USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Amherst > The history of the town of Amherst, Massachusetts, pt 2 > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56
Gc 974.402 Am47ca pt.2 1776035
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 00826 0785
840.
1896
1731
THE HISTORY
OF THE
TOWN OF AMHERST,
MASSACHUSETTS.
PUBLISHED IN TWO PARTS. PART I .- GENERAL' HISTORY, OF THE TOWN. PART II .- TOWN MEETING RECORDS. COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME.
COMPILED AND PUBLISHED BY CARPENTER & MOREHOUSE.
AMHERST, MASS .: Dress of Carpenter & Zorchousr. 1896.
840
,
THE COMMON BEFORE 1970.
1776035
--
THE COMMON IN 1895.
407
THE VILLAGE COMMONS.
the purchase of ground of the cemetery association, or to arrange other- wise with the association for such burial lots on its ground as the town is by law obliged to provide. For the past eight years the association has expended liberal sums of money in the care and beautifying of Wildwood cemetery. Finely located, on the rise of land which was christened by President Edward Hitchcock " Mount Pleasanter," affording a magnificent view of the most picturesque section of the Connecticut Valley, its crest surmounted by a heavy growth of grand old forest trees, Nature has made of Wildwood cemetery a garden-spot for the living, a noble sepulcher for the dead. The best that man can do is to preserve therein the beauties of Nature's handiwork. .
VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT.
When, in 1788, the town of Amherst narrowed its highways and sold the lands thus acquired to abuttors, the committee who laid out the new ways reserved, in some places, the whole breadth of the old highways for " particular or public use." These reservations included the lands now known as commons at the center village, at East and South Amherst. In the early years of the Nineteenth century, the village common south of College hill was used as a military parade ground. In 1840, that portion lying west of the college lot was granted by the town to Amherst College, to be used for college purposes only ; the Lawrence observatory stands upon this land. North of College hill the common was used as pasture- land and there was a frog-pond near the center. April 1, 1833, the town authorized the selectmen to enclose the common north of College hill, and make such improvements thereon as they deemed expedient.
For many years the grass grown on the common was sold at auction and the proceeds paid into the treasury of the fire companies. The amount realized was from $20 to $30 per annum. The common was utilized on nearly all public occasions. After the founding of Amherst College, commencement-day became the great day of the year in town, its glories overshadowing those even of July 4th and " general muster " day. On commencement-day the common was the general place of assembly for visitors who came in crowds from neighboring towns. Booths, tents and stands were erected on the common, and pedlars, auctioneers and " fakirs " of all descriptions made it their headquarters. For several years liquor was sold without license or interference, but the rising tide of temperance sentiment put an end to the practice, the selectmen giving warning that those who sold liquor on the common on commencement-day would be prosecuted. In 1856, the town received $30.75 for rent of the common on commencement-day. The first cattle-show in Amherst was held on the common in 1846, and from that time on the shows were held there annually
408
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF AMHERST, MASS.
until 1859, when the common having passed out of the control of the selectmen, the agricultural society was forced to seek new grounds. The highway on the west side of the common was much higher than the common itself, but as the highway was cut down and the common filled in the grades were equalized.
Village improvement was a matter which engaged but little the attention of the earlier inhabitants of the town. They were too much engrossed in solving the sterner problems of existence to devote much time or thought to questions of gentler import. To them the beauty of utility appealed more forcibly than the utility of beauty. Some of them recognized the fact that the town and its surroundings possessed great natural beauties, yet they took little pains to preserve these beauties intact or to add to them in any way. The General Court passed, in 1853, an act providing that any ten or more persons in any county, town or city within the state who shall, by agreement in writing, associate for the purpose of encouraging agriculture, horticulture, or improving and ornamenting the streets and public squares of any town or city by planting and cultivating ornamental trees therein, may become a corporation by such name as they shall assume therefor, by calling their first meeting and being organized in the manner provided in the 4Ist Chapter of the Revised Statutes. Under the provisions of this act, in September, 1857, the following petition was addressed to Edward Dickinson, Esq., a justice of the peace in and for the county of Hampshire :
" We the undersigned citizens of Amherst in said county being desirous of forming an association for the purpose of ornamenting and beautifying the public grounds of this town. under the Statutes of this Commonwealth, Chapter 312. Acts of 1853, respectfully request you to call in accordance with the provisions of that Statute a meeting of the undersigned for the purpose of organization agreeable to law."
