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SPRINGFIELD
ORGAZ
ET
CITY MAY 25.1852
14.163
KING'S HAND BOOK of SPRINGFIELD
Gc 974. 402 Sp8k 1904570
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
26
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01068 4642
GC
974.402
SP8K
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/kingshandbookofs00king_0
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BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, IN 1884. FROM UNITED-STATES ARSENAL TOWER.
KING'S HANDBOOK
OF
SPRINGFIELD
MASSACHUSETTS
A SERIES OF MONOGRAPHS
HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE
EDITED BY
MOSES KING
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY VIEWS AND PORTRAITS
SPRINGFIELD, MASS. JAMES D. GILL, PUBLISHER 1884
1 COPYRIGHT, 1884, BY MOSES KING, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER.
ILLUSTRATIONS BY CHARLES COPELAND, LEWIS JESSE BRIDGMAN, JACK ELLIOT, AND MANY OTHERS.
Franklin Press : RAND, AVERY, AND COMPANY, BOSTON.
1904570
PREFACE.
TN making this " Handbook of Springfield," the aim has been to make a readable and trustworthy description of the city as it now is. The volume contains nearly four hundred octavo pages, with almost two hundred illustrations, nearly all of which were made expressly for this volume. At the end are full indexes comprising nineteen pages, with more than twenty- seven hundred references, so that any part of the contents can be referred to instantly. The views are intended to show some of the historic, unique, and prominent features of the city. The portraits will bring to mind the faces of men who have been prominent in civil government, who have gained places in the local literary annals, or have been active in those enter- prises which have brought wealth and fame to the city. No attempt has been made to furnish an elaborate history of Springfield; yet for all practical purposes, the book contains as much history as the ordinary citizen cares to know or could well remember. It is believed that this book is the most pretentious one as yet issued of its kind, for any city of the size of Spring- field, in this country. The original design was a much smaller volume; but after the work was begun, so much interesting matter was found for the reader, and so many enthusiastic and patriotic citizens were met, that the book was materially enlarged, and many illustrations were added. It is hoped that it now will be acceptable, not only to the former and present resi- dents, but also to those who may have occasion only to visit the city.
It will be apparent that much valuable aid has been rendered by many well-informed citizens, most of whom are credited at the end of their respec- tive chapters. Many persons not having furnished whole chapters ought to be mentioned here, in brief acknowledgment of their services : among them, the Rev. Dr. William Rice, the venerable city librarian; J. Newton Bagg of West Springfield; Thomas M. Dewey, late secretary of the Business-
5
6
PREFACE.
Men's Association ; and Oscar B. Ireland, the scholarly actuary of the Massa- chusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. Albert H. Hardy, a newspaper writer, has rendered some good help, especially in the business chapter. Among those who have furnished valuable material besides the chapters to which their names are attached, are, Henry Morris, Solomon B. Griffin, Wilmot L. Warren, Charles H. Barrows, Charles G. Whiting, and Albert H. Kirkham. It may also be said, that nearly two thousand pieces of proof have been sent out in the mails for corrections, and hundreds of persons have kindly returned their pieces with useful comments. For photographs from which pictures have been made, we are indebted to Chauncy L. Moore and E. J. Lazelle. Several illustrations were furnished through the courtesy of the Springfield Printing Company.
Owing to circumstances over which there was no control, the book appears several months later than was expected. Every thing, as far as possible, has been corrected to Jan. 1, 1884; but no changes that have taken place since then, with rare exceptions, have been made, and these excep- tions are almost wholly in the business chapter, which, as far as possible, has been corrected up to the time of going to press.
In preparing a volume of this size and in this style, for a city like Spring- field, it becomes necessary to sell many thousand copies in order to realize a profit on the undertaking; and the publisher feels confident he will receive a generous patronage from the hundreds of earnest, thrifty, and devoted citizens of the prosperous and delightful city described in the following pages.
CAMBRIDGE, MASS., Sept. 1, 1884.
MOSES KING,
Editor and Publisher.
POSTSCRIPT.
JUST as the book is finished, I find myself so overburdened with work that I have disposed of all my interest in it to James D. Gill, one of the most enterprising business men of the city, whose art and literary establish- ment is unequalled in any other city of the size of Springfield. I trust he will receive the full reward that the book, as well as his own industry and capacity, deserves. M. K.
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CONTENTS.
An elaborate detailed index to the text, and a complete list of the illustrations, will be found at the close of the volume, from pages 375 to 394.
