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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01105 3573
Gc 974.402 H11w
THE GRAFTON HISTORICAL SERIES Edited by HENRY R. STILES, A.M., M.D.
The Grafton Historical Series Edited by Henry R. Stiles, A.M., M.D.
In Olde Connecticut By Charles Burr Todd 12mo. Cloth, $1.25 net (postage 10c.)
Historic Hadley By Alice Morehouse Walker 12mo. Cloth, illustrated, $1.00 net (postage 10c.)
In Press King Philip's War By George W. Ellis and John E. Morris
HISTORIC HADLEY
A STORY OF THE MAKING OF A FAMOUS MASSACHUSETTS TOWN
BY ALICE MOREHOUSE WALKER
Author of "Historic Homes of Amherst," and other sketches of local history
ITY
N.
VERB
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THE GRAFTON PRESS PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK
Copyright, 1906. BY THE GRAFTON PRESS.
1132075
TO
THE SOLDIERS AND STATESMEN, PROFESSIONAL MEN AND LAYMEN, TILLERS OF THE SOIL AND PRODUCERS OF WEALTH AND WELL-BEING SCATTERED THROUGH- OUT MANY STATES AND RESIDENT IN FOREIGN PARTS, DESCENDANTS ALL OF THOSE FIRST SETTLERS WHO FOUNDED HADLEY AMID THE MEADOWS OF THE WIND- ING CONNECTICUT MORE THAN TWO CENTURIES AGO, THIS SIMPLE STORY OF GREAT DEEDS IS DEDICATED.
THE OLDEST HOUSE IN HADLEY. ERECTED IN 1713
FOREWORD
L OVE of one's own town is one of the dominant motives underlying good citizenship. The ori- gin, growth, and development of a typical New England town, covering two centuries and a half, is a theme on which any thoughtful person may profitably dwell. In these busy days, however, few people have the time necessary to read a ponderous volume. For the many rather than the few this little book has been written.
The lands of the early settlers of Hadley are pass- ing into the possession of the children of aliens, and the town-meeting, church, school, and homes are for these strangers to control. This book is for these also, that they may be imbued with the spirit of those mighty souls, which remains still potent enough to make Americans out of Europeans, even as in 1776 it made patriots and freemen out of the subjects of King George.
In the endeavor to make these pages interesting and to impart to them the fascination of a story, truth has not been sacrificed to style. Painstaking effort has been made to search the town records, to scrutinize every historical document, and to weigh carefully famil-
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Foreword
iar traditions. The old dwellings, the highways and byways, the mountains, the river and the meadows, the ancient elms, heirlooms and antique relics have been questioned and cross-questioned until they have broken their silence of centuries and told the story of by-gone days.
The author acknowledges with pleasure the help de- rived from the study of the voluminous manuscripts of Sylvester Judd, now carefully guarded in the Forbes Library in Northampton, and his " History of Hadley," completed after his death by the late Lucius M. Bolt- wood. Credit should also be given for the aid afforded by " The History of the Hopkins Fund," prepared and published under the direction of the Trustees of Hop- kins Academy. "The History of Western Massachu- setts," by J. G. Holland, has elucidated some interesting points of the narrative.
It is hoped that this volume will be read and re-read, and that copies will be sent with the best wishes of the senders to distant friends, that all the world may be familiar with Historic Hadley, sitting by the riverside, the mother of towns, of churches, and of schools.
A. M. W.
AMHERST, MASS., July 4, 1906.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
THE FOUNDERS AND THEIR FORTUNES 1
The Indian Owners of the Quonektacut Valley. The "Engag- ers." The Emigration. Establishing the New Town. The First Winter in "Norwottuck Beyond Springfield." Laying Out the Broad Street. The Meadows and the Plains. Varied Duties of the New Settlers. Origin of the Name Hadley. Parson John Russell and His Work. Joseph Kellogg and His Ferry. Build- ing the Meeting-house. Home Lots on the Broad Street. Exten- sion of the Town Limits. Death of Governor Webster. Doctor John Westcarr. Hadley Dames Presented in Court for Wearing Silk. Secession of the " West Siders." Preparation for Trials to Come.
