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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01145 6172
Gc 974.402 1175m
1289010
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019
https://archive.org/details/historyofmonsonm00unse
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HISTORY OF MONSON
MASSACHUSETTS
COMPILED BY MONSON HISTORICAL SOCIETY 1960
Copyright 1960
Painting of Monson
by Erastus Field -- About 1820
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Preface
This book has been written for the purpose of providing the historical facts of the Town of Monson with as many pictorial illustrations as it has been possible to acquire.
The members of the Monson Historical Society have col- lected and assembled this data. For accuracy, official town records have been used. Also much additional information has been acquired from various sources, and every attempt has been made to make this history authentic.
For the reader's convenience it has been thought de- sirable to omit the many footnotes that would have been nec- essary to refer to the source of each fact related, but at the back of the book there is a complete list of the references used.
To those readers who have cherished memories of the past; to those who appreciate our heritage; and to those who are interested in Monson, may this history bring much pleasure.
New Englandseine 5.7.50 2 5-65-0390
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HISTORY OF MONSON
A Distinguished Monson Visitor
The late President of the United States, William Howard Taft, was the principal speaker at the Monson Academy alumni reunion June 12, 1917, This held a special significance for him and for the townspeople as his mother, Louise Torrey Taft, and her sister Delia Torrey, taught in the Academy in 1848 and 1849. Mr. Taft posed with Chief Justice Marcus P. Knowlton, a Monson native, in front of Miss Hattie Cushman's home. Charles Dinsmore and James Tufts may be seen in the background.
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HISTORY OF MONSON
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HISTORY OF MONSON
Geographical Sketch
The observer of New England would search far and long before discovering a more complete realization of the New Eng- land town idea than can be seen in the town of Monson. Lying in a narrow north and south Y-shaped valley between low wooded hills, it presents the varied charms of land- scape that are characteristic of New Eng- land scenery.
In considering the geography of Mon- son, which has had a great influence on the lives and industries of its people, one must note the marked physiographic differences between the East and West highlands and the lowland trough between. The valley is bounded on the east and west by steep slopes of entirely different formations.
During the Cambrian Age, about four hundred million years ago, a great volcano erupted in the Connecticut Valley. It spued the minerals over this area, from Monson to the Berkshires, damming valleys, forming lakes and chasms for river streams. The remains of distinct volcanic action have been found on the southern slopes of Mount Tom, Mount Holyoke, and Leadmine in Holland. Trilobite fossils have been discovered within these rock stratas, which places the vol- canic action in this era. The minerals which flowed into this section solidified near the earth's surface, forming the extrusive igneous rock formations of the West Hills of Monson. These rock formations are dolerites and ferruginous gneiss, known as Monson Granite. This gneiss is of two varieties, the mottled white and dark blue, fine grained and composed of but few min- erals. The quarries located at the outcrop- pings of these deposits will be dealt with later.
Some of the highest elevations thus formed on the west side of the town are Bald Peak, 800 feet high; Chicopee Moun- tain, 800 feet; the Rock House is the pre- cipitous side of Bunyan Mountain, 700 feet above sea level. It has been the scene of sev- eral serious accidents. Boys, who have ven- tured too far out on the ledges, have fallen great distances and been maimed for life. Mount Ella on West Hill is 900 feet high. It had, during the heyday of Flynt's Park, a tower at its summit from which could be
seen Mounts Monadnock, Wachusett, Bear, Sugar Loaf, Holyoke, Tom and Greylock.
Castle Hill, a lower rocky promontory on West Hill, is mentioned because, when it was surrounded by lordly chestnut trees, it was frequented after the first frost by youngsters. They rushed home from school, donned their old garb, and taking their mother's clothespole in one hand and a sack in the other, would run for the spot to be the first to gather the chestnuts. Some would climb the cliffs to be at a better ad- vantage to hit the limbs of the tall old trees. Then down would fall the shower of nuts! The more timid would run past the fox cave, but to show bravery, some of the boys would squeeze through the aperture and try to penetrate the darkness to find the baby cubs.
It was the fate of one of those chestnut trees to become the instrument of death when a Japanese lad hung himself "because he lost face" - that is, he felt he was not doing well enough scholastically to uphold the honor of his country.
