USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Hampden > Early Hampden, Mass., its settlers and the homes they built; > Part 6
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The Chaffee family sold land in this area to Henry Badger and Abner Badger and these gentlemen constructed mills here. Henry Badger built a house somewhere in the neighborhood and was one of those who arose early on Sunday mornings and took the long ride on horseback to the Congregationtal Church on Wigwam Hill, Wilbraham. How many would care to do this at the present time each Sunday, if the same means of transportation were used?
After the death of Joseph Chaffee in 1760 his heirs sold 108 acres in this section of Wales to David Burt of Springfield. For more than 125 years the Burt family owned the property and operated various mills. This is why the neighborhood was called Burt's Mills. They probably built several houses, one of which we believe was on the west side of Kiln Hill on the Rock-a-Dundee Road. What is now a forest south of
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the bridge at the kilns used to be the Burt Farm and was tilled.
The Chaffee family also continued to live at Burt's Mills and we believe that Asa Chaffee lived here in the late 1700's. Some of the land passed to his son Ephraim and in turn to the latter's son Abel Chaffee. Perhaps Ephraim and Abel lived in a portion of the house where Mr. and Mrs. Laroy Asher now reside.
It is believed that Calvin Chaffee, son of Asa, also lived on the property somewhere. It was his son Norman who in 1820 built the house in which Mrs. Rockwell spends her summers. Norman Chaffee had a grist mill on the Wesson Pond. He made his own casket, lettered his own monument which he formed out of rough stone, and you may still see his grave in the private Chaffee Cemetery on this farm. His son-in-law, A. H. Thompson, was the last to operate a mill on this pond.
In 1909 the heirs of Norman Chaffee sold the property to Mrs. Madeline (Wesson) Atherton and Mrs. Vera (Wesson) Rockwell and Norman's old home was carefully restored and the old dam repaired.
Spacious lawns and the gracious old Norman Chaffee home form part of the Charles K. Rockwell estate.
Mrs. Laroy Asher has filled her early pine cupboard with old Hampden blue ware.
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THRESHER ROAD
Early owners of the land in this locality were evidently John Chaffee, Amos Chaffee, and Edward Hall, the latter selling to Grace Brumley. When Arba Thresher came to town in 1837 he bought the old Brumley house on the west side of the road. It was very small and he tore it down and built a new one. His son, Allen O. made additions to the new house. After the Thresher families moved to the village in the early 1900's the house burned to the ground.
The old James Dorman house on the east side of the road was torn down a good many years ago.
BUMPSTEAD HILL and HOWLETT HILL
Bumpstead Hill and Howlett Hill lie off the Stafford Road. The Bump- stead family lived on the hill bearing their name in the late 1700's and early 1800's. Joseph Bumpstead was one of the 65 charter members of the Hampden Congregational Church when it was established in 1783. According to one of the old assessor's books he paid a highway tax in the Scantic district in 1833. He had a son Simeon who married Anna Bliss. They in turn had a son Josiah who was born in 1820. He was a world traveler and afterward became one of the owners of the Wason Mfg. Co., Wason Ave., Springfield, which made trolley cars. Josiah Bump- stead gave the largest amount to the town which it has ever received for perpetual care in the Old Cemetery. He also placed an unusually imposing monument on the Bumpstead Lot.
Three generations of the Howlett family lived in several houses on Howlett Hill, some of which were in Hampden and some over the line in West Stafford. The writer's father was born in one in the latter town.
SOUTH MONSON ROAD
Edward Kronvall. An early owner of the land in this section was John Chaffee and about 1769 he deeded it to his son Amos Chaffee. In
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1776 the latter sold the property to Abner Badger and granted "said Abner a road two rods wide" in order to reach his land. We do not know whether this is the entrance from South Monson Road or the one from Scantic Road. In 1778 Joshua Stanton bought the land from Mr. Badger. Perhaps a house was then on the property which Mr. Badger had built, but the deed makes no reference to it. Tradition tells us that the door on a house on this property was large enough so that oxen could bring the logs for the fireplace right into the kitchen. Joshua Stanton, Jr. was probably born here in 1782. It is not known whether he or his father built the present house. In any event it is very old. Herbert H. Thresher, who was born nearby, tells us that he went into the house as a boy, which was some time after the Stanton family had left the place and it was unoccupied. There were then many indications of its age and some of the furniture was still therein including the rope beds, etc. Mrs. Marcus Gottsche, Sr., a descendant, has the grandfather's clock which came from this house.
