USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Gazetteer of Hampshire County, Mass., 1654-1887 > Part 10
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The only branch this road has in the county is the Mt. Tom railroad, extending from Mt. Tom to Easthampton, a distance of about three and three- fourth miles. While it was intended in all respects as a branch of this road, it was necessary to procure a separate charter and be constructed by an inde- pendent company. The first train of cars passed over the road on Thanks- giving day, 1871.
The New Haven and Northampton railroad, as it is now known, was the next road built after the Connecticut River. In r846 the canal company obtained leave from the Connecticut legislature to construct a railroad on or near the line of the canal to Granby, Conn., and also a branch to Collins- ville. This road was built by the New Haven and Northampton Company. The Farmington Valley Company obtained a charter and built a road from Granby to the Massachusetts state line. In 1852 the Hampden and Hamp- shire Company was chartered, with a capital of $175,000.00, to build a road from Westfield to the Connecticut state line. The same year the North- ampton and Westfield Railroad Company was chartered with a capital of $200,000.00, for the purpose of continuing the road to Northampton. In 1853 these two roads were united, under the name of the Hampshire and Hampden Company, with a combined capital of $375,000.00. The road was opened to Westfield in 1854, and the following year to Northampton. On the first of July, 1862, all the above named roads were merged into one corporation, under the name of the New Haven and Northampton Railroad Company. The total cost of all the roads thus merged was $2,305,204.62. From New Haven to Plainville the road was opened in January, 1848; from Plainville to Granby, in February, 1850 ; from Granby to Northampton, in 1857 ; from Northampton to Williamsburg, in February, 1868. The extention to North Adams, over the Troy and Greenfield railroad, was opened July 13th, and to Turner's Falls, October 31, 1881.
The New London Northern railroad, extending from New London, Conn., to Brattleboro, Vt., a distance of 121 miles, came into existence as follows : In May, 1847, the New London, Willimantic and Springfield Railroad Com- pany was chartered, and in May of the following year, 1848, was changed to the New London, Willimantic and Palmer Company. The road was opened through to Willimantic in September, 1849, and to Palmer in September, 1850. It was sold under foreclosure, and re-organized as the New London Northern in 1869. The Amherst and Belchertown Railroad Company was chartered in May, 1851, and opened from Palmer to Amherst in May, 1853. October 14, 1858, it was sold under foreclosure, and re-organized as the Amherst, Belchertown and Palmer road, November 23d of the same year. In March, 1864, the road was
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purchased by the New London Northern Company, and extended to Miller's Falls in 1867. The Miller's Falls branch of the Vermont and Massachusetts road, extending to Brattleboro, was bought by this company May 1, 1880. The entire line is leased for twenty years from December 1, 1871, to the trustees of the Central Vermont Railroad Company. The lessee assumes all respons- ibilities, and pays as rental $150,000.00 a year, in quarterly installments, with an additional $15,000.00 for every $100,000.00 of gross earnings in excess of $150,000.00.
The Ware River railroad extends from Palmer to Winchendon, a distance of nearly fifty miles. The company was incorporated in 1868, and the sec- tion from Palmer to Gilbertville was built in 1870, at a cost of $250,000.00. The original company became embarrassed, and in 1873 a new one was formed, retaining the old name. The road was opened through during that year. April 1, 1873, the road was leased to the Boston and Albany Com- pany for a period of nine hundred and ninety-nine years.
The Springfield, Athol and Northeastern railroad, extending from Spring- field to Athol, now a part of the Boston and Albany railroad system, was originally the Athiol and Enfield railroad, chartered in 1864-65. The first portion of the road constructed was from Athol to a connection with the New London Northern road at Barretts, whence the company's trains ran to Palmer, four miles, over the New London Northern track. In 1872 the com- pany obtained a supplementary charter, changing the name of corporation to the Springfield, Athol and Northeastern Railrond Company, and author- izing them to build a line from Barretts to Springfield, about seventeen miles, which was constructed in 1873. It is now, as we have said, a part of the Boston and Albany system.
