Gazetteer of Berkshire County, Mass., 1725-1885, Part 48

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 48

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The college buildings, situated on a broad and beautiful street which runs over three delightful eminences, consist of Griffin Hall, containing the col- lege cabinet ; Goodrich Hall, which holds the chemical laboratory ; the East and South colleges, both used as dormitories; Lawrence Hall, which con- tains the college library and some sculptured slabs from Nineveh ; the chapel ; and Jacksons Hall, together with the old West college (erected in 1790) and the Kellogg Hall. In the vicinity of the soldiers' monument, mentioned above, a marble shaft, surmounted by a globe, indicates the spot where Samuel J. Mills and his companions met in 1807 near a hay-stack, and there made a consecration of themselves to foreign missionary labor. We have not space to follow the history of Williams college from its foundation, to mention the many bequests that have enabled its management to bring it to its present proud state of perfection, nor to go into the details of even its more import- ant historic dates, from the will of its honored namesake, Ephraim Williams, made at Albany on the eve of his departure for the battle-field which drank his blood, down to the comparatively recent retirement of its honored president, whose hair has grown gray in its service. As we have said, it is the brave and philanthropic Ephraim Williams, whose life has already been sketched in the county chapter, and mentioned in the chapter on Lee and in other places. Incorporated June 22, 1793, Dr. Ebenezer Fitch was chosen its first president, and was followed by Rev. Z. S. Moore, D. D., in 1815 ; Rev. E. D. Griffin, D. D., in 1821 ; by Mark Hopkins, D. D., in 1836, whose long service was rewarded with such enviable results, and who, only a few years since, gave place to his successor, the present Rev. Paul A. Chad- bourne.

SOUTH WILLIAMSTOWN, another handsome post village, is located south of the central part of the town, on the west branch of Green river, near the con- fluence of New Ashford brook, and is the seat of Greylock Institute.

SWEET'S CORNERS ( p. o.) is a hamlet located on Green river, about mid- way between Williamstown and South Williamstown. It has one church ( Bap- tist) one store, a grist-mill, and about fifty inhabitants.

COLEVILLE, a hamlet located in the northwestern part of the town, on the Hoosac river, and a flag-station known as Cole's switch, was named in honor of Porter R. Cole. It contains Mr. Cole's steam mills, Greylock Hall, a noted summer resort, the famons mineral waters of the Sand Springs, two stores, a blacksmith and carriage shop, a livery stable, and about twenty-five dwelling.

WHITE OAKS, a hamlet located in the northwestern part of the town, is

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very picturesquely situated in the deep valley of Brood brook. It has one church, a wagon shop and about thirty dwellings.

BLACKINTON (p. o.) is a small village in the western part of the town, ex- tending over into North Adams.

Williamstown Manufacturing Company, whose works are located on the Hoosac river, near the depot, is a stock company engaged in the manufac- ure of print cloths-A. C. Houghton, president, and George Hopkins, treas- urer. The company was organized in 1865, and the fine brick factory was then built. The machinery is driven by water-power, with steam as an aux- ilary. The factory has 17,424 spindles and 400 looms. It employs 200 hands and manufactures 18,800 yards of cloth per day. Mr. S. S. Edwards is the efficient and energetic superintendent, William B. Clark, book-keeper.

Green River Mills, C. S. Tower, proprietor, located on Water street at Williamstown, were built by Mr. Tower in 1859. They have three runs of stones, with capacity for grinding 150 bushels of grain per day.

Patrick Lally's saw-mill, located on road 13, is operated by steam-power, and turns out about 500,000 feet of lumber per annum, giving employment to from twelve to twenty-five hands.

P. R. Cole's steam saw and planing-mill, located at Coleville, gives em- ployment to six men in the manufacture of lumber, shingles, boxes, and barrel heads, turning out about $6,000.00 worth annually.

D. J. Sweet's grist-mill, located at Sweet's Corners, was built during the war of 1812. It has two runs of stones and does custom grinding.

