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History of Granville, Massachusetts by
ALBION B. WILSON
Gc 974.402 G767w 1247310
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01065 7929
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019
https://archive.org/details/historyofgranvil00wils
History of Granville
albion B. Wilson
History of
Granville MASSACHUSETTS
By ALBION B. WILSON
January 25, 1954
COPYRIGHT 1954 BY LAVINIA ROSE WILSON All rights reserved
Printed by CONNECTICUT PRINTERS, INCORPORATED, HARTFORD, CONN.
1247310 Preface
T 1
HIS book is the result primarily of curiosity. I had read of Toto and had heard much about what he received as the price of the Granville Hills. I became interested to know more, if possible, of the transaction which was the beginning of the recorded history of Granville. I read everything I could find bearing upon the subject. In examining the earliest land records I soon discovered that most of what had been written concerning the first twenty-five years of the town's history was very far from correct. This aroused my interest still further. One thing led to another and this book is the outcome.
None knows better than I the shortcomings of this history. It is at best far from being as complete as might be wished. It has, I believe, the merit of accuracy. The source of the information herein is original documents and records. What other historians have written has not been copied. Personal theories have been avoided, except where stated to be such.
I am under great obligations to many public officials for their unfailing courtesy and their readiness to grant permission to examine the records in their charge. Also I am deeply indebted to many friends for their interest and willingness to give me access to family papers and private records. I wish to express to each my sincere thanks and appreciation for their boundless courtesy. Particularly I wish to acknowledge my obligations to the Springfield Republican for permission to use its files and to the Town Clerk of Granville for the unlimited use of the Town records.
ALBION B. WILSON
vii
Contents
Preface
vii
Foreword
xi
Albion B. Wilson
xiii
The Proprietors
3
The Inhabitants
37
The District of Granville
51
The Town of Granville to 1810
67
Granville from 1810
83
The Roads
147
The Churches
163
The Schools
227
The Post Offices
262
The Everline Barber Memorial Home
266
The Libraries
268
The Drum Shop
273
The Cemeteries
280
The Taverns
289
Traditions
293
In Conclusion
305
Appendix
306
Addendum : The Story of a Village Library
345
Index
359
ix
Foreword
I N 1954, Granville, Massachusetts, celebrates the 200th anniver- sary of its incorporation as a District and the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Noble and Cooley Drum Factory.
How much my husband, Albion B. Wilson, would have enjoyed working for and taking part in this celebration, for he loved Gran- ville and its people. In his memory, therefore, as a tribute to him and as his share in the celebration, this History of Granville which he wrote is now published. It is a matter of the greatest regret that he did not live to attend to the publication himself. No one else can do it as well.
He spent countless hours in research, examining official records not only in Granville but also in Hartford and Simsbury, Connect- icut, Springfield, Northampton and Pittsfield, Massachusetts, at the State House in Boston and elsewhere. He read state records, town records, probate records, church records, school records, old deeds, wills, family Bibles, old diaries, letters, account books, newspapers of the period and other material. He visited numerous cemeteries including the Old Cemetery in Durham, Connecticut, the cemetery in Canandaigua, New York, where Oliver Phelps is buried, and the Colonial Cemetery in Granville, Ohio.
Except where so noted, all his statements are from records and not from hearsay, however interesting that may be. In general, he mentioned only briefly outstanding individuals and old families but put his emphasis upon the start of the town and those things which led up to and contributed to its development and to its place as an integral part of the Commonwealth.
My most sincere thanks are due to all those who have helped, not only by their actual work but by their encouragement. Especially my thanks are due to Mrs. Arthur L. Frellick of Granville for valuable assistance in proof-reading, to Miss Mildred Saunders of Honolulu who took over the exacting task of making the index, and
xi
also especially to Miss Eleanor Gleason and to Col. Anson T. McCook, both of Hartford, without whose kind and efficient help this publication could not have been undertaken.
LAVINIA ROSE WILSON Hartford, May 15, 1953.
xii
Albion B. Wilson
A LBION BENJAMIN WILSON was born April 16, 1872 in Weath- ersfield, Vermont, the son and first child of George Grow and Susan (Morse) Wilson.