This petition bore twenty-two signatures, headed by those of I. F. Conkey, James W. Boyden and E. F. Cook. Justice Dickinson issued his warrant, dated Sept. 8, addressed to Mirick N. Spear, directing him to summon the subscribers to meet at his book-store, Sept. 15. The meeting was held as warned and H. C. Nash was elected president pro tem. and W. A. Dickinson secretary pro tem. At an adjourned meeting held Sept. 16. a committee of six was appointed to solicit additional names for member- ship. At a meeting held Sept. 8, a committee of three was appointed to prepare a constitution and by-laws. They reported at a meeting held Oct. 5, their report being accepted and adopted. The first article in the consti- tution reads as follows :
"This association shall be called The Amherst Ornamental Tree Association, the object of which shall be the laying out and ornamenting the public common,
------
ORNAMENTAL TREE . ASSOCIATION. 409
the general improvement and adornment of the various public walks throughout the village by grading, graveling and lining with trees where there are any deficien- . cies, and to do anything. which may render the public grounds and ways of our village more attractive and beautiful."
Any person might become a member of the association on payment of $3. Officers were elected as follows: President. R. B. Hubbard ; vice- presidents. I. F. Conkey, W. C. Fowler, H. C. Nash ; secretary, O. D. Hunt ; treasurer, A. R. Henderson ; executive committee, E. F. Cook, L. D. Cowles, M. N. Spear, Henry Holland, W. W. Hunt, W. W. Smith, W. A. Dickinson. At a meeting held Oct. 12, it was voted to obtain per- mission of the selectmen to enclose and control the common. The town, at a special meeting held Nov. 3, 1857, voted " That the town grant to the Amherst Ornamental Tree Association the use and control of the public common in the center of the town subject to the approval of the selectmen of the town." March 12, 1858, a committee was appointed to see if arrangements could be made for a fair and a concert by local talent. for the benefit of the association. The executive committee was authorized to have any filling done about the pond on the common that should be deemed necessary. When the question was raised as to how the necessary funds should be secured, H. C. Nash proposed that the members of the association pay the bills from their own pockets; a collection was taken from which $40 was realized. At a meeting held March 29. plans were adopted for laying out the common. Considerable work in the line of grading and filling was done upon the common in the summer of 1858, under the supervision of William W. Smith. At a meeting held Oct. IS, 1858, the executive committee was authorized to plant such a number of trees and on such places in the common as they should deem best.
The record book of the association contains no minute of meetings between the dates October, 1858 and October, 1863, and, after the latter date, there is no further entry until 1867. The Express makes the following announcement under date of Jan. 15, 1864 : "B. W. Allen has purchased fifty nice shade trees of different varieties, and engaged a man to set them out on the common this spring." There was a fountain on the common in 1861. Feb. 18, 1867, it was voted that all work on the common should be left in the hands of the executive committee. April 26, 1871, a com- mittee was chosen to attend to all repairs and sell the grass upon the common. The work of grading and filling was continued in the summer of 1874, and at a meeting held Oct. 23, the committee in charge of the work reported that the improvements so far made had cost the association $189.72. The most comprehensive and successful work of the association was carried on in the summer and fall of 1875. At a meeting held March 6, a plan for improving the common, prepared by the distinguished land-
L
:
410
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF AMHERST, MASS.
scape gardener, Frederick Law Olmsted, at the request of William A. Dickinson, was submitted to the association, which decided to proceed with the work in accordance with this plan. A letter was read, written by Mr. Olmsted, and giving instructions and directions concerning the setting of trees and other improvements. It was voted that the selectmen be requested to place the money raised for sidewalks in the hands of the association ; voted, also, that the matter of grading and otherwise improving the common remain as heretofore under the supervision of R. W. Stratton and H. D. Fearing.
