Reverend Samuel Willard of Petersham, Massachusetts, was the minister in Deerfield, Massachusetts, from 1807 to 1829. He gradually went blind and probably wrote his recollections of Shays’ Rebellion (1786-1787) when he realized that he was losing his sight. A severe recession following the American Revolution left many in Massachusetts in deep debt. A number of towns petitioned the state government for relief funds and as they were not forthcoming and the number of lawsuits mounted, faith in the judicial system failed and thousands marched to close courthouses. In August of 1786, Daniel Shays successfully led a group of insurgents, known as “Regulators”, to Northampton to prevent the court there from sitting. In September, a company of militia was called out from the Connecticut River Valley towns to defend the Supreme Court in Springfield from the mob. Willard was ten years old at the time and remembered that his brother volunteered on the side of the government but one of their neighbors fought with the Regulators. Willard describes them coming into Petersham and the subsequent arrival of the government troops that were then quartered in homes for four days. He commented that they “left our houses in such a state as would inspire a dread of armies in every bosom,” and said that there was panic and a want of military tactics during the retreat.
Willard, Reverend Samuel. Excerpt of Willard letter to E. B. Wilson on Shays’ Insurrection of 1786. ca. 1820. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l07-052/. Accessed on October 16, 2024.
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