USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Southampton > Address delivered at Southampton, Mass. : at the centennial celebration of the incorporation of that town, July 23, 1841 > Part 2
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· When the meetings were first held on the Sabbath, the people sat on the sills of the house.
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equal to £10 in estate. At a subsequent meeting, the seat- ers were ordered "to put men and their wives together throughout the whole of the pews ;" and " that the seaters should have liberty to act discretionarily respecting the new comers." On other occasions, the town gave more despotic orders, and ordered that such and such persons should sit in this or the other pew, probably according to their real or sup- posed dignity.
It has been the common report, that the Rev. Mr. Judd first came to this town, in special answer to the prayer of the people, who were assembled in order to observe a day of solemn prayer and fasting for this object. From a brief MS. Journal kept by Mr. Judd, we learn that there was noth- ing particularly remarkable in the circumstances attending his arrival. On the 28th of February, 1743, he wrote as follows : " Yesterday I preached my last sermon at Suffield from 2 Cor. 5: 20. 'Now then we are ambassadors for Christ,' etc. and to day set out for New Hampton, to preach with them awhile. Got to Westfield, lodged at cousin Jo- seph Root's. On the next day, came with Mr. Edwards [of Northampton] from Westfield to New Hampton. Came to Searl's to dine ; a fast kept ; preached in the P. M., from Mat. 9: 17. I am not very well. In the evening agreed with the Committee to preach three months for £2 10s. a Sabbath, my keeping and a horse. On the next day, not very well, but some better. On the Sabbath, preached A. M. and P. M. from Isa. 59: 2. Some in the assembly very much affected. Phineas King and Eleazar Hannum came to visit me in the evening."
After Mr. Judd had preached several Sabbaths, the church gave him an unanimous call. with a single dissentient,* to become their pastor. This call was accepted. The ordain- ing council met on the 8th day of June. 1743, at the house
· Understood to have been Ebenezer Corse, who afterwards be- came one of Mr. Judd's decided supporters.
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of Nathaniel Searl. It consisted of Messrs. Edwards of Northampton, Hopkins of West Springfield, Parsons of Am- herst, Woodbridge of South Hadley, and Ballentine of West- field, with a messenger or delegate from each of the churches. After a sermon preached by Mr. Edwards, a church was or- ganized, and a confession of faith and a covenant were adopt- ed. Of the thirty-two males, who were original members of the church, twenty-eight were the first settlers of the town. The other four were Mr. Judd, Nathaniel Scarl, jr., John Wait, jr., and Nathaniel Phelps. Soon after, thirty-one other persons, mostly the wives of the original members, were connected with the church ; so that the sixty-three members comprised ahnost every adult in the town. The church hay- ing been organized, the council proceeded to ordain Mr. Judd. Mr, Hopkins gave a solemn charge to the pastor elect.
For settlement, Mr. Judd had 200 acres of land, 100 pounds, old tenor, in money, and 125 pounds in work ; for salary, 130 pounds in money, the first three years ; and then an increase of five pounds a year, until the salary amounted to 170 pounds per annum.
During the year, in which Mr. Judd was settled, the coun- try was involved in the horrors of an Indian war. A spe- cies of fortification, or palisade of stakes, was built around Mr. Judd's house ; also a watch-tower or mount at the west end of the house, communicating with it by a window. The ·inhabitants removed thither, for a short time, in the height of the alarm. Some of those who went into the fields, to per- form their agricultural labor, took their place as sentinels in order to prevent surprise. When they walked in the roads or woods, in search of cattle, or for any other purposes, every man carried his weapons with him. The people of the neighboring towns sometimes marched hither on an alarm, and scoured the woods. The families gradually removed from the fort [or forts, for Jonathan Bascom's house seems also to have been fortified] to dwellings in the vicinity.
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In the year 1745, Cape Breton was reduced by the New England forces under Gen. Pepperell. Several men join- ed that expedition from Northampton. Among these was Dea. Samuel Edwards senior, who had not then removed to Southampton. Elias Lyman appears to have been the only soldier who went from this place. No Indians were seen in the town during that year.
Early in the spring of 1746, an expedition was proposed against the French and Indians in Canada, and several of the inhabitants of this town enlisted. The project was, how- ever, abandoned. On the 25th of August, 1746, the houses of Aaron and Elisha Clark, which had been deserted by the families, were plundered by the Indians ; beds were torn in pieces ; clothing and provisions were seized, and other vio- lence was' committed. The Indians, supposing themselves discovered, fled to Pomeroy's Mountain, and on the west side of it, killed six horned cattle and one horse, and wound- ed others.
