Chester Mass History Museum

Chester Mass History Museum Chester Massachusetts History Museum operated by the Chester Historical Society. Located in the former Methodist Church on Route 20 in downtown Chester.

Fay Piergiovanni was recently presented with Chester’s Boston Post Cane in a ceremony at her William Street home attende...
06/21/2026

Fay Piergiovanni was recently presented with Chester’s Boston Post Cane in a ceremony at her William Street home attended by a large group of her family and friends. The presentation was made by the Chester Historical Society.

Fay Peltier was born in Becket and graduated from Chester High School in 1950. The next year she married Chester resident Dominic Piergiovanni, also a Chester High School graduate and serving in the Army at Fort Lee in Virginia at the time of their marriage. They eventually made their home on William Street where they raised their two daughters, Lisa and Tina, who organized the cane presentation in the family home.

Dominic passed away in 2013 after 62 years of marriage.

Fay served on the Gateway Regional School Committee for 12 years and during that time was appointed to the Massachusetts Association of School Committees where she served as Vice-Chair. Following her time on the School Committee she spent six years on the Board of Selectmen, the last three as Chair. After two terms on the Board of Selectmen she served on the Board of Health.

She was President of the Chester Historical Society for many years as well as Chair of the Chester Historical Commission. As President of the Society she oversaw the opening of the Chester History Museum in the former Chester Methodist Church.

She was an ardent supporter of the restoration of the Maple Street bridge and the fact that it is restored and open today is due in large part to her persistent advocacy of that long-delayed project.

Frequent phone calls still go out to Fay from current society members when they can’t answer some queries and Fay usually knows the answer.

In addition to her work with the Historical Society she also served on the boards of the Jacob's Ladder Scenic Byway Committee, The Chester Foundation and the Miniature Theatre of Chester.

We hope Fay holds the cane for a long time to come!

Today in Chester history: June 19, 1958 (Berkshire Eagle)The Harris-Miller American Legion Post was chartered in Chester...
06/20/2026

Today in Chester history: June 19, 1958 (Berkshire Eagle)

The Harris-Miller American Legion Post was chartered in Chester in 1931 and named for two Chester WWI soldiers who died in service, Paul W. Miller and Ray L. Harris.

Today in Chester history: June 12, 1908The Chester House hotel is sold at auction to make room for the new Chester Gramm...
06/12/2026

Today in Chester history: June 12, 1908

The Chester House hotel is sold at auction to make room for the new Chester Grammar School.

The Chester House was built in the early 1800's probably by Colonel Samuel Henry as a tavern on the Eighth Massachusetts Turnpike which passed in front of it.

It was expanded over the years and starting around 1850 it was operated by two generations of the Lazell family, then by William Day starting around 1880.

It was sold 118 years ago today to Byron E. Pease who would move it to a lot he owned on the lower part of Hampden Street, where he converted it to a two-family tenement house. It is no longer there but its location is shown on the map inset below.

05/30/2026

Join us for a fascinating local history talk presented by John Garvey. Explore the shifting borders, land divisions, and historic decisions that reshaped Murrayfield and led to the creation of Huntington and Chester. This engaging presentation offers a compelling look at how changing boundaries helped define the communities we know today. Perfect for local history enthusiasts, longtime residents, and anyone curious about the story behind the map.

On this Memorial Day we honor the three Chester residents who were killed in action during World War II; Raymond E. Fisk...
05/25/2026

On this Memorial Day we honor the three Chester residents who were killed in action during World War II; Raymond E. Fiske, Stephen F. Fiske and Robert L. Sparks. (The Fiske men were not related, at least not closely).

Raymond Edward Fiske
Raymond was born in Chester in 1919. His mother was a Perry and Raymond and his parents lived with his Perry grandparents on Huntington Street (Route 20). He graduated from Chester High School in 1937 and worked for a few years as a mechanic.

He enlisted in 1942 while still living on Huntington Street but by the time he left for basic training at Camp Croft in South Carolina he had moved in with an uncle in Westfield. After basic training he went to Airborne School at Fort Bragg in Georgia and was assigned to the 505th Parachute Infantry of the 82nd Airborne.

