USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > History of the county of Berkshire, Massachusetts, in two parts > Part 1
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A
HISTORY
or
THE COUNTY OF BERK
MASSACHUSETTS ;
IN TWO PA'
THE FIRST B
GENERAL VIEW
THE
ACCOUNT OF
BY GEN
CLE
F +2 B5 FM
Iowa
" MASSACHUSETTS, To wit : RICT CLERK'S OFFICE.
MBERED, That on the twenty-third 1. D. 1829, in the fifty-third year of ited States of America, David D. deposited in this Office the title of claims as proprietor, in the words 'y of the County of Berkshire, The first being a General View of 'nt of the several Towns. By men and Laymen."-In con- f the United States, entitled arning, by securing the co- > authors and proprietors of entioned;" and also to an › an Act, entitled, an Act tring the copies of maps, tors of such copies dur- ling the benefits there- etching historical and O. W. DAVIS, ៛ Massachusetts ..
PREFACE.
THE HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE owes its existence to the following votes of the Berkshire Association of Con- gregational Ministers, passed at their session in Stock- bridge, June 13th, 1826 .:
" 1st. That we will adopt measures to secure the wri- ting, and as soon as circumstances shall permit, the printing and circulation, of a History of the County ; which shall embrace an account of every thing important in'it, whether natural or artificial, civil, literary, or reli- gious :- more particularly, which shall embrace an ac- count of the settlement of the several Towns; the form- ation of Parishes and Churches ; the settlement, dis- mission and death of Ministers; revivals of religion, . and sketches of the lives of eminent men.
2d. That Rev. Mr. Field be requested to collect and prepare the materials for said History."
At the time these votes were passed, it was designed to apply to Prof. DEWEY to write the Natural History of the County. He has done more: The part to which his name is prefixed, is written by him, with the exception ¿of the paragraphs which respect the early settlement of the County, the Aboriginal inhabitants, the Revolution- :ary War, Shays' Insurrection, the Courts, revivals of religion, and most of the Tables. These have been supplied by the Committee, according to an early wn- derstanding between the Professor and him,
iv
PREFACE.
The Clergymen belonging to the Association were expected to write the history of their own Towns, and in some instances, of adjoining Towns, where no Min- isters were settled ; or at least to supply the Committee with facts, from which he might compile a history. They have written what is ascribed to them, except that in some cases facts are inserted which they had omit- ted. In a few instances, facts are erased which had been more appropriately introduced in other parts of the work; and in others, statements, found to be erro- neus, are corrected. The same liberty has been taken with the manuscripts furnished by Laymen. In gener- al, however, the histories of the towns appear, both as to "matter and form," as they were written by the au- thors.
For the facts concerning Cheshire, the Committee is indebted principally to the Rev. HENRY B. HOOKER, and JONATHAN RICHARDSON, Esq ; for those concerning Savoy, to Elder BENJAMIN F. REMINGTON, and SNEL- LEM BABBITT, Esq. ; and for those concerning Florida, to JESSE J. KING, Esq. and Deacon ROBERT FIFE. Several persons have furnished him with facts concern- ing New Ashford. ISRAEL JONES, Esq., of Adams, has been particularly kind in collecting and communicating facts concerning several towns in the north part of the County.
To all these gentlemen, and to all others, who have assisted him in any way in preparing this work for the press, the Committee takes this opportunity to return his warmest thanks.
In arranging the Towns, the general order of their settlement has been followed. Where one town origin- ally included several, the original town, and the towns formed out of it, are of course given in connection.
HISTORY
' OF
THE COUNTY OF BERKSHIRE,
PART I.
CONTAINING A
GENERAL VIEW OF THE COUNTY.
BY REV. CHESTER DEWEY,
Late Professor of Chemistry and Natural Philosophy in Williams College, and now Principal in the Berkshire Gymnasium.
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200
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE.
GENERAL VIEW OF THE COUNTY.
Situation, Extent, &c.