The first settlements were made on the house-lots previously mentioned, though but a few of them seem to have been settled by those who originally drew them. Three of them were drawn by Lieut. Samuel Brown ; two each by Samuel Calhoun, W. Chidestre, Lieut. Abadiah Dickinson, Ebenezer Graves, Lieut. Moses Graves, Thomas Moffatt, John Moffatt, Æneas Machoy, Josiah Williams, Ephraim Williams, Jr., and Lieut. Isaac Wyman ; and one each by Elisha Allis, Lemuel Avery, Oliver Avery, Elijah Brown, Reuben Belding, Samuel Brown, Jr., John Bush, John Chamberlain, Capt. Elisha Chapin, John Crofford, Elizur Dickinson, Joel Dickinson, Aaron Denio, Daniel Donelson, Ezekiel Foster, Nathaniel Harvey, Micah Harrington, Joseph Halley, Esq., Daniel Haws, Lieut. Elisha Hawley, Col. Oliver Part- ridge, Nathaniel Russell, Abner Roberts, Joseph Smith, Dr. Seth Hudson, Benjamin Simonds, Samuel Smith, Thomas Train, Samuel Taylor, George Willis, Timothy Woodbridge, Elisha Williams, Jr., and Samuel Wells.

The settlement of the town, like that of most others at that day, was re- tarded by Indian hostilities. Nehemiah Smedley, William and Josiah Hors- ford, and some other young men, came to prepare for themselves and fami- lies a settlement here, it is believed, in 1751 or 1752. But they were in- terrupted by the increasing hostility of the Indians in those years. Returning to Connecticut, they enlisted in a company raised to protect the frontiers, and came again with others to this place and garrisoned a fort, which stood

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on the village square, and also a block-house near the West college. A few soldiers were kept here in garrison till 1760; but the inhabitants were ex- posed to frequent alarms, some were carried into captivity, and in an attack July 11, 1756, Capt. Chapin and two others by the name of Chidestre were killed. These dangers nearly ceased after 1759, and entirely so when peace was concluded between England and France, in 1763. These events, and the incorporation of the town, in 1765, led to a rapid increase in population, so that the inhabitants were, for a number of years, unable to raise grain enough to support the population.

Among the early settlers were Richard Stratton, from Western (now War- ren) ; Jonathan and James Meacham, from Salem ; Thomas Train, Thomas Dunton, Elkanah Paris (a Quaker), Derrick Webb, Capt. Isaac Searle, William and Josiah Hosford, from Canaan, Conn .; Capt. Nehemiah Smed- ley, from Litchfield ; Samuel Kellogg, from Canaan ; Nathan Wheeler, from New Milford ; Seth Luce and Nathan Smith, from Western ; David Nichols, from Middletown, Conn .; Mr. Byam, from Templeton, and John Talmadge, from Colchester.

Among the most prominent of the early settlers and inhabitants were Col. Benjamin Simonds, David Noble, Gen. William Towner, Gen. Thompson, J. Skinner, and Hon. Daniel Dewey. Col. Simonds was a native of the east- ern part of Hampshire county, and at the age of twenty was a soldier of the garrison in Fort Massachusetts. He became one of the wealthiest inhabit- ants of Williamstown, and died April 11, 1807, aged eighty-one years. Mr. Noble, who was one of the principal inhabitants at an early period, was a native of New Millford, Conn., and graduated at Yale in 1764. He came to Williamstown in 1770, and was subsequently a lawyer and a merchant, in which latter business he acquired a considerable fortune. He was one of the first trustees of Williams college. In 1797, he was appointed judge of the court of common pleas, and died March 4, 1803, at the age of fifty- eight. General Towner was a native of New Fairfield, Conn., and set- tled as a practitioner of medicine in Williamstown, about 1790. He was a lover of politics and the parade, and relieved his professional cares by serving as a member of the State legislature, and as general of brigade. He died at Pownal, Vt., in 1813, at the age of fifty-eight. General Skinner came from Colchester, Conn., (his birth place), in 1775, and subsequently acquired an extensive influence in the town and county, both of which he repeatedly represented in the general court. For many years, he was chief justice of the court of common pleas for the county, was treasurer of Williams college, major-general of militia, a representative in the fifth congress, marshal of the district of Massachusetts, and treasurer of the State. He died at Boston, January 20, 1809, at the age of fifty-six. Hon. Daniel Dewey was a native Sheffield, and read law with Judge Sedgwick, of Stockbridge. He com- menced practice in Williamstown in 1790, and became an eminent and very successful lawyer. He was a member of the thirteenth congress, and of the