As a boy, he attended the country schools and in 1891 was graduated from the Windsor, Vermont, High School, Valedictorian of his class. That fall he entered Dartmouth College from which he was graduated in the class of 1895. At Dartmouth, he was a member of Theta Delta Chi, engaged in various college sports, played football, sang in the Episcopal Church choir and, in his senior year, was an editor of the college paper besides working his way almost completely and making an enviable record for scholarship.
After graduation from Dartmouth, in order to earn money for an education in law, he taught school for one year, then entered the Railway Mail Service where he remained until he entered Harvard Law School in the fall of 1899. Upon completion of that year, he wanted to get work in a law office both for practical train- ing and to earn more money for his studies. On July 13, 1900, he came to Hartford, Connecticut, entirely unknown, and secured employment with Robinson and Robinson, a leading law firm. When it was time to return to the Law School, the Robinsons asked him to remain with them instead, which he did, and in 1902 was admitted to the Connecticut Bar and later joined the American Bar Association.
On January 30, 1903 he married Sarah Adeline Howe of North Tunbridge, Vermont, who died April 9, 1905. On October 14, 1909 he married Lavinia S. Rose of Granville, Massachusetts, who survives him.
In September 1911, he opened his own office at 50 State Street, Hartford, specializing in real estate and probate law, and here he remained until his retirement in January 1932. For two years dur- ing World War I, he was Prosecuting Attorney of the City of Hartford.
xiii
After his retirement, until the outbreak of World War II, he spent much time in travel, both on this continent and abroad. His summers were spent at the Granville home where he came to know and love the town.
He was interested in young people and especially the under- privileged. For forty-five years he was connected with the Good Will Club of Hartford, a club for boys, one of the earliest of such organizations, serving as teacher, trustee and president. For many years he taught a Sunday School class at the State Prison in Weth- ersfield, Connecticut, and helped more than a few to rehabilitate themselves. For almost fifty years he was a member of the South Congregational Church in Hartford and for many years taught a class of boys there who have become respected leaders in their various careers. In Granville, he was active in the formation of the Federated Church. He was always deeply interested in the affairs of Dartmouth College. For six years he was a member of the Alumni Council and for twenty-one years President of his class. He was a devoted member of the Connecticut Historical Society and served on many important committees, the last being the committee which planned the acquisition of the Society's new home at 1 Elizabeth Street, Hartford. Among his special interests were stamps, genealogy and Granville history.
His sudden and unexpected death, due to a heart attack, occurred in Granville on the afternoon of October 31, 1950. He is buried in the South East Cemetery there.
Hartford, May 15, 1953.
LAVINIA ROSE WILSON
XIV
History of Granville
The Proprietors
T HE town of Granville lies in the southwestern part of Hamp- den County in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is in the eastern edge of the Berkshire Hills, which means that it is one of the so-called "New England Hill Towns." It is naturally a country covered with timber. The pages of its history are inscribed with the events of more than two centuries and are worthy of more than a casual reading.
By the middle of the seventeenth century settlements began to appear along the Connecticut River, at that time a main artery of traffic; Saybrook, at the mouth of the river; Middletown, a few miles up the stream; the group of three, Wethersfield, Hartford and Windsor, farther on; and still farther, Springfield, with its Path through the wilderness to the Bay. In 1640 a group of Con- necticut pioneers purchased land and made settlements at what is now Westfield, which then included the present town of Southwick. So the hill country on the western boundary of Westfield, or Woro- noake, as it was then called, became the frontier. It still was, as it always had been, primeval wilderness, untrodden, save by wild animals and passing Indians.
In the spring of 1686 Sir Edmund Andross arrived in Boston as the personal representative of King James II, with instructions to call in and take up the charters already granted to the settlers of New England, and set up in their stead a government by the direct representative of the Crown. Among other things which this haughty Sir Edmund did, one was to appoint new judges and officers for the judicial courts of his Majesty, and so, in due time, he appointed one James Cornish, who was then living in Westfield, to be the Clerk of the then existing court in Hampshire County.
Just what kind of an individual this James Cornish was, it is now nearly impossible to tell, but the following is taken from Phelps' History of Simsbury, page 175 : "James Cornish settled in North- ampton and was the first schoolmaster in that town. He afterwards removed to Westfield and was appointed Clerk of the Courts in
4
HISTORY OF GRANVILLE
Hampshire County by Sir Edmund Andross. Shortly afterwards, when the government of Massachusetts was resumed under the charter, he was left out of office, but the Court applauded his good services, and recommended him to public favor." In one regard, however, we can rest assured he was quite like many of our own time. He was alert to the opportunity to get something for nothing, or practically nothing.
