USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Warwick > Warwick, Massachusetts; biography of a town, 1763-1963 > Part 1
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WARWICK
BIOGRAPHY OF A TOWN
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WARWICK
Plan of the Town of Warwick made Feb.17, 1963 for the Observance of the Bicentennial of its Incorporation as a Town Based on the Topographic maps as made by the United States Geological Survey Scale one mile equals two inches drawn by Charles A Morse
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WARWICK, MASSACHUSETTS BIOGRAPHY OF A TOWN
WARWICK, MASSACHUSETTS C Biography of a Town
BY CHARLES A. MORSE
AR
ORPORAT
INC
FEBRUARY 17. 1763.
FRI
A
0000
TO
SS
1763 - 1963
DRESSER, CHAPMAN & GRIMES Cambridge, Massachusetts
Copyright @ 1963 by Dresser, Chapman & Grimes, Inc. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 63-12108
Printed in the United States of America
1231497 PREFACE
In writing this history of the town of Warwick we have attempted much more than the title indicates. While we are primarily concerned with what has transpired within the borders of the town from its early settlement to the present day, many events occurred far and wide which affected its history and are therefore a part of it. And so we give a brief sketch of the early colonial history of the province and the Connecticut valley as a prelude, showing what events led to the settlement.
Warwick was but one of many townships receiving similar grants from the Province of Massachusetts Bay in that period. Many had similar organizations, received similar directions, con- ditions and restrictions. All were affected by the successive French and Indian wars and faced the same problems to a greater or lesser degree. So we describe briefly the national events, the social and industrial changes and developments that all experienced. The story of our town is but an example of the story of many other towns that were created under similar conditions and faced similar problems. Thus we hope this book will have an appeal to our neighboring towns without a published history of their own.
The success or failure in overcoming these problems depended first on their ability to take advantage of modern transportation and second to compete successfully with the opening to emigra- tion of the fertile level plains of the west. We have tried to give a glimpse of rural life in its various phases: industrial, social, religious, educational and civic, with the changes that occurred as the result of (shall we say) advancing civilization.
The preparation of this book has covered a period of 25 years, although the definite knowledge that the town approved the idea began in 1957. As a result of research done under the auspices of the Federal Writers' Project and the Historical Record Survey, both created in the Depression of the 1930's, considerable materi- al was accumulated and was available to us. As the 200th anni-
5
3 9,50
Fordspeed
versary of the incorporation of the town approached, sentiment began to grow favoring the publishing of a history of the town to commemorate the event. The Warwick Resident Reunion Asso- ciation sponsored an article in the town warrant. A committee was authorized to investigate the proposition and, as a result of their report, the town voted to have the committee prepare this history and made the first appropriation toward the necessary cost. The original committee appointed was composed of Charles A. Morse, Mrs. Albert J. Morris, Mrs. Gunnar Thoren, Joseph Stevens and Oscar C. Doane, Jr. On the death of Mrs. Morris in 1957, Henry Nordstedt was appointed to the vacancy.
Work began on the project at once, using all available spare time. Due to the tremendous amount of research required, prog- ress was necessarily slow. To be sure that no material was over- looked and to obtain information not available in Warwick, the following depositories of historical records were visited: Widener Library, Harvard University; Boston Public Library; Massachu- setts Historical Society; New England Historic Genealogical Society; Worcester Antiquarian Society; State Archives, State House; also newspaper files at the Orange Enterprise & Journal and the Greenfield Recorder-Gazette were examined. The Athol, Orange and Greenfield Public Libraries supplied important infor- mation on several occasions as well as the Forbes Library in Northampton. All of these institutions were most cooperative, and we extend our heartfelt thanks.
Adequately to give credit to the many people who have pro- vided records or who have assisted us in compiling this history, we must first honor some who have long since gone to their reward. These are the ones who showed their love for our town by writing, collecting, preserving and, finally, passing down to us their handiwork, listed in the bibliography.
The most important of these are the diaries of William Cobb, carefully written for 50 years and presented to the town by his grandson, George Burt Cobb. We also wish to acknowledge the valuable work performed by Mrs. Lizette Vorce in collecting photographs and pictures of Warwick events and scenes which she mounted in scrapbooks. These with her volumes of news-
6
paper clippings and miscellaneous manuscripts have been most helpful. Similar material recorded or preserved by Miss Rhoda Cook was made available to us by George Cook of Springfield. Mrs. Anna L. Gale of Orange and her daughter Mrs. Elizabeth Furbush provided valuable background material; also Mrs. Etta M. T. Bass and her daughter Katherine Bass, former Assistant Librarian of the Woburn Public Library.
