Excerpt from History of the Town of Holland: Massachusetts

He who would write the history Of a town must have not only the historic insight but an abounding sympathy for its peo ple. He should be a lover of humanity and enter as completely as possible into the civil and social life of the people, deeming nothing too trivial for notice if it only brings to the reader more clearly the life of the town as it really was in the period covered. As it is the history of a small region it will necessarily be local, yet its local color may add greatly to its historic interest and charm if it be properly used. Men in town and domestic life where they are known intimately by their neighbors, and take their places in the shifting panorama of town life during a period of nearlv one hundred and fifty years, having their entrances and their exits, form a picture that has charm to it for the student of human life, and especially so when some of them were pioneers and the first white men to settle in the region, the picture seems like the changing portraiture of life as it is frequently put upon the stage.

Now and then one runs across an item in the town records that bears upon state or national history and not a matter for town deliberation at all. Yet the action taken reveals the local feeling upon the questions at issue, and may reflect a state of feeling nation-wide, although the vote may seem to be ridiculous ly out out Of place now. But such votes impress one with a sense Of our democratic institutions and show vividly how they are the outgrowth of public sentiment and feeling and are ser vants of the public will. What the state owes to its small towns like Holland is a matter hard to estimate, but that the town has borne a brave and honorable part in the development of the state and nation, her history affords ample proof.

The present work is a product of spare hours employed for relaxation and diversion from pastoral duties. Its possibility was suggested through historical research rendered necessary in the preparation of an historical address delivered Aug. 25, 1912, in the Congregational Church of Holland. That a work Of this kind should be free from all errors is too much to be expected. That they shall be as few as possible has been the author's wish and aim, and to that end he has spent many an hour weighing conflicting evidence. That the work will prove equally satisfactory to all its readers is not to be expected. He has selected such material as seemed to him to be important and available and he hopes that nothing vitally important in the town's history has been omitted. Tradition has not been ignored, but it has not been allowed to set aside, or contradict, recorded facts. Until a better history of the town be produced, he hopes the present work will find a place upon the shelves of all interested in local history.

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