"THE County of Berkshire is the western part of the *Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and extends across the State from North to South. It belonged originally to the County of Hampshire, or to what was long fa- miliarly designated as the Old County of Hampshire, until its division in 1811-12, into three counties, Frank- lin on the north, Hampshire in the middle, and Hamp- den in the south. "It was separated and made a distinct county, by an act of the Provincial Legislature of Massachusetts, passed at their session in May, 1761, in the first year of the reign of GEORGE the THIRD. At that time there were but four incorporated towns in the County, viz. Sheffield, Stockbridge, New Marlborough, and Egremont; and but six plantations, viz. Pontoosuck, now Pittsfield; New Framingham, now Lanesborough ; West Hoosic, now Williamstown; No. 1, now Tyr- ingham ; No. 3, now Sandisfield, and No. 4, now Beck- et. The limits of the County, as given in the act, were · as follows, viz. " Beginning at the western line of Gran- ville, where it touches the Connecticut line, to run north- erly as far as said west line of Granville runs, then east- erly to the southwest corner of Blanford, and to run by the west line of the same town, to the north-western cor- ner thereof; from thence northerly in. a direct line to the south-east corner of No. 4, and so running by the · easterly line of No. 4, to the north-east corner thereof; and thence in a direct course to the south-west corner of Charlemont, and so northerly in the west line of the
8
HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE.
same town, till it comes to the north bound of the prov- ince, and northerly on the line between this province and the province of New Hampshire, [now Vermont, New Hampshire being considered at that time as run- ning as far west as Massachusetts, 7 and on the west by the utmost limits of this province." The lands within these limits, with the inhabitants thereon, it was enact- ed, should be, after the 30th of June, 1761, one entire county, by the name of Berkshire. This name was probably taken from the county of Berkshire, or Berks, a pleasant and important inland county in England, to the west of London.
There are now in the County, thirty towns, and three tracts of unincorporated land. The towns are Sheffield, Egremont, Mount Washington, Great Barrington, Al- ford, Stockbridge, West Stockbridge, Tyringham, New Marlborough, Sandisfield, Becket, Otis, Richmond, Lenox, Pittsfield, Dalton, Washington, Lee, Lanesbo- rough, Cheshire, New Ashford, Williamstown, Han- cock, Peru, Windsor, Hinsdale, Adams, Savoy, Clarks- burg, and Florida. The unincorporated tracts are Bos- ton Corner, on the south-west corner of the County, thus called, because it is the south-west corner of Bos- ton State, as Massachusetts is sometimes called ; the Gore, a tract west of Williamstown, in the form of a triangle, being about three and an half miles long, and one in breadth at the base, on Hancock line; and Zoar, a broken tract lying east of Florida, and principally east of Deerfield river.
At the time of the formation of the County, the line was not definitely settled between Massachusetts and New York. It remained many years afterwards, as it had been many before, a subject of discussion and dis-, pute between the governments and the inhabitants, and the cause of much anxiety and trouble. The Dutch Patentees laid claim to lands as far eastward as the Housatonic. When the line was run and finally estab- lished in 1787, by the Rev. Dr. Ewing and Dr. Ritten- house, of Philadelphia, and Thomas Hutchins, Esq., Commissioners appointed by Congress, at the request of the States of Massachusetts and New York, to per- form this business, it threw a considerable portion of the town of Hancock into the State of New York ; but
9
LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE.
it left a gore against West Stockbridge and Alford, which was attached to Berkshire, and subsequently an- nexed to those towns.
The eastern boundary has also been the subject of some alterations. In 1783, " the north-east corner of Becket, the south side of Partridgefield, [now Peru] a part of Washington, and the land called Prescotts' Grants, all in the County of Berkshire," with some lands in Worthington and Chester, in the county of Hampshire, were incorporated into a town by the name of Middlefield, and the whole was annexed to the coun- ty of Hampshire. Some years since, a strip of land was taken from Cummington and Plainfield, in Hamp- shire county, and added to Windsor, in this county. In 1793, a portion of the plantation, designated No. 7, now Hawley, lying within the limits of Berkshire, was annexed to that town, and to the county of Hampshire. In 1822, a gore of land in the north-east corner of this county, was incorporated, with so much of the town of Rowe in the adjoining county, as lies west of Deerfield. river, into a town by the name of Monroe, and the whole was annexed to the county of Franklin. The tract taken from Berkshire, begins on the north line of Florida, 600 rods from its north-west corner, and runs thence N. 10 deg. E. 880 rods, to the line of Vermont, and comprises all the land north of Florida, east of this northern line.
By these various alterations, the County of Berk- shire has been in a small degree diminished.
It lies between Lat. 42 deg. 2 min. and 42 deg. 44 min. N. The Latitude of the south-west corner of the County and State is 42 deg. 3 min. N., according to the Report of the Survey of the Boundary Line between this State and that of New York, made by Thomas Hutchins, Esq. in 1787. The Longitude of the north- west corner of the County and State is very nearly 73 deg. 23 min. W. ; that of the south-west corner is a lit- tle greater. The length of the west line of the County is stated in the above Report to be " fifty miles, forty- one chains, and seventy-nine links." It is considered to be a straight line in the Report, and its course is giv- en N. 15 deg. 12 min. 9 sec. E., the variation of the needle being at the time of the survey, (July, 1787) 5
10
HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE.
deg. 3 min. W. This line, as already intimated, is the present boundary between the States of Massachusetts and New York.
