LEEDS – A recent program at the Leeds Historical Society focused on Prohibition, politics, spiritualism and the diaries of John Y. Merrill of Leeds.

This was the second in a series of presentations based on Merrill’s 11 diaries, which were donated to the historical society by Merrill’s great-grandson, Allen, and were written between 1855 and 1865.

Though Merrill was a farmer and jack-of-all-trades, his diaries show him to be interested in the politics of his day. The dominant national climate when he wrote the diaries was the buildup of the Civil War, and he mentions reading “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” the hanging of John Brown, the local war effort, the drafting and wounding of friends and relatives and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Merrill was also involved in Prohibition and the Temperance movement. Many are unaware that the Prohibition of the 1920s was preceded by one in the mid-1800s, and in April 1851, the town of Leeds voted to prosecute all violations of the Massachusetts law in the sale of intoxicating liquor, and a few months later the state became to the first in the nation to outlaw the sale of all alcoholic beverages, except for “medicinal, mechanical or manufacturing purposes.”

Merrill was a Town Constable, involved in enforcing the law, and a member of the Temperance Society. He was also a believer in the medicinal properties of alcohol, and as his wife grew increasingly ill from what was believed to be tuberculosis, his diaries chronicle the progression of both the illness and the purchase of wine, brandy and gin.

The entries about alcohol end with his wife’s death. At the same time, Merrill began to write about going to Spiritualist meetings, the first entry occurring in his account of his wife’s funeral, which was addressed by, or through, Charles Hayden, a leading member of the Spiritualist movement who reflected a growing national interest in the belief that after death, an individual could be contacted through mediums.

Merrill visited numerous Spiritualist speakers who came to the Leeds area over the next five years, including Cora Hatch, a trance lecturer in the U.S.

At the conclusion of the program, the audience had the opportunity to ask questions and look at the Merrill diaries and displays of material illustrating the program. Refreshments were provided by the Historical Society.

The society is selling a map of Leeds in 1858, a companion to the 1873 map previously available, and will be placing another order for Leeds commemorative pottery. Both maps and pottery are for sale at the Leeds Town House. For more information or to place an order for the pottery, call Pam Bell at 933-4121 or Laura Juraska at 524-2324.