USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Vol II > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37
UMASS/AMHERST 312066007456442
MA
UNIVE
1863
DATE DUE
C
1
1391
12 3705153
AP
2013
:13977051 3
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AT AMHERST
F 72 B5 C7 v.2
Bukett
HISTORIC HOMES AND INSTITUTIONS
AND
Genealogical and Personal Memoirs
OF
BERKSHIRE COUNTY,
MASSACHUSETTS.
EDITED BY
ROLLIN HILLYER COOKE,
GENEALOGIST, AUTHOR OF "PICTURESQUE BERKSHIRE COUNTY," MEMBER OF THE BERKSHIRE COUNTY HISTORICAL AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY, AND SECRETARY OF THE BERKSHIRE COUNTY CHAPTER, MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY, SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
"And so it is, too, with family recollections. To have had forefathers renowned for honorable deeds, to belong by nature to those who have bravely borne their part in life and refreshed the world with mighty thoughts and healthy admiration, is a privilege which it were mean and self-willed to despise. It is as a security given for us of old, which it were falsehearted not to redeem; and in virtues bred of a noble stock, mellowed as they are by reverence, there is often a grace and ripeness wanting to self-made and brand-new excellence. Of like value to a people are heroic national traditions, giving them a determinate character to sustain among the tribes of men, making them familiar with images of great and strenuous life, and kindling them with faith in glorious possibilities."-Martineau.
ILLUSTRATED VOLUME H
NEW YORK :: CHICAGO THE LEWIS PUBLISHING CO. 1906
INDEX.
Acly, Charles A., 292. Albert, Louis, 289. Arnold. Henry J., 259. Ayres, Perry J., 363.
Babbitt, Horace, 332. Babbitt, Nathan S., 471.
Babbitt, The Family. 328.
Backus, William G., 460. Ballard, Harlan H., 184.
Barker, Otis R., 508, Barker, Thomas F., 523.
Barry, John T., 218.
Bartlett. William F., 465.
Beebe. George H., 183.
Beebe. John B., 238.
Beebe, Richard, 239.
Bentley, Alonzo F., 406.
Blackinton, Sanford, 457. Blain, Denis, 388.
Bliss, Leon D., 165. Bohlmann, John C. C., 295. Booth, George F., 408.
Botsford, E. Herbert. 432.
Brandow. Frank W., 151.
Brewer, John A., 194. Brewster, John M., 481. Bridges, Samuel, 150. Brooks, Thomas L., 423.
Brown, Charles H., 504.
Brown. George, 484. Brown, Nathan G., 502. Burbank, Abraham, 230.
Burbank, Charles H., 235. Burbank. George W .. 428.
Burbank, James A., 235. Burbank, William P., 425.
Burke. Charles E., 325.
Burnham. Hervey, 192. Byram, Charles A., 308.
Cameron, Henry P. H., 351.
Chase, George W., 198. Clapp, Thaddeus, 132. Collins. Abel C., 142. Collins, Clarkson T .. 448.
Comstock, Stephen, 293. Condon, Michael, 303. Condon, Patrick, 201.
Crockwell. George. 270.
Culver, E. B., 240.
Curran, Thomas, 263.
Curtis. William D., 146.
Davenport Ammon F., 187. Davis, Charles H., 285. Davis, Henry G., 493. Delevan, Willard M .. 156. Denison, Elijah G., 287. Dibble. S. B., 321. Dickie, Robert B., 381.
Dimick, William, 374
Dinneen, William F., 264.
Dolan Brothers, 209.
Dolan, Patrick H., 209.
Dolan, Peter C., 209.
Donahue. Harry, 262.
Dunham, Jarvis N., 483.
Edwards, George W., 418.
Farnan, Albert S., 202.
Farnam, George W., 268.
Fassett, Alfred S., 322.
Ferguson, Justin, 288.
Ferry, Charles K., 246. Ferry. Charles S., 246.
· Ferry. Fred G., 246. Field. Jonathan E .. 453. Flansburgh, John W., 526. Flemming, William1, 309.
iv
INDEX
Foxcroft, George A., 295. Francis, Fred T., 145. Fuller, Samuel G., 504.