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Governor's council, and in February, 1814, was appointed one of the justices of the supreme judicial court. He died May 26, 1815, in his fiftieth year. Chief Justice Parker said of him : " He is almost the only man, in elevated rank, of fixed and unalterable political opinions, and who was never remiss in inforcing those opinions, who has been at no time calumniated."

The first white child born in town was Prudence, daughter of Colonel Benjamin Simonds, December 4, 1763. The first male child was Levi, son of Captain Nehemiah Smedley, born October 8, 1764. The first nieeting of the proprietors on record was held at the house of Seth Hudson, December 5, 1753. The first town-meeting was held July 15, 1765. From the list of that year, it appears that the taxable polls were fifty nine, oxen fifty-seven, cows seventy-five, and sheep eighty-three.

The two largest dairies were of six cows each, and there were two others of four. The largest flock of sheep was eighteen, the next, fourteen, thir- teen and eleven. Improvements were listed at 15s. the acre, and amounted to £426; from which it appears that about 578 acres were then under cul- tivation. Asa Johnson was rated for two mills, Nehemiah Smedley for £ 126 at interest, and Isaac Searle for £700. In the list of 1766 there were seventy four polls, in 1768, 102 ; while the " voters by law" were only twenty; in 1770, 119 polls; in 1774 the polls at the north end were 108; south end ninety-eight ; and in town 206, and on the gore west of the town, twelve ; in 1776, 220 in the town, and the valuation of the town was £5,921, viz .: of the north part £3,535, the south part £2,372.

The oldest house in the town was built by Theodore Boardman, and is occupied by his granddaughter, Chloe Bingham. The first two-story house was built by Dr. Henry Sheldon, and is now owned and occupied by James Waterman. The second was erected by Capt. Nehemiah Smedley, in 1776, and is owned and occupied by Benjamin F. Bridges. The following were built between 1790 and 1804: The brick house now occupied by J. M. Cole, built by Judge David Noble ; the one occupied by Mrs. Brown, by William B. Sherman ; the one occupied by Samuel T. Mather, by Daniel Day ; and the one now occupied by the president of the college was built by Gen. Sam- uel Sloan ; also the one built by the trustees of Williams college, first occu- pied by President Ebenezer Fitch, and now by Professor Safford.

Capt. Nehemah Smedley one of the first five proprietors of West Hoosac, now Williamstown, born in Litchfield, Conn., settled here sometime between 1750 and 1760. He was driven away by the French and Indians during the French war, but soon returned, as the captain of a military company, and built a block house for the defense of the town, about where the Mansion House is now located. He located his farm and built the house, where his great-great-grandson, B. F. Bridges, now resides. This house was erected in 1776, and is now in a good state of preservation. It was first covered with pine clapboards that were riven out by hand. The old oven still remains in the basement, in which Mrs. Smedley baked a large quantity of

