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Ashley-Williams House and Wagons/ A. Boyden Hotel

(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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This home, on Conway Road (now State Route 116) on the border between the towns of Conway and Deerfield in Massachusetts, was once the site of a hotel owned by one of the members of the Boyden family of Deerfield. Previously, the property had been Hawk's Tavern, owned and operated by Austin Hawks and sold by his executor, Jonathan Hawks, in 1841. It eventually was co-owned from 1858 to 1881 by Esther M. Ashley and Julia M. Williams. During the 19th century, large homes in New England located on major roads sometimes allocated a portion of their space as tavern or hotel space. The owners of these properties often no longer had a large family to fill the space and had the need to make extra money. <BR> <BR>This photograph comes from the Howes Brothers collection of photographs. The Howes Brothers, based in Ashfield, Massachusetts, made more than 20,000 images of New England rural life from 1890 to around 1910, offering a glimpse into the lives of people rarely visible in history.

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