Granville History

05/26/2026

Granville's Memorial Day ceremony was held on May 24, 2026 at the Federated Church and on the Green. It was a very moving and dignified event for all who attended. The cold and rain failed to diminish the turnout.
A most sincere thanks to everyone who worked tirelessly to bring about this very important memorial event for Granville's fallen patriots.
The ceremony included an unexpected speaker who happened to be in Granville. Bill Paine, a descendant of Lemuel Haynes, was visiting the West Granville Congregational Church where his ancestor first preached. He and his wife Liz were hosted by Deborah Boulanger and Sue Beckman in West Granville, then they made their way to the Green where Bill delivered his remarks.
A copy of those remarks are provided here. Thank you, Bill.

04/27/2026

Lemuel Haynes: Figures of the American Revolution Stamps
On April 10, 2026 a series of U.S. postage stamps was released including one stamp featuring Granville's own Lemuel Haynes. Although Haynes was born in West Hartford, CT. in 1753, he was abandoned by his mixed race parents (whose identities are a mystery to this day) and brought to Granville by Deacon David Rose in January, 1754 as an indentured servant.
The Rose family raised Lemuel as one of their own children and Haynes later said that Mrs. Rose looked on him as her favorite. Nevertheless as an indentured servant Haynes had little to say about his own freedom or what work he had to do until he became free at the age of 21, and remained in Granville.
Haynes was a Granville Minute Man who departed with the Granville militia for Boston after the alarms from Lexington and Concord in April 1775. Upon his return to Granville he penned his poem, "Lexington" and then his landmark "Liberty Further Extended."
Eventually Lemuel Haynes left Granville to pursue the ministry, becoming the first black ordained minister of a Congregational church in America. His earliest preaching was at the West Granville Congregational Church, even before he was ordained.
Lemuel Haynes loved Granville and its people, maintaining a lifelong correspondence with his Granville friends including his biographer, Rev. Timothy Mather Cooley. He returned to Granville as often as he could, until just before his death in 1833.
Lemuel Haynes is described by historian Richard Newman as "the most influential Black man in America prior to Frederick Douglass" yet over time he was nearly forgotten. Thanks to the Cooley biography and the relatively recent discovery of "Liberty Further Extended" he has been rediscovered by the world.
Thanks to Teddy Daley for noticing the release of the stamps and calling attention to it in the Granville Tolland page.
https://www.stampsforever.com/american-revolution/figures/lemuel-haynes

04/03/2026

Final Four Flashback: With UConn in both Final Four matchups this weekend it's only fitting that we visit Granville's girls and boys teams of 1965! The win-loss records for the teams are lost to history unless someone happens to remember.
Here are links to more information, including player rosters for each team:
https://granvillehistory.omeka.net/items/show/95
https://granvillehistory.omeka.net/items/show/94
Images digitized as part of a community history preservation effort co-sponsored by the Granville Library Club, the Noble & Cooley Center For Historic Preservation, and your support of these local non-profit organizations.
GO HUSKIES!

01/25/2026

Snowy Granville History Flashback: We seem to be having a good old fashioned winter season so far. A real corker! If you're tired of seeing nothing but white out your window this afternoon, you can see even more snow here... except it's historical snow, melted into the soil of Granville long ago.
Most of the photos date to storms of 1940, 1942 and 1945.
Images digitized as part of a community history preservation effort co-sponsored by the Noble & Cooley Center For Historic Preservation, the Granville Library Club, and generous donations from people like you. Thank you!

01/09/2026

12/21/2025

A new exhibit is now on display at the Granville Public Library. Stop and check it out!
Featured is the fascinating history of the house at 1442 Main Road, along with several books that include information about Lemuel Haynes, the Baker quilt, and other Granville subjects.
This wonderful exhibit was created and donated to the Mabel Root Henry Historical Museum (the Historical Room at the library), by Corey Phelon Geske.
Rather than trying to describe the full scope of the exhibit in this post, we'll hope that Ms. Geske will kindly use the Comments to provide more information.
Thank you, Corey, for this wonderful and comprehensive look at an amazing slice of Granville's history!

11/19/2025

11/18/2025

Lemuel Haynes, who grew up in Granville (now West Granville), was remembered in last night's episode of the Ken Burns documentary, "The American Revolution." An excerpt from Haynes' essay, "Liberty Further Extended" was read by the narrator during the portion of the documentary that covered the writing of the Declaration of Independence.
It was a very moving segment and calls to mind the fact that the most formative part of Lemuel Haynes' life took place in Granville, where he learned the lessons that shaped his values and guided him throughout his long, complex life. He loved Granville and returned as often as he was able, including during the last months of his life when he bid farewell to his lifelong friends. It is said that he preached his last sermon in Granville.
A stone bench at the West Granville Congregational Church is dedicated to Rev. Haynes, who was the first preacher to that congregation. The photo of the flag shown here is from the 250th anniversary of the departure of the Granville Minute Men, of which Lemuel Haynes was one, from that place for Boston in response to the alarms from Lexington and Concord in April, 1775.
For more about Rev. Lemuel Haynes go to https://granvillehistory.omeka.net/items/show/893
Digitized as part of a community history preservation effort co-sponsored by the Granville Library Club, the Noble & Cooley Center For Historic Preservation, and donations to these local non-profit organizations from generous people like you.

11/11/2025

Veterans Day 2025: We honor the Granville veterans who started it all 250 years ago without whom we would be, to quote Granville Revolutionary War veteran Lemuel Haynes, "slaves to you [the British monarchy]."
Source: Albion Wilson's "History of Granville Massachusetts."
Digitized as part of a community history preservation effort co-sponsored by the Noble & Cooley Center For Historic Preservation, the Granville Library Club, and donations to these fine local non-profit organizations from people like you.

11/04/2025

Granville History Flashback: A bonus flashback today. A newspaper clipping from the Historical Room showing a group of Granville boys, with the caption crediting them for making Granville "famous as a Base Ball (sic) stronghold." Granville was in fact a powerhouse during the early days of baseball, taking on larger towns and frequently coming away victorious.
Unfortunately the clipping is not dated and the people in the photo are not identified but if you spot an ancestor or familiar face please add to the Comments.
Digitized as part of a community history preservation effort co-sponsored by the Noble & Cooley Center For Historic Preservation, the Granville Library Club, and donations to these fine local non-profit organizations by people like you.