Boston, New York

Boston is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 7,948 at the 2020 census. The town is named after Boston, Massachusetts.

Boston is an interior town of the county and one of the county's "Southtowns". Boston is southeast of Buffalo.

The Iroquois, under various names, lived here until the European immigrants became predominant.

In 1804, brothers Charles and Oliver Johnson and their families became the area's first settlers. The first Christian church was the Free Will Baptist Church, founded circa 1811. On April 5, 1817, the town of Boston was formed from a portion of the town of Eden. The first post office opened in 1832 on the north side of town.

In 1843, the town suffered an epidemic (28 of the 43 residents were affected, 10 of whom died) believed to be typhoid fever, possibly from a local well.

This town has much history that can be found on the headstones in the Maplewood Cemetery across from the Boston Town Hall. There are many old gravestones that show some of the first settlers in the town and the infamous "Love" murder.

John Love, a seaman on the Great Lakes, came to Boston in October 1824 with the prospect of buying grain futures from local farmers. He rented a room from lumberman Nelson Thayer. The Thayer family, which included Nelson and his brothers Isaac and Israel, were infamous for their profanity and crude behavior. Despite owning large tracts of farmland in Boston, they found themselves indebted to neighbors, and eventually to Love, due to their spendthrift habits. Facing financial ruin, the Thayers decided that murder was the only option.

On December 15, John Love was talking with Nelson Thayer when Isaac came up to the window from outside and shot Love in the head with a rifle. When this failed to kill him, Nelson struck him several times with a meat axe. He and Israel then dragged Love's body to a ravine behind Israel's house and hastily covered it with dirt.