Dyer Memorial Library

10/14/2026

Looking to volunteer from home! The Dyer Memorial Library and Archives in Abington is looking for volunteers to transcribe thirty-six pages of Charlotte (Wootonekanuske) "Lottie" Mitchell's diary circa 1890. More than one person may transcribe.
The copy we have is written in cursive. The transcribed version would eventually be available to the public on the Dyer website for research purposes.
Charlotte, a descendant of Massasoit, was the daughter of Zerviah Gould Mitchell and Thomas Mitchell. She was born in Abington.
Massasoit, chief of Wampanoag
his children: Wamsutta (male), English name Alexander, Metacom (male) Philip, Sonkanuhoo (male), a daughter, Amie
Amie married Tuspaquin, the Black Sachem
their children: Mantowapuct (male) William, Benjamin
Benjamin married Weecum
their children: Esther, Hannah, Mary, Benjamin
Benjamin married Mercy Felix (her father, Felix, received the land in the 1600s that became the Mitchell's ancestral native land in Lakeville)
their child: Lydia
Lydia married Wamsley
their children: Zerviah, Paul, Phebe, Jane, Benjamin
Phebe Wamsley married Silas Rosier of the Mashpee tribe
Phebe married Brister Gould (second marriage for Phebe after Silas' death), Brister was the son of Bessie Gould, a slave born on the land of Abington's first minister, Samuel Brown
Phebe and Brister's children: Betsey, Lydia, Jane, Ruby, Malinda, Zerviah, Benjamin
Zerviah married Thomas C. Mitchell on October 17, 1824. Zerviah lived in Abington and Lakeville and was educated in the Abington schools.
Zerviah and Thomas' children: Jane, Zerviah, Levina, Deloris, Melinda, Thomas, John, Lydia, Emma, Charlotte "Lottie", Alonzo - all of whom were educated in Abington schools.
This is the diary of Charlotte "Lottie".
Please respond by email to the Dyer Library at [email protected]

10/07/2026

Dear Friends of the Arts and Culture,

The Abington Cultural Council is seeking new members to assist in encouraging creative events and projects and in providing direction and expertise in awarding grants locally.
The ACC is our town organization under the direction of the Mass Cultural Council which allocates a specific amount of grant money each year to member towns. The ACC considers each application on the basis of purpose, community involvement, financial need,
and those with a strong focus on the arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences. We encourage local organizations and the schools to apply. It’s essential that we have parents
and citizens, who want to provide leadership and support arts and culture, involved in the process of leading the ACC and in approving grants. The time commitment is typically three meetings in the fall as well as some paperwork and financial records throughout the year.

Please contact Eileen Walls at 781-985-6123 or at [email protected] if you are interested.

Thank you.
The ACC

10/06/2026

The Dyer Memorial Library would like to thank everyone who helped with this past Saturday's Abington Celebrates, Michele Coy, Matt Warner of Warner Paranormal Preservation https://www.warnerparanormal.com/, author John Gallagher https://gallagherbook.com/, and all our staff, volunteers, and supporters!

10/02/2026

A SATURDAY STROLL THROUGH MOUNT VERNON - Join Eileen Walls and Doug Ulwick for a tour of Abington's Mount Vernon Cemetery as part of Abington's Oktoberfest Weekend Activities!

10/01/2026

The Dyer Memorial Library will be open this Saturday, October 3rd, from 12noon to 3pm for Abington Celebrates! Meet local author John Gallagher, learn about the spirit world with Warner Paranormal, find out how colonial gravestones were made and see our Cabinet of Curiosities!

09/22/2026

09/07/2026

THIS OLD ABINGTON HOUSE - from the Dyer Library and Archives, 28 Centre Ave., Abington

The home at 113 Ashland Street, a hip roofed Federalist style building, was erected in 1821-1822 by Deacon Joshua King, a well-to-do citizen of Abington.
Cyrus Nash noted in his diary on 6 June 1821 “Joshua King erected a frame for a house on the spot or near where his old house stood on the hill above Bicknell’s sawmill. He bought the farm of his father (John King)…”

The original house had twelve working chimneys and a well inside the house.