Calista Stanton, who lived for many years in what is now the Thornton Burgess house, was the daughter of Joshua, Jr. Later owners of this property were L. O. Howlett, Wallace Whittier, Eugene C. Perkins and Paul Langhammer.
Elmer Fox. An early owner of this property was Comfort Chaffee and in 1781 he sold it to Nathan Pease. According to Mr. Ballard's map Mr. Pease must have built a house near the southwest corner of Thresher and South Monson Roads. Perhaps one of his sons, Nathaniel or Nathan, Jr., or his grandson Justus built the original part of the house now owned by Mr. Fox. Justus was evidently living here in 1855. In the early 1890's Frank Mayor and family lived here. A later owner was Elmer G. Pease, who sold to Theodore Gunther in 1897. When the Gunther family came here the house was very small and Mr. Gunther, who was a carpenter made several additions. Frank Gunther, a son, was killed in World War I and the Gunther-Rowley Post of the American Legion in East Long- meadow was named for him. The present owners bought the property from Mrs. Theodore Gunther in 1946. A part of this house is very old, as evidenced by the large fireplace in the cellar.
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STAFFORD ROAD
Prottas Manor. Like the property at Burt's Mills the first known owner of this land was Joseph Chaffee, who we have found built a home near where Walter Lunden now lives on Chapin Road. Sara, one of his daughters, had married Isaac Morris and they were living in Woodstock, Conn., where both families had been prominent since the founding of that town. Upon the death of Mr. Chaffee, his widow in 1761 deeded 92 acres of land in this section to Isaac and Sara so that they might be near her. According to the Morris Geneology, the spot where they located was a romantic one at the base of Sheep and Rattlesnake mountains overlooking the Scantic Valley.
The house in which Isaac lived and also the one built by his son Darius have long since disappeared but they are believed to have been located on an elevation in the woods opposite the present Prottas Manor.
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This salt box tavern on the site of Prottas Manor was built by John Davis, grandfather of Andrew Jackson Davis, the latter a Hampden boy who became a multi-millionaire copper king.
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Isaac Morris was the progenitor of the family by the same name covered in our chapter on South Road. His daughter Hannah married John Davis, a Revolutionary war veteran, and some time after he returned from service he built the house which used to stand where Prottas Manor is now located. The building was used as a tavern and was a stopping place on the Springfield-Stafford stage line.
Mr. Davis probably sold the property to his brother-in-law, Joseph Morris and the latter deeded the farm to John Ormsby in 1840. In 1860 Mr. Ormsby sold part of the present acreage to Russell M. Day and in 1872 deeded the rest of the tract to him. Mr. Day in turn sold to his son-in-law Isadore A. Ricard in 1894. Dr. Charles L. Furcolo was the next owner and shortly after he restored the old tavern it was destroyed by fire. The doctor built the present elaborate manor house.
GLENDALE ROAD
Reginald Temple. The first known owner of the land on which this house was afterwards erected was Betsy Warren, wife of Aaron Warren, since we find that in 1852 she sold the plot to Lathrop V. Chaffee. The latter deeded the property to James Vineca in 1854 and some time between this date and 1857 Mr. Vineca must have erected the present house since we find that when he sold to Abraham and Frances White- house of Hartford in 1857 it was standing. In 1862 the Whitehouse family deeded the property to Leonard and Electa Waters while in 1884 Mrs. Waters sold to Jennie Starbuck. Louis Luddecke bought from Mrs Starbuck in 1888 and the Luddecke family were still living here in the early 1900's. Charles A. Morrill, Nelson M. Carew, Harry E. Temple, anc
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H. H. Thresher were later owners, Reginald Temple buying in 1939. The little house in the rear was called the "Tramp House" as tramps were often allowed to remain there overnight.
Donald Wilcox. The first person known to have erected a house on the property was Joel Chaffee, who ran a blacksmith shop near Center Bridge. Mr. Chaffee acquired the land in 1762 from William King. There is a cellar hole around the corner on Bennett Road, upon which the house may have been built. Later owners of the property were: Dr. Hezekiah Chaffee of Windsor, Conn., (a slave owner), Jedediah Smith, Eliel Amidon, Jonathan Morgan, James S. Dwight, Rudolphus Chaffee, and Joseph Morris.
