Gazetteer of Berkshire County, Mass., 1725-1885, Part 4

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 4

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Chlorite slate is only found in the eastern parts of Savoy and Windsor. The principal minerals found are plumbago, iron, lead, serpentine steatite, etc., though only iron has been wrought to any great extent. For description of the deposits, works, etc., of the latter, see the article under the head of "manu- factures."

Numerous evidences of the aqueous period are met with throughout the county, in the form of ancient sea beaches. They consist of sand and gravel, which have been acted upon, rounded and comminuted by the waves, and thrown up in the form of ridges, with more or less appearance of stratifica- tion or lamination. The manner in which they were formed may be seen along the sea-coast at any time in the course of formation, as they have the same form of modern beaches, except that they have been mutilated by the action of water and atmospheric agencies since their deposition.

Evidences of the drift or glacial period are left here by large bowlders scattered over the country, by drift scratches and by moraine terraces, while it is asserted that many of the valleys, and the peculiar rounded appearance of the hills and mountains were produced by this glacial epoch. These drift scratches are grooves worn in the rocks by those mighty rivers of ice, which though they moved through the valleys at the rate of only about two feet per day, their great thickness, and the weight of the superincumbent snow, caused them to grate and crush the rocks beneath, leaving marks that eons cannot efface. Morain terraces are elevations of gravel and sand, with cor- respondent depressions and scarcely describable forms. The theory of their formation is that icebergs became stranded at the base and on the sides of hills, and that deposits were made around and upon them, and that they would have been level-topped if the ice had remained, but in consequence of its melting they became extremely irregular.

For facts further then the hasty glance we have given of the geology of the county, see the sketches of the several towns.

SOIL AND STAPLE PRODUCTIONS.

The soil of Berkshire differs materially in different parts of the county, though in general it is inferior to that of no other county in the state, its several river valleys being proverbial for their richness, while its foot-hills and moun- tain slopes afford large areas of grazing land, for which the county is justly celebrated. There is one other thing that Berkshire people are proud of, too, and that is their Berkshire Agricultural Society, the mother of all agricul- tural societies, for it was the first organized in this country, and after it are modeled all the societies of to-day. The society was brought into existence,

BERKSHIRE COUNTY.

briefly, as follows: During the first decade of the present century, Hon. El- kanah Watson, then a resident of Pittsfield, having moved there from Albany, imported a pair of Merino sheep, the first brought into Berkshire. As the sheep here were then very scrawny and possessed of course wool and very lit- tle of it, the advent of the sleek, fine-wooled Merinos naturally attracted a great deal of attention. Accordingly, Mr. Watson determined to devote one day to their exhibition ; so one bright day in 1807 the two sheep were placed on exhibition under the " old elm" in Pittsfield park-the first exhibition of the kind in the county. But it does not appear that anything was done towards establishing a society until 1810, when Samuel H. Wheeler, of Lanesboro, issued an invitation to farmers in general to an exhibition of stock, in the vil- lage of Pittsfield, on the first of October, from nine to three o'clock. This exhibition proved a great success, as is attested by the local press, which in remarking thereon said: "The display of fine animals, and the num- bers, exceeded the most sanguine hopes of its prompters, and a large collec- tion of people participated in the display."

On the 25th of February, 1811. an act of the legislature was passed, incor- porating the " Berkshire Agricultural Society, for the promotion of Agricul- ture and Manufactures." The petitioners named in this act were Elkanah Watson, Ezekiel Bacon, John B. Root and John Churchill, of Pittsfield ; Ca- leb Hyde, of Lenox ; and Samnel H. Wheeler of Lanesboro, who were author- ized to appoint the time and place for the first meeting in Pittsfield. At this meeting Hon. Elkanah Watson was chosen president. The present offi- cers of the society are James Bullard, of Lee, president ; Charles J. Kittridge, of Hinsdale, first vice-president ; Joseph A. Kline, of Egremont, second vice- president ; W. H. Murray, of Pittsfield, secretary ; and Charles E. Merrill, of Pittsfield, treasurer.

Mr. Watson also found here very poor grades of pigs and cattle. The pigs, especially, were lean and scrawny, seemingly incapable of becoming fat. So he purchased some short-legged, small-boned pigs, thus laying the foundation here of the celebrated breed of " Berkshire hogs." The cattle were small, of Devon breed, and not suitable for this soil and climate. So Mr. Watson im- ported an English bull of a different breed, and from that time the breed of cattle all over the county began to improve, spreading all over the State. Thus much has Mr. Watson and Berkshire county done for agriculture.

