[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 30 (Friday, February 13, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E288-E289]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        HONORING THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JOHN W. OLVER

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 13, 2009

  Mr. OLVER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the founding of 
Amherst, Massachusetts 250 years ago on February 13, 1759. The 
following history provided by the Amherst Historical Society paints a 
fascinating picture of a town I have been honored to represent my 
entire legislative career.
  Two hundred fifty years ago, a section of Hadley, Massachusetts 
became the district of Amherst when local men petitioned the government 
of Massachusetts Bay to incorporate Hadley's Second Precinct (as 
Amherst was officially called) as a district which could hold town 
meetings and govern itself. On February 13, 1759, a bill was passed and 
the royal governor, Thomas Pownall, named the new district ``Amherst'' 
to honor his friend General Jeffery Amherst, who had recently led a 
successful military expedition against the French in Canada.
  Hadley famers, who had been grazing their cattle on Amherst lands 
since the late 1600s,

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called this land by many names--Hadley Farms, East Farms, Hadley Outer 
Commons, East Hadley, New Swamp, and event Foote's Folly Swamp. Hadley 
farmers didn't think much of Amherst's soil as compared with the richer 
soils closer to the Connecticut River, but the Amherst land was fertile 
enough and, during a brief peaceful period in the late 1720s, a few 
farmers ventured to establish Amherst homesteads.
  In the 1750s, more farms sprang up and the population of ``East 
Hadley'' topped that of the original settlement, but inhabitants were 
still required to travel to Hadley to conduct town business and pay 
taxes, for which they received little in return. This led, naturally, 
to the locals desire to govern themselves.
  But Amherst's history goes back much farther. About 1,000 years ago, 
native peoples who lived and fanned all over Southern New England, 
including the area that became Amherst, met regularly at sites along 
the Connecticut River for fishing, feasting, and socializing. The 
Norwottucks, one of those groups, traveled through Amherst and probably 
set up temporary campsites along the Fort and Mill Rivers. They used 
two major trails, a path that later became Bay Road and one in the area 
of Pulpit Hill and East Leverett Roads.
  The beginnings of the town we know today were not only built by those 
original farmers from Hadley and surrounding communities but by 
Africans who were brought here as slaves, torn from their homelands and 
families. Up through the 1770s, slaves were bought, sold, leased, and 
traded in Amherst. They worked on their owners' houses and farms and 
were always subject to being sold away from their families. During this 
same period, several free blacks also lived in Amherst.
  Today, descendants from every group representing Amherst's ``First 
Comers'' can be found living in town and throughout the Connecticut 
River Valley.
  What distinguished Amherst from other Connecticut Valley farming 
towns was an early interest in education. Between 1814 and 1821, 
Amherst citizens established both Amherst Academy and Amherst College. 
As early as 1847, Massachusetts citizens began thinking about the need 
for agricultural education, which paved the way for the founding of the 
Massachusetts Agricultural College in Amherst in 1863. In this same 
period, Amherst boasted small-scale manufacturing (and later large-
scale hat factories) but without a large, powerful river, manufacturing 
never blossomed as it did in other Massachusetts communities. Amherst 
remained an agricultural and educational community.
  It was the establishment of the University of Massachusetts in 1947 
and its post-World War II expansion, the opening of Hampshire College 
in 1970, and the attendant population increase and development boom 
that threatened Amherst's small town character and natural beauty. 
Citizens responded with local laws to preserve agricultural land and to 
limit development. By the late 1960s, the town was noted for being 
progressive and socially conscious, with outspoken citizens bringing 
national and international issues to the local level. This independent 
spirit, combined with good schools, open spaces, and a vibrant 
intellectual life, has made Amherst a magnet for newcomers.
  There are also other Amhersts: a home to immigrants from all over the 
world; a place where machinists and shop owners work and goods are made 
and sold; a place where people struggle to make ends meet amid social 
services spread then; and a town caught between residents' high 
expectations for schools and services and a tax base largely funded by 
property tax on private residences. Slightly more than half of 
Amherst's land is in use by the colleges and university or remains 
under conservation or agricultural restriction. Townspeople watch and 
wait as the resolutions to these economic issues evolve and define 
Amherst's future.
  Once again, I am proud and honored to represent this town rich in 
history and community. Please join me in congratulating the Town of 
Amherst as it celebrates its 250th Founders Day.

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