Gazetteer of Berkshire County, Mass., 1725-1885, Part 7

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 7

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BERKSHIRE COUNTY.

sites for the court-house and jail: S. W. Bowerman, Theodore Pomeroy, Thomas Colt, John C. West, J. V. Barker, E. H. Kellogg, Edwin Clapp, John E. Morrill, W. B. Cooley, Owen Coogan and Abraham Burbank. The John Chandler Williams place, on the corner of Park Square and East street was chosen by the committee for the site of the court-house, for which they paid $35,000.00, and a site on North Second street was purchased of Abraham Burbank for the jail, for which was paid $6,500.00.

The legislature granted $350,000.00, to be assessed on the county, for the erection of the buildings. Of this sum $190,000 was expended on the court-house, and the remainder on the jail and house of correction building. Subsequently $28,000.00 were appropriated for furnishing the buildings, of which the greater portion was expended for the court-house. The buildings were completed in 1871, the court-house being one of the finest in the State, both in point of utility and beauty. It is constructed of white marble from the quarries of Sheffield, resting on a basement of light-blue marble from the the same town. It was first occupied at the September term of the Supreme Court in 1871. The jail is constructed of marble and pressed brick, having all the modern improvements of prison architecture. It has 129 cells, and now (July, 1884) has 100 inmates, most of whom are employed in the manu- facture of ladies' and children's shoes, under contract by George C. Hall & Co., of Pittsfield. The institution is under the immediate supervision of Hiram B. Wellington, sheriff of the county, whose twenty-three years experi- ence as sheriff and deputy sheriff well fits him for the position.

There have been eight executions in the county for capital offences, as fol- lows : John Bly and Charles Rose, December 6, 1787, for burglary com- mitted in Lanesboro, under pretense of getting supplies for men engaged in Shays Insurrection ; Ephraim Wheeler, February 20, 1806, for outraging his own daughter ; Ezra Hutchinson, November 18, 1813, for rape; Peter John- son, a negro, November 25, 1819, for rape; Samuel P. Charles, an Oneida Indian, November 22, 1826, for murdering a negro in Richmond; James Callender, a mulatto, in November, 1863, for the murder of Mrs. Jones and her two children, of Otis; and John Ten Eyck, August 16, 1878, for the mur- der of Mr. and Mrs. Stillman, of Sheffield. All of these executions, except the latter, which occurred at Pittsfield, were performed in Lenox.

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

One of the first requisites after the settlement of the wilderness country was begun was the establishment of roads, or avenues of communication. The embryo road, however, was nothing more than a bridle-path, or blazed track, through the forest, in many instances following the course of some old Indian trail. As the settlement increased, these paths were enlarged, ex- tended and improved, some of them ultimately becoming the greatly im- proved turnpike, which, during the latter quarter of the 18th and first quarter

BERKSHIRE COUNTY.

of the 19th centuries, were considered the very acme of convenient modes of intercommunication; and even our modern fancy, in these days of speed, push, force and power, turns with a sigh to the " good old staging days," when the sharp crack of the driver's whip and the resonant toot of his horn blended in a thrilling music long since drowned in the shrill shriek of the dashing, snorting locomotive.

It must be remembered that the approach of civilization towards Berkshire county, or to Hampshire county as it then was, extended from the east and from the west-by the Dutch up the valley of Hudson river, and by the puri- tans from Massachusetts Bay into the valley of the Connecticut. The great approach from the east was the well known " Great Trail," or "Bay Path," which extended through Grafton, Sutton and Oxford, in Worcester county, to Hartford and Springfield. Over it passed Rev. Joseph Hooker and his flock on their way to Hartford to found a new State, and also William Pyn- cheon, the father of Springfield, two and a half centuries ago, nearly one and a half of which it was the main thoroughfare between the people of Massa- chusetts Bay and those of the Connecticut Valley ; and over this well-trodden course, also, wearily plodded many of those grand ones who opened new townships among the densely wooded hills of what is now proud old Berkshire county, bringing with them those stern, rigid principles of integrity, justice and industry, upon whose broad, deep foundation rests her fair renown of to- day.

The first road into Berkshire county, of which we find any mention, is that "from Westfield to Sheffield," which is mentioned in a report of a commit- tee to the General Court, January 15, 1735, as follows : "The committee are of the opinion that there should be four new townships opened upon the road between Westfield and Sheffield, etc.," (see sketch of Sandisfield). Again, in a petition by Samuel Winchell, then living west of Sheffield, February 8, 1743, mention is made that he "settled at Twelve Mile pond [Brewer's], on the road from Westfield to Housatonic ; at that time there was no other per- son lived on that road, etc."

