Gazetteer of Berkshire County, Mass., 1725-1885, Part 3

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 3

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" It was not long before the Massachusetts colony was become like an hive overstocked with bees, and many of the new inhabitants entertained thoughts of swarming into plantations extended further into the country. The colony might fetch its own descriptions from the dispensations of the Great God unto his ancient Israel, and say : 'O God of Hosts ! Thou hast brought a ruin out of England ; Thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it ; Thou prepardest room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land ; the hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars ; she sent out her boughs into the sea.' But still there was one stroak wanting for the compleat accommodations of the description ; to wit, she sent forth her branches unto the river, and this, therefore, is to be next attained. The fame of Connecticut River, a long, fresh, rich river, had made a little Nilus of it, in the expectation of the good people about the Massachusetts Bay, whereupon many of the planters, belong- ing especially to the towns of Cambridge, Watertown and Roxbury, took up resolutions to travel an hundred miles westward from those towns, for a fur- ther settlement upon this famous river."

In 1631 the Connecticut first became known to the colonists, and in Octo- ber, 1633, was begun the first settlement in its valley, at Windsor, Conn. ; and in 1636 William Pynchon and his little band came down the old Bay Path to found what is now the flourishing city of Springfield. With this event begins the authentic history of Western Massachusetts.

A little over a quarter of a century later, old Hampshire county was incor- porated, the settlements here having increased to such an extent that this act had become necessary. The act of incorporation reads as follows :-

" Forasmuch as the inhabitants of this jurisdiction are much increased, so that now they are planted far into the country, upon Connecticut river, who by reason of their remoteness cannot conveniently be annexed to any of the counties already settled ; and that public affairs may with more facility be transacted according to laws now established : It is ordered by the Court, and authority thereof, that henceforth Springfield, Northampton and Hadley shall be, and hereby are, constituted as a county, the bounds or limits on the south to be the south line of the patent, the extent of other bounds to be full thirty miles distant from any or either of the aforesaid towns : and what

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towns or villages soever shall hereafter be erected within the aforesaid limits to be and belong to the said county. And further, that the said county shall be called Hampshire, and shall have and enjoy the liberties and privileges of any other county ; that Springfield shall be the shire town there, and the courts to be kept one time in Springfield and another time at Northamp- ton ; the like order to be observed for their shire meetings, that is to say, one year at one town and the next year at the other town, from time to time. The Deputies have passed this, with reference to the consent of the honored magistrates.

" 16th day of 3d Month, 1862.

" WILLIAM TORREY, Clericus."

Under this act old Hampshire county flourished for nearly a hundred years with no material curtailment of her vague and roughly stated limits ; but finally, on the 21st of April, 1761, the old county was divided, its western portion taking the name of Berkshire-the territory of which we write. The old county, however, parted with very little of civilization when she gave up the territory of Berkshire, but she lost 950 square miles of beautiful territory and nearly as much of fine farming land, or nearly one eighth of the whole terri- tory of Massachusetts, the limits of which the act of incorporation fixed as follows :-

"Beginning at the western line of Granville, where it touches the Connec- ticut line. to run northerly as far as said west line of Granville runs, then easterly to the southwest corner of Blanford, and to run by the west line of the same town, to the northwestern corner thereof; from thence northerly in a direct line to the southeast corner of No. 4 [Becket], and so running by the easterly line of No. 4, to the northeast corner thereof ; and thence in a direct course to the southwest corner of Charlemont, and so northerly in the west line of the same town, till it comes to the north bound of the province, and northerly on the line between this province and the province of New Hamp- shire [now Vermont], and on the west by the utmost limits of this province."