About a fortnight afterwards, or near the 10th of Septem- ber, the Indians placed an ambush between the houses of Ezra Strong and John, Wait, near the bars leading to a field where cows were pastured. The Indians drove the cows to the back part of the pasture, in order that the individual, who should be sent to drive them home, at night, might fall into the ambush. But the cows, as is usual towards night, gradually approached the bars. The Indians then sent one of their number to drive them to a distant part of the enclo- sure, and keep them there. Samuel Danks, who went to drive the cows home, providentially, did not pass through the bars, as was expected, but took a nearer course. When he came in sight of the cows. he perceived them to be very restless. He then stopped a moment, and discovered the Indian, trying to prevent them from going towards the bars. Danks instantly ran and gave the alarm. The Indians fled, and were seen no more, during the year.
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The inhabitants of the town were now called to suffer from another cause. The harvest of English grain was light. There was, however, a strong expectation of a good crop of corn. But this hope was extinguished ; for on the 12th of August, a severe frost killed almost the entire crop in this and other towns. Much suffering was consequently expe- rienced in the following winter.
On the 27th of August, 1747, about 5 o'clock, P. M., Elisha Clark was killed by the Indians, as he was threshing grain in his barn. His body was pierced by seven bullets. When found, it was covered with straw. Until this time, the Indians had not been heard of in the vicinity during the year. This sorrowful event surprised the inhabitants in all directions. Soldiers from the adjoining towns assembled for the defence of the place, and for the pursuit of the In- dians. The foe had, however, fled, destroying, as they went, several head of horned cattle. They encamped, on the night after they killed Mr. Clark, near the spot where now stands the house of the late Mr. Noah Strong of Westhamp- .ton. Sixteen poles, which they set up there, were supposed to indicate the number of the party. .
On the 9th of May, 1748, about noon, Noah Pixley was returning from a pasture whither he had driven his cows, and had reached a spot a little south of the high-way, a short distance beyond the house of Zophar Searl, when he was shot by a party of Indians. First, one gun was heard by the people in the centre of the town ; then three guns were dis- charged in the manner of an alarm ; which were followed by three or four others in quick succession. . Still, Pixley was wounded only in the arm. He then ran five or six rods, when the Indians overtook him, tomahawked and scalped him. In their haste to flee, they cut off' a part of his skull. The inhabitants immediately rallied and pursued the In- dians, who fled up a path leading to Samuel Burt's resi-
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dence. At his house, they stopped a short time ; but as the family had left it, they did but trifling injury.
The people were now in the utmost consternation. Every heart beat with terror. There was no safety by night or by day, in the field, in the road or the house. They immediately withdrew from their homes and forts, and left the settlement desolate. Most of them retired to Northampton. Mr. Judd and his family went to the relations of Mrs. Judd in Suf- field. On the 19th of July following, seven families return- ed, and kept garrison the remainder of the summer. In the autumn, most of the inhabitants returned. Mr. Judd and his family came back in the following winter.
The year 1748 was preeminently a year of affliction. There has been no year since the town was settled, so mark- ed by Divine judgments. There were war, famine and pes- tilence. Ezra Strong, Noah Sheldon and Moses Wright, original settlers, died. They seem to have been valuable men, and their loss was deeply mourned. Much suffering was occasioned by the failure of the crops. No one was willing to labor on a farm, unless he was surrounded by guards. On account of the absence of the husbandmen from the 19th of May to the 19th of July, the winter grain was mostly destroyed by the cattle which were left behind, and by those which strayed from other towns. The Indian corn was alike exposed to depredation, and was left without culture until midsummer. Their fathers' God, however, did not desert them. They made out to struggle through the following winter, doubtless receiving aid from their friends and brothers in the old settlement .* A simple fact shows, impressively, the losses of this unhappy year. The valua- tion of the town in 1743, was 830 pounds; and there were forty-five rateable polls. Yet in 1748, five years later, the
. It is said, that bundles of hay were brought from Northampton on the backs of horses.
