Gazetteer of Berkshire County, Mass., 1725-1885, Part 26

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., Printed at the Journal Office
Number of Pages: 972

USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Gazetteer of Berkshire County, Mass., 1725-1885 > Part 26

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The Lenox of old was more particularly known to the world at large from the fact of its being the county seat of Berkshire, and for its climatic resemblance to the Polar regions. On these particular points did it, for decade after decade of years, rest for its recognition and laurels among the men and times of former generations. The resident county officials, being people of intelligence, char- acter and culture, of excellent social attainments, in some instances of much literary ability and cultivation, naturally drew around them, as the years went by, people of their own position and places in the world. Among these lat- ter, probably no one person was more instrumental in bringing this portion of Berkshire county into public notice and appreciation than was Fanny Kemble Butler. She came to these hills in her earlier and best days, and took them to her heart at once. She loved the people she found here, and saw the charms of the surrounding scenery before others had discovered and known of them. She built here a cottage for her own temporary occupancy, being among the first from abroad to do this. She rode her flying steeds to the very mountain tops, leaped the small streams of the valleys, and lingered lov-

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ingly and long with nature, heartily enjoying the wild excitement. She saw what an opportunity there was here for improvements, and was one of the first to give substantial aid to the work of beautifying and adorning the town ; and while others stood listlessly and uninterestedly by, she sought out and directed attention to the natural scenic beauties of the vicinity and prophesied enthusiastically that they would all come to be widely known and fully appreciated in due time. To verify and establish how well these prophesies have been fulfilled, it only needs to take a hasty glance at the Lenox of to- day : wealthy New Yorkers, Philadelphians and Bostonians have here erected extensive villas, and founded a summer resort peculiar to itself, representing much aristocracy of wealth, refinement and culture. The old town has been completely metamorphosed, with palaces standing now where plain farm- houses once had place ; elegant equipages dash up and down what were once the quiet village streets, and out upon the hillsides; and where nature has failed to leave an impress of beauty, art has been called to her aid.

During this stage of metamorphosis the town has been the home, at differ- ent times, of distinguished literary talent and of pronounced genius. Here the beloved and lamented Dr. Channing spent the last summer of his life, and here fell his last accents upon the ears of a public audience ; here Haw- thorne, too, might have been seen occasionally during his residence in the " old red house " which stands just over the Stockbride line ; here also, about a mile south of the village, stood the residence of Catharine Sedgwick, a lady not more remarkable for her literary genius than for those enchanting virtues that made her the helper of the poor, the comfort of the afflicted, a cherished friend and an esteemed Christian ; here Charlotte Cushman, "the Queen of the American Stage," found a home for a time, and is remembered as a lady of unassuming manners-a noble type of American womanhood; and here, also, often has wandered Henry Ward Beecher along the secluded rambles, drinking in the inspiration afforded by the beautiful surroundings. George Morell, the eminent jurist, was born here, March 22, 1786, and died at De- troit, Michigan, March 8, 1845, and Hon. Anson Jones, the last president of Texas, was born here, January 20, 1798, and died by his own hand at Houston, Texas, January 8, 1858.

The rocks entering into the geological structure of the town are mostly of limestone formation, with mica-slate in the southern and western parts, and quartz in the eastern part. Iron ore abounds to a considerable extent, and has been mined for many years. Fine grades of marble are found in the lime- stone ledges, which have also been quarried to a considerrble extent.

In 1880 Lenox had a population of 2,043. In 1883 the town employed four male and eleven female teachers in its public schools, at an average monthly salary of $47.00 for males and $27.43 for females. There were 401 school children, while the entire amount raised for school purposes was $4,100.00.

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LENOX is a handsome post village located just south of the central part of the town, upon an eminence which commands a pleasing view of the surround- ing country. President Dwight, who visited it in 1798, describes it as fol- lows :-

"Lenox, the shire town of the county, is principally built upon a single street, on a ridge, declining rather pleasantly to the east and west, but disa- greeably interrupted by several deep valleys crossing it at right angles. The soil and the buildings are good and the town exhibits many marks of pros- perity. The buildings consist of a church [the same which now crowns the hill], a court-house, a school-house and jail."