That he was a man of enterprise and of more than average ability is clearly shown by the fact that at a meeting of the inhabitants of Woronoco on January 21, 1668, he was one of a Committee of four chosen to go to a town meeting to be held in Springfield the follow- ing month and there to present a petition "to allow us to be a town- ship of ourselves." This Committee secured the granting of their petition. Furthermore, he was one of the grantees named in the deed of Alquat, the Indian Sachem, which conveyed the greater part of the present City of Westfield to the Inhabitants of Westfield, alias "Warranoke," dated June 30, 1669. Excellent training to prepare him for real estate business in the wilderness, whereby he became the first white man to have a claim to that portion of wilderness which was later to be the Town of Granville.
He knew of the so-called "mountains" lying on the western boundary of Westfield because they stood up against the south- western sky and were in plain sight of the village where he lived, and he shrewdly could foresee that some day they would be valuable to whosoever might own them. There was nothing uncanny in all this. It was just plain common sense. So with this idea in his mind he set about getting hold of the title to that mountain territory on the western frontier. All this happened not later than 1686.
Of the two methods of acquiring title to wild land, he was not attracted to the arduous process of actual settlement, but much preferred the easier way of getting it by purchase. It was not diffi- cult to find the Indian Sachem who claimed to own and possess it by virtue of being the son of his father, who had possessed it before him, as well as being the grandson of his grandfather who had possessed it before that. This Indian Sachem who claimed owner- ship and possession was none other than Toto.
Toto, or Totoe, as the name sometimes appears, deserves more
5
THE PROPRIETORS
than a passing mention. He was a Poquonnoc Indian. The head- quarters of Toto's tribe was on the Farmington River in the town of Windsor, in the Colony of Connecticut, at the place where the present village of Poquonock is situated. The Poquonnocs lived between the Tunxis Indians on the west and the Podunks on the east.
His grandfather had been Sachem of the tribe and his name appears in a variety of spellings, as is common with Indian names written two hundred or more years ago. It appears as : Nassaicowan, Nassacowan, Nassacowen, Nassahegan, Nassahegon, and other- wise. He was very friendly with the white people and sold some of his land to the English "for some small matter."
Apparently Toto followed in the steps of his grandfather and even went so much further that he is one of the few Indians in the class with Massasoit and Uncas, and he richly deserves the grati- tude of the people of this section of the Connecticut valley. It seems that at the outbreak of King Philip's war the Poquonnocs refused to join the hostiles and remained loyal to the English. The particular exploit by which Toto jumped into fame was nothing less than saving the entire settlement at Springfield from massacre.
The Springfield Indians had a fort about a mile southerly from the settlement and, as they were considered friendly, no thought was given to the possibility of danger from that quarter. This tribe had, however, been "talked to" by Philip, or some emissary of his, and treacherously received about three hundred of Philip's warriors into their fort. It was planned to attack and burn the settlement at Springfield the next morning and overwhelm the unsuspecting whites.
In some way Toto, who was said to have been at Windsor, Con- necticut, at the time, learned of this scheme and on the evening before the attack was to occur he made it known. A message was sent post haste to Major Treat at Westfield, who set off at once for Springfield with such forces as he had. It is tradition that Toto himself was despatched to Springfield with the alarm, and that he ran all the way to that town and got back to Windsor that same night. But whether that be fact or fiction, it is certain that a message was sent from Windsor to Springfield warning them of the threaten- ing danger. The people there were incredulous and, in spite of the warning, suffered a surprise attack and were just saved from destruc-
6
HISTORY OF GRANVILLE
tion by the timely arrival of Major Treat and his men from West- field. Thirty-two of the forty-five houses then existing were burned by the hostile Indians. Toto's faithfulness had prevented a massacre. Either the Town of Windsor or the City of Springfield, or both, might do well to render a tardy recognition of gratitude for a friendly act.
