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Acton History Resources

Resources Available at Jenks Library Archives
See our Collections pages, including:
  • Documents
  • Newspapers
  • Photographs
  • much more...
Online Resources, Listed by Category
General History of Acton:
  • Overview of Acton's History, by Isabella Choate 1996
  • Digitized Town Histories & Records:
    • Rev. James Fletcher's Acton in History
    • Harold Phelan's History of the Town of Acton
    • Josiah Adams' 100th Anniversary Address, 1835 (with history to that point)
    • Shattuck's History of the Town of Concord
    • Hudson's History of Concord, Massachusetts (Vol. 1, Colonial Concord)
    • Town Meeting Records
      • 1735-1829 (transcriptions)
      • 1735-1797
      • 1798-1818
      • 1819-1839
      • 1839-1862
      • 1863-1889
      • 1889-1913
      • 1914-1930
    • Records of Acton's First Parish Church 1738-1819
    • Tax Valuations
      • 1860
      • 1875
      • 1890
      • 1900
      • 1910
      • 1926
    • Land Records
      • Registry of Deeds, Middlesex South
    • Census Records (available on paid sites and FamilySearch except for)
      • 1855 Census page 1 (East Acton households)
    • Other Records
      • Acton's Reply to town of Boston's committee of correspondence, relating to British infringements on colonists' rights, 18 January 1873
  • Maps at other Repositories
    • Map of Acton by Jabez Brown, 1794
    • Middlesex County, Walling, 1856
    • Beers Atlas of Middlesex County, 1875 (see pages 43, 44)
    • Map of South Acton, 1886
    • Boundary Atlas, 1904
    • Concord, Maynard & Hudson Street Railway Route
    • Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps 1916
    • Roads and Buildings of Acton, W. P. A. 1937
    • Roads and Waterways of Acton, W. P. A. 1937
      • Symbols for W.P.A. maps, 1937
    • Acton Map, Town Engineering Dept., 1984
  • Acton Historical Society-Created Content, Blog Posts
    • Abolition and Rev. Woodbury
    • Acton Women's 1895 Vote
    • Acton Women Get Right to Vote, 1920
    • Bicentennial Celebration in Acton, 1935
    • Bounty Controversy after Civil War
    • Cannon on the Common Controversy
    • Cannon on the Common, 1942 Controversy
    • July 4th Celebrations in Acton (1889-1920)
    • Patriots' Day 1895
    • Postmaster Dispute, 1880s
    • Stagecoaches Through Acton
    • Temperance and John Fletcher
    • Watering Troughs in Acton
    • West Acton's 1913 Fire
    • West Acton Tried to Secede (1868-1869)
Arts in Acton:
  • Blog Posts
    • Annie E. Payson, Artist in Acton
    • F. J. and Margaret Taylor, Photographers
    • The Singing Turner Sisters
Black Actonians:
  • Blog Posts
    • Acton's Early Black Residents
    • Titus Haywood, Revolutionary War Soldier
    • John Oliver, Revolutionary War Soldier
    • John Oliver's Farm
Business and Industrial History of Acton:
  • Blog Posts
    • Barker's Cider Mill
    • Ebenezer Davis Sr. & Jr.'s Bellows & Other Businesses
    • Fessenden West Acton Barrel Shop
    • John Fletcher & Sons, Boots & Shoes
    • Hall Brothers (Pails & Churns) Photos
    • Heywood's Soapstone & Grist Mill
    • John Sherman Hoar (New England Vise Company)
    • Ice Harvesting in Acton
    • Hanson A. Littlefield's Many Business Ventures
    • N. L. Merrill, Traveling Photographer, 1856
    • Morocco in South Acton
    • New England Vise Company, Part 1
    • New England Vise Company, Part 2
    • Powder Mills, 1898-1899
    • F. J. Taylor and Margaret Taylor, Photographers
    • West Acton Roller Skating Rink
Churches in Acton:
  • Evangelical (Congregational) Church - History & Catalogue of Current and Former Members,  dated 1868
  • Records of Acton's First Parish Church 1738-1819
Immigration:
  • Irish in 1850s Acton
Military History of Acton:
Revolutionary War:
  • Documents (digitized)
    • Captain Joseph Robbins' militia company, Sept. 29, 1774
  • Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors Buried in Acton's Cemeteries
  • Markers and Monuments Relating to the American Revolution
