FORM B – BUILDING
Assessor's number
3-31
Massachusetts Historical Commission
Massachusetts State Archives Building
220 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, Massachusetts 02125
USGS Quad
Shutesbury
Town
Pelham
Place (neighborhood or village)
Address
Photograph
(3" x 3" or 3" x 5", only black and white)
Staple onto the left side of the form. Indicate the
address of the property on the back of the photo.
Indicate the roll and film number of the negative
here on the form.
roll
1
film number
26
Area(s)
Form Number
PEL.33
West Pelham
24 Amherst Road
Historic Name
Riley Jillson House
Uses: Present
Residence
Original
Residence
Date of Construction
1824
Source Northampton Daily Herald, Aug. 28, 1902
Style/Form
Italianate
Architect/Builder
Riley Jillson [1782-1863]
Exterior Material:
Sketch Map
Show the building’s location in relation to the
nearest cross streets and/or major natural features.
Circle and number the inventoried building.
Indicate north.
Foundation
stone
Wall/Trim
wood clapboards
Roof
Asphalt shingle and metal
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures
Major Alterations (with dates)
Condition
none
excellent
Moved No (X) Yes ( ) Date
Recorded by Robert Lord Keyes [Historical] and
Bonnie Parsons [Architectural]
Organization Keyes: Pelham Historical
Commission; Parsons: Pioneer Valley Planning
Commission
Date (month/day/year) March 1, 2005
Acreage
0.90
Setting
House faces south and is set fairly
close to well-traveled road.
BUILDING FORM
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION  see continuation sheet
Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of
other buildings within the community.
The is the best example of the Italianate style in West Pelham. The well-preserved house
is one-and-a-half stories in height, five bays wide and two bays deep under an end-gable
roof. The building sits on high stone foundations and has an asphalt shingle roof with
center chimney and metal snow panels at its edges. The building has a basic raised cape
form that is made Italianate in style with its center, through-cornice dormer. The
through-cornice dormer was used in both the Gothic Revival and Italianate styles but was
a design feature that especially flourished between about 1850 and 1870. It gave
variation to the elevation, had the practical advantage of letting additional light to the
attic level and managed to suggest a tower that was appropriate to either the Gothic
Revival or Italianate style. The wood clapboard sided house has paired 2/2 sash on its
street elevation and a center entry that is sheltered by a portico that is supported by
chamfered posts. The door surround is composed of paneled pilasters beneath an
entablature, and the door itself is an Italianate form in which the upper half of the door
has a pair of round arched windows.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE  see continuation sheet
Discuss the history of the building. Explain its associations with local (or state) history.
Include uses of the building, and the role(s) the owners/occupants played within the
community.
24 Amherst Road was originally part of Home Lot No. 32 drawn by William Johnson in
1739. The house at 24 Amherst Road dates to 1824 according to the Northampton Daily
Herald, Aug. 28, 1902. It is located on Amherst Road which was the former 6th
Massachusetts Turnpike from 1799 until 1820 (running from Amherst to Shrewsbury). It
is also abuts two important West Pelham Mills, the Allen Mill [Bigelow Mill Site A-1]
and the Montague City Fish Rod Factory [Bigelow Mill Site A-2].
Most of the deed research in this narrative is based upon Stanley Allen’s 1976
manuscript, “The Jillson-Chew House, c. 1820; Research and Documentation.”
Dr. Alfred S. Romer [1894-1973] speculated that John Crawford, Sr. [d. 1761], a
blacksmith from Rutland, may have constructed his house on the site in which 34
Amherst Road now sits. Crawford was resident in Pelham by 1742. John Lucore, Sr. [ca.
1706-1793] then leased 50 acres from Crawford, presumably to the west of 34 Amherst
Road and including the site of present 24 Amherst Road. (Crawford and Lucore
developed mills along Amethyst Brook to the northeast of 34 Amherst Road.)
George Macomber, Jr. [1772-1830] was owner of the lot which became 24 Amherst Road
in 1806. He sold it to Riley Jillson [1782-1863], a carpenter and miller. Allen found “no
evidence of any building [on 24 Amherst Road] earlier than 1806” and thought Jillson
built the house “about 1820.” The 1902 Daily Herald article stated that the house “was
built by Riley Jillson in 1824…”
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Riley Jillson came from Cumberland, R. I. along with his parents and some of his
brothers and sisters. The Jillsons were part of a “second wave” of migration into Pelham
after the Revolution where, broadly speaking, Yankee Congregationalists from Plymouth
County and the Blackstone River Valley replaced the founding Scotch-Irish
Presbyterians.