Davis Pease, grandfather of Mrs. Marcus Gottsche, Sr., Mrs. Ray- mond Pease, Mrs. Robert Pease, and Mrs. Edith Dugan bought the land from Joseph Morris in 1841 and built the main part of the present house shortly afterwards. The ell is much older than the upright part, like so many of the old houses in town. Perhaps it was moved on to the main house from the cellar hole referred to above. Mr. Pease was a stone mason and carpenter and built the Ravine Dam near the ice plant, a portion of which went out in the flood of 1955. The granite stones for the foun- dation of the Wilcox house were quarried right on the farm. Davis Pease followed the ancient craft of basketry and Mrs. Ernest Howlett, his grand- niece has one he made for her over 80 years ago. Lora Pease, his son, lived in the house for a period. Mr. and Mrs. Norman Millard bought the property from the Pease heirs in 1927 and Mrs. Millard sold to present owners in 1948.
Mrs. Harry Goodwill. The first known owner of the entire farm was Thomas Maxsom. We believe that he acquired it in three parts, one sec- tion from Wm. King, Jr. in 1777, another section from Wm. Maxsom, Jr. in 1780, and the third section from N. Sisson in 1782. In February of 1784 Thomas Maxsom sold the combined farm to John Gillet, with a house and barn thereon. We do not know whether any of the present buildings were then standing. In August of 1784 Mr. Gillet deeded the property to Wm. Phillips, Jr. of Boston. In 1792 Mr. Phillips in turn sold to Comfort Chaffee, Jr., and the property has remained in the same family ever since.
Mr. Chaffee was a captain in the state Militia, son of Comfort Chaffee, Sr., who probably built the Carl Larson house, brother-in-law of Ebenezer Stacy who built the former Neil Kibbe house, and brother-in- law of Stephen West who erected several houses on Main Street. On what is now known as Goodwill's Pond, Capt. Chaffee operated a saw and grist
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The home of Mrs. Harry Goodwill has been in the family since 1792.
mill which had probably been started by Abner Badger in 1772.
There is a granite quarry on the property from which the founda- tion for the barn and stone steps for the house were taken. A floral design is stencilled on a wall in one of the front upstairs bedrooms.
In 1858 Lathrop V. Chaffee, son of Comfort, Jr. sold the property to his nephew, Simon Stacy Hunt (whose mother was Persis Chaffee) and upon the death of Mr. and Mrs. Hunt their children sold the farm to their half-brother, Harry Goodwill.
An old red house used to stand between the pond and Glendale Road which was torn down early in this century. It may have been one of the first houses erected in Hampden and various people lived therein who operated the mill on the pond.
Roger Harris - the former Richard Joyce Place. Jabez Hendrick, one of the town's first settlers came here in 1749 and his descendants lived here for several generations. He evidently built his house in front of what is now the Harris-Joyce home. Leslie Woods' house on Main Street was built by the same builder who erected this present house, Joel Newcomb. Mr. Newcomb was a blacksmith and he had a shop in what was thought to have been the old Hendrick house. The residence which he built passed to his son Edward G. Newcomb who lived here with his family for many years. The Newcomb family had an extensive sap orchard and this was a popular place for the young people in the spring when the maple syrup was being made in the little house erected in the woods.
A later owner of the property was Mr. Feranzovitz. Richard Joyce and family lived here for a long period and sold to the present owners.
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Arthur Cooney - the former William J. Sessions Place. This house was built by Hiram Hendrick (born in 1799) who was a grandson of Jabez, referred to above. This would probably date the house somewhere between 1820 and 1830. A lineal descendant of the Hendrick family, Mrs. Charles B. Proctor, Sr., in her late 80's, wrote us some time ago that when the Hendrick family lived here peaches were raised on the place and the hill on which the Hendrick house is located was called Peach Hill. After the Hendrick family left the farm, various people lived in the house including the House family, who kept the "town's poor" Early in this century William J. Sessions bought the farm and raised peaches, as did the Hendrick family many years ago. Later owners of the property have been Robert L. Little and Mrs. W. Alfred Kennedy. The Cooney family purchased the house in 1947.
Walter Lyons. Patrick Lyons, grandfather of Walter Lyons, bought the property in 1860 from Edwin C. Hendrick, and it has been in the same family ever since - nearly 100 years.
Mrs. Grace E. Astor - Little Red Schoolhouse. This building was erected by Jonah Beebe and John Carpenter in 1796. In the early days it was called the Hendrick School after the family referred to in previous paragraphs. It was later called the Newell School after the Newell family. The school closed in 1916, Florence (Lunden) Dayton having been the last graduate.
Edward P. Lyons acquired the building after it ceased to be a public school and the Lyons family rented it until they sold it to Mrs. Astor in 1956.
The quaint old building continued its usefulness as a school from 1932 to 1934 when the Misses Harriet Ellis and Edith Marsden conducted a summer art school. This enterprise received considerable publicity in the Springfield newspapers and was featured in the lithograph section of the Sunday Republican.