FRONTISPIECE
CHAPTER. PAGE. 2
Bird's-eye View of Springfield from the United-States Arsenal Tower
PREFACE
7
SPRINGFIELD'S PAST HISTORY Henry Morris. I. Early Settlers. - Indian Troubles. - Wars. - Growth, etc.
9
GEOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY . Nathaniel Southgate Shaler. II. 27
Prominent Features of the Geology and Geography of the Region about Springfield.
SPRINGFIELD AS A CITY. Clark Whitman Bryan. III. 33
Its Growth from a Town of Fourteen Thousand to a City of Thirty- five Thousand Inhabitants.
SURROUNDINGS OF SPRINGFIELD . . John Wheeler Harding. An Outline History and Description ; Anecdotes, Comments, and Reminiscences.
IV. 51
HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS . Heman Smith. Old and New Streets and Roads, their Names and Ages, Bridges, Brooks, and Horse-cars.
V.
61
TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION . Moses Foster Sweetser, et al. Early Boats, Stage-coaches, and Canals, and the Later Steam-railroads.
VI.
77
THE PUBLIC HOSPITALITY . James Beebe Smith. The Taverns of Old, and the Hotels and Restaurants of To-day.
VII.
93
PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND GOVERNMENT Charles Henry Barrows. Public Buildings, Fire, Water, Sewer, Police, Judicial, Post-office, and Other Departments.
VIII. III
THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS . Admiral Paschal Stone. IX. 125
The Public and Private Schools ; Colleges ; Educational Matters.
7
.
8
CONTENTS.
LITERATURE AND SCIENCE
William Steele Shurtleff.
X.
I4I
CHAPTER. PAGE. Literati and Scientists, Libraries, and Reading-rooms; Literary, His- torical, and Scientific Organizations.
ART AND MUSIC Artists and Musicians, and the Art and Musical Organizations.
XI. 163
THE RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS XII. 173.
The Churches, Past and Present Places of Worship, Christian and Kindred Associations.
CHARITIES AND HOSPITALS Burton Monroe Firman. XIII. 2II Charities, Relief Associations, Aid Societies, Hospitals, and Alms- house.
THE CEMETERIES Samuel Giles Buckingham. Past and Present Places of Burial. - Springfield, Oak-Grove, and Catholic Cemeteries.
XIV. 223
PARKS AND SQUARES Charles Goodrich Whiting. Parks, Squares, Fountains, Statues, Monuments, Hills, and Ponds.
XV. 233
UNITED-STATES ARMORY . Albert Harleigh Kirkham. XVI. 245
The Arsenals, Water-shops, Superintendents, Arms, Statistics, and Anecdotes.
THE SOCIABILITY OF THE CITY Charles Martyn Prynne. XVII. 265 Theatres. - Athletic Associations. - Secret Organizations. - Clubs. - Halls, etc.
NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS Solomon Bulkley Griffin. XVIII. 283 Early Journalism. - " The Republican." - " The Union." - " The News." -" The Democrat." - Later Periodicals.
THE FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS Wilmot Lillie Warren. XIX. 295
State and National Banks, Savings Institutions, Clearing-house, Pri- vate Banks.
THE INSURANCE COMPANIES XX. 309
The Mutual Fire. - Springfield Fire and Marine. - Massachusetts Mutual Life, etc.
MERCHANTS AND MANUFACTURERS XXI. 319
Brief Descriptions of some Noteworthy Factories and Mercantile Establishments.
THE BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SPRINGFIELD . William Clogston. XXII. 371
Printed Matter relating to Springfield in general, and to its Institu- tions and Citizens.
INDEX TO TEXT
XXIV. 375
INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS
XXIII. ·
393
PRINCETI
Der Past History.
EARLY SETTLERS. - INDIAN TROU- BLES. - WARS. - GROWTH, ETC.
T `HE scenery of Springfield and its vicinity has long been regarded as beautiful. A few years ago a native of Springfield, during a visit in Scotland, spoke enthusiastically to his Scottish host, of a particular view, as the finest he had ever seen. The host, who at the time was not aware that his guest resided in Springfield, replied that it was the finest he himself had ever seen, excepting one from the tower of the United-States Arsenal, on the Connecticut River.
Only five years after the settlement of Boston, in the year 1635, many of the inhabitants of the towns about Boston, attracted by the glowing de- scriptions given them by Indians of the fertility of the valley of the Con- necticut, were desirous to remove to the banks of this river : considerable parties removed from Dorchester, Cambridge, and Watertown, and settled in Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield. On the 6th of May, 1635, the inhabitants of Roxbury had liberty granted them to remove themselves to any place they should think meet, not to prejudice another plantation, pro- vided they should continue under the government of Massachusetts. In
Copyright, 1883, by MOSES KING.