Another traveler's description of it, about a quarter of a century later, is as follows :---

" Lenox, the capital of Berkshire county, is a town of uncommon beauty. It is built upon a hill on two streets, intersecting each other nearly at right angles. It is composed of handsome houses, which, with the exception of a few brick, are painted a brilliant white. It is ornamented with two neat houses for public worship, one of which is large and handsome and stands upon a hill higher than the town, and a little removed from it. It has a court-house of brick, in a fine style of architecture ; it is fronted with pillars, and furnished with convenient offices and a spacious court-room ; this room is carpeted, and, what is more important, contains a library for the use of the bar. Lenox has fine mountain air, and is surrounded by equally fine mountain scenery. In- deed, it is one of the prettiest of our inland towns, and even in the view of the European travelers (who had eyes to see anything beautiful in what is un- like Europe), it would appear like a gem among the mountains. I did not count the houses, but should think there might be one hundred houses and stores, etc. White marble is often the material of their steps, foundations and pavements."

But what a change would either of these writers witness could they visit the village to-day and ramble about its handsome streets, and witness its whirl of gaiety, its mammoth hotel, and many princely mansions surrounded by elegant grounds, forming in all what would appear to them the aristocratic suburb of a popular city. In place of its "two, neat houses of public wor- ship" they would find four church buildings (Congregational, Methodist Episcopal and Roman Catholic), and such a general change in almost every- thing, that they would doubtless fail to recognize the place. They would find many old land-marks, however, among which may be mentioned the Congregational church, the court-house erected in 1791 which is now looked upon with so much veneration by the inhabitants, and in which is located the postoffice, and the " court-house of brick," erected in 1816. The account of the town's appointment as the county seat and the final removal of the courts to Pittsfield, in 1868, has already been given on page 32.

The Charles Sedgwick Hall .- After the removal of the courts to Pitts- field, the court-house was purchased by Mrs. Adeline E. Schemerhorn, who donated it to the town to be used for public purposes. In it are located the town hall, town clerk's office, and a good library and reading-room, known as the Charles Sedgwick Hall Library. This library was established in 1855.

Lenox Academy .- This venerable institution of learning occupies a com-

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manding and pleasant site in the village. It was incorporated in 1803, the act making it a corporation also granted a half township of the State's terri- tory lying in Maine, to be used towards the support of the school. For a number of years this land afforded no revenue to the institution, but about 1830 it was sold and the funds used in the school. Levi Gleazen, A. M., was the first principal of the institution. Mr. H. H. Ballard is the present incumbent. The principal of Lenox Academy is the founder and president of the Agassiz Association, a society for the study of natural history. The society has attained in two years a membership of over six thousand, distributed in over five hundred "chapters," or branch societies, in nearly all the United States and Territories, as well as in England, Scotland, Ireland, France and South America. Reports from these various sources are regularly received, and a condensed summary of them constitutes a regular department in the St. Nicholas Magazine. The headquarters of this association is the Lenox Academy, and here is the society's valuable and growing museum,

(OLD COURT HOUSE, ERECTED IN 1791.)

LENOX FURNACE is a small post village, located in the southeastern part of the town, on the Housatonic. It is noted for its iron and glass manufac- tories. A furnace was established here as early as 1780, by Job Gilbert, since which time thousands of tons of iron have been smelted here. In 1848 the Lenox Iron Works Co. was incorporated by the legislature, with a capital of $ 100,000.00. The present company has extensive works here, but they are not now in operation. The history of glass manufacture has already been given, on page 30.

DEWEY'S (New Lenox p. o.) is a hamlet located in the northeastern part of the town.

The first settler in the town was Jonathan Hinsdale, who came on from Hartford, Conn., in 1750, and built for himself a small house on the east side

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of the county road, about fifty rods south of Court-house hill. In the following spring a man by the name of Cooper located in the southern part of the town. Subsequently a Mr. Dickinson built a house near Mr. Hinsdale's. The first clearing in the northern part of the town was made by Jacob Bacon, on a hill west of the county road. In his neighborhood settled Messrs. Hunt, McCoy, Glezen and Steel. About this time a Mr. Wa- terman located in the e xtreme northern part of the town, in what has since been known as East street. The early setlers were the families of Root, Miller and Dewey. Messrs. Whitock, Parker and Richards made the first settlement where the village now is. In the western part of the town the early settlers were Collins, Treat Andrus, Wright and others. Settlers came in slowly, however, for the French and In- dian war, which soon came on, laid the frontier settlements open to constant fear of raids by marauding parties of Indians. In or about 1755 all the settlers became alarmed and fled to Stockbridge for pro- tection. During this flight, a man by the name of Stevens was shot by them while he was passing a ledge of rocks in the southern part of the town. The horse he was riding was killed, and a woman who was riding with him was only saved by Mr. Hinsdale coming to her rescue. With the return of peace, however, the settlement began to enlarge, and in 1791, at the taking of the first United States census, there were in the town 1, 169 inhabitants. The first town meeting was held on the 5th of March, 1767.