Since then, however, a number of changes have been made in its eastern and western boundary lines. At that time the Dutch claimed the territory as far east as the Housatonic, on the county's western border, while the settle- ment of the boundary line between Massachusetts and the province of New York had long been, as it continued long to be, a subject of controversy be- tween the two powers ; indeed, it was not finally adjusted until 1787, when the line was drawn by a joint commisson from the two commonwealths. This adjustment threw a large portion of the township of Hancock into New York, though it left a gore of that state's territory lying against the towns of West Stockbridge and Alford, which was finally annexed to those towns. In the extreme southwestern part of the county there was a tract of land that was incorporated as a district, April 14, 1838, under the name of Boston Coruer ; but being divided, or shut off from Mount Washington by the monntains, it was ceded to New York, to which it naturally belonged, May 14, 1853. It contained an area of 940 acres, and had seventy-five inhabitants. The eastern boundary has been subjected to still greater changes. In 1783, " the northeast corner of Becket, the south side of Partridgefield [Peru], a

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part of Washington, and the land called Prescott's Grants, all in the county of Berkshire," with portions of Worthington and Chester, in Hampshire county, were incorporated as the township of Middlefield, which was annexed to Hampshire county. Still later, a part of Hampshire's territory was taken to increase the territory of Windsor, and in 1792 the township of Hawley was incorporated, being made up from land that had been granted here as " Plan- tation No. 7," and was annexed to Hampshire county, being now, however, a part of Franklin county. Finally, in 1822, a gore of land in the north- eastern part of the county was taken towards forming the township of Mon- roe, which was annexed to Franklin county.

At the time of its erection there were only five incorporated townships within the limits of the county, viz .: Sheffield, Stockbridge, New Marlboro, Egremont and Pontoosuc (now Pittsfield), though the northern part of Shef- field was incorporated as the township of Great Barrington on the 30th of June, the day that the act incorporating the the county went into effect ; and there were only four other settlements, at Williamstown, Tyringham, Sandis- field and Becket respectively, while there are now thirty-two townships, as fol- lows : Adams, Alfred, Becket, Cheshire, Clarksburg, Dalton, Egremont, Flor- ida, Great Barrington, Hancock, Hinsdale, Lanesboro, Lee, Lenox, Monte- rey, Mount Washington, New Ashford, New Marlboro, North Adams, Otis, Peru, Pittsfield, Richmond, Sandisfied, Savoy, Sheffield, Stockbridge, Trying- ham, Washington, West Stockbridge, Williamstown and Windsor. The total area of the these towns constitute a territory of 950 square miles, lying be- tween 42° 2' and 42° 44' north latitude, and between 4° 4' and 3º 32' east longitude, bounded north by the state of Vermont, east by Franklin, Hamp- den and Hampshire counties, south by Connecticut, and east by New York, while their total population in 1880 amounted to 69,082 souls.

But of the beauties of Berkshire and its superb views, what can we say ? Pen cannot paint nor palette filch its delicious curves, its varying, tremulous colors-hazy, dreamy, changing as the chameleon's, with the varying atmos_ phere. Since first they gladdened the heart of the pioneer, they have inspired the poecy of giant intellects, and the quaint legends that have their home among them have afforded food for the pen of Longfellow, Bryant, Hawthorne, Mel- ville, Thoreau, Sedgwick, Holmes, Kemble, and others, each of whom has failed to leave a perfect picture of the hills they loved so dearly. What won- der, then, that our "poor shell should fail to wake the weary nine," and our palsied pen shrink, appalled, the task. No more brief, analytical, view of this subject, perhaps, can be found than that presented by the mellow pen of "Godfrey Greylock," in his charming work, Taghconic, which we take the liberty of repeating :-

" But first listen to Mr Ruskin," he says, "whom I suppose you will recog- nize as a competent interpreter the laws of beauty :

"' That country is always the most beautiful which is made up of the most curves.'

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"That is the great teacher's absolute dictum directly applicable here : and listen to another, applicable by indirection but clearly pertinent :

"'In all beautiful designs of exterior descent, a certain regularity is neces- sary ; the lines should be graceful, but they must also balance each other, slope answering slope, and statue to statue.'

" And now observe what may be considered Mr. Ruskin's application of the first-quoted law. It forms part of his ideal description or characterization of the ' picturesque blue country' of England ; that is, a country having a blue distance of mountains :

"' Its first and most distinctive peculiarity is its grace ; it is all undulation and variety of line, one curve passing into another with the most exquisite softness, rolling away into faint and far outlines of various depths and deci- sion, yet none hard or harsh ; and, in all probability, rounded off in the near ground into massy forms of partially wooded hill, shaded downward into winding dingles or cliffy ravines, each form melting imperceptibly into the next, without an edge or angle. Every line is volup- tuous, floating and waving in its form ; deep, rich and exquisitely soft in its color ; drowsy in its effect, like slow, wild music ; letting the eye repose up- on it, as on a wreath or cloud, without one feature of harshness to hurt, or of contrast to awaken.'