CHAPTER II
A REIGN OF TERROR IN OLD HADLEY . 22
General Edward Whalley and General William Goffe, Fugitives from the High Court of Justice. Parson Russell's Hospitality. News of King Philip's Uprising. The Hampshire Troop of Horse- men. The Ambuscade near the Indian Fort. The Attack. The Angel Sent from God. Days of Terror. Death of Captain Lothrop near Muddy Brook. Burning of Springfield. Hopeless Condition of Hadley. The Winter of 1675 and 1676. Preparing for a Siege. Building the Palisades. Death of Deacon Goodman and Captivity of Thomas Reed. The "Falls Fight." Friendly Indian Allies. The Parade of the Army from Connecticut on Had- ley Street. Feeding the Swarm of Soldiers. The Attack on Hadley, June 12, 1676. The " Great Gun." Superstitious Ter- rors. Mary Webster, the Witch. Death of Parson Russell.
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Contents
CHAPTER III
THE CHURCH IN OLD HADLEY 40
I .- The Pastorate of Rev. Isaac Chauncey
Securing the New Pastor. Murder of Richard Church by In- dians. Discovery and Punishment of the Murderers. Controversy Regarding the Seating of the Meeting-house. Effect of the Peace of Utrecht. Removing the Fortifications. The Arts of Peace. Building the Second Meeting-house. Later Repairs and Renova- tions. Church Manners and Customs. Slavery in Hadley. Joshua Boston and Arthur Prutt, Two Hadley Slaves. The Sad Story of Cæsar Prutt. Selling a Slave at Amherst Town-meeting. The Extraordinary Adventure of Zebulon Prutt. Establishment of the Southern Precinct Beyond the Mountain. Setting Off the East Precinct. The Interrupted Career of Israel Chauncey. Activity of Parson Chauncey and His Final Retirement.
II .- The Pastorates of Rev. Chester Williams and Dr. Samuel Hopkins
Prosperity in Hadley. Parson Williams' Wardrobe. Jonathan Edwards and His Controversy. Appointment of the Hadley Min- ister as Scribe of the Council of Churches. Sickness and Death of Parson Williams. Ordination of Rev. Samuel Hopkins. His Marriage to Mrs. Chester Williams. The "Awful Earthquake" in Hadley. Home of Captain Moses Porter. His Call to Duty, and Death in the Battle of Lake George. Burial of Madam Porter. Personality of Rev. Samuel Hopkins. Burning of the Pastor's House. A Presage of Revolution. The Call to Arms. News of the Battle of Lexington. The Porter Family in Old Hadley. The Porter Homestead, the Oldest House in Hadley. Colonel Elisha Porter's Call to Quebec. Return of Part of Burgoyne's Army to Hadley. Hospitality of Colonel Porter. The Sword of Burgoyne. Hadley Soldiers in the Revolution. Shays' Rebellion. General Lincoln with His Army in Hadley. Preaching to the Soldiers from Behind a Pulpit of Snow. Planning the Third Meeting- house. Dedication of the New Building.
III .- Rev. John Woodbridge and His Successors
Death and Burial of Dr. Hopkins. Rev. John Woodbridge. Visit of President Timothy Dwight. Moving the Meeting-house. Division in the Church. The Withdrawal from the First Church and the Establishment of the Russell Church. Successors of Rev. Mr. Woodbridge. The Old Church To-day.