Wood Hill is 900 feet high. Moose Moun- tain in the west is a handsome eminence, 1100 feet high; and May Hill is 1000 feet high. The highest elevation in town, Peaked Mountain, is 1278 feet above sea level, the source of search for many rare wild flowers and birds, as well as a favorite hunting ground.
Of a much more recent formation are the hills on the eastern side of this town. Their structure dates them during the great glacial period of two hundred million years ago. As the warm era advanced the earth's great icecap receded, strewing its path with its grist of granite and sandstone, feldspar and quartz, traprock and soapstone, mica and hornblende, and pumice and schist from sources miles distant, and so intimately mixed that a few cubic yards may comprise a surprisingly complete collection of this old earth's ingredients. Thus the eastern up- lands consist of coarse sand and gravel. The fields and pastures are covered with great boulders of very peculiar shapes, and the ledges are in many places smoothed and scratched by the action of the moving ice sheets.
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HISTORY OF MONSON
It is hard to imagine a power that could handle such a great boulder as Pulpit Rock in Silver Street. Old residents gave no atten- tion to the terminal moraine and ice-barrier so evident in that section, except that it is mentioned in some old deeds, "the devil's apron strings broke over Silver Street." Old folks tell of a local preacher using the great boulder for a pulpit, hence the name 'Pulpit Rock."
PULPIT ROCK
A group of huge boulders, known by the name of "Cat Rock," provided the children of the south part of the village with a place to explore. Here they built their camp fires and imagined they were living in the cave- man era; hunting wild animals and sighting the enemy coming up or down the river valley.
CAT ROCK
Before this great ice age there must have been a huge, wide, rushing river flow- ing through the valley. If one wishes to ex-
plore, he can travel along Moulton Hill to where the old Tupper place was located. Through the woods, directly east, down the incline, nearly to the headwaters of Con- ant's Brook-if you are lucky-you will lo- cate the "Devil's Punch Bowl." This is a huge rock with a hole worn out of the middle by the action of a giant whirlpool. Following the now small stream, you will come to deep ravines which only a swift rushing river could have worn down.
In the valley great masses of glacial deposits were left. These deposits were sometimes piled up in rounded hills known as drumlins. Examples of such formations are: the west side of Bethany Road; or again Rooster Hill at South Monson - the site of the old No. 8 Schoolhouse; Center Hill upon which the Congregational Church stands; and the hill between Green Street and Main Street on which the Catholic Church is located.
When a greater piece of glacier broke off or melted away, an esker was formed. A good example is found on the east side of Stafford Road where the Monson Sand and Gravel Company is busily engaged in transporting it to many parts of the coun- try. It was this esker which turned much of the water supply to the south and east.
The ice barrier melted and receded into the Artic and many ponds remaind. Others were formed later by man damming up the streams for power and water supply. The brooks dash among the rocks divided; some flowing north like the Chicopee, which · joins the Quaboag in the northern part of the town, then flows on to help make the Chicopee River. Twelve Mile Brook flows northwest from Colton Hollow through Sil- ver Street to the Chicopee River. Some brooks flow south, such as the Cedar Swamp brooks which form State Line Pond; others eastward into Wales, and still others west to the Scantic in Hampden.
It was this glacial action which was the cause of the eastern side of the valley being settled long before the granite hills of the west. The soil was more loosely de- posited making tillage much easier. It was easier to dig and stone up wells. The ever- green trees grew far more abundantly. Roads could be built more quickly and travel was easier; cellars dug and foundations laid with less effort. The eastern hill was a favorable place on which to settle.
Monson is bounded by Palmer on the
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HISTORY OF MONSON
north, Brimfield and Wales on the east, Staf- ford, Connecticut, on the south, and Wil- braham and Hampden on the west. This is truly a beautiful town, located about 88 miles west by southwest of Boston and 15 miles east of Springfield. It embraces about 54
square miles; its assessed area being about 26,000 acres. Its greatest length is about nine miles and its width about seven miles, with still plenty of room to live and move and enjoy the love of nature.
Historical Background
"When time who steals our years away Shall steal our pleasures, too, The mem'ry of the past will stay And half our joys renew." - Moore
The development of this territory began with the coming of the Pilgrims to Plymouth in 1620. By 1628 a settlement had been made at Salem and two years later at Boston. In the year 1630 seventeen ships sailed from England's shore bringing 1600 passengers to this wilderness seeking freedom from the great political unrest in England. Among them were John Winthrop and his friend William Pynchon who brought the charter of the Province of Massachusetts Bay Colony. This charter, on public display in the Ar- chives Division of the State House in Bos- ton, was granted by Charles I, King of England, in 1629 to the "Governor and Com- pany of the Massachusetts Bay in Newe England."
