Henry Alley

When most people are 23, they’re not sure what they want to do. And for Henry Alley, that may have been true, because even though he is known for being the first person who established an apiary for breeding and selling queen bees, he did many other things as well. Alley established the Bay State Apiary in 1857, which was at his house on 14 Larch Lane. He invented several bee keeping inventions, like the Alley smoker and Bay State Beehive. Between 1882 and 1903, Alley wrote and published several books and articles.  But bee keeping wasn't the only thing he did. Alley was a constable in Wenham, inspected cattle and was on the Board of Health. Near the end of his life, he created a process of curing hams that made him quite well known in the area and would turn into a flourishing business. So, while bee keeping was what he is perhaps the most well-known for today, just like most of us, he wanted to try a little bit of everything. The Alley house is still around today, but his barn tragically burned down two months after his death, taking with it all his books and merchandising with it. Henry Alley was not forgotten though. A plaque was installed on a rock outside his old house on Larch Row in 1960, dedicated to his memory by the beekeepers of Essex County.  

Check out the Wenham Museums's blog post about Herny Alley! 

Images: The Alley family in 1890, Bee Hives, Snow on Main Street in 1891 with the Alley House on the left side, Alley House at 179 Main Street in 1894.