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bread and sent it by her son, a lad of seventeen years, to the Revolu- tionary army at Bennington. Capt. Smedley left his house before its entire completion, and joined the Continental army in 1776, remark- ing that he "would know who owned his house before he finished it," and led his command in the battle of Bennington. He remained with the army to the close of the war, contributing at least one half of his fair for- tune in aid of this sanguinary struggle. At the close of the war he resumed his peaceable pursuits as a farmer, and continued on his homestead till his death, aged less than fifty years. He was twice married and was the father of six sons and two daughters, viz. : Levi, Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Samuel, Rachel and Mary, children of the first marriage, and James son of the sec- ond wife. Moses, Elisha and James settled in Hinesburgh, Vt .; Samuel settled in New Lisbon, Otsego county, N. Y .; Rachael died unmarried ; Mary was twice married and died in Ohio; Levi, the oldest son, and Elijah, the third son, bought the homestead of the other heirs and lived as one family until they raised their children. Levi had eight, children, viz .: Adna, Irene, Lydia, Annis, Levi, Jr., Lydia, Mary and James, the only surviving member of this family, now eighty years of age, of whom we gain this information, a re- tired physician, educated at Williams college and at the Berkshire Medical Institution at Pittsfield. The children of Elisha were Adna, Electa, Rachael, Harvey, Lucy, Minerva (drowned at five years of age), Mary, Minerva, Ema- line and Elijah. Only two of these are now living, Rachael, widow of Dea. Horace Hawks, in Charlemont, and Minerva, wife of Andrew Thomas, residing in the southern part of this town.

Dr. James Smedley, the only survinggrandson of Capt. Nehemiah Smedley was born on the homestead December 1, 1804. He married Miss Lucy Bridges, daughter of Jonathan Bridges, and granddaughter of Col. Benjamin Simons, September 6, 1829. They had six children, all of whom are living but one. Mary B. is the wife of Prof. Perry, of Williams college ; Dr. Alvin H. Smedley, a practicing physician of Boston, died in 1872 ; William H., one of the first 70,000 who enlisted in the Union army, served two years and was discharged for disability, and now resided in town and looks to the comfort of his aged parents ; James L. served as a lieutenant in the Union army, is a merchant at Davenport, Iowa ; Lucy M., wife of Rev. Jonathan Wadhams, of Ashfield, Mass .; and Edward G., who served on the signal corps, is a mer- chant in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Col. Benjamin Simonds came to Williamstown, from Northampton, Mass., before the Revolutionary war, and was one of the earliest and most influential citizens of the town. He held the office of colonel, and led his regiment in the battle of Bennington, which included all the forces of Berk- shire county. He located as a farmer where Mr. George H. Prindle now lives. He was twice married. His children were Rachel, who was married to Dea. Skinner, Justin, Sarah, Marcy, Joseph, Prudence, Abilena, Electa, Polly and Beniamin.

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Benjamin F. Mather came to Williamstown, from Pownal, Vt.,and formed a co-partnership with Orrin Kellogg as general merchants. The firm contin- ued until 1836, when Mr. Mather bought Mr. Kellogg's interest and has con- tinued that business alone and is now doing a flourishing trade in the same, building where he began, though it improved and enlarged on all sides. He is now seventy-three years of age, and has been in trade the longest period of any merchant in Berkshire county. Mr. Mather began without any capital, except good habits, industry, and indomitable perseverance, and by a course of fair dealing he has continually added to his fortune. until he now ranks with the wealthy men of his town. He is father of nine children to each of whom he gave a good education. Two of his sons are merchants in town, one is a practicing physician in the place, and another, B. F. Mather, Jr., is engaged with his father. He was the clerk of his town seven years, and represented the first district of Berkshire county in the legislature of 1879. The eldest daughter married J. C. French, D. D. of Newark, N. J. ; the second, D. D. Woodbridge, M. D., of New York. The third daughter is unmarried and is living at home. The fourth daughter married Arthur Hale, a banker of Ulyses, Neb. The fifth married Bushnell Danforth, a merchant of Will- iamstown.

