”Elijah Williams, better known to the older people as ‘Uncle Josh,’ succeeded ‘Esq. John’ as Register, and bought the corner store about 1796. He also carried on his trade of saddler here. In 1800 ‘Uncle Josh’ sold out to ‘Esq. John,’ who in 1802 was commissioned postmaster. In 1801 Orlando Ware, a new comer, bought the place, he also was postmaster for a short time and continued in trade here until 1831, when he was succeeded by his son Edwin. After the death of Edwin in 1870, the business was carried on by his daughter Fanny, until failing health compelled her to retire in 1874. This corner was the literary as well as the business center of this region. The ‘Social Library,’ established here before 1800, had a marked influence on the character of the generation following. It was a large and valuable collection of books; the remnant, of about eight hundred volumes, was given to the library of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association in 1879, by those to whom the shares had descended. In 1875 Miss Ware sold out to Ceo. A. Arms, and he, the same year, to George Sheldon, by whom the mercantile history of the old corner was wound up in 1876. Oct….”

Reference Data:

A History of Deerfield, Massachusetts, by George Sheldon, 1895, page 604