West Boylston History

 When looking through the old newspapers from our Local History Room, we sometimes stumble across the names of our “local celebrities.” In this case, it’s not for a good reason. The notice, pictured below, lists two names we’ve seen before: Jabez Beaman and Ezra Beaman. The notice is from June 1812, one year after town…

The history room at the Beaman Memorial Library houses a range of documents, including a series of letters and a memoir from Sgt. John Emerson Anderson, a West Boylston resident who served in the Civil War. John’s regiment marched to Washington, D.C. in mid-1861. In a letter from September 8, 1861, he hopefully told his…

Arthur Taylor was a West Boylston resident one hundred years ago who escaped death while out of town in December 1917. He was unlucky enough to be in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on December 6, 1917, when one of the worst maritime disasters in history occurred: a ship carrying explosives and sailing to Halifax Harbor…

Frederick W. Cheever was a West Boylston resident in the late 1800s/early 1900s who came from a line of military men. He was descended from Revolutionary War Generals Hosmer and Norcross and his father served in the Civil War. Now, Frederick’s turn to serve came in 1898 with the outbreak of the Spanish-American War. The…

 W.J. Burns became West Boylston’s first uniformed policeman in May 1897. Before him, there was a local sheriff, but we aren’t positive what local law enforcement looked like in industrial West Boylston. Burns came into the force in response to increased “tramps” in town—homeless people who came to and stayed in West Boylston because of…

James F. Higgins was an undertaker and amateur photographer who lived in West Boylston around the turn of the 20th century. He ran his embalming business in the Sawyer General Store located on the old town common. He took a lot of photographs during his time in West Boylston. He eventually moved to Athol after…

The town of West Boylston owes a great debt to Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880). Though she did not live in West Boylston for long, her husband David Lee Child (1794-1874) was born in town. Lydia donated his entire book collection to found the first West Boylston public library upon his death. Lydia was born in…

John Temple was a prominent farmer and charismatic public figure who served as Chairman of the West Boylston Board of Selectmen for six successive years and aided the town in other areas with his energetic public presence. In 1793, he married Persis (Beaman) Bigelow, daughter of Maj. Ezra Beaman; she was the widow of Dr.…