“The Jillson family is known mostly for the saw and grist mills that they ran,” notes
Allen. The father, Nathan Jillson, Sr. [ca. 1746-1827], settled the family at 19 South
Valley Road. Riley and his brothers Amasa Jillson [1788-1872] and Nathan Jillson, Jr.
[1785-1820], bought what later became known as the Allen Mill [Bigelow Mill Site A-1],
a sawmill north of 18 Amherst Road. After about fifteen years of successful operation,
writes Paul J. Bigelow [1837-2001] [in 1993], “the Jillsons spent 1820 improving their
privilege. They built a new grist mill on the south side of a new stone dam [at 22 Amherst
Road, later the site of the Montague City Fish Rod Factory, located just north of 24
Amherst Road] [Bigelow Mill Site A-2] and added a new stone dam at the lower site (site
A-1).” Allen suggests that Riley, “having a substantial amount of money available around
1820…built himself a house above his mill…” [Brother Amasa Jillson, with or without
Riley’s help, is presumed to have built 20 Amherst Road next door in 1829.]
Stanley Allen writes that 24 Amherst Road has a full cellar. “Framing members are
chestnut…They are exceptional for their length. There are no joints on either plates or
beams in the cellar and these members are close to forty feet in length. However, since
Riley Jillson, the builder, [was] owner of a sawmill, it is not surprising that he had access
to choice lumber.” Allen also notes that “The most interesting feature of the house is the
chimney. This large structure has a unique ‘beehive’ configuration on the second
floor…”
Of the three Jillson brothers, Allen finds Riley “to have been the industrious one. He was
the most active of the family in the millwork and had acquired a good deal of property by
1850.” In 1837 Riley sold his interest in Mill Site A-1 to Horace P. Gray [1811-1899]. By
1848, he had sold or leased his interests in Site A-2 to others.
In 1830, Riley Jillson’s residence consisted of 1 male age 15-20, 1 male 20-30 [son Otis
Capron Jillson (1810-1837)], 1 male 40-50 [Riley], 1 female 10-15, and 1 female 40-50
[wife Sylvia Capron Jillson (ca. 1782-1872)]. In the 1850, 1855 and 1860 Census
records, Riley and Sylvia Jillson were listed as being the sole residents of 24 Amherst
Road. Tax Valuations make specific mention of a “barn” in 1861, although “buildings”
had been listed earlier.
Riley Jillson died in 1863. 24 Amherst Road was sold by the estate to Riley’s son-in-law,
former Amherst Town Clerk and Treasurer Newton Fitch [b. ca. 1810]. Fitch was a
retired Amherst Druggist. In 1870, he was living at 24 Amherst Road with his wife,
Eunice Hannum Jillson Fitch [1816-1872], and with Riley Jillson’s widow Sylvia Jillson.
In 1866, the lot is first listed as being 2 acres, down from 24 (which included the mill
sites). By 1877, Newton Fitch had moved to Amherst and must have died by the next
year, as his heirs in 1878 transfer the property to Joseph G. Ward [1819-1890]. 24
Amherst Road is now 1 house, 1 barn, and 1 acre. Ward moved in during the middle of
November, 1878.
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
Joseph G. Ward was a stonecutter from Canada. His family name may have been
“Girouard” and, supposedly, anglicized it as people found it hard to pronounce. He was
in Pelham as early as 1847. In 1849, he purchased 6 Quarry Road, which included a large
stone quarry. For years, Ward supplied stone to the Connecticut Valley, including stone
used in the construction of several Amherst College buildings. In 1874, he became part
owner of the now fish rod factory at 22 Amherst Road [Bigelow Mill Site A-2]. Ward
eventually sold the factory to its superintendent and his son-in-law, Eugene P. Bartlett
[1853-1925] and, under Bartlett, it became the Montague City Fish Rod Factory.
