USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Easthampton > History of Easthampton: its settlement and growth; its material, educational, and religious interests, together with a genealogical record of its original families > Part 1
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UMASS/AMHERST
312066009464796
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SS
U
.1863
DATE DUE
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AT AMHERST
III
F 74
E22
L95
HISTORY OF EASTHAMPTON:
ITS SETTLEMENT AND GROWTH;
ITS MATERIAL, EDUCATIONAL, AND RELIGIOUS INTERESTS,
TOGETHER WITH A
Genealogical Record of its Original Families.
By PAYSON W. LYMAN.
NORTHAMPTON : TRUMBULL & GERE. 1866.
975 M38ZEa7
Entered. according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, ? PAYSON W. LYMAN, in the Clerk's office, of the District Court of the Distric Massachusetts.
PREFATORY NOTE.
To write the history of one's native town would be a work of peculiar interest to any loyal son. And yet it is a work requiring more research than the limited field would lead one at first thought to suppose. The examination of early town records and manuscripts, and the collection of material which has never been written or recorded, upon various subjects, and from more various sources, has been attended with no little difficulty.
It was to our advantage to have entered, in some degree, into the labors of earlier historians; but their work, though ably performed, did not cover a field so comprehensive as our own. In regard to the settlement and early history of Town and Church, we are glad to acknowledge our large indebtedness to the Semi-Centennial Sermon of Rev. Payson Williston, and to the Historical Sketch of the town, prepared by Rev. Luther Wright, as well as to the researches of the late Sylvester Judd, Esq. The papers of the late Ezekiel White, to which the author was kindly allowed access, were of essential service to him in the preparation of the Genealogical Register, while, con- cerning dates and events which have occurred during the last half century, no source of information has been so prolific as the memory of his father, Daniel F. Lyman.
While we thus acknowledge our indebtedness to these, we desire to tender our sincerest thanks to the many others, who, in one way or another, have rendered us aid.
Where our plan has led us to speak of individuals, particularly in the Genealogical Register, our estimate of character, in cases of men to whom our memory does not extend, has been based upon the Judgment of others. Because we have in some instances spoken in commendatory terms of certain persons, it should not therefore be in- ferred that they were the only good and worthy men, or indeed perhaps,
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PREFATORY NOTE.
the best. We have judged it advisable, even at the risk of some charge of unfairness, to relieve the tedium of a bare recital of the facts ordinarily detailed in a genealogical record, by the narration of incidents, bits of personal history, and the occasional mention of prominent characteristics.
We desire to bespeak for this sketch, freedom from harsh criticism and hasty judgment. We do not claim for it infallibility, but enter- tain the hope that it will be found essentially correct.
Such as it is, we send it forth in the hope that it may contribute its share to the maintenance of a firm attachment to the institutions of our fathers, from an appreciation of their worth, and to the per- petuation of the names of those who founded and those who have thus far built up the town, as well as of those who have upheld its honor, and that of the nation, on the varied fields of conflict and toil to which the providence of God has called them.
EASTHAMPTON, October, 1866.
P. W. L.
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CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. PAGE. Introduction .- Settlement .- Indian Difficulties .- Incorporation. 5
CHAPTER II.
Churches .- Organization of First Church .- Its Pastors .- Payson Church .- Methodist Church. 25
CHAPTER III.
Public Schools .- Williston Seminary
41
CHAPTER IV.
Early Civil and Military History .- Shay's Rebellion .- War of 1812. 49
CHAPTER V.
Manufactures
54
CHAPTER VI.
Agriculture .- Mercantile Interest .- Mills .- Trades. .. 66
-
CHAPTER VII.
Physicians .- Casualties .- Cemeteries
76
iv.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII.
Library Associations .- Public Houses .- Post Office .- Population. Internal Revenue .- Town Officers .- Representatives .- Justi- ces .- Quarter Century Retrospect .- Miscellanies .- Deed of School Meadow 89
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CHAPTER IX. The Civil War .- Service of Our Soldiers .- Record of Our Dead. 109
CHAPTER X.
Genealogical Register of the Families of Clark, Clapp, Lyman, Wright, Janes, Williston, Knight, Parsons, Ferry, White, Chapman, Pomeroy, Hannum, Phelps, Ludden, Wood, Hendrick 141
HISTORY OF EASTHAMPTON.
CHAPTER I.