9
IO
KING'S HANDBOOK OF SPRINGFIELD.
accordance with this permission, William Pynchon, a patentee and magis- trate under the colony charter, and others, came with their families from Roxbury, and located themselves, in the spring of 1636, at Springfield, then known by its Indian name of Agawam. There is little doubt that a small pioneer party of explorers was sent here by Pynchon in 1635, and built a house on the west side of the Connecticut, in the meadow. This site was abandoned on account of its exposure to freshets, and a new location selected on the east side of the river.
On the 14th of May, 1636, Mr. Pynchon, Henry Smith (Pynchon's son-in- law), Matthew Mitchell, Jehu Burr, William Blake, Edmund Wood, Thomas Ufford, and John Cable signed a written agreement, containing numerous articles for the future government of the settlement.
The first article is in the following words: "Wee intend by Gods grace, as soon as we can, with all convenient speede to procure some Godly and faithfull minister with whome we purpose to joyne in church covenant, to walk in all the ways of Christ."
The second article expressed their intention that the town should be composed of forty families, unless they should think meet afterwards to alter their purpose, yet not to exceed fifty families " rich and poore."
None of the signers of this agreement, except Pynchon and Smith, remained here long. Most of them left within three years. Other settlers came, and on the 16th of May twelve persons received allotments of land.
Soon after their arrival the settlers entered into negotiation with the Indians for the purchase of a site for the plantation. The land was valua- ble to the Indians mainly as affording a range for hunting and fishing, and the gathering of nuts and wild fruits that grew spontaneously. In addition, they had small patches of cultivated ground, where they raised their corn. They were willing to sell to the planters the land they required, reserving to themselves only such uses of it as they were accustomed to enjoy.
Accordingly, by a deed executed with due formality on the 15th of July, 1636, - the purport of which was explained to them by an Indian interpreter from the Bay, -two of the "ancient Indians of Agawam," for themselves and eleven other Indians who claimed to be proprietors of the lands, con- veyed to William Pynchon, Henry Smith, and Jehu Burr, their heirs and associates forever, a large tract of land on both sides of the river, including the greater part of the land now occupied by the city of Springfield. For this deed Pynchon and his associates paid a consideration which was satis- factory to the Indians, and of which they never complained.
The first settlers built their houses on the westerly side of the town street, which was about eighty rods easterly of the river, and substantially parallel with it.
The first allotment of lands was made in May, 1636, to the eight signers
-
WILLIAM PYNCHON. A Patentee and Magistrate under the Colony Charter.
12
KING'S HANDBOOK OF SPRINGFIELD.
of the agreement, and four others who had joined them. As most of these twelve persons left the plantation soon, this allotment of lands was after- wards greatly altered by a new division, which was the basis of the perma- nent settlement. This new division assigned to each man a home-lot extending from the street to the river, with a portion of the meadow and upland of equal width on the easterly side of the street. In general these home-lots were eight rods wide. Pynchon and a few others had lots much wider. The town street of that day corresponded, substantially, with the present Main Street of the city, in its general course. Besides this principal street, there were three narrow lanes leading from it to the river. These, with greatly increased width, are now represented by Elm Street, York Street, and Cypress Street. The only road running easterly from the town street was in some part of its course the same as the present State Street.
In 1636 the Plantation of Agawam was supposed to be in the same jurisdiction with Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield; and the government of these four towns was administered by commissioners appointed by the General Court of Massachusetts. Pynchon and Smith were members of this commission, and Pynchon attended its session at Hartford. A more accurate survey of the division-line between Massachusetts and Connecti- cut established the fact, that Agawam fell within the jurisdiction of Massa- chusetts, and left the settlers here temporarily without any magistrate, and at such a distance from the Bay as to be practically beyond the reach of the authorities located there.
In this exigency, the planters at Agawam met on the 14th of February, 1639, and voted that Mr. Pynchon should execute the office of a magistrate in the plantation, with all the powers necessary to administer justice, until the General Court should otherwise order. Under this authority Mr. Pynchon acted until June, 1641, when he was duly commissioned by the General Court with similar powers.
On the 14th of April, 1641, the name of the town was changed, by a vote of the inhabitants, from Agawam to Springfield. This is said to have been a compliment to Pynchon, whose residence in England had been a place of that name. The General Court recognized the town by the name of Springfield in 1641.