In 1879, Ward remodeled 24 Amherst Road. The 1880 Census shows Ward with wife
Angeline Amanda Buffum Ward [1828-1903]. Also living with them was son-in-law
Eugene Bartlett, his wife (and Ward’s daughter), Jane Amanda Ward Bartlett [18491938], the Bartlett’s daughter, Lota Amanda Bartlett [Aldrich] [1875-1954], and a
servant, Lillian E. Bacon [Thornton] [1861-1922]. In April, 1881, the Hampshire County
Journal reported that “Joseph Ward’s new barn is slowly but surely being built
notwithstanding the snow-squalls and cold weather.” In 1884, Joseph again “has made
extensive repairs on his house and buildings.”
After Ward’s death in 1890, 24 Amherst Road was sold to Erastus Myron Bartlett [b.
1841], a brother of Eugene. Erastus Bartlett owned the property until 1900. His 1900
Census record shows that he was an engineer living with wife Ida Bartlett [b. 1862].
About 1900, 24 Amherst Road was subject of a photograph by the Howes Brothers of
Ashfield. [Erastus and Ida may be the couple who appear in the photograph?] Erastus
Bartlett sold to John Cook in 1900. In 1902, Cook sold to G. S. Smith, who sold to
Charles A. Gifford of Watervliet, N.Y., who, in turn, sold 24 Amherst Road [also in
1902] to Eugene P. Bartlett. 24 Amherst Road appears to have been a rental property
from 1900, when Erastus Bartlett sold it, until 1926, when purchased by Charles Herbert
Jeannotte [1860-1934], after Eugene Bartlett’s death. Royal Wesley Aldrich [1868-1937],
Eugene Bartlett’s son-in-law, was known to have rented 24 Amherst Road prior to 1902.
A plan of 24 Amherst Road in 1910 is shown on a Sanborn Insurance Co. map of the
Montague City Rod Co. [22 Amherst Road] and reprinted in Paul Bigelow’s “Wrights
and Privileges” in 1993.
Charles Herbert Jeannotte [1860-1934] had been a merchant and postmaster in Leeds for
twenty years prior to coming to Pelham. He lived on Enfield Road in 1922 and then
purchased 24 Amherst Road [now given as “5/6 acres”] four years later. Jeannotte had
already established a small country store across the street at 25 Amherst Road. Jeannotte
died in 1934 and the store was closed. His wife, Minnie J. Childs Jeannotte continued to
live at 24 Amherst Road for a few years. She was a Feeding Hills resident in 1940 and
presumably the property was again rented. In 1946, she sold 24 Amherst Road to Lena
M. Church. The lot was now listed as 0.83 acres, with house, barn, shed and garage.
Pearly P. Keyes, Jr. [b. 1920] recalls [in 2004] that 24 Amherst Road “was always a twofamily house with the west side of the house being rented.” Stanley Allen observes:
“Judging from the neglect that the house suffered and the short periods of ownership, the
incomes of the owners after the depression were low.”
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Lena Church was an Agawam resident. 24 Amherst Road probably continued to be a
rental until Church sold it, in 1954, to Charles Everett Day [ca. 1896-1961] and Alice E.
Day [b. ca. 1896]. Charles Day was a pipe-fitter. After Charles’ death, the property went
to Kamins, Inc. of Amherst, in 1961. In 1963, they sold to Robert M. Cabral, Sr. [b. ca.
1933] and Dr. Jacqueline M. Pellitier Cabral [b. ca. 1936] of Fall River. Robert Cabral
was a student at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and Jacqueline Cabral a
physician. They had three sons and one daughter. 24 Amherst Road was now listed at
0.90 acres, its current size.
The Cabrals sold to Allen M. Allen in 1969. Stanley Allen reports that “there was a major
restoration effort in 1970” in 24 Amherst Road. Allen M. Allen he sold to Robert L.
Chew [b. 1939] and Sally B. Chew [b. ca. 1937] in 1971. Robert Chew was an Assistant
Graduate Dean. The Chews had three children. The Chews sold to Michael Weinberg [b.
1945], a former congressional aid, and Claudia van der Heuvel [b. 1946], a teacher, in
1979. Weinberg was Chair of the Pelham 250th Anniversary Committee in 1993. Michael
and Claudia are the present owners.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
 see continuation sheet
Hampden County Deed T-651 [1743].
Hampshire County Deeds 23-626 [1806]; and 1369-184 [1961]. Hampshire County Plan
Book 77-83 [1971].