So far as is known, neither Toto nor any of his tribe ever dwelt among the hills of Granville. In fact the Granville hills seem never to have been occupied as a dwelling place by any tribe of Indians. There are no Indian names connected with the soil of Granville, so to speak. Not a mountain or hill, not a stream, not a pond, not a meadow, not a camp site bears an Indian name. It is believed that not so much as an arrowhead has ever been found in the Granville hills, except one or two found by Raymond Noble along the banks of Seymour Brook where it flows through the wide meadow now owned by Ralph H. Hiers.
James Cornish in some way got in touch with Toto and, it is safe to say, they had negotiations between them relative to the purchase of the "mountains" by Cornish and their sale and transfer by Toto, because the outcome resulted in the sale by Toto of an area described as "six miles square" in June, 1686, to "James Cornish, Senior, of or belonging to Westfeild, in the County of Hampshire & in the Collony of the Massachusetts." Tradition has it that the price paid to Toto for his inherited hunting ground was "a gun and sixteen brass buttons" but the writer has been unable to substantiate the tradition by any kind of evidence. It may be true, but so far nothing has been discovered to prove it. The consideration for the sale of this thirty-six square miles of mountain wilderness as set forth in the deed of conveyance was "good & loving considerations" but just what these "considerations" actually were does not appear. They might have been the traditional gun and sixteen brass buttons, or they might have been anything else.
Cornish caused to be prepared, or more likely he himself pre- pared, a good and legally sufficient deed on June 10, 1686, for conveying the mountain wilderness to himself and with it in his pocket went to Hartford, Connecticut, which in those days was no mean journey, and picking up Toto on the way, appeared before
7
THE PROPRIETORS
John Allyn, a magistrate. With all due formality Toto executed the deed, received his "good & and loving considerations," and both he and Cornish went home happy-Toto with, perhaps, his gun and buttons and Cornish with his deed, his something for nothing. The following is a copy of the record:
THIS present writing made the tenth day of June Anno Domini one thousand six hundred eighty six Between James Cornish Senior of or belonging to Westfeild in the County of Hampshire & in the Collony of the Massachusetts of the one party & Toto an Indian Captaine now living neare Hartford in the Collony of Connecticut, of the other party witnesseth that the said Toto Indian Captaine being the true and lawful heyre of certain tracts of land in severall parts of this countrey as being derived unto him from his Grand- father, Nassaicowan & Taguiamson & Unquiram his ffather, hath by these presents given, granted, aliened & confirmed, & doth by these presents give, grant, alien establish & confirm unto the above named James Cornish (for good & loving considerations him here- unto moving, a certayne Tract & parcell of land lying & being now in Massachusetts Collony) so supposed but never purchased from him or his prdesessors, contayning six myles square or the contents thereof, or thereabout, (bee it more or lesse) bounded by the land granted by the said Toto unto William Leet, Esq". Southerly, & by the land granted by him also unto John Williams of Windsor Northerly & runs Westerly toward housatunnik bounded by the Mountaines & Easterly by the land belonging to Westfeild or Springfield by the highway or Road running from the lower end of the Ponds unto two Myle Brooke near Westfeild on a straight lyne all which the p"misses with all appurtenances, previledges conveniencyes & immu- nities whatsev" thereunto appertayning & belonging as Ponds, Rivers, Brookes, Springs streames Marshes Swamps, Trees, Bushes, Stones, Rockes mynes Minerals & whatsoever shall any wayes appear to be thereunto belonging) I the said Toto doe give grant confirme estab- lish & ratify unto the said James Cornish his heyres executors & assignes for ever to have hold possesse & injoy as his & their owne propp" right title & interest lawfully quietly & peaceably without any lett hindrance disturbance or molestation & doe hereby declare (at the ensealing & delivery hereof) my just & true right & title thereunto & to every part & parcell thereof against all persons what soever for by or under mee or under any pretence whatsoever shall lay any clayme or challenge any right or title to the p"mises or any part thereof. And I doe hereby acquitt the said James Cor- nish his heyres & assignes & discharge, & otherwise well & truly
8
HISTORY OF GRANVILLE
save harmlesse the said James Cornish his heyres & assignes of & from all & all manner of all former & other gifts grants bargaines sales leases, mortgages joyntures Dowryes, extent judgments execu- tions forfeitures fynes or amercements & from all other titles troubles charges demands & incumbrances whatsoever had made committed suffered omitted or done by me the said Toto my heyres or assignes or by any person or persons whatsoever clayming right by from or under us or any of us or by any of our meanes act consent privity or procuremt & Lastly I doe give unto the said James Cor- nish his heyres and assignes full right to enrowle & record the pľmisses & every part & p"cell thereof to himselfe & his heyres & assignes for ever.