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valuation was but 421 pounds ; the number of polls was thirty-four. The following year, 1749, was remarkable for a drought, such as has been rarely experienced in New Eng- land. There was no rain, except one small shower, from March until wheat-harvest. Aged men, eighty years of age, who were living in 1820, well remembered that season. The grass was burnt up with excessive heat, and for weeks, the fields looked like the Arabian desert, where hardly a green thing was to be seen. At the time of mowing, not a hand- ful of grass could be collected on the best lands. But after the rains came, the grass sprung up thick and rank, and grew most luxuriantly. It was cut in September in fine con- dition. An excellent crop of Indian corn was also gath- ered .*
In 1749; a general peace took place between France and England, which was followed by happy effects in these dis- tant settlements. The fears of the people were allayed, and the Indians gave them no more trouble for four or five years. They pursued their avocations without interruption. In an important sense, they began the plantation anew. In some instances, ten or twelve houses were built in a single year. New families joined them. They had tasted of the bitter- ness of affliction together, and now they rejoiced in the com- mon prosperity.
Next to the regular preaching of the gospel, our fathers were anxious to secure the blessings of the common school. In 1748, we find the first notice relating to the subject in the Northampton records, although a school had, doubtless, been in existence, in some form, earlier. The town then voted to have schools in " distant parts of the town, to in-
. The drought was attended in many places with devouring in- sects. Many brooks and springs were dried up. Some of the peo- ple of New England were obliged to send to Pennsylvania, others to England, for hay. The drought of the present year, 1841, is accom- panied with swarms of insects.
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struct in reading and writing, viz. on the Plain, over Mill River, Paskhomuck, Bartlett's Mills and New Precinct." In 1650, the selectmen were ordered to provide a schoolmaster for the second precinct. In 1751, Eleazar Hannum, Wait- still Strong, jr. and Stephen Sheldon were appointed a com- mittee to have the oversight of building a school-house in the second precinct. Many votes, pertaining to this matter, are found in the records, for several years.
In 1749, the limits of the settlement were much increased by the division among the proprietors, (a part of whom were resident here and a part in the old town), of what was call- ed the " Additional Grant." It consisted of about 3000 acres, and was bounded by Westfield on the south, Spring- field on the east, and the old bounds of Northampton on the north ; 'on the west, it run to a point, or near a point. It was divided as follows: Polls were estimated at £10, and this sum was added to the valuation by which the tax was made that year ; and this was the rule of determining each man's proportion of land. Rev. Messrs. Edwards and Judd were estimated at £100 each. There had been, previously, sequestered for the use of the ministry in the new precinct, 500 acres of land on White Loaf hill, so called ; for which all right to land, sequestered for the use of the ministry in the first precinct, was relinquished.
On the 2nd of March 1752. the town of Northampton, by vote, declared their willingness, that the second precinct should be created into a district, if the General Court shall see fit. The first legal meeting of the inhabitants of the District was held on the 19th of March, 1753. The first time that the name " Southampton" is found on the town records is March 5, 1753.
In 1754, the Indians began again to show signs of hostili- ty in some places on Connecticut river above Northampton, and in Pontoosuck, now Pittsfield. This news greatly alarm- ed the people of Southampton. They at once repaired the
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fortification around Mr. Judd's house, rebuilt the mount, and set up palisades. But no hostile Indians appeared dur- ing the year, or at any subsequent time ; though the inhabi- tants were not without apprehension for several years. The last French war commenced in 1755. An army was raised in New England in order to seize Crown Point. Ten men marched from this town, two of whom, Eliakim Wright and Ebenezer Kingsley, jr. were slain in battle. The eight sur- vivors returned at the close of the campaign. In 1756, a number of soldiers were, a short time, in the service. Elisha Bascom remained through the season.
In 1757, Fort William Henry was given up to the French and Indians by capitulation. The garrison and soldiers, con- sisting of two or three thousand men, were promised security in life and property, with permission to return to their homes, on condition that they would not serve in the war during that year. But in shameful violation of the treaty, they were aban- doned to the tender mercies of the Indians. Some were hurri- ed off into captivity ; others were butchered on the spot ; while all greatly suffered. Two young men, natives of Southamp- ton, Nathaniel Loomis and Joel Clap, were stripped and plun- dered, and escaped only with life, after a hot pursuit, and passing through the woods fourteen miles.