The part taken by Gen. John Paterson, one of the patriots of Lenox, in the Revolution and the subsequent Shays Rebellion have been spoken of in our county chapter, and that the inhabitants in general were early active in the American cause is attested by the following vote of instructions to their representative on the 3d of June, 1776 :-

" To the Representatives of Lenox : - These are to direct to use your Best Endeavor to suppress all the Tiranical measures that have or may take Place from Great Britton, and Likewise take as much care that you do not set up anything of a dispotick Power among ourselves. But let us have freedom at home, although we have war a Broad. We Do Further Direct you to use your utmost abilities and intris with our assembly, and they Theirs with the Continental Congress, That if they think it safe, for the colonies to declare independent of the Kingdom of Great Britton, and in your so doing we Do Declare in the above mentioned thing we will stand by you with our lives and fortunes."

General John Paterson, the youngest child and only son of Major John and Ruth (Bird) Paterson, was born at Farmington, Ct., about 1744. His father, of Scotch descent, and said to have been a liberally educated man, was a British officer in the French war, and was with Wolfe at Quebec. He died of yellow fever at the taking of Havana, September 5, 1762, aged fifty- four. General Paterson graduated at Yale college in 1762, taught school and was a practicing attorney and justice of the peace in New Britain, then the principal village in his native town. June 2, 1766, he was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Deacon Josiah and Hannah (Warren) Lee, of Farm-

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ington, and before 1774 removed, with his father-in-law's family, to Lenox Here his abilities were soon recognized, and he was selected to represent the town in the two provincial congresses of 1774 and 1775. He was chosen a selectman and assessor in 1774, and was re-elected the following year. Entering the service as colonel of the fifteenth regiment he was made a brig- adier-general February 21, 1777, and attached to the northern department. He remained in service until the close of the war, then returning to Lenox, where his home had been during the whole period, and engaging in mercan- tile business with his son-in-law, Azariah Egleston. In 1785 he represented Lenox in the general court, and in that and the following year was again a member of the board of selectmen and assessors. During Shay's Rebellion he headed a detachment of the Berkshire militia ordered out for its suppres- sion. In the army General Pateison was associated with Kosciusko, the Polish hero, with whom he formed a close and intimate friendship. They were at the battle of Saratoga, and made the northern campaign together, and were both stationed at West Point after the escape of Arnold. While at West Point General Paterson was appointed cne of the judges at the trial of Major Andre. Being one of the proprietors of the " Boston Purchase " of 230,400 acres in Broome and Tioga counties, New York, General Pater- son removed from Lenox, with his family, in 1791, and settled at Lisle, in Broome county, now Whitney's Point, a village in the town of Triangle. Shortly after his settlement at Lisle he was chosen a member of the New York legislature, and held the position for four years. He was also a mem- ber of the New York constitutional convention of 1801, and in 1803-05 rep- resented in Congress a large portion of central-southern New York. For twelve years he was the presiding or first judge of the county court of Broome county, his term of service ending with his life. General Paterson is said to have been remarkably quick and active, and a great walker. It is told of him, that while county judge he would often walk to Binghamton, eighteen miles, to hold court, rather than go to the field and catch a horse to ride. While in the service he excelled as a drill officer. The historian of New Britain, Ct., (from which place he removed to Lenox,) says that, judging from the 'honorable offices bestowed on General Paterson, he was, in these re- spects, the most distinguished man ever reared there. He died at Lisle, July 19, 1808. A grandson of Gen. Paterson, Hon. Thomas J. Paterson, formerly a member of Congress, is now living at Rochester, N. Y.