Earle Harris. Daniel Carpenter, a Revolutionary War veteran, was evidently a builder of the original portion of this house. He moved to Monson after the Revolution and some of his descendants still live on East Hill in that town. This house has been built onto, on all sides through the years so one is unable to tell which is the original part. He must have sold it to another Revolutionary War veteran, Stephen Newell, who afterwards lived at the Gerrish house.
In 1855 Sullivan Stanton was the owner of the farm. Afterwards Andrew Beebe, his son-in-law, and family lived here. Mr. Beebe made extensive additions to the house for an apartment for his daughter, Jennie,
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who married Charles N. Whitaker. Upon the death of Mr. Beebe the property passed to Mr. Whitaker and the latter carried on the stock farm, taking great pride in the fact that at one time he was able to winter 73 head of livestock. The Whitaker family sold the farm to Samuel McCarthy, maker of the famous pies in Springfield, who in turn sold to the present owner in 1931.
Arthur Gerrish. Jonah Beebe is supposed to have built this house about 1795. Stephen Newell, a Revolutionary War veteran, evidently lived here for a period and then the property passed to his son John Newell, and then to the latter's son Alonzo B. Newell, who spent most of his life on this farm. These three generations of Newell's together with Alonzo's son, Herbert, were all surveyors. The latter is a retired civil engineer with the U. S. Government who supervised the building of many power plants throughout the Far West.
Alonzo B. Newell was a member of the Hampden School Com- mittee for 50 years, principal of the High School in the Old Town Hall building, and deacon of the Congregational Church. The present owners bought the property from the Newell family in 1923.
An interesting fan light over the front door marks the home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Gerrish.
The Poole Place. This property is now owned by the Gerrish family. In 1855 Phineas Dunham lived here. The Dunham family sent five sons to the Revolutionary War, namely Isaac, Ephraim, Joseph, Gamaliel, and Malam. The latter died in service at Roxbury in 1776. How many families in the entire country furnished more than five sons? The Dunham family married into the Stebbins family. In 1870 Andrew Beebe lived here.
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Munroe Poole was a later owner and many of the old residents still call this the "Poole Place"
Site of Capt. Abel King's Home. Northwest of the Dunham-Poole house an old road leads to the site of Capt. Abel King's home. Capt. King was an officer in Col. Ashley's Regiment in the Revolutionary War and was a prominent figure in the war days.
George A. Patric. The first known owner of the land was Augustus Stebbins and we find that in 1801 he deeded it to Gordon Chappell. In 1807 Mr. Chappel had the present house erected, Stoddard Burt, Norman Chaffee, and Calvin Chaffee being the carpenters. The Patric family has a brick carrying the date of 1807 which was in the original field stone chimney, having been placed therein when the house was built. Horace Smith owned the property in 1855 and sold to Otis Lamson in 1872. There is one person still living in town who can remember when Mr. Lamson used to get up long before daybreak on the day of Belcher- town Fair and drive to that town in a cart drawn by oxen. Since oxen are very slow in speed it must have taken many hours to reach the desti- nation. Upon the death of Mr. Lamson the farm passed to his son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. George H. Patric. This past spring it was deeded to their son, George A. Patric.
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Home of Mr. and Mrs. George A. Patric as it looked in 1915.
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John J. Moriarty. Nathaniel Bliss, Jr., built one of the first houses in Hampden on this farm. Capt. John Carpener, born in 1754, an officer in the American Revolution, is supposed to have built the present house. He manufactured ploughs here, made of wood, the point being covered with scrap iron. The latter's son, John Carpenter, Jr., who was a captain in the State Militia followed his father in ownership. The family evidently lived here for many years as a map of 1855 shows a member of the Carpenter family still owning the property. Later owners were Mace Moulton, Ransom Burr, Charles Haskell (bought in 1875), James and Martha Weeks (bought in 1882), Harris Segeal, and Simon Hall. The latter sold to the present owners in 1936.
Mr. Moriarty points out that many of the old houses faced to the south to get a maximum amount of sun and that is probably the reason his house faces in that direction rather than east toward Glendale Road. Mr. Moriarty has filled the house with appropriate antiques and is proud of the large chimney, corner cupboard with old hinges on doors, pine panelling over fireplaces and in the kitchen and front hall, also the bake oven. The house has three fireplaces with a large one in the cellar. In tearing out partitions during restoration the present owner found an old musket marked "D.C", which perhaps Daniel Carpenter carried in the Revolutionary War.
Across the road from Mr. Moriarty's house are the Spiritualist Camp Meeting Grounds where services were held many years ago. Rev. Adlin Ballou, famous Clergyman, and President of a Utopian Community in Milford, Mass., preached at these services.