The house previously on this site was the home of Captain William Reed who died of smallpox not long after his return from fighting in the Revolutionary War.

Joshua King was born on 14 July 1783 in Abington and died at age 66 on 5 September 1849. He was married to Hannah Torrey on 5 June 1814. Together they had five children.
Joshua and his family are buried at Mt. Vernon in Abington.

Photos from the 1970s and 2020s

08/23/2026

THIS OLD ABINGTON BUILDING – from the Dyer Library and Archives, 28 Centre Ave., Abington
The Winthrop Building, constructed in 1885, was located at 175-177 North Avenue in Abington began as a business block, with stores below and apartments above. The original owner was the Standish Block Association. The Standish Block Association, a group of local businessmen, had previously built and run the Standish Block building in 1881, located at just to the east of what would be the Winthrop Building. The original style of the building was Italianate with a pyramid roof. It stood on the lot just east of the First Baptist Church. The building was recovered with imitation aluminum clapboard around 1978.
The Winthrop building was dwarfed by its “mother building” the Standish Building which stood next door to the east. The Standish Building burned in February of 1977. Eleven people were alerted to the fire by Michael Malinowski, a tenant, and two mechanics, Kevin Wilson and David Murray, from Bud Little’s garage across the street. The fire may have been caused by an oil burner malfunction. Nine towns helped put out the Standish Building blaze.
Throughout its history, the Winthrop Building housed a hardware store, grocery store, dry-goods store, a crafts material shop, a thrift shop, a bank, a shoe store and at one time the North Abington branch of the public library. It, too, succumbed to fire.

Visuals:
The Standish Building is to the left and is larger than its “child”, the Winthrop Building.
Drawing from North Abington Souvenir booklet, 1889-1890. Today nothing stands on the site of these buildings’ original homes.

08/09/2026

THIS OLD ABINGTON HOUSE
The building at 23 Wales Street in Abington was originally a tiny, single story grocery store built somewhere between 1857 and 1867. It was designed with a Greek Revival influence. Additions have been made over the years so that it now houses two apartments, in addition to the original commercial section, formerly Tom’s Barber Shop, now J’s Barber Shop.
The address is currently 23 Wales Street but originally was 4 North Avenue.
The chain of title goes back to 1867 when Seth Reed sold the triangular lot with a tiny building on it to David Thomas Beals. Seth Reed was very active in real estate, having bought or come into possession of twenty-five different pieces of property during the years between 1857 and 1867.
By the middle of the 1880s, Eugene Llewellyn Chapman owned the building, and he and his wife managed a grocery store. Their advertising card in the 1905 Business Directory lists the store under “Meats and Provisions: Beef, Pork, Lamb, veal and Poultry; and Canned Goods and vegetables”. In 1920 Margaret E. Buser maintained a bakery in the rear addition, identified at that time as 3 Wales Street.

07/19/2026

THIS OLD ABINGTON BUILDING
The building located at 1347 Washington Street started its life as a grocery store as early as 1905. It is a small utilitarian building, originally covered in clapboard.
The tiny storefront, about the size of a garage, occupies the southwest corner of the lawn of 1353 Washington Street, occupied by Kasemer Plewaks at the time the grocery store was in business. He is listed as being age 56 and in the business of provisions. The small building continued to be operated as a grocery store until 1915 when it came into the possession of the Tyler family. The store operated only sporadically during the years the Tylers resided at 1353 Washington Street.
In the “1916 Building Directory” the building is listed as the office headquarters of the Burke bros. Plumbing Shop.
In the ensuing years, the little building has been, among other things, an antique store, a hair dressing shop and a computer repair business.
The tiny store is presently empty.