Around 1790, a Wilbraham man named James Warner put pen to paper and recorded one of the strangest dreams to survive from early Wilbraham. Warner’s dream begins on a summer evening. The sun had set, darkness covered the earth, and the stars filled the sky. Warner went to his room, lay down on his bed, and soon fell asleep. 421 Glendale Road, Hampden (South Wilbraham). The home once owned by James Warner. Willie D'Angelo What followed was no ordinary dream. Warner imagined tha

Sometimes the smallest incidents of everyday life are the ones that survive longest in local memory. One such story from early Wilbraham involved nothing more valuable than an old farm hoe. Stephen Newell, an early South Wilbraham resident and Revolutionary War veteran, once loaned a hoe to one of his neighbors. What should have been a simple favor turned into a very long loan. The neighbor kept the hoe for more than a year despite repeated requests to return it. Unidentified

Imagine waking up on a June morning in New England, stepping outside your farmhouse, and finding snow on the ground. For the people of 1816, this was not a story from some distant northern wilderness. It was happening throughout New England. Farmers were trying to plant their crops, fruit trees were beginning to blossom, and families were expecting the warmth of summer. Instead, winter seemed determined not to leave. Modern-day picture of the Freeman Farm at Old Sturbridge Vi