Valuable assistance was given by Harry C. Earle, Oscar Ohlson, George A. Witherell, Mrs. Julia Green, Howard Ander- son, Frank and Russell Webster, Dr. Paul W. Goldsbury, Edwin Gillespie, Mrs. Nellie M. Francis, George Shepardson, Fred R. Lincoln, Amos Alexander, Ralph Holbrook and Gunnar Thoren.
Among the descendants of former residents who have aided in the work are William Leonard (Chicago, Illinois), Louise R. Wilson (Amherst), Viola D. Haven (Fitchburg), Mrs. Florine Delvee Thayer (North Abington), Howland Fay Atwood (Los Angeles, California), Allen Frizzel (Greenfield), Mrs. Violet Barber Comerford (Orange), John P. Rich (Nashua, New Hampshire), Cynthia Rich Wood (Ramsey, New Jersey) and Mrs. Dorothy Kendall Steinhardt (Milwaukee, Wisconsin).
Our town clerk, Miss Elizabeth S. Earle, gave us access to all town records and together with our selectmen and assessors, Robert Kolka, Paul Hadsel, Gordon S. Anderson, Charles E. Lincoln, Glenn Matthews, assisted in every way possible.
We also wish to acknowledge the constructive criticism and advice received from a former resident of Warwick, George A. Chaffee, Editor of Dresser, Chapman & Grimes, Inc., publishers of this volume.
Special thanks are due Mrs. Bessie Thoren for unstinting help and advice, and to Mrs. Grace C. Morse who gave her services in typing the entire manuscript several times and, in addition, preparing the index.
To all we express our gratitude but we trust their real reward will come from the knowledge that they had a part in preserving the story of their town for future generations.
Many contradictions will be found in the spelling of names. We have copied the variations as found in the original records.
7
For example, the Indian name (Pequog) of Athol has many forms, depending on the individual early scribe.
As to scope, this book could well have been twice as long. But we had to limit ourselves. Our hope is that your judgment and ours lie not too far apart.
CHARLES A. MORSE
Warwick, Massachusetts January 14, 1963
8
CONTENTS
Part One - HISTORY
Chapter Page
I Prologue I3
2 Gardner's Canada, 1735-1748 20
3 Roxbury Canada, 1749-1762 . 37
4 A Town Is Born, 1763 52
5 Loyalist and Yankee, 1774-1776 . 64
6 Critical Years, 1776-1780 77
7 Hard Times and Shays's Rebellion, 1781-1787 . 98
8 A Town Comes of Age, 1788-1800 107
9 Vigorous Years, 1800-1825 II7 ·
IO Progress Bypasses Warwick, 1826-1860 I36
II Rebellion Years, 1861-1865 . 152
I2 Restless Years, 1865-1875 161
9
13 The Reign of Sam Hastings, 1875-1915 . 167
14 Battle, Boom and Bust, 1915-1940 177
1 5 World War II and Beyond, 1941-1962 189 ·
Part Two - ACTIVITIES
16 Religious Organizations . 201
I7 Educational Development 215
18 Free Public Library . . 227
19 Civic Organizations and Services . 235
20 Social Organizations 245
2I Place Names - Folklore - Natural History . 250
22 Epilogue 265
Appendix · 271
Bibliography
277
Index .
279
10
PART ONE HISTORY
٨
11.
. .
1 PROLOGUE
T HE HISTORY OF WARWICK, MASSACHUSETTS, properly begins in the year 1735 when the grant of the township was made by the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Although the area had little previous claim to fame in the earlier history of the Province it was becoming of increasing importance in the plans for its fu- ture growth. The area of rugged mountainous land six miles square lying east of the rapidly growing town of Northfield had never been more than a hunting ground for the Indians and more recently the white settlers. Now not only this relatively small area but all of the uninhabited region surrounding the esta- blished townships along the Connecticut Valley was to be opened to colonization. Thus a brief history of these early settlements should be given as a prelude to that of the town of Warwick which followed in their footsteps.
A century had passed since the day when the Pilgrims had landed at Plymouth to begin the colonization of New England. They had been followed closely by the Puritans, and soon the colonists had become firmly established along the seacoast. The settlers gradually began to penetrate inland but the progress was slow because of several obstacles.