In witness whereof I the said Toto have signed sealed & delivered this writing with my owne hand even the day & yeare first above written.
Signed sealed &dlld
in the prsence of Bartholomew Barnard
the marke a
of Toto seal
John Allyn
Totoe personally appeared in Hartford
June 28th 1686 & acknowledged the above written to be his free & voluntary act & Deed before mee
John Allyn Assistt of his Maties Collony of Connecticutt.
This deed a true Record recorded by mee James Cornish, Clerk of Hampshire this 25th of March 1689.
This deed is recorded in Hampshire County land records in Vol- ume A at page 111.
Having read Toto's deed carefully, two facts stand out clearly and definitely amid the surrounding uncertainty. First, the land conveyed was bounded easterly by Westfield, and second, it was to be six miles square or "the contents thereof," to wit: thirty-six square miles, if the area was not square. Just how long it was to be from north to south does not appear nor how wide from east to west. As a matter of fact it was bounded on the south by the town of Simsbury, Connecticut.
Thus the first page of Granville's history had been written, although it was extremely indefinite and nebulous. A color of title
9
THE PROPRIETORS
had been created and the stage was set for the next development. Although a virgin wilderness, without name and without settler, the train of events which was later to develop into the town of Granville was started.
James Cornish held tightly to his deed from Toto until March 25, 1689, when it was recorded in the land records of Hampshire County by himself as "Clerk of Hampshire." What became of him after that date is somewhat uncertain, but it is believed he went to Simsbury, Connecticut, to live with one of his sons after the depar- ture of the Royal Governor from New England, as there appears to have been a new Clerk of Hampshire soon after Andross had departed.
James Cornish had two children, Gabriel and James Jr. James Cornish, Senior, died October 29, 1698, without leaving a will, and the effect of his death, so far as the town of Granville is concerned, was to vest the title to his mountain wilderness in his two sons, Gabriel and James Jr.
Gabriel Cornish married and had two children, James and Dama- ris, and he died in 1702 without leaving a will. So Gabriel's interest in the Granville land became vested in his children, James and Damaris. Thus there came to be three owners of the land originally conveyed by Toto, viz: James Cornish, Jr., who later became a deacon of the church in Simsbury for a quarter of a century, having a half interest in the thirty-six square miles of Granville hills, and James and Damaris Cornish, the children of Gabriel having the other half interest, and in this condition the title remained a few more years.
James Cornish, the son of Gabriel, went to live with an uncle in Wethersfield, Connecticut, and feeling the urge of adventure, joined Queen Anne's army or navy, probably in the summer of 1710 when he was twenty-two years old. Before going away from his uncle's home, however, he made his will which is dated August 17, 1710, wherein he states that he is "being bound in Her Majesties service to Port Royal" and being of sound mind, etc. He was unmarried. His father was dead. So he devised all his estate to his sister Dama- ris, or "Dammery" as the name is spelled in the will, and particu- larly mentions his "real estate in the township of Westfield." It is
10
HISTORY OF GRANVILLE
quite likely he did not know where the bounds of Westfield were, and mentioned the name of Westfield as covering all the region about that village.
Shortly after her brother had sailed away for Port Royal, Dama- ris was married, April 2, 1711, to William Tuller, of Simsbury, whose name is sometimes found as Tuller, or Tullar, and in some places it looks like Fuller. About this time news of the death of her soldier brother came back from Port Royal, because the will of James Cornish dated August 17, 1710, was offered for probate on July 2, 1711, and in court it was proved and allowed. The Court appointed William Tuller to be the administrator, c. t. a., who pro- ceeded to settle the estate. In this way Damaris became possessed of her brother's title to the wilderness estate on the frontier. Thus the owners of Granville had been reduced to two, viz: James Cornish, Jr., who had become the deacon, and Damaris Tuller. Both the Deacon and Damaris lived in Simsbury. So much for the title.
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