USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Hampden > Early Hampden, Mass., its settlers and the homes they built; > Part 4
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In 1813 Edward Morris sold the Chapin Road property to Joseph Morris. The ell of the present Howlett house is evidently older than the upright part. Probably Edward Morris built the "ell" and later Joseph Morris erected the upright part as it is built in the Greek Revival style. Lucius Beebe, grandson of Capt. Stewart Beebe who built the Melville house, and Sylenda Morris were married here in 1836. The Lucius Beebe Memorial Library in Wakefield, Mass., was given to the town of Wake- field in 1923 in memory of Lucius and Sylenda. Lucius Morris Beebe, the noted writer, newspaper columnist, contributor to Holiday Magazine,
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and a connoisseur of good food, who formerly lived in New York City but now resides in Nevada, is a grandson of this couple.
In 1838 Dr. Marcius Cady bought the property from Joseph Morris and added a room for his office as he was a physician. Some time after both Dr. and Mrs. Cady died in 1863 the house must have passed to Mrs. Jane Eliza Dalton since in 1874 she sold it to Joseph S. Woodruff. Later owners have been Mrs. Emily Allen, widow of Pliny Allen for whom the "Allen House," now the Barber home, was named, William P. Chaffee, Willie M. Pease, and LeRoy O. Howlett who bought from Mr. Pease in 1908. Both Mr. Pease and Mr. Howlett conducted meat markets here. Edward J. Finn. For forty-one years Hampden's first minister had personally owned his own home, the present Ernest W. Howlett house, so that on his death the church leaders had to find a house for the new preacher, Rev. Lucius W. Clark. Therefore, in 1830 Joseph Morris, owner of what is now the Leroy O. Howlett property, deeded the present Finn lot to several Congregational laymen for the sum of $20.00 and these men erected the Finn house. This actual deed is among the papers now owned by Robert Sessions. Rev. Clark owned 8/20 of the house, the rest being divided in twentieths among William Moseley, Sumner Ses- sions, Samuel Chapin, Noah Langdon, Wilder C. Pease, James Stanton, William V. Sessions, and Joseph Morris. Some of the members later mortgaged their shares while Samuel Chapin left his 1/20th to his two sons on the condition that they maintain and care for their mother for life.
In 1841 Rev. Clark had moved to Amesbury, so the others paid him $400 for his share, thereby showing that they valued the property at $1,000. It was used as a parsonage until 1848 when the Congregational laymen sold the place to Stephen Newell, a Revolutionary War veteran. The house afterwards passed to the Spellman and Ballard families, and the Finns purchased it from the heirs of Atty. Charles S. Ballard in 1947.
Nestled against the house near the kitchen door of this old home may still be seen the old covered well complete with its iron wheel over- head and pull chain by which, even during the writer's memory, Bridget Perry hauled up the traditional ironbound bucket full of water. In a number of old houses, notably those of Leroy Howlett and Harold Jones, the kitchens have been extended to include these adjacent wells, probably when hand pumps were installed.
Clarence Bradway. Dennis and Hannah Duffy bought the land from Sumner Smith in 1874 and erected the house. The property must have passed into the possession of Mrs. Delia Ballard, widow of Dr. George T. Ballard, since in 1914 she sold it to Lillie and Albert Bradway. The present owner purchased the house in 1945.
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Mrs. Edmund Sawyer. Edmund Firmin lived here over 100 years ago and must have built the present house. He was a shoemaker and had his shop in the basement. Mrs. Lora Pease (Adella Crocker) used to go to this shop as a little girl to get her shoes mended. Later owners were: Michael Powers, Mrs. Bickmore, and Mr. and Mrs. Edwin C. Stacy. Mrs. Sawyer bought the property from the Stacy family in 1952. When repairs were recently made to the house, some floor boards were removed and many pieces of leather and old soles from shoes were found, testifying to the bygone days when the house was used as a shoemaker's shop. Old Cemetery. This cemetery was 200 years old in March 1955. How many houses are still standing in town which had been built when Lydia Bliss, daughter of Col. John Bliss was interred therein on June 29, 1755? Probably not very many. The little Bliss baby was the first person to be buried in this cemetery. From the time Hampden was settled in 1741 until this date, local persons passing away were probably taken to the Adams Cemetery in Wilbraham or to Springfield. Here rest the founding fathers of the town, including Stephen Stebbins, Col. Paul Langdon, the Morris's and the Chaffee's. S.A.R. markers show nineteen Revolutionary War veterans to be buried here, including Robert Sessions, who partici- pated in the Boston Tea Party, and Col. John Bliss, of whom we have learned in the chapter on South Road. There are also two veterans of the war of 1812, about ten veterans of the Civil War, two World War I veterans, and one World War II veteran.
