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HISTORY
ROWE, MASSACHUSETTS
PERC WHITING BROWN
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
GENEALOGY 974.402 P.78BA
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01145 7303
HISTORY
OF
ROWE, MASSACHUSETTS
By PERCY WHITING BROWN
Charter Life Member Rowe Historical Society Member of Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association Member (Ex-President) of Concord Antiquarian Society Member of Bostonian Society Corresponding Member of Fitchburg Historical Society Member of The Society of Mayflower Descendants Member of The Society of Colonial Wars Member of The Sons of the Revolution
1960 THIRD EDITION
Published by the Town of Rowe
Allen County Public Library Ft. Wayne, Indiana
Printed by The White Eagle Printing Co. Adams, Massachusetts
2222606
INTRODUCTION
For many years the writer has had a great love for the Rowe hills, and in his many walks and drives has accumulat- ed items of interest both historical and personal. The sight of an old cellar-hole* with its pink fire-weed and neighboring lilac bush has always held a solemn fascination, and has brought up pictures of a once happy family.
"Near younder thorn, that lifts its head on high, Where once the sign-post caught the passing eye,
Low lies that house where nut-brown draughts inspired, Where gray-beard mirth, and smiling toil retired, Where village statesmen talk'd with looks profound, And news much older than their ale went round."
Then too, the roads became a subject for study: how the earliest highways were laid out in straight lines with little regard for hill summits, and how an early philospher fetched a kettle to town meeting to prove that the distance around a hill was no greater than over it.
Some research work in the Registry of Deeds at Greenfield, which included copying and collating 150 deeds of the first settlers, resulted in a graphic picture of the early lay-out of the community; and the accuracy of putting together this picture-puzzle was attested by comparing the boundary lines in these deeds with the line-walls of today. This work was a pleasant one, and yielded good dividends. For example, we found in the town records that a cross-road was discon- tinued over a century ago, and one of the old deeds showed the owner of a farm on that cross-road to have been Joseph Steel, who we know was implicated in Shay's Insurrection in 1786. Then an afternoon's walk through the woods, and underbrush to the place revealed a few ancient apple trees still hanging onto life, and a tangle of cinnamon roses hiding a small cellar-hole.
*There are over 60 cellar-holes to be seen in Rowe.
The history of the town is simply told. Only three years after the last Indian raid (1759) on the frontiers of Massachu- setts, a land speculator (who happened to be a Berkshire minister without a parish), purchased one of the few remain- ing tracts of state land, and moved his family to a newly constructed house of split planks in the middle of the four- square-mile parallelogram. He offered his lands at a low price; but new settlers were slow to come, and by 1770, there were but eight families here including his own. The next five years witnessed a larger influx, and by the outbreak of the Revolution there were 28 families. However, by 1784, there were only nine houses, the rest being log-huts; yet there were two mills operated by waterpower, and a goodly number of livestock. With 88 polls, with roads laid out, and with annual appropriations for gospel and schools, the people were ready for incorporation as a town. The growth thenceforward was steady and sure, until the period between 1830 and 1850. Since then, the lure of the West and the rise of manufacturing in the valley mill-towns, have constantly challenged the ambitious young men and women, and the census figures record a continuous decline since the middle of the last century.
The hardships of the early days, the squabbles over the location of the meeting-house (which was a most important factor in the life of our ancesters), and over the seating of the members, the changing of ministers, the coming of the railroad, the introduction of labor-reducing agricultural im- plements, all these and many other items go toward making the story of a New England hill-town.
This History was first published in 1922 by the author. Additional items were collected in subsequent years, and in 1935 a second and larger edition was published by the author for the 150th anniversary of the town. Both editions have long been out of print. At the annual town meeting in January 1958 it was voted that the sum of $1500 be appro- priated to publish a third edition and the copies be sold
at cost by the Rowe Town Library and the receipts returned to the General Treasury. Accordingly, the author has made revisions and additions to the History down to date.
