Railroad Street

Henry Jackson was an African American man that lived on this street. He ran an important trucking business and his stone is in West Cemetery. Henry Jackson is also connected to Angeline Palmer. Palmer, at the age of 10, worked for the Shaws family. It was rumored that she was going to be taken to Georgia and sold into slavery. This is when Henry Jackson, along with Angeline’s half brother appealed to the Amherst selectmen to stop the Shaws from selling her.

The town was indifferent to her plight. This caused Jackson and Lewis Frazier (Angeline’s half brother) to abduct the young girl from the Shaws family home. She was relocated to the town of Colrain. Jackson and Frazier were eventually arrested and charged with abduction and kidnapping. Edward Dickinson, a prominent lawyer, represented the black men. Dickinson was a strong supporter of the Abolitionist efforts in Amherst. Jackson and Frazier were sentenced to three months in jail. There was a significant amount of outrage at the ruling because the abduction was done for a good cause. After the chaos, Angeline eventually returned to Amherst.