Thursday, November 3, 7 PM

Do you know which Belchertown native has had a full-length Hollywood movie devoted to his life and has been portrayed by actors John Carradine and James Coburn in other films? Do you know who the first American Protestant missionary to China was? or Belchertown’s connection to the first Governor of Kansas? What Belchertown woman drew the plans for remodeling the Stone House into a museum? To learn the answers and more interesting things about former Belchertown residents, come to hear “Nine You Should Know,” presented by Cliff McCarthy, Stone House archivist and local historian.

This talk will present nine historical figures connected to Belchertown that will astonish and surprise. Some you will admire, some you will despise, but all have interesting stories to tell. You will travel to China and the gold fields of California; you will visit utopian communities in Utah and New York states. You will learn about our town’s connection to “bleeding Kansas” and the U.S. Colored Troops in the Civil War. You will land back home to learn of extraordinary people who lived right here in Belchertown.