The 1950's witnessed a radical change in affairs, partly as a result of the prosperity of the Glassine Company and the resultant cash wages to a number of Rowe citizens. Then in 1955 came the announcement of the proposed atomic energy plant to cost at least 35 million. Sensing the com- ing changes, the town fathers obtained the adoption of a comprehensive set of By-Laws. In December 1955, the author of this history, a long-time summer resident, gave to the town most of his real estate, comprising some 485 acres, to be maintained as a Town Forest, Public Park and Recreation Area, which included Pelham Lake and Dam, most of Adams Mountain, and the Mill Pond in the village.
Grateful acknowledgement is hereby made to the Board of Selectmen for their cooperation and to the members of the Rowe Historical Society for assistance in the publication of this third edition of the history.
The author has drawn freely from the following sourc- es :-
Massachusetts Archives, State House, Boston, 1744-1785
Rowe Town Records, 1785-1935
Perry's Origins in Williamstown, 1894
Sheldon's History of Deerfield, 1895
Holland's History of Western Massachusetts, 1855
Greenfield Gazette-Centennial Edition, 1892
Amid Rowe Hills, by Mrs. M. A. Smith, 1904
Baptist Church in Rowe (1810-1910) by Mrs. Lilian Cressy Peck The Rise of the Tide of Life to New England Hilltops (N. E. Magazine, Aug. 1900) Edward P. Pressey
Green Leaves from Whitingham, Vt., by Clark Jillson, 1894
Barber's Historical Collections, 1839
Nason's Gazeteer of Massachusetts, 1874
Letters and Diary of John Rowe, 1759-1762, 1764-1779, edited by Anne Rowe Cunningham, 1903
Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings, Second Series, Vol. X Article by Edward Lillie Pierce
Correspondence of William Shirley Edited by Charles Henry Lincoln, 1912 Reminiscences of Rev. Preserved Smith of Warwick, Privately printed, 1904 Journal of Gen. Rufus Putnam, 1757-1760 Reprinted in Albany, 1886
History of the Congregational Society in Rowe, by Deacon John Thomas, 1845 From the Hub to the Hudson, Washington Gladden, 1869
Wood's Turnpikes of New England, 1919
History and Proceedings of Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Asso- ciation at Deerfield
History of the Connecticut Valley, 1879 Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester
Farewell Sermon Preached at Rowe June 10, 1804 by Preserved Smith A. M.
Historical Discourse delivered at Charlemont 1855 by Joseph White
Vermont Life, Autumn 1952 - Article by J. H. Buffum, Jr. Hall Tavern, 1939, by Allan Healy
"Rocky Knoll," Rowe, 1958
PERCY W. BROWN
NB: The author, Percy W. Brown, passed away in December of 1958 before completing this third revision of his "History of Rowe".
The Rowe Historical Society has undertaken to make the revisions and additions which Mr. Brown had indicated in his notes and manu- scripts. This edition is published for the 175th Anniversary of the town which will be celebrated on "Old Home Day", July 9, 1960. On that day a Memorial Tablet at Pelham Lake Park will be dedi- cated to Mr. Brown acknowledging his unselfish devotion to Rowe.