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The gable end of Mr. John Moriarty's home boasts an unusual fan light.
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AMES ROAD
Oliver Knode. Moses Rood bought land from Daniel Carpenter in 1778 and built a house east of the present Knode house. Samuel Wood bought the property in 1799 and was the builder of the house which now stands on the lot. It is an excellent example of a Cape Cod home which has been carefully restored.
The Wood family owned the house until the 1840's when they sold to Thadeus Carew, who in turn sold to Thomas Mills in 1845, and it is usually called the Mills place. In 1917 Malissa L. Mills deeded the property to Clarence W. Stafford.
Later owners have been Miss Hazel Mansfield, William E. Hughes, Harry B. Ellis, and William A. Mason, Jr., who sold to the present owners in 1956.
An old road used to lead from this house to the North Monson Road which was used in early town days since the portion of North Monson Road from the point where it joins Glendale Road eastward to the Monson line was not in existence.
Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Knode as it looks since restoration.
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The Knode house in the days when the Mark Mills family lived here.
Mrs. Thomas Balser. Alvin Day built this house in 1812. Lyman Day lived here in 1855. His son, Morton L. Day, was the owner in the early part of this century. He gave $1,000 to each of the Protestant Churches in Hampden in his will and left $500 to the Hampden Public Library, the income from which is to be used to purchase copies of the Christian Herald to be mailed direct to Hampden shut-ins. This house has three fireplaces plus one in the cellar.
A short distance south of the Balser houses and near where Alan Phillips built a new home, the Dwelly family had a house and a quarry from which many of the door steps and underpinnings of local houses were taken. While this was a granite quarry, the family later established a red sandstone quarry in East Longmeadow and we find from a history of the latter town that A. S. Dwelly operated the Salisbury quarry for a period.
Mrs. Thomas Balser's home in 1915.
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Lester Pauly. Alvin Day, Jr., or Alston Calkins, son of John Calkins, built a house on this spot similar to the present Balser house. This house burned and the present home of Mr. Pauly was built on the cellarhole in 1910. Harold Green of Green's Drugstore with his family owned it for 30 years selling to the Pauly's in 1947.
Thomas F. Moriarty. The old house which used to stand here was built by John Calkins, using what was left of the old William Snow house which stood a short distance south where the Frey house now stands. Previous to the Civil War, John and Lucia (Day) Calkins conducted a station of the Underground Railroad on this spot. They were shoemakers and Abolitionists and did a great deal of work to free the slaves. They distributed the "Liberator" and "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in this vicinity. Probably one of the early copies of the latter book, which was given to the library by Mrs. D. Lincoln McCray came from this source. James Stanton, Davis Pease, and Hiram Hendrick, all of whom have been re- ferred to in previous paragraphs, assisted the Calkins family in this worthy cause. Mrs. Elsie Parkess, mother of Mrs. Dugan of Allen Street, a relative of the Calkins family remembered taking food to the slaves in a hide-out when she was a little girl. In the early part of this century, Jonathan Ames and family lived here. He was known as "Tinker" Ames as he could repair almost anything about the house or farm. He operated a tinshop in the little house opposite the home of Austin Harris on Main Street. The original house burned in 1920 and soon after the Ames family sold the property. Ames Road is named after this family.
This house was the center of the local Abolitionist movement led by John Calkins. The home burned in 1920 and Atty. Thomas F. Moriarty's home is on the site.
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Nearly opposite Mr. Moriarty's home, and some distance west of Ames Road was the home of Lemuel Dunham, of the family referred to on Glendale Road.
At the foot of the rise a short distance north of Mr. Moriarty's residence was the Daniel Hungerford house. Passing that to the east was a road that lead to houses over the line in Monson, along what is known as the Harvey Ledges.
Stanley E. Parker. The first known owner of this property was Amos Beebe who built a house back in the lot. Later Ezra Beebe erected a house close to the road. His children Newton, Andrew, Randolph, Marcius, and Fidelia were born here. Newton afterwards owned the Earl Connors house on Main Street, Andrew, the Earle Harris house on Glendale Road, and Randolph the residence in Glendale which is known as "Twin Chim- neys" Fidelia Beebe was a teacher at the little Red Schoolhouse on Glen- dale Road. Later owners of the property were Theodore Griswold and Nicodem Swartz and the house burned when the latter lived here. Paul H. Phillips, a teacher at the Trade School in Springfield built the present house and upon his death it was sold to the Christianson family. In the summer of 1957 the Christiansons sold to Stanley E. and Ruth K. Parker.
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