Place:Warwick, Franklin, Massachusetts, United States

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Warwick is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 780 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Warwick was first settled in 1739 and was officially incorporated in 1763.

The land that became Warwick was one of four tracts of land established by Massachusetts in 1735 to compensate the descendants of the officers and soldiers who served during the "expedition to Canada" and the Battle of Quebec in 1690. The area was initially called Gardner's Canada and original proprietors were named in 1736. A 1737 owners list names the initial land owners, few of whom appear to have remained to settle the town^[1] once it was incorporated in 1763.

It took another 25 years to attract sufficient numbers of settlers to support a town and its minister. In 1760, such numbers were reached and the town hired a young Reverend Lemuel Hedge. The town was formed officially, as Warwick, on February 17, 1763.^[1] Its first officers were James Ball (town clerk), Moses Evans, Jeduthan Morse, James Ball (selectman and assessors), Amzi Doolittle (treasurer), Samuel Ball (constable), and James Ball (collector).^[1]

As the Revolutionary War approached, the town voted unanimously in favor of independence, although the town minister preached against it. Rev. Lemuel Hedge was barred from leaving the town in July 1775. He died October 15, 1777, the day British General Burgoyne surrendered his troops to the colonists in Saratoga. In 1776, Lieutenant Thomas Rich was selected to represent the town at the General Assembly of Massachusetts.

Shortly before and after the turn of the 19th century, many of Franklin County's old families began to move into Windham County, Vermont, in the generational quest for inexpensive land and frontiers to tame. Among those from Warwick was the Nathan Hastings family who settled in Windham, Vermont, in 1806. They were joined in Windham by others from adjacent villages such as Royalston and that part of Orange now known as the village of North Orange.

A significant event in Warwick's late 20th century history was the arrival of the Brotherhood of the Spirit Commune, which remained in the area through the 1960s and into the 1970s. The commune was led by Michael Metelica Rapunzel. The population of Warwick was only about 450 then, and hundreds of young people came to Warwick to join the commune. There was some friction in the early days, but townspeople and commune members gradually became more cooperative. The commune left Warwick for good in the 1980s.

As the Revolutionary War approached, the town voted unanimously in favor of independence, although the town minister preached against it. Rev. Lemuel Hedge was barred from leaving the town in July 1775 (see Morse, below). He died 15 October 1777, the day British General Burgoyne surrendered his troops to the colonists in Saratoga. In 1776, Lieutenant Thomas Rich was selected to represent the town at the General Assembly of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Sources

1. Warwick, Massachusetts: a biography of a town, 1963, By Charles Morse.
2. History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, Volume II, by Louis H. Everetts, 1879. This can be read on-line at the following web site: http://www.franklincountyhistory.com/warwick/everts/index.html
3. History of the Town of Warwick Mass., by Hon. Jonathan Blake, 1873.

Research Tips

• The town of Warwick, Franklin County, Massachusetts, genealogical records 1739-1900, births, marriages, deaths : of the inhabitants that lived in Warwick, MA. Taken from the handwritten chronological records and cemetary [sic] records of the town of Warwick, MA, by Marilyn Allred. LDS Book 974.422/W1 V2a.
• Vital Records of Warwick, MA. Births, marriages, deaths (v. 1) 1739-1812 Births, deaths (v. 2) 1805 Births, marriages, deaths (v. 3) 1844-1860 Births, marriages, deaths (v. 4) 1860-1900. FHL US/CAN Film #1888692
• The records of a young schoolteacher, by Elvira B. Goodell. Microfilm of typescript. Gives a record kept by Elvira B. Goodell of her students, 1850-1852, at Orange, Massachusetts; 1852-1853 at Wardsboro, Vermont; and 1853-1854 at Warwick, Massachusetts. Includes one page at end of notebook , in shaky handwriting, with marriages, 1858-1867, giving names of brides and grooms and dates of marriages, but no locality names. Perhaps at Warwick, Massachusetts, the place Elviria B. Goodell taught in 1853. FHL US/CAN Film #185430 Item 59.

External links

• "God, Love and Lust: Four Revolutionary Families in Warwick, MA" by Jillaine Smith, unpublished manuscript, (c) October 2008. (PDF)