- Bob Tuthill and his wife Jackie
Fifteen down, one to go! After they visit Amherst, Ohio, once known as the sandstone center of the world, Bob Tuthill ’56 and his wife, Jackie, of Amherst, Massachusetts, will have been to all 16 communities named Amherst in the United States.
The Tuthills got the notion for this quest back in 1994, when a trip to Canada took them through Amherst, New Hampshire; Amherst, Maine; and Amherst, Nova Scotia. When Bob retired in 1998 after 28 years as a professor of epidemiology at UMass Amherst, they began their travels, checking out other Amhersts in New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Nebraska, Colorado, Montana, and Texas.
This fall they are making an Amherst circuit covering Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and South Dakota. The Tuthills are writing a monograph, Amherst to Amherst, about their travels, and have been warmly welcomed by postmasters, senior citizens, and historians as they seek out information.
They’ve gathered some interesting facts: All that’s left of Amherst, Montana, is a sign with bullet holes by the railroad tracks. Amherst, Maine, had no paved roads until the 1950s. Affluent Amherst village, part of Amherst, New Hampshire, is a lovely well-preserved setting with a picture-perfect town green.
Our Amherst was named for Sir Jeffery Amherst, hero of the French and Indian War and commander of the British Army in North America. Sir Jeff’s reputation has been ravaged due to his expressed contempt for Native Americans, but when Amherst, Massachusetts (the oldest Amherst), became a district separate from Hadley in 1759 he was a glamorous figure. Amherst, New Hampshire, was likewise named for the General in 1760. Others, says Bob, were named by railroad executives, for example Amherst, Colorado, and Amherst, Nebraska, named in that case for an executive’s alma mater, Amherst College. Some Amhersts were named by early settlers such as Amherst, Minnesota, named after the founder’s wife’s Ohio birthplace.
Amherst, Massachusetts, appears to be the only town with a silent “h,” the Tuthills report. In fact, “People look at us strangely when we say we’re from AM-erst,” says Jackie, pronouncing it the locals’ way.
After exploring Amherst, Ohio, next spring, will the Tuthills seek out international Amhersts? How about Amherst Rock in the Auckland Islands of New Zealand, inhabited mainly by sea lions? “Probably not,” says Jackie, “but there’re always some Tuthill namesakes like Tuthill, South Dakota, Tuthill Plateau.…”
