This collection of biographies has been compiled by dedicated FHC volunteers Dawne Buckley, Martha Davidson, Mark Galluzzo, Pat Lavin, Dana Ricciardi, and Jane Whiting. This project highlights individuals – farmers, entrepreneurs, inventors, teachers, artists, soldiers, philanthropists, etc. – to tell the larger story of Framingham’s rich history.
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17th Century
John Bent Jr.
Early Settler, Tithingman
Sarah Towne Clayes
Salem Witch Trials Refugee
Thomas Danforth
Politician, Magistrate, Landowner
18th Century
Crispus Attucks
First to Die in Boston Massacre
Daniel Belknap
Musician
John B. Kittredge
Medical Doctor
John Swift
Framingham’s First Minister
Jonathan Maynard
Revolutionary War Veteran, Civic Leader
Lydia Learned
Poet and Essayist
Peter Salem
Revolutionary War Soldier
Thomas Nixon Jr.
Revolutionary War Fifer
19th Century
Alice Marie “Dollie” Dutton
Child Entertainer, “The Little Fairy,” Little Person
Betsey Bennett
Straw Bonnets
Charles Train
Minister, First Baptist Church
David Nevins Jr.
Industrialist, Philanthropist
Hastings Family
Nineteenth Century Businessmen
Increase Niles Tarbox
Congregational Minister, Author
John T. Butterworth
Founder/Owner of Butterworth Greenhouses
Josiah Adams
Lawyer
Margaret E. Knight
Inventor
Mary Louisa Moulton
Teacher, Shopowner
Michael Hodge Simpson
Owner of the Simpson Mills, Saxonville
Otis Henry Boynton
Bookbinder
Solomon Brackett
Blacksmith, Baker
Zabdiel Boylston Adams
Doctor, Civil War Officer, Abolitionist
20th Century
Anthony M. Colonna
Public Works Commission Member
Bonfiglio Perini
Founder/Owner of Perini Corporation
Brigadier General Ralph Noonan
Teacher, Soldier, Civic Leader
Dorothy I. McLean
WWII WASP
George F. Marlowe
Architect
John J. Prindiville
Business Leader, Civic Leader
Josephine Collins
Suffragist
Louise Parker Mayo
Suffragist
Meta Warrick Fuller
Sculptor
Miriam Van Waters
Framingham Reformatory Director
Nathaniel I. Bowditch
Owner/Operator of Millwood Farm
Raymond J. Callahan
Framingham News Editor
Richard Henry Long
Industry and Business Leader
S. Christa Corrigan McAuliffe
Teacher in Space
Will Carlton Curtis
Founder of Garden in the Woods, Landscape Designer
William H. Welch
Police Officer