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NORTHAMPTON
THE MEADOW CITY
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GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02791 9031
Lestrade Mr. Com Mona - 1895.
Gc 974.402 N816k Kneeland, Frederick Newton. Northampton, the meadow city
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THE "OLD CHURCH"
NORTHAMPTON
THE MEADOW CITY
OVER TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY ILLUSTRATIONS
PUBLISHED BY F. N. KNEELAND AND L. P. BRYANT, NORTHAMPTON, MASS.
Allen County Public Library 900 Webster Street PO Box 2270 Fort Wayne, IN 46801-2270
COPYRIGHT, 1894, BY F. N. KNEELAND AND L. P. BRYANT.
PRESS OF THE BRYANT PRINTING COMPANY, FLORENCE, MASS.
Most of the engravings used in this book were made by Levilly & Fleckenstein, 7 State Street, Boston, Mass.
NORTHAMPTON
MEADOW'
CITY
Introduction
"I remember, I remember the house where I was born, The little window where the sun came peeping in at morn."
As I sit in my study-chair the old song which I used to hear in my childhood comes floating softly back to me, and I think, who is there that has no fond remembrance of the scenes of his early days ? Unhappy is that man. The recol- lections of our early life spread flowers all along our path in our later wanderings. Early life always enriches itself by borrowing from the future in the form of rich anticipations, and then it repays the debt with interest by furnishing golden memories to sober maturity. The past feeds the future in all our growth, as in the plant branch and flower are nourished by the root.
It is a peculiar hold which localities have upon our minds. Landscape pictures to which we give unstinted admiration are on all the walls of our minds. All poetry is full of this enthusiasm for places which we have learned to love. Those to which we are bound by peculiar memories gain a surpassing preciousness. Pre-eminently it is the scenes of our childhood before which we keep a lamp continually burning. Nothing can obliterate these from the mind.
We may build more splendid habitations,
Fill our rooms with paintings and with sculptures. But we cannot Buy with gold the old associations
Northampton has been a mother of many children, and they are everywhere eager for mes- sages from the old home. There are hundreds,
and even thousands of people scattered over the broad earth to whom the stately figure of Holyoke with her carpet of river and meadow beneath her feet, or Round Hill peacefully gazing down the valley between the two mount- ains, while she keeps watch over the village sleeping at her side, offers a view which is never permitted to fade from the mind. Northampton has been a town of prominence in the thought and speech of the people of New England, and that larger New England which reaches across the continent. There are few localities npon the face of the earth where so many different people, representatives of all climes, have resided while pursuing their education as in Northampton and the region surrounding it. If ancient Greeks were here they would certainly search for some evidence that the waters from the Pierian spring, or from some other fountain of inspiration, had flowed under the sea to mingle with the current of the Connecticut, for the soil which it touches brings forth nothing more naturally than insti- tutions of learning. And here this quality has shown itself at the best. Students from all over America, not to speak of more distant lands, flock to the colleges and seminaries which cluster here. To all who have made their home for a longer or shorter period in one of these villages the scenery of the Connecticut valley, the beauties of its river and mountains and meadows, is fixed in the mind as one of the fairest visions of their life.
It was a happy thought of Mr. Kneeland to send out this greeting from the old town to its
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NORTHAMPTON,
scattered friends. He is himself a loyal son of Northampton, and knows and loves every wind- ing, climbing road upon the hillsides, and every outlook from the heights above. A half a dozen years ago he laid us all under obligations by pre- paring a most convenient and appreciative guide- book to the drives through this vicinity. It was a labor of love. They enjoyed those explorations.
OLD CHURCH AND COURT HOUSE
I say they, for I can hardly feel that the faithful horse Billy, who was the partner of his master in preparing that book, enjoyed it any less than he. And he loved not only to drive, but took with him his camera, not only in his carriage, but sometimes far out through the woods and up the hillsides. His eye has been ever watchful to select the picturesque tree, or the shaded nook, and many specimens of beautiful country scenery he has thus brought together for the embellishment of these pages, and as pleasant reminders to old friends. Long after we, like the faithful Billy, have forever laid aside saddle and harness, and can no longer scale the hills, may these pictures draw loyal admirers to the charms of our valley.
