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flag  History of Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA

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Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA - The Library, Sunderland, Mass.

Sunderland, Franklin, MA

Sunderland was first settled in 1713 and was officially incorporated in 1718. It was first known as Swampfield, a name which is now honored by Swampfield Road, but the name was changed to attract more residents. It was renamed in honor of Charles Spencer, the Earl of Sunderland. wikipedia

Sunderland includes: Plum Trees, Canada, and Meadows.
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Sunderland Nostalgia: Vintage Photos, Ads, and Postcards


Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA

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The Library, Sunderland, Mass.

Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA

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Sunderland, Mass. from Mt. Sugar Loaf

Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA

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Sunderland Bridge and Sugar Loaf Mt.

Discover Sunderland: History, News, Travel, and Stories

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  • 1673 - Sunderland is settled

    Massachusetts City and Town Incorporation and Settlement Dates
  • 1718 - The town of Sunderland is incorporated

    Massachusetts City and Town Incorporation and Settlement Dates
  • 1839 - Sunderland
    Sunderland, Massachusetts
    Franklin county. This town lies on the east side of Connecticut river, 90 miles W. from Boston, and 9 S. by E. from Greenfield. It was taken from Hadley in 1718. Population, 1837, 729. The settlement in this town is principally on a street running parallel with the river. Between the street and the river is a tract of fertile meadow; on the other side of the village is a more elevated plain, and back of that, Mount Toby rears its lofty front. This mountain is composed of pudding stone, and the small stones within it are round and smooth as though washed by the ocean; they are of verious sizes, and of every color. On one side is a cavern 60 feet deep; and many other ruptures seem to indicate some great change in this mountain since its formation. This village is very pleasant, and the scenery around it is of a fascinating character. The people here are good farmers, and are noted for their good schools and philanthropic disposition.
    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
  • 1845 - SUNDERLAND. [Pop. 719. Inc. 1714.]
    This town was once a part of Hadley, and contained a part of Montague and the whole of Leverett.

    Sunderland lies on the eastern bank of the Connecticut, over which is a bridge eight hundred and fifty-eight feet long.
    East of the village, and partly in Leverett, is Mount Toby, an elevation remarkable for its geological structure. The scenery of the town is generally very picturesque.

    Corn-brooms, to a considerable amount, are made here, but the inhabitants are chiefly farmers.

    Distance from Greenfield, 10 miles ; from Boston, 85.
    An Elementary Geography for Massachusetts Children by William Bentley Fowle and Asa Fitz, 1845
  • 1848 - Sunderland
    This town was originally a part of Hadley. It was incorporated as a town in 1718, and the Rev. Josiah Willard was ordained the first minister the same year. Mr. Willard died in 1790, aged ninety years. The following ministers have succeeded him, viz. William Rand, who settled here in 1724; Joseph Ashley, in 1747; Asa Lyon, in 1792; David H. Williston, in 1804; James Taylor, in 1807; Henry B. Holmes, in 1833.

    The central village of Sunderland is pleasantly situated on a fine interval of land on the east bank of Connecticut river. It coonsists of about fifty dwelling houses and a Congregational church. The village street is about three fourths of a mile in extent. The North village is about three miles from the center, and contains about fifteen or twenty dwellings, and a Baptist church. Plum Tree village is three miles south, and is about the size of the north village. At the central village there is a bridge over the Connecticut, 858 feet in length; it was built in 1832, at an... Read MORE...

  • 1854 - Sunderland
    Sunderland, a post-village in Franklin co., Massachusetts, on the E. side of Connecticut river, 82 miles W. by N. from Boston. A bridge crosses the river at this place. Population of the township, 792.
    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.
  • News  1868 - Hon. Horace Greeley's $200 premium for the township of more than fifty dwellings
    which should have at least two good grapevines planted on each homestead, has been won by Sunderland, Mass., and a second premium of $100 by Vineland, N. J.
    St Joseph Herald
    Saint Joseph, Michigan
    June 13, 1868
  • Sunderland Massachusetts, 1890
    Sunderland, is a pleasant rural town of 700 inhabitants on the east bank of the Connecticut River, and in the southern part of Franklin County, about 107 miles west of Boston. It is bounded on the north by Montague, east by Leverett, south by Amherst and Hadley, and west by Deerfield.

    Its length is 6 miles and width 3 miles; the assessed area being 8,184 acres. The inhabited portions are the southwest and a small area in the north. In the last, near the Connecticut, is the village of North Sunderland; while Sunderland (centre), which is the post-office, lies on the river midway of the town. An iron bridge 900 feet in length connects it with South Deerfield, on the Connecticut River Railroad. The New London and Northern Railroad crosses the northeast angle of the town, having stations in Leverett, Amherst and Montague; connecting in the latter with the Fitchburg Railroad.

    The formative rock is lower sandstone and dolerite. From the rich intervale along the margin of the river the ... Read MORE...

  • 1906
    Sunderland, a post-village in Sunderland township (town), Franklin oo., Mass., on the E. bank of the Connecticut River, about 26 miles N. of Springfield. Pop. of the town in 1900, 771.
    Lippincott's New Gazetteer: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World, Containing the Most Recent and Authentic Information Respecting the Countries, Cities, Towns ... in Every Portion of the Globe Publisher J.B. Lippincott Company, 1906

Discover Your Roots: Sunderland Ancestry

Ancestors Who Were Born or Died in Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA

We currently have information about ancestors who were born or died in Sunderland.

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female ancestorSarah GRAVES (27 April 1657, Hatfield, Massachusetts, USA - 1687, Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA)
male ancestorBenjamin BARRETT (7 October 1682, Hatfield, Massachusetts, USA - 17 January 1728, Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA)
female ancestorHannah FOSTER (3 December 1684, Chelmsford, Massachusetts, USA - 1749, Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA)
male ancestorEbenezer MARSH (1 May 1687, Hadley, Massachusetts, USA - 9 September 1747, Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA)
male ancestorNoah BAKER (1719, Northampton, Massachusetts, USA (Florence) - 29 December 1810, Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA)
male ancestorZebulon BALLARD (1720, - 3 September 1798, Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA)
male ancestorJoshua SCOTT (1720, - 21 November 1797, Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA)
male ancestorReuben GRAVES (23 November 1724, - 11 March 1778, Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA)
male ancestorIsrael HUBBARD (18 January 1725, Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA - 21 April 1817, Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA)

Ancestors Who Were Married in Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA

We currently have information about ancestors who were married in Sunderland.

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male ancestorIsaac BARRETT (May 1711 - 27 December 1786) and female ancestorSusannah NEWTON (10 February 1720 - 1786) married 23 July 1742
male ancestorEleazer WARNER (20 September 1755 - 8 December 1829) and female ancestorElizabeth BELDEN (1754 - 9 August 1837) married 1786
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