Pelham Tax Valuations, Annual Reports, and Street Lists, [Town Vault, Town of Pelham;
and History Room, Pelham Free Public Library].
Parmenter, C[harles] O[scar], “History of Pelham,” [Amherst, MA: Carpenter and
Morehouse, 1898], pp. 24, 25, 30, 31, 241-242.
Pelham Vital Records, [Town Clerk’s Office, Town of Pelham].
Federal Census, 1830-1930. Massachusetts Census, 1855 and 1865.
Board of Assessors, Town of Pelham, Revaluation Card, 24 Amherst Road, 1982.
Maps of Pelham: 1854 Scott and McLearn, 1856 Whitlock, 1860 Walling, and 1873
Beers [Copies in History Room, Pelham Free Public Library].
Howes Brothers, 24 Amherst Road, Pelham, Mass., [photograph, n.d., ca. 1900],
[Photograph No. 3051C, Ashfield Historical Society, Ashfield, Mass.
Aldrich, Carolyn, Personal Recollections, Feb. 27, 1990, to Robert Lord Keyes.
Allen, Stanley, “The Jillson-Chew House, c. 1820; Research and Documentation,” [Ms.,
1976], [Copy in History Room, Pelham Free Public Library].
Bigelow, Paul, “Wrights and Privileges: The Mills and Shops of Pelham, Massachusetts,
from 1740 to 1937,” [Athol, MA: Haley’s, 1993], pp. 19-20, 22-25, 36.
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
Keyes, Paul L., Personal Recollections, May 2, 2004, to Robert Lord Keyes.
Keyes, Pearly P., Jr., Personal Recollections, May 19, 2004, to Robert Lord Keyes.
Lockwood, Rev. John, Ed., “Western Massachusetts: A History, 1636-1925,” [New
York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1925], Vol. 1, pg. 354.
Romer, Dr. Alfred S., Map of Early Pelham Home Locations, [Map, n.d., ca. 1970], [in
Pelham Historical Society Museum].
Amherst Bulletin, April 23, 2004.
Northampton Daily Herald, July 3 and Sept. 3, 1890; Aug. 28, 1902.
[Northampton, MA] Hampshire County Journal, Oct. 26 and Nov. 23, 1878; Aug. 30,
1879; April 16, 1881.
[Northampton, MA] Daily Hampshire Gazette, Jan. 23, 1934.
Springfield Republican, Nov. 20, 1884.
Springfield Sunday Union and Republican, June 21, 1931.
Keyes, Robert Lord, 40 South Valley Road, Pelham, MA 01002, Pelham, Massachusetts
History Project: Genealogical and Historical Research.
Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, you
must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
Massachusetts Historical Commission
Address
State Archives Facility
220 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, Massachusetts 02125
Community
Pelham
Property
24 Amherst Road
Area(s) Form No.
PEL.33
National Register of Historic Places Criteria Statement Form
Check all that apply:
Individually eligible
Eligible only in an historic district
Contributing to a potential historic district
Potential historic district
Criteria:
A
Criteria Considerations:
B
C
A
D
B
C
D
E
F
G
Statement of Significance by ___Bonnie Parsons________________________________
The criteria that are checked in the above sections must be justified here.
This property contributes to the potential West Pelham Historic District. The district is
significant according to criteria A and C and it has local significance. West Pelham is
significant as the site of 18th century settlement at four mill sites, one of which exists
today, and for its association with events of Shays’s Rebellion after the Revolutionary
War.
West Pelham, known during the late 19th and early 20th century as “Pelham City”
represents a 19th century agricultural and light industrial village that superceded Pelham
Center as the town center due to the long term success of its industry attracting and
sustaining workers and to its development in the early 20th century as a suburban area for
population spillover from Amherst, long a college town and intellectual center of the
region. A late 19th century resort destination, West Pelham is also important as it retains
a building from this era, and from the resort Orient Springs.
The district retains buildings from its 19th century agricultural, resort and industrial past
as well as from its early 20th century suburban phase, which continues to the present.
There are fine examples of Federal and Greek Revival farmsteads. With a Queen Anne
store and single and double houses from the Colonial Revival and Craftsman styles applied to bungalow, cape and Four-square forms - the district’s stylistic range as a home
to workers and suburban commuters is exemplary.
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.