A feeling of kinship comes to men from recog- nizing a common home. Those of us who are later comers here delight to send our greeting to those who are away. We love the old town not less than those who are gone. We wave our handkerchiefs from the windows as a token of our warm feeling to all who look lovingly upon the . place where we dwell. We are a staid and quiet community, and hoping that we preserve an air of contentment and peace, we send our invitation to all our Northampton folk, “ see us in our picture, but even better come and see us in our home."
H. M. TYLER.
NORTHAMPTON
Northampton, gemmed amid the hills
Which watch her night and morn ;
Where Holyoke, like a lover, throws
The kisses of the dawn ;
And in the wooded slopes of "Tom " The shadows linger late.
As hating still to drop their wings
And hide the fair estate ;
Where morning trips with lightest feet
Across the meadow lands,
With Nature's kisses on its lips,
And sunlight in its hands ;
While ever 'mid the arching heights
Of graceful elms, the strain
Of warblers waken all to hear
Northampton's charms again.
Oh, chief of all the Valley gems,
How truly rich thou art,
In all that gladdens mind and eye,
That whispers to the heart :
How much is in thy memory hid ;
What interest waking thrills,
At mention of thy heritage
Which yet thy history fills :
Here lived and loved that wondrous type
Of Calvinistic fire,
The Edwards of the early days ;
With but this one desire,
To wake the conscience of the time ;
To bring the heart and life,
To see again its low estate,
And its rebellious strife ;
He sleeps, but yet to-day, beneath
The Elm he planted then,
I stand, and wish for lives like his,
For earnest, stalwart men.
Here Holland lived, and wrote the lines
Of many a ringing theme ;
And here his rare Katbrina moved As in a pleasant dream ;
And Bancroft taught his romping boys
Their tasks at Round Hill then,
And gave to thee his wondrous gift,
A race of thinking men.
The " Nightingale " sang lowly here
Her song of love again,
As Jenny Lind within these shades
Caroled her wondrous strain ;
Here Beecher christened " Norwood," in
His novel long ago, Where in the olden ways to-day,
The happy maidens go --
Mindful perchance of College rules,
And College treasured lore,
And drinking in, as maidens do,
The frolics even more;
Among thy silent headstones, oft
I've pushed the grass away,
To read the names which lived and moved,
In early village day ;
Amid thy architecture, still
I trace the days of yore,
The sloping roofs -the casements old -
The half-admitting door.
O'er which the red-lipped maidens leaned,
When shadows came again,
And listened with a willing ear
Their homespun lovers' strain ;
I catch a glimpse of Paradise ;
The stream where shadows lie. And hold the tracing of the wood,
And beauties of the sky ;
' And then, as home I take my way Apast the school-house door, And catch the spires which silent point
To Heaven, I ask no more Than that in such a place as this,
My latest days may be, And Paradise, in very sooth,
My heart shall find in thee.
EDWIN H. SHANNON.
7
THE MEADOW CITY.
THE JUDGE DEWEY HOUSE
HISTORICAL SKETCH
EARLY HISTORY
Statistics of history in any form, except to the student, are dry, tedious, and seldom entertaining. In a publication of this character they are warmly wel- comed in proportion to their absence. To the lover of nature, in this instance at- tracted by the beauty of architecture, the harmony of land- scape, or the evi- dences of thrift, industry, skill and benevolence, repro- duced in the highest type of modern ar- tistic excellence, it matters little that Northampton was settled in 1654. Yet to the brief historical details, all that can be admitted here, something of interest is added by their picturesque setting; and many may be curious to learn from what small begin- nings, these comforts, elegancies and luxuries have come. Such may read with satisfaction
THE OLD WARNER HOUSE, MAIN STREET
THE GEO. KINGSLEY HOUSE, SOUTH STREET
that the plantation when purchased from the Indians, the year previous to its settlement, embraced about 64,000 acres, extending nearly fifteen miles along the bank of the Connecticut river, from the south line of Hatfield to the northern boundary of Springfield, now the city of Holyoke, and reaching westward nine miles into the wilderness. From this territory three other towns have been carved : Southampton in 1741, Westhampton in 1778, and Easthampton in 1785. Four years after the first settlers arrived 900 acres were sold to Hadley, which is now part of Hatfield, and still later another portion was included within the limits of the town of Mont- gomery. Reduced by these subtrac- tions, the township, or city proper, which has now a boundary on Connecticut river of twelve miles, and a westward limit of HOTEL. seven and a half miles, embraces not far from forty square miles and includes considerably more than 20,000 acres of taxable land.
