By-Laws of the Town of West Brookfield - 1877

Last October, while in Massachusetts visiting family, an old friend gave me an eleven page booklet, entitled By-Laws of the Town of West Brookfield: Approved June 16, 1877. The booklet was published by the town of West Brookfield, and printed by Thomas Morey in 1877.  It contains four articles.  The first deals with rules governing the Town Meeting.  The second article lists the town offices and the duties of the office holders.  Article three is "Concerning truant children and absentees from school." Penal laws and penalties are the subject of the fourth and last article.  The by-laws were approved June 16, 1877, by the Worcester County Superior Court, held at Fitchburg. 

The names of West Brookfield residents L. Fullam, Geo. H. Brown, George A. Parratt, Enos Gilbert, and Horace W. Bush are listed as the Commitee.




Cover of Booklet



Last page of booklet
Thanks to Pete Hastings of West Warren who gave me this document.

West Brookfield Town Website has links to Annual Town Reports 2007 - 2024 updated 8 July 2025

West Brookfield Massachusetts: A Town for All Seasons has links to Annual Town Reports including Warrants from 2007 - 2024.  These town reports include the report of the Burial Ground Commissioners, which lists each person buried in Pine Grove Cemetery that year, and where each was from.

Links to all the various town departments and boards, and email addresses are also available on the site, along with meeting and event schedules.  This is a great resource for anyone interested in West Brookfield.

Paul Crosby Chamberlain - born Dec. 18, 1883.

Paul Crosby Chamberlain was the fifth born son of Daniel Henry Chamberlain and Alice Maria Ingersoll.  He was born on December 18, 1883 in New York, NY where his family lived after his father left the governorship of South Carolina.  His middle name and birth information are found on his Sept. 15, 1911 passport application found on Ancestry.com.

Paul lived with his father and younger brother Waldo on the family farm in West Brookfield, at the time of the 1900 United States census.  He was age sixteen and attending school at that time.  He attended Yale Medical School beginning in Oct. 1901.

He became a journalist, according to the above mentioned passport application, and went to England.   Paul served in the Royal field artillery and was wounded in the battle of Flanders in 1915.  An article in the Springfield Daily Republican of Oct. 28, 1915 states that he was a 2nd lieutenant at the time, and recovering in the Ewell and Epson war hospital on Epson Downs near London.

A History of West Brookfield, 1675 - 1990, by Jeffrey H. Fiske, page 163, states that Paul and his wife were killed in a London bombing raid in December of 1940.  According to this reference, Paul had become a British citizen after service in World War I, and was a member of the London home guard.  England & Wales Death Index, 1916 - 2005, Ancestry.com has Paul C. Chamberlain, age 50, death Dec. 1940, Westminister, London, England.  There is also an entry for a Marian Chamberlain at same time and location.  England & Wales Marriage Index has entry in July - Sept.  of 1933 for a Paul Chamberlain and a Marian Greenaway.  Further research needed to confirm that the records refer to Paul Crosby Chamberlain, son of Daniel Henry Chamberlain.

I would be interested in learning more about the life of Paul Chamberlain from the time he left West Brookfield until the time of his death.  Please contact me if you have photos or further information.

Further information about the Chamberlain family is available at West Brookfield, Massachusetts Genealogy Project

Alfred Cornelius White, born Nov. 23, 1847 - Mayflower Descendant?

Alfred Cornelius White was born Nov. 23, 1847 in Amherst, Massachusetts to Samuel Newell White and Harriet (Chamberlain), both born in Brookfield. He came to West Brookfield with his parents and siblings sometime between 1850 and 1852 and settled on the White family farm. (now Salem Cross Inn)  Alfred, the only male child among nine children in the family, appears to have left West Brookfield between 1870 and 1880, for a period of at least twenty years.  He returned to the family farm sometime in the 1890's and became active in West Brookfield town and social affairs.  He was a long time member of the school board, the West Brookfield Farmers' Club, the grange, and the Masonic Lodge.

Where was Alfred for those twenty or so years?  According to his obituary in the Springfield Daily Republican of August 8, 1914, he lived in the south and west, and for a time was a "sheep raiser and ranch man in Texas."  I have not yet found any evidence of his whereabouts during those years, but intend to continue my research. One might wonder about the circumstances of his leaving the family farm, and also of his return.

What of the Mayflower ancestors?  It has been written, that Alfred's family was descended from Peregrine White, who was the first white male born in this country.  I have not done the research necessary to verify this information, and some who  have attempted to verify it, have been unable to identify the parents of John White, the first of this White Family to settle in West Brookfield.  Readers might start a search by contacting the Mayflower Society.

Some information on Alfred and his family in West Brookfield may be found online at http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=wb2006&id=I4886

Sacred Heart of Jesus and St. Mary Catholic Parishes to Merge on Nov. 21, 2011

An article from the Catholic Free Press of Nov. 17, 2011 may be found online at http://www.catholicfreepress.org/lead-story-1/2011/11/17/brookfield-parishes-officially-merge/

According to the article, the new Parish will be named Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, and although both churches will remain open, the West Brookfield Church with more space and more parking, will be the main church.

Useful Data in Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts Membership Cards

Members of the New England Historic Genealogical Society now have access to Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts Membership Cards, 1733­–1990.  They are available at  https://www.americanancestors.org/ for surnames beginning with A thru T.  The cards contain person's full name, date and place of birth, residence, occupation, dates pertaining to status in the lodge, and in some cases, date of death for those who died or left the organization before 1990. 

The database may be searched by name, but for my purposes as a West Brookfield researcher, I found it helpful to search by only the name of the lodge in West Brookfield, which is Bay Path.  I went to the search screen and selected the Category, Societies and Organizations; then the Database, Massachusetts: Grand Lodge of Masons Membership Cards, 1733 - 1990; then I scrolled down the page to where it said Lodge and typed in Bay Path.  There were 105 entries from which I was able to extract information which I had not previously found, such as birth dates post 1915, and death dates predating the Social Security Death Index. 

What's next?  I can search for West Brookfield men who left town and became members of Masonic Lodges in other towns using the name search function.  I can use dates of death to look for obituaries at http://www.genealogybank.com/.  I can look for census and vital record information on https://www.familysearch.org/ for free, or on paid sites such as Ancestry.com.  I can use address information to search the http://www.masslandrecords.com/Worcester/ 

I hope my readers find this information helpful.

Some still without power in West Brookfield

It has been almost a week since 15" of snow fell in West Brokfield, and many homes are still without power.  Snow covered trees and branches, with leaves still on them, are laying across power lines and roads.  Some power and phone lines were even ripped from homes.  Patience is wearing very thin for even the hardiest of folks blame the power company for not trimming the tree branches which were hanging over the lines. 

Those familiar with the area know that cell phones do not work in some locations due to the lack of cell towers and the hilly terrain. Communication is difficult, if not impossible.

Snow is beginning to melt slowly, and businesses along Route 9, where there is power, are open.  Gas stations and restaurants, especially, are doing a booming business.  I would imagine that people who cut and sell wood are doing well, too.

Schools remain closed.  Quaboag Regional High School is still operating as a shelter for people who need a warm place to sleep, or perhaps a warm shower.

Today's Quaboag Current does have some storm related stories and photos.  You may view them online at http://quaboagcurrent.com/