Talk:Topsfield, Massachusetts

Topsfield Fair
Really... the oldest fair in North America, and it doesn't have it's own Wikipedia entry and there's only a passing reference to it under the city of Topsfield? Anybody want to field this one? 71.232.131.59 (talk) 22:46, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

Updates 2/15
Cleaned this up a little. The section on the fair in the history portion was basically cut and pasted from the fair's website, so I rewrote it and moved it to the annual events section (and added a link from the history section.) Also added more citations for the fair and updated it Amy (talk) 16:20, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

Too eloquent
This reads more like someone's book on the topic. I did do several look-ups on phrases of 5 words or over, both web and books, without finding a thing, with one exception. One web site on the Topsfield Fair was identical to a few paragraphs from here. That site claimed to be dated 2009. I don't believe it. I believe this is genuine (tentatively). Well, this is not someone's book. Books can take the liberty of being eloquent and opinionated, not WP. And those huge section titles - looks really strange. I'm planning on doing what I can to tone it down. I have not as of this moment checked references. I would say, it needs some condensation and neutralizing. I don't think the original author ought to do it; he is too close. This is after all a group not a personal article. It might be a while before I get around to the condensation. Meanwhile there are a good many formatting issues. If you know enough, dig in.Dave (talk) 02:51, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

The Dow source
I doubt you could find a book harder to get if you tried. Only one local seller has it. I can't give the name. I am going to presume you have a copy on hand. Maybe you had one in the attic or went to a library book sale. However, I cannot verify a thing you say about it, and no one else can either. One of the problems is that you give all kinds of opinions supposedly based on the book. It sounds pretty fishy to me. Regardless of whether the author expressed those opinions, they have to come out. At the moment my judgement is, you did look at the book and we can rely on your page numbers. Usually people who did not actually use the book don't put in page numbers.Dave (talk) 03:34, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

Found it on the Minuteman library network - the note says there were only 400 copies printed. There's a copy in the reference section in Newton, MA. History of Topsfield, Massachusetts There are probably more accessible sources that could be used here. Amy (talk) 15:55, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

Removed statements 1
"At the time the English arrived, the tribe numbered less than one hundred."

We just finished describing the vast extent of Agawam lands and now we say they numbered less than 100. At that density each man could live his whole life without seeing any other. Reference and explanation, please.

"Topsfield history shows that it would be a mistake for New Englanders to feel morally superior to Southern or Western Americans when considering how the latter treated their own Native American populations."

Is that so? Well, I don't give a rat's tail what you may think. We are not interested in what you think. Give us the facts, hey? This is not a moral essay.Dave (talk) 04:43, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

Accuracy
Well, I was able to view one of the sources in detail. You are taking liberties with the topic, editor. Thanks for this interesting write-up but it can't be trusted, neither content nor page numbers. The problem I think is, you began with the opinions and then attempted to find references for them. Failing in that you took liberties. I hope you will forgive me if I use the term "amateurish." Even so someone stole what you wrote for use on another site. That is where the enless Internet baloney comes from. Given this wonderful tool, the Internet, what do we use it for, promulgating truth and scholarship? Oh no, that still costs money. Well, you can see where this is headed. I will get through this eventually, meanwhile, you better take it all with a grain of salt.Dave (talk) 11:19, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

When writing historical articles it is necessary to know something about that hisroty!
"Native Americans were held in low regard and were poorly treated by the colonists." This statement is made without historical fact to back it up. You have not linked Chief Masconomet with any significant historical fact. Instead you simply state that "Native Americans were poorly treated." There is no mention here of the interactions between the Colonist and the Natives, or of the uprising that would lead to war. No mention of the hundred years span of peace that the colonists had with the Algonquian peoples or of the atrocities that the rouge Natives with Masconomet tortured and kidnaped the English settlers. Instead you simply make a statement that "Native Americans were held in low regard." The re-writing of history does not make FACT! Umfoster (talk) 03:23, 13 June 2016 (UTC) Barb

The Indians in Essex County were not "decimated"
Diseases and war killed *more* than 90% of the Indians in New England. This is the - literal - reverse of what "decimation" means. Can we agree on a more appropriate verb, here? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Netparrot (talk • contribs) 11:26, 9 July 2017 (UTC)