" Mr. Ruskin might have written the quoted passages sitting here upon this tower [at Maplewood Hall, Pittsfield], and been guilty of nothing worse than almost Pre-Raphaelite precision. The landscape is literally all curves : there is not a straight or ungraceful line in it, except it be of man's making. In what graceful sweeps those mountain walls were thrown up. Into what an endless and infinitely varied succession of interlacing loops and curves, the old glaciers scolloped their crests and indented their ravines. The mean- derings of the countless brooks, the serpentine windings of the Housatonic, the wavy and sinuous contours of the lakes, soothe the eye by the multitude of their luxurious curves. The bare morains, the wooded knolls, the mossy maple groves and clumpy stretches of willow, are all soft and rounded. The shadows which lie under the solitary trees on the hill side, have no harsher shape than that which the fleecy passing cloud casts near them. Nay, Na- ture, compelling man to own her own sweet mood, forces him to bend his railroads and highways gently around the circled bases of her mountains. Even when he makes his ways straight, ' Nature soon touches in her pictur- esqe graces,' and covers his streets and his habitations with her swelling drapery. Berkshire, as you see it here, surely answers well to Mr. Ruskin's definition of 'the most beautiful country.'

" And as to the demands of the second passage which I have quoted, and to the general requisitions of his essay ; I repeat what I have said elsewhere :

" A lovlier landscape one might not desire to see ; and when satiated with long luxurious gazing, the spectator seeks to analyze the sources of his delight, all the elements of beauty justify his praise. To the eye the valley here pre-

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sents the proportions which architects love to give their favorite structures. The symmetry, too, with which point answers to point, exceeds the attain- ment of the art.

" Variety, the most marvelous, but without confusion, forbids the sense to tire. Colors, the richest, softest and most delicate charm the eye, and vary with the ever-changing conditions of the atmosphere. Fertile farms and fre- quent villages imbue the scene with the warmth of generous life ; while, over all, hangs the subdued grandeur which may well have pervaded the souls of the great and good men who have made Berkshire their home from the days of Jonathan Edwards down."

As we have previously stated, the county lies upon the great ridge which separates the valleys of the Hudson and Connecticut rivers, and which is di- vided into the Green and Taghconic ranges of mountains ; the former extend- ing from north to south across the eastern part of the county, while the Taghconics have a parallel course across the Western part. Between the Taghconic range and a spur of the Green Mountains known as the Hoosacs, there stretches a beautiful valley through the whole length of the county, through which flow the Hoosac and Housatonic rivers, the former to the north and the latter to the south. Along these streams are located the prin- cipal villages and manufactures, while on either hand from this valley are stretched the agricultural towns. The valley towns are from 500 to 1,200 feet above the level of the sea, while the mountain towns have a mean eleva- tion of from 1, 200 to 1,800 feet, the highest point being located in the north- western part, where Greylock rears his crest to an altitude of 3,500 feet. Of the healthfulness of the Berkshire Hills, Dr. J. F. A. Adams, president of the Berkshire District Medical Society, states in a paper read before that society in December, 1883, as follows :-

"The climate is dry, cool and bracing. Against the cold and moist east and northeast winds which prevail along the New England coast, Berkshire possesses a double line of defense, namely, that portion of the Green Moun- tain range which skirts it on the east, and also the southern prolongation of the White Mountain system east of the Connecticut valley. On the summits and eastern slopes of these two mountain chains the east winds deposit their superabundant moisture and expend their force, so that, on reaching Berkshire their character is wholly changed. In like manner the west winds are de- prived by the two mountain ranges east and west of the Hudson river of the dampness gathered from the great lakes. The elevation of this region is an- other cause of the dryness of the atmosphere, and likewise renders it coo and bracing. Other things being equal, the average temperature of a place is diminished one degree for every 300 feet of elevation. The average tem- perature of Berkshire is, therefore, from two to six degrees cooler than the lower districts lying to the east and west. The climate of moderate altitudes is stimulating, accelerating the breath and circulation and giving tone to the nervous system. The beneficial influence of this stimulation on invalids, especially consumptives, has been carefully studied by eminent medical author- ities in Switzerland, Colorado and elsewhere, and, although the altitude of the towns among the Berkshire hills is less than that of the Engodine or of

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Denver, the same quality of atmosphere exists and a similar beneficial effect is experienced."