The thoroughfare thus mentioned, after passing through Blandford, enters the country at East Otis, formerly making a detour to the north of the hotel, thence in near the present traveled way for a short distance ; thence by a direct westerly course, it crossed the Farmington river, a little more than a mile south of Otis Center ; thence, continuing westerly over a steep hill, through the northerly part of Sandisfield, between the two Spectacle ponds to a junction with the present road from Cold Spring to West Otis, about a mile southeast of the latter place. Within this distance, about six miles, which is now almost entirely abandoned, there were at the time of the Revo- lution, four hotels, at one or more of which Burgoyne and portions of his troops and captors, en-route to Boston, were fed and lodged. From West Otis the road followed nearly the course of the present traveled way, through Monterey, passing Three Mile hill, through the village of Great Barrington,

BERKSHIRE COUNTY.

across Green river, through North Egremont and thence into New York state. With the exception of about a mile and a half of new road in the westerly part of Monterey, laid north of the old course, the old thoroughfare can be readily traced as one drives over the present carriage way.

Unwritten historic lore is thickly woven about this old highway-the first road established in Berkshire county. It was first an Indian trail, and doubt- less some old forest monarch along its course, could it speak, would rehearse strange tales of the Redman's wiles, his wild loves and savage wooings. Next we find it the probable route of Maj. Talcott, in his pursuit and capture of a body of Indians in Southern Berkshire, in 1676, the first whites known to have invaded the territory of Berkshire county. Later on it afforded a mode of entry to the founders of most of the towns of Southern Berkshire, and over it passed the commerce between them and their neighbors east and west. Later still, it witnessed the marshalled array of Gen. Amherst and his army, in 1759, the soldiers of the Revolution, Burgoyne and his captured army en- route to Boston, the soldiers of the war of 1812-15, while many a weary pil- grim, long since passed away, enjoyed the hospitality of its numerous taverns of by-gone days. Yes, strange tales, indeed, could that old forest monarch tell.

In 1742 or '43 a branch from this road, commencing about a mile east of Brewer's pond and passing north of Mount Hunger, through old Tyringham Center (about a mile northwest of the present center of Monterey), thence over the high mountains in the northwestern part of that town, through Bear- town to Stockbridge, was constructed. A branch leaving it about half a mile northwest of the old center aforesaid, and passing Artemas Dowd's and Wil- liam Miner's, to a junction with the old Albany road, about half a mile east of the line between Great Barrington and Monterey, was probably one of the early important roads, made necessary by the location of Tyringham Center, a mile north of the Albany road.

The next road through the county was probably along the Deerfield valley, over the Hoosac mountain, passing Fort Massachusetts, through Williams- town, etc. The fort being built in 1744, a road or trail was probably in use then. In 1752 a grant of 200 acres, including the fort, to Ephraim Williams, stipulates that he shall "be required to keep an open way two rods wide, on the northerly side of the said fort, leading towards Albany." In 1746 Sam- uel Rice petitioned for a grant of 200 acres, on condition that he "build a new and better road over the Hoosac mountain."

The first road through Pittsfield is mentioned on page 286, book 121, of the Massachusetts Archives, as follows :---

"In obedience to the note and order of the Honorable House of Represen- tatives, I set out on Monday, the 23d day of March, to look out and make a horse road from Northampton towards Albany. Rode to Stockbridge, got two Indians to assist me, and traveled to a place called by the Indians Cake- muck, which is about fifteen miles from Albany and lies upon the river that runs through Kinderhook. From thence we began to mark the road and

BERKSHIRE COUNTY.