The association was reorganized, April 13, 1877, under the name of the " Village Improvement Association." April 23, 1879, it was voted that the by-laws be amended or altered so as to admit ladies to membership. and Nov. 5 of the same year five lady members were added to the executive committee. The association, in addition to its regular work, secured the removal of telegraph poles and hay-scales from the common. May 3, 1879, a committee was appointed to solicit funds for keeping the common in order and for grading at the south end. Oct. 6 of the same year, the executive committee was authorized to complete the grading on the west side of the common. The selectmen, in their report to the town for the year ending Feb. 15, 1883, stated that the association had expended more than $3,000 on the common, over $1,000 having been spent in the past two years. This money was nearly all the voluntary contribution of members. The town valuation of real estate fronting on the common in 1857, when the association was organized, was $69,925 ; in twenty-five years it had risen in value to $238,785. The town had been greatly improved by the work done without expense to the public. At the annual meeting in March, 1883, the town appropriated $150 for a drinking fountain, with the under- standing that it was to be located at the center, but there was such an urgent demand for a fountain at East Amherst the selectmen deemed it advisable to erect two, the one at the East village for watering horses. and a more ornamental one upon the common at the center ; the Village Improvement association contributed $55 toward the expense of the latter. This fountain, while tasteful in design, proved inconvenient as a watering- place for horses, so it was taken down and an iron tank erected in its place,
At a meeting of the association held April 9, 1883, a committee was appointed to look after the improvement of certain streets. This action was repeated in following years and has become an established feature of the association's work. April 23, 1891, it was voted that no bulletin boards be allowed upon the common and that no bills shall be posted upon the trees. April 19, 1892, the executive committee was instructed to confer with the directors of the Board of Trade, to secure cooperation on
-
1
7
4II
THE COMMON AT EAST AMHERST.
matters relating to the improvement of the village. In 1893, settees were placed upon the common and since then have been allowed to remain there during the summer.months. The beautiful village common as it appears to-day is a monument to the wisdom, good taste and generosity of the founders of the Amherst Ornamental Tree association, and their worthy successors down to the present time.
May 24, 1864, the town voted to authorize the citizens of East Amherst to fence and ornament their common. In the early '70's, the town voted to grant to the East parish the privilege of cutting and selling the grass on the common at East Amherst. This common was at the time, and for many years thereafter, a strip of vacant land grown up to grass and weeds, adding nothing to the beauty of the village. April 10, 1882, a meeting was held at the chapel of the Second Congregational church for the purpose of organizing an association for village improve- ment. Committees were appointed to prepare a constitution, to solicit names for membership and to confer with residents on the street running north and south as to whether one or two roads should be laid out along the common. At a meeting held April 18, a constitution was reported and adopted. The name selected was " The Village Improvement Society of East Amherst." Its object was " to improve and ornament the streets and public grounds of the place, by planting and cultivating trees, clearing and repairing sidewalks and doing such other things as shall tend to beautify and adorn said streets and grounds." Any person over 16 years of age who should annually plant and protect a tree under the direction of the executive committee, or should pay 50 cents annually in money or labor, might become a member of the association. Any person under 16 years of age who should pay 25 cents annually in money or labor might become a junior member. The annual meeting was to be held in April, special meetings on call of the executive committee. Officers were elected as follows : President, C. O. Parmenter ; vice-presidents, L. H. Allen, Mrs. r G. E. Fisher ; secretary, G. E. Fisher ; treasurer, O. P. Gaylord.
At a meeting held May 8, after considering various plans and consulting with abuttors on the highway running north and south, it was voted to lay out two highways, one on either side of the common. The selectmen were requested to make the necessary changes, but found they had no money they could use in doing the work proposed. The driveway along the west side of the common was discontinued from the south side of the school-house lot to the junction with the road leading to Belchertown, and a new road was built across the south end of the common. The drive- way discontinued was laid in 1849 for the benefit of Oliver Watson, who conducted a shoe-factory at East Amherst, and was laid out in the limits of the old county road. After it was discontinued, the abuttors began to
412
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF AMHERST, MASS.
cut the grass on the common in front of their premises, claiming that the land had reverted to them. At the annual town meeting held in March, 1883, the town voted to instruct its selectmen to petition the county com- missioners to establish the boundaries of the East Amherst common. An appropriation of $100 was passed to be used in constructing a road at East Amherst. The county commissioners established the boundaries of the common, but as the land was shown to be a part of the county road there was no means to prevent any person who desired from driving over it in any direction, thus rendering futile any attempt to beautify it and maintain it as a common in the general acceptance of the term. To obviate this difficulty, special legislation was necessary. A bill was drawn up, presented to the General Court and passed, giving to towns the right to grant vacant lands in highways, not needed for travel purposes, to associations organized for village improvement. In 1883, the selectmen laid out two travel-ways, one on either side of the common.