The breadth of the County, along the line of Ben- nington county, in Vermont, is about fourteen miles ;' and along the line of Litchfield county, in Connecticut, about twenty-four miles. The eastern bonndary is ir- regular, following the western boundary lines of the ad- joining towns in the counties of Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin. Several miles north of the south line, the breadth is about twenty-six miles, and across the middle about sixteen miles. The area of the County is about 950 square miles, or 608,000 square acres.
SETTLEMENT .- Berkshire was settled later than any other county in the Commonwealth ; and the fact, al- ready mentioned, that the boundary line between Mas- sachusetts and New York was not definitely fixed, pro- bably delayed the settlement. People were afraid, if they planted themselves on the Housatonic, they should be molested in their possessions. The Dutch, who had settled along the Hudson, and were expected to spread themselves eastward, were viewed at that time with prejudice, and were not desired as neighbors. Besides, the County was somewhat remote from other English settlements, was difficult of access, and while nearly the whole was covered with thick and almost impenetrable forests, large portions of it were broken and mountain- ous. In addition to these circumstances, serious fears were entertained by the English, if the Indians in the County could be kept in quietness, that incursions would be made into it by the Indians and French from Canada, coming down the waters of Lake Champlain and the Hudson, and then following the course of the Hoosic; that their habitations would be exposed to conflagration, and their persons to the tomahawk and scalping knife. At length, however, incipient measures were taken to settle two townships on the Housatonic, comprehending at this time the whole south-western sec- tion of the County. These settlements rendered it ne- cessary that a road should be opened from Westfield, over the range of the Green Mountains to Sheffield. This circumstance led to the location and settlement of
INCORPORATION-CENSUS.
the towns in the south-eastern section of the County. Sales of land also were made by the Legislature from time to time, and grants to companies and individuals, to compensate them for losses which they had sustained, or to reward them for labors which they had performed, while in the public service. These purchasers and grant- ees became interested, of course, in making settlements. The early erection of Fort Massachusetts on the Hoo- sic, in Adams, and the subsequent erection of smaller and temporary fortifications southward to the line of Connecticut, served to bring the lands in Berkshire into notice. The passage of large bodies of troops through the County, in the French wars, had the same effect, and tended to promote the settlement of them, after the close of those wars. Before the first French war, which was declared in 1744, there were but few settlers in' Berkshire. After that, and before the commencement of the second French war, which actually began in 1754, but was not formally declared till 1756, the settlers had considerably increased. After the close of this war in 1763, settlements advanced rapidly until the war of the Revolution. Since that time, the population has for the most part gradually, though until within a few years, slowly increased, by reason of the almost constant emi- gration to Vermont, New York, and other portions of our country. The succession of cold summers and un- fruitful seasons, ending with 1816, frightened many, who fled to the west, dreaming of perpetual sunshine and unfailing plenty.
The early settlers of Berkshire, with the exception of some families in a few of the south-western towns, were almost wholly of English extraction. They came from the middle and eastern parts of Massachusetts, from Connecticut and Rhode Island.
The following Table will show when the several towns in the County were first settled by the English, so far as has been ascertained, the time when they were incorprated, and the number of inhabitants, according to the census of the United States, in 1791, 1800, 1810 and 1820.
12
HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE.
Names.
Settled. Incor | 1791| 1800|
1810| 1820
Sheffield,
1725|1733
18991
2050
2439
2476
Egremont,
ab't 1730 1760
759
835
790
865
Mount Washington,
1753 or 4 1779
67
291
474
467
Great Barrington,
ab't 1730|1761
1373
1754
1784
1908
Alford,
ab't 1740 1773
577
518
522
570
Stockbridge,
1734-36
1739
1336
1261
1372
1377
West Stockbridge,
1766 1774
1113
1002
1049
1034
Tyringham,
1739 1762
1397
1712
1680
1443
New Marlborough,
1739
1759
1848
1822
1668
Sandisfield,
1750
1762
1581
1857
1795
1646
Becket,
1755 1765
751
930
1028
984
Otis,
1750-60 1773
605
1102
1111
981
Richmond,
1760 1765
1255
1044
1041
923
Lenox,
1750 1767
1169
1041
1310
1315
Pittsfield,
1752 1761
1992
2261
2665
2768
Dalton,
ab't 1755 1784
554
859
779
817
Washington,
1760 1777
588
914
942
750
Lee,
1760 1777
1170
1267
1305
1384
Lanesborough,
1754-59 1765
2142
1443
1303
1319
Cheshire,
1767
1793
1325
1315
1202
New Ashford,
ab't 1762 1801
390
411
358
Williamstown,
1751 or 2|1765
1760
2086
1843
2010
Hancock,
1762 1776
1211
1187
1049
1165
Peru, -
1764 1771
1041
1361
912
748
Windsor,
ab't 1767 1771
916
961
1108
1085
Hinsdale,
1762 or 3
1804
822
822
Adams,
ab't 1764 1778
2040
1688
1763
1836
Savoy,
1777
1797
430
711
852
Clarksburg,
1769|1798
253
231
274
Florida,
ab't 1783 1805
392
431
*Boston Corner,
*Gore,
92
*Zoar,
78
215
150
J30291 33885 35799 35720
* Unincorporated Tracts.