came about five miles, along by said river, most of the way in intervale land. We crossed said river twice, having good fording at both places. Soon after we left the river we came to a large hill, but the ascent was gradual and the hill not steep, so that I believe there may be a good cart road over it. About a mile east of the foot of the hill we came to the west line of the Pon- toosuck township [Pittsfield] and had good traveling till we came to Pontoo- suck river, which was in the northeast part of the township. The river where we crossed it, was about four rods wide, the bottom good, and I believe may be easily forded in most seasons of the year, although sometimes it may be difficult to ford it. From Pontoosuck to the east branch of the Westfield river, which is about seventeen miles, the land is generally hilly and very thick set with timber, so that I believe there cannot be a good, pleasant, easy road there, but I believe there may be, with a little cost, as good a road, if not better, than that between Westfield and Sheffield. Westfield river we crossed in five branches. The westermost branch is but about a rod wide and the water shallow ; the next east of it is much the largest of all the branches, but the banks and bottom are good, so that I believe it may be used almost any time, as I myself, and the Indians that were with me, waded it the first day of April and it was not then three feet deep ; the next branch to it is not half so big, and the bottom very good ; the eastermost branch, save one, is, where we crossed it, about twenty feet wide, and the bottom is rocky, so that in high water it will be bad crossing, but there is a very good place to make a bridge, and it may be done with a very little charge ; the eastermost branch is about two rods wide, and the bottom is very good. From Westfield river to North- ampton the road is feasible and has few hills. The road we have marked crosses the river that runs to Northampton five times, but the river is so small that it may be forded at any time, The distance from Northampton to Albany, to go in the road we have marked, is, I suppose, about sixty-three miles, and I believe there is no part of the way but a team might draw two- thirds of a load, if the way be cleared.

" ERASTUS HAWLEY.

" Northampton, April 6, 1752.

" To the Honorable House of Representatives Sitting at Cambridge."

From this time forward roads multiplied with the constant increase in pop- ulation, though it was not until the latter quarter of the century that turnpike corporations began to be popular, as more convenient modes of communica- tion were rendered necessary by the great increase in travel and commerce. We will not mention the many companies that were organized, but simply speak of one, the Pontoosuc Turnpike Company, chartered in 1825, to Jonathan Allen, Lemuel Pomeroy, Joseph Shearer, Joseph Merrick and Thomas Gold, of Pittsfield; Henry Stearns, of Springfield, and Enos Foot, of Southwick. They were granted the right of building a turnpike through Chester, Middle- field, Becket, Washington, Dalton and Pittsfield, "which route presented, of all others, the most level passage from the Hudson to the Connecticut," as was subsequently reported by those in charge of the initial survey of the Western railroad. This turnpike was completed in October, 1830, and ulti- mately became, practically, the route of the Western railway-the Boston & Albany railroad of to-day.

In the mean time the feasibility of building a canal from Boston to Albany was presented to the legislature, which was more seriously entertained after

BERKSHIRE COUNTY.

the successful completion of the Erie canal, in 1823, and in 1825 they ap- pointed three commisioners and an engineer to ascertain if it were practicable. . The commisioners were Nathan Willis, of Pittsfield, Elihu Hoyt, of Deerfield, and Henry A. S. Dearborn, of Boston, with Col. Laomi C. Baldwin, engineer. Several routes were tested, though their report, in 1826, favored a route across "northern Worcester, up the Deerfield river, through the Hoosac mountain, and, by the valley of the Hoosac river, to the Hudson, near Troy." This route, so far as Berkshire county is concerned, ultimately became the route of the Troy & Greenfield railroad, necessitating a bore of Hoosac mountain, one of the most stupendous engineering feats the world has ever produced. To these remote beginnings, then, must we look for the present routes of the two great railroads of northern and central Berkshire.

The Boston and Albany Railroad. - As early as 1827 the feasibility of con- structing a railroad on one of the above mentioned routes was agitated, though it was then contemplated that horse-power be used. Some idea of their con- ception of such a road may be derived from the following extract from a com- mittee's report before the legislature on the 16th of January, 1829 :-

" It is found that the cost of a continuous stone wall, laid so deep in the ground as not to be moved by the effect of frost, and surmounted by a rail of split granite about a foot in thickness and depth, with a bar of iron placed on top of it, of sufficient thickness to form the track on which the carriage wheels shall run, is much less than that of the English iron rail, and that rails of this construction, so far as can be judged by experiments which have yet been made, possess all the advantages of durability, solidity and strength."

