ASHBURNHAM - Town Hall - Ashburnham, MA - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

ASHBURNHAM, 11.4 m. (town, alt. 1037, pop. 2051; sett. 1736, incorp. 1765), was founded upon seven grants of land: the Starr Grant given to the heirs of Dr. Thomas Starr, an army surgeon in the Pequot War; the Cambridge Grant (1734), to the town of Cambridge as compensation for maintaining a bridge across the Charles between Brighton and Cambridge; the Lexington Grant, sold in 1757 to 7 German immigrants and thereafter known as Dutch Farms; the Bluefield Grant, to three men for erecting an inn on the Northfield Rd.; the Converse Grant, to the heirs of Major James Converse of Woburn in recognition of services to the Colony; the Rolfe Grant, to the heirs of the Rev. Benjamin Rolfe of Haverhill, slain by the Indians in 1708; and the most important (1735), the Dorchester Canada, or Township Grant of six square miles divided among descendants of 60 soldiers from Dorchester who fought in the Canadian expedition of 1690. Because of the town's rocky surface, large-scale agriculture has never been profitable, but dairying and fruit-growing are carried on. Of small industries the most important was, and still is, the manufacture of furniture from local timber.

American Guide Series Massachusetts: a Guide to its Places and People, p. 540-541

Home to Cushing Academy, where actress Betty Davis graduated from in 1927. Native born, Ivers Whitney Adams, founder of the Boston Red Stockings, the first professional baseball team in Boston. This is sleepy town along RT12 not far from New Hampshire.

Book: Massachusetts Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 540 - 541 Year Originally Published: 1937

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