July 1, 1960
ROWE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
CHAPTER I
Topographical Description 1
Mountains
3
Streams and Mills-seats
3
Mines and Minerals
7
CHAPTER II
Rowe in King George's War
9
CHAPTER III
From 1754 to 1785
24
Pelham
27
First Permanent Settlement
28
CHAPTER IV
Early Town Affairs 35
37 Shay's Insurrection Roads 38
CHAPTER V
Upon this rock I will build my church 48
CHAPTER VI
Preserved Smith in Rowe
59
CHAPTER VII
Schools, Library, Burying-Grounds, Stages, etc. 68
Schools 69
Library
70
Stages and Stage-Drivers 72
Pounds 73
Burying-Grounds 74
Postmasters 76
77
Freemasonry
Grange
78
The Rowe Historical Society 79
CHAPTER VIII
John Rowe
81
CHAPTER IX
Rowe's Military History 85
Page
CHAPTER X Old People and Traditions 91
CHAPTER XI
Economic Development
108
CHAPTER XII
Electric Power from the Atom
117
APPENDIX A
Monroe
119
APPENDIX B
Census
120
APPENDIX C
Tax Hardships 1780
121
APPENDIX D
Fulham Grant
123
APPENDIX E
Green and Walker Grant
123
APPENDIX F
Assessors' Return for 1784
124
APPENDIX G
The Mohawk Trail
126
APPENDIX H
Maple Sugar
127
APPENDIX I
Hoosac Tunnel
128
APPENDIX J
Selectmen of Rowe
128
APPENDIX K
Printing in Rowe 134
PERCY WHITING BROWN 1887 - 1958
Rarely does a town have occasion to pay tribute to a person who never held a town office, who was never even a voter, but who has contributed much to the town's betterment. It is very appropriate, however, that we acknowledge the great contributions made to the Town of Rowe by Percy Whiting Brown.
On few communities has the career of a single man made such a deep and lasting impression as that of Percy Brown on our town. Mr. Brown first visited Rowe as a young man with his parents, the late Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Brown of Concord. His affection for and interest in the town never waned and even after 1923 when his business took him to Cleveland, Ohio he became practically a week-end commuter to Rowe during the summer months.
Many old-timers will recall those summers he spent here cruising the highways and byways cramped in a Model "T" Ford examining old cellar holes, enjoying every view, and gathering data for his "History of Rowe". Percy Brown's "History" has given the new- comers a deep insight into the early days of the town, its folklore and legends, and its heritage. Rowe will always be indebted for the countless hours he spent in compiling the details of our town's past. To many people, both now and in future generations, the name of Percy Brown will be linked with happy hours spent at Pelham Lake Park.
Probably Mr. Brown's earliest contribution to the townspeople of Rowe was the use of a look-out tower he had erected on the summit of Mt. Adams in the late 1920's. In 1927 he acquired the property of the former Foliated Talc Company including Pelham Lake, and in subsequent purchases acquired land east and north of the lake. Shortly after his acquisition of the lake property he provided neces- sary repairs to the dam which had been condemned by the State. The condemnation had resulted in draining the lake but with repairs completed it was again flooded and Mr. Brown encouraged its use for bathing, boating and fishing but he refused to permit the spoil- ing of its natural beauty by commercial development. Since the townspeople, their guests and residents of neighboring communities had regarded the Lake as a public playground for nearly thirty years, the gift of this property to the townspeople of Rowe may not be fully appreciated for years to come. In 1955 Percy Brown, in presenting Pelham Lake and surrounding land to the townspeople, established a game sanctuary and town forest and park to be held in trust for future generations.
Percy Whiting Brown was 71 years of age when he died on December 8, 1958. He had spent 53 years in close association with Rowe and with its people. We will long remember him as a fine gentleman and a true friend.
- Rowe Annual Report - 1958
PERCY WHITING BROWN
The Village, Looking South
The Village, Looking North On the left B. T. Henry's Store and Union Hall
Old Methodist Church and East Cemetery
Unitarian Church at Old Center
-
-
The Village in 1899 Showing Henry's Store, Town Hall, Union Hall and Satinet Factory in the background.
Satinet Factory
Ford - Hall
Ford Hall at the Old Center
Village Blacksmith Shop - 1910 owned by John Richards near the Mill Pond Dam
Massachusetts Talc Mine
Davis Mine Cave-In
Davis Mine - Shaft #3
Hoosac Tunnel & Wilmington Railroad
Town Pound
Sherman Station on Deerfield River
Rowe Hills, Looking North
Thomas Scott's Boot and Shoe Factory - 1900 at foot of Browning Hill on Pelham Brook
Rowe Town Library
-- -
Highway Garage and Fire Station - 1959
Rev. Preserved Smith Chapel - 1959
=
Community Baptist Church - 1959
TRE VILLAGE STUBE
The Village Store - 1959
Pelham Lake Park Beach
Rowe Village School
1959 Old Home Day Parade
The Hills of Rowe, Looking Southwest
Yankee Atomic Electric Company nearing completion
HISTORY OF ROWE, MASSACHUSETTS CHAPTER I.
TOPOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION
"For the Country it is as well watered as any land under the Sunne." Wood's New England Prospect.
The territory that comprises the town of Rowe originally belonged to Hampshire County,* and so remained until 1811, when it was transferred to the County of Franklin, then in- corporated. It is situated in the northwestern part, twenty- two miles from Greenfield, the County seat.
The land is distinctly rugged and mountainous. The Green Mountains of Vermont extend southerly into Massachusetts dividing into two parallel ridges called the Taconic and the Hoosac Mountains. The Taconic ridge divides the water-shed of the Housatonic from that of the Hudson, and the most con- spicuous peak is Greylock. The Hoosac ridge divides the Connecticut water-shed from the waters of the Hoosac and Housatonic and the chief elevations are Spruce Hill in Adams and Clarksburg Mountain. The gneissic rocks of the Hoosac range extend to the east of Rowe, and we may properly call the Rowe hills part of the Hoosac Mountains.
The territory purchased in 1762 by Rev. Cornelius Jones was in form a parallelogram, of which the northern boundary formed the Province Line. The northern boundary of Mass- achusetts was stated to be "a curved line pursuing the course of the Merrimack River at three miles distance on the north side thereof, beginning at the Atlantic Ocean and ending at a point due north of Pawtucket Falls (now Lowell), and a straight course drawn from thence due west." In 1741 Richard Hazen, a surveyor of Haverhill, ran the line; but the line "due west" was in fact about 1° 45' north of due west, so that about one-third of the present township of Rowe
*The western part of the unincorporated tract called Zoar was for- merly in Berkshire County.
2
HISTORY OF ROWE
would otherwise have fallen to New Hampshire and later to Vermont. This is still called "Hazen's Line." The western boundary of this parallelogram included a fourth part of the present town of Monroe, or some 1500 acres, approximately the territory between the Deerfield River and a line drawn nearly north and south (S.2°E.) through a point fifty rods east of Monroe Four Corners. The eastern boundary was two hundred rods west of the present one; while the southern boundary was at least three hundred rods north of the mouth of Steel Brook.
When the town was incorporated February 9, 1785, there were added two hundred rods on the east and south, and an irregular tract on the southwestern corner to include the Fulham Grant, which roughly today represents the Veber and two Cressy farms. In 1838 (April 2) the unincorporated tract called Zoar was divided; the eastern portion was given to Charlemont and the western portion, from Florida Bridge around the Great Bend, to Rowe. £ In 1822 the portion west of the Deerfield River was set off as a part of the newly in- corporated town of Monroe .* (See Appendix A.)
The country at the time of the first clearing in 1744 was practically covered with primeval forests. Many of the old valley towns owe their beginnings to the absence of trees which resulted from the annual burnings by the Indians. But the savages seldom penetrated the upland forests of Rowe, ** and the region was left to the haunts of wolves, bears, deer and smaller animals. A petition to the Legis- lature in March 1780 sets forth "that the inhabitants of the western counties were greatly distressed by reason of the destruction of the sheep and neat cattle by wolves, cata- mounts, and wild cats, which are numerous in some parts of said counties."
*The Town Report for 1957 shows a total of 14,653 acres assessed in Rowe.
** One or two arrow-heads have been ploughed up; and the writer has a stone knife, the gift of the finder, F. A. Browning.
