The Tillyer Papers Volume I: People, Progress, and Poverty in Sturbridge 1738 — 1880 has recently been digitized by Historian Brian Burns and master photographer Robert Arnold.
In 1968, the Tillyer family of Southbridge, Massachusetts, donated an eclectic collection of approximately 3,000 pages of historic documents to Old Sturbridge Village. The Tillyer family was related by marriage to the Chamberlain family of Sturbridge. Of that family, A.B. and Clifford Chamberlain, father and son, were town clerks for nearly 75 years, from 1866 to 1945.
In 1968, the Tillyer family of Southbridge, Massachusetts, donated an eclectic collection of approximately 3,000 pages of historic documents to Old Sturbridge Village. The Tillyer family was related by marriage to the Chamberlain family of Sturbridge. Of that family, A.B. and Clifford Chamberlain, father and son, were town clerks for nearly 75 years, from 1866 to 1945.
A well-known scientist and pioneer in modern lens technology, E.D. Tillyer served as director of the American Optical Co.’s research lab for many years. Old Sturbridge Village librarians cataloged the papers, dividing them into 13 archival storage boxes under general headings — “Agriculture,” “Military,” “Roads,” Welfare” and “Schools” — and within the boxes are individual folders, generally separated by date. The names of many local residents are mentioned, often giving details about their lives and families. Those documents are now being digitized.
While the original Tillyer documents remain in the care of the Old Sturbridge (Massachusetts) Village research library, representative print samples and DVDs are now available at the Joshua Hyde Library for research. Copies of the disks are also available.
You can read more in an article by Craig S. Semon in the Worcester (Massachusetts) Telegram & Gazette at http://goo.gl/Ol6YB.
My thanks to newsletter reader Charlene Sokal for telling me about this digital collection.
