A Look Back, Dec. 16

200 Years Ago

■E. Hunt earnestly requests all those indebted to him for the Hampshire Gazette to make payment. Another year is almost expired. His demands are small, but they are of great importance to him. Every little will help.

■For sale or lease, the dwelling house on Pleasant Street, formerly the residence of Eli P. Ashmun, Esq., and now in the occupation of Mr. A. Phoenix. The house is of brick, two stories, large and convenient, and the garden, barn, etc., furnish every accommodation. The whole is in good repair and good order. Possession may be had the first of May next.

100 Years Ago

■George H. Bean, the auctioneer, made the record for sales at an auction he conducted in the vacant store in Odd Fellows building on Saturday. Mr. Bean averaged 82 sales an hour. The articles sold included furniture and household goods.

■A man who has seen 32 years of service in the grocery business on Main Street has remarked upon the great increase of grocery stores in Northampton during that time. There were about 9 or 10 then. Now there are close to 50. Most of these stores were on Main Street, but at present they are widely distributed in every part of the city.

50 Years Ago

■The house in Ashfield occupied by Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor during the filming of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” in the late 1960s has been sold for $80,000. At one time, TV actor-comedian Bill Cosby was considering purchase of the property, but instead bought a home in Shelburne Falls.

■A knife-wielding bandit robbed the Open Pantry market in Florence early today, forcing the clerk, the son of the city council president, to turn over between $150 and $200. It was the second time within a year that Michael Patenaude, son of Council President Robert Patenaude, was robbed at knifepoint.