Rev. George Moxon had been settled as the minister in 1637. In 1639 a house was built for him upon a home-lot fourteen rods wide, which was granted him. He had at first a salary of forty pounds sterling, which was raised by an annual tax. In 1645 the first meeting-house was erected. It stood near the south-easterly corner of Court Square, and extended into the present Elm Street, and fronted southerly.
Prior to 1647 the bounds of the town were quite indefinite. In 1638 old style (1639 as time is now reckoned), a committee, appointed for the
KING PHILIP. The Chief of the Wampanoags.
14
KING'S HANDBOOK OF SPRINGFIELD.
purpose, described the northern boundary as at a brook on the other side of the river, about a quarter of a mile above the mouth of Chicopee River. The brook at the lower end of the long meadow on the east side of the river, and the brook a little below on the west side, are mentioned as the southerly boundary. No east or west boundary is given.
In the year 1647 the General Court made very large additions to the territory of Springfield : so that it included Westfield, Suffield, a consider- able part of Southwick, and the whole of West Springfield, Holyoke, and Agawam, on the west side of the river ; and the present Springfield, Chico- pee, Enfield, Somers, Wilbraham, Ludlow, Longmeadow, and Hampden, on the east side.
Over all this territory Massachusetts claimed and exercised jurisdiction until about the year 1748, when the towns of Enfield, Suffield, and Somers united with Connecticut. The limits of Springfield have been further greatly reduced, from time to time, by the incorporation of the other towns, named above, which remained in Massachusetts.
The growth of Springfield in population was not at first very rapid. Twelve settlers received allotments of land in May, 1636, two days after the agreement to establish the plantation was signed.
In 1642 there was a second division of planting-lands among the settlers then here. Seventeen persons received allotments under that division. In 1643 there were allotments to twenty-two.
In the year 1649 the subject of witchcraft attracted some attention in Springfield. One Mary Parsons, wife of Hugh Parsons, had circulated a report that a widow named Marshfield, who had removed from Windsor to Springfield, was guilty of witchcraft, -an offence then punishable with death. For this story the widow commenced an action before Mr. Pynchon against Mary Parsons ; and the magistrate, finding her guilty of the slander, sentenced her to pay three pounds to the plaintiff, or else to be whipped twenty lashes by the constable.
Two years later, in May, 1651, Mary Parsons was herself charged with the crime of witchcraft. She was indicted for having " used divers devilish practices by witchcraft, to the hurt of Martha and Rebeckah Moxon," two daughters of the minister. For this offence she was tried at Boston before the General Court, but acquitted for want of satisfactory evidence. Upon the charge of murdering her own child, on which she was tried at the same time, she was convicted, and sentenced to death.
About this time (1651) Mr. Pynchon incurred the displeasure of the General Court on account of a theological book, published in England, which was alleged to contain heretical sentiments. The charge of heresy was a very serious one at that day; and when Pynchon admitted the author- ship of the work, and after being admonished by the Court, and dealt with
15
KING'S HANDBOOK OF SPRINGFIELD.
by leading divines of the colony, selected to convince him of his errors, failed to make a satisfactory recantation of them, he felt himself to be, and was, in no little peril. As the result of this difficulty, he left America, and returned to England, in 1652, where he died a few years afterwards. Henry Smith, his son-in-law, - although designated as his successor in the magis- tracy at Springfield, - and Mr. Moxon the minister, accompanied Pynchon to England. Neither of them ever returned to this country. Two mem- bers of Mr. Pynchon's family remained in Springfield, -his son John Pynchon, and his son-in-law Elizur Holyoke.
After the departure of Pynchon and Smith, Springfield was destitute of any local magistracy. To provide for this exigency, the General Court, in October, 1652, appointed three commissioners as magistrates, to govern the
The Pynchon Fort and House.I
town. These were John Pynchon, Elizur Holyoke, and Samuel Chapin. These three men had jurisdiction for the trial of all causes, civil or criminal, except those criminal cases of so grave a character as were proper to be tried before the General Court at Boston.
In May, 1653, these three commissioners were appointed by the General Court a committee to lay out two new plantations at Nonotuck, or Norwot- tuck. They reported, in 1654, that they had laid out a plantation on the west side of the river, and reserved land on the east side for another when required. The first of these became the town of Northampton ; the other, on the east side of the river, became the town of Hadley.
In 1662 Springfield, Northampton, and Hadley were made a county called Hampshire, of which Springfield was made the shire-town. The three commissioners were authorized to hold courts, both at Springfield and Northampton.
In 1660 was built the first brick building ever erected in Springfield. It was the dwelling-house of John Pynchon, who is called in the records " The
I From a painting in possession of the City Library.
16
KING'S HANDBOOK OF SPRINGFIELD.