- -
SETTLEMENT .- EARLY HISTORY.
THIS thriving town is beautifully situated. It is such a spot as a lover of nature might select for a residence. Its streams, flowing down from the mountains which encircle it, bearing fertility on their bosoms, the mountains themselves standing like watch-towers guarding it, its variation of hill and dale and plain, its beautiful trees and streets, all combine to render it a delightful retreat from the cares and turmoils of city life. Its steeples, educational institutions, factories, and well-cultivated farms, tell that it is inhabited by an intelligent, enterprising, and industrious people, and that here education and religion have not been forgotten.
The town was settled by a race of sober, industrious men, who instilled into the minds of their children the great truths of the Bible, who frowned upon vice wherever seen, who sought not popularity and ease, who endeavored to walk in the path of duty, and as a consequence, vice and crime have never flourished within its limits. The sterner virtues here found a strong foothold. Cradled in the lap of agriculture, inured to toil, privation and danger, they and their children grew up a hardy, healthy people.
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HISTORY OF EASTHAMPTON.
That they loved the Bible and the sanctuary, and that they reverenced the Sabbath, is seen in the sacrifices they willingly made to attend the stated preaching of the Word. Before any church was built here, they went to Northamp- ton or Southampton every Sabbath, unless something ex- traordinary prevented. They did not, as is becoming somewhat fashionable, go to meeting in the forenoon and stay at home in the afternoon. Neither were they wearied with a sermon of an hour's length. That they did not consult ease, we may conclude from the fact that all, old and young, male and female, could rise and stand while God's blessing was being invoked. If any one sat during the prayer, it was justly concluded that they were sick or infirm. If, on a particular Sabbath, any one was noticed to sit, it was not strange if the person were the subject of anxious solicitude during the week. A law once existed subjecting persons to a fine for absenting themselves from public worship for three months. In one or two instances in town this law was enforced.
Their Sabbath commenced at sunset, or dusk, Saturday night. Before this, in many instances, the father had finished his work and shaved himself, the mother had prepared the food for the next day as far as possible, all work had ceased, and to quote the language of another, " Both parents, with their children, and the book of God open before them, were often waiting ere the setting of the sun, to cross together the sacred threshold of the Sabbath." Would that their children of the present day had more regard for the sacred day. They were patriotic also. In no town were the inhabitants more universally loyal. Venerable men ! It was yours to lay the foun- dations of society broad and deep, to stamp upon it a respect and love for the institutions of religion, to plant high its standard of morals ; and nobly have you fulfilled
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EARLY HISTORY.
your mission. Your record is on high ; and not only there, but it is seen in the character and reputation your children have held. The influence which you have exerted and do exert through your sons, who are scattered all the way from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the great lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, will forever endure. It is deathless as the sun; aye, when that luminary himself has faded, it will live on and on.
SETTLEMENT.
Easthampton was originally a part of a tract of land called Nonotuck, signifying " in the midst of the river," embracing the four Hamptons and a part of Montgomery and Hatfield. It was purchased of the Indians in 1653, for one hundred fathoms of wampum, ten coats, plowing sixteen acres of land in Hadleigh, and some small gifts. It was a sum small in itself and intrinsically of no great value, but, as they reserved the right of hunting and fishing on them, and as the articles were of great exchangeable value among the Indians, they received ample remuneration for the land. It was conveyed to the settlers by a deed of Chickwallop and six others. It appears that after the purchase, Sachem Umpanchela complained that he had not received his portion of the purchase price. The planters immediately satisfied him. They represented in their petition to the General Court for liberty to settle here, that it was a place suitable to erect a town for the public weal and for the propagation of the Gospel.
Without doubt, John Webb was the first inhabitant of Easthampton. The time and place of his settlement is not quite certain. Previous histories concur in giving him a residence in Nashawannuck, with no definite date. In the town records of Northampton, under date of Dec. 13,
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HISTORY OF EASTHAMPTON.
1664, we find that the town granted John Webb a piece of land at Pascommuck, to build a house upon. In February of the same year we find the following :- " I, John Webb, Sen., of Pascommuck, doe engage, &c." He was a citizen of Northampton as early as 1657, for in July of that year we find a deed of land sold to Northampton by Sachem Umpanchela and Lampanoho. They received the pay of " John Webb of Northampton." Whether or not he then resided within the present limits of Easthampton is un- certain. In 1663 or '4 it was recorded by the town clerk that John Webb brought several wolves' heads, probably to receive the bounty offered by the town or colony. He died in 1670. Families by the name of Webb continued to reside in Nashawannuck for more than 75 years. After the death of Mr. Webb, Robert Danks married his widow, and families of this name resided here until after 1760.
