By Theresa Knapp

On Jan. 14, volunteers gathered at the Upton Community Center to help the National Archives and the National Park Service transcribe Revolutionary War documents. The event was co-sponsored by the Blackstone River Valley National Historic Park and the Upton Historical Society. 

The event began with Park Rangers providing training to 25 volunteers who ranged in age from high school to senior citizen. Volunteers were required to sign up in advance and every slot was full. 

Barry Lynn of the Upton Historical Society said the event's 25 seats were filled before the event, so they had to direct people to other local events.

“I was very excited about the number of volunteers we received. Our event was so successful that I asked the National Park Service if we could do a second event in Upton; they thanked us, and we agreed on Feb. 20 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.”

Gabriel Norwood and his wife Jacklyn Flaherty were among the volunteers. The couple recently moved to Upton and joined the Historical Society. 

“An event like this is a perfect opportunity to get people interested in the 250th anniversary [of the nation]. And this group is a great cross section of the community getting together in one place to do the same thing,” said Norwood. “You can learn so many things about the people themselves from pension documents.” 

Norwood was transcribing a court document, written in cursive, dated Oct. 16, 1845, related to ‘Israel Conant’ and his daughter. The handwriting was difficult to decipher in spots. 

“It’s really cool looking at really old documents,” said Flaherty as she transcribed a document for ‘Jonathan Meacham’ from New Salem, Mass., who died on April 10, 1833. “And this is something that can’t be done by AI, a human is a lot better at understanding illegible handwriting.” 

Naya Ramadan and Olivia Carlson are both 9th graders at Nipmuc Regional High School, and were transcribing ledger documents for ‘Aaron B. Dimock.’ 

Ramadan said the teens had recently seen the handwritten copies of the Declaration of Independence for both Upton and Mendon at their high school, and that piqued her interest in transcribing these documents. 

Carlson said she too was inspired by her in-person encounter with the towns’ historic documents. “I wanted to help because I love history, especially U.S. history and local history, and I’ve always been involved in the community; and I can read cursive fairly well.” 

The next transcription event will be held on Feb. 20 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Upton Community Center. To register, email [email protected].