The number of inhabitants to a square mile was, in 1791, (omitting fractions) 31; in 1800, 35; in 1810, 37; and in 1820, 37. The number may now be 42.
NOTE .- The census of the towns and unincorporated tracts, in some instances is incomplete, and of course footings could not be made, but the total is given as obtained from other sources.
13
CENSUS.
The census has been taken "in diverse manners." The census of this County and State (exclusive of Maine) in 1791, here given for the sake of comparison, was as follows :
Towns.
Houses.
Families.
Free white
[males 16 years
old & upwards
Free white
males under
16 years
Free white fe-
males.
All other free
persons.
Total.
County, State,
26 265
4476 54477
4899!
7366|
7793
14809|
323
39291
65779| 94453| 87289 190583 5436 378787
Proportion of the tax for 1792, assessed upon the several counties of the State, exclusive of Maine, by which (if the proportion be just) a judgment may be formed of the rateable property of each county.
Counties. Representatives' pay. Proportion of tax.
Suffolk, including Norfolk, $1648,00
1539,00
$12999,68 12046,21
Middlesex,
2111,00
9940,51
Plymouth,
. 811,00
5470,35
Bristol,
. 686,67
5223,08
Barnstable,
. 251,00
1857,53
Duke's County,
54,00
539,78
Nantucket,
. 102,00
564,18
Worcester,
2388,00
11667,35
Hampshire (Old)
1631,00
9062,00
Berkshire,
1142,00
4768,50
Total of the State, $1283,67
$74139,15
The following items are taken from a summary of the census in 1820 :
Whites.
Colored per-
sons
Total.
Foreign'rs n't
naturalized.
Engaged in
Agriculture.
Engaged in
Commerce.
Engaged in
Manufactures.
County, State.
34868| 852|
35720
94
7568
516419 6740 523287|3425 63460|
133 13301|
2019 33464
Essex, .
2
14
HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE.
The whole number of polls in the County in 1822 (by returns) was
8429
do. State do. 122715
Aggregate of rateable property in the County in 1822, $316671 do. State do. 9218656
Pay on $1000, including polls, at 1} mill each $40; 68.
ABORIGINES .- When the English commenced their settlements in Berkshire, there were but few Indian families living within its limits, and most of these in Sheffield and Stockbridge. These were soon collected together, with others from the vicinity, into the latter town; where their friendship was effectually secured by the establishment of a Christian mission among them, and where they became very useful to the Eng- lish, often acting as guides and as spies for them. Though the people in several towns were greatly dis- turbed by Indians from a distance, it is not known that they were in a single instance disturbed by members of this tribe. In the first French war, the Indians which came into the County, up the Hoosic river, and attack- ed Fort Massachusetts, in Adams, passed on to the set- tlements on the Connecticut, evidently avoiding the Stockbridge Indians, both because they had no hope of winning them over to their views, and because they might have successfully resisted them, had they been attacked, in the Indian mode of warfare. In the second French war, only a solitary incursion was made down as far as the centre of the County, and that by a few in- dividuals. In this war, while a temporary suspicion rested upon the Stockbridge Indians, they soon repel- led it, by tendering their services to the government of the Colony. In the war of the Revolution, many of them enlisted into the army, and some sacrificed their lives in the cause of our country.
Although the Indians were few when Berkshire began to be settled, they were acknowledged as the rightful owners of the soil ; and measures were adopted by the Legislature of Massachusetts to effect the extinguish- ment of the Indian title. From deeds and other docu- ments in the possession of some of the towns, it is certain that regular purchases were in most instances made, and the presumption is that they were made in all. The
15
ABORIGINES.
consideration given was usually small; but there is no evidence it was not all the lands were worth at the time.