These early settlers heard many tales from the Nipmuck Indians who came to trade, bringing their beaver skins in ex- change for trinkets, hatchets, knives and wampum. They told of the beauty and rich soil of the valley of the "long river," Quine- citicut. As the early settlers depended upon agriculture for their livelihood, they were attracted by these tales and decided to move "west." It seems strange to us to think of the Connecticut River as once having been the Western Frontier.
In 1635 William Pynchon, John Cable, a carpenter and John Woodstock, an Indian guide, investigated this region. Upon re- turning to Roxbury they persuaded a group of eight men to migrate with their families to this fertile valley. The General Court in 1636 granted leave to settle this new planta- tion - thus Springfield was born, with Wil- liam Pynchon acting as its leader for the first fifteen years. It must have taken real courage for families to start out with all their possessions and travel through this
wilderness, along the old Bay Path, where Indians-at times savage and unfriendly- and wild animals were the only inhabitants. The very next year this new settlement was forced to help fight the Indians in the Pequot War!
These early settlers purchased their land from the Indians for 18 fathoms of wampum, 18 coates, 18 hatchets, 18 knives, and 18 hoes. According to a deed recorded in Hamp- shire County Registry of Deeds, July, 1679, the extent of this land was considerable- extending on both sides of the Connecticut from Longmeadow to the Chicopee River. Peck's History of Wilbraham gives copies of several early treaty deeds with the Indians.
In 1662, Springfield, Northampton and Hadley, the only three townships then set- tled, were joined into a county to which was given the name of Hampshire. The south boundary was the Colony line; in every other direction the county bounds were to be thirty miles from any of the three towns. It was not until February 20, 1812, that the southern part of Hampshire County was set off as Hampden County-which ac- counts for the fact that many early deeds and wills were filed in Northampton.
In 1657, one hundred three years prior to Monson's incorporation, the General Court had granted two hundred acres of land to Richard Fellows, who was then engaged in transporting lead on horseback from the lead mine in Sturbridge to Springfield. He was given this grant on condition that he erect a tavern for travelers on the Bay Path pass- ing between Springfield and Brookfield. Due to fear of, and trouble with the Indians he abandoned the place and returned to Spring- field. The site of Fellows' Tavern was defi- nitely established in 1902 by O. P. Allen.
Mr. Allen published his findings in the Springfield Republican and suggested that the site be marked with an appropriate mon- ument. The W. N. Flynt Granite Company prepared suitable memorials to indicate the
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HISTORY OF MONSON
site and exercises were held to honor the occasion. A tin box containing the Spring- field Republican with O. P. Allen's historical account and a copy of the Palmer Journal were deposited beneath the granite block which marked the spot where the tavern stood - about twenty-five rods in the rear of Howard Fay's house - just over the line in the town of Monson on the road from Palmer. The marker bore this inscription:
Site of Fellows' Tavern 1657
Opposite the Fay house another granite slab was placed which called attention to the site reading :
Site of Fellows' Tavern built 1657 First house in Monson also first house between Springfield and Brookfield Marked by slab 25 rods due west from this monument Erected 1902 by O. P. Allen and W. N. Flynt Granite Co.
The smaller slab is still in the rear of Mr. Fay's home, but the larger one has dis- appeared, possibly by flood waters, the con- struction of a bridge or the improvement of the highway which is the direct route from Palmer to Monson.
The history of the western part of Brim- field becomes the history of the territory now known as Monson. On June 20, 1701, the General Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony, in compliance with the petition of twenty-one citizens of Springfield, appoint- ed a committee of five Springfield men: Major John Pynchon, Captain Thomas Col- ton, James Warriner, David Morgan and Joseph Stebbins, to lay out a new township to the eastward of Springfield, to allot lands, and to have the general management of the affairs of settlement. The township was to be eight miles square from the out- ward commons of Springfield. Grants of land were to be made to sixty families; but no more than 120 acres were to be assigned to any one person. The committee was in- structed to take possession within one year's
time, settle ten families within three years, and seventy within five years; settling also a learned and pious minister. Three at- tempts were made to locate the best spot for the "town plot" or central village. Finally the most likely place for the center of the town was located on King's Hill, later called Grout's Hill, and now known as East Hill. The first grants of land were made Decem- ber 31, 1701, to thirteen persons on condi- tion that they should begin the following spring "to subdue their lands." This condi- tion was not fulfilled and for a number of years no grants were made. The reason given was that "through the Distress of War, they Could not Possibly settle ye Place In Such manner and time as was appointed."