This impracticable idea was soon abandoned, however, as was also that of utilizing horse-power. March 15, 1833, the charter of the Western Railroad Corporation was granted by the legislature to Nathan Hale, David Henshaw, George Bond, Henry Williams, Daniel Denny, Joshua Clapp and Eliphalet Williams and their associates, for the purpose of constructing a railroad from Worcester, the terminus of the Boston & Worcester Railroad, to the line of the State of New York, with a capital limited to $2,000,000.00. The corpora- tion was not organized until January, 1836, when the following gentlemen were directors: John B. Wales, Edmund Dwight, George Bliss, William Lawrence, Henry Rice, John Henshaw, Francis Jackson, Josiah Quincy, Jr., and Justice Willard. Maj. William Gibbs McNeil was engaged as chief engi- neer, and Capt. William H. Swift as resident engineer of the company. The organization of the directors was, Thomas B. Wales, president ; Josiah Quincy, treasurer ; and Ellis Gray Loring, clerk.

The survey of the corporation commenced in April, 1836. Twenty miles of the road, commencing at Worcester, were put under contract in January, 1837, and work was commenced on that section in the month following. In June of the same year, the road from East Brookfield to Springfield was put under contract, and the work commenced upon the section in July. On the Ist day of October, 1839, the road was opened to travel between Worcester and Springfield, and, on the 23d of that month, regular merchandise trains

BERKSHIRE COUNTY.

were established, Early in 1842 the whole line was completed through to the Hudson river, with the exception of fifteen miles within the State of New York, which was run on the track of the Hudson and Berkshire railroad. From the State line to Albany the road was nominally, at least, under the conduct of a New York corporation, with the name of the Albany & West Stockbridge railway. This section was opened for travel on the 12th of Sep- tember, thus accomplishing the long looked for object. On December 1, 1867, the Worcester and Western railroads were consolidated, under the name of the Boston & Albany railroad.

The Hudson and Berkshire Railroad Company .- This company was incor- porated in 1832, for the purpose of building a road from Hudson, N. Y., to the State line at West Stockbridge, a distance of thirty-one miles. The road extended over the line into West Stockbridge, a distance of three miles, how- ever, making the whole length thirty-four miles. The road was built during the years 1836, '37 and '38. November 1, 1854, it was purchased by the Westerd Railroad for $150,000.00.

Troy & Greenfield Railroad .- In 1845, three years after the completion of the Western railroad, a road was opened from Boston to Fitchburg ; and soon after another was commenced, extending from the latter place to the Con- necticut river at Deerfield. Between this point and the State line in Ver- mont, a distance of thirty-four miles, was left a gap, the only missing link of another great chain connecting Boston with the West. To construct this link, the Troy & Greenfield Railroad Co. was incorporated, in 1848, with a capital of $3,500,000.00, the persons named in the act of incorporation being George Grennell,' Roger H. Leavitt, Samuel H. Read, James E. Marshall Henry Chapman, Alvah Crocker, Jonas C. Heartt, Franklin Ripley, Abel Phelps, Asahel Foote, Ebenezer G. Lamson, and D. W. Alvord. To con- struct this link, however, it was necessary to make the great bore of the Hoosac mountain, which had been talked of when the proposed canal ques- tion was being considered, as previously mentioned.

This mountain, five miles in diameter, was a formidable object to attack. Surveys for the tunnel were commenced in 1850, and on the first of January of the following year the directors voted to break ground at once. A broad path was cleared over the mountain, extending from the proposed eastern and western mouths of the great bore, work being begun at both ends. Sub- sequently, however, it was decided to sink a shaft from the summit of the mountain to the level of the tunnel, there having already been one sunk from the western part, thus enabling the miners to bore from six surfaces. The magnitude of the work may be seen when we consider that in sinking this central shaft alone, a distance of 1,028 feet, required four years of continuous labor and the expenditure of not less than half a million of dollars. Here, too, the nicity of the engineering skill employed is attested, in that alligning the work, so that the workmen who were boring from the different openings should meet, the calculations varied only five-sixteenths of a inch.

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It is not necessary to speak of the changes of contracts, loans from the State, and final completion by the commonwealth, or of the many trials and delays ; but we will simply state that the great work was so far completed as to allow the passage of cars on February 9, 1875, after twenty years of labor, during a portion of which time upwards of a thousand men were employed and the work puslied night and day. On April 5th the first freight train passed through, consisting of twenty-two cars, from the west, loaded with grain. Passenger trains began to run from Boston to Troy in October of the same year, though the tunnel was not officially declared to be fully open and ready for business until July 1, 1876. In round numbers, the tunnel is 25,031 feet in length, twenty feet in height, twenty-four feet in width. From it was excavated 1,900,000 tons of rock, while it has 7,573 feet of brick arching, in which are 20,000,000 bricks. Its entire cost was $14,000, - 000.00 and 195 human lives. The road and tunnel are now the property of the State.