In 1758, the war, in which a number of soldiers from this town were engaged, was carried on at Ticonderoga and its vicinity. In 1759, to the unspeakable joy of the English colonies, Quebec was taken by Wolfe, and Canada was con- quered. This laid the foundation for a general peace .*
These bright prospects, however, were soon to be interrup- ted. An enemy, other than the French and Indians, began to assail the rights of her children in this western wilderness. Those, by whose sides the men of Massachusetts Bay had fought and bled at Louisburg and Crown Point as friends
· See Note B.
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and fellow-soldiers, were now preparing to shed fraternal blood. In resisting the encroachments of Great Britain, no part of the land was more prompt than the county of Hamp- shire. It could not be well otherwise, when such spirits were here as Seth Pomeroy, Joseph Hawley and Caleb Strong. The people of this town were not at all behind their neigh- bors. They were ready to contribute and to suffer at any moment. The young men marched to the scenes of conflict ; while the elders, the anxious mothers and sisters were offering intercession to Him, whose hand alone could turn aside the unerring rifle ; or stay the pestilence that delighteth especially to walk in the camp of the soldier. The old people have told us, that, at some periods during the war, hardly a young man was present in the religious assembly. The various burdens, incident to these times, were shared by all with affecting una- nimity. Those who could not fight, could load a wagon with provisions, or drive it to the encampment of their brothers and fellow-townsmen. Such as were too infirm to bear a mus- ket themselves, gladly joined together, and gathered the harvest of those who were hemming the British in at Boston, or who, with Colonel Brooks, were storming the redoubt at Saratoga.
The first notice, in relation to the revolutionary times, which we find on the town records, is in a communication to the town, from Rev. Mr. Judd, in 1768, in which he says, " that if such a day of distress and difficulty should come [referring to the operation of the Stamp Act], I will join with a committee of yours, and they and I will reduce the salary as low as it can be reasonably thought proper." In October, a meeting of the town was held, to see what meas- ures the inhabitants shall think proper to adopt in this critical day. Samuel Burt and Aaron Clark were chosen delegates to meet a convention which was held soon after at North- ampton. Dea. Elias Lyman was chosen a delegate to the provincial congress, which met at Concord, on the 11th of October. A committee of correspondence for the District of
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Southampton was appointed, consisting of Jonathan Judd, jr. Samuel Burt, Elias Lyman, Aaron Clark, Jonathan Clark, Timothy Clark, Samuel Pomeroy, Samuel Clap and Israel Sheldon. At another meeting, on the 12th of December, a committee of nine were elected " to see what they can get for the poor of Boston." It was also voted " to raise three pounds, lawful money, for some person to instruct the minute- men in learning the military art." In 1775, Elias Lyman was again sent to the provincial Congress, which met at Cambridge. It was resolved to give the minute-men nine pence a time for six half days, in learning military exercises. Stephen Sheldon, Timothy Clark and John Lyman were ap- pointed a committee "to inspect and see that there are no goods brought into the town, since the first day of Decem- ber last, and sold contrary to the direction of the Conti- nental and Provincial Congresses ; and to see that no trader takes any advantage in selling the goods contrary to the ad- vice of the Congresses." Nine days after the battle of Lex- ington, it was voted to do something to support our friends . and brethren that have gone into the army. "Voted to pay for two thirds of the provision that is provided for Capt. Lemuel Pomeroy's company." A committee of nine was chosen to collect the provisions and to despatch it by a team. The last warrant for a town meeting which was issu- ed in " his Majesty's name," was on the 24th of October, 1775. On the 10th of October, 1776, it was voted as the sense of the town, that the House of Representatives, togeth- er with the Council should form a Constitution and make it public agreeably to the resolves of the Court.
In 1777, the town voted to give to each soldier, that should enlist into the continental service, for three years, or during the war, such a sum as a committee should order. A committee was also chosen, to make out an average of what each man had done in the war ; the heirs of the men that died in the service to have as much credit as those who
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returned home; and those who came home on account of sickness, before the expiration of their time, to have an equal sum with those who remained through the period of enlistment. For several years subsequently, a large part of the business transacted at the town meetings related to the great struggle which was pending :- such as raising bounties for enlistment of men ; providing for soldiers' families during their absence ; equalizing the burdens which pressed heavily on all ; and, with a noble spirit of resolution and confidence, bearing up under all discouragements. To add to their other embar- rassments, the currency was in a state of most lamentable derangement. For example, in 1781, the town voted " to raise £200 in silver or gold, and £4000 in continental money towards raising our quota of soldiers."
On the first election of governor, after the adoption of the State Constitution, this town gave forty-one votes for John Hancock, and six for James Bowdoin.