3
MASSACHUSETTS
MOUNTAINS
Adams Mountain. At first this was called "the south mountain," but it was called Adams Mountain as early as 1797. This distinguishing feature of the town is in the southern part and rises to an altitude of 2140 feet above sea level. It heads a long ridge which culminates in Coon Hill, 1623 feet high, in Zoar. The Vermont line crosses Streeter Hill at an altitude of 2100 feet. The old road to Readsboro north from the old center of the town passes to the east of elevations 2,034, 1,967 and 1,937 feet respectively. Pulpit Rock, a colossal pulpit formed by the cleavage of a cliff, is 900 feet above the Deerfield River in the western part of the town, and is flanked by elevations of 1806 feet and 1951 feet. The entire west slope is precipitous and was described in the crude map of 1779 as a "steep moun- tain." In only two places on this slope has the art of man been able to maintain roads; namely the road down to Monroe Bridge, and the road from the "Cressy Neighbor- hood" down to Hoosac Tunnel. In 1809 a road was esta- blished from the Granger place (n.w. of Truesdell-Hazelton farm) which zig-zagged down to the Deerfield, crossing by a ford, and following Dunbar Brook to the west line of Rowe.
STREAMS AND MILL-SEATS
Deerfield River. This chief tributary of the Connecticut River rises in southern Vermont, and enters Massachusetts in a southerly direction, then bears to the southwest forming the western boundary of Rowe. At the eastern portal of Hoosac Tunnel it makes a great bend to the southeast, form- ing the southern boundary of Rowe until it reaches the abutments of the old Florida Bridge. Between Wilmington, Vt. and its junction with the Connecticut at Greenfield, the Deerfield falls over 1800 feet, of which well over half is utilized for power. In 1886 James Ramage of Holyoke erected a dam at Monroe Bridge and built a plant for the manufacture of pulp and manila paper, used chiefly for
4
HISTORY OF ROWE
boxes. Operations were begun December 9, 1887. A substantial brick plant later used as a warehouse is located on the Rowe side. In 1913 the property was sold to the New England Power Company and a long canal was built to convey the water of the Deerfield to a hydro-electric power plant (No. 5) three miles down the river on the Florida side. The pulp and paper plants were sold to W. G. Shortess of New York, a well-known paper manufacturer, and electric power was purchased of the New England Power System. The Deerfield Glassine Co., incorporated in 1927, acquired the property and manufactures glassine paper. In Dec. 1930, C. N. Stoddard was appointed equity receiver and in Feb. 1935 a reorganization was approved under the Corporate Bankruptcy Act. Since then the company has prospered in the manufacture of glassine, a thin, tough, glazed paper nearly transparent, used for envelope windows, wrapping candy and other packaged goods. In 1920 these plants were considerably enlarged at a cost of some $250,000. In the early sixties the Deerfield was dammed a short distance above the Great Bend and a fall of thirty feet was obtained. Compressed air was thus supplied for the drills used in boring the Tunnel and was first brought into use in June 1866.
Pelham Brook. This considerable stream rises on the southwestern slopes of Streeter Hill, flows southerly for four and one-half miles to the confluence with the Deerfield at Zoar .* Several brooks add to its volume, of which but one, Steel Brooks bears a name. This stream rises in the western part of the town and takes a general southerly course meeting Pelham Brook at the southern boundary of Rowe. Other small tributaries rise in various parts of the town; one north of the road to Heath, another on the south-
*Zoar, "So-called because a former citizen, Lot like, left behind in the East a disagreeable wife." (Centennial Gazette). Also see Genesis 19:20-22, where the ancient city of Zoar is described as "a little one."
