Amherst Historical Society and Museum

History Begins at Home

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • About Us
    • Trustees
    • Mission and Vision Statements
  • Events
    • Events Calendar
    • History Bites- Lunchtime Lecture Series
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past History Bites Video Archive
    • Past Events
      • Lighting of the Merry Maple Celebration 2018
      • The amazing deep history of Amherst: From Pangea to the shores of Lake Hitchcock and Beyond
      • 19th Century Spiritualism in the Pioneer Valley
      • Amherst House Tour- “Come Over to My House”
      • How V-Mail Won WWII
      • Historic Fires of Amherst Showcase- Amherst Arts Night Plus
      • Time-Travelling Stories: Saving Angeline Palmer
      • 2018 Garden Tour
      • Amherst, 1839- Amherst Arts Night Plus
      • Grand Concert! An Evening of the Music of Jenny Lind
      • Artistic Interpretations of Jenny Lind- Arts Night Plus
      • Mabel Loomis Todd’s Amherst – A Motorbus Excursion
      • Founder’s Day Celebration 2018
      • Amherst Historical Society Annual Ski and Winter Gear Sale
      • Ski and Winter Gear Consignment
      • Amherst Arts Night Plus Holiday AHS Holiday Celebration
      • 2017 House Tour
      • “I Expect Great Pleasure” – The Music of Jane Austen
      • 2017 Garden Tour
      • Music Selected by Jane Austen
      • Flax: from Plant to Thread
      • Lunchtime Lecture Series
        • The Devil’s Juggles: Witchcraft Accusations in 17th-Century New England
        • Our Beloved Kin: A New History of King Phillip’s War- Lunchtime Lecture
        • The Bran-Bread Philosopher: Sylvester Graham and the Science of Human Life – Lunchtime Lecture
        • From smallest tap and die to largest machine: The Museum of Industrial History- Lunchtime Lecture
        • The History of Teddy Bears – Lunchtime Lecture
        • South Amherst UCC – Lunchtime Lecture
        • Monuments as History Lunchtime Lecture
        • The Protein War: Dorothy Wrinch and the Scientific Controversy of the 1930s – Lunchtime Lecture
        • ‘History Bites’ – Lunchtime Lecture Series – Janis Gray
        • ‘History Bites’- Lunchtime Lecture Series- Karen Sánchez-Eppler
        • ‘History Bites’ – Lunchtime Lecture Series – Carlton Brose
        • ‘History Bites’ – Lunchtime Lecture Series – Henry Lyman
        • ‘History Bites’ – Lunchtime Lecture Series – Dr George Greenstein
        • ‘History Bites’ – Lunchtime Lecture Series – Jade Mace
        • ‘History Bites’ – Lunchtime Lecture Series – ‘Chick’ Chickering
        • ‘History Bites’ – Lunchtime Lecture Series – Susan Ashman
        • ‘History Bites’ – Lunchtime Lecture Series – George Naughton
        • ‘History Bites’ Lunchtime Lecture Series – Richard Cairn
        • ‘History Bites’ – Lunchtime Lecture Series – Susan Snively
        • ‘History Bites’ – Lunchtime Lecture Series – Kitty Florey
        • ‘History Bites’ – Lunchtime Lecture Series – Tom Weiner
        • ‘History Bites’ – Lunchtime Lecture Series – Peter Thomas
        • “History Bites” – Lunchtime Lecture Series – Robert Cox
        • “History Bites” Lunchtime Lecture Series – The Little Red Schoolhouse
        • “History Bites” – Lunchtime Lecture Series – Steve Strimer
        • ‘History Bites’ – Lunchtime Lecture Series – Gregory Wilson
        • ‘History Bites’ – Lunchtime Lecture Series – Bonnie Isman
        • ‘History Bites’ – Lunchtime Lecture Series – Ken Samonds
        • “History Bites” Lunchtime Lecture Series- Rebecca Fricke, Sally Dillon & Flo Rosenstock
        • “History Bites” Lunchtime Lecture Series- Tim Barker
        • “History Bites” Lunchtime Lecture Series- Ann Tweedy
        • “History Bites” Lunchtime Lecture Series – Rachel Mustin
        • “History Bites” Lunchtime Lecture Series – Steve Strimer
        • “History Bites” – Lunchtime Lecture Series – William Flynt
        • “History Bites” Lunchtime Lecture Series- Ann Lanning
        • “History Bites” Lunchtime Lecture Series- Cheryl Harned
        • “History Bites” Lunctime Lecture Series- Patricia Holland and Elaine Barker
        • “History Bites” Lunchtime Lecture Series- Rob Cox
        • Ronald Story – “Jonathan Edwards and the Gospel of Love” Lunchtime Lecture
        • “History Bites” Lunchtime Lecture Series – Barbara Krauthamer
        • “History Bites” Lunctime Lecture Series- Cliff McCarthy
        • “History Bites” Lunchtime Lecture Series- Elizabeth Peirce
        • “History Bites” Lunchtime Lecture Series- Jackie Tuthill
        • “History Bites” Lunchtime Lecture Series- Bob Romer
        • “History Bites” Lunchtime Lecture Series – Bill Gillen
        • “History Bites” Lunchtime Lecture Series–Else Hambleton
        • Rob Cox: Cranberry Culture
        • Looking Backward: A Visual History of Immigration to the United States
        • ‘History Bites’ – Lunchtime Lecture Series – Bob Tuthill
      • Founders Day Celebration 2016
    • Founders Day
  • Support
  • Amherst’s History
    • Current Exhibits
      • The Spectacular Mabel Loomis Todd
    • Past Exhibits
      • Mabel Loomis Todd in the World
      • Artifacts Inspire Exhibit
      • Heath Connections – The Emersons of Amity Street
      • Got Milk?
    • Further Reading
  • Visit Us
    • Directions
    • Our Friends
    • Historic Buildings
    • Online Resources

