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History of Gill, Massachusetts, USA
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Gill, Franklin, MA
Gill, incorporated September 28, 1793, was originally part of Deerfield and was included in the portion set off from Deerfield June 9, 1753, as the district of Greenfield, which became a township that same year. The first settlers on the land that became Gill, who arrived before 1753 and lived later that 1793, were therefore inhabitants of the towns of Deerfield, Greenfield and Gill, successively, even though they never moved. gillmass.org
Gill includes: French King and Riverside.
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There is MUCH more to discover about Gill, Massachusetts, USA. Read on!
Gill Nostalgia: Vintage Photos, Ads, and Postcards

Gill, Massachusetts, USA
Postcard

Fireplace in the Pine Room of The Old Red House, Riverside, Gill, Mass. Built 1736.

Gill, Massachusetts, USA
Postcard

Entrance to Mt. Hermon Schools
"Northfield Mount Hermon, commonly referred to as NMH, is a co-educational college-preparatory boarding and day school for students in grades 9–12 and postgraduates. The school is located on the banks of the Connecticut River in Gill, Massachusetts, United States.
Originally two neighboring schools — the Northfield School for Girls, founded in 1879, and the Mount Hermon School for Boys, founded in 1881 — NMH merged into a single institution in 1972 and consolidated on one campus in 2006...
The school was originally founded by Protestant evangelist Dwight Lyman Moody as the Northfield Seminary for Young Ladies in 1879 (later called the Northfield School for Girls) and the Mount Hermon School for Boys in 1881. Moody built the girls' school in Northfield, Massachusetts, the town of his birth, and the boys' school a few miles away in the town of Gill. Moody's goal was to provide the best possible education for young people without privilege, and he... Read MORE...
Discover Gill: History, News, Travel, and Stories

May 19, 1676 - The Peskeompscut Massacre
On the sleepy morning of May 19, 1676 in present-day Gill, Massachusetts, a band of English colonists under the command of Captain William Turner fell upon the poorly guarded Indian village of Peskeompscut near the falls at dawn, slaughtering many of its inhabitants. More than 300 native people were killed (including many women and children), while only one colonist died in the surprise attack. There is still a marker commemorating the incident in Gill.
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May 19, 1676
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1776 - Gill is settled
Massachusetts City and Town Incorporation and Settlement Dates
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1793 - The town of Gill is incorporated
Massachusetts City and Town Incorporation and Settlement Dates
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1839 - Gill
Gill, Massachusetts
Franklin county. A mountainous township on the W. side of Connecticut river; 86 miles W. by N. from Boston and 5 E.N.E. from Greenfield. Gill contains a fine tract of rich intervale on a bend of the Connecticut. The people are generally engaged in farming. The town is divided from Greenfield by Fall river. It has some manufactures of combs, wooden ware, leather and palm-leaf hats. The fleeces of 1,809 sheep weighed 5,627 poinds, and were valued, in 1837, at $2,214. Population, 1837, 809. Taken from Deerfield in 1793.
The New England Gazetteer containing descriptions of all the states, counties and towns in New England: also descriptions of the principal mountains, rivers lakes, capes, bays, harbors, islands and fashionable resorts within that territory. Alphabetically arranged. By John Hayward, author of the Columbian Traveller, Religious Creeds, &c. &c. Boston: John Hayward. Boyd & White, Concord, N.H. 1839
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1845 - GILL. [Pop. 798. Inc. 1793.]
This town, originally a part of Deerfield, was named in honor of Moses Gill, Lieut. Governor of the State at the time the town was incorporated.
Gill is situated on the point made by a great bend of the Connecticut, and is separated from Greenfield by a small stream, called Fall River, because it enters the Connecticut near Turner's Falls, the most interesting falls in the State.
Just above these falls, a Captain Turner, with one hundred and sixty men, from Hadley, surprised and killed about three hundred Indians; but soon afterwards King Philip, with about one thousand Indians, came upon them, and Turner was killed in Greenfield, on the retreat. The rest, under Captain Holyoke, were routed, and many were slain before they reached Hatfield, through Deerfield, which afforded them no shelter, having been burned the year before.
The land is fertile, and agriculture is the main business of the inhabitants.
Distance from Greenfield, 5 miles; from Boston,... Read MORE...
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1848 - Gill
This town was formerly a part of Deerfield; it was incorporated in 1793. It received its name in honor of Lieutenant Governor Moses Gill. The church records have been lost, but it is supposed that the Congregational church was organized in 1793. The first minister was Rev. John Jackson, who was settled in 1798; his successor, Rev. Jabez Munsell, was settled in 1802; the next minister, Rev. Josiah W. Canning, was settled in 1806. The township is situated on a great bend of Connecticut river, and contains much fertile land. It lies on the west side of the Connecticut, and is separated from Greenfield by Fall river. There are two churches, 1 Congregational and 1 Methodist, both situated in the small viilage in the central part of the town. Population, 809. Distance, 5 miles E. N. E. of Greenfield, 15 S. of Brattleborough, Vt., and 86 westerly from Boston.
Near the point where the boundaries of this town, Montague and Greenfield meet, there is in the Connecticut the most interesting... Read MORE...
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1854 - Gill
Gill, a post-township of Franklin co., Massachusetts, on the W. side of Connecticut river, 10 miles W. S. W. from Boston. Population, 754.
A New and Complete Gazetteer of the United States: Giving a Full and Comprehensive Review of the Present Condition, Industry, and Resources of the American Confederacy ... Thomas Baldwin (of Philadelphia.) Joseph Thomas January 1, 1854 Philadelphia : Lippincott, Grambo & Company 1854.
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1859
GILL, a township in Franklin co., in the state of Massachusetts, 98 m. W by N of Boston, on the W side of the Connecticut river. Pop. 798.
A Gazetteer of the World: Or, Dictionary of Geographical Knowledge, Publisher A. Fullarton, 1859
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Gill Massachusetts, 1890
Gill is a very beautiful town lying in the north central part of Franklin County, 97 miles from Boston by the Fitchburg Railroad, which runs along its south side, with Connecticut River between. The New London and Northern Railroad (Vermont and Massachusetts) has a similar position on the eastern side, while the Connecticut River Railroad sweeps about it on the west and northwest, separated from it on the west by Fall River; so that, as to both rivers and railroads, the town is a peninsula.
Bernardston and Northfield bound it on the north, the latter on the east, Montague on the south, and Greenfield on the west; the rivers mentioned forming the dividing lines, except on the north. The assessed area is 8,061 acres; being six miles in length and nearly that in width. About one quarter of its area is forest, composed mainly of oak, maple hickory and chestnut. The geological basis of the northern portion of the town is conglomerate and calcareous gneiss, with sandstone about the... Read MORE...
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1895 - Gill
Gill, a post-township of Franklin co., Mass., about 40 miles N. of Springfield, is bounded on the E. and S. by the Connecticut River. It has 2 churches. Pop. (1890) 960.
Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World Containing Notices of Over One Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand Places ... Joseph Thomas January 1, 1895 J.B. Lippincott
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1916
Gill, a post-township (town) of Franklin co., Mass., about 40 miles N. of Springfield. Pop. in 1900, 1015. The name of the post-office is Turners Falls, its banking point.
Lippincotts New Gazetteer: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World, Containing the Most Recent and Authentic Information Respecting the Countries, Cities, Towns, Resorts, Islands, Rivers, Mountains, Seas, Lakes, Etc., in Every Portion of the Globe, Part 1 Angelo Heilprin Louis Heilprin - January 1, 1916 J.B. Lippincott - Publisher
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