Month: November 2021

By Cliff McCarthy (A version of this story appears on the website “Freedom Stories of the Pioneer Valley” (https://freedomstoriespv.wordpress.com) and is used here with permission.) Of the formerly enslaved people who settled in Springfield, we probably know the most about William Green. He published his story in 1853 under the title, A Narrative of Events in the … Continue reading William Green, A Life Recovered

by Carol Aleman Harry Walter Putnam, an early bicycle enthusiast, sportsman, and athlete in Greenfield, began life in November 1870 in Springfield, Massachusetts,1 the son of John H. Putnam of Greenfield2 and Ann Eliza Smith of Pittsfield.3 By March, 1875 his father had died,4 and within five years Harry’s time was divided between his mother’s … Continue reading Harry W. Putnam, of Greenfield

By Cliff McCarthy “We learn from Belchertown, that a respectable black man was killed by his son by a stab with a knife, on Monday evening last."[1] This brief item appeared in newspapers around the Commonwealth during the last days of December in 1814. Who was the nameless black man and what were the circumstances … Continue reading The Murder of Jonathan Jewett

by Zoë Cheek Alexander Hughes was born into slavery on a plantation outside of Richmond, Virginia on January 17th, 1857, to Cyrus Hughes and Sarah (Claxon) Hughes. He was four years old when the Civil War broke out but his family remained on the plantation for the entirety of the war. After the end of … Continue reading Alexander Hughes, of Springfield