A Brief History of the Town of Ashfield

(Sponsored by Ashfield Historical Society, 2004)

About 1736, 60 men who had followed Captain Ephraim Hunt on an expedition to Canada for England during King William’s War in 1690 received a grant of land six miles square “west of Deerfield”. This was in settlement of a petition for payment for their services, and these former soldiers, their heirs, or others who had purchased rights, drew their 50 acre lots in the first division of land in 1739. The original proprietors, or those who bought the rights from them, gradually acquired more acreage as surveys over the next 44 years created four more divisions of land from the grant, now calculated to cover 40.22 square miles.

Many of the original owners quickly sold their lots, but some of the original proprietors came to work the land. Descendants of the Hunt expedition still live in Ashfield. The colonial settlers found a forest of mostly gentle hills, though some slopes were so steep that they formed bare rock cliffs. The soils varied from hard glacial till to sandy eskers, with only a few inches of rich topsoil. Small streams provided the head waters for a great pond and fed into the tributaries of the Deerfield and Westfield Rivers. Arrowheads found in the brooks suggest that the area had long served small hunting parties of Native Americans .

Early accounts report that about 100 people had settled here by the 1750s, but it wasn’t until after the threats of raids during the French and Indian Wars had ended, that the town began to grow quickly. Churches formed in the 1760s, leading to the town’s incorporation in 1765. Soon after, records show there were 76 men in town who together owned 79 cows and 161 sheep. By 1810, the population had grown to over 1800 people, who sold crops, wood products, and herbal essences such as mint and hemlock.

As the west opened up, many from Ashfield moved to areas where they could find larger lots, better soils, easier terrain, and a gentler climate. By 1845, the assessor’s list shows only 404 men, who together owned 656 cows and 7667 sheep. Farm families in that year made their living from a diversity of products, including $7,515 worth of wool (about 10 tons), $6,600 in wood products, $6,292 in butter and cheese, $5,099 in fruits and vegetables, $3,598 in maple sugar, and $25,313 in hay and grain. Domestic industry added $15,000 worth through the making of linen bosoms and palm hats. Despite all this hard work, the prices for 19th century farms did not appreciate. A 50 acre farm cost $1500 in 1826 sold for $1500 in 1894.

Sheep farming gave way to dairy farming when the means for transporting cool milk became available after 1880. Barns and herds grew, and a commercial creamery operated in Ashfield and another in the neighboring town of Buckland. By 1910 assessed sheep had decreased to 624, 17 in 1956, and only 4 in 1957. Large herds of sheep kept land and hills clear of brush and trees, as seen in photographs taken around the turn of the last century. However, by the early 1980’s the last hilltop pasture vistas had become overgrown. Many country ways, with large shade trees and long views between, have now become ambling roads or fast highways through continuous woods, broken more often by driveways and mailboxes than by fields and pastures. Ashfield maintains 69.81 miles of roads, and the state owns over 10 miles more.

Main Street and the Ashfield House which was a hotel at this time.

Throughout the 20th century and into this century, the population has increased to its current level of over 1800, including over 1100 registered voters. Most of these new residents commute to jobs in other towns, although Ashfield has a growing number of small businesses, craftspeople and cottage industries. Today only three dairy farms remain, but milk about 250 cows. Most of the large post and beam dairy barns have fallen down or now have other uses. Farmland and orchards now grow houses more than produce, but many acres are either hayed to keep them clear or lumbered to keep them productive. Smaller specialty-crop farms are starting up and supply a summer farmer’s market. Improved roads, a lake with park and beach, two golf courses, a playground, two churches, a library, and other amenities make Ashfield a pleasant and relatively prosperous community today.

For more information about the history of Ashfield, visit the Ashfield Historical Society website: http://www.ashfieldhistorical.org