Aside from those mentioned, the principal elevations are Mount Everett, Mount Washington, Monument Mountain and Potter Mountain, all of which and many others are spoken of in detail in connection with the sketch of the towns wherein they are located. The county is well supplied with streams which have their sources in the clear springs of the many hill-sides, the prin- ciple of which are the Housatonic, Hoosac, Deerfield, Westfield, Green and Farmington rivers, with their numerous tributaries. The Housatonic, whose name, with its various orthographies, was derived from the Indians, and signifying " over the mountains," has its sources in the towns of Lanesboro and Windsor. The two branches meet at Pittsfield, where the river forms ; it then passes south, through Berkshire county, entering Connecticut, and thence meanders on to Long Island Sound. The sources of the river being located at an altitude of more than a thousand feet above the ocean, its current af- fords excellent motive power. The volume of water is not very large, except in seasons of freshet, when the rains from the mountains swell it until it inun- dates the valleys, thus greatly fertilizing the soil. The scenery which envi- rons it is in many places enchanting.

The Hoosac river proper has its souce in two branches, one in the north- ern part of the county and the other in the mountainous tracts of Bennington county, Vt. The branches unite near Hoosac Falls, N. Y., about three miles west of the celebrated Bennington battle ground, and thence it drops into the Hudson, fifteen miles north of Troy. The stream in this county affords many excellent mill-sites.

The Deerfield river rises in Stratton, Vt., and falls into the Connecticut. It is connected with Berkshire county only in forming the eastern boundary line of Florida. It is an important stream, however, being about fifty miles in length, watering 320 square miles of territory.

Westfield river is made up by three branches. North branch has its source in Windsor. It flows northerly, thence easterly, round the hills, and then turning southerly into Hampshire county ; Middle branch rises in Peru and flows southwesterly into Hampshire county; and West branch has its sources in Washington and Becket, and flows southeasterly to unite with the other branches, in Montgomery, Hampden county.

Farmington river rises in Becket and flows a southerly course into Hamp- den county, forming a part of the eastern boundary line of Sandisfield.

Green river, so named from the color of its waters, which is probably pro- duced by the clay washed out from its banks, rises in Austerlitz, N. Y., and flowing through Alford and Great Barrington unites with the Housatonic. There are also many other minor streams, and a great many lakes and ponds which are spoken of in the several town sketches.

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GEOLOGICAL.

A study of the science of geology is ever an interesting one ; and as related to this county is exceedingly so, for here the records of the changes, or "foot- prints," that time has left in succeeding ages since the earth was created, are numerous and well developed. Before mentioning the several rock forma- tions that enter into the structure of the county, however, it may not be con- sidered superfluous to briefly note some of the fundamental principles of the science.

Among geologists it has become the common, if not the pevailing opinion, that in the beginning all the elements with which we meet were in an ethereal or gaseous state-that they slowly condensed, existing for ages as a heated fluid, by degrees becoming more consistent-that thus the whole earth was once an immense ball of fiery matter-that, in the course of time, it was ren- dered very compact, and at last became crusted over, as the process of cool- ing gradually advanced, and that its interior is still in a molten condition. Thus, if the view suggested be correct, the entire planet in its earlier phases, as well as the larger part now beneath and within its solid crust, was a mass of molten fire, and is known to geologists as the elementary or molten period. Following this came another age, in which the molten mass began to cool and a crust to form, called the igneous period. Contemporaneous with the beginning of the igneous period came another epoch. The crust thus formed would naturally become surrounded by an atmosphere heavily charged with minerals in a gaseous or vaporous condition. As the cooling advanced, this etherealized matter would condense and seek a lower level, thus coating the earth with another rock. This is named the vaporous period. At last, how- ever, another age was ushered in, one altogether different from those that had preceded it. The moist vapor which must of necessity have pervaded the atmosphere began to condense and settle, gathering into the hollows and crevices of the rocks, until nearly the whole surface of the earth was covered with water. This is called the aqueous period. As these waters began to recede and the "firmament to appear," the long winter that intervened while the sun was obscured by the heavy clouds, would cover the earth with mighty ice floes and glaciers, forming a drift or glacial period.