On July 10, 1943 he parachuted into Sicily Italy in what was at the time the largest combat parachute drop ever. The next day his division was attacked by a German Panzer Division in the Battle of Biazza Ridge and Raymond was killed.

He is buried in the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Nettuno, Italy.

Stephen Fred Fiske
Stephen was born in 1925 in New York but moved to Becket as a child, then moved to Chester when he was about 10. They lived in Littleville and his father worked on the town road crew.

Stephen first worked at Arthur Pierce’s saw mill on the Middle Branch of the Westfield River near to the Fiske family home. When he enlisted in 1943 he was working for the Strathmore Paper Company in Woronoco.

Stephen took part in the D-Day invasion of the French Normandy coast in June of 1944, then on July 4 of that year he was shot while on a scouting mission as his company pushed inland from the coast. He was initially buried in a military cemetery in France but his body was sent home in 1948 and he was buried with his grandparents in the Norwich Bridge Cemetery.

After his death a gold star was added in his honor to the Service Flag at the Littleville Chapel. When the Littleville Chapel was about to be demolished in the 1960’s to make way for the Littleville Dam and Reservoir the Service Flag and bell were donated to the North Chester Chapel, where they remain today and are looked after by the North Chester Chapel Association.

Robert Lawrence Sparks
Robert was born in Becket in 1925 where his father Charles worked in the silk factory on Yokum Brook in the North Becket Village. A devastating flood in 1927 destroyed the silk mill and the family moved to Middlefield Street in Chester where his father drove trucks for construction companies.

Robert graduated from Chester High School in 1942 and started work at the Cortland Grinding Wheels Company.

He enlisted in 1943 and was sent to flight school. After getting his wings he was assigned to the 29th Bomber Group and sent to Guam. On March 10, 1945 he took part in The Great Tokyo Air Raid where over 300 B-29s flew from Guam for a bombing run over Tokyo. The plane he was in crashed into Fubo Mountain in Miyagi Japan during the mission and all crew members were killed.

The crew was initially buried by the Japanese in Honshu but in 1949 his remains were identified and returned to Chester where he was given a military funeral and buried in Pine Hill Cemetery.

The Memorial Day observance will be held at 10am at the Town Hall.

Today in Chester history: May 7, 1966 (Springfield Republican)The former post office building on Main Street is sold to ...
05/07/2026

Today in Chester history: May 7, 1966 (Springfield Republican)

The former post office building on Main Street is sold to the Glad Tidings Church.

The church had started weekly services earlier in 1966 at the town hall under the Reverend Edmund H. Carr. The building they just purchased had been built in the late 1800’s as the office for the Hudson and Chester Granite Company. The safe in which they kept their payroll is still inside the building.

It was purchased by William Tacey of Otis around 1947 and he moved the post office there.

In 1972 the Glad Tidings Church sold the building to an Assemblies of God congregation. After the Assemblies of God it was converted to a private residence, which it remains today.

Have you ever seen the chandelier pictured below? It hangs in the sanctuary of the First Congregational Church of Cheste...
05/06/2026

Have you ever seen the chandelier pictured below? It hangs in the sanctuary of the First Congregational Church of Chester on Skyline Trail. This puzzling chandelier seems out of place in a hilltown Congregational church, which are usually simple and unadorned reflecting their roots in the Puritan church.

This chandelier is flashy and ostentatious. When looking at the details it gets even more puzzling. At the top ring are charging horses, followed by the sea god Poseidon with his arms upraised and holding his trident, and finally a row of the half-horse, half-serpent Hippocampus, the mythical creatures who pulled Poseidon’s chariot.

A look at the church records does nothing to solve the mystery. At a church meeting in March of 1885 the church passed the following vote: “Resolved, that the thanks of this society are hereby tendered to Mrs. Anna Thompson of Springfield for her gift of a beautiful chandelier for our church.”