The following ministers are also buried here: Rev. Moses Warren (1829); Rev. Noah Chapin Saxton (1834); Rev. James A. Hazen (1862); Rev. Spencer Alden (1875); Rev. Calvin Stebbins, D.D., Rev. John Bennett, and Rev. John Cameron. There is also a monument for Rev. Horace Sessions who died at sea in 1826.
Parts of the cemetery must have been individually owned at various times since the writer has a deed to the family lot signed by Dr. and Mrs. George T. Ballard. The tomb was erected by the Chaffee family and members of that family were placed therein for many years. William T. Olmstead. The first known owner and presumably the builder of this house was a "joiner," or carpenter named Hezekiah Cady. Records indicate that he paid taxes on the house in 1814, so it must have been built some time previous to that date. Among other property he also paid taxes on his "joiner's" shop. Miss Elizabeth Sessions, donor of the Town House, took art lessons in this house. Perhaps Elvira F. Cady, the eldest daughter, was an art teacher. Masonic emblems are to be found painted on the wall of the master bedroom, which may substantiate the theory that someone in the family was artistic. Howard West married
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This is the way the William T. Olmstead's home appeared when the Elliot Bradway family lived here. Mrs. Leroy Howlett and two of her children are on the right.
Mariet Cady and lived here at one time. In 1872 the Cady family sold the property to "Red" Jim McCarthy and the heirs of the latter sold to Nelson I. Bradway in 1910. The Bradway family lived here until 1936 when the farm was deeded to Miss Catherine Ransom, who in turn sold to the present owner in 1954.
Edward Burleigh. In 1865 the Cady family sold the land to "Red" Jim McCarthy. Mr. McCarthy built the present house and in 1873 he sold to the Carney family. The latter owned the property until 1909 when Charles I. Burleigh, Edward Burleigh's father, bought the house.
Dr. John Moran. This was originally part of Comfort Chaffee's farm as referred to in the paragraph on the Carl Larson farm on South Road. In 1860 William P. Chaffee, Comfort's grandson, sold the property to Marcus Alden. The latter evidently built part of the present Moran house before he sold to Willard A. Cady in 1874. Mr. Cady raised the roof and made other additions. Afterwards Patrick Hickey (father of Mrs. H. H. Thresher) and the Nutting family (1908-1926) owned the property. The latter sold to Violet M. Gottsche in 1926, who in turn sold to the Moran family in 1951.
Kenneth Moody. H. A. Wood built a house here in the early days and in 1855 the Wood family still lived here. They sold the property to James Lawrence Firmin, of whom we will learn more in a later paragraph. He operated a cider mill built in 1819 by Stoddard Burt and also raised peaches. Julius Gottsche was the owner of the house in the early 1900's while Mrs. Gottsche's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Hammond, lived
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therein. Mr. Gottsche sold to the present owner in 1946. The Moody house is not the original Wood house.
Walter Lunden and Howard Gray. One of the early owners of Upper Chapin Road (District of Wales) was Joseph Chaffee, the writer's ancestor. He bought the land from the Tufts family in 1751 and more from John Williams (son of Rev. Stephen Williams, the Boy Captive of Old Deerfield) in 1754 and 1756. Mr. Chaffee owned 500 acres altogether, reaching from the top of Bald Mountain to the Monson line. According to Chase's History of the Hampden Congregational Church, Joseph Chaffee built his house on the spot afterward occupied by the Firmin family east of Pine Mountain. A cellar hole may be seen directly opposite from the present Gray house upon which we believe the first Firmin house sat. This could have been the house the family bought from Mr. Chaffee's heirs. According to the Chaffee genealogy, Mr. Chaffee died in 1760, five years after he came to town, and his heirs sold to John Firmin, a shoemaker of Springfield, for 116 pounds one hundred acres of land partly in the District of Wales and partly in Somers with a dwelling and barn thereon including eight rods "near the goat pasture." This would lead us to believe that the early settlers had goats to help clear the land.
Ephraim Chaffee, Joseph's son, helped drive the wolf of Israel Putnam fame into the cave in Putnam, Conn., where it was captured. This was while the family still lived in Woodstock, Conn., and before they moved to the "District of Wales."
The pleasant home of Mr .and Mrs. Walter Lunden was not so "pleasant" when it looked like this in 1913. Note the many missing panes of glass.
