SHELBURNE — If it was up to Collections Manager Mahalia Dean, the Shelburne Historical Society’s exhibit honoring the men who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution would stay up throughout the entirety of 2026.
With part of the setup donated by the Shelburne Grange, however, and with the Shelburne Grange Fair coming up on Aug. 29, that part was taken down and returned to the Grange at the end of last week. This included letters signed by both John Hancock and Samuel Adams, and requirements for enlisted men.
The main portion, which remains on display at 33 Severance St., is dedicated to Lt. Col. David Wells, an early leader in the town of Shelburne. Originally from Colchester, Connecticut, Wells spent more than half his life in his home state before moving into what was then Deerfield Northwest. The area became the district of Shelburne in 1768.
“A lot of families from Shelburne history follow this same pattern, where he came up to Shelburne, and in his case, he and his family took over his cousin’s farm on Greenfield Mountain,” Dean recounted. “Wells and his family took over the farm in 1772, so we’re leading up to things but we’re not quite there yet, and when he arrived [in Massachusetts], he had a captain status.”
During this time, Shelburne split away from Deerfield, and didn’t have an active militia. The young men in the area asked Wells if he could lead a new militia, and he agreed. By 1774, Wells was acting as a delegate for Shelburne, despite having only recently arrived in the soon-to-be town that wouldn’t be officially incorporated until 1775.
“He came here with a rank, and he was already kind of a big deal in that way,” Dean said of Wells. “He’s already representing the town [and] he’s just gotten here. … He’s representing the town at these regional conferences, and that one, specifically, was kind of to discuss local responses, like, ‘Alright, the writing’s on the wall here. What are we going to do?'”
By February 1775, King George III had declared Massachusetts to be in open rebellion of the British Empire, and the Shelburne militia met at the meetinghouse to discuss the next steps. At this meeting, Wells, who by this time was a major, ripped up his commission paperwork and declared that he could no longer serve under King George III.
Dean said this piece of paperwork is the missing link between Wells as a captain and his eventual rise to a lieutenant colonel.
“I’m like, ‘Don’t rip it up, I want that document!'” Dean said. “April of 1775, a couple of months later: Lexington and Concord. Shelburne men march when they hear the alarm. Of course, that’s already a couple of days later. So they miss it, but they then are in the camps surrounding Boston.”
According to Dean, the first time that men from Shelburne saw action in the war was in 1777 at Ticonderoga. The British were able to fortify the high ground at Ticonderoga, and the American Army saw “the writing on the wall” and began to retreat. Dean said soldiers near the back end of the retreat engaged in skirmishes with the British, which could represent the first planned, intentional land battle between the two sides, whereas battles like Lexington and Concord were the result of unplanned skirmishes.
The next battle that Wells and his regiment were called to was in Stillwater, New York, for the end of the Battles of Saratoga. This series of battles represented one of the first major victories for the American forces, and convinced France to offer support in the war for independence.
After this battle, Wells returned home to Shelburne.
“His legacy really was public service. His children were all very involved — they helped to found Shelburne Center,” Dean said. “[Wells] also was the first representative of this town in Boston, so prior to the representative districts … in 1776, Maj. David Wells shows up for the first time in the House of Representatives records.”
Dean added that it’s important to remember that even if there were no battles in western Massachusetts, regular, everyday people played important roles in the American Revolution. She said it’s easy to get caught up in the mythos of the Revolutionary War and the mythos of the Founding Fathers of the country, and sometimes, the role the average citizen played in the war can be lost.
The exhibit, titled “Lt. Col. David Wells and Shelburne in the Revolution,” can be viewed at the Shelburne Historical Society, which is open from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturdays through Nov. 1. The building is also open by appointment, and the Historical Society can be contacted at info@shelburnehistoricalsocietyma.org.