  • The Issac Davis Story & Rediscovery of the Trail
  • Blog Posts
    • Acton's Early Black Residents (includes John Oliver & Caesar Thompson)
    • Captain Joseph Brown
    • Remembering Thomas Darby
    • Isaac Davis's Home
    • James Emery
    • Titus Haywood, Revolutionary War Soldier
    • Did Deacon Jonathan Hosmer Serve in the Revolution?
    • Did Jonathan Hosmer Jr. Serve in the Revolution?
    • Jonathan Hosmer III in Bennington
    • John Oliver
    • John Oliver's Farm
    • Samuel Parlin
    • Isaac Ramsdell
    • Prisoners of War in Acton (James Sherland and William Haywood)
    • Sorting out John Swifts
  • Books of Interest for Acton, digitized:
    • Josiah Adams' 1850 "Vindication" of Captain Isaac Davis
    • French's The Day of Concord and Lexington The Nineteenth of April 1775
    • Commemorative of Calvin and Luther Blanchard, 1899
  • Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War
    • Vol. 1: A - Bery
    • Vol. 2: Bese - Byxbe
    • Vol. 3: Caal - Cory
    • Vol. 4: Cose - Dry
    • Vol. 5: Dua - Foy
    • Vol. 6: Fra - Gyp
    • Vol. 7: Ha - Hix
    • Vol. 8: Hme - Jyp
    • Vol. 9: K - Lsu
    • Vol. 10: Lua - Mop
    • Vol. 11: Mor - Payzel
    • Vol. 12: Pea - Razaray
    • Vol. 13: Rea - Sey
    • Vol. 14: Sha - Sth
    • Vol. 15: Stibbens - Tozer
    • Vol. 16: Tra - Whe
    • Vol. 17: Whit - Zyr
  • Not Digitized
    • History of the Acton Minutemen and Militia Companies, Charles R. Husbands, 2003.
War of 1812:
  • List of Capt. Silas Jones' Company, raised in and around Acton 1814
Civil War:
  • Markers and Monuments Relating to the Civil War
  • Blog Post about Veterans' Bounties, Co. E, 26th Regiment
  • See also
    • Acton Memorial Library's Online Civil War Archives
    • History of the Old Sixth Regiment (Civil War)
    • Roster of Isaac Davis Post No. 138
    • Records of the 26th Mass. Regiment Association
Spanish American War:
  • Spanish American War Monument
  • Blog Post, William Rodway
World War I:
  • Online World War 1 Exhibit
  • Veterans from Acton Listed on World War I Memorial
  • Markers and Monuments Relating to World War I
  • Blog Posts
    • Sidney Edwards, Killed in France
    • New England Sawmill Unit
World War II:
  • Blog Post about Scrap Drive and World War I Cannon
School History in Acton:
  • Blog Posts
    • Yesterday's Problems in Acton Education
    • Schoolhouses, Early History and North Acton
    • Schoolhouses, East Acton district
    • Schoolhouses, Maintenance and Improvements
    • East Acton School District Students 1828 (includes information on individuals)
    • Lyman Cutler's Select School, 1849
    • F. W. Pelton's Private High School, 1852 (includes biographies of students)
    • Acton High School in the 1880s
    • An Acton Schoolteacher's Commute, Early 1900s
    • Acton High School's Concord Hiatus
    • Homework, 1915-Style
Social and Fraternal Organizations in Acton:
  • By-Laws of Corinthian Lodge, Louis Surette (includes Acton men who belonged to the Masons)
Sports and Recreation in Acton:
  • Blog Posts
    • Acton Baseball's Early Days
    • Baseball Team to Identify
    • Dances in Acton
    • West Acton's Football Team
    • Roller Skating & Roller Polo in West Acton
    • Early Acton Football Revisited
    • Summer Activities, 1921
Women of Acton:
  • Blog Posts
    • Acton's First Women Voters (1879)
    • Acton Women's 1895 Vote
    • Acton Women Get Right to Vote, 1920
    • Clara (Hapgood) Nash - Teacher, Lawyer, Poet & Reformer
    • Ella Miller's Early Life in North Acton - Diarist, Schoolteacher
    • Ella Miller's Commutes to Acton Schools
    • Annie E. (Hardy) Payson - Artist
    • Sarah (Faulkner) Skinner - Discovered through Letters
    • Margaret (Dorsey) Taylor - Photographer
    • Estelle (Turner) Davis and Harriet Turner - Singers
    • Estelle (Turner) Davis and Harriet Turner - Singers, Part 2

List in progress, please check back as online indexing continues.  See also our Acton Family Resources page.

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