The next portion of what is now Easthampton which was settled, was on the north side of the Manhan river, near the present center of the town. Probably the first building erected there was a saw-mill, situated near the house of Joel Bassett, on Sawmill Brook. In 1674, the town gave "David Wilton, Medad Pumry and Joseph Taylor liberty to erect a saw-mill on the brook, on the right hand of the cartway going over Manhan river." In 1686-7, Northampton gave Samuel Bartlett liberty to set up a corn-mill " on the falls below the cartway on the river." The mill was doubtless built soon after, but how soon a house was erected and a settlement made is not certainly known, probably not, however, till some years after 1705, owing to the French and Indian war. But this much is certain, that Joseph Bartlett, son of Samuel, made the first permanent settlement here. The mill and land about it was given him by his father in 1705. He kept
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EARLY HISTORY.
the first public house in town and had charge of it for more than twenty years.
He died in 1755, leaving most of his property to his relatives, the Clapps, one of whom, Jonathan, afterwards Major, who will be spoken of in the history of the Clapp family, resided with him for some years. He gave some land, however, to three of his brothers, on condition that they should give £100 old tenor, equal in value to £13 6s. 8d. lawful money, to the first church of Christ that should be erected and celebrate divine ordinances within half a mile of his house. This payment was afterwards made with the proceeds of land disposed of at Pogue's Hole. This bequest shows the interest he felt in the institutions of the Gospel, and the hope, very likely the expectation, he cherished, that at some time a church would be organized here.
About the year 1726 or 8, four brothers by the name of Wait, planted themselves near the residence of John Scott. One of them died in 1732, another in 1745, and the other two, after many years, moved away.
David Bartlett, brother of Landlord Joseph, built a house about forty rods west of where Julius Pomeroy now resides, not far from 1725. He lived and died on the place and left it to his son David, who also occupied it till his death, which occurred just before the American Revolution commenced. To this house, during the war, persons afflicted with that terrible disease, the small pox, (rendered doubly terrible from the fact that nothing had then been discovered to deprive the disease of its virulence,) were taken. Among the number of its inmates was Col. Hosford, who was brought from Northampton. He died here and was buried in a field a little way from the house Rev. John Hooker, the successor of Rev. Jonathan Edwards, D. D., in the ministry at Northampton, also died
1*
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HISTORY OF EASTHAMPTON.
at this place. He took the disease by simply passing the house in which Col. Hosford was confined before being removed. His remains were carried by night around through the meadows to the cemetery at Northampton, and there interred. This house was standing till within a few years.
Northampton originally appropriated the meadows, supposed to contain one hundred acres, more or less, eighty acres above and twenty below the grist-mill, for the use of schools. For many years they leased it to different individuals, but in 1745 they sold all the upper meadow to Dea. Stephen Wright and Benjamin Lyman. Shortly after they removed here, Benjamin Lyman settled where the house of Joel Bassett stands, and Dea. Wright where Samuel Hurlburt resides.
In 1755, an expedition was planned against Crown Point, and the command entrusted to Sir Wm. Johnson. His army arrived at the south end of Lake George before transportation had been provided. While waiting for batteaux to convey him to Crown Point, he received intelligence that a detachment of French Regulars, Canadians and Indians, under command of Baron Dieskau, was approaching Fort Edward for the purpose of destroying some provision and military stores. Johnson at once called a council of war, at which it was determined to dispatch Col. E. Williams to intercept the French on their return from the fort. Diskeau, however, changed his course, with the intention of attacking Johnson's camp. Col. Williams was not aware of the change, and he marched on to his doom, apprehensive of no danger. The. enemy had been apprised of his approach and lay in ambush for him. The firing commenced prematurely, but was very destructive. The surprise was complete. The brave commander, in endeavoring to conduct his troops to.