Gadsby, Herbert H .. 433. Gallup, William A., 179. Gamwell, Cecil C., 204. Gilbert, Octave, 31I. Gleason, Charles E., 490.
Goodnow, Lyman M., 518. Goodrich, Mrs. John C., 126.
Goodrow, Harvey J., 357.
Gordon, John C .. 387. Green, Benjamin F .. 392.
Griffin, Ellen C., 366. Gunn, Samuel M., 332.
Hall, Isaac F., 193.
Harding, William G., 355.
Hawkes, Elihu S., 443.
Haynes, George E., 500. Henry, Cyrus C., 174.
Henry, Harvey, 176. Hinsdale, Mrs. Mary L., 212.
Holmes, Horace M .. 185.
Hopkins. Henry, 92. Houghton, Albert C., 205.
Howe, Joseph D., 208.
Humes, Samuel, 169. Hunter, James E., 248.
Ingersoll, David, Jr., 434.
Jenks, Edwin F., 225. Jenks, The Family, 219. Johnson, Charles L., 252.
Keene, Charles H .. 323. Kittredge, Abel. 104. Kittredge, Henry P., 339. Kronick. Hymon H., 187.
Lamoureux, John B., 250. Linnehan, Dennis. 365. Linnehan, James M., 253. Lloyd, Lemuel G., 497. Lowe, Philip A., 394. Lyon, William H., 312.
Mack, John P., 513. Malley, Edward J., 155. Marshall, Robert, 267.
Maynard, George C., 515. McCrea, Robert, 396. Merriam, George W., 399.
Morey, William A., 353. Morrissey, Dennis, 430.
Newell, Benjamin F., 521. Nickerson. Joshua C., 403.
O'Loughlin, Michael, 306. Orr, John G., 291. Osgood, James E., 283.
Palmer, Charles J., 237. Parker, Grenville A., 266.
Parker, Samuel I., 243.
Parmele, William B., 320.
Paul, The Family, 123.
Payne, Lyman, 410. Pearson, Fred S., 143.
Peek. Thomas D., 212.
Peirce. Edgar H., 510.
Petherbridge, William T., 260.
Phelps, Carlton T., 225. Plunkett, Charles H., 101.
Plunkett, Charles H., 115.
Plunkett, George T., 117. Plunkett, The Family, 98.
Plunkett, Thomas F., 105. Phinkett, Thomas K., 110.
Plunkett, William B., 107.
Plunkett, William C., 99.
Plunkett, William R., III.
Poitras, Francis X., 390.
Power, John T., 244.
Pratt, David J., 378. Pritchard, William H .. 354.
Quinn, Hugh, 313.
Ray, The Family, 398. Raymond, Asahel, 383. Raymond. The Family, 415. Read. Franklin F., Jr., 163.
Read, Franklin F .. Sr., 158. Rensehanser, William, 272.
INDEX
Rice, Edward F., 367, Richardson, Henry H., 297. Robinson, Francis A., 451. Rockwell, Francis W., 473. Rockwell, Julius, 118. Ryan, James, 305.
Sabin, Clarence R., 318. Safford, Arthur W., 375. Scudder, Chester B., 371. Sedgwick, Henry D., 255 Sherman, Louie L., 368. Sherman, Myron A., 394. Shufelt, Harvey F., 196. Simmons, Albert H., 206. Sisson, Harry D., 180.
Smith, Amos P., 489. Smith, C. Frederick, 528. Smith, Elizur, 476. Smith, Ensign M., 336.
Smith, Frederic S., 419.
Smith, Wellington, 474. Spall, Edward J., 334. Spencer, Harold A., 464. Spring. Leverett W., 94.
Stafford, Frank D., 246. Stanley, William, 274. Stanley. William, 277.
Stewart, Ambrose T., 362. Stockbridge, Martin E., 405. Sturges, Henry, 377.
Sylvester, A. W., 402. Synan. John, 342.
Taft, Henry W., 227. Thomson, William, 357. Tolman, Albert, 349. Tolman, William, 351. Torrey, Sidney M., 506.
Tucker, Ralph DeForest. 359.
Tucker, Robert, 178. Tucker, William S., 178.