The first of these was the fear of Indian uprisings. True there had been no serious trouble between the natives and the whites since the Pequods had been ruthlessly crushed in 1637. This tribe had been the most warlike of the Algonquin Nation and occupied the eastern half of the state of Connecticut. The Wam- panoags under their sachem Massasoit occupied the area west of the Plymouth colony, and the more numerous Narragansetts inhabited Rhode Island. Probably the largest tribe to the north was the Nipmucks in central Massachusetts. The Pacomptocks were located along the Connecticut River and usually were allies
13
of the Nipmucks. Most authorities consider the Pacomptocks to include the Agawam Indians in the neighborhood of Springfield and the Nonotucks who inhabited the region as far north as Deerfield. The Pacomptocks occupied the Deerfield River valley. The Squakheags who claimed the Connecticut Valley from Turn- ers Falls to the vicinity of Brattleboro were not considered related to either the Pacomptocks or the Nipmucks but were on more intimate terms with the Pennacook Indians in southern New Hampshire.
The second obstacle that had to be overcome before settlers could penetrate inland was the difficulty of finding or providing adequate transportation facilities between the outlying settlements and the seacoast towns. Roads, or even trails, were difficult to build and rivers were utilized to provide water transportation as much as possible. Thus settlements were made along the Con- necticut River advancing northward to Massachusetts. Spring- field had been settled in 1636, Northampton in 1656, Hadley in 1661 and Deerfield in 1669. The Indians were the only occu- pants of a vast territory between the river and the eastern set- tlements. It was only a few years before King Philip's War that Worcester and Brookfield were settled. In 1669 the same party of men who had laid out the first settlement at Worcester con- ducted an exploration trip to the northwest which terminated at the Indian village of Squakheag (Northfield) on the Con- necticut River. Impressed with the excellent location, they re- commended to the General Court of the Province that a settle- ment be established there.
Two years later a party from Northampton journeyed up the river and found that the Indians in possession of the land were willing to sell it. The Squakheags had suffered a recent defeat at the hands of the warlike Mohawks to the west and now hoped that the coming of white settlers would protect them.
The first settlers arrived in the spring of 1673 and the settle- ment made rapid progress for two years. Relations between the Indians and the whites generally speaking had been harmonious along the Connecticut Valley. However in the eastern part of the colony, after the death of Massasoit, the Indians gradually
14
had become alarmed at the rapid increase in the number of colonists and finally began to awaken to the danger of losing the land that still remained in their possession. Under the leader- ship of Philip, the son of Massasoit, many of the tribes united and attacked the white settlers in the summer of 1675. Settle- ment after settlement felt the fury of the Indian attacks as the war rapidly spread to every section of the province. Soon it was evident that many of the outlying settlements would have to be abandoned because of their defenseless position.
On the third of September Captain Beers set out with thirty- six men and several wagons to effect the evacuation of Squak- heag. When only two miles from his destination Beers and his party ran into an ambush and the Captain and half of his party were slain. Two days later the settlement was evacuated success- fully and a week later, when Deerfield was attacked, it was de- cided to evacuate that town also.
Captain Lathrop was ordered to bring the inhabitants and what possessions they could salvage to safety. The expedition, composed of fugitives, loaded carts and troops, left Deerfield and soon entered the woods in the direction of Northampton. As they crossed the little brook deep in the forest of what is now the town of South Deerfield they found themselves surrounded by hundreds of howling bloodthirsty savages. Today a monu- ment commemorates the Bloody Brook Massacre and the loss of Lathrop and nearly all of his company.
The number of inhabited towns in western Massachusetts was now reduced to five, of which Springfield with a population of about 500 was the largest. In October most of the troops were assembled near Hadley preparing to advance against the Indians, leaving Springfield to defend itself. As a result the town barely escaped destruction, as supposedly loyal Indians suddenly at- tacked.
Hatfield also successfully resisted a heavy Indian attack on October 19th but the position of the settlers was desperate indeed as, penned up in crowded forts, they watched the pillars of smoke that told them their abandoned homes and possessions had been destroyed.
15
But the stubborn defense put up by these settlements must have convinced the Indians that they would suffer tremendous losses from any further attempts to subdue them, and they changed their activities to raids on the outlying settlements in the eastern part of the province. During the extremely severe winter of 1675-1676 the savages remained secure from attack in their winter quarters. Squakheag was the refuge of many of them, and here King Philip was to spend a portion of his time.
On February 10, 1676 Lancaster was attacked and partially destroyed. Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, the wife of the minister, and her children were among the captives, and she was forced to begin the long march to Squakheag with her severely wounded daughter in her arms. Mrs. Rowlandson wrote an account of her captivity telling of the death and burial of her daughter after she had carried the child for eight days. The trail followed by the Indians crossed the Millers River near the Indian village of Paquoag (Atho!), turned west and crossed the southwest corner of what is now the town of Warwick. It followed Moss Brook until it crossed the Great Swamp in Northfield, passed over the northern end of Crag Mountain and then descended along the course of Roaring Brook north of Beers Mountain to the Indian village of Squagheag, located on Beers Plain. (Temple & Sheldon, Northfield, p. 50)
The story of Mrs. Rowlandson's sojourn with the Indians and her eventual redemption was vaguely known to the early settlers of Northfield, and for over 150 years it was the accepted belief that her child was buried near the foot of Mount Grace. As a result the mountain was considered to have received its name as a memorial to the child. When the story written by Mrs. Row- landson in 1682 was widely reprinted later it disclosed that her daughter's name was Sarah and not Grace, and that her death and burial took place in New Braintree before the crossing of the Millers River.