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EARLY HISTORY.
a more advantageous position, received a ball in his head, which instantly killed him. The firing continued with unabated fury, and they were obliged to retreat to the camp, whither they were closely followed by the enemy, who were received by Johnson with a murderous discharge of cannon and musketry, which did so much execution among them that they retired in great disorder, leaving on the field Baron Dieskau, who had received a mortal wound in his thigh. He fell into the hands of the Americans, and said, before his death, that, in all his military life, nothing had ever sent death into his army like the prolonged cheers which the Americans gave at their approach. Each of these neighbors, last referred to, had a son in this battle, which took place Sept. 8, 1775, and in which Col. Ephraim Williams, the generous founder of Williams College, and more than two hundred others were slain, among whom was Sergeant Eliakim Wright, son of Stephen, aged 28. Lemuel Lyman, son of Benjamin, then twenty years of age, was in company with Sergeant Wright, one of the scouting party who was sent out to reconnoitre. They met the enemy advancing in the form of a crescent, but did not discover them until they were partially inclosed, whereupon a warm fire opened. Mr. Lyman was in the act of firing at an Indian, when a ball struck him. It passed across three of his fingers and struck his breast, passing through a leather vest, three thicknesses of his shirt, and his bullet pouch, which was providentially in that place, and half buried itself in his body. The pouch is still preserved in one of the numerous families of his descendants. There were four other soldiers standing near him, three of whom were killed there, and the other one after he reached the camp. Shortly after he obtained a furlough and returned home, laden with news both. joyful and sad. The French had
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HISTORY OF EASTHAMPTON.
been successfully resisted, and repulsed with great loss, but our own army had not escaped unhurt ; about forty-six persons belonging to the Hampshire regiment had fallen ; a neighbor and friend had been stricken down, and it was his task to break the sad intelligence to the bereaved family. The sorrow was mitigated by the pleasing consciousness that he was prepared to obey the summons, yet it was a severe blow, and one which fell where least expected. From the families of those neighbors, the oldest and most experienced was taken, the youngest spared. When the two were about to depart, Mr. Lyman said to Mr. Wright, " If my son was only as old as yours, I should not feel so much anxiety." After the battle, Mr. Wright reminded him of the conversation, and said, " Now my son is killed, while yours is only wounded."
Soon after, he, with several others, collected a small drove of cattle and started with them for the northern army. Being insufficiently supplied with provisions, they suffered exceedingly from hunger on their journey. On one occasion they obtained and cooked a small quantity of meat which was somewhat tainted, but it was their mutual testimony that they never tasted that which was sweeter.
Benjamin Lyman, above mentioned, was the ancestor of all the persons of that name residing in the town. He had four sons and three daughters. Dea. Stephen Wright was the ancestor of all the families in town of that name. He had four sons. The descendants of these two families, many of whom still reside in Easthampton, are widely scattered. Probably they can be found in more than half of the states and territories in the Union. At least nineteen of them have been college graduates.
Not far from the close of the Revolutionary War, Joseph and Titus Wright moved to the south of Rocky.
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EARLY HISTORY.
Hill and lived many years near the house now owned and occupied by Dwight Lyman, but they finally left town.
The third settlement in town was commenced in the year 1700, at Pascommuck, by five families, on land now owned by L. W. Parsons, Joseph Parsons and Gilbert A. Clark. Their names were Moses Hutchinson, who settled farthest west, John Searl, Benoni Jones, Samuel Janes and Benjamin Janes. In 1704, this village was destroyed by the Indians under circumstances of the most shocking barbarity. A more full account of this massacre will be given in another place. It was not re-settled until about 1715. The new settlers of Pascommuck, after the slaughter, were Nathaniel Alexander, who married the widow of John Searl, (he having been slain by the Indians,) and lived several years on his farm. Samuel Janes, Jr. took the place of his father. In 1720, John Lankton purchased the lot originally owned by Benoni Jones. He lived, however, only nine years to enjoy it. His widow married a man by the name of Wharton, but for some cause he soon left her, and she was for many years known as Widow Wharton. Her son, John Lankton, afterwards removed to West Springfield. His father owned a slave while he lived in Pascommuck, which was valued at £60 in his inventory. It appears that Joseph Bartlett was also a slaveholder, from the fact that he set two slaves free by his will. There is also a slave mentioned in the list of Major Clapp's estate, but whether it was one that he purchased, or one of those set free by his Uncle Bartlett, (which is not an unlikely supposition,) is not certain. These were doubtless the only cases of slave ownership in town. The place of John Searl was occupied by his son Elisha, after his return from Canada, whither he had been carried by the Indians at the sacking of the village in 1702. Ebenezer Ferry, from Springfield, at a later period,
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HISTORY OF EASTHAMPTON.
purchased the Hutchinson place and lived on it twenty-five years or more. He died in 1752.