The Housatonic Agricultural Society .- This society, located at Great Bar- rington, had its origin in the gathering of a few gentlemen at the Berkshire House, in Great Barrington, October 30, 1841, " to consider the propriety of forming an agricultural society in the southern part of Berkshire county At this meeting committees were appointed from each of the eleven southern towns of the county to confer with the people and ascertain their views on the subject. This movement resulted in the organization of the society before the end of that year, though it was not incorporated until 1848. At its formation, in 1841, Major Samuel Rosseter was chosen president ;

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Increase Sumner, secretary ; and Philip Barnes, treasurer. The first exhibi- tion was held on the 28th and 29th of September, 1842. The society organ- ized under its act of incorporation, April 11, 1848, when the following officers were chosen : Seth Norton, president ; William Dewey and Gilbert Mun- son, vice-presidents ; Charles N. Emerson, secretary ; and Edward P. Wood- worth, treasurer. The present officers are Joseph A. Kline, of Egremont, president ; Marshall S. Heath, of Stockbridge, and Charles E. Slater, of Tyringham, vice-presidents ; Frank A. Wright, of Great Barrington, treas- urer ; and Henry T. Robbins, of Great Barrington, secretary.

The northern part of the county has also a flourishing society, the "Hoo- sac Valley," with headquarters at North Adams, detailed mention of which we are obliged to omit, owing to our inability, notwithstanding repeated cor- respondence, to procure the information

As the soil, productions, etc., of each town is spoken of in con- nection with the sketch thereof, we will conclude our remarks at this point by quoting the following statistics, shown by the census reports of 1880. The county then had 3,751 farms, representing 314,644 acres of improved land, valued at $12,696,545.00, while its total public debt, bonded and floating, was $1,526,436.00. These farms supported 6,992 horses, fifteen mules, 1,411 working oxen, 19,497 milch cows, 15,137 other cattle ; 22,802 sheep, and 7,287 swine. The stock products for the year were 99,388 pounds of wool, 1,825,864 gallons of milk, 1,540,848 pounds of butter, and 240,097 pounds of cheese. The agricultural products were 12,418 bushels of barley, 35,459 bushels of buckwheat, 202,221 ; bushels of Indian corn, 288,937 bushels of oats, 45,896 bushels of rye, 2,284 bushels of wheat, 103,774 tons of hay, 308,731 bushels of potatoes, . and 85,747 pounds of tobacco, while their valuation of orchard products was $62,038.00.

MANUFACTURES.

The unusally good motive power offered by the several streams of the county, whose utility has been greatly augmented in many places by the erection of reservoirs, early pointed Berkshire out as a manufacturing region, and that prediction has surely been verified. There are four principal manu- facturing industries to be noted, viz .: That of cloth, of paper, of iron, and of glass, though there are many other manufacturing industries of lesser note, all of which, however, are spoken of in detail in connection with the sketch of the town wherein they are located. At this point, then, we will only briefly notice the four principal manufactures mentioned and give some general sta- tistics.

Iron Manufacture .- All of the available iron deposits in the county are of the brown hematite variety, or the hydrus peroxyd of iron. Geologically considered, it belongs in all probability to the tertiary formation which ex- tends from Canada to Georgia. The principal deposits are found in Adams,

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Lanesboro, Cheshire, Pittsfield, Richmond and West Stockbridge, the two latter containing the largest, though it exists to a greater or less degree in many other towns. The principal works are those of the Colby Iron Co., at Lanesboro, which has one stack ; the Richmond Iron Works, which has three stacks, one at Cheshire, one at Richmond, and one at Great Barring- ton, all being charcoal furnaces; and the Pomeroy Iron Works, in West Stockbridge, which is an anthracite furnace. The charcoal stacks make from ten to twelve tons of iron daily, while the anthracite furnace will make twenty- five tons daily. The ore is mostly mined underground and hoisted to the surface.

Paper Manufacture .- The pioneer in this manufacture was Zenas Crane, who came on from Worcester in 1799, prospecting for a suitable site for erect- ing a mill, finally locating in Dalton, where, in company with Henry Wis- wall and John Willard, he erected a mill in 1801, upon the site now occu- pied by the mill of Carson & Brown. This mill was not only the first mill erected in the county, but it was also the first built west of Worcester. Since that time the county has become celebrated throughout the world for this branch of manufacture, the principal mills being erected in Dalton, Lee, South Lee, Mill River, Housatonic, Sandisfield, Sheffield, Otis, Hinsdale, Glendale, Tyringham, Adams and Pittsfield.