The Pittsfield and North Adams Railroad .- The Pittsfield & North Adams Railroad Company was originally incorporated in 1843, with the right of building a railroad from Pittsfield to North Adams, passing through the towns of Pittsfield, Lanesboro, Cheshire, and (since) Adams. Nothing was done under this charter, however, so it expired, and it was renewed in 1846. During that year the road was commenced and completed, at an expense of $450,000.00, the last rail being laid at eleven o'clock, October 6th. The road was con- structed under the direction of the Western Railroad corporation, through an arrangement made with the government of the Pittsfield & North Adams company. Under this agreement the road was leased to the Western com- pany, at a rent of six per cent. per annum upon its cost, for a term of thirty years, at the expiration of which time it had the right to either buy the road at cost, or renew the lease for ninety-nine years, at five per cent. rent, hence it is now operated by the Boston & Albany Railroad Co. In order to induce this arrangement, the citizens of North Adams raised a guarantee-fund of $3 1,- 000.00, which was to be drawn upon yearly to make upto the Western Co. any deficiency between its earnings and expenses. This fund was exhausted about 1855, soon after which the road became remunerative.

The Berkshire Railroad Company .- This company was incorporated in 1842, for the purpose of building a road from the state line in Sheffield, to continue the Housatonic road from that point to West Stockbridge, passing through Great Barrington village and Van Deusenville, to connect at West Stockbridge with the Hudson & Berkshire road. It was completed during that year. In 1847 it also obtained permission to connect with the Western road, at State Line, and is now a part of the Housatonic railroad.

The Pittsfield & Stockbridge Railroad Company .- This company was organized in 1848, for the purpose of building a road from Pittsfield to con- nect with the Berkshire road, at Van Deusenville. Ground was broken the next year, and on the first of January, 1850, the road was opened for traffic

BERKSHIRE COUNTY.

and travel. Theroad is twenty-two miles long and cost $440,000.00, and is operated by the Housatonic railroad company, under a perpetual lease. This, then, gives the Housatonic road, which was originally opened in 1842, extending from Bridgeport, Conn., to the state line of Massachusetts, connec- tion through to Boston and to Albany, and also with New York, via the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroad, from Bridgeport.

This completes our sketch of the county's internal improvements, though we have made no mention of the many charters that have been issued, grant- ing the right to build railroads over different proposed routes. In some instances indeed, however, these proposed roads were surveyed and their con- struction begun, large sums of money being expended on them, though ulti- mately, from one cause and another, they were abandoned.

NEWSPAPERS.

In the following sketch of the newspapers that are or have been published in the county, we give the towns wherein they were published precedence according to alphabetical order, though the papers for each town are arranged in chronological order :-

ADAMS .- The Adams Republican, the first paper printed at South Adams, was established by Cushing & Frary, the first number appearing June 1, 1827. It was a four-page, five-column paper, issued every Thursday. It was con- tinued here about a year, when it was removed to Lenox.

The Berkshire Post, a six-colum folio, was established by F. O. Sayles, the first number appearing January 19, 1861. The Post was continued here until March, 1862, when it was sold to Delos Sutherland and removed to Chatham, N. Y., where it is still published as the Chatham Courier.

The Saturday Freeman was established by B. F. Reynolds, the first num- ber appearing December 1, 1876. Mr. Freeman retained the paper until December 1, 1881, when it was purchased by W. F. Davis, who has since conducted it, changing its name to THE ADAMS FREEMAN, December 1, 1883. The FREEMAN is an eight-column folio, issued each Friday.

The Adams Independent was started by B. F. Reynolds, January 1, 1884. and was issued each Saturday for about six months, when it was discontinued.

GREAT BARRINGTON .- THE BERKSHIRE COURIER was established by John D. Cushing, the first number appearing October 16, 1834. The paper was printed in an old building which stood, blocked up on timbers, in the rear of the stone store of J. C. & A. C. Russell, then in process of erection. The printing office of Mr. Cushing was afterwards removed to an upper room in the rear of the old Leavenworth store, on the Castle street corner, where the paper was printed until April 10, 1839, when the building was burned down, and the publication was consequently, for a few weeks, interrupted. Mr. Cushing, having repaired the damage to the press and types, renewed the issue of the paper on the 19th of May, and continued it without interruption till

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Gazetteer of Berkshire County, Mass., 1725-1885, Part 7

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