“History Bites” Lunchtime Lecture Series–Else Hambleton

Else Hambleton: “A Deerfield Story: The Mysterious Death of Infant Smith”
Friday, November 7 at 12:15 p.m.
Simeon Strong House, 67 Amity Street, Amherst, MA

Frary House DeerfieldTradition says that Sarah Smith gave birth to an infant daughter in the northeast upstairs chamber of this house in Deerfield on Sunday, January 11, 1697/8. She claimed to have placed the baby on the bed beside her, before tying it up in her apron and hiding its body on the sill behind the bed. She said the baby girl never cried. While historians debate whether or not the child was stillborn, the minister, Reverend John Williams, the goodwives of Deerfield and the hastily called coroner’s jury charged Sarah Smith with infanticide. The charge of infanticide was laid, not because the baby was dead, but because Sarah Smith had concealed the infant’s birth.

Her trial was held the following August in Springfield. It took two days. Legally there was no question of her guilt but it was a capital crime and the Puritans were punctilious. They also knew a good object lesson when they say one. She was hanged the following week following an execution sermon preached by Rev. John Williams which, when printed, ran 64 pages.

This talk will consider Sarah Smith’s story in light of the Puritan sexual and legal mores, the importance of the women’s community in childbirth and the pressures of living on the frontier during Queen Anne’s War.

Else Hambleton is a long-time trustee of the Amherst Historical Society. She holds a PhD in History from the University of Massachusetts. Her dissertation became the book Daughters of Eve: Pregnant Brides and Unwed Mothers in Seventeenth Century, Massachusetts. She is currently working on a social history of Amherst between 1730-1830.

Join us with your lunch in hand. We will provide coffee, tea or cider for you as you listen to the presentations. The 30-minute program will begin promptly at 12:15 with seating and beverages ready just before noon. The lectures are free and everyone is welcome to attend. For updated information, check our website atwww.amhersthistory.org

Upcoming topics include:

November 21
Lynne Bassett, “With Womanly Weapons Girt”: Women’s Voluntarism & Quilts in the Civil War

December 5
Bill Gillen, A Comparison: Farming today at Amherst’s Sunset Farm to farming in the 1860 South as described by Frederick Law Olmstead

ski chair

Strong House

The museum is open Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 4:00 pm through mid-December, or by appointment.

Find out more about the museum.

Thanks!

The Amherst Historical Society would like to thank our Sponsors

  • integrity
  • peoples
  • bid
  • encharter
  • florence
  • bank-logo
  • jones-group-realtors-logo
  • cowls building supply logo2

Amherst A to Z

Want to know where Amherst’s Cold War bunker is located? Or where the “curragh” district of Amherst was? Or learn about a local factory that made “collapsing skirts!”

Amherst A to ZThese are all entries under the letter “C” in the book Amherst A to Z, written by Elizabeth Sharpe. The book is illustrated with pictures of artifacts from the Amherst History Museum, historic images from the Jones Library’s Special Collections, as well as photographs of our town and the folks who live here. Read more and buy the book!

Support Us

The Amherst History Museum accepts donations of any size at any time of the year. We hold our Annual Appeal in late November and renew all memberships in the Spring. A gift to the Amherst History Museum, whether in memory of a loved one or in honor of a special accomplishment, is always a unique way to help the Amherst Community and recognize an extraordinary individual.

Become a member today! Read more. . .
Amherst Historical Society

© Copyright 2016 Amherst Historical Society and Museum