Azariah Egleston was born in the year 1757, and died in 1822, at Lenox. His ancestors came from Exeter, in Devonshire, England, in 1630. They settled at Dorchester, Mass., but subsequently removed to Windsor, Conn. He was the son of Seth Egleston, who removed from Windsor to Westfield. Azariah was one of several children. He came to Pittsfield previous to the Revolutionary war, and there enlisted in Capt. Noble's company of minute men, April 22, 1775. (Miller seems to have been captain of his company, a part of the time.) This company belonged to the regiment commanded by Col. Paterson, and contained the flour of the young men of Berkshire. He

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returned to Pittsfield from Boston, in December, 1775. He was afterwards lieutenant and paymaster and belonged to Col. Vose's regiment. He con- tinued in the army during the war, and was twice wounded. He was in the advance guard at the battle of Trenton, and was in the battle of Princeton. He was in the battle at Bemis' Heights, and at Saratoga, at the capitulation of Burgoyne. He was at Monmouth, Newport and Stony Point. He was at West Point at the time of the court martial upon Andre, of which court Gen. Paterson was a member. While at West Point he became intimately acquainted with General Paterson. He was at New York at the British evacuation, and returned to West Point and settled the accounts of the Ist Mass. Regiment. March 4, 1784, he left West Point and came to Lenox. At the close of the war he was a major, and was afterwards generally known as Major Egleston. He was personally acquainted with Gen. Washington, and his signature is the seventh to the articles of association of the Society of the Cincinnati, Gen. Washington's being the first. (See in Library, State House, Boston.) August 11, 1785, he married Miss Hannah Paterson, daughter of Gen, John Pater-

son. She died at Lenox, January 31, 1803, aged thirty-three years. Thirteen years previously, her sister, Miss Polly Paterson, died at the age of seventeen. For twenty years after the war Major Egleston was one of the leading citi- zens of Lenox, distinguished for public spirit and hospitality. In 1796, at Christmas time, he entertained at his home a party of one hundred ladies and gentlemen, from Pittsfield and Stockbridge, as well as Lenox, a full account of which occasion is contained in a manuscript letter written by the Rev. Mr. Burhans, an Episcopal clergyman. It is understood that Major Egleston's property was afterwards lost, or greatly diminished, by obligations incurred for others. Mr. Egleston had several children, among whom were Mrs. James W. Robbins, of Lenox, and Mr. Thomas Egleston, a distinguished merchant in the city of New York, whose family preserve the old mansion with commendable care, and occupy it as a summer residence.

Gen. Caleb Hyde was born at Norwich, West Farms, (now Franklin, ) Conn., July 29, 1739, the fourth son of Elijah Hyde and Ruth Trury, and grandson of Samuel Hyde of the third generation. He married, in 1764, Elizabeth Sacket, daughter of Captain John Sacket, of Oblong, N Y., and niece of Admiral Richard Sacket, of the British navy. He settled at Lenox in 1769, and took an active part in opposing British aggressions and in urging on the Revolution. He was delegate from Lenox to the third provincial congress, represented the town in the general court five years, was for nine years a selectman, and for a time was sheriff of Berkshire county. He removed to Lisle, Broome county, N. Y., probably with Gen. Paterson, whose eldest child, Josiah Lee Paterson, had married, January 1, 1788, Gen. Hyde's daughter Clarissa. He soon became a leading man in Broome county, was major-general of militia, twice elected State senator, and in 1804 chosen by the assembly a member of the council of appointment. He died at Lisle in 1820.

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Charles Mattoon immigrated to this town from Watertown, Conn.,in 1768, and located on road 9, rearing one son, Charles, and six daughters. Col. Charles Mattoon married Julia Ann Burnham, of Vermont, who bore him two sons and three daughters. One son, Myron, born in 1806, married Laverna D. Higley, and was the father of two sons, and one daughter-George M., Charles G., and Catharine, now Mrs. John M. Cook, of Lenox. Charles G. married Anna O. Smith, who bore him three sons and three daughters. My- ron resides with his son, Charles, upon the old homestead.

Thomas Landers, one of the first settlers of this town, located at Lenox Fur- nace, where he owned a large tract of land, and gave the site upon which the first grist-mill in the town was built, which mill is now operated by P. H. Shaylor & Co. His son Ashel was the second white child born in Lenox, whose daughter, Lucy M., widow of James Thompson, resides on the homestead. Thomas was one of the nine original members of the first Congregational church here.

