Background on William Wells
A prominent figure in the early history of Shelburne, Mass., William Wells was born in Colchester, Conn., on Jan. 27, 1767, the son of David and Mary (Taintor) Wells. At the age of five, William's family settled in Shelburne, a young hill town, and soon established themselves among the local elite. During the Revolution, David Wells commanded a Hampshire County regiment that saw service at Ticonderoga and that was present at Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga, and he was involved in later years in local political and social life.
Following in his father's footsteps, William rose to become Captain in the militia and served for many years as a town selectman and state legislator, playing a role in the tri-fold division of Hampshire County in 1812 into the present-day Hampshire, Hampden, and Franklin Counties. Wells married Prudence May (1768-1862) on Dec. 7, 1794, raising a bevy of seven sons and two daughters. He died of bladder disease on July 11, 1848, and is buried in Shelburne's Hill Cemetery.
Scope of collection
This tightly focused body of documents from William Wells represents a cross-section of public life in the town of Shelburne during the early decades of the nineteenth century, and are typical of the sorts of records maintained by a town official. The documents touch on a wide variety of topics, ranging from town finance to care for the church, school, highways, and roads. Among the more interesting items in the collection are a contract apprenticing a boy to a local farmer (1796), a thick sheaf of letters and other documents relating to the local militia regiment, a legal dispute regarding taxes and support for the Baptist meetinghouse in town (1791), and a series of petitions relating to the care of elderly, poor, and troublesome residents.
Inventory
Accounts, individual
1813-1831
Box 1: 1
Accounts with the town of Shelburne
1814-1828
Box 1: 2
Baptist Church
ca.1791
Box 1: 4
Borders: certificates of perambulation
1818-1819
Box 1: 6
Estate inventories and supporting material
1821-1837
Box 1: 8
Guardianship records for Isaac Winter, Lawrence Kemp
1818-1821
Box 1: 10
Highways and bridges: petitions and notices
1813-1863
Box 1: 11
Juror lists
1821-1824
Box 1: 13
Meeting warrants and notices
1814-1818
Box 1: 14
Militia records
1803-1832
Box 1: 15
Miscellaneous documents (including list of books)
1819-1831
Box 1: 16
Petitions (other than highways and bridges)
1813-1823
Box 1: 17
Voting lists and votes recorded
1815-1830
Box 1: 19
Administrative information
Search terms
Subjects
- Apprentices--Massachusetts--Shelburne
- Baptists--Massachusetts--Shelburne
- Massachusetts. Militia
- Poor--Massachusetts--Shelburne
- Shelburne (Mass.)--History
- Shelburne (Mass.)--Politics and government
- Wells, David
Contributors
- Wells, William [main entry]
Link to similar SCUA collections