James Meacham, born March 10, 1733, came to Williamstown, from Sa- lem, Miss., in the autumn of 1762, and settled as a farmer where his grand daughter, Miss Emiline Meacham, now lives. At the time he came there were only eighteen families who had preceded him in the town. He had left his family in Salem in the spring, and spent the summer in cultivating a crop of wheat and in building his log house with its stone chimney, and in the au- tumn he was joined by his wife and four children. June 22, 1756, he mar- ried Miss Lucy Rugg, and had born to him eleven children. Mrs. Meacham died June 22, 1803, and Mr. Meacham July 28, 1812. Their son, James Hawkins, born December 25, 1769, succeeded to the homestead, where he remained till his death, March 26, 1837. He married, September 30, 1795, Nabby Warner, and reared six children, only one of whom, Miss Emaline Meacham, who resides on the homestead, is living. Her only brother. James Meacham, born February 3, 1805, was his father's successer on the old farm, and died May 20, 1883. It will thus be seen that the Meacham home has been owned and occupied by James Meacham, James Hawkins Meacham and James Meacham successively, during a period of 121 years.

Mr. Joseph Tallmadge, born in Wales, came to Williamstown at a very early date, when there were only a few families in town. He settled in the wilderness where Willard Sherman now lives, where he continued to live the remainder of his life, dying at the age of seventy-three years. He cleared and improved this farm, containing 150 acres. He married Miss Martha Marks, and they were the parents of five children, only one of whom made a perma- nent home in Williamstown, viz .: Josiah Tallmadge, who settled on the homestead. Late in life he removed to Victor, N. Y., where he died, at the

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age of seventy-seven years ; and Asa who settled as a farmer where Nathaniel Chamberlin now lives. He lived to the age of eighty-six years, being born in 1776 and died in 1862. The nearest descendants of Joseph Tallmadge now residing at Williamstown are his grandchildren, Mrs. Mary E. Hosford, Mrs. Orcelia Blakeslee and Mr. Edwin Tallmadge, and his great-granddaughters, Mrs. Mary A. Kellogg and Mrs. Martin A. Sanderson, and Hannah, Lillie and Mary Tallmadge.

Professor Albert Hopkins, was born in Stockbridge, Mass., July 14, 1807, and early manifested those traits for which he was afterwards distinguished. At Stockbridge he was prepared for college by his uncle, the Rev. Jared Cur- tis, and entered Williams college in 1823, graduating therefrom in 1826, at the age of nineteen. He was noted among his fellows for his robust frame. feats of strength and physical endurance, fine scholarship, amiable manners, and great love for natural sciences. After graduating, he directed his thoughts to the ministry with the intention to become a missionary; but meanwhile he received an invitation to become a tutor in Williams college, and accepted it, entering upon what proved to be his life work. In 1829 he was elected professor of mathematics and natural philosophy, and several years later his department was enlarged so as to include astronomy. His great force of character and fine tact caused him to be much respected and loved by his pupils. Admiring the beautiful in nature, he gave much attention to land- scape gardening, and to the cultivation of flowers, his garden being a delight to see. He originated those useful scientific expeditions which have since been frequently sent out from American colleges, and he founded Williams Natural History Society. As he was very desirous the students should with their own eyes follow the course and motion of the stars, in 1837, almost wholly at his own expense, he erected an astronomical observatory, which was the first built on the American continent, exclusively for educational pur- poses. He also organizad an Alpine Club, of which he was chosen leader. It consisted of a party of young friends of both sexes, who, in the summer holidays, selected a pleasant spot on which to camp out in tents on the mountains for a week or two in order to enjoy social intercourse in the pres- ence of nature, interspersed with his teachings in botany, geology, and the analogies of religion. This novel sense of freedom and the pure air proved so delightful, refreshing and invigorating that these campings-out have been kept up at Williamstown from year to year. In 1834 he visited Europe to procure the best and newest astronomical apparatus for his class.