Among the miscellaneous resolutions, which were adopted by the town, in the first fifty years of its existence, three or four may be worth quoting on this occasion. as showing the usages of those days, and the change which time has effect- ed. In 1775, Capt. Judd, Ensign King and Elijah Clap were appointed a committee " to treat with some likely man to come and settle with us as a doctor, and to report to the town at the fall meeting." In the following spring, the same committee were directed to "inform Mr. Sylvester Woodbridge of South Hadley, that the town of Southampton would be glad, that he would come and settle with them as doctor."* At an earlier period. the town were equally so- licitous to procure a blacksmith. A most respectable com- mittee were appointed to superintend the erection of a shop " at the corner near Nathan Lyman's," and to effect terms with the individual who was to occupy it.
In 1790, it was voted, that " liberty be given to people to
· See Note C.
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go into the school-house Sabbath day noon, they providing their own wood ; and that Moses Bartlett, Moses Searl. Selah Clark, jr., Aaron Searl and Supply Clark be a committee to see that good orders were kept at the school-house on the Sabbath days."
The following vote will show that the day-star of tempe- rance had not dawned in 1789, when the selectmen were or- dered to " credit each man that enlisted last year to go to Worcester, one quart of West India rum."
Towards the close of the century, Mr. Judd's age and in- firmities compelled him to withdraw, in a great measure, from the active duties of his profession. He died on the 28th of July, 1803, after a ministry of sixty years, and in the 84th year of his age. He was a great great grandson of Dea. Thomas Judd, who came from England in 1633 .* He was the son of William Judd, and was born at Waterbury, Ct., Oct. 4, 1719. He graduated at Yale College in 1741, in a class highly distinguislied, and among whose members were Gov. William Livingston of New Jersey, Jabez Huntington, Esq., and the Rev. Drs. Samuel Hopkins, Samuel Buel, Richard Mansfield and Noah Welles. In November of the saine year in which he was ordained, he was married to Miss Silence Sheldon, daughter of Capt. Thomas Sheldon of Suffield, but previously of Northampton. They Ind seven · children, four sons and three daughters, all of whom have deceased.t Mrs. Judd died Oct. 25, 1783. Mr. Judd was again married, in 1790, to Mrs. Ruth Bidwell, widow of Rev. Adonijah Bidwell of Tyringham. She died in Dec. 1815, in her 86th year. Both the wives of Mr. Judd are spoken of as very estimable women.
Mr. Judd was regarded by his people, throughout his long ministry, with the profoundest veneration. This was in part owing, undoubtedly, to the general usages of society, which demanded that the utmost respect should be paid to
· See Note D. t See Note E.
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all clergymen. In his case, however, this reverence was fitly rendered. His form was venerable, and his mode of dress imposing. He preserved, especially in the pulpit and on public occasions, the utmost propriety of manners, never degrading his sacred profession by any thing unseemly. By his appearance in the pulpit, it might have been inferred, perhaps, that he was uncommonly precise and unyielding. But he was less so than Mr. Edwards of Northampton, or Dr. Hopkins of Hadley. In private intercourse, and as a pastor, he was affable and communicative, sometimes indulg- ing in those innocent pleasantries, which were then so com- mon. He appears to have possessed those qualities of char- acter, which inspired strong affection towards himself. His talents were not brilliant, but they were highly respectable. I have seen three sermons from his pen. The one which was preached in 1758, " to a number of soldiers on the eve of marching against the enemy," and which was afterwards published, is a very good sermon, both in style and senti- ment. It is not, however, I have been assured, superior to many others which he delivered. Such a discourse would have attentive hearers at any time. The course of thought is natural ; and there is much plainness and point in the ap- plication. We may mention as peculiarities, not perhaps of Mr. Judd altogether, but of the times, that, he generally clos- ed his sermons with the sentence, " This much may suffice." His quotations from the Scriptures were not copied into his serions, but were found, and read in the pulpit, as occasion demanded. Mr. Judd was a very wise counsellor in difficult circumstances. In theology, he coincided with the New England ministers, generally. of his day. On the points in dispute between Mr. Edwards of Northampton and his oppo- nents, pertaining to the admission of members to the church, or the Half-way Covenant. so called. Mr. Judd differed from Mr. Edwards, and both believed and practised in accordance with the views defended by Mr. Stoddard. He was a mem-
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