The project which resulted in what there is to-day of the Massachusetts Central railroad, had its beginning away back in 1867, when a charter was obtained and a state loan of $1,000,000.00 granted, conditionally. for build- ing and operating a railroad from Williamsburg to North Adams, over the mountains, " up into Goshen and down into Cummington." The corpora- tion was organized at North Adams in September, 1868. While this project was in agitation, however, a proposition was started to build a road east from Northampton to Sterling Junction, thus making a connection with Boston and the Hudson river. December 22, 1868, a meeting was held at North- ampton, at which a committee of fifteen was appointed to secure the co-op- eration of the towns along the proposed route, and to obtain surveys. From this action resulted the charter, May 10, 1869, of the Central Massachusetts Railroad Company, with the right to build a road from Cambridge to North- ampton, a distance of one hundred and three and one-half miles, with a branch from Amherst to West Deerfield, thirteen and one-half miles. The road was put under contract in 1871, and work was pushed vigorously from several points along the route till the panic of 1873 prevented the negotiation of its bonds, when the work stopped. October 1, 1881, the road was opened
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from Cambridge to Hudson, nearly twenty-four miles, and in December of the same year to Jefferson's, forty-four miles. July 1, 1882, the company made default in the payment of interest then due, and the trustees under the mort- gage took possession of the property May 4, 1883. Operations were sus- pended May 16th, and the road was sold under foreclosure September 1, 1883. It was purchased on behalf of the bondholders, who organized the present company, the Massachusetts Central Railroad Company, November to, 1883, under a special act of the legislature. By the terms of the charter of the new company, preferred stock is to be issued dollar for dollar in payment for the mortgage debt of the old company, this stock to have entire control of the affairs of the company until such time as the road, shall earn two semi- annual dividends of four per cent. each in any one year. Common stock is to be issued share for share for the stock of the old company. It also anthor- izes the extension of the road from Bondsville to the New York state line, and the leasing to, or consolidation with, the Poughkeepsie, Hartford and Bos- ton road, or any other road connecting this line in Massachusetts or New York. In June, 1885, a special act of the legislature was passed authorizing the trustees to make a contract for the operation of the road and to issue cer- tificates of indebtedness to the amount of $200,000.00. November 7, 1886, the road was leased to the Boston and Lowell Railroad Company for a period of ninety-nine years. It is confidently asserted that operations will be re-commenced at once, and work pushed rapidly to completion.
CHAPTER X.
REMARKS MILITARY-REVOLUTIONARY RECORDS-SHAYS REBELLION *_ - WAR OF 1812-15-MEXICAN WAR-WAR OF THE UNION-ROSTER OF FIELD, STAFF AND COMPANY OFFICERS.
W HILE we devote this chapter to the military history of Hampshire county, it is not our purpose to enter into details, unless, perhaps, it be in the outline sketch of Shays Rebellion, an uprising whose history is inseparably connected with the history of Hampshire county. Neither is an extended sketch of the early Indian troubles, the French and Indian wars, and the wars with the mother country necessary, as the part each took, its sacrifices and losses, will be spoken of farther on in the work, in connection with their respective sketches.
* For the remarks on this subject we are indebted to Rev. G. H. Johnson, of North Amherst.
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None of the leading events of the great wars occurred in the county ; but its inhabitants were well up to the highest point of patriotism. Nothing, per- haps, could in a brief way give a general idea of the spirit displayed during the great war for independence than the following extracts from the town rec- ords of Northampton, viz. :-
" Dec. 26, 1774 .- The inhabitants met in pursuance to adjournment, and chose a committee of twelve persons to receive, preserve & convey such ar- ticles as shall be contributed by the Inhabitants of this town for the relief of their suffering brethren in the Towns of Boston and Charlestown."
" March 4. 1776 .- At this meeting a Committee of Correspondence, In- spection and Safety was chosen, consisting of fifteen persons."
"Oct. 3, 1776 .- The question at this meeting was put, Whether the Town will give their Consent that the present House of Representatives of the state of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, together with the Council (if they consent), in one body with the House, and by equal voice, should con- sult, agree on, and enact such a Constitution & Form of Government for this state as the said House of Representatives and Council as aforesaid on the fullest and mature deliberation shall judge will most conduce to the Safety, peace and Happiness of this State in all after succession and generations ; and it passed in the affirmative."