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Some of the later generations of the Firmin family built two similar houses, one of which stood where the Gray residence now stands and the other of which is now the Lunden residence. Philander and Philena Firmin lived in the Lunden house for many years, and are still remembered by some of our oldest residents. Rumor has it that Philander and Philena never had a cookstove in the house and used the fireplace for cooking and the brick oven for baking as long as they lived. We find that Philander, who outlived Philena by a year, died in 1882. It would appear that even as recently as 1882 the fireplace was still a necessity for cooking in at least one house in Hampden. A later owner of this house with four fireplaces was Epaphro A. Day. The Egbert Walker family lived here in 1907-8 and the writer recalls a heavy thunder shower one night when the barn was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. A. L. S. Wood, dramatic critic of the Springfield Union, bought the place in 1924 and he and his wife started an authentic restor- ation of the house which was completed by the present owners who purchased it in 1944.
As stated above, a house used to stand where the Gray residence is now located which was similar to the Lunden house. James Lawrence Firmin was living in the house in 1870. Chester Dickinson, uncle of Warren Dickinson, was a later owner. The house burned in 1912 when the David Brown family lived here. Warren Dickinson lived in a new house on the spot and sold to the present owners in 1952.
Chester Dickinson. William John Wood built the upright part of the house in the early 1800's and the ell, which is considerably older, was moved across the road from its original site and attached to the main portion. In 1829 he sold the residence to Orrin Goodwill and in 1842 the latter deeded it to Otis Chapin. In 1888 Mr. Chapin sold to his son, Edmund Chapin, who lived here until the early 1900's. Some of the older residents remember Edmund who used to walk to the village eccentrically clad with bran sacks wrapped around his feet in place of shoes. Other owners were Almira Thompson, John Brown, Howard Wilkes, Ken Phillips and H. H. Thresher.
The Jones, Tufts, Badger, and Ainsworth families settled in this vicinity in the early days. Could any of these families have built the present ell?
All of the children on Chapin Road in this vicinity went to the Scantic School and there are still some residents in town who can locate the old path down over the hillside and across the river which was used by our boys and girls as late as forty years ago. Chester Dickinson in 1918 was the first child from this section to go to the Center School.
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NORTH ROAD
School House Playground. In 1855 Milton Turner lived here. It is assumed that when the property was bought by the Turner family the "ell" only was in existence and that the family built the upright part of the house. Afterwards the daughter, Miss Emma Turner, who was born in 1836, lived in the house. Mrs. Albert Payson Terhune featured Miss Turner and her residence in some of her books including "The Boarder Up at Em's."
Charles Turner, who was born on this property, went to Illinois before the Civil War and often went into Springfield to hear Abraham Lincoln try a case in court. He was also a member of the glee club which sang at the president's funeral.
The house and barn were entirely remodeled at one time and an ornate birdhouse put on the barn, which may still be seen on the barn of Mrs. Beatrice (Tait) Henrich. Upon Miss Turner's death the house passed to Miss Louise Brewer, her niece. When the Town House was built Nelson M. Carew bought the Turner house and moved it to Main Street where it is now the home of Mrs. Arthur D. Maxfield and her nephew G. W. Carter.
Old Center Schoolhouses. We believe that the first schoolhouse in the center of the village was erected by Rowland Crocker in 1796. According to tradition it was built north of the house owned by Robert Sessions on North Road where Marcus Gottsche, Sr. now resides. On Sept. 18, 1840, School District No. 4 of the town acquired title to the
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lot just north of the present playground and south of the Methodist Church lot, of which we will learn more in a later paragraph. The school lot was leased from Dr. Marcius Cady, town physician, for 99 years (but never purchased) and the building farther north on North Road was moved down to this spot. This schoolhouse was used until 1871-2 when the new one was built at the top of the hill where Mrs. Donalda Brack's house now stands. The old two-story red structure was then bought by the Moses Warren family and moved across the road to the rear of their property, which is now owned by Ralph B. Hatch. A short time ago it succumbed to the ravages of old age and fell to the ground. It was truly one of Hampden's landmarks.
The school which stood where Mrs. Brack's house is now located was destroyed by fire in 1913 and a new one erected which was used until the Town House was built in 1932, when it was torn down.
Ralph B. Hatch. When Rev. Moses Warren, Hampden's first minister, came to town in 1789 the property he bought from Zenas Parsons and Thomas Dwight covered approximately the present Ralph Hatch and Ernest Howlett properties. While the parson lived in the present Howlett house for 41 years, his son Aaron must have tilled the soil on both farms and some member of his family built the Hatch house.