Turner, Harvey H. B., 166. Tyler. Daniel W., 520. Tyler, John B., 439.
Van Lennep, Edwin J., 241. Volk. Robert W., 168. Vrooman, Henry J., 258.
Warner, William J., 137. Waterman, George B., 461.
Weeks, Harry E., 385. Welch, Owen W., 265. Weller, Edgar M., 348.
Weller Israel C., 343. Whipple, Alden B., 130.
Whiting, John F., 127.
Wilcox, Henry L., 182. Wilder, George T., 419.
Wilson, Henry N., 314. Wollison, Herbert S., 421. Wood. Leman, 373.
Group of Professors, 1866
-
BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
WILLIAMS COLLEGE.
Ephraim Williams-Establishment of the "Free School"-Building erected-Williams College incorporated-The first Commence- ment-Administration of President Ebenezer Fitch-Debating So- cieties-Theological Society-The germ of American Missions- Distinguished Alumni-President Zephaniah S. Moore-Efforts for removal of College from Williamstown-President Edward D. Griffin-Intense religious feeling-First College Journal-Presi- dent Mark Hopkins-His brilliant administration-President Paul A. Chadbourne-President Franklin Carter-President Henry Hop- kins-Present condition of College-Eminent Alumni, residents of Berkshire county.
On the 31st day of May, 1755. Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, ordered Colonel Ephraim Williams, who had enlisted a regiment in Hampshire county (which then included the Berkshires) for the pro- posed expedition against Crown Point-hostilities having broken out between France and England-to proceed without delay to the general rendezvous at Albany and report to Major General Johnson. Not long after his arrival, moved, it would seem, by some premonition of coming events, he made his will and devoted the bulk of his property to the establishment of a free school at Williamstown. General Johnson broke camp early in August and began his march northward. So far as we can judge from the few surviving letters which he wrote at that time, Colonel Williams was in a somewhat gloomy state of mind. Rumors that Braddock had met with a crushing defeat, the confusion and want of discipline painfully evident in the colonial forces, would naturally be depressing. but some haunting. iess tangible, melancholy
I
2
BERKSHIRE COUNTY
and disquiet appear to have pursued him. " Pray God to sanctify it to us all," he wrote August 16th in reference to the death of a cousin, " and fit us for our own turns, which will soon arrive-how soon God only knows. I beg your prayers for us all, and me in particular." On the 8th of the following month he was instantly killed in a skirmish near Lake George.
Of the early life of Ephraim Williams we have little contemporary data. The records of the town of Newton, Massachusetts, where he was born in 1714. contain the usual family statistics. Aside from the rather meager information which they furnish, we are almost wholly dependent upon tradition. In this particular case that may be and probably is substantially trustworthy. The first sketch of Ephraim Williams appeared in the eighth volume of the Collections of the Massa- chusetts Historical Society, nearly fifty years after his death. This sketch is supposed to have been written by President Fitch, of Williams College, who doubtless gathered the materials for it from surviving con- temporaries of Williams. He is described as a pleasant, likeable, public- spirited sort of man, with a taste for affairs, and no inconsiderable abil- ity in the conduct of them. It has been thought that if he had survived the " Bloody Morning Scout " he might have become a conspicuous figure in the Revolutionary war. Be this as it may, it was his destiny to win distinction in another field.
It is not until 1745 that the biography of Ephraim Williams be- comes fairly distinct and full. In that year he assumed with the rank of captain the command of Fort Shirley, in Rowe-one of the three or four small military posts established along the western border of the province from the Connecticut river to the upper waters of the Hoosac. His father, Ephraim Williams, Sr., moved to Stockbridge in 1739, and he followed later, but we have no means of determining the exact time
F
-
Old West College.
5
BERKSHIRE COUNTY
of his arrival there. From 1745 until the peace of Aix la Chapelle in 1748, King George's war was in progress, and Captain Williams in con- stant service, with headquarters sometimes at Fort Shirley, but more frequently at Fort Massachusetts, on the Hoosac. Six years of relative quiet followed. during which, though in command of the fortified posts, he spent considerable time elsewhere-in Hatfield. Deerfield, Boston and Stockbridge. The outbreak of the French and Indian war in 1754 brought him again into the field and with the rank of colonel.
