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Ebenezer Parkman Project – LH.080

The Ebenezer Parkman Project is a unique collaborative effort to digitize, transcribe, and make accessible the remarkable writings of Rev. Ebenezer Parkman, Westborough’s first minister. The core of the project is a transcription of Parkman’s 4000-page diary. The website also includes other works by Parkman and research on the people who lived in Westborough during Parkman’s time.

Managed by the Westborough Center for History and Culture at the Westborough Public Library, The Ebenezer Parkman Project is a unique collaborative to digitize, transcribe, and make accessible the remarkable writings of of Rev. Ebenezer Parkman, Westborough’s first minister.

The work of Prof. Ross W. Beales, Jr., who has dedicated much of his academic career to studying Parkman, sits at the core of this project. His transcription of Parkman’s 4000-page diary is the heart of the project, and his transcriptions of other works by Parkman and his research on the people who lived in Westborough during Parkman’s time help to fill out the body of this website, which is rich in content about Westborough and colonial life in rural New England.

Dr. Ross W. Beales, Jr. (Professor Emeritus, College of the Holy Cross), Dr. James F. Cooper (Director, New England’s Hidden Histories), and Dr. Anthony T. Vaver (Local History Librarian, Westborough Public Library) together direct The Ebenezer Parkman Project.

Official collection name: Ebenezer Parkman Project

Local identifier: LH.080

Creator: Westborough Public Library

Date: 1724 – present

Subject: Westborough (Mass.) — Social life and customs;
Massachusetts — Social life and customs — To 1775;
Parkman, Ebenezer — 1703-1782 — Diaries;
Parkman, Ebenezer — 1703-1782;

Online access:

Elberfeld Family Scrapbooks, 1938-2010 – LH.067

Three scrapbooks plus one self-published book documenting the life of a Westborough family growing up in the latter part of the 20th century. The scrapbooks include family photographs, school photos and memorabilia, newspaper clippings, and narratives about living in Westborough that provide context for understanding how the images and items fit into Westborough’s history.

Official collection name: John K. Elberfeld Family Scrapbooks, 1938-2010

Location: Shelving

Local identifier: LH.067

Creator: John K. Elberfeld

Date: 1938-2010

Extent: 1.25 linear feet (3 scrapbooks + one published book)

Subject: Westborough (Mass.)–Social life and customs; Family histories

Evangelical Congregational Church, 1717-2004 – LH.082

Parkman and early Westborough church records (including Church Records, Vol. 1), as well as records and documents relating to the history of the Evangelical Congregational Church. See also Evangelical Congregational Church, 1784-1914 – OD.009.

Official collection name: Historical Records of the Evangelical Congregational Church, 1717-2004

Location: Shelving

Local identifier: LH.082

Creator: Evangelical Congregational Church

Date:  1717-2004

Extent:  4.5 linear feet (6 boxes plus oversize box)

Subject: First Congregational Church–Westborough (Mass.); Evangelical Congregational Church (Westborough, Mass.)

Online access:

Finding aid: LH082 – Evangelical Congregational Church

Evangelical Congregational Church, 1784-1914 – OD.009

The records in this collection document the administrative, financial, and regular activities of the Evangelical Congregational Church, which was formed after the first Congregational Church split into two separate churches in 1834. Genealogists will especially be interested in the financial records (Series 2), which include property assessments of church members, and membership records (Series 5), which provide valuable information about the movement of church members into and out of Westborough. See also Evangelical Congregational Church, 1717-2004 – LH.082.

Official collection name: Historical Records of the Evangelical Congregational Church, Westborough, MA, 1784-1914

Location: Shelving and Oversize

Local identifier: OD.009

Creator: Evangelical Congregational Church, Westborough, MA

Date: 1784-1914

Extent: 5.5 linear feet (7 boxes + one oversize box)

Subject: Evangelical Congregational Church (Westborough, Mass.)

Finding aid: OD009 – Evangelical Congregational Church