From Windsor, Wethersfield, Hart- ford and Agawam (Springfield), came the first settlers. Facility of trade with the Indians, fertile meadow land, as well as tillable uplands, and a laudable desire to better their condition in life, were the primal causes which led to their removal. Though actuated by worldly motives in this move- ment, the founders of Northampton were strictly
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NORTHAMPTON,
Puritans. Among them were men of "considerable quality for estates and fit matter for a church." One of the first acts of the settlers after a municipal organization had been established was the erection of a "house for the towne." Meeting-house, town-house, eventually school-house, this first publie building was small and insig- nificant. Built of squared logs, 26 by 18 feet in dimensions, yet sufficiently large for the use of the community, it served its pur- pose for a few years, and then gave place to a more commodious structure. Though the meeting-house had been erected, no church existed and no minister had been called. Four years elapsed before religious services
MAIN STREET LOOKING TOWARD BRIDGE
were provided. Then Rev. Eleazar, son of Richard, and brother of the celebrated Increase Mather, was settled. Still no church was formed, and the new minister
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OLD CONN, RIVER R. R. DEPOT
HUNT BUILDING
EDWARDS CHURCH
labored for three years before such an organization was effected.
The First Church in Northampton, whose ministra- tions have been uninterruptedly continued for nearly two and a half centuries, was founded by the pastor and seven other godly men who have not inappropriately been termed the " seven pillars of the church." David Wilton, Wm. Clarke, John Strong, Henry Cunliffe, Henry Woodward, Thomas Hanchet, Thomas Root, compose this group of names honored in the early history of the town. Of these men Wil- ton, Clarke, and Strong were TET GOODS & CARPETS. leaders, conspie- uous by their own labors dur- ing its formative period, and still CORNER MAIN AND PLEASANT STREETS more renowned in later years through the abilities and deeds of their descendants.
Three years more elapsed before public schools were established. The town having increased in population sufficiently to come within the provisions of the law requiring the employment of a school-teacher, provision was made for the enlightenment of the youthful puritans of the male sex. James Cornish, the first school-master, received £6 a year from the town, in addition to the amount paid by the scholars. He was to teach not less than " six months in the year together." From this small beginning sprang the elaborate system of publie school education, now the ornament, the honor and the
a
THE MEADOW CITY.
"Along those pleasant windings I would my journey lay, Where the shade is cool and the dew of night Is not yet dried away. W. C. Bryant.
NORTHAMPTON,
pride of the city. Its growth cannot be entered upon within the limits assigned to this sketch. Yet its increase and importance, while they might be repre- sented by a long array of figures, can be sufficiently comprehended in contemplating the difference between the little log meeting-house, that became the first school-house, and the present hand- some and convenient structures for educational purposes that are to be found in every section of our municipality.
" Meeting-House Hill," once an eminence of sufficient prominence to locate the first meeting-house upon, now almost leveled by the busy hand of modern improvement, derives an importance from the fact that upon
row ; the third, faced east- ward, standing in the high- way, the steeple nearly on a line with that of the present house of worship ; the fourth familiar to every one, was
VIEW FROM MT. TOM
built nearly on the location of the existing stone edifice. All these structures succumbed to the march of improvement, having been put to other uses or torn down and replaced by
MADE BY COL. SETH POMEROY, 1747 - DEPOSITED IN MEMORIAL HALL MUSEUM
it since the settle- ment of the town, has been located the house of wor- ship of the leading Congregational society in the city. On it have stood five buildings ded- icated to the ser- vice of the living God. The position of the first one is unknown; the second stood nearly opposite the present en- trance to Center street, facing shop
AT THE BARS
larger and better buildings, except the fourth, which was totally destroyed by fire, in June, 1876. Over this society and occupying the pulpits in these churches have been settled clergymen, famous throughout the state, the country and the world. The line commencing with Mather, contains the names of Stod- dard, Edwards, Hooker, Williams, and many other able, distinguished and devoted Christian men. Their character and their influence upon the destinies of the town, it is impossible ade - quately to portray within the limited space here allotted to the historian.
