Emerson Davis Journal

Emerson Davis (1799-1866) Reverend Davis, born in Ware and educated in Williams, had been influential in promoting the move of the Normal School from Barre to Westfield.

Rev. Davis was a graduate from Williams College and came to Westfield to be the Principal of the Westfield Academy. He worked to bring the Normal School from the town of Barre, where the citizens were not supportive, to Westfield and he became the first principal of the Normal School. In 1826, he became the pastor of the Congregational Church and stayed unitl his death in 1866. Like other pastors before him, he was a local historian and the ledgers are really his working notebooks for his historical research. He copied deaths from church records which include the cause of death as well, wrote down the population of Westfield for every 10 years (1800-1860), gave the number of children in each of the 16 school districts in 1817, the names of the early teachers, described some of the nearby towns and their ministers, and numerous other historical and genealogical information-some of which is no longer extant.

Here is one of his ledgers which covers:

 Please assist us in transcribing.