Gurney Genealogy Library Updated 6 June 2026 by Allen Gurney

Gurney, Asa House (MACRIS CUM.151)

Place research page generated from the structured place spine and the companion place markdown.

Federal-era farmhouse built in 1808 by Asa Gurney (b. 24 Oct. 1758), son of the direct-line ancestor Benjamin Gurney (G9) and brother of Amos Gurney (G8). Asa bought the southerly half of Lot 5 and the northerly half of Lot 6 (Plymouth grant lots) from the Commonwealth in 1795, reportedly built a log cabin first, then the present house in 1808. The MACRIS Form B (CUM.151) calls it 'the oldest homestead in the town that is still in the original family name' and records the founding of the Cummington Gurney line: Benjamin Gurney (G9) first bought Lot 59-1 on 5 November 1770 and in 1787 exchanged farms with Philip Shaw, moving to 100 acres of the southerly Minot Grant in the village. The homestead remained Gurney-owned into the 1970s (Harriet Gurney); later family members noted on the form include John Wesley Gurney (Hillside Agricultural Society) and the USDA entomologist Ashley B. Gurney.

Linked ancestors

The Asa Gurney homestead (MACRIS CUM.151), a Federal-era farmhouse built in 1808 and “the oldest homestead in the town that is still in the original family name.” Asa Gurney (b. 24 Oct. 1758), son of the direct-line ancestor [[g09-benjamin-gurney-fact-sheet]] and brother of [[g08-amos-gurney-fact-sheet]], bought the southerly half of Lot 5 and northerly half of Lot 6 from the Commonwealth in 1795 and built the present house in 1808. The MACRIS Form B also narrates the founding of the Cummington Gurney line by Benjamin Gurney (G9): the 5 November 1770 purchase of Lot 59-1 and the 1787 farm exchange with Philip Shaw that moved the family to the southerly Minot Grant in the village - independent corroboration of facts otherwise carried from Foster & Streeter’s Only One Cummington and Rigler (1994). The homestead stayed in Gurney hands into the 1970s; the form’s handwritten margin records later kin John Wesley Gurney (who single-handedly incorporated the Hillside Agricultural Society) and Ashley B. Gurney, a retired USDA entomologist. See [[cummington-ma]] for the town-level context.

Source: MACRIS CUM.151 (macris-cum-151-gurney-asa-house); transcription in sources/corpus_supplement/macris-cummington-gurney-houses-extract.md.