Aaron was one of the large land owners in town and while we know he owned at least to the north boundary of the present Hatch prop- erty he, too, lived in the Howlett house. We know definitely that Moses H., son of Aaron, spent his married life in the Hatch house and was one of the leading dairy farmers in town. His second wife was a painter of china dishes and many remember her studio which stood north of the house. Mrs. Warren also made many improvements in the property and remodeled the house into the most attractive residence then in Hampden Village. She also installed the first bathroom in the Center.
Upon the death of Moses Warren the property passed to his son, State Rep. Fred A. Warren, who was born here in 1857, making the latter the fourth generation of the Warren family to own the land. Fred Warren was prominent in National Republican Party circles and was sergeant-at-arms of the Republican Conventions that nominated both President Theodore Roosevelt and President William Howard Taft. Later owners of the farm have been: Louis R. Fisher, father of George D. Fisher, Sr., Mr. Schmidt, and the Hatch family who purchased the property in 1945.
First Site of Methodist Church - Now Federated Community Church. The Methodist Church used to stand between the Old School-
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house on the south and the house occupied by Carl Officer on the north. The first known owner of the north half of the lot was Samuel Henry and of the south portion was Bathsheba West, widow of Stephen West. In 1829 Mr. Henry sold the north portion to Henry Batten and in 1830 Mrs. West sold the south section to Mr. Batten. On April 26, 1831 the latter deeded the combined lot to the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church with the understanding that a building must be erected within one year. The church, therefore, must have been built before April 26, 1832, and is at the time of writing (1957) 125 years old. A retaining wall for the church foundation can still be seen about six feet away from the boundary wall leading up to the back of the lot. The church had no basement and no steeple.
Probably the most important clergyman to fill the pulpit in the early days was Rev. Adin Ballou, a founder and president (1841-51) of a Utopian community known as Hopedale Community, Milford, Mass. A recent issue of "The Universalist Leader" carried an article by Dr. Dorothy T. Spoerl, a professor at American International College, on Adin Ballou and his noble experiment. A daughter of Davis Pease of Glendale Road, Hampden, attended Mr. Ballou's school at Hopedale.
Caroline (Vinica) Crocker, a relative of Mrs. Marcus Gottsche, Sr., sang in an early choir in this church along with Mr. Seaver, who lived where Robert Sazama now resides on North Road. This was before the days of organs in churches and Dr. Daniel Bottum, son of Dr. Abiel Bottum, played the bass viol and Dea. Alonzo B. Newell lead with the tuning fork.
In 1859 the church was moved to its present site on Main Street and is now called the Federated Community Church. In the same year the lot on North Road was sold to Abiel Bottum for $50.00. In 1959 the church will have been on Main Street one hundred years.
Marcus Gottsche, Sr. The first known owner of this property was Samuel Henry and we find that he was evidently living in the present house in 1829. (He may have bought the land from Bathsheba West and built the house but we are not positive of the fact.) In 1837 Gordon Saxton must have been an owner since in that year he sold the property to Noah Saxton. In 1841 the latter deeded the property to Dr. Abiel Bottum who practiced medicine here for 46 years, and was succeeded by his son, Dr. Daniel Bottum, who was a physician in town for a few years. Later owners of the property were: a Mrs. Coates, Leroy O. Howlett, Julius Gottsche, and Samuel Beebe the 4th who bought in 1911. Mr. Gottsche has owned the house since 1940 and Carl Officer, a son-in-law, and his family have lived here for several years.
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Robert Sessions. This house was the home of Miss Elizabeth Sessions who gave to the town our present Town House which includes school rooms, auditorium, library and town offices. Luther King, son of William King, who owned most of the land in the center at one time, owned this property in 1793 having acquired it from his father. In 1793 Luther King sold to Elizur Tilloston. In 1812 the latter's son sold the property to Caleb Ferre, who in turn sold to Samuel Beebe in 1818. Mr. Beebe conveyed the property in 1824 to Ephraim Chaffee. The same year the latter sold to Dr. Daniel Ufford, physician. In 1826 Ufford sold to Joseph Work and in 1833 Margaret Work, widow of Joseph Work, conveyed the property to Sumner Sessions at auction for $1800.
While deeds of 1793 and 1818 referred to a dwelling on the premises, as well as two barns, it is felt that the present house, or at least the main part, was built by Sumner Sessions. Several rooms of the house have elaborate stenciling on the floor and one floor has the date of 1838 stenciled thereon. This could either have been the date the stenciling was applied or the house finished.
