The history of Leverett's birth may go back to the late 1600s when the
first hardy pioneers settled at the northernmost reaches of Sunderland.
This section was called Swampfield Plantation and modern Leverett was a
large part of it.
Helping to open up the area to settlement was the construction of the
Lancaster Road from Lancaster to Sunderland during the 1730s. The people
who built the road were granted land that became Shutesbury.
Most records agree that the first permanent settlement was in 1750 in
the section now called Leverett Center. Moving into the territory were
Nathan Adams, Moses Graves, Solomon Gould, Elisha Clary, Joel Smith, Jeremiah
Woodbury, Joseph Hubbard, Joseph Clary, Leae Mashal, Jonathan Hubbard,
Richard Montague, Barnard Wilde and Aboslom Scott. Choosing to settle
farther away in the Long Plain section were the families of Josiah Cowles,
Jonathan Field and Stephen Ashley.
By 1773, the settlers of Leverett decided to petition the town of
Sunderland for the right to be set free and formed into a new town.
Sunderland willingly granted separation and on March 5, 1774, the incorporation
paper was signed by Gov. Thomas Hutchinson and Thomas Fleeker, secretary.
The citizens assembled on March 24 to elect the first officers.
The choice of the name Leverett is said to have been in honor of Sir
John Leverett, who had been governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Leverett had a history of opposition to British rule and religious persecution.
According to legend, he was punished for his opposition to religious
persecution by being hitched to cart and driven through Boston streets while
receiving 20 lashes with a whip.
Early industry included production of hoes, chairs, scythes, snaths,
heel rings, yarns, satinet, tables, churns, baby carriages and boxes.
Manufacture of charcoal was also a leading industry.
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