Robert Olds was the first actual settler within the present boundary of Monson. Land records show that in 1715 he sold land in Springfield and removed to a new claim just south of the Fellows farm in the then Town of Brimfield. Olds lived on this farm until his death in 1736 when the property was sold to James Merrick. The farm was later owned by Cornelius Foley and is now in the possession of Paul and James Meur- isse.
In 1714 Brimfield was granted an ex- tension of three miles to the east and the town center was changed to Tower Hill. It was not until 1731 that the General Court settled the conflicting titles to the town lands, finally confirming the grants made by the first committee. It was further ordered that the whole of the remaining lands should belong to certain grantees, eighty- four in number, to be divided among them. The first allotment was 120 acres to each proprietor as a full share. Each drew a num- ber which fixed his order in the division of the land. A total of 40,964 acres was thus distributed of which total, 26,000 acres, was located in Monson. The home sites of those settlers in the western portion of Brimfield at the time of this distribution are indicated on the map in the front of the book.
On June 7, 1759, a petition was sent to the General Court by the inhabitants of the west part of the Town of Brimfield, request- ing to become a separate district, because "we live and labour under very great Diffi- culties in attending the Public Worship of God by Reason of our living so Remote from the meeting House."
Examination of the Proprietor's Book, early deeds and other papers, has yielded the following list of men who are believed to have been living within the territory soon
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HISTORY OF MONSON
to become Monson: Richard Bishop, Eben- ezer Bliss, Josiah Bliss, James Blodgett, Thomas Blodgett, Joseph Colton, Josiah Conway (?), Joseph Craft, John Davidson, ~ John Davis, Robert Dunkley, Joseph Foot, Nathaniel Fuller, J. Ferry, Marke Ferry, Jonathan Frost, Humphre Gardner, William Gold, Aarons Graves, Nicholas Groves, James Grow, Stephen Hatch, Edmund Hoar, Reu- ben Hoar, David Hitchcock, Jabez Keep, Josiah Keep, Simeon Keep, Jacob Kibbee, Samuel Kilborn, Samuel King, Thomas King, Jonas Mace, Aaron Merrick, Ebenezer Mer- rick, James Merrick, James Merrick, Jr., Phineas Merrick, Joseph Moulton, Benjamin Munn, Benjamin Munn, Jr., Nathaniel Munn, Nathaniel Munn, Jr., Nathaniel Rogers, James Shaw, Joshua Shaw, Joshua Shaw, Jr., John Shields, Francis Sikes, Thomas Stebbins, Daniel Warner, Daniel Woods, John Woods, Ebenezer Wood, Ste- phen Wood, 3 tenants and one people of color.
In spite of strong protest by the repre- sentative from Brimfield, the petition was granted on April 25, 1760. The new district was named Monson by Governor Pownal in honor of his friend, Admiral Monson, then president of the British Board of Trade.
The English government had taken of- fense and alarm at the increasing numbers and power of the representative element in the Massachusetts legislature. The incor- poration of new towns was forbidden unless they would consent to forego the privilege of representation. The inhabitants of Mon- son had all the rights of a town with this exception, that they should unite with Brim- field in the choice of a representative. Mon- son was regularly incorporated as a town on October 20, 1775.
The first town meeting in 1760, ex- pressed as "district meeting," was called on a warrant issued by Captain John Sherman, who was physician, school teacher, town clerk, and justice of the peace of Brimfield. This meeting was warned by Constable Sam- uel King and was held at his home.
In 1762, a town meeting was held in a tavern kept by Richard Bishop, which was located a little west of the present Monson Consumers' Cooperative Store site. At this meeting a committee was appointed to ob- tain a site for the raising of a meeting house. This was accomplished by procur- ing land from Colonel Dwight and erecting a meeting house, plain and primitive, near the location of the present Congregational Church. It served two purposes : a place to
worship and a place to hold official town meetings. Previous to this the settlers met at various homes for worship.
