In honor of the 150th Anniversary of the American Civil War, funding was approved in the state’s 2014 budget to help preserve the Commonwealth’s Civil War history. The Forbes Library was one of the institutions selected to receive a matching grant from The Massachusetts Sesquicentennial Commission to preserve our collection of documents and artifacts.This collection includes original diaries, account books, regimental histories, personal war sketches, and more than 200 cabinet card portraits of members of the Grand Army of the Republic.
The majority of the Forbes Library Civil War Collection contains documents and records of the 37th MA regiment and 10th MA regiment during the Civil War and administrative records of the local Grand Army of the Republic chapters after the war. These records and documents were kept by local soldiers and G.A.R. officers and donated to the library by Hubbard M. Abbott when the local G.A.R. unit disbanded. Hubbard M. Abbott (1839-1929) served in the 37th Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry. Originally from Andover, MA, he moved to Northampton and married Harriet R. Parsons of Northampton. He lived nearby the library at 42 West St., became Register of Probate and was deeply involved in the local G.A.R. chapter Post 86.
This exhibit is a work in progress. More items and information will be added to the exhibit over time as new research and further digitization of materials continue.
Please contact archives@forbeslibrary.org for more information.