This apparently refuted beyond any question the age-old tradition of the naming of the mountain. Nevertheless no other explanation has been offered to our knowledge as to the origin of the name which appears in the records of the General Court
16
as early as 1735. It is possible that the name "Grace" was used in error and when firmly established by the passing years it was hopeless to attempt to correct it.
The spring of 1676 was to be a terrible ordeal for the colonists as town after town became the object of Indian raids. But now the tide began to turn as the colonists organized an effective campaign and took the initiative.
The heaviest blow was struck against the Indians assem- bled on the Connecticut River at Peskeompscut Falls, about five miles above Deerfield. Here Captain Turner with a hastily as- sembled force of 150 men and boys surprised the Indian encamp- ment and slaughtered several hundred savages. The brave captain lost his life during the retreat but the site of his deed will always be known as Turners Falls.
The severe loss sustained by the Indians was a serious blow and from this date their eventual defeat and subjugation became rapid. While the danger of further Indian attacks had been permanently removed the colonists had received a serious setback in their progress of colonization. Many townships had been either captured or abandoned and these had been totally des- troyed. As soon as the war was ended the task of resettling and rebuilding began. But the cost of the war had been tremendous and it was over 20 years before the Province had resettled all that had been destroyed.
Nine years were to pass before any attempt was made to re- settle the township at Squakheag, and within three years hostile Indians once more began to ambush and harass the settlers. These were former Connecticut River valley Indians who had fled north to Canada after King Philip's death and now, allied with the French, were incited by them to attack the English col- onists.
When war was formally declared between France and England in 1690, and with the Indian raids now led by the French, North- field was again abandoned as being too remote to defend. There was a short period of peace from 1698 to 1702, then the war was resumed to continue unabated until 1713. The outstanding event during what is known as Queen Anne's War was the de-
17
struction of Deerfield in 1704 by an expedition of French and Indians.
No sooner had peace been declared than steps were taken to settle Northfield again. During the years of peace from 1713 to 1723 the settlement grew rapidly and the future appeared bright, but once again war broke out between the Province of Massachu- setts Bay and Canada. Father Ralle's War, as it was known, was to keep the valley in a state of turmoil until 1726. The peace that was to follow lasted 18 years and during this interval the Province began its energetic plan to grant townships in the sur- rounding area.
Soon after the close of Father Ralle's War between the Pro- vince of Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire against Canada steps were taken to encourage the settling of the vast area of un- inhabited country around the town of Northfield. Doubtless it was the belief of the Governor, his Council and the General Court that this peace would not be a lasting one and that further war was inevitable. The best defense against the encroachment of the French was to establish and encourage settlements in the area.
There were many people residing in the eastern part of the province in what doubtless to them seemed crowded quarters and who wanted more elbow room. Probably others saw in this av- ailable land the opportunity to better their way of life. How- ever, the treasury of the Province had been sadly depleted by the cost of the several wars and there were many claims for services rendered the colony, some going back as far as King Philip's War in 1675-1676. So it became the policy of the General Court to re- ward or pay off these claims as far as possible by granting land to soldiers or their descendants and to others to whom the Prov- ince might be indebted. Often soldiers or their descendants who had engaged in some military expedition would be compensated in a body by the grant of a plantation or township. Thus Falls- town, now Bernardston, was granted to the survivors and descen- dants of Captain Turner's command which had surprised and massacred the Indians at Turners Falls in 1676, the grant being made in 1734, fifty-eight years later.
Among the many grants given to individuals there were three
18
which lay in the area that now comprises the town of Warwick. The first of these consisted of 200 acres given to Joseph Severance of Deerfield. The land lies on both sides of Shepardson Road and includes the residences of Frederick W. Harris and Bessie and Gunnar Thoren. The petition submitted by Severance stated "that about 21 years ago he was wounded by the Indian Enemy being a Soldier in the Service of the Province and has been a Cripple ever Since, and like to be So till his death. And for as much as the Petr has never had any thing from this Government for his Support, Therefore praying for some Allowance from this Court in consideration of his Wounds and his Disability thereby." (Acts & Resolves, Vol. XII, p. 53)
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