At a meeting of the association held Aug. 17, 1883, Prof. H. B. Adams offered a prize of $10 to the person who made the greatest improve- ment about his or her premises previous to April, 1884. At a meeting held Nov. 12, the association gratefully acknowledged a gift of $25 received from Charles D. Adams of New York city. A committee was appointed to superintend the work of grading at the lower end of the common. At a meeting held Dec. 5, a report was submitted of the work accomplished. The officers were instructed to petition the selectmen to put an article in the warrant for the annual meeting to see if the town would authorize the society to make proposed improvements on the common. The town, at its annual meeting in March, 1884, voted to " grant the use and control of the area contained within the newly constructed travel tracks at East Amherst to the Village Improvement association of that place, the same to be used and set apart as a public common, subject to the approval and supervision of the selectmen." The town also voted an appropriation of Sioo to complete the highways at East Amherst, a measure strongly opposed by some residing in that section, who claimed rights in the highways. The student of history will readily discern in this controversy an echo of the Morton-Dickinson contest which began 138 years earlier. The work of improvement on the common carried on during the year 1883 cost the society more than $100.
In April, 1885, the society was reorganized in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 114 of the Public Statutes. Its name was changed to the "East Amherst Improvement Society "; its purpose, "improvement of the public grounds in that part of Amherst known as East Amherst." The constitution was signed by 16 persons. At a meeting held April 28, officers were elected as follows : President, C. O. Parmenter : vice-presi-
41.3
THE COMMON AT SOUTH AMHERST.
dents, L. H. Allen, Herbert Sabin ; clerk, G. E. Thayer ; treasurer, L. L. Ball. A number of trees were set out on the common in May, 1885. A resident at East Amherst cut down three of these trees, for which offense he was summoned before the superior court. After many postponements the case was brought to trial, the judge directing the jury to bring in a verdict for the society. Since that time the rights of the society in the common have been respected. The common was plowed up and seeded to grass and presents a greatly improved appearance, although there is much work yet to be done. Sept. 25, 1894, the society's constitution was amended, so as to make its expressed purpose " first, to improve the intel- lectual and social life of the community." Since that time the society has assumed more of a literary character.
April 2, 1883, the " Village Improvement Society of South Amherst, Mass." was organized at a meeting held at the South Congregational church. A constitution was adopted ; the object of the society was. declared to be, "to promote by all practical measures the improvement and beauty of public and private property in South Amherst." Any person might become a member by signing the constitution and paying 25 cents into the treasury. The annual meeting was to be held the first Monday in April. The following officers were elected : President, Parnell Munson ; vice-president, J. F. Morell ; secretary and treasurer, C. S. Walker ; exec- utive committee, J. F. Morell, James Hunt, H. P. Bridgman. The secretary was instructed to inform the selectmen of the organization of the society and obtain from them the use and control of the common. At its annual meeting in March, 1883, the town had voted that the use and control of the South Amherst common be granted to a village improvement association, subject to the approval of the selectmen, as soon as an association should be formed consisting of ten members. At a meeting held April 16, the executive committee submitted a plan for ploughing the common, planting it with potatoes, laying out roads and walks and improving the grounds in front of the church. At the annual meeting in April, 1884, the executive committee reported that but little work had been done during the year on account of the drouth and a lack of funds. Sept. 1, the committee reported that a fair crop of potatoes had been raised on the common and was ready to harvest. The committee was instructed to see to digging and marketing the crop. The society held a field-day, Sept. 11, grading the common, straightening its borders and laying out a new road in place of the old one in front of the church.