In 1755 the site of the proposed school was literally a wilderness. The earliest survey of the region antedated the will of Colonel Williams only sixteen years. For some reason this survey, which was probably the occasion of the first visit of white men, proved unsatisfactory. In 1749 another was made, which established definitely the boundaries of East and West Hoosuck, known later as Adams and Williamstown. Immigrants came slowly into these remote border towns. Through them ran the old Mohawk Trail, along which bands of hostile Indians had passed and were likely to pass again in their forays upon the col- onies. The condition of these pioneers, stranded upon the outskirts of civilization, exposed not only to the inevitable hardships of the frontier, but to the alarms and atrocities of savage warfare as well, was suf- ficiently distressing. Colonel Williams, familiar with the situation, casting about for some means of relieving the stress of it, hit upon the expedient of establishing a " Free School."
Israel Williams and John Worthington, two " trustworthy and well beloved friends," were made executors of the will. The estate consisted of lands, cattle, horses, notes, bonds, and "negro servants." To the last item of assets an addition was made so late as February 13th, 1755, when Colonel Williams bought a negro boy named J. Romanoo. of John Charles, Jr., who undertook to " warrant and secure the said
6
BERKSHIRE COUNTY
negro * against the challenge of any other person and all rightful pretentions of his own to freedom by any law or right whatso- ever." After deducting the legacies to relatives and friends, so little remained that no immediate steps could be taken to get the "Free School " under way. Thirty years elapsed before the trustees made any serious effort to establish it. The proprietors of West Hoosick or Will- iamstown showed a feeble and tardy interest in the bequest. and it was not until May. 1765. that they thought it worth while to choose "a committee to get a copy of the will." Apparently the committee did not regard the document as of much importance. Twice there was a discussion in town meeting-once June 15th, and again October 8th, of the question whether a committee should be appointed to consider the matter " of Colonel Williams' willing land or money toward a free school in West Hoosuck," and on both occasions the assembly curtly " voted this article dismissed."
The delay and apparent indifference were scarcely surprising. Other and more important matters demanded attention. The hard con- ditions of life continued with little mitigation. Now and then an en- thusiast like the Reverend Thomas Allen, of Pittsfield, who declared in a sermon to his congregation that " the county of Berkshire is the garden of Eden for fruitfulness and pleasantness to dwell in," could be found, but most of the settlers took a less favorable view of the situation. Then the French and Indian war had hardly been con- cluded, when the controversy, which led ultimately to rebellion and inde- pendence, began between the Colonies and the Mother Country. Though the chief seat of the Revolutionary war was elsewhere. one series of im- portant events in the history of it touched the Berkshire border-the expedition of Burgoyne and the battle of Bennington-and gave it a brief experience in the theatre of actual hostilities. Meanwhile all ques-
7
BERKSHIRE COUNTY
tions of establishing schools and colleges were in abeyance throughout Western Massachusetts.
Peace was declared in 1783, and the long neglected interests of education began to receive attention. In 1784 the executors of Colonel Williams, having accumulated funds to the amount of $9,157, secured from the General Court of Massachusetts the ap- pointment of nine trustees, who were authorized to erect a building for the school and to manage its affairs. These trustees, five of whom graduated at Yale, were men of ability and reputation. The act incorporating the free school passed the legislature March S, 1785, and the trustees held their first meeting the following month at Pittsfield. In August of the same year a second meeting was held in Williamstown. The trustees found themselves confronted by abundant difficulties, among which were a lack of adequate funds and differences of opinion in regard to the plan and location of the new building. To replenish the treasury they announced that they were ready to receive contributions, and directed that " subscriptions " should be prepared and circulated. There seems to have been little or no re- sponse to these appeals. Funds from other sources having failed, the trustees at their meeting in August, 1788, petitioned the General Court for the grant of a lottery to enable them to raise £1,200, and it was voted February II, 1789. A committee of three trustees undertook the man- agement of the business. Announcements of the enterprise appeared in local and Boston newspapers. The following advertisement, prac- tically identical with what appeared elsewhere, is taken from The Stock- bridge Western Star of January 19, 1790:
BERKSHIRE COUNTY
NOTHING VENTURE, NOTHING HAVE. Not two Blanks to a Prize. Scheme of Williamstown Free School Lottery. Class the Third.
