013)
  • “Somehow, somewhere, it was suggested to me there would be a Creative Writing Course …”
  • “A Momentous Moment”
  • “I Was And Now I Am”
  • Coming of Age Irene home page
  • Irene Jordan Caplan: Wordsmith
  • Leaving Manhattan
  • To the Maker of Music poem by Irene
  • Twenty Plus Things About My Mother
  • More info on successful aging
  • Lori Austin Paintings
  • Pierced or Phantom Leaves
  • Clark/Rice Postcard Scrapbook
  • Plainly Speaking: News from the Plainfield Historical Society
  • #3945 (no title)
  • Eliza Healy’s Work
  • Dr, Francis Shaw’s Herbarium
  • Apothecary
  • Anne Laura Clarke
  • The Shaw/Hudson Family Parlor
  • Country Kitchen
  • Clara Elizabeth Hudson and the Shaw- Hudson House
  • Dining Room Dr. Shaw’s Family
  • Astronomy
  • Attic
  • Books
  • Botany
  • Memories of Summers in Plainfield
  • Memories of Dr. Samuel Shaw
  • Saturday Night Bath
  • Shaw Hudson Community Members
  • How to Research the History of Your Old House
  • Early History of Plainfield, Massachusetts
  • Plainfield’s Beginnings
  • 278 East Main Street, Plainfield Massachusetts
  • 8 Warner Hill The Charles Dudley Warner House
  • 109 South Street, Plainfield, Massachusetts
  • The Maplewood Inn
  • 355 West Main Street, Plainfield, Massachusetts
  • 27 Broom Street, Plainfield, Massachusetts
  • 274 East Main Street, Plainfield, Massachusetts
  • 525 West Main Street, Plainfield Massachusetts
  • 98 West Hill Road
  • 12 North Central Street, Plainfield, Massachusetts
  • 123 Pleasant Street, Plainfield, Massachusetts
  • Our Old House Project: Uncovering Plainfield’s Past
  • Plainfield Massachusetts Historical Society
  • The Mill Site
  • Mill Site Part 1
  • Plainfield Historical Society
  • Support
  • People
  • Mill Site Part 2
  • Places
  • HWHM
  • Resources
  • Oral Histories
  • Collections
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