Research shows that she was the recent widow of Colonel James M. Thompson, one of the richest men in Springfield. They had a grand estate at the top of Union Street in Springfield called Highland Place. The Springfield History Library and Archives at the Springfield Museums has a file of interior photos of Highland Place and in a photo of the library we see our chandelier.

The library was probably the domain of the colonel and after his death Anna was making it over to her liking, and the nautical-themed chandelier had to go. The mystery of the origin of the chandelier is solved but one question remains, what was her connection to the Chester church?

The search continues…

P.S. The chandelier was modified twice once it made it to Chester. In Highland Place it operated on gas but there was no gas connection to the Chester church so it was fitted with kerosene lamps. Once electricity came to the Chester church in 1939 it was modified again.

Today in Chester history: May 2, 1936Thirty-two Chester residents graduate from the Americanization Class in 1936. These...
05/02/2026

Today in Chester history: May 2, 1936

Thirty-two Chester residents graduate from the Americanization Class in 1936. These classes were held once or twice a year throughout the 1930’s.

The supervisor was Mrs. Wanda (Bogacz) Cooney, a teacher in the grammar school and a member of the Chester Board of Public Health. Wanda was herself a first-generation American her parents having emigrated from Poland.

Classes included the English language, American history and democracy. After the first round of classes a certificate was earned and after a more detailed second round a diploma was granted. Mrs. Cooney would assist the diploma graduates in applying for their American citizenship.

Today in Chester history: April 30, 1860George Washington Howe doesn’t return to Chester after a visit to New York City....
04/30/2026

Today in Chester history: April 30, 1860

George Washington Howe doesn’t return to Chester after a visit to New York City. The man looking for information as to his whereabouts is his first cousin, Elias Howe, Jr., and one of the richest men in America.

George Howe was born in North Chester in 1830 to Liberty and Lucy (Bemis) Howe. He married another Chester resident, Amy Millikan, in 1855.

In the 1860 census things looked incredible for him. At age 31 he owned a bedstead factory worth $7,800 that produced 2,500 bedsteads a year and employed eight people. Unfortunately, things were not as good as they seemed, when he didn’t return from New York City a closer look at his books showed that the business was in trouble.

He had two young children, a daughter Ida was 4 years old and a son George was just two months and in order to protect his wife and children his estate was put into bankruptcy court. His uncle Elbridge Howe was appointed one of the administrators of the estate and he purchased the factory to clear the debts of his nephew.

George returned to Chester eight months later, the story he gave was that he had been drugged and robbed in New York City and only recently recovered his memory. A few months after his return he enlisted in the 10th Massachusetts Infantry as a Private and served 21 months before receiving a disability discharge.

In 1865 he is listed in the state census as a “Mechanic”, this term usually referred to someone who was a skilled worker in a mill but not the owner. We don’t know for sure where he was working but it is very likely he was working for his uncle in the bedstead factory he used to own.

He managed to get back on his feet and bought a 250+ acre dairy farm in Middlefield. He regularly showed his dairy herd at the Middlefield Fair and became a respected member of the community.

He died in 1895 and Amy died in 1923, they are buried in the Norwich Bridge Cemetery in Huntington.

Who was his cousin, Elijah Howe Jr.? He never lived in Chester but he had deep connections here. His mother Polly Bemis was from Chester and two of his Howe uncles lived here, so he had Chester uncles, aunts and cousins on both the Bemis and Howe sides.

In 1846 he filed the first patent for a lock-stitch sewing machine, a development that ushered in the production of the modern sewing machine. Rather than manufacture the machines himself he licensed his patent to four companies, including Singer. Those companies paid him 5% of each sewing machine they sold. It was reported that he received up to $200,000 a year in licensing fees from this arrangement, the equivalent of $7.5 million a year today.

His patent was set to expire in 1867, at which time all those licensing fees would stop, so in 1863 he opened his own factory in Bridgeport CT to manufacture sewing machines under his own name.

The Chester History Museum was recently gifted one of his sewing machines by the Bush family in memory of Jean (Elder) Bush. Stop by during Chester on Track May 16th to see the invention that made Elias Howe Jr. one of the richest men in America.

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221 Route 20
Chester, MA
01011

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