In the year of 1853, Judge Gilbert L. Park of Stevens Point, in speaking with Adam Uline, chairman of the town board of Lanark, suggested that our town be named Amherst in honor of General Amherst of revolutionary fame. Since Mr. Uline was a native of Amherst, Nova Scotia, he readily fell in with the idea, and the town was formally named Amherst by the above named gentlemen. These are the facts so far as the records give them to us.

John F. Hillstrom, who came here in 1851, is our oldest resident, while John and A. P. Een follow closely behind, arriving in August, 1852.

AMHERST, WIS., AUGUST 26, 1905

The above is the date of the first meeting in preparation for the Reunion of the pupils and teachers of the Red and White School Houses of Amherst, Wisconsin, but it does not record the date of the first plan for the Reunion. That occurred about one year earlier when Hiram B. Simcox, Mrs. Mollie Wilson and Mrs. E. T. Johnson accidentally met and laid plans for such a reunion. Later, when these plans were laid before the late A. J. Smith, he at once fell in with the idea, offered the use of his office as a meeting place, and suggested that we call the above meeting. At that meeting it was voted that all pupils, teachers, and school board members of that period, be counted as members, and that an annual fee be levied to defray expenses. Monthly meetings were held during the first year, and the first Reunion was held July 25th and 26th 1906. At this Reunion, arrangements were made to have the history of Amherst written up by some of our prominent members. For this history, C. E. Webster of Almond was chosen to start as historian from 1855 to 1865, A. J. Smith from 1865 to 1885, and A. P. Een from 1885 to the present time, or 1906. These histories as given by those members are included in this booklet.

At the meeting of the Association in 1920, a committee consisting of Mrs. Mollie Wilson, Mrs. Alice Smith and Mrs. Lottie Johnson, was appointed to add to the early history of Amherst, any new material which could he worked up. This present edition is the old edition with some facts added, gleaned from the old settlers still with us in Amherst.