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Contents
CHAPTER IV
HOPKINS GRAMMAR SCHOOL AND ACADEMY 74
Early Ideas Concerning Schools. Parson Russell's Desire. Governor Edward Hopkins and His Will. Trustees of the Will. The Hadley Trustees of the Grammar School. The Hadley School Meadows, and the Committee in Charge. First Teaching in Had- ley. Caleb Watson and His School. School Regulations. Early Hadley Teaching. The First Schoolhouse. Investment of the Funds. The School Mill. Departure of Ruling Elder Goodwin, and His Suit Against the Trustees. Burning of the Mill During the War. Efforts to Make the School an English School. Opposition of Parson Russell to the Scheme. Town-meeting at Break of Day. Re-establishment of the Grammar School. The New School Committee. Josiah Pierce, the Schoolmaster Who Raised Pota- toes. The Brick Academy Building. Later Preceptors of Hop- kins Academy. Decline of the Academy. The Free High School. Burning of the Academy Building. Sale of School Lands and of the Mill Site. Graduates and Former Students of Hopkins Gram- mar School and Academy.
CHAPTER V
THE WEALTH OF THE RIVER AND THE FERTILE MEADOWS 98
The Connecticut River in Olden Time. The Indians and the River. Pines Along the Bank. Influence of the River on the Early Settlements. Floods. Shad and Salmon. The Fishery at the "Greate Falls." Lumbering in the Valley Towns. Trouble on Account of Logs. Rafting. The Lumber Road and the Saw Mills. Traffic on the River. The "Great Canoes." The Falls Boats. The Proprietors of the Locks and Canals. Digging a Canal Around the Great Falls. Planting Elms in Hadley Street. A New Kind of " Corn Seed." The Broom Corn Industry. The First Steamboats on the River. The Coming of the Barnet. A Voyage on the Vermont. The Steamboat William Hall Plying Between Hadley and Hartford. A Picnic on the Franklin. The Railroad to Springfield from Northampton. Railroad Connection with Boston. Connecting Electric Trolley Lines. Passing of the Romance of the River.
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Contents
CHAPTER VI
THE BURIAL PLACE OF HADLEY'S HONORED DEAD 117
First Burial on the Meadow Plain. Burial of Governor John Webster. The Old Hadley Cemetery. Inscription on the Web- ster Monument. Death and Burial of Each of the Founders. Rude Gravestones on the Older Graves. Burial of Hadley Slaves. Early Funeral Fashions. The Earliest Monuments Marking the Graves of Parson Russell and His Wife. Inscriptions on These Stones. Stones Marking the Graves of the Other Ministers. Grave of Bishop Frederic D. Huntington.
ILLUSTRATIONS
The Oldest House in Hadley. (Built in 1713.) (See p. 63.) Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
Old Hadley Street To-day (looking south from Russell Street) 14
The Meadow Plain and the Holyoke Mountains (looking southeast from the river) 22
The Present Hadley Meeting-house. (Built in 1808 and moved to its present site in 1840) 40
Hopkins Academy Building. (Built in 1894) 74
The Connecticut River and the Meadow Plain (looking north from the railroad) 98
Old Hadley Burying Ground 117
HISTORIC HADLEY
HISTORIC HADLEY
CHAPTER I
THE FOUNDERS AND THEIR FORTUNES
T HE Indian owners of the valley bordering on Quonektacut, the "Great River," were very desirous that the English should settle in their midst. These lordly hunters scorned the thought of labor, and their toiling squaws were able to cultivate but a small portion of the fertile openings between the groups of pines and cedars. The white man, after the bargain was completed, would be willing that his red brothers should hunt in his forests and fish in his streams, and for his meadow land would pay long strings of wampum, coats and breeches, guns and ammunition, brass kettles, knives and needles, with perhaps a taste of the fiery drink known as "kill devil" to seal the bargain.