Cloth Manufacture .- The manufacture of cotton and woolen goods of all grades, for which Berkshire is now so justly celebrated, was began in the first years of the present century. It is claimed that the first broadcloths ever manufactured in this country were made in Pittsfield, in 1804. “ About 1789," the account runs, "one Arthur Scholfield emigrated from Saddles- worth, near Leeds, and came into Pittsfield in 1800. Here he at once set up a machine for carding wool, and although the women were somewhat jeal- ous, at first, of his innovations, they soon became his patrons, and wagons heaped with wool came teeming into the town, and went out, with the same neatly carded into rolls, the envelope (a spare sheet in most cases), being secured with thorns, for that was before the day of cheap pins. Mr. Scholfield was soon joined by his nephew, Isaac, and commenced the manufacture of carding machines for sale. These machines commanded about $1,300.00 each. Scholfield was a man of great energy and enterprise. In order to get his machinery out from England, from which its exportation to this country was forbidden, he had to make two voyages to England, and bring the ma- chinery out piece-meal, hidden in his bedding, with drawings and models of the more cumberous parts. Having been joined by one Rigby, another Englishman of congenial spirit, the Scholfields carried on their business profit- ably until the introduction of power looms, when they entered heartily into the new improvements. During the war of 1812 they sold considerable quantities of the gray mixed broadcloth, which was the uniform of one of the regiments, to the officers stationed at Pittsfield. It was a stout, coarse article, which would now be worth, perhaps, $1.50 per yard, though it then sold for $15.00

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per yard." From this small beginning has grown the great enterprise, occupy- ing acres upon acres of floor-room, and its thousands of busy looms.

Glass Manufacture .- Berkshire county was identified with the manufac- ture of glass very early in the present century. Its eastern range of moun- tains is rich in quartz sand of the purest quality. Nothing equal to it is found this side of the Mississippi river. These rich deposits of sand, and abundance of fuel, led to the development of the glass industry, which for many years has been an important one in Berkshire county. The first incorporated glass company in Massachusetts was located here. Its name was the Adams Glass Co., its date of incorporation, June 15, 1812, the names of its incorporators being "John Whipple, James Mason, Daniel Sherman and others." This factory was located in the town of Adams. The next incorporated company in Western Massachusetts was located in Chester, and was known as "The Chester Glass Co.," the date of incorporation being June 7, 1814. Two days later, June 9, 1814, was incorporated the Farmers Glass Co., located in Clarksburg. The names of its incorporators were Rufus Darling, Ebenezer Pratt, A. Southwick, Daniel Aldrich, and John and Isaac Sherman. The most important of all, though never incorporated, was the Cheshire Crown Glass Works, which were built and commenced operation in 1813. These Cheshire works were the second in point of date, the Adams company, being incorporated in 1812, and the Chester and Clarksburgh in 1814. The capitalist of the Cheshire concern was Capt. Daniel Brown, and the company consisted of his sons Darius and John, and John D. Leland, son of the celebrated Parson Leland, and a man named Hunt. These works were crown works, and were situated near the stream and close by the present sand works of the Gordon Company. Though built directly over one of the finest sand deposits in the conntry, the proprie- tors were ignorant of the fact, and brought their sand from the Lane bed three miles above.

While there are many interesting legends connected with these works relating principally to the difficulties encountered, trouble with their drunken workmen, etc., etc., we have only space to say that they only ran between two and three years ; but sufficiently long to financially ruin the proprietors. Capt. Brown ran a store and distillery in connection with the glass works, and from his day book it appears that the men were more dependent on the distillery than the store for their daily pay. With the closing of the Cheshire works, the manufacture of glass in Berkshire county ceased for a generation, though the sand from the Lane bed was taken to Sand Lake, N. Y., and to Keene, N. H., for many years for glass purposes. This sand has no superior in the world for glass making, being more than 99 per cent. pure Silex. The finest glass made in the country has always been made from this sand. But its inland situation and the difficulties attending the transportation of the glass to market prevented any further manufacture till 1847, when the present works at Berkshire were started by a stock company known and incorporated