In 1841 he married a daughter of Edward Payson, who proved a true help- mate to him for twenty-one years, when she died, in 1862. He again married, in 1868, Miss Eliza Kilby. His son, a fine young man, perished on the bat- tle-field in the late war, and twice his bereaved father made weary pilgrim- ages to the South before he discovered the dear remains, which he finally laid in the College Cemetery, at Williamstown. At the hamlet of White Oaks, on the other side of the lovely valley of the Hoosac, was a scattered and neg-

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lected population in a state of great poverty and degradation. To reclaim and christionize it, the good professor directed his energies. Here he estab- lished a preaching station, opened a Sunday school, gathered the people to- gether and interested them, and at length, with the approval of the White Oaks people, and aid of the friends in the college and village of Williams- town, the building of a church was begun. One contributed nails, another drew wood, many gave work, and he, with his own strong arms, set a good example by helping to quarry the stones. Within a year, 1866, the church was completed. He took upon himself the pastoral duties of White Oaks, and the people who had sat in darkness now gladly saw the gospel light. Physically, Professor Hopkins was a powerful and fine looking man. He was tall, erect, dignified, though unassuming, simple in dress, even to plainness, but always courteous in demeanor, with a frame that would have suited an athlete, and a head such as the Greek sculptors gave to their great orators- large in feature and well-poised, beneath the rugged brow, eyes of raven hue and of unmatched depth and brilliancy. He preached his last sermon in the Congregational church in Williamstown, on the first Sabbath in January, 1872, and in the afternoon of the same day, and at the same place, he ad- ministered the communion. His professional duties and the pastoral care of two churches several miles apart, and the shock occasioned by the death of his son, proved too much for his impaired strength, and in July, 1871, he was prostrated with severe illness, from which he rallied, but disease gradu- ally undermined his powerful frame ; he lingered until the evening of the 24th of May, 1872, when he peacefully passed away. The funeral services, held in the Congregational church, were characterized by universal expressions of love for the deceased and grief for his death.

Elisha Bingham born June 4, 1780, in Plainfield, Conn., came to Williams- town in 1805 and settled in the village, where his daughter, Miss Chloe Bingham, now lives. In 1806 he married Miss Abigail Boardman, and they were parents of eight children, six of whom lived to mature age, and three of whom now resides in Williamstown, viz .: Samuel, residing in the north part of the town ; Miss Chloe, on the homestead, as before mentioned ; and Sarah E. (Mrs. Benjamin), near the railroad depot. Mr. Bingham was some- what eccentric, but possessed a strong and original mind. He lived to the advanced age of eighty-three years. His wife died October 28, 1858, aged seventy-nine years.

Warren Southworth born in Freetown, Mass., near Taunton, removed to Lanesboro where he resided a year or two, and then removed to Cheshire, about the year 1800, and located as a farmer. Here he lived the remainder of his life, dying at the age of sventy-three years. Here his son Sumner was born, in 1803, and at the age of nineteen years he commenced business as a merchant, in company with Caleb Brown, where he remained until 1825- He then resided at Hoosac Corners two or three years, engaged as a general

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merchant. In 1833 he located in Williamstown, where he resides at the present time.

Here he continued his mercantile business until 1838, when he formed a co-partnership in the manufacture of print cloths with Stephen Walley. The firm name was Southworth & Walley, and continued twenty-seven years, when Mr. Southworth sold his interest to Mr. Chadbourne. Their factory was destroyed by fire in the spring of 1883. In 1865, the Williamstown man- ufacturing company was organized, which erected the fine brick factory on Hoosac river, near the depot. This firm was composed of the Arnolds (three brothers) Mr. Southworth and Mr. Chadbourne. In 1879 Mr. Southworth sold his interest in the firm to Mr. Chadbourne, since which time he has been out of business. In 1825 he married Miss Emily Burbank, with whom he lived fifty-eight years. She died June 10, 1883. They had no children, but in their kindness have taken three to their home and brought them up. In 1850, and again in 1872, Mr. Southworth represented his district in the legislature. In religion he is a decided Methodist, the strong supporter of his church, and through his generous liberality, largely, the present elegant brick church edifice was built, about twelve years since. Although at the advanced age of four score, and in feeble health, Mr. Southworth still retains his faculties, and is able to conduct all his business transactions.

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Gazetteer of Berkshire County, Mass., 1725-1885, Part 48

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