The Puritan members of the churches in Hartford and Wethersfield differed among themselves concerning baptism. Therefore the minority in each congregation withdrew from its communion, and, encouraged by Parson Russell of Wethersfield, commissioned Major John Pynchon, the famous trader, to buy for them a
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Historic Hadley
portion of the Massachusetts wilderness where in peace they might practise and believe. The old chief- tains Chickwallopp, Umpanchala, and Quonquont were ready to sell their ancient heritage, and the Connecticut "withdrawers" were anxious to buy. The bargain, therefore, was soon concluded; each red man made his mark upon the deed; and the land from Mount Holyoke on the south, to Mount Toby and Mohawk Brook on the north, and extending eastward nine miles into the woods, passed into the possession of Major Pynchon, and was by him transferred to the "withdrawers," who termed themselves "Strict Congregationalists," and adhered to the good old doctrines and opposed all new-fangled notions in preaching and practise. The "withdrawers," by this historic act transformed into the "engagers," at a meeting held April 18, 1659, in Hartford, in the home of Goodman Ward, signed an agreement to "remove themselves and their families out of the jurisdiction of Conecticut into the jurisdiction of the Mattachusets." They also appointed William Westwood, Richard Goodman, William Lewis, John White, and Nathaniel Dickinson "to go up to the aforesaid plantation and lay out 59 homelots." Most of the signers of this agreement had never seen the place which was to become their home.
Many of these "engagers" were men of wealth and learning, holding responsible positions which they were
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The Founders and Their Fortunes
willing to relinquish for conscience's sake. Among the leaders was the Honorable John Webster, a former governor of Connecticut and one of the Commissioners of the United Colonies, who had been deeply interested in the controversy of the churches. He died in Hadley when the town was still in its infancy. His daughter Elizabeth married William Markham, one of the "engagers," and Anne, another daughter, became the wife of John Marsh, whose name also is on the list. John Russell, Sr., a glazier by trade, cast his fortunes with his son, Parson John Russell, the leader of the Wethersfield contingent, and signed the agreement. Lieutenant Samuel Smith, a "man of note," also was an "engager," and was foremost among the promoters of the embryo settlement. These all appear among the Hadley pioneers, the real founders of the town. Others, less constant in their purpose, allowed their signatures to stand, but carried their projects no farther.
The journey from Hartford northward into the wilderness was beset with difficulty. The "Greate Falls" prevented transportation by water and the Holyoke mountains stood squarely across the most . direct pathway by land. Undaunted, however, a few of the "engagers" packed their household goods in ox carts, made nests for their children among the feather beds, mounted each his wife behind him on a pillion, and thus plodded along the rugged cart-way to Windsor, and thence through Waranoke, now West-
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Historic Hadley
field, toward Northampton, the new town which was to be their western neighbor. Crossing the river in canoes, they pitched their tents until cabins could be built for temporary homes.
Once arrived at their destination, these energetic and methodical pioneers determined that from the first everything should be done decently and in order. November 9, 1659, they called a town-meeting, and appointed a committee of seven "to order all public occasions that concern the good of the plantation for the Yeare Insuing." This committee made a "rate" to pay the minister's salary, and sent messen- gers to Hartford and Wethersfield that those "en- gagers" who had not removed might not fail to contribute their share. The town was laid out on both sides of the river, Richard Fellows being the first settler on the west side. He was followed by Thomas Meekins, William Allis, Nathaniel Dickinson, Jr., Thomas Graves and his sons Isaac and John, Samuel Belding, Stephen Taylor, John White, Jr., Daniel Warner, Richard Billing, Zachariah Field, Daniel White, John Cowls, Samuel Dickinson, and John Cole- man. Before 1661 these had built their homes on what is now Hatfield Street, then known as the "West Side." Among the settlers who established themselves on the east side of the river were the townsmen: William Westwood, Nathaniel Dickinson, Samuel Smith, Thomas Standley, John White, Rich-
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The Founders and Their Fortunes
ard Goodman, and Nathaniel Ward. Exactly what other families may have been there we cannot tell. Lest there should be jealousy it was voted that "All that sett down on the land on the west side of the river shall be one with those on the east side, both in ecclesiastical and civil matters," and for several years both "siders" made strenuous efforts to make good this action of the town.