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as the Berkshire Glass Company. The original incorporators were Samuel Smith, W. D. B. Linn, and William T. Filley, the latter of whom is still living in Pittsfield. The stock was principally taken in Boston. The works were built in 1853, under the superintendence of Mr. A. K. Fox, of Sand Lake, whose works there were destroyed by fire, and what was left of the Sand Lake works was brought to Berkshire. With the exception of one year, during the panic of 1857-58, these works have been in constant operation since their erection, and have been very much enlarged under their present manage- ment, which commenced in 1858, when the original Berkshire Glass Com- pany failed. In 1858 a division of the works and sand beds was made, the works and real estate being bought by Page, Robbins & Harding, of Boston, and the sand beds by George W. Gordon, of Boston. In 1862 Mr. Robbins sold his interest to Mr. Page, and, until 1883, the firm style was Page & Harding, and Page, Harding & Co. In 1883 an act of incorporation was obtained, and it is now known as the Berkshire Glass Company. The plant of the company embraces one plate and cathedral and three window glass furnaces. For the last ten years the ribbed plate and rolled cathedral have been largely made here, and only here in the United States. The cathe_ dral is made in a great variety of colors and tints. The quality of the glass made here has always been of the highest standard, and it is the only glass made in the country which is equal in quality to the best foreign manu- facture, and commands the same price.

The same year that the Berkshire Glass Co. commenced operations, the Lenox Iron Co., which had been incorporated in 1848, erected glass works near their iron furnace in Lenox. The iron company was composed of Oliver Peck, William A. Phelps and James Collins The glass works were erected under the superintendance of these men and Hiram Pettee, now living in Pittsfield. Mr. Pettee soon left, to manage the Briggs Iron Works in Lanes- boro, and was succeeded in the management by his brother, Seneca Pettee. After a very short run these glass works were burned, and immediately rebuilt. After running two years and incurring a heavy loss to the Iron Company, they were closed. In the autumn of 1855 they were leased to James N. Richmond, of Cheshire, who had been experimenting for the Massachusetts Glass Co., at Cheshire, in the manufacture of rough or rolled plate. Mr. Richmond con- tracted to purchase the works and organized a stock company. The stock was principally taken in New York, and prominent in the management were Judge Lathrop and Richard Busted, of considerable political notoriety, The casting table and fixtures of the Cheshire company were removed to Lenox.

This was an entirely experimental business, nothing of the kind having ever before been attempted in this country, and they failed in the next year, 1856. The works returned into the hands of the iron company and were left idle until 1858, when the iron company resumed the manufacture of rough plate, and were very successful until 1862, when the works were again destroyed by fire, involving a heavy loss, and with no insurance. They were

BERKSHIRE COUNTY.

immediately rebuilt and successfully run till 1865, when the Lenox Plate Glass Company was organized and succeeded to the property and business. This company continued the business until December 30, 1869, when a new company, known as the Lenox Glass Company, was organized. One year previous to this, 1868, the " Lenox Crystal Glass Company," for the manu- facture of cylinder or sheet glass, was organized. The new organization, the The Lenox Glass Company, was a very large concern with a large capital, and under it were consolidated both the Lenox Plate and the Lenox Crystal Companies, also a cryolite company from Philadelphia, hitherto known as the " Hot Cast Porcelain Company." The Lenox Glass Company attempted the polishing of plate and erected a fine building for this purpose. The com- pany failed in 1872, and the property was sold and divided. The polishing works were bought by the Smith Paper Company, of Lee, and is now run by them as a paper mill. The cylinder or crystal works went into the hands of the Schanck estate, of New York, and the plate works to Mr. Theodore Rosevelt, of New York. Since the failure in 1872 the rough plate works have been run at intervals under a lease by Messrs. Servin & Averill, and by Mr. Servin alone, and are now run under a lease by Page, Harding & Co.

The sand used by these various works was principally obtained from the Washington mountain bed, situated just south of Lake Ashley, and it was from this bed that the Chester works obtained their sand in 1814. With the exception of the period included during our late war, the years between 1812 and 1820 seem to have been the most active in glass making, especially in Berkshire county, where, including Chester, five different works were estab- lished. From 1815 to 1845 glass works were in operation most of the time in Keene, N. H., and the sand was carted for many years for these works from the Lane bed in Cheshire. Cylinder glass was again made in Cheshire in 1860, by James N. Richmond, for a short time, and subsequently by James B. Dean and a few associates. The works have been converted to other pur- poses, and there is no present prospect of the revival of glass making in Cheshire, where it was established in 1813, and revived three different times since.

According to official statistics for 1880, there were then in the county 515 manufacturing establishments, representing an invested capital of $13,882,- 594.00, giving employment to 11,364 hands, to whom was paid $3, 732,714.00. The total value of material used was $11,744,047.00, and the total product $19,876,467.00.