The managers of the above mentioned Lottery present their thanks to the adventurers in former classes for the ready purchase of their tickets, and now offer to the public the following scheme, which they flatter themselves will meet with general approbation, and which, it may be relied on, will commence drawing by the 2d day of March next, con- sisting of 3,400 tickets at TWO DOLLARS each, amounting to 6,800 Dol- lars, 5,799 of which are to be paid out in prizes.
Then follows a statement of the value of the prizes, which ranged from three to one thousand dollars. Altogether there were eight draw- ings or classes, three of which-the third, fourth and fifth-took place in Boston. The third drawing began February 20, 1790, at the hall of the Green Dragon. Two days later The Massachusetts Centinel issued an extra to give " a generous public " the earliest possible an- nouncement of results. In advertising the scheme of the fourth class, February 27, the managers take occasion to thank the citizens of Boston and other towns of the commonwealth for "their benevolence toward an infant seminary " which had been "beyond their most sanguine ex- pectations." The managers regretted their inability to draw the last three classes in Boston instead of Williamstown, but "their private concerns having suffered much from their long stay here
render it totally impracticable." Perhaps the fact that the citizens of Boston did not buy tickets very freely may have been quite as decisive a consideration as their private concerns in sending the managers back to Williamstown. The net proceeds of the lottery were $3.459.68. the
-
-
Library.
11
BERKSHIRE COUNTY
greater part of which came from the neighborhood of the "infant sem- inary."
The vexatious discussions in regard to the site and plan of the new building were finally composed, and in 1790 a substantial brick structure, eighty-four feet in length, forty-two in width, and four stories high, was erected. At the outset it served a variety of purposes, as it contained a kitchen, a dining room, a library and a chapel, as well as dormitories. Gradually these variorum characteristics disappeared, and from 1847 onward it has been a dormitory and nothing more. In 1856 some important changes were made, and in 1904 there was a complete reconstruction of the interior.
For preceptor of the school the choice fell upon Ebenezer Fitch-a native of Norwich, Connecticut, born September 26, 1756, a graduate of Yale, and resident there as special student and tutor some ten years. Devout, scholarly, methodical, he lacked first-rate intellectual and ex- ecutive ability. Yet, on the whole, he proved to be an efficient man in a difficult position. " I have a vivid recollection of his personal appear- ance," William Cullen Bryant wrote in 1859,-" a square built man, of a dark complection, and thick, arched eyebrows." This "vivid recollec- tion " survived the lapse of half a century and was agreeable. It is easy to see that an impressive personality of this sort would be a telling fac- tor in the new enterprise.
The Free School opened its doors in October, 1791, with a faculty consisting of a preceptor and a tutor, and with an attendance of twenty Latin and forty-five English scholars. At first sight the numbers seem surprising, but there was no other academy in the neighborhood, and living was then cheap in Williamstown. This early success suggested the possibility of converting the school into "a seminary of a more public and important nature." Scarcely seven months had elapsed since
12
BERKSHIRE COUNTY
the opening when Preceptor Fitch presented to the trustees for their signatures a petition to the General Court that it "may be incorporated into a college." It was not the first attempt to establish an educational institution of this grade in Western Massachusetts. In 1762 the people of Hampshire county endeavored to found Queens College, which was to be located at Hadley, or Hatfield, or Northampton, but the project fell through-largely through the opposition of Harvard. The trustees signed the petition, which set forth the advantages of Williamstown as the site of a college-a question which. as we shall see, this document did not settle for all time-and June 22. 1793, just thirteen months afterwards, the legislature passed an act incorporating Williams College. Everything which belonged to the academy was taken over by the new institution-the plant, the funds, the trustees, the tutor and the pre- ceptor. Possibly the founder may not have contemplated just this use of his benefaction, but it is only another instance of a man's building better than he knew. Whatever doubt or discussion or bitterness the transaction may have occasioned. they all disappeared long ago. At the present day nobody knows or cares about thein.