"The Question was then put, Whether the Town would direct that the same be made Publick for the Inspection and perusal of the Inhabitants be- fore the ratification thereof by the assembly ; and it passed in the affirmative."
" March 3, 1777 .- The Town entered upon the consideration of the mat- ter which had been debated, viz. : what methods they would take to encour- age and facilitate the raising of this Town's proportion of men for the Con- tinental Army, and passed the following votes, thereon, viz. :-
" That those persons that shall now engage in the service aforesaid, who belonged to Capt. Allen's and Capt. Chapin's Company the last year, both officers and privates, shall have full compensation for all losses by them sus- tained in cloaths and other articles, when such losses were unavoidable, and not through the negligence of those who sustained them.
" And as a further encouragement to them, or any other able-bodied men belonging to this town who will engage in the said service.
" The town Voted that they and each of them shall receive from the In- habitants of the Town of Northampton the sum of fifteen pounds, which sum shall be paid to them several times, viz. : namely, five pounds before they shall march to the said Army, and five pounds more shall be paid them or to their Order in the month of April, 1778, and the other five pounds in the month of April, 1779. And, whereas, it was represented to the Town that some of the inhabitants liave heretofore failed of doing their proportion in promoting the publick cause.
"The Town voted that a large Committee should be appointed to examine and consider what persons in the Town have been so delinquent, and that the said Committee make out a list of such persons, with the sums affixed to their respective names which they judge it will be necessary for them to ad- vance, in order to their doing their full proportion with the other inhabitants of this town, and that those who are found delinquent as aforesaid, shall be required to pay the sum so affixed to their names, to such persons as the Town shall appoint to collect the same.
" The Town also voted that the sum of seventy pounds now in the hands of the Town Treasurer, being the Fines of Several persons who refused to
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march in the last Draughts of the Militia, be applied to the payment of the bounty aforesaid, and that what further sums shall be necessary to make up the losses and pay the Bounty as aforesaid, shall be Assessed upon the Polls and Estates of the Inhabitants of this Town at such time as the Town shall order.
" April 15, 1777, voted to increase the bounty to 30 pounds."
Following immediately upon the Revolution, or rather growing out of it, was the memorable "Shays Rebellion." This uprising in Western Massachu- setts against the authorities of the state, in 1786, was not, however, strickly speaking, a rebellion ; that is, it was not prompted by any spirit of disloyalty, nor was it designed or plotted with the wish to overturn the government. It was the wild and lawless expression of discontent with harsh circumstances ; the natural outbreak of those who were suffering and oppressed. Nothing more clearly shows the patriotic spirit of the people than their utterly exhausted condition at the close of the Revolutionary war. The credit of the government had long since gone; the states were hardly in any better cir- cumstances ; few individuals were out of debt. Business was more than pros- trated, with the exception of agriculture, it was well nigh destroyed. There was no demand for labor, and there was a continuous call for the payment of debts and taxes. In all probability the war debt of Massachusetts-includ_ ing the debts of state and towns, bounties promised and arrears due to sol- diers and their families-averaged nearly, if not quite, fifty dollars for every man, woman and child in the commonwealth, or an average of nearly two hundred dollars for each family in the state .* The laws of that time had never contemplated such a condition of affairs, and were exceedingly unjust in their operation. An insolvent debtor's property was divided among his creditors, not in equal proportion, but in the order in which their attachments of the property were levied. Consequently, those who were first to suspect a debtor took all his property, and those less suspicious or prompt lost all their due. The debtor who could pay nothing was put into prison with the felons and villains of the day, and their families left to want and poverty. Under such circumstances the outbreak was far less a rebellion than the inevitable outcry of suffering and distress. Had it been real rebellion-had Shays pos- sessed either the courage or ability necessary for leadership-possibly the movement would have spread until the government was overthrown, and necessity had recalled the power of England to protect those who, after long war, had conquered her armies in battle. That such a result was feared even by Washington himself is evident from his correspondence, and how ripe the circumstances would have been for such a sad result, is evident to every stu- dent of history who can add to poverty, suffering, and injustice the elements of disloyalty at heart and of able leadership in rebellious purposes. Thank God the two last were lacking in the Shays Rebellion.
