Historic Deerfield, Massachusetts
by Norman A. Rubin
A ‘Living Museum’ is a cultural institution that is dedicated to conserving our common heritage for the benefit of all generations, past, present and future. The Memorial Hall Museum, the oldest in the country, is a fine example of a living museum. It chronicles the history and reflects the history of New England through exhibitions and displays of cultural artifacts made and/or used in the region.
One of the informative exhibitions at the Memorial Hall Museum is ‘the Raid on Deerfield’ settlement in Massachusetts, the most northwestern settlement of the New England colonies colony that occurred during Queen’s Anne’s War on February 29, 1704. It happened when a large force of three hundred French and Native American under the command of Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville razed the town and killed fifty-six colonists. Of the colonists killed, twenty-two were men, nine were women, and twenty-five were children. 112 Deerfield men, women, and children were captured and taken on a 300-mile forced march to Canada in harsh winter conditions (twenty–one died due the harsh conditions of the march) Some of the captives were later redeemed and returned to Deerfield, but one-third chose to remain among their French and Native captors.
The museum holds some three hundred objects relating to the raid; one such item is the Stebbins (one of the residents of the settlement) family door, which bears the Indian ax marks left by the invading force. The museum also has on display an early edition of the memoir of Reverend Williams, who survived the raid and the ensuing three-hundred-mile march through heavy snow to Quebec. He eventually returned to Deerfield and wrote The Redeemed Captive
Explore the web site www.1704.deerfield.history.museum and hear and read the stories on both sides of the ‘Raid on Deerfield’. The novel “The Ransom of Mercy Carter’ gives a very good and detailed story of Mercy Carter’s journey; it is the story of one who survived the terrible months long 300 mile march to Quebec, Canada.
Memorial Hall Museum Deerfield, Mass is one of New England’s oldest, housed in former Deerfield Academy’s in 1798. The antiquarian George Sheldon organized the collection of artifacts he was assembling and in 1880, Memorial Hall opened. The museum’s extraordinary collection of furnishings, paintings, textiles and Indian artifacts is “the finest collection of local antiquities in New England.”
If You Go:
Pocumtuck Memorial Assoc invites one and all to explore the museum’s 19 rooms of art, culture and history – Open daily from May 1st to Nov 1st (11 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
For additional Information:
Memorial Hall Museum
8 Memorial Street
Deerfield, MA 01342
413-774-3768
mhm@deerfield.history.museum
The ‘Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association Library’ located next to Memorial Hall Museum—has a unique collection of manuscripts, diaries, account books, town records, maps and other written material that document the life and thought of Deerfield (Early New England) from the close of the 17th century to the 20th. (Open year-round from Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed holidays) The ‘Henry N. Flynt Library’ within the same building serves primarily as a research center for Historic Deerfield’s collections and programs.
Memorial Libraries
6 Memorial Street
Deerfield, MA 01342
413-774-5581
library@historic-deerfield.org
Historic Deerfield – A visitor would step into early America in Deerfield when one tours the town’s house museums with their fine displays of original artifacts of early America; and one can explore hundreds of years of American (New England) history along an original, mile-long thoroughfare. www.historic-deerfield.org
Historic Deerfield
PO Box 321
84B Old Main Street
Deerfield, MA 01342
The quaint town of Deerfield is the daytrip or vacation site that you’re looking for, with history, beauty mixed with comfortable inns, diverse assortment of shops and boutiques, and fine restaurants and cafés. You’ll love your visit to the town (that will tempt you to make another visit to this quiet town). deerfieldattractions.com
Directions – From the East—Worcester, MA (1 hour)/Boston, MA (approximately 2 hours): Take MassPike / I-90 West to exit 4, then take I-91 North to Exit 24. At the end of the ramp, bear right onto Routes 5&10 North. Follow “Historic Deerfield” signs approximately 6 miles. From the South—Springfield, MA (30 minutes) / Hartford, CT
The Pocumtuck Memorial Assn / Memorial Hall Museum, Deerfield, Mass. The association is a vibrant regional organization, supporting the Memorial Hall Museum and library, Deerfield Teacher’s Center, Indian House Children’s Museum and outreach programs. pvma.wordpress.com
About the author:
Norman A. Rubin is a former correspondent for the Continental News Service (USA), now retired – busy writing articles and stories for Net sites and magazines worldwide – see ‘Google.com’ under the author’s name for a review of his written work.
All photos are by Norman A. Rubin.
We began our royal weekend celebration with high tea at the historic James Bay Tea Room. To commemorate the wedding of H.R.H. Prince William and Miss Kate Middleton, there was a special tea service with traditional goodies such as cucumber and cream cheese finger sandwiches, homemade scones with fresh clotted cream and strawberry jam, fresh strawberry cup with orange liquor and assorted petit fours. Of course, complete with a big pot of English tea!