The tradition of the Stockbridge Indians is, that they were much more numerous originally, than they were when the English first came into the County. This is highly probable, though there is no proof of their hav- ing ever been very numerous. But by what means they were diminished, does not certainly appear. The successive wars carried on by the English against the Indian tribes in the eastern parts of New England, may have alarmed them, and induced many to flee to the west, where they mingled with other tribes. As early as the memorable war, called King Philip's war, (near the middle of August, 1675) about 200 fugitive Indians were observed to pass by Westfield, going on west- ward; " News thereof (says Hubbard in his Narrative of the Indian Wars) being brought to Major Talcot, he with the soldiers of Connecticut colony under his com- mand, both Indians and English, pursued after them as far as Ausotunnoog [Housatonic] river, (in the middle way betwixt Westfield, and the Dutch river and Fort Albany) where he overtook them, and fought with them ; killing and taking 45 prisoners, 25 of whom were fight- ing men, without the loss of any one of his company, save a Mohegin Indian : many of the rest were badly wounded, as appeared by the bushes being much be- smeared with blood, as was observed by those who fol- lowed them further.
It is since written from Albany, that there were sun- dry lost besides the 45 abovementioned, to the number of three score in all."
This battle was probably fought in Stockbridge, near the site of the meeting-house erected in 1784, recently taken down. In removing the earth, to prepare for the foundation of the house, Indian bones were found, which may have been the bones of persons slain in the conflict.
The tendency of this battle was greatly to alarm the Indians in Berkshire. The flight of the remnants of Eastern tribes through their territory afterwards, report- ing the slaughter of their fathers, women and children, and the destruction of their villages, was calculated to produce the same effect.
16
HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE.
A particular account of the Stockbridge Indians will be given in the history of that town.
FACE OF THE COUNTRY, SOIL, &c .- Berkshire Coun- ty is hilly and mountainous, presenting a very uneven surface. High hills and deep vallies cover it. Along the eastern boundary, and extending westward, often to the middle of the County, is a high range of hills, be- ing a continuation of the Green Mountains of Vermont, southwards into Connecticut. The east line of the County extends generally a little to the eastward of the highest part of this range. Passing from the sum- mit westward, there are two or three ranges of hills, generally of less elevation, until we come to the valley of the Housatonic* river. Through this valley there are also distinct ranges of hills ; but they are broken down to the level of the valley, and appear to the trav- eller as insulated hills.
The elevation of several points in the east range is perhaps 1800 or 2000 feet above the valley ; but the gen- , eral level of the range may be taken at about 1600 feet. Towards the north part of the County, this range is more elevated. Saddle Mountain, lying between Williamstown and New Ashford on the west, and Ad- ams and Cheshire on the east, is considered to belong to the eastern range. Its highest summit, called Gray- lock, lying nearly west of the south village in Adams, is 2800 feet, by barometrical measurement, above the lev- el of the valley at Williams College, and very nearly 3580 feet above tidewater at Albany. Two other points of this mountain are several hundred feet lower than Graylock, although they are very elevated peaks. This mountain is the highest in the Commonwealth. Two of its summits have at a distance the general form of a saddle-hence its name. It presents a very grand ap- pearance from several towns at the south, as well as from many towns in the adjoining counties on the east.
* The orthography of the name of this river, and of various oth- er names, common in the County, has been very different at dif- ferent times and places. Thus, Hoosic has been and is written Hoosick, Hoosuck,fand Hoosuc. Dr Dwight proposes Hoeston- nuç-but it is not thus written in any records.
17
MOUNTAINS.
The west side of Saddle Mountain has a lower ridge, the higher points of which are about 1800 feet above the College, and the whole is closely connected with the principal mountain. This lower ridge is broken into two parts, nearly west of Graylock, quite to the foot of the mountain, forming what people commonly call the Hopper. In some parts the rocks are bare for hun- dreds of feet in elevation, with a steep slope, and the strata of rock are to be seen in many places quite to the base. The Hopper is one of the wildest and most ro- mantic spots in this section of our country. The patch- es of evergreens occurring on the sides of the mountain, are frowning with gloom on the spectator, whose eye is then relieved by resting on the bare cliffs, or the culti- vated fields beside him. Saddle Mountain is about six miles in length, and is altogether a noble pile of moun- tains. It is separated from the range on the east only by the narrow valley of the Hoosic in Adams. The range of hills along the east of the County, is nowhere cut through by deep valleys, affording good passages for roads-but the traveller is obliged to pass over high elevations to descend to the valley of the Connecticut. The principal roads to the east cross this range in Flor- ida, Savoy, Peru, Becket, and Sandisfield.
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