Description:
Two-drawer stand inscribed in ink on the underside of the bottom drawer: "Noah Wells,/Shelburne, Mass./June 28, 1834./Start for Attica, N.Y. on Tuesday next, the first of July." Shelburne, Massachusetts, native, Noah S. Wells (1811-1887), may have purchased this stand from Daniel Clay (1770-1848), Greenfield’s foremost cabinetmaker, or from Jesse Lyons (1767-1830), a finish carpenter and cabinetmaker who made cherry and mahogany furniture in his Colrain shop between 1800 and 1810. Noah Wells graduated from Bowdoin College and studied medicine at the Medical Institute in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. In 1834 he moved to Attica, New York, and established a medical practice. There he married Esther Nims Coleman of Greenfield, and they had a daughter, Mary Prudence Wells, and a son, Thaddeus Wells. In 1849, Noah moved his family to Greenfield, Massachusetts, where he gave up medicine to become assistant clerk of courts, town clerk, and town treasurer. Noah and Esther’s daughter, Mary Prudence Wells (1840-1930) married Judge Fayette Smith, in 1875 and began writing popular historical fiction for young readers the same year. Her works included the four-volume Old Deerfield Series: "The Boy Captive of Old Deerfield" (1904), "The Boy Captive in Canada" (1905), "Boys of the Border" (1907), and "Boys and Girls of Seventy-seven" (1909).
Label Text:
Shelburne, Massachusetts native, Noah S. Wells (1811-1887), may have purchased this stand from Daniel Clay, Greenfield’s foremost cabinetmaker, or from Jesse Lyons, a finish carpenter and cabinetmaker who made cherry and mahogany furniture in his Colrain shop between 1800 and 1810. Noah Wells graduated from Bowdoin College and studied medicine at the Medical Institute in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. In 1834 he moved to Attica, New York, and established a medical practice. There he married Esther Nims Coleman of Greenfield. The couple had a daughter, Mary Prudence Wells, and a son, Thaddeus Wells. In 1849, Noah moved his family to Greenfield, Massachusetts, where he gave up medicine to become assistant clerk of courts, town clerk, and town treasurer. Noah and Esther’s daughter, Mary Prudence Wells (1840-1930) married Judge Fayette Smith, in 1875 and began writing popular historical fiction for young readers the same year. Her works included the four-volume Old Deerfield Series: "The Boy Captive of Old Deerfield" (1904), "The Boy Captive in Canada" (1905), "Boys of the Border" (1907), and "Boys and Girls of Seventy-seven" (1909).
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