To help finance the erection of this first meeting house, a grant was secured from the General Court for permission to apply a tax of a penny an acre on all land in the town for a duration of two years.
One has but to read the town's records to realize that the church in the early days was the very heart of the life of the com- munity.
FAC SIMILE OF THE FIRST WARRANT For Town Meeting in the Town of Monson, HELD JUNE 9TH, 1760.
Hampshiref. Ao Samuel King of Monfor Fishingon the County aforest Gentleman greeting
In his magestres Name you are hereby Required to notifie & Warn the Inhabitants of Monson quallafied to Vote in town affairs, that they medo affemble themselves together at the house of MY Samuel Kings in for Monfor; on Monday the 9th Day of June next, at twelve of f Clock on s& Day, then and there to Elect Chuje all fuch officers as Shall be necessary to Manage the affaires of th District, Dated at Brimfield the 28th Day of May, and 39 year of His Majestics Reign, annoaf? Domini 1760:
John . Phermian Jus Pač. -
Return on the back of the Warrant, by Samuel King, Great-Grand- father of Sylvenus King, who presented the original to the town of Monson, in October, 1885.
Hamp Shime JS grande 6: 1760 By X youths of this warvont have wanner the Inhal- stats of morgon District according to the Direction
Warment Sanit King
Warrant of First Town Meeting
HISTORY OF MONSON
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MONSON, MASS., AS IT WAS IN 1860.
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HISTORY OF MONSON
Church History
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
The Congregational Church was offi- cially organized on June 23, 1762, with the following members, most of whom trans- ferred by letter from Brimfield: Josiah Bliss, Joseph Colton, Joseph Craft, John Davidson, James Grow, Mrs. David Hitch- cock, Edmund Hoar, Mrs. Josiah Keep, Josiah Keep, Mrs. John Keep, Samuel King, Ebenzer Merrick, Benjamin Munn, Benja- min Munn, Jr., Nathaniel Munn, Nathaniel Rogers, Thomas Stebbins, Thomas Stebbins, Jr., Frances Sykes, Daniel Warner.
The Council on that day ordained Ab- ishai Sabin, who served the church until 1771, when poor health forced him to retire from active duties. Reverend Jesse Ives succeeded him, and his pastorate of thirty- three years covered a period of great im- portance in the life of the town, the state, and the nation. During the Revolutionary War he served for eighteen months as a chaplain in the Continental Army.
In 1803 a second meeting house was built. It was a fine example of church archi- tecture of that period. Three years later the Reverend Alfred Ely became its pastor. His pastorate extended from 1806 to 1866, which included thirty-six years of active service, and the remaining years as senior pastor.
SECOND MEETING HOUSE DEDICATED NOV. 16, 1803
REV. ALFRED ELY, D.D.
HOME OF DR. ELY
The first bell, a gift of Deacon Abel Goodell, was placed in the church soon after its erection in 1803. It was given on condi- tion that it should be rung on his birthday each year. Deacon Goodell died six years after the installation of the bell.
In' 1830 the bell became cracked and was replaced in 1831. Regulations for ringing the new bell were as follows: for worship services, at noon, at nine o'clock in the even- ing, tolled at the death of all persons in the town (counting the number of their years), and at their funerals. The ringing of the bell announced the deaths of three presi- dents, summoned people from their slumber to help extinguish fires, and announced the dawn of the anniversary of Independence.
Revival services were held from time to time and in 1806 one hundred eleven
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HISTORY OF MONSON
people joined the church as a result of a revival movement.
Extensive repairs were made on the meeting house in 1833, raising the floor eight feet, introducing modern pews, and adorning the walls. The cost was over three thousand dollars.
Thirty-three years later, in the summer of 1871, this second meeting house was sold and removed to the site of the present A & P store on the east side of Main Street, nearly opposite the Soldiers' Monument. The first floor was fitted up for stores, while above was a community room known as Green's Hall.
This third building built near the old site was dedicated June 18, 1873. The total cost for building and furnishings was about forty thousand dollars.
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
This church has had two organs. The first was rather small. The second, a large Johnson organ, was given by Miss Esther R. Holmes. It was installed in 1892 at a cost of six thousand dollars. This organ was com-
pletely renovated in 1953. An extensive re- modeling program on the church is now in progress. Sunday School rooms are being made in the basement, also other improve- ments to meet present-day needs.
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