And so came into being the nameless settlement in the wilderness of "Norwottuck beyond Springfield." We can readily imagine the difficulties which must have beset the colonists during that first winter of 1659 and 1660. Overlooking the southern meadow was an Indian fort from which the few small houses in Northampton could be seen. Toward the north the chieftain Quonquont and his tribe lived in their wig- wams beside the river. The idle, thriftless Indians were friendly neighbors, upon whom the settlers must have depended for favors without end. The native hunter drove many a sharp bargain with his white brother for corn and maple sugar, taking pay in ammuni- tion, knives, and needles which could not well be spared from the white man's scanty store, while the squaw for a consideration furnished moccasons and deerskins ready dressed, from which warm clothing was made. Thus protected from the cold the heads of families and elder sons were obliged to hunt on the mountains and fish through the ice to
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Historic Hadley
secure sufficient daily food. With energetic strokes the choppers felled great pine trees and cleared the underbrush in preparation for the other "engagers" who might come in the spring. The woods were full of howling wild beasts, and wolves nightly prowled around the clearing. Where now we see the wide and level street, there then were ridges and hollows and ponds. That winter must have been a season of arduous toil, and with the spring came the great floods which caused the hearts of the newcomers to fail within them.
With perseverance, however, the pioneers laid out their broad highway, twenty rods in width, bordered with home lots of eight acres each. This street ex- tended across the peninsula, with the "Greate River" for its boundary at either end. Samuel Smith and Peter Tilton measured and staked the lots for three- pence per acre, and caused the name of each pro- prietor to be placed upon his stake. He was then required to enclose his own lot by a fence made of five rails fastened to posts four feet high. Another way of fencing was to dig a ditch three feet wide and two feet deep and throw the earth upon one bank, on which a fence of three rails was set. Every man was obliged to labor on the fences at the ends of the street and at the west end of the "laines" running into the woods, at each of which there was to be maintained a "Goode Gaite."
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The Founders and Their Fortunes
The vast eastern forests were known as the "Woods" or the "Pine Plain," and the western and southern grazing lands constituted the "Greate Meadowe," within whose boundary lines was the "Forlorn Hope." The little " Aqua Vitæ" meadow bordered the river near the home of the ferryman, Joseph Kellogg. In 1663 Hockanum meadow was divided and ordered to be fenced. by its owners. Each person was obliged to keep his cattle on his own part of the meadow, on penalty of twelvepence fine for every "hoge" or "shoate," and one shilling eightpence for a "score of sheepe" that should go astray. The sharp eyes of the hayward, Goodman Richard Montague, were always on the lookout for offenders, as he received a percentage on all fines collected. Viewers of fences were men of importance in those days, as upon their faithfulness depended the welfare of the little hamlet. Almost before the fences were built William Westwood and Thomas Standley were chosen to perform that duty. Each person had "plow land" and "moeing land" in the "Greate Meadowe," and some living in the south part of the town were given shares in Fort Meadow, its swamp being accounted "two for one." To see that these cultivated fields, upon the products of which the very existence of the settlement depended, were not disturbed by the droves of young horses and cattle which roamed on the mountains and through the woods required constant care of many miles of fencing.
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Historic Hadley
In addition to service for the public welfare, each farmer was compelled at first to be his own carpenter and blacksmith, and to grind his own corn, and make his own bolts, and "pailes" and clapboards and shingles. He was ordered by the town fathers, after felling any "rift timber" (oak) or any "pine tree," to make it at once into needed articles, on penalty of having it confiscated by any one who chose to take it. Those of the settlers who, like Nathaniel Dickinson, had several lusty sons to share their toil must have been envied by others who were wholly dependent for assistance upon neighbors and the few who were willing to work for wages.
The citizens of the "Newtown," as the settlement was sometimes called, had now secured their hearts' desire for freedom from controversy with regard to the "half way covenant," but they had no meeting-house, and did not possess even a legal name. Those among the Hartford men who came from Essex, in England, were glad to christen their new home Hadleigh, or Hadley, dear to their youthful hearts in days gone by, and in 1661 this action was confirmed by the General Court in Boston.