PASS OF THERMOPYLAE
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THE MEADOW CITY.
This church, for 164 years the only religious organization in the place, has wielded an incal- culable influence in molding, shaping and perfecting the elements of godliness, patriotism,
were killed and a number of houses burned. Dwellings were destroyed in South, Pleasant, Bridge and Prospect streets, and at Mt. Tom. At other times men at work in the meadows and on the uplands were murdered and many an alarm roused the sleeping inhabi- tants. Her soldiers served with distinc- tion in many hard fought engage- ments and not a few died on distant battlefields.
PIONEERS AND PROMINENT MEN
Many citizens of Northampton have been conspicuous in town, county, state and national affairs. Among the names of those prominent
November woods are bare and still .- H. Hunt.
morality and sobriety, always noted characteris- tics of this community.
INDIAN WARS
The struggles and hardships of the early set- tlers of this section, in which Northampton suf- fered with the rest, are matters of history. From the first Indian outbreak, in 1675, known as ""King Philip's war," to the close of the year 1763, a period of eighty-nine years, New England saw but fifty years of peace. The longest period uninterrupted by hostilities was eighteen years, and the shortest six. During that time the colony was engaged in six different conflicts, in five of which the Indians were either the allies or the tools of the French.
It was not a foe fighting by the ordinary methods of civilized warfare, that for nearly forty years the settlers were called upon to meet. They were confronted by the merciless, savage Indian, slaying, scalping, torturing, burning, destroying. The savages, led by French officers, accompanied by a small contingent of French soldiers, kept the towns in the Connecticut river valley, then the western frontier of Massachu- setts, in a constant state of alarm.
Northampton sustained three well defined Indian attacks, in which many of her citizens
A little gushing brook o'er hung by trees -Dora Read Goodale.
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NORTHAMPTON,
in founding and organizing the town were Medad Pomeroy, Aaron Cook, John Strong, William Clarke and Rev. Solomon Stoddard. They were the ancestors of many of the same name in this and adjoining towns, and their descendants are scattered throughout the length and breadth of our broad and prosperous country.
Medad Pomeroy, who was among the most prominent of the early settlers, had eight sons and four daughters. He was a black- smith and held many offices of trust and responsibility both in town and church. Magistrate, deputy, select- man, and for twenty-one years town clerk and treasurer, he contributed much toward the establishment and development of the town. His son Ebenezer, was high sheriff of the county for fifteen years and town treasurer for twenty-two years. He was a captain in the militia, several times elected deputy to the General Court, and for years a member of the Governor's Council.
Gen. Seth Pomeroy, fifth son of Hon. Ebenezer, was one of the most renowned citizens of Northampton. He learned the family trade - gunsmith - which had been carried down into the fourth generation, to which he belonged. For three generations longer the same calling was followed by his descend- ants, the last holding con- tracts for fire- arms from the United States government. His guns were in great de- mand in the wars with the Indians and in the Revolu- tion. One of the latter may now be seen in the Memorial Hall Museum. At the siege of
Louisburg in 1745, he held the rank of Major. Ten years after he was Lieut-Col. in the Hamp- shire Regiment, commanded by Col. Ephraim Williams, and participated in the bloody battle of Lake George, in which all the field officers of the regiment but himself were killed. When word came to him, after Lexington, that a battle was imminent, he unhitched a horse from the plow and started for the army, reaching
1
ON THE CONNECTICUT RIVER
Bunker Hill while the battle was in progress. Rushing into the fight as a volunteer, he ren- dered good service to the cause. Again, within two years, at the age of seventy-one, he accepted, at the personal solicitation of General Wash- ington, com- mand of a brigade, and died, a few weeks after joining the continental army, at Peek- skill. Though best known to fame by his military ca- reer, he was honored by his townsmen
MT. HOLYOKE FROM MT. TOM
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THE MEADOW CITY.
with many marks of dis- tinction. He was a mem- ber of the first Provincial Congress, and was em- ployed in many works of great public importance. His descendants, removing to different sections have become well known in their special callings, many of them having been among the leading manufacturers of the country. The homestead of the Pome- roys, occupied by five generations, was near the site of the present Mansion House.