The first organizer in the lawless efforts of the day was Samuel Ely, a
* See article by John Fiske, in Atlantic Monthly for September, 1386, P. 382.
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deposed clergyman who had come into Hampshire county from Somers, Conn. He was instrumental as early as 1781 in the gathering of conven- tions at which the grievances of the people were discussed and when lawless acts were suggested, if not encouraged. As the courts and lawyers were instru- mental in the foreclosure of mortgages, the distraining of personal property and the imprisonment of debtors, the popular outcry and rage was largely directed against the officials of law and justice. The first outbreak was at Northampton, in April, 1782, when Ely gathered a mob of sufficiently threat- ening aspect to disturb the sessions of the courts. For this he was arrested and tried ; and pleading guilty, he was sentenced to imprisonment at Spring- field. A second mob set hin free; the ringleaders of this mob were arrested and imprisoned at Northampton ; a mob came down from Hatfield demand- ing their release, and they were finally liberated upon their promise to sub- mit to the decision of the general court in their case. The general court took no action concerning them, and the impression prevailed that there was no power able to suppress or punish such uprisings. Towns which had loy- ally devoted themselves to the support of the long war with England, became so sympathetic with the discontent of the times that delegates to the various conventions were not only chosen in open town meetings, but the town treas- urer was instructed to pay them out of the town treasury for time spent at these conventions and for the expense of traveling .* These conventions were held at Shutesbury, January 30, 1782 ; at Hatfield, in the following summer ; and at other towns in the county. The discussions and resolutions of these conventions ; the lack of any wise measures to prevent the growing evil ; the continual increase of discontent and hardship; the passionate ap- peals of demagogues and idle theorists-all contributed to make matters worse instead of better. Many proposed remedies were considered in the lower branch of the general court, but the conservatism of the senate crushed the hopes of many a supposed panacea ; forthwith the senate was denounced by the mischief makers and the ignorant, and there was a demand that the legislature consist of but a single house, which should immediately by its size and method of election represent the people. One favorite scheme for re- lieving the needs of money was the issue of paper money by the state. This had already been done recklessly in Rhode Island, North Carolina and South Carolina, more cautiously in Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York, while Maryland had failed to do so by the refusal of the senate to pass a house bill for this purpose, and in New Jersey the issuing of such money was delayed only a single year by the veto of Governor Livingston. In every state the value of such money had rapidly decreased, and when it was proposed that Massachusetts should follow their example, the movers in the matter calinly proposed that the law allowing the issue of the paper money should also regu- late its decline in value, making it worth ninety cents on a dollar at first,
*See publication of Amherst town records, page 87.
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seventy cents after a brief period, later fifty cents and finally nothing, when it would of course disappear from trade and commerce. This charming scheme failed of approval in the house by a vote of ninety-nine to nineteen. It was believed to be the influence of Boston merchants and men of wealth which had killed this bill, and also another, making cows and horses a legal tender for debts. Forthwith the cry went out that the legislature ought not to meet in Boston, but in some place less exposed to the influence of conservative wealth. Finally, a convention which met at Deerfield recommended the gath- ering of a large and representative convention which should distinctly formu- late all the grievances of the people and demand their redress, This con- vention assembled at Hatfield, August 22, 1786, and there were present dele- gates from fifty towns of Hampshire county (as originally constituted) who, after a three days' discussion, "and upon mature consideration, deliberation and debate, " (as their preamble declared) voted that the following articles specified " grievances and unnecessary burdens now lying upon the people," which in their opinion were " the sources of that discontent so evidently dis- coverable throughout this commonwealth :"-
Ist. The existence of the senate.
2d. The present mode of representation.
3d. The officers of government not being annually dependent on the rep- resentatives of the people, in general court assembled, for their salaries.
4th. All the civil officers of government not being annually elected by the representatives of the people in general court assembled.
5th. The existence of the courts of common pleas and general sessions of the peace.
6th. The fee-table as it now stands.