John Russell, Jr., the minister of Wethersfield, who with a portion of his flock had already cast his lot with the "engagers," was willing to accept the formal call to build up a church among a united people. His father had secured an allotment of land on Hadley
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The Founders and Their Fortunes
street, and his brother Philip was one of the settlers on the "West Side." The parson, John Jr., was graduated from Harvard College in 1645 when nine- teen years of age, preached in Wethersfield about ten years, and probably came to Hadley in 1660. In that year the "Said Inhabitants and Planters" voted to pay him eighty pounds annual salary, and gave him a home lot of eight acres next to the middle highway leading to the woods. The minister had to build his own house and clear his own land. No mention is made of any provision by the people of firewood for his use. So in order that his wife and three little children should not freeze, the minister was obliged to chop down trees and draw them to his own dooryard. At first he had no servants, and the three negro slaves included in the inventory of his estate were probably bought years later when family cares had increased. Parson Russell's salary was paid in winter wheat at three shillings threepence, peas at two shillings sixpence, and Indian corn at two shillings per bushel, all of which commodities had to be ex- changed for other goods as there was little money. But though obliged to perform much manual labor, the minister was not required to offer prayer at funerals, or to officiate at weddings, the latter duty being per- formed by the justice of the peace. No doubt the magistrate united the minister himself first to Mary Talcott, then to Rebecca, daughter of Thomas
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Historic Hadley
Newbury of Windsor, and again to Phebe, widow of Rev. John Whiting of Hartford. Rebecca, the wife who came with Parson Russell to Hadley, is buried by his side in the old Hadley cemetery.
Jonathan Russell, the son of the minister, was for twenty-eight years pastor of the church in Barnstable, and Samuel, another son, was the minister in Bran- ford, Connecticut. These two, and John, the first born son, who died when young, were inmates of that new Hadley home. William Westwood, the first local magistrate authorized to unite couples in marriage, pronounced his own daughter Sarah and Aaron Cooke husband and wife, after which they doubtless partook of "sack posset" by way of a mild celebration after the good old fashion. This was the first wedding in Hadley. Parson Russell did not perform a marriage ceremony in Hadley until just before his death.
The newly appointed minister preached his first ser- mon in a private house, for, in spite of their best efforts, the settlers could not build a meeting-house that first year. December 12, 1661, we find the statement in the records: "The Town have ordered that they will Build and erect A meeting house to be a place for publick worship, whose figure is 45 foote in length, and 24 foote in Bredth, with Leantors on both sides, which shall Inlarge the whole to 36 in Bredth." "This shall be scittuated and sett up on the common street." But other matters were so pressing that it seems to
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The Founders and Their Fortunes
have taken them long to build the Lord's house, and probably during this time meetings were held in the home of some leading church member.
The people, however, were not idle, for public affairs demanded much attention. Joseph Kellogg, the first ferryman, had built his house on the ferry lot at the south end of the street, where he received as fares eightpence in wheat, or sixpence in money, for man and horse. On lecture days, when six or more persons went together, the rate was decreased, and after dark the fares were doubled. The ferryman was also allowed to keep an "ordinary" and entertain strangers. Lieutenant Joseph, who afterward became the father of twenty children, had quite a family even now, and with his ferry passengers and guests he for one could not have had much time to assist in building the meeting-house. The town had to aid Parson Russell in the work of putting an addition on his dwelling, and then at his request engaged William Goodwin as an elder to assist him in his work. Part of the parish being across the river there must have been times when two men were absolutely required to look after manners and morals according to the rigid standard of that day. Many town-meetings were held, for absence from which penalties were imposed on busy men. The farmers held chopping bees and felled great trees in such a manner as to form bridges over the smaller brooks, and built a more elaborate bridge
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