In August, 1783, the trustees formally announced through the newspapers that Mr. Ebenezer Fitch had been elected president of the new college, which would open the following October; that the terms of admission would be the same as those of Yale, with the exception that French might be substituted for Greek; that a large and commodious edifice had been provided : that a decent library and apparatus would be immediately procured ; that " victualling has not heretofore exceeded five shillings a week," and that the first public commencement would be held in 1795.
No copy of the official programme of the earliest anniversary of Williams College (1795) seems to be in existence. The histories of
13
BERKSHIRE COUNTY
the college say little or nothing about it. For a hundred and ten years all the details of this interesting event have been buried in old newspaper files. September 18,1795, The Vermont Gazette published this letter, which is now reprinted for the first time :
"WILLIAMSTOWN, September 8th, 1795-
On Wednesday the 2d inst. was celebrated here the first Commencement of Williams College. About II o'clock the procession moved from College in the fol- lowing order ---
The Scholars of the Academy The Students of College The Sheriff of the County Acting as Bedellus The Reverend President and Vice-President and Other Members of the Corporation The Tutors The Reverend Clergy and Other Respectable Gentlemen
The exercises of the day were introduced by prayer by the President and an anthem sung by students and by ladies and gentlemen of the town.
ORDER OF THE EXERCISES.
A Salutatory Oration in Latin by Mr. Lusk.
An English Oration on the French Revolution by Mr. Bishop.
A Forensic Disputation by Messrs. Lusk and Stone on the question, 'Can the differences in the complection and features of the human race be accounted for by natural causes ? '
An English Oration on the Government of the United States by Mr. Collins.
A Forensic Disputation, in the manner of Harvard, on the question, 'Is a Repub- lican government like that of the United States as well calculated as monarchy to promote the security and happiness of a numerous and extensive people?'
An English Oration on female education by Mr. Stone.
The exercises of the afternoon were introduced by Redemption, an Ode.
A French oration on the oratory of the ancients and moderns, showing the advantages of the latter over the former and the importance of oratory in general, by Mr. Collins.
A Dialogue on the folly and impertinence of frivolous conversation, by Messrs. Bishop, Lusk and Stone.
An English Oration on the iniquity and impolicy of the slave trade, by Mr. Lusk.
A Conference on the comparative importance to society of three institutions- civil government, religion and marriage, by Messrs. Bishop, Collins and Stone.
A short, but truly Shandean Oration by Mr. Daniel Dunbar, Preceptor of the Academy, and since elected Tutor of the College.
The President pronounced a Valedictory Address to the candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and then conferred the degree on the following gentlemen-
Samuel Bishop John Collins Chauncey Lusk Daniel Stone
14
BERKSHIRE COUNTY
A decent dinner was provided by the corporation for the gentlemen of the clergy. Though the meeting-house was small and incommodious, order and decorum pre- vailed through the audience and the exercises met with general acceptance and ap- probation."
This quartet of graduates had a strenuous day of it. Each of them appeared four times upon the stage. Mr. Lusk, for instance, delivered two orations, one in Latin and another in English, besides taking part in a forensic disputation and in a dialogue. We should have been glad to learn more about "the truly Shandean oration " of Mr. Dunbar than that it was short. Apparently the young men made an excellent impres- sion. That an oration in French and such topics as the slave trade and the education of girls should have found a place on the programme, is worthy of remark.
The administration of President Fitch-the longest with one ex- ception in the history of the college-extended over a period of twenty- two years. During this period two new buildings were added to the material equipment-" a convenient house " for the president in 1795, and in 1797 a new dormitory, commonly called the Old East College. Life here in the day of President Fitch and much beyond it was simple and primitive. An entry in the diary of Dr. Robbins, of the class of 1796, under the date of January 26 of that year, affords a good illustra- tion of this fact. "My father and I," he wrote, "went to the woods and got a good load of wood." Dr. Robbins' father, an ex-trustee of Yale, was then a prominent trustee of Williams. Governor Emory Washburn, of the class of 1817, describing the conditions after the lapse of twenty years, said that " the entire furniture of any one room, except perhaps the bed, was not worth five dollars."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.