A great difference also exists in the consolidation and structure of the depos- its thus formed. The very newest consist of unconsolidated gravel, sand and clay, forming alluvium. A little further down we come to the tertiary strata, where are some hardened rocks and others more or less soft. Next below the tertiary are found thick deposits, mostly consolidated, but showing a mechanical structure along,with the crystalline arrangement of the ingredients. These are called secondary and transition. Lowest of all are found rocks having a decidedly crystalline structure, looking as if the different minerals of which they are composed crowded hard upon one another. These rocks are called metamorphic, hypozoic and azoic.

BERKSHIRE COUNTY.

The principal rocks entering into the geological structure of Berkshire are mostly azoic, and are known as gneiss, limestone, talcose-slate, mica-slate quartz rock associated with mica-slate and chlorite, mentioned in the order of their preponderance. The great bed of gneiss enters the county from the south, extending nearly to the Vermont line, underlying the greater part of Sandisfield, New Marlboro, Otis, Tyringham, Becket, Lee, Washington, Hins- dale, Peru, Windsor and Savoy. The essential ingredients of gneiss are quartz, feldspar, and mica, forming a rock closely resembling granite, differing from it only in having a distinctly stratified, slaty or laminated structure. For this reason it makes a very handsome and convenient building stone, as the sheets or strata can be easily obtained at the quarries, and it can be split or divided into any required thickness.

Limestone extends all through the vallies of the Hoosac and Housatonic rivers, affording an abundance of material for building purposes, for the man - ufacture of lime, and for monument and cemetery work, as in many places it is in the form of beautiful grades of marble. The best of these Berkshire marbles are white, some grades of a snowy white; some of them, however, are clouded, and some gray. The gray and white are the most esteemed for durability. For further notice see the sketches of the several towns wherein the quaries are located.

Talcose-slate is the next rock in point of abundance. A large bed of this rock extends along the whole western border of the county, branching out in the northern part into New Ashford, Williamstown, Adams and North Adams, Cheshire and Lanesboro. Of this range Prof. Hagar speaks as follows : "It embraces Saddle mountain, and the Taconic range, the loftiest mountains in Massachusetts. It is interstratified with the mica-slate and limestone in some of the valleys; but chiefly near their western side, except at Adams, where we find the talcose-slate at the foot of Hoosac mountain in nearly perpendicular strata. All of the talcose-slate in the western part of Berkshire embraces more or less of mica, except perhaps occasional beds of chlorite-slate ; and often it passes into mica-slate so entirely as to perplex the observer. I sup- pose that the term micaceo-talcose slate would be the most appropriate one for this rock. Although frequently much resembling the talcose slate of the Hoosac range, yet in general it is obviously a newer deposit, passing insensi- bly on its western side into argillaceous-slate. Crystalized minerals are not common in it, except octahedral iron ore, quartz, and a few others, though such minerals are not common in the Hoosac mountain range."

Mica-slate is found in the southern part of the county principally in New Marlboro, and in the northern part in Clarksburg, Adams, North Adams, Florida, Savoy, Windsor and Peru. This formation is about the same as that of talcose-slate, except that it has mica in place of talc.

Quartz rock is found in most of the valley towns of the Housatonic, and also, in lesser degree, in the Hoosac valley. From this rock is obtained the valu- able supply of quartz sand used in the manufacture of glass. The principal

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ingredient in this rock, as its name implies, is quartz, though it takes into its composition mica, feldspar and sometimes the blue schistose clay. In this county it largely partakes of mica, differing from mica-slate, in many places, only in the preponderance of quartz. In other places it has a schistose structure.

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Gazetteer of Berkshire County, Mass., 1725-1885, Part 3

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