Worshipful Major Pynchon " and, later, " The Worshipful Colonel." The bricks used in its construction were made at Northampton. The carpenters and masons were from Windsor. The building was forty-two feet long, and
SWISS LAUNDRY --
Copeland
The Oldest House, on Cross Street.
twenty-one feet wide. The walls were very thick and solid, rising about twenty-two feet from the ground to the eaves. The roof was very steep, and the ridge was about twenty-two feet in per- pendicular height above the garret-floor. It was designed to be a fortified house, and was actually used as such during the Indian war. This build- ing remained in the occupation of the Pynchons until it was demolished, in 1831, to make room for a more modern house. It was long known as the "old fort." The wooden house which had been the home of William Pynchon was connected with the new brick house, and made to serve as an appendage to it. It was removed in 1831 to the easterly part of Cross Street, where in an altered state, in 1883, it serves as a dwelling-house and laundry. There are still marks of antiquity about it.
John Pynchon was engaged in a very large business as a merchant. He purchased furs very extensively of the Indians and others. These were
17
KING'S HANDBOOK OF SPRINGFIELD.
sent down the river to his warehouse, at what is now known as Warehouse Point in East Windsor, and thence to Hartford; from which place they were shipped to Boston and England. He was an owner, or part owner, of several vessels.
Until the year 1675, the relations of the people of Springfield with the Indians were amicable and pleasant. William Pynchon, and, after he left, his son John, had frequent and friendly intercourse with them in the way of trade. The Indian sold his beaver and other furs to Pynchon, and, in return, purchased from him such goods as Pynchon kept in store as suited to the Indian's needs. Fire-arms and ammunition only were prohibited articles. The red men roamed the streets of the town, and visited freely the houses of the whites. No cause of disaffection or discontent was known to exist on the part of the Indians. They had what was called a fort in the southerly part of the town, but this created no uneasiness on the part of their white neighbors. Their wigwams and their planting-grounds were on both sides of the Connecticut. Probably the whole Indian population in the town, and its immediate vicinity, did not exceed two hundred persons.
In 1675 the disturbances fomented by Philip, the chief of the Wampa- noags, began in the south-eastern part of the State, and gradually spread westward until they reached the valley of the Connecticut. Philip himself was said to have visited the Agawam Indians, and induced them to join the confederacy against the whites. About three hundred hostile Indians were secretly introduced into their fort, and every preparation made to assault Springfield, and slaughter its inhabitants. The time was favorable for the attempt: the soldiers who had been stationed here as a garrison were temporarily absent, with Major Pynchon their commander, on an expedition about twenty miles up the river, to check some hostile demonstrations there. The intention of Philip's men became known to the people at Windsor through the disclosures made by a friendly Indian ; and timely warning was sent to Springfield, and to Major Pynchon at Hadley. The people generally took refuge in the fortified houses, of which there were three, -one of them the Pynchon house, and the others in the south part of the street. Three men and one woman were killed by the Indians. Thirty-two houses and twenty-five barns were burned, with Major Pynchon's corn-mill and saw- mill.
Discouraged by these disasters, occurring just as winter was approach- ing; and fearful of the suffering likely to follow the destruction of their houses, and the stores of provisions which they had gathered for the winter, - many of the inhabitants were inclined to abandon the town, and seek a home elsewhere. But wiser counsels prevailed, and most of them remained to repair the losses they had sustained. After this manifestation of their treachery, the Indians withdrew from Springfield. No considerable number
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KING'S HANDBOOK OF SPRINGFIELD.
of them were seen here. But for some years they continued to visit this vicinity, and perpetrate deeds of violence upon the persons and property of unwary settlers as they found opportunity.
Within a few years after this Indian outbreak, Springfield lost three of its most prominent men. Samuel Chapin, who came here in 1642, and had been a deacon in the church from that time, and was one of the magistrates appointed by the General Court to hold the courts for the county, and per- form other important duties, died on the 11th of November, 1675. An ideal statue is soon to be erected in his honor in Court Square. On the fifth day of February following, the "honored Capt. Elizur Holyoke," another of the magistrates, died. John Pynchon survived these colleagues in the magistracy about twenty-seven years, and died in 1703, at the age of about eighty years. Probably no man, before or since, ever had so great an influ- ence in the affairs of Western Massachusetts, especially in the Connecticut Valley, as Major Pynchon. He was the commander of the military forces here. He was chief judge of the local courts of the old county of Hamp- shire, a member of the court of assistants at Boston, and often employed as a commissioner to negotiate and adjust affairs of importance with the other Colonies.
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