7th. The present mode of appropriating the impost and excise.
8th. The unreasonable grants made to some of the officers of government. 9th. The supplementary aid.
Ioth. The present mode of paying the governmental securities.
IIth. The present mode adopted for the payment and collection of the last tax.
12th. The present mode of taxation, as it operates unequally between the polls and estates and between landed and mercantile interests.
13th. The present methods of practice of the attorneys at law.
14th. The want of a sufficient medium of trade to remedy the mischiefs arising from a scarcity of money.
15th. The general court sitting in the town of Boston.
16th. The present embarrassments on the press.
The convention also recommended the towns to secure the election of such representatives as would favor the emission of paper money, "subject to depreciation," and favor also the calling of a constitutional convention for the purpose of securing desired changes in the constitution of the state. They asked each town in the county to petition the governor to call a special
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session of the legislature for the redress of grievances, and recommended the people to " abstain from all mobs and unlawful assemblies until a constitu- tional method of redress can be obtained." They sent copies of these results of deliberation to Springfield for publication and to Worcester and Berkshire counties, where similar conventions were to be held, and adjourned after directing their chairman to call another convention whenever he deemed it best.
Four days after this convention was the day appointed by law for the session of the court of common pleas at Northampton, also for the general sessions of the peace. A mob of fifteen hundred people took possession of the court- house and grounds and succeeded in preventing any session of the court, their desire being to prevent legal proceedings necessary for the collection of debts. This mob was followed by a proclamation from the governor against " all such riotous proceedings ; " but the matter had now gone too far to be . suppressed by proclamations. The courts were prevented from sitting in Worcester, Middlesex and Berkshire counties, as well as in Hampshire, and the whole condition of the state was threatening in the extreme. Anarchy and chaos seemed to have taken the place of law and order.
Daniel Shays and Luke Day now came to the front as leaders of the upris- ing. The former was a resident of Pelham, a Revolutionary veteran, and a man of good address. He had fought bravely at Bunker Hill and shared in the campaign resulting in Burgoyne's surrender. The other leader was a native of West Springfield, noted for his proneness to make speeches. He too had served creditably in the Revolutionary war. His definition of liberty was thus given in a speech to his followers ; " If you wish to know what lib- erty is, I will tell you. It is for every man to do what he pleases, to make other folks do as you please to have them, and to keep folks from serving the devil."
October 23, 1786, Shays sent word to the selectmen of each town in Hampshire county, requesting them to arm their militia, provide each man with sixty rounds of ammunition, and to have them ready to march at a mo- ment's warning. The uprising had now passed in the person of Shays beyond the mere acts of discontent and resistance to wrong and hardship, but it is doubtful if the discontented and restless people were ready even now to fol- low their leader into rebellion. Shays called a convention at Hadley. Belch- ertown voted not to be represented in this convention at first, but afterwards, by a vote of thirty-five to thirty-two, decided to send delegates. Evidently the movement was going farther than many cared to follow, and the Belcher- town town meeting foreshadowed the opposition to violent measures which indicated already the failure of the rebellion.
The grand jury were to meet with the supreme judicial court in Springfield, September 26, 1786. Hitherto it had been the inferior courts whose sessions had been interfered with by mobs, these courts being the chief legal instru- ment of collecting debts. But now, fearing indictments for their lawless acts,
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the followers of Shays determined to prevent the sitting of the supreme court in order that no indictments might be found. In this they were measurably successful, for while the vigorous energy of Gen. William Shepherd, of West- field, and a small band of volunteers, and of the militia, enabled the court to go through the forms of business, yet, beyond the defaulting of a single case by reason of the non-appearance of a defendant, no business was done, and there was no report of the grand jury. A collision between Shays's followers and Gen. Shepherd's militia was happily averted, but the real success of the effort of Shays to prevent the finding of indictments by the grand jury gave him and his followers an impulse to yet more desperate undertakings. For- tunately, the conservative, law-abiding spirit of the people began now to awake. The friends of government in Northampton and vicinity established the Hampshire Gasette, whose history we have given on another page, for the purpose of counteracting the influence of lawless tendencies.
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