Rev. Solomon Stoddard, second minister of Northampton, was a remarkable man. One of
THE BIG ELM, NORTHAMPTON MEADOWS - 31 FEET IN CIRCUMFERENCE
Following him came Jo- seph Hawley and Caleb Strong of Northampton. From 1650 to 1819, these five names are interwoven with the local history of the valley, and no record of the formative period of the commonwealth is complete without a recital of the part they performed in estab- fishing the institutions that gave prosperity and per- manence to the whole country. Colonel Stod- dard was in all respects the village squire of old England, fitted to the altered circumstances and changed condition of things in the newer England. He lived on the homestead
VIEW FROM MT. WARNER
the most influential clergymen of his day, he was also a man highly respected for his business talents. His descendants have been no less dis- tinguished in different walks in life. Col. John, born in 1682, was one of the most prominent men of his time. As a soldier, a jurist, a statesman, his reputation was surpassed by few if any of his cotemporaries. Chief in command in Hampshire county during two colonial wars, commissioner to Canada to negotiate for the return of prisoners, Judge of Probate, Chief Justice of the court of Common Pleas for Hampshire county, selectman, representative, councillor, he had for years, more influence and greater control in western Massa- chusetts, than any of his predecessors. His life was the connecting link between the two series of great leaders who controlled affairs in this section of the state for nearly a century and three quarters. His predecessors were John Pynchon of Springfield and Samuel Partridge of Hatfield.
now occupied by H. R. Hinckley, in the honse built by his father.
Another pioneer of the settlement, William Clarke, was the ancestor of all who bear the name in this section of the country. He occupied a home-lot where Smith College is located and was constantly employed in town business during the thirty years of his residence here. He died in 1690, at the age of eighty-one. A monument has been erected to his memory by his descend- ants in the Bridge street cemetery, within a few years. He was the first Deputy to the General Court from Northampton, one of the first magis- trates and held many offices of local importance. He reared a family of nine children, many of whom were prominent in the affairs of the town and county.
Maj. Aaron Cook was another of the early settlers of note, whose worthy descendants have a wide reputation. He too was a man of sterling
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NORTHAMPTON,
character and one whom the town delighted to honor. Captain of the first military company formed here, he was also a magistrate, selectman and deputy. Farming was his principal business, but he was noted as a hunter and his reputation as a wolf killer was extensive. He lived on the lot now occupied by the Forbes Library. His family consisted of five sons and three daughters, one of the sons was prominent in the early his- tory of Hadley ..
But it is impossible to mention all who were conspicuous in the first years of the town. Be- sides those already named were the first Joseph Hawley, Jonathan Hunt, Samuel Wright, Cornet Joseph Parsons, and his son known as Joseph Par- sons, Esq. All of them were leaders during their day and generation, and their memories and repre- sentatives still remain to do them honor.
THE COMMONS
When the town was first settled certain por- tions of the lands were divided among the inhab- itants according to rules agreed upon. Every man was given a home-lot of four acres and not less than four or five acres of meadow land. The division of land, however, varied in proportion to the ability and estate of the settler. While four acres or its equivalent, was the standard size of home-lots, some men had much more than that. Meadow land was allotted in the same proportion. To some in small quantities, to others in larger measure. All the lands not divided were held in common. They belonged to the community, and in them every man had certain rights, subject to such regulations as the town prescribed. These commons were mainly uplands and comprised all the undivided lands outside the settled portions of the town.
The first division of the commons was made in 1663, when all except pine lands, within three
miles of the town, were allotted to individuals. At this time the commons within these limits were arranged in three divisions, called " Inner Commons," "Hatefield" and "Lovefield;" The " Inner Commons " comprised all the unassigned land east of a line drawn north from the present meeting-house in Easthampton, through Seeger Swamp to Mill river, striking the latter very near the existing dam of the Nonotuck Silk Mill in Florence, thence turning westerly and includ-
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COPYRIGHT
1893
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