This quaint little tea house, tucked on a back street behind the Provincial Parliament Buildings, is a turn-of-the-century house, built in 1907 as a family home. It was transformed into this charming restaurant/tea room in the 1980s and is a popular spot for tourists to experience a real British style afternoon tea. It was a perfect place to celebrate the wedding, surrounded by royalty memorabilia with pictures of the royal family covering every inch of the walls, 
Robert Pim Butchart began as a cement manufacturer in Ontario and by the turn of the century had become a successful pioneer in this industry. He was lured to the West Coast of Canada because of the rich limestone deposits vital for cement production, and built a factory at Tod Inlet on Vancouver Island. His family established their home there and as the limestone in the quarry became exhausted, his wife Jennie conceived the idea for refurbishing the quarry into a beautiful garden in the style of the grand estates of the period.
The limestone quarry was transformed into the magnificent Sunken Garden. Mrs Butchart planned the landscaping of the property, transforming it into a garden that covers 22 ha (55 acres) of greenery, woodlands, flower gardens and horticultural displays. Mr. Butchart collected ornamental birds from all over the world including peacocks and ducks and built many elaborate birdhouses through the gardens.
The Butchart’s love of Italy is evident in the lovely Italian Garden, located beside their house. Their tradition of collecting unusual objects when traveling is displayed with the Fountain of the Three Sturgeons, and the big bronze boar near the entrance of the Gardens, both from Florence Italy. A newer acquisition is the Rose Carousel, crafted by Brass Ring Entertainment of Sun Valley, California. It’s the only carousel on Vancouver Island and is a wonderful menagerie of thirty animals ranging from bears, horses, ostriches, zebras and mirrors. The designs were chosen by Robin Clarke, the Garden’s present owner and great granddaughter of Jennie Butchart.
Founded in the 1880s by Dirty Dan Harris as he was known because of his somewhat less then scrupulous dealings, we only discovered this charming town a few years ago. Since then we have returned on numerous occasions. Fairhaven Village is an easy day trip from anywhere in Metro Vancouver by car or from Vancouver by train. If you are traveling from Victoria B.C. this historic town is a three-hour Washington State passenger ferry ride away.
Often we go to Fairhaven for the day but on this occasion we decided to overnight at our favorite boutique hotel and spa. “Welcome back.” We step through the front door of our hotel and the front desk clerk greets us. A sense of calm washes over me. Something about this hotel makes me want to curl up on one of the oversized couches in front of the fireplace with a good book and veg out. We joke that they must be pumping something intoxicating through the venting.
The fishing industry in this part of the west coast was at it’s peak in the early 1900s and remnants are visible all along Bellingham Bay. Reminders such as pylons that once supported a cannery jut out of the bay at low tide. The remains of a workshop its metal siding rusted by years of neglect and exposure to the weather sit precariously on the banks edge. It’s not difficult to imagine the sights, sounds and smells have long gone fishers off loading their catch where it would be readied for the market.
While Fairhaven has seen a bit of a building boom the old town flavour is evident everywhere. There are a few newer buildings but most brick or sandstone structures are from the late 1800‘s through the early 1900‘s. The Terminal building is the oldest still standing and since it was built in 1888 has housed everything from a grocery store to a saloon. Next door to it is a steak house that bears the name of the town’s founder.
I got to visit Smarty Jones (the 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner who’s currently residing in Pennsylvania). He came up to his stable door. How I wanted to pet him, but I was told that he has a tendency to bite, so I couldn’t. He was let out by one of the staff so I could pose with him, though for legal reasons involving the horses’ images, visitors can only show their photos offline to others.
The Kentucky Derby is the longest consecutive running sporting event in America. Since 1875, 136 of these annual horse races have been run at Churchill Downs through 2010. Seeing it on TV all these years didn’t prepare me for the draw it would have on me while visiting. I stayed there some four hours, and could’ve spent much more easily as I took three tours and visited the on site museum. It’s one of the few places in the world that I felt glued to because of the ambience, the tradition, and incredible history that makes up the 160 acre complex. I am not usually a fan of guided tours, but I found their guides to be quite engaging.
I was about to go into the museum when I heard a 90 minute Behind The Scenes Tour was about to happen. I felt led to take it, and I’m glad I did! Fans get to see such places as the clubhouse and locker room for the male jockeys, as well as find out about how these athletes must all be the same weight for the Kentucky Derby (126 pounds, but 121 if they ride a filly). It’s done by adding extra padding until the weight is reached. I also found out that jockeys wear several pairs of goggles around their eyes, so if one pair gets wet or soiled, they can de-layer for a clean one. We also got to go to the press area, Millionaires’ Row seating, and the track announcer’s booth. Believe me, this 90 minutes goes by too fast!
After a day of admiring racing horses, a great place to relax for a drink is the Old Seelbach Bar in downtown Louisville. The Seelbach Bar has many pictures of race horses hanging on its early 1900’s restored walls, including some Kentucky Derby winners. Did you know that F. Scott Fitzgerald sipped bourbon here? The hotel itself was a setting for his novel The Great Gatsby, a place where the fictional hometown girl Daisy Buchanan may have actually gotten drunk because of her forthcoming sham wedding to Tom Buchanan!