Upon the death of Sumner Sessions, who built the Lacousic Mill, the largest mill ever erected in Hampden, the farm passed to his daughter, Miss Harriet Sessions, a long-time professor at Mount Holyoke College in the earliest days of that institution. Miss Elizabeth Sessions acquired the property on the passing of her cousin, Miss Harriet, and lived here the rest of her life beautifying the grounds with shrubs and flowers of
Residence owned by Robert Sessions. Photo taken about 1890 shows Mary and Frances, daughters of Sumner Sessions.
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all kinds. Upon the death of Miss Elizabeth the house became the prop- erty of her brother Frank L. Sessions of Cleveland, Ohio. The latter's son Robert now owns the house and Mr. and Mrs. Marcus Gottsche, Sr. live therein.
Miss Mata Edgerton and Miss Mabel Austin. In 1855 this small house was James Stanton's Carpenter Shop and it stood just south of the residence of James Morgan. About 1867 it was moved down the road to a spot opposite the Sumner Sessions place where it became the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Taylor. After Mrs. Taylor's death, Miss Elizabeth Sessions acquired the property and sold the house to W. D. McCray who moved it to its present scenic location behind the Arthur Burger house. Miss Sessions then used the cellar hole for a beautiful sunken garden. Miss Edgerton and Miss Austin bought the house in 1930.
Charles R. Melville. One of the most imposing houses of the town is this large square home erected about 1800 by Capt. Steward Beebe who came from Haddam, Conn., in 1772 with his father Samuel Beebe. After returning from the Revolutionary War the captain built a large brandy distillery farther north and west of Mountain Road.
Steward's son, Samuel, was one of the builders of the Lacousic Woolen Mill. The next in line, John Shotwell Beebe, joined his cousins in the hardware business in New Orleans and when he returned to South Wilbraham, previous to the Civil War, he re-built the house, adding the wrought iron balustrades which give the residence its Southern atmosphere.
The property remained in the Beebe family until 1911 when the last Samuel sold it to Julius Gottsche. For a time it was owned by Mrs. J. L. Moore who ran it rather unsuccessfully as the Maple Tree Inn about
Reflecting southern dignity, the home of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Melville looks very much today as it did when the Beebe family lived here.
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1915. During the First World War it was owned by Alphonse U. Premont. At that time the house had 24 rooms but a later owner, Mr. Carl Nordman, removed the ell leaving only the main part, when the property was pur- chased by the Melville family in 1940. The present owners have restored this portion to its original beauty.
Herbert Wessman. The land which now comprises this farm was owned at one time by Mrs. Ebenezer Beebe, Elizur Tillotson and Elisha Tillotson, and we find that in 1807 and 1808 they deeded it to Robert Sessions, Sr. In 1812 Mr. Sessions transferred the property to his son, Robert, Jr., the same year the latter returned from the War of 1812, in which he was one of Hampden's two representatives.
Robert Sessions, Jr., was the founder of the local Methodist Church. The farm passed upon his death to his son Horace Sessions. The latter was the father of Miss Elizabeth Sessions, donor of the Town House, who was born in an old house on this farm, across from the one now owned by Mr. Wessman. The old house was torn down some years ago. Miss Elizabeth Sessions' brother Frank L., a noted inventor, who lived in Cleveland, Ohio, was also born on this farm.
After the Sessions family moved west the property was sold to Charles Henry Burleigh who owned it until his death. Mr. Burleigh gave the town the World War I Memorial on the Village Green. The house has been owned by Mr. Wessman since 1924.
Russell B. Neff. One of the first houses in Hampden was built by Ezekiel Russell in the hollow east of this residence. We believe it must have been erected about 1759 since in that year Mr. Russell bought considerable land in this area from Abraham Skinner, Jr. The original Russell farm which included the present Neff and Flynn properties was famous in the countryside for its fine peaches. It also had a splendid flock of Merino sheep and the finest Durham cattle to be found in this section. Flax was also raised here.
Modern parents sometimes feel that weddings of today cause a great deal more work than old time nuptials, but we find that this would not be true in the case of at least one member of the Russell family. When Ezekiel's daughter Eunice became engaged to Erial Day some time before 1790 she took flax grown on her father's farm and wove linen for her sheets and for her bed canopy. The latter she embroidered in "crewel work" with indigo dyed yarn which she herself had spun from wool from her father's sheep, and dyed with vegetable dyes. Her great- great-great-granddaughter, Mrs. Marcus Gottsche, Sr., treasures that bed canopy today.
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