COURTS AND COUNTY BUILDINGS.

At the time the settlement of the county was commenced, and thence down to the period of the Revolution, the judicial system of the Province comprised a Superior Court of Judicature with original and appellate juris- diction throughout the Province, corresponding in a great degree to the pres-

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ent Superior Judicial Court, and holding its sessions in the several counties ; a court called the Superior Court of Common Pleas, for each county, consist_ ing of four justices, of whom three were necessary to form a quorum, which had " cognizance of all civil actions, *

* triable at the common law, of what nature, kind or quality, soever ;" and a Court of Sessions in each county, comprising all of its justices of the peace, which had a limited criminal jurisdiction, and managed the prudential affairs of the county. Jus- tices of the peace had a separate jurisdiction in minor matters, both criminal and civil, and from their judgment there was a right of appeal to the Com- mon Pleas and Court of Sessions. There was also a Probate Court, having jurisdiction as at the present time. The Superior Court never held any ses- sion in Berkshire, but all its causes arising in this county were heard at the term held in the county of Hampshire. Judicial business was thus equalized, though the courts with which the inhabitants of the county were most familiar were those presided over by the local magistrates. All of the judicial officers were appointed by, and held their offices at, the pleasure of the crown, or its representative, the governor of the Province, with the consent of the council.

The county of Hampshire, as we have stated, was created in 1662, and although its boundaries were so loosely defined, it did in fact extend so far as to embrace territory now included in the States of New Hampshire and Con- necticut, a portion of Worcester county and thence westward to the Prov- ince line. During all the period, therefore, which elapsed after the settle- ment of Berkshire county commenced, down to 1761, the inhabitants of its territory were within the county of Hampshire, and were amenable to the jurisdiction of its magistrates, though having magistrates among their own number who were called to attend on the courts and transact their public busi- ness at Springfield and Northampton. We find that during this period two of the justices of the Court of Common Pleas for Hampshire county were appointed from among the citizens of Berkshire county-Ephraim Williams, in 1741, and Joseph Dwight, in 1753.

Ephraim Williams, the first of those mentioned, was a son of Captain Isaac Williams, born at Newton, October 21, 1691. He married and settled in Newton and removed thence to Stockbridge, in 1739, having possibly lived for a time in Hatfield, whose pastor, Rev. William Williams, was his brother. He was appointed a justice of the peace in Middlesex in 1735. Tradition af- firms that when he removed to Stockbridge he carried his younger children in panniers upon a horse. His was one of the four English families provided for in the original settlement of Stockbridge. His house in Stockbridge was on the hill overlooking the present village street, on or near the site after- ward occupied by Rev. Dr. West. He was a man of decided position and influence in his new home, and retained his position of justice until 1749, when he resigned. He was a colonel in the local militia, and hence is some- times confounded with his son of the same name, the founder of Williams college. He died while on a visit to his son, Dr. Thomas Williams, in Au- 3*

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gust, 1754, and was buried at Deerfield. His descendants in the county are to be found in the Sergeant, Dwight, Hopkins and Sedgwick families, of Stockbridge.

The only persons whom we can find held the office of justice of the peace, then an office of great dignity and importance, resident in Berkshire county while it remained a part of Hampshire county, other than those referred to, were David Ingersoll and Jabez Ward. David Ingersoll was a son of Thomas Ingersoll, of Westfield, and after a residence in Springfield and Brookfield, he settled in Great Barrington, then a part of Sheffield, as early perhaps as 1735. He was vigorous, energetic, and perhaps audacious in his business enterprises. He became interested largely in real estate, and in or about 1739 he was the occupant, if not the owner, of the water-power now belong- ing to the Berkshire Woolen Co., and there erected a dam, saw and grist- mills, and also a forge and trip-hammer for the manufacture of bar iron. He was a captain of militia, and served as a selectman of the town of Sheffield. He was appointed a justice of the peace, September 8, 1749. His business enterprises eventually proved disastrous, however, resulting in his becoming involved in difficulties, whence he fell into such disrepute that he was removed from office in 1755. He died at Great Barrington, March 23, 1773, aged seventy-three years. Jabez Ward was probably a native of Marlboro, and removed with his large family to New Marlboro in 1744. He was promi- nent in the organization of his adopted town, and does not seem to have been re-commissioned after the incorporation of Berkshire county. He died at New Marlboro, August 29, 1767, aged sixty years.

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Gazetteer of Berkshire County, Mass., 1725-1885, Part 4

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