The society was reorganized under the provisions of statute law, June 10, 1885, assuming the name of the "South Amherst Improvement Society." The following officers were elected : President, Erastus Coy ; vice-president, J. W. Dana ; secretary and treasurer, C. S. Walker ; exec-
L
-
414
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF AMHERST, MASS.
utive committee, Parnell Munson, H. P. Bridgman, Mrs. J. F. Morell. The constitution was signed by 35 persons. At a special town meeting held in June, 1885, the town defined the boundaries of the common at South Amherst and gave the use and control of the land within the prescribed limits to the South Amherst Improvement society. In September, 1886. members of the society and others graded the north part of the common and seeded it down to grass. At a meeting held Sept. 26, 1887, the society voted to purchase and erect three street lights. In April, 1889, a number of trees were set out upon the common. As early as 1890, the society began to agitate the question of cemetery improvement, and committees were appointed from year to year to have charge of the work. At a meeting held April 3, 1893, the society voted to spend $10 in building a new road in the cemetery. It was voted to take measures to keep waste paper and rubbish off the streets and to request the selectmen to erect guide-boards at the street corners. At a meeting held April 1, 1895, it was voted that ball-playing upon the common should be prohibited except on July 4 and Labor-day.
The village of North Amherst ha's no common, but the spirit of village improvement was early developed there, manifesting itself in the excellent care of highways, walks, and the general neat appearance of public and private property. The " North Amherst Village Improvement Association " was organized Nov. 9, 1888. Its expressed object was "to secure the improvement in appearance of our public grounds including the highways, the grounds about the school-house and those about the church, to increase so far as possible their convenience to the public, and in gen- eral to foster and promote such public spirit in all matters pertaining to neatness about our homes and consideration for one another's welfare as will make our village more desirable as a place of residence." Any male resident of North Amherst might become a member on signing the consti- tution and paying into the treasury the sum of 50 cents. Any woman might become a member by signing the constitution. The officers first elected were : President, Henry W. Haskins ; secretary, P. W. Smith ; treasurer, O. W. Smith ; executive committee, G. P. Spear, J. B. Brown, F. N. Dickinson, F. A. Hobart, A. W. Hall, G. E. Atkins. At a meeting held Nov. 21, 1888, the executive committee was instructed to purchase lamps, locate them and see to setting them up. The grounds about the "new library building were graded by the association in April, 1895. In 1890, an "Old Man's Tree association" was organized. Any man over So years of age may set out a tree, which will be cared for and protected by the society. On Arbor-day, 1890, trees were set out as follows : By Clinton J. Cowles, aged S2, near the reservoir; by Forester Ainsworth, aged 83, the west tree, south of the church ; by Dea. Lyman Smith, aged
-
415
7
THE COMMON AT THE "CITY."
89, the east tree, south of the church. The society has, since its organi- zation, set out more than 100 shade and ornamental trees, and has caused .to be built more than one and one-half miles of sidewalk and kept the same in good repair.' The town's appropriation for street-lights at North Amherst has been expended under the society's direction.
A meeting was held at North Amherst "City," Nov. 12, 1889, for the purpose of establishing a society for village improvement. Officers were elected as follows: President, Manning Roberts; vice-president, Mrs. Robert Lawton ; secretary, Charles S. Cushman ; treasurer, Mrs. Manning Roberts ; executive committee, Robert Lawton, W. L. Roberts, John Chandler, Mrs. C. S. Wilbur, Miss Ella Roberts. Committees were appointed to prepare a constitution and by-laws, to solicit funds, and to arrange for entertainments for the benefit of the association. At a meet- ing held Nov. 20, a constitution and by-laws were adopted. The name assumed was the " North Amherst City Village Improvement Association." The object, as expressed in the constitution, was, " to secure the improve- ment in appearance of our public grounds, including highways and com- mon, the grounds about the school-house and those about the church, to foster and promote such public spirit as will make our village more desirable as a place of residence." Any resident of North Amherst "City " might become a member by signing the constitution and paying 25 cents into the treasury. The annual meeting was to be held in Novem- ber, special meetings on call of the president or secretary and a majority of the executive committee. The soliciting committee reported receipts of $49.25. The executive committee was instructed to purchase ten street lamps and set them where they thought best, also to see the selectmen about the school-house land. The society was organized with 40 members.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.