William, son of Caleb and Elizabeth Perrin Walker, was born in Rehoboth, Mass., in 1751, removing to Lenox in 1770 .. He joined the American army immediately after the battle of Lexington, and was with Washington at the battles of Trenton and Princeton, New Jersey, being also engaged in the bat- tle of Bennington. He was a member of the constitutional convention of Massachusetts, and repeatedly a member of the general court as a represent- ative from Lenox. In 1783 he was chosen a senator from this county. In 1781 he was appointed by Governor Hancock register of probate, which office he soon after resigned. For a time he was employed as a surveyor. For this service he was well qualified. In November, 1795, he was appointed by Governor Adams judge of probate for Berkshire county, and discharged the duties of that office till January, 1824, when he resigned. In 1807 he was appointed by Governor Sullivan a judge of the court of common pleas in this county, which office he held till a new system for that court was estab- lished. In 1829 he was an elector of President of the United States. In 178I was appointed justice of the peace, which office he held until his death in 1831. He married Sarah Woodruff, of Farmington, Conn., who bore him three children. His daughter Sarah became the wife of Dr. Charles Worth- ington, of Lenox. One son, William P., born on the Goodman farm in this town, in 1778, married Lucy Adam, in 1807 and located upon the place now occupied by Judge Julius Rockwell, rearing five sons and four daughters. Of these, Lucy F. became the wife of Judge Rockwell; Frances M. married R. D. Williams, of Stockbridge ; Cornelia married Joseph H. Scran- ton, founder of Scranton City, Penn .; Sarah W. became the wife of Hon. David Davis, of Illinois ; and Richard H. married Anna Perry, and has two daughters, Lucy A., wife of Rev. R. DeWitt Mallory, of this town, and Anna P.

Samuel Northrop removed his family from Salisbury, Conn., to Lenox, in 1770, when his daughter Phebe was but three years of age, coming with an

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ox team most of the distance, but at times being obliged to travel on horse- back by the guidance of marked trees. Samuel located on East street. He died in 1786, aged 42 years. Col. Elijah Northrop, a younger brother of Samuel, accompanied him to Lenox, and erected a house next south of his brother on the place now owned by Thomas Sedgwick, which house was. used as a tavern during the Revolutionary war, and is one of the oldest houses in the place. Col. Northrop died in 1832, at the age of eighty-two. During the Revolution, Indians and wild game were plenty, and often trouble- some. Mr. Northrop used to relate that on one occasion he and others killed three bears close to his house. At another time he had killed a deer and brought it into the house, when an Indian called and claimed it, as he had followed it all day. It was finally decided to give it to the "child of the forest."

Josiah Osborne, son of Daniel Osborne, of Ridgefield, Conn., immigrated to Lenox in 1773, and built a log house on road 28. He married Hepsebath Olmsted, in 1773, by whom he had seven children. One son, Deacon Ezra, married Thalia, daughter of Deacon Oliver Kellogg, of Lee, the marriage being blest by two sons. One of these, Oliver W., born in 1823, married Mary C. Crosby, of Ashtabula, Ohio, who bore him two daughters. After her death, in 1859, he married Elsie M. Bourne, who bore him one son. Charles S. now resides upon the homestead first settled by his grandfather, Oliver. Josiah Osborn served in the Revolutionary war.

Reuben Root, at a date previous to the Revolution, married Sarah Curtiss, and removed to this town from Sheffield, Mass., locating on road 20. He was the father of six sons and three daughters, of whom one, Calvin, married Lois A. Cook, by whom he had three children, two, Rodney C., who was born on the homestead in 1817, married Nancy Babcock, and had born to him three children, and Sarah E., now Mrs. Kieth, of Springfield, are living. Calvin H., son of Rodney, born in 1844, married Addie A. Parsons, and resides upon the former home of his great-grandfather.

Luther Sears, born in New Lenox in 1774, is said to be the third child born in the town. His family is as follows : Nelson, born in 1798 ; Nancy, born in 1799, who married Levi Butler ; Marshall, who was born in 1802 and died in 1883 ; Zachariah P., born in 1804; Luther ; Marietta, who married Ira Carrier, of Fulton, N. J .; Anna Maria, wife of L. C. Judd; Harriet, wife of F. Washburn. Zachariah P. married Marietta, daughter of Lyman and Amanda Dewey Judd, and had born to him two daughters, Anna Amanda, now Mrs. Charles H. Lay, and Martha H., wife of A. W. Bigelow. Mr. Z. Sears resides in Lenox, on road 25, and is a successful farmer.

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Gazetteer of Berkshire County, Mass., 1725-1885, Part 26

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., Printed at the Journal Office Number of Pages: 972

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., Printed at the Journal Office
Number of Pages: 972