Record of Apess’ Children

Sometime after Dec. 3 1824 William Apess decided to record the births of his children in the clerk’s office for the Town of Leyden. Leyden was part of Colrain until about 1820 and Apess may have been sent there by the Methodist organization to minister to the “people of color” who lived in this part of town. Not content to simply record the birth of his newest son, Leonard, Apess implanted a complete record of his family. The importance of this region to Apess is suggested by the fact that three of his children were born here between 1822-1824.