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The Braintree Historical SocietyOur Past & Future The Braintree Historical Society, established in 1930 and incorporated in 1938, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the care, preservation and communication of Town of Braintree history, and is a rich source of information about the Town, its background and its people, by way of reference materials and photographs, historic structures, publications, special programs, and an extensive collection of artifacts. The Town of Braintree, as it is defined today, is the former Middle Precinct of a larger “Old Braintree,” which also included the present day City of Quincy, the Towns of Holbrook and Randolph, and a part of the Town of Milton. The earliest inhabitants of current-day Braintree were the Massachusett Indigenous Americans, a nation of semi-migratory fishers and farmers, who encountered the English settlers early in the 1600s. Braintree was established as a separate town by a land grant from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1640, by which time, disease and colonial encroachment had largely dissipated the remaining Massachusett people. John Eliot introduced Christianity to the Massachusett people by way of creating a written form of their language and translating the Bible into their native tongue; after King Philip’s War, many indigenous people were confined to “praying towns” in Boston Harbor, where they met their demise. During the Boston Massacre, Crispus Attucks, a man of Massachusett descent, was the first casualty on the road to independence. The Braintree Town Hall holds the birth records of U.S. president John Adams and John Hancock, first Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Sylvanus Thayer, “Father of the Military Academy,” was born here, and Thomas A. Watson, co-inventor of the telephone, was an actively involved resident of the town. The notorious Sacco and Vanzetti incident occurred here, and the “Braintree Instructions,” authored by John Adams, a prelude to American independence and instrumental in ending the Stamp Act, were first read to the people in Braintree. The mission of the Society is carried out by a dedicated group of volunteers with the financial support of members and friends across the United States who share a commitment to the cultural enrichment of our town, state and nation, and to the continued celebration of our great American heritage. The Society owns, operates and maintains the Sylvanus Thayer Birthplace, the Gilbert and Mary Bean Cunningham Resource Center, the Asa French House, and The Gallivan House. These buildings are situated together on a landscaped campus bounded by Washington Street, Gilbert L. Bean Drive, Tenney Road and Union Place, within the town’s handsome Historic District. As Braintree continues to grow and attract new residents, the Society has committed to diversify its programs and exhibits to recognize the town’s rich history. There’s more to Braintree than you think… Come and experience three hundred years of local history right in your own back yard!
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