The first settlers in that part of Easthampton which was then Southampton, with the exception of Deacon Stephen Wright, were Samuel and Eldad Pomeroy and their sons, who established themselves near where Dea. E. W. Hannum now resides, it is presumed about 1732. Caleb Pomeroy, son of Samuel, soon after built a house near where A. L. Strong now lives. He died in 1812, leaving two sons, Enos and Solomon. Probably about 1760, John and Eleazar Hannum located themselves on the places which their descendants now occupy. Joel Hannum, a brother of John and Eleazar, lived in Nashawannuck. He had one son, Paul, who lived for a while on the old place. He afterwards removed to Bainbridge, Ohio, where he lived many years. He died Dec. 28, 1861, aged 76.
The first settler on the plain was Sergeant Ebenezer Corse. It is not certain at what time he came there, probably about 1732. He built the house where Spencer Clapp formerly lived, now owned by James Nichols. It is to him that the town is indebted for one of its handsomest streets, (Main Street,) running from the center of the town straight to his house, a distance of more than a mile, he having cleared away the woods for a road. He was a bold, fearless man. It is said of him that he refused to remove to the fort, where the other settlers fled on account of the Indians. But he finally found traces of an ambush which had been laid for him, which convinced him that discretion was the better part of valor, and he accordingly repaired thither for the time being. He died May 4, 1776, two months before the Declaration of Independence, in the 85th year of his age. His wife died eight years before him, in her 73d year. Both were buried in the old cemetery ..
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EARLY HISTORY.
He was followed soon after by other settlers, one of whom was Stephen Wright, son of Dea. Stephen, one of the purchasers of School Meadow. He built the house until recently occupied by his grandson, John Wright. Other settlers in this neighborhood were Aaron Clapp, Benjamin Clapp and Benjamin Lyman, a son of the other purchaser of the meadow.
That part of the west district known as Park Hill, derives its name, it is said, from an inclosure that was built upon it for the purpose of aiding in the capture of deer. As early as 1750, Mr. Josiah Phelps built a house on the site of the recent residence of J. R. Wright. He had no children, and at his death it passed into the hands of Jonathan Bartlett, a son-in-law of his wife. Mr. Phelps was a very good and pious, though somewhat eccentric man. It is said that on one occasion, in speaking of a piece of new land which he had broken up, he said that while he was doing it, his mind was so absorbed with thoughts of himself, his relations to God, and his hopes of Heaven, that he paid no attention to his team.
The first settlement in the southeast part of the town was made by Israel Hendrick, who removed from Connecticut about the year 1774, and built a log house on the east side of Broad Brook, about opposite from where Pearson Hendrick now lives. A few years after he removed a little farther up the brook and built a small framed house. The other early settlers of this district were Joel Robbins, Benjamin Stephens, and Benjamin Strong, who was in the sixth generation from Richard Strong of Taunton, Somersetshire, England. His son, Elder John Strong, came from England to Dorchester in the same company with Capt. Roger Clapp, from whence he removed to Windsor, Ct., in 1635, and from there to Northampton in 1659, where he died April, 1699, aged 94.
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HISTORY OF EASTHAMPTON.
INDIAN TROUBLES.
On the 24th of May, 1704, the village of Pascommuck was destroyed by the Indians. It had then been settled only four or five years. A party of Indians, it seems had been to Merrimac river, for some reason, but not accomplishing their purpose, they directed their course towards Westfield. Westfield river was however so much swollen by the rains, that they could not pass it. Some of this party knew the situation of Pascommuck, and as they had been unable for some time to obtain food, they determined as a last resort, as they afterwards declared, to make a descent upon the village to satisfy their hunger, and as we are compelled to believe by their conduct, to satisfy also their natural ferocity. Accordingly on the evening previous to the attack, they came along on the mountain, in order to examine its situation and fix a plan of attack. It was for them a favorable circumstance that the meadows intervening between the fated settlement and Northampton were overflowed, and all direct land com- munication with it cut off. On the morning of May 24th, just before daybreak, they descended and commenced an attack, as unexpected on the part of the inhabitants as it was furious and terrible on theirs.
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