5
MASSACHUSETTS
ern slope of Streeter Hill, another north of the old center, known locally as Langdon Brook, and others from one to two miles west of the old center. The first mills in Rowe were on Pelham Brook which as early as 1773 was called Pelham Mill Brook. The map of 1793 shows a saw-mill above the bridge which crosses the brook a mile south of the old center, and a "corn mill" (grist mill) just below the bridge on the south side of the brook. A deed of 1778 mentions a "sawmill" in the lower end of the flat south of the present center schoolhouse, and traces of the dam are still visible. The flat was probably the site of the mill pond. Without question these were the first mills. The next mill was a saw-mill a little above the place where the brook is crossed by the road to Heath. Probably the fifth mill was the so-called Thomas Fellows mill on Pelham Brook, a mile and a quarter above the mouth of Steel Brook. Fellows
mill is mentioned as early as 1796. The saw-mill and grist mill by the bridge were owned by Moses Rogers as early as 1793. The saw-mill which has disintegrated on the west side of the brook, was built by Ambrose Stone in 1835,* and some of the first lumber turned out was used in building the satinet factory ** erected and operated by Solomon Ami- don and Joseph Burton in 1836, later by the Franklin Manu- facturing Company until 1847, a hundred rods to the north. Power for the latter was obtained from an overshot wheel, and the water was supplied by a long ditch or flume from the bed of the brook a few rods below the reservoir at the north- west base of Adams Mountain. S. P. Day *** subsequent- ly operated the factory in a small way. The old stone dam
*Amidon and Stockwell owned the sawmill in March 1857. Moses Bullard followed by Will Reid operated the saw-mill before acquisi- tion by the Foliated Talc Co. in 1905.
** Satinet was a fabric having a cotton warp and wool filling used in the manufacture of men's clothing, and was made by many plants throughout New England.
*** Stephen P. Day had the factory in August 1847 if bills incurred are any proof, yet it was called Franklin Mfg. Co. in July 1847.
6
HISTORY OF ROWE
was blown up in 1879 or 1880 to prevent taxes accruing on an unused water power, and in 1905-6 it was rebuilt by the Foliated Talc Company to supply a constant head of water for their mill a mile down stream near the village school. A carding machine and fulling mill was built in 1808 by Selah Munson below the Nims-Hawks-Darling house, (called "Mr. Nims Fulling Mill" in 1810)*, and later another above the house of the late Mrs. Julia A. Browning. After 1812, Erastus and Moses Gleason enlarged the business of Ebene- zer Nims, and added 60 spindles for the manufacture of satinets. The carding machinery was removed and the "clothing-works" carried on by Solomon Amidon and Moses Gleason, who then moved upstream. The Fellows saw-mill stood below Charles King's, which was later owned by Rufus Hyde who lost his life in the flood of 1869. Fayette Snow in more recent years had a wheel-wright shop just below the talc mill. The old Rogers grist mill below the blacksmith shop bridge was probably rebuilt "prior to 1825 by Thomas Brothers, and later sold to Abijah Burnap." Elijah Car- penter bought it about 1870 and added machinery for mak- ing Venetian blinds and chair stock. The mill was burned March 10, 1875. A tannery was operated for a number of years by Alfred Olds, Pliny and Joel Wells, Hitchcock & Maxwell and later by Thomas Scott and Sons, at the foot of Mrs. Julia Browning's hill. Below this was a currier shop, and a shop for making boots and shoes. Thomas Scott's Day Book (1846-1851) records sales of many pairs of boots ($1.50 per pair usually, $3.50 for a fine pair), and many items of new soles or mending. A shop for making planes and other bench tools still stands on the "pond road," and Horace Browning, the owner obtained power from the water in the flume leading to the satinet factory. Rev. Arad Hall had a shop in the southwest part of the town for making rakes, and later another shop with a modern water power by the
*A Fulling Mill Pond is mentioned in 1807 near the Nims house.
7
MASSACHUSETTS
bridge a little below the Miller-Ayers house .* The brook has been known locally as Hall Brook and Shovel Handle Brook. At the foot of Tuttle's Flats, a mile above the pre- sent town centre, are the remains of an old stone dam and millsite. A tannery and potash works were once located at the old centre. S. Nash operated this tannery (a few rods east of the Robert Wells house) before 1800, and was succeeded by Asa Foster 2nd, Enos Adams, Alfred Olds, and Thomas Harrington. A small